Said and Done | In the Media | April 2016


A section of Said and Done
Full April 2016 edition
 



 

POLITICAL SCIENCE
The fear of long lines keeps election officials up at night | Charles Stewart III
MIT political scientist Charles Stewart “has been helping officials use an online tool that allows them to manage long lines by plugging in a few key variables: ‘how many people are going to show up during a period of time, how long it takes to take care of them on average, and how many places do you have to take care of them.’”
Story at NPR


HISTORY
Resurgance of debate about the U.S. Selective Service | Christopher Capozzola
Abolish the Selective Service? Or add women to it? Two conflicting bills are in Congress, and the subject has come up in this year's presidential debates.
Interview on Colorado Public Radio


WRITING
Junot Díaz is staying put
In an interview with The Boston Globe, MIT Professor of Writing Junot Díaz discusses the presidential primaries. "There’s a long-term tradition of white supremacy in this country. Trump isn’t something entirely new.”
Story
 

PHILOSOPHY
How philosophy influences contemporary science | Scott Soames PhD '76
"Philosophy thrives when enough is known to make progress conceivable, but it remains unachieved because of methodological confusion. Philosophy helps break the impasse by articulating new questions, posing possible solutions and forging new conceptual tools. Sometimes it does so when sciences are born, as with 17th-century physics and 19th-century biology. But it also does so as they mature. As science advances, there is more, not less, for [philosophy] to do."
Commentary at The Stone, New York Times
 

"Philosophy thrives when enough is known to make progress conceivable, but it remains unachieved because of methodological confusion. Philosophy helps break the impasse by articulating new questions, posing possible solutions and forging new conceptual tools. As science advances, there is more, not less, for [philosophy] to do."

— Scott Soames, PhD '76, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, USC


 

ECONOMICS
The $90 billion question: Do we need government-supplied daycare? | Jonathan Gruber
A Washington Post article on the prospects and pitfalls of universal daycare cites research by Jonathan Gruber, Ford Professor of Economics at MIT, and one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act.
Story at the Washington Post
 

POVERTY ACTION LAB
How do academic economists use A/B testing? | Esther Duflo, Rachel Glennerster
MIT economics alumnus Susan Athey discusses the use of randomized trials in field testing conducted by MIT-JPAL’s Esther Duflo and Rachel Glennerster.
Story at Forbes
 

ECONOMICS
Sicker patients seem at a disadvantage with Medicare Advantage | Jonathan Gruber
The New York Times explores the benefits and weaknesses of the Medicare Advantage program, citing research co-authored by MIT economist Jonathan Gruber that finds "that Medicare Advantage enrollees travel farther to visit hospitals than patients in traditional Medicare do. Perhaps in part for this reason...Medicare Advantage enrollees used fewer hospital services."
Story at the New York Times
 

THEATER ARTS
Playbill salutes Charlotte Brathwaite
“When I think of the emerging directors whose work I’ve admired over the last year, Charlotte Brathwaite easily stands out...Her clarity of vision and wealth of creativity combine to reinforce her astounding ability to develop new plays," says Mimi O’Donnell, artistic director of Labyrinth Theater
Story | Related: Brathwaite directing at the Japan Society
 

MUSIC
John Harbison and friends perform at Kepes Prize Concert
The concert included a new Harbison work composed as a tribute to Clarise Snyder, the longtime director of the MIT Concert Office.
Review at the Boston Music Intelligencer


SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY
The Facebook Breakup | Sherry Turkle
In an article on the development of “The Internet of Things,” MIT anthropologist Sherry Turkle is quoted, “I think we just have to acknowledge the humanness of that process and be compassionate with ourselves. Life is supposed to be complicated.”
Story at the New York Time

 

ECONOMICS
There’s a U.S. program for compensating people hurt by trade. It isn’t effective | David Autor
In an article on the cost of free trade agreements, Bloomberg cites recent research by MIT economist David Autor that reveals “the human price that the U.S. has paid in exchange for low-priced goods from China.“
Story at Bloomberg
 

POLITICAL SCIENCE
Safety in numbers...of conservatives | Devin Caughey
The Boston Globe “Ideas” column highlights new research co-published by MIT political scientist Devin Caughey on the effect of regional U.S. culture on Presidential responses to international conflict. “They found that American presidents from the South — where there is more of a culture of honor and resolve — were less likely to back down in international disputes.”
Story at the Boston Globe
 

ECONOMICS
Gov. Jindal’s voucher program is like the Tuskegee syphilis experiments | Parag Pathak
The Huffington Post draws on research into Louisiana’s school voucher system co-published by MIT economist Parag Pathak. Pathak and his co-authors “found that “LSP participation substantially reduces academic achievement.”
Story at the Huffington Post