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There’s no question about it – our planet has a problem with plastic. Though simple, cheap, convenient and often necessary, the reality is single use and non-reusable plastics like straws, plastic bags, wrapping and most containers are causing problems. There’s no hiding or ignoring the evidence – plastic is everywhere from landfills, to our rivers and streams and even occupying its own land mass in the ocean. Recently Canada proposed a ban on single use plastics to come in to effect in 2021. The country joined the likes of France, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and the European Union who are all implementing similar policies. The United States, however – has not. Here are some facts from the Center for Biological Diversity. Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, which require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture. The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year. According to Waste Management, only 1 percent of plastic bags are returned for recycling. That means that the average family only recycles 15 bags a year; the rest ends up in landfills as litter. Up to 80 percent of ocean plastic pollution enters the ocean from land. 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags annually. One in three leatherback sea turtles have been found with plastic in their stomachs. Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes. It takes 500 (or more) years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill. Unfortunately, the bags don't break down completely but instead photo-degrade, becoming microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment There is no doubt plastic is a serious problem in America – but will the country join in? What will it take from an industry point of view? Will costs outweigh the benefit? Is this a matter of regulation and do Americans have the appetite to make this a political issue? There are a lot of questions and that’s where our experts can help. Dr. Beril Toktay is Professor of Operations Management, Brady Family Chairholder and ADVANCE Professor at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business. She’s the founding Faculty Director of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business. She’s an expert in the areas of sustainable operations and supply chain management, with a special focus on the circular economy. Beril is available to speak about this issue with media – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
Keratoconus – ever heard of it? It’s an eye condition where genetics and environmental factors like ultraviolet light and vigorous eye rubbing conspire to make the usual curvature of the cornea more pointy, leaving us with double vision and nearsighted. National Basketball Association and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry helped make keratoconus, which affects an estimated 1 in 2,000, a more visible eye condition this April. A $2.1 million grant from the National Eye Institute is now helping Dr. Yutao Liu, vision scientist and human geneticist, learn more about keratoconus’ causes and identify points to better diagnose, treat and possibly prevent the progressive disease that typically starts in our teens. “We want to help patients better understand what is happening to their vision by better understanding how keratoconus happens, and give physicians better points to intervene,” says the scientist in the Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy at the Medical College of Georgia and James and Jean Culver Vision Discovery Institute at Augusta University. For Curry, his solution was simple – treatment with corrective contact lenses. But keratoconus does progress and some who suffer may eventually require a corneal transplant surgery or corneal collagen cross-linking as treatment. Keratoconus is a fascinating disease and the research by experts at Augusta University will be groundbreaking. Do you need to know more? That’s where we can help. Dr. Yutao Liu is an associate professor of Cellular Biology and Anatomy with the Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine at Augusta University. Dr. Liu and is available to speak with media regarding this rare disease - simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
The world is watching and teams from all corners of the globe have descended on France for the 2019 Women’s World Cup. FIFA is making money hand over fist – but when it comes to funding and prizes between men and women – FIFA is coming up seriously short. In fact, men receive almost 10 times more money in prizes than women. Here’s a snapshot of the overall purse: $US400 million - what FIFA paid in prize money for the 2018 men's World Cup. $US30 million - what it's proposing to give teams at the 2019 Women's World Cup. It’s a stark difference – but why? Is this a matter of what the market can bare? Why do the women make only a fraction of their male counterparts? Is FIFA obligated to help develop women’s soccer? Or, does this system need to change and how does that happen? That’s where our experts can help. Professor Andrew Wonders joined the faculty of the School of Business Administration in 2013 following a 13-year career in the sport industry. His past experience includes working for Olympic organizing committees in Sydney and Salt Lake City and for the host broadcaster for the 2002 World Cup. Andrew is available to speak to this issue with media, simply click on his icon to arrange an interview today.
Man up…and get screened for cancer – June is Men’s Health Month.
June is Men’s Health Month and doctors are urging men, especially those over the age of 40, to get screened for cancers such as testicular, prostate and colorectal cancer. “The purpose of Men’s Health Month is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. This month gives health care providers, public policy makers, the media, and individuals an opportunity to encourage men and boys to seek regular medical advice and early treatment for disease and injury. The response has been overwhelming with thousands of awareness activities in the USA and around the globe.” Men’sHealthMonth.org These cancers and other diseases are treatable if detected early; however, a lot of men still seem reluctant to book that visit and get checked. So why are men so slow to get checked? Do people realize early prevention can save lives? Do men know how devastating these diseases, if not caught early, can be on their life, sexuality and well-being? There are a lot of questions and answers that need to be addressed this June during Men’s Health Month and that’s where the experts from Augusta University can help. Dr. Jigarkumar Parikh is co-leader of AU Health’s Genito-Urinary Oncology Program and a medical oncologist specializing in kidney cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer and melanoma. Dr. Martha Terris is AU Health’s Witherington Distinguished Chair, Urology, and specializes in urologic cancers, including prostate cancer, bladder cancer and testicular cancer. Both experts are available to speak with media regarding Men’s Health Month – simply click on either profile to arrange an interview.
The recent release of the Netflix series “When They See Us” about the Central Park Five raises questions about the power of the media in the public’s perception of news stories. The narrative is different with this production than it was in the media when the trials were going on, and still today, the media has the power to shape – or sensationalize – a news story. In this version, the four-part series attempts to portray what happened and just how this tragic event impacted so many lives for so long. “Over the course of the series, the audience watches the boys, who are all between 14 and 16, get coerced into confessing to a crime they didn’t commit. … While other dramas of this kind often focus on victims and investigators, the focus here is on the accused. It’s a haunting story that shares a space with the innumerable podcasts, films and limited-run docuseries that try to rationalize and memorialize true crime incidents of years past.” – VICE.com Films – and the way they are made – are changing, and some are attempting to change the public’s perception of how actual historic events in America happened. This comes with benefits and no doubt, risks. What challenges do writers and directors take on when trying to tell a true story from our past? How has this been done correctly – and what happens if it fails? And is it up to the entertainment industry to educate audiences about the truth in our collective past? There are a lot of questions, and that’s where the experts from Augusta University can help. Dr. Matthew Buzzell is an award-winning, Emmy-nominated filmmaker whose films have screened at festivals the world over and been broadcast nationally on PBS, Turner Classic Movies and Netflix. Matthew is available to speak with media at any time – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
Do small businesses need to worry about the Canada Training Benefit?
The recent federal budget was supposed to be good news. The Canada Training Benefit would give workers money to help pay for training, provide income support during training, and offer job protection so that workers can take the time they need to keep their skills relevant and in-demand. Seems simple, but when you look deeper at the details – there may be some serious risks to small businesses in Canada. "Canada's skilled labour shortage is getting worse, and small firms are the hardest hit," CFIB president Dan Kelly. "Providing a training benefit to workers is a positive step, but the needs of employers need to be factored into the equation." Employers would be required to provide leave and job-protection to employees regardless of the type of training an employee wishes to pursue, such as Latin classes or interpretive dance. The program, well-intentioned, will have an impact on small businesses in Ontario and across Canada with a lot of scenarios and aspects to consider! We have an expert who can help. Corey Houle, Principal at Freelandt Caldwell Reilly LLP, is an expert in the areas of small business strategy. Contact Corey to arrange an appointment regarding this topic by clicking the contact button below. Sources:
They are incidents that are now more common than a lot of people want to admit – and research is showing that mass shootings are taking a serious psychological toll on our country’s population. UMW’s Laura Wilson’s research was recently cited in media throughout the country for her work analyzing PTSD and its affects on witnesses to these events. “PTSD estimates 28 percent of people who have witnessed a mass shooting develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and about a third develop acute stress disorder. Laura Wilson, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia conducted a meta-analysis — an examination of data from 11 studies of PTSD symptoms among more than 8,000 participants who ranged from those who'd witnessed shootings to those who just lived in the communities in a 20-year period. She found the greater the exposure — someone who was at the scene or who lost a friend or family — the greater risk of developing PTSD. But, in her work, Wilson has found other factors, too, including previous psychological symptoms and a lack of social support, also played a role in increasing the likelihood. "Mass shootings are a different type of trauma," Wilson says. "People are confronted with the idea that bad things can happen to good people. ... Most people have a hard time reconciling the idea that a young, innocent person made the good decision to go to school, was sitting there, learning and was murdered. That does not make sense to us. ... It just rattles us to our core." And yet, some people don't fully appreciate the lasting psychological wounds of those who escaped physical harm.” June 02, Associated Press Are you covering this topic, or would you like to know more? That’s where UMW can help. 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). Dr. Wilson is available to discuss this topic with media – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
New book reveals how to successfully navigate the uncertainties that sink most startups
INDIANAPOLIS – Research shows that the majority of startups fail. Even more never get off the ground. So how do you avoid the pitfalls that come with navigating the uncertainties of a startup? A new book entitled The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties that Sink Most Startups, guides early-stage startups and their supporters through the challenges they will encounter as they begin building their venture. Startups are inherently uncertain. Decisions have to be made with incomplete information. These decisions result in unanticipated consequences –- problems that lurk beneath the surface. The book draws on lessons learned from the Titanic, which sunk in 1912 not only because it hit an iceberg, but because of a number of decisions that interacted to create one of the largest maritime disasters. A series of trade-offs and choices in the design, building and operating of the Titanic magnified the catastrophic consequences. Co-authors M. Kim Saxton, clinical professor of marketing at the IU Kelley School of Business, Todd Saxton, associate professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at the IU Kelley School of Business, along with serial entrepreneur Michael Cloran, who has founded multiple startups, leverage decades of startup experience to reveal the often-overlooked human, marketing and technical “hidden debts” that sink startups, while drawing parallels to little known parts of the original Titanic story. “The idea for this book came from a conversation about ‘technical debt,’ often used in a software development context, in which shortcuts taken early in a startup’s life limit potential later,” said Todd Saxton. “But this challenge isn’t unique to product development; it applies to other domains as well. That led us to broaden the idea to a more holistic one—That we call in our book ‘hidden debt,’ or debts that are beneath the surface but can limit growth or sink even the most promising startup.” “Most books about entrepreneurship and startups are ‘how-to’s,’ detailing all the things you have to do to succeed when creating your own venture. Our book tells you what not to do, and it shows you how to identify the potential issues that could keep you from being successful,” said Michael Cloran. The Titanic Effect explains that taking on these hidden debts is inevitable, but startups must be careful to recognize that debt and take steps to mitigate the risks. “Over our more than 20 years of working with student, alumni and venture community startups—and helping launch and investing in them as well--we have seen the same patterns of mistakes repeated over and over again,” explained Kim Saxton. “We made a list of the most common startup mistakes, and that’s the main focus of this book. Our goal is to bring these so-called ‘icebergs’—or ‘debt-bergs,’ as we call them—out of hiding. Debt is not necessarily bad as long as you recognize, measure and manage it.” “Entrepreneurs make a lot of decisions under uncertainty, and often, they don’t fully understand the consequences of those decisions,” Saxton added. “Each decision has the potential to either enable – or hamper – future potential. At best, the wrong decision could limit how the startup can grow. At worst, it could cause ventures to sink.” The Titanic Effect is available as an e-book and will be available June 2019 in print. For more information, head to the book’s website here.
The ‘Heaven 11’: Gospel Music Expert Lists 11 Most Influential Black Gospel Songs
June is African American Music Appreciation Month Photo by Robert Rogers, Baylor Marketing & Communications Baylor Professor Robert Darden attends Baylor University's 2019 Pruit Symposium, "Lord, Make Me An Instrument: Black Sacred Music at the Intersection of Gospel and Jazz." WACO, Texas (May 31, 2019) – Robert F. Darden, professor of journalism, public relations and new media at Baylor University and a former gospel music editor for Billboard Magazine, is leading a national movement to preserve the fast-disappearing legacy of African American sacred music on vinyl. To celebrate African American Music Appreciation Month in June, Darden, who is founder and director of Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, compiled the “Heaven 11” – a list of the 11 most influential black gospel songs. “There is no way to quantify the ‘greatest’ gospel song of all time, but certain songs have been more influential than others through the years,” said Darden, who selected songs from the 1940s through the 1980s. (Listen to the “Heaven 11” on this Spotify playlist, created by Baylor Proud.) The list includes Darden’s comments about each selection: 1. “Move on Up (A Little Higher)” “The Queen of Gospel Mahalia Jackson’s first big hit, and one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time. It was also understood to be an early ‘Freedom Song’ in the African-American community.” 2. “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” “Perhaps the best-known, most beloved of all gospel songs. Written by Thomas Dorsey after the loss of his wife and infant child, it is still sung today at virtually every African-American funeral service in the country.” 3. “Oh Happy Day” “This song by Edwin Hawkins was the first gospel song to be a hit single in the 1960s, and had a revolutionary combination of gospel choir, stirring chorus and a thoroughly modern beat.” 4. “The Reason Why We Sing” “Kirk Franklin did to the ‘80s and ‘90s what Hawkins did to the ‘60s and Andrae Crouch did to the ‘70s, combined straight-ahead gospel with the beat of the day, while paying tribute to the old gospel classic, ‘His Eye is on the Sparrow.’” 5. “People Get Ready” “This tune by Curtis Mayfield is not really a gospel song, but it was so compelling that it was adopted by both the Civil Rights Movement and the African-American church. There are a number of great versions, including the Chambers Brothers, the Blind Boys of Alabama and even Rod Stewart.” 6. “We Shall Overcome” “This is the ‘signature’ song of the Civil Rights Movement, an adaptation of an old gospel tune that has been honed by the fire and blood of a thousand movement events and is still sung by oppressed people around the world.” 7. “Peace Be Still” “This song by the Rev. James Cleveland and the Angelic Choir of the First Baptist Church of Nutley, New Jersey, is the song and the arrangement that made young black people want to join mass choirs and sing. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, ‘Peace Be Still’ was the gospel anthem that the black church turned to.” 8. “Through It All” “Andrae Crouch and the Disciples forever changed gospel music, opening it up lyrically and musically. He was also a brilliant composer – you could just as easily substitute “My Tribute,” “The Blood,” “Soon and Very Soon” and any one of several other enduring classics here.” 9. “Touch the Hem of His Garment” “This song by the Soul Stirrers, featuring Sam Cooke, helped invent the hard-charging gospel quartet sound. The popularity of this song helped convince Cooke, the writer and featured singer, to launch a mainstream performing career.” 10. “Mary, Don’t You Weep” “The great old spirituals often make great gospel songs. This is one by the Caravans, featuring Inez Andrews, and is one of my personal favorites.” 11. The next great gospel song “We haven't heard it yet. Few people still alive even know of its existence. But it could be in the next batch of long-lost gospel classics by a hitherto unknown gospel artist donated to the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project.” Search-and-rescue mission to preserve black gospel music Darden founded Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project (BGMRP) more than a decade ago in a search-and-rescue effort to identify, acquire, preserve, digitize and catalog recordings from the black gospel music tradition. This music, from the Golden Age of Gospel from 1945 to 1975, was quickly vanishing as albums made the transition to CDs. “Thousands of at-risk songs have been saved for future generations,” Darden said. “These recordings are priceless, irreplaceable and historic in a way that scholars are only now realizing.” Through the work of the Baylor Libraries’ Digital Projects Group, recordings from the BGMRP are available online in the Baylor Libraries Digital Collection, and in some cases includes other materials, such as taped interviews, photographs, press packets, tour books and programs, newspaper and magazine clippings and sheet music. Music from the BGMRP also has been included in a permanent exhibit featuring African-American musical history at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016 in Washington, D.C. The interactive exhibit, “Musical Crossroads,” has featured these key recordings from the BGMRP: · “The Old Ship of Zion” by The Mighty Wonders of Aquasco, Maryland (1972) · “Amen” by Wings over Jordan (1953) · “I Won’t Be Back” by The Caravans (1962) · “Over My Head” by Wings Over Jordan (1953) · “There’s a Tree on Each Side of the River” by The Davis Sisters (1957) Visit Baylor’s Black Gospel Music Restoration Project website to learn more and to listen to the collection of digitized recordings. 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 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.
Sawfish and hammerheads – we’ve got shark sightings and here’s what you need to know!
It was a rare occurrence, and for Florida Atlantic University’s resident shark expert Stephen Kajiura, Ph.D. – it happened twice. Kajiura has photographed millions of sharks – but this sighting was no regular day on the water. “The first sawfish was near Boca Raton and was seen swimming southbound in shallow water. He estimated it to be about 9 feet long. The second one was near MacArthur State Park on Singer Island and a little larger. Sawfish can grow as large as 17 feet in length. Kajiura's sawfish encounters are the latest in a regular string of encounters reported by anglers, divers and researchers. In recent years, sawfish have been caught and released by Florida anglers fishing from beaches for sharks, or in inlets for tarpon. Sawfish have become regular catches for anglers fishing the waters of the Indian River Lagoon, Everglades National Park or the waters of Charlotte Harbor. “ - TC Palm – USA Network That was last month, however, just recently, a large hammerhead shark was coming dangerously close to shore, raising some cause for concern about swimmer safety. Lifeguards closed the Nokomis Public Beach for close to an hour until the enormous fish had departed for deeper waters. The encounter left some scared and some curious – looking to catch a glimpse or picture of the gigantic shark. So, what do you do when a shark comes close to shore? How dangerous is it? How can experts or event he public tell when a shark is aggressive or just passing by? Sharks do call the ocean home – what do we all need to do to exist in harmony? Are you covering? Do you need to know more about sharks, the dangers they pose and what we really need to be concerned about and even break down some of the myths and legends about just how concerned humans need to be about these predators? Let our experts help. Stephen Kajiura, Ph.D., is a professor and researcher at Florida Atlantic University. He’s also an expert in sharks and shark behavior. Stephen is available to speak with media – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
