In the News
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April 4, 2025
“There is near-universal agreement … that nonbank financial companies like hedge funds and insurance companies can pose systemic risks,” said Jeremy Kress, associate professor of business law. “Designating individual nonbanks for heightened oversight is one of the only tools U.S. regulators have to respond to these risks. Unilaterally taking that tool off the table would be a grave mistake.”
Bloomberg -
April 3, 2025
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services now requires that those applying for asylum, permanent residency or naturalization provide their social media handles. “Previously, this information has been used for a limited set of reasons — fraud, national security risks, criminal backgrounds. … If the intention is to screen applicants for what they say in social media in terms of their personal beliefs, that would be new ground and unprecedented,” said Cliff Lampe, professor of information.
Forbes -
April 3, 2025
The federal government has canceled dozens of grants related to researching advancements in HIV care, decimating progress toward eliminating the epidemic in the U.S., said Erin Kahle, associate professor of nursing, who lost an NIH grant: “This is erasing an entire population of people who have been impacted by an infectious disease. This is setting us back decades.”
The Guardian -
April 3, 2025
“If we no longer include women or females in our research, we’re obviously going to go back to not having answers that are going to be applicable to both sexes. And I think that’s a big step backward,” said Jill Becker, professor of psychology, who believes her research on how sex differences affect people’s responses to drug addiction and treatment could lose federal funding.
PBS News -
April 2, 2025
Consumer sentiment is at its lowest level in more than two years, after plummeting 12% in March. “Consumers perceive a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the economy — policy uncertainty, market uncertainty, general economic uncertainty,” said Joanne Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers. “The fact that expectations worsened across the board suggests that consumers perceive more downside than upside risk for the foreseeable future.”
The Detroit News -
April 2, 2025
“Its fragile Afro-alpine ecosystems are crucial to biologists studying biodiversity. Its freshwater resources are southern Africa’s most important. Archaeologically, it is significant,” co-wrote Brian Stewart, associate professor of anthropology and curator of African archaeology at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology, after Donald Trump described Lesotho as a country that “nobody has ever heard of.”
Nature -
April 2, 2025
A new wave of smaller, cheaper nuclear reactors may have a short window to succeed, given the regulatory scrutiny and advances in energy storage technologies to make wind and solar power more reliable and economical, says Brendan Kochunas, assistant professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences.
The Associated Press -
April 1, 2025
“I think if federal funds truly go away, universities will still exist, but they will just be smaller. They will not be globally competitive, and a lot of really important work that has been getting done will no longer happen,” said Elizabeth Popp Berman, professor of organizational studies.
Marketplace -
April 1, 2025
“What’s the real risk the UAW sees at the moment, and what are the possible benefits? One strategy is to make it look like they are on the administration’s side. It’s clear this administration will take actions with the apparent intent to harm whomever it sees as an enemy,” said Josh Pasek, professor of communication and media, on the UAW’s support of tariffs — a stark reversal of its campaign battles with Donald Trump.
Detroit Free Press -
April 1, 2025
Ending NIH clinical trials with no warning puts patients at risk and is “completely reckless,” says Katie Edwards, professor of social work, who has had three clinical trials terminated, including one testing whether an online mentoring program could reduce rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm among trans teens — which, she says, “could lead to a number of negative outcomes, including increasing suicidality.”
The Atlantic
