Month: April 2021

“April 29 marks President Joe Biden’s 100th day in office, a milestone that is traditionally used to evaluate whether a president is keeping or deviating from their campaign promises. The Onion evaluates whether Biden kept his campaign promises.”

Stimulus Checks
Promise Kept: Americans received all $1,400 they were always promised.

Create A Cabinet That “Looks Like America”
Promise Broken: Not one cabinet member is shaped like Illinois.

Immigration
Working On It: Biden has completed nearly all the paperwork to become a U.S. citizen.

Kill Or Capture Osama bin Laden
Promise Kept: When making a checklist, it’s good to include something already in the bank.

Police Oversight Commission
Promise Broken: Some promises are made to be broken.

Stop Border Wall Construction
Promise Kept: Biden diverted all border wall materials into building much-needed border fencing.

To Be There
Promise Broken: The auditorium was packed for the dance recital, but Biden’s seat was empty.

Not Being Donald Trump
Promise Kept: His most popular campaign promise, pundits are debating whether this accomplishment alone can carry him through to a second term.

Remaining Alive
Working On It: Some close calls resulted in Kamala Harris being president for an afternoon here and there.

From https://www.theonion.com/biden-s-first-100-days-did-he-keep-his-campaign-promis-1846775428.

Congratulations all – we did it – made it through another semester. This is, of course, especially impressive, given the Covid restrictions (virtual learning, etc.).

Good luck to all during final exams… almost there! And we can all look forward to normal (face-to-face) classes in the fall!

 

Congratulations to Jacon Klug, who made his Senior Honors Project Presentation, “Effects of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries,” on April 22, 2021.

Abstract: “As China continues to grow as a global power, its wealth and influence has expanded into developing countries through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). These investments have been throughout developing countries in primary sectors and infrastructure such as the Belts and Road Initiative, spreading throughout the Middle East and Africa. Because of the question of stability in developing countries, civil conflicts can become volatile for a developing country and can be exacerbated with the presence of foreign investments. With this research, I hope to understand the effects Chinese intervention has on developing countries as it relates to civil conflicts. Because of China’s foreign policy of non-interference, history of avoiding acknowledgment of human rights violations, and noncompliance in international politics, I theorized that Chinese FDI in a developing country raises the probability of armed conflict occurrence and intensity in the target country. To test this, data were collected on foreign direct investments given to developing countries by major powers such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, and China to determine if Chinese investments are more volatile to developing countries compared to its western counterparts.”

Review of Dr. Kassab’s latest book (Corruption in the Americas, ed. by Jonathan D. Rosen and Hanna S. Kassab. Lexington Books, 2020), in Choice:

“This deceptively brief collection provides an overview of the impact of corruption in Latin America with essays on six different countries. After an introduction and a “conceptual review,” individual chapters consider the issue in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. Each chapter addresses the question from a different perspective. The introduction and first chapter consider public perception and review useful concepts for approaching the issue. The chapter on Mexico also centers survey data to examine links between corruption, weak institutions, and organized crime. The chapter on Guatemala addresses the issue with a narrative focused on the rise and fall of the International Commission against Impunity. That on Colombia has a similar structure, though it is less centered on a single institution, reflecting the fractured nature of political conflict and non-state actors involved. The examination of Peru, “A Tsunami of Scandals,” lays out that dizzying national history, followed by a chapter on Bolivia shaped by the author’s experience. The chapter on Brazil eschews discussion of the Odebrecht scandal and the Lava Jato investigation to examine questions of organized crime and the state. Without providing a synthetic overview, the collection demonstrates the complexity of studying and understanding corruption.

“Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.”

Dr. Hannah Kassab, our newest faculty member, was nominated by two of his students for the ECU Honored Instructor Award. Congratulations – nice job Dr. Kassab!

Dr. Olga Smirnova was invited as a speaker at the North Carolina Economic Development Association Emerging Executives Forum conducted February 17-18. The forum participants requested a rare topic for an applied profession: importance of theories. Knowing economic development theories can help in devising economic development strategies. Other panelists included Jonathan Morgan (School of Government, UNC) and Crystal Morphis (Creative Economic Development Consulting, LLC). Dr. Smirnova presentation focused on the economic base theory.
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Late night talk show hosts are not letting up on jokes about the president just because Donald Trump is no longer in office.

Jimmy Fallon of “The Tonight Show” mentioned Biden’s stumble on the stairs of Air Force One – more than once. For example, on March 23, he quipped: “This next poll asks, ‘What is the worst trip you’ve ever taken? 50% said a family trip, 49% said a work retreat, and President Biden said ‘Walking up the stairs of Air Force One.”

Stephen Colbert made a joke about Biden’s fall in his monologue on March 22: “Biden promised 100 million shots in 100 days. Well, last week he fulfilled that goal in 58 days. Our new president is on a roll, baby! Nothing can stop him now,” Colbert said. “Except stairs.”

A new study by Bruce Sacerdote, Ranjan Sehgal, and Molly Cook, shows that in the US, news coverage of Covid-19 was overwhelmingly negative – to the point of all but ignoring positive developments.

See: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w28110/w28110.pdf

Abstract: “We analyze the tone of COVID-19 related English-language news articles written since January 1, 2020. Ninety one percent of stories by U.S. major media outlets are negative in tone versus fifty four percent for non-U.S. major sources and sixty five percent for scientific journals. The negativity of the U.S. major media is notable even in areas with positive scientific developments including school re-openings and vaccine trials. Media negativity is unresponsive to changing trends in new COVID-19 cases or the political leanings of the audience. U.S. major media readers strongly prefer negative stories about COVID-19, and negative stories in general. Stories of increasing COVID-19 cases outnumber stories of decreasing cases by a factor of 5.5 even during periods when new cases are declining. Among U.S. major media outlets, stories discussing President Donald Trump and hydroxychloroquine are more numerous than all stories combined that cover companies and individual researchers working on COVID-19 vaccines.”

Emily Cervarich graduated from East Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a minor in Communication. She joined WNCT in April of 2020 as a Digital Reporter. She had previously worked at the station as an intern at the station during the summer of 2019.

She found her passion for reporting during her college career while watching different news entities for her political classes. Recognizing how differently and uniquely the same story could be told was fascinating.

After living in Greenville for the past 5 years, Emily is excited to tell the stories of the people and places she’s grown to love so much.

For more, see: https://www.wnct.com/author/emily-cervarich/

You are invited to join a Virtual Election Cybersecurity Workshop for five states, KY, NC, TN, VA, and WV on Thursday, April 22nd from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.

Cybersecurity threats are evolving and disinformation tools are changing, so our workshop presentations have been updated for 2021. In addition, we will include presentations on new security resources available from government and industry. Attached is a one-pager that briefly describes our initiative and the invitation flyer. You can register either by clicking “Info & RSVP” on the flyer or via this link:

https://uscregional.eventbrite.com

This initiative is independent and nonpartisan, supported by a generous grant from Google. Speakers will include Gary Pruitt, President and CEO of the Associated Press, our national media partner.

For your convenience and safety, this workshop will be virtual. For the best possible experience, we suggest using Zoom. If you are unfamiliar with Zoom, please visit the Zoom Help Center prior to our event at: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697-Getting-Started

You will receive the Zoom meeting ID and password upon RSVP.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, April 22nd!

Thank you.

Best,

Shelby Bolen

University Liaison, USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative