to the latest Media coverage of Mason Research
Transcription
to the latest Media coverage of Mason Research
Office of Research Media Report, 6/29/15-7/2/15 U.S. First In Developing Women Entrepreneurs, Lags In Women Leaders Forbes.com 7/2/15 – Mason scholars conducted research for the Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard. The researchers ranked the U.S. first in entrepreneurship, but found weaknesses in the ways the U.S. develops female leaders and networks. more Mason Researchers Help Develop Urine-Based Lyme Disease Test The Connection 7/1/15 – Mason officials announced in late April that Emanuel Petricoin, III, director of Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine and his team of researchers, along with a local Virginia company called Ceres Nanosciences, exposed a new way to test for the disease that uses a patient's urine. more Mason Professor Discusses Islam In Book The Huffington Post 7/1/15 – Abdulaziz Sachedina, professor of Islamic Studies at Mason, in his book the "The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism," cites chapter 2 verse 213 to argue about the pluralistic vision of Islam. more Mason Researchers To Help Develop Urine-Based TB Test GenomeWeb 6/30/15 – Ceres Nanosciences will collaborate with TB researchers from Mason, Johns Hopkins University, Colorado University, and Colorado State University on a urine-based tuberculosis test. more Mason Professor On Board Of Fossil Database Nature 6/30/15 – Mason professor Mark Uhen serves on the board of the Paleobiology Database, a resource that details the age, location and identity of some 1.2 million fossils. more Fraud-Savvy Investors Overlook Red Flags Triangle Business Journal 6/30/15 – Investors who are vigilant about corporate fraud may be looking in the wrong places, according to a study in the journal Review of Accounting Studies from researchers at N.C. State University, Mason, the University of Virginia and the University of Cincinnati. more United States Best Place For Women Entrepreneurs, But Could Be Better Entrepreneur.com 6/30/15 – Mason researchers conducted research for the Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard. They found that United States ranks number one on the list as the best place for women entrepreneurs due to its overall favorable business environment and women’s job mobility in the private sector, it scored a 71 on a 100-point scale. more D.C. Region Will Have 410,380 New Households By 2023 Curbed DC 6/29/15 – A study has been released from Mason's Center for Regional Analysis that reports that the Greater Washington area will add 410,380 households by the year 2023. more Investors Missing Red Flags Of Fraud Phys.org, Central Valley Business Times 6/29/15 – Researchers at Mason, North Carolina State University, the University of Virginia and the University of Cincinnati identified the types of investors who are vigilant about corporate fraud, but found that most of those investors are tracking the wrong red flags - meaning the warning signs they look for are clear only after it's too late to protect their investment. more Mason Professor On Team That Found Rare Skeleton Fox News Latino 6/26/15 – Scientists, including Mason bioarchaeologist Haagen Klaus, unearthed a 16th century skeleton with a rare condition—an ovarian teratoma—a tumor that can develop human features, including bones and teeth. more Catholic Republicans Understand Climate Change National Geographic 6/25/15 – A review of surveys by Mason and Yale researchers found the majority of Catholic Republicans agreed that global warming is happening. more ### Office of Research Media Report, 6/22-26/15 Mason Engineering Students Extinguish Fire With Sound Ripleys.com 6/26/15 – Recent graduates of Mason's engineering program Seth Robertson and Viet Tran invented— and hold a preliminary patent application for—a device that extinguishes fire with sound waves. more Climate Change Inaction Has Dismal Consequences Huffington Post 6/25/15 – A review of surveys by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and Mason found the majority of Catholic Republicans agreed that global warming is happening. more Most GMOs Show No Difference In Safety New York Times 6/24/15 – An analysis of 197 studies of G.M. foods by the Genetic Literacy Project, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Mason, found that 24 studies showed them to be safer or healthier than ordinary foods, 11 showed them to be less safe or healthy and the rest showed no difference or produced inconclusive results. more Americans Underestimate Health Impact of Climate Change ClimateProgress 6/23/15 – A national survey by Mason and Yale found that seven in 10 respondents had given the health impact of climate change little or no thought. more Mason Researchers Study Pennsylvania Park CurrentInCarmel.com 6/23/15 – The National Recreation Parks Association picked Carmel as one of the 30 parks around the country to have Mason do a comparison study. The study will focus on the Monon Community Center. more New Jobs In Region Will Boost Number Of Low-Income Households Washington Post, DCist.com 6/23/15 – The Washington area is expected to gain 410,380 new households in the next eight years, but more than a third of them will be headed by low-income earners, according to a study by Mason's Center for Regional Analysis. more Mason Professor Part Of Team That Found Rare Skeleton Forbes.com 6/23/15 – Mason bioarchaeologist Haagen Klaus was part of a team that excavated the skeleton of a 16th century female with a rare feature—an ovarian teratoma or a tumor that can develop human characteristics, such as bones or teeth. The skeleton is only the third known example of this condition in history. more Annuities Need Bigger Place In Retirement Planning BenefitsPro 6/23/15 – Mark Warshawsky, a visiting scholar at Mercatus, has been testing the value proposition of immediate annuities on and off for three decades. He found that annuities produced a higher average income three-fifths of the time compared to the 4 percent Bengen rule. The Bengen rule holds that retirees should draw no more than 4.2 percent from their portfolio the first year and adjust later withdrawals according to inflation. more Catholics Believe In Climate Change More Than Other Conservatives Huffington Post 6/22/15 – Mason and Yale researchers report that Catholic Republicans are more likely to believe in climate change than other conservatives. more ### Office of Research Media Report, 6/15-19/15 Millennials Chart A Different Foreign Policy Course The Fiscal Times (New York City and Washington, D.C.) 6/19/15 – A. Trevor Thrall, an associate professor of government and international affairs at Mason, and Erik Goepner, a retired U.S. Air Force commander who saw action in Afghanistan and Iraq report in their study: “Millennials and U.S. Foreign Policy: The Next Generation’s Attitudes Toward Foreign Policy,” that millennials see the world as much less threatening than their parents. They also find that millennials are more supportive of international cooperation and less supportive of military force compared to older generations. more Average D.C. Wages Have Increased Washingtonian 6/18/15 – Workers in the Washington, D.C. area enjoyed their first wage increases since 2011 last year, says a report by researchers at Mason's Center for Regional Analysis. more Mason Expert Offers Insights On Charleston Shooting Newsweek (New York City) 6/18/15 – Following the Charleston shooting, Newsweek spoke to Mary Ellen O’Toole, forensic science program director at Mason and a leading expert in psychopathy and crime scene behavior. O'Toole was the lead author of The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective. The seminal guide to school shootings details procedure for determining whether troubling behavior might lead to violence. more Consensus Helps Convince Deniers Of Climate Change Truth BuzzFeed (New York City) 6/18/15 – A Mason and Yale partnership has suggested that telling people that “97% of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening” can help change minds—another argument for the power of authority. more Annuities Better For Retirement Money (New York City) 6/17/15 – Research by Mark Warshawsky, a visiting scholar at Mercatus, suggests more retirees should consider making an immediate annuity part of their retirement portfolio—and also highlights a reason why many people may simply ignore this advice. more Policymakers Should Revisit Certificate of Needs Programs NewsOK (Oklahoma City) 6/17/15 – A paper from Mercatus, “Certificate-of-Need Laws: Implications for South Carolina,” shows how CON laws—which require documentation before healthcare facilities can be built or expanded—are counterproductive and reduce health care access. more Pope Calls For Action On Climate Change Latin Post (New York City) 6/16/15 – In the United States, about 70 percent of Catholics think global warming is happening, a slightly higher percentage than for Americans as a whole, The Washington Post recalled based on a poll conducted by Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication. more Pope Blasts Global Warming Deniers The Sydney Morning Herald, Santa Fe New Mexican (Sydney, Australia & Santa Fe, New Mexico) 6/16/15 – Researchers with Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication found that about 70 percent of U.S. Catholics think global warming is happening, a slightly higher percentage than for Americans as a whole (63 percent). Francis was the most trusted individual leader on climate change, according to the Mason poll. more New D.C. Jobs Don't Help Economy Much The Washington Post 6/15/15 – Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at Mason, says his research has found that, on average, the jobs that the Washington area is adding now do not add as much value to the gross regional economy as they once did. more Mindfulness Might Be The New Trend For Athletes Daily Herald (Chicago) 6/15/15 – A Mason study, published last year, built on a nascent body of research into how approaches that emphasize mindfulness may prove more effective for athletes than traditional sports psychology. more Boyfriends Trump Husbands In Household Chores Yahoo! Health (Sunnyvale, CA) 6/14/15 – A Mason study found that husbands help out around the house even less than live-in boyfriends. more Companies That Consider Emotional & Cognitive Culture Do Better StarTribune (Minneapolis) 6/13/15 – In 2013, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and Mason's School of Management found that companies that considered both “emotional culture” such as pride and connection, as well as “cognitive culture” — teamwork and results goals, for example — not only had more satisfied employees but also better client outcomes. more American Christians View Climate Change As Environmental Problem Bloomberg (New York City) 6/12/15 – Research by Mason and Yale researchers shows that American Christians see climate change first and foremost as an environmental problem. more OP-ED: Non-Citizens Can Influence U.S. Elections Providence Journal (Providence, Rhode Island) 6/11/15 – In 2014, a study released by three professors at Old Dominion University and Mason estimated that 6.4 percent of noncitizens voted illegally in the 2008 presidential election and 2.2 percent voted in the 2010 midterm congressional elections. more ### Office of Research Media Report for 6/8-12/15 Sunscreen Layer On Distant Exoplanet Discovered NDTV.com (New Delhi, India) 6/12/15 – A group of researchers that included Korey Haynes, a graduate of Mason's astronomy and astrophysics doctoral program (2014), has detected a stratosphere, one of the primary layers of Earth's atmosphere, on a massive and blazing-hot exoplanet. more Mindful Athletes More Effective The Bulletin, Bowling Green Daily News 6/11/15 – A 2014 Mason study built on research emphasizing how mindfulness may prove more effective for athletes than traditional sports psychology. more Why Do Financial Advisers Give Annuities A Bad Name? The Street, PlanSponsor.com 6/10/15 – Visiting Mercatus Scholar Mark J. Warshawsky studied annuities and found that they deserve a prominent role in a retiree's income plan. more Israel Prize Winner Debunks Stop And Frisk Objections The Jewish Week 6/10/15 – Mason professor of criminology David Weisburd studied stop and frisks and his work debunked the belief that crime would move elsewhere if police focused on hot spots. Weisburd found that “not only did crime not move around the corner, but around the corner it got better.” more New Company Startups & Failures Have Declined The Washington Post 6/9/15 – Mason researchers Nathan Goldschlag and Alex Tabarrok report that new company start-ups and failures ("exits") have gradually decreased since the 1980s. more Many Immigrants Self-Employed Forbes.com 6/9/15 – Mason researchers found that immigrants account for 18.4 percent of all self-employed workers. more Slightly Dotty Older Adults Manage CPAP As Well As Next Guy MPR (Monthly Prescribing Reference) (New York City) 6/8/15 – Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have an adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) that is “comparable to that of reported values in other adult populations,” researchers, including Mason Assistant Dean, PhD program, College of Health and Human Services Kathy Richards, reported in a presentation at SLEEP 2015. more Mason Psychology Professor Offers Insights On Shame HLNtv.com (New York City) 6/8/15 – Calling out Internet bullies, Mason psychology professor June Tangney writes in her 2011 book Shame in Therapy Hour that shame is when people feel like inherently bad individuals for their actions. more Bridge or Tunnel? Washingtonian 6/8/15 – To get from Dupont Circle to Woodley Park, WMATA originally proposed a bridge over Rock Creek Park. The National Park Service requested, however, that it dig a tunnel, leaving two stations “with agonizingly slow, albeit majestic, escalators,” as Mason history professor Zachary M. Schrag writes in The Great Society Subway, his history of Metro. more Police Deter Crime Via Stop-And-Frisks Newsday 6/8/15 – David Weisburd, a distinguished professor of criminology at Mason who studied stop-and-frisk action around high crime intersections in the New York City, suggested that stops by police had "a significant deterrent effect on crime at that level." more Certificate of Need Laws Limit New Entrants, Competition MiBiz.com 6/7/15 – Mercatus researchers conclude that “40 years of evidence demonstrate that [Certificate of Needs] programs do not achieve their intended outcomes, but rather decrease the supply and availability of health care services by limiting entry and competition.” more Futures Exchange Inspired By Mason Researcher Bitcoin Magazine 6/6/15 – Mason economist Robin Hanson inspired the creation of the Policy Analysis Market, a proposed futures exchange developed by the United States' Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). more Wisconsin Gov. Wants To Abolish Tenure & Guide Curriculum New York Times 6/4/15 – As Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker takes steps toward announcing his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, he and leaders in Wisconsin’s Republican-held Legislature have called for changes that would give a board largely picked by the governor far more control over tenure and curriculum in the University of Wisconsin system. more Elephants Lie Vanity Fair 5/29/15 – A report from Mason's Center for Media and Public Affairs proclaims that the Republican Party is much more dishonest than the Democratic Party. more ### Office of Research Media Report for 6/1-5/15 White House Recommends Use-of-Force Guidelines Boston Globe 6/5/15 – A White House task force co-chaired by Mason professor of criminology Laurie O. Robinson released a report last month emphasized that police departments should have comprehensive policies and training on the use of force. The task force specifically recommended that such “policies must be clear, concise, and openly available for public inspection.” more Bank Industry Shrunk After Dodd-Frank Alaska Journal of Commerce 6/4/15 – The number of small banks in the U.S. dropped 14 percent after Dodd-Frank was enacted in 2010, according to Mason researchers. more Few Americans Reject Climate Change Boulder Weekly 6/4/15 – Researchers with Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication report that only 18 percent of Americans don’t believe in climate change. more Lyme Test Offers Improved Accuracy, Faster Diagnosis Leesburg Today 6/4/15 – Mason researchers developed a diagnostic “nanotrap” test that traps the bacteria that causes Lyme, allowing earlier and more accurate detection. The test is expected to be commercially available soon through Ceres Nanosciences, Inc. more Stages of Genocide Jewish Journal 6/4/15 – Mason’s Gregory Stanton, professor of genocide studies and prevention and founder of Genocide Watch created the defining list of the stages of genocide in 1996: classification, symbolization, discrimination, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, persecution, extermination and denial. more Non-Citizens Can Influence Elections Investor's Business Daily, The Daily Signal 6/4/15 – A study by Old Dominion University and Mason researchers showed that 14.8% of noncitizens were registered to vote in 2008 and 15.6% were registered in 2010. more Mechanization Leads To New Human Skills Forbes.com 6/4/15 – Philip Auerswald, associate professor of public policy at Mason and author of The Coming Prosperity (2012), points out that when machines replace one kind of human capability – as they did in occupations from serf to secretary – new human experiences and capabilities emerge. more Mercatus Dramatically Disputes Government Debt Figures Worthy News 6/4/15 – U.S. government debt stands at $210 trillion, not the official $13.1 trillion, according to a working paper published by Mercatus. That's equivalent to $654,205 per person in the United States and 16 times higher than the current official level. more Limiting Hospital Beds Hurts Poor Somewhat Reasonable 6/3/15 –Thomas Stratmann and Jacob Russ at Mercatus report that restrictions on hospital operations hurt the poor, and there is “no relationship between CON (Certificate of Need) regulations and increased access to health care.” more Stop & Frisk Policies Cost Police Legitimacy KU Today 6/3/15 – Mason and University of Kansas researchers report that police stop-and-frisks target racial minorities and dramatically influence people's perception of police officers. more Mason Scholars & D.C. Officials To Study African Immigrants’ Contributions Voice of America, Big News Network.com 6/3/15 – The Washington, D.C. Mayor’s Office on African Affairs and Mason’s Institute for Immigration Research will study the economic and social impact of Washington’s large African immigrant population. This fall’s survey will focus on age, employment, education, housing and the cultural diversity of D.C.’s African-born residents. more Mindfulness Affects Athlete Performance The Washington Post 6/2/15 – A Mason study reported that interventions that emphasize mindfulness may be more effective than traditional sports psychology. more Sharing Economy Making Regulations Obsolete Watchdog.org 6/2/15 – A Mercatus report shows that sharing information through the Internet and real-time reputational feedback mechanisms provides buyers and sellers information more efficiently than bureaucratic action. more Worker-Retiree Ratio Changing The Roanoke Star 6/2/15 – Mercatus estimates that there were just 2.9 workers for each Social Security retiree in 2012. By comparison, there were 41 workers per retiree in 1945. By 2030, there will be just 2 workers per retiree. more Small Business Neglected by Export-Import Bank The Daily Signal 6/2/15 – The Heritage Foundation and Mercatus found that small businesses receive less than 20 percent of the Export-Import Bank's financing. more Lower Gas Prices Bring Savings For Families GSA Business 6/1/15 –Mercatus professor of economics Bruce Yandle reports that lower gasoline prices provide an average $750 annual savings for a typical family. Yandle’s report, The Economic Situation, showed higher gas consumption and increased spending on outside meals. Yandle reported that Americans are spending equally on eating out and groceries. more Few Discuss Climate Change With Peers National Catholic Reporter 6/1/15 – Only four percent of Americans discuss climate change with their peers weekly, while 19 percent hear about it in the media, according to a Yale and Mason research study. more LGBT Teens More Likely To Get Pregnant Than Others Metro (UK), Advocate.com 6/1/15 –Lisa Lindley, professor of global and community health at Mason, researched the sexual orientation of 9,703 New York students – analyzing their sexual identity and the gender of sexual partners. The study found that lesbian, gay and bisexual high school students have a higher rate of pregnancy than their heterosexual peers. more Ohio Ranked 7th For Fiscal Condition LimaOhio.com 6/1/15 – Mercatus ranks all 50 states by their fiscal condition, something highly affected by quality of governance. Ohio is ranked at No. 7. more Maryland’s Liability Laws Squeeze Freedom The Frederick News-Post 5/31/15 – Mercatus ranks Maryland 44th in the impact to personal freedom caused by its liability system, property rights, health insurance and labor market regulations. more Certificate of Needs Law Impedes Health Care Access WIN 98.5 (Battle Creek, MI) 5/29/15 – A Mason study of Michigan's Certificate of Need law—requiring documentation that additional facilities are necessary to meet community needs—reduces available health care by creating more restrictions and regulations than the national average. more States That Separate Tax & Spending Spend Less Honolulu Civil Beat 5/13/15 – A Mercatus study has found that states with separate taxing and spending committees spend less per capita than other states. more ### Office of Research Media Report For 5/25-29/15 Bob Woodward & Co-Author Stretched Truth CounterPunch 5/29/15 – Mason School of Law Professor Ross E. Davies makes clear in his paper, A TALL TALE OF THE BRETHREN, that journalist Bob Woodward and co-author Scott Armstrong went out of their way to sully the legacy of Justice Blackmun via a silly anecdote about baseball while making unrepentant segregationist Justice Rehnquist seem admirable. more Deforestation is Devastating onEarth 5/28/15 – A study by a team of researchers that included Mason professor of environmental science and policy Thomas E. Lovejoy shows that forest fragmentation doesn’t just diminish wooded areas—it also weakens the forest’s remaining ecosystems that were supposedly left intact. more Disbanding The Iraqi Army Fueled ISIS Time 5/28/15 – James Pfiffner, Mason professor of public policy, wrote in the professional journal Intelligence and National Security that President Bush acknowledged the importance of the army to Iraq's internal and external security. more Live Anthrax Spores Shipped by Mistake New York Times 5/27/15 – The Pentagon said Wednesday that it had inadvertently shipped live anthrax spores to as many as nine laboratories and was investigating how that happened. more Wildlife Crime Ecorazzi 5/27/15 – Louise Shelley, director of Mason's Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, wrote a book on crime, corruption and terrorism called Dirty Entanglements and is now working on a book about illicit wildlife crime. more Corporate Welfare Cato Institute 5/27/15 – Mason professor of economics James Bennett’s new book, Corporate Welfare: Crony Capitalism That Enriches the Rich, opens with a discussion of corporate welfare in the Early Republic, and then provides four case studies on more recent issues. more Small Banks Shrink After Dodd-Frank The Durango Herald, Bristol (TN) Herald Courier, Minneapolis Star Tribune 5/27/15 – The number of small banks in the U.S. dropped 14 percent after Dodd-Frank was enacted in 2010, according to Mason researchers. more University of Minnesota Medical Research New York Times 5/26/15 – Medical ethics professor writes of problems plaguing academic research. more Rentals Boost National Economy American Coin-Op 5/26/15 – Research by Stephen S. Fuller, director of Mason's Center for Regional Analysis, shows that the apartment industry and its 36 million residents contributed $1.3 trillion to the U.S. economy and supported 12.3 million jobs in 2013. more Bail Decision Scrutinized Times Argus (Montpelier) 5/24/15 – The Vermont Supreme Court overturned a trial court bail decision this month. The court’s decision granted Christopher Sullivan, convicted of killing an elderly pedestrian in a drunken hit-and-run, a bond of $50,000 instead of $500,000 bail. According to a Mason study, “The bondsman asks defendants for collateral and family co-signors, which is not done under appearance bond scenarios. If hardened criminals do not fear the law, they may fear their mom’s wrath should the bond be forfeited and the bondsman takes possession of their mom’s home.” more Corporate Tax Breaks Don’t Help the Public LaCrosse Tribune (Wisconsin) 5/24/15 – Mason researchers studied economic development efforts across the country and found precious little bang for the public buck. more ### Office of Research Media Report, 5/18-22/15 Opinion: How Police Came To Look Like Soldiers The Detroit News 5/22/15 – Mason Harper professor of economics Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall, Mercatus JIN Fellow in economics, write that police militarization can be traced primarily to two policies: the war on drugs and the war on terror. more Pregnancy Rates Rise Among LGBT Teens Cosmopolitan.com, Bustle.com, Queerty, Gay Star News, Advocate.com, Highly Cited, NY Daily News 5/21/15 – Mason researchers report that students who sleep with both males and females are getting pregnant more often than their heterosexual peers. more Public Companies’ Criminal Settlements Swell The Hill 5/20/15 – Researchers from Mason’s Law & Economics Center report settlements with public companies more than doubled annually between 1997 and 2011. The U.S. Department of Justice entered into 368 agreements with public companies to resolve criminal charges out of court from 2007-20011 alone. more Cruz Staffer Cites Mercatus Tax Study Austin American Statesman 5/20/15 – A staffer for presidential candidate Ted Cruz (R-TX) said the senator referenced a May 2013 study by Mercatus that stated the annual hidden costs of U.S. tax compliance ranged from $215 billion to $987 billion. more Loans, Taxes and Regs Irk Small Business NewsOK 5/20/15 – The number of small banks in the U.S. dropped 14 percent after Dodd-Frank was enacted in 2010, according Mason researchers. more Calculating Terrorist Bounties Government Executive 5/19/15 – In a post last week on Marginal Revolution, Mason economics professor Alex Tabarrok noted that his research on bounties in the U.S. criminal-justice context had convinced him that bounty hunters are “an effective part of the American justice system.” more Women on Money Newsweek 5/19/15 – Mason history professor Michael O'Malley, author of Face Value: The Entwined Histories of Money and Race in America, suggested the current effort to put a woman on U.S. paper currency might undermine confidence in the currency. more West Virginia's Fiscal Challenges Charleston Gazette 5/15/15 – Mercatus senior research fellow Eileen Norcross ranks West Virginia’s fiscal condition 43rd among states. more ### Office of Research Media Report, 5/11-15/15 Pregnancies Among Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Youths Philly Voice, Business Insider 5/15/15 –Lesbian, gay, bisexual youths are twice as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to become pregnant, according to a study of New York City high school students conducted in part by Mason researcher Lisa Lindley. more Stepping Up The Fight Against Lyme Disease Fairfax Times, Loudoun Times 5/13/15 – A new Lyme disease test that uses technology developed by researchers with Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine and Ceres Nanosciences is in the clinical phase at Internal Medicine of Northern Virginia in Reston. more Cruz Staffer Cites Mercatus Study On Tax Compliance The Washington Post 5/12/15 – Rick Tyler, a campaign spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz (R-TX), cited a 2013 Mercatus study to support Cruz's argument that federal tax compliance is too expensive. more Does Diversity Enhance Success? Davidson Journal 5/11/15 – Eden King, associate professor of psychology at Mason and Davidson University associate professor of psychology Scott Tonidandel, will explore group diversity “fault lines” and their patterns for an NSF-Funded study, titled “When Team Diversity Facilitates Performance: Understanding and Overcoming Fractured Behavioral Patterns.” more Shedding Light On Islam, Past and Present University of Denver Magazine 5/11/15 – University of Denver professor Andrea Stanton and Mason senior research associate Susan Douglass with the Center for Global Islamic Studies will host a three-week summer institute in July at the University of Denver for middle and high school teachers titled “Teaching Connected Histories of the Mediterranean.” more D.C. Population Flatlines; Cost Of Living Remains High GW Hatchet 5/10/15 – The population leaving metro D.C. is outpacing new arrivals for the first time in the last four years of available data, according to a report by Mason's Center for Regional Analysis. more Export-Import Bank Has Got To Go mySA.com 5/9/15 – American businesses suffer cumulative losses of $2.8 billion per year thanks to the ExportImport bank, according to research by Mercatus. more Transit Critical for Northern Virginia Loudoun Times 5/9/15 – Investment in transit is good for business in Northern Virginia, according to a report by Mason's Center for Regional Analysis. more Eliminate Child Tax Credit The Hill 5/8/15 – A Mercatus study suggests slashing tax rates and eliminating the child tax credit, underscoring a growing divide among Republicans on economic policy. more Arizona Town Mounts Dozens Of New License-Plate Readers In Fake Cactuses Ars Technica 5/8/15 – The proliferation of LPRs isn’t new; a 2010 presentation by Mason researchers showed license plate readers were being hidden in ladders and even taxis. more TGen Strikes Pact With Mason AZCentral 5/6/15 – The Translational Genomics Research Institute struck a pact with Mason to pursue joint research and treatments in areas such as breast cancer, melanoma and traumatic brain injury. more Center for History and New Media Launches Online Resource County 10 5/4/15 – Mason's Center for History and New Media and the National History Day organization are developing resources that will assist educators in teaching World War II with Lander (Wyoming) Middle School teacher Gayla Hammer. more Hair Spa Pampers and Rejuvenates Times of India 5/4/15 – A workplace study conducted by Florida State University and Mason found spa therapy reduced both absenteeism and hospitalization. more Pennsylvania Pensions Ailing The Daily Collegian 5/1/15 – Mercatus researchers report that by 2030 the probability that the Pennsylvania pension plan will be able to meet its obligations without additional contributions is low for both the Public School Employees’ Retirement System and the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System. more ### Office of Research Media Report, 5/4-8/15 Gut Microbiome Startup Seeks Study Volunteers Inside NOVA 5/7/15 – ISOThrive—a company that makes products to improve the digestive system microbiome— and Mason researchers are now recruiting individual testers to evaluate the effect of a new prebiotic nutritional supplement on nutrition and gut health in humans. more Weathercasters No Longer Climate Deniers ClimateProgress 5/7/15 – Researchers at Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication conducted a survey of weathercasters in 2010 and found that the forecasters underestimate the number of climate scientists who view climate change as real and human-caused. more Cyber Security Bill – Data Tsunami With Chihuahua Protection The Hill 5/7/15 – The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 is unlikely to prevent cyber attacks and might infringe on individual privacy, but this would be nothing new. A Mercatus study found the federal government operates at least 20 information-sharing offices that collaborate with the private sector on cybersecurity. more Bill Clinton Takes the Brunt of Leno Jokes Salon 5/6/15 – Mason researchers report that late night host joked most often about former U. S. president Bill Clinton. more Small Banks Help Borrowers Big Banks Turn Away American Banker 5/6/15 – A Mercatus study found that smaller banks' ability “to gather and consider ‘soft information’ enables them to lend to borrowers that might not be able to get loans from larger institutions that rely more on standardized lending criteria.” more Big Data On The Economy The Wall Street Journal 5/6/15 – Researchers believe matching information about truck shipments with data about the movement of the vehicles can provide information about rapid changes in the economy. Logistics technology company Fleetmatics teamed with University Professor Stephen Fuller, School of Policy, Government and International affairs, to analyze 74 billion data points, and found the numbers reliable economic indicators. more African American Mayors Improve Job Prospects The Boston Globe 5/5/15 – Mason researchers reported in 2014 that having an African-American mayor makes a difference in the job prospects of black residents. more Mason Awarded $125,000 to Fight Lyme Disease Hudson Valley News Network 5/1/15 – Virginia Delegate David Ramadan (R-87th) won funds to include a Mason-developed Lyme disease test in Virginia’s 2015-2016 budget. Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM) will receive $125,000 to rollout the Nanotrap® based Lyme Antigen Test, developed jointly with Ceres Nanosciences. more ### Office of Research Media Report for 4/27-5/1/15 Non-Citizens Voted in 2008 Presidential Election National Review 4/30/15 – Approximately 6.4 percent of non-citizens in the U.S. voted in the 2008 presidential election according to a study by Mason and Old Dominion University researchers. more Compassion Good For Business The Huffington Post 4/29/15 – Researchers at Mason's School of Business and University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business report that creating an emotionally positive work culture helps both customers and employees. more Researchers Launch First Trial of Standard vs. Molecular Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer Health Canal 4/29/15 – Emanuel F. Petricoin, III, co-director of Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, will serve as a major scientific contributor to an upcoming study designed to determine whether molecularly tailored treatment for pancreatic cancer improves survival compared with the current standard of care. more Lackluster D.C. Economy Hurts Local Universities GW Hatchet 4/28/15 – Mason professor Stephen S. Fuller reported that students are less likely to pursue degrees in a city with a struggling economy because it creates a more competitive job market for graduates. more Wish You Could Banish Self-Doubt? Huffington Post 4/27/15 – Mason emeritus professor of psychology James E. Maddux has found acknowledging our self-doubts and taking small steps that lead to small successes is an effective way to build our confidence and shift our beliefs about what we're capable of doing. more Dulles Airport At A Crossroads Fairfax Times 4/27/15 – Stephen Fuller, an economist at Mason, said the region surrounding Dulles must transition from a “company town to a global business center,” with the airport serving as a catalyst for that growth. more Coin Center Issues Flexible Template For Bitcoin Regulation Bitcoin Magazine 4/27/15 – Mason professor of Law Jerry Brito, co-authored a report: “Bitcoin: A Primer for Policymakers.” more Editorial: Keep Lowry Park Zoo On Track The Tampa Tribune 4/27/15 – A study by the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis calculated that Tampa's Lowry Park zoo had a $50.3 million economic impact on the region. more Brilliant Economists Fail Econ 101 Uncommon Wisdom Daily, New York Times 4/27/15 – If economists are so sure about the benefits of free trade, why are the public and their elected representatives often skeptical? One answer comes from a 2007 book by Mason associate professor of economics Bryan Caplan called “The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies.” more Heavy Regulation Hurts Small Businesses, But Larger Ones Adapt Newsmax 4/24/15 – Bank regulation has mushroomed since the 2008-09 financial crisis, and that's not all for the good, says Hester Peirce, a senior research fellow at George Mason University. more ### Office of Research Media Report for 04/20-24/15 Doctors See Connections Between Climate and Health Miami Herald 4/23/15 – According to a survey conducted last year by Mason and the National Medical Association, 88 percent of doctors said that climate change is relevant to patient care and 61 percent say that climate change is already having moderate to severe effects on their patients. more Bank Regulation Hurts Economy Newsmax 4/23/15 – Bank regulation has mushroomed since the 2008-09 financial crisis, but that's not all for the good, says Hester Peirce, a senior research fellow at Mercatus. more Weathercasters Accept Climate Change Media Matters for America 4/23/15 – Mason researchers reported that more than nine out of ten broadcast meteorologists acknowledge that climate change is happening, and about two-thirds say human activities play a significant role. more Cannabis For Epilepsy Huffington Post 4/22/15 –A video, produced by Learn Liberty at the Institute for Humane Studies at Mason and sponsored by Drug Policy Alliance, tells the story of a 7-year-old girl with uncontrolled epilepsy so severe that current medicines cannot help her. more Weathercasters See The Light On Climate Change Pacific Standard 4/22/15 – Mason researchers surveyed 464 broadcast meteorologists and reported that more than 90 percent of the respondents concluded that climate change is real. And 90 percent of those surveyed believe human activity is partly responsible for this phenomenon. more PTSD Researchers Seek Male Military Spouses Army Times 4/21/15 – Mason researchers hope a study examining the effects of post-traumatic stress on soldiers' home lives will help the Army assist all types of military families. more Maybe Climate Science News Makes A Difference? ArsTechnica 4/21/15 – Mason researcher Teresa Myers, along with scholars from Michigan and Ohio State studied people who read more science news to determine what they think about climate science. more Interactive Map Reveals Changing Climate Opinions Daily Mail 4/21/15 – Yale researchers created an interactive map using data collected by Mason researchers and report that only about 60 percent of Americans believe climate change is happening and is humancaused. more Mason Students Use Sound Waves To Extinguish Fires DOGO News 4/21/15 –Mason engineering students Viet Tran and Seth Robertson invented a device that uses sound waves to extinguish fires. more Bill Proposing Certificate of Needs Exemptions Sparks Debate Winston-Salem Journal 4/21/15 – A Mason study cast a shadow on the effectiveness of North Carolina’s Certificate of Needs regulations—rules that require legal documentation before new healthcare facilities are established— and listed the state as the third most restrictive of all states with such regulations. more A Wasteful Bureaucratic Habit The Post & Courier 4/21/15 – Two studies from Mason and the National Bureau of Economic Research show that many federal agencies spend a large portion of their annual budgets in the last month of the fiscal year. more Growth Slowing In Northern Virginia The Washington Post 4/20/15 – According to a Mason study, federal spending in the area was $11 billion less last year than in 2010. more Apartment Construction Booms Nationwide Fox News 4/20/15 – The apartment industry contributed $1.3 trillion and more than 12 million jobs to the U.S. economy in 2013, according to a recent study conducted by economist Stephen S. Fuller of Mason's Center for Regional Analysis for the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association. more Solar Investment Tax Credit May Vanish Forbes.com 4/15/15 – Mercatus just released its white paper: "Best Practices in Managing the Investment Tax Credit Expiration,” and provided some interesting insight into what may happen in the coming years absent an extension of the ITC from Congress. more How Native Americans Shaped Washington, D.C. Time 4/1/15 – Mason History professor C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa wrote about his book “The Indians’ Capital City: ‘Secret’ Native Histories of Washington, D.C.” in Time Magazine. His book explores the way Native American culture was overrun by the dominant European culture as Washington, D.C. developed. He questions the idea that the two cultures must be mutually exclusive. more ### Office of Research Media Report for 4/13-17/15 Will Pennsylvania Pensions Survive? The Reporter 4/17/15 – Pennsylvania’s public sector pension plans may not be able to pay for their promises and could run dry before the end of the next decade, according to Mercatus researchers. more Use-It-Or-Lose-It Federal Spending Is Real The Washington Post 4/17/15 – A recent study by Mercatus provides evidence that use-it-or-lose-it federal spending may be a real thing. more Ships Dock, Sales Rise GPS World Magazine 4/16/15 – Fleetmatics has released the second edition of its FleetBeat Report, an in-depth analysis of tens of billions of data points extracted from thousands of commercial fleets managed using the company’s Software as a service (SaaS) platform over a span of four years. The report, “FleetBeat, Vol. 2: The Economy in Motion,” was co-authored by Stephen Fuller, professor and director of the Center for Regional Analysis at Mason. UW Team Completes Large-Scale Proteomic Analysis Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer GenomeWeb 4/16/15 – Researchers at the University of Washington have completed an in-depth proteomic analysis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that builds on research—a study by the Side-Out Foundation—that used protein arrays run by Mason researchers Emanuel Petricoin and Lance Liotta for its proteomic analyses reverse phase. more Will PA Pensions Last aDecade? The Mercury (Pottstown, Pennsylvania) 4/16/15 – Mercatus researchers reported that two Pennsylvania public sector pension plans could run out of money before the end of the next decade.more Mason Researchers Find Politifact Favors Democrats The Emory Wheel 4/16/15 – Mason researchers conducted a study of truth-value assessments made by the political factchecking site PolitiFact of 100 total claims made by Republicans and Democrats in 2012 between Jan. 20 and May 22. The study found that PolitiFact reported Republican claims were false three times as often as Democratic claims. more NC Hospitals Fight Open Medical Markets The Charlotte Observer 4/16/15 – A recent study that says North Carolina has one of the nation’s most restrictive Certificate of Needs (CON) programs. That study, by Mercatus researchers, concludes that such laws “decrease the supply and availability of health care services by limiting entry and competition.” more Mason Studies Medicare and Medicaid InsuranceNews.net 4/16/15 – Mason researchers reported that "Increasing use of global payment strategies is not likely to lead to lower quality," in a recent Medicare/Medicaid study. more Obamacare Incentives Bolster Part-Time Positions WORLD Radio 4/15/15 – A new study by Mason researchers shows Obamacare is creating incentives to put workers in part time jobs. more Shipping Performance Is A Leading Economic Indicator Commercial Carrier Journal 4/15/15 – Government and business leaders often use less-than-timely data to make decisions, but could use telematics systems—which collect metrics—and have better information to use in decision-making situations, according to a recent study by Fleetmatics. To conduct the study, Fleetmatics partnered with Stephen Fuller, director of Mason's Center for Regional Analysis. more State Government Becoming Affordable Tallahassee Democrat 4/15/15 – As some state governments grow, many strain to pay past commitments, Florida stands out for its fiscal responsibility. A Mercatus study shows how remarkable this is. more Broadcast Meteorologists Acknowledge Climate Change The Washington Post, Minnesota Public Radio News 4/14/15 – More than 90 percent of 464 broadcast meteorologists who responded to a 2015 survey by researchers with Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication agree that climate change is happening. Of those, 74 percent believe human activity is at least half responsible. more Why Young People Aren't Getting Married Mic.com 4/14/15 – Among several reasons for a declining marriage rate, a 2007 Mason study showed that married men do less housework after marriage. Boyfriends outdoing husbands on housework may give women pause. more Federal Crop Insurance Bloats Costs, Plays Favorites CaliforniaWatchdog.org 4/14/15 –A Mercatus study finds that federal subsidies cost Americans more than they might pay in higher food prices. more Republican Vows To Fight Climate Stasis E&E Publishing, LLC 4/14/15 – Bob Inglis, former South Carolina congressman, and founder of Mason’s Energy & Enterprise Initiative, a think tank for energy and climate change solutions, sees a painful irony in his selection as the 2015 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. more GreyMatters App Helps Families Connect With Dementia Sufferers The Huffington Post 4/13/15 – Getting patients to sing along with songs, offer significant benefits for cognitive function, according to a 2013 study co-authored by Mason psychology professor Jane M. Flinn. more Singing App Slows Dementia & Alzheimer’s KPIX (TV CBS San Francisco) 4/13/15 – Researchers at Mason and the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego had amazing results when patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s sang show tunes like “The Sound of Music,” “When You Wish Upon A Star,” and “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” more Show Tunes Sharpen The Mind PeninsulaDailyNews.com 4/12/15 – Mason researchers reported in a 2013 study that singing Broadway show tunes can enhance brain health. more ### Office of Research Media Report for 4/6-10/15 The Costly Lie Called Corporate Income Tax The American Spectator 4/10/15 – A 2013 study by Mercatus found that “Americans face up to $1 trillion annually in hidden tax-compliance costs.” more Reformers See Hope In City's Swift Response To Scott Shooting NBC News 4/9/15 – Mason professor of Criminology Laurie Robinson is the co-chair of President Barack Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Last month, that panel proposed a set of sweeping reforms aimed at rebuilding trust between cops and the public. more Ted Cruz Blasts Reporters For Fact Check Articles The Blaze 4/9/15 – In 2013, Mason's Center for Media and Public Affairs found that one fact checker, PolitiFact, run by the Tampa Bay Times, accused Republicans of lying three times as often as it accused Democrats of lying. more Kill Export-Import Bank Waco-Trib.com 4/9/15 – Overall, American businesses suffer cumulative losses of $2.8 billion per year thanks to the Export-Import bank—the nation's export credit agency—according to Mercatus researchers. more Public Views Vary On Climate Change Based On Science, Political News Platforms Science Blog 4/8/15 – Mason researcher Teresa Myers and scholars from Ohio State and the University of Michigan report that paying attention to science news reports on climate change increases knowledge for both conservatives and liberals. Attention to science news also raises conservative perceptions of harm closer to what liberals believe. more How Do You Get Away With Murder? The Week 4/8/15 – In 2012, Mary Ellen O'Toole, now program director of Mason's forensic science department, wrote a short article for Psychology Today in which she detailed the ways she has seen criminals — especially psychopaths — get away with these crimes. more Study Highlights Opportunities For Law Enforcement Mobile Applications Fierce Mobile Government 4/8/15 – A study by Travis Taniguchi of the Police Foundation and Charlotte Gill, deputy director of Mason's Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, found that three mobile applications custom-developed for commercial smartphones for law enforcement use were not adopted, did not provide new capabilities and did not help information dissemination. more Americans Believe Climate Change Is Real But Are Confused About Details E&E Publishing 4/7/15 –The majority of Americans believe climate change is real and are worried about its effects, but fewer than half think it is primarily caused by human activity. The study corresponds to an interactive map by the Yale research group -- a compilation of 13 surveys by the Yale team and Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication conducted between 2008 and 2014. more Map Reveals How America Feels About Climate Change The Silver Ink 4/7/15 – Climate Communication Project of Yale and Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication jointly performed 12 surveys from 2008 to 2013. The researchers found that people of Washington D.C are more worried about global warming and its consequences than residents of other states. more Report Compares Global Warming Reactions Across The United States Pioneer News, Highly Cited 4/7/15 –Yale researchers reported that how people react to conversations about global warming largely depends upon where they live. The study designated seven maps from information gleaned through 12 surveys conducted between the years 2008 and 2013 by the Yale Project on Climate Communication and Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication. more Christians: Unite Behind Your Economic Clout The Patriot Post 4/7/15 – George Mason University Foundation law professor David Bernstein explains in his book, “You Can’t Say That,” that public accommodation laws have been vastly expanded to the point where they threaten the autonomy of private organizations. more How Aware Are Americans Of Global Warming? Morning Ledger (Austin, Texas) 4/6/15 – Researchers at Yale and Utah University created an interactive map depicting what Americans think about climate change and global warming. The researchers used data collected by scholars with the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication. more Restoring Lost Data: 3-D Digital Laser Microscopy Creates Visual Roadmap Scientific Computing 4/6/15 –A multi-institution research team that included James Jones, professor of computer forensics at Mason, theorized that using three-dimensional digital laser microscopy to capture 3-D image of the disc could provide a visual roadmap of the data. This and a special computer algorithm capable of recognizing its patterns then could aid in recovering the vast majority of it. more Global Warming Beliefs Vary Depending on Where You Live HNGN 4/6/15 – Researchers at Yale have released an interactive map showing differences in public perception about global warming. To create the map, the researchers used data collected via 12 surveys by scholars with Mason's Center for Climate Change 2 Communication and the Yale Project on Climate Communication. more 3 Your Beliefs on Global Warming May Depend on Where You're From Mashable 4/6/15 – Researchers at Mason, Ohio State and the University of Michigan reported that climate change beliefs might depend on a person's geographic location. more In Officer-Involved Shootings, Chiefs Mull Asking For Outside Help Virginian-Pilot 4/6/15 – Mason Professor of Criminology Laurie Robinson is co-chairwoman of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The group produced an interim report this year that calls for external and independent criminal investigations of officer-involved shootings. more These States Are Least Concerned About Climate Change CBS News 4/6/15 –Yale and Utah State University researchers reported that a majority of Americans believe that climate change is real and that action should be taken to reduce carbon emissions. The researchers produced public opinion estimates using a statistical model based on data gathered by Yale and Mason researchers. more Washington, New York, California Fear Climate Change, Other States Unconcerned Yibada.com 4/6/15 – Washington, D.C. is more fearful of the damages that climate change could present, more than any other American state, following the findings of the interactive map of Yale University researchers based on data collected by Yale and Mason researchers. more Climate Change In The American Christian Mind LivingOnTheRealWorld.com 4/5/15 –Yale and Mason scholars report that climate change beliefs vary across religious denominations, with 69 percent of Catholics believing climate change is happening and 51 percent of evangelicals believing the same. more Laws May Be Limiting Medical Care In Georgia Newnan Times-Herald 4/5/15 –A recent study conducted by Mercatus scholars finds that Georgia’s Certificate of Needs rules are the 18th most restrictive in the nation. more George Mason Students Invent Sound Wave Fire Extinguisher 4/4/15 National Public Radio — Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me During this news based comedy show, the participants mentioned that two George Mason students had invented a device to fight fires with sound waves, and gave details on how the device works. Despite Laws & Lawsuits, Quota-Based Policing Continues NPR 4/4/15 – A task force led by Mason professor Laurie Robinson concluded that numbers-based policing sends the wrong message to the public. more 4 Why Students At The University of Washington Want To Put Their Phones Away Huff Post College 4/3/15 – A 2013 paper from Mason professor Robert Youmans and then-University of Illinois doctoral student Jared Ramsburg found meditation can improve test scores and focus for college students. more Millennials Fuel Philadelphia Apartment Boom Philly.com 4/3/15 – A study by Mason's Stephen S. Fuller for the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association showed that 544,300 people, or 9 percent of the Philadelphia area's population, live in its 321,200 rental apartment units. more Apartments Bring Economic Value To Arizona AZCentral.com 4/3/15 – Investments by apartment developers added $9.9 billion to the Phoenix economy in 2013, according to a the National Multifamily Council study and the National Apartment Association. The data reflects the research by economist Stephen S. Fuller of Mason's Center for Regional Analysis. more Food Trucks Association Unveils Exchange Tool For Vendors Associations Now 4/1/15 – Together, Mason systems engineering and operations professor Karla Hoffman and a group of students created a program that reassigns vending spots based on the truck operators’ preferences. The newly assigned spaces are then reported to the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which enforces assignments. more ### Office of Research Media Report for 3/30-4/3/15 Allen Institute for Brain Science Leads Effort to AnalyzeNeurons News-Medical.net 3/31/15 – The Allen Institute for Brain Science is launching an international project called BigNeuron to create reliable high-throughput and quantitative 3D reconstructions of the thousands of branches that make up individual neurons. Mason researchers are participatingin the partnership. more Students Douse Flames With Low-Frequency Sound PhysicsWorld.com 4/2/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran have built a new type of extinguisher that uses sounds waves to put out fires. more Great Society Congress UDaily 4/2/15 – Mason's Roy Rosenzwieg Center for History and New Media provided theplatform for a new collaboration that draws on primary resources to highlight legislation passed during the 89th United States Congress (1965-66). more 5 Can Technology Save Football? New York Magazine 4/2/15 – Mason researchers are investigating a saliva biomarker that indicates concussionsin injured athletes. more Mason Students Invent Sound Wave Fire Extinguisher ScienceTimes.com 4/2/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran have invented a fire extinguisher that uses sound waves to snuff out fires. more How Do You Get Away With Murder? PSMag.com (Santa Barbara, CA) 4/1/15 – In 2012, Mary Ellen O'Toole, director of Mason's forensic science program, wrotea short article for Psychology Today in which she detailed the ways she has seencriminals— especially psychopaths—get away with murder.more Mason Students Extinguish Fire With Sound Waves Richmond.com 4/1/15 – Mason engineering students Viet Tran and Seth Robertson invented and built a way to use sound waves to put out fires. more The Irony of Automation: Why Clinicians Let Computers Make Mistakes Medium.com 4/1/15 – Before he passed away last month, Mason psychologist Raja Parasuraman was working on a type of computer Trust-o-Meter, in which the machine might have a green,yellow or red light, depending on how trustworthy it thinks its result is. more 6 Jimmy Fallon Plugs Mason Students’ Fire Extinguisher DCInno 4/1/15 – Mason got a nice shout out from Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Tuesday whenthe talk show host mentioned Seth Robertson and Viet Tran's invention of a thumping bass, sound-blasting fire extinguisher. more Jimmy Fallon Mentions Mason Students' Wave Extinguisher in Monologue NBC.com 4/1/15 – Jimmy Fallon mentioned Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran's wave extinguisher in his monologue. more Israel Prize In Criminological Research Awarded To Weisburd Jerusalem Post 3/7/15 – David Weisburd, executive director of Mason's Center for Evidence-BasedCrime Policy and a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was awarded the Israel Prize in Social Work and Criminological Research. more Weisburd Awarded Israel Prize PoliceFoundation.org (No date) – Mason professor David Weisburd, the chair of the Police Foundation Research Advisory Committee, was awarded the Israel Prize in Social work and Criminologicalresearch. more Young Inventors Harness Bass To Snuff Fires MTV.com 3/31/15 – Engineering seniors Seth Robertson and Viet Tran have taken thefire-putting-out community by storm, creating a device that extinguishes flames with nothing other thansome powerful bass waves. more Fire Extinguisher Uses Sound Waves to Extinguish Fires KULR News, NBC TV Billings, MT 3/31/15 – Firefighters may be snuffing blazes with deep-toned sound, if a new deviceinvented by Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran catches on. more Mason Engineering Students Extinguish Fire With Sound Waves San Antonio Express-News 3/31/15 – Mason engineering majors Seth Robertson and Viet Tran have invented adevice that uses sound waves to put out fires. more Mason Students Zap Fire With Sound The Huffington Post UK 3/31/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran have figured out howto extinguish fire using sound waves. more 7 Mason Researchers Track Climate Change Beliefs PSMag.com (Santa Barbara, CA) 3/31/15 – Mason researchers Edward W. Maibach and Teresa Myers found that understanding expert consensus on climate change is a gateway belief and identified two ways to get people to understand and accept that reality of climate change. more Reporters Ignore Climate Change Skeptics Heartland.org 3/31/15 – A recent study by Mason researchers published in the trade magazine Journalism found contrarian views on the climate change are no longer welcome in many of the nation’s newspapers. more Students Create Sound Wave Fire Extinguisher Inhabitat.com 3/30/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran have invented adevice that uses sound waves to extinguish fires. more Allocation of Ultra High Frequency Spectrum in the Americas European Politics and Policy 3/30/15 – Research published in 2009 by Mason researchers found that, on average, Latin American countries allocate only 100 MHz of their electromagnetic spectrum to wirelesscarriers compared with an average of about 266 MHz in the European Union. more Mason Engineering Students Sound Out Fires Hip-Hop Wired 3/30/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran have invented adevice that uses various levels of sound frequencies to extinguish flames. more Using Sound to Fight Flames WTVR (TV-Richmond) 3/30/15 – Firefighters may be snuffing blazes with deep-toned sound, if a new deviceinvented by Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran catches on. more 'Acoustic' Fire Extinguisher Douses Flames IBN Live (TV-India) 3/29/15 – Mason engineering students Viet Tran and Seth Robertson have developed a prototype of a fire extinguisher that uses waves produced by a low-frequency sound to displace oxygen and extinguish fire. more Mason Engineering Students Invent Sound Wave FireExtinguisher WTKR (TV-Hampton Roads, VA/Northeast N.C.) 3/27/15 – Firefighters may be snuffing blazes with deep-toned sound, if a new deviceinvented by Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran catches on. more 8 Dousing Fire With Sound Waves TheStack.com 3/27/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson, 23, and Viet Tran, 28, have comeup with a revolutionary device which uses low-frequency sound waves to extinguish fire without the help of water, foam or other toxic, messy chemicals involved in traditional extinguishers. more Mason Students Use Sound Waves To Fight Fire WFTS Tampa Bay (TV) 3/27/15 – Mason engineering students Viet Tran and Seth Robertson have figured out howto use low frequency sound waves to put out fire. more Mason Engineering Students Extinguish Fire With Sound TechFrag.com 3/27/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran put out fire usingan extinguisher that generates low-frequency sound waves. more Invention Uses Bass Sound To Put Flames Down News4Jax (TV-Jacksonville), ClickonDetroit (TV) 3/27/15 – Firefighters may be snuffing blazes with deep-toned sound, if a new deviceinvented by Mason students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran catches on. more Certificates of Need Are Bad For Health Care Nashville Business Journal 3/26/15 – Mercatus researchers released a report arguing that certificate of needrequirements lead to reduced competition and fewer choices, without increased access to care for the poor. more Mason Students Extinguish Fire With Sound WRIC (TV-Richmond) 3/26/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran say thatthey’ve developed a new way to extinguish flames with sound waves. more 9 Office of Research Media Report for 3/23-27/15 New fire extinguisher: Bass hum booms flames out CNN 3/27/15 – Firefighters may be snuffing blazes with deep-toned sound, if a new device invented by Mason undergraduate engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran catches on. more States Debate Value of Giving Tax Credits to Hollywood The Bellingham Herald 3/27/15 – There's growing skepticism about tax incentives to create local movie industries. Senior Mercatus Research Fellow Matthew Mitchell said the incentives abet a mobile, fickle business that will quickly abandon one locale for another that offers a sweeter deal. more Sound Scientific Thinking Finds A Cleaner Way to Extinguish Fires The Guardian 3/27/15 – It happens so quickly you almost don’t believe it: Mason students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran ignite a fire, snap on their low-rumbling bass frequency generator and extinguish the flames in seconds. And even after you’ve seen it over and over, it’s still unbelievable. more Engineering students extinguish fire with sound CNET 3/27/15 – Now, for the first time, a handheld fire extinguisher exists that uses not foam, powder or water, but the waves produced by a low-frequency sound. The prototype extinguisherwas developed by Mason computer engineering major Viet Tran and electrical engineering major Seth Robertson; the pair hopes their design could revolutionize firefighting, particularly in the home. more New Study Finds That Youngsters' Interest in Science & Math Lifelong Pocono Record 3/27/15 – The next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians could be playingwith Legos on your living room rug, and it’s their parents more than schools who are encouraging them to pursue their dreams, according to new research by scholars in Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine. more A Strong Welfare State Produces More Entrepreneurs The Atlantic 3/26/15 – Mason professors created a novel measure of federal regulation in the U.S. and compared the amount of federal regulation to the number of new business establishments in each industry. They found a slightly positive correlation: more regulation was actually associated with more new establishments. more 1 Unlocking the Brain, Earth's Most Complex Biological Structure LiveScience 3/26/15 – Mason professor of molecular neuroscience James Olds is head of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences. He wrote thatneuroscientists don't yet fully understand how the brain processes information. more Students Extinguish Fire With Sound Red Orbit 3/26/15 – If you’re searching for a way to put of a fire in a hurry, it probably wouldn’t occur to you to use sound waves, but the unorthodox concept did cross the minds of Mason engineering students who used it for their senior class project. more Mason Students Extinguish Fire With Low-Frequency Sound Waves Inquisitr 3/26/15 – Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran invented a revolutionary device that uses low-frequency sound waves to extinguish fire instead of water, gas or foam. more How To Put Out Fire Using Sound Daily Mail 3/26/15 – Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran built a handheld device that uses sound to extinguish flames - and the breakthrough could one day revolutionize firefighting. more Watch Two Students Extinguish Fire With Sound Time 3/26/15 – Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran created a fire extinguisher that operates using sound waves. more This Speaker Blows Out Fires Instantly With Bass Gizmodo 3/26/15 – Engineers have experimented with using sonic waves to douse flames for years, but it took Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran to turn the concept into an affordable, hand-held device. more Student Engineers Fight Fire With Sound USA Today 3/26/15 – Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran designed a device that uses sound waves to put out fires. more George Mason students develop fire-fighting technology that uses sounds waves to put out flames MyFoxDC 3/26/15 –Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran are working on a device that uses sound waves to put out fires. more 2 Extinguishing a fire using sounds waves is all about thatbass Mail Tribune 3/26/15 – It happens so quickly you almost don't believe it: Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran ignite a fire, snap on their low-rumbling bass frequency generator and extinguish the flames in seconds. And even after you've seen it over and over, it's still unbelievable. more Engineering Students Use Sound Waves to Put Out Fires Phys.org, Das Kraftfuttermischwerk 3/26/15 – Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran found a way to use sound waves to quash fires. They hope their device will revolutionize firefighting technology. more Researcher Wins Innovation Award Fairfax Times 3/26/15 – The 2015 Greater Washington Innovator of the Year award will go to Emanuel Petricoin, university professor, co-director, and co-founder of the Mason Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine. Petricoin is known internationally for his pioneering research in proteomics and molecular medicine. more Watch Two Guys Put Out A Fire With Sound Huffington Post 3/26/15 –It may seem outlandish, but Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran saythey’ve developed a way to extinguish fire with sound waves. more Watch Sound Extinguish Fire New York Magazine 3/26/15 – Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran encountered plenty of doubters when they settled on an idea for their senior project, but ultimately successfully created a device that extinguishes fire with sound waves. more New Fire-Fighting Solution Uses Sound Waves to Put Out Fire N4GM 3/26/15–Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran have a new explanation of how to put out a fire—using a practical peace of fire-fighting technology that they invented. more Students Design New Way to Put Out Fire Without Water Publimetro 3/26/15 – Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran developed a way to put out fire using only sound waves. The device they created has been called revolutionary and could help extinguish fires more efficiently. more Extinguishing Fire With Sound The Columbian 3/26/15 – It happens so quickly you almost don't believe it: Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran ignite a fire, snap on their low-rumbling bass frequency generator and extinguish the flames in seconds. Even after you've seen it repeatedly, it's still unbelievable. more 3 Veronique de Rugy on Robophobia Reason 3/26/15 – Driverless vehicles, drones, machine learning, and other emerging technologies offer programmable assistants able to handle mundane tasks and critical life-saving interventions alike. Mercatus Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy wrote that not everyone is pleased about the technology and its potential uses. more Welfare Makes America More Entrepreneurial The Atlantic 3/26/15 – Mason professors created a novel measure of federal regulation in the U.S. and compared the amount of federal regulation to the number of new business establishments in each industry. They found a slightly positive correlation: more regulation was actually associated with more new establishments. more Watch These Two Guys Put Out A Fire Using Only Sound Popular Mechanics 3/26/15 – Will the fire extinguisher of the future be a big speaker? It's possible. Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran show that you can use sound waves to put out flames. more Two Students Created A Device that Extinguishes Fire With Sound Waves ZME Science 3/25/15 – Mason engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran designed a device that uses sound waves to put out fires, thus potentially eliminating the need for carrying around huge quantities of water and costly cleaning operations. more Pension Reform Doesn't Mean Higher Taxes Wall Street Journal 3/25/15 – Andrew Biggs, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, writes thata recent hearing by Pennsylvania legislators about pension reform was overdue and that fears about reform-related transition costs are unfounded. more Online Communication Details Affect Sales Phys.org 3/24/15 – Online word-of-mouth communication significantly affects sales. Masonresearchers recently reported, however, on why the effect fluctuates. more Mason Students Extinguish Fire with Sound Waves WUSA9, FireEngineering.com 3/24/15 – Mason electrical engineering students Seth Robertson and Viet Tran invented a device that extinguishes fire with sound waves. more 4 Researchers Discover Five New Phases of Silica AZO Materials 3/24/15 – Researchers at Mason and the Carnegie Institution discovered five new forms of silica that exist at room temperature and under conditions of extreme pressure. more Documentary Focuses on Desegregation of Las Vegas Schools Nevada Public Radio 3/24/15 – Mason professor of education Sonya Douglass Horsford narrated a documentary about Las Vegas school integration. The program is called "School Desegregation in Southern Nevada and will air Monday, March 30. more Virginia Department of Education Announces Math and Science Partnership Grants NBC29.com 3/24/15 – The Virginia Department of Education is awarding more than $1.6 million in grants to enhance teachers' knowledge of science and math and their ability to teach the subjects. This total includes $219, 212 for Mason officials and the Virginia Council for Private Education to serve 120 teachers in eight school divisions. more Legislation Limiting Certificate of Need Introduced in South Carolina Heartlander Magazine 3/24/15 – South Carolina state Rep. Murrell Smith introduced legislation to loosen the state’s certificate of need restrictions on the ability of health providers to build or open new health care facilities, but Mason researchers Thomas Strattman and Jacob Russ say CON lawsincrease healthcare costs and decrease availability. more Engineering Students Show How to Extinguish Fire With Sound Waves Santa Fe New Mexican 3/24/15 – Mason’s Seth Robertson and Viet Tran invented a fire extinguisher that puts out fire using sound waves—and does so in a flash. more City Slickers MHN Online 3/23/15 – For decades, Americans fled cities as they aged, but new data compiled by Mason research associate Jeanette Chapman shows the older demographic might now prefer to stay put. more When It Comes to Putting Out Fire, GMU Students Show It’s All About the Bass The Washington Post 3/22/15 –Mason electrical engineering students Viet Tran and Seth Robertson invented a device that extinguishes fire with sound. more 5 Sparking a Passion: New Study Finds Youngsters’ Interest in Science & Math Can Lasta Lifetime Hannibal Courier, Shawnee News-Star 3/19/15 – Mason’s Lance Liotta, co-director, Applied Proteomics & Molecular Medicine, and fellow researchers found that families and parents are the figures who most often teach children who are interested in science and math to follow their dreams. more ### 6 Office of Research Media Report for 3/15-19/15 Clear Opportunities for Health Care Reform Carolina Journal Online 3/19/15 – A bipartisan bill introduced in the North Carolina House would loosen some of the constraints of Certificate of Needs programs. Mercatus researchers noted that substantial evidence shows that the programs do not achieve intended outcomes but rather decrease the supply and availability of health care services by limiting entry and competition. more Youngsters' Interest in Science Often Starts at Home Recordnet.com 3/19/15 – Researchers with Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine report that parents often spark children's first interest in science. more Removing State-Based Obstacles to Affordable Healthcare The Hill 3/19/15 –As Americans experience healthcare changes related to the Affordable Care Act,efforts to replace it will increase, and will not be limited to the federal sphere. States can work on repealing Certificate of Needs laws, which require states to prove that municipalities needhealth care facilities. Mercatus researchers have found that these laws decrease healthcareavailability and increase healthcare costs. more Apartment Industry Added Billions to Seattle Economy in 2013 Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce 3/18/15 – A study by the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association found the apartment industry contributed more than $15.5 billion to the economy and supported 146,800 jobs. The study used data based on research by Mason economist Stephen S. Fuller. more Apartment Industry Boosts San Diego by Billions NBC San Diego 3/17/15 –The San Diego metro area’s apartment industry had an $11.9 billion economicimpact in 2013, including supporting more than 111,000 jobs, according to a recent report bytwo industry advocacy groups. The groups based their research on work by Mason economist Stephen S. Fuller. more Dark Clouds Make You Happier The Washington Post 3/17/15 –We all want to be happy, but Todd Kashdan, professor of psychology and a senior scientist at the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being at George Mason University, and his co-author Robert Biswas-Diener write in their new book that that isn't the right goal. more 1 Women, Be Tenacious at Work! Poynter 3/16/15 – Women are often wary of advocating for themselves at work, but a 2010 study by researchers at Mason and Temple University shows that those who do can reap sizable financial rewards. more Pittsburgh Apartment Boom Boosts Regional Economy Pittsburgh Business Times 3/16/15 – Research by Mason economist Stephen S. Fuller shows that apartmentconstruction contributed $177 million to the Pittsburgh economy in 2013. more Connecticut Lawmaker Opposes Soda Tax Milford Patch 3/15/15 – Connecticut State Representative Pam Staneski voiced an emphatic no on aproposed sugar tax on soda earlier this month. A study by Mason researchers showed that a 20 percent tax on soda would produce only miniscule reductions in the public's average Body Mass Index. more Gender Equality Report: New Uses for Big Data Christian Science Monitor 3/9/15 – Kirk Borne, a professor in Mason's School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences, says the technology helps make optimal decisions instead ofhoping for the best. The story focuses on the findings of a study about gender equality. more Mason Students Invent Device that Extinguishes Fire with Sound 247Sports, FedHealth, Safety Engineer Tumblr 2/9/15 –Mason electrical engineering senior and former Newport News wrestler Seth Robertson and fellow electrical engineering senior Viet Tran have invented a devicethat extinguishes fire with sound. Robertson and Tran now hold a preliminary patent applicationfor their invention. more 2 ORED Media Report 3/9-13/15 Apartments Add $1 Trillion to the Economy GlobeSt.com, National Mortgage Professional Magazine 3/13/15 – A study based on research by Mason economist Stephen S. Fuller shows thatthe apartment sector has contributed more than $1.3 trillion to the economy. more Government Cuts Hurt the Economy and Transit WTOP.com 3/11/15 – Terry Clower, Northern Virginia Chair of Mason's School of Policy, Government and International Affairs reported that average incomes and transit ridership both dropped as a result of federal budget cuts. more Johns Hopkins Awarded Grant to Evaluate Malaria Saliva Test Outbreak News Today 3/11/15 – Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health were awarded a $525,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to evaluate a new technology that detects malaria parasites in saliva before people become sick. They will test Ceres' Nanotrap technology, which was invented at Mason with funding from the National Institutes for Health. more Millennials Drive Apartment Growth The Lane Report 3/11/15 – A new study conducted by Mason economist Stephen Fuller shows that apartment construction, operations and resident spending contributed $2.2 billion and nearly 25,000 jobs to the Louisville economy in the aftermath of the Great Recession. more Weighing Costs of Pension Reform Philly.com 3/10/15 – Mercatus researcher Andrew G. Biggs reports that all public employee pension plans should be making less risky investments and that plans closed to new hires should take only a little less risk than open plans. more Expert Consensus Drives Global Warming Support The Guardian 3/10/15 – A new study by social scientists at Mason, Princeton and Yale suggests that the perception of expert consensus among experts helps people accept important concepts. more Climate Change Worsens Respiratory Illness Inside Climate News 3/10/15 – A survey by the American Thoracic Society—conducted in collaboration with George Mason University researchers—found that the majority of ATS members believe climate change is negatively affecting the health of their patients. more 1 Apartments Are Atlanta's New Best Friend Curbed National 3/10/15 – Research by Stephen S. Fuller, of George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis, suggests the local apartment explosion has been a boon to Atlanta's economy, contributing more than $15 billion in 2013 alone. more Apartments Add Billions to Denver Economy Denver Business Journal 3/10/15 – The Denver’s apartment industry generated $10.4 billion in economic activityin metro Denver in 2013, according to research by Mason economist Stephen Fuller. more Rentals Boost St. Louis Economy St. Louis Post-Dispatch 3/10/15 –Mason economist Stephen Fuller’s study shows apartment construction contributed $4.4 billion and nearly 44,000 jobs to the St. Louis economy in 2013. more Why Did WSJ Use Old Data to Attack Social Security? Los Angeles Times 3/9/15 –An op-ed in Monday's Wall Street Journal makes a devastating case against Social Security's disability system, but on closer inspection the case isn't so clear. Mercatusscholar Mark Warshawsky and Mason graduate student Ross A. Marchand write that social security has veered from its original purpose of supporting the vulnerable. more South Asia is Fundamentally Unstable DAWN.com 3/9/15 – Nuclear competition, territorial disputes, cross-border terrorism and domestic pressures make South Asia a fundamentally unstable region, according to Gregory Koblentz, a professor in Mason's School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs. more Firms Oppose SEC's Internal Enforcement Process Pensions & Investments 3/9/15 – As the SEC moves more cases through its internal administrative court process, some of the financial firms on the receiving end of those judgments are challenging the decisions raising questions about due process. As criticisms and legal challenges mount, Mercatus Fellow Hester Peirce said SEC officials need to clarify policy. more Licensing Occupations Doesn’t Raise Quality Tyler Morning Telegraph 3/9/15 – The strongest argument for occupation licensing — for everyone from hairdressers to interior designers — is that it ensures quality. A new study by Mercatus researchers shows that isn’t so. more 2 Connecticut Official Opposes Sugar Tax Connecticut Postings, Human Events 3/9/15 –Connecticut State Representative Pam Staneski voiced an emphatic no on a proposed tax on soda tax, and said that individuals should be free to control their diets. A study by Mason researchers showed that a 20 percent tax on soda would reduce an obese person's Body Mass Index from 40 to 39.98. more Did Violent Solar Flares Jumpstart Life on Earth? The Daily Galaxy 3/9/15 – Vladimir Airapetian, adjunct professor in Mason's School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences, reported in a new paper that Earth andits atmosphere may have been showered by superflares from the Sun in the distant past. more 3 ORED Media Report, 3/2-5/15 The FDA Overreaches with New Food Label The Hill (blog) 3/5/15 – The Food and Drug Administration has proposed a new food label that requires manufacturers to declare the added sugar content of their foods. Mercatus Research Fellow Sherzod Abdukadirov, blogger for The Hill, writes that the proposed label assumes that consumers cannot distinguish between soda and fruit juice. more Governor Honors Exceptional Post-Secondary Educators Fairfax Times 3/5/15 – McAuliffe has honored two Mason professors—Robinson Professor of Theater and English Paul Philip D'Andrea and Lance Liotta, a professor in the School of Systems Biology— with Outstanding Faculty Awards. more Mercatus: Taxing Junk Food Won't Curb Obesity or Other Health Problems Yahoo! News, U.S. News & World Report 3/5/15 – Mercatus researchers report that taxes on unhealthy food do little to change consumer behavior but instead limit the money people have to spend on non-food items. more Why Bad Brokers Thrive MarketWatch 3/5/15 – Like any industry, Wall Street has some bad apples. The regulatory body that oversees Wall Street is supposed to help identify these elements, but Mercatus Senior Research Fellow Hester Peirce said there is no way to know if it accomplishes this goal. more Climate Change Has Negative Impact on Human Health Business Standard 3/4/15 – Center for Climate Change Communication researchers polled 5,500 members of the American Thoracic Society and report that 89 percent of respondents believe climate change is happening and 65 percent believe it is relevant to patient care. Respondents indicated that climate change could cause more severe allergies, worsening asthma and an increase inchronic and acute lung conditions. The survey had a 17 percent response rate. more When It Comes to Public Trust in Science, Issues & Media Outlets Matter Times-Herald 3/4/15 – Ohio State University researchers reported recently that, depending on the issue, conservatives and liberals are similarly likely to distrust science. In 2011, Masonresearchers studied media consumption habits and climate change beliefs and found politicians and media have turned climate change into a partisan issue. more New Report Pitches Lower Economic-Impact for Diamond Nation in Fredericksburg Fredericksburg.com 3/3/15 – Illinois-based BKP Consulting has proffered an economic impact estimate of a Diamond Nation amateur sports facility that is $1M less than the projection Mason economist Stephen Fuller provided last year. more 1 Histories of the National Mall Wins Outstanding Public History Award Mason News 3/3/15 – A George Mason University-produced website that helps visitors to the National Mall learn more about its history has been recognized by the National Council on Public Historywith its 2015 Outstanding Public History Project Award. Sharon Leon, director of publicprojects for Mason's Center for History and New Media and Sheila Brennan, associate directorof public projects for the center, will accept the award at the NCPH conference in April onbehalf of CHNM and the project team. more Will New Voter Demographics Move Public Opinion on Climate Change? The Conversation 3/2/15 – Many Americans remain uninformed about climate change. A national poll conducted by researchers at Yale and Mason found while 66 percent of respondents believe climate change is real, fewer than half know that it is human-caused. more Don't Believe Car-Hacking Hype PC Magazine 3/2/15 – While cars, like most other computerized devices can be hacked, vehicles are low on the hacking list. Damon McCoy, assistant professor of computer science at Mason, said there is little financial incentive for hackers to target automobiles. more Republican Pick for Congressional Budget Office Director Draws Good Reviews GovExec.com 3/2/15 – Republican lawmakers named Keith Hall, a former Mercatus researcher, as director of the Congressional Budget Office. more Mason Students' Far-Out Idea Reaches Astronomical Heights Mason News 3/2/15 – Mason graduate students Prabal Saxena and Alex Panka and Professor Michael Summers—all of Mason's School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences— have published a study in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The researchers theorize that some rocky exoplanets could be tidally connected to their star and that this relationship could give the planets a flattened appearance. more Fierce Superflares from the Sun Zapped Infant Earth Phys.org 3/2/15 – Vladimir Airapetian, senior astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Center and research professor in Mason's School of Physics, Astronomy, and Computational Sciences, has reported in a new paper that bursts of energy from the sun could have penetrated Earth's magnetic field, bathed Earth's atmosphere and profoundly affected the development of life on Earth. more 2 Patent Reform Could Yield Rewards Patently-O 3/2/15 – A group of 51 scholars, including Alex Tabarrok, Director of Mason's Center for Public Choice, have submitted a letter to Congress stating that patent litigation impedes innovation and technological progress. more Obama Calls for Policing Changes After Task Force Report New York Times, EdWeek 3/2/15 – Obama called for changes to police practices following the deaths of unarmed black men in Missouri and Staten Island. Obama also unveiled the recommendations of a task force on police conduct—a panel led in part by Mason professor of criminology and law, Laurie O. Robinson. more NYPD Commissioner William Bratton: Shootings Up, Stop and Frisks Down Newsday, Associations Now 3/1/15 – NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton said Monday that shootings in the New York City area were increasing, while stop and frisk situations were decreasing. Mason professor of criminology David Weisburd and Richard Rosenfeld of the University of Missouri-St. Louis released studies last year showing a correlation between crime and stop and frisks. more Certificate of Need Law Limits Medical Access, Boosts Costs The Tribune Papers 2/27/15 – Mercatus Research Fellow Christopher Koopman has co-authored a study that found that North Carolina has fewer hospital beds and restrains psychiatric services because of a regulatory process that protects some health care providers. more Mason Physicist Works with NASA to Study the Atmosphere of Mars Mason News 2/24/15 – Erdal Yigit, a Mason professor in the School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences, is working with NASA to study how lower atmospheric waves influence the upper atmosphere of Mars. more 3 ORED Media Report, 2/23-27/15 Researchers Found Gateway to Greater Science Acceptance The Washington Post 2/26/15 – Researchers at Mason, Princeton and Yale reported in the journal PLOS One that perceived scientific agreement is a gateway belief that supports or undermines other key beliefs about climate change. more Should Californians Resurrect Plan to Pipe Alaska Water? Wired 2/26/15 – Californians need water and are considering a pipeline to move Alaskan snow to the Golden State. Don Kash, Mason emeritus tech policy researcher said the idea makes a lot of sense. more Middle East Studies Director to Participate Foreign Policy Debate Cornell Chronicle 2/26/15 – Bassam Haddad, director of Mason's Middle East Studies Program, will participate in a debate with Ambassador Dennis Ross, counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The debate will take place March 3 at Cornell University and will explore the success or failure of American foreign policy in the Middle East. more Matched Up Reno News & Review 2/26/15 – Mason researchers reported that nearly all gay and bisexual men said their most recent sexual encounter occurred in a relationship with feelings of love. more McAuliffe Honors 2015 Outstanding Faculty Augusta Free Press 2/25/15 – Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe honored 13 educators as recipients of the 29th annual Outstanding Faculty Award for excellence in teaching, research andpublic service. Among the recipients were Mason Robinson Professor of Theater and English Literature Paul Philip D'Andrea and Lance A. Liotta, a Mason professor in the School of Systems Biology. more Exploring Women’s Issues CSUF News Service 2/25/15 –Noura Erakat, Mason New Century College professor, and human rights attorney, is the keynote speaker at the California State University Fullerton Women's History Month reception on March 3. Erakat will discuss "Gender and Conflict Resolution in Palestine." more What Net Neutrality Rules Could Mean for Your Wireless Carrier KRCC 2/25/15 – The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote on broad net neutrality rules – the idea that Internet providers should treat all traffic on their networksequally. 1 Previously, the FCC tried to enforce rules that would have allowed wireless carriers to discriminate against websites or applications to prevent network congestion. Mercatus Fellow Brent Skorup said that's an acknowledgement that wireless is different from wires that carry data into homes and businesses. more In Northern Virginia, a Disconnect over Genomics Research The Washington Post 2/22/15 – Inova officials are looking to purchase a campus for their planned center for genomics and personalized medicine and are seeking university partnerships. Mason has its own campus dedicated to life sciences. While a joint venture between the two parties would seem ideal, Emanuel Petricoin, III, co-director of Mason's Center forApplied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, said the question is whether the scientists andthe doctors find it useful to begin working together. more 2 ORED Media Report, 2/16-20/15 President Misrepresented Threat Posed by Climate Change(Op-Ed) FayObserver 2/20/15 – U.S. President Barack Obama devoted much of his most recent State of the Union address to the topic of the threat of climate change, but other dangers might be moreimportant. Mason researchers report, however, that when journalists do cover climate change newsroom editors support ignoring climate skeptics in news coverage. more Six in 10 Americans Have Given Climate Change & Health No Thought Weather Channel 2/19/15 – Climate change affects everyone—even if they don't recognize its impact. Ed Maibach, director of Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication, and YaleProject for Climate Change Communication researchers report that one of the most notable waysclimate change affects individuals is through health impacts. more Occupational Licensing Doesn't Benefit Consumers LouisianaWatchdog.org 2/19/15 – Professional licensing might not protect consumers and might stifle competition, Mercatus researchers report in a new study. more Is Inequality Responsible for America's Innovation Gap?(Op-Ed) The Week, Ricochet 2/19/15 – Many economic scholars hold that government regulation is to blame for thedeclining pace of innovation, but Mason Economics Professor Alex Tabarrok and Nathan Goldschlag, a Mason economics major, report there is little correlation between start-up rates and regulations. more Moving on up Real Change 2/19/15 – Community organizers in Seattle examining how neighborhood design affectscriminal behavior are getting assistance from researchers with George Mason University's Centerfor Evidence-Based Crime Policy. more Is Rand Paul the GOP's Great Libertarian Hope Against Clinton: Yes and No. The Washington Post 2/18/15 –U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is set to announce his presidential candidacy in April, and a 2009 study by Mason researchers that found that Virginia is the second-most libertarian state could mean Paul will do well in the Commonwealth. more Americans Support Action on Global Warming The Energy Collective 2/18/15 –Researchers from the Yale University Project on Climate Change Communication and Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication report that not all Republicans have the same views about climate change. more 1 Senate: Use Caution Before Regulating the Internet of Things Huffington Post 2/18/15 – Members of the U.S. Senate are examining the Internet of Things, and they arelooking closely at issues related to safety, privacy, and security. Mercatus Senior Research Fellow Adam Thierer said the risks of the Internet of Things shouldn't motivate the government to regulate. more Scholar: China's International Image Improving GlobalPost 2/17/15 – Chinese leaders have excelled at promoting their culture to the world, but Gao Qing, U.S. director of the Confucius Institute at Mason, said they could use some helppolishing their country's international image. more Find your Zen with Mindful Meditation Arizona Daily Wildcat 2/18/15 – Balancing work and play is not easy, but Mason Assistant Professor of Psychology Robert Youmans and University of Illinois doctoral student Jared Ramsburg report that meditating before class can lead to better focus and better grades. more Reporters Predict Contentious Year Ahead for Environment and Energy New Security Beat 2/18/15 – There are many signs that 2015 will be a key year for climate policy. Among other things, Climate Central, Mason researchers and Yale University scholars are working thisyear with local news meteorologists to share information about climate change. more Legal Standing Questions Unlikely to Derail Supreme Court Arguments on Affordable Care Act WisconsinGazette.com 2/16/15 – U.S. Supreme Court justices will likely hear arguments on whether millions of Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act are eligible for subsidies, but Robert Dudley, Mason professor of government and politics, said the plaintiffs might not be ideal.more Google & Microsoft's Blocks on Child Pornography Reduce Searches Daily Mail 2/13/15 – Internet mechanisms to block child pornography have reduced searches for such material by 70 percent, according to Chad Steel, an adjunct professor in Mason's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, in a recent study published in the journal:"Child Abuse & Neglect." more 2 ORED Media Report, 2/9-13/15 Parents Lie More Frequently in Front of Sons than in Front of Daughters Daily Mail 2/13/15 – Daniel Houser, director of Mason's Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science, and fellow researchers report that parents act more honestly in front of children, butlie more often in presence of sons than in the presence of daughters. more Mercatus Scholars: North Carolina Healthcare Regulations Lead to Higher Costs NewsObserver.com 2/13/15 – Mercatus scholars Christopher Koopman and Thomas Stratmann reported ina recent research paper that North Carolina healthcare regulations increase costs by restrictingthe supply of hospitals and services. more Workplace Safety Regulations Stifle Innovation InsuranceNewsNet.com 2/12/15 – Researchers commissioned by Mercatus reported that politicians largely agreethat occupational safety regulations impede innovations in industry. more Can the Internet of Things Preserve Privacy? NBCNews.com 2/11/15 – Federal legislators met this week to consider ways to promote innovation while simultaneously protecting privacy, but Mercatus researchers said the pace of thetechnology industry could make policy implementation difficult. more Gator Blood Contains Strong Germ Fighters EurekAlert 2/11/15 – A 17-member multidisciplinary research team at Mason has found that the bloodof crocodilian reptiles contains bacterial infection-fighting compounds—a discovery which could benefit soldiers in battle and ordinary citizens. more Climate Change Might Have Fluke on the Move App.com 2/11/15 – Mason researchers are working with Malin Pinsky, an associate professor ofecology, evolution and natural resources at Rutgers and researchers at Stony Brook University to determine whether climate change is causing fluke to migrate. more Mercatus: Support Regulatory Legislation The Hill 2/10/15 – House members recently passed a bill aimed at improving federal agencies' regulatory analyses. The bill requires agencies to clarify the problem they are addressing. The ultimatefate of the bill is uncertain, but Mercatus Senior Research Fellow Jerry Ellig said its contents should be part of any comprehensive reform. more 1 Politicians & Media Praise Jon Stewart Politico 2/10/15 – Following Jon Stewart's announcement earlier this week that he is retiring from "The Daily Show," Robert Lichter, director of Mason's Center for Media and Public Affairs, reflected on Stewart's impact and called him "a seminal figure." more Questions Arise Over Billions in U.S. Ebola Aid FoxNews 2/9/15 – Aid officials report that money spent to quell Ebola in West Africa eased the health crisis, but some leaders say it is hard to determine what is happening with the money. Chris Coyne, Mason Economics professor, said that in remote crisis areas, precise tracking offunds is unrealistic. more Study counters stereotypes of black men most at risk for HIV/AIDS Medical Xpress 2/9/15 –Mason scholars and the Yale School of Public Health recently studied the positive features of the sexual interactions of black men who have sex with men and compared those experiences to the interactions of men of other races. The researchers report that love, affection and pleasure are similar regardless of race. more Congress & 60 Minutes Exaggerate Threat of Car Hacking Forbes 2/9/15 – A Pentagon official recently told 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl thatcomputerconnected automobiles are vulnerable to cyber attacks, but some experts, including Mason Computer Science professor Damon McCoy, said attacks won't become commonplaceuntil they become more profitable. more Financial Authorities Say Risk Data Plan Limits Investor Choice Law360.com 2/9/15 – Mercatus researchers want leaders of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority— the independent not-for-profit organization that monitors the securities industry—to halt workon the Comprehensive Automated Risk Data System, saying the system could limit how consumers invest. more Growing Sharing Economy Reshapes Markets Malay Mail Online, Phys.org 2/7/15 – Mercatus Fellow Christopher Koopman said companies like Uber and Airbnbhelp individuals buy and sell goods and services that might otherwise go unused. more Pump up the Bass: Mason Students' Invention Fights Fires Fairfax City Patch, Virginia Wrestling Association 2/5/15 – Mason electrical engineering students Viet Tran and Seth Robertson have invented—and now hold a patent for—a device that extinguishes fire with sound. more 2 ORED Media Report, 2/2/15-2/6/15 Trial shows promise for increasing metastatic breast cancersurvival WUSA9.com 2/5/15 – Emanuel Petrocoin, III, co-director of Mason's Center for Applied Proteomicsand Molecular Medicine, and a team of researchers are testing a technique for treatingmetastatic breast cancer that has increased the survival of more than half of the patients who have undergone the procedure. more Aging population creating new healthcare concerns Healio.com 2/5/15 – Nurse Researcher Mark McClellan, DHP, RN, CPHQ of Cleveland Clinic and Jean M. Sorrell, professor emerita in Mason's School of Nursing, have reported in a new articlethat America's aging population is creating the need for age-tailored care. more Research finds 'secular bias' in western diplomacy CatholicPhilly.com 2/4/15 – Peter Mandaville, co-director of Mason's Center for Global Islamic Studies and Sarah Silvestri, a senior lecturer at City University London, have reported in a new paper that western diplomacy is largely secular in spirit. more Cranberries Have Positive Effect on Bacterial Biofilm Natural Products Insider 2/3/15 – Mason researchers recently released a report stating that cranberries positivelyaffect bacterial biofilm, a substance that plays a role in urinary tract infections. more Cost of Global 'War on Terror' Surpasses $1.7 Trillion IVN 2/2/15 –Mercatus Center researchers recently reported that the United States has incurred$1.7 trillion in expenses related to the war on terror since September 11, 2001. more Why Can't Scientists and the Public Agree? Nature World News 2/2/15 – New research from Pew Research Center shows that scientists and the public see the world differently. Ed Maibach, director of Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication, said this discrepancy is due to scientists relying on more scientificinformation and thinking more scientifically. more DOJ should not approve engineering organization's patent policy IPWatchdog 2/2/15 – As U.S. lawmakers consider whether to alter policies related to wireless Internet and, ultimately, other technologies, Mason Professor of Law Adam Mossoff said citizens are not suffering under current technology standard patents. more 1 An Invitation to Constitutional Conflict Constitution Daily 2/2/15 – As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to address the U.S. Congress on March 3, Mason Professor of Law David Bernstein said the planned speech might not bein line with the U.S. Constitution. more Investors Misjudge Export-Import Loan Risks The Tribune-Review 1/31/15 –Some in Washington want to permanently reauthorize the Export-Import bank—the organization that helps finance U.S. exports—but Mason Economics Donald J. Boudreaux said most do not understand the risks involved. more Measles: How Legislators Can End ‘Personal Belief’ Waivers on Vaccination Los Angeles Times 1/29/15 – Yu-Wei Yang, Mason College of Health and Human Services professor, and Indiana University Professor of Health and Human Management Ross D. Silverman reported recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association that vaccine exemptions haveuntil the present been the norm. more 2 ORED Media Report, 1/16- 1/30/15 The Case for Not Banning Drones The Washington Post 1/30/15 – Mason’s Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Adam Thierer said recently that steps by drone manufacturers to ensure that their crafts will notfunction within Washington, D.C. are a worrisome development. more Gay, Bisexual Men Report Complementary Emotions with Partners Wisconsin Gazette 1/29/15 – In a new study of 25,000 men, Mason and Indiana University researchers have found that men in same-sex relationships report complementary emotions with their significant others. more It’s Not the Economy, It’s the Politicians Fresno Bee, Providence Journal 1/29/15 – According to our new research on state fiscal crises published through Mason’s Mercatus Center, mistakes made by politicians during good years are oftenthe cause of big headaches down the road. more Solo, Group Work Setups Lead to Different Types of Creativity Yahoo! Health 1/28/15 – Researchers at Mason report in a new article that working alone or with collaborators provides different benefits for workers. more Obama Acts Alone on Climate Change Nature.com, Science 1/27/15 – Bob Inglis, executive director of the energy and enterprise initiativeand the communication department at Mason said U.S. President Barack Obama still has the chance to leave his mark on environmental policy by collaborating with republicans. more New Businesses, Dozens of Jobs in Game Institute's First Year Patch.com 1/16/15 Researchers at Mason’s Virginia Serious Game Institute have generated new jobsand companies and generated millions of dollars as they work to promote new technology. more Scientists, Public See Things Differently The Westside Story 1/30/15 Nearly 90 percent of scientists see that climate change is happening, while only half of the general public does. Ed Maibach, director of the center for climate change communication at Mason, said this is due to scientists basing judgments on fact. more 1 Weakening wireless technology patents hurt everyone RCR Wireless News 1/28/15 Adam Mossoff, Mason law professor said that there is no proof that the paceof technology is being slowed by the speed at which patents are issued. more ### 2 ORED Media Report, 1/16/15 It’s Not the Economy, It’s the Politicians Fresno Bee 1/16/15 – According to our new research on state fiscal crises published through the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, mistakes made by politicians during good years are often the cause of big headaches down the road. more New Businesses, Dozens of Jobs in Game Institute's First Year Manassas Patch 1/16/15 – George Mason-based Virginia Serious Game Institute offers hands-ontraining, certification, research and development assistance. more VA Serious Game Institute Generates New Biz at GMU Dcinno.streetwise 1/16/15 – Less than a year old the institute has already birthed five businesses, created 35 new jobs and garnered half a million in corporate support. more USAF Launches Slate of Acquisitions at Mason Defense News, IHS Jane’s 1/16/15 -- "PlugFest Plus" will be held at Mason Jan. 20, where industry and government participants can show off technology to Air Force Research Lab officials. more Could Suburban Maryland Pass NOVA? Washington Post 1/16/15 – During the recession Washington fared better than the rest of the country, but with Federal cutbacks the local economy is falling behind. According to Stephen Fuller of Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis. more No Conflict of Interest Boston Business Journal 1/14/15 – Research by James C. Cooper, director of research and policy at Mason’s Law and Economic policy institute shows the reports of conflict of interest on drug advisory panels have been greatly exaggerated. more France Will Recover Washington Post 1/15/15 – Justin Gest, asst. professor at Mason’s School of Policy Government and International Affairs, interviewed and analyzed responses from more than 100 people from Muslim nations. The information suggested that political systems can rebound from physical destruction and fear. more Build a New Virginia Economy Lexington Herald Leader 1/14/15 – Governor McAuliffe remarks that automatic federal budget cuts reduced military contracts in Virginia by $9.8 billion between 2011 and 2013 and, according to a 1 Mason study, they threaten to eliminate 154,000 jobs in the commonwealth, or 4 percent of our workforce. more Northrop Boss Touts Importance of R&D Seapower Magazine 1/15/15 – So said Wes Bush, Northrop CEO, at the Cardinal Bank & GMU Economic Conference. more Scary Economic Predictions Mainstreet.com 1/14/15 – GDP will grow, unemployment will be low, but wage growth won’t keeppace with job growth. The market will do well said Terry L. Clower, Mason professor of public policy. more To Save Power, Appeal to Health Benefits The Daily Climate 1/12/15 – A UCLA/Mason study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science showed that reminding people that power usage has health costs because of pollution worked better to motivate conservation than pointing out the dollar costs of consuming power. more Dual Language Education Expands in Border Schools to Close Learning Gap Borderzine 1/14/15 – Education researchers Virginia Collier and Wayne Thomas of George Mason University have done 20 years of bilingual program evaluation research in almost two dozen school districts in 15 states. According to the researchers, who published their findings in 2012, dual language is the only program that fully closes the achievement gap. more Transforming Police Through Science OUP.com 1/12/15 – Videos may help, but can’t solve the problems alone write authors of this article including David Weisburd, director of Mason’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy. more 2 ORED Media Report 12/20/14—1/9/15 Headline Publication 12/19/14 – Start description, bold names. more Mason Research Data on ACA Released Insurancenewsnet.com 1/9/15 – The research suggests legislative and other methods to increasepreventative clinical service requirements for adults. more Virginia Serious Game Institute Spawns New Biz at Mason Streetwise.com, Area Development Online 1/6/15 – The Virginia Serious Game Institute on George Mason University's Prince William campus is not even a year old and it has already birthed five businesses and created 35 new jobs. more Summer Science Fellow To Pursue Master’s at Mason Yourtown (PA) 1/8/15 -- Erin Ratliff, psychology major with a minor in biology, in the last semester of her senior year at Mansfield University, was one of 12 students selected from 600 applicants for Mason’s summer science fellowship. She plans to pursue a master’s at Mason next year. She worked on U.S. Airforce-funded research in the Cognitions Lab to study how humans interact with their environment. more Mason Study Shows Kids’ Sports Physicals Need Work Fairfax News, Consumer Affairs 1/6/15 – Mason researchers say not enough is being done to detect cardiac and other health conditions through sports physicals. Shane Caswell of the College of Education and Human Development’s School of Recreation, Health and Tourism co-authored the study. more Plane Sharing Startup Sues FAA Wall Street Journal 1/7/15 – Flytenow, a startup that connects private pilots with passengers, is challenging the FAA. Sharing-based businesses often conflict with regulations. These conflicts are inevitable when the world changes before regulations, according to Christopher Koopman Mercatus fellow. more Window to Mitigate Global Warming is Shrinking Huffington Post 1/7/15 – It’s time to eliminate the notion that action on climate change will thwart the economy after 2014 – the hottest year on record, writes Michael Shank, Masonadjunct in the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. more 1 FTC Commissioner Slams Lending Restrictions PYMTS.com 1/6/15 – Lending regulations harm consumers, according to Joshua Wright, one offive Federal Trade Commissioners and leading economic scholar on leave from Mason. more Music, Art and Dance Offer Hope to Dementia Suffers Washington Post, Herald Tribune, Standard Examiner 1/6/15 – With an aging population, the government, universities and health care concerns are trying to determine whether the arts have quantifiable therapeutic value for Alzheimers patients. The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Institutes of Health and others are pushing for more answers. Holly Matto, Mason professor of social work is conducting federally subsidized research at Birmingham Green. She said people with cognitive impairment often feel overwhelmed by their inability to process and integrate information from their surroundings. The arts such as painting and music, can help them restore a sense of order to their world. more New Hacks to Worry About International Business Times 1/7/15 – As “smart” homes fill with more “smart” devices they become an “internet of things,” say folks at the Consumer Electronics Show. Critical systems from home security, to glucose monitoring, to car brakes are being networked, and the aggregation increases the number of entry points for hackers. Manufacturers worry that lawmakers will overreact with fear-based policy creation. “If we pent all our time worrying about worst-case scenarios and making policy based on that, then best-case scenarios will never come about," said Adam Thierer, Mercatus senior research fellow. more Where is the Economy Heading in 2015 Marketwatch 1/6/15 –Stephen Fuller, of Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis, spearheads the23rd Annual Greater Washington Economic Conference, which will provide a foundation of research and data analysis to use as predictive indicators for 2015. more Attention Reds and Blues: Innovation Looks like This Washington Post 1/7/15 – Already looking ahead to 2016 parties on both sides are looking for a platform to promote growth, innovation and a competitive edge in global markets. Mason’s Adam Thierer says the Innovation Platform decidedly favors “permissionless” innovation over pre-emptive controls — prevalent in much of the world and in many industries — in which disruptors must seek approval from regulators before they can offer their products to the market. more The Congress That Cried Wolf Reason.com 2/2015 – It’s time for lawmakers to stop abusing the emergency-spending loophole, according to Mercatus Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy’s op-ed. more 2 Faulty Economics Fox News 1/6/15 – A book by a French economist who became a darling of 99 percenters, by calling for 80% tax increases on the rich, has errors, according to Mason’s Phillip Magness and Robert P. Murphy of the Institute for Energy Research. The errors they report range from relatively simple mistakes such as getting several historical dates wrong to mis-attributing a massive tax increase to President Franklin Roosevelt thatwas actually passed by President Herbert Hoover. more Examining Onlookers Role in the Holocaust Education Week News 1/5/15 – Article features insights from Anthony Pelligrino, asst. professor in Mason’s graduate school of Education. more Breaking Up (Tax Code) Is Hard to Do Economic Policies – Manhattan Institute, Economics 21 1/6/15 – Everyone wants reform, but few agree on what constitutes tax reform. Laborintensive firms get to write off employee salaries when they cut payroll checks, says Matt Mitchell, senior research fellow at Mercatus. "We shouldn't penalizecompanies that have to incur capital expenses in order to earn income." more Kyptowire to Commercialize DHS-Funded Mobile Security Tech Executive Biz, Federal Times, Washington Post, Technical.ly DC 1/6/15 -- A mobile security archiving technology developed by George Mason University and funded by the Department of Homeland Security will reach the commercial market through an agreement with Fairfax-based Kryptowire, reported Federal Times. DHS granted George Mason University $250,000 to create the system, according to the Washington Post. more Will Rift Save Turkey’s Secularists? Today’sZaman.com 1/5/15 – Op-ed by Mustafa Gürbüz, policy fellow at the Center for Global Policyat Mason and research fellow at the Rethink Institute in Washington, D.C. more Empty Nesters Offer Boon for Metro DC Builders Washington Post 1/1/15 – David Versel, a senior research associate with Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis in Arlington, Va., says his studies are showing that while baby boomers prefer walkability, most are concentrated in the suburbs where they face the need todrive. GMU’s research shows that 47 percent of homeowner households in the D.C. area in 2010 had at least one baby boomer owner (aged 45 to 64). more 3 Question Authority – Make Your Own Top Tech 2015 Predictions Spectrum 1/1/15 – Articles in Spectrum’s January “Top Tech 2015” offer readers a chance to make their own predictions by linking to SciCast, the prediction market project co-founded by Charles Twardy, Kathryn Laskey, and Robin Hanson at George Mason University. more Study Endorses Preschool for Low Income Children Houston Chronicle 12/25/14 – Study says preschool helps poor children. Mark Ginsberg, dean of the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, called the results impressive. "It's really quite encouraging," said the national expert on early childhood education & former executive director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. more U Worth It? Stats.org 11/19/14 – Studies of the economic benefits of a college degree do not provide the expected evidence—and the flaws in measurement have profound implications for debt laden Americans. With that total student debt hitting one trillion dollars and growing, and the price of College having grown more than 250 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1982 – is the debt is worth it. The most recent answer—from the Pew Research Center—is that, yes, it is. Op-ed by Rebecca Goldin, professor of Mathematical Sciences at Mason. more Justice Dept. is In Your Boardroom – Bigtime Fortune 12/22/14 – The rise of deferred and non-prosecution agreements has given the Justice Department an outsize role in regulating Corporate America, ccording to preliminarydata compiled by Mason researchers, who studied more than 500 criminal settlements between the Justice Department and public companies between 1984 and 2011. The data, which will be refined and released in a report in early 2015. more Taxpayers Lose Billions on Auto Bailout The Heartland Institute 1/2/15 -- “The sale of the government's stake in Ally Financial—GM's financingarm— marks the end of a piece of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was originally billed as a bank bailout program,” said Mercatus senior research fellow Hester Peirce. “Taxpayer money was put at great risk, and the return on investment that Treasury now trumpets is not adequate to compensate taxpayers for the risk they took.” more 4 Researchers Hunt Deformed Exoplanets RT.com 12/31/14 – A team of researchers says that extremely hot exoplanet orbiting red dwarf star could be bent out of shape and stretched out by the extreme tidal forces, and that such world could be discovered by new telescopes currently in the pipeline. “Imagine takinga planet like the Earth or Mars, placing it near a cool red star and stretching it out. Analyzing the new shape alone will tell us a lot about the otherwise impossible tosee internal structure of the planet and how it changes over time," said Prabal Saxena, Mason astrophysicist. more Drink and the Odds of Injury STATS 1/2/15 – Studies of drink and subsequent injuries often ignore many factors about the subjects. Op-ed by Rebecca Goldin, professor of Mathematical Sciences at Mason. more American Workers’ Creativity Stunted Fairfax News 1/4/15 – “The data show that people are unhappy with the decrease in their ability to be creative in the workplace,” said Matthew Cronin, associate professor ofmanagement at George Mason University. “This is what employers should take away from the results: Letting people be creative is an incentive. more We Need the “Destruction” in Creative Destruction The Week Magazine 12/31/14 – Creative destruction and its once cool cousin "disruption" seem to be on the outs lately. Adam Gurri, Mason economics alum researches on the ethics of business and work. more Feel Young and Live Long Delawareonline.com 12/30/14 – Folks who feel “young at heart” may live longer. Research findings sho optimism can be powerful when it comes to a person’s overall health, said James Maddux, emeritus professor of psychology at Mason. more 5 6 ORED Media Report 12/13-19/14 Feeling Younger May Help You Live Longer Tech Times 12/16/14 – “We do know that anxiety and poor management of stress can put people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, while the link between those emotions and cancer is much weaker," said James Maddux, from George Mason University. "It's not a surprise to me that they found this link for cardiovascular disease but not for cancer." more Astronomers Witness Planets ‘Squished’ by Stars Science Recorder, Discovery News 12/17/14 -- New research shows that rocky exoplanets near red dwarf planets may ... it out,” said lead author Prabal Saxena of George Mason University. (need subscription to read full article). more Why It's Harder For Women To Say 'No' To Extra Work Business Insider 12/17/14 -- Katharine O'Brien, a postdoctoral research associate at the Baylor Schoolof Medicine, and Eden King of George Mason University conducted a series of studies, which concluded that women find it harder than men to decline assignments…more What Your Taxes Really Cost The Daily Signal 12/18/14 – More than you think, according to Jason Fichtner, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. more What Americans Don’t Know About Climate Change Could Hurt‘Em Desmogblog.com, Co.Exist 12/18/14 – “Global warming is already having real health consequences in America today,” said researcher Ed Maibach, PhD, of George Mason University. “Peopleare being harmed by extreme weather events, wildfires, decreased air quality, and illnesses transmitted by food, water, mosquitoes and ticks. Our study found that most Americans don’t yet know that climate change threatens human health. This suggests the need for a public health education campaign.” more Phosphoproteomic Data from I-SPY 2 IDs Potential New Marker of Patient Response to Neratinib Genomeweb 12/17/14 – Researchers associated with the I-SPY 2 trial have identified a number of proteomic and phosphoproteomic markers that can predict the response of breast cancer patients to Puma Biotechnology's tyrosine kinase inhibitor neratinib, according to Emanuel Petricoin, co-director of George Mason University's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine. more Jerry 1 Cornerstone of Regulatory Reform The Hill 12/12/14 – Op-ed coauthored by Jerry Ellig, senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center, says our current regulatory system continues to produce ineffective and expensive rules. more How Charities Get More Out of Donors Wall Street Journal 12/14/14 – Research by Ragan Petrie and Marco Castillo of George Mason foundthat the promise of public recognition through social media works. more Could Christmas Worsen Ebola Spread NBC News 12/19/14 -- "All it takes to set off a new series of cases is one person who is infected with the Ebola virus but not yet sick travelling to another place, falling ill there, and passing the virus on to others," said Kathryn Jacobsen, a professor of global health epidemiology at Mason. more Pro-Biz is Bad Biz for the Middle Class Washington Post 12/17/19 – George Mason University economist Matthew Mitchell writes that gov’t assistance to particular businesses through subsidies, bailouts, tax privileged and incentives is what behind the fact that things are worse for the average American, witha smaller share of people working than at any point since 1978. more ### 2 ORED Media Report, 12/6-12/12/14 We Already Know Torture Doesn’t Work LaGrange Daily News 12/11/14 – “Intense pain is quite likely to produce false confessions…” It delays results, while investigations are conducted, according to Mason professor James P. Pfiffner in his book Examining Torture, co-edited with Dr. Tracy Lightcap. more Manassas Company Developing Ebola Saliva Test Leesburg Today, Patch.com 12/9/14 – Ceres Nanosciences, Inc. began a development program – funded by a $450,000 grant from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – to use “Nanotrap” particle technology to detect the presence of the Ebola virus in saliva. Ceres will work in close collaboration with George Mason University and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. More Saying No to Extra Work Days Tougher for Women Business News Daily 12/10/14 – A study co-authored by Mason Associate Professor Eden King and Rice University Professor Mikki Hebl showed that women finder it harder than men to sayno to extra work, and are judged more harshly for doing so. more Torture Report, Latin America’s Lessons for the U.S. Council on Hemispheric Affairs NACLA 12/10/14 -- Jo-Marie Burt, former editor of NACLA, teaches at George Mason University and is a Senior Fellow at the Office on Latin America (WOLA). She worked for the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission and was an international observer to the Fujimori and Rios Montt trials. more The Preschool Mirage National Review 12/10/14 – The Obama administration announced a $1 billion pre-school initiative. David Armor, Mason professor emeritus of public policy, notes that “the most methodologically rigorous evaluations find that the academic benefits of preschool programs are quite modest.” more Obamacare Creates Federal Contractor Boom St. Louis Post Dispatch 12/8/14 – “It’s going to be really hard to find more money,” said Stephen Fuller, an economist at George Mason University who follows federal spending closely. more Contractors Find Growth in Health Not War Bend Bulletin 12/11/14 – Mason Economist Stephen Fuller, who follows federal spending closely, said, “I would think HHS is in a position to sustain their funding levels and gain some aswell where other agencies are going to find it more difficult just to keep what theyhave.” more 1 Researchers Find Oldest Cancer Case Ancient Origins 12/9/14 – The Baikal-Kokkaido Archaeological Project and research team whichlocated the rare find was comprised of international experts, including Mason biological anthropologist Daniel Temple. More Koch Gift to University of Louisville Raises Fears of Political Influence in Classes WPFL News for Louisville 12/10/14 – Large gifts from Koch to other universities have come under sharp criticism. At George Mason University in Virginia, students are concerned that $23 million in gifts from the Charles Koch Foundation has made the college a “subsidiary of Koch Industries.” more The Vanishing Male Worker: How America Fell Behind NYTimes 12/12/14 – And technology has made unemployment less lonely. Tyler Cowen, an economist at George Mason University, argues that the Internet allows men toentertain themselves and find friends and sexual partners at a much lower cost than did previous generations. more Help Wanted: Women Entrepreneurs in STEM Brookings Institution 12/8/14 – Op Ed by Christine Kymn, professor at Mason’s School of Law. The Cornerstone of Regulatory Reform The Hill 12/12/14 – Op Ed coauthored by Jerry Ellig, senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center. Williams is vice president for policy research with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. more 5 Ways Mason Made 2014 Its Year InTheCapital 12/12/14 – A professor was named chair of President Obama’s task force on policing, students released a comprehensive report on adjunct faculty, law school alumn became the first to serve in Congress, Mason partnered to award scholarships to undocumented students, opened new campuses in Loudoun and Korea, and won an $8 million contract to prepare future military doctors… more Pentagon Can Have Waterever It Wants… Reason.com 12/12/14 – Op Ed by Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at Mercatus. more Inner Workings of Think Tanks The Nonprofit Quarterly 12/12/14 – Mason’s Mercatus Center is among several highly influential conservative think tanks. more 2 Survey Shows UAE Arabs Have Poor Image of Iran The National 12/12/14 – Mark Katz, professor of government and politics at the School of Policy, Government and International Affairs at George Mason University in Washington, DC, said there was a growing sense that Iran was determined to provide armedassistance to its Shia allies. more Finacial Industry Should Be Its Own Knight in Shining Armor American Banker 12/9/14 – Op Ed by Hester Peirce, senior research fellow, Mercatus. The financial industry should have the discipline to self-regulate. more Building Safe Communities Greater Greater Washington 12/8/14 -- Transportation Camp explored the intersection of urban transportation and technology at the Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting at George Mason’s University School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs, at Founders Hall. more NC Newspapers Mostly Silent As ALEC And Koch Brothers Rewrite History Media Matters for America 12/9/14 – North Carolina newspapers have largely missed the connection between a Koch-funded education non-profit organization contracted to help shape new statewide history curriculum materials, and the American Legislative Exchange Council(ALEC), the conservative model legislation mill that wrote the bill mandating the new course work. Even papers that mentioned the Koch brothers influence failed to acknowledge the depth of the connection between the brothers and BRI. The institute's board ofdirectors includes Todd Zywicki, a senior scholar at the Koch-founded Mercatus Center at George Mason University. more Ivy League Professor Donated Mostly to Democrats in2014 The Daily Signal 12/7/14 -- “Once you sort of get a department above 50 percent (in ideology), they’ll tend to keep people out who oppose them,” said Daniel Klein, an economics professor at George Mason University. more 3 ORED Media Report, 11/28/14 – 12/5/14 Lawmakers, Lobbyists Eye Energy Subsidies Daily Signal 12/1/14 – In a lame-duck Congress billions of dollars in federal energy subsidies could be up for grabs says Matt Mitchell, policy analyst at Mercatus. more Academic Elite Want to Impose ‘Wisdom’ LubbockOnline.com 12/1/14 – Walter Williams, professor Economics, wrote my Mason colleague Daniel B. Klein and Charlotta Stern of the Swedish Institute for Social Research, wrote: “The academic social sciences are pretty much a one-party system. Were the Democratictent broad, the one-party system might have intellectual diversity. But the data show almost no diversity of opinion among the Democratic professors…” more Mason Study Says Suburbs Feel Property Tax Pinch Washington Business Journal 12/1/14 – According to a report from Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis. more Obama Taps Mason’s Laurie Robinson for Police Task Force Philly.com, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, In the Capital, Allentown Morning Call and more 12/2/14 – Robinson, professor of Criminology is a former assistant attorneygeneral from the Justice Department. more more more George Shultz Goes Solar – Sign of Thawing Climate Debate Bloomberg.com 12/2/14 – Two in three Americans now believe global warming is real, according to an October survey of 1,275 people by Yale and George Mason universities. That’s up from 57 percent in January 2010. more Bully-Free Zone, Universities Approve Anti-bullying Policies Inside Higher Education 12/2/14 -- Jaime Lester, associate professor higher education at Mason and editorof Workplace Bullying in Higher Education, said there have been few comprehensive studies of bullying in higher education… more Hottest Year Ever Adds Urgency to Climate Movement Business Week 12/2/14 – Two in three Americans now believe global warming is real, according to an October survey of 1,275 people by Yale and George Mason universities. more Parents Play Vital Role in Molding Future Scientists Phys Org, Tech Times 12/2/14 – Mason Research shows that parents and family make all the difference in creating the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians, accordingto 1 Lance Liotta, a study author and co-director of Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine. more Lagging Property Values Will Drive Gov’t Choices The Washington Post 12/2/14 – Only four cities or counties in the Washington region have fully rebuilt their property tax bases since the 2008 recession, says a study from Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis. more The Kochtopus Spreads its Tentacles To Strangle Climate Science Desmogblog.com 12/3/14 – Fred Singer, Mason distinguished research professor at the Instituteof Humane Studies, is an influential denier of climate change. more Federal Spending for Maryland Falls $1.2 Billion Baltimore Sun 12/3/14 – This is according to the Pew Charitable Trust, which did a study since the Census Bureau discontinued this reporting after 2010. The report's demise created a blind spot that hampers economic analysis. The loss of accounting for all types offederal spending is a major blow to research, said Stephen Fuller, director of Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis. more Ceres Nanoscience Inc. to Develop New Method to Detect Ebola in Saliva News Medical 12/3/14 – Funded by the Gates Foundation, Ceres' Nanotrap® particle technology will be used to detect Ebola in saliva. During the four-month performance of this program, Ceres will work in close collaboration with George Mason University and the United States Army Medical Research Institutes of Infectious Diseases. Nanotrap was invented at Mason under funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). more Hot Air From Lima Climate Conference National Review 12/5/14 – Op ed by Patrick J. Michaels, senior fellow in research and economic development at Mason. more Commericial Real Estate Decline Pressure County Budget FairfaxTimes.com 12/5/14 – The local office market has been hard hit by defense spending cuts. David Versel, senior research associate Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis wrote this increases the burden for residential property owners and makes it difficult for local governments to maintain public facilities and services. more 2 Scientists find 4,500-Year-Old Siberian Skeleton – World’s Oldest Case of Cancer? The Mail Online 12/5/14 – Daniel Temple from George Mason University was part of the team that discovered that the cancer had riddled the ancient man’s bones with from head to hip, including his upper arms and upper legs, and virtually all points between. more Internet Sales Tax Likely Victim of Lame Duck Congress Human Events 12/5/14 – While mayors worry about lost revenue Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy of Mason’s Mercatus Center insists that the rise of e-commerce benefits the American economy. more Fauquier Real Estate Value Down 17% Fauquier Now 12/3/14 – Reports a study by David E. Versel, senior research associate with Mason’s Center for Regional Analysis. more India’s Role in Asia’s Nuclear Order The Diplomat 12/4/14 -- The New York-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) published a new report, Strategic Stability in the Second Nuclear Age, by Gregory Koblentz, aprofessor at George Mason University. Koblentz calls on the Obama administration to “discourage India from pursuing missile defense capabilities.” more Silicon Valley Discovers Lobbying Network World 12/3/14 – Adam Thierer, a senior research fellow at Mercatus: “They have madethe calculation that either we invest in lobbying or our competitors crush us.” more Ceres Nanoscience Inc. Announced Development of Ebola Test as Cases Top 17,000 CIDRAP, PHYS ORG and others 12/3/14 – A $430,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting the project, and Ceres is collaborating with George Mason University and the US Army Medical Research Institutes of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). more Earth Too Hot For It’s Own Good The Hill 12/3/14 – The Woodrow Wilson Center will host a talk on building resilience to climate change. Experts in biology, family planning and anthropology from the London School of Economics, George Mason University and more. more Global Warming, Reality and Denial PennLive.com 12/1/14 – A Mason/Yale survey shows most Americans get it. Dimissives/deniers are "more likely to be male and white than the national average." more ### 3 ORED Media Report 11/15-11/26 Obamacare Economist is the Problem Amarillo.com 11/25/14 – Op-ed by Walter Williams, Mason Economics professor, touches on the notion that universities are more devoted to inducing “correct” opinion than learning. Williams writes, “A study by my George Mason University colleague Daniel B. Klein, along with Charlotta Stern of the Swedish Institute for Social Research, titled“Professors and Their Politics: The Policy Views of Social Scientists” concluded: “The academic social sciences are pretty much a one-party system. more Government Green Appliance Subsidy Half-Baked, Says Study Heartland.org 11/26/14 – Academic research examining the outcomes of a green subsidy program contained within the larger American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has found that the program largely failed to achieve its stated goals. “Cash for Appliances” or C4A’s failure to achieve its stated goals was predictable, according to Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at Mercatus. “It’s assumed that, when someone switches appliances and reduces his energy bill, the law of economics is suspended. They aren’t,” she explained. “When the price of energy goes down, people tend to increase their consumption, hence no or little energy savings. more Intelligent Vehicles Could Save Lives Orange County Register 11/25/14 – The National Safety Council, reports some 418 Americans may losetheir lives on the roads this Thanksgiving, in addition to over 44,000 injuries from car crashes. The subject is discussed in an op-ed by Adam Thierer, senior research fellow with the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center. more Washington Area Seeks to Break Free from Federal Spending Washington Post 11/25/14 -- Washington area’s reliance on federal spending has become a major headache for state and local governments, with congressionally mandated program cuts leaving gaping holes in revenue projections from Annapolis to Richmond. George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis estimates that the federal government spent $13.4 billion less in the Washington area in 2013 than in 2010. more Media Fanning the Flames in Feguson? Fox 29 11/25/14 – Many wonder if violence will once again break out in the community and whether media coverage will make that violence worse. In a poll by the Remington Research Group, 73 percent of those surveyed said the media made things worse, and 18 percent said it made things better and the remainder had no opinion. Assistant Dean of George Mason University Law School Rich Kelsey said the concern should be whether the story the media told was the accurate one. more 1 When Thankfulness Can Hurt U.S. News & World Report 11/25/14 – Todd Kashdan, a psychology professor at George Mason University says gratitude is generally good and encourages kindness, but But the emotion can be problematic when it feels more like a debt to be paid than an opportunity to say "thank you." That's often the case among men, who aremore critical of gratitude than women, Kashdan's research has shown. “Men tend to often feel that if someone does something beneficial toward them, now they’re in debt such that they think about their relationships like a bank account.” more Why Americans Don’t Save Reason.com 11/25/14 -- One-third of Americans have nothing saved for retirement. Column by Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at Mercatus. more Elite Contempt for Ordinary Americans Monrone News Star 11/25/14 – A study by George Mason’s Daniel B. Klein, along with Charlotta Stern of the Swedish Institute for Social Research, titled "Professors and Their Politics: The Policy Views of Social Scientists" concluded: "The academic social sciences are pretty much a one-party system. Were the Democratic tent broad, the one-party systemmight have intellectual diversity. But the data show almost no diversity of opinion among the Democratic professors. more Pakistan – Fastest Growing Nuclear Program International Business Times/Reuters 11/25/14 – Although the U.S. and Russia still possess over 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, Pakistan has slowly built-up a stockpile that should it decides to weaponised it, the country could produce as many as 200 nuclear devices by the year 2020. "The United States has more to lose from a breakdown in strategic stabilitythan any other country," wrote Gragory D. Koblentz, an associate professor of the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs, and deputy director of the Biodefense Graduate Program from George Mason University. Report Urges DC to Expand Global Reach Washington Post 11/24/14 – Washington may be home to embassies and diplomats from countries the world over, but when it comes to business, the region is failing to realize its potential on the international stage. That’s the premise of a report released this month by George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis, which criticizes the region’s economic reliance on the federal government and suggests ways it can become abigger player in the global marketplace. more Algorithm Speeds Lidar Assessment of Landslide Risk Photonics.com 11/24/14 – Computer algorithms could turn lidar surveying systems into powerful tools for assessing landslides and keeping people out of their path. Created by researchers at Oregon State University and George Mason University, the Contour Connection 2 Method (CCM) is based on lidar data. Developers say it can analyze and classify landslide risk in an area of 50 or more square miles in about 30 minutes, a task that would otherwise take an expert several weeks to months to complete. more Fitzpatrick’s Pipeline Arguments Don’t Hold Up The Intelligencer (PA) Buckcountycouriertimes.com Itsforhome.com (blog) C-span.org 11/24/14 – His misguided reasoning that it will create, as he stated, “thousands offamilysustaining jobs” is false. Study after study has shown this is simply not true. Forexample, according to a George Mason University study, Keystone may create about 2,500 temporary jobs during construction; permanent jobs are estimated around 40. more What’s In A Label – Not Much If It Says ‘All Natural’ PRI 11/21/14 – “The problem with ‘natural’ is that it’s not a science issue,” says Richard Williams, a former FDA director for social sciences at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “It’s definitely a marketing statement.” Williams, the current vice president for policy research at Mason’s Mercatus Center, says "the law is prettyclear about what has to be on the food label. Congress passes the laws, and the FDA passes regulations that require information to be on the food label. In general, the information that they require is based on science.” more Buget Rules May ‘Encourage” Agencies Year-End Shopping Heartland.org 11/17/14 – Scholars from the Mercatus Center at George Mason Universitysearched through numerous public spending databases for evidence of wasteful “use it or lose” spending by government agencies. more Ad Networks Digital Paradise for Cyber-Criminals Eweek.com 11/15/14 – A study of the ZeroAccess botnet and its ability to use fraudulent advertising clicks to generate revenue demonstrates that online ad networks have insufficient countermeasures to combat the cyber-criminals. In the paper presented at the 21st ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Scottsdale, Ariz., Nov. 3-7, Paxson and other researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, Microsoft, George Mason University and others released details of their study, conducted with data from a cooperating advertising network. more National Math Study Montana.edu 3 11/17/14 – Funded by a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the three-year project will examine how intensive training can affect teachers’ use of mathematical modeling in the classroom. The practice can have far-reaching effectson how students perceive and use mathematics, according to project leaders at MSU, George Mason University, and Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif. more Flipping the Classroom Paradigm NCAR/UCAR Atmos News 11/17/14 – The urge to transform higher education through online technology is making its way into atmospheric science. “The results from the K-12 world have been very encouraging,” says Ross-Lazarov. A report produced by Pearson, George Mason University, and the Flipped Learning Network includes several case studies hinting at increased engagement and higher test scores. more Even Piecemeal Immigration Reform Could Boost the U.S. Economy Brookings.edu 11/20/14 – In other words, population growth matters. George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen wrote that the “relatively neglected field” of population economics could hold answers to the period of slow growth facing much of the developed world. For Cowen, one solution is obvious: absorb more immigrants. more Pakistan to Have 200 Nuclear Weapons by 2020 Economic Times 11/23/14 – Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear weapons program in the world. The report 'Strategic Stability in the Second Nuclear Age', authored by George Mason University's Gregory Koblentz, has identified South Asia as the region "most at risk of a breakdown in strategic stability due to an explosive mixture of unresolvedterritorial disputes, cross-border terrorism, and growing nuclear arsenals." more Hellman’s Sues to Protect Mayo-Monopoly Reason.com 11/22/14 – Must mayo contain eggs as FDA regulations require? The issue is examined in a column by Baylen J. Linnekin, executive director of Keep Food Legal Foundation and an adjunct professor at George Mason University Law School, where he teaches Food Law & Policy. more Back to the Future – ASC’s New Division of Policing Oxford University Press Blog 11/15/14 – As Anthony Braga, Cynthia Lum (Criminology George Mason), and Edward Davis described in a recent article in The Police Chief, a major goal of the Division is to build strong partnerships between police and researchers that will ideally increase the number of completed research studies and improve translation of research findings into police practice. more Contentiousness of Net Neutrality Leads to Spirited Tech Debate The Daily Texan 4 11/19/14 – “Vertical integration of new features and services by broadband operators is an essential part of the innovation strategy companies will need to use to compete and offer customers the services they demand,” said Adam Theierer, a senior research fellow at George Mason University, in a 2004 article he wrote entitled “NetNeutrality: Digital Discrimination or Regulatory Gamesmanship in Cyberspace?” more UK – World’s 4th Most Entrepreneurial Economy Eurasia Review (& 14 other publications) 11/19/14 – The UK has become Europe’s most entrepreneurial economy and has climbed five places to fourth globally, according to the 2015 edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) released today.The study was carried out by researchers from Imperial College Business School in association with collaborators at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), University of Pécs and George Mason University. more Computer Science Puts Art Analysis on Fast Track Standard Examiner 11/16/14 – The field is growing. The Getty Foundation in Los Angeles provides grantsto researchers in digital art history; George Mason University’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, one of the recipients, received $155,000. more 5 ORED Media Report, 11/8 - 11/14 How Food Fared at the Voting Booth Reason 11/8/14 – Food policy was on the ballot around the country, and there were some victories for food freedom, according to Baylen J. Linnekin, adjunct professorat Mason Law School. more Shame in Today’s Society – What it Means and Why Medical Daily 11/9/14 – June Tangney, author of Shame in the Therapy Hour and professor of psychology at Mason told Medical Daily that when a person feels guilty, they say, "Idid a bad thing." When they feel shame, they say, "I am a bad person for having done that." more Best Immigration Policy is More Immigration Bloomberg View 11/10/14 – Quoting an op-ed from Tyler Cowen of the Mercatus Center. more End of “Too Big to Fail” CBS News 11/11/14 – Financial regulators say proposed industry rule will prevent 2008 style banking panics. "The call for higher capital requirements is an attempt to make bank investors more responsible for the risks banks take," said Seth Miller, a seniorresearch fellow at the Mercatus Institute. He said that the FSB rules would place morepressure on bank stockholders and bondholders to prevent risky lending activities. In Miller's view, that's preferable to counting on the federal government. more Defining “Natural” is a Waste of FDA Resources New York Times 11/11/14 – The Food and Drug Administration would have to spend a few years and thousands of human hours defining “natural” when it comes to food. And since most of what people want to avoid by eating "natural" food has no basis in science, the F.D.A. should not get involved, wrote Richard Williams of the Mercatus Center. more Can an Algorithm Tell Us Who Influenced an Artist? Washington Post 11/11/14 – Rutgers scientists are training a computer to instantly do what would takeart historians years as part of a broad effort to apply computer science to the humanities. This is a growing field. The Getty Foundation in Los Angeles provides grants to researchers in digital art history; George Mason University’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, one of the recipients, received $155,000. more 1 Universal Pre-K, Overhyped or Silver Bullet? DesertNews.com 11/12/14 – The latest spark in this debate comes from David Armor, an emeritus professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, who just published a policy analysis with the libertarian Cato Institute challenging the research behind the pre-K consensus. more Obama Must Deliver at Climate Fundraiser in Berlin Responding to Climate Change.org 11/12/14 – Gwynne Taraska, senior policy advisor at the Center for American Progress and the research director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University, wrote: After this week’s historic climate change pact with China, the Obama administration willhave another post-midterm election opportunity to demonstrate to the world its determination to continue leading in the fight against climate change. more Companies Criticized for Paying to Freeze Workers’Eggs Arkansas Catholic 11/12/14 – Helen Alvare, a professor at George Mason University School of Law, and a formerprolife spokeswoman for the U.S. bishops’ conference, said she sees the tech companies’ announcement as “a gimmick, an image strategy on their part” at the expense of women and children. more Obama’s Ebola Response Political not Responsible Roanoke.com 11/13/14 – writes Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center. more Regulators Curb Financial Risks at U.S. Servicers Bloomberg 11/13/14 – “If a nonbank servicer fails, of course it’s going to be a headache, but that doesn’t mean we need to start regulating them as if that failure is going to bring downthe economy,” said Hester Peirce, who was an attorney for the Senate Banking Committee and the Securities and Exchange Commission before becoming a research fellow at George Mason University. “Regulators bring with them their own limitations, andwhen they begin micro-managing an industry, it can make things worse.” more Challenger Banks Will Feel Challenged Financial Times 11/14/14 – The diversity of banks in the US, where this columnist temporarily resides, is cited as a target to aim for. But here, a Big Five has increased its share of banking assets from 30 per cent in 2000 to 47 per cent at the end of 2013, according to George Mason University. Scale advantages count. More Net Neutrality and the Future of the Internet Heartland.Org 11/14/14 – The Mercatus Center, a research and outreach organization that promotes market-oriented solutions from George Mason University, did a presentation on net neutrality. The speaker, research fellow in the technology policy program Brent Skorup, gave a wide overview. more 2 ORED Media Report, 11/7/14 Pressuring Employess to Perform is Sure to Backfire Inc. Com 11/7/14 – New research finds the global work force is more stressed out than everbefore, leading to decreased retention rates, disengagement, and poor productivity. But creating social mores and policies that produce positive emotions and positive work environments helps. Wharton management professor Sigal Barsade and George Mason University assistant professor Mandy O'Neill say that employees perform better in cultures of "compassionate love" than in cultures of stress and pressure. more Sense of Purpose May Extend Your Life Philly.com 11/7/14 – James Maddux, university professor emeritus of psychology at Mason University in Fairfax, Va., said such study findings make sense. “…people with a sense of purpose want to be around for a long time, and in good shape. They take care of their health…” more America’s Secret Double Government Center for Research on Globalization 11/7/14 – In 2009 Janine Wedel, an anthropology professor at George Mason University, published Shadow Elite. more Will Tuition Ever Stop Increasing Fox Business 11/6/14 – Don’t hold your breath according to a study by the Pew Center for Research. One of the problems is that the availability of student loans allowed colleges to continue to increase tuition without seeing a decrease in demand, according to Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. more Apostles of Growth The Nation 11/6/14 – As the Great Recession unfolded, soul-searching among economists over their discipline’s failures was widespread. Predicting an end to growth has become something of a cottage industry among economists. Tyler Cowen of George Mason University advanced the case in 2011 with his book The Great Stagnation, and his prognostication won further support from his colleague Robert Gordon’s work heralding, in the title of one recent paper, “The Demise of U.S. Economic Growth.” more What’s the link between Intelligence and Confidence World Economic Forum 11/6/14 – Apparently scientific research confirms the poet Yeat’s assertion “The best lack all conviction and the worst are full of passionate intensity,” showing that the ignorant over estimate their knowledge and performance. For this reason that Ed Maibach and colleagues, from the Centre for Climate ChangeCommunication have recently called on climate scientists to set the record straight and inform the public that there is a scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is happening. more Honored at Mason Virginia Connection Newspapers 11/5/14 – McLean resident and former Rector of George Maso C. Daniel Clemente receives Mason Medal. He initiated a standing committee on the Mason Board for funded research endeavors. more Midterms: Economic Measures Won’t Escape Gridlock International Business Times 11/5/14 – Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow of the U.S. economy andfederal budget at George Mason University's libertarian-minded Mercatus ... more Berkeley Breaks Through on Soda Tax Politico 11/5/14 – Berkeley did what more than two dozen other cities and states tried and failed to do in recent years: put in place a punitive tax on sugar-sweetened beveragesdesigned to reduce consumption and raise revenue. Baylen Linnekin, executive director of the Keep Food Legal Foundation and an adjunct professor at Mason Law School, doubts that a sin tax will do much to improve health outcomes. more Study Aims to Shorten Election Day MIT News 11/4/14 – MIT project includes researchers at Mason and other colleges across the country. more Students want Koch, Corporate Influence Off Campus Inside Higher Ed, Chronicle of Philanthropy 11/4/14 – more Virginia’s Incentive Money Drying Up Daily Press 11/4/14 – Matthew Mitchell, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center said incentive grants are problematic because they give the most well-connected companiesan unfair advantage. The deals also tend to favor companies "most likely to pull up stakes and leave," he said. more Post Election 2014 – Easing Research Regulation Sciencemag.org/Science Insider 11/3/14 – Universities want to ease what they say is an increasingly heavy, andcostly, federal regulatory burden on academic research. They want the government to follow their accounting methods. Three years ago, the Federal Demonstration Partnership—an alliance of nine federal agencies and more than 120 research institutions that works to minimize paperwork and administrative costs—took up the idea. The result was the experiment launched at Michigan Tech and three other campuses: George Mason University, and the Irvine and Riverside campuses of the University of California(UC). more Guilt Versus Shame: One Works, One Doesn’t Wall Street Journal 11/3/14 – A study of criminals, published in the journal Psychological Science in March 2014, found those who felt guilty were less likely to break the law again than thosewho felt no guilt. “Guilt is a useful emotion, It pushes people to repair the harm they did,” says June P. Tangney, lead author of the study and a professor of psychology at Mason. “But feelings of shame about oneself seem to motivate people more to want to hide, escape, deny or a lot of times to blame other people.” more Coffee: Good or Bad for You Bring Me the News 10/23/14 – More than half of all U.S. adults drink coffee; it’s the most widely used drug in the world. Experts have plenty of pro and con research and folk wisdom, but Coffee appears to protect the growing number of Americans who have Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. “No one really knows how caffeine works on [fatty liver disease],” Mason researcher Zobair Younossi told Mason Research magazine. There might be a component in caffeine that reduces liver inflammation, he said, or maybe caffeine has an antioxidant effect. more ORED Media Report, Oct. 10-23, 2014 Oct 23, 2014 Head of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Resigns to Teach atGW In The Capital Formerly a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and locally at GeorgeMason University, Macfarlane says she's ready to return to her ... Urban Land Institute Brings Its Fresh Ideas to City's New Land Falls Church News Press Their team was composed of Bob Wulff, chair of the center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship at George Mason University… Oct 22, 2014 The 25 Best College Professors In America Business Insider Christopher Atwater George Mason University Top Professor Alexis Glenn/George Mason Universit, George Mason University management professor ... George Mason's Christopher Atwater Is One of the Most Popular Professors in the Nation - In The Capital Most US universities continue partnerships with Confucius Institute CCTV-America Gao Qing, the director of the Confucius Institute at George Mason University, said their university continuesto welcome the institute. Two U.S. educational institutions, the University of Chicago and Penn State University recently ended their partnerships with the Confucius Institute program. The decision to cut ties comes after the American Association of University Professors said in June that universities “have sacrificed the integrity of the university and its academic staff” by allowing the Chinese government to supervise curriculum and staff at the Institutes. 'Overworked, underpaid, andundersupported' ScienceCareers.org Now a 66-page report by three sociology graduate students at George Mason University (GMU) in Fairfax, Virginia, shows in copious detail how ... Oct 20, 2014 Get Schooled 10/19: Education News You Missed Out On ThisWeek In The Capital A group of George Mason University students conducted a study on adjunct faculty that may be the "most comprehensive study of one institution's .. Oct 19, 2014 Women's Soccer Hosts Game One Of DoubleheaderSaturday Campus Insiders Loyola is looking for its first win against Boston University. ... Wahlig guided the defense to a 2-0 shutout victory over George Mason, proving to be a ... 2014 Oct 17, 2014 Operation Protective Edge: Legal and Political Implications of ICC Prosecution (George Mason ... Jadaliyya George Mason University's Middle East Studies Program, Global Programs, New Century College (NCC) and the Trans-Arab Research Institute ... Global tragedy, local passivity N.C. State University Technician Online Robin Hanson, an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, said “since we are moreidealistic in far mode, our ideals favor and ... Oct 16, 2014 Marylanders want more solar, wind power Baltimore Sun (blog) The survey by George Mason University comes as environmental activists prepare to launch a campaign to press Maryland lawmakers to double the ... Altamira Technologies Corporation Expands in Cyber Operations Domain Rock Hill Herald (press release) nd ... the northeast participated in Altamira's 2 annual Cyber Capture the Flag Hackathon at George Mason University's Nguyen Engineering building. Navy, Marine Corps Students to Join 'Enlisted-to-Medical-Degree Preparatory Program' Newswise (press release) Candidates attend school full-time at George Mason University-Prince William (GMU-PW) campus in Manassas, Va., to prepare them to apply to ... Oct 15, 2014 Health care cartels limit Americans' options: Column USA TODAY A new study from George Mason University's Mercatus Center finds that the laws restrict access to healthcare while slowing the adoption of new . Top Colorado University Cutting Student Work Hours Due To Obamacare Washington Free Beacon A study released October 7 by George Mason University called the Obamacare-imposed limit “an explicit tax onfulltime work” and “implicit tax that .. Oct 12, 2014 George Mason is Now Represented in Congress In The Capital A George Mason University law school graduate is the first alumnus to serve in Congress. David Jolly, JD '01, won representation of Florida's 13th ... ArtistShare Founder and CEO Speaks at George Mason UniversityIntellectual Property Conference PR.com (press release) New York, NY, October 11, 2014 --(PR.com)-- George Mason University's Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) Conference, ... Oct 11, 2014 Two George Mason Students Create Magnetic Phone Case For Athletes[Video] In The Capital I may have found my match now, though, thanks to a new smartphone accessory out of George Mason University live on Kickstarter. Going by the... Oct 10, 2014 Survey of Adjuncts at George Mason U. Finds Big Gaps in Training and Pay Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) (blog) Authors: Marisa Allison, Victoria Hoverman, and Randy Lynn, all of whom are doctoral students in sociology at George Mason University and have .. Bite of Science at George Mason University to Strengthen Science Teaching PR.com (press release) This Bite of Science session is kindly hosted by George Mason University College of Science, located at 4400 University Drive in Fairfax, Virginia in ... ORED Media Report 10.10.14 Shift in Alexandria Job Market Connection 10/3/14 – Research from the Center for Regional Analysis at Mason theorizes that thenumber of lower wage health care industry jobs in the D.C. area will eventually outweigh hiring bythe federal government. more Americans Want to Boot California From the Union Reason.com 10/3/14 – According to the Mercatus Center’s Freedom in the 50 states, an analysis that ranks states by the policies that shape economic and personal freedom, California ranks at 49 inoverall freedom. more American TV Cameraman Infected with Ebola Transported to Nebraska CCTV 10/5/14 – Kathryn Jacobsen, a global and community health professor at Mason whohas conducted research in Sierra Leone, is interviewed on the Ebola epidemic. more Mason Professors Win Virginia Center of Aging Grant Connection 10/5/14 – Grants from the Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund were awarded to Joseph Pancrazio, chair of the Department of Bioengineering, and Robin Couch, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, to further their studies on ways to defeat or slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. more Cheers to Big Food Savannah Morning News, Appeal-Democrat, TwinCities 10/6/14 – Richard Williams, vice president for policy research with the MercatusCenter, writes on the food industry’s recent accomplishments of helping decrease caloric intake. more Louisiana’s Estuaries Boast Shrimp Abundance After Oil Spill Fish Info & Services, Energy Voice, Daily Comet 10/6/14 – Joris L. van der Ham and Kim de Mutsert, professors with Mason’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy, found that after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, white and brown shrimp species have become more abundant in Louisiana’s coastal estuaries. more AppVet speeds Mobile Devices, Apps to the Battlefield GCN 10/7/14 – The National Institute of Standards and Technology collaborated with Mason on the project AppVet, a framework that speeds the testing workflow with a user friendly interface for submitting apps, assessing risk, and accessing reports. more Some Ebola Experts Worry Virus May Spread More Easily Than Assumed Norwalk Reflector, The Dominion Post 10/7/14 – Charles Bailey, director of National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases at Mason, questions the assertion that Ebola cannot be transmitted through the air. After studying the Ebola strain found in monkeys, he found that “those monkeys were dying in a pattern that was certainly suggestive of coughing and sneezing – some sort of aerosol movement.” more The U.S. Leads the World in Nobel Laureates Mic 10/8/14 – A study by researchers at Mason found that foreign-born scientists areoverrepresented among American Laureates. more Survey Finds Big Gaps in Training and Pay The Chronicle of Higher Education 10/9/14 – Marisa Allison, Victoria Hoverman and Randy Lynn, three doctoral studentsat Mason, conducted a survey of Mason’s contingent faculty members. more Congress Shouldn’t Renew Export-Import Bank’s Charter The Bellingham Herald 10/9/14 – Boeing is the most vocal proponent of Export-Import Bank reauthorization becauseit is the largest beneficiary of the export subsidies. Veronique de Rugy, a senior researchfellow at the Mercatus Center, found that sixty five percent of all Ex-Im Bank loanguarantees financed Boeing exports. more ORED Media Report 9.19.14 U.S. Health System Among Least Efficient Before Obamacare Bloomberg 9/17/14 – The U.S. health-•-care system was among the least efficient in the developed world two years before major changes from Obamacare began to go into effect. But Singapore was among the highest ranked in a Bloomberg study. The country ranked highly because Singaporeans take on “significant cost sharing,” said Len Nichols, director of the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics at Mason. m o re Alibaba Post-IPO Structure Gives Insiders Control Top Tech News 9/19/14 – Research suggests such arrangements enrich insiders at the expense of shareholders. In a 2009 study, Fei Xie of George Mason University found dual--•class companies tend to pay CEOs and manager more and deliver less value to shareholders. more State Benefits – Help or Harm? TheGardenIsland.com 9/19/19 – Mercatus Center Research questions the concept. Take, for example, Wal-•-M art which is one company particularly mentioned in the study. The study states that it has received at least 260 special benefits in the United States worth over $1.2 billion in total. Those subsidies help Wal--•M art, but hurt its competitors. more Hong Kong and China – One Country, Two Histories The Diplomat 9/19/14 – Two histories that don’t sit comfortably are taught in Hong Kong schools. One central way in which the education system can shape the way we view our society is through the studyof our shared history. Karina Korostelina, an expert in political psychology at George Mason argues “teaching about history develops the meanings of current situations and affairs, and playsa major role in the formation of the concepts of the society.” more Home Cooked Dinner – Not All That Washington Post 9/19/14 – Despite nostalgia researchers find that family dinners are often “anxiety meals”after interviewing 150 low-•- income and middle class mothers or grandmothers and closely observing 12 working class families in a research project for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Todd Kashdan, a Mason psychologist who studies happiness, social anxiety and character strengths, said what children really need in order to grow is unconditional love, a secure base, a safe haven and time to play on their own. m ore Social Art ~ Collaborating with Communities via George Mason University Bucks County Courier Times 9/19/14 – The Floating Lab Collective, was started by a group of artists in 2007 in partnership with Provisions Library, an arts and social change research and development centerat Mason. Their art responds to specific places, communities, issues and circumstances. FLC artists move across visual art, performance, new media, and publications to engage and integrate such social topics as housing, the environment, migration, labor and urban mobility. To date, over 50 groundbreaking community projects have been produced in the Baltimore-Washing-ton, New York, Mexico City, Detroit Louisville Medellin (Colombia) and Port of Spain (Trinidad). more The Debt Deniers who Threaten America’s Future The Hill 9/12/14 – Richard Williams, vice president for policy research with the Mercatus Center, writes on the serious problem of government debt. more Tea Party Targets an Agency that Actually Reduces the Deficit Forbes 9/12/14 – Tea Party conservatives want to shut down the Export-Import Bank because they sayit disproportionately benefits big corporations. Research from the Mercatus Center found that 76 percent of Ex-Im’s financial assistance in fiscal 2013 went to big corporations like GE, Bechtel and Boeing. more Why the Economic Gender Gap Will Eventually Close The Upshot 9/13/2014 – Tyler Cowen, economics professor at Mason, writes on the narrowing ofthe gender gap between men and women. more Researchers Dub CFPB Consumer Complaint Database Unlawful Reverse Mortgage Daily 9/14/14 – Researchers from the Financial Markets Working Group at the Mercatus Center are questioning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed consumer complaint narrative database. In a letter to CFPB’s Office of the Executive Secretary Monica Jackson, senior research fellow Hester Price and research assistant Vera Soliman,describe why the initiative is inappropriate. more State Leaders Should Reject LEED Certification Oregonlive 9/14/14 – The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design’s (LEED) standards in a construction project will only accept timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council; this drives up a LEED building’s cost. EconSTATS, a Mason research organization, estimatesthat the cost of forcing state landowners to manage their land in accord with the Forest Stewardship Council standards can cost up to 31,000 jobs. more Why You Should Let Your Employees Eat Chocolate Ozy 9/15/14 – Mason researchers found that the level of “companionate” happiness at work boosts productivity. more Maryland Faces Worse Climate-Driven Flooding The Baltimore Sun, WBOC 16 9/15/14 – Rising sea level will increase storms in Maryland. A survey done by Mason researchers found that many people in Maryland are unsure if sea-level rise is happening, butdo understand that extreme temperatures and more severe storms are likely the result of climate change. more UA School of Social Work Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month UA News 9/16/14 – National experts on social work will visit the University of Alabama’s School of Social Work. On October 13 Miriam Raskin, Mason professor of social work, will discuss “Contemporary Issues in Field Education.” more Media, Activism and the New Political: Istanbul Conversations Jadaliyya 9/16/14 – A roundtable discussion on media, activism, and left politics within and across the Middle East through East Asia brought together scholars from a range of disciplines, including Bassam Haddad, Mason professor of Middle East studies. more Need Stressed to Strengthen Research Pakistan Observer 9/16/14 – Mahtab Karim, Mason research professor of the School of Public Policy,remarks on the importance of actively using research findings. more Prosthetics Meet 3D Printers Today’s Medical Developments 9/16/14 – Thought leaders in medicine, industry and public policy will meet on September 28 at Johns Hopkins Hospital for a conference on inexpensive 3D-printed prosthetics. Robert Graboyes, Adam Thierer, and Richard Williams, policy analysts from the Mercatus Center, will speak on the role that innovation such as 3D printing plays in deliveringaffordable healthcare. more What Will It Take to Create Climate Justice Truthout 9/16/14 – The climate movement has high levels of public support for taking action on climate change. A Mason and Yale study found Americans were twice as likely to support a candidate who strongly supports action to reduce global warming. Yet, the climate change movement is unable to move the economic system to respond to the climate crisis. more Paul Krugman is Wrong Today Town Hall 9/16/14 – In a recent study, researchers from the Center for Climate Change Communication at Mason surveyed over one thousand Americans to find out whateffect offensive online comments have on the public understanding of science. more Patients Have Limited Access to Imaging Diagnostic Imaging 9/17/14 – Researchers from numerous universities, including Mason, undertook a studyto identify the availability and range of imaging services at critical access hospitals in the United States. more Recession-proof? Not this Town Washington Post 9/18/14 – While other cities are climbing back from the recession, Washington D.C. is slipping backwards. Stephen Fuller, a specialist in the local economy at Mason’s Center forRegional Analysis, comments on D.C.’s current economic state. more Greater Washington Economy Contracts More Than Expected in 2013 Washington Business Journal 9/18/14 – The Washington economy performed worse in 2013 than it did during the recession. “It’s the confluence of declines in federal spending in contracting and wages that has ripped through the private sector,” said Jeannette Chapman, a Center for Regional Analysis research associate. more Vote to Reauthorize Ex-Im Bank Go Erie 9/18/14 – The Export-Import Bank has direct effect on employment in many areas. “Lobbyists try to conceal the facts, but there is no hiding the truth: The business of Ex-Im Bank is big business,” wrote Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center.more ORED Media Report 9.12.14 Rights Group Accuses Israel of War Crimes in Gaza Al Jazeera America 9/11/14 – Human Rights Watch report comes a day after Israeli ministry announced its own criminal probe. Noura Erakat, assistant professor at George Mason University and a human rights expert, told Al Jazeera that by deciding to investigate itself, "Israel is seeking todiminish international scrutiny" of its most recent assault on the Gaza Strip. more Craigslist Scammers Mainly Traced to Nigerian Gangs Inforsecurity Magazine 9/12/14 – George Mason University researchers Damon McCoy and Jackie Jones compiled the report, titled The Check is in the Mail: Monetization of Craigslist Buyer Scams, to be presented at the APWG Symposium on Electronic Crime Research in Birmingham, Alabama later this month. more Stop Pretending Liberals Are as Anti-Science as Conservatives Grist 9/12/14 – According to recent data from the Yale and George Mason projects on climate change communication, for instance, 75 percent of liberal Democrats, but only 22 percent of conservative Republicans, accept the reality that humans are causing climate change. more Koch Foundation – Millions for Libertarian Ideology The Daily Beast 9/12/14 – The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C. says Koch money comes with strings and profs and students are aghast. Mason leads the pack of recipients for economic research followed by Florida State. more Mason Addiction Expert to Speak at UB UB Reporter 9/11/14 – National experts on addiction and treatment will visit the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions beginning Sept. 17th when Faye S. Taxman, Mason professor of criminology, will discuss “researching How Justice-Involved People Change: An Agendato Understand Programming, Sequencing and Timing Effects.” more Record Donations to Area Colleges Washington Post 9/12/14 – It was a good year for college development. George Mason was not at the top of the list but this donation was noted in the article. “George Mason University (public): $15.49 million, the valuation of land donated by the Van Metre Companies. Announced December 2009.” more Recession Ripple Persists in Real Estate Virginia Connection Newspapers 9/11/14 -- “There’s no question the primary economic driver of this region has always been Uncle Sam,” said David Versal, senior research associate at the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis. “That said, we’re not Detroit.” He said that to members of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors at their economic summit held in the Mason Inn a year ago.This year those remarks haunted the whole room. “In 2013, job growth ground to a halt,” he said at the event last Thursday. “July [2013] to July [2014], net was about 20,000 jobs in our region. Who do we come closest to?”The stunned conference hall full of Realtors, seeing his slide, answered in unison: “Detroit.” more Immigrants Hold Key Jobs in U.S. Pharmaceutical Sector India West 9/5/14 – A study by Mason’s Institute for Immigration Research shows that “while the foreign-born make up just 13% of the U.S. population, they hold about 17% of the jobs in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.” more U.S. Intelligence Community Explores More Rigorous Ways to Forecast Events The Wall Street Journal 9/5/14 – The U.S. intelligence community is running tournaments that invite people outside the community to develop more efficient ways to forecast world events. ForeST, led by Mason’s SciCast team, tracks developments in the fields of science and technology. This may help identify advances in weapons systems, emerging technologies in bioterrorism or cyberthreats. more State-Provided Targeted Benefits: Help or Harm West Hawaii Today 9/7/14 – Research published by the Mercatus Center raises the question about whether targeted benefits from state governments help or hurt. more Acknowledge Unseen Victims of Export-Import Bank Deals and Shut It Down TBO 9/8/14 – Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center writes onthe future of the Export-Import Bank. more Just Five Gangs in Nigeria are Behind Most Craigslist Buyer Scams PC World Magazine, Naked Security, Computerworld 9/8/14 – A new study by Mason assistant professors Damon McCoy and Jackie Jones, found that most scams targeting sellers on Craigslist are done by only five Nigerian criminal gangs. “I think the most surprising thing was the number of people in the U.S. participating in thisscam,” said McCoy. more Ex-Im Bank Favors Big Business The South Coast Today, The Californian 9/9/14 – Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, writes onthe Ex-Im bank’s favoring of big business. more Drone Data Adds a New Horizon for Big Data Analytics InfoQ 9/10/14 – A new horizon in data storage, transfer infrastructure and data processing software will arise from the usage of data generated by drones in big data and operation analytics, according to Kirk Borne, professor of Astrophysics and Computational Science at Mason. more Four Years Ago Half of Baby Boomers were Interested in Texting for Health Mobihealth News 9/10/14 – In a recently published survey, researchers from several universities, including researchers from Mason, were interested in which technologies the baby boomers are most willing to use to manage their health. The survey also looked at the difference between baby boomers and the younger generation as well as the older generation. more Recession Ripple Persists’ at Realtors’ Summit The Connection 9/11/14 – David Versel, a senior research associate at the Center for Regional Analysis, presented his findings at this year’s Northern Virginia Association of Realtors economic summit. “The economy has been bad. Yet in spite of all of this, we’re all still here,” said Versal. more Stop Pretending that Liberals are Just as Anti-Science as Conservatives Mother Jones 9/11/14 – Both the political left and the political right have ignored and denied scientificfacts. According to recent data from Yale and Mason project’s on climate change communication, 75 percent of liberal Democrats and 22 percent of conservative Republicans accept that humans are causing climate change. more CFPB should not Create Open Consumer-Complaint Database HousingWire 9/11/14 – In an open letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Hester Peirce, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and research assistant Vera Soliman cometo the conclusion that the CFPB’s consumer complaint narrative database is unlawful, unfair, prohibitively expensive, and distracts the bureau from its mission. more Is the Housing Market Hurting Fairfax Times 9/11/14 – Fairfax County’s local housing market is most likely stabilizing. “Our job growth has been really weak this year. The fact that the housing market is even flat is positive,” said David Versel, senior research associate at the Center for Regional Analysis. more ORED Media Report 9/5/14 Ex-Im Bank Scores Poorly on Transparency for Taxpayer-Subsidized Loans Watchdog 9/1/14 – The Export-Import Bank has failed at transparency for recent transactions. Veronique De Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, said that in her own research she has found “billions and billions of dollars” not properly accounted for. more A Case for Attacking Economic Inequality TwinCities 9/1/14 – In the debate over rising economic inequality a new position of conservatives is to focus on better educating the poor so they can earn more. “The returns to growth are going generally to people with high I.Q.,” said Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Mason. more Back to School on Sales Tax Holidays U.S. News 9/2/14 – A recent study from the Mercatus Center demonstrates why institutingtax-free holidays is even worse for taxpayers. more How Much of a Job Creator is IP Managing Intellectual Property 9/3/14 – An interesting debate over intellectual property’s effect on job creation has occurred between the Mercatus Center and the Center for the Projection of Intellectual Property. Both institutes have released report’s expressing their viewpoints. more Charles Koch’s Brain Politico Magazine 9-10/2014 – Reminiscence on Richard Fink’s and Charles Koch’s founding of the Mercatus Center at Mason. more Ex-Im Bank Hurts U.S. Companies Detroit News 9/4/14 – Op-Ed by Veronique de Rugy of Mercatus. more George Mason University Professor James L. Olds to head Biological Sciences Directorate National Science Foundation (press release) 9/3/14 -- The NSF selected Mason’s James L. Olds to serve as assistant director for the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO). BIO's mission is to enable discoveries for understanding life. BIO-supported research advances the frontiers of biological knowledge, increases our understanding of complexsystems, and provides a theoretical basis for original research in many other scientific disciplines. Olds is a director and chief academic unit officer at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, a position he has held for 15 years. He is also the Shelley Krasnow University Professor of Molecular Neuroscience. The international Decade of the Mind project was begun under his leadership at Krasnow, which helpedshape President Obama's BRAIN Initiative. more NIST Team Honored for Work on Military Smartphone Apps, Security National Journal 9/3/14 – Researchers from Mason were part of this DARPA team. more Mason Partners with TheDream US to Aid Undocumented Students Fairfax News 8/28/14 – Article mentions that Mason is the Virginia’s largest research university. more Screen Time Tied to Kids’ Success Concho Valley Homepage.com 9/1/14 – Mason psychology researchers participated in a study to be published in the Journal of Family Psychology that links the amount of time spent in front of electronic screens – computers, tablets, television, smart phones, etc. – to children’s academic success as well as ADHD. more Domestic Violence On the Rise Among Syrian Refugees New York Times 8/29/14 -- Domestic violence has long been an issue in Syria, traditionally a patriarchal country. “You have men who had impact and status in their community – and suddenly all that disappears,” says Fred Bemak, Professor in the Counseling and Development Programand Director of the Diversity Research and Action Center at Mason and a founder of Counselors without Borders, which sends psychiatrists into the field to work with Syrian refugees. more ORED Media Report 8/29/14 Unmanned Systems Experts Convene at Navy Tech Exchange Southern Maryland Online News 8/29/14 -- 175 experts from the military, academia and private industry met to share information on the acquisition, ethics and operational lessons of research on unmanned systems including representatives from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory, Morgan State University, Old Dominion University, George Mason University, University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. more Interested in Bitcoin? CL Charlotte: The Clog 8/27/14 Jerry Brito, senior research fellow, Mercatus and director of its Technology Policy Program, knows Bitcoin inside and out. In a recent interview with Vice, Brito explained that it is a digital currency — think Facebook credits, frequent flyer miles, Microsoft points — that is decentralized. more Obama Wanted to End This ‘Corporate Welfare’ Program When He Campaigned The Blaze 8/23/14 – Research from the Mercatus Center described the downside of Ex-Im. Thearticle notes Obama’s changing opinion of the Ex-Im Bank. more Bank Fight Points to Bigger Battle Over Trade Wall Street Journal 8/24/14 – The future of the Export-Import Bank represents a larger battle over economicpolicy. While the closure of the bank may impact the price of credit, “that would be a small price for a fairer marketplace,” said Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. more Washington Job Market Lags the Rest of the Country Washington Post 8/24/14 – The Washington area is currently plagued with excess real estate, federal spending cuts, and an underdeveloped job market. “This dependence, which served the economy so well historically, is now an albatross,” said a Mason economist at the Center for Regional Analysis, Stephen Fuller. more Offshore Archaeology Oil & Gas Journal 8/25/14 – The US Bureau of Offshore Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement enlisted C&C Technologies Inc. and other researchers to examine the oil spilled in the 2010 Macondo well blowout. Their aim is determine the impact on organisms living on shipwrecks nearby. Researchers from Mason are among the list. more Genetics of Multi-Tasking Betaboston.com 8/26/14 –As the Air Force is struggles to adjust its staff’s skill to match the needs of the new technology drones present – researchers are confronting the question of whether some people are better suited to remote piloting than others through genetic research. Raja Parasuraman, lead researcher on the study said the research could help design better training protocols, but others caution that genetic screening by the military could open an ethical Pandora’s box. more Do Home Prices Indicate the Next Bubble? HousingWire 8/26/14 – The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s home price index indicates that United States house prices rose during the second quarter of 2014. But consumers are slowly losing their ability to finance homes as price appreciation continues to outpace wages. Anthony Sanders, Mason professor of real estate finance, notes the issue of wage and income stagnation’s effect on housing. “It is a shame that home price growth is 8.10% while average wage growth is onlya dismal 2%,” said Sander. more US State Sales Tax Hikes Often Mean Little Extra Revenue Tax-News 8/27/14 – The Mercatus Center issued a paper advising state governments against raisingthe tax rate. Such an increase may not generate the additional tax revenues expected. more State Licensing Boards Under Fire From Within Wall Street Journal 8/27/14 – This fall the Supreme Court will hear an antitrust case that has the potential to curb the proliferation of state licenses. Todd Zywicki, a Mason law professor, said that most licensing challenges begin “with the members of the protected industry demanding that the states shut down their competitors.” more For Time Warner Cable, More Network Means More Problems Fortune 8/28/14 – The desire to combine Comcast and Time Warner Cable may produce unexpected problems. Today’s network infrastructure may not be able to support the increasing amounts of bandwidth. “It is all about the data, the big data, which is increasing exponentially. Year on year, the amount of data is increasing at a rate somewhere between 60 and 100 percent per annum. That means that we are moving around at least 1,000 times more data every ten years,” said Mason professor Kirk Borne. more Media Report 8.22.14 New $678 million telescope project at Penn State Penn State News 8/21/14 – LSST project activities are supported through a partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy. NSF supports LSST through a Cooperative Agreement managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The effort managed by the Department of Energyis managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC). Additional LSST funding comes from private donations, grants to universities, and in-kind support from Institutional Members of LSSTC – including Mason among a long list. more Combining Vaccines Boost Polio Immunity AP 8/22/14 -- New research suggests a one-•-two punch could help battle polio in some of the world's most remote and strife-•- torn regions: Some US colleges calling students back from Israel AP 8/22/14 – Some U.S. colleges are pulling students from overseas study programs in Israel as the Gaza war rages. On the one hand, we want to introduce students to the dimensions of conflict," said Yehuda Lukacs, director of the Center for Global Education at Mason. "But this was too much because their safety and security were challenged." Manhattan Gets First Bitcoin ATM The Epoch Times 8/22/14 -- Manhattan’s first Bitcoin ATM, or BTM, launched Thursday at Flat 128, a luxury lifestyle store in the West Village. Eli Dourado, a research fellow at George Mason University and Bitcoin enthusiast, says he is “somewhat baffled by the Bitcoin ATM phenomenon. They’re like cellular payphones—possible, but then again thewhole point of cell phones is that everyone can have their own,” Dourado wrote in an email interview. “Very few people would use a cash ATM on the street if they could load up their wallets with cash from their bank accounts at home any time they wanted.” more Militarized Policing Doesn’t Work News Week 8/22/14 – The best studies on this topic com from the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at Mason. This group, oft consulted by law enforcement experts nationwide, transforms research on police tactics into a data matrix, showing in an user friendly graphic which among more than 100 tactics and techniques work, broken down by circumstances involving individuals, groups, small places, neighborhoods and jurisdiction. more Ex-Rep. Tom Davis named GMU Rector Fairfax News 8/22/14 –Mason’s next rector is former U.S. Representative Tom Davis. Davis, who served seven terms in Congress representing Northern Virginia voters, was elected byhis colleagues on George Mason’s Board of Visitors to lead the 16-member board. more Shuttering Ex-Im Bank good for Arizona Arizona Republic 8/21/14 – Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, writes Letting the Export-Import Bank expire is just good economics for Arizonans. more Do Higher Minimum Wages Increase Jobs? Wall Street Journal 8/21/14 – Rachel Mace, Mason economics student, co-authored an op-ed questioning this premise. Elizabeth Warren Backs Big-Bank Subsidies Boston Herald 8/21/14 – Sen. Elizabeth Warren has made a name for herself as a populist who talks tough about Wall Street and other large corporations. But recently, Warren confirmed that she is renewing her support for the Export-Import Bank. Veronique De Rugy ofthe Mercatus Center rants in an op-ed. more 7 Things for Ambulatory Service Center Leaders to Know Beckersasc.com 8/21/14 – Recent research from the Mercatus Center challenges the economic logic behind certificates of need. The CON study analyzed data on CONs, healthcare productivity and economic impact from the Healthcare Cost Report Information System, American Hospital Association and American Health Planning Association. Read thefull report on Becker's ASC Review. Real World Undermines Silicon Valley’s Apolitical Fantasy Washington Post (blog) 8/20/14 – Mason researcher Adam Thierer, senior research fellow Mercatus, says most of the time, tech companies would simply rather disengage from the squabbling that's characteristic of Congress and city hall. He calls this the principle of "permissionless innovation": When businesses don't have to justify their experiments to anyone, they can simply focus on building the next great tool or platform. more Downside of Affirmative Action National Review.com 8/19/14 -- A meta-analysis from researchers at New York University, University of Michigan and George Mason University traces the roots of stigma that can erupt in organizations that implement affirmative action policies to attract women and racial minorities. more Beloved Tax Deduction Really Just Benefits the Rich The American Prospect 8/20/14 – “You can see why Realtors would be opposed to a reform of the Mortgage Interest Deduction,” says Jason Fichtner, senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, and co-author of a paper on the MID. “They would have to sell more houses to make for up the loss in commission.” more ORED Media Report 8/15/14 New Cap Report: Climate Impact of LNG Exporting Center for American Progress 8/4/14 – The U.S. is poised to become a net exporter of natural gas. Last week saw two major regulatory authorizations regarding liquefied natural gas, or LNG, exports—one from the Department of Energy and one from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “…LNG exports could partially displace the use of coal overseas, which would decrease CO2 emissions from power plant operations,” said Gwynne Taraska, a Senior Policy Advisor at CAP and the research director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. more U.S. Rolls Back Oversight of Potentially Dangerous Experiments Reuters, Fox News 8/13/14 – U.S. lawmakers investigating anthrax and bird flu breaches at a federal laboratory, question whether outside oversight of research using dangerous microbes is as independent as federal agencies claim. They are scrutinizing the actions of the nation's leading biomedical research institute, the NIH. "Organizations are notoriously bad at policing themselves," said a Mason biodefense expert, Greg Koblentz. more Distractions Kill Time and Quality LiveScience.com, Consumer Affairs 8/13/14 – Researchers at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., conducted two studies that demonstrated that distractions affect the quality of work. more Breaking the Gender Barrier in Science Research Federal News Radio 8/13/16 – Nadine Kabbani, assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Neuroscience discussed the history of women in research science and the problem of getting more women involved. She also discussed her research on nicotine and menthol cigarettes. "The problem is multi-leveled andtransgenerational," Kabbani said. The stigma of being considered a "nerd," the need to commit to many years of higher education, and the problems of balancing career and family are all barriers for women. more The Trouble with Diversity Initiatives Wall Street Journal, PhysOrg, Talent Management 8/13/14 – A meta-analysis from researchers at New York University, University of Michigan and George Mason University traces the roots of stigma that can erupt in organizations thatimplement affirmative action policies to attract women and racial minorities. The study dug into 45 previous pieces of research to identify the mechanisms that cause these programs to go awry. The paper, authored by Leslie, University of Michigan’s David Mayer and Mason’s David Kravitz, is set to be published in theAugust issue of the Academy of Management journal. more Small Companies Don’t Need Ex-Im Bank Philly.com Op-Ed by 8/13/14 – Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and Andrea Castillo a research assistant at the center – see article. more Three Things to Know About Virginia Jobs Picture Watchdog.org 8/13/14 According to Watchdog: There have been 2,008 layoffs since May, while Governor boasted about 4,238 new jobs since May; international investment mainly from China is up; and Virginia gave nearly $1.2 million to a company that reported a net income loss of $197 million after taxes this first quarter and was investigated by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Keith Hall, seniorresearch fellow at the Mercatus Center said it’s better to look at the total non-farm payroll jobs to get an accurate picture of the job situation. Some 8,600 non-farm jobs were created since June 2013. Other interesting statistics include a loss of 2600 government jobs and a loss of 15,300 jobs in professional and business services in the past year. more Your Brain on Music Shape Magazine 8/13/14 – Research shows the right tune can temper your feelings of anxiety, energize your limbs, and even bolster your immune system. “When you hear music traveling at your favored rhythm, the areas of your brain that control movement become more excited, making you more likely to start tapping your feet or moving along to it,” explains Martin Wiener, a Mason psychologist who has investigated preferredmotor tempo. more Prepare to be Shocked The Atlantic 8/14/14 – Various DARPA studies demonstrated that brain stimulation improves performance on everything from motor skills to language aquisition. Now, IARPA, the intelligence-agency arm of DARPA, has created a program to examine if brain stimulation combined with exercise, nutrition and games will dramatically enhance human performance. As Raja Parasuraman, a Mason psychology professor who is advising an IARPA team, puts it, “The end goal is to improve fluid intelligence—thatis, to make people smarter.” More Universities Assess Travel to Ebola-Stricken Countries WTOP 8/14/14 – The Centers for Disease Control has urged all Americans to avoid nonessential travel to the three African nations in the midst of the health crisis. And Several local universities instituted a temporary ban on travel by students, faculty and staff to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone -- the areas hard hit by the Ebola outbreak. But Mason, GW and Catholic say they have no programs in stricken West-African countries. more Brief President, Keep Public in the Dark Center for Public Integrity Report 8/14/14 – Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Washington prepared grim estimates of death and destruction in the event of a nuclear war with Russia, but did not share the information. Twelve million Americans would be killed outright and 60 million would be dead within a year. This analysis was a “more realistic assessment of the consequences of war at that time,” according to Martin Sherwin, a history professor at George Mason Universitywho focuses on cold war politics and nuclear history. more EasyFBO founder a finalist in 'Entrepreneur' contest Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association News 8/14/14 – John Hill, a junior at Virginia’s George Mason University, is one of five college student finalists in Entrepreneur magazine’s College Entrepreneur of 2014 contest. The economics major’s submission is EasyFBO, an app designed to simplifythe service ordering process for pilots while reducing costs and increasing efficiency for fixed-base operators (FBOs). more For Research Direction, Look to Kids Consumer Electronics 8/14/14 – Young students, perhaps the next generation of Lyme researchers, have managed to make valuable contributions to scientific knowledge about Lyme, thefastestgrowing vector-borne disease in the nation. A Lyme early-detection product is being tested thanks to the high school project of Temple Douglas who, four years ago, was a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria. The project caught the attention of researchers at Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine. Assistant Professor Alessandra Luchini worked with Douglason the Lyme test which uses a urine sample to detect proteins deriving from the Lyme bacteria (the current Lyme diagnostic test uses a blood sample to detect patients antibodies against the Lyme bacteria). Mason has partnered with Ceres Nanosciences in testing and developing a commercial product. more Loudon County Driving Regional Economy Loundon Times-Mirror 8/14/14 – In Loudon, Per capita income grew at 2x the rate of jurisdictions in Virginia and the U.S., according to the BEA, and more than 5x the rate of Fairfax County andthe City of Alexandria -- two jurisdictions that have been benchmarks for the region’s growth. Fairfax County had the lowest rate of growth, only 2 percent. "The regionhas stopped growing," Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at Mason, told the Mt. Vernon Gazette, which initially reported the findings. "High wage jobs and most new jobs are paying below the average for all jobs." more Social Security Crisis is Here Kearney Hub, Edmund Sun, Philly.com + 68 more 8/12/14 – The 2014 report projects depletion of the combined Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance trust funds in 2033. Social Security has no borrowing authority, and after the trust funds are exhausted there is only enough payroll-tax revenue to cover a projected 77 percent of benefits; meaning that future benefit payments must be reduced by about 23 percent. But the resulting cut in benefits will actually be much worse for retirees, workers and the economy if we don't act now to reform Social Security – according to Jason J. Fichtner, senior research fellow with Mercatus. more The Bitcoins are Coming TechNewsWorld, Reuters, Politico 8/14/14 – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants consumers to know that bitcoins and other virtual currencies can be very, very risky, and consumers may need to be protected from them. "If this advisory is the only thing you ever read about bitcoin, you're going to think it's pretty scary," said Mercatus Center's Jerry Brito. "Luckily,it isn't the only thing you'll probably read about bitcoin." more Immigrants Are 26% of US Drug Production Workforce FiercePharma Manufacturing 8/12/14 – Shaun Michel and James Witte of the Institute for ImmigrationResearch at Mason calculated the figure in a paper analyzing the role of immigrants in the pharmaceutical industry. Across the industry as a whole, immigrants--who account for 14% of the U.S. population--make up 17% of the workforce. The proportion of immigrants in pharmaceutical production and distribution is higher still, with 26% ofall positions occupied by people from outside the U.S. more Sustainable Semantic – “Global Warming” vs. “Climate Change” GreenBiz.com 8/12/14 – Although more Americans use “global warming,” “climate change” is coming into favor in many mainstream media outlets. The former phrase is associated with fearful environmental messaging, while the latter is a more scientifically accurate term for a wider range of phenomena. According to a recent report by teams from Yale and George Mason University, there’s a lot more nuance to these two terms — and usingthe less fearsome and politically charged of the two could come at the expense ofemotional resonance in sustainability communications. Innovation Breakdown Wall Street Journal 8/11/14 – Book review of “Innovation Breakdown” by Joseph V. Gulfo, by Alex Tabarrok, Bartley J. Madden chair in economics at Mason. more The Case for Low Taxes Lake Wylie Pilot 8/15/14 – The study, conducted by economists at George Mason University, showed that states with higher average tax rates tend to have a lower GSP, or gross state product. A 1 percent increase in a state’s overall average tax rate decreases the GSP growthrate by 1.9 percent. “Higher state taxes generally reduce state economic growth, GSP, and even population,” according to the report. more How to Help the Poor Winnipeg Free Press 8/15/14 – Help people at the bottom without thwarting the people at the top? Some on the right deny that the distribution of income and wealth has shifted upward, though leading conservative economists such as Tyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason, argue that we should concentrate on helping poor people develop a trade and letting the super-rich retain their hard-earned wealth. "The returns to growth," Cowen recently told the New York Times, "are going . . . generally to people with high I.Q., no matter where they live. I don’t really know how you could undermine this dynamic, short of wrecking the world." more Inequality and What Ails America New York Times 7/30/14 – See op-ed by Economics Professor Tyler Cowen. Is income inequality the defining issue of the times? Not so simple writes Cowen. “Income inequality”consists of at least three separate issues: 1) the top one percent is earning more; 2) the relative return to education is rising; and 3) economic growth is slow, and thus many lower- and middle-income groups are not seeing their incomes rise very much over time. Thethird of these is arguably the defining issue of our time. more ORED Media Report 8/8/14 New Cap Report: Climate Impact of LNG Exporting Center for American Progress 8/4/14 – The U.S. is poised to become a net exporter of natural gas. Last week saw two major regulatory authorizations regarding liquefied natural gas, or LNG, exports—one from the Department of Energy and one from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “…LNG exports could partially displace the use of coal overseas, which would decrease CO2 emissions from power plant operations,” said Gwynne Taraska, a Senior Policy Advisor at CAP and the research director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. more True Web TV is a Pipedream National Business Times 8/5/14 – It’s a longshot, in nearly everyone’s estimation, mostly because the courts have repeatedly said, rightly or wrongly, that over-the-Web transmission isn't broadcast for copyright purposes and therefore not the equivalent of cable TV. "They had a viable loophole the first time around," Brent Skorup, a telecom policy scholar at the Mercatus Center. "Now they are trying to thread a much thinner needle." more Why Ridesharing Freaks Regulators Human Events – Powerful Conservative Voices 8/5/14 – Regulators want companies like Uber, Sidecar and Lyft to abide by the same rules as taxicabs. The DC city council proposed making the companies charge 5x what city cabs do. “That’s right,” said Matthew Mitchell, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. “But these companies alerted their tech-savvy customers and within 24 hours, these tech-savvy customers inundated the City Council with about 20,000 complaints.” City Council withdrew their proposal.” more GE Warns Closing ExIm Bank will Hit US Africa Trade Financial Times 8/4/14 -- Research this year by George Mason University showed that 10 US companies receive three-quarters of Ex-Im Bank financing, with GE among the main beneficiaries. GE is likely to be one of the biggest participants in the Obama administration’s Power Africa initiative to provide $7bn backing for energy projects in the continent over the next five years. more How to Help the Unbanked? Forbes 8/4/14 – Two-and-a-half years after the Durbin Amendment’s (which imposed controls on retailers’ credit/debit card fees) implementation the evidence is in: A study by Mason’s International Center for Law and Economics found that consumers are paying more and getting less as a result of the Durbin Amendment, and that low-income consumers have suffered the most without access to mainstream financial services. more Weird Energy Politics National Review Online 8/4/14 -- Patrick J. Michaels, senior fellow in research and economic development, at Mason rants that from Carter to Obama” global warming has been at the top of the president’s agenda and at the bottom of the electorate’s.” more Ex-Pentagon Official Cited for Ethics Lapses Stars and Stripes 8/5/14 – Alan Rudolph, former director of the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and former director of the agency's chemical and biological technologies directorate, recruited people he knew to work for him and had several organizations, including George Mason University. more Interruptions are Worse than We Thought The New Republic, Free Press Journal, Science Codex, University Herald July-August/14 – Many more publications have picked up this story about Mason research. The 1% is Richer Than You Think Financial Post 8/7/14 – The 1% is literally rich beyond measure, depriving nations of billions in tax revenue and obscuring shifts in global inequality. “The more money that you have, the easier it becomes to hide that and avoid taxes,” said Hollender, 59, co-founder of cleaning and personal-care products company Seventh Generation Inc. He is a member of Responsible Wealth, a Boston-based network that advocates for economic fairness. Tyler Cowen, Mason economics professor and co-author of the economics blog Marginal Revolution, thinks focusing on the top 1% when looking at income distribution is misguided. It may matter little if people such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates are taking home a greater share of income, as long as the poor are becoming better off inthe process. more Annapolis Cybersecurity Firm Partners with Tech Giants, Universities Technically Baltimore 8/7/14 – Annapolis-based kloudtrack made a major pivot in 2010 to focus more on partnerships with bigger businesses, a path that has led the company to partnerships with giants like Cisco Systems but also universities like George Mason and the University of Maryland. Kloudtrack was the brainchild of Jan Levine, who, as founder and president of Imageers, had a front-row advisory seat to Arthur Andersen’s New York office and the Enron-fueled collapse of the accounting firm in 2002. Levine is now CTO of kloudtrack. more US Pharmaceutical Industry Depends on Immigrant Labor Latin Post.com 8/8/14 – A study, conducted by the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University, found that the pharmaceutical industry is very dependent on immigrant labor across many job titles. more Briefing the President, but Keeping Public in the Dark The Center for Public Integrity 8/8/14 – Washington prepared some grim early estimates of the death and destruction that would come from a nuclear war with Russia, but kept the details secret for more than 50 years. This analysis was a “more realistic assessment of the consequences of war at that time,” according to Martin Sherwin, Mason history professor, who focuses on cold war politics and nuclear history. More State Benefits Big from Ex-Im Bank Daily Signal 8/5/14 – Washington state, home of Boeing’s airplane division, benefits the most from financing by the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and by a huge margin, a state-by-state analysis shows. Using public data from the Export-Import Bank, Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center analyzed the proportion of thefederal agency’s disbursements each state received over the past seven years. more Preventing Sports Injuries Connectionnewspapers.com 8/6/14 – “I believe the benefits of sports participation far outweigh the risks. Injuries will never be 100 percent preventable and are part of sports. However, many youth sports injuries are preventable with some common sense,” said Shane V. Caswell, professor and Athletic Training Education Program executive director at the Sports Medicine Assessment, Research & Testing (SMART) Laboratory at George Mason University. ORED Media Report 7/28/14-8/1/14 Meaningful Interation in Online Courses Inside Higher Ed 7/30/14 – Critics of online education, especially in the humanities, often stress the importance of face-to-face interaction. But survey participants are nearlyunanimous in rating the feedback in these courses, and interaction with instructors asexcellent and as an important feature of their success, according to Nate Sleeter, PhDcandidate in history at George Mason University and graduate research assistant at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. more Kaiser Permanente, Johns Hopkins begin qualitycollaboration HeathcareDIVE 7/31/14 – Jay Shiver, a health administration professor at George Mason University anda former executive at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C., which is now a part of Johns Hopkins, told the Baltimore Business Journal that the move is "more evolutionarythan revolutionary." more Scrap Mortgage Interest-Rate Deductions American Banker 7/31/14 – While the deduction has broad public support, but the support may be misplaced according to a Mercatus Center study. Over 64% of the MID tax benefits go to tax filers earning more than $100,000. more Economic Recovery: Depends on Who’s Talking The New Journal & Guide 7/31/14 – Some experts say the economy is bouncing back; but housing prices are higher, people have less in their checking account, and housing sales in Virginia fell 5.7 percent in the second quarter. “We have recovered” from the recession, said Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University. “We just don’t like what that looks like.” more Crony Capitalism The Spokesman-Review 7/31/14 – A study by The Mercatus Center, a market-oriented research organization at George Mason University, published a study that says nearly 44 percent of the Ex-Im Banks funding goes to companies in Washington state, where Boeing is a top beneficiary of the program. The author of the study, Veronique de Rugy, has called the bank “crony capitalism.” more U.S. Food Board: Bad to the Bone Watchdog.org 7/29/14 – A U.S. Department of Agriculture Committee is building a new food pyramid with fruits, plants and dairy as the prime ingredients. Not everyone commends their efforts. “They need economists who understand how this will play out in the marketplace. And stick with science,” said Richard Williams, former Food and Drug Administration official and vice president for policy research at the Mercatus Center. more What I Wish I’d Known About 1st Paycheck Time 7/29/14 – Earning every penny you're worth when you join the workforce can pay off for the rest of your life. Small differences in starting salaries could mean serious moneyover the course of a career, according to a recent study by researchers at George Mason University and Temple University. more How Gchat Hurts Productivity Huffington Post 7/28/14 Researchers at George Mason University homed in on the negative impact Gchatg specifically has on workplace productivity in their latest study. more Medicare Trust Fund Will Last ‘Til 2030 The Washington Times 7/28/14 – Trustees predict slowing health costs will keep Medicare solvent until 2030, or four year later than last year’s projections. It’s a debate that has been raging in health policy circles for years, and “certainly not one the trustees are going to settle,” said Public Trustee Charles Blahous, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center. more Karl Marx Wouldn’t Recognize This Plan Watchdog.org 7/28/14 – A federal program has designs on making Americans “Healthy People.”Amid rising obesity rates and a binge of political correctness, the government initiative is getting broader. “Karl Marx couldn’t have come up with this,” says Richard Williams, vice president for policy research at the Mercatus Center. more Massively Improve Your Writing Business Insider India 7/16/14 – Studies conducted by Mason PhD candidate Cyrus Foroughi showed multitasking worsened writing skills "Try to reduce external interruptions as best you can," he said. "Turn off your cell phone. Turn off your Twitter and email notifications. You can live without them for an hour or two." more Dyes Paint New Picture of Disease Bioscience Technology 7/24/14 – By using brightly hued dyes, George Mason University researchers discovered an innovative way to reveal where proteins touch each other, possiblyleading to new treatments for cancer, arthritis, heart disease and even lung disease. more Certificate of Need Limits Health Care Burlington Free Press 7/28/14 – In Vermont, the Certificate of Need (CON) regulatory process prohibits hospitals and health care providers from offering new services without approval. However, recent research from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University shows that the CON reduces health services and increases costs. more Business Diary Washington Post 7/27/14 – Fairfax-based George Mason University said it will begin offeringa bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity engineering. Export Import Bank Benefits Big Biz St. Louis Post Dispatch 7/27/14 – Says Andrea Castillo, research assistant, Mercatus Center, in a letter tothe editor. more Economic Perspective on Fairness Imperial Valley News 7/26/14 -- Kevin McCabe, PhD, of George Mason University, will present research(at the American Psychological Association’s 122nd Conference) from economics experiments suggesting that people’s sense of fairness depends on whether theyconsider behavior acceptable. more ORED Media Report 07/19/14-07/25/14 Tolerating Too Much? Odessa American 7/20/14 – Water Williams, professor of Economics, thinks that Americans are unwilling to defend themselves from crime and violence. more Avoiding Tech Traps The Huffington Post 7/21/14 – Technology can have negative effects on many aspects of our daily lives, according to recent research. One study conducted by researchers in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences found that constant interruptions by technology seriously impact the quality of work. more Regulating Wood-Burning Stoves Daily Yonder.com 7/22/14 – The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new restrictions on emissions from wood-burning stoves. A report by Sean Mulholland, a researcher for the Mercatus Center, indicated these rules could have a big impact on people living in rural areas. more Shipwreck Study Launched Second Expedition The Maritime Executive 7/22/14 – A team of scientists recently launched a second expedition to the Gulf of Mexico to study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on microbial communities that live on shipwrecks. The study is part of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, sponsored by Mason’s Microbiome Analysis Center, Environmental Science and Policy Department, along with several other organizations. more The Hunt for a “Model City” The Washington Post 7/22/14 – Mercatus Center research fellow Brent Skorup weighs in on the federal government’s search for a city willing to host wireless experimentation. more States Debate Millionaires’ Tax Bills Personal Liberty Digest 7/23/14 – Should states raise taxes on the wealthy? A 2011 study of migration patterns across the nation conducted by Antony Davies and John Pulito, researchers with the Mercatus Center, concluded that millionaires leave states with high income and property tax rates in search of states offering a better deal. more Complaints about CFPB Complaint Database The Hill 7/22/14 – Hester Peirce, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, said that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s unfiltered complaint database might cause more harm than good. more 1 Efforts to Reform Patent Laws Continue Washington Examiner 7/23/14 – Adam Mossoff, professor, School of Law, said that despite recent setbacks, efforts by the federal government to reform patent law will continue. more Unlocking the Protein Puzzle Science Codex 7/23/14 – Using brightly hued dyes, researchers led by Lance Liotta, co-director, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, and Alessandra Luchini, assistant professor, Applied Proteomics & Molecular Medicine, examined the “hot spot” where proteinsinterlock and send signals down the chain. more Men Outearn Women in Virginia The Connection 7/23/14 – A recent study by the Center for Regional Analysis concluded that wage disparities between men and women are glaring. David Versel, senior research associate, School of Public Policy, explained why women in Northern Virginia still earn less than men. more Virginia Unemployment Stats Paint Inaccurate Picture Watchdog.org 7/24/14 – Keith Hall, a senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center, said the increasein unemployment for the second straight month is not an accurate reflection of the real economic situation in Virginia. more Voting Rights for Felons The Root 7/24/14 – A stream of legislation aims to restore voting rights to millions of ex-cons. In 2012, Mason’s Election Project determined that more than 6.8 million Americans were ineligible to vote due to felony convictions. more Real Estate Development Gains GlobeSt.com 7/24/14 – A report by Stephen S. Fuller, director, Center for Regional Analysis, indicated a rebound in commercial construction but warns that a complete recovery is still years away. more Rules Limit Patient Options Rutland Herald 7/25/14 – Vermont’s efforts to reduce costs by imposing regulations on hospitals and health care providers actually reduced services and increased costs, according to a recent study by the Mercatus Center. more 2 ORED Media Report 7/12/14-7/18/14 Lobbying Helps Company Execs, Not Profits Mother Jones 7/11/14 – A new paper by Russell Sobel and Rachel Graefe-Anderson, researchers at the Mercatus Center, suggests corporate America's record expenditures on political influence may contribute more to executives' paychecks than companies’ bottom line. more Interruptions at Work Affect Quality Science Codex 7/14/14 – A new study by Cyrus Foroughi, PhD candidate, Psychology, with Dr. Deborah Boehm-Davis, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Science, showed the impacts of disruptions at work. more Mason Professor Helps Science Teachers Richmond Times Dispatch 7/14/14 – Richmond-area teachers are spending part of their summer in a four-week training program to enhance science education. The program was developed based on research by Donna Roudabush Sterling, former professor of science education, College of Education and Human Development. more Interruptions Are Even Worse Than We Thought New Republic 7/16/14 – A team of researchers, including Cyrus Foroughi, PhD candidate, Psychology, and Dr. Deborah Boehm-Davis, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Science, has found that people who are interrupted while writing end up producing lower-quality essays than writers who are allowed to work undisturbed. more Security Lapses at CDC Labs Cause Concern The Christian Science Monitor 7/16/14 – Three recent safety breaches at federal biosecurity labs reveal a culture of negligence that threatens important research on biological pathogens. Professor of Biology Charles Bailey, director of the National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, said that terrorists want to develop biological weapons using pathogens. more Americans Want Action on Climate Change The Week.com 7/17/14 — A massive survey on climate change queried 860 registered voters. The market research was conducted by Yale University Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. It confirmed that despite a strong partisan divide on how to address the issue, Americans agree they want action to mitigate climate change. more Interruptions Interfere with Productivity Today.com 7/17/14 – “One minute is more than enough to wipe your short-term memory,” according to Cyrus Foroughi, a doctoral student in Psychology who studied how interruptions impact productivity and focus. more Dispel Myths to Stop Ebola The Washington Post 7/18/14 – The deadly Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia rages on amid myths and rumors that make it difficult for authorities to treat the disease. Kathryn H. Jacobsen, associate professor, Global and Community Health, said that West Africans fearing social stigma might not seek testing or treatment. more What’s In a Retirement Community Name? Market Watch (The Wall Street Journal) 7/18/14 -- Andrew Carle, assistant professor, College of Health and Human Services, and director of Mason’s Assisted Living/ Senior Housing Administration, helps to shed light on the often confusing options for senior housing. more ORED Media Report 7/4/14-7/11/14 Presidential Power and the “American Monarchy” Reason.com 7/3/14 – Frank Buckley, professor, School of Law, talks about his book, The Once and Future King: The Rise of Crown Government in America, an exploration of the rise of “elective monarchy” in the U.S. more Economic Freedom Odessa American Online 7/6/14 – Walter Williams, economics professor, defended the free market system. more Regulations Slow Ride Sharing Post-Gazette 7/6/14 – Matthew Mitchell, adjunct professor of Economics and senior researchfellow, Mercatus Center, addressed Pennsylvania’s ban on ride-sharing services. more Mason Unveils Civil Rights Archive Fairfax News 7/6/14 – The Northern Virginia Civil Rights Archive project solicited personal stories and testimonials from members of the community about the civil rights movement over the courseof a year and will be housed at repositories at Mason along with area libraries. Lattanzi Shutika English professor, said the archive gives students the ability to access primary researchthrough oral history and ethnography. more Ebola Experts Warn Sierra Leone MENAFN—AFP 7/7/14 – In a letter headed by Kathryn Jacobsen, associate professor, College of Health and Human Services, a panel of experts warned officials in Sierra Leone that Ebola is going undetected and unreported. more Government Cannot Forecast Obamacare Costs Wall St. Cheat Sheet 7/7/14 – The nonpartisan government agency tasked with calculating Affordable Care Actcosts announced that the task was too complex due to rule changes. Senior Research Fellow Charles Blahous, Mercatus Center, said the Congressional Budget Office’s inability to nail down Obamacare costs is a real problem. more Political Positions on Climate Change American Thinker 7/8/14 – A collaborative survey study by George Mason University and Yale University concluded that people’s perceptions about climate change run down political lines. Lead investigator, Edward Maibach, director, Center for Climate Change Communications,said liberal and moderate Republicans often have views relatively similar to Democrats, while conservative Republicans have very different opinions. more Congress, Extortion, and Unfunded Mandates The Epoch Times 7/8/14 –James T. Bennett, professor of Economics, talked about his research into the waysthe U.S. government has expanded federal laws into local matters. more Old Rules vs. New Tech The Hill 7/8/14 – Patrick A. McLaughlin, senior research fellow, Mercatus Center, offered asolution to recent protests by D.C. cab drivers over regulations of Uber and Lyft, two transportation services that have been under fire lately. more Overspending Is a Moral Problem WND.com 7/8/14 – Walter Williams, professor of Economics, questioned the morality of U.S. government spending policies in his latest commentary. more Keeping Civil Rights’ History Alive The Washington Post 7/9/14 – A Northern Virginia archive of the civil rights movement, recently unveiled at Mason, will help correct historical bias that result from an accumulation of small cracks in human memory. more Lower Taxes Linked to Growth Albuquerque Business First 7/10/14 – The Mercatus Center released a study that said higher taxes reduce states’overall GDP. more Efforts to Reduce Fed’s Spending Power Continue Columbus CEO 7/11/14 – House Republicans renewed their efforts to limit the spending powers of the Federal Reserve. Hester Pierce, senior research fellow, Mercatus Center, testified at Thursday’s hearing, saying the effort to devise better rules was worth it. more Soccer and Technology Mesh at “RoboCup” Valley News 7/11/14 – Robot soccer players designed by a team from Mason, advised by Sean Luke, assistant professor, Computer Science, show just how far technology has come. ORED Media Report 6/21/14 – 7/3/14 Regional Job Market Stuck in Neutral The Washington Post 6/20/14 – Professor Stephen Fuller, director, Center for Regional Analysis, said weak jobs numbers for May are likely a sign that the stronger April numbers were distorted, and not a result of economic improvement. more Power, Privilege and Myths about Violence against Women Huffington Post 6/20/14 – Professor Angela J. Hattery, director, Women and Gender Studies, reacted to two articles recently published in the Washington Post that she said misrepresent the research on violence against women. more Mason Focuses on College Students’ Well-Being USA Today 6/22/14 – Mason researchers are partnering with Gallup Education to foster students’ habits of success through well-being. more Flipped Learning Shows Evidence of Success Digital Journal 6/23/14 – Patrick McKnight, associate professor, psychology, and his student, Jessica Yarbro, updated previous research on “flipped learning,” an instructional method, to provide further evidence of its capacity to improve student achievement and engagement. more Big Data and Climate Change Fortune 6/23/14 – Researchers are using big data technology to study the environmental effects of climate change. Kirk Borne, professor, School of Physics, Astronomy, and Computational Sciences, described how sensors in space and on the ground collect climate information to develop scientists’ understanding. more Working for Free Financial Times 6/23/14 — Working without pay is becoming more common as a way to increase experience and give back. Tyler Cowen, economics professor, Center for Study of Public Choice, said only doing things for money could be a corrupting mindset. more Is GovCon a Real Market? Federal News Radio 6/24/14 – The debate over the status of GovCon, a resource for government contractors, continues. John Hillen, executive in residence and professor of practice, School of Management, discussed the growth of the GovCon services market. more 1 Debating Export-Import Bank’s Future St. Louis Dispatch 6/25/14 — If Congress does not act, the charter for the Export-Import Bank will expire, but not everyone thinks this is a bad thing. Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow, Mercatus Center, debated William Lacy Clay, democratic representative and a major supporter of the bank. She said the Export-Import Bank creates unfair advantages for some business at the expense of taxpayers. more Creating Fair Tax Policies JCOnline 6/26/14 — During a summit on Indiana’s future, Maurice McTigue, vice president for outreach, Mercatus Center, offered advice to Gov. Mike Pence on tax reform. more Teachers Become Students at Mason Fairfax Times 6/26/14 — The Department of Education awarded the Virginia Center for Teaching Excellence (VCTE) a $220,000 grant to create a teacher development program, which started this week. Jeff Davis, the Center’s project manager, said that 100 teachers are participating. more New Media, Old Problems in Human Rights Washington Post 6/26/14 — A. Trevor Thrall, associate professor, Public and International Affairs, commented on the use of social media by NGOs, in a recently published paper he co-authored with Dominik Stecula, a graduate student at the University of British Columbia. more Mason by the Numbers InTheCapital 6/26/14 — Using Twitter, President Angel Cabrera does his best to put Mason on the social media map. more Mason Partnership Helps Small Business Times Dispatch 6/26/14 — The Greater Richmond Small Business Development Center, a partnership between Mason, the Greater Richmond Chamber, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, gives startups individually tailored counseling on a variety of topics to help them grow. more Mason Prepares Future Military Doctors InTheCapital 6/27/14 — This week, Mason’s College of Science won almost $8 million to begin an Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program that will prepare active-duty military members for medical school in a two-year “pre-med boot camp.” more 2 African American Physicians Note Health Effects of Climate Change Dallas Weekly 6/27/14 — According to a new survey conducted by Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communications, with the National Medical Association (NMA), African American physicians nationwide are concerned about the health consequences of climate change. more Education Establishment “Success?” Odessa American Online 6/29/14 — Walter Williams, economics professor, claimed the education establishment’s major contribution is “dumbing down” the nation, causing Americans to fall prey to illogical or unsupported arguments. more Hobby Lobby and Health Care Wall Street Journal Live 6/30/14 — Ilya Somin, law professor, discussed the recent Supreme Court ruling that “closely held” companies can refuse to cover contraception in their employees’ health care based on religious beliefs. more D.C. Job Market Stagnates Washington Post 7/1/14 — Anemic job growth in the federal government and professional services continues. Stephen Fuller, economics professor and director, Center for Regional Analysis, commented on the lack of growth at state and metro levels. more Battle over Export-Import Bank Rages Columbus CEO (Reprinted from the Washington Post) 7/1/14 — Some companies have a lot to lose if embattled Export-Import Bank is forced to close. However, according to a report by Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow, Mercatus Center, there is no policy justification for the bank to remain in business. more Climate Change Impacts Well-Being New Pittsburg Courier Online 7/1/14 — A survey of 284 physicians of color across 33 states sponsored by Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communications, College of Health and Human Services, with the National Medical Association, was one of two reports released last week that examined how climate change affects the physical and psychological health of individuals and communities. more The Case Against U.S. Arms Sales The Dissenter 7/2/14 — In a recent working paper, Mercatus Center scholars Chris Coyne, professor of economics, and Abigail R. Hall, research fellow, said America’s global arms sales create serious consequences. more 3 Debate over Intellectual Property RStreet.org 7/2/14 — The American Enterprise Institute recently hosted a debate on whether intellectual property can be treated the same as physical property. Mark Schultz, cofounder and codirector of academic programs at the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property, School of Law, said copyrights are a “narrow property right.”more Dirty Money Dumped on New York The Nation 7/3/14 — Corrupt politicians and business people worldwide are buying Manhattan apartments with dirty money. Louise I. Shelley, director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, School of Public Policy, said laundered money flowing into real estate increased since 9/11 due to intensified scrutiny of other kinds of transactions. more 4 ORED Media Report 6/21/14 – 6/26/14 Regional Job Market Stuck in Neutral The Washington Post 6/20/14 – Professor Stephen Fuller, director, Center for Regional Analysis, said theweak jobs numbers for May are likely a sign that the stronger April numbers were distorted, rather than a result of economic improvement. more Power, Privilege and Myths about Violence against Women Huffington Post 6/20/14 – Professor Angela J. Hattery, director, Women and Gender Studies, reacted totwo articles recently published in the Washington Post that she said misrepresent the research on violence against women. more Mason Focuses on College Students’ Well-Being USA Today 6/22/14 – Mason researchers are partnering with Gallup Education to foster students’ habitsof success through well-being. more Flipped Learning Shows Evidence of Success Digital Journal 6/23/14 – Patrick McKnight, associate professor, psychology, and his student,Jessica Yarbro, described research on “flipped learning” that provides further evidence of this instructional model’s capacity to impact student outcomes, including achievement and engagement. more Big Data and Climate Change Fortune 6/23/14—Researchers are using big-data technology to study the environmental effectsof climate change. Kirk Borne, professor, School of Physics, Astronomy, Computational Sciences, described sensors – in space, and on the ground – that collect climateinformation. more Working for Free Financial Times 6/23/14— Working without pay is becoming more common. Tyler Cowen, economics professor, Center for Study of Public Choice, said only doing things for money could bea corrupting mindset. more Is GovCon a Real Market? Federal News Radio 6/24/14 – John Hillen, executive in residence and professor of practice, School of Management, discussed the growth of the GovCon services market. more Debating the Export-Import Bank’s Future St. Louis Dispatch 6/25/14—If Congress does not act, the charter for the Export-Import Bank will expire, but not everyone thinks this is a bad thing. Debating William Lacy Clay, democratic representativefrom Missouri, and a major supporter of the bank, Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow, Mercatus Center, said the Export-Import Bank creates unfair advantages for some business at the expense of taxpayers. more Creating Fair Tax Policies JCOnline 6/26/14—Maurice McTigue, vice president for outreach, Mercatus Center, offered adviceto Gov. Mike Pence on tax reform in Indiana. more ### ORED Media Report 6/14/14-6/20/14 Peace Might Hurt Economic Growth New York Times 6/13/14 — Tyler Cowen, professor of economics, Center for Study of Public Choice, said that slow economic growth, caused in part by weak demand, over-regulation, and lack of innovation, could have another culprit: the persistence of peace. more War for Prosperity Right Side News 6/16/14 — In a recent article in the New York Times, Tyler Cowen, professor of economics, Center for Study of Public Choice, considered the impact of peace on economic growth.more Is It Harder to Open a Brewery in Virginia? Washington Business Journal 6/17/14 — A study released earlier this month by the Mercatus Center concludes that Virginia breweries face barriers to business, but brewers around the state say the regulatory burden is easing. more The Rise of “Philantro-Shaming” The Washington Post 6/17/14 – Benjamin Soskis, research fellow, Center for the Study of Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy and Policy, described a report entitled “The Phony Philanthropy of the Walmart Heirs” as unfair. more Breaking Nuclear Gridlock The Bulletin 6/17/14 – Zachary Keck, a graduate student in political and international affairs, said the world’s nuclear powers should aim to ban land-based delivery systems to reduce impending nuclear dangers. more Mason’s Bryan Caplan on Parenting RT.com 6/18/14 – Bryan Caplan, associate professor of economics, Center for Study of Public Choice, talks about nature versus nurture and childrearing. more Mason Professor Urges Bishops to Care for the Needy Catholic Sentinel 6/19/14 — Helen Alvare, associate professor of law, said the church needs to continue their ministry of caring for the needy despite obstacles. more Detecting Guns before They’re Fired In The Capital 6/19/14 – Associate Professor Ken Hintz, Volgenau School of Engineering, and Assistant Professor Jim Wolfe, School of Management, are developing technology that can detect a weapon before it is fired, which could make schools and workplaces safer. more Experts Use SciCast to Make Predictions Broadway World (Reprinted in IT Business Net) 6/19/14 – Mason’s SciCast project called for participants to join the existing 2,300 professionals and enthusiasts who use the predicting power of crowdsourcing. Charles Twardy, assistant professor of engineering, and SciCast principal investigator, explained that forecasts influence each other. more (Mis)Reading George Will The Washington Post 6/19/14 – David Bernstein, Mason Foundation professor, School of Law, weighed in on George Will’s recent column, which created controversy and prompted calls for the Washington Post to fire him. more ORED Media Report 6/7/14-6/13/14 New Jobs Data Does Not Account for Missing Workers US News and World Report 6/6/14 – Unemployment numbers would rise if so-called “missing workers” were added to current calculations of the potential labor force, according to a new report. Keith Hall, a senior researcher with the Mercatus Center, said that greater numbers are needed for strong job growth. more China’s Complex Foreign Relations Middle East Monitor 6/8/14 – China has become the largest net importer of petroleum in the world by diversifying its energy suppliers. Mark N. Katz, professor of public and international affairs, said that Beijing wants more stability. more The Case for and Against Slave Reparations Communities Digital News 6/9/14 – The debate over whether American descendants of slaves should receive reparations from the U.S. government continues to rage. Walter Williams, professor of economics, addressed the effects of discrimination on generations of African Americans. more Regulations Have High Price Tag for Businesses Newsmax.com 6/9/14 – A new report by the Competitive Enterprise Group (CEI) said that federal regulations impose a massive burden on the economy. Patrick McLaughlin, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, said that regulations take a toll on employees by increasing paperwork and stifling innovation. more Companies Committing Fraud Get Hit Hard Wall Street Journal 6/10/14 – The Searle Civil Justice Institute, a research division of Mason’s Law & Economics Center, conducted a study of U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement and found public companies charged with bribery and financial fraud saw an initial drop of 16.3% in market capitalization. more Public Support for Policy Action on Climate Change The Energy Collective.com 6/11/14 – America’s response to several surveys, including one that Ed Maibach, director for Center for Climate Change Communications, conducted together with Yale University, indicated that 50-85% of Americans agree that global warming is happening. more 1 Low Voter Turnout in Texas KTRH News Radio.com 6/11/14 – A study conducted by Mason’s United States Elections Project revealed that Texas’s voter turnout was among the worst in the country in the 2012 election. more Slow Growth Stalls Economic Recovery New York Times 6/11/14 – Slow economic growth is stalling economic recovery, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office. Tyler Cowan, professor of economics at the Center for Study of Public Choice, said that the slow growth could linger. more What Does Your Name Communicate about You? PolicyMic.com 6/12/14 – According to several experts, names can signify important information about race, class status, education level and ethnic origin, but when more information enters the picture, the impact of a name can fade. Martin Ford, senior assistant dean of the College of Education and Human Development, said adding information about personality, motivation, and ability reduces its impact. more Climate Change Terms Impact Perception Boulder Weekly 6/12/14 – A study conducted by Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communications in conjunction with Yale University found more Americans worry about “global warming” than “climate change.” Edward Maibach, the center’s director, said that the term’s connotation creates different perceptions. more 2 ORED Media Report: 5/30/14-6/6/14 Mason Study Is a Big Deal Watchdog Wire 5/28/14 – Eileen Norcross, senior research fellow Mercatus Center, recently authored a report on the status of Alabama’s public pension system that said gaps in funding could lead to bankruptcy within 10 years. more… Cronyism Means Big Bucks for Businesses Heritage.org 5/28/14 – A new report released by the Mercatus Center said that some policies designed to foster economic development are shifting wealth from taxpayers to big business. Lotta Moberg, co-author of the report, said that such practices create adverse incentives. more… Mason Doctoral Student Teaches Peace Techniques Fairfax News 5/30/14 – Soolmaz Abooali, a doctoral student at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, demonstrated her research on the use of martial arts to promote self-reflection and conflict resolution in Los Angeles. more… Virginia’s Employment Growth Lags Richmond Times Dispatch.com 6/1/14 – Low employment growth in Virginia could be due to decreases in federal spending. Professor Stephen Fuller, School of Public Policy, said that declines in federal spending could continue into the next fiscal year. more… Victims of Rape Sometimes Pay for Medical Care GPB News.org 6/3/14 – A study funded by the National Institute of Justice funded looked at the effects of legislation to cover the costs of medical care for rape victims. Research carried out by Mason researchers in partnership with the Urban Institute and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center analyzed which services are provided to rape survivors and the extent to which they're provided free of charge. more… Understanding the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Roberts WBUR.org 6/3/14 – Tom Ashbrook’s interview with author Lawrence Tribe revealed some of the subtleties of Supreme Court decisions that affect the nation. Associate Professor Neomi Rao, a constitutional law scholar in the School of Law, weighed in on the discussion. more… 1 Mason Student Fights for Sustainability The Bahamas Weekly 6/3/14 – Jade Pearce, a student in the Environmental Science and Sustainability Program, received the Ethan S. Bain Environmental Health Foundation Scholarship to study how factors in the natural environment affect communities. Pearce has worked globally and locally to help people and the environment. more… Will the New NIST Framework Make Us Less Secure? GovInfoSecurity.com 6/3/14 – Mercatus Center research fellow Eli Dourado said the cybersecurity framework issued earlier this year by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is likely to cause more problems than it solves. more… Favoritism Flourishes in Mississippi The Daily Signal 6/3/14 – Research by Associate Professor of Economics Christopher Coyne and Lotta Moberg of the Mercatus Center caused some to doubt whether tax-payer funded investments for business was creating jobs or simply causing favoritism. more… Global Warming Evident in Amazon Forest Mongabay.com 6/4/14 – Research published in the journal Ecology studied the ecological impacts in Amazonian rainforests that may be linked to rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, according to Professor Thomas Lovejoy, the study’s leader from the Environmental Science and Policy Department. more… Regulations Stifle Innovation Hawaii Reporter 6/4/14 – A study recently released by the Mercatus Center found that regulations on craft beer brewing limit competition and stifle innovation in the industry. Senior research fellow Matthew Mitchell and program manager Christopher Koopman found that state and federal regulations can privilege established brewers and distributors at the expense of customers and entrepreneurs trying to enter the market. more… Rape Victims Pay for Attack-Related Medical Bills RT.com 6/4/14 -- The National Institute of Justice funded a study to look at the effects of legislation to cover the costs of medical care for rape victims. Research carried out by Mason researchers in partnership with the Urban Institute and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2 eanalyzed which services are provided to rape survivors and the extent to which they're provided free of charge. more… Can ObamaCare Reduce the Deficit? Roll Call.com 6/4/14 – Four years after enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it’s unclear whether the health care law is still on track to reduce the deficit. Charles Blahous, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, commented on the Congressional Budget Office’s inability to estimate the net effect of the law. more… Customer Service Won’t Save Small Banks American Banker.com 6/4/14 – The strategy offering individual service to their customers is not preventing a declinein the number of American community banks. According to a report from the Mercatus Center, the number of small banks declined 24% between 2000 and 2013, while the five largest banks now hold 44% of U.S. banking assets and 40% of domestic deposits. more… Climate Change Controversy Continues Vox.com 6/5/14 – The climate change debate hinges on what many would consider a small shift in temperature. However, Professor of Environmental Science and Policy Thomas Lovejoy’s research on climate change posits that a 2-degree shift could have marked consequences for human life. more… Obama’s Presidency Will Be Remembered CBS Pittsburg 6/5/14 – Law Professor Francis Buckley said that Obama’s presidency will be remembered for using “king-like powers.” Buckley referenced George Mason’s 1787 fear that an American President would be an “elected monarch.” more… Predicting Wildfire Emissions’ Impact on the Global Carbon Cycle PHYS.org 6/5/14 – Predicting and quantifying the effects of potential future wildfire emissions is adifficult process, but a team of 17 scientists and associates including some from George Mason University is collaborating to do just that. more… Regulations on Pesticides Threaten EU Honeybees Wall Street Journal 6/5/14 – Jon Entine, director of the Genetic Literacy Project and a senior researcherwith Mason’s Center for Health & Risk Communication, said that last year’s decision byEuropean 3 Commissioners to pass a two-year preemptive ban on a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids to protect honeybees had unintended consequences that threaten the bees. more… The Real Scientific Consensus on Climate Change Fox Business 6/5/14 – Survey data collected by Mason researchers provides insight on the debate overclimate change and policy. more… Warmer Waters Propel Fish North Straight.com 6/5/14 – Some scientists say in recent years a fish species called the summer flounder hasaltered its habitat due to a warming Atlantic. Chris Kennedy, environmental economics professor, said this change in the water is only one part of the equation that the team is tackling. Theyare looking at changes occurring on land. more… Anti-Immigrant Fervor Is Destined to Become a Relic of the Past This Week 6/5/14 – Commenting on survey that found levels of prejudice among the British had increased, Bryan Caplan, associate professor of economics at the Center for the Study of Public Choice, said anti-immigrant sentiment does not always stem from racism, nativism, or xenophobia, but from a preference for the status quo. more… Job Growth Exceeds Expectations U.S. News & World Report 6/6/14 – U.S. businesses added more jobs than projected in May, a hopeful sign for Americans seeking work. Keith Hall, an economist and senior research fellow at the MercatusCenter, said stronger economic growth creates stronger job growth, which keeps the momentum of stronger consumer spending. more… Study Uncovers Threats to Rainforests Summit Country Voice 6/6/14 – A team of researchers led by Thomas Lovejoy, environmental studies and policy professor, studied fragmentation in Amazonian rainforests caused by cattle ranching over the past 35 years. Lovejoy said increases in tree deaths and vine growth might be caused byelevated carbon dioxide levels. more… 4 ORED Media Report 5/22/14-5/29/14 Research Links Latino Students’ Success to Montessori EdCentral.org 5/22/14 – New research published in the Journal of Educational Psychology suggested that Montessori pre-K programs that emphasize student-driven, individualized instruction, may best suit Latino students’ unique developmental paths. Professor of Psychology Adam Winsler and his co-researcher explored how Montessori pre-K programs affected the school readiness of African-American and Latino children. more… LBJ’s Great Society Funded D.C. Metro Washington Post 5/23/14 – Zachary M. Schrag, Professor of History and author of the book The Great Society Subway: A History of the Washington Metro said many pieces of the Great Society, including car safety laws, a national trails system and the Metro, were designed to make life better for all Americans. more … Americans Still Interested in Climate Change Christian Science Monitor 5/23/14 – A recent study noted a decline in Google searches about climate change, but, according to Ed Maibach, Director of the Center for Climate Change Communication (CCCC), Americans' concern with global warming has actually risen steadily since 2009. Dr. Maibach said that more information about climate change might have caused the decrease in Google searches. more… Mason Student Researcher Gets High Marks from NIH InTheCapital.com 5/27/14 – Doctoral student Gavin Sampey received funding from the National Institute of Health for his innovative HIV research. Sampey’s grant earned ab elite one percent rating, making it the best of the national grants reviewed, said Fatah Kashanchi, Director of Research at the Mason-based National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases and mentor to Sampey. more… Policies for Economic Development Should Level the Playing Field BizTimes.com Mason researchers who studied economic development efforts across the country found that improvements are needed. Associate Professor of Economics Christopher J. Coyne and his student, Lotta Moberg, said that policymakers would be better off pursuing policies that level the playing field for all businesses. more… Event Shows Possibilities for Big Data HPCWire.com 5/27/14 – At a conference that addressed the role and meaning of big data in research and business, Kirk Borne, Professor of Astrophysics and Computational Science, showed the direct scientific and commercial benefits of large-scale data analysis through his researchin 1 astrophysics and shared how these technologies have implications for manufacturing and transportation. more… When It Comes to Global Warming, Names Matter Gnomes National News Service.com 5/27/14 – The shift in terminology from “global warming” to “climate change” has affected how Americans think about this issue, according to a recent study by the Yale Project on Climate Change. Professor Ed Maibach, Director of the Center for Climate Change Communication (CCCC), said that many people do not see “global warming” and “climate change” as synonymous terms. more… Mason Professor Honored for Research on Traffic Congestion FairfaxNews.com 5/29/14 – Professor of Civil Engineering Shanjiang Zhu, with the Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy at Mason’s School of Public Policy, was awarded the 2014 Young Researcher of the Year Award by the International Transport Forum (ITF). Zhu’s research has created a tool to evaluate policy options to reduce traffic congestion in cities. more… Climate Change Terminology Affects Beliefs Journalist’s Resource 5/29/14 – A March 2014 study conducted by Center for Climate Change Communication and the Yale Project on Climate Change reveals that people react to the terms “global warning”and “climate change” differently, which, according to Professor Ed Maibach, Director of the Center for Climate Change Communication, has significant implications for science journalism and communications. more… Mason Researchers Conduct Survey of Iranian Americans Payvand Iran News.com 5/29/14 -- A survey conducted by Mason researchers in April, commissioned by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, said Iranian Americans support facilitating greater understanding between the peoples of Iran and the United States. more… 2 ORED MEDIA REPORT 5/16/14 – 5/22/14 GMU Forms First in Kind Precision Medicine Alliance Virginia Bio 5/9/14 – GMU has joined forces with Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in a first-of-its-kind alliance that builds upon expertise from both institutions. Mason has pioneered proteomics, or the study of proteins, while TGen is a world-leader in genomic, or DNA, research in the growing field of precision medicine that uses a patient’s molecular profile to personalize treatment and medications. more… Debating the Role of Religion in Foreign Policy National Catholic Reporter 5/16/14 – George Mason partnered with the Brookings Institute and City University London to host a forum that assessed the degree of influence religion has on foreign policy. Professor Peter Mandaville, of the Center for Global Islamic Studies, was on the panel of experts. more… Drone Technology Becomes More Accessible Smithsonian 5/17/14 – Christopher Vo, a graduate researcher in computer science, spoke about the potential for personal drones at the Smithsonian’s The Future Is Here conference in Washington, DC. Vo demonstrated how drone technology has become more accessible mainstream. more… Bringing Down Cyber-Underworld Silk Road WCNC.com 5/19/14 – Jerry Brito, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center , offered insight into how FBI agents took down the Silk Road, a black market Internet site. more… Low-Income Latino Children Benefit from Pre-School EurekaAlert (Reprinted in Parent Herald) 5/19/14 – Adam Winsler, Professor of Psychology, co-authored a study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology that found Latino children excelled in Montessori programs across pre-academic and behavioral skills. more… . Without changes, Alabama's Pension Funds Could Run Dry AL.com 5/19/14 – In her report for the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy, Eileen Norcross, the lead researcher for the State and Local Policy Project at the Mercatus Center, wrote that the pension funds for teachers and other state workers are underfunded, questioning the investment choices of the Retirement Systems of Alabama. more… 1 White House Asks Weathercasters to Cover Climate Change TVNewsCheck.com 5/20/14 – The White House wants TV meteorologists to join the effort in raising awareness about climate change. Ed Maibach, Director of the Center for Climate Change Communication, said weathercasters should use their reports to increase interest and knowledge using materials from the center. more… Job Growth Is More than Numbers NewsMax.com 5/20/14 – What are the markers of economic recovery? Keith Hall, Senior Research Fellow of the Mercatus Center, said that counting jobs is not enough to determine whether there is a full job recovery. more... Dyslexia Could Have Some Advantages TodayOnline.com 5/21/14 – People with dyslexia might face challenges, but they also have advantages. Thomas West, a researcher and author who works with the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, said that dyslexics envision possibilities, see patterns and make discoveries because they have dyslexia. more… Terrorism Expert from Mason Addresses Benghazi Union Leader.com 5/21/14 – Jeffery B. Cozzens, a researcher at the Center for Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security, offered his expert opinion about the upcoming Benghazi investigation. Cozzens said the House Select Committee should look at into both the actual attack and the culture of terror that precipitated it. more… Subcommittee Seeks Reforms to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau HousingWire.com 5/21/14 – Mercatus Center’s Senior Research Fellow Hester Pierce was among a panel of experts who provided testimony to the House Subcommittee of Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit regarding improvements to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. more… Aspiring Scientists Intern at GMU Virginia Bio 5/21/14 – Amy VanMeter Adams directs the Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program at GMU, in the Center for Applied Proteomics & Molecular Medicine on the Prince William Campus. High school and college age scientists will gain hands-on experience using the latest technologies and participate in workshops that promote creativity, career development, and communication skills for STEM careers. more… 2 Mason Researcher Testifies on Social Security Reform InsuranceNewsNet.com 5/22/14 – Jason Fichtner, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, testified before the Senate Finance Committee to address Social Security reforms. He said reforms should focus on encouraging increased US savings, labor-force participation, and economic growth. more… 3 ORED MEDIA REPORT 5/5/14 – 5/15/14 High Frequency Trading—Fair for All eFXNews.com 5/5/14 – Michael Lewis, a researcher at the Mercatus Center, weighed in on the controversial topic of high frequency trading (HFT), arguing for fairness for all in a recently released Working Paper. more... TGen Strikes Research Pact with George Mason University AZCentral.com 5/6/14 – President Àngel Cabrera said a new partnership between Mason researchers and Translational Genomics Research Institute scientists will strengthen efforts to understand and fight cancer and traumatic brain injury by leveraging both intuitions’ expertise . more... TGen and George Mason Launch Precision Medicine Alliance GenomeWeb.com 5/6/14 – Àngel Cabrera, president of GMU, said a collaboration between Translational Genomics Research Institute and George Mason has the potential to help more patients with cancer and traumatic injuries. more . . . TGen and George Mason University Announce Precision Medicine Alliance 4-Traders.com 5/7/14 – A new partnership between Translational Genomics Research Institute and GMU positions researchers at both institutions to study the molecular causes of devastating diseases such as cancer and develop personalized treatments. This research is a boon for the scientific and medical communities, says President Àngel Cabrera. more . . . TGen/George Mason Research Alliance Benefits Patients with Life-ThreateningIllnesses News-Medical.net 5/7/14 – World leaders in in exploring the fundamentals of disease development, George Mason and Translational Genomics Research Institute are now partnering to find new, personalized treatments for cancer and traumatic injury. more . . . Time Away Hurts Surgeons’ Job Performance NPR.org 5/8/14 – Lorens Helmchen, a researcher at the College of Health and Human Services, was interviewed by Morning Edition’s Steve Inskeep about surprising findings from his research on surgeons’ performance after time off from surgery. more . . . Cato Institute Panel on ObamaCare Challenges 5/9/14 – Ilya Somin, a Mason law professor, moderated this debate about challenges to ObamaCare for the Cato Institute. The discussion focuses on the individual health insurance mandate required by the Affordable Health Care Act. more . . . 1 Number-Crunching May Help Crack Alzheimer’s Disease Code MedicalXpress.com 5/9/14 – Professor Dimitri Klimov at the School of Systems Biology is collaborating with Parabon Computation to harness the power of thousands of volunteers’ computers in his study of Alzheimer’s. Volunteers can download software that runs simulations on their computers to speed up Klimov’s analysis of the disease by orders of magnitude. more . . . Teenage Employment Tumbles Investor’s Business Daily 5/9/14 – Keith Hall, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, reports troubling statistics about teen employment. more . . . Your Computer Downtime Could Crack the Alzheimer’s Code Recode.net 5/11/14 – Thanks to a new collaboration with Parabon Computation, Professor Dimitri Klimov in the School of Systems Biology can increase his computation capacity by involving volunteers in his efforts to study Alzheimer’s. more... Millions of California Voters Missing from Registration Rolls The Sacramento Bee (Reprinted on May 12th in the BakersfieldCalifornian) 5/11/14 – Professor Michael P. McDonald of Mason’s U.S. Election Project weighs in on election malaise and voter apathy in California. more... Does Health Insurance Increase Lifespan? USA Today 5/12/14 – Professor Alison Cuellar, College of Health and Human Services, lent her expertise to analysis of mortality rates and insurance coverage across states. more... Researcher Receives $3.3 Million Grant to Find a Cure for HIV News-Medical.net 5/12/14 – Professor Yuntao Wu, School of Systems Biology, can continue his work developing a potential cure for HIV thanks to a large NIH grant. Wu’s “Trojan Horse” virus could offer people struggling with AIDS some good news in the next five years. more... Economics, Discrimination and Basketball WorldNetDaily.com 5/13/14 – Professor of Economics Walter E. Williams weighs in on the recent controversy regarding Donald Sterling, former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, focusing on the greater implications of his behavior on the economy and society. more... In Defense of Broadband Fast Lanes Recode.net 5/13/14 – Mercatus Center research fellow Brent Skorup offers a different perspective on the debate over net neutrality in this commentary that asks readers to rethink broadband “fast lanes.” more... 2 Life under Cuban Communism Washington Post 5/13/14 – Professor Ilya Somin of the School of Law examines Michael Totten’s City Journal article about the realities of life under Cuban communism, which he says mirrors a fictional dystopian world in its shortages, poverty, and lack of access to basic needs. more... Fix the FDA, Fix Patents, Save Lives Forbes 5/13/14 – Economist Tyler Cowen, a professor at the Center for Study of Public Choice at GMU, is cited in this op/ed that calls for changes to FDA regulations and patent laws that would make drugs available on generic form more quickly. more... Scientists Fight Disease that Steals Memories The Austrailian 5/14/14 –Mason’s School of Systems Biology researchers, led by Professor Dmitri Klimov, are collaborating with Parabon Computation to develop a tool that allows computer users to assist in the “Compute Against Alzheimer’s Disease” project, speeding up the research that will help scientists understand the disease at a molecular level. more... Federal Judge Strikes Down Idaho Law Banning Same-SexMarriage Washington Post 5/14/14 – Professor Ilya Somin of the School of Law discusses the implications of a recent court ruling that could allow same-sex couples in Idaho to marry this week. This ruling is part of the waterfall of similar rulings that have given supporters of same-sex marriage momentum in the courts and in public opinion. more… Political Challenges in Medicaid Expansion DeSoto Times Today 5/14/14 – Charles Blahous, the public trustee for Social Security and Medicare at the Mercatus Center, offers some insight on the failure of Medicaid expansion efforts to gain political support. more… State Health Law Decreases Mortality Rates The Sun Chronicle 5/14/14 – Professor Alison Cuellar from the College of Health and Human Services lent her expertise to analysis of mortality rates and insurance coverage across states. more. . . Disconnecting Free Wi-Fi Is a Good Thing Press.Enterprise.com 5/14/14 – Brent Skorup, a research fellow in the Technology Policy Program at the Mercatus Center, offers his opinion about cities’ role in providing Internet access. more… 3 Poorest Poor Left Out of Government Aid CNNMoney (Reprinted on ABC17News.com) 5/15/14 – This article quotes Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center, who explained the political popularity of the Earned Income Tax Credit, credited with moving families from welfare to work. more… Better Management Could Spur a New Era of Economic Growth Bloomberg.com 5/15/14 – Tyler Cowen’s theory of “The Great Stagnation” is part of the debate over economic policy. Cowen, an economist at the Center for Study of Public Choice, argued that plucking the “low-hanging fruit” will not solve deeper problems. more… Regulation Could Slow Our Future New York Times 5/15/14 – Brent Skorup, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, questioned net neutrality rules and said that new rules proposed by the FCC would hamper the speed of online gaming, cheaper television packages, and other services. more… The Right-to-Be-Forgotten vs. Right-to-Know TechNewsWorld.com 5/15/14 – Adam Thierer, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, joined the debate spurred by a recent ruling of the European Court of Justice over the an individual’s right to have personal information removed from the Internet. more… Debating Open Borders National Review 5/15/14 – This video features Professor Bryan Caplan, an economist from the Center for Study of Public Choice, debated opening American’s borders. Caplan argued that treating foreigners differently from Americans is unfair. more... 4