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According to some, the election is pretty much already over. There is no way Joe Biden can lose and there is absolutely no way Donald Trump can win. The thing is a lot of people said that four years ago about Hillary Clinton. There is a path to victory for Joe Biden, but unseating a sitting president is no easy task. It will take swinging several red states blue and not focusing on areas where President Trump may have fallen out of favor. What to watch Rust Belt's traditional battlegrounds: Trump’s chance of winning Michigan, which he carried by 11,000 votes in 2016, has been significantly reduced by the impact of COVID-19 in the state, which has suffered the fourth most deaths in the country. Pennsylvania has almost been as hard hit as Michigan (fifth most deaths). Of the three Rust Belt states, Trump is best positioned in Wisconsin, where his job approval has remained higher than the national average. West and South emerge as new Democratic base: Seven western states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington — are firmly in the Democratic column. Six states in the South and Southwest — Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia — are in various stages of becoming blue states. Outside of Virginia, which has already become a blue state, Arizona is the state most likely to transition to a Democratic base state as early as November. May 17 – Axios But as much as the playbook seems obvious – there will be pitfalls, landmines and barriers along the way. It is expected that this upcoming election will be divisive, expensive, and close. And President Trump has proven to be an effective and relentless campaigner. If you are covering – then let our experts help with your questions and stories. Mark Caleb Smith is the Director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University. Mark is available to speak with media regarding the DNC Primary, running mates and the upcoming election. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded and healthcare organizations began experiencing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), faculty, staff and students at Georgia Southern University stepped up to fulfill a need. Making use of the 3D printers on the Statesboro and Armstrong campuses, as well as at the FabLab at the Business Innovation Group’s (BIG) downtown Statesboro location, the campus communities quickly began production of protective face shields and respirators. “We can’t afford to sit back and wait for things to happen,” said Dominique Halaby, DPA, director of the BIG. “We have to make them happen. We have this responsibility to make a difference, to be a part of that front line, whether it’s immediately in our community, our state or our respective area.” To date, the Department of Manufacturing Engineering has sent 200 3D-printed protective face shields with headbands to Augusta, Georgia, for healthcare workers at Augusta Medical Center, while the BIG has sent 100 face shields and 10 “Montana Masks,” a 3D-printable respirator filtration mask that can be fitted to a healthcare provider’s face and sanitized between uses, to Atlanta-area hospitals. The Department of Mechanical Engineering on the Armstrong Campus has also printed Montana Masks that will be delivered to workers in the St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital System (SJCHS) in Savannah, Georgia, while the Respiratory Therapy Program in the Waters College of Health Professions donated 10 ventilators to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. “I am unbelievably proud of our faculty, staff and students who have their own families to take care of, but are putting themselves on the line to help our medical professionals in this time of critical need,” said Mohammad Davoud, Ph.D., dean of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing. Wayne Johnson, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering, believes providing these materials to the Savannah community during a time of critical need is reinforcing a longtime commitment to the region. “The Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern has a long history of working within the Savannah community, and during this pandemic, it was especially important for mechanical engineering faculty and students at the Armstrong Campus to step up during a time of great need,” said Johnson. “ Our work with SJCHS to develop, test and donate 3D-printed respirators may also lead to other research and development collaborations in the post-COVID-19 future.” In addition to benefiting area healthcare workers, Johnson believes this project is a great way for students to put their classroom skills into practice. If you would like to learn more about how the students, staff and faculty at Georgia Southern University are helping out during the COVID-19 crisis – the let our experts help. Wayne Johnson is an expert in additive manufacturing, mechatronics, biomechanics and engineering education. He is available to speak with media about this great initiative, simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.
Leaping lizards! Let our experts tell you about the latest invasive species to be found in Georgia
What’s four feet long, weighs ten pounds and is eating its way across two Georgia counties? If you guessed the Argentine black and white tegu – you’d be right. "It has become established as an exotic invasive species in several sites in South Florida and we now believe in the Toombs and Tattnall counties of Georgia," said Georgia Department of Natural Resources biologist John Jenson. "We're trying to remove them from the wild, because they can have a negative impact on our native species." The Argentine black and white tegu can grow to be up to 4 feet long and weigh 10 pounds or more. The species can be identified by its mottled black-and-white coloring, which is arranged in a banded pattern across its back and tail. Hatchlings also display a bright green color on their heads. This tends to disappear around the time they reach a month old. While the species is known to lash out if threatened, it is not considered aggressive toward people. The biggest problem it presents is towards existing wildlife. The species is notorious for stealing burrows. Tegus also possess an indiscriminate and edacious appetite that can include the eggs and young of other species. "They eat just about anything they want, plant and animal matter, and one of their favorite foods are eggs from ground-nesting animals such as gopher tortoises—our protected state reptile—birds, including turkeys and quails," said Jenson. May 14 - Newsweek Invasive species are not new to Georgia or the southern states, but there are a lot of questions still to be asked: What endangered species are threatened by the presence of these lizards? What can be done to remove them? How quickly will they breed and spread? And are there any natural predators that can assist DNR authorities naturally? If you are a journalist covering this subject – then let our experts help. Steve Hein is the director of the Center for Wildlife Education at Georgia Southern University. He’s an expert in Georgia wildlife and is available to speak with media about invasive species in the state – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Will an ‘Innovation Renaissance’ be part of a post-COVID America?
If there is one thing that comes out of a crisis or emergency – it is opportunity and innovation. And as COIVID-19 has held the country in its grip for nearly two months, America has had to adjust and adapt almost every aspect of life. From how we work, educate, shop, socialize, stay fit and interact, just about everything has had to change. With those changes comes ingenuity and innovation. And it is expected that from COVID-19 will come inspiration and a new wave of innovation. The coronavirus outbreak has altered not just how people connect, but also how consumers shop. Online grocery shopping, for instance, had never really taken off, accounting for only a fraction of total sales. That trend, of course, has now reversed, with all supermarkets scrambling to meet the surge in online sales. Even Amazon, which had bought U.S. grocery group Whole Foods in 2017, was caught flat-footed in delivering fresh food amid the endless demand for home delivery. Just how we will shop, eat, connect with one another and travel in the future remains to be seen. It may well be that a year or two after the health crisis, the world will resume interacting as it had before the pandemic. For Japan, though, this should be a golden opportunity to think outside the box and re-evaluate how to innovate to meet its changing needs and be a global leader in the services industries, including logistics as well as health care. After all, enhancing the stay-at-home experience through improved connectivity and enhanced distribution mechanisms would be a boon to an aging society as well as to people who are hesitant to venture out as much as they once had. At the same time, discerning consumers can choose their online experiences from across the world, in which Japanese retailers’ attention to detail is particularly attractive. If you are a journalist looking to cover the role innovation will play in a post-pandemic era, then let our experts help with your stories. Dr. Ashely Gess, a leading expert in innovation and an associate professor of STEAM education at Augusta University, is available for interviews. Click on her name to schedule a time to speak with her.
Is working remotely finally the new normal?
For years, it was touted by consultants as the more efficient option for maximizing work and allowing life balance for employees, but few industries actually allowed or embraced the idea of people working remotely. There were always exceptions – but seldom was it is policy. Until COVID-19 came, and now just about every office, institution or administration has had to adapt to remote working to stay operational. And for the most part, it works. Furthermore, employers must brace themselves for the initial fluctuation in work productivity as their employees adjust to the challenges of the pandemic while working from home, according to Dr. Melissa Furman, a lecturer of management in the James M. Hull College of Business at Augusta University. “As the pandemic carries on, it seems like more employers are noticing how working remotely is becoming the new trend and industries are getting used to the idea,” said Furman. “The latest technologies, such as online meeting platforms, will help ease the transition and keep a sense of cohesiveness outside the workplace.” So once the dust has settled from COVID-19 and the new normal sets in across America, what will workplaces look like? Will remote working be accepted and encouraged? What risks are there to offices slipping back into the old and traditional ways? There are a lot of questions to consider, and if you are a journalist covering this topic, that’s where Augusta University can help. Furman is a respected leader in management with over 30 years of business coaching, mentoring and higher education administration. Click on her name to schedule an interview.
Is AI taking over traditional procurement practices?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. It’s taking questions from clients, running assembly lines and is now pretty much part of every appliance in every house and is also an integral part of industry. In fact, in the attached article, Joe McNamara, global director of IT for food giant Kraft-Heinz details how he has implemented AI as a vital source for manufacturing and procurement across his company. Recently, Ruomeng Cui an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information System and Operations Management at the Goizueta Business School, Emory University along with colleagues from Rutgers University and Tianjin University, authored a paper regarding how Artificial Intelligence will be playing an expanded role in areas like procurement and how it will increase accuracy and efficiency for businesses on a global scale. If you’re looking to learn more about this topic – then let us help with your questions or coverage. Ruomeng Cui investigates how operations strategies create value in digital retail and platform markets. Professor Cui is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
Diary of a COVID-19 crisis nurse in NYC: A Georgia Southern student’s first job
On May 1, Tucker Westbrook could finally sleep in. He’d been on duty as a COVID-19 crisis nurse at Harlem Hospital Center in New York City for 11 consecutive days, with a routine that began before the sun came up and ended long after the city had gone dark. Most mornings, he’d wake at 5:45 am., center himself with prayer and meditation, eat breakfast, and hop on a bus in time to clock in for his shift at the largest public hospital in Central Harlem by 7 a.m. Each day as he entered the halls of the facility’s surgical floor, which was transformed into a COVID-19 holding unit for the larger part of his three-week work rotation, he was unsure of what he’d encounter. Just weeks earlier, Westbrook, a May 2019 Georgia Southern University nursing graduate from Butler, Georgia, accepted a short-term contract to assist with the Coronavirus pandemic in the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. This was Westbrook’s first professional job, following what was supposed to be a yearlong mission trip in Southeast Asia, but was cut short due to the pandemic, and nothing could fully prepare him for the impact of his initial experience. “The first day, I thought, ‘I’m not prepared for this,’” he admitted. “Those first few days I was on pins and needles and thought, ‘how am I going to mess up?’” The stakes were high. By the time he arrived in New York City, thousands had already been hospitalized, and many had died. Seasoned nurses and doctors were depleted and morale was low across the city, he explained on the phone as he looked out over a desolate Times Square from his hotel window. “They asked me, ‘why did you come here?’” Westbrook recalled. “And I said that I wanted to be, hopefully, a light in this dark place right now. The patients, the doctors, the nurses, the nursing assistants, the janitorial assistants — my goal is to learn everyone’s names and greet them with a smile behind my mask.” A friend encouraged Westbrook to look for a temporary nursing job upon his return from abroad. When he applied for highly competitive positions with a crisis staffing agency, he requested placement in an area hard hit by the pandemic. “Just like Southeast Asia, I wanted to go where there was the biggest need, and I had enough gifts to meet that need,” Westbrook said. This was Westbrook’s first trip to New York, and he stepped into a scene where images of makeshift morgues and ventilator shortages splashed across the media came to life in front of him. “It has been surreal to see,” he said. Assigned to provide cluster care to potential COVID-19-positive patients for minimal exposure, Westbrook also focused on simple acts of kindness to help ease increased anxiety among the patients. “That might be things as small as giving a wet rag to wipe their face,” Westbrook said. “It may be filling their jars with ice cold water in the morning. Whatever might help them feel more comfortable.” Westbrook’s patients were diverse: a teenage gunshot victim who sobbed at the prospect of being infected with the virus; an adult male who discussed intimate thoughts about death with his family over the phone; and a woman who was depressed until Westbrook sat with her so she didn’t feel alone. Experiencing humanity in its most delicate form was life-defining. “I was learning more about nursing care but also continuing to serve (my patients) beyond simply giving them medicine,” Westbrook said. “I was able to advocate for them with the doctor, especially without their families there. I’m learning how to go above and beyond, and what our job responsibilities are. I want to keep growing and learning to continue to give care to my patients.” The hospital staff also offered enormous support and guidance to Westbrook, who almost two weeks into the job felt exponentially more confident in his abilities. “If you had told me about any of this I wouldn’t believe it,” he said. “It has been incredible. I did not think I could do that at all, and here I am on the other side. This was such a lofty and high goal to complete this and do well. I’m thankful to even be here and have this opportunity.” Westbrook credits his father for encouraging him to study nursing, and Georgia Southern faculty for their expert instruction, which he put to use in New York, as well as their sage advice. “I wasn’t sure I was going to get my license,” he said. “My desire to become a doctor or a missionary became more and more compelling, but my professors assured me that it would be worthwhile to pursue my license, and they were right.” Following a quarantine in his family’s home, Westbrook will begin pre-medicine classes at Georgia Southern this summer. If you are a journalist looking to know more about Tucker’s story or the nursing program at Georgia Southern University – let us help with your coverage. Barry Joyner is the dean of Georgia Southern University’s Waters College of Health Professions - simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.
Scarcity reduces consumers' concerns about prices, research shows
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- During the current pandemic, panicked overbuying of products such as toilet paper, cleaning products and similar items often has led to limited options for consumers and empty store shelves. What's often left are generic or lower-priced branded products. According to new research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, it may not be because consumers during this crisis are viewing higher-priced products as having better quality. A paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research finds that scarcity actually decreases consumers' tendency to use price to judge a product's quality. "Scarcity is aversive and triggers the desire to compensate for the shortage, and to seek abundance," said paper co-author Ashok Lalwani, associate professor of marketing at Kelley. "People who face scarcity are less likely to view less vs. more expensive options as belonging to different categories, and thus are open to differences at either or both ends of the price continuum." This is the first paper to directly show the impact of scarcity on price-quality judgments. The findings are applicable amid times of economic crisis, natural disasters and social disturbances. "We suggest that people may not only differ in terms of how they categorize purchases, but also in terms of the extent to which they categorize, and scarcity reduces the tendency," Lalwani said. While consumers frequently judge the quality of a product based on its price, they change their thinking during times of scarcity and are less likely to categorize objects and less likely to use the price of a product to infer its quality, Lalwani and his co-authors found. The business implications for managers at high-end stores or those who want to increase sales of high-priced items are numerous. Lalwani suggested that one way such managers can activate the belief that higher prices indicate higher quality is by varying context or environmental factors. This could include encouraging consumers -- such as through contests or sweepstakes -- to categorize assorted items by price to facilitate the use of price-tiers as a basis for judging a product's quality. "The same objective could also be attained by reducing consumers' desire for abundance," Lalwani said. "For example, inside the store, managers could have portraits, displays or ads highlighting the harmful effects of gluttony or hoarding behavior. Doing so may increase customers' price-quality inferences and shift them from purchasing lower-priced to higher-priced goods. "Our findings also suggest that when stronger price-quality inferences are desired, retailers are advised to avoid utilizing scarcity messages, such as 'sale ends this week' or 'while supplies last,' especially for product categories in which the proportion of high-priced items is high, as priming scarcity among consumers may decrease their price-quality inferences." Other authors of the paper, "The Impact of Resource Scarcity on Price-Quality Judgments," were Hanyong Park, assistant professor of marketing at the Eli Brand College of Business at Michigan State, and David Silvera, retired associate professor of marketing at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
The road back – how long will it take for America’s economy to recover?
With unemployment at a staggering 14 percent, America’s economy looks as if it is in freefall. With COVID-19 forcing factories to shut down, small businesses to shutter and restaurants to close their doors, there is anxiety at every level of government about when the country’s economy will get back in motion. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting payrolls to shed 21.5 million and the unemployment rate to go to 16%. April’s unemployment rate topped the post-war record 10.8% but was short of the Great Depression high estimated at 24.9%. The financial crisis peak was 10% in October 2009. The bleak numbers paint a “pretty dismal picture, but April may be it for job losses going forward with the country starting to reopen,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank. “If there is a silver-lining in today’s dismal jobs report, it is in the realization that the economy cannot possibly get any worse than it is right now.” CNBC – May 08 Bleak indeed, but there are still many questions to be answered. How long will it take until people are back to work? What industries and businesses are impacted or lost forever? Is there a safe way to get back to work? Are there worries of inflation? And who is paying for all this stimulus funding and bailouts. If you are a journalist covering the economy, let one of our experts help. Jeff Haymond, Ph.D. is Dean, School of Business Administration and a Professor of Economics at Cedarville and is an expert in finance and trade. Dr. Haymond is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
As Canadians continue to stay home during this pandemic, many cars are sitting idle for long stretches of time. Maintaining your car is important whether it’s parked for a long time or in regular use. “Dead batteries, rusty brakes and flat tires can be worrisome leaving a car parked for weeks on end,” says Kaitlynn Furse, director, corporate communications, CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO). ”Car owners should put measures in place to avoid unexpected mechanical issues, much like a snowbird would, if cars are sitting idle in the driveway for long periods of time.” CAA SCO car maintenance checklist: Gas up. If your vehicle is going to be idle for more than 30 days, fill the tank up to the brim. This will help prevent moisture from building up in the fuel tank. Add a fuel stabilizer to the tank when full (stabilizers have a shelf life of three months and may help keep the fuel lines and engine from corroding). Protect the battery. It will eventually lose its charge if it isn’t driven at least once every few weeks. A trickle charger or battery tender with an automatic shut-off feature will keep the battery in good condition when the vehicle isn’t being driven. Inflate the tires. You can get flat spots on your tires from the vehicle sitting in one position. If your car is going to be parked and not moving add extra 10 PSI to the tire pressure when it is sitting idle. When you are ready to drive it remove that extra 10 PSI. Clean it well. Protect your paint job by removing acidic bird droppings, corrosive salt or dirt off the paint and take it a step further, polish or wax the exterior. Another item to consider is to check your tires to minimize the likelihood of wheel separation. A wheel separation is the unintended release of any active wheel from a moving vehicle. These incidents occur most commonly during the months of May through August after motorists switch from winter to all season tires. “Wheel separation can be very dangerous, causing, property damage, injuries and even fatalities,” says Furse. “If you are changing your tires at home, please make sure you go the extra step to make sure they are installed properly.” If you are unsure about any part of the installation of a wheel on your vehicle, be sure to take the vehicle to a qualified shop for its seasonal tire change. CAA has compiled a list of Approved Auto Repair Service facilities that have been vetted for quality service standards. Please check with your local facility as business hours for AARS locations may vary during the pandemic.
