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As teacher’s hit the picket line in Chicago – will strike winds spread across the rest of America?
School is out and the signs are up as 32,000 public servants are walking the line and leaving more than 400,000 kids at home in the Windy City. According to teachers, the issue is money and job conditions within schools. On the other side, negotiators are saying it is about power and politics as non-mandatory union membership under Janus has some in the organized labor circles trying hard to bring more workers into the union fold. Either way, with that many kids out of school and parents scrambling - all eyes locally and from across America will be on Chicago. “The Chicago teachers’ strike is important, especially because the earlier strike in that city in 2012 clearly set the tone for the increased strike activity taking place across the country in the last few years,” said Katharine Strunk, an education policy professor at Michigan State University. “The topics on the table go beyond traditional bread and butter concerns such as teacher salary and staffing. This reflects the shifting tide in union negotiations. These more expansive negotiations may reflect unions’ reactions to the 2018 Janus ruling, as well as decreases in education funding.” And as the pressure is on teachers and negotiators to come to a deal, there’s more at stake here than just some time off and political squabbling. “Strikes may have long term implications for student learning. There are also substantial equity concerns for families as they need to consider child-care options.” Are you a journalist covering the strike? Then let our experts help with any of your questions and on-going coverage. Katharine Strunk is a professor of education policy and the Clifford E. Erickson Distinguished Chair in Education at Michigan State University. She is an expert in the area of teachers’ unions and the collective bargaining agreements they negotiate with school districts – Katherine is available to speak to media regarding this issue, simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
Is Donald Trump playing nuclear chicken with Turkey?
As Elvis Presley used to sing “Wise men say, only fools rush in…” and it seems America’s hasty retreat from northern Syria and its seemingly unprepared rhetoric with Turkey may have landed America in a bit of a pickle. Unbeknownst to most, the United States has an arsenal of nuclear weapons in Turkey, and senior officials are now scrambling with what they can or may have to do. “And over the weekend, State and Energy Department officials were quietly reviewing plans for evacuating roughly 50 tactical nuclear weapons that the United States had long stored, under American control, at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, about 250 miles from the Syrian border, according to two American officials. Those weapons, one senior official said, were now essentially Erdogan’s hostages. To fly them out of Incirlik would be to mark the de facto end of the Turkish-American alliance. To keep them there, though, is to perpetuate a nuclear vulnerability that should have been eliminated years ago. “I think this is a first — a country with U.S. nuclear weapons stationed in it literally firing artillery at US forces,” Jeffrey Lewis of the James Martin Center for Non-proliferation Studies wrote last week.” October 14 - New York Times It’s quite the conundrum, and if you are a journalist covering this escalating issue – let our experts help. Dr. Glen Duerr's research interests include comparative politics and international relations theory. Glen is available to speak to media regarding this topic– simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Corporate board diversity: Tokenism, or true change?
As corporations face pressure to increase gender diversity on their boards, there are those that simply add a single female director to appease critics, and those that make genuine and successful efforts to diversify. Mark Mallon, assistant professor of strategic management, is part of a research team that has explored factors that can differentiate between what is a token effort, and one that adds more female directors to a corporate board. Research recently published by the team found that U.S. firms with more top female managers and with a female director serving on the nominating committee are more likely to see additional female board appointments. The article titled “Beyond tokenism: How strategic leaders influence more meaningful gender diversity on boards of directors” appeared in Strategic Management Journal. “We also found that boards and nominating committees with younger members amplify these effects, and result in boards that have greater female representation,” Mallon said. “These of course aren’t the only factors that can contribute to greater gender diversity on corporate boards, but they are important ones.” Professor Mallon is available to talk with you about this research, which hopefully can add to your coverage of the efforts by corporations to change the composition of their boards to better reflect the broader population. If Professor Mallon can assist with your reporting about corporate governance, please reach out to Owen Covington, director of the Elon University News Bureau, at ocovington@elon.edu or (336) 278-7413. Professor Mallon is available for phone, email and broadcast interviews.
Teaching kids about addiction and the opioid epidemic
If there is one thing we all know, it is that children are resilient, aware and often impacted by the actions and environments that surround them. And as America is still in the grips of the opioid epidemic, it was only a matter of time before a traditional and respected outlet like Sesame Street took the lead on making sure children could relate. According to Sesame Workshop, 5.7 million children under the age of 11 in the U.S. live with a parent battling a substance abuse disorder. That's one in eight kids and doesn't include children who have been separated from a parent due to circumstances like divorce, incarceration or death related to their addiction. "Addiction is often seen as a 'grown-up' issue, but it impacts children in ways that aren't always visible," said Sherrie Westin, President of Social Impact and Philanthropy at Sesame Workshop. "Having a parent battling addiction can be one of the most isolating and stressful situations young children and their families face." "'Sesame Street' has always been a source of comfort to children during the toughest of times, and our new resources are designed to break down the stigma of parental addiction and help families build hope for the future." CBS NEWS, October 10 Are you a journalist covering the opioid epidemic or addiction issues in America? If so, let our expert help with your questions and coverage. There are a lot of questions and that’s where we can help. Dr. Marc Sweeney is the Founding Dean of the School of Pharmacy at Cedarville University and is an expert in the fields of drug abuse, prescription drug abuse and Opioid addiction. Marc is available to speak with media regarding this growing issue. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Teen Driver Safety Week – Let our experts help with your coverage!
October 20 is the start of National Teen Driver Safety Week and Michigan State University’s Peter Savolainen is available to discuss his research on distracted drivers. Savolainen, MSU Foundation Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, examines the fundamental nature of road user behavior, particularly how traffic safety and operations are influenced by behavior in consideration of roadway and traffic characteristics. The charts below show how the rates of secondary task involvement and texting may be impacting safe driving among America’s youth. Here’s what MSU’s experts found: Approximately 60% of all trips involved engagement in some distracting behavior. This included a wide range of tasks, classified into more than 60 categories, which included cell phone use, eating/drinking, interacting with passengers, reaching for items in the vehicle and looking at objects external to the vehicle, among others, according to Savolainen. “Cell phone use continues to be the most discussed distraction concern at the national level, and rates are consistently highest among the younger age groups, generally declining with age,” he said. “Interestingly, use rates are not quite as high among the youngest age group, which is partially reflective of the context under which these individuals drive.” “Many of these are teenagers on graduated licenses. One troubling aspect here is that as these younger drivers age, it is possible that the overall rate of cell phone related distractions increases significantly over time,” Savolainen added. Are you a journalist who is looking to discuss these findings or learn more about National Teen Driver Safety Week? Then let our experts help with your coverage. Dr. Peter Savolainen is an MSU Foundation Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His research examines the fundamental nature of road user behavior, particularly how traffic safety and operations are influenced by behavior in consideration of roadway and traffic characteristics. Dr. Savolainen is available to speak to media regarding this topic – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Is the bubble bursting – and does America need to prepare for an economic slowdown?
With every news story about trade, tariffs, interest rates, global instability and political chaos…comes with it a hint that each incident could take a toll on America’s economy. And it seems that sub-plot may be slowly becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy for the current administration in Washington. A recent article in Forbes pointed out that most key indicators seem to be pointing down. Trump’s monthly job results are decelerating Trump’s job growth falling short of Obama’s last six years Wage growth is the lowest in a year September quarter GDPNow forecast lower than June’s 2.0% result It seems as if all of these ingredients combined, a slow down and potential recession or worse could be looming. Are you a journalist covering the short and long-term outlook of America’s economy? If so, let our experts help with your stories and coverage. 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.
Making Children's Mental Health and School Safety a Priority
The U.S. Department of Education announced $71.6 million in grant awards to enhance safety in schools and improve student access to mental health resources. The grants will allow local leaders to tailor their approach to school safety and mental health in ways that meet their students' individual needs and their particular school's unique challenges. "This is a strong step towards helping children across the U.S. who have experienced traumatic events. We know from previous research that traumatic experiences, even those in early childhood, affect an individual at any time in their life," says Elizabeth Dowdell, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor at Villanova's M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. "In healthcare, assessing, identifying and treating trauma has become a major public health challenge since trauma exposures frequently go unrecognized and unaddressed." The same is true in the educational system. For many children, adolescents, and adults, trauma results from an event, series of events or set of circumstances which are perceived or experienced to be physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening. The landmark Adverse Childhood Experience study (1998) found that, in a population of 17,377 adult participants, 63% experienced at least one trauma exposure as a child and 20% experienced more than three trauma exposures. The experience of repeated trauma is sometimes referred to as toxic stress, which can have damaging effects on learning, behavior and health across the life span. These exposures included physical and sexual abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. Increased stress from family violence and chaos is trauma and, when combined with injury, is the leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. The lasting adverse effects from the trauma can affect a child's functioning and well-being, specifically mental and physical health, social, emotional and spiritual well-being as they age and develop. "Healthcare is shifting to a trauma-informed framework that focuses on what happened to the person rather than what is wrong with them and recognizes that individual's strengths and resilience. Schools are ideal locations for identification of traumatized children and the implementation of services to help them," says Dr. Dowdell. "School districts have to create physical safety and psychological safe places where all children can learn."
The Democratic field has narrowed substantially from the summer, but from the initial offering of more than two dozen candidates, each vying to be the one to face off with Donald Trump next November – there’s still a lot of winnowing to be done. And with 12 candidates taking the stage in Westville, Ohio the expectations will be high for everyone. How many candidates need to accept reality and abandon the race? Is a field this large hindering DNC chances at victory in 2020? What will it take to strive up the polls and survive for another day on the hustings? And of the prominent candidates – who is on the bubble and who needs to land a knockout punch to emerge as the true frontrunner? There will be a lot of speculation, coverage and punditry leading up to this debate – and that’s where our experts can help. Dr. Stephen Farnsworth is professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington. A published author and a media ‘go-to’ on U.S. politics, he is available to speak with media regarding this topic. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview. Dr. Rosalyn Cooperman, associate professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington and member of Gender Watch 2018, is an expert on women in politics. She is available to speak with media regarding this topic – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview. Both experts are available to speak with media regarding the upcoming debate - simply click on either icon to arrange an interview.
As we approach the first anniversary of the legalization of cannabis and prepare for the introduction of legal edibles, CAA South Central Ontario (CAA SCO) is releasing new data that suggests that the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving are misunderstood by many. It shows that approximately 1.2 million Ontario drivers have, at some point, driven high after consuming cannabis. Seventy-two per cent report waiting three hours or less to get behind the wheel, with 27 per cent feeling very or somewhat high when they did. “We know that driving under the influence of cannabis affects your ability to drive safely and increases your risk of getting into a crash,” said Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice-president of government and community relations at CAA SCO. “The research has shown us that young Canadians are more at risk of a vehicle crash even five hours after inhaling cannabis.” The research also shows that over half of Ontario drivers who use cannabis are “poly-users,” meaning they typically pair cannabis with another substance. Alcohol is by far the most common substance paired with cannabis. Cannabis-infused edibles are another option that may further complicate matters when it comes to drug-impaired driving. Twelve per cent of non-users indicated they were very or somewhat likely to try edible cannabis products after it becomes legal. “It is crucial to continue to explore and understand what impact the legalization of edibles may have on Ontario’s roads. If Ontarians choose to consume edibles, they should be aware of its delayed psychoactive effects and the impact on their ability to drive,” said Di Felice. CAA’s focus is to ensure that road safety, public education and enforcement remain at the forefront of the management of cannabis legalization. The statistically representative study, commissioned by CAA and conducted by Dig Insights in late June 2019, surveyed 1,510 Ontarian between the ages of 19 and 70 who have a valid driver’s license. ��
The link between veterans coming home and racial violence in America. Our expert can explain.
There is a long history of white supremacist and white-power ideology developing out of the wars the United States has fought. In Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America (Harvard University Press, 2018), Kathleen Belew shows that, beginning in the 1970s, a small but committed number of Vietnam War veterans took the racist understanding of the Vietnamese and Asians more broadly that the U.S. military taught them and became instrumental in building the current white-power movement. These vets often did not initially know each other, but they eventually built a wide variety of organizations: the White Aryan Resistance, the latest, post-Civil Rights Era iteration of the Ku Klux Klan, various Christian Identity and white skinhead organizations, and the militia movement of the 1980s and 1990s. In his forthcoming book, Guarding the Empire: Soldier Strikebreakers on the Long Road to the Ludlow Massacre, Otterbein’s Dr. Anthony DeStefanis has found that the men who fought the Plains Indians in the late nineteenth century and who served in Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish-American-Filipino War (1898-1902) came to understand Native Americans, Cubans, and Filipinos as formidable but racially inferior enemies. When these same men joined the National Guards in states across the country and were called out on strike duty during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, they took what they learned on the Plains and overseas to create a racist rationale for breaking the labor strikes of a working class that was increasingly made up of southern and eastern European, Mexican, and Asian immigrants. Many of these same men also joined the Second Ku Klux Klan that emerged in the late 1910s and became a nationwide organization by expanding the targets of its hatred beyond African Americans to include Jews, Catholics, and immigrants. Racism is a many-headed hydra with multiple roots in experience at home and abroad. Some white southerners who were central in the project of creating and maintaining Jim Crow white supremacy were Confederate military veterans and it is clear that wars across the twentieth century – from Cuba and the Philippines to Vietnam – pushed some veterans into the white- power movement. Today, we know that white-power organizations concentrate on recruiting military veterans and we have seen a spike in support for these organizations among current members of the military. It’s no accident that some of these active troops and veterans served in the Iraq and Afghan Wars, where they faced a Muslim enemy with unfamiliar social and cultural practices, and who did not welcome the U.S. military presence with open arms. Clearly, we must reckon with what our wars overseas have brought back to the United States. If you are a reporter covering this topic – let the experts from Otterbein University help. Dr. Anthony DeStefanis is an associate professor of history at Otterbein University. He specializes in modern U.S. history with an emphasis on labor and the working class and immigration, race, and ethnicity. Dr. DeStefanis is available to speak with media regarding the history of racial violence in America – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
