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Are big changes coming to financial accountability in Ontario as Laurentian loses its elite status?

As the higher education community anxiously awaits more news on just exactly how Laurentian University in Sudbury has essentially gone bankrupt, those who oversee universities and colleges in Ontario are also watching with interest. The chain of events that led to Laurentian having to file for creditor protection reveal a failure in governance. And it points to a wider set of reforms that are being contemplated within the public sector. A special investigator’s report on the Laurentian University insolvency is coming out soon, according to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Ross Romano. The province has warned it may introduce legislation granting it greater oversight of every university’s finances. Recently, Umar Saeed, a public sector accounting expert and a partner at Welch LLP, sat down with Newspoint360 to discuss in an in-depth interview how Ontario’s ability to control and govern the university sector is unlike other provinces, such as British Columbia. If new legislation is introduced that enhances the government’s ability to appoint Board members or control the financial and operating policies of Ontario universities, it will have broad implications for the entire university sector in Ontario: • New legislation may lead to consolidating all the universities (debts and deficits) into the Ontario government’s public accounts • Legislation would acknowledge an implicit promise by the Ontario government to backstop public sector debt (including the university sector) • Public universities may lose their perceived independence if they are “controlled” for accounting purposes The story of Laurentian University is fundamentally about poor governance. However, missing from this story is the backdrop and conditions that led to poor governance. There’s a lot at stake for Laurentian, it’s faculty and staff and the provincial university sector as a whole, and if you are a journalist looking to cover this topic, then let us help. Umar Saeed is a partner at Welch LLP in Ottawa and an expert in Public-Sector Accounting Standards. Umar is available to speak with media about this subject – simply click on his icon now to arrange an email today.

UConn Researcher Develops Successful Zika Virus Vaccine in Preclinical Studies

UConn researcher Paulo Verardi, associate professor of pathobiology and veterinary science in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, has demonstrated the success of a vaccine against Zika virus and recently published his findings in Scientific Reports, a Nature Research publication. He has also filed provisional patents with UConn’s Technology Commercialization Services for the novel vaccine platform technology used to generate the vaccine, as well as genetic modifications made to the vaccine that significantly enhance expression of the vaccine antigen. Verardi, a Brazilian native, was in Brazil visiting family in the summer of 2015 when the Zika outbreak first began to make waves and soon reached epidemic status. Back in the United States, Verardi kept tabs on the Zika epidemic and its emerging connection to microcephaly, a serious birth defect that causes babies to be born with small heads and underdeveloped brains. In October of that year, Verardi called then-Ph.D.-student Brittany Jasperse (CAHNR ‘19) into his office and told her he wanted to apply their newly developed vaccine platform and start developing a vaccine for Zika virus. It’s an impressive achievement and there’s a full article attached for those looking to know more. Verardi emphasizes that developing vaccines for viruses, in this case Zika, help the world be better prepared for outbreaks of novel and emerging viruses by having vaccine development frameworks in place. “Emerging viruses are not going to stop popping up any time soon, so we need to be prepared,” Verardi says. “Part of being prepared is to continue the development of these platforms.” If you’re a journalist looking to know more about Zika virus and this emerging news about a vaccine – then let us help. Dr. Paulo Verardi is a virologist who specializes in vaccine research and development. He is an Associate Professor at UConn and a member of the Center of Excellence for Vaccine Research. Dr. Verardi is available to speak with media regarding this emerging development – simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.

As President Biden Lays Out Infrastructure Plan, Experts Available to Discuss Proposals

As President Joe Biden lays out his plan for improving the nation's infrastructure, experts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are available to discuss the ways in which proposed projects could affect shipping and delivery of goods, congestion in cities, and emissions in the environment, among other topics. José Holguín-Veras, the director of the Center for Infrastructure, Transportation, and the Environment at Rensselaer, and Cara Wang, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rensselaer, are leading experts in the role of infrastructure on freight and transportation systems, and the environmental impacts of both. Their research focuses on improving transportation and freight systems in order to increase efficiency, reduce traffic congestion and, in turn, reduce vehicle emissions. Holguín-Veras and Wang can also discuss what their research has uncovered that could guide policy makers as new projects are planned.

The great global warming debate – our experts are being asked about the ethics behind controlling earth’s climate

Solar geoengineering - it’s a topic that has caused an ethical lightening storm in the science community. The concept is complex. Should the world take on the crisis of climate change by attempting to artificially attempting to cool the earth? It’s an idea that has the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine seeking a billion dollars in the next five years to investigate the theory. It’s a topic that is somewhat controversial, and journalists are looking to leading experts from across America for expert insight, opinion and perspective. Prakash Kashwan, a political scientist at the University of Connecticut, said he felt the report could have better emphasized the seriousness of some concerns over others. Uncertainties about the impacts of solar geoengineering on global weather patterns have the potential to affect some regions of the world more severely than others, he pointed out. Some experts have raised concerns about potential effects of geoengineering on monsoon rainfall in parts of Asia and Africa, he said. More than 2 billion people around the world rely on these rainfall patterns to support their water and agricultural needs. These kinds of issues should be given special weight, Kashwan suggested. "Some uncertainties are much more highly consequential for the global society, and especially for the poor and vulnerable," he told E&E News. Kashwan also reiterated concerns about potential political effects. While the report makes clear that geoengineering is not a substitute for climate mitigation, he suggests that this doesn't necessarily prevent policymakers from using it in that way. "The problem is the extent to which researchers are really helpless in deciding how research is used in the political system," he said. "That part has yet to be fully appreciated." Kashwan suggests that more dialogue might be warranted before funding a national research program, with greater input from both the international community and political experts who can weigh in on the ways that geoengineering research might affect political decisions. March 26, Scientific American It's a captivating idea – but it could have political, social and ethical consequences. Dr. Kashwan has also been interviewed by The New York Times. If you are a journalist looking to learn more about solar geoengineering, its possibilities and the reasons some scientists are worried – then let us help with your coverage. Prakash Kashwan is an Associate Professor of Political Science at UConn and an expert in the areas of environmental and climate justice, planetary justice, global commons, climate governance, and climate geoengineering governance. Dr. Kashwan is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.

Kids in School: 3 Feet Apart or 6 Feet?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published updated guidelines for elementary schools, "now [recommending] that, with universal masking, students should maintain a distance of at least 3 feet in classroom settings" as opposed to the previous recommendation of 6 feet. While many have had strong reactions for and against this updated guidance, immunologist Joseph Comber, PhD, an associate teaching professor of biology at Villanova University, wants to add nuance to the conversation. On the one hand, Dr. Comber notes, when the CDC updates health and safety guidelines, the public can trust that as more information and data become available, the science behind the updates becomes more accurate. He stresses that studies "showed no difference in transmission between kids kept 3 feet apart or 6 feet apart in schools." Plus, Comber says, "we already know that kids younger than 10 and 11 are less likely to spread the virus than older kids and adults." However, Dr. Comber cautions that the subjects of the study followed "strict mask guidance and adherence to masking. We don't know what happens if schools enforce 3 feet of distance but are not strict with masking." He also points out that where the study was done can have an impact on the results. Comber emphasizes that "community spread is most important to the specific community and, as we've seen so far, different states and regions can spike with infections at different times." He wonders "if this is especially true in areas that have higher virus circulation than others." Dr. Comber notes that these guidelines are for elementary schools only, with one rather large caveat: "children are increasingly being infected." Another concern with these shifting regulations is whether they will impact public trust. Villanova professor Jie Xu, PhD, is an expert on science and health communications. Her concern about this change is minimal "because science is evolving." She emphasizes that "we need to be able to revise conclusions when new evidence comes in," and she sees the country's "highly politicized environment" as something to be taken more seriously, when it comes to public health. Dr. Xu cites "rising distrust in authorities and institutions (which has been going on for quite some time)" and notes that, when it comes to the nation’s children, in-person versus virtual schooling is a "highly charged issue." In the end, according to Dr. Comber, "it remains to be seen what happens when kids are packed 3 feet into classrooms on a broad scale."

The aftermath of a mass shooting in America

Last week America was shocked by two major mass shooting events in a week. Almost 20 people were killed and so many more will suffer the short- and long-term effects of these tragic and violent events. According to recent media reports, though the election and a full year of COVID-19 dominated news coverage, 2020 was one of the deadliest years for gun violence in decades. Until two lethal rampages this month, mass shootings had largely been absent from headlines during the coronavirus pandemic. But people were still dying — at a record rate. In 2020, gun violence killed nearly 20,000 Americans, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, more than any other year in at least two decades. An additional 24,000 people died by suicide with a gun. The vast majority of these tragedies happen far from the glare of the national spotlight, unfolding instead in homes or on city streets and — like the Covid-19 crisis — disproportionately affecting communities of color. March 23, Washington Post And as America carries on and moves forward, the survivors, witnesses and families of those killed will be adapting to a new life and a multitude of physical and psychological challenges. If you’re a reporter looking to cover the issues survivors of mass-shooting events will experience, then let us help. Dr. Laura C. Wilson is a clinical psychologist whose expertise focuses on post-trauma functioning, particularly in survivors of sexual violence or mass trauma (e.g., terrorism, mass shootings, combat). Her research interests extend to predictors of violence and aggression, including psychophysiological and personality factors, as well as indicators of PTSD following mass trauma, long-term functioning among first responders, outcomes among survivors of sexual violence, and the influence of media on mental illness stigma. Dr. Wilson is available to speak with media – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview today.

What Can A Forgotten Piece of Our Opioid Addiction and Treatment History Teach Us?

As the nation struggles with the third wave of a continuing opioid epidemic, a newly republished book co-authored by Nancy Campbell, the head of the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, offers insight into present-day drug addiction and treatment by exploring a complex chapter from the nation’s past. Written with JP Olsen and Luke Walden, The Narcotic Farm: The Rise and Fall of America’s First Prison for Drug Addicts details the history of the United States Narcotic Farm, a federal institution that opened in 1935 outside of Lexington, Kentucky. Jointly operated from 1935 to 1975 by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Narcotic Farm was a combination prison, hospital, working farm, rehabilitation center, and research laboratory. “All of our scientific knowledge about human opioid addiction comes from that time, comes from that place,” said Campbell, a leading figure in the social history of drugs, drug policy, and harm reduction, on an episode of the Landmark Recovery Radio podcast. The facility, which was also the subject of a 2009 documentary featuring Campbell, has a complicated legacy. It revolutionized treatment methods commonly accepted today, such as using methadone to medically manage heroin detox and the development of drugs like naloxone and buprenorphine. But it fell under a cloud of suspicion in 1975, when Congress learned that researchers had recruited patients as test subjects for CIA-funded LSD experiments as part of the notorious MK-Ultra project. “With the ongoing opioid epidemic worsening this past year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lessons learned in this book continue to be relevant today,” Campbell said. Campbell is also the author of Using Women: Gender, Drug Policy, and Social Justice and Discovering Addiction: The Science and Politics of Substance Abuse Research, as well as the co-author of Gendering Addiction: The Politics of Drug Treatment in a Neurochemical World. Her most recent book, OD: Naloxone and the Politics of Overdose, was published in 2020. “Nobody should die of overdose. A high overdose death rate signals that we have not cared for the people who have been hurt most by the war on drugs, first pursued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954,” Campbell said in a recent “Academic Minute” segment. Campbell is available to discuss a wide range of topics relating to drug policy and history, including the Narcotic Farm.

MEDIA RELEASE: After a one-year hiatus, the annual CAA Worst Roads campaign returns

With a renewed focus on education and safety, CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) is proud to announce that following a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the annual CAA Worst Roads Campaign is back, and voting is now open. “The campaign is a platform for all road users to highlight which roadway improvements should be prioritized by our different levels of government,” says Raymond Chan, government relations manager CAA SCO. “The campaign gives decision-makers a snapshot of what roads the public perceives are not meeting their expectations.” Over the course of the last year people have changed their transportation habits. More people are cycling or driving their vehicles instead of carpooling and using public transit. CAA believes funding for roadway improvements needs to be consistent to ensure that quality and safety is maintained. “Our roads are essential, they are the arteries used every day to keep workers, goods and services flowing and should be maintained more than ever,” adds Chan. “As people are encouraged to stay home and telework during the pandemic, governments should continue to take advantage of lighter traffic patterns as an opportunity for road repair. These efforts can also be refocused on increasingly popular modes of transportation, such as cycling and walking.” Investing in infrastructure improvements, including the proper maintenance of roads and bridges, is important to the vitality and economic recovery of local communities. CAA continues to advocate for longer-term dedicated infrastructure funding to help municipalities prepare, plan, budget and execute on repair backlogs and capital projects. The success stories over the last 17 years are a result of governments prioritizing infrastructure through multi-year capital investments. Some examples include: 1. Riverdale Drive, Washago Despite appearing on the CAA Worst Roads list for the first time in 2019, the poor road conditions of Riverdale Drive was not new to residents of Severn. After 20 years since the street’s last resurfacing, Council approved $50,000 of prep work for Riverdale Drive led by Ward 5 Councillor Sarah Valiquette. 2. Dufferin Street, Toronto Appearing on the provincial top 10 list annually since 2015, Dufferin Street between Bloor Street and Dundas Street underwent resurfacing from September to November 2018. An estimated 35,000 vehicles travel Dufferin Street daily and the number of commuters is increasing. In response to community concerns, Toronto City Council adopted a motion to expedite studies relating to pedestrian and cyclist safety along Dufferin Street, among other improvements in December 2020. 3. College Road, Windsor The intersection of Campbell and College Avenue underwent sewer, road and water main rehabilitation in May 2019. College Avenue between South Street and Brock Street was repaired in November 2019. CAA is calling on all Ontarians to vote for their Worst Roads today and join the community of drivers, cyclists, transit riders and pedestrians committed to improving Ontario’s roads. Nominations for CAA’s Worst Roads can be cast at caaworstroads.com until April 18. To encourage participants to act on their concerns, they will be entered into a grand prize draw to win free gas for a year, or one of 5 secondary prizes. Once voting closes, CAA will compile a list of the 10 Worst Roads in Ontario, along with the Worst Roads in regions across the province. The regional top five lists will help shine further light on the state of local roads in municipalities across Ontario. CAA will present the list of 2021 Worst Roads to local and provincial officials to help inform future funding and planning decisions. Here is a roundup of Ontario's Top 10 Worst Roads in 2019: 1. Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto 2. Riverdale Drive, Washago 3. Dufferin Street, Toronto 4. County Road 49, Prince Edward 5. Barton Street East, Hamilton 6. Burlington Street East, Hamilton 7. Avondale Road, Belleville 8. Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto 9. Carnegie Beach Road, Scugog 10. Bathurst Street, Toronto

Childhood psychology expert on migrant children at U.S.-Mexico border

Kathryn Humphreys, assistant professor, department of psychology and human development, is available for commentary on the influx of migrant children at the border and group-based housing for these children. Kathryn received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology and has expertise in infant and early childhood mental health. Her research focuses on characterizing the early environment and examining links to later life outcomes.  Some of her recent research finds that stressful or traumatic experiences occurring in a child’s earliest years—birth to age 5—have been linked to reduced hippocampal volume in adolescence, which is connected to learning, memory and mood.

Product Returns Represent Billion-Dollar Strategic Blind Spot for Major Retailers

“Product returns have never, to our knowledge, been explicitly included as a stage in a major customer journey model,” the authors note in their paper. “This exclusion represents a strategic blind-spot for marketers.” In December 2020, Linne Fulcher, vice president, customer strategy, science and journeys at Walmart U.S., published a blog post that outlined Walmart’s new return policy. Dubbed “Carrier Pickup by FedEx,” the service was just in time for the holidays, free, and “here to stay,” Fulcher wrote. She described the policy as “an incredibly convenient way to make that unwanted gift ‘magically’ disappear,” whether customers bought items in a store, online, or from a third party vendor. “We want the returns experience to be easy, safe and seamless,” she added. Returns are big business. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), U.S. consumers returned an estimated $428 billion worth of merchandise last year—approximately 10.6 percent of total U.S. retail sales. The numbers for ecommerce are even more startling: online shopping accounted for roughly $565 billion of 2020 retail sales, of which $102 billion in merchandise—about 18 percent—was returned. However, retail advisory firm Optoro noted in 2019 that of 117 top retailers, not even a third of them quantify the full cost of returns. Even before the pandemic hit, Sandy Jap, Sarah Beth Brown professor in marketing, Ryan Hamilton, associate professor of marketing, and former Goizueta Business School dean, Tom Robertson, were perplexed at how little academic research existed regarding returns. “Instead of viewing returns as a nuisance and an added cost, they are an opportunity to engage with customers and build brand loyalty,” explains Robertson. “Returns are part and parcel of the new retail landscape. This has been exacerbated by the strong uptick in online.” To help retailers identify opportunities, Jap, Hamilton, and Robertson wrote “Many (Un)happy Returns? The Changing Nature of Retail Product Returns and Future Research Directions,” published in Journal of Retailing last year. The article is essentially a researcher’s road map for exploring this “strategically important area,” says Jap. Some retailers, such as Warby Parker and Stitch Fix, have built returns into their business models. Others, like Zappos and Nordstrom, have made consumer-generated returns easy, assuming that doing so engenders brand loyalty and repeat business. Yet most retailers seem “to lack a coherent philosophy” on returns and “appear not to have built return rates into their business models at all,” the trio state in their paper. “There are so many interesting and important questions to be answered around product returns,” says Hamilton. “Important as returns are, the academic marketing research has barely scratched the surface.” “Many (Un)happy Returns” highlights five specific areas where advancements in theory and practice would provide opportunity for greater understanding: 1. How product returns transform the customer journey 2. The “dark side” of returns—exploring the gray area between justified returns and outright fraud 3. The effects of returns on traditional retailer supply chains 4. Customer response to easy product returns and practices 5. The effect of retailers’ product return practices on their reputation “These questions represent a range of important directions for assembling a body of work on retailer-initiated and customer-initiated return behaviors and processes,” they write. “Ultimately, these might serve to improve the performance of return forecasting models, illuminate optimal go-to-market strategies and distribution processes in the evolving, technology-oriented marketplace that characterizes retailing today.” Each of the five points above are detailed in a piece recently published by Emory University. That article is attached here: If you are a journalist looking to cover this topic or if you are simply interested in learning more, then let us help. Ryan Hamilton, associate professor of marketing at Emory’s Goizueta Business School. Sandy Jap holds the Sarah Beth Brown Endowed Professorship of Marketing Chair at Emory’s Goizueta Business School. Both are available to speak with media, simply click on eithr expert's icon now – to book an interview today.