Sunday, May 5

Tag: answered

Defending the 2020 election against hacking: 5 questions answered
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CYBERCRIME

Defending the 2020 election against hacking: 5 questions answered

Journalist Bob Woodward reports in his new book, “Rage,” that the NSA and CIA have classified evidence that the Russian intelligence services placed malware in the election registration systems of at least two Florida counties in 2016, and that the malware was sophisticated and could erase voters. This appears to confirm earlier reports. Meanwhile, Russian intelligence agents and other foreign players are already at work interfering in the 2020 presidential election. Douglas W. Jones, Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Iowa and coauthor of the book “Broken Ballots: Will Your Vote Count?,” describes the vulnerabilities of the U.S. election system in light of this news. 1. Though Woodward reports there was no evidence the election registration system malware had bee...
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What the CDC eviction ban means for tenants and landlords: 6 questions answered
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BUSINESS

What the CDC eviction ban means for tenants and landlords: 6 questions answered

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order on Sept. 1 banning evictions of people who lost work as a result of the pandemic. To benefit, renters must sign a declaration that they don’t make more than US$99,000 a year or $198,000 for those filing a joint return and that they essentially have no options other than homelessness. But the order, which takes effect on Sept. 4, leaves some questions unanswered. We asked Katy Ramsey Mason, an assistant professor of law and director of the University of Memphis Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic, to answer some of them. 1. What does the order do? The order prohibits property owners from evicting covered tenants from any residential property because of nonpayment of rent before Dec. 31, 2020. It does not apply to any evictions that...
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Why Steve Bannon faces fraud charges: 4 questions answered
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IMPACT

Why Steve Bannon faces fraud charges: 4 questions answered

Federal prosecutors in New York have arrested former senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon and three other men, and charged them with allegedly defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors to an online fundraising campaign to build portions of wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a University of Notre Dame law professor who researches nonprofits, explains what’s going on and what the consequences could be. 1. Who is accused of what, exactly? Audrey Strauss, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has accused Bannon and the founder of the “We Build the Wall” crowdfunding campaign, Brian Kolfage, of lying to donors about how their gifts would be used. Two other men, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea, are also accused of participating in this alleged s...
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What are Asian giant hornets, and are they really dangerous? 5 questions answered
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ENVIRONMENT, VIDEO REELS

What are Asian giant hornets, and are they really dangerous? 5 questions answered

According to recent press reports, two Asian giant hornets – a species not known to occur in North America – were found in northwest Washington state in late 2019, and a hornet colony was found and eliminated in British Columbia. Now scientists are trying to determine whether more of these large predatory insects are present in the region. Entomologist Akito Kawahara explains why headlines referring to “murder hornets” are misleading. Asian giant hornets (Vespa mandarinia japonica) drinking sap from tree bark in Japan. Alpsdake/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 1. How common are these hornets in Asia, and how much alarm do they cause? The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) is fairly common in many parts of Asia, where it is called the “Giant hornet.” Growing up in Japan, I saw them relatively freque...
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National Guard joins the coronavirus response – 3 questions answered
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism, VIDEO REELS

National Guard joins the coronavirus response – 3 questions answered

As a military organization divided into 50 distinct parts that can be commanded by either the president or state governors, the National Guard is perhaps the least understood branch of the U.S. armed forces. Despite its complexity – or perhaps because of it – the National Guard is taking the lead role in the military’s response to the coronavirus outbreak crisis. As many as 10,000 National Guard members have already been activated to help communities around the country, with many more expecting a call-up soon. People may know, from TV ads or other brief appearances in the media, that National Guard members are part-time citizen-soldiers, but not much else. As a longtime National Guard attorney and military law professor, I can explain a bit more about how the National Guard works. Ads l...
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Will Trump shut down the stock market? 4 questions answered
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COVID-19, IN OTHER NEWS

Will Trump shut down the stock market? 4 questions answered

Financial markets across the globe have plunged repeatedly in recent weeks over concerns about the growing economic toll from the coronavirus pandemic, on some days falling over 10%. This has raised the question of whether governments should shut down their stock markets until the panic subsides. We asked Jonathan T. Fluharty-Jaidee, a finance expert at West Virginia University, what measures financial exchanges have to stem panic selling and whether he believes a shutdown would be a good idea. 1. What measures prevent a free fall in prices? Most financial markets around the world have so-called circuit breakers that are triggered when overall prices drop by a certain magnitude. For example, if the price of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index falls 7% from its previous close, trading of a...
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Is online education right for you? 5 questions answered
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EDUCATION

Is online education right for you? 5 questions answered

Editor’s Note: When U.S. News & World Report released its best online education program rankings this year, many schools that fared well in the rankings were quick to call attention to their success. Here, Vanessa Dennen, a researcher of online learning and co-editor-in-chief of the journal The Internet and Higher Education, offers insights into what college students should consider before they enroll in an online degree program. 1. Is online education as easy and convenient as it seems? Online learning may give students a choice about when and where to study, but this flexibility should not be confused with being easy or fast. Learning is a process and it takes time. By studying online, you might be able to eliminate commute time and the dreaded hunt for parking on campus, but you sti...
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