![[Valid RSS]](images/valid-rss-rogers.png "Valid RSS")
This is a valid RSS feed.
This feed is valid, but interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendations.
<div id="attachment_48811" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright ...
line 59, column 0: (11 occurrences) [help]
<div id="attachment_48811" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright ...
line 59, column 0: (5 occurrences) [help]
<div id="attachment_48811" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright ...
line 59, column 0: (11 occurrences) [help]
<div id="attachment_48811" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright ...
line 119, column 0: (8 occurrences) [help]
<div id="attachment_48788" style="width: 318px" class="wp-caption alignright ...
<iframe loading="lazy" class="fluid" width="500" height="281" src="https://w ...
]]></content:encoded>
^
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Michigan Today</title> <atom:link href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 22:29:38 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <item> <title>Don’t look, don’t tell</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/18/dont-look-dont-tell/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/18/dont-look-dont-tell/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ricky Rood]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 22:29:38 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Climate Blue]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[climate]]></category> <category><![CDATA[emissions]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Faculty]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NASA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NOAA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[weather]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48807</guid> <description><![CDATA[Ricky Rood examines the diminishing role of science in shaping climate policy.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>A measured response</h2><p>“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” I have heard this statement many times. It has been proffered as a fundamental premise of business and evidence-based government policy.</p><p>What’s most important: Many people believe it.</p><p>But these types of “absolute truths” tend to be quoted without appropriate context. They often are falsely attributed to people who never said them. No matter the origin of the statement’s use in business and management, measurement is at the foundation of scientific investigation. Indeed, measurement moves investigation from speculation about observed behavior to quantitative experimentation and prediction.</p><h2>Role play</h2><aside class="callout right">Measurement moves investigation from speculation about observed behavior to quantitative experimentation and prediction.</aside>While working at NASA more than 25 years ago, I became sensitive to the different roles of measurements in business and science. At the time, we were in the formative stages of developing a space instrument to measure nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere. The instrument was proposed to study air quality.<br />|<br />Opposition to the instrument in Congress came from representatives who were concerned it would be used for regulation – notably, to reduce emissions from cars and trucks.<br />My scientific colleagues stated (sincerely, I believe) that they were only interested in chemical processes, not regulation. They also maintained that instruments for regulation would probably be surface-based sensors, likely run by a city or state government.</p><p>And, of course, NASA was a science agency, not a regulatory agency. The EPA was the place to go for regulations.</p><p>I thought the points made about the potential use of the measurements to inform policy made sense, at least politically. I anticipated this <a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/03/28/keeping-our-focus-on-climate/">regulatory element</a> of observations would become increasingly prominent, especially for measurements of carbon dioxide.</p><h2>Real-world consequences</h2><aside class="callout left">For a while at NASA, every proposal was met with the question: “So what?”</aside>Throughout my time at NASA, we felt constant political pressure regarding Earth science observations. I used to write white papers and strategic positions on why this was the case. At the core of my argument: There were real-world consequences of Earth observations. They were not simply taken for discovery.</p><p>For a while at NASA, every proposal was met with the question: “So what?” Then there were a few years of: “How would this reduce uncertainty?” And that led to: “When would uncertainty be reduced enough to stop taking the measurements?”</p><p>On the surface, I could see the motivation for these questions. However, I also thought they were leading us down a precarious path. For example, new measurements might reduce some uncertainties. But they always revealed more uncertainties as they probed the complexity of the planet. I ultimately co-authored a paper on the “<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TPBm4KRGAs9nPUpUyuQu2lHeTY4Wm8oS/view">uncertainty fallacy</a>.”</p><p>The “so what?” era and the “societal benefit” justifications were concerning. For carbon dioxide instruments, the answer to “so what” often leaned on the measurements contributing to policy, or being used to monitor compliance with mitigation efforts.</p><p>The situation got more complex, in a political context, as we started to measure methane and other greenhouse gases. Space-based methane measurements quickly revealed hotspots, often associated with fossil fuel extraction.</p><p>On the surface “everyone (fossil fuel companies and climate advocates) agreed” that methane emissions were bad. However, the revelation that fossil fuel extraction was a large source of methane emissions was universally appreciated only in the face of methane regulation.</p><h2>Power surge</h2><div id="attachment_48811" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/ScientificIntegrityAndThePublicTrust.png"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48811" class=" wp-image-48811" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/ScientificIntegrityAndThePublicTrust-207x300.png" alt="Cover of 1995 congressional report titled Scientific INtegrity and the Public Trust" width="300" height="435" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/ScientificIntegrityAndThePublicTrust-207x300.png 207w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/ScientificIntegrityAndThePublicTrust-705x1024.png 705w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/ScientificIntegrityAndThePublicTrust-768x1116.png 768w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/ScientificIntegrityAndThePublicTrust-1057x1536.png 1057w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/ScientificIntegrityAndThePublicTrust.png 1184w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48811" class="wp-caption-text">Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library.</p></div><p>Though there are many reasons that <a href="https://www.aip.org/fyi/project-2025-outlines-possible-future-for-science-agencies">Project 2025</a> and the current administration are hostile to climate science, I believe we have understated one significant factor: the potential to regulate.</p><p>Regulation can be framed as a barrier to economic growth and innovation. And since evidence-based regulation is usually based on scientific investigation, opponents have spent decades focusing their ire on research, the practice of science, and the behavior of scientists. Anti-regulation proponents dispute the authority of federal agencies and claim they act as an unelected branch of government that relies too heavily on scientific advisers.</p><p>The concerted effort to limit the role of climate science in policy and regulation has persisted and grown since the 1990s when scientists definitively concluded that carbon dioxide’s warming effect was discernable. The (excellent) book <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5WW37ai6khoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false">“The Fifth Branch: Science Advisers as Policy Makers”</a> provides valuable context for much of the resistance we have seen in the past 30 years when it comes to the role of climate science in government regulation.</p><p>In 1995, there was a Congressional hearing called <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sZlSwiifPWpWxgtw8D1bzA55mANbgAX3/view">“Scientific Integrity and Public Trust:</a> The Science Behind Federal Policies and Mandates: Case Study 2 – Climate Models and Projections of Potential Impacts of Global Climate Change.” These hearings were designed to sow doubt about climate science and to limit, if not preclude, the use of climate models in policymaking. Indeed, one subtext of the questioning was whether or not carbon dioxide emissions played any role in global warming.</p><p>At about the same time, fights grew over the use of peer review and expert witnesses in legal proceedings and policymaking (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daubert_standard">The Daubert Standard</a>,<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pGjAktVpK4q7wIDXySs0A_Lxq5u1qTJQ/view"> Information/Data Quality Act </a>).</p><h2>Target practice</h2><p>As the stakes have gotten higher in climate change, efforts to undermine the ability to regulate carbon dioxide and methane have escalated. The Environmental Protection Agency is the most obvious target. The EPA was in the sights of the 2016 Trump administration and is there again, today.</p><p>Recently we have seen deactivation of the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-administration-shutters-major-federal-climate-website/story?id=123389318">U.S. National Climate Assessment</a> website, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/07/16/noaa-rainfall-predictions-climate-change/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzUyNzI0ODAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzU0MTA3MTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NTI3MjQ4MDAsImp0aSI6IjFhZDM1OTY4LTg0NzYtNDZkYi05M2IwLWZkNmNjNTYxN2YyZSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9jbGltYXRlLWVudmlyb25tZW50LzIwMjUvMDcvMTYvbm9hYS1yYWluZmFsbC1wcmVkaWN0aW9ucy1jbGltYXRlLWNoYW5nZS8ifQ.-aSiJhUgElTWnTW352L2oij4zXarbrHes1XcnNYH4yM">suspension of data services</a>, and threats to the <a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/03/climate-change-monitoring-mauna-loa-could-stop-federal-cuts/">collection of key observations</a>.<br />Science advisory panels (usually made up of volunteers willing to share expertise) are another easy target. Many have been dissolved; some have been reconstituted to be more politically favorable.</p><p>Similarly, expert author groups, such as those supporting the National Climate Assessment, are dismissed. Federal scientists and diplomates are prohibited or limited in their participation in international assessments and negotiations.</p><p>Along with this tactical behavior, strategic efforts, such as the Supreme Court overruling the <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/06/supreme-court-strikes-down-chevron-curtailing-power-of-federal-agencies/">1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council decision</a>, strongly restrict the rulemaking ability of the federal agencies.</p><p>Another disturbing proposal are efforts to institute federal review of climate science through <a href="https://theconversation.com/red-team-blue-team-debating-climate-science-should-not-be-a-cage-match-80663">Red Team/Blue Team exercises</a>. This process is to assure alignment with political priorities.</p><h2>Don’t look now</h2><aside class="callout right">We see a strategy emerging that harkens back to “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” That is, if you don’t measure it, then it cannot be managed or regulated.</aside>The cuts in the President’s budget targeting climate modeling and observations at NOAA, NASA, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation are unambiguous statements that knowledge about climate change should not be collected or curated. Likewise, climate-focused units in other agencies, for example USDA and the Department of State, have seen budget reductions or elimination.</p><p>All told, we see a strategy emerging that harkens back to “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” That is, if you don’t measure it, then it cannot be managed or regulated.<br />We might find solace in knowing the U.S. is merely one player in climate research. However, it is easy to declare that the U.S. can only use government-certified observations and approved research to shape regulation. And, of course, we are presently reducing or eliminating that capacity.</p><p>The role of science in regulation and policymaking has been understated in the current deconstruction of our science enterprise. The persistent and consistent effort over many years to dismantle the infrastructure and institutions for climate regulation show that this is more than the actions of a single administration.</p><p>In thinking about <a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/06/20/change-is-good/">what’s next</a>, it is worthy to consider a way to disentangle scientific research, scientists, and the role of scientists from regulation and policymaking. We need boundaries – checks and balances. Imagine that.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/18/dont-look-dont-tell/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>The ‘Cobbler Poet’ who became a folk hero</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/18/the-cobbler-poet-who-became-a-folk-hero/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/18/the-cobbler-poet-who-became-a-folk-hero/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[James Tobin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 21:43:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Heritage/Tradition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ann Arbor]]></category> <category><![CDATA[business]]></category> <category><![CDATA[campus]]></category> <category><![CDATA[history]]></category> <category><![CDATA[U-M heritage]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48782</guid> <description><![CDATA[In the early 1900s, restless European shoemaker Tom "Doc" Lovell had creative aspirations beyond his little repair shop on Huron Street. The frustrated entertainer found his niche on the streets of Ann Arbor where he built a loyal fanbase dispensing homespun wisdom, poetry, and music.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Made for better things</h2><div id="attachment_48791" style="width: 312px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Cobbler-Poet-Sign-on-Lovells-shop.jpg"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48791" class=" wp-image-48791" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Cobbler-Poet-Sign-on-Lovells-shop-248x300.jpg" alt="A storefront sign for a shoe repair shop on Huron Street in Ann Arbor, circa 1920, stating "Dr. Tom Lovell, poet and cobbler, hospital for sick shoes."" width="302" height="365" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Cobbler-Poet-Sign-on-Lovells-shop-248x300.jpg 248w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Cobbler-Poet-Sign-on-Lovells-shop-768x928.jpg 768w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/Cobbler-Poet-Sign-on-Lovells-shop.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 302px) 100vw, 302px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48791" class="wp-caption-text">Lovell’s hospital for sick shoes. (Image courtesy of U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.)</p></div><p>In 1907, a middle-aged English cobbler crossed the Atlantic to Quebec, then bounced westward through Ontario to Windsor, across the river from Detroit. One day he went over to see Ann Arbor and decided to stay. On Huron Street he hung out a sign: “Tom Lovell: First Class Boot and Shoe Repairing.” Within five years, Michigan students had christened him “Doc” Lovell and made him a minor folk hero.</p><p>Raised in poverty in the ancient market town of Wellingborough, north of London, he conceived a sturdy idea that he was destined for great things. In the tales of his life that he would tell many listeners, a doctor once informed his mother that “this kid has brains enough for three kids.” When teenage friends taught him to box, his mother forbade him to enter the ring, telling him, “You are made for better things.”</p><p>Lovell joined the British army, but the fingers of one hand were crushed in an accident. So he went home and learned the cobbler’s trade. For years he worked in one British town, then another, until, in his mid-40s, he made his way to Canada, then Michigan, where he stuck for good. (There was a Mrs. Lovell too, but she seems to have sent Tom to fend for himself in the States.)</p><h2>A yearning to be heard</h2><div id="attachment_48785" style="width: 313px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/01-Lovell-posing-plus-autograph-scaled.jpeg"><img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48785" class=" wp-image-48785" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/01-Lovell-posing-plus-autograph-214x300.jpeg" alt="Image of caucasian man with a mustche, circa 1920, dressed in formal wear with top hat and tie." width="303" height="425" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/01-Lovell-posing-plus-autograph-214x300.jpeg 214w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/01-Lovell-posing-plus-autograph-731x1024.jpeg 731w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/01-Lovell-posing-plus-autograph-768x1076.jpeg 768w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/01-Lovell-posing-plus-autograph-1096x1536.jpeg 1096w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/01-Lovell-posing-plus-autograph-1462x2048.jpeg 1462w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/01-Lovell-posing-plus-autograph-scaled.jpeg 1827w" sizes="(max-width: 303px) 100vw, 303px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48785" class="wp-caption-text">Doc Lovell cut a fine figure in formal attire. (Image courtesy of U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.)</p></div><p>Lovell had failed to make his name in his native land, but now he built a rapt audience among young midwesterners. Some deep impulse to be seen and heard, to make a show and be a star, came to fruition. It began in his little shop, where he greeted every customer with “Hello, my friend!” in a strong Cockney brogue. Often he would recite a poem he had written, sing a song of his own composition, or declaim on topics of general interest.</p><p>Soon he took these performances to the streets. He accepted invitations to dine at fraternities. At movie halls and the Michigan Union, he extemporized on Christian uplift and the evils of Darwin’s theory of evolution.</p><p>Eventually he was spending less time fixing shoes and more time declaiming. Ann Arbor police once threatened to ban him from State Street sidewalks to keep his audience from blocking pedestrian traffic.</p><h2>The published poet</h2><p>He made the pages of <em>The Michigan Daily</em> with verses like this:</p><p><em>The one who is found with a darkened mind</em><br /><em>And who never seeks light of any kind</em><br /><em>Will soon find his understanding is such</em><br /><em>His mind puts darkness for light and his taste corrupts.</em></p><p>Doc Lovell’s poems and song lyrics ranged widely, from his own self-reliance to the American flag; looking on the bright side; venturing forth instead of staying home; overcoming obstacles; the Fourth of July; spring; archery; the birds; the snow (“How strange it should be that this beautiful snow should fall on one with nowhere to go”); Jack London; Jonah and the whale; Abraham Lincoln; and the death of President Warren G. Harding.</p><h2>“Who is right?”</h2><div id="attachment_48788" style="width: 318px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/02-Frontispiece-poem-Lovell-_Autobiography-in-Education_.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48788" class=" wp-image-48788" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/02-Frontispiece-poem-Lovell-_Autobiography-in-Education_-212x300.png" alt="Doc Lovell, circa 1920, in a black and white portrait posing with three photos." width="308" height="436" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/02-Frontispiece-poem-Lovell-_Autobiography-in-Education_-212x300.png 212w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/02-Frontispiece-poem-Lovell-_Autobiography-in-Education_.png 424w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 308px) 100vw, 308px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48788" class="wp-caption-text">The frontispiece of Lovell’s memoir, “Autobiography in Education.” (Image courtesy of U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.)</p></div><p>In 1928, the doc — or more likely one of his fans — self-published a 50-page memoir. It appears to be a record of Lovell’s free-flowing remarks taken down by an enterprising scribe.</p><p>If so, it’s no wonder passing students stopped to listen. They never knew what he would say next.</p><p>A sample:</p><p>“If one doesn’t go away they can never come back.”</p><p>“If I remain innocent all my days then it’s impossible to know anything.”</p><p>“Which comes first — the hen or the egg? Let me ask this: Could an egg build its own nest?”</p><p>“I am going to be another David against the Goliath to defy Charles Darwin’s theory … for that theory is a damnable lot of rotten bunk … Now it is just as ridiculous to say that a cat came from a dog as it is to say that a man came from a monkey … How could a mouse become a rat? … Now I ask you: Who is right, Charles Darwin or the cobbler poet?”</p><h2>Degrees and distinctions</h2><div id="attachment_48786" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/03-Lovell-in-football-pose.autograph-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-48786" class=" wp-image-48786" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/03-Lovell-in-football-pose.autograph-229x300.jpg" alt="Vintage photograph, circa 1920, of Dr. Tom Lovell of Ann Arbor, dressed in football gear of the time, with ball tucked into his left arm." width="300" height="393" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/03-Lovell-in-football-pose.autograph-229x300.jpg 229w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/03-Lovell-in-football-pose.autograph-782x1024.jpg 782w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/03-Lovell-in-football-pose.autograph-768x1005.jpg 768w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/03-Lovell-in-football-pose.autograph-1174x1536.jpg 1174w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/03-Lovell-in-football-pose.autograph-1565x2048.jpg 1565w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/03-Lovell-in-football-pose.autograph-scaled.jpg 1956w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-48786" class="wp-caption-text">Doc Lovell, star of the gridiron (Image courtesy of U-M’s Bentley Historical Library.)</p></div><p>It became a local sport for students to dream up honorary degrees for Doc Lovell. Before he started charging $5 to accept a new degree, he racked up, among others, the academic titles of FFV (Founder of Free Verse); PDQ (Professor of Dual Quinology); TNT (Thinker of New Thoughts); AWOL (America’s Writer of Literature), and Chancellor of Diction.</p><p>In 1920, students threw him a banquet and named him Lieutenant-Colonel of Archery of all U.S. Armies and Navies. He was twice proposed for Michigan’s presidency. When Professor Claude Van Tyne asked his American history students to rank the greatest Americans, Doc Lovell tied with Woodrow Wilson for third place behind Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.</p><p>He seemed to understand, if only by instinct, that he was the campus’ Shakespearean fool, a butt of jokes but also a puncturer of literary pretension, a living lampoon of high-minded faculty in their academic gowns.</p><p>He asked his listeners: “If I’m the fool and you get the fun, you thank God that the fool is about to make the fun, for you couldn’t have the fun without the fool, could you? Why, no. Then swallow that and shut up then. For it takes a clever person to be a clever fool.”</p><p>In 1929 he vanished for a time, then reappeared in broken health. He died at 67 in the Washtenaw County infirmary on Jan. 16, 1930. <em>The New York Times</em> published his obituary.<br /> <br /> <br /><em>Sources included the Michigan Daily; Tom Lovell, Autobiography in Education (1928); Howard Peckham, The Making of the University of Michigan, 1817-1992, edited and updated by Margaret L. Steneck and Nicholas H. Steneck (1994); and the New York Times</em></p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/18/the-cobbler-poet-who-became-a-folk-hero/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Ouch! What is pain and how to describe it</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/17/ouch-what-is-pain-and-how-to-describe-it/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/17/ouch-what-is-pain-and-how-to-describe-it/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Victor Katch]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 22:28:45 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Health Yourself]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[health care]]></category> <category><![CDATA[pain]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48742</guid> <description><![CDATA[Vic Katch explains different types of pain and how to locate and describe them to a health practitioner.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>It’s personal</h2><p>Understanding physical pain is difficult since we each perceive pain differently. What feels painful to one person may only feel like mild discomfort to another. Such factors as emotional state and overall physical health have been shown to play a significant role in how people perceive, respond to, and describe their pain.</p><p>We also can experience more than one type of pain simultaneously, which further complicates a clear description. Understanding and describing types of pain can help your health care provider diagnose and deliver relief.</p><h2>What is pain?</h2><p>Pain is always subjective. Each individual learns the application of the word through experiences related to “injury” in early life. Stimuli that cause pain are the ones most likely to damage tissue, according to biologists. Thus, most bodily pain represents an experience that associates with actual or potential body-tissue damage.</p><p>Pain is characterized by an unpleasant sensation in a part (or parts) of the body that are damaged. At the same time, pain always represents an emotional experience. As a result, trying to come up with an adequate definition of pain is not without controversy. In 1978, after two years of deliberation, the <a href="https://www.usasp.org/">International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)</a> defined pain as “<strong>a</strong><strong>n unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.</strong>”</p><p>This definition, which necessarily ties pain to a body-tissue or emotional stimulus, is accepted globally by most health care professionals, and has been adopted by several professional, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations, including the World Health Organization.</p><p>However, there is no way to distinguish the pain-experience from tissue damage or from some subjective (emotional) reason. This has led many to argue that “pain is pain,” regardless of the initiating source(s).</p><p>Pain sensations derive from communication between nerves, the spinal cord, and the brain. Depending on the underlying cause, there are four basic pain experiences, as listed below.</p><table class=" alignleft" style="height: 115px;width: 100%;border-collapse: collapse;border-style: solid;border-color: #b5aeae"><tbody><tr style="height: 23px;background-color: #f2edef"><td style="width: 11.9555%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc"><strong>Pain Type</strong></td><td style="width: 88.0445%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc"><strong>Pain Experiences</strong></td></tr><tr style="height: 23px"><td style="width: 11.9555%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc">Acute</td><td style="width: 88.0445%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc">Temporary, sudden pain experience that arises from a specific cause, like an injury, illness, or medical procedure; usually lasts for a short duration (less than one month).</td></tr><tr style="height: 23px"><td style="width: 11.9555%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc">Chronic</td><td style="width: 88.0445%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc">Pain persisting for three months or longer, even after the initial injury or condition has healed.</td></tr><tr style="height: 23px"><td style="width: 11.9555%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc">Neuropathic</td><td style="width: 88.0445%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc">Pain caused by a lesion (damage through injury or disease, such as a wound, ulcer, abscess, tumor, or disease) of the sensory nervous system resulting in numbness, tingling, swelling, or muscle weakness in different body parts.</td></tr><tr style="height: 23px"><td style="width: 11.9555%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc">Nociceptive</td><td style="width: 88.0445%;height: 23px;border-style: solid;border-color: #c4bcbc">Pain caused by damage to body tissue; pain feels sharp, aching, or throbbing. It is usually caused by an external injury, like stubbing a toe, a sports injury, or dental procedure.<br /><strong style="font-family: inherit;font-size: inherit">Visceral: </strong>Pain originating from internal organs, such as stomach, intestines, bladder, or kidneys; often described as a deep, dull, or cramping sensation, and can be difficult to pinpoint to a specific area.<br /><strong>Somatic: </strong>Pain that arises from skin and/or muscles.</td></tr></tbody></table><h3><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Types-of-Pain.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-48757 alignright" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Types-of-Pain-300x227.png" alt="Side by side graphic illustrates the difference between physical and psychological pain." width="300" height="227" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Types-of-Pain-300x227.png 300w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Types-of-Pain-768x581.png 768w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Types-of-Pain.png 904w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Acute pain</h3><p>This represents short-term pain that comes on suddenly and has a specific cause like muscle/tendon/ligament injury, broken bones, surgery, dental work, labor and childbirth, cuts, and burns, to name a few. Acute pain goes away once the cause is treated.</p><h3>Chronic pain</h3><p>Best estimates suggests that chronic pain affects more than 50 million U.S. adults, and can last for years, ranging from mild to severe on any given day. Some common examples of chronic pain include frequent headaches, nerve damage, low back pain, arthritis, and fibromyalgia (widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances). Since chronic pain has been shown to impact quality of life, people living with chronic pain often develop symptoms of anxiety and/or depression.</p><h3>Nociceptive pain</h3><p>This represents the most common pain type. Nociceptive pain is caused by stimulation of nociceptors – pain receptors located throughout the body, especially in skin and internal organs that, when stimulated from a cut or other injury, send electrical signals to the brain causing the perception of pain. Nociceptive pain can be acute or chronic and is further classified as <strong>somatic</strong> or <strong>visceral.</strong></p><aside class="callout "><p><strong><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Radiating-Knee.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-48749" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Radiating-Knee-271x300.png" alt="" width="150" height="167" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Radiating-Knee-271x300.png 271w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Radiating-Knee.png 282w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a>Somatic pain:</strong> Results from stimulation of pain receptors in tissues located most often in skin, muscles, joints, connective tissues, and bones. Usually feels like a constant aching or gnawing sensation often resulting from bone fractures, strained muscles, connective tissue diseases, osteoporosis, cancers that affect the skin or bones, skin cuts, scrapes, burns, and joint pain from arthritis.</p><p><strong><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Radiating-abdomen.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-48750" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Radiating-abdomen-284x300.png" alt="Male holds abdomen, which has a red indicator to locate pain." width="150" height="159" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Radiating-abdomen-284x300.png 284w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Radiating-abdomen.png 392w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a>Visceral pain:</strong> Originates from internal organs and tissues, often described as deep, dull, or cramping. Locates in the chest, abdomen, and pelvis resulting from injuries or damage to internal organs (appendicitis, irritable bowel syndrome, or gallstones). May also include nausea or vomiting, as well as changes in body temperature, heart rate, or blood pressure.</aside><h3>Neuropathic pain</h3><p>This pain seems to come out of nowhere rather than in response to any specific injury. Neuropathic pain results from nervous system dysfunction resulting from muscle damage or nerve(s) deactivation. Neuropathic pain usually describes as burning, freezing, numbness, tingling, shooting, stabbing, or electric shocks. While diabetes is a common cause of neuropathic pain, other sources for nerve dysfunction that can prompt neuropathic pain include chronic alcohol consumption, accidents, infections, facial nerve problems (such as Bell’s palsy), spinal nerve inflammation or compression, shingles, carpal tunnel syndrome, HIV, central nervous system disorders (such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease), radiation, or chemotherapy drugs.</p><h2>How to describe pain</h2><p>When describing pain for diagnostic purpose, it’s important to consider six pain-dimensions.</p><aside class="callout "><h3>Six pain dimensions</h3><ul><li><strong>Location:</strong> Where is the pain?</li><li><strong>Quality:</strong> How does it feel?</li><li><strong>Radiation:</strong> Where does the pain go (pain spread)?</li><li><strong>Severity:</strong> How intense is the pain?</li><li><strong>Timing:</strong> When does the pain occur?</li><li><strong>Alleviating factors:</strong> What triggers and what stops the pain?</aside></li></ul><h3>Pain location</h3><p><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Location.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-48752 alignright" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Location-275x300.png" alt="A photo of a person's back with a grid and text on top that describe locations and types of pain. " width="309" height="337" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Location-275x300.png 275w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Location.png 665w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 309px) 100vw, 309px" /></a>Describe the exact location(s) where pain is experienced. Sometimes pain signals locate at a specific spot that can be identified by touch or it can radiate from one area to another, depending on body or limb position. Sometimes pain can be perceived in a different location than the actual source.</p><p>Being able to point to the exact location of a visceral pain sensation can indicate possible organs involved and give clues to further diagnosis, testing, and treatment options. The illustration here shows the different visceral organs that might associate to a given pain, and thereby provide further diagnostic clues.</p><h3><strong>Pain quality</strong></h3><p>Pain quality refers to the specific type(s) of pain perception. Terms like “aching,” “dull,” or “burning” are common pain descriptors. But these terms often mean different things to different people. Here are commonly acceptable descriptor terms to describe different pain perceptions.</p><ul><li><strong>Aching:</strong> persistent, dull, or throbbing</li><li><strong>Sharp:</strong> sudden, intense sensation at a specific site</li><li><strong>Dull:</strong> persistent aching; not sharp</li><li><strong>Burning:</strong> stinging or searing</li><li><strong>Throbbing:</strong> rhythmic, pulsating</li><li><strong>Stabbing:</strong> sharp, piercing</li><li><strong>Gnawing:</strong> persistent, irritating pain that “consumes” the affected area</li><li><strong>Shooting:</strong> sudden, radiating sensation that travels along a nerve pathway (think sciatica)</li><li><strong>Tingling:</strong> pricking or prickling</li><li><strong>Cramping:</strong> tight, spasmodic pain in a specific muscle (or muscle region)</li><li><strong>Heavy:</strong> pressure or weight in a specific location</li></ul><h3>Pain radiation – Where does pain go?</h3><p><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Radiation.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-48751" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Radiation-300x181.png" alt="A side by side illustration of an outline of a body, front and back, with red indicators to describe pain and how it radiates," width="300" height="181" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Radiation-300x181.png 300w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Radiation.png 752w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>When pain spreads from one body area to another, it is termed “<strong>radiating pain.”</strong> It often starts in a specific location and then extends to a larger area, and usually feels like a sharp, burning, or tingling sensation. Most often pain radiation results from nerve damage or inflammation, sending pain signals along their pathway. An example of pain radiation is gallbladder pain that sometimes radiates to the shoulder.</p><p>In contrast, when pain is felt in a different location than the source of the pain, it is termed <strong>“r</strong><strong>eferred pain.”</strong></p><h3>Pain severity – How bad is the pain?</h3><p>Typically, assigning a number (and descriptor) in the form of a pain scale is used to assess pain intensity. Descriptors include the following terms:</p><p><strong>Mild: </strong>noticeable but not overly disruptive<br /><strong>Moderate: </strong>disrupts normal daily activities<br /><strong>Severe: </strong>debilitating enough to prevent normal functioning<br /><strong>Intense:</strong> strong, powerful<br /><strong>Agonizing: </strong>extremely painful and distressing<br /><strong>Excruciating: </strong>unbearable</p><p><a href="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Assessment-Tool.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-48754" src="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Assessment-Tool.png" alt="A pain assessment tool with numbers of severity and animated faces with various expressions." width="820" height="368" srcset="https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/mc-image-cache/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Assessment-Tool.png 820w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Assessment-Tool-300x135.png 300w, https://michigantoday.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2025/07/Health-Yourself-Pain-Assessment-Tool-768x345.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></a></p><h3>Pain Timing – When does pain occur?</h3><p>When pain occurs, how long it lasts, and any daily variations can provide valuable clues about its cause and progression. Pain can be constant, intermittent, or waxing/waning. It also can fluctuate during certain times of the day.</p><h3>Alleviating factors – What triggers and stops pain?</h3><p>It is important to be able to describe the onset or triggers for pain as well as being able to describe what you can do to alleviate pain symptoms. This information can help diagnose underlying causes for the different types of pain.</p><p>Triggers are specific activities or conditions that can incite or exacerbate the onset of pain. These can include anything from emotional stress, food, or different physical activities. Identifying pain triggers can help manage pain more effectively. Knowing those triggers may help you avoid pain altogether.<br /> <br /> <br /><em><strong>References</strong></em></p><ul><li><em>Alcock, M.M. “Defining pain: past, present, and future.” Pain 2017;158:761.</em></li><li><em>Anand, K.J. Craig, K.D. “New perspectives on the definition of pain.” Pain 1996;67:3.</em></li><li><em>Anand, K.J.S., et al. “Consciousness, behavior, and clinical impact of the definition of pain.” Pain Forum 1999;8:64.</em></li><li><em>Brodal, P. “A neurobiologist’s attempt to understand persistent pain.” The Scandinavian Journal of Pain 2017;15:140.</em></li><li><em>Cunningham, N. “Primary requirements for an ethical definition of pain.” Pain Forum 1999;8:93.</em></li><li><em>Fields, H.L. “Pain: an unpleasant topic.” Pain 1999;Suppl 6:S61–S69.</em></li><li><em>Ford, A.C., et al. “Chronic visceral pain: New peripheral mechanistic insights and resulting treatments.” Gastroenterology. 2024;166(6):976.</em></li><li><em>Freynhagen, R., et al. “Functioning in chronic pain: A call for a global definition.” Pain 2024;165(10):2235.</em></li><li><em>Giordano J., Shook, J.R. “Heeding pain’s prescription.” Pain Physician> 2024;27(5):349.</em></li><li><em>Jensen, T.S., Gebhart, G.F. “New pain terminology: A work in progress.” Pain 2008;140:399.</em></li><li><em>Kissoon, N.R. “Chronic Widespread Pain.” Continuum (Minneapolis, Minn) 2024 Oct. 1;30(5):1427.</em></li><li><em>Nugraha, B., et al. “The IASP classification of chronic pain for ICD-11: Functioning properties of chronic pain.” Pain 2019;160:88.</em></li><li><em>Raja, S.N., et al. “The revised International Association for the Study of Pain definition of pain: Concepts, challenges, and compromises.” Pain 2020;1;161(9):1976.</em></li><li><em>Robinson, C.L., et al. “Pain scales: What are they and what do they mean.” Current Pain and Headache Reports 2024 Jan;28(1):11.</em></li><li><em>Rütgen, M., Lamm, C. “Dissecting shared pain representations to understand their behavioral and clinical relevance.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2024;163:105769.</em></li><li><em>Treede, R.D., et al. “Chronic pain as a symptom or a disease: The IASP classification of chronic pain for the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).” Pain 2019;160:19.v</em></li><li><em>Williams, A.C., Craig, K.D. “Updating the definition of pain.” Pain 2016;157:2420.</em></li><li><em>Woo, C.W., et al. “Quantifying cerebral contributions to pain beyond nociception.” Nature Communications<em> 2017;8:14211.</em></em></li></ul><p> </p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/17/ouch-what-is-pain-and-how-to-describe-it/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>The view from 70,000 feet</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/16/the-view-from-70000-feet/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/16/the-view-from-70000-feet/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Deborah Holdship]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:01:31 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Campus Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Alumni]]></category> <category><![CDATA[President]]></category> <category><![CDATA[presidential search]]></category> <category><![CDATA[priorities]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48690</guid> <description><![CDATA[Three months into his U-M presidency, Domenico Grasso, PhD ’87, is focused on protecting the university, both physically and intellectually. “We want people to engage in difficult conversations because it's those conversations that move society forward," Grasso says. "It comes down to intellectual empathy."]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>Elevation</h2><p>As Domenico Grasso, PhD ’87, settles into his role as University of Michigan president, he has U2 on the brain.</p><p>But it’s not Bono lurking in the gray matter. Nor is it the Edge, Adam, or Larry.</p><p>“I’m talking about the spy plane that flies at 70,000 feet,” says Grasso, an environmental engineering graduate and U.S. Army veteran who resigned his commission at the rank of major. Most recently, he served as UM-Dearborn’s sixth chancellor and professor of public policy and sustainable engineering.</p><aside class="callout left">“<span style="font-weight: 400">There is no other school in the world that can claim the excellence – and the depth of excellence – that this university can.”</aside> </span>Much like the metaphorical pilot of a U2 aircraft, any high performing institutional leader needs to assess the landscape from horizon to horizon — in the past and going forward.</p><p>“At the same time, a good leader has to know when to ‘land on Earth,’ make decisions and get involved in the details,” he says.</p><p>Grasso assumed the presidency on May 8 following Santa Ono’s resignation. He has expressed his desire to serve in the interim role only. He plans to retire from the university once a permanent president is hired.</p><p>He took the helm during a tumultuous period in higher education marked by national student unrest over the war in Gaza, a rise in anti-Semitism on campuses, the dismantling of DEI, and a transition to revenue-sharing in college athletics. The federal government has contributed to the on-campus chaos as well: calling presidents to testify before Congress, cutting funding for critical research, and investigating the legal status of international students.</p><p>When asked which issues keep him up at night, Grasso replies: “All of them.”</p><h2>Sweetest thing</h2><aside class="callout right"><h3>Grasso on iconic U-M presidents</h3><ul><li>Mary Sue Coleman is a very thoughtful and courageous leader. She did a lot of outstanding things here. She also ran the Association of American Universities, which is a clear indication of how respected she is. I am delighted I have access to her as a mentor.</li><li>I knew Jim Duderstadt for a long time. He had exciting views about the future of the university and its place in the higher education hierarchy. He led a strategic planning effort not unlike the one Stanford led in the early- to mid-part of the 20th century.</li><li>I admire James Angell because he was president of the University of Vermont before he came here, and I also was at the University of Vermont. I love his philosophy about an uncommon education for the common individual.</li></ul></aside>The university’s top job may have come at an “odd time” for him, but Grasso says his Wolverine pride motivated him to give back to the institution he reveres. His alumni status offers a keen advantage; he often refers to the book “View from the Helm” authored by the late James Duderstadt, U-M president from 1988-96.</p><p>“Jim wrote that a president of any university should understand the saga of that university to be successful,” says Grasso. “You have to protect the legacy that the institution is known for. You also have to protect the institution, in terms of both physical protection and intellectual protection.”</p><p>And what better protector than a passionate graduate who, as a student, often walked past the president’s residence that he now calls home?</p><p>“It is remarkable that I live there,” he says of the palpable history permeating the oldest building on campus. “I mean, if you go to Michigan, what more magnificent dream would you have other than to be president of the University of Michigan?”</p><h2>Rattle and hum</h2><p>Grasso says he seeks to distinguish his term by nurturing a close-knit community that encourages diversity of thought and intellectual freedom. It’s a delicate balance, he says, as U-M and other universities contend with ideological and cultural disunity, on and off their campuses. Social media “doxxing,” a malicious act in which a poster’s personally identifiable information is published, is increasingly used by online agitators to silence productive discourse, even around seemingly apolitical research and faculty expertise.</p><aside class="callout left">“I<span style="font-weight: 400"> want to make sure that, when I leave, I’ve done my best to build this sense of a community and family so that we all feel like we’re here to take care of each other.”</aside></span><span style="font-weight: 400"><br /></span> “Even though we may have differences of opinion, I hope we can engage civilly and with empathy and try to talk through things,” Grasso says. “We want people to engage in difficult conversations because it’s those conversations that move society forward.”</p><p>Now, more than ever, it takes integrity and conviction to listen to opposing viewpoints and seek compromise, Grasso says.</p><p>“It comes down to intellectual empathy. A good leader has to be able to get in a room, or out on campus where people are disagreeing, and understand the varying perspectives and where folks are coming from. Then you can start looking for solutions,” he says.</p><h2>It’s a beautiful day</h2><p>Get to know President Grasso in this video interview with U-M student Sydney Cyprian.<br /><iframe loading="lazy" class="fluid" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AyK5eGWwpC8?wmode=transparent&rel=0&feature=oembed&rel=0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen title="Getting to Know University of Michigan President Domenico Grasso"></iframe></p><h2>Songs of experience</h2><aside class="callout left"><h3>The search for the 16th president</h3><p>Spencer Stuart, a globally recognized executive search firm, has been selected to lead the search for U-M’s 16th president.</p><p>Stay tuned for updates regarding</p><ul><li>Search advisory committee details</li><li>Engagement activities with the university community</li><li>Presidential search website</li></ul><p><a href="mailto:UofMpres@spencerstuart.com">Email your nominations</a> for presidential candidates.</p><p><a href="https://umich.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6wVPCfl6fnVOwlg">Submit your confidential feedback</a> regarding the search process.</aside><p>Grasso is intent on rebuilding America’s trust in higher education, with U-M leading the way. The university reported a record $2.04 billion in research volume during fiscal year 2024, including $1.17 billion in federally sponsored research expenditures that led to groundbreaking medical treatments, energy solutions, advanced space exploration, and cutting-edge defense technologies. The university’s research partnerships in Detroit and throughout the state impact education, health care, economic development, and the Great Lakes, to name a few.</p><p>“We need to explain to everybody from the congressperson in Washington, D.C., to the farmer in the UP why the University of Michigan is so important to their personal well-being, their future, their children’s future, and the well-being of the country,” Grasso says. “We do this through quality health care, life-changing education, and a stimulating environment that fosters new knowledge, creativity, and service to society.”</p><p>He cites the 1955 announcement at Rackham Auditorium by epidemiologists Tommy Francis Jr. and Jonas Salk regarding the efficacy of the polio vaccine, as just one example: “It’s mind-torturing what people now take for granted as a result of all the work that’s been done on university campuses,” he says.</p><h2>Wide awake in America</h2><aside class="callout right">“Michigan students can improve their intellectual power by interacting with the best minds in the world. If we shut off the spigot to international students, we’ve limited an opportunity to benefit from this outstanding talent pool.”</aside>Touting the value of a college degree is challenging when economic uncertainty dominates the national narrative, so Grasso is focused on informing constituents about “how we’re using resources, and how we’re educating our students.”</p><p>A degree from the Ann Arbor campus pays off: It is the least expensive among the state’s 15 public four-year institutions for resident undergraduates with family incomes under $75,000 who rely on financial aid for college. For families with incomes between $75,000-$100,000, UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint are the least expensive for resident undergraduates.</p><p>Evidence shows that a U-M graduate holding a bachelor’s degree on average earns $1 million more in salary over a lifetime than alumni of other American universities. “People will pay a premium for a Michigan graduate,” Grasso says.</p><p>He lauds the menu of U-M’s tuition-assistance programs, including the Go Blue Guarantee, which provides free tuition to students from families with a net income of $125,000 or less, and assets below $125,000. Focusing on need-based financial aid, as he did at UM-Dearborn, strips away the “concept of privilege” and opens the university’s door to students with viewpoints and talents across the economic spectrum.</p><p>International students also contribute to diversity of thought, but they are u nder intense scrutiny today from a federal government focused on immigration reform. Recently, U-M made international headlines when two Chinese researchers based in Ann Arbor were charged with smuggling a biological pathogen into the U.S.</p><p>Grasso warns against the tendency to criminalize all international students based on the perceived behavior of a small group. Security concerns are paramount, he says. In an email to the university community he wrote: “We are cooperating with federal authorities and reviewing our internal practices to protect the community, national security, and all aspects of our research enterprise.”</p><h2>All that you can’t leave behind</h2><aside class="callout left">UM-Dearborn’s rise to R2 research status is no accident. From reimagining EV battery storage and advancing brain health to preserving Michigan’s heritage and training undergraduates through hands-on research, the university is driving practical innovation that makes our region healthier, safer, and more competitive.</aside><p>U-M’s Board of Regents cited several significant successes at the Dearborn campus as examples of Grasso’s effective leadership, including that transition to a need-based financial aid model, the increase of its four-year graduation rate by 16%, and more than doubling external research funding that allowed the campus to achieve R2 status, a designation from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education. As chancellor, Grasso also served as an executive officer of the university.</p><p>Prior to returning to the university, Grasso served as provost and chief academic officer at the University of Delaware. Earlier, he held posts as Smith College’s Rosemary Bradford Hewlett Professor and founding director of the Picker Engineering Program — the first engineering program at a women’s college and one of the few at a liberal arts college in the U.S. He also served as dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and vice president for research at the University of Vermont.</p><p>Grasso has published extensively in the areas of environmental science and engineering and has been cited extensively. In addition, he has held several high-profile advisory posts, including fellow on NATO’s Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society, technical expert to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, vice chair of the Science Advisory Board for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and president of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/16/the-view-from-70000-feet/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>‘Let’s seize the moment’</title> <link>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/10/lets-seize-the-moment/</link> <comments>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/10/lets-seize-the-moment/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Domenico Grasso]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:15:00 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[President's Message]]></category> <category><![CDATA[LEO]]></category> <category><![CDATA[SACUA]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48683</guid> <description><![CDATA[Three months into his term, President Grasso is energized by the intellectual and cultural activities on our campuses.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2>July 8, 2025</h2><p>Today marks the start of my third month as president, and I remain energized by the intellectual and cultural activities on our campuses.</p><p>My conversations with deans, faculty, staff, students, coaches, alums, and donors have been productive and engaging. I’ve particularly enjoyed talks with our student government leaders, the chair of the SACUA, and the president of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization. Everyone joins me in sharing an authentic affection for, and commitment to, this great university.</p><p>A recent survey of registered voters in our state validated the impact of the University of Michigan. Michiganders overwhelmingly recognize the benefits we deliver, most notably in exceptional health care, economic impacts, and a top-tier education for students. That education is becoming increasingly more affordable, thanks to the expansion of our Go Blue Guarantee on all three campuses. A UM-Ann Arbor degree is the least expensive among the state’s 15 public four-year institutions for resident undergraduates with family incomes under $75,000 who rely on financial aid for college. For families with incomes between $75,000-$100,000, UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint are the least expensive for resident undergraduates.</p><p>Let’s seize this moment. These are challenging times for many essential institutions in our country, including higher education. There is skepticism and mistrust. While I believe much of it is without substance, I also think we must work harder than ever to show — not just tell — how we make a positive difference. We do this through quality medical care, life-changing education, and a stimulating environment that fosters new knowledge and technology, creativity, and service to society. Later this summer, there will be news regarding Vision 2034 that will sharpen our focus on this commitment.</p><p>In everything we do, I want the University of Michigan to demonstrate its value to the greater world. We bear a profound responsibility not only to lead in scholarship and innovation but also to serve as a thoughtful compass in demanding times. Our collective job is to leverage our excellence on all three campuses in ways that benefit our communities, nation, and world.</p><p>I continue to be grateful for the opportunity to lead this extraordinary institution. My wife, Susan, and I have settled into the President’s House with our dog, Nola. We all love exploring the campus, from the Arb and the Diag to the North Campus Grove. It won’t be long before our campuses are humming with the enthusiasm and energy that come with the start of a new academic year. Until then, please enjoy your summer.</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p>Domenico Grasso, PhD ’87<br />President</p>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2025/07/10/lets-seize-the-moment/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Can you trust what you see?</title> <link>https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/michigan-research-june-2025/</link> <comments>https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/michigan-research-june-2025/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Deborah Holdship]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 15:43:21 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Innovation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Research News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Science and Technology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[AI]]></category> <category><![CDATA[artificial intelligence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[deepfake]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Faculty]]></category> <category><![CDATA[UM-Flint]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48677</guid> <description><![CDATA[Deepfakes are rising — and so is the risk to truth. At UM-Flint, researchers at the SMILES Lab built DeepTect, an AI tool that detects and explains deepfakes before the damage is done. From courtroom evidence to cloned voices, DeepTect helps expose what’s fake — clearly, quickly, and credibly. Watch this video from Michigan Research as AI expert Khalid Malik explains.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[Deepfakes are rising — and so is the risk to truth. At UM-Flint, researchers at the SMILES Lab built DeepTect, an AI tool that detects and explains deepfakes before the damage is done. From courtroom evidence to cloned voices, DeepTect helps expose what’s fake — clearly, quickly, and credibly. Watch this video from Michigan Research as AI expert Khalid Malik explains.]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://research.umich.edu/news-and-issues/michigan-research-june-2025/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>How holding your pee can rewire your brain</title> <link>https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/how-holding-your-pee-can-rewire-your-brain?utm_source=dynamics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=health_lab_newsletter&utm_term=N%2FA&utm_content=Health%20Lab%20HW%20WK%2026#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=65f8f046-61fa-4c79-89e6-0a6b96410000</link> <comments>https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/how-holding-your-pee-can-rewire-your-brain?utm_source=dynamics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=health_lab_newsletter&utm_term=N%2FA&utm_content=Health%20Lab%20HW%20WK%2026#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=65f8f046-61fa-4c79-89e6-0a6b96410000#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[UMC Admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 15:06:05 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Research News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[bladder health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category> <category><![CDATA[pelvic floor]]></category> <category><![CDATA[urination]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48673</guid> <description><![CDATA[Did you know that fighting the urge to urinate could rewire your brain, and not in a good way? “General guidance is that you should empty your bladder every 3–4 hours while you’re awake, assuming you’re drinking a normal amount in a regular day,” says Giulia Ippolito, M.D., a neuro-urologist and pelvic reconstruction specialist. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[Did you know that fighting the urge to urinate could rewire your brain, and not in a good way? “General guidance is that you should empty your bladder every 3–4 hours while you’re awake, assuming you’re drinking a normal amount in a regular day,” says Giulia Ippolito, M.D., a neuro-urologist and pelvic reconstruction specialist. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/how-holding-your-pee-can-rewire-your-brain?utm_source=dynamics&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=health_lab_newsletter&utm_term=N%2FA&utm_content=Health%20Lab%20HW%20WK%2026#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=65f8f046-61fa-4c79-89e6-0a6b96410000/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>It Happened at Michigan: U-M alum was first American to walk in space</title> <link>https://record.umich.edu/articles/it-3/</link> <comments>https://record.umich.edu/articles/it-3/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Genevieve Monsma]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:52:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Heritage/Tradition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Science and Technology]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Alumni]]></category> <category><![CDATA[COE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[College of Engineering]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Engineering]]></category> <category><![CDATA[moon walk]]></category> <category><![CDATA[NASA]]></category> <category><![CDATA[space race]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48666</guid> <description><![CDATA[In 1965, Edward H. White II, a 1959 graduate in aeronautical engineering and the pilot of NASA's Gemini IV, became the first American to walk in space. White was traveling with one other astronaut, James A. McDivitt, a fellow Wolverine from the Class of 1959. They had attached American flags to their space suits, kicking off a longstanding tradition of astronauts donning the Stars and Stripes.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[In 1965, Edward H. White II, a 1959 graduate in aeronautical engineering and the pilot of NASA's Gemini IV, became the first American to walk in space. White was traveling with one other astronaut, James A. McDivitt, a fellow Wolverine from the Class of 1959. They had attached American flags to their space suits, kicking off a longstanding tradition of astronauts donning the Stars and Stripes.]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://record.umich.edu/articles/it-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Arsenal Bridge Ventures invests up to $7.8 million in U-M startup to advance weight regulation drugs</title> <link>https://www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-05/arsenal-bridge-ventures-invests-u-m-startup-courage-therapeutics-advance-innovative</link> <comments>https://www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-05/arsenal-bridge-ventures-invests-u-m-startup-courage-therapeutics-advance-innovative#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[UMC Admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 14:40:37 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Research News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Sciences Institute]]></category> <category><![CDATA[LSI]]></category> <category><![CDATA[obesity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[weight loss]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48661</guid> <description><![CDATA[Courage Therapeutics aims to address obesity and restrictive eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and cachexia, by targeting neural circuits in the brain known as the central melanocortin system. Roger Cone, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has been at the forefront of melanocortin research for decades. Courage Therapeutics is a U-M spinout company.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[Courage Therapeutics aims to address obesity and restrictive eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and cachexia, by targeting neural circuits in the brain known as the central melanocortin system. Roger Cone, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has been at the forefront of melanocortin research for decades. Courage Therapeutics is a U-M spinout company.]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://www.lsi.umich.edu/news/2025-05/arsenal-bridge-ventures-invests-u-m-startup-courage-therapeutics-advance-innovative/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Sleuthing the story behind a photo</title> <link>https://bentley.umich.edu/news-events/magazine/sleuthing-the-story-behind-a-photo/</link> <comments>https://bentley.umich.edu/news-events/magazine/sleuthing-the-story-behind-a-photo/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[UMC Admin]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2025 20:14:20 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Campus Life]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education & Society]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Heritage/Tradition]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://michigantoday.umichsites.org/?p=48650</guid> <description><![CDATA[When Edward Mears discovered a photo, dated 1933, of his grandmother and her friends at U-M's Alpha Lambda Chinese fraternity, his imagination lit up. One of his grandmother's friends, an Asian man, had inscribed the photo 'To Veronica, with love, Ben.' The inscription inspired a deep dive at the Bentley and took Mears across continents. The story is still unfolding. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[When Edward Mears discovered a photo, dated 1933, of his grandmother and her friends at U-M's Alpha Lambda Chinese fraternity, his imagination lit up. One of his grandmother's friends, an Asian man, had inscribed the photo 'To Veronica, with love, Ben.' The inscription inspired a deep dive at the Bentley and took Mears across continents. The story is still unfolding. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://bentley.umich.edu/news-events/magazine/sleuthing-the-story-behind-a-photo/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel></rss> If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
Download the "valid RSS" banner.
Upload the image to your own server. (This step is important. Please do not link directly to the image on this server.)
Add this HTML to your page (change the image src attribute if necessary):
If you would like to create a text link instead, here is the URL you can use:
http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=https%3A//michigantoday.umich.edu/feed/
