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Sultana reports on political ecology in Progress in Human Geography
"Progress report in Political ecology II: Conjunctures, crises, and critical publics," authored by Associate Professor of Geography and the Environment Farhana Sultana, was published in Progress in Human Geography. Sultana critically engages with the conjunctural capitalist crises that led to climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses alternative pathways to address growing socio-ecological crises.
7/14/2021

Reeher quoted in LocalSYR article on gun buyback programs
The City of Syracuse is partnering with New York Attorney General Letitia James on a gun buyback program this summer. Professor Grant Reeher says the amount of guns in the United States keeps growing. When it comes to homicides, he says money should be invested in programs in the places where gun crimes and gang violence happen the most. "Particularly in poorer areas of cities," Reeher adds. "Those are the people that suffer the consequences of this most heavily. Again, that’s a big investment. You’re talking about social programs, you’re talking about job programs, you’re talking about criminal justice initiatives—those all cost a lot of money." Reeher was quoted in the LocalSYR article, "A closer look at the effectiveness of gun buyback programs."
7/13/2021

Michelmore weighs in on Child Tax Credit payments in BBC, MarktetWatch
The first advance payments on the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) are being distributed through direct deposits and paper checks on this week. Various research shows the timing and certainty of payments and benefits can really matter in a family’s financial life from month to month, especially if the family is struggling, says Katherine Michelmore. Knowing the CTC money is "coming on a specific day is really helpful to families that are living paycheck to paycheck," she says. Read more in the MarketWatch article, "Enhanced Child Tax Credits of up to $3,600 per child start this week: ‘I’m going to be able to do a lot’." Michelmore was also quoted in the BBC News article, "Why the US is launching a $300 monthly child benefit."
7/13/2021

Campbell speaks to LA Times about assassination of Haiti's president
Last week, Haitian president Jovenel Moise was assassinated inside his home. As officials continue their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing, Haiti’s constitutional crisis deepens, with multiple politicians battling for control of the impoverished country. What is needed, says Horace G. Campbell, professor of political science and African American studies, is for members of Haitian civil society to take the lead in crafting a solution to the current crisis with the support of neighboring Caribbean countries. "The Haitian people need room to create their own democratic spaces," Campbell says. Read more in the Los Angeles Times article, "Who killed Haiti’s president? Plot thickens as Moise’s guards come under scrutiny."
7/13/2021

Bendix quoted in LA Times article CA wildfires, climate change
California is off to another record-breaking year of wildfires as the state enters its most dangerous months, with extreme heat and dry terrain creating the conditions for rapid spread. More than twice as many acres burned in the first six months of this year than during the same period last year—and hundreds more fires, officials say. "The exceptional fire weather this year and in recent years does not represent random bad luck," says Jacob Bendix, professor of geography and the environment. "It is among the results of our adding carbon to the atmosphere—results that were predictable, and indeed that have been predicted for decades." Read more in the Los Angeles Times article, "California hit by record-breaking fire destruction: 'Climate change is real, it’s bad'."
7/13/2021

O'Keefe discusses Richard Branson's space flight with CNBC, The Hill
On Sunday, Richard Branson reached space on a test flight for Virgin Galactic before gliding back to earth and touching down safely. University Professor Sean O’Keefe, former NASA administrator, joined CNBC's Worldwide Exchange to discuss the space flight, and what it means for the billionaire and for the world. O'Keefe also wrote a piece, "Richard Branson's space flight changes the way we look at space," that was published in The Hill.
7/12/2021

Into the Fray: Bourdeaux ’03 joins congress days before Capitol riot
Carolyn Bourdeaux, who earned a Ph.D. in public administration from the Maxwell School built a career analyzing and teaching public policy. She directed the Georgia Senate Budget and Evaluation Office during the Great Recession, from 2007 to 2010. She served as a professor at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies from 2003 until this year. Now she is making policy. Bourdeaux, a Democrat, won her seat in November following a close race with Republican Rich McCormick. Not including two candidates in North Carolina who won seats that were redrawn, Bourdeaux was the only Democratic House candidate in the country to flip a seat previously held by a Republican in the 2020 election.

7/12/2021

Rasmussen's Fears of a Setting Sun reviewed in Wall Street Journal
"Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America’s Founders" (Princeton University Press, 2021), written by Dennis Rasmussen, professor of political science, was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal. "The book is gracefully written and fair in its judgments," writes reviewer Barton Swaim. "It’s also timely. There must be few news-following Americans who haven’t wondered over the last year if the United States can stay united for much longer. The founders, too, worried intermittently about dissolution." Rasmussen also discussed his book on the Reason video segment "The Founding Fathers Thought America Was Doomed."
7/12/2021

Flores-Lagunes comments on Northeast labor gains in Business Insider
As more people get their COVID shots, economies in the Northeast, which has some of the highest vaccination rates in the country, are reopening, prompting both customers to flock to restaurants and other businesses and workers to return to jobs. Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, professor of economics, says that "people are feeling more comfortable going to restaurants, traveling, and right now in the Northeast, it's a good time to travel because it's not as cold." He was quoted in the Business Insider article, "Hospitality workers are returning to their jobs in Northeast states, prompting big unemployment drops - and economists say the region's high vaccine rate is driving it."
7/11/2021

Humphrey Fellows return home with proposals to lead change
Ramiro Suárez Galán plans to spend the next six months pitching a plan for a financial oversight office in his home state of Oaxaca, Mexico. “We don’t have checks and balances,” said Suárez Galán, a 2020 Humphrey fellow at the Maxwell School. “What the governor wants is done. Once [a project] is approved, the governor can allocate wherever he wants. He can modify as he likes.” As part of the new Humphrey Impact Project, he developed a proposal modeled on the U.S. nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for Oaxaca’s legislative branch.
7/9/2021

Barkun quoted in NorthJersey.com piece on TWA 800 conspiracy theories
On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded in midair off the coast of Long Island. Conspiracy theories quickly took shape. Twenty-five years later, the questions and conspiracies live on, despite National Transportation Safety Board officials concluding that an electrical failure ignited fuel vapors in a nearly empty tank in the belly of the jet. Professor Emeritus Michael Barkun says internet forums and social media platforms have served as mass media outlets without gatekeepers. They allow unconventional ideas to quickly become mainstream. "Now anyone with an idea, no matter how bizarre, has a way of potentially getting it in front of fairly large audiences," he says. Read more in the NorthJersey.com article, "'First conspiracy of the internet age' lives on 25 years after TWA Flight 800 exploded."
7/9/2021

Four Maxwell students named as 2021 Boren Fellows
Four students in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs have been named as recipients of the 2021 Boren Fellowship. The fellowship, sponsored by the National Security Education Program, funds immersive foreign language study abroad experiences for graduate students who plan to work in the federal national security arena. Through their experiences, the fellows develop critical foreign language and international skills that are important for their chosen careers. The recipients are Courtney Blankenship, Roger Onofre, Ivy Raines and Kelli Sunabe.
7/9/2021

Lovely talks to Bloomberg about Beijing relations with Europe, US
Mary Lovely, professor of economics, discussed Beijing relations with Europe and the U.S. on 'Bloomberg Markets: China Open.' "I think that they [Europe] can have a very important role to play in lowering the temperature and starting to set the stage for us to find solutions and a way forward," Lovely says.
7/9/2021

Jacobson discusses US troop withdrawal, Afghanistan on CBS, MSNBC, VOA
On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced the rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan would conclude by August 31, weeks before the September 11 deadline he set earlier this year. The new deadline comes as the Taliban continue to gain new territory at an alarming pace, raising concerns the militant Islamic group could topple the Afghan government. "I still think there's a good chance that the Taliban are able to topple the government in Kabul and then we're right back to 1996 again," Mark Jacobson, assistant dean of Washington Programs, told VOA. Jacobson also discussed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan with ABC Radio National, CBS, MSNBC and USA Today.
7/9/2021

Bendix talks to LA Times about CA wildfires, fireworks threat
Last month, more than 100 fire scientists signed a letter urging the Western U.S. to forgo fireworks this Fourth of July. Jacob Bendix, professor of geography and the environment who specializes in the study of wildfire distribution, was one of the scientists who signed the letter. Given the increasingly flammable landscape, "pleas to skip the fireworks make perfect sense," says Bendix. "This is particularly true in Southern California, where the vast majority of wildfires are started by people rather than lightning," he says, "so that it is largely in our hands as to whether our behavior causes catastrophe." Read more in the Los Angeles Times article, "No such thing as ‘safe and sane’ fireworks in a bone-dry California primed to burn."
7/8/2021

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