In the News

  1. December 8, 2020
    • Photo of Daniel Crane

    More than 40 states are considering legal action against Facebook for alleged antitrust violations, although it’s still unclear what they will include in their complaints. “The most likely theory would be that the WhatsApp and Instagram acquisitions thwarted the development of nascent competitors to challenge FB’s social networking hegemony,” said Daniel Crane, professor of law.

    Salon
  2. December 8, 2020
    • Gabriela Marcu

    “This concept had worked with other medical emergencies like cardiac arrest and anaphylaxis, so we thought we could have success with transferring it to opioid overdoses,” says Gabriela Marcu, assistant professor of information, who helped develop an app that alerts local volunteers to deliver naloxone when an overdose is occurring.

    Spectrum
  3. December 8, 2020
    • Fabian Pfeffer

    “If one generation has wealth, it becomes easier for the next generation to build their own wealth. If you are from a wealthy family, you are more likely to get a college degree and have other avenues for building wealth early in your life, such as home ownership. And when you are older, inheriting family wealth is just the cherry on top,” said Fabian Pfeffer, director of the Center for Inequality Dynamics, associate professor of sociology and research associate professor at the Institute for Social Research.

    TIME
  4. December 7, 2020
    • Photo of Jeremy Kress

    “Banks thus far seem to have been performing adequately during the COVID crisis. However, I think that the majority of the write downs and losses that we’re going to see are still ahead of us,” said Jeremy Kress, assistant professor of business law. “We should take a moment to step back and assess holistically. This Federal Reserve didn’t really do that under the Trump administration.”

    American Banker
  5. December 7, 2020
    • Natalie Tronson

    Physicians report that a large number of COVID-19 patients experience delirium, disproportionately affecting older adults. “It’s going to be, I think, a little bit frightening and a little bit enlightening, both about how illness affects dementia risk, but also what other lifestyle and genetic protective factors can influence risk as well,” said Natalie Tronson, associate professor of psychology.

    Nature
  6. December 7, 2020
    • Photo of Rafael Meza

    Use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco among U.S. teens has declined by nearly one-fifth annually over the past decade, according to research by Rafael Meza, associate professor of epidemiology and global public health: “This is despite the fact that e-cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular among youth.”

    UPI
  7. December 4, 2020
    • Photo of Abram Wagner

    “We need to decide as a society if we want to eliminate COVID-19, or is it going to be something that’s endemic and at low levels in the background, and we accept that, just like there are periodic outbreaks of measles throughout the world and in the United States,” said Abram Wagner, research assistant professor of epidemiology.

    Michigan Advance
  8. December 4, 2020
    • Headshot of Richard Norton

    Richard Norton, professor of urban and regional planning, and in the Program in the Environment, believes an elevation-based definition of a high water mark for the Great Lakes makes little sense given natural shoreline dynamics and beaches that reconfigure significantly over time as lake levels rise and fall: “Especially on an eroding shoreline where we know that things being built today landward of the ordinary high water mark will eventually end up in the water.” 

    MLive
  9. December 4, 2020
    • Jose Alfaro

    “The United States’ transmission and distribution system is probably the largest machine in the world. And we are basically all tied to it, and microgrids allow pockets of communities to not necessarily completely disengage, but to have more autonomy over how they’re engaging with that machine,” said Jose Alfaro, clinical assistant professor of environment and sustainability, on the increasing use of decentralized power generation — often with solar as its source — to adapt to climate change.

    Marketplace
  10. December 3, 2020
    • Photo of Gabriel Ehrlich

    “Without more aid from the federal government, we’re going to be in serious trouble here in Michigan,” said Gabriel Ehrlich, director of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics. “We would expect school systems, health care systems and local governments to be forced into furloughs (of employees) and likely layoffs if we don’t see more federal aid. That means teachers, police officers, firefighters and nurses are going to be at risk of losing their jobs.” 

    Bridge Magazine