In the News
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September 4, 2020
“Democratic mayors don’t govern as Democrats for the most part,” said Elisabeth Gerber, professor of public policy and of political science, noting that about 85 percent of all cities have nominally nonpartisan elections. “Partisanship isn’t the story either in electoral politics, or in position-taking, or in messaging. It’s not like they’re running as Democrats.”
The New York Times -
September 4, 2020
“The Korean economy is very much an export-led economy since the 1960s, and culture is very much the hot item of the 21st century,” said Youngju Ryu, associate professor of modern Korean literature, on South Korea’s economic strategy to export culture, whether it’s soap operas, film or K-pop — a multibillion-dollar industry that rivals the American pop music machine.
Marketplace -
September 3, 2020
Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy and economics, says that as a result of child care and K-12 schools shuttering due to the pandemic, kids are potentially losing 5 percent to 10 percent of their future income over the course of their lives: “I think that we all need to realize that this problem, this fact that we are basically abandoning our children for some period of time right now, not giving them the education they deserve, is going to be with us for the next 20 or 30 years.”
CBS News -
September 3, 2020
“If I were to consider the consumer situation right now, in a strange way, they may have more disposable income, if they kept their job. Of course, we’re facing mass layoffs, but the bulk of people have maintained their wages and earnings,” said Nirupama Rao, assistant professor of business economics and public policy, commenting on a growing demand for “splurge” items like Nike Air Max sneakers, Lululemon yoga pants and Louis Vuitton handbags.
Reuters/The New York Times -
September 3, 2020
People who are old, chronically ill and Black are more likely to die from COVID-19 than any other group in the country, yet they are perishing quietly, out of sight. “People are talking about the race disparity in COVID deaths, they’re talking about the age disparity, but they’re not talking about how race and age disparities interact: They’re not talking about older black adults,” said Robert Joseph Taylor, professor of social work and director of the Program for Research on Black Americans at the Institute for Social Research.
CNN -
September 2, 2020
“In the past, people thought that stuttering was due to that person having some anxiety issues, lack of IQ, bad parenting and things like that. Now, scientists know that genes play some role in stuttering, but there are still so many misconceptions,” said Soo-Eun Chang, associate professor of psychiatry. Treatment, she said, now focuses less on “trying to be necessarily fluent, but becoming better communicators.”
U.S. News & World Report -
September 2, 2020
“They are going to be more energy efficient than helicopters that use a lot of fuel but they will be less energy efficient than cars because they have to lift themselves. From a cost perspective, they won’t be practical to go to the grocery store,” said Ella Atkins, professor of aerospace engineering, and electrical engineering and computer science, on the feasibility of flying cars being developed by a Japanese company.
The New York Times -
September 2, 2020
More than half of Michiganders hospitalized for coronavirus during the first several months of the pandemic were unnecessarily given antibiotics, according to research by Valerie Vaughn, assistant professor of internal medicine: “People with COVID are … getting devices placed that increase the risk of infection, or being exposed to those superbugs in the hospital. So suddenly now it’s three, four weeks down the line. They’re still in the hospital, and now they actually do have an infection. Well, the fact that they got those antibiotics in the beginning makes it harder to treat that infection down the line.”
Michigan Radio -
September 1, 2020
“The fact is Michigan has lost a lot of jobs. Although the unemployment rate has improved more quickly than expected, it’s still at 9 percent and that’s really high. People who lost their jobs need all the help they can get,” said economist Mike McWilliams of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics, who added that unemployed workers in Michigan spent 73 cents per dollar they received in benefits this year. “That spending has kept Michigan’s economy going.”
Detroit Free Press -
September 1, 2020
A new report by Paul Mohai, professor of natural resources and environment, shows that a majority of schools in Michigan are located in the most polluted areas of their districts: “Michigan does not have a statewide approach to school siting that takes into account environmental quality. Our recommendation is that schools be tested on a regular basis at least once every three years to look at the air quality, water quality and soil quality.”
WEMU Radio
