Center for Policy Research News

Lerner Chair Shannon Monnat's research found that the Rust Belt counties that put Trump over the top were those that lost the most people in recent years to deaths of despair—those due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide.

"We must tackle root causes, which... drive suicide, alcohol-related deaths and more," says Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

David Popp, professor of public administration and international affairs and Carolyn Rapking Faculty Scholar in Public Administration and Policy, will receive the 2018 William Wasserstrom Prize for the Teaching of Graduate Students. The prize is awarded every year to a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences who embodies the role of a seminar leader, research and dissertation director, and advisor and role model.

"Opioids may have been the spark, but a spark needs kindling in order to ignite," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

"The issue is trying to balance everything," says David Popp, professor of public administration and international affairs, pointing out that wind energy is not easily stored. "Most of the demand is downstate, where most of the wind energy is upstate."

Citizenship for oneself or a spouse is a motivator for immigrants, says Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology. But so is the chance to move up in the world. "The higher your socioeconomic status, the less likely you are to join the military."

"This can’t be about government doing it all. It has to be about collaboration and community cohesion. Opioids thrive on isolation. The only way to combat this problem is community," says Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

"Drug overdose rates just as with alcohol and suicide are higher in places that exhibit more economic and social distress," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.