Experts Matter. Find Yours.
Connect for media, speaking, professional opportunities & more.
#ExpertSpotlght: What are Most popular Christmas Traditions Around the World?
Christmas is celebrated in diverse and unique ways across the globe, reflecting cultural, historical, and spiritual influences that shape holiday traditions. From religious ceremonies to festive customs, this season highlights the shared human desire for connection, generosity, and joy. Understanding how different cultures celebrate Christmas provides a lens into global diversity and shared humanity. As the holiday season approaches, this topic invites journalists to explore traditions that captivate and inspire. Key story angles include: Regional Christmas Celebrations: Highlighting iconic traditions such as Germany’s Christmas markets, Mexico’s Las Posadas, or Japan’s Christmas Eve feasts of fried chicken. Religious and Spiritual Practices: Examining how Christian and non-Christian communities observe the holiday, including Midnight Mass, Epiphany celebrations, and adaptations in secular societies. The Evolution of Santa Claus: Tracing the history of Santa Claus from St. Nicholas to modern depictions, including variations like Ded Moroz in Russia or Sinterklaas in the Netherlands. Festive Foods and Feasts: Exploring traditional holiday dishes and drinks, such as panettone in Italy, pavlova in Australia, or tamales in Latin America. Sustainability and Modern Trends: Investigating how global movements toward eco-consciousness are reshaping Christmas traditions, from minimalist gift-giving to eco-friendly decorations. Music, Art, and Storytelling: Highlighting the role of Christmas carols, nativity plays, and folklore in preserving cultural heritage and fostering community spirit. Exploring Christmas traditions around the world offers a rich tapestry of stories that celebrate cultural diversity, historical roots, and the universal themes of love and generosity. Connect with an expert about Christmas Traditions: To search our full list of experts visit www.expertfile.com
Georgia Southern welcomes Georgia state leaders on Wexford Campus in Ireland
Georgia Southern University’s Wexford Campus in Ireland has been invigorating educational, civic, business and trade opportunities between Ireland’s southeast region and the state of Georgia since its establishment in 2022. The bicultural partnership has drawn the attention of state leaders in Georgia, prompting a recent visit to the international campus where Georgia Southern and its Irish partners welcomed the delegation. “We hosted legislators and leaders of industrial development and enterprise organizations,” said Howard Keeley, Ph.D., director of Georgia Southern’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching (CIRT). “These Georgia stakeholders believe that what Georgia Southern is doing in Ireland is important. One of the major concepts behind the Wexford Campus is that it’s a true campus, not just a study-abroad venue. So we’re pursuing several streams of activity. One is teaching and another is research. Another one is economic development, which includes internships and community engagement. We want to be in the community; therefore, to have leading constituents from a variety of industries in Georgia was very gratifying.” Among the attendees were U.S. Congressman Earl L. “Buddy” Carter; Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson and five members of his senior staff, as well senior officials from electrical utilities, including Georgia Power; Trip Tollison, CEO of Savannah Economic Development Authority; Teresa MacCartney, chief operating officer for the University System of Georgia; and Georgia Rep. James Burchett (‘04), along with 10 additional members of the Georgia House of Representatives. “The main thing we wanted to do is show them what the student experience is like,” said Keeley. “We care about our students, and, using philanthropic funds, we’ve invested in a beautiful set of buildings, including one, built in 1886, that will house 50 students at a time. Each year, our goal is full capacity over six minimesters for a total of 300 Georgia Southern students. Historically a religious convent, that structure should open in spring 2026, after extensive remodeling. Many Georgia Southern students, including construction management and interior design majors, are gaining valuable professional skills by contributing to the endeavor.” The Wexford Campus already features the Learning Center, a historic administrative complex constructed in 1812 that has been transformed into a contemporary, high-tech educational space where students learn from local and international experts. They also present their research to peers and visiting Georgia Southern alumni while participating in high-impact experiential learning within the region. Visiting delegates were pleased to learn about the Honors College Global Scholars Program, which hosts 24 Honors College students who, taking an interdisciplinary approach, explore two themes for six weeks each spring in Ireland. This year, a prominent topic of study was sustainability in agriculture. One of Georgia Southern’s European research partners, South East Technological University Ireland, helped guide the students as they compared sustainability challenges along the coasts of Georgia and southeastern Ireland. The students drew on various research efforts, including important knowledge generated by Georgia Southern’s Institute for Water and Health. Similar integrated concepts also inform the summer and fall offerings. In 2024, they included two undergraduate global business courses, as well as the first Europe-based course from the MBA program at Georgia Southern’s Parker College of Business. One focus for the MBA students was Rosslare Europort, just south of Georgia Southern’s Wexford Campus, which has become Ireland’s fastest-growing port as multiple new direct routes to continental Europe have opened in response to Brexit. At a workshop facilitated by a top Rosslare Europort official, the MBA students explored international trade, logistics and supply chain management and the European regulatory environment. Spanning undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels, the Wexford Campus has also provided courses in accounting, philosophy, sociology, geography, environmental biology, tourism and public health, among other disciplines. Shadowing Irish experts, population health science students from the Waters College of Health Professions focused on designing and delivering preventative-health programs, a critical matter in both Ireland and Georgia. “One of the metrics we use to measure success in Ireland is asking what makes it worthwhile for students to complete the course in Ireland as opposed to staying in the United States,” posed Keeley. “The bottom line is that we’re trying to provide a range of courses that look like Georgia Southern and that meet the degree needs, but also the employment needs in the state of Georgia. We’re always looking at how we can make our students more competitive, deepen their knowledge and give them as much hands-on experience as possible. This is really one of the things that we hope is a differentiator for us.” Notably, annual scholarships are available for the Honors College Global Scholars Program, Department of Political Science and International Studies students and Irish Studies students thanks to generous donations from alumni. In addition, philanthropic support has provided $1,000 to each participating student to offset the cost of transatlantic air travel. “The Wexford Campus’ directives exemplify Georgia Southern’s mission of providing holistic educational opportunities for our students to excel and grow,” said Annalee Ashley, Ed.D., Georgia Southern Vice President for External Affairs, Communications, and Strategic Initiatives, who participated in the trip. “Employers value global consciousness and intercultural skills when hiring, and our students who study abroad can enhance their skills, intellect and hireability in the marketplace. We are proud to serve Georgia and the entire southeastern region in this unique way, and to be supported by the state of Georgia as the University moves toward an R1 designation.” Beyond the campus, the group explored Johnstown Castle, an environmental and agricultural research center and heritage venue, as well as the Dunbrody Emigration Experience Center, whose newest permanent exhibition, Savannah Landing, is based on research by Georgia Southern students. The work highlights more than 170 years of historical ties that connect Savannah and Wexford, where hundreds boarded ships and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to arrive in Georgia’s coastal city in the mid-19th century. The centerpiece project, which was celebrated by the Irish prime minister at a ribbon-cutting in August, was made possible by $832,000 in research-grant funding, secured by the Dunbrody Center and Georgia Southern’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching. “Our guests got to experience history and understand the unique story that connects County Wexford to Savannah and, by extension, the state of Georgia,” noted Keeley. “Furthermore, they were able to see more than three-quarters of a million dollars of investment in Georgia Southern student work. That was super exciting.” The legislative group also met with Georgia Southern’s Irish partners, who shared what this relationship means to the people of Wexford and its hinterland, Southeast Ireland. “We invited all the players onto the field to strategically advance themes of education, economic development, and civic and cultural engagement,” said Keeley. “I believe they concluded that Ireland is a fit. It boasts a thriving economy that is modern, global and innovative. It’s the youngest economy in Europe in terms of workforce, and Ireland is one of the biggest investors in the U.S. economy.” Georgia Southern leadership and local Irish legislators, including four members of the Irish House of Representatives, Senator Malcolm Byrne and members of Wexford County Council, hosted Georgia’s VIPs with open arms. “They wanted to rally around us in the way that a family will rally around you,” said Keeley. “They couldn’t have done more. They totally rolled up their sleeves. It was a complete partnership hosting, and we were able to demonstrate that our network is so solid.” Wexford County Council leader Pip Breen shared opportunities for deeper connections with the Georgia delegation through the Irish nonprofit TradeBridge. Established in 2018, the entity facilitates trade and investment between the southeastern regions of Ireland and Georgia by developing new export markets and job creation opportunities. The trade corridor opens doors for southeastern Irish companies to establish a supportive base in southeastern Georgia, while also creating similar coordinates for companies based in southeastern Georgia to enter the European Union marketplace. Keeley, who was awarded the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad from the Government of Ireland in 2023, is a board member. “Georgia Southern’s footprint in southeastern Ireland is an important one for students and for the state of Georgia,” said Ga. Rep. Burchett. “The strides they are making not only allow students to participate in research in engineering, coastal sustainability, history and other important areas of study, but they also directly drive trade and investment opportunities between the southeastern regions of Georgia and Ireland. This was an amazing visit and we value our friendships within the Irish community.” Following the event, Burchett returned the hospitality with an invitation for Wexford County Council members to be recognized in person on the floor of the Georgia General Assembly in March 2025. “They very enthusiastically accepted the invitation,” Keeley shared. “I think when you’re involved in education, when you’re doing business and when you’re building out opportunities, the most important single thing is friendship and like-mindedness. You cannot achieve anything otherwise. There has to be this human-to-human connection. There has to be genuine mutual respect and mutual affection, and that was just in spades.” Georgia Southern’s Wexford Campus was featured on the national Irish TV program, “Nationwide.” You can see it here: Looking to know more, then let us help. Howard Keeley, director of Georgia Southern’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching, is available to speak with media. Simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
ExpertSpotlight: The Life and Legacy of Steven Biko
Steven Biko’s legacy is a powerful symbol of resistance and activism during the apartheid era in South Africa, representing the courage and determination of the Black Consciousness Movement. His life, philosophies, and tragic death sparked international outrage and galvanized movements for racial justice and human rights worldwide. As the world continues to grapple with issues of racial inequality and social justice, Biko’s story remains highly relevant. His teachings on the psychological liberation of oppressed people have left an indelible mark on both African history and global activism. Key story angles of interest include: The rise of the Black Consciousness Movement and its influence on anti-apartheid activism Steven Biko’s role as a thinker, activist, and leader in challenging apartheid policies The global impact of Biko’s writings and philosophy on contemporary social justice movements The role of international solidarity and media in exposing apartheid’s atrocities The enduring influence of Biko’s ideas in modern discussions on race, identity, and liberation The circumstances and global reactions to Biko’s arrest, torture, and death in custody Connect with an expert about the The Life and Legacy of Steven Biko: To search our full list of experts visit www.expertfile.com
UC Irvine expert on metacognition: Megan Peters
How do our brains take in complex information from the world around us to help us make decisions? And what happens when there’s a mismatch between how well your brain thinks it’s performing this function and how well it’s actually doing? UC Irvine cognitive scientist Megan Peters takes a deep dive into metacognition - our ability to monitor our own cognitive processing. To reach Prof. Peters, contact Heather Ashbach at hashbach@uci.edu or 949-284-1577. “Our brains are fantastically powerful information processing systems. They take in information from the world around us through our eyes, ears, and other senses, and they process or transform that sensory information into rich internal representations — representations that we can then use to make useful decisions, to navigate effectively without running into things, and ultimately, to stay alive. And interestingly, our brains also can tell us when they’re doing a good job with all this processing, through a process called metacognition, or our ability to monitor our own cognitive processing. My name is Megan Peters, and I’m an associate professor in the department of Cognitive Sciences at UC Irvine. I’m also a Fellow in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Brain, Mind, & Consciousness program and I am president and chair of the board at Neuromatch. My research seeks to understand metacognition — how it works in the brain, and how it works at a computational or algorithm level — and it also seeks to understand what this metacognitive processing might have to do with the conscious experiences we have of our environments, of each other, and of ourselves. So in our research group, we use a combination of behavioral experiments with humans, brain imaging (like MRI scans), and computational approaches like mathematical modeling and machine learning or Artificial Intelligence, to try to unravel these mysteries. I think my favorite overall line of research right now has to do with cases where our brains’ self-monitoring sometimes seems to go wrong. So what I mean is, sometimes your brain “metacognitively” computes how well it thinks you’re doing at this “sensory information processing” task, but this ends up being completely different from how well you’re actually doing. Imagine it this way: you’re driving down a foggy road, at night in the dark. You probably can’t see very well, and you’d hope that your brain would also be able to tell you, “I can’t see super well right now, I should probably slow down.” And most of the time, your brain does this self-monitoring correctly, and you do slow down. But sometimes, under some kinds of conditions or visual information, your brain miscalculates, and it erroneously tells you, “Actually you can see just fine right now!” So this is a sort of “metacognitive illusion”: your brain is telling you “you’re doing great, you can see very clearly!” when in reality, the quality of the information that it’s receiving, and the processing it’s doing, is really poor, really bad — in essence, that means that you can feel totally confident in your abilities to accurately process the world around you, when in fact you’re interpreting the world totally incorrectly. Now normally, in everyday life, this doesn’t happen of course. But we can create conditions in the lab where this happens very robustly, which helps us understand when and how it might happen in the real world, too, and what the consequences might be. So this is fascinating both because it is a powerful tool for studying how your brain constructs that metacognitive feeling of confidence, and also because — in theory — it means that your subjective, conscious feeling of confidence might be doing something really different than just automatically or directly reading out how reliably you brain is processing information. And that could eventually provide a better way to investigate how our so-called phenomenological or conscious experiences can arise from activity patterns in your brain at all.” To reach Prof. Peters, contact Heather Ashbach at hashbach@uci.edu or 949-284-1577.
Covering the music beat? Then tune in and get in touch with our resident hip-hop expert
Augusta University Professor Adam Diehl is an expert in hip-hop culture, lyrical analysis, rap as a form of literature and specifically, the works of Kendrick Lamar. Diehl gives an update on what's new in hip-hop and of course, answers questions about Lamar and his highly anticipated new album. How has the hip-hop music scene changed over the last 5 years? The hip-hop music scene has changed faster than any other genre the last five years. Whereas country still uses radio play and music videos to gauge success (along with album sales and streaming numbers) and rock uses touring to supplement and offset recording costs, pop and hip-hop have a great advantage in that they can raise people to stardom almost overnight. In fact, several of the biggest pop stars like Billie Eilish and Post Malone made their rapid ascents through the same channel many of the top hip-hop stars did: Soundcloud. Because this platform allowed new artists the chance to put their music alongside heavyweights, it democratized the listening process. What sent Soundcloud soaring? To put it succinctly, Soundcloud was the great reset of the hip-hop world. But when COVID hit and musicians couldn't tour for upwards of two years, the hip-hop community soared past country and rock (which they were already outselling pre-pandemic) because they didn't base their profit model on touring. Even pop stars were at a disadvantage, because the TV appearances and interviews they used to promote their new releases were few and far between for at least a year, and virtual events just couldn't replicate award show appearances and performances. Hip-hop, meanwhile, continued to be "Black America's CNN" and reported on the protests and outrage following the high-profile deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The resurgence of Black Lives Matter brought mainstream media and cultural attention to the Black community, and as such the importance of hip-hop grew, just as it did in the wake of the Rodney King verdict and the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. How has the economy of music changed? Most people under 20 don't own any CDs. What money these kids don't spend on music can now go to a modern cultural institution: the music festival. Increasingly, cities are hosting these previously camping-required concerts, which has been a particular advantage for hip-hop artists, who don't need roadies or sometimes even other people on stage. All they need is a setlist with six to 10 catchy songs, an entrancing light show, a DJ/engineer and a strong stage presence, and they can captivate the audience as easily as some of the all-time greats of any genre. Going forward, the music industry is going to be about return on investment. Instead of developing artists over a five-year period and then letting them blossom for two to three decades, they are looking for someone to explode in popularity instantly, stay in the spotlight and public consciousness consistently for three to five years, and then maybe stick around. TikTok is, in many ways, analogous to this career arc: the videos are short, the makers are -- to some extent -- largely forgettable, and the popularity relies heavily on a "hook." It's no surprise that hip-hop has been the most adopted genre by TikTokers: the genre has been more effective than any other in terms of codifying "catch phrases." And that's what TikTok is going for: something to hook viewers into watching more. Did the Super Bowl appearance by hip-hop artists take the genre to a whole new level as far as mainstream music? If the Super Bowl halftime show in 2022 did anything, it showed that rap and hip-hop are now as household friendly as rock, country and pop. Perhaps because so many best-selling rock acts had already played the halftime show, and perhaps because the pop acts of recent years had failed to maintain the public's attention, the 2022 halftime show featured one of hip-hop's founding fathers: Dr. Dre. His menagerie of artists' careers stretched over 30 years, and the time constraints of the show made hip-hop the ideal soundtrack. In a 13-minute set, six performers all got their moment in the California sun, and the mega-mix model so often used in clubs was perfect to segue from artist to artist. What 30 to 35 years ago was "Parental Advisory" is now the music that parents listen to. The target demo of the Super Bowl would've thought someone like Simon & Garfunkel or The Eagles much more risky picks than Dr. Dre & Co., even if their music was more family-friendly. Many casual music fans thought Kendrick Lamar was the head-scratcher because of his shorter tenure in the spotlight, but the younger generations watching were much more interested in what Kendrick did than "old heads" like Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige. Was this new album by Kendrick Lamar overdue? The new Kendrick Lamar album comes right on time: it is the definitive COVID album. If he had released in spring/summer 2020 when he originally intended (i.e. if the early March 2020 pgLang rollout was foreshadowing his record release), this would be a substantially different work of art. Instead, the project voices what so many people have endured in the pandemic: domestic turmoil. The tracks cover a vast array of topics -- from vaccinations to transgenderism to cancel culture -- but the unifying theme is therapy. As much emphasis as physical health got over the past two years, the pandemic was arguably just as bad if not worse for people's mental health. Accordingly, this album goes into dark valleys in Kendrick's and his family's trials and traumas: child abuse, sex addiction, separation/divorce, deaths, etc. In the two years that society has been persevering through the pandemic, countless marriages and millions of lives have been shaken to their cores. Listening to this double-album adds another tremor to our already-jostled souls. Tracks like "We Cry Together" capture the rapid-fire romantic arguments that can quickly escalate from disappointment to suicidal ideation, and "United in Grief" recreates the sense of a panic attack with its intensifying lyric delivery and drumbeats. Anxiety and depression are the recurring moods of this album, and the track list ranges in sonic textures -- from Lamar's tried-and-true vintage gangsta rap beats to the utterly unpredictable piano flourishes that come straight from a spoken word poetry reading -- to reflect the all-too-familiar combination of monotony and chaos that the world has undergone for the last two years. It is unforgettable -- just like COVID-19 -- but also, perhaps, something we'd rather not relive. Why do some consider Lamar the most influential rapper of our generation? Kendrick Lamar only has two real rivals for most influential rapper of the generation: Kanye West and Drake. Although Kanye is 10 years older, his career overlaps to a large degree with Kendrick's. Kanye's influence certainly comes more in the production of songs than in lyrical delivery, but his subject matter has been very contagious. Kendrick's mentioning of a Birkin bag in "N95" would never have happened if not for Kanye's lyrical (and career) forays into high fashion. Drake, on the other hand, is probably the rapper most influenced by Kanye...who went on to influence the most artists. Without Drake, many rappers wouldn't have had the blueprint for being singers as well as MCs. What Kendrick brings to the conversation is, in a way, more elusive; however, he without a doubt has raised the bar for lyrical delivery and flow, such that rappers have a better chance at success if they are comically basic than if they are merely competent. It's as if Kendrick took Eminem's velocity and used it to speak on bigger picture issues. Kendrick has also proven to be a fashion-forward rapper, collaborating with Reebok, Nike and Converse over the last few years. His influence might be most prominent in the "realness" of his lyrics: without Kendrick's "everyday life music," the emergence and popularization of "Soundcloud rap" might have been significantly limited. Instead, he uses Kodak Black -- one of the most successful of all Soundcloud-era rappers -- on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. If Kendrick isn't the most influential rapper of his generation, it's because his ambition and execution have placed him with the all-time greats, and oftentimes that puts artists at odds with their contemporaries. In 100 years, people won't remember some big acts because popularity wears off, but they will still celebrate Kendrick because his work is excellent. Looking to know more? Hit up Adam Diehl today -- simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview.
'A Fundamental Part of Being Human' - UConn Expert on the Ritual of Caring for the Dead
The War in Ukraine has brought images of death and mourning onto screens across the globe and directly into public consciousness. Funerary rights, explains UConn expert Dimitris Xygalatas, are among the traits that archeologists find distinguishing between humans and other species. While those rituals are ostensibly about the dead, their importance, he writes in a new essay published in The Conversation, lies in the roles they play for those still living: They allow them to grieve, seek comfort, face the reality of death and find the strength to move on. They are deeply human acts, which is why being deprived of them can feel devastating and dehumanizing. This is what is happening in Ukraine. In besieged cities, people cannot retrieve the bodies of their loves ones from the streets out of fear of being killed. In other cases, Ukrainian officials have accused the Russian army of burying victims in mass graves to hide war crimes. Even when they are retrieved, many of the corpses have been mutilated, making them difficult to identify. To people who have lost their loved ones, the lack of a proper send-off can feel like a second loss. The need for closure is widely recognized to be indispensable – not only by anthropologists and psychologists, but also first responders, governments and international organizations. This is why armies go to great lengths to return the remains of fallen soldiers to their families, even if that takes decades. The right to a burial is acknowledged even for one’s foes. The Geneva Convention stipulates that belligerents must ensure that the bodies of enemies are “honorably interred” and that their graves are respected and “properly maintained and marked so that they may always be found.” Given the importance of those rites, it is also striking that the Russian defense ministry has reportedly been reluctant to bring their own dead back home, because they are concerned with covering up the scale of the losses. This seeming indifference to the suffering of Russia’s own people and their need for closure may be yet another act of dehumanization. Professor Xygalatas is an anthropologist and cognitive scientist at the University of Connecticut who specializes in some of the things that make us human, including ritual, music, cooperation, and the interaction between cognition and culture. He is available to speak with media, simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.
Declining viewership for live events, including the Super Bowl, presents concerns for advertisers
This year’s NFL Championship, best known as the Super Bowl, will again be one of the most watched events. But public interest in live events appears to be declining, even for the “Big Game,” say two marketing professors at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. “Live sports events are the last stand for live TV, with the Super Bowl being the biggest spectacle to unite the American audience. Live events like this are languishing. Need proof? Look at record low ratings for award shows,” said Ann Bastianelli, teaching professor of marketing at Kelley, who added that the Super Bowl remains “a rare opportunity to gauge the U.S. cultural consciousness.” “The early reports and teasers suggest that Super Bowl viewers are in for a smorgasbord of memorable and even humorous commercials, providing some much-needed laughs during the ongoing pandemic. Even so, the Super Bowl isn’t enjoying the same viewership it once had which should prompt changes in marketing decisions,” added Demetra Andrews, clinical associate professor of marketing. With a television audience of more than 90 million last year, the Super Bowl continues to provide the biggest platform for advertisers. But, according to Andrews, television viewership of the Super Bowl has declined fairly steadily for years and the increase in livestreaming of the game does not account for the decline. Of note, she said, is a persistent decline in watchers aged 18-49 since 2008, a key component of the Super Bowl audience. According to Morning Consult, 40% of Generation Z-aged American aren’t sports fans, compared to only 24% of Millennials opting out of sports. Gen Z may be more likely to watch and share ads online than during the sporting event. “Despite this, the price for advertising during the Super Bowl has remained high for a 30-second ad. This is likely to prompt marketing organizations to reexamine the value of the Super Bowl as a promotional platform,” Andrews said. The cost of a 30-second commercial in the 2022 game is $6.5 million, up significantly from the $5.5 million price tag of just a year ago. “Clearly, the network is not bashful about asking that, even with the misgivings that advertisers have had in the past few years,” Bastianelli said. Super Bowl parties traditionally have been a big part of the game day experience and something most attractive to advertisers. But with larger gatherings discouraged and even restricted last year, this aspect was greatly diminished for the 55th Super Bowl. More people may gather to watch the game, while others will be hesitant to do so. “Without Super Bowl parties, brands might not get the same return on investment, because people couldn’t discuss ads in real-time with others, so brands shifted to digital/online advertising to avoid the $5.5 million price tag,” Bastianelli said. They also do this “because spending money online builds reach and frequency and gives brands valuable data to maximize customer engagement much more cost-efficiently. “The downside is that, while culture spreads at the speed of social, it’s much harder to stand out with sustained hype,” she added. Reevaluation of the Super Bowl as a promotional platform should include a determination of whether an organizations’ target customer groups are likely to watch or attend a Super Bowl event, Andrews said. Both professors are available for interviews. Contact George Vlahakis at vlahakis@iu.edu for assistance.
American Rescue Plan Act can do more to address racial wealth inequality
While the American Rescue Plan Act provided a major infusion of economic aid to low-income and middle-class Americans, more should be done to tackle racial wealth inequality and the structural issues in the tax code that allow those at the top of the income distribution to benefit disproportionately from tax subsidies, an Indiana University professor wrote. Goldburn P. Maynard Jr., assistant professor of business law and ethics at the IU Kelley School of Business, analyzed the American Rescue Plan Act's major provisions to determine their potential impact on racial equity, presenting his findings in Yale Law Journal. The article, "Biden's Gambit: Advancing Racial Equity While Relying on a Race-Neutral Tax Code," was published Jan. 9 and is part of a series that examines the novel tax implications of the American Rescue Plan Act through the lens of fiscal impoverishment, race, unemployment insurance, and state and local responses to economic crises. "While analysis reveals that the Biden Administration made some progress on (racial equity) through ARPA, in the months since its passage, federal courts have undermined some of this progress by halting race-conscious equity programs in ARPA," wrote Maynard, who worked as an estate tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service before entering academia. His essay argues that "race consciousness is central to achieving" racial equity and "requires more than traditional policies that target financial need." The bulk of the stimulus measure focused on redistribution through the tax system, which does not incorporate racism and other dimensions of social inequity into its notions of fairness, Maynard wrote. To this day, the IRS does not collect racial data on taxpayers. He also noted that several policies targeted people or groups based on need. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development in November provided $14 million in American Rescue Plan funds to support fair housing organizations. But few new policies under the plan have addressed systemic discrimination, and most were designed to be temporary, such as the child tax credit. "Where these policies fall short is their lack of focus on historic systemic discrimination," Maynard wrote. "ARPA does not tackle the central issues that lead to racial inequity in the first place. Because RE requires the consideration social hierarchy and historical injustices, these provisions of ARPA are not as impactful as others." Several core policies in the American Rescue Plan Act target individuals or groups based on need, particularly racial minorities, he said. But several courts with conservative judges have treated race-based policies designed to counteract racial inequities as discriminatory in their interpretations of the Constitution. "Today, many courts equate efforts to promote RE with efforts to promote racial segregation. The odds of having all three branches in perfect alignment are slim," Maynard wrote. "ARPA also illustrates weaknesses in our current understanding of the Constitution as limiting the government's ability to redress historic wrongs. The status quo limitations are so strong that it is hard to imagine any large pro-equality advancements in the foreseeable future. "At our current pace, achieving RE will be a centuries-long project. This is discouraging, but highlights the importance of continuing the fight for wealth taxation and other levies on capital. It also underscores the smallness of the tax system when tackling a problem as embedded as RE. There are many decisions, regulations and laws that have embedded racism structurally and systematically. The tax system serves as an efficient compensator of harm, but this is not always what the victims of harm want. Instead of after-the-fact compensation for discrimination, victims of inequities often prefer to have the discrimination eliminated. That is the purpose of RE. The tax system can play an important role in promoting RE, even if it is not the leading one."
On average, you will spend about a third of your life sleeping or attempting to sleep. For many, this means more than 25 years of your life will be spent in bed. Given this startling proportion, wouldn’t you like to know more about what helps, hinders and happens while you are asleep? Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D., director of the Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory at Baylor University, spends the majority of his time researching and teaching about such topics. “One reason I am passionate about studying sleep is because you can't really introspect too much about it, as with nearly everything else in psychology,” Scullin said. “With sleep, you're unconscious at the time you are doing it. Sure, you can wake up and say ‘Oh, how did I sleep last night?’ but when you're actually engaging in the sleeping process, you can't do that. As a result, sleeping becomes an enigma. When you have the right equipment, you can begin to design experiments to figure out what exactly the brain is doing when we sleep and why is it important.” Below, Scullin addresses several common beliefs about sleep and the science that proves or disproves them. MYTH: If you die in a dream, then you die in real life. For a time, a rumor circled around that one’s brain cannot handle the mental strain of dying in a dream, and if you die in a dream, you will die. “That's just not substantiated because people report dying in their dreams, and they report it while they're still alive,” Scullin said. “Your brain can actually handle a lot, and there’s one theory that says nightmares are a functional adaptation to help us survive. It is potentially really functional for your brain to have those stressors in its offline state to help prepare you for situations. A lot of people think that nightmares are bad, and yes, they can be a clinical problem. But when they aren’t to that level, they can help us prepare for stressful situations.” FACT: Snoring is a sign of disease. Sleep apnea and snoring are linked, although not with a 1:1 ratio; some people snore without sleep apnea, but snoring is the biggest risk-factor of sleep apnea, Scullin said. Snoring is caused by an obstruction to one’s breathing pathways. In many cases, individuals who snore wake up gasping for air. That’s an observed sleep apnea, said Scullin. If someone is observing those things, he recommends visiting a clinical sleep physician. “What if you stopped breathing every few minutes while you were awake during the day?” asked Scullin. “Would you be okay with that? Not only are you not getting enough oxygen to regions of your body, but it puts a lot of stress on your heart. Untreated sleep apnea traumatically increases your risk for heart problems and heart disease. The great thing is, however, if you get treatment, those risk factors all drop down to normal.” FACT: If you cannot fall asleep in 20 minutes, you should get out of bed. Seems contradictory, right? In fact, research shows that getting out of bed can improve your ability to fall asleep. Why? “If you’re lying in bed and can’t fall asleep, you are forming a negative association between your bed and sleep,” Scullin said. “The solution is getting out of bed and going to do something boring without the lights on. Then when you feel sleepy, go back to bed. This way, you only associate your bed with the feeling of sleepiness.” MYTH: After a night of great “recovery sleep,” you fully restore damage from pulling an all-nighter. “A really interesting neuroimaging study has been able to show that that sleep deprivation significantly impairs the frontal lobes ability to function,” Scullin said. “Your frontal lobe is responsible for memory, decision-making, paying attention and more. The study took individuals who had pulled an all-nighter and then allowed them to get a full night of recovery sleep. When they put them back into the scanner, scientists found that the frontal lobe only partly recovered.” Most people skip on sleep during weekday nights and then oversleep on the weekend, but this throws off your circadian rhythms, your body’s natural sleeping patterns, said Scullin. This means that when Sunday night comes around, you may have “Sunday night insomnia” – trouble falling asleep because you've trained your body to go to bed later. MYTH: During a full moon, people have twice as many sleep problems. A few years ago, there was a big media ‘boom’ claiming that there were more sleep disturbances during a full moon. According to Scullin, the scientific community was skeptical, and labs across the world pooled their data to discover the truth. They found no association between full moons and sleep quality. Why, then, did this myth surface? “Those who claim they don’t sleep well during full moons probably don't sleep very well on other nights as well, but they only realize it or think about it happening when it is a full moon,” Scullin said. “There is something called the confirmation bias where an individual holds a hypothesis about how the world works, and then he or she will look for instances that confirm the hypothesis. Oftentimes they forget every other instance that contradicts their claim. We think that is what caused the moon-sleep phenomenon.” FACT: You can fall asleep while driving without realizing it. People swerve on the road for many reasons – texting, drinking, eating – but not many realize that some individuals swerve because of ‘micro-sleeps.’ According to Scullin, people often operate under the impression that this would never happen to them, but what they don’t realize is that this a frequent occurrence that one has no control over. “We have a similar biological need for sleep as we do hunger and thirst,” Scullin said. “For thirst, we have to have access to water; for hunger we have to have access to food. But for sleep our body can shut down whenever it needs to. If this happens, our brain will occasionally do this for 3 to 5 seconds if you're really tired – and especially if you're involved in some long monotonous task such as driving down a long highway.” FACT: Some people’s bodies are paralyzed for minutes whenever they wake up. Imagine waking up, seeing your biggest fear and being unable to move. Unfortunately, this is a reality for some individuals. Sleep paralysis occurs when brain functions get mixed-up, said Scullin. In rapid eye movement (REM) sleep the brain paralyzes the rest of the body so one doesn't act out his or her dreams, and this is very important. “The problem is that in some cases, your brain isn't fully coordinating with the other parts of it,” Scullin said. The part that controls consciousness wakes up, but the other part that controls your body paralysis is hitting the snooze button. So, while you can be fully awake, your body is paralyzed.” Some people experience this for a few seconds, others for a couple of minutes. Some people also hallucinate when the part of your brain that is dreaming “crosses over” into your consciousness. These hallucinations are triggered when one is so sleep deprived that the brain is trying to get deep sleep, but it cannot fully wake up immediately afterwards. According to Scullin, there does not seem to be any big clinical issue with sleep paralysis or hallucinations, and they seem to go away over time and in development. MYTH: Smartphone apps can reliably measure your sleep. Despite their popularity, sleep apps cannot effectively track sleep quality or quantity, Scullin said. The only way to reliably measure your sleep is to have electrodes attached to your scalp, measuring your brain waves in a sleep clinic. But sleep evaluations are expensive and usually only worth the cost for individuals with sleep apnea or other ongoing sleep problems. The good news? Baylor’s sleep lab pays volunteers to get their sleep analyzed, and scientists like Scullin are always looking for participants. FACT: The latest you should consume caffeine is six hours before bed. In a placebo-controlled study, scientists manipulated whether participants had caffeine one, two, four or six hours before bed, and for each of those conditions they had a placebo control. When the subject’s sleep was measured, they found that in every group, it was harder to fall asleep and sleep quality wasn’t as good as those without caffeine. “Even if you have caffeine six hours before bed, you not only have more difficulty falling asleep, but your sleep was also less deep,” Scullin said. “We actually don’t know if the results would extend to seven or eight hours before bed, but we know that six hours before bed is a ‘no-go.’ What I recommend is having your caffeine in the morning.” For those who think caffeine has no effect on the body, Scullin points out a bigger problem. “If you can sleep right after drinking a cappuccino, it probably means that you are so terribly sleep-deprived that even with drugs in your system that are intended to keep you awake, your brain is saying ‘I don’t care; I’m putting you to sleep.’” For more about Scullin and his research, visit the Baylor Psychology and Neuroscience website. by Brooke Battersby , student newswriter, (254) 710-6805 ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s oldest and largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments and seven academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit www.baylor.edu/artsandsciences.
