Life News (Law and Public Policy)

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“If the House passes the latest version of legislation this weekend and sends it to the Senate, that will be the key legislative event in the long health care debate, because both chambers have already passed the legislation,” says Timothy McBride, Ph.D., health economist and associate dean of public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “I believe the House will pass the legislation, but the vote will be very close, probably within one vote or two. The House probably has not had a vote this close since the vote on Medicare prescription drugs.”

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Secure World Foundation and Space Policy journal have announced the Maxim Tarasenko/Secure World Foundation Prize – a 2010 student essay competition.

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In the midst of unprecedented momentum among the international strategic communities for nuclear weapons disarmament, Georgia Tech’s Sam Nunn Bank of America Policy Forum will present on March 29 “The Path Toward a World Free of Nuclear Weapons: The Euro-Atlantic Challenge.”

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On March 29, academics, governments, practitioners, investors, and representatives from international and non-governmental organizations from around the world will meet at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia, for a symposium to explore the prevention and efficient management of investment treaty disputes. The symposium is a joint effort between W&L and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

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Vice President Joe Biden's rebuke of Israel over proposed settlement expansion is not only ineffective, it's hypocritical, said Professor Rafael Reuveny, a researcher on Middle East violence and political economy at Indiana University.

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Vice President Joe Biden's rebuke of Israel over proposed settlement expansion in Greater East Jerusalem is not only ineffective, it's hypocritical.

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American Society for Pharmacy Law helps educate pharmacist-attorneys, pharmacists, attorneys and other interested parties on legal issues as they affect pharmacy.

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A new mathematical model developed by Indiana University Bloomington and Arizona State University geographers could help communities that are in the midst of passing or reforming sex offender laws. The researchers describe the model and report its first test in an Early View edition of Papers in Regional Science.

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International experts have outlined needed steps and concerns in establishing a global detection and warning network to deal with possible Near Earth Object (NEO) threats to Earth.

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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be at Arizona State University March 25 to deliver this year's John P. Frank Memorial Lecture. The former Arizona governor will speak on "Meeting New and Evolving Threats to Our National Security."

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Top international criminal law experts will unveil and discuss a draft of a multilateral treaty condemning and prohibiting crimes against humanity. The draft International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity will be presented during a conference March 11 and 12 at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. The treaty is the culmination of a two-year Crimes Against Humanity Initiative at the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute of Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

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Following President Barack Obama’s healthcare summit on Feb. 25, a new poll shows that likely voters are feeling more confident that health reform legislation will pass in 2010. The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) commissioned Zogby International to conduct online surveys both before and after the summit.

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“Although originally quite limited, the reconciliation process has morphed over time,” says Cheryl D. Block, J.D., budget policy expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Perhaps more than any other Senate matters, reconciliation puts the parliamentarian in the hot seat. The passage this term of health care legislation, and perhaps the future of health care reform more generally now may turn on rulings of the current parliamentarian.”

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Technology discovery, development and adoption play a huge role in how we're going to feed the world's growing population, according to a Kansas State University agricultural economist. Equally vital is funding to support research on food production technology.

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As Obama and the U.S. Congress head for a final showdown over long-stalled health care reform legislation, pundits are struggling to explain an array of arcane congressional rules and protocols that may determine whether health care reform passes or dies on the vine. Many of these pundits are getting it wrong, suggests WUSTL congressional expert Steven S. Smith. Smith is available for interview by phone, ISDN or VYVX-equipped broadcast studio.

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The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on Feb. 27 was many times more powerful than the one that struck Haiti two months ago, but Wake Forest University Professor of Political Science Peter Siavelis says Chile has many advantages as it begins its recovery efforts.

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Most former residents of Chicago's now-demolished public housing still live in segregated, low-income neighborhoods despite using housing vouchers to subsidize their rents, according to a study by University of Illinois at Chicago researchers.

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Before developing specific anti-obesity strategies, lawmakers and advocates should review the evidence on program effectiveness and costs in order to avoid policies that either won’t work or will waste money, says Cornell economist John Cawley, in “The Economics of Childhood Obesity,” published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs, March 2, 2010.

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There is no question that the U.S. government is facing its share of troubles. During the worst recession in its history, it is fighting two foreign wars. On top of that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9.7 percent of the workforce is unemployed, and despite months of congressional discussion and deal making, a solution to the health care crisis seems far off. In the depths of all this turmoil, the news gets worse. A recent CNN public opinion poll revealed that most Americans – 86 percent – believe that their government is “broken.”

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The small increase in take-home pay that began in April 2009 through the Making Work Pay Credit could mean an unexpected bump in your tax bill says Cheryl Block, tax law expert and professor of law at Washington University. The problem, according to Block, is that the Treasury Department’s new withholding tables do not take several individual employment circumstances into account. Some joint filers, college students and retirees, among others, may end up repaying all or part of the credit this tax season.

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The Florida State University Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine & Law has been established to promote cooperation between two professions that often view each other warily.

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Credit scores, developed to make loan processing faster and fairer, account for some of the racial disparities in the types of houses that Americans buy and the neighborhoods in which they live, according to a new study.

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A new poll by UTHealth, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and Zogby International showed that likely voters were divided in their support of healthcare reform and the packages being offered by President Barack Obama and the Republican leadership prior to the start of a bipartisan meeting Feb. 25. The White House Web site reports that the meeting was called to hear any and all new ideas to put Americans in control of their own health care.

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Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke addressed innovation through regional cluster formation Thursday at “Clustering for 21st Century Prosperity”, a meeting at the National Academy of Sciences, hosted by the National Research Council. Innovation leaders from around the nation participated in the event.

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Christine Todd Whitman will teach and deliver a March 2 public lecture at Furman University as the Riley Institute's Woodrow Wilson Fellow-in-Residence. Her topic will be "The Changing Nature of Environmental Policy: How We Got Where We Are and How We'll Get Where We're Going."

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The Partnership for a Secure America (PSA), the U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) have united to elevate the role of science diplomacy in U.S. foreign policy. Their joint initiative will launch with the unveiling of a bipartisan statement at 6 pm, Thursday February 25 in Arlington, VA.

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Mount Holyoke College will host scholars from various disciplines and countries for a conference titled "Global Challenges: Migration" at its South Hadley, MA, campus March 5 and 6.

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On February 25, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) held a foreign policy summit to gain public and political support at a time when Congress had slashed his foreign aid budget. Sixty years later to the date, President Obama will hold a summit to gain support for healthcare reform. Is this a coincidence?

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As the United States prepares for the 2010 census, rural areas are at risk of being undercounted, says demographer William O’Hare, senior policy fellow at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire. O’Hare is available to comment on the characteristics of rural America that may make certain rural areas difficult to count.

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On the eve of high-level policy discussions about the federal role in job creation, university technology transfer, and regional clusters, the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) releases "The Power of Place 2.0: The Power of Innovation—10 Steps for Creating Jobs, Improving Technology Commercialization, and Building Communities of Innovation" in Washington, D.C.

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Dead and deformed fish indicate selenium pollution from mountaintop coal mining is causing permanent damage to the environment and poses serious health risks, says a Wake Forest University biologist who will brief U.S. Senators on his research Feb. 23.

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On the surface, peacekeeping and counterinsurgency have little in common: neutral, nonviolent end of war versus an inherently non-neutral, violent operation to win a war. Yet the two are not so dissimilar.

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U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF), in conjunction with Partnership for a Secure America (PSA), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the Commonwealth Club of California, will host a luncheon panel discussion on the importance of Science Diplomacy's role in U.S. foreign policy 12:00pm-1:30pm PDT today at the Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park, CA.

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A special briefing, “Enhancing Space Security: Expert Recommendations” is being held in Washington, D.C. as an event that will bring together leading authorities to review the newly issued report: Towards Greater Security in Outer Space: Some Recommendations.

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Paul Harvey, assistant professor of management at the University of New Hampshire, is available to discuss the workplace aggression and warning signs of employees who might engage in workplace violence. Harvey says early reports of past incidents involving Prof. Amy Bishop suggest that she fits a “hostile attribution style” and underscores the importance of identifying employees who exhibit the tendencies observed in his research.

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How best to start developing a strategy for United States activities in outer space? A specially-convened workshop of experts has initiated a dialogue on how to develop a U.S. National Space Strategy.

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Baylor Law Professor Mark Osler has joined with the ACLU and other groups and individuals nationwide preparing a petition calling on the Obama Administration to commute the sentence of a grandmother serving her 17th year of a 27-year federal prison sentence for a first time, non-violent crack cocaine conspiracy offense.

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Toyota's recall problems may cause government and the public to steer away from more effective safety-improvement strategies, says auto safety expert John Graham at Indiana University.

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An analysis of Union Army pension applications shows that 20 years after the Civil War ended, an expanding Pension Bureau left most black veterans behind. The shift away from the Bureau's color-blind roots was driven by black veterans' receiving less trust for medical claims that were not easily verified.

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Tim Howard, J.D., Florida State University, Ph.D., Northeastern University, Director of and a faculty member for Northeastern University College of Professional Studies' Doctorate Program in Law & Policy.

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Rafael Reuveny, a professor of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University, says President Obama should bypass the gridlocked Congress and issue an executive order to cut greenhouse gases.

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Top experts in Chinese law will gather at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law Thursday, Feb. 25, for a panel discussion and open public forum. The event, co-sponsored by the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall. A live Web cast also will be available.

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Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences presents an informational briefing, “Natural Gas Extraction Using Horizontal Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing: Impacts on Water Resources and Communities,” to Congressional staff on Monday, Feb. 22, 2010 from 10 – 11:30 a.m., at the Capitol Visitor Center, Congressional Meeting Room South, Washington, D.C.

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Funding will ensure that scientists continue transformational research, leading to technologies that spur innovation and generate clean energy jobs to keep the nation competitive in a global economy.

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“The tobacco industry has always been very nimble and aggressive in its responses to new regulations, and Altria’s current attempts to market smokeless tobacco as ‘less harmful’ are no exception,” says Douglas Luke, Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Tobacco Policy Research at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “Part of what we're seeing here is the tobacco industry trying to position smokeless tobacco products so that they either do not come under the new Food and Drug Administration regulations or they come under weaker regulations.”

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Andrew Macpherson, research assistant professor of justice studies at the University of New Hampshire Justiceworks program and director of the Technical Analysis Group, is available to discuss new warnings about the increased threat of cyber attacks.

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NASA is set to unveil the space agency’s fiscal year 2011 budget on Monday, February 1st. Dr. Ray Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation, is prepared to respond to reporter questions regarding the proposed NASA budget.

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Berk Law PLLC along with co counsel, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy and Keith Miller, filed an opposition to JPMorganChase’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit brought on behalf of victims of a $250 million Ponzi Scheme.

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As a practicing geriatrician and health policy expert, Dr. Richard Stefanacci recognizes the major components of healthcare reform that cannot wait any longer to be addressed, especially those negatively affecting older Americans and Medicare patients. Dr. Stefanacci identifies key issues and changes that can make healthcare reform a reality.

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Government financial support that has bolstered this country's commercial news business since its colonial days is in sharp decline and is likely to fall further, according to a report released today by the University of Southern California’s Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. Because these cutbacks are occurring at the height of the digital revolution, they will have an especially powerful impact on a weakened news industry.