Cornell Expert Quotes | Cornell Chronicle

Cornell Expert Quotes

Cornellians weigh in on current events in the news

"As Trump showed, even negative buzz is good, especially for front runners, because it can suck attention away from challengers (remember during GOP debate when he talked about his ‘hands’)."

Drew Margolin

Assistant Professor

Topic	Name	Date
Industrial and Labor Relations , New York State	Russell Weaver Economic Geographer, ILR Buffalo Co-Lab	05/07/20
	“For New York state, internal models developed by the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab are predicting an April 2020 unemployment rate of roughly 13% – and even that might be a 'conservative' estimate. Exploring these estimates for New York state and its individual metropolitan regions will provide critical new evidence of the scale of the challenges we face as we begin to plan for economic recovery.” Media: Lindsey Hadlock lmh267@cornell.edu 607-269-6911 Related Tip Sheet: New York unemployment rate likely to surpass 13% (05/07/20)
Industrial and Labor Relations , New York State , New York City	Lee Adler Senior Extension Associate, Labor and Unions	04/29/20
	“President Trump and others have wanted to open up the economy and schools since he ordered them closed. But now that our nation is at a crossroads, it is critical to ask what needs to be done to ensure safety for not only children and their families, but also teachers, school staff and their families. We know that it is only by massive testing – something that has happened nearly nowhere in the U.S. – that we can be relatively sure that it is ok to open the schools.” Media: Lindsey Hadlock lmh267@cornell.edu 607-269-6911 Related Tip Sheet: Keep schools closed. They’re ‘dangerous breeding grounds’ for coronavirus (04/29/20)
Economics and Business , Industrial and Labor Relations , Law School	Patricia Campos-Medina co-director of the New York State/AFL-CIO Union Leadership Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School	04/23/20
	Campos-Medina says: "Workers in retail and distribution are standing up to demand more because the cost-benefit analysis of taking action against multi-nationals like Amazon and Target has changed; now it’s not just a calculation of losing your job for protesting your working conditions. It is about life and death, and about keeping your family healthy. These workers have clear demands to make their jobs safer so America can re-open for business soon; and these corporations should listen to their demands. "The sick-outs and worker actions are meant to force action to address the vulnerability of these workers from two actors, government and consumers. Governments have the responsibility to take action to demand corporations do more to protect workers. But consumers also have a role to play in forcing corporations to change their business practices. It should no longer just be about their profit margins, but about their social responsibility. The longer these workplaces continue to be unsafe, the longer our society will suffer from the impact on this pandemic. "Public relations efforts by Amazon or Target announcing increases in wages (sometimes by $2 or $3) are no longer enough to entice workers to suffer in silence. Workers actions across the country will change consumers perceptions of how unbalanced the power dynamics are in the U.S. retail industry. We need these workers, yet multi-national corporations do not value their safety and health. Worker actions will hopefully lead to worker organizing and building power through collective bargaining, but in the meantime, these actions will at least put a face on the reality that before this pandemic, this workforce was exploited and invisible.” Media: Rebecca Valli rv234@cornell.edu 607-255-6035 Related Tip Sheet: As essential workers walk out, labor agency must step up (04/23/20)
Industrial and Labor Relations , Economics and Business	Patricia Campos-Medina co-director of the New York State/AFL-CIO Union Leadership Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School	03/24/20
	"This pandemic has shown that retail and service workers are essential workers and the heroes of this crisis. But while higher wages are a quick short-term incentive for these workers to stay on the job, we need to demand more from corporate actors." Media: Rebecca Valli rv234@cornell.edu 607-255-6035 Related Tip Sheet: Retail workers ‘heroes’ in pandemic, but need healthcare (03/24/20)
	Ian Greer Senior Research Associate at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations	03/19/20
	"Many will be looking for alternatives to layoffs to weather the economic downturn. Most people do not know that government can help cover the cost of avoiding layoffs through programs such as New York State’s Shared Work Program." Media: Media Relations, Media Relations Office mediarelations@cornell.edu (607) 255 - 2059 Related Tip Sheet: Reduced hours, shared work could reduce trauma of mass layoffs (03/19/20)
New York State , Law and Policy , Energy, Environment & Sustainability	Mildred E. Warner Professor of City & Regional Planning and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies	02/19/20
	“New York’s plastic bag ban borrows from best practices in that it's a hybrid system that involves both a ban and a fee on alternatives. Where the law could be improved is in allowing counties to impose a higher fee – closer to the actual costs of plastic bag clean up. New York has set its optional county fee too low at five cents, with only two cents of that amount going to the county. Had New York state increased that fee, it could have left more of those funds in the hands of counties, which bear the costs of waste management and recycling.” Media: Lindsey Hadlock lmh267@cornell.edu 607-269-6911 Related Tip Sheet: NYS plastic bag ban key but fees, loopholes are cause for concern (02/19/20)
Energy, Environment & Sustainability , New York State	Robert Howarth David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology	02/04/20
	“The single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from the State of New York is from heating of residential and commercial buildings. Natural gas is used for much of this heating. In order to meet the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act that became law on Jan. 1, the state will need to rapidly move away from using natural gas for heating and instead rely on modern high-efficiency heat pumps. Given this context, it makes no sense to approve this new pipeline.” Media: Lindsey Hadlock lmh267@cornell.edu 607-269-6911 Related Tip Sheet: Proposed NY pipeline undermines green energy goals (02/04/20)
Industrial and Labor Relations , Agriculture and Life Sciences , New York State	Eugene Carroll Co-Director New York State AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute	12/02/19
	“For those workers who have a public responsibility – people like those working on power lines, plowing roads, keeping bridges safe, delivering mail – the work ethic remains a part of their unsung hero culture." Media: Lindsey Hadlock lmh267@cornell.edu 607-269-6911 Related Tip Sheet: Winter weather wariness key to staying safe in storms (12/02/19)
Industrial and Labor Relations , Agriculture and Life Sciences , New York State	David Orr Senior Extension Associate	12/02/19
	“As winter weather arrives, there are a few key things all motorists should remember. The most important is to remember Simon and Garfunkel: ‘slow down, you move too fast.’ A simple solution for all drivers during winter weather conditions is to slow down and give yourself more time. To keep your braking distance the same on snowy roads, slow down from 55 mph to 30 mph. If the road has slippery wet ice, you may need to slow down to 25 mph or less.” Media: Lindsey Hadlock lmh267@cornell.edu 607-269-6911 Related Tip Sheet: Winter weather wariness key to staying safe in storms (12/02/19)
Agriculture and Life Sciences , New York State	Jessica Spaccio Climatologist, Northeast Regional Climate Center	11/25/19
	“Historical probabilities, based on the last 30 years, show us that Anchorage, AK is the most likely to have a white Thanksgiving with a 70% probability to have snow on the ground. Northeast cities have a 0% (Mid-Atlantic) to 63% (Caribou, ME) chance of a white Thanksgiving.” Media: Lindsey Hadlock lmh267@cornell.edu 607-269-6911 Related Tip Sheet: Storms tease of a white Thanksgiving, but snow won’t stick (11/25/19)

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