In the News
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July 7, 2021
Brian Stewart, assistant professor of anthropology, says a skull discovered in China could belong to a new species of ancient human, but more research is needed: “I’m not saying we have to have paleogenetic data, I’m just saying that you really need some other independent lines of evidence before we can say, ‘Oh, this can somehow rewrite the entire trajectory of out of Africa movements and later human evolution that led to these different species in different parts of the Old World.'”
Salon -
July 7, 2021
“Ultimately, a lot of our social behaviors are deeply rooted in ideologies about race, even if it’s very implicitly, even if you’re not thinking about it. The things that you do on a daily basis, where you buy your house, where you send your kids to school, who you date, who you marry — race plays a part in all of that,” said Apryl Williams, assistant professor of communication and media.
Mic -
July 7, 2021
“It’s one thing to suspect a source of microplastic pollution, but quite another to see it happening,” said Christopher Ruf, professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, who helped develop NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, which measures wind speeds over oceans using radar, but also helps scientists figure out where microplastics go in the ocean.
The Washington Post -
July 7, 2021
“There is a large disparity in dementia-related treatment and diagnosis among Black older adults, who are often diagnosed much later in the disease trajectory compared to other racial and ethnic groups,” said Sheria Robinson-Lane, assistant professor of nursing, whose study revealed that 91 percent of people with cognitive impairment consistent with dementia did not have a formal medical diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
UPI -
June 30, 2021
“The next generation, and generations, we really need to reduce our emissions. We’re in a climate crisis. We have a small window to act,” said Gregory Keoleian, professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Systems, whose research shows that an energy-efficient house can cut carbon emissions by more than 60 percent over the home’s 50-year lifecycle.
CNBC -
June 30, 2021
“We still have to pay attention to the social determinants of health that were occurring before the pandemic, which made Black and brown communities at a higher risk of dying of the coronavirus. The root causes of co-morbidities aren’t biological; they’re social,” said Melissa Creary, assistant professor of health management and policy, who worries that Black Americans will continue to be disproportionately affected by the pandemic in the long term.
NBC News -
June 30, 2021
“It’s true, the founding generation didn’t intend Washington, D.C., to be a state, but the founding generation also didn’t intend to create a situation in which 700,000 Americans would have no voting representation in Congress. For the founders, no principle was more central to the Constitution than representative government,” said Richard Primus, professor of law.
National Public Radio -
June 30, 2021
“These bills would harm students by keeping them from learning about the complexity of our larger society and their place in it, depriving them of a fully rounded education,” said Anthony Mora, associate professor of history and American culture, on the GOP push in many states to prevent students from learning about the triumphs and struggles of LGBTQ Americans.
The New Republic -
June 23, 2021
More than half of Detroit public school students said they experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression and 23 percent considered attempting suicide before the pandemic. “Given the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on communities of color, the need for mental health support for Detroit students is even greater now,” said Robin Jacob, co-director of the U-M Youth Policy Lab. Elizabeth Koschmann, director of U-M’s TRAILS program, said leveraging school and community resources already in place may be an effective strategy.
The Detroit News -
June 23, 2021
Research by Jennifer Erb-Downward, senior research associate at Poverty Solutions, found that homeless students face disciplinary action in Michigan public schools at a higher rate than their always-housed peers: “When you suspend or expel a child from school who’s homeless or housing unstable, you’re really removing from them the one location of consistency and stability that they have.”
Bridge Michigan
