In the News
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November 25, 2019
Kelly Wright, doctoral student in linguistics, says the language used to describe NFL player Myles Garrett in the aftermath of his fight with an opposing player is a marker of racialization: “The choices of phrasing here are no coincidence. … It is no secret that a criminal stereotype follows black people like a specter, and one look at who gets called a thug is a good illustration of that.”
ESPN -
November 25, 2019
“We all have tension, but it’s how we cope with it that is most important,” said Kira Birditt, research associate professor at the Institute for Social Research, who was quoted in a story about holiday stress and family drama — and ways to maintain one’s composure and defuse tension at the dinner table.
The New York Times -
November 22, 2019
“When you compare us to other hospital systems in Canada or the United Kingdom, we produce almost twice as much CO2 per person as those health care systems,” said Emily Johnson, a student at the Medical School, who is working to address the problem of waste at health care facilities — the second-largest contributor to landfills after the food industry in the U.S.
WDET (Detroit) -
November 22, 2019
Testing a possible method for reducing rabies transmission in wild vampire bats, Kevin Bakker, a research fellow in statistics, and colleagues used a glowing gel to see how well a similarly spreadable vaccine might work at vaccinating bats. “Vaccinating bats would be more efficient at reducing the number of cases, length of outbreaks and probability of outbreaks in vampire bat colonies than the current policy of culling,” he said.
Digital Trends -
November 22, 2019
Carrie Rheingans, a project manager at the Center for Health and Research Transformation, says the failure to link emergency room overdose patients with outside treatment remains an issue at many hospitals: “The biggest challenge that ER docs have is that if somebody is ready for treatment, there’s not a place for them to go. Treatment can be different things for different people.”
Bridge Magazine -
November 21, 2019
“It’s not simple to do a meaningful algorithm audit. But it is important to do,” said Paul Resnick, professor of information, who co-authored a report recommending consumer companies examine data fed to an algorithm as well as its output to check whether bias — even unintentional — exists in the treatment of customers. Businesses are prohibited by law from using gender or race in algorithmic decisions, which may deter them from collecting the information in the first place, he said.
WIRED -
November 21, 2019
Lisa Disch, professor of political science and women’s studies, says ranked-choice voting, a system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference instead of choosing only one — even in a race for a single office — would change the way candidates campaign: “That encourages them to run issue-focused, nondirt-throwing campaigns. I’m hardly going to rank you second if you run down my favorite.”
WEMU Radio -
November 21, 2019
“Cognitive decline is much higher among people with hearing loss,” said Elham Mahmoudi, assistant professor of family medicine, whose research suggests that for people with hearing loss, using a hearing aid is associated with a reduced risk of three common health problems of aging — dementia, depression and falls.
The Washington Post -
November 20, 2019
“As Democrats debate the best way to achieve universal coverage and lower health care costs, the Trump administration has a different approach to the challenges of our current system. It’s working overtime to make the system more fragile for the sick and the poor, even as it misrepresents to Congress and the American public what it’s up to. … That’s the ugly truth,” wrote Nicholas Bagley, professor of law.
The New York Times -
November 20, 2019
“We really haven’t done a good job of getting the word out that there really are things you can do to lower your risk,” said Donovan Maust, associate professor of psychiatry, whose research shows that many older American adults inaccurately estimate their chances for developing dementia, and don’t understand the connection between physical health and brain health, and how racial differences can affect dementia risk.
ABC News
