EJB Talks: Rutgers Bloustein School Experts

Will the nature of college be forever changed by the pandemic and the ensuing recession? This is just one of the questions discussed on EJB Talks this week. Stuart Shapiro and Marc Weiner, Executive Director of Undergraduate Programs for the Bloustein School, examine why the sudden, emergency transition to online education was not an easy one. They also discuss how schools like Bloustein, which employ  faculty already cross-trained in hybrid learning, were able to better maintain the quality of teaching as it moved to online learning. Recorded just before a federal judge rescinded the ICE announcement barring foreign students from online study in the U.S., they also touch upon what the move by ICE would have meant for colleges and universities, as well as how enrollments may change as America likely heads into another multi-year recession.

Professor Stuart Shapiro speaks with senior research specialist Charles Brown of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center on the subject of disparities in transportation planning this week on EJB Talks. Mr. Brown, also an instructor in transportation policy and planning for the school, connects transportation to social disparities, social justice, equity, and COVID-19. In addition to considering the "pracademic" approach to these intersectional crises, they discuss why it is imperative to teach people about the links between transportation planning and these critical issues and the need to prioritize equity in transportation planning and decision making.

This week on EJB Talks Stuart Shapiro sits down with Bloustein School Senior Policy Fellow and former New Jersey Budget Director Richard Keevey, who reflects on his years of budgeting at both the state and national levels. Mr. Keevey gives his take on how the pandemic, and the ensuing economic downturn, have put enormous pressure on state governments. The pandemic has increased the needs of residents, while the recession has dramatically decreased the revenue sources that the state government relies upon. Given the magnitude of New Jersey's fiscal crisis, what options do the state's leaders have for making spending cuts without negatively affecting those who need services the most?

EJB Talks welcomes Jeanne Herb, executive director of the Bloustein School's Environmental Analysis and Communications Group to talk about the intersection of the climate crisis, COVID, and economic inequality with Stuart Shapiro. They discuss the work that her center and the University are doing to help New Jersey address the disparate impacts of climate change on our most vulnerable populations, and how no longer viewing climate change as separate from our other crises may allow us to write and implement effective policy solutions.

Stuart Shapiro welcomes Lisa Gulla, epidemiologist, disease investigator, and Bloustein lecturer in this week's episode of EJB Talks for a candid discussion about the challenges facing local level disease investigators during the COVID-19 pandemic. She reveals how data can be misconstrued and misinterpreted by well-meaning officials, information-hungry media, as well as "arm-chair" epidemiologists.

Over a period of four days in 1967, Newark was one of over 150 U.S. cities rocked by rioting, looting, and property destruction, with 26 deaths and hundreds injured. This week on EJB Talks Associate Dean Stuart Shapiro takes a look back at those tumultuous events with Linda Stamato and Sandy Jaffe, co-directors of the Bloustein Center for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. Sandy chaired the Lilley Commission which recommended changes in the wake of the riots and Linda has spent a career advocating for the improvement of conflict resolution. They draw lessons from their experiences to discuss the protests in recent weeks, and discuss the parallels between two very different eras, the importance of educating leaders about long-standing disparities, and the necessity of building community in order to move forward.

In this episode of EJB Talks, Associate Dean Stuart Shapiro speaks with Bloustein School alumnus Storm Ervin MPP '18.  Now an analyst for The Urban Institute in Washington D.C. Ms. Ervin was a central organizer for the protests at the University of Missouri after the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson MO in 2014. She shares her experiences from the Missouri protests and draws lessons for the current protests going on nationwide over the murder of George Floyd.

The murder of George Floyd has resulted in protests across the country.  In this episode of EJB Talks, Associate Dean Stuart Shapiro, author of the Not Normal blog on the Trump Administration, discusses the president's response to the protests and the likely electoral implications.  With the protests layered on top of a still-persistent pandemic and a deepening economic recession, will the president's militaristic response to civil disobedience result in more unrest?  Will it help him win re-election?

"Supply chain" became the buzz phrase at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when supermarket shelves--and online retailers--were emptied of hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper. Most of the time how the products we want, or need, arrive at the retailers is not on our minds--unless you drive by an 18-wheeler emblazoned with a particular logo. But as the director of Freight Planning at the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, it is Anne Strauss-Wieder's job to make sure the shelves are stocked with what consumers are looking for. As one of the largest and busiest freight hubs in the U.S., the agencies of the NJTPA were critical during the pandemic's earliest days in keeping the goods moving from into and through New Jersey.  Also an instructor in supply chain management for the Bloustein School, in this episode of EJB Talks, she breaks down the "breakdown" of the supply chain at the start of the pandemic with host Stuart Shapiro.

With the guarded hope that we are on a downward trend of coronavirus activity, the discussion has turned to the reopening of the state. EJB Talks host Stuart Shapiro broaches the topic with Bloustein alumnus Brandon McKoy, MCRP '13, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, and a member of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy's commission to reopen the state. Brandon touches on some of the issues the state (and the country) must face in determining how to reopen, what the CARES Act is helping (and what it isn't), and how not investing in the future has hurt the state.