In the News

  1. March 21, 2024
    • Paige Sweet

    Gaslighting is different from other forms of emotional abuse because of its subtlety, says Paige Sweet, assistant professor of sociology: “Gaslighting is so hard to recognize. People use the language of ‘twilight zone’ when they describe gaslighting relationships — the sense that things are wrong or bad, but you can’t really put your finger on it.”

    Fortune
  2. March 20, 2024
    • Richard Hall

    “It’s so hard to get anything passed, especially when you have such high levels of polarization. It doesn’t take a lot to stop legislation. You’d have to imagine a very different political world than what we have now,” said Richard Hall, professor of political science and public policy, on the prospect of Congress passing a 32-hour workweek bill.

    ABC News
  3. March 20, 2024
    • Daniel Fryer

    “Prosecutors recognize that community members — who become members of the jury — find these tragic school shootings especially repugnant. So, it may not be unreasonable to worry that other prosecutors across the nation will follow suit,” said Daniel Fryer, assistant professor of law, about the manslaughter convictions of the parents of the Oxford school shooter.

    The Daily Beast
  4. March 20, 2024
    • Anne Curzan

    “Debates about words are rarely just about words; they’re about people and prejudice, about social and political issues, and about power,” said LSA Dean Anne Curzan, professor of English language and literature, linguistics, and education. “We can and should have critical conversations about usage — about clarity and rhetorical effectiveness, about prevalence and personal preferences.”

    The Wall Street Journal
  5. March 19, 2024
    • Eve Brensike Primus

    “I think this verdict sends a similar message to the many law changes that we’re seeing around the country, requiring safe storage of weapons in light of the increase in mass shootings and deaths related to firearms violence in the country,” said Eve Brensike Primus, professor of law, on the manslaughter conviction of James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford school shooter.

    The Detroit News
  6. March 19, 2024
    • Frank Vandervort

    “I think this is a pretty unique case. It’s hard to talk about shootings by teenagers as being run-of-the-mill. Unless you’ve got really unusual factual situations, I don’t anticipate a lot of parents getting charged,” said Frank Vandervort, clinical professor of law, on the manslaughter convictions of Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley’s parents.

    CNN
  7. March 19, 2024
    • Leah Litman

    “Once you start saying that states have a legitimate interest in treating fetuses, unviable fetuses, as potential human beings, then that doesn’t end with abortion. It extends to contraception, it extends to IVF, it extends to all other manners of reproductive health care,” said Leah Litman, professor of law.

    MSNBC
  8. March 18, 2024
    • Hafiz Malik

    While AI-generated audio lacks the obvious visual cues of AI images or videos, there are ways to identify AI audio by listening for abnormalities in vocal tone, articulation or pacing, says Hafiz Malik, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UM-Dearborn: “(AI-generated voices) lack emotions. They lack the rise and fall in the audio that you typically have when you talk. They are pretty monotonic.”

    The Dallas Morning News
  9. March 18, 2024
    • Cathy Goldstein

    Cathy Goldstein, professor of neurology at the Sleep Disorders Center, says if one’s sleep-wake cycle changes a lot, the body will not have a great idea of when to have high-quality deep sleep: “Circadian rhythm is our internal biological clock, it times when we’re awake, it times when we’re asleep — it times most of our physiological processes, so our body does what it needs to do at the right time of day.”

    CNN
  10. March 18, 2024
    • Brian Jacob

    “It’s a substantial reduction in their achievement. It’s a tragedy. It’s a massive case of government failure in one of its basic jobs to help ensure the physical well-being of its citizens,” said Brian Jacob, professor of public policy, economics and education, who found that after the Flint water crisis, students faced a substantial decline in math scores — losing the equivalent of five months of learning progress.

    The Washington Post