In the News
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November 4, 2025
“The survey offers powerful insights into some of the hopes and concerns shaping this historic election. We’re seeing variation in who feels motivated to vote,” said Yucheng Fan, data manager for the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, which found that Detroiters’ levels of optimism about the city is tied to the likelihood of voting in the mayoral election. Jeffrey Morenoff, professor of sociology and public policy who co-leads DMACS, said, “We see notable differences by age, race and city council district, which underscore the importance of capturing the diversity of Detroiters’ views.”
Detroit Metro Times -
November 4, 2025
“They’re very, very hard cases to win,” said Margo Schlanger, professor of law, after a group of Massachusetts prison inmates won a $6 million excessive force lawsuit against corrections officers — the kind of case that carries a high burden of proof, requiring plaintiffs to show that the officers’ conduct was malicious.
The New York Times -
November 4, 2025
“Too often, relationships between universities and companies are framed as transactions. One side licenses technology or buys a service; the other delivers it,” wrote James DeVaney, executive director of the Center for Academic Innovation. “A true partnership is something else entirely — it’s a shared commitment to learning, discovery and value creation that benefits both sides and, most importantly, the learners we serve.”
Inside Higher Ed -
November 3, 2025
Hyperrealistic active shooter drills in schools do not help increase preparedness or make students take them more seriously, says Sarah Stilwell, research investigator at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention: “There’s absolutely no correlation with that. It can cause unnecessary fear and anxiety … according to our research, there was no potential positive benefit.” IFIP researcher Justin Heinze, associate professor of public health, says “there really is no evidence to suggest that simulation elements … improve students’ or staff’s perceptions of preparedness.”
The Trace -
November 3, 2025
Money that immigrants send to their families in their home countries dwarf the size of official foreign aid that the U.S. spends on things like economic development, health and humanitarian assistance, says Dean Yang, professor of economics and public policy: “The anti-immigration actions of the Trump administration are likely to have an even bigger negative effect on the economic development of the world’s poor countries” than the slashing of international aid.
National Public Radio -
November 3, 2025
There is a strong case to be made that the powers given to Congress in Article I of the Constitution represent the floor — not the ceiling — of congressional authority, contends Richard Primus, professor of law. “The point of enumeration, understood this way, was not to rule out powers not mentioned. It was to rule in powers that were important to specify, lest Congress’ authority to exercise those powers be doubted — either on the theory that the relevant powers were held exclusively by the states or on the theory that they belonged to the president,” he wrote.
The New York Times -
October 31, 2025
The rate of children and adolescents getting routine vaccinations for polio, measles, mumps, rubella and meningitis is declining across Michigan, according to research by Kao-Ping Chua, associate professor of pediatrics and public health, who blames economic and transportation barriers, as well as the “increasing exposure to misinformation about vaccines recently … through social media channels.”
WKAR/East Lansing -
October 31, 2025
“It’s the spooky season, but the scariest thing in Michigan right now is AI data centers’ threat to the Great Lakes state,” said Michelle Martinez, director of the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment, who warned that failing to provide protections for residents and the environment from the energy demands of new data centers will sacrifice water resources, balloon electricity costs and risk accelerating climate change.
Michigan Advance -
October 31, 2025
Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson set the stage for today’s political landscape, wrote Daniel Fryer, assistant professor of law: “Jackson’s (presidential) campaigns altered … public perceptions about the possibility of a Black president. His challenge to the Democratic establishment, coalition-building and focus on young voters set the trend for progressive lawmakers … (and his) status as a political outsider and cultural celebrity … foreshadowed the political currents that would help Donald Trump win the presidency.”
The Washington Post -
October 30, 2025
The lack of standardization around the impact of new AI data centers on rural communities is why it’s helpful to take a proactive approach, reevaluating land uses and deciding what the community can handle before large projects come to town, said Sarah Mills, director of the Center for EmPowering Communities: “I think this (shift) is an invitation, an opportunity for rural communities to really assess what it is that they care about and want to be in the future.”
Inside Climate News
