How do political debates affect advertising?
September 14, 2011
Advertisers covet spots during political debates, which often draw large numbers of viewers. But according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, political debate can sometime decrease the effectiveness of subsequent ads.
“This enduring popularity generates an intense competition for the commercial slots that follow broadcast debates,” write authors Alison Jing Xu (University of Toronto) and Robert S. Wyer Jr. (The Chinese University of Hong Kong). “The fact that these commercials are widely viewed, however, does not guarantee their effectiveness.”
The authors studied (and manipulated) the mindsets of participants who were exposed to various types of persuasive communications. “We proposed and found that inducing participants to make supportive elaborations on a series of propositions activated a bolstering mindset that increased the effectiveness of an unrelated, subsequent ad,” the authors write. But the authors found that participants who activated a counterarguing mindset were less persuaded by the same ads.
In one experiment, the authors found that consumers in a bolstering mindset (people who generated thoughts about positions they already agreed with) were more likely to be persuaded by a vacation spot ad than their counterparts who were in the counterarguing mindset, which increased the number of negative thoughts toward the vacation spot.
In another study, the authors tested participants who self-categorized as Republicans, Democrats, or independents by assigning them to one of four conditions. Some watched Barack Obama’s speech on his economic plan. Others watched a speech by John McCain, a debate between the two candidates, or nothing at all. “Participants with a strong a priori preference for either candidate were motivated to bolster their preferred candidate’s speech,” the authors write. “In all cases, developing a bolstering mindset increased participants’ evaluations of the brands promoted in the commercial. However, acquiring a counterarguing mindset decreased participants’ evaluations of that brand.”
“Even though the quality of an ad plays an important role in determining its impact, the context in which is appears can sometimes decrease its effectiveness,” the authors conclude.
Alison Jing Xu and Robert S. Wyer Jr. “The Role of Bolstering and Counterarguing Mindsets in Persuation.” Journal of Consumer Research (published online June 30, 2011). See http://ejcr.org for further information.
Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals
How do political debates affect advertising?
September 14, 2011
Advertisers covet spots during political debates, which often draw large numbers of viewers. But according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, political debate can sometime decrease the effectiveness of subsequent ads.
“This enduring popularity generates an intense competition for the commercial slots that follow broadcast debates,” write authors Alison Jing Xu (University of Toronto) and Robert S. Wyer Jr. (The Chinese University of Hong Kong). “The fact that these commercials are widely viewed, however, does not guarantee their effectiveness.”
The authors studied (and manipulated) the mindsets of participants who were exposed to various types of persuasive communications. “We proposed and found that inducing participants to make supportive elaborations on a series of propositions activated a bolstering mindset that increased the effectiveness of an unrelated, subsequent ad,” the authors write. But the authors found that participants who activated a counterarguing mindset were less persuaded by the same ads.
In one experiment, the authors found that consumers in a bolstering mindset (people who generated thoughts about positions they already agreed with) were more likely to be persuaded by a vacation spot ad than their counterparts who were in the counterarguing mindset, which increased the number of negative thoughts toward the vacation spot.
In another study, the authors tested participants who self-categorized as Republicans, Democrats, or independents by assigning them to one of four conditions. Some watched Barack Obama’s speech on his economic plan. Others watched a speech by John McCain, a debate between the two candidates, or nothing at all. “Participants with a strong a priori preference for either candidate were motivated to bolster their preferred candidate’s speech,” the authors write. “In all cases, developing a bolstering mindset increased participants’ evaluations of the brands promoted in the commercial. However, acquiring a counterarguing mindset decreased participants’ evaluations of that brand.”
“Even though the quality of an ad plays an important role in determining its impact, the context in which is appears can sometimes decrease its effectiveness,” the authors conclude.
Alison Jing Xu and Robert S. Wyer Jr. “The Role of Bolstering and Counterarguing Mindsets in Persuation.” Journal of Consumer Research (published online June 30, 2011). See http://ejcr.org for further information
Contact: Mary-Ann Twist
JCR@bus.wisc.edu
608-255-5582
University of Chicago Press Journals
Researchers predict extreme summertime temperatures to become a regular occurrence
September 9, 2011
In an article in the current issue of the journal Climatic Change Letters, Boston University researchers have estimated the impact near-term increases in global-mean temperatures will have on summertime temperatures in the U.S. and around the globe.
The “2°C global warming target” is in reference to the current international efforts to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases and limit human-induced global-mean near-surface temperature increases to 2°C (3.5°F) relative to the pre-industrial era, three-fifths of which has already occurred.
“We wanted to determine the impact such a temperature increase might have upon the frequency of seasonal-mean temperature extremes in various regions of the world, even if we were to avoid this target” said Bruce Anderson, associate professor of geography and environment and the study’s principal author. “In particular, we wanted to determine if preventing the global-mean temperature increase from reaching this threshold would prevent extreme temperature values from becoming a normal occurrence in these regions.”
Anderson’s research indicates that if the 2°C increase were to come to pass 70-80% of the land surface will experience summertime temperature values that exceed observed historical extremes (equivalent to the top 5% of summertime temperatures experienced during the second half of the 20th century) in at least half of all years. In other words, even if an increase in the global mean temperature is limited to 2°C, current historical extreme values will still effectively become the norm for 70-80% of the earth’s land surface.
“Many regions of the globe – including much of Africa, the southeastern and central portions of Asia, Indonesia, and the Amazon – are already committed to reaching this point, given current amounts of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere” said Anderson. Global-mean temperatures are expected to increase an additional 0.6°C (1°F) over the coming decades even if no more carbon dioxide, methane, or other heat-trapping gases are added to the atmosphere.
In the United States, the impacts are expected to be most severe over the western third of the country. “In these regions, if the 2°C threshold is passed, it is more likely than not that every summer will be an extreme summer compared with today,” said Anderson. Further, the region is expected to follow soon after Africa, Asia, and the Amazon as one in which summertime temperature extremes will become the norm. “While the western third of the U.S. is not committed to reaching such a situation, it is certainly on the brink,” said Anderson.
“While previous work, including our own and that of researchers at Stanford, has highlighted that summertime temperature extremes, and how frequently they occur, will change significantly even in response to relatively small increases in global-mean temperatures, the extent and immediacy of the results really caught us off guard,” said Anderson. “Because these results are referenced to increases in global-mean temperatures, and not some particular time or change in amount of heat-trapping gases, they hold whether we reach this global-mean temperature increase in the next 40-50 years as currently projected, or the next century. They really are telling us that this is a temperature threshold that poses significant risks to our lives and livelihoods.”
Extreme summertime temperatures killed tens of thousands in Europe in 2003 and Russia in 2010 and produced over $50 billion in agriculture losses across the central and eastern U.S. in 1988. In addition, at least 18 states, including much of the southern and south-eastern U.S., suffered through these types of extreme conditions this past summer.
“We find that the results are sensitive to both the observational dataset used to determine the range of historical variability and the numerical model data used to determine the grid-point increases in future temperatures,” said Anderson. Despite these caveats, the findings suggest that substantial fractions of the globe could experience seasonal-mean temperature extremes with high regularity well before the 2°C global-warming target is reached.
Contact information for the authors:
Bruce Anderson
Associate Professor of Geography and Environment
Boston University
Phone: +1-617-353-4807
Email: brucea@bu.edu
NOTE: The National Climate Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is scheduled to release its latest (August 2011) State of the Climate update on Thursday, September 8 by 1:00 p.m. EDT. The update, which relates directly to the findings in the Climatic Change article, can be found here: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/
Reference
Anderson BT (2011) Near-term increase in frequency of seasonal temperature extremes prior to the 2°C global warming target. Climatic Change Letters. DOI 10.1007/s10584-011-0196-4.
Contact: Patrick Farrell
pmfarrel@bu.edu
617-358-1185
Springer
When race, religion and democracy collide
September 9, 2011
From the events of September 11 nearly ten years ago to the recent acts of terrorism in Norway, race, religion and democracy continue to collide in tragic ways. A new issue of The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (published by SAGE) titled “Race, Religion, and Late Democracy,” looks at the intersections of all three and further examines their predictors and aftermath.
“In a democracy, we, the people, try to make sure, of course, that the loudest voices listen to the softest ones, at least some of the time,” wrote issue co-editors John L. Jackson, Jr and David Kyuman Kim.
To help explore the issues around race, religion and democracy, Jackson and Kim sought work from prominent contributors who research and analyze where these issues meet. This issue of The ANNALS examines the symbiotic connections shared by race, religion, and democracy, and calls for reframing the existing discourse on democracy to reflect the mutually inclusive nature of these forces. The authors show that race and religion can be sources for humanizing democratic possibilities and explore the relationship between democratic governance and commitments that citizens have to racial solidarities and religious beliefs around the world.
The issue titled “Race, Religion, and Late Democracy” is available to purchase at http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal200750?siteId=sage-us&prodTypes=any&q=The+ANNALs.
The introduction written by the co-editors is available free for a limited time at: http://ann.sagepub.com/content/637/1/6.full.pdf+html.
“Race, Religion, and Late Democracy” features the following contributions:
- Introduction: “Democracy’s Anxious Returns” by David Kyuman Kim and John L. Jackson, Jr.
- “‘Look, Baby, We Got Jesus on Our Flag’: Robust Democracy and Religious Debate from the Era of Slavery to the Age of Obama” by Edward Blum
- “Forerunner: The Campaigns and Career of Edward Brooke” by Jason Sokol
- “Iran’s French Revolution: Religion, Philosophy, and Crowds” by Roxanne Varzi
- “Democracy’s New Song: Black Reconstruction in America, 1860� and the Melodramatic Imagination” by Marina Bilbija
- “Habits of the Heart: Youth Religious Participation as Progress, Peril, or Change?” by Monica R. Miller and Ezekiel J. Dixon-Román
- “Populism and Late Liberalism: A Special Affinity?” by Jean Comaroff
- “Chadors, Feminists, Terror: The Racial Politics of U.S. Media Representations of the 1979 Iranian Women’s Movement” by Sylvia Chan-Malik
- “The End of Neoliberalism? What is Left of the Left” by John Comaroff
- “Religion as Race, Recognition as Democracy: Lemba ‘Black Jews’ in South Africa” by Noah Tamarkin
- “The Race toward Caraqueño Citizenship: Negotiating Race, Class, and Participatory Democracy” by Giles Harrison-Conwill
- “The Racialization of Islam in American Law” by Neil Gotanda
For media to receive a copy of any of the articles listed above, please contact Ashley Wrye at ashley.wrye@sagepub.com.
Since 1889, The American Academy of Political and Social Science has served as a forum for the free exchange of ideas among the well informed and intellectually curious. In this era of specialization, few scholarly periodicals cover the scope of societies and politics like The ANNALS. Each volume is guest edited by outstanding scholars and experts in the topics studied and presents more than 200 pages of timely, in-depth research on a significant topic of concern. http://ann.sagepub.com/
SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology, and medicine. An independent company, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC. www.sagepublications.com
Contact: Ashley Loar
ashley.loar@sagepub.com
SAGE Publications
‘Culturomics 2.0′ forecasts human behavior by supercomputing global news
September 6, 2011
A paper published yesterday in the peer-reviewed journal First Monday combines advanced supercomputing with a quarter-century of worldwide news to forecast and visualize human behavior, from civil unrest to the movement of individuals. The paper, titled “Culturomics 2.0: Forecasting Large-Scale Human Behavior Using Global News Media Tone in Time and Space,” uses the tone and location of news coverage from across the world to forecast country stability (including retroactively predicting the recent Arab Spring), estimate Osama Bin Laden’s final location as a 200-kilometer radius around Abbottabad, and uncover the six world civilizations of the global news media. The research also demonstrates that the news is indeed becoming more negative and even visualizes global human societal conflict and cooperation over the last quarter century.
Using the large shared-memory supercomputer Nautilus, Kalev Leetaru of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign combined three massive news archives totaling more than 100 million articles worldwide to explore the global consciousness of the news media. The complete New York Times from 1945 to 2005, the unclassified edition of Summary of World Broadcasts from 1979 to 2010, and an archive of English-language Google News articles spanning 2006 to 2011 were used to capture a cross-section of the U.S. media spanning half a century and the global media over a quarter-century.
Advanced tonal, geographic, and network analysis methods were used to produce a network 2.4 petabytes in size containing more than 10 billion people, places, things, and activities connected by over 100 trillion relationships, capturing a cross-section of Earth from the news media. A subset of findings from this analysis were then reproduced for this study using more traditional methods and smaller-scale workflows that offer a model for a new class of digital humanities research that explores how the world views itself.
Funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the University of Tennessee’s Remote Data Analysis and Visualization Center, the Nautilus supercomputer is a part of the National Institute for Computational Sciences network of advanced computing resources at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Read more about results from this research in the full paper at http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3663/3040. A highlight about the research is also available at www.utk.nics.edu.
About NICS:
The National Institute for Computational Sciences (NICS) is a joint effort of the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. NICS was founded in 2007, and is supported by the National Science Foundation’s Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment program, and is located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, home to the world’s most powerful computing complex.
About RDAV:
RDAV is the University of Tennessee’s Center for Remote Data Analysis and Visualization, sponsored by the National Science Foundation as part of the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment program. RDAV is a partnership between the National Institute for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Wisconsin, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois.
Contact: Kalev Leetaru
leetaru@illinois.edu
217-265-7877
National Institute for Computational Sciences
ATS statement regarding White House decision to delay new ozone standard
September 3, 2011
oday, the White House issued a press release stating they would not move to issue a final standard on ozone pollution. The American Thoracic strongly condemns this decision. “This is not change we believe in,” said ATS President-Elect Monica Kraft, MD, professor of medicine and director of the Asthma, Allergy and Airway Center at Duke University.
Ozone, also known as smog, is known to endanger patients with asthma, COPD and other respiratory conditions. Scientific studies have consistently shown that ozone at the current EPA-approved levels leads to missed school days, more emergency room visits and hospitalizations—and even premature death.
“What President Obama has called a ‘regulatory burden’ is what we physicians call a protective health standard,” noted Dr. Kraft.
A number of physician groups have called upon President Obama to issue a stricter ozone standard, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Thoracic Society.
“President Obama’s announcement today represents a big set back for the public’s health,” said Dr. Kraft. “The ATS urges the President to reconsider today’s disappointing decision, and we plan to redouble our efforts to educate and advocate for cleaner air for the benefit of all U.S. citizens.”
Dr. Kraft is available for press interviews. She can be reached through Brian Kell, ATS Communications Director, at 516-305-9251.
First long-term study of WTC workers shows widespread health problems 10 years after Sept. 11
September 2, 2011
In the first long-term study of the health impacts of the World Trade Center (WTC) collapse on September 11, 2001, researchers at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York have found substantial and persistent mental and physical health problems among 9/11 first responders and recovery workers. The data are published this week in a special 9/11 issue of the medical journal Lancet.
The Mount Sinai World Trade Center Clinical Center of Excellence and Data Center evaluated more than 27,000 police officers, construction workers, firefighters, and municipal workers over the nine years following 9/11 and found a high incidence of several conditions, including asthma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, sinusitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). More than one in five of all the responders studied had multiple physical and/or mental health problems.
The results showed that nine years after 9/11:
- 28 percent of patients had asthma, 42 percent had sinusitis, and 39 percent had GERD.
- 42 percent of patients had abnormal lung function tests, indicative of lung injury.
- 7 percent of police officers were diagnosed with depression, 9 percent with PTSD and 8 percent with panic disorder.
- 28 percent of other rescue and recovery workers had symptoms of depression; 32 percent experienced symptoms of PTSD, and 21 percent had symptoms consistent with panic disorder.
- Almost 10 percent of rescue and recovery workers had asthma, sinusitis, and GERD simultaneously.
- 48 percent of rescue workers with asthma, 38 percent with sinusitis, and 43 percent with GERD were also diagnosed with at least one mental health condition.
“Several studies have evaluated the health impacts of 9/11, but this is the first long-term study to demonstrate the lasting burden of disease experienced by the brave men and women who responded in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center,” said Juan Wisnivesky, MD, DrPH, Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine and lead author on the study. “Our findings underscore the importance of long-term monitoring and treatment of the rescue and recovery worker population.”
Those who arrived on the scene first received the greatest exposure to the dust and smoke, and sustained the most severe health damage. These first responders were exposed to a complex mix of toxins and known human carcinogens that included benzene from jet fuel, asbestos, dioxin, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), glass fibers, hydrochloric acid, polychlorinated biphenyls, and other caustic chemicals. All of these materials were released into the air of lower Manhattan with the collapse of the towers. Participants were divided into four categories based on their level of exposure to airborne toxins at Ground Zero. Fourteen percent were categorized as low exposure, 65 percent as intermediate, 18 percent high, and 3 percent as very high.
“These men and women risked their lives and their health to support their fellow Americans after the devastation of 9/11,” said Philip Landrigan MD, Principal Investigator of the Mount Sinai WTC Program’s Data and Coordination Center, Dean of Global Health and Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “Now, many of them are riddled with multiple health problems. Our study shows that these diseases may persist for years to come. We should do everything in our power to provide the best long-term care possible to these heroes.”
Located at Mount Sinai and several other clinics in the tri-state area, the WTC Clinical Centers of Excellence and Data Centers are the result of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which provides $4.3 billion in federal funding to address the health crisis surrounding the WTC tragedy. Since the program’s inception under Dr. Landrigan, the Mount Sinai-coordinated Consortium of Clinical Centers of Excellence have medically screened more than 30,000 WTC rescue and recovery workers and volunteers from all 50 states. The Consortium has also provided more than 66,000 medical monitoring exams.
Contact: Mount Sinai Press Office
newsmedia@mssm.edu
212-241-9200
The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New tests for ‘legal marijuana,’ ‘bath salts’ and other emerging designer drugs
August 31, 2011
Scientists today reported development of much needed new tests to help cope with a wave of deaths, emergency room visits and other problems from a new genre of designer drugs sold legally in stores and online that mimic the effects of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana. They spoke at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held here this week.
The reports, among more than 7,500 on the ACS agenda, focus on drugs sold as “bath salts,” “plant food,” “incense” and other products with colorful names, such as “Ivory Wave,” “Red Dove” and “legal marijuana.” They provide users with a high, but many have not yet been made illegal and are undetectable with current drug tests. In one presentation on these “legal highs,” a United Kingdom researcher reported a new method to trace the source of the substances in “bath salts.” In the other, a U.S. researcher discussed the challenges facing law enforcement and policy makers in regulating synthetic versions of marijuana.
Oliver Sutcliffe, Ph.D., and his collaborators reported the successful use of a method called isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to determine who is making bath salts – drugs that can cause euphoria, paranoia, anxiety and hallucinations when snorted, smoked or injected – and which chemical companies supplied the raw materials. He and his co-workers are based at the University of Strathclyde and the James Hutton Institute in the U.K.
“With the new method, we could work backwards and trace the substances back to the starting materials,” said Sutcliffe. IRMS measures the relative amounts of an element’s different forms, or isotopic ratio. “This method was successful because the isotopic ratio of the starting material is transferred like a fingerprint through the synthesis,” he explained.
“Bath salts” first garnered major media attention in the U.K. in early 2010, and then became a problem in the U.S. These products are not in the supermarket soap aisle – they are sold on the Internet, on the street and in stores that sell drug paraphernalia. They are sold in small individual bags for as low as $20 each for the real purpose of providing a cheap, legal high.
The powders often contain mephedrone, which is a synthetic compound, structurally related to methcathinone, which is found in Khat – a plant that is illegal in many countries, including the U.K. and the U.S. Usually, that would mean that these compounds (and derivatives thereof) would be illegal in those countries too, but because the bath salts are labeled “not for human consumption,” they get around this restriction and other legislation governing the supply of medicines for human use. However, Florida and Louisiana – two hotspots of bath salts abuse – specifically banned the substances. U.K. officials banned the import of bath salts, which may lead some in the drug trade to set up clandestine labs on U.K. soil, said Sutcliffe. The new method provides law enforcement with a tool to track down these bath salts manufacturers.
In previous work, Sutcliffe developed the first pure reference standard for mephedrone, as well as the first reliable liquid chromatography test for the substance, which could be easily run in a typical law enforcement lab. The team is also developing a color-change test kit for mephedrone, which he estimates may be available by the end of the year.
In another presentation, Robert Lantz, Ph.D., from the Rocky Mountain Instrumental Laboratories, described another high that is legal in most of the U.S. – synthetic cannabinoids marketed as incense, a spice product or “legal marijuana” that give a high similar to marijuana without showing up in conventional drug tests.
“We can detect synthetic cannabinoids with modern analytical chemistry techniques, such as liquid or gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, but these assays are too expensive for the 5,000-10,000 urine samples that most drug testing labs receive each day,” said Lantz. Most labs screen for drugs with less expensive antibody assays, but because the structures of these substances are so dissimilar, different antibodies would likely be required for many of them, driving up the cost of a more comprehensive test.
Synthetic cannabinoid abuse rose sharply in 2010, according to U.S. poison control centers, up to 2,863 compared to only 14 in 2009. About 200 synthetic cannabinoids exist, but the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) banned only five of those. A handful of states, such as Washington, Georgia and Colorado, banned five of them, but they are not always the same five that the DEA banned. “The states banned several specific compounds without a particular basis for their choices,” Lantz pointed out.
Colorado recently passed a law banning any substance that binds to a cannabinoid receptor in the human body. “The bill was well-intentioned, but technically, the new law not only covers synthetic cannabinoids, but also endocannabinoids, which are naturally occurring substances that the human body produces to regulate many normal processes,” said Lantz.
The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society contact newsroom@acs.org.
ABSTRACTS:
Dr. Sutcliffe:
The increase in the global abuse of synthetic cathinones has given rise to significant legal and analytical challenges in their identification and quantification – thus rapid methods of testing (especially in the field) are urgently required. This paper presents synthesis; characterisation; validated presumptive and quantitative methods for these substances (both in pure and adulterated samples) and a rapid, novel NMR screening technique for street samples containing components which cannot normally be detected using standard chromatographic methods.
Dr. Lantz:
There is no end to human ingenuity. Unfortunately, this phrase even provides to be true when it comes to methods and means of getting high. Synthetic Cannabinoids, such as JWH-018 which is only one of many such substances (which is currently marketed as K2), and other substances such as Methylone (MDPV) and Mephedrone (which is currently marketed as “Bath Salts” or “Plant Food” respectively) present unique analytical chemistry challenges from a chromatographic point-of-view. Related challenges in terms of quantitation of these substances still exist. In the rush to make illegal and prosecute the possession and use of these substances, errors related the qualitative and quantitative reporting of these compounds can occur. This presentation will examine these challenges that exist and what lies ahead.
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6042 (Before Aug. 25)
Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
303-228-8532 (Aug. 25-Sept. 1)
202-872-6293 (Before Aug. 25)
Aging authorities differ on tweaks to Social Security’s benefit structure
August 29, 2011
Experts agree that financial constraints and an aging population will require America to modify its Social Security system, but some also find that pushing back the eligibility age could be a major concern for those who rely on the program the most. The consequences – both positive and negative – of making the country’s seniors wait to start claiming benefits are presented in the latest installment of the Public Policy & Report (PPAR) from the National Academy on an Aging Society, the policy institute of The Gerontological Society of America (GSA).
The articles in the new PPAR, titled “To Raise or not To Raise: The Social Security Retirement Age,” reflect the interdisciplinary strengths of GSA’s membership; the authors offer the perspectives of biologists, social scientists, women, and other minorities.
“Older workers say they want and expect to work in retirement, and the proportion remaining in the labor force at older ages has been growing,” said GSA Public Policy Chair Sara Rix, PhD. “Workers are not, however, necessarily enthusiastic about being required to wait longer to receive their full Social Security benefits, a fact that policymakers will want to keep in mind as they grapple with the pros and cons of raising the retirement age.”
The earliest age at which an individual can claim Social Security benefits is now 62. Those born after 1960 can receive full benefits at age 67. Since the program began in 1935, the average life expectancy in the U.S. has increased by almost 16 years, with life expectancy at age 65 increasing by nearly five years. Similarly, the PPAR points out that the share of seniors reporting themselves in poor health has also dropped over the past several decades. One article in the issue demonstrates that delaying retirement can have physical and financial benefits, pointing to studies that show that working longer can reduce morbidity and improve health. When people work longer, they generate additional payroll and income tax revenue and reduce the Social Security deficit.
“Fostering longer work lives can be a win-win situation for workers, employers, and the economy,” Rix said. “However, raising the age of eligibility for Social Security would be a benefit cut with a disproportionate impact on some of society’s most vulnerable older workers.
The PPAR finds that increasing the normal retirement age could be detrimental to a number of women, minorities, and low-income workers, especially if their occupations become too physically demanding in old age. In addition, the system may prove unfair to African Americans who typically have shorter lifespans than Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, and who thus would pay years into a system from which they might not benefit for as long.
This issue of PPAR can be purchased at www.geron.org/bookstore. Reporters may request electronic review copies.
The National Academy on an Aging Society is the policy institute of The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the nation’s oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society – and its 5,400+ members – is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public.
Contact: Todd Kluss
tkluss@geron.org
202-587-2839
The Gerontological Society of America
NASA satellites show Hurricane Irene almost one-third the size of US east coast
August 25, 2011
Hurricane Irene is a major hurricane, and NASA satellite data shows its diameter is now about one-third the length of the U.S. Atlantic coastline. Meanwhile, far in the eastern Atlantic Ocean a tenth tropical depression formed. One satellite image captured both storms and shows the tremendous difference in their size.
NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite saw Hurricane Irene moving through the Bahamas on August 25, 2011 at 10:02 a.m. EDT and far to the east off the African coast was newly born Tropical Depression 10. The GOES-13 image shows Irene to be almost one third of the size of the U.S. east coast. The distance from Augusta, Maine to Miami, Florida is 1662.55 miles. Hurricane Irene’s tropical storm-force winds extend 255 miles from the center making Irene 510 miles in diameter, almost one-third the size of the U.S. Hurricane-force winds extend 70 miles from the center, or 140 miles in diameter.
GOES-13 images and animations are created at NASA’s GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
NASA satellites are providing valuable data to forecasters to assist them in the forecasts for Irene’s track and power. As of this morning, a Hurricane Watch is now in effect for the coastal U.S.
On Thursday morning, August 24, a hurricane warning is in effect for the central and northwestern Bahamas. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has also issued the first watch for the U.S. east coast. A hurricane watch is in effect for north of Surf City, North Carolina to the North Carolina-Virginia border including the Pamlico, Albemarle, and Currituck Sounds. A tropical storm watch is in effect for north of Edisto Beach, South Carolina to Surf City North Carolina.
NASA satellites are flying above Hurricane Irene, providing forecasters at NHC with temperature, pressure, wind, and cloud and sea surface temperature data. All of those things are critical in helping forecasters determine how Irene will behave and track.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Irene’s eye directly over Crooked Island in the southern Bahamas on August 24, 2011 at 18:15 UTC (2:15 p.m. EDT).
By 11 a.m. EDT on August 25, Irene had moved north and was 75 miles (105 km) east-northeast of Nassau near 25.9 North latitude and 76.8 West longitude. Irene’s winds dropped slightly from 120 mph (195 kmh) to 115 mph (kmh) and it was moving to the north-northwest near 13 mph (20 kmh). The NHC, however, noted that some further strengthening is possible today and tonight.
Irene’s minimum central pressure has fallen from 954 to 951 millibars since the day before, indicating the storm is still intensifying despite the slight temporary drop in maximum sustained winds.
Hurricane-force wind gusts were already reaching Nassau at 8 a.m. EDT. Hurricane force winds are spreading over the northwestern Bahamas this morning and the central Bahamas are still being battered by hurricane or tropical storm force winds, which will diminish later today as Irene moves away.
Residents in South Florida are also under warnings for dangerous rip currents and high surf along the eastern shores through Friday, August 26. A tropical storm warning in effect for the offshore marine waters of Palm Beach County, Florida beyond 20 nautical miles, and at 5:30 a.m. EDT this morning, rainbands spreading west over the adjacent Atlantic waters. Numerous showers and thunderstorms are expected along the south Florida coast today and tonight.
Far in the eastern Atlantic, Tropical Depression 10 formed about 435 miles (700 km) west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands. It was centered near 12.4 North and 30.4 West, and moving to the west-northwest near 13 mph (20 kmh). Tropical Depression 10 (TD10) has maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (55 kmh) and may become a tropical storm in the next day or two. It is not expected to be a threat to the U.S. and is expected to remain at sea.
In the meantime, evacuation plans are already under way in North Carolina for the massive Hurricane Irene.
Updates on Irene’s strength and forecast track can be found at the National Hurricane Center’s website: www.nhc.noaa.gov. Follow NASA’s Hurricane coverage on Facebook and Twitter and at the NASA Hurricane Web page: www.nasa.gov/hurricane.
Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
443-858-1779
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center