Tobacco control advocates, however, were deeply skeptical. Richard Daynard, a Northeastern University law professor and chairman of the Boston-based Tobacco Products Liability Project, said it seemed “very, very strange that somebody who has demonstrated a sustained hostility to the federal regulation of tobacco products keeps getting assigned to these cases. It certainly leaves one wondering […]

Instead of adding e-cigarettes to existing tobacco laws that ban smoking indoors or tax the products, lawmakers in Missouri and possibly other states will have to create new tax structures and write regulations from scratch, said Mark Gottlieb, executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. It’s […]

Peter Roby, athletics director at Northeastern University, said even if the five conferences are able to pass reforms like providing full-cost-of-attendance stipends to football and basketball players, the move is not an altruistic one. Instead, Roby said, the reforms are an attempt at solving problems that wealthier conferences themselves created. Those colleges have created a […]

NORTHEASTERN’S BOOST FOR NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS: Northeastern University has launched a first-in-the-nation program to help nontraditional students with some college under their belts matriculate to a bachelor’s degree in one of the STEM fields. The university’s degree completion program is thanks in part to a grant issued by the Education Department earlier this week, writes Northeastern […]

For the first time since 2008, the unemployment rate has fallen below 6 percent. The latest jobs report depicts a better rebound in the labor market than last month’s report predicted. For an in-depth analysis of the figures, economics correspondent Paul Solman speaks with economist Barry Bluestone.

The century-old Boston NAACP is an all-volunteer organization, sustained by its paid membership. Its presidency, an unpaid post, comes with a big platform and the power of the NAACP’s legacy. Emmett Price, a Northeastern University professor and local minister who knows both men, said he sees the Curry-Ellison contest as good for the community, showcasing […]

Roger Abrams, a professor at Northeastern University School of Law who specializes in labor law, said that the public should realize union activity, “whether it’s a strike, whether it’s talking to employers, is not necessarily a tea party and it’s not necessarily polite conversation.” With state and federal laws allowing union members to engage in […]

October 2014’s selection of notable quotes A lot of people with measurable vision impairment are unaware of their affliction because their brain fills in the missing pieces. —Vision scientist Peter Bex of Northeastern University, on the fact that one-third of the human brain is devoted to visual processing (news@Northeastern, September 4)

As young people in Hong Kong pop open umbrellas in a show of defiance against China’s plan for watered-down democracy in the city, a U.S. academic notes that to previous generations the accessory symbolized appeasement. From 1930s England through the Kennedy and Nixon years in the U.S., to display an umbrella was to allege political softness, says Edward H. Miller, […]

he CDC has also provided new Ebola guidance for flight crews, airport medical services, and Customs and Border Protection. Medical professionals do not dismiss public concerns, but evidence points to successful containment, they say. “We will see cases,” Alessandro Vespignani, a physics professor at Northeastern University in Boston who studies infection rates and air traffic […]

The Obama administration announcedTuesday that it will award a total of $75 million to 24 colleges to support innovations in higher education. The Education Department chose the winners of the grant competition from a pool of nearly 500 applicants, officials said. The grants are going to 19 public and private four-year institutions and five community […]

In August, scientists at Northeastern University reported that they have been using nanotechnology to find an effective treatment for the virus. What makes finding a vaccine or cure such a challenging job is that the virus mutates so quickly. How do you pin down and treat something that is continually changing? Thomas Webster, professor and […]