In the News
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January 27, 2021
“Understanding whether it’s different individuals within a community or different communities themselves … which are more willing to accept this kind of infrastructure and which are not, I think, is going to help align future policies,” said Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Graham Sustainability Institute and the Ford School of Public Policy’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, whose research shows that certain characteristics of a community predict how well wind turbines will be received.
Grist -
January 27, 2021
Jon Zelner, assistant professor of epidemiology, says there is too little scientific data to know whether curfews are effective in combating the coronavirus, but that such coercive measures rarely work in the long run: “One of the things I worry about with relatively vague or poorly reasoned orders is that it erodes the trust people need to have to follow these.”
The New York Times -
January 26, 2021
“This is the most fraught, controversial issue in my 45 years in tobacco control, it has torn the field asunder,” said Ken Warner, dean emeritus of public health, regarding the debate in which some researchers see vaping as a useful way to reduce harm to existing smokers, while others argue it is too dangerous and will lead a new generation to start smoking.
WIRED -
January 26, 2021
“I think we can probably all ubiquitously say that before the presidency, the name Trump stood in for wealth. It stood in for business, and for being business savvy,” said Marcus Collins, lecturer of marketing. “In the last two years of his presidency, his brand has stood for other things: the divisiveness, the misogyny, the xenophobia and the racism — all of these things that he’s demonstrated in his time in office.”
Vox -
January 26, 2021
“We’ve been socialized to have a very limited definition of the right space for fitness. And if we couldn’t make it to that gym or studio we signed up for, we’re conditioned to think of that as a failure,” Michelle Segar, director of the Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center, on the rapid growth of at-home fitness.
The Wall Street Journal -
January 25, 2021
“I’m trying to think of any other equivalent time. I’m not coming up with any,” said Judith Heidebrink, professor of neurology, on whether there has been a more dire time than this for dementia patients, who do best when they have a set routine and social interaction.
USA Today / Detroit Free Press -
January 25, 2021
“While stress and anxiety are not the cause of stutter, they do exacerbate it,” said Soo-Eun Chang, associate professor of psychiatry, who has seen an increase in cases of stutter in her clinical practice during the pandemic — mostly in people whose existing stutter worsened or whose childhood stutter returned.
Scientific American -
January 25, 2021
“By choosing to make the Shop tab central to its platform, Instagram is sending its users a message: This platform is a business, and interactions on this platform are going to be commodified,” wrote Nazanin Andalibi, assistant professor of information, on the recent redesign of Instagram.
The American Genius -
January 22, 2021
“When you get vaccinated, you generate antibodies all over the spike protein. That makes it less likely that one mutation here or there is going to leave you completely unprotected. That’s what gives me reason for optimism that this is going to be OK in terms of the vaccine, but there’s more work to be done,” said Adam Lauring, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and ecology and evolutionary biology.
The New York Times -
January 22, 2021
“It’s more partisan, more polarized, more contentious than at any time since” after the Civil War, said Richard Friedman, professor of law. But he dismisses the idea that bruised feelings would play any role in how Supreme Court justices decide cases: “It’s a remarkable thing what life tenure does. It can diminish the force of any kinds of grudge. You don’t need to get back at anybody.”
The Associated Press
