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The Problem With Venting About Your Students

March 18, 2021

Karen Head, associate professor and associate chair of the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was quoted in the article "The Problem With Venting About Your Students," published March 18, 2021 in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The article explored the pitfalls of the ubiquitous practice of professors and teachers voicing gripes about their students, which has recently been placed under the microscope due to it being caught on video. Head offered her thoughts on two recent high-profile examples at Widener and Georgetown universities.

Excerpt:

Characterizing students’ abilities based on their race crosses a bright line for many professors. “We know that implicit bias is a problem,” said Karen Head, associate chair of the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology. What the Georgetown instructor said, though, was “pretty explicit,” said Head, who is also the executive director of the Naugle CommLab.

The Widener comments, Head said, sound more like the run-of-the-mill venting session professors might have in the mailroom, or over a coffee. “Complaining about students,” Head said, “is as old as teachers and students.” So long as it stays behind closed doors, she said, it’s often seen as harmless. But, she added, “I don’t think that it is.”

Full article (login required).

Published in: The Chronicle of Higher Education
Opinion: Ga. voting processes should be both secure and usable

March 13, 2021

Michael Best, professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing, co-authored the opinion piece "Ga. voting processes should be both secure and usable," published March 13, 2021 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Best, along with Ellen Zegura and Richard DeMillo of the College of Computing, shared results of the research they undertook on the accessibility of voting locations, which was partly spurred by dissatisfaction in the wake of June 2020's primary elections. One key point of the findings was the highly levels of voter satisfaction regarding the use of stadiums as voting locations.

Excerpt:

State Farm Arena claims to be the nation’s first stadium to offer itself as a polling location, though many other arenas across the nation followed suit. All of us should be proud of the way our professional sports teams stepped up. The organizations that operate sports arenas are filled with professionals focused on customer experience and usability. So, should sporting arenas continue to serve as large-scale early voting locations? Maybe. After all, stadia often are built with considerable public support and taxpayer investment and offering themselves as polling places is a great way for them to give back to their communities.

The usability concepts that are common in stadia can also be applied to our more-typical polling locations, such as churches, libraries, and schools. More user-friendly election systems don’t require sporting venues. Instead, what is required is an investment in useful, efficient, easy, and pleasant voting experiences. This investment will only happen with broad political support.

Full article.

Published in: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who Would Kamala Harris Pick as VP if She Runs in 2024?

March 10, 2021

Richard Barke, associate professor in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in the article "Who Would Kamala Harris Pick as VP if She Runs in 2024?" published March 10, 2021 in National Interest.

The article explores the question of Harris' potential running mate should Joe Biden decide to step aside and his vice president runs for president. Barke zeroed in on Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) as a solid possibility, given Ryan's "Midwestern blue-collar" bona fides.

Excerpt:

Another potential contender could be Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who ran for president in 2020 where he emphasized the significance of focusing on working-class voters. Ryan is also reportedly running for GOP Sen. Rob Portman’s vacant seat next year, a race that will likely boost his national name recognition considering Democrats have razor-thin margins in both congressional chambers.

“[Ryan] is generally seen as a centrist who could appeal to the Midwestern blue-collar electorate. Anything can happen in the next three years, as we have seen, but Ryan might be the kind of Democrat that could balance the Harris ticket,” Barke said.

Full article.

Published in: National Interest
10 US cities paving the way for the future by investing in technology, sustainability, and infrastructure

March 8, 2021

Christopher Le Dantec, associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing and School of Literature, Media, and Communication, was quoted in the article "10 US cities paving the way for the future by investing in technology, sustainability, and infrastructure," published March 4, 2021 by Insider.

The article explores the ways that cities around the country are coping with growth and change, and Le Dantec, whose work largely focuses on civic participation by citizens and the concept of "smart cities," spoke to the efforts ongoing in Atlanta.

Excerpt:

Smart streetlights are also being added, and the city is testing a gunshot detection system that would send alerts to 911, police patrol cars, and residents' smartphones. Other systems would help drivers detect parking spots. Atlanta partnered with Georgia Power, AT&T, and Current by GE for the project.

"There's a lot of activity going on just in general around transit and Atlanta, in and around the larger metro area," Christopher Le Dantec, associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing and School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech, told Insider. That means thinking through the transportation of people and goods around the city and its suburbs.

"It's a very difficult problem to solve because there are so many different agencies at play," he added.

Full article.

Published in: Insider
The Next 400: Communities continue to suffer from redlining’s racist effects

March 8, 2021

Todd Michney, assistant professor in the School of History and Sociology, was quoted in the piece "The Next 400: Communities continue to suffer from redlining’s racist effects," published March 5, 2021 by 19News in Cleveland, Ohio.

The piece explores the still-visible effects of discriminatory housing policies that affected Black families moving to Cleveland, which Michney described in his book Surrogate Suburbs: Black Upward Mobility and Neighborhood Change in Cleveland, 1900-1980.

Excerpt:

Figures show the number of “non-white” residents grew from roughly 8700 in 1910 to more than 243,000 in 1959.

Reaction to this population explosion was blunt—and racist.

“White people, as more black people moved to Cleveland, were less willing to share space and live next to them,” said Michney. “They would react violently if African Americans started moving out of the area they considered acceptable.”

And thus, the practice of hemming in Black people into certain areas began. Lending institutions drew up maps that deemed largely white areas as good and minority areas as bad.

“If you trace the financial dimensions of it. These houses have not appreciated in value as much, so that’s had all kinds of effects,” noted Michney. “Any new development after 1920, you could basically expect to find deed restrictions, saying this property cannot be sold to a black person.”

Full article and video.

Published in: 19News
Deep Science: AI adventures in arts and letters

March 5, 2021

Research by Omar Asensio, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, was featured in the article "Deep Science: AI adventures in arts and letters," published March 5, 2021 in Televisor.

The article features examples of applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning systems applied to the humanities and social sciences. Asensio has used machine learning to comb through reviews of electric vehicle charging systems and extract larger conclusions from the dataset.

Excerpt:

You arrive at a charge point for your electric car and find it to be out of service. You might even leave a bad review online. In fact, thousands of such reviews exist and constitute a potentially very useful map for municipalities looking to expand electric vehicle infrastructure.

Georgia Tech’s Omar Asensio trained a natural language processing model on such reviews and it soon became an expert at parsing them by the thousands and squeezing out insights like where outages were common, comparative cost and other factors.

Full article.

Published in: Televisor
After 63 Years, China Rethinks Strict Residency Rules

March 5, 2021

Fei-Ling Wang, professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, was quoted in the article "After 63 Years, China Rethinks Strict Residency Rules," published March 5, 2021 in Voice of America.

The article explores policy changes in China that loosen the restrictions imposed upon residents that wanted to move from rural to urban areas. Wang, who has studied the "hukou" policy extensively, spoke to the change's potential impact on the labor market.

Excerpt:

Fei-Ling Wang, a professor of international affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology and the author of “Organization Through Division and Exclusion: China’s Hukou System,” told Sixth Tone, a state-owned English-language online magazine based in Shanghai, that the removal of settlement restrictions was “a bold step in the right direction to ease restrictions of labor mobility.”

“It is very much in line with the general trend of localization of the hukou administration, signaling a progressive relaxation of the control of domestic migration and a welcome effort of reducing the urban-rural barriers, at least within a province,” he said.

Full article.

Published in: Voice of America
Georgians Unlikely to See Six Figure Utility Bills, But Freak Weather Could Still Bring Surprises

February 25, 2021

Marilyn Brown, Regents and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems and interim chair of the School of Public Policy, was interviewed about Georgia's electricity rate structure and the potential for "sticker shock" seen recently after the winter storms in Texas on WABE 90.1's "All Things Considered" on Feb. 24, 2021.

Brown spoke to the dynamics induced by "demand-side billing," which can reduce electricity use and emissions by tying a consumer's bill to their consumption at the peak period. However, that plan is structured in a manner that allows consumers to control their bills better than Texans would have been able to during the storms and accompanying deep freezes. Furthermore, Georgia is less likely to experience the supply shortages that also contributed to skyrocketing prices in Texas.

Excerpt from Brown's segment:

"The lessons that I think both Texas and Georgia can learn are how to better manage the demand side of the equation. I'm not sure anyone has talked about that. The ability to manage demand so the customers can reduce their consumption and still meet critical needs can help both Georgia and Texas ride through events like they've just experienced."

Full story here (Brown's segment starts at 2:57).

Published in: WABE 90.1
Is Georgia susceptible to rolling blackouts during extreme cold weather? Here’s what experts say

February 18, 2021

Marilyn Brown, Regents and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in the piece "Is Georgia susceptible to rolling blackouts during extreme cold weather? Here’s what experts say," broadcast Tuesday, Feb. 16 on WSB-TV.

Brown, a former member of the Tennessee Valley Authority board and a renowned expert on sustainable energy systems, spoke to the factors that may have precipitated the widespread blackouts taking place in Texas in the midst of a deep cold snap in the state.

Excerpt:

In Texas, the state’s electric grid operator opted not to prepare its system for extreme cold.

“You got to have thermal management practices in place. So Texas did not because it’s such a rare event,” said Dr. Marilyn Brown with Georgia Tech.

Full article.

Published in: WSB-TV
Severe weather, blackouts show the grid's biggest problem is infrastructure, not renewables

February 15, 2021

Emily Grubert, an assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering who also holds a courtesy appointment in the School of Public Policy, was mentioned in the article "Severe weather, blackouts show the grid's biggest problem is infrastructure, not renewables," published Feb. 15, 2021 in TechCrunch.

A tweet from Gruber commenting on recent blackouts resulting from a winter storm in the Midwest was featured in the story from author Jonathan Shieber, which explored issues with the power infrastructure that contributed to the blackouts.

Excerpt:

As Dr. Emily Grubert, an assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and, by courtesy, of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology, noted, the problem is more of a total systems issue than one associated with renewable power.

"Let us be absolutely clear: if there are grid failures today, it shows the existing (largely fossil-based) system cannot handle these conditions either," Grubert wrote on Twitter. "These are scary, climate change-affected conditions that pose extreme challenges to the grid. We are likely to continue to see situations like this where our existing system cannot easily handle them. Any electricity system needs to make massive adaptive improvements."

Full story.

Published in: TechCrunch
Lockhart says trading frenzy a ‘concern,’ but doubts likelihood of regulatory action

February 4, 2021

Dennis Lockhart, distinguished professor of the practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, was interviewed in "Ex-Fed official says trading frenzy a ‘concern,’ but doubts likelihood of regulatory action” by Fox Business.

Find an excerpt:

'One, the integrity of our markets is fundamental to our economic system. And secondly, they always have their eye on something that might trigger a financial event of some kind of systemic event that harms everyone.'

Watch the interview on Fox Business.

Published in: Fox Business
SEPADPod: The Biden Administration in the MENA

February 4, 2021

Lawrence Rubin, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, was featured on the Feb. 4, 2021 edition of the podcast "SEPADPod," produced by the Richardson Institute.

During the appearance, Rubin spoke about his thoughts and expectations on the Biden administration's tactics regarding policy and diplomacy towards the Middle East.

Listen to the podcast here.

Published in: Richardson Institute
Biden’s Challenge: Continuing Progress in Eastern Europe Despite Russian Adventurism

February 3, 2021

General Phil Breedlove, USAF (Ret.), distinguished professor of the practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, has written "Biden’s Challenge: Continuing Progress in Eastern Europe Despite Russian Adventurism." The article written with lulia-Sabina Joja, senior fellow for the Frontier Europe Initiative and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. was published by the Middle East Institute.

Find an excerpt:

The West’s response to Russia’s 2014 occupation and annexation of Crimea has long been perceived as insufficient, especially in the Black Sea region. Following the 2016 NATO Warsaw summit, a significant military force was deployed in the Baltic Sea states to deter Russia. However, the southern front of the Alliance’s eastern flank, where Russia has created a series of frozen conflicts and carried out invasions in both 2008 and 2014, remains challenged. Russia’s blockade of the Sea of Azov in 2018 has also been met with limited response. The West must do more to deter Russia’s increasingly aggressive Anti-Access/Area Denial efforts in the Black Sea.

Full article.

Published in: Middle East Institute
Meet the Creative Class Making Atlanta the New Epicenter of American Arts

February 3, 2021

Joycelyn Wilson, assistant professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communications, was featured in the article "Meet the Creative Class Making Atlanta the New Epicenter of American Arts," published Feb. 3, 2021 in Instyle.

Wilson, who helps lead LMC's Black Media Studies program and whose research focuses on hip hop culture in particular, gave her perspective in the article on the factors contributing to the ascendence of the city's arts scene.

Excerpt:

What makes Atlanta so sacred? It's long been a hub for anything and everything that matters — music, art, films, and certainly, as recent current events will attest, politics. But now, perhaps due to the spotlight on politics, people are paying attention to the city's unlimited potential and the supremely talented people who live there.

One such person is Dr. Joycelyn Wilson, the assistant professor of hip-hop studies and digital media at Georgia Tech's Ivan Allen College, who wrote an essay for March issue describing Atlanta's rich history and cultural significance, especially for the Black community. "Atlanta, like Wakanda, is a special place for Black Americans," she writes. "The difference is there are parts of the mecca mythology that actually exist. First, it's the birthplace of Dr. King — whose noble actions turned Atlanta into one of the most culturally resilient cities in the American South. Second, Atlanta has repeatedly applied its secret sauce for mixing music, culture, and business with progressive Democratic politics to keep the city blue and, more recently, help flip a traditionally red state."

Full article.

Published in: InStyle
At-home COVID-19 tests could be game changer in fight against virus, researchers say

February 2, 2021

Sarah Farmer, research scientist in the Center for Advanced Communications Policy, was quoted in the story "At-home COVID-19 tests could be game changer in fight against virus, researchers say," published and broadcast Feb. 2, 2021 on WSB-TV.

Farmer, who has conducted research regarding the usability of at-home medical technologies, spoke to the potential impact of the approval and wider use of Covid-19 tests that could be performed in homes, rather than at testing sites.

Excerpt:

For months, Georgia Tech researchers have been studying usability and accuracy of most home tests seeking FDA approval.

That includes the one from the Australian company Ellume. The U.S. just announced a $231 million deal with Ellume to buy 8.5 million tests by the end of the year.

“It’s the convenience, it’s the turnaround time. Hopefully there will be more widespread testing. People will maybe be able to test themselves more frequently,” Farmer said.

Full article.

Published in: WSB-TV
Power of a post: democracy in a digital age

January 31, 2021

Kaye Husbands Fealing, Dean and Ivan Allen Jr. Chair in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, was quoted in the article "Power of a post: democracy in a digital age," published Jan. 31, 2021 in Technique.

In the article, which recapped a discussion between Husbands Fealing and Peter Swire, professor of law and ethics in the Scheller College of Business, on January 20, when Joe Biden was inaugurated as president.

Excerpt:

The idea of this act was to cut new technology companies a break so they could grow. Now however, a new question has begun to arise — at what point should online platforms be liable?

Swire offered his opinion.

“I do think the companies should have better procedures to address disinformation and fraud and these problems,” Swire said. “… They should have transparency about the terms of service. They have to have algorithms to try to help human judgment.”

[Husbands] Fealing pointed out that algorithms still have issues.

“I think you’re hinting at the term of artificial intelligence methodologies that can be used here, which also have sometimes some biases built in one way or another,” Fealing said. “… I think the technologists need to get at this, but also the social scientists and as you said as well the legal sector as well, in terms of developing some practical solutions.”

Full article.

Published in: Technique
How Biden climate policy might impact Georgia

January 28, 2021

Marilyn Brown, Regents and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy, was quoted in the article "How Biden climate policy might impact Georgia," published Jan. 28, 2021 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Brown, who led the groundbreaking Drawdown Georgia project and has extensively researched the interaction of systems contributing to global emissions and climate change, spoke to the aggressive executive action that President Joe Biden's administration has taken so far on the issue.

Excerpt:

With the ambitious goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, President Joe Biden, in one week, signed a series of executive orders prioritizing climate change and giving the country an urgent push toward eliminating the emissions that have led to global warming.

Though many of those orders are far-reaching, addressing issues of national and international concern, many will also have significant impacts on Georgia.

“A lot of the executive orders are far from Georgia, but they signal a commitment to move away from fossil fuels and that in general has significant repercussions in Georgia,” said Marilyn Brown, professor in the school of public policy at Georgia Tech. “We will be seeing a move to more renewables in our power sector and an uptick of electric vehicles in our transportation sector.”

Full article.

Published in: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Is the U.S. Holdup of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine Justified?

January 28, 2021

Scott Ganz, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, co-authored the article “Is the U.S. Holdup of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccine Justified?” for The Dispatch on Jan. 25, 2021.

Ganz and co-author James Capretta explored the factors guiding the approval process of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and researchers at the University of Oxford, which could be approved for use in the United States soon but has faced more difficulties in the process than the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

Excerpt:

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has advantages that make it an attractive possibility. It can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures, and its price is low relative to its competitors. Public health experts have long targeted it as ideal for use in lower and moderate-income countries because of these features.

The problem is that its U.S. Phase III trial was delayed because of an adverse event investigation in the fall, and the data from the international trials used by the U.K. government are difficult to interpret due to unplanned modifications to dosing levels. The sponsoring organizations have explained that the clinical trial sites accidentally gave a half dose as a first shot to a portion of the trial participants, followed by a full dose at a longer-than-planned interval. All other trial participants in the vaccine arm received two full doses of the vaccine. Unexpectedly, the trial data showed the half-dose/full-dose combination was more efficacious (90 percent) than giving two full doses spaced a month apart (62 percent). The combined efficacy of the two dosing regimens was 70.4 percent – well below the documented efficacy of the mRNA vaccines.

Full article here.

Published in: The Dispatch
Georgia Tech honors Anthony Fauci with social courage award

January 25, 2021

The Georgia Institute of Technology's decision to award Dr. Anthony Fauci with the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage was detailed in "Georgia Tech honors Anthony Fauci with social courage award," published Jan. 25, 2021 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The prize, which has been given out each year since 2011, will be presented in a ceremony on March 15, 2021.

Excerpt:

Tech chose Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to the president, because he was “a steadfast voice of science, facts, and medical best practice during one of the most significant public health challenges in U.S. history.”

Full article.

Published in: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia grads working in Biden administration

January 21, 2021

Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Distinguished Professor of the Practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and Senior Fellow at the Strategic Energy Institute, was mentioned in the article "Georgia grads working in Biden administration," published Jan. 21, 2021 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Sherwood-Randall, who served as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy during the Obama administration, is set to serve as Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor under President Joe Biden.

Subscription required.

Published in: Atlanta Journal-Constitution