matters

30May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIETY, TOP FOUR

‘No Pretty Nannies’ Why The Debate Matters

Just weeks before announcing her pregnancy, model Chrissy Teigen joked that she wouldn’t want to tempt her husband John Legend by hiring a hot nanny. “No hot nannies, drivers, or maids…It’s an ongoing joke in my house,” she told reporters off-the-cuff during Fashion Week. “I trust John, but you never know with these men.” Even as they acknowledged the joke, celebrity news sources had a field day. People Magazine ran her comments under the semi-serious banner Chrissy Teigen’s Number 1 Rule for Parenting. Billboard, US Weekly and Extra all jumped in. Meanwhile, online commenters took Teigen seriously and either defended her (“I wouldn’t trust my husband with a pretty nanny either!”), argued that she was too gorgeous to worry or made predictions that the Legend-Teigen union wouldn’t last. ...

What Is Academic Tenure – And Why It Matters

18Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

What Is Academic Tenure – And Why It Matters

George Justice, Arizona State University How would you like a job that was guaranteed and allowed you to do your work as you see fit and speak your mind with no repercussions? Most people would, and that’s the idea behind academic tenure. In the following Q&A, George Justice, an English professor and author of “How to Be a Dean,” explains the origin of tenure and the waning protections that it affords professors who have it. What is academic tenure? Of all the things a university professor can achieve in their career, few are as desirable as academic tenure. Academic tenure is a system of strong job protections that virtually guarantees a university professor will never be fired or let go except in the most extreme of circumstances. A key idea is to allow faculty to speak freely – w...

Why Black Biomedical Scientists Still Lag In Research Funding Matters To All Americans

24Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Why Black Biomedical Scientists Still Lag In Research Funding Matters To All Americans

The statistics tell the story. People of color are more likely to be infected, hospitalized and killed by COVID-19 than white, non-Hispanic people. This grim reality is just one more illustration of an unacceptable truth: Science does not benefit all Americans equally. While part of the solution lies in making access to health care more equitable, I believe the key to real change is more fundamental. If science is to benefit all Americans, science first must be done by all Americans. As a Black woman in America and an academic biomedical engineering researcher, I have encountered racial, ethnic and gender discrimination and systemic racism at every stage of my life and career. Through these lived experiences, I have become deeply committed to addressing the “diversity problem” in the aca...

Shut Out From The Whitewashed World Of Children’s Literature – Black Kids Took Matters Into Their Own Hands

5Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Shut Out From The Whitewashed World Of Children’s Literature – Black Kids Took Matters Into Their Own Hands

Hanging on the wall in my office is the framed cover of the inaugural issue of The Brownies’ Book, a monthly periodical for Black youths created by W.E.B. Du Bois and other members of the NAACP in 1920. A newspaper boy hawks copies of the Chicago Defender. Library of Congress The magazine – the first of its kind – includes poems and stories that speak of Black achievement and history, while also showcasing children’s writing. Although much of American children’s literature published near the turn of the last century – and even today – filters childhood through the eyes of white children, The Brownies’ Book gave African American children a platform to explore their lives, interests and aspirations. And it reinforced what 20th-century American literature scholar Katharine Capshaw has descr...

Increasing Fuel Efficiency Matters More Than Selling Electric Vehicles, To Make The US Auto Fleet Greener

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS, VIDEO REELS

Increasing Fuel Efficiency Matters More Than Selling Electric Vehicles, To Make The US Auto Fleet Greener

President Biden has proposed ambitious goals for curbing climate change and investing in a cleaner U.S. economy. One critical sector is transportation, which generates 28% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions – more than either electric power production or industry. Shifting from cars that run on gasoline and diesel to electric vehicles, or EVs, is a key strategy to address transportation’s contribution to global warming. Industry watchers expect big federal investments in charging stations and tax credits for electric cars. But as Biden’s Day One executive order on climate and the environment recognized, an even greater priority is making gasoline vehicles more fuel-efficient. My research focuses on energy problems, including transportation and climate change. I believe though EVs are impor...

Scholars Explain – Why The US Rejoining The Paris Climate Accord Matters At Home And Abroad

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SCIENCE, VIDEO REELS

Scholars Explain – Why The US Rejoining The Paris Climate Accord Matters At Home And Abroad

The United States helped bring the world into the Paris climate accord, the groundbreaking global agreement reached in 2015 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to slow climate change. Under Donald Trump, the U.S. became the only country to withdraw. Now, the U.S. is coming back. On his first day as president, Joe Biden formally started the 30-day process to rejoin the Paris Agreement, effective Feb. 19. We asked five scholars to describe what U.S. involvement in the Paris Agreement means for the nation and the rest of the world, and for food security, safety and the future warming of the planet. What rejoining Paris means for America’s place in the world Morgan Bazilian, Public Policy Professor and Director of the Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines Amanda Gorman, the ...

The Arctic Freeze Is Unseasonably Late Where’s The Sea Ice? Why It Matters

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT, VIDEO REELS

The Arctic Freeze Is Unseasonably Late Where’s The Sea Ice? Why It Matters

With the setting of the sun and the onset of polar darkness, the Arctic Ocean would normally be crusted with sea ice along the Siberian coast by now. But this year, the water is still open. I’ve watched the region’s transformations since the 1980s as an Arctic climate scientist and, since 2008, as director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. I can tell you, this is not normal. There’s so much more heat in the ocean now than there used to be that the pattern of autumn ice growth has been completely disrupted. To understand what’s happening to the sea ice this year and why it’s a problem, let’s look back at the summer and into the Arctic Ocean itself. Siberia’s 100-degree summer The summer melt season in the Arctic started early. A Siberian heat wave in June pushed air temperatures o...

COVID-19: Where You Sit In A Classroom Matters, How Ventilation Can Help

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, VIDEO REELS

COVID-19: Where You Sit In A Classroom Matters, How Ventilation Can Help

It doesn’t take long for airborne coronavirus particles to make their way through a room. At first, only people sitting near an infected speaker are at high risk, but as the meeting or class goes on, the tiny aerosols can spread. That doesn’t mean everyone faces the same level of risk, however. As an engineer, I have been conducting experiments tracking how aerosols move, including those in the size range that can carry viruses. What I’ve found is important to understand as more people return to universities, offices and restaurants and more meetings move indoors as temperatures fall. It points to the highest-risk areas in rooms and why proper ventilation is crucial. As we saw this past week with President Donald Trump and others in Washington, the coronavirus can spread quickly in clo...

Churchgoers aren’t able to lift every voice and sing during the pandemic – here’s why that matters

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, Religion, VIDEO REELS

Churchgoers aren’t able to lift every voice and sing during the pandemic – here’s why that matters

Because of COVID-19, churches no longer reverberate with song; hymnals are neatly stacked and projection screens blank. Even as church leaders plan for reopening, scientists warn that it might be too early to resume singing in groups. Though such restrictions are understandable, they rob congregations of an important aspect of their Christian faith. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5, Believers should be “filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” As a choral conductor, scholar in African American sacred music and teacher of sacred music and worship, I have studied the relationship between singing and worship for over three decades. Singing is critical to identity and faith. In some ...

Gun Violence Research Matters. Here’s Why

30Sep

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Gun Violence Research Matters. Here’s Why

Private and individual donors—and recently a few states—have been stepping into a federal funding void to finance gun violence research. The California Department of Justice took a call about a 21-year-old man threatening to shoot his co-workers after being fired from his job. A search of his home uncovered 400 rounds of ammunition. And a 24-year-old California man with a history of alcohol and drug abuse told his mother he was going to kill employees and relatives in the family business, and then himself by shooting or bombing. His uncle closed the business the next day and three days later called police, who confiscated 26 firearms, including 18 semiautomatic pistols. In both instances, which occurred between 2016 and 2018, court-issued extreme risk protection orders a...