March 4, 2010 at 6:00 am
The Boston University Alumni Association is hosting The Changing Face of Autism in America today at 5:30 PM in the Backcourt Room of the George Sherman Union. The event will include cocktails and an interactive discussion with five panelists including School of Education Professor and Moderator Tom Cottle. The panelists will explore how research, diagnosis and education have transformed the way that autism is perceived. Contact 800-800-3466 or alumclub@bu.edu for tickets/more information.
March 3, 2010 at 9:55 am
President Obama reportedly has high cholesterol... Michele says it's from too many burgers. How about a bean burrito instead? Here's why: Beauty and the Beans.
March 2, 2010 at 2:58 pm
The Obama administration is considering proposals to ban all foreclosures on home loans unless they first have been examined for possible modification. Professor Jack Aber, chairman of the Department of Finance and Economics in the School of Management, says it could be palatable to lenders if the government eases accounting rules having to do with the values that mortgages must be carried on their balance sheets.
"Otherwise, the proposal to require review for any loan before it can be foreclosed on could very likely lead to some institutions failing."
Contact Jack Aber, 617-353-4404, jackaber@bu.edu
March 1, 2010 at 5:36 pm
U.S. defense and counerterrorism officials say al-Qaida's terror network is growing in both strength and numbers in North Africa, threatening to destablize the Sahara region. International relations Prof. Charles Stith, a former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania who direct's BU's African Presidential Archives and Research Center, says it's in America's interest to help development in Africa.
"Africa is an area of the world where American interests are most vulnerable and where there is one of the best opportunities to defend and propagate the values that are the underpinnings for democracy and the free market. The U.S. needs to look for ways to help its African allies shore up the public and private sector institutions that will enable them to fight off the assaults to the nascent opportunity societies they are trying to create."
Contact Charles Stith, 617-353-5452, crstith@bu.edu
March 1, 2010 at 4:09 pm
The White House reportedly is rethinking the nation's nuclear weapons strategy to aim at permanently reducing the U.S. arsenal while rejecting swear-no-first-use proposals. Attorney Philip O'Neill, author of "Verification in an Age of Insecurity" and who teaches national security law at BU Law, says this nuclear review should be the time and place for a little policy ambiguity.
"Preserving that option in present circumstances makes continuing good sense in the absence of verifiable arms control progress. Declaratory policy in this instance should follow rather than lead that effort."
Contact Philip O'Neill, 617-951-2253, poneill@eapdlaw.com
March 1, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Google says Microsoft is waging a proxy war by hijacking lawsuits brought by third parties to crank up antitrust sentiment against it so that regulators clamp down on Google's growth. Law Professor Keith Hylton says legal weapons have become competitive tools among big technology firms.
"I don’t think there are any angels left in the high-tech sector at this stage. The problem is that all of them will suffer if they do not take a firm, public stance against excessively interventionist antitrust regulation."
Contact Keith Hylton, 617-353-8959, knhylton@bu.edu
February 26, 2010 at 5:11 pm
With President Obama's ballyhooed healthcare "summit" with Republicans over, political science Professors Graham Wilson and Douglas Kriner offered their takes on what it all means (or doesn't).
WILSON: "The session showed that there are differences that can’t be bridged. But in purely political terms, neither the President not the Democrats can afford to be seen to have been defeated and enter the midterm campaign with nothing to show on this signature issue."
KRINER: "The administration did not seem very open to approaches that varied significantly from the Senate bill. This would seem to suggest that both Republican priorities, like comprehensive tort reform, and Democratic ones, like re-introducing the public option, are unlikely to generate real support from the White House."
Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu, or Douglas Kriner, 617-358-4643, dkriner@bu.edu
February 26, 2010 at 4:09 pm
The Obama administration plans to use government buying power to prod private companies to improve benefits and wages for millions of workers. School of Management economics Professor David Weil, an authority on labor-market policy, says there's a long history of assuring that companies contracting with Uncle Sam adhere to workplace, environmental, and consumer protection laws.
"The Obama administration proposals are very much in line with that tradition -- and appropriate, given the major role that the public sector is playing in this difficult economic time."
Contact David Weil, 617-353-4615, daveweil@bu.edu
February 26, 2010 at 11:23 am
Greece is preparing a bond issue aimed at restructing its economy as the European Union is pushing the country to adopt new austerity measures to cut its crippling budget deficit. Economics Professor Laurence Kotlikoff, as he explains in his blog, says there's a way in his view for Greece to to devalue without devaluing.
“The government can implement wage and price controls for, say, the next three months, with these controls covering not just the growth in wages and prices over the next three months, but also their initial levels … [then] the German and French governments could commit to servicing some fraction (say 30 percent) of Greece's current public and private external debt with the understanding that this servicing ceases if Greece misses it's spending and tax rate targets.”
Contact Laurence Kotlikoff, 617-353-4002, kotlikoff@bu.edu
February 26, 2010 at 11:19 am
Joan Salge Blake contributed to an eye-opening piece that is finally offering dieters tips other than "eat more veggies," including Joan's idea:
"Weight Loss Tip No. 7: Downsize Your Dinnerware: Experts say they’ve seen it again and again: The larger your plate, the more you’re likely to put on it. So serving your meals on smaller plates can help you eat less. But don’t throw out those dinner plates, Blake suggests. Use the smaller, lunch-size plates to serve dinner, and use the dinner plates for salads."
