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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Michigan Today</title> <atom:link href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:52:40 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <item> <title>Can you trust what you see?</title> <link>https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/michigan-research-june-2025/</link> <comments>https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/michigan-research-june-2025/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Deborah Holdship]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 15:43:21 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Innovation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Research News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Science and Technology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[AI]]></category> <category><![CDATA[artificial intelligence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[deepfake]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Faculty]]></category> <category><![CDATA[UM-Flint]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48677</guid> <description><![CDATA[Deepfakes are rising — and so is the risk to truth. At UM-Flint, researchers at the SMILES Lab built DeepTect, an AI tool that detects and explains deepfakes before the damage is done. From courtroom evidence to cloned voices, DeepTect helps expose what’s fake — clearly, quickly, and credibly. Watch this video from Michigan Research as AI expert Khalid Malik explains.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[Deepfakes are rising — and so is the risk to truth. At UM-Flint, researchers at the SMILES Lab built DeepTect, an AI tool that detects and explains deepfakes before the damage is done. From courtroom evidence to cloned voices, DeepTect helps expose what’s fake — clearly, quickly, and credibly. Watch this video from Michigan Research as AI expert Khalid Malik explains.]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/michigan-research-june-2025/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>How holding your pee can rewire your brain</title> <link>https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/how-holding-your-pee-can-rewire-your-brain?utm_source=dynamics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=health_lab_newsletter&utm_term=N%2FA&utm_content=Health%20Lab%20HW%20WK%2026#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=65f8f046-61fa-4c79-89e6-0a6b96410000</link> <comments>https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/how-holding-your-pee-can-rewire-your-brain?utm_source=dynamics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=health_lab_newsletter&utm_term=N%2FA&utm_content=Health%20Lab%20HW%20WK%2026#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=65f8f046-61fa-4c79-89e6-0a6b96410000#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[UMC Admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 15:06:05 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Research News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[bladder health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category> <category><![CDATA[pelvic floor]]></category> <category><![CDATA[urination]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48673</guid> <description><![CDATA[Did you know that fighting the urge to urinate could rewire your brain, and not in a good way? “General guidance is that you should empty your bladder every 3–4 hours while you’re awake, assuming you’re drinking a normal amount in a regular day,” says Giulia Ippolito, M.D., a neuro-urologist and pelvic reconstruction specialist. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[Did you know that fighting the urge to urinate could rewire your brain, and not in a good way? “General guidance is that you should empty your bladder every 3–4 hours while you’re awake, assuming you’re drinking a normal amount in a regular day,” says Giulia Ippolito, M.D., a neuro-urologist and pelvic reconstruction specialist. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/how-holding-your-pee-can-rewire-your-brain?utm_source=dynamics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=health_lab_newsletter&utm_term=N%2FA&utm_content=Health%20Lab%20HW%20WK%2026#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=65f8f046-61fa-4c79-89e6-0a6b96410000/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>It Happened at Michigan: U-M alum was first American to walk in space</title> <link>https://record.umich.edu/articles/it-3/</link> <comments>https://record.umich.edu/articles/it-3/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Genevieve Monsma]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:52:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Heritage/Tradition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Science and Technology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Alumni]]></category> <category><![CDATA[COE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[College of Engineering]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category> <category><![CDATA[moon walk]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NASA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[space race]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48666</guid> <description><![CDATA[In 1965, Edward H. White II, a 1959 graduate in aeronautical engineering and the pilot of NASA's Gemini IV, became the first American to walk in space. White was traveling with one other astronaut, James A. McDivitt, a fellow Wolverine from the Class of 1959. They had attached American flags to their space suits, kicking off a longstanding tradition of astronauts donning the Stars and Stripes.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[In 1965, Edward H. White II, a 1959 graduate in aeronautical engineering and the pilot of NASA's Gemini IV, became the first American to walk in space. White was traveling with one other astronaut, James A. McDivitt, a fellow Wolverine from the Class of 1959. They had attached American flags to their space suits, kicking off a longstanding tradition of astronauts donning the Stars and Stripes.]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://record.umich.edu/articles/it-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Arsenal Bridge Ventures invests up to $7.8 million in U-M startup to advance weight regulation drugs</title> <link>https://www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-05/arsenal-bridge-ventures-invests-u-m-startup-courage-therapeutics-advance-innovative</link> <comments>https://www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-05/arsenal-bridge-ventures-invests-u-m-startup-courage-therapeutics-advance-innovative#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[UMC Admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:40:37 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Research News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Sciences Institute]]></category> <category><![CDATA[LSI]]></category> <category><![CDATA[obesity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[weight loss]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48661</guid> <description><![CDATA[Courage Therapeutics aims to address obesity and restrictive eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and cachexia, by targeting neural circuits in the brain known as the central melanocortin system. Roger Cone, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has been at the forefront of melanocortin research for decades. Courage Therapeutics is a U-M spinout company.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[Courage Therapeutics aims to address obesity and restrictive eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and cachexia, by targeting neural circuits in the brain known as the central melanocortin system. Roger Cone, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has been at the forefront of melanocortin research for decades. Courage Therapeutics is a U-M spinout company.]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-05/arsenal-bridge-ventures-invests-u-m-startup-courage-therapeutics-advance-innovative/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Sleuthing the story behind a photo</title> <link>https://bentley.umich.edu/news-events/magazine/sleuthing-the-story-behind-a-photo/</link> <comments>https://bentley.umich.edu/news-events/magazine/sleuthing-the-story-behind-a-photo/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[UMC Admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2025 20:14:20 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Campus Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education & Society]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Heritage/Tradition]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48650</guid> <description><![CDATA[When Edward Mears discovered a photo, dated 1933, of his grandmother and her friends at U-M's Alpha Lambda Chinese fraternity, his imagination lit up. One of his grandmother's friends, an Asian man, had inscribed the photo 'To Veronica, with love, Ben.' The inscription inspired a deep dive at the Bentley and took Mears across continents. The story is still unfolding. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[When Edward Mears discovered a photo, dated 1933, of his grandmother and her friends at U-M's Alpha Lambda Chinese fraternity, his imagination lit up. One of his grandmother's friends, an Asian man, had inscribed the photo 'To Veronica, with love, Ben.' The inscription inspired a deep dive at the Bentley and took Mears across continents. The story is still unfolding. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bentley.umich.edu/news-events/magazine/sleuthing-the-story-behind-a-photo/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Change is … good?</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/change-is-good/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/change-is-good/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ricky Rood]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2025 20:43:51 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Climate Blue]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category> <category><![CDATA[climate science]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NASA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[weather]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48534</guid> <description><![CDATA[As the nation’s climate scientists plan for an uncertain future, Ricky Rood sees an opportunity to improve the research enterprise.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>So, what’s next?</h2><p>As I write this in June 2025, the number of climate and weather scientists I know who have retired, accepted buyouts, or been fired is beyond my accounting. Many more have lost their funding and expect to be without a job in a matter of months. A leading <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91333946/this-iconic-nasa-office-changed-climate-science-forever-doge-plans-to-kill-it">NASA Institute was turned out to find a new home</a>. Data and information services are threatened; <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/11/climate-website-shut-down-noaa">some are closed down or likely to close</a>. Across federal agencies, budgets of climate change activities have been reduced, sometimes eliminated, and further reductions are expected. A few have been shut down, <a href="https://ipmnewsroom.org/regional-climate-centers-resume-operations-after-funding-loss-led-to-closures/">then given a reprieve after some effective protests</a>.</p><p>Even in cases when no one says out loud that an effort is ended or a center is closed, the people available to do the work have, often, been left in a position to assure failure. There are simply too few to do what needs to be done. Infrastructure is imperiled.</p><p>It is a bleak time for climate science. <a href="https://www.aip.org/fyi/project-2025-outlines-possible-future-for-science-agencies">All of this was promised in Project 2025.</a></p><p>Many who I know are too shell-shocked to talk about what has happened. They are more concerned about how to pay the mortgage. Those who are still at work are focused on doing their jobs. They are scientists and communicators committed to and driven by their work; they consider their work important.</p><p>Beyond their personal situations, few are thinking about “what’s next?” It is a difficult proposition to think, collectively, about institutions.</p><h2>One size does not fit all</h2><div id="attachment_1782" style="width: 315px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2013/12/greatlakes-ind.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1782" class=" wp-image-1782" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2013/12/greatlakes-ind.jpg" alt="Michigan from space" width="305" height="194" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-1782" class="wp-caption-text">(Image credit: NOAA.)</p></div><p>This past week, I gave a talk in a workshop on what I believe is required to provide model simulations to support adaptation to a warming climate in the Great Lakes region.</p><p>I have believed for years that the U.S. needs a new, more strategic approach to climate modeling. The current political situation only elevates the need. It is foolhardy to imagine that a future election is going to rebuild what we once had.</p><p>I described the need for a new approach in “<a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/04/to-adapt-to-climate-change-we-need-better-models/">To adapt to climate change, we need better models.</a>”</p><p>In short, I and many others have felt that <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13430/a-national-strategy-for-advancing-climate-modeling">U.S. climate modeling activities were inefficient</a>, fragmented across too many agencies. I believe that too much effort is focused on “understanding” the climate system and not enough is focused on the real-world applications that we face: preparedness, adaptation, geoengineering, tipping points, etc. The predominant culture of massive computers and the quest for a one-size-fits-all comprehensive model is unsustainable. It does not address the need.</p><p>Though I feel the way we do business needs to change, I have never advocated “tearing it all down.” Though inefficient, what we have (perhaps had) worked and was, often, world-class. I have no examples that demonstrate how tearing it all down leads to better outcomes.</p><p>My talk at the workshop focused on the Great Lakes. But it also provided a version of what needs to happen nationally.</p><p>I made the (perhaps unconvincing) argument that the current political environment offers an opportunity to do something differently.</p><h2>Rising above the political fray</h2><div id="attachment_48539" style="width: 331px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/climate-blue-protest-signs.jpg"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48539" class=" wp-image-48539" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/climate-blue-protest-signs.jpg" alt="Climate protesters rally with signs like "There is no Planet B."" width="321" height="237" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/06/climate-blue-protest-signs.jpg 800w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/climate-blue-protest-signs-300x221.jpg 300w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/climate-blue-protest-signs-768x566.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 321px) 100vw, 321px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48539" class="wp-caption-text">(Image: iStock.)</p></div><p>I understand the researcher’s desire to focus on “the science” when attacking problems deemed imperative by society.</p><p>Many scientists maintain the knowledge they generate is politically neutral, objectively valuable. However, when science-based research suggests or compels changes to personal behavior, businesses, economics, and power structures, it is immediately politicized. If the research is supported, primarily by government, there is no reason to expect our science enterprise to rise above the political fray.</p><p>For the current administration, climate science resides on the liability ledger rather than the assets.</p><p>Political activism and litigation provide well-founded pushback against the deconstruction of our climate science capacity, but I fear such efforts produce only limited success. Even if we experience some major political and legal victories, too much damage has already been done.</p><p>We need new champions, new leaders.</p><p>Too much of what I hear from our often-deposed leaders in climate science remains trapped in the echo chamber surrounding agency missions, agency turf, and the objective value of our work. It’s as if the scientific community believes that once our value to society will, in crisis, be revealed, our missions and budgets will be restored.</p><p>But the people who are cutting budgets and hollowing out institutions are working with values that deviate from longstanding scientific norms. They have rewritten the agencies’ missions. <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-politics-policy-spring-2025/">Though the public is supportive of climate science</a>, climate and science rarely rise to the level of a <a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2024/11/15/climate-science-no-time-for-a-stacked-deck/">first-priority voting issue</a>. Those in control of the resources are getting what they want.</p><p>The future will rely on the community moving away from a defensive position. Science cannot maintain the narrative that all we have done has been right, and that all that is being proposed is wrong. Too many studies about the practice of science and the execution of science policy, often authored by scientists, demonstrate that things need to change.</p><h2>Balancing change with preservation</h2><aside class="callout left">We need to identify the next generation of science leaders who will extract and develop approaches and opportunities that meet the moment. If we don’t, that potential will be lost for years.</aside><p>Leadership requires one to differentiate themselves from the canonical thinking of the group.</p><p>I led several organizations in my career, and I was never asked to be a steward of present behavior and practice. I was always asked to disrupt an entrenched organizational culture and to address goals that aligned with agency or national priorities.</p><p>This required asking what needs to change.</p><p>And it required a strategic approach that balanced change with preservation. A coherent and focused approach is a convincing feature of good leadership. It is easier to conceive an effective approach to adaptation modeling in the Great Lakes than it is to reimagine the entire U.S. climate science enterprise. Even so, such a regional effort could be framed as a contribution to such a reimagining.</p><p>As the rubble of our crumbling climate enterprise piles up, we need to identify the next generation of science leaders who will extract and develop approaches and opportunities that meet the moment. If we don’t, that potential will be lost for years. What we face today is too important to let that happen. We need to find, inspire, and support those willing to challenge the status quo of their own community, to avoid complicity with those intent on doing damage, and to build trust and develop the compromises necessary to do things differently.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/change-is-good/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>5</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Meet me at the Wacky Shack</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/meet-me-at-the-wacky-shack/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/meet-me-at-the-wacky-shack/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Deborah Holdship]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2025 16:38:45 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Editor's Blog]]></category> <category><![CDATA[higher education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Iggy Pop]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48513</guid> <description><![CDATA[As the wild ride in higher education continues, we find refuge in the strangest places.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Fun House</h2><div id="attachment_48514" style="width: 317px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/StoogesFunHouse-album-cover-e1750437139687.jpg"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48514" class=" wp-image-48514" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/StoogesFunHouse-album-cover-e1750437139687.jpg" alt="Iggy Pop's album cover of the Stooges' 2nd album Fun House. Shirtless Iggy gyrates like a red flame." width="307" height="307" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/06/StoogesFunHouse-album-cover-e1750437139687.jpg 400w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/StoogesFunHouse-album-cover-e1750437139687-300x300.jpg 300w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/StoogesFunHouse-album-cover-e1750437139687-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 307px) 100vw, 307px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48514" class="wp-caption-text">Fun House was the Stooges’ second album. “No Fun” can be found on the band’s self-titled debut.</p></div><p>Few things tweak the tender heart of nostalgia like the sight of a Ferris Wheel rising from the blacktop of a high school parking lot. It’s even better when the Ferris Wheel beckons from the high school parking lot of Ann Arbor’s own James Osterberg.</p><p>The wild dervish who sang <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXIw1BvfEQ8">“No Fun”</a> on the Stooges’ debut album can sleep easy tonight. Fun surely will be had at Pioneer High School once the chain link gates fly open at Iggy Pop’s old stomping grounds. We’re talking corn dogs, hot dogs, and chicken tenders. The Scrambler still abides. And in case you hadn’t noticed, the Wacky Shack awaits. If only Iggy were there to greet you at its wacky threshold.</p><h2>The Scrambler</h2><p>Of course, it wouldn’t be opening-day for a parking-lot carnival in Michigan unless it happened under stormy summer skies. But we all know how it goes around here. Rain on Halloween. Lightning at the Tigers game. Any aficionado of the Ann Arbor Art Fair can predict to the nanosecond when the next extreme weather event will wreak havoc on our town.</p><p>Higher education has been on its own carnival ride for quite some time, and we’re tired of eyeing those dark clouds with daily dread. Most of us are ready to flip the switch and stop this crazy thing before all the funding disappears, all the critical research is blocked, and all the smartest people we know lose their jobs. Iggy may have had a point after all. It’s “No Fun” when the carnival is under such dire threat from above.</p><div id="attachment_48515" style="width: 278px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Scambler-Editors-Blog.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48515" class=" wp-image-48515" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Scambler-Editors-Blog.jpg" alt="A view through the chain link fence of a carnival that hast yet to open. Stormy skies and a Ferris Wheel." width="268" height="223" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/06/Scambler-Editors-Blog.jpg 576w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Scambler-Editors-Blog-300x250.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 268px) 100vw, 268px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48515" class="wp-caption-text">(Image: D. Holdship.)</p></div><p> </p><p>Listen, we come to the Fun House for thrills, not disasters. And we look to higher education to keep the (Ferris) wheels turning, not to get to stuck at the top of a janky ride that hasn’t seen service in several seasons.</p><p>In his latest message to the U-M community, <a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/19/the-life-changing-impact-of-research-and-education/">President Domenico Grasso reminds us of the joy</a> inherent in discovery. If that doesn’t sum up the purpose of a university, I don’t know what does. Teaching brings joy. Learning leads to joy. Pursuing knowledge is the very essence of joy.</p><p>So, grab a corn dog and meet me at the Wacky Shack until the storm passes. You can even see the giant Block M at Michigan Stadium from here. And once the sky clears, we can reclaim our equilibrium, recalibrate our mojo, and refocus on the priorities that make higher education and our University of Michigan the most thrilling and joyful place to be.<br /> <br /> <br /><em>(Lead image: D. Holdship.)</em></p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/meet-me-at-the-wacky-shack/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>‘Will the girl who took my shirt and left her poetry…’</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/will-the-girl-who-took-my-shirt-and-left-her-poetry/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/will-the-girl-who-took-my-shirt-and-left-her-poetry/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[James Tobin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2025 11:40:07 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Heritage/Tradition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[history]]></category> <category><![CDATA[MIchigan Daily]]></category> <category><![CDATA[personal ads]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48510</guid> <description><![CDATA[Before social media, before dating apps, there were personal ads, a department of newspapers' classified advertising sections that spiced up the paper's lifeless gray columns. A dive into The Michigan Daily's digital archive reveals an especially creative era on campus when Michigan students used the Daily's back pages to express their emotions and connect.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Let’s get personal</h2><p>Before social media, before dating apps, there were personal ads, a department of newspapers’ classified advertising sections that spiced up endless gray columns selling rooms for rent, babysitting services, and “slide rules, new and used.”</p><p>A vogue for “personals” rose in the <i><span style="font-weight: 400">Michigan Daily</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400"> in the late 1950s and receded in the early ’70s. Ironic and offbeat, sophomoric and silly, romantic and racy, inappropriate and occasionally even intellectual, they offer tiny windows into those fast-changing times.</span></p><p>If any trend persisted, it was insecure guys seeking unattainable girls, often in the wake of a chance encounter that lit a flame in a guy’s romantic imagination. Another perennial: Guys apologizing for dumb things they did the night before. And sometimes the girls replied.</p><p>Enjoy this slideshow, which features 40 of the most captivating personals we could find. Most of the ads “speak” for themselves. Others feature captions that provide a little context. </p><p>(Click on the arrows in the bottom right corner to view at full screen.)</p><p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Personal Ads Presentation" src="https://www.canva.com/design/DAGqttlZZFU/UB6L0leDDV2brnzxPU9ukA/view?embed&meta" height="281" width="500" style="border: none; border-radius: 8px; width: 500px; height: 281px;" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" allow="fullscreen"></iframe></p><h2>My back pages</h2><p>We’d love to hear from anyone who placed or, better yet, answered any of these personal ads! Did anyone find love? Do tell.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/will-the-girl-who-took-my-shirt-and-left-her-poetry/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>5</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>The life-changing impact of research and education</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/19/the-life-changing-impact-of-research-and-education/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/19/the-life-changing-impact-of-research-and-education/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Domenico Grasso]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2025 00:08:06 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[President's Message]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Board of Regents]]></category> <category><![CDATA[President's Medal of Excellence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[U-M President]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48499</guid> <description><![CDATA[It's imperative that we stand up for the pursuit of knowledge and the joy of discovery.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>June 2025</h2><p>Dear colleagues, students, and alumni:</p><p>It has been a busy five weeks, and every day I am energized by the work of so many to demonstrate we are the premier public university in the country.</p><aside class="callout left"><strong>Video:</strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyK5eGWwpC8"> Getting to Know University of Michigan President Domenico Grasso</a></aside>I’ve had very rewarding conversations with faculty leaders, deans and directors, student leaders, staff, coaches, and donors. There is a deep desire to broaden our impact and move us forward, which are my top priorities. I look forward to meeting with more members of the community, including more students, as the fall semester begins.</p><p>Recently, we celebrated a transition in leadership of the Board of Regents.</p><p>I would like to thank Regent Kathy White for her service as Board Chair during one of the most unique years in U-M history. We’re grateful for your steady hand.</p><p>Regent Mark Bernstein will now pick up the baton. I’ve enjoyed my recent conversations with Regent Bernstein and look forward to working even more closely with him in his new role. Recruiting and selecting the next University of Michigan president is a tremendous responsibility, and his experience will provide critical leadership.</p><h2>Excellence and honors</h2><p>Leadership was a strong theme at our President’s Medal of Excellence luncheon earlier this week.</p><p>We honored five extraordinary people:</p><ul><li>Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, from Michigan’s 6th Congressional District.</li><li>Jalen Rose, a philanthropist and sportscaster who was a member of the Fab Five basketball team.</li><li>Alumni Fred and Judy Wilpon, longtime donors and founders of the Kessler Scholars Program that supports first-generation college students.</li><li>And Dr. Francis Collins, who was director of the National Institutes of Health for 12 years. More importantly, he was a distinguished member of our faculty in the 1980s and ’90s</li></ul><div id="attachment_48506" style="width: 321px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/250203_IHAM_CysticFibrosisGene3-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48506" class=" wp-image-48506" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/250203_IHAM_CysticFibrosisGene3-2-1024x884.jpg" alt="Michigan Daily front page re: Francis Collins and the Human Genome Project." width="311" height="269" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/250203_IHAM_CysticFibrosisGene3-2-1024x884.jpg 1024w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/250203_IHAM_CysticFibrosisGene3-2-300x259.jpg 300w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/250203_IHAM_CysticFibrosisGene3-2-768x663.jpg 768w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/250203_IHAM_CysticFibrosisGene3-2-1536x1326.jpg 1536w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/250203_IHAM_CysticFibrosisGene3-2-2048x1769.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48506" class="wp-caption-text">In July 2000, the Michigan Daily detailed Francis Collins’ progress as head of the Human Genome Project. (Image: The Michigan Daily Digital Archives, Bentley Historical Library.)</p></div><p>Dr. Collins had some powerful words about the critical value of, and need for, scientific research in this country. Medical and scientific discoveries throughout the decades are what have established American universities as the best in the world. He also spoke of the Michigan culture of being rigorous and bold, as well as taking calculated risks.</p><p>Dr. Collins called on all of us to stand up for the pursuit of knowledge, the joy of discovery, and the life-changing impact of research and education.</p><p>It was a perfect summation of who we are as a public university.</p><p>All of this activity is the essence of the University of Michigan and our mission to serve the world.</p><p>As we navigate our changing world, Michigan is investing more deeply in our students, who will leave here to contribute to our communities in ways that we can only imagine. We are increasing support for faculty and staff to ensure they have the resources they need to succeed in a work environment that is engaging, supportive, and safe. And we are broadening our commitment to Michigan families that a U-M education is affordable and attainable.</p><p>Forever Go Blue!</p><p>Domenico Grasso, PhD ’87<br />President<br /> <br /> <br /><em>(Lead image: The first space mission led by the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy is scheduled to launch in 2029 with the support of a NASA grant worth $10 million. Researchers John Monnier, left, Shivani Sunil, center, and James Cutler, right, examine a <a href="https://news.umich.edu/u-m-astronomy-will-lead-its-first-satellite-mission-with-nasa-grant/">CubeSat in the Michigan Exploration Laboratory</a>. Image credit: Michigan Photography.)</em></p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/19/the-life-changing-impact-of-research-and-education/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Root causes of health disparities</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/13/root-causes-of-health-disparities/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/13/root-causes-of-health-disparities/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Victor Katch]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2025 16:23:14 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Health Yourself]]></category> <category><![CDATA[economics]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[poverty]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wealth]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wellness]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48465</guid> <description><![CDATA[Why are some people healthy and others are not? Economic disparities play a role, says Victor Katch.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>High five</h2><p>The leading causes of death and disability in the United States can be traced to five major chronic diseases. Collectively, they are responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths, killing more than 1.7 million Americans each year:</p><ul><li>Heart disease</li><li>Cancer</li><li>Stroke</li><li>Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease</li><li>Diabetes</li></ul><p>Chronic diseases are broadly defined as conditions that last one year or longer, require ongoing medical attention, or limit activities of daily living. They are the leading drivers of the country’s annual health-care costs of $4.5 trillion.</p><div id="attachment_48470" style="width: 702px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Leading-Underlying-Causes.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48470" class=" wp-image-48470" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Leading-Underlying-Causes-1024x425.png" alt="A bar graph from the National Vital Statistics System, 2023, reflects the leading underlying causes of death. Hearth disease tops the list." width="692" height="287" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Leading-Underlying-Causes-1024x425.png 1024w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Leading-Underlying-Causes-300x125.png 300w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Leading-Underlying-Causes-768x319.png 768w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Leading-Underlying-Causes-1536x638.png 1536w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Leading-Underlying-Causes-2048x851.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48470" class="wp-caption-text">(National Vital Statistics System, 2023. Click on the image to enlarge.)</p></div><h2>Comorbidity</h2><p>Chronic conditions rarely exist in isolation, which complicates the treatment plan. One in four U.S. adults have two or more chronic conditions simultaneously, termed comorbidity. More than half of older adults have three or more chronic diseases. In the U.S., 10,000 or more Americans will turn age 65 each day from now through the end of 2029. It is reasonable to expect that the overall number of individuals with comorbidities will increase. So will the number of deaths caused by chronic diseases.</p><h2>Causes of chronic disease</h2><p>Myriad individual and public factors influence a person’s risk of developing a chronic disease. Overall, individual risk factors depend on personal lifestyle choices, including diet and exercise. In contrast, public risk factors tend to be out of one’s own control. The Flint Water Crisis comes to mind. To complicate matters, individual and public chronic disease factors often interact.</p><h2>Individual risk factors</h2><div id="attachment_48467" style="width: 362px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Graphic-WoodenSpoon.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48467" class=" wp-image-48467" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Graphic-WoodenSpoon.png" alt="Graphic shows spoon surrounded by a tags with chronic conditions on them." width="352" height="266" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Graphic-WoodenSpoon.png 608w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Graphic-WoodenSpoon-300x227.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 352px) 100vw, 352px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48467" class="wp-caption-text">(Image courtesy of Vic Katch.)</p></div><p>The major individual risk factors for chronic disease are fairly easy to identify:</p><ul><li>Tobacco use</li><li>Dietary factors</li><li>Physical inactivity</li><li>Excessive alcohol consumption</li><li>Elevated blood pressure</li><li>Elevated blood cholesterol</li><li>Elevated blood glucose (sugar)</li><li>Overweight or obesity</li><li>Age</li><li>Gender</li><li>Genetics (family history)</li></ul><p>Common wisdom, supported by sufficient scientific evidence, stresses the many benefits of adopting lifestyle changes to reduce the risks of chronic disease. Engaging in regular physical activity and adding more plant-based foods to one’s diet are two of the most common and effective interventions. But such interventions often don’t occur till late adulthood, long after the ravages of poor health practices have allowed the incubation of a chronic disease to reach a critical horizon.</p><p>When overt chronic disease symptoms become observable it may be possible to alter disease progression using targeted interventions within any one individual (Health Yourself: <a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2022/12/16/nature-vs-nurture-its-both/">Nature v nurture: It’s both</a>). However, these interventions have had little or no effect on a population basis. Chronic disease rates are rapidly rising worldwide, particularly in the more affluent economies. It seems there is little we can do about it: In the U.S., we have failed at every attempt to quell rising cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart and respiratory diseases, arthritis, obesity, inflammatory diseases, and oral disease rates.</p><h2>History of individual risk factors</h2><p>Efforts to identify individuals at risk for chronic disease are based on early research from the 1950s and 1970s that examined the autopsy reports of soldiers in their 20s, who were killed during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Many exhibited significant atherosclerosis, a narrowing of the coronary artery that associates with later heart attacks. Researchers at the time concluded the soldiers were eating too much fat, smoking cigarettes, and not getting enough exercise. Even though the young soldiers didn’t exhibit overt signs of heart trouble while living, the disease was incubating and likely would have made an appearance years down the road.</p><p>This explanation aligns with findings from the noted and ongoing <a href="http://www.framinghamheartstudy.org">Framingham, Massachusetts Heart Study,</a> which established the importance of individual risk factor development during the early stages of life. The study originally enrolled two-thirds of Framingham’s citizens — 5,209 men and women aged 29-62 — who had not yet developed overt symptoms of cardiovascular disease or suffered a heart attack or stroke. Researchers followed them throughout their lives to see who developed coronary artery disease. The study has now enrolled a third generation of participants. Findings reveal that individuals with high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and smoking habits were at greatest risk for heart disease and diabetes development.</p><p>Encouraging people to stop behaviors associated with disease progression has long been the predominant perspective for population-based health promotion. And it has worked, mostly. In the 1980s, the U.S. Surgeon General and policymakers turned their focus on the tobacco industry, introducing restrictions around production, packaging, advertising, and smoking in public places. Cigarette use declined, along with deaths from heart disease.</p><h2>Public chronic disease risk factors</h2><div id="attachment_48468" style="width: 386px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Trash.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48468" class=" wp-image-48468" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Trash.png" alt="A big ugly pile of trash" width="376" height="194" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Trash.png 908w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Trash-300x155.png 300w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/06/Health-Yourself-Disparities-Trash-768x396.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48468" class="wp-caption-text">(Image courtesy of Vic Katch.)</p></div><p>Some individuals and groups are more susceptible to developing a chronic disease, due to factors that supersede one’s ability to make healthy choices. This points to “public” influences for chronic disease development. Indeed, research suggests that public disease risk factors represent “root causes” for disease development, independent of individual risk factors.</p><p>Health epidemiologists study how diseases and other health conditions spread and affect populations, and how to prevent and control them. It’s a key part of public health evidence-based medicine, and is used to shape policy decisions and identify targets for health care. By studying the frequency and pattern of health events in populations, including the number of cases in a given population, epidemiologists can identify environmental, social, genetic, and behavioral factors contributing to chronic disease development.</p><p>One of the most cited examples of epidemiology in action was <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11416802/">Dr. John Snow’s</a> mapping of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in London. The “miasma theory” dominated medical thinking at the time: experts believed bad air caused disease. Snow, however, proposed cholera was waterborne. His groundbreaking approach relied on meticulous data collection and analyses. He began by mapping the locations of cholera cases throughout London, a novel method at the time, which allowed him to visualize the spread of the disease. His analyses revealed a pattern of disease spread centered around the Broad Street water pump. Snow conducted interviews with local residents, gathering detailed information on their water sources and daily routines. His methodical approach provided strong empirical evidence that linked the outbreak to the contaminated water supply from the pump.</p><h2>Economic disparities lead to health disparities</h2><aside class="callout right"><h3>Public factors responsible for chronic disease development</h3><ul><li>Limited access to health care</li><li>Environmental factors that include higher levels of pollution, less access to healthy food, and hazardous living conditions</li><li>Chronic stress caused by economic disparities</li><li>Limited educational opportunities </aside></li></ul><p>In recent decades, epidemiologists have identified the unequal distribution of wealth, income, and resources in a society as a root cause for health disparities in that society, independent of individual risk factors.</p><p>At the most basic level, socioeconomic differences affect access to health care and health outcomes. Epidemiologic analyses of chronic disease development in populations characterized by economic disparity show individuals of lower socioeconomic status suffer higher rates of chronic disease and experience lower life expectancy when compared to those of higher socioeconomic status, in lock-step fashion.</p><p>It’s not surprising. Economic disparities create a complex web that ultimately affects individuals’ healthy lifespan. When resources are limited, access to necessary health care, nutritious food, and safe living conditions diminish.</p><p>Consequently, individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds experience a higher burden of chronic diseases, which can truncate lifespan.</p><h2>Conclusions</h2><aside class="callout left"> Economic inequality, together with the lack of support for early life, represents a major root cause of poor health and disease development worldwide.</aside>Addressing economic inequality through local, state, and federal policies that increase access to education, living wages, housing, and other resources can help reduce health disparities. Improving the social determinants of health is crucial for reducing chronic disease and promoting more equitable health outcomes.<br /> <br /> <br /><em><strong>References</strong></em></p><ul><li><em>Adogu, Prosper Obunikem Uchechukwu, et al. “Epidemiologic transition of diseases and health-related events in developing countries: A review. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences 2015;5(4):150.</em></li><li><em>Ahmadm, F.B., et al. “Mortality in the United States –Provisional data, 2023. The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2024;73:677.</em></li><li><em>Aman, Y. “Addressing gender disparities in global health.” Nature Aging 2024 Jun;4(6):750.</em></li><li><em>Amin, S.A., et al. “Disparities and the American health care system.” Clinical Spine Surgery 2019 Mar;32(2):67-70.</em></li><li><em><a href="https://search.cdc.gov/search/?query=health%20disparities&dpage=1">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health Disparities</a>.</em></li><li><em>Ezell, J.M. “The health disparities research industrial complex.” Social Science and Medicine 2024;351:116251.</em></li><li><em>Hacker, K. “The burden of chronic disease.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes 2024;8(1):112–119.</em></li><li><em>Pendyal, A. “Disparities in cardiovascular health: Looking beyond traditional categories.” Canadian Journal of Cardiology 2024;40(6):1176.</em></li><li><em>Raghupathi, W., Raghupathi, V. “An empirical study of chronic diseases in the United States: A visual analytics approach.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2018 Mar;15(3):431.</em></li><li><em>Wamboldt, M.Z. “Introduction to a special section: Racial disparities in health care.” Family Process 2024;63(2):471-474.</em></li><li><em>Waters, H., Graf, M., editors. “<a href="https://milkeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/reports-pdf/ChronicDiseases-HighRes-FINAL_2.pdf">The costs of chronic disease in the U.S. 1<sup>st</sup> Ed. Milken Institute</a>“; 2018.</em></li></ul><p><em>(Lead image: A 3D-rendered, enhanced scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of cancer cells. Source: iStock.)</em></p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/13/root-causes-of-health-disparities/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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