Spectrum

Despite advances in civil rights in our country’s history, our society, in the 21st Century, is still plagued by racist symbols such as “blackface” and other racial stereotyping. It has been recently brought to the public’s attention through the publication of a blackface photo involving the Governor of Virginia and the admission by that State’s Attorney General that he appeared in blackface while...

A new study will examine how the relationship between science and religion impacts political power, social authority and culture, according to Dr. Myrna Perez Sheldon, assistant professor of Gender and American Religion at Ohio University and editor of “Cosmologics,” a magazine that is the project of the Science, Religion, and Culture Program at Harvard Divinity School. Dr. Perez Sheldon believes...

As President Trump is deadlocked with Congress over border wall funding, the government suffers a partial shutdown and true immigration reform is put on the back burner. The fight over border wall funding is distracting Washington from making true immigration reform, according to Dr. Andrew Selee, the President of the Migration Policy Institute – a fact-based institute seeking to improve immigrati...

A new book, “The Snow Leopard Project and Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation” has been recently authored by Dr. Alex Dehgan. Dehgan is an entrepreneur, expedition leader, diplomat and development official who specializes in creative science, technology and leadership. The book is about his efforts as the Country Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Afghanistan Biodiversity Conser...

“Story” is tantamount when a filmmaker decides whether to make a film. If the story doesn’t resonate with the film’s creator, then the project will just be a jumble of parts. Story is the linkage that brings the chapters together to make a coherent film that is both informative and entertaining. This is the documentary filmmaking philosophy of Evan Shaw, a young award-winning producer of documenta...

Just reading a story, watching it on video, or listening to it on a podcast or audio book may be too static and traditional for new experiential story consumers. With the maturation of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, holographics, and other forms of non-traditional storytelling, soon consumers will be able to control their own interpretation of a story and experience the story through se...

The consolidation of power in House of Representative leadership positions has spurred on the devolution of Congress from a “respected legislative institution to a body plagued by a win-at-all-costs mentality and a culture of perpetual campaigning,” says Donald Wolfensberger, author and scholar. Wolfensberger, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Bipartisan Poli...

Although much of this country’s educational focus is on P-12 grades, adult education cannot be ignored and adult literacy education is proven to be valuable in breaking links to poverty and improving job possibilities for those who participate. Adult literacy education improves a student’s abilities and possibilities across a lifespan. Recently, the Patton College of Education at Ohio University b...

The United States once was a leader in recognizing and combatting the threats of climate change. But, under the Trump Administration, America has become the global outlier in the efforts to solve climate change problems, according to expert Dr. Geoffrey Dabelko. Dr. Dabelko is a professor, director of the Environmental Science Program and Associate Dean at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Pu...

Confusion has been a feature of the Trump Administration’s policies toward immigration and especially the current border issues with migrants and the caravan from Honduras. Philip Ewing, national security editor for National Public Radio (NPR), says the recent tear gassing of migrants at the southern border of the United States was a result of some of that confusion. He notes specifically that the...

When we hear the words “innovation” and “entrepreneurship” we don’t always think of well-established brands like Coca-Cola. However, Coke is one of the world’s leaders in developing new beverages and cutting-edge technologies to deliver them to customers. Chris Hellman, global vice president and general manager of the Coca-Cola Freestyle Division, is the embodiment of innovation within the highly...

Rural Health Day is November 15 and it’s designed to throw a spotlight on health care problems facing rural areas and some of the solutions being proposed. Currently, over 60 million Americans live and work in rural areas. That equates to nearly one in five Americans or 20 percent of the population. Yet, many health issues facing rural communities are still unresolved. Local hospitals are closing...

In addition to President Donald Trump’s scorched-earth campaigning, overall political races in 2018 have been meaner and more costly than ever, according to TIME, Inc. Washington Correspondent Philip Elliott. Most candidates, at least on the Republican side, attempted to mimic the President’s combative campaign style, Elliott says. However, many did not feel comfortable with that type of overly ha...

As a nation, our population is divided into political and ideological tribes who only listen to others who agree with them and demonize anyone who is different from them, according to Dr. Scott Titsworth, dean of the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. Thus, we have a nation of rhetorically warring camps who do not agree even on the basics and find the opposition to not only be wr...

Dr. Frank Papay is the chair of the Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Health System. He also is a physician who combines innovation with the healing arts of medicine. Dr. Papay has spearheaded the Cleveland Clinic’s work in the emerging field of face transplants among other notable surgical breakthroughs. He and a team of gifted surgeons have been featured for this...

Since the successful vote putting Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court of the United States, President Trump has been characterizing the events surrounding that confirmation to fire the fears of his political base, according to Philip Elliott, a Washington correspondent for Time, Inc. Trump has been using the protests of various citizen groups and the challenges by Democrats on the Senate...

“New York Times” columnist and PBS NewsHour and NPR commentator David Brooks is searching for the heart, soul and future of America by traveling to smaller communities examining how they are successfully addressing issues. In March 2018, Brooks was appointed Executive Director of “Weave: The Social Fabric Project” sponsored by the Aspen Institute. The project is searching for local initiatives tha...

Higher education still has value either in preparing someone for a career or enhancing his/her worldview through general studies. So says Dr. Robert Glidden, President Emeritus at Ohio University and California Polytechnic State University. He has had a career of over four decades in higher education administration. Despite the rising costs of a university education, Dr. Glidden feels that a colle...

Artificial intelligence may be on the brink of revolutionizing worldwide healthcare says digital strategist and award winning journalist Randy Rieland. Data being analyzed by artificial intelligence have allowed improved diagnostics and more targeted treatments for many types of diseases, including cancer. Artificial intelligence also has markedly improved medical record keeping and advanced radio...

Some 70 environmental regulations have been rolled back by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since the beginning of the Trump Administration. And, Dr. Michele Morrone, professor of Environmental Health Science at Ohio University finds this to be “really alarming.” She claims that these rollbacks are exposing citizens, especially in Appalachia and other poverty stricken areas to inc...

Long-time Democratic activist and author Thomas B. Reston says the Democratic Party has lost its way and lost its soul over the past generation or more. In his book, “Soul of a Democrat: Seven Core Ideals that Made our Party and Our Country – Great,” Reston claims that the party has lost its focus and it has jettisoned old philosophies that historically sparked the electorate. He cites the Preside...

David Crane has dedicated his professional life to intelligence and security issues both nationally and internationally. He has a long history of service and has risked his life for his country. But, at this point, he is extremely concerned about how President Trump in handling intelligence and security issues. Crane says that Trump ignores or refuses to hear security briefings and he goes into ma...

The incessant drumbeat of news media criticism by President Donald J. Trump is causing some major concerns among the press and First Amendment advocates, according to veteran, award-winning journalist Andrew Alexander. Alexander is a former Washington Post ombudsman, a former Washington Bureau chief for Cox Newspapers and an award winning veteran journalist with more than four decades of experienc...

While White House reporters often are given releases and official statements by the President or his staff, it is more important than ever to vet the facts and go through a rather thorough fact checking process before publishing the material, says Toluse Olorunnipa, one of Bloomberg News’ six White House correspondents. In the competitive White House journalism environment, Olorunnipa says it is i...

By the year 2020, it is estimated that we will have over 6 million workers in nanotechnology industries, says Dr. Amir Farnoud, an Assistant Professor of Chemical, Biomolecular and Biomedical Engineering at the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University. The development of nanoscience is exploding at such a rate, it is difficult to predict with any accuracy how much and how fast...