Ashland University News Center

AU in the News

3/19/20 – Christopher Chartier tells Scientific American that his PSA is taking COVID-19 behavioral health online research proposals AU Associate Professor of Psychology Christopher Chartier told Scientific American that the Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA), a network that includes more than 700 researchers in 70 countries, put out a call for “rapid and impactful study proposals on COVID-19,” and it received more than 50 submissions by Tuesday. Chartier, the PSA's founder and director, said the group hopes evaluate the proposals and launch projects within the next week. “The whole idea is to get the evidence out there as real-time as we can,” he said. “We’re hoping to consistently pump out updates and give the timely information to folks that might use it.”

AU Associate Professor of Political Science Rene Paddags offered some insight into the benefits and drawbacks of living in a state capital for WalletHub, which recently ranked those cities. (Note: Austin, Texas got the top rank, while Columbus came in sixth).

Paddags noted when choosing a capital city in which to live, the top considerations likely should be salaries and wages, number of open positions, the existence of a vibrant civil society, length of residency and whether government jobs create social tension.

2/25/20 – AU's Rene Paddags notes ups and downs of living in a capital city for WalletHub

The article is subtitled: "We should be 'hidden with Christ'—which means rejecting social and political identities and staying above the fray on issues like impeachment."

See the article at:

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/february-web-only/strip-labels-carlos-campo.html

2/07/20 – Dr. Elad Granot talks about brick-and-mortar retail survival in WEWS segment Dr. Elad Granot, dean of the Dauch College of Business & Economics, was featured in a WEWS NewsChannel 5 segment about which brick-and-mortar stores are thriving, while others are shuttering their windows. Those experiencing success and expansion -- including Sephora and Ulta Beauty -- offer shoppers a vital experiential opportunity that others cannot or do not.

The story aired in the aftermath of the announcement that Macy's will close 125 underperforming stores over the next three years.

Ashland University accounting students Tayler McPherran (senior) and Cameron Deal (junior) were featured on the Ohio Society of CPA's "The State of Business" podcast.

The two discussed how to make the most of a career fair experience, including how to prepare an elevator speech, what to wear, dealing with nerves and the value of following up afterward. They also highlighted some of the AU Career Services advice and services that have benefited them.

1/28/20 – AU students featured on OSCPA "State of Business" podcast

1/23/20 – Rosaire Ifedi speaks with WOSU about possible travel ban expansion Rosaire Ifedi, an associate professor of education at Ashland University and a Nigerian immigrant, was interviewed by WOSU for a story regarding whether President Trump will expand his travel ban to include Nigeria.

“Why? What’s the rationale for this?” asked Ifedi, who also chairs Ohio’s New Africans Immigrants Commission.

“Nigeria has been a friend with the United States, Nigeria is a partner with the United States in fighting terrorism and everything you can think of,” she said. “Nigerians who are in the United States are extremely useful and contributing members of society.”

Ifedi says she’s heard complaints from residents who see Nigeria being added to the list as a continued focus on African countries.

A growing number of native Nigerians have been moving to Central Ohio in recent years. Statewide, a 2018 report from the New Africans Immigrants Commission found about 4,000 native Nigerians living in Ohio.

1/23/20 – Education Professor Dr. Maria Sargent is featured expert in WalletHub Ohio city's ranking story AU Education Professor Dr. Maria Sargent was a featured expert in WalletHub's "2020 Best Places to Raise a Family in Ohio".

She said there is a connection between a child's development and a family's quality of life and the city in which they live. "But this influence is strongly impacted by the diversity represented by the state's families. That is why families must know their definition of 'quality of life' and the non-negotiable items that they feel their child/children need to develop. A rural location may represent quality perfectly for one family and be inadequate for a family who wants quick accessibility to museums or a major dance school," she said. "Once you factor in diversity, any location may be perfect for a wide population. A wise state will understand this difference and begin to market their locations in ways that make that geographic area attractive to the families who will value that type of lifestyle."

WalletHub's top three Ohio cities were (in order) Powell, Perrysburg and New Albany.

WalletHub is owned by Evolution Finance Inc. and is based in Washington, DC.

1/16/20 – Mark Hamilton offers KLIF observations on Astro's cheating scandal Associate Professor of Philosophy and sports ethics expert Dr. Mark Hamilton was interviewed by Dallas radio station KLIF for his take on the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, which resulted in one-year suspensions for GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, loss of draft picks in 2020 and 2021 and a $5 million fine. The GM and manager were subsequently fired by Astros owner Jim Crane.

Hamilton noted the differences between gamesmanship -- actions available to anyone and within the rules but still actions that might be morally questionable --- and cheating, actions which give a team an unfair advantage. The punishments for cheating, Hamilton said, must be stringent enough that others will find the actions are not worth the risk.

Hamilton's segment is at the 8:43 point in the news round-up.

1/13/20 – WKSU Exploradio segment features Chartier, PSA AU Associate Professor of Psychology Chris Chartier and his Psychological Science Accelerator were featured in an Exploradio segment on WKSU.

Chartier talked to reporter Jeff St. Clair about how the PSA came about in response to a growing crisis in psychological research where even big findings are difficult to verify.

“I’d say best estimates of how replicable our field is in terms of published findings is around 50 percent,” Chartier said. “So, we’re talking a coin flip.”

He says part of the problem is that researchers generally rely on subjects that are WEIRD, or "Western Educated Industrialized Rich and Democratic societies.

"The issue," he said, "is that we draw global conclusions about human psychology from an extremely WEIRD subset of the global population.”

The solution, he says, is to include as much of humanity as possible in research studies.

1/02/20 – Amy Klinger featured in Wisconsin Public Radio segment on school security Keeping students safe at school requires much more than active shooter training and metal detectors. Ashland University Associate Professor of Educational Administration Dr. Amy Klinger, a school security expert who also is the Educators' School Safety Network director of programs, discussed the subject recently on Wisconsin Public Radio. Klinger advocated for a comprehensive approach to security in schools and for having a plan that addresses multiple scenarios and also is proactive in its approach to identifying and intervening with students who may be at risk for violent behavior.