Wednesday, April 16

Journalism

Payout Plans In Opioid Lawsuit Overlook A Vital Need: Pain Management Care And Research Focused On Smarter Use Of Addictive Drugs
No Comments
HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism, VIDEO REELS

Payout Plans In Opioid Lawsuit Overlook A Vital Need: Pain Management Care And Research Focused On Smarter Use Of Addictive Drugs

HEALTH & WELLNESS Mark C. Bicket, University of Michigan The opioid crisis has resulted in more than 500,000 overdose deaths over the past two decades. The federal government, states and other entities have filed litigation against drug manufacturers, suppliers and pharmacies as one approach to address the harm and suffering caused by inappropriate opioid prescribing practices. Billions of dollars of funds have since been awarded, and more is likely to come. To ensure these funds are used in areas relevant to opioids, policy and public health groups led by experts at Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University and other organizations have proposed frameworks detailing priorities on what to do with the money. But none of them address the needs of one critical group: patients who suf...
Read More
Young Voters Are Fighting Back Against Voter Suppression
No Comments
Journalism, POLITICS

Young Voters Are Fighting Back Against Voter Suppression

Politics In November 2020, young voters exercised their electoral power by turning out in record numbers to help Democrats win the White House and other key races. In 2021, however, an onslaught of voter suppression measures being enacted in statehouses could have an outsized impact on those young people, according to voting rights advocates. “We’ve seen some pretty concerted efforts to push back against that new engagement from young voters,” says attorney Sean Morales-Doyle, acting director for Voting Rights and Elections at the Brennan Center for Justice. The Brennan Center has reported that so far this year at least 18 states have enacted 30 laws to make it harder to vote, and more than 400 bills with provisions that restrict voting access have been introduced in state legislatures....
Read More
“Whitey On The Moon” Perfectly Captures Bezos’ Space Joy Ride
No Comments
Journalism

“Whitey On The Moon” Perfectly Captures Bezos’ Space Joy Ride

After Jeff Bezos returned from his 10-minute space flight in late July, there was a moment during his post-flight news conference when the crowd seemed to realize just how fucked up it all was. Bezos singled out Amazon’s customers and staff, saying “you guys paid for all this.” Realizing the gravitas of that casual statement, the audience emitted some pained laughter while the hostess looked around awkwardly, waiting for the moment to subside. It reminded me of what Gil Scott-Heron, the “godfather of rap” said in his 1970 poem “Whitey on the Moon.” Those watching Bezos might have realized just what it meant when the world’s richest man said that the public paid for the lavish goods he enjoys, especially seeing as he doesn’t seem to contribute much to the goods that the public enjoys. Mayb...
Read More
Suspending Or Expelling Millions Of Kids Each Year Doesn’t Address The Root Of The Behavior
No Comments
EDUCATION, Journalism

Suspending Or Expelling Millions Of Kids Each Year Doesn’t Address The Root Of The Behavior

Alysse Loomis, University of Utah Each school year, nearly 3 million K-12 students get suspended and over 100,000 get expelled from school. The offenses range from simply not following directions, to hitting or kicking, to more serious behaviors like getting caught with drugs or a weapon. And it starts early in students’ education – it’s not uncommon for preschoolers as young as 3 years old to be suspended or expelled from their childcare program. A big part of the problem has to do with implicit biases. Black students, especially boys, are suspended and expelled at much higher rates than white students. Teachers tend to see the behavior of boys in general and students of color as more difficult, and they respond in harsher ways. This is true even if it is the exact same behavior. But ...
Read More
How To Improve The Juvenile Justice System – Research And Ideas Shared By Formerly Incarcerated Teens
No Comments
Journalism

How To Improve The Juvenile Justice System – Research And Ideas Shared By Formerly Incarcerated Teens

Shiv R. Desai, University of New Mexico “They treat us like animals.” “I was called a menace to society by two judges.” These are just two of the comments made by incarcerated teens during focus group interviews inside a juvenile detention center in New Mexico. Over the course of two hourlong sessions, detained youths shared their stories of how they ran afoul of the law and discussed key strategies for how they would improve the juvenile justice system. These sessions were conducted by members of Leaders Organizing 2 Unite and Decriminalize, a youth group comprising young people ages 15 to 19. While some members are formerly incarcerated, others are allies. I was a co-facilitator of LOUD and guided the group in its research. Our main focus was to conduct what’s called a Youth Partici...
Read More
Sexual Harassment And Discrimination In Gaming And Tech – The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Shows Gamer Culture Still Has A Long Way To Go
No Comments
Journalism

Sexual Harassment And Discrimination In Gaming And Tech – The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Shows Gamer Culture Still Has A Long Way To Go

Eric Smalley, The Conversation Sexual harassment in gamer culture burst back into the spotlight on July 21, 2021, with news of California’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, publisher of top-selling video games Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, and a walkout by company employees. The lawsuit alleges a “pervasive ‘frat boy’ culture” at the company and discrimination against women in pay and promotion. The turmoil is an echo of the infamous Gamergate episode of 2014 that featured an organized online campaign of harassment against female gamers, game developers and gaming journalists. The allegations are also of a piece with a decadeslong history of gender discrimination in the technology field. We’ve been covering sexual harassment and gender discrimination in gaming – a...
Read More
3 Essential Reads About The CDC’s Expiring Moratorium As Millions Of Renters Face Eviction And Homelessness
No Comments
Journalism

3 Essential Reads About The CDC’s Expiring Moratorium As Millions Of Renters Face Eviction And Homelessness

Bryan Keogh, The Conversation The White House and city officials across the country are scrambling to avoid an eviction crisis. The federal housing eviction moratorium that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put in place in September 2020 expires on July 31, 2021. After that, millions of Americans who owe tens of billions of dollars in unpaid rent will lose that protection and may face eviction and a loss of their homes. Meanwhile, a group of landlords is suing the U.S. government to recover damages it says its members suffered from not being able to evict tenants who didn’t pay rent. Although Congress allocated more than $46 billion for emergency rental aid, most of it hasn’t reached many of the people who need it as state and local governments struggle to distribute the mo...
Read More
‘Everyday Memorials’ Will Help – As Americans Return To Pre-Pandemic Life
No Comments
Journalism

‘Everyday Memorials’ Will Help – As Americans Return To Pre-Pandemic Life

David Sloane, University of Southern California After more than 17 months of pandemic restrictions, Americans find themselves at an awkward cultural divide. As psychologist Adam Grant wrote in a New York Times article, some of us feel a true whoosh of joy at the first hug, maskless kiss and happy reunion. Many of us are shaking off post-pandemic blues by dining out, partying and grasping at every opportunity to reconnect with those family and friends that we missed for so long. On the other side of the divide are the people who are still sick, recovering from their illness or mourning. For the millions who lost loved ones, as nursing scholars Paul T. Clements, Laurel Garzon and Tammi F. Milliken have written – unexpected pandemic deaths resulted in an “overwhelming sense of helplessness,...
Read More
One Of America’s Deepest Downturns Was Also Its Shortest After COVID-19 Recession Bailout Bounceback
No Comments
Journalism

One Of America’s Deepest Downturns Was Also Its Shortest After COVID-19 Recession Bailout Bounceback

Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University Thanks to a roaring economy, plunging joblessness and a consumer spending spree, it probably won’t come as a surprise that the COVID-19 recession is officially over. We didn’t know this, formally, however, until July 19, 2021, when a group of America’s top economists determined that the pandemic recession ended two months after it began, making it the shortest downturn on record. As an economist who has written a macroeconomics textbook, I was eagerly waiting to know the official dates. This is in part because I recently asked my Boston University MBA students to make guesses, and we all wanted to know who was closest to the mark. While many of my students ended up nailing it, I was off by a month. But why did it take over a year to learn the recessio...
Read More
Unlike Companies Traded On Wall Street – Trump Organization Indictment Hints At Downsides Of Having No Independent Oversight
No Comments
Journalism

Unlike Companies Traded On Wall Street – Trump Organization Indictment Hints At Downsides Of Having No Independent Oversight

Bert Spector, Northeastern University A Manhattan grand jury indicted the Trump Organization and one of its top executives, Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, reportedly over a failure to pay taxes, according to multiple reports. The indictment is expected to be unsealed on July 1, 2021. I’m a scholar in corporate leadership and governance. While I can’t comment on the specifics of the case, I do know that private companies like the Trump Organization lack the safeguards of public corporations – like outside ownership and independent oversight. Moreover, impulsive decision-making by an individual or small, isolated group of followers, without those safeguards, can and often will lead to disastrous results. That appears to be what the ongoing criminal investigations into the Tru...
Read More