University of Arizona in the News

CBC (Canada) Sept. 3, 2022
What protection to expect from updated COVID vaccines this fall

Canada has just approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine to target the first highly contagious omicron variant, with doses expected to start rolling out within days. Less than half of Canadians have received a booster, while only about 12% have received a fourth dose. "As we start to head into the fall and we start to see almost certainly cases rise again, the updated booster is definitely going to be better than not getting a booster at all," said University of Arizona professor of immunobiology Deepta Bhattacharya. "Given that BA.5 is still circulating, I don't see that there's really any downside at all to picking up these boosters and they'll probably work better than just another shot of the original."
Arizona Daily Star Sept. 3, 2022
Helen Schaefer remembered for love of chemistry, poetry, community

Helen S. Schaefer, a champion of arts and cultural organizations and endeavors at the University of Arizona and across southern Arizona, and the namesake of the building the that houses the university's poetry center, died on Thursday. She was 89.
The New York Times Sept. 2, 2022
Opinion | What if you could give start-up money to people, not companies?

This column supports the concept of students entering income-share agreements rather than taking out loans to fund their university education. University of Arizona assistant professor of economics Daniel Herbst and a colleague last year wrote a paper about financing human capital in which they said that being able to sell a share of a lifetime stream of income would be very valuable to someone who was trying to start businesses without a track record.
The New York Times Sept. 2, 2022
The contentious vote in Chile that could transform Indigenous rights

A proposed Chilean constitution would enshrine some of the world's most extensive Indigenous rights. But those reforms have become the focal point of the campaign to reject the new text. By some measures, the United States is at the forefront of Indigenous rights. "Though far from perfect, there is no comparison in the world with the degree of self-governing powers U.S. Indian tribes have," said University of Arizona Regents Professor of Law Robert Williams Jr., an Indigenous rights expert. "Our tribes have their own courts, their own jails and jurisdiction over their own members."
The New York Times Sept. 1, 2022
Updated booster shots expected within days as CDC panel signs off

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended updated coronavirus booster shots to the vast majority of Americans, adding a critical new tool to the country's arsenal as it tries to blunt an expected wintertime surge of the virus. Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona, said that CDC recommendations could afford to space out doses of routine childhood vaccines at precisely the right intervals because children are unlikely to be exposed to those pathogens in the interim. That's not the case for the coronavirus, which is circulating so widely that someone leaving a long gap between doses faces higher odds of getting infected in the meantime. "Honestly, that's probably the more important factor to consider – what's happening in the real world – rather than in an ideal world of immunological optimization," Bhattacharya said.
The New York Times Aug. 31, 2022
How the pandemic shortened life expectancy in Indigenous communities

New federal data outline the scale of suffering among Native Americans and Alaska Natives caused by COVID-19. Jennie R. Joe, a professor emerita of family and community medicine and interim executive co-director of the University of Arizona Wassaja Carlos Montezuma Center for Native American Health, cited entrenched poverty along with chronic disease contributing to the shortening of average life spans among Native Americans and Alaska Natives. But she cautioned that the decline might be even deeper than the latest figures indicated because death certificates in some regions sometimes misclassify race. "It is not uncommon for a Native person to be identified as Native on their birth certificate but listed differently on their death certificates, usually listed as white," she said. "It is therefore safe to say that the current life expectancy reported for Native Americans is probably a case of undercounting."
Reuters Aug. 31, 2022
Proposal to axe LSAT requirement spurs debate over test’s effects on diversity

A proposal to drop the American Bar Association's admission test requirement reveals deep divisions within the legal academy. The ABA's legal education arm has received nearly 50 public comments on its proposed elimination of its LSAT and the GRE testing requirement. A decision could come in November. Eliminating the testing standard would give schools the flexibility to experiment with new ways to identify applicants with the potential to become good lawyers, according to a letter submitted by Marc Miller, dean of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, and a colleague.
KTVK-TV Phoenix Aug. 30, 2022
University of Arizona's new veterinary school to graduate first class

The first graduating class of the University of Arizona's College of Veterinary Medicine entered its final semester. The campus opened in Oro Valley in 2020. "We're a very unique program," said Dr. Julie Funk, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. "We're a three-year accelerated program so our students go all year round, which puts them in the workforce one year sooner than traditional programs."
The Conversation Aug. 30, 2022
Amazon, Starbucks worker wins recall earlier period of union success – when Central American migrants also expanded US labor movement

University of Arizona associate professor of Latin American studies and geography Elizabeth Oglesby writes that recent wins by union workers in the U.S. recall the pivotal period in the labor movement when migrants from Central America organized far-reaching workers' rights campaigns in industries  mainstream unions had thought to be untouchable.
Reuters Aug. 29, 2022
An American J.D. in Australia? One U.S law school wants to go international

The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law is seeking to become the first U.S. law school to open a branch campus internationally, offering students a dual degree with an Australian university that will allow them to be licensed in both countries. The school asked the American Bar Association for permission to partner with the University of Technology Sydney for the three-year joint degree. Dean Marc Miller said that approval from the ABA could prompt others to think about expanding internationally. "Over time, it could be revolutionary," he said.