The NCAA’s deadline was “the symbolic hammer that finally worked,” says public policy professor Pope “Mac” McCorkle, a former lawyer who has worked as a policy consultant for North Carolina’s representatives. He says the deal worked out Thursday looks more like “a plea bargain. “The NCAA isn’t liberal or conservative (by nature) so it became kind of the default judge in this case.”
Read More in The International Business TimesCategory: Social Issues
Bathroom Law Repeal Leaves Few Pleased in North Carolina
Public policy professor Pope “Mac” McCorkle called the deal an “awkward compromise.” He says it would ultimately be judged by how many of the sports events, entertainers and businesses who had turned on the state would eventually change their minds. Law professor Jane Wettach says that beyond schools, few institutions had ever policed people’s bathroom choices. “Which is what made the law sort of symbolic,” she says, referring to House Bill 2.
Read More in The New York Times
North Carolina’s Bathroom Bill Repeal Won’t Bring the NCAA Back
“The state could lose more than $3.76 billion over the next 12 years due to boycotts and lost business opportunities stemming from the bill, which takes aim at LGBT anti-discrimination policies, according to an Associated Press analysis. … It will take strong action to convince national and global organizations that have cut ties with the state to return …,” writes Dorie Clark, an adjunct professor at The Fuqua School of Business and a former presidential campaign spokeswoman for Howard Dean.
Read More in Fortune
NC’s Love of College Sports Spurred Move to Repeal Bathroom Law
“I think the N.C.A.A’s view had become a barometer for people judging the economic development impact,” says Pope “Mac” McCorkle, a former state Democratic consultant who is now a professor of public policy at Duke. “It locked in people’s view that this is a mess, and the way we would know the mess had cleared up is the N.C.A.A.”
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Equitable Growth in Conversation: An interview with William Darity Jr.
“I think that the run-up in inequality that we’ve observed in recent years is closely tied to a set of social policies that have produced virtually unlimited capacity to generate extraordinary levels of wealth. … In short, I think we can look directly at a set of policies and, more recently, at the advent of the Great Recession to understand the rise in economic inequality,” says economist William “Sandy” Darity, the Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy at the Sanford School of Public Policy.
Read More From The Washington Center for Equitable Growth
Duke Engineering Dean Discusses Confronting, Overcoming Biases
Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering Dean Ravi Bellamkonda explains why diverse university settings can be an important catalyst in helping society confront and overcome biases. He says we have perceptions of what “other” is – Africa, Asia, gay, straight, etc. “These perceptions are fueled, increasingly, in bubbles in social media and reinforce any bias you have. But there’s no better way to take these on, to actually meet someone (than when you are) at a global university like Duke,” he says.
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For Reparations: A Conversation With William A. Darity Jr.
“I think (the racial distribution of wealth and reparations) are very much connected,” says public policy professor William “Sandy” Darity. “I think that the growing interest on my part in reparations is actually what propelled me to pay closer and closer attention to racial wealth inequality. I certainly think that one of the objectives of a sound reparations program should be closing the racial wealth gap. In fact, I think that’s an important objective.”
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Cuts To EPA, NIH Budgets Would Hurt Local Economy
President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget includes cuts to two federal agencies that could make a noticeable dent in the Triangle economy if it wins congressional approval. Dr. Nancy C. Andrews, dean of the School of Medicine, says in a statement she hopes Congress rejects any reduction of NIH funding and funding for other programs critical to people’s health and well-being. “Everywhere you turn, there is clear evidence of the impact of science and biomedical research on human lives,” she says.
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A Matter of Life and Death
“During the campaign, Donald Trump promised to repeal and replace Obamacare with something “terrific,” something that would cover “everybody.” This new proposal is opposite. In the service of cutting taxes for a few, it will shorten lives for many. America must reject it,” writes Mark Paul, postdoctoral associate at the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, and a colleague.
Read More on Inside Sources
Why So Many Evangelicals Support Trump
“By surrounding himself at his election rallies with flags, songs and people who symbolized American values, candidate Trump evoked a sense of priestly leadership that many found appealing,” writes Donald Woolley, a senior research associate in psychiatry.
Read More in The Hill
Singling Out Crimes by Illegal Immigrants
President Trump’s speech Tuesday alarmed many observers who say focusing on the misdeeds of a small minority of immigrants will foster a climate of fear and animosity that puts others at risk. “It’s tough to make parallels (with Nazi Germany) when the scapegoat is so different. But the process is the same,” says history professor emeritus Claudia Koonz.
Read More in the Toronto Star
The Case for Welcoming Immigrant Families
Research shows Hispanic children in the U.S. worry a lot more than their non-Hispanic peers. Some told researchers they feared their parents would be taken from them and sent away. Given that more than one in four U.S. children live in a family with at least one immigrant parent, associate professor Anna Gassman-Pines argues we should work toward helping parents and their children feel integrated into U.S. society rather than isolated.
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