A Recap of This Week’s Top News – June 2, 2023

Changes to policy, scientific discovery, and expert recommendations and opinions all have the power to rapidly influence the landscape of a sector. Whether you’re a leader at a non-profit, a member of a university’s marketing department, or a stakeholder for a public health agency, being informed about the latest industry happenings can be the difference between exceeding and falling short of organizational goals. At Hager Sharp, our experts vigorously scan media coverage to identify areas of opportunity. And now, with the introduction of the Sharp Round-Up, you too can review what we consider to be some of the top news of the week.

Below you will find a compilation of news spanning the health and education, labor, and economy sectors. This list includes mainstream, DC-focused, and trade publication coverage from Saturday, May 27, to Friday, June 2. Let these clips serve as a resource when developing thoughtful strategies and use them to further foster organizational innovation and adaptability.

Here’s what you need to know.

Mainstream News:

• Nature, an international science journal, recently published a study that suggests that the shape of the brain, including its size, curves, and grooves, may have influence on how we think, feel, and behave. Even so, the shape of the brain may affect the brain’s function even more than communication between neurons.
• A new study shows that workouts caused improvements in brain function for 70- and 80-year-olds who had not previously exercised. After four months of exercise, participants’ brain scans showed that brain connections were stronger than before.
• In a 51-46 vote, the Senate advanced legislation that would repeal Biden’s student debt relief plan. However, the White House has promised that if Congress passed the legislation, Biden would veto it.

Education News:

• On August 1, colleges will be able to hide applicants’ race from their own admissions teams. This decision is a concrete example of how college admissions may be transformed if the Supreme Court bans or restricts race-conscious admissions, also known as affirmative action.
• On Friday, the Biden administration issued new civil rights guidance on school discipline, highlighting persistent concerns that Black, Latino, and Native American students face harsher punishments than their White and Asian classmates.

Health News:

• Doctors are utilizing a new genetic test, known as a polygenic risk score, to prevent heart attacks. The test looks at a collection of thousands of genetic variants, each contributing to heart attack risk. Cardiologists are hoping to identify people, and even children, most likely to have a heart attack long before they have them.

Perspectives/Opinions:

• While most other countries’ life expectancies bounced back from COVID-19 in the second year of the pandemic, America’s continued to decline. A committee for the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine examined five areas that are likely contributing: unhealthy behaviors, inadequate health care, poor socioeconomic conditions, unsafe environments, and deficient public policies.
• The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates that 60 percent of fake prescription pills are laced with fentanyl, a drug 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. The DEA is urging parents to warn their children that it is not safe to trust any pill that doesn’t come from a doctor or pharmacy.