News, information and research from Boston University
June 29, 2009 at 9:32 am
Seventy-one-year-old Bernard Madoff today gets sentenced in federal court for admitting to the biggest investment fraud in history. School of Law Professor Tamar Frankel, an authority on securities law and legal ethics (and who is writing a book on Ponzi schemes), can discuss Madoff’s legal legacy.
Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu
June 26, 2009 at 10:47 am
With Congress seriously mulling several healthcare-reform bills, the negative advertising wars over various plans are gaining steam. It remains to be seen if they will reach the effectiveness of the "Harry and Louise" ads that brought down the Clinton reform effort in 1994. College of Communication Professor Christopher Cakebread, an expert in controversial advertising, can discuss the dynamics.
Contact Christopher Cakebread, 617-353-3476, ccakebre@bu.edu
June 26, 2009 at 10:37 am
Reports say Chinese regulators likely will block a Chinese manufacturing firm from purchasing the Hummer franchaise from bankrupt General Motors, in part they say because the gas-guzzling Hummer doesn't fit China's energy-saving policies. School of Management Dean Louis Lataif, a former Ford executive, can discuss the ongoing GM situation.
Contact Louis Lataif, 617-353-2668, lelataif@bu.edu
June 26, 2009 at 10:08 am
The Empire State Stem Cell Board, which administers state funding for stem cell studies, said it would allow researchers to pay women up to $10,000 for donating their eggs for stem cell research. Applauded by some, reviled by opponents of stem cell research, no other state has anything similar to NY's decision. George Annas, professor of health law, can discuss the issues.
Contact George Annas, 617-638-4626, annasgj@bu.edu
June 26, 2009 at 9:39 am
With Senate approval of new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and two more nominees working their way toward approval, the FCC will soon have its full compliment of five members for the first time in the Obama administration. College of Communication Professor T. Barton Carter, an expert on the FCC and communications law, can discuss where the newly constituted agency may be headed.
Contact T. Barton Carter, 617-353-3482, comlaw@bu.edu
June 26, 2009 at 8:32 am
The deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett revive discussion of youth role models. College of Communication Professor Patrice Oppliger has written books on adolescent role models -- "Wrestling and Hypermasculinity" and "Girls Gone Skank: The Sexualization of Girls in American Culture" -- and can discuss this subject.
Contact Patrice Oppliger, 617-353-3482, oppliger@bu.edu
June 25, 2009 at 3:58 pm
College of Communication Professor Linda Killian, director of BU's Washington Journalism Center and author of "The Freshmen: What Happened to the Republican Revolution?," has known disgraced S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford since he was first elected to Congress in 1994. In a U.S. News & World Report commentary, Killian suggests the lesson from Sanford's downfall is that there's "a sense of invulnerability and being above the rules that can overtake elected officials."
Contact Linda Killian, 202-756-7801, lkillian@bu.edu
June 25, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Congress holds a hearing today on improving consumer financial literacy under the new regulatory system. School of Management Professor Zvi Bodie, a widely recognized authority on personal finance, recommends in a Washington Post commentary some concrete steps to improve consumer financial literacy and suggests a new standard of prudence for investment advisors.
"Instead of focusing on the probability of 'success' in meeting some assumed target level of assets by an assumed target date, fiduciaries should be required to address the potential severity of a failure to meet a minimum standard of living in old age."
Contact Zvi Bodie, 617-353-4160, zbodie@bu.edu
June 25, 2009 at 11:06 am
On an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court has ruled illegal an Arizona school's strip search of a teenage girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen. School of Law Professor Tracey Maclin, an expert on civil rights and Constitutional law, can discuss the ramifications of the ruling.
Contact Tracey Maclin, 617-353-4688, tmaclin@bu.edu
June 25, 2009 at 10:30 am
Fed Chairman Bernanke told Congress today the Fed did not threaten action against the Bank of America if last fall's negotiations leading to BofA's take over of Merrill Lynch had failed. This amid reports the Fed kept other regulators out of the loop during the merger talks and that regulators secretly tightened their grip on the bank after the government's bailout of BofA. School of Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law, can discuss the big picture.
Contact Cornelius Hurley, 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu
