In the News
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May 22, 2020
“A safe, effective vaccine is the only way to safely build herd immunity to this virus now. This is not just about getting through the current crisis. If this virus stays around, we need a vaccine to prevent resurgences in future generations,” said Emily Toth Martin, associate professor of epidemiology.
Business Insider -
May 22, 2020
The flooding in Midland this week likely will pose a significant setback to the cleanup of a federal Superfund site caused by Dow Chemical’s release of dioxins in the last century, which contaminated areas along the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers, says Allen Burton, professor of environment and sustainability, and earth and environmental sciences: “They knew where all that stuff was, but the power of water is unbelievable and it’s going to move things around.”
The Associated Press -
May 22, 2020
“Downturns or challenging times are seen as good times to start a business for two reasons. One is, there is less competition for resources. The second reason is that whatever changes we face, positive or negative, bring up new customer needs. And customer needs are at the core of any business,” said Rashmi Menon, entrepreneur in residence at the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.
The New York Times -
May 21, 2020
Research by Joyojeet Pal, associate professor of information, found that since the end of March, there has been a rise in misinformation about Muslims in India’s mainstream media: “The truly insidious part is the way in which Islamophobia is suggested, without explicit mention. This could include the selection of participants for TV debates, which allows an anchor to claim neutrality, but have participants indulge in extreme claims that go unchallenged.”
Aljazeera -
May 21, 2020
“Do kids eat in response to stress? Some kids do. When we do think they’re eating more because of the pandemic, is it because they’re emotionally distraught, or anxiety, depression — or that they’re bored? … If you think your child is emotionally overeating … help the child manage their emotions better, help children understand this pandemic, manage their fear, manage their anger over what they’ve lost,” said Julie Lumeng, professor of pediatrics and nutritional sciences and director of the Center for Human Growth and Development.
The New York Times -
May 21, 2020
U.S. authorities initially reserved coronavirus tests for people with symptoms who had a recent history of overseas travel — which could have excluded people from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, including people of color, says Enrique Neblett, professor of health behavior and health education. Going forward, getting tests to people and communities most at risk should be a priority, he says.
Nature -
May 20, 2020
Kristin Seefeldt, associate professor of social work and public policy, says Michigan’s unemployment system was never set up to handle severe drops in unemployment: “Usually in our economic downturns, job loss happens gradually and our systems are designed for that. They’re not designed for a switch being flipped and all of a sudden you’ve got hundreds of thousands of people trying to apply.”
MLive -
May 20, 2020
Allowing offshore companies to qualify for coronavirus aid from the Federal Reserve makes sense because the firms are still largely American and retain U.S.-based workforces, says Reuven Avi-Yonah, professor of law: “I don’t see any good economic reason to exclude inverted companies. They are just as American as other companies — that is, in fact, the problem with inversions in the first place.”
Bloomberg -
May 20, 2020
Due to a history of housing discrimination, generations of African Americans have been forced to live in areas that lack access to healthy food options. “And we know that results in chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. COVID-19 did not create these racial disparities that we are seeing. It simply magnified these disparities in unbelievable ways,” says Jessie Kimbrough Marshall, clinical assistant professor of internal medicine.
CNBC -
May 19, 2020
The likelihood of unemployed people returning to work depends heavily on whether states can restart their economies without creating new surges in COVID-19 infections, says Gabriel Ehrlich, director of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics. “The most important thing driving what happens to the economy is the course of disease. Do people feel safe? Are they safe? We’re hoping we’ve seen the worst.”
The Associated Press
