In the News
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October 15, 2021
Art has the ability to help people understand and work through difficult feelings and ideas, says Rogério Pinto, associate professor of social work: “ The pursuit of art-based projects and the experience of visual and performing arts can be really good for one’s well-being. As you begin to be able to heal yourself … some space begins to open within yourself so that now you can accommodate someone else or you can begin to accommodate the plight of another person.”
Pride Source -
October 15, 2021
“They are the ecosystem that is really the most endangered,” said Joan Nassauer, professor of environment and sustainability. “Wetlands were in the way of agriculture, so they were drained. They were in the way of developments, so they were filled. So what we have left is just a fraction of what we had before.”
WXYZ / Detroit -
October 14, 2021
As the number of vulnerable hosts dwindles and transmission slows, COVID-19 will have fewer opportunities to mutate. And the evolution rate could also slow down as the virus becomes better adapted to humans. “There’s low-hanging fruit,” said Adam Lauring, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and ecology and evolutionary biology. “So there are certain ways it can evolve and make big improvements, but after a while … it’s figured out all the easy ways to improve.”
The New York Times -
October 14, 2021
“When you say climate change is real and happening, what do I do about that today? The message hasn’t been as immediate, and the behaviors not as tangible,” said Marcus Collins, clinical assistant professor of marketing, who believes awareness alone isn’t enough and that just as the “Don’t Mess With Texas” anti-littering campaign in the 1980s tapped into state pride to spark action, climate crisis communications should use a similar approach.
Fast Company -
October 14, 2021
“If radiation exposure makes your metal like Swiss cheese instead of a good Wisconsin cheddar, you would know it’s not going to have structural integrity,” said Kevin Field, associate professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences, who helped create a new machine learning platform that uses augmented reality to detect and quantify radiation-induced defects of parts and testing materials in nuclear reactors.
Forbes -
October 13, 2021
“Semiconductors are a very large segment of our life. They’re in every car, phone, microwave and refrigerator. We do depend on it, and we need to make sure we have investment to keep that alive,” said David Blaauw, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, who has several projects focused on increasing the ability of chips to perform more than one function.
The Detroit News -
October 13, 2021
“I think that this year may be different than last year in that we were going into flu season last year without a COVID vaccine and so I think people were much better about masking and were a little more worried. The fears were a little higher last year,” said Payal Patel, assistant professor of internal medicine and infectious diseases. “My advice to my patients and the general community is definitely to get the flu vaccine.”
WXYZ / Detroit -
October 13, 2021
New York City is giving every public school kindergartner $100 in a college savings account, which can significantly increase a child’s likelihood of pursuing higher education, says William Elliott III, professor of social work: “They feel like they can change their destiny and their future. … One of the really important things these kinds of programs do is they provide the infrastructure to transfer wealth to lower-income families.”
The New York Times -
October 12, 2021
“We hope … that at the end of the day, once we’re done with this, that we’ll have a model that can be replicated elsewhere in the nation,” said Earl Lewis, professor and director of the Center for Social Solutions, which is working to ensure a “just future” for Black and Native communities in the form of reparations. Jessica Cruz, managing director of the Just Futures initiative, said, “I think repair, redress, acknowledgement and accountability are in the spirit of … trying to break the cycle of intergenerational harm.”
MLive -
October 12, 2021
“I’m a public health practitioner and it’s very exciting to see this inoculation rollout. … It’s a privilege and an honor to be able to protect myself and my community by doing something so simple,” said Alicia Kalsi, COVID-19 community sampling and tracking program site coordinator at the School of Public Health, commenting on the administration of the vaccine booster.
CNN
