Molly Callahan - News @ Northeastern

The Supreme Court is opening up the phone lines. Here’s what to listen for.

The court will hear arguments by telephone to comply with public health guidelines in response to COVID-19. For the first time, the public can listen live, and we might see that the justices are “human, just like us,” says legal scholar Dan Urman.

by Molly Callahan May 1, 2020

A man walks past mannequins in the windows of the Macy's store in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston, on April 15, 2020. U.S. retail sales plummeted in March, an unprecedented decline, as the viral outbreak forced an almost complete lockdown of commerce nationwide. AP Photo/Charles Krupa

How will the economy bounce back?

How well, and how quickly, state and federal economies recover from the COVID-19 crisis has everything to do with the choices that officials make now, says economist Alicia Sasser Modestino. “The sky is falling, but we might have some ways to put the pieces back together.”

by Molly Callahan May 1, 2020

While observing the distance requirement to contain the coronavirus, numerous visitors enjoy the sunshine in the a Berlin park on April 22. Photo by: Kay Nietfeld/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

Will contact-tracing apps infringe on data privacy? Germany may soon find out.

BERLIN—Contact-tracing apps, such as the one being developed in Germany, could be a way to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But such apps come with a risk: “The pandemic’s not going to last forever, but the data that’s collected from the pandemic might,” says Woodrow Hartzog, who studies privacy and data protection law.

by Andrew Curry - contributor April 30, 2020

If you test positive for the coronavirus, who has a right to know?

People may have a moral or ethical responsibility to tell certain others that they’ve tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. But that's “very different from a legal responsibility,” says law professor Aziza Ahmed.

by Molly Callahan April 22, 2020

Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

How can the US ensure an accurate 2020 census without going door to door?

“The assumption this year has been that a great many people will submit their census forms online,” says Ted Landsmark, distinguished professor of public policy and urban affairs. This poses a challenge in communities that don’t have reliable access to computers or the internet.

by Molly Callahan April 21, 2020

An employee of the laboratory of gene and cell technology prepares a specimen at Kazan Federal University in Kazan, Russia. Staff members of the university began developing a vaccine against coronavirus disease based on published data on the structure of the virus genome. Maksim Bogodvid / Sputnik via AP

Should pharmaceutical companies give up their patent protections to find a vaccine for COVID-19?

The race for a COVID-19 vaccine is on, and public health officials are calling upon pharmaceutical companies to share their intellectual property—a move that could speed up research and make any eventual treatment more widely (and easily) available to the masses, says Northeastern law professor Brook Baker.

by Molly Callahan April 14, 2020

Northeastern graduate Keziah Furth, center, is the school nurse at The Rashi School in Dedham, Massachusetts. Before that, she helped run a health clinic in Gonaives, Haiti, called Klinik Jubilee. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

From a health clinic in Haiti to the school nurse’s office in Massachusetts, she’s caring for community

Keziah Furth graduated from Northeastern’s nursing program in 2008 and spent the next eight years in Haiti working at various care centers and helping to launch a community health clinic. Now, she’s the nurse at a school in Dedham, Massachusetts, where she shares her experience with young students.

by Molly Callahan April 13, 2020

She grew up 15 minutes from the US-Mexico border. It inspired a lifetime of work.

Kathryn Garcia has dedicated her college career to researching issues and volunteering at the U.S.-Mexico border, and this year, she was selected as one of only a few students to receive Northeastern’s Harold D. Hodgkinson Award for her work.

by Molly Callahan April 7, 2020

Northeastern waives standardized testing requirements for 2021-22 applicants

The university will allow prospective students for the 2021-22 academic year to apply with or without standardized test results, a move designed to ease uncertainty and anxiety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

by Molly Callahan and Khalida Sarwari April 7, 2020

Lobsang Tseten meditates and practices breathing exercises alone to maintain “social distancing” at a playground on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in New York. AP Photo/John Minchillo

Here’s how to combat the fear caused by a barrage of COVID-19 news

To stop an anxiety spiral, curate your own emotional experiences by seeking out videos and readings that are pleasurable, calming, and positive, suggests psychology professor David DeSteno.

by Molly Callahan April 1, 2020

Posts by Molly Callahan