The photo above was taken about 5 years ago with a squirrel resting after the feeder was empty. Guess he was waiting on more to appear or for me to bring more out. They know who fills them and are not very afraid of me or my husband when we go out and go from one feeder to the next. They will sit in the trees and watch.
I went out yesterday afternoon to put a little extra in the feeders because they keep saying that the weather is going to get nasty. Most of the feeders were empty when I went out and I put just a little more in each one of them.
The box in the picture has a clear plastic shield that holds the seed in with just a small space at the bottom to let it slide out onto the tray. Well it used to have a small space but the squirrels have chewed on it and the space is now big enough for one to lay under it or for me to slide my hand into the box to see if there are any sunflower seeds in the back of the box. The shield is not clear anymore but has turned opaque with the sun hitting it all these years so I can’t see if there is seed left at the back of the box.
I always run my hand into the feeder to bring out any seeds that are stuck in the back and then add just a little more as a treat for them. I went out yesterday to check on the feeders and to give them just a little more for the evening. When I slid my hand back into the box to see if there was any seed I could rake out onto the tray I got a real surprise. My fingers touched something in the back of the box.
Before I could think about touching something in the feeder, there was a big racket in the box and I thought it was going to come off the pole. Next thing I knew a squirrel came flying out of the top of the feeder like a jack in the box. The lid banged against the pole and that didn’t help his state of mind or my pounding heart.
He jumped off the open feeder and onto the fence behind the pole. I have never heard a squirrel make so much noise running down the wooden fence but he was really making tracks with his tail acting as a rudder to keep him balanced on the top of the fence. When I looked to see where he was he was at the north corner of the yard and the end of our fence. He’d made that 60 foot run in just a few seconds.
But he didn’t stop at the end of our fence he just kept running north along the neighbor’s wooden fence. I wonder how far he ran before he realized that nothing was chasing him. I bet his little heart was beating really fast as he ran down the fence. He probably thought the devil was after him when my fingers touched him.
I would love to know what the conversation was when he was with all the other squirrels later that day. I am sure he told them to be wary of that feeder and the beast that almost got him. We have at least 8 or 10 if not more that make a regular visit to the 6 feeders in the yard.
They have to share the feeders with all the northern birds that come to visit each winter. I can’t even estimate how many Juncos and Harris capped sparrows and Pine Siskins we have each winter along with our local birds. But the squirrels always take over the feeders when they are in the yard. The birds are left to be the clean up crew on the ground and eat out of the tube feeder the squirrels can’t use.
There is never a dull moment in our backyard with all the birds that visit and the squirrels that use the feeders and especially when there is a squirrel in the box eating his share and the birds share of the sunflower seeds. To contact Sandy: [email protected]
SQUIRREL IN A BOX
KU News: KU, K-State faculty receive Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards
From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
KU, K-State faculty receive Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards
LAWRENCE — Four faculty members at two Kansas universities were named recipients of the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, the state higher education system’s most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence. The annual awards are given in four categories of scholarly and creative achievement. This year’s honorees are Uwe Thumm and Timothy Musch at Kansas State University and Donna Ginther and Mark Shiflett at the University of Kansas.
KU CREES, Lawrence Public Library to host Perspectives on Ukraine series
LAWRENCE — Nearly a year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new series will explore the war and its effects on Ukraine and its people as well as inform community members on Ukrainian culture and history. Perspectives on Ukraine, a partnership between the University of Kansas Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) and Lawrence Public Library, begins at 6 p.m. Feb. 13 with “Human Trafficking Dynamics and the War in Ukraine.”
11 KU students, alumni named semifinalists for Fulbright Awards
LAWRENCE – Eleven University of Kansas students and alumni have advanced to the semifinalist round for Fulbright U.S. Student Awards, which will provide funding to study, conduct research or teach English abroad for the 2023-2024 academic year. The semifinalists include Kansans from Lawrence, Olathe, Pittsburg, Topeka and Wichita. Finalists will be announced later this spring.
Full stories below.
————————————————————————
Contact: Vince Munoz, Office of Research, 785-864-2254, [email protected], @ResearchAtKU
KU, K-State faculty receive Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards
LAWRENCE — Four faculty members at two Kansas universities were named recipients of the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, the state higher education system’s most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence.
The annual awards are given in four categories of scholarly and creative achievement. This year’s honorees:
1. Uwe Thumm, University Distinguished Professor of Physics, Kansas State University, recipient of the Olin Petefish Award in Basic Sciences
2. Donna Ginther, Roy A. Roberts and Regents Distinguished Professor of Economics, KU, and director, Institute for Policy & Social Research, recipient of the Balfour Jeffrey Award in Humanities & Social Sciences
3. Mark Shiflett, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, KU, and director, Institute for Sustainable Engineering, recipient of the Irvin Youngberg Award in Applied Sciences
4. Timothy Musch, University Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology (College of Health and Human Sciences) and Physiology (College of Veterinary Medicine), Kansas State University, and director, Cardiorespiratory Exercise Lab, recipient of the Dolph Simons Award in Biomedical Sciences.
The four will be recognized in April along with recipients of other major KU research awards.
This is the 41st annual presentation of the Higuchi awards, established in 1981 by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at the University of Kansas from 1967 to 1983, his wife Aya, and the KU Endowment Association. The awards recognize exceptional long-term research accomplishments by faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities. Each honoree receives $10,000 for their ongoing research.
The awards are named for former leaders of KU Endowment who helped recruit Higuchi to KU.
Olin Petefish Award in Basic Sciences
Uwe Thumm is a University Distinguished Professor of Physics at Kansas State University. He is internationally known for his scholarship in atomic, molecular, optical and surface physics.
His work includes understanding the interaction between light and matter in time and space. This basic research has implications for numerous technological fields, such as solar energy, and novel electro-optical detectors and computers.
Individually and with colleagues at the J.R. Macdonald Laboratory at K-State, Thumm has earned more than $50 million in research funding. He received the Senior Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, widely considered the highest German science award for researchers outside the country.
Thumm earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Freiburg.
Balfour Jeffrey Award in Humanities & Social Sciences
Donna Ginther is the Roy A. Roberts and Regents Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of KU’s Institute for Policy & Social Research. Her work broadly covers science policy, labor economics and economic demography.
She is best known for studying factors that promote or inhibit diversity, equity and inclusion in the sciences and academia. In 2011 and 2018, Ginther published papers showing racial disparities in funding from the National Institutes of Health, which later became known as the “Ginther gap.” This led to the creation of a task force and mentoring program at the agency to address these disparities.
She has served as the principal investigator or co-investigator on projects totaling more than $7 million.
Ginther earned a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Irvin Youngberg Award in Applied Sciences
Mark Shiflett is a Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering and director of the Institute for Sustainable Engineering at KU. His research involves developing environmentally safe chemical processes and products that are sustainable.
Currently, Shiflett is working on separation methods for recycling refrigerants with high global warming potential. Preventing the release of these refrigerants into the atmosphere through recycling has the potential to eliminate 175 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of 50 million cars. His research group is also developing methods for removal of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water, processes for recycling critical metals used in lithium-ion batteries and techniques for storing vaccines without the need for refrigeration.
He has received more than $10 million in external funding in the past six years while at KU.
Shiflett earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware.
Dolph Simons Award in Biomedical Sciences
Timothy Musch is a University Distinguished Professor and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Anatomy & Physiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Kinesiology in the College of Health & Human Sciences at Kansas State University. He studies exercise intolerance in patients with heart failure.
His research established how heart failure redistributes blood flow among muscles during exercise and the role of nitric oxide in post-heart failure exercise. This work has helped the NIH define a national strategy for effective exercise treatment for heart failure patients.
He has received more than $7 million in research funding as both principal investigator and co-investigator.
Musch earned a doctorate in exercise physiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular physiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
The award funds are managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.
-30-
————————————————————————
The official university Twitter account has changed to @UnivOfKansas.
Refollow @KUNews for KU News Service stories, discoveries and experts.
Tweets by KUnews
————————————————————————
Contact: Megan Luttrell, KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, [email protected], @KUCREES
KU CREES, Lawrence Public Library to host Perspectives on Ukraine series
LAWRENCE — Nearly a year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new series will explore the war and its effects on Ukraine and its people as well as inform community members on Ukrainian culture and history. Perspectives on Ukraine, a partnership between the University of Kansas Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) and Lawrence Public Library, begins in February.
“The war has placed Ukraine at the center of the public’s attention like never before, and KU stands out nationally for its expertise on the country’s rich and diverse history, society and culture,” said Erik Scott, CREES director and associate professor of history.
Terese Winters, information services librarian at Lawrence Public Library, said that the library is honored to host this series in partnership with CREES.
“Ukraine serves as a global example of courage in defending democracy at great cost as the country heads into a second year of war,” Winters said. “We are fortunate for the opportunity to come together as a community and learn from our expert speakers.”
The first event in the series will take place at 6 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Lawrence Public Library Auditorium. KU alumna Laura Dean, associate professor of political science and director of the Human Trafficking Research Lab at Millikin University, will give a talk titled “Human Trafficking Dynamics and the War in Ukraine.” The event will include an activity where attendees can send well wishes and cards to survivors of human trafficking and sexual violence in Ukraine.
Dean’s talk will address how Russia’s war has exacerbated human trafficking in Ukraine, including child begging, forced labor and sex trafficking. She will discuss how wartime conditions have created vulnerabilities for women and children using data from interviews with anti-trafficking advocates and participant observation at centers for displaced persons in Ukraine and refugee reception centers in Europe.
Dean is the author of “Diffusing Human Trafficking Policy in Eurasia,” published by Policy Press in 2020. She graduated from KU in 2014 with a doctorate in political science. She also earned a graduate certificate in women, gender & sexuality studies and a master’s degree in political science from KU.
The second series event will take place at 6 p.m. March 7 in the Lawrence Public Library Auditorium. Oleksandra Wallo, an associate professor in the Department of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies who is from Lviv, Ukraine, will give a talk titled “How Russia’s War is Changing Ukraine.”
In a talk a few days following the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion, Wallo spoke of the incredible Ukrainian spirit. She said, “The factor that no one took into account, not Putin, not the West, not even some Ukrainians, is that it’s not only weapons and numbers that matter, it’s also the reasons why people are fighting.”
Wallo’s talk will address the ways in which Ukrainian society, culture and daily life have been transformed by the war. It will touch on demographic, economic and political changes and cover in greater depth the cultural response to the war.
Wallo’s research focuses both on teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language and on contemporary Ukrainian literature and culture. Her book “Women Writers and the National Imaginary: From the Collapse of the USSR to the Euromaidan,” was published in 2020 by the University of Toronto Press and received Honorable Mention for the 2021 Omeljan Pritsak Book Prize in Ukrainian Studies. Wallo is also the author of an open-education online resource on basic Ukrainian grammar, Dobra Forma published by the Open Language Resource Center at KU.
Related to the series, the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REES) Reframed Lecture Series will welcome Oksana Kis from the Institute of Ethnology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Kis will give a talk at 7 p.m. March 2 in Forum C of the Burge Union titled “Ukrainian Women at War: Historical Legacies and Present-Day Challenges.”
Her talk will explore the phenomenon of women’s large-scale participation in the Ukrainian army during the current Russian war on Ukraine. It contextualizes Ukrainian women’s military participation using the background of the historical legacy of Ukrainian women’s military service during the two world wars as well as in the armed anti-Soviet nationalist resistance in 1940-50s. The events of the Euro-Maidan and subsequent Russia’s aggression on Donbas will be discussed as turning points in the changing public perception of women-soldiers toward further normalization of militant femininity in public discourse.
Kis is a feminist historian and anthropologist as well as head of the Department of Social Anthropology at the Institute of Ethnology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. She has served as a president of the Ukrainian Association for Research in Women’s History since 2010, and she is also a co-founder and a vice president of the Ukrainian Oral History Association.
The final event in the Perspectives on Ukraine Series will take place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. April 7 in the Lawrence Public Library Auditorium. Megan Luttrell, outreach coordinator for the KU CREES, will lead a workshop on Ukrainian pysanky (decorated eggs). She will teach participants to make their own pysanka as well as give them an introduction to the ancient art’s history and symbolism. The workshop is limited to 20 participants, and sign-up is available on the library’s website.
Luttrell received her doctorate from KU in the Slavic languages & literatures department in 2018. She has taught Russian language and literature at KU, Indiana University and Colby College. As the CREES outreach coordinator, Luttrell manages numerous outreach programs to the broader community. She organizes art and dance workshops and the CREES Spring Festival. She teaches Russian language to students at area middle schools, participates in multicultural story time at both the Lawrence and Baldwin libraries, and leads a foreign language program at the Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center.
The pysanka is a symbol of life, spring and renewal. It has also been a part of Ukrainian culture since pre-Christian times. Closing the event series with a pysanky workshop is intended foster a sense of hope and inspire members of the community to appreciate and learn more about Ukraine and its culture.
KU CREES has been a national leader for the study of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe since 1959 and is the only federally designated resource center on this crucial world area in the Great Plains. CREES, in collaboration with the Department of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies, oversees undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The center is an interdisciplinary hub that helps train K-12 teachers and post-secondary educators and shares its expertise with partners in business, media, the military and government.
-30-
————————————————————————
Subscribe to KU Today, the campus newsletter,
for additional news about the University of Kansas.
http://www.news.ku.edu
————————————————————————
Contact: Christine Metz Howard, International Affairs, [email protected], @KUintlaffairs
11 KU students, alumni named semifinalists for Fulbright Awards
LAWRENCE – Eleven University of Kansas students and alumni have advanced to the semifinalist round for Fulbright U.S. Student Awards, which will provide funding to study, conduct research or teach English abroad for the 2023-2024 academic year.
The year’s Fulbright semifinalists represent diverse academic fields across campus, coming from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the schools of Business, Education & Human Sciences and Music. The semifinalists’ locations of proposed study span four continents and nine countries.
The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries. The U.S. Student Fulbright program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.
Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement as well as their record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. Fulbright grants provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident insurance and, where relevant, tuition.
Finalists and alternates will be announced later this spring.
The 2023-2024 Fulbright semifinalists:
1. Yasmine Adrian has proposed to travel to Germany to study and conduct research in international relations. From Arlington, Virginia, she graduated in 2022 with bachelor’s degrees in global & international studies and German studies. Her parents are Steve and Allyson Adrian.
2. Kate Crnkovich has applied to be an English Teaching Assistant in Armenia. From Watertown, Wisconsin, Crnkovich will graduate in May with a master’s degree in Slavic languages & literatures, which she earned her bachelor’s degree in two years ago. Her parents are Wes and Julie Crnkovich.
3. Quinton Dotzert has proposed to travel to South Korea to study and conduct research in Korean studies. From Collinsville, Illinois, Dotzert will graduate in May with bachelor’s degrees in the history of art and in East Asian languages & cultures with a double concentration in Chinese and Korean. He also has a minor in political science. Their parent is Bobbie Brown.
4. Virginia Hannahan has proposed to travel to United Kingdom to study and conduct research in philosophy at the University of St Andrews. From Fairhope, Alabama, Hannahan will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a certificate in logic and formal reasoning. Her parents are Tommy and Bridget Hannahan.
5. Meredith Loehr has applied to be an English Teaching Assistant in Germany. From Topeka, Loehr will graduate this May with bachelor’s degrees in global & international studies and German. Her parents are Wendy Bair-Loehr and Robert Loehr.
6. Nina Newman has proposed to travel to Sweden to study and conduct research in public health. From Wichita, Newman will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in human biology and a minor in psychology. Her parents are Hanh Newman and James Newman.
7. Maya McDaniel has applied to be an English Teaching Assistant in Spain. From Denver, McDaniel will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in secondary history and government education. Her parents are Derren and Carol McDaniel.
8. Sydney Pritchard has applied to be an English Teaching Assistant in India. From Lawrence, Pritchard will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics. Her parents are Michael and Heidi Pritchard.
9. Melissa Terrall has proposed to travel to Mexico to study and conduct research in piano. From Portland, Oregon, Terrall graduated in 2022 with a master’s degree in piano performance. Her parents are Jeffrey and Valerie Terrall.
10. Aamer Uddin has proposed to travel to the United Kingdom to study and conduct research in entrepreneurship at University College London. Born in Detroit and raised in Olathe, Uddin earned a bachelor’s degree in 2021 in management & leadership and another bachelor’s degree in 2022 in political science. His parents are Imtiaz and Tahseen Uddin.
11. Chloe VanBecelaere has applied to be an English Teaching Assistant in Colombia. From Pittsburg, VanBecelaere graduated in 2022 with bachelor’s degrees in global & international studies and Spanish. Her parent is Diane VanBecelaere.
-30-
————————————————————————
KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs
“Hidden in Plain Sight”
If I asked you to name a chronic disease, you would probably think of conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, or dementia. The odds are, one of the most common chronic diseases would never cross your mind.
World wide, this condition affects over 3 billion people, and causes significant physical and emotional suffering. Annually it costs the American economy upwards of 45 billion dollars in productivity. Our children miss nearly 35 million hours of school. Our emergency rooms field nearly 2 million visits.
So what is it?
Dental disease.
Those of us whose experiences with dental disease have been limited to the occasional cavity, or perhaps wearing braces for a year or two, may be tempted to dismiss it as an inconvenience or annoyance, not a threat. No doubt this impression is reinforced by the artificial distinction the insurance industry draws between our teeth and our bodies.
However, an unhealthy mouth can lead to what we all understand to be a serious medical illness: pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and malnutrition, to name a few. It is linked to heart disease and preterm birth. It can worsen other underlying diseases, such as diabetes. And many conditions, or their treatments, can in turn worsen oral health.
In addition to the physical suffering, dental disease can cause significant social consequences. How often do we say, without even thinking, “They have a nice smile?” Consciously or not, we assess people by their teeth. Those with visible dental disease are acutely aware of this judgement. I almost never saw my wonderful mother in law with a full smile on her face, no matter how happy she was. She was just too aware of her discolored and crooked front teeth. The consequences are more severe for many others: lost job or educational opportunities, lost social standing, relationships that don’t move forward. Dental diseases can affect not just the appearance but the function of the mouth, impacting speech and communication, and even the fundamental daily activity of eating.
Preventing dental disease begins very early in life, and continues indefinitely. Most people know brushing, flossing, and seeing a dentist regularly are important. They may know that sugar and tobacco are bad for their teeth, and athletes probably know they should wear mouth guards. Many people do not know that cavities are contagious: the bacteria that contributes is often spread from person to person, especially parent to child. They may not know that their sports drink or diet soda is acidic enough to damage the enamel protecting their teeth.
A healthy mouth is fundamental to health. When was your last trip to the dentist?
Debra Johnston, M.D. is part of The Prairie Doc® team of physicians and currently practices family medicine in Brookings, South Dakota. Follow The Prairie Doc® based on science, built on trust, at www.prairiedoc.org and on Facebook featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show, streaming live on Facebook most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central.
KU News: American multinational corporations in China adjust to trade war risks, analysis shows
From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu
Headlines
American multinational corporations in China adjust to trade war risks, analysis shows
LAWRENCE — The U.S.-China trade war has pitted the world’s two biggest economies against each other, and many American multinational corporations (MNCs) find themselves stuck in between. A new scholarly article from a University of Kansas professor of political science addresses the question: Which factors make some MNCs take political action in response to the U.S.-China trade war and cause others to stay on the sidelines?
KU announces Beinecke scholarship nominee
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has nominated Cherin Russell, a junior in English and active community volunteer from Lawrence, for the Beinecke Scholarship Program. Each year the prestigious program offers 20 awards to undergraduates who intend to pursue a research-focused master’s or doctoral program in the arts, humanities or social sciences. Award recipients will be announced in April.
First dean candidate for KU Libraries to present Feb. 13
LAWRENCE — The first of four candidates for the University of Kansas Libraries dean position will give a public presentation at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 13 in Watson Library, Watson 3 West Event Space. Nadia Ghasedi currently serves as the associate university librarian for special collections services division at Washington University in St. Louis.
Full stories below.
————————————————————————
Contact: Jon Niccum, KU News Service, 785-864-7633, [email protected]
American multinational corporations in China adjust to trade war risks, analysis shows
LAWRENCE — The U.S.-China trade war has pitted the world’s two biggest economies against each other. Many American multinational corporations (MNCs) find themselves stuck in between.
“China is not an easy market for multinationals, and it has become more challenging as a result of the trade war,” said Jack Zhang, assistant professor of political science at the University of Kansas.
His new article titled “In the Middle: American Multinationals in China and Trade War Politics” addresses the question: Which factors make some MNCs take political action in response to the U.S.-China trade war and cause others to stay on the sidelines? This analysis reveals that business models, ownership structure, experience in China and size of capital investments each shape how embedded firms perceive political risk. It appears in Business and Politics.
“In the Middle,” co-written with KU doctoral student Rigao Liu and Samantha Vortherms, assistant professor at the University of California-Irvine, is part of a series the team is working on that attempts to explain the determinants of firm exit or divestment out of China.
“This paper asks if you’re an American company, and you have operations in China, how do you choose among a menu of options to respond to the trade war?” Zhang said. “Do you follow that decoupling logic and say, ‘China is getting riskier. Let’s go somewhere else.’ Or do you try to influence policy in the U.S. and say, ‘These tariffs are not working for us.’”
Surprisingly, his research found that companies avoid either of these drastic actions. They neither voice dissatisfaction with this policy, nor do they decouple their supply chains or unravel operations. Primarily, the company embraces a third category that Zhang terms “loyalty.” They stay in China but also try other tactics to potentially mitigate tariffs.
Zhang based his research on two key datasets. The first is the annual registration filed with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce to identify foreign-invested enterprises from 2014 to 2019. The second consists of the observed political behaviors of U.S. firms that responded to Section 301 tariffs by submitting a comment, testifying in a hearing, filing a tariff exclusion request or lobbying the Office of the United States Trade Representative in 2018 and 2019.
According to his article, tariffs have “done more harm than good.”
“We’ve understood in economics for a really long time that tariffs generate deadweight losses. They act as a tax on consumers, essentially,” he said. “The reality is that American companies are paying tariffs when they import goods, and those costs are passed on to American consumers.”
Despite these costs, tariffs have not generated the leverage to alter MNC behavior.
Zhang said, “The Trump administration very much stated, ‘We’re making the environment in China riskier. We’re highlighting these risks to U.S. multinationals. And the way to not have to deal with that is to just move back to the U.S.’ But very few multinationals engaged in that.”
Yet from the Chinese perspective — based on past instances when MNCs prior to China’s World Trade Organization accession in the late 1990s were strong advocates of economic relations with their country — leaders assumed multinationals would be in China’s corner and voice dissatisfaction with U.S. policy.
“They hoped multinationals would help put a quick kibosh on the trade war,” Zhang said. “That has not happened either.”
He wrote that larger, more experienced MNCs are resilient to both tariffs and to political pressure to decouple from China “due to privileged access to various regulatory loopholes as well as greater market power.”
Is there an example of a major multinational pulling out of China recently?
“A large one that pulled out entirely? I can’t think of anyone directly that would be related to tariffs,” Zhang said. “Some have unraveled trade operations in the tech side for security reasons or due to local competition — American tech companies have been notoriously unsuccessful there. But Uber in 2016 is probably the last big exit.”
A professor at KU since 2019, Zhang is also the founder and director of the KU Trade War Lab. His research explores the political economy of trade and conflict in East Asia with a focus on explaining why interdependent countries use military versus economic coercion in foreign policy disputes.
Zhang said the biggest takeaway from this paper is that MNCs will take care of their own interests and reliably put profits first. They are reluctant to serve the interests of politicians.
“There is always the risk of misalignment when we think about multinational investments as extensions of national policy,” he said. “Even policies that are well-intentioned from a national foreign policy perspective, when you filter that through the prism of how companies need to operate to satisfy shareholders, it will produce perverse outcomes for both sets of governments in ways they did not anticipate.”
-30-
————————————————————————
The official university Twitter account has changed to @UnivOfKansas.
Refollow @KUNews for KU News Service stories, discoveries and experts.
Tweets by KUnews
————————————————————————
Contact: Erin Wolfram, Academic Success, 785-864-2308, [email protected]
KU announces Beinecke scholarship nominee
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has nominated a junior for the Beinecke Scholarship Program. Each year the Beinecke Scholarship offers 20 scholarships to undergraduates who intend to pursue a research-focused master’s or doctoral program in the arts, humanities or social sciences. Selected students receive $30,000 to be used for graduate study and $4,000 in their senior year. Award recipients will be announced in April.
KU’s nominee is Cherin Russell, from Lawrence. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Coleman and a graduate of Lawrence High School. Russell is a McNair Scholar majoring in English and plans to earn a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and become a grant writer at a consultancy or environmental nonprofit. She recently joined the volunteer team at the Ballard Center to assist with grant writing and environmental concerns. Russell also serves as a mentor within KU’s Academic Retention & Engagement Center and a tutor for the Academic Learning Center. Russell was awarded second place for the Helen Rhoda Hoopes Award for best English undergraduate essay written by a woman and earned the Certificate of Excellence in French Studies three semesters in a row, the TRIO 1st Year Achievement Award and the Paul B. Lawson Memorial Scholarship given to outstanding juniors. She has been a volunteer and advocate in the Lawrence community for more than 10 years and currently serves as an advocate at KU for nontraditional students and students with invisible disabilities.
Only 135 colleges and universities around the country are invited to nominate one student for the scholarship each year. KU is the only participating institution in Kansas. At KU, the nomination process is coordinated by the Office of Fellowships.
The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established in 1971 by the board of directors of the Sperry and Hutchinson Company to honor Edwin, Frederick, and Walter Beinecke. The board created an endowment to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of young people of exceptional promise. Candidates should be U.S. citizens and college juniors who demonstrate superior standards of intellectual ability, scholastic achievement and personal promise during their undergraduate career.
-30-
————————————————————————
Subscribe to KU Today, the campus newsletter,
for additional news about the University of Kansas.
http://www.news.ku.edu
————————————————————————
Contact: Evan Riggs, Office of the Provost, 785-864-1085, [email protected], @KUProvost
First dean candidate for KU Libraries to present Feb. 13
LAWRENCE — The first candidate for the University of Kansas Libraries dean position will give a public presentation at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 13 in Watson Library, Watson 3 West Event Space.
The presentation will be livestreamed, and the passcode is 995514.
Nadia Ghasedi is the first of four candidates who will describe her vision and aspiration for the role of libraries in the next 10 years at a flagship university. She currently serves as the associate university librarian for special collections services division at Washington University in St. Louis, a position she’s held since 2016.
The university is seeking a leader who will guide KU Libraries beyond its traditional responsibilities to meet the emerging needs of the university and the community it serves.
The other candidates will be announced approximately two business days before their respective campus visits. All public presentations will take place in Watson Library in the Watson 3 West Event Space and will be livestreamed. Public presentations for each of the candidates are scheduled for the following dates:
1. Nadia Ghasedi: 2:30-3:30 p.m. Feb. 13
2. Candidate 2: 3:30-4:30 p.m. Feb. 16
3. Candidate 3: 3-4 p.m. Feb. 21
4. Candidate 4: 3-4 p.m. Feb. 23
Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to offer their impressions and observations of each candidate online. There will be a limited-time feedback survey where members of the KU community will have the chance to share their opinion on each candidate. Feedback on Ghasedi’s presentation is due by 5 p.m. Feb. 16. A recording of her presentation will be available the morning after the presentation on the search website until the survey closes.
Additional search information is also available on the Provost Office website.
Each candidate will meet with Chancellor Douglas A. Girod, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, senior administrators, KU Endowment, KU Alumni Association, University Governance and KU Libraries groups, including faculty, staff and the board of advocates. Each candidate will tour KU Libraries’ facilities.
A 16-year employee at Washington University, Ghasedi oversees the collection development for seven distinct areas, which include both physical and digital collections and associated processing, access and use, and reference and instruction. Ghasedi oversees University Libraries-wide physical and digital preservation, digitization and exhibition programs. She is a member of the University Libraries senior leadership team.
Ghasedi has contributed to numerous initiatives with University Libraries, such as building a framework for managerial performance, conducting a workforce analysis, completing and executing strategic planning and designing and implementing organizational restructurings.
Ghasedi has served as principal investigator on numerous grant-funded projects, including Eyes on the Prize Preservation Project, a four-year project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. She aided in the effort to complete the film preservation of part one of the award-winning documentary series and associated interviews.
Prior to her current position, she served as an associate university librarian for collection management and access services division, head of the visual media research lab and film media archivist and cataloging and preservation archivist at Washington University. Ghasedi is a member of the American Library Association, the oldest and largest library association in the world.
Ghasedi holds an executive Master of Business Administration from Washington University and a certificate in film preservation from the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. She also earned a master’s degree in information science and learning technologies with an emphasis in library science from the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Wisconsin.
-30-
————————————————————————
KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu
Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]
Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs
Wheat Scoop: David Leonard put wheat under the pivot to win the Kansas irrigated wheat category of the 2022 National Wheat Yield Contest
Contact: Marsha Boswell, [email protected]
For audio version, visit kswheat.com.
Rain doesn’t fall often in Sherman County, Kansas, so farmers like David Leonard have learned how to improve yields by optimizing crop rotations, taking advantage of the moisture that does come and supplementing what Mother Nature doesn’t provide through irrigation. That combination of practice and luck is Leonard’s not-so-secret to winning the top spot in Kansas for irrigated winter wheat in the 2022 National Wheat Yield Contest with an entry of nearly 120 bushels per acre.
Leonard’s operation near Goodland is a diversified operation with a mix of dryland and irrigated acres in addition to a small cow-calf operation. Encouraged by his PlainsGold seed rep, he entered the yield contest for the first time in 2022. His entry came from a field planted to certified seed wheat that followed pinto beans, which provided some moisture profile.
“Our soil will hold about 1.8 inches of moisture per foot,” Leonard said. “So, if we have six feet of subsoil, we have some gas in the tank. We had some of that last year, but we don’t have that this year.”
From planting until harvest, the field only received 6.2 inches of moisture, so Leonard pumped another 10 inches of water to help the wheat crop along. He also furtigated nitrogen through the pivot to further boost yields. The widespread drought conditions last growing season meant it was too dry for even the weeds to grow, so he did not apply any fungicide.
“We didn’t use any fungicide because there was no green bridge to get stripe rust up here from Texas,” Leonard said. “When you’re that dry, you don’t have those issues.”
Closer to harvest, he applied a growth regulator. But, two days later the weather turned very hot, negating the application’s effect.
“It got really hot, so the growth regulator probably wouldn’t have been necessary because the wheat progressed really fast,” Leonard said. “Normally when you get these kinds of yields, the wheat is pretty tall and trying to lean over pretty hard.”
In the end, the plot of Langin yielded 119.57 bushels per acre. Leonard said he might have been even higher, but one of the few rain showers that the crop did receive came during harvest, which lowered test weights slightly.
But the result was an award-winning entry in the National Wheat Yield Contest, and, even more importantly, he sold the whole field for certified seed, so last year’s wheat harvest was a success.
What will this year’s National Wheat Yield Contest bring? That’s largely up to Mother Nature but follow Kansas Wheat to learn more about how Leonard and other Kansas winners selected varieties and took advantage of limited rains to maximize yields.
Producers can also check out Wheat Rx, a partnership between Kansas Wheat and K-State Research and Extension to disseminate the latest research recommendations for high-yielding and high-quality wheat to Kansas wheat farmers. Wheat Rx is a series of Extension publications and other educational outreach designed to address key management areas of hard winter wheat. These publications contain recent data based on novel research funded in part by wheat farmers through the Kansas Wheat check-off.
Check out the latest recommendations at kswheat.com/wheatrx.
###
Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat
