Experts available: Fallout of Trump rally shooting, RNC, power outages in Texas, Prime Day, and more
The Virginia Tech media relations office has the following experts available for interviews this week surrounding issues in the news. To schedule an interview, please contact mediarelations@vt.edu.
Virginia Tech experts available to discuss headlines in the news
Perspectives of the fallout of this weekend’s Trump rally shooting
Karen Hult is an expert on U.S. politics and the presidency. She can speak to the likelihood of the weekend’s events lowering the heat on political rhetoric, as well as the responses from politicians on both sides of the aisle. Hult can also speak to both the short-term impacts — like the selection of a vice presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention — and the longer-term implications for the 2024 race.
Cayce Myers focuses on public relations in politics. He says “the use of the images of July 13th have gone viral and have already been successfully used for fundraising for victims of the attack.” Myers believes the incident will be “the defining moment of the 2024 presidential campaign.”
Megan Duncan is a communications professor who studies news audiences. She can speak to the political polarization of audiences consuming news, the role of the media during and after major events like this, and news media best practices for covering a breaking news story such as this.
James Hawdon studies extremism, online hate, and political polarization. While he says that our politics is highly polarized, “we have had several periods of high polarization in the past and this is not the most polarized we have been.” As for the fallout from the shooting, Hawdon says “the direction we go at that flashpoint will largely be determined by how the two sides handle it. If it follows recent history, there will be conspiracy theories, unsupported accusations, and, at worst, calls for lethal partisanship. Hopefully, it will instead lead to the realization that ‘enough is enough’ and calls for less partisanship and greater unity.”
All eyes on Milwaukee for the RNC
The political world will turn its attention to Milwaukee this week for the Republican National Convention, with several pressing concerns. What will the mood be like after the events of the weekend? Will guns still be allowed in the areas around the RNC? And who will Donald Trump pick for his running mate? Experts Karen Hult and Cayce Myers can speak to both the political considerations and the optics surrounding the event.
Facing triple-digit heat, Texans still without power
A week after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in the United States, more than half a million Texans are still without power. The summer heat and extreme weather events are putting extreme strain on our already-outdated and often overloaded electrical grid, which is in urgent need of modernization. Grid expert Richard Zhang can speak about why these disasters are having such lasting impact, as well as what steps need to be taken to ensure better resiliency.
As Prime Day grows, so does strain on transportation, environment
Amazon’s highly anticipated 48-hour Prime Day kicks off Tuesday, July 16. Last year, Amazon reported its biggest Prime Day ever, with shoppers purchasing more than 375 million items. That’s up from 300 million in 2022. Experts believe this year will be no different, but with high demand comes an influx in shipments that puts pressure on transportation systems and the environment. Virginia Tech economist Jadrian Wooten and Md Sami Hasnine, an expert in transportation systems and infrastructure engineering, are available for interviews.
Researchers analyzing reasons for spike in dengue fever in U.S.
More than 2,500 people have been infected with dengue in the U.S. this year, about five times more cases than at the same time last year. Puerto Rico makes up the bulk of the cases, and dengue has since been declared a public health emergency there, but hundreds of cases have recently been reported in New York and New Jersey. To figure out why, Michael Robert, an affiliated faculty member with Virginia Tech’s Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens and core faculty in the newly formed Center for Mathematics of Biosytems, is working with an international team of diverse experts. While he provides expertise in mathematical modeling, other colleagues bring knowledge in areas such as epidemiology, entomology, ecology, geospatial analyses, climate science, and public health. More here.
Why are we not happy?
Americans have been experiencing a decrease in overall happiness and the U.S. Surgeon General has announced loneliness and isolation are national epidemics. Experts say this is due to social isolation, lack of physical activity, decreased leisure time outside, and economic concerns all playing a part. Virginia Tech health and wellness expert Samantha Harden shares her ways to flip the script. More here.
