In the News
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October 26, 2020
“I was really disturbed to see such a shoddy piece of work that I would not accept if turned in to me by one of my own students receiving such attention and being treated as a valid scientific paper,” said Anna Mapp, professor of chemistry and an associate dean at the Rackham Graduate School, commenting on dubious research reported by Fox News that asserted the coronavirus was likely engineered in a Chinese lab.
CNN -
October 23, 2020
David Mayer, professor of management and organizations, and colleagues say employees are less likely to pad expense reports, misappropriate cash or steal inventory when their workspace includes photos of their loved ones: “Workplace norms tend to prioritize rationality, efficiency and self-interest, which increases people’s focus on the economic aspects and implications of decisions.”
Harvard Business Review -
October 23, 2020
“Almost all of the tariffs (President Trump) put on China, and that they had put on us, remain in place today. The deal he made didn’t get rid of any of that. He did persuade them to buy more exports … (but) they so far have only very partially delivered on that,” said Alan Deardorff, professor of public policy and economics. And while the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement secured bipartisan votes and support from some major companies, “the alternative the Trump administration had proposed was to cancel the entire thing and pull out of NAFTA, which would have been much worse for them,” said Kyle Handley, associate professor of business economics and public policy.
The Detroit News -
October 23, 2020
“If the natural experiments across the world tell us anything, there will be another (COVID-19) peak — when and how high is hard to tell. The key is to keep cases and hospitalizations lower than the hospital capacity at a given location and keep practicing the public health guidelines,” said Bhramar Mukherjee, professor of biostatistics and epidemiology.
BBC -
October 22, 2020
“Recent public commentary has focused understandably on kindergarten and elementary school, but let me emphasize that middle and high school kids are struggling with online education as well,” said Kai Cortina, professor of psychology. “There was great hope that technology might solve the problem of schooling in the age of COVID-19. But the reality is: crashing platforms, frustrated teachers and disengaged students.”
MLive -
October 22, 2020
While it’s impossible to know whether ending the pandemic through herd immunity is even possible, experts say that attempting to achieve it without a vaccine will lead to more illness and death. “Taking the approach of herd immunity through natural infection will lead to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths,” said Aubree Gordon, associate professor of epidemiology.
Science News -
October 22, 2020
Jon Zelner, assistant professor of epidemiology, says that greater testing in the U.S. and Europe is finding additional COVID-19 cases among younger people who have no symptoms or mild illness, but more deaths may be just a matter of time. “Deaths are a very laggy indicator of transmission,” said Zelner, who expects the current surge in cases to be reflected in an increase in deaths in November.
The New York Times -
October 21, 2020
“I think people are trying to protect their own interests, which in some ways is rational. Even if it can cause what they call a ‘commons problem,’ where then there’s not enough for everybody,” said Stephanie Preston, professor of psychology, commenting on a number of countries that are stockpiling for an uncertain pandemic season amid concerns over whether the global supply chain for food can remain intact as COVID-19 cases rise worldwide.
Marketplace -
October 21, 2020
“If you are not very sick and believe you have not had contact with somebody who might have COVID, then I would not necessarily go get a test or anything like that if you have mild respiratory symptoms. (But) if you are having an illness with cough and respiratory difficulty, you better get tested,” said Arnold Monto, professor of epidemiology, who believes that testing for COVID-19, the flu or a cold should be done on a case-by-case basis.
The Washington Post -
October 21, 2020
“I think if this were 1950, his message would be perfect. The problem is it’s not 1950,” said Karyn Lacy, professor of sociology and Afroamerican and African studies, on President Trump’s pitch to try to reclaim suburban female voters by relying on an airbrushed version of America’s past.
The Associated Press
