In a world where conspiracy theories and political polarization abound, how does one effectively pull off double duty at battling against both the spread of COVID-19 and misinformation about it? For answers, we turned to Rebecca Rice, a UNLV Greenspun College of Urban Affairs professor who specializes in crisis communication.
Millions around the world have waited for news about a COVID-19 vaccine, regarding it as the beginning of the end for the global pandemic and a herald for the eventual return to “normal life.” Recent announcements from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna that their respective late-stage vaccine trials have shown a 90% or better effectiveness rate have received international applause, excitement furthered with estimates that doses could be ready as early as December.
UNLV researcher Edwin Oh and colleagues have implemented wastewater surveillance programs to screen samples for the presence of COVID-19 and to extract the RNA from the SARS-COV-2 virus to find targets that make vaccines more effective.
UNLV astrophysicist Bing Zhang and international collaborators recently observed fast radio bursts, powerful radio waves coming from deep space that have been among the most mysterious astronomical phenomena ever observed. Zhang contributes to our understanding of where they come from and how they’re produced in a series of papers published in Nature.
UNLV researchers are teaming up to help civil engineering students stay in school and graduate. The project, supported by a $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant, will strengthen curriculum, build community among students, and help faculty implement culturally responsive teaching practices.
The Lee Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship recently awarded nearly $1 million to eight companies developing solutions that could help spur recovery in the hospitality industry amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
As the race for a COVID-19 vaccine intensifies, health care officials are reminding the public not to forget another important vaccine this fall: the flu shot. Flu season in the U.S. technically began in September, with illnesses expected to peak in December and February, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Less than half of Americans received a flu vaccine during the 2019-2020 flu season, and a staggering 405,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths were attributed to influenza.
UNLV political experts on swing states, pushing beyond the old blue state-red state model, and a 2020 election where changing suburbs will influence outcomes.
There’s a saying that true friendships stand the test of time. But does that apply to Facebook friendships that are tested by differing longtime political beliefs? As we approach a contentious Election Day 2020 that mirrors or perhaps even ups the ante on the divisiveness of the 2016 cycle, we turned to UNLV communication studies assistant professor Natalie Pennington.
Abraham Lincoln. The country’s 16th president is known for many things: Signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Appearing on the $5 bill. Helping to usher in the modern-day practice of mail-in voting. Not familiar with that last one? UNLV professor Michael Green to the rescue! He’s a historian who specializes in the Civil War era, which is right around the time mail-in ballots became a prominent piece of U.
For months, two names — presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden — have consistently dominated news headlines and social media feeds in the leadup to Election Day 2020. Some, however, might be left wondering, especially following the chaotic presidential debate just last week, if Trump and Biden are the only options out there.
Lady Justice and Lady Liberty. Strong female symbols have long been used to represent the embodiment of American ideals and freedom. So, it almost seems fitting that two women — the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and President Donald Trump’s presumptive replacement nominee Amy Coney Barrett — are at the heart of tensions over a vacancy on the country’s highest court.
The COVID-19 pandemic. Race relations. The Supreme Court. The economy. When President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden meet for the first of three presidential debates on Tuesday night, millions of viewers are expected to tune in. But will America really be listening? Given the country’s all-time high partisanship and the extremely tiny pool of voters who have yet to make up their minds five weeks out from the 2020 general election, analysts are putting in their bets on the influence of televised debates and the chances of actually swaying voters.
Continued school closures and distance learning have drawn more than the ire of parents and teachers concerned about the impacts to education. Child advocates are worried about the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on youth stuck at home with their abusers. For months, researchers tracking data from across Nevada and the nation have been logging significant dips in child abuse reports — a phenomenon attributed to the lack of face time children are getting with teachers, who are trained to spot potential signs of maltreatment and required by law to report it to authorities.
The year 2020 hasn’t just been one for the history books: It’s made quite an impact on K-12 grade books as well. As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on into another school year, the school playground has instead become a battleground for adults — teachers, parents, school administrators, public health officials, lawmakers — rowing over the future of education: Should schools reopen? Is remote learning just as effective as in-person classes, and is the technology available to ensure equity for all students? For schools that open, is enough funding available to effectively protect teachers and students from COVID-19? For those that don’t, what about parents’ need to return to work despite the need for at-home teaching? For answers, we turned to Bradley Marianno, a UNLV College of Education professor and expert on teachers’ unions.
Kendra Gage describes implicit bias as the stories we make up about people before we get to know them. It’s a practical and personal definition from an historian who studies what some consider an unlikely, even unpopular, topic for a white professor — the civil rights movement. Because of her chosen discipline, Gage, an assistant professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies in the UNLV College of Liberal Arts, said she’s received questions and double-takes from students and others who are surprised to find her at the helm of an African American Studies class.