In the News
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April 23, 2020
“In 1935, people were sending dimes in postal envelopes, letters with the same threats or the same promises that you’ll become famous. So why wouldn’t people still do this?” said Scott W. Campbell, professor of communication and media, on the comeback of email chain letters amid the anxiety and restlessness of coronavirus isolation. “This is a way that people are expressing a new level of connectedness.”
CNN -
April 23, 2020
“Even if visiting individual homes is impeded, there are other things they can do to try to improve the count, and I think they will,” said Barbara Anderson, professor of sociology and population studies, on the Census Bureau’s decision to delay some of the count, which could help circumvent the coronavirus pandemic and “make the undercount much less than it would have been otherwise.”
The New York Times -
April 23, 2020
“State governments aren’t built to handle national crises. They have difficulty coordinating their efforts because of what social scientists call collective action problems. … Governors naturally put their own residents’ welfare first, even if they know that every state would be better off if all coordinated. No one was ever re-elected governor of Rhode Island for helping the people of New York,” wrote Jenna Bednar, professor of political science.
The Washington Post -
April 22, 2020
With tornado season upon us, officials should clearly communicate what residents need to know before a disaster strikes, especially since people whose homes are destroyed and lives upended are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, says Ryan Malosh, assistant research scientist in epidemiology: “The public will need to know both where to go to be safe from the natural disaster and how to protect themselves, and others, from the virus once they get there.”
TIME -
April 22, 2020
Closing schools for a long period has the potential to seriously exacerbate disparities between lower-income students, who may not have internet or computer access, and their higher-income peers, according to Julia Wolfson, assistant professor of health management and policy, and of nutritional sciences, and Roshanak Mehdipanah, assistant professor of health behavior and health education. “The biggest immediate needs are making sure students who need food can get it and students who need additional support connecting with teachers, classmates and learning opportunities get that technical support,” Wolfson said.
The Detroit News -
April 22, 2020
“It’s not the role of states, in terms of the real practical operation of the system, to be leaders, to be defining policy on this level for themselves, let alone for large parts of the country collectively. So a lot of governors and a lot of state governments rose to the challenge, and took decisive action and coordinated, and, in many ways, became united states,” said Scott Greer, professor of health management and policy and of political science.
National Public Radio -
April 21, 2020
Hospital layoffs due to declining revenues from lost patient office visits and postponed medical procedures are a sign of the stress that the health care system is under, says Wally Hopp, professor of technology and operations, and industrial and operations engineering: “They’re trying to stem the red ink that’s hitting them. The lion’s share of their costs is people. It’s tragic that they’re furloughing people in the middle of a health and economic crisis.”
Detroit Free Press -
April 21, 2020
“Investigative journalists and academic researchers should analyze China’s official data on (coronavirus) infections and deaths as there is likely significant underreporting,” said Mary Gallagher, professor of political science and director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies. “The U.S. should reverse its decision to halt funding to the W.H.O. It should admit to its own mistakes … in downplaying the severity of the virus.”
Vox -
April 21, 2020
“Your facts versus my facts. We have denigrated expertise across the board, whether it’s expertise in scientific institutions or expertise in policy institutions. We don’t trust government,” said Andy Hoffman, professor of management and organizations, and environment and sustainability, on the deterioration in the quality of public discourse and a rejection of objective realities exposed and exacerbated by the COVID crisis in America.
HuffPost -
April 20, 2020
Congress has the authority to supersede state orders closing businesses in response to COVID-19, “but the fact that Congress could make laws nullifying those aspects of gubernatorial orders does not mean that the president, acting on his own, could countermand those state-law orders. As a raw constitutional matter, the president of the United States has very little power to give enforceable orders in the domestic policy sphere,” wrote Richard Primus, professor law.
Detroit Free Press
