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Prose, prayers, palindromes and 45 presidents
If there’s one thing Colin Rafferty – a University of Mary Washington associate professor of English and teacher of creative nonfiction – knows better than prose, it’s the United States’ 45 presidents. His current manuscript, a collection of essays about each of them, includes pieces that range from “The Fear” about Martin Van Buren and “Bully” about Theodore Roosevelt to “What They Said About Him” about Barack Obama and “The Imagineer Considers Tomorrow” about Trump. Written as palindromes, death songs, prayers, movie scripts and more, Rafferty’s work has appeared in such prestigious publications as Brevity, Cobalt, Juked, Parcel and Waxwing, and he was recently featured on the Virginia Public Radio’s With Good Reason for a segment on “Getting to Know the Presidents.” “Reading and writing about the presidents has let me explore both American history and the expansiveness of creative nonfiction,” said Rafferty, who read a biography of each president before penning his essays. Colin is available to speak with media about his work and about President's Day. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview. Source:
The Dow Jones is booming! But who is really cashing in?
On Wall Street, it has already been a great start to the year for the Dow Jones. Just yesterday, the Dow Jones industrial average had a closing record of over 26,000. It seems like reason to celebrate, but who’s really winning at the end of the day? Is this a matter of brokers, firms and big banks reaping the benefits? Or are those more familiar with Main Street able to cash in and win as easily as those on Wall Street? Also, what does the upward trend mean for everyday investors? And is this trend one that should have people getting on board or exercising some serious caution? Reading the economic and financial tea leaves is never easy, but that’s where Missouri State University (MSU) experts can help. Dr. James Philpot is a CFP and an associate professor of finance and general business at MSU. He's an expert in this area and is available to speak to media. Click on his icon to connect with him. Source:
What will Donald Trump’s National Defense Strategy mean for Americans and its citizens?
The Department of Defense recently published an unclassified synopsis of the Trump administration’s first National Defense Strategy (NDS). The document, is missing the usual and sometimes expected Trump-like rhetoric of ‘America First’ and instead focuses on a balanced and cooperative approach among nations. At Augusta University, our experts have been examining the strategy, they have found that within the NDS the following stood out: • More money will be spent on military, private military contracting firms and cyber firms. This could benefit the local economy but does show that we’re worried. • Our military is growing more high-tech with artificial intelligence and robotics. The future of warfare could start to resemble something out of Hollywood. • For the last two decades, we were concerned with small-scale wars, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism. Now, we are preparing our military for a Great Power War. In other words, we are preparing for a WWII type engagement, versus Iraq or Afghanistan. • Trump’s policy is very assertive whereas Obama’s policy was more conciliatory and forgiving in nature. • We are clearly focused on reasserting ourselves as the superpower. But what will this mean for every-day Americans? Will it be a boost to our economy as we invest in our military or will it mean other programs suffer as a result? Are we on the verge of another cold war? There are a lot of questions to answer – and that’s where our experts can help. Dr. Craig Albert is an expert on American politics and political philosophy. He was recently appointed director of Augusta University’s new Masters of Arts in Intelligence and Security Studies. Dr. Albert has experience with all forms of national and local news organizations and is available to speak to media regarding Donald Trump’s National Defense Strategy. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview. Source:
Movies like “Marshall” that are built around actors of color (Chadwick Boseman plays the iconic attorney) and have appeal to consumers of color historically see a significant surge in ticket sales in weeks five through eight – if producers are willing to keep them in theaters that long and allow for word-of-mouth advertising to build, said Tyrha Lindsey-Warren, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of marketing in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business. She studies consumer behavior, multicultural media, movies and entertainment. “I believe that Hollywood often pulls movies starring women and actors of color out of the theaters way too soon and before word-of-mouth has time to fully spread,” Lindsey-Warren said. “In my opinion, and according to our studies, Hollywood is leaving a great deal of money on the table.” Movies built around actors of color typically make money – in many cases as much or more than five times the budget, she said. For example, the 2017 comedy “Girls Trip,” which was built around four African-American female leads, was made for $19 million and has grossed more than $100 million at the box office. A challenge, Lindsey-Warren said, is that Hollywood expects to make its money back in the opening weekend. That strategy often doesn’t translate well to consumers of color. She cited a Nielsen study that showed African-Americans make an average 6.3 trips every year to see movies, and they tend to strongly support movies where there are characters like themselves and to whom they can relate. But they don’t rush to theaters for premier weekends. “Historically, African-American consumers have not been such early adopters of seeing movies on opening weekend and have typically waited to hear from trusted sources, by way of word-of-mouth, if the movie is worth seeing,” she said. “I call this behavior giving word-of-mouth time to spread. These are insights that Hollywood has not fully embraced regarding consumers of color and for movies built around actors of color.” Source:
Competitors or Teammates: How Proper Names Influence Each Other
Current research by Lisa Abrams and Danielle K. Davis of the University of Florida published in the Current Directions in Psychological Science documents how proper names are more difficult to learn and remember than other types of words. Various causes of this difficulty have been proposed to better understand how proper names are represented in memory and the degree to which names compete with each other. In the retrieval of names, some studies show competition, whereas other studies find facilitation. During comprehension, names demonstrate competition by causing a Moses illusion: People erroneously answer invalid questions such as “How many animals did Moses take on the ark?”, failing to detect that Noah is the correct name for the question. Errors in both name retrieval and comprehension are more likely when the correct name and distractor name sound similar, share biographical characteristics, or have some visual resemblance. However, shared visual information has played a competitive role more consistently in name comprehension than retrieval, an asymmetry that remains to be investigated. To view the full research article go to: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963721416677804 Source:
Trade, security and America First – Does Donald Trump’s new National Security Strategy make sense?
On Monday, President Donald Trump released his National Security Strategy. In a bold delivery that was almost more of a campaign speech than a policy announcement, President Trump was focused on terrorism, dictatorships, cyberterrorism and even referenced immigration as a potential threat to national security. Trump referred to China and Russia as "rival powers" who "seek to challenge American influence, values and wealth” but seemed more diplomatic than worried. "We will attempt to build a great partnership with those and other countries, but in a manner that always protects our national interest," Trump said But what will this mean for the Trump Administration and America moving forward? Will America’s polices become more assertive? Will the pursuit to eradicate ISIS and terrorist threats expand? Trump also referenced trade, never leaving out the opportunity to maintain his agenda of keep America’s economy and his efforts to strengthen it on the public’s radar. But what does this have to do with national security? There are a lot of questions still to be answered. That’s where the experts from Augusta University can help. Dr. Craig Albert is an expert on American politics and political philosophy. He was recently appointed director of Augusta University’s new Masters of Arts in Intelligence and Security Studies. Dr. Albert has experience with all forms of national and local news organizations and is available to speak to media regarding this latest development in Washington. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview. Source:
Another planet discovered by NASA – 2,545 light-years from Earth
Today, the scientific world was watching as NASA made a big announcement. Its Kepler Space Telescope, which has been conducting an intensive planet-hunting mission since 2009, had new results to share with the public. A media release from NASA states: “Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star, with the recent discovery of an eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star 2,545 light years from Earth. The planet was discovered in data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope. The newly-discovered Kepler-90i – a sizzling hot, rocky planet that orbits its star once every 14.4 days – was found using machine learning from Google. Machine learning is an approach to artificial intelligence in which computers “learn.” In this case, computers learned to identify planets by finding in Kepler data instances where the telescope recorded signals from planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets." There are some very technical and scientific data and information here. As well, a lot of questions to be asked and answered. That’s where experts like Dr. Michael Reed from Missouri State University can help. Dr. Reed is a professor of astronomy at Missouri State. He researches extrasolar planets and pulsating stars. Dr. Reed is available to speak to the media and can explain what this all means for science, the study of space and if there might actually be life out there. Click on his icon to connect with him. Source:
Baylor Experts Share New "Phone Snubbing" Research. This time it's "Boss Phubbing!"
Baylor University marketing professors and smartphone use experts James A. Roberts, Ph.D., and Meredith David, Ph.D., published their latest study – “Put Down Your Phone and Listen to Me: How Boss Phubbing Undermines the Psychological Conditions Necessary for Employee Engagement” – in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. Roberts and David are known nationally and internationally for researching the affects of smartphone use on relationships. “Phubbing (phone snubbing) is a harmful behavior,” Roberts said. “It undermines any corporate culture based on respect for others. Thus, it is crucial that corporations create a culture embodied by care for one another.” Their newest study examines “boss phubbing” (boss phone snubbing), which the researchers define as “an employee’s perception that his or her supervisor is distracted by his or her smartphone when they are talking or in close proximity to each other” and how that activity affects the supervisor-employee relationship. “Our research reveals how a behavior as simple as using a cellphone in the workplace can ultimately undermine an employee’s success,” the researchers wrote. “We present evidence that boss phubbing lowers employees’ trust in their supervisors and ultimately leads to lower employee engagement.” The study found: * 76 percent of those surveyed showed a lack of trust in a supervisor who phubbed them * 75 percent showed decreases in psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability and psychological safety * The lack of trust and decreases in those key areas led to a 5 percent decrease in employee engagement Roberts and David suggest several steps that managers could take to change the culture and mitigate the negative effects of smartphone use. * Create a culture in which supervisors do not feel pressure to immediately respond to emails and messages from their superiors while meeting with their employees. * Structure performance criteria in a manner which motivates bosses to build healthy superior-subordinate relationships. This might include annual ratings by their subordinates. * Train supervisors and employees on the importance of face-to-face interactions and sensitize them to the potentially negative consequences of phubbing on employee attitudes and engagement. * Set formal smartphone policies by setting clear rules for smartphone use, access and security – and detail specific consequences for violating those rules. Source:
Will a Roy Moore win be a blessing or a curse for the GOP?
Tomorrow is Election Day in Alabama - and all eyes are on a special senatorial election that should have flown under the radar for this traditionally Republican-friendly state. That was until Judge Roy Moore won the primary and his past suddenly became public. To date, eight women have come forward with accusations ranging from sexual impropriety to molesting of a 14 year old girl when Moore was in his 30s. When the accusations surfaced, at first the Republican establishment started to abandon Moore - recently that mood has changed. With a Moore victory on Tuesday the GOP stands to bolster its hold on power in the Senate. A loss would reduce the Trump administration’s grip on control. However, Republican victory could also be a double-edged sword. What does it say to Americans if a person with so many allegations is elected to office? Will Moore have any credibility once he arrives in Washington? And will his election signal a revolt to the Democratic side come the mid-term elections in 2018? With polling showing a virtual tie between the Republicans and Democrats in Alabama - what will Tuesday’s result mean for America and the ongoing scandals emerging in Washington, Hollywood and across the country. There are a lot of scenarios that could play out and even more questions to be asked - that’s where the experts from Cedarville can help. Dr. Mark Caleb Smith is Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University. He is an expert in the areas of American politics and particularly presidential politics. Dr. Smith is a media-regular and was interviewed often during the last presidential election. He is available to speak to this latest development in politics. To book an interview – simply click on Dr. Smith’s icon to arrange a time. Source:
