In the Media
Trump’s pick for US Attorney and a look back at Carmen Ortiz’s tenure
WGBH -- 09/19/2017
Earlier this month, President Trump nominated Andrew Lelling to become the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. If his nomination is confirmed by Congress, Lelling will oversee a staff of roughly 200 people that handles hundreds of federal criminal cases each year, including many high-profile ones. WGBH’s Morning Edition anchor Joe Mathieu spoke with WGBH News legal analyst and Northeastern University law professor Daniel Medwed about Lelling’s nomination and how history will view former U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s tenure.
Why many deaf prisoners can’t phone home
Wired -- 09/19/2017
“Essentially you end up with deaf inmates who may have been sentenced to 10 or 15 years in prison, but for all practical purposes they’re now sentenced to 10 or 15 years of communicative solitary confinement,” said Dennis Cokely, director of the American Sign Language program at Northeastern University and an expert witness in several lawsuits involving deaf prisoners.
Your next worry after the Equifax breach: Fake tax returns
CNBC -- 09/19/2017
But experts say consumers should also start thinking ahead to tax season — when criminals could potentially use those stolen Social Security numbers to file fraudulent tax returns and snare refunds. “This is going to be an ongoing problem,” said Tim Gagnon, an associate teaching professor of accounting at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business.
Before the next hurricane, get your apps in order
WCAI -- 09/18/2017
We all know we should have flashlights and water ready to go. Now, researchers at Northeastern University are advising we add something new to our hurricane readiness list – our cell phones and, yes, social media apps. We talk with Daniel Aldrich, a professor of political science, public policy, and urban affairs. He’s also director of the Security and Resilience Program at Northeastern University.
When his elderly mother broke her hip, things didn’t go well
The Washington Post -- 09/18/2017
Timothy Hoff, professor of management, health-care systems and health policy at Northeastern University, writes about a Medicare pilot payment program that raises questions about motive and care for hip surgery.
Did Comey give Trump the presidency? We don’t think so.
The Washington Post -- 09/18/2017
Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science and director of Big Data and Quantitative Methods Initiatives at Northeastern University, cast doubt on the claim that former FBI director James Comey tipped the election in Donald Trump’s favor with the Oct. 28 release of a letter announcing the review of possible new evidence in the Clinton email investigation.
In Elon Musk’s hyperloop contests, students’ main goal is scoring a job
Bloomberg -- 09/18/2017
Ben Lippolis flew across the country to take part in a student hyperloop competition hosted by Elon Musk. Lippolis, a recent graduate of Northeastern University, teamed up with some classmates and students from Canada’s Memorial University of Newfoundland to form team Paradigm. They’ve been toiling away to construct a passenger train that can travel at high speeds inside an enclosed tube, as envisioned by Musk. To fund their project, including air travel, accommodations, parts, machinery and transport for the pod, they cobbled together grants from the Canadian government and corporate donors.
Hedge funds run by women outperforming those run by men, shows new data
The Independent -- 09/18/2017
Nicole Boyson, associate professor of finance at Northeastern University in Boston, told the paper that while it is hard to say unequivocally that women make better hedge fund managers than men, “we can say pretty definitively that women are not worse performers”.
End of life chatbot can help you with difficult final decisions
New Scientist -- 09/18/2017
People near the end of their lives sometimes don’t get the chance to have these important conversations before it’s too late, says Timothy Bickmore at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. So Bickmore and his team – which included doctors and hospital chaplains – built a tablet-based chatbot to offer spiritual and emotional guidance to people that need it. “We see a need for technology to intervene at an earlier point,” he says.
Arrest made in ‘botched’ U.K. bombing
Boston Herald -- 09/17/2017
“A savvier, more sophisticated terrorist group wouldn’t take credit for a botched attack,” said Max Abrahms, a political science professor and terror expert at Northeastern University. “Your typical Islamic State operative in the West isn’t particularly sophisticated — he’s just a Joe Schmo who is committing violence.”…
Amid opioid crisis, insurers restrict pricey, less addictive painkillers
The New York Times -- 09/17/2017
Leo Beletsky, an associate professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University, went further, calling the insurance system “one of the major causes of the crisis” because doctors are given incentives to use less expensive treatments that provide fast relief.
What are candidates’ chances in Kyrgz presidential election?
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty -- 09/17/2017
Campaigning for the October 15 presidential election officially started on September 10, when Kyrgyzstan’s Central Election Commission announced the names of the 13 people who qualified to run in the race. Muhammad Tahir, RFE/RL’s media relations manager, moderated the discussion in this week’s podcast. From Bishkek, Timur Tokotonaliev, Central Asia editor from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, took part in the conversation. From Boston, an old friend of the Majlis, Bakyt Beshimov, professor at Northeastern University in Boston and also a former deputy in Kyrgyzstan’s parliament, joined the talk. And I had a few things to say also.