Infotrak

Caitlin Cavanagh, Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University led a study at Michigan State that found that mothers don’t lose hope to see their sons graduate from high school, get married, find a good job and so on– even if they are arrested as a minor. Her findings were consistent, even for higher income families.

Catherine Hodder is an estate planning attorney, author of Estate Planning for the Sandwich Generation: How to Help Your Parents and Protect Your Kids. Ms. Hodder explained the importance of estate planning for those who are caring for both kids and aging parents. She outlined the critical documents that everyone should have in addition to a basic will. She also talked about the importance of communication with aging parents, and the usefulness of an emergency binder that organizes important documents in one place.

Sarah J. Clark, M.P.H., Associate Research Scientist, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital co-authored a poll that found that 62 percent of parents report difficulties finding childcare facilities that meet their health and safety standards. The poll also found that only half of parents considered themselves “very confident” at discerning which childcare options were truly safe and healthy. She outlined the most important questions that parents should ask when evaluating childcare providers. She said 82% of parents would be in favor of a national standard for health and safety for childcare centers and in-home childcare providers

Jill Gonzalez, contributing editor at Popular Mechanics magazine, author of Big Ideas: 100 Modern Inventions That Transformed Our World discussed her report that examined today’s at-risk youth. She said about one in nine young Americans today is neither working nor in school, exposing them to greater risk of poverty, violence, drug abuse and homelessness. She explained how these risk factors follow young people into adulthood. She discussed the importance of education and social services.

Medical errors cause roughly 250,000 deaths per year in the U.S. Benjamin H. Schnapp, MD, Assistant Professor, Assistant Emergency Medicine Residency Program Director in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health co-authored a study that examined errors in Emergency Rooms. He found that, even in chaotic ERs, doctors typically have the right medical information but might not act on it in the best way. He talked about the patterns he found in patients who are most vulnerable to errors. He offered suggestions for patients who want to prevent errors when they visit an ER.

Irwin Reyes, a Researcher in the Usable Security and Privacy Group at the International Computer Science Institute led a study that found that more than 3300 Android apps from the Google Play Store are improperly tracking kids and are potentially violating federal law. He outlined the types of data that is being collected and what is being done with it. He believes similar results are likely with iPhones, but Apple’s closed system prevents a similar study of its users. He offered advice to parents who are concerned about their children’s privacy.

Thomas Lickona, PhD, is a Developmental Psychologist, Professor of Education Emeritus at the State University of New York at Cortland, author of How to Raise Kind Kids: And Get Respect, Gratitude, and a Happier Family in the Bargain. Dr. Lickona has led the character education movement in schools for forty years. He outlined the tools that parents need to foster peace and cooperation at home. He explained how changes in our culture have made it harder than ever to raise kind kids. He offered suggestions for parents to deal with technology and the use of media by kids.

Over the last sixty years, women’s roles at home and on the job have radically changed, and the question of whether they can really “have it all” is still debated. Elizabeth Wallace, co-author of The Ambition Decisions: What Women Know About Work, Family, and the Path to Building a Life outlined three distinct paths where a woman’s life and career choices may lead. She talked about the importance of the support of husbands when ambitious women move into high-level corporate positions. She offered advice for women who are facing today’s complex career choices.

Evan Rufrano was leader of the winning team from State University of New York College at Old Westbury, which recently won the sixth annual Up to Us Campus Competition. The competition was intended to raise awareness among Millennials about the $21 trillion national debt. He explained why such a massive national debt is so dangerous for his generation, no matter what their political leanings. He outlined ways that younger people can make their voices heard by politicians and others in decision-making positions.

W. Chris Winter, MD is board-certified and internationally recognized sleep medicine specialist, board certified neurologist, author of The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It. Dr. Winter said the state of sleep in America is better than typically portrayed in the media, but he also noted it has gotten slightly worse because of all of the distractions available today. He said shift workers are at greatest risk of sleep related health issues. He suggested that people should try to wake up at the same time every day, even if their bedtime varies

John Hooker, PhD is the T. Jerome Holleran Professor of Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, and Professor of Operations Research, at Carnegie Mellon University, author of Taking Ethics Seriously: Why Ethics Is an Essential Tool for the Modern Workplace. Dr. Hooker discussed common ethical dilemmas that occur in workplace environments, and how employers and employees should react. He explained how the advent of social media and the #MeToo movement has affected ethical decisions in the workplace. He listed factors than an employee should weigh before risking their job by blowing the whistle on misconduct.

The #MeToo movement has gripped the nation for months, but a recent study from the American Psychological Association found that in its aftermath, corporations have taken weak steps, at best, to prevent sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct. David Ballard, PhD, Director of the American Psychological Association’s Center for Organizational Excellence said most policy and training changes have been aimed at limiting the liability of the company, rather than to effect real change. He found that organizations with women in senior leadership roles were much more likely to have taken new steps to prevent harassment and to encourage employees to report it.

Cyrus Farivar, Senior Business Editor at Ars Technica, and author of Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech discussed how judges and activists have thought about privacy and surveillance in America in recent decades. He believes that laws need to be updated to address advances in surveillance technology, such as the mass use of license plate readers and facial recognition software.

Bryan Caplan, PhD is Professor of Economics at George Mason University, blogger for EconLog, author of The Case against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money. Although it is immensely popular--and immensely lucrative--Dr. Caplan believes that higher education is grossly overrated. He said that decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker, but instead in runaway credential inflation. He is in favor of serious cuts in government education funding to curb this wasteful rat race, along with a renewed emphasis on vocational education.

Jacquelyn C. Campbell, PHD, RN, FAAN, is an expert on domestic violence, violence against women and intimate partner violence, Professor and the Anna D. Wolf Chair at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, National Program Director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Nurse Faculty Scholars Program. Dr. Campbell developed the Danger Assessment, a groundbreaking questionnaire designed to assess a woman's risk of being killed by an abusive partner. She talked about recent updates to the tool that address concerns for immigrant women and same-sex partners. She said it’s helpful for an abused woman to document for herself how often abuse is happening, levels of abuse and other patterns.

Julie Jason, award-winning financial columnist, author of Retire Securely talked about the best ways to start to save for retirement, even for those struggling with student debt. She said it is critical to start young, because of the power of compounding. She also discussed common financial scams that consumers should be alert to.

Erin E. Murphy, expert on DNA and forensic evidence, and Professor of Law at New York University discussed the privacy and legal concerns raised by the Golden State Killer case, in which a notorious serial killer was captured via DNA submitted to a publically available genealogy website. She noted that that the type of DNA testing used by genealogy sites is a much broader and more powerful tool than the version permitted in criminal justice databases. She also discussed recent advances that will make DNA testing much faster and even more useful to law enforcement.

Today’s smartphones hold a wealth of personal, financial and work-related data that thieves would love to get their hands on. So what happens when a phone is lost or stolen? Kevin Haley, Director of Product Management for Symantec Security Response led a research project that intentionally lost 50 phones to see what data was accessed by the finder and whether the phones would be returned to their owners. The results were disconcerting. Mr. Haley offered advice for phone owners to protect their data.

Brooks Palmer is a professional organizer, author of Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back and Clutter Busting Your Life: Clearing Physical and Emotional Clutter to Reconnect with Yourself and Others. Most Americans struggle with clutter and disorganization. Mr. Palmer talked about the emotionally suffocating effects of clutter and why people have problems letting go of items they no longer need or use. He offered suggestions for how to get started and how to look at items in a different way to assess whether they are worth keeping.

Denise Pope Senior Lecturer, Co-Founder, Challenge Success at Stanford University Graduate, co-author of Overloaded and Underprepared explained why parents and teachers should be concerned that many of America’s students are stressed out or have given up. She outlined steps that schools can take to provide kids with academic, social and emotional skills needed to succeed in school now and as adults later. She talked about the Challenge Success program at Stanford and how the program is customized for each school in which it is applied.