Recent Articles

• What should I do? I think my child struggles with reading.

  Howard Margolis and Gary G. Brannigan Civil & Government

  As students start returning to school, many will face the Herculean task of becoming proficient readers. Some will be first-graders, some fourth-graders, and so on. And many of them, as their parents and guardians suspect, will face enormous struggles. If you're one of these parents or guardians who suspect that your child will struggle with reading, now is the time for action. Action alone, however, will not be enough. It's critical that you know what to request and what to avoid. This article focuses on one aspect of what's critical: Getting a comprehensive reading evaluation.

• Bridging the gap: How to reach herd immunity with vaccine confidence

  Brian Wallace Civil & Government

  After a year of COVID-19 significantly affecting our lives, a light at the end of the tunnel to normality is finally here. Three effective vaccines have been distributed throughout the U.S. and hope for herd immunity is in sight. However, there is still a gap between those being vaccinated and those who do not want to be vaccinated. Approximately 10 to 15% of the U.S. population will need to change their mind about being vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity at 70 to 85%. The main two reasons for vaccine hesitancy are freedom of choice and side effects. Freedom of choice must remain, but with incentives given by the government or companies, many who are hesitant may go ahead with the vaccine.

• National Scenic Byways get a boost from Congress

  Dave G. Houser Civil & Government

  Just in time for an expected onrush of road trips this summer, the Federal Highway Administration has unveiled 34 new National Scenic Byways (NSB) and 15 new All-American Roads (AAR) across 28 states — bringing the total number of byways to 184 in 48 states. The flurry of new byway designations came in February, following passage by Congress of the Reviving America’s Scenic Byways Act, aimed at bringing new jobs, tourism, and other benefits to communities along these scenic routes, many of which are well off the beaten path and in serious need of additional resources.

• Optometrist discovers cannabinoids as means to identify use of marijuana

  Dr. Denise A. Valenti Civil & Government

  Unlike for alcohol, there is no breathalyzer or in-the-field measure of performance such as the Standard Field Sobriety Test. Impairment Measurement Marijuana and Driving (IMMAD), based in Quincy, Massachusetts, is a bioscience company working to fill the gap of limited technology to detect impairment to drive with marijuana use. IMMAD is collaborating with the Boston University School of Medicine’s Biomedical Forensics (BMFS) Program to do something about the risk of marijuana impaired drivers contributing to fatal crash rates.

• Global tourism recovery gets boost from industry leaders at WTTC 2021

  Lark Gould Civil & Government

  The world's tourism leaders gathered for the 2021 World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) summit on April 26 to get a shared perspective on how to handle the ongoing crisis in world tourism numbers — a global condition of the 2020 pandemic that has seen the disappearance of more than 60 million jobs. "The impact of Covid in the travel and tourism sector had an impact 18 times stronger than the impact of the global financial crisis that occurred in 2008. This is why the event is so important, because it is the global platform for recovery," said Gloria Guevara Manzo, CEO and president of the WTTC.

• Why the success of earned value management hinges on repeatable processes

  Manny Abela Civil & Government

  Project teams working for national science labs, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense rely on a project management approach known as earned value management (EVM) to deliver initiatives on time and on budget. Too many projects, however, face hefty delays in reporting and certification and struggle to onboard new team members due to the extraordinarily complex methods used to deploy EVM — methods that vary with each project. Instead of creating fully custom EVM processes for each project, organizations should standardize EVM and establish repeatable processes that can be used across all projects.

• What’s the BIG Idea? Episode 2: Steve Jurash on leading through crisis

  Hank Boyer Civil & Government

  In this video, Hank Boyer visits with Steve Jurash, president of the 5,000-plus member Manufacturing Alliance of Philadelphia (MAP). MAP represents several hundred thousand manufacturing employees. In March 2020, Jurash led MAP through an incredibly challenging period of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, an event that brought manufacturing everywhere to a sudden halt. With several hundred thousand employees' lives affected by his decision-making, Jurash faced one of his most challenging periods of leadership. He shares more than 20 best practices effective leaders use to navigate during periods of crisis.

• How and where to invest in Africa: The next investment frontier

  Brian Wallace Civil & Government

  The world is changing — innovation is everywhere around the globe, and it’s time to set our sights on a new land of opportunity — Africa. Chances are, you attribute tech unicorns to Silicon Valley, but consider that Africa is on the financial rise. In the year 2019 alone, the five fastest-growing economies in the world were in Africa (Ghana, South Sudan, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Cote d'Ivoire) — and were expanding at a rate of more than double the worldwide average.

• Bridging the gap between school safety and emotional wellness during a…

  Lynn Scott and Kiera Anderson Civil & Government

  The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments defines emotional safety as experiences in which one feels safe to express emotions, confidence to take risks, and feels challenged and excited to try something new. They conclude emotionally safe learning environments can be achieved by making social-emotional learning (SEL) an essential part of education. Emotional and physical safety allows the brain to be in a prepared state to learn. Now more than ever, schools have an indispensable obligation to seize the opportunity, evaluate past practices, and adopt new methods to bridge the gap between physical safety and emotional wellness.

• The dangers of home title fraud: What it is and how to stop it

  Brian Wallace Civil & Government

  It’s time to look at one of the latest cybersecurity threats out there. Typically, when you think of cyber scams, you’re usually thinking about things such as credit card fraud, identity theft, viruses, phishing, and so on. An emerging trend is home title fraud, which robs people of their home and the home equity they have built up over the course of years. You might be surprised to learn that real estate and rental fraud grew more than 2.6 times the rate of credit card fraud from 2015 to 2019.

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