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The path to unity in Iowa includes federal LGBTQ protections
By Deacon Jeanie Smith As a West Des Moines faith leader, I believe our U.S. senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, have an opportunity to bring Iowans closer together by helping find common ground to ensure fairness and equality for all Americans. Over many decades, Congress has shirked its responsibility to protect the LGBTQ community […]
This Hanukkah, learn about the holiday’s forgotten heroes: Women
By Alan Avery-Peck The eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah commemorates ancient Jews’ victory over the powerful Seleucid empire, which ruled much of the Middle East from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. On the surface, it’s a story of male heroism. A ragtag rebel force led by a rural priest and his […]
Talking turkey! How the Thanksgiving bird got its name (and then lent it to film flops)
By Jack Lynch “Meleagris Gallopavo Day” is a bit of a mouthful. Which may be why this Thanksgiving, most people will opt for the less ornithologically precise “Turkey Day.” And just as turkey is a versatile meat – think of those leftover options! – so too is the word “turkey,” which can refer to everything […]
What Americans can learn from other cultures about the language of gratitude
By Jeremy David Engels and Elaine Hsieh Families and friends traditionally gather to express gratitude during this time of year. Many also participate in acts of service and charity as a way of giving back to their local communities. As communication scholars who study intercultural communication, we have studied how the many languages around the […]
U.S. vaccine rollout was close to optimal at reducing deaths and infections
By Audrey L. McCombs and Claus Kadelka The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s plan for who gets vaccines and in what order saved nearly as many lives and prevented nearly as many infections as a theoretically perfect rollout, according to a new mathematical model we developed to assess the rollout of COVID–19 inoculations in […]
Five things you need to know about the Glasgow Climate Pact
By Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin The COP26 UN climate talks in Glasgow have finished and the gavel has come down on the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed by all 197 countries. If the 2015 Paris Agreement provided the framework for countries to tackle climate change then Glasgow, six years on, was the first major test […]
Veterans Day: How crosses and mementos help these Marines remember fallen comrades
By Katrina Finkelstein and Derek H. Alderman On Veterans Day, people across America will thank veterans and active-duty military personnel for their service. But many members of the public don’t have a clear understanding of what service means to people in the military. How do they honor their own? What kind of spaces and activities […]
College cost calculators aren’t precise, but they could easily be made better
By Aaron Anthony and Lindsay Page The best way to figure out how much you have to pay for college is not to go by the sticker price. Instead, it’s to go by a college’s net price, which is often much lower. That’s because the net price tells you how much you have to pay […]