Journalism – Page 31

COVID-19 Closures Could Hit Historically Black Colleges Particularly Hard

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism

COVID-19 Closures Could Hit Historically Black Colleges Particularly Hard

As the COVID-19 crisis forces many schools to close their campuses and move all courses online, some worry that the pandemic could have a bigger negative impact on the nation’s historically black colleges and universities, than for other campuses. Here, The Conversation US has assembled a panel of experts to forecast what’s in store for HBCUs. How is the outbreak is affecting HBCUs? Marybeth Gasman, professor of education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Rutgers University Marybeth Gasman, professor of education at Rutgers University: I am worried about the technology demands on HBCUs, given how few IT specialists many smaller HBCUs have as well as the costs of managing online classes. I’m also worried about students not having access to Wi-Fi at home or laptops – 75% of HBCU stude...

What happens to charitable giving when the economy falters?

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

What happens to charitable giving when the economy falters?

As the new coronavirus pandemic sends the economy into a tailspin, Patrick Rooney, an economist at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and Jon Bergdoll, a philanthropy statistician, explain what usually happens to giving during recessions. Do Americans give more to charity when more people are in need? No. Overall, for the last 64 years total giving has grown at an average annual rate of 3.3% adjusted for inflation. But the picture changes if you compare what’s happened when the economy has grown versus when it has contracted. During years with economic growth, average giving has increased by 4.7%. During the years marked by economic downturns, average giving has actually decreased by 0.5%. During economic downturns, more people are out of work and need a hand. But...

Domestic Pariah, International Superstar – Langston Hughes

4Apr

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Journalism

Domestic Pariah, International Superstar – Langston Hughes

A leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, the inspiration behind Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun” and an uncompromising voice for social justice, Langston Hughes is heralded as one of America’s greatest poets. It wasn’t always this way. During his career, Hughes was routinely harassed by his own government. And the nation’s literati, balking at his subversive politics, tended to overlook his work. But the opposite was true abroad, in places like France, Nigeria and Cuba, where Hughes had legions of devoted readers who were some of the first to recognize the promise and power of the poet’s words. In my new book, “Langston Hughes: Critical Lives,” I trace Hughes’ budding international stardom, and how it clashed with the hostility he faced back home. Building a fan base Gr...

Older people are at more risk from COVID-19 because of how the immune system ages

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism

Older people are at more risk from COVID-19 because of how the immune system ages

The rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic is taking a particularly harsh toll on older people. Data from the initial outbreak in China and then Italy show that infected people under the age of 60 are at low – but not no – risk of dying from COVID-19. Curiously, young children do not appear to be at increased risk of serious COVID-19 complications, in contrast to what happens with other viruses, like the seasonal flu. However, the statistics get grimmer as the patients get older. Whereas people in their 60s have a 0.4% chance of dying, people in their 70s have a 1.3% chance of dying, and people over 80 have a 3.6% chance of dying. While this may not sound like a high chance of death, during the current outbreak in Italy, 83% of those who succumbed to COVID-19 infection were over the age ...

Prosecutors are increasingly – and misleadingly – using rap lyrics as evidence in court

2Apr

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IN OTHER NEWS, Journalism

Prosecutors are increasingly – and misleadingly – using rap lyrics as evidence in court

Rapper Darrell Caldwell, better known to fans as Drakeo the Ruler, was on his way to stardom. Hailed as one of the most original rappers to emerge from Los Angeles in a generation, he had garnered hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, tens of millions of views on YouTube and the attention of media outlets like SPIN, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. Now he’s on trial for his life, and prosecutors are planning to do what they’ve done to hundreds of other accused hip-hop artists: Use his own lyrics as evidence against him. Because my research centers on African American literary and musical traditions – with a particular emphasis on hip-hop culture – I was asked by the defense to testify as an expert witness in Drakeo’s first trial. This is work I’m called to do qu...

The homeless could be hit hard by Coronavirus and that could hit everyone hard

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism

The homeless could be hit hard by Coronavirus and that could hit everyone hard

As the number of cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, continues to grow, the nation is on edge. Doctors and scientists do not know what percentage of the general population has been infected and what percentage of the infected develops symptoms. State and local governments and the federal public health system are deploying strategies to contain the spread of the virus and consider ways to mitigate the effects of the disease on vulnerable groups, the health care system and the economy. But amid all the planning, and a growing sense of panic, the impact of the spread of COVID-19 among homeless people is not being widely discussed. It should, however, be of special concern to local officials. I am a professor of preventive medicine and health policy at the Keck School ...

Online learning and the digital divide will make it even harder for some kids

4Apr

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COVID-19, Journalism, VIDEO REELS

Online learning and the digital divide will make it even harder for some kids

More than 10,600 of the nation’s public and private schools were closing at least temporarily by March 12 as communities scrambled to protect themselves from the COVID-19 viral disease pandemic. With little or no time to prepare for this disruption, families from Seattle to the New York City suburbs are suddenly having to figure out how to help their kids learn at home. This is an unprecedented effort that so far involves at least 7 million children. The total is rising fast with closures in entire states like Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico and Kentucky. Indiana University, where I teach, recently announced that we’ll stop offering in-person classes and move all instruction online after spring break ends on March 22. On top of setting up live-streaming channels for the 250 ...

Why the US still hasn’t had a woman president

9Mar

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Journalism, POLITICS

Why the US still hasn’t had a woman president

Estonia, Singapore, Ethiopia and Finland – these are some of the 21 countries currently governed by a female president or prime minister. Yet a woman president of the U.S. still remains only a hypothetical. The 2020 Democratic nomination contest originally featured six women candidates, a record number. But the most prominent female candidates for the Democratic nomination – Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar – have all dropped out, and the focus of the race has narrowed to two males. My research examines what countries where women run the government have in common – and why the U.S. still lags behind. Where women lead Since 2000, 89 women have newly come to power. That’s more than double the total number of women who entered office between 1960 and 1999. Women’s greater...

What Americans think about who deserves tuition-free college

25Feb

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Journalism

What Americans think about who deserves tuition-free college

Tuition-free college has gotten a lot of momentum of late. Front-runners in the Democratic presidential field – including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden – have all come out in support of federally funded tuition-free college. And it isn’t just Democrats. Nineteen states have passed tuition-free college policies, including Republican strongholds Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky. So have nearly 300 cities or counties. But there is still debate about who should be eligible. Should there be an income cap, for instance, so that only poor or middle-income families are eligible? Should there be a minimum high school GPA requirement? In my recently published survey, I found that Americans view tuition-free college more positively when it’s open to everyone – compared to when ...

Katherine Johnson: NASA mathematician and much-needed role model

25Feb

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Journalism

Katherine Johnson: NASA mathematician and much-needed role model

Katherine Johnson, who has died at the age of 101, was an amazing woman. But up until a few years ago, hardly anyone had heard of her or her achievements. She was a mathematician and she worked for NASA. But on paper neither of those facts would make her stand out from the crowd. Add a few more facts – she was a woman, she was black and working in the US in the 1950s to early 1960s – and the scale of her success becomes more apparent. Johnson’s story and significant contributions to the US space programme, along with those of Dorothy Vaughan (a computer scientist) and Mary Jackson (an engineer), were brought to widespread public attention by the 2016 book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and film of the same name. I have rarely watched a film that has moved me as much as Hidden ...