Villanova in the Media

Media Highlights from January - March 2024

Villanova’s distinctive academic programs, world-class faculty, leading research and scholarship, and high-achieving students place the University in the national media spotlight. Below is a sampling of media highlights from January - March 2024.

The God Chatbots Changing Religious Inquiry
Scientific American
Ilia Delio, chair of theology at Villanova University and author of several books about the overlap between religion and science, believes these chatbots—which she describes disparagingly as “shortcuts to God”—undermine the spiritual benefits that have traditionally been achieved through long periods of direct engagement with religious texts.

New Map Reveals Complicated Magnetics of Milky Way’s Inner Core
Forbes
An international Villanova University-led team, funded in part by NASA, has created a new map of the magnetic fields at the center of the Milky Way... "The galactic center is a unique part of our galaxy, the densities are higher, the velocities are faster, and the magnetic fields there are doing things that we don't see in other regions," said team leader David Chuss, chairman of Villanova University’s physics department in Pennsylvania.

The Fed is Meeting This Week. Here's What Experts are Saying About the Odds of a Rate Cut.
CBS News
When will the central bank start cutting rates?... "The Fed does not want to repeat the same mistake made in the 1970s by declaring that they have conquered inflation too soon, only to have it reemerge," said Villanova University economics professor Victor Li, a former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, in an email.

Hidden Cameras: What Travelers Need to Know
The New York Times
This month, Airbnb announced that, starting April 30, the company would ban the use of surveillance cameras in its rentals... “U.S. privacy law is fragmented at best,” wrote Doris DelTosto Brogan, a law professor and the Heller McGuinness Endowed Leadership Chair at Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law, in Villanova, Penn., in an email.

‘I Couldn’t Work the Whole Day’: AT&T Outage Frustrates Customers on the Go
CNN
Mojtaba Vaezi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Villanova University and director of the school's Wireless Networking Laboratory, said the outage was "not acceptable," especially as AT&T advertises its 5G network’s reliability.

Scientists Warn of Looming ‘Ecosystem Collapse’ in Louisiana’s Wetlands
The Washington Post
Rapidly rising seas are wreaking havoc on Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and could devastate three-quarters of the state’s natural buffer against hurricanes in the coming decades. “The Earth is mostly ocean, and it’s becoming more ocean,” said Adam Langley, a wetlands researcher and biology professor at Villanova University. “That’s the bottom line.”
 
IRS Expands Free Online Filing Program to Three More States
The Hill
The new free online tax filing program from the IRS is now moving beyond its initial tranche of pilot states without an income tax. The IRS said it has begun implementing the test phase of the program in Arizona, New York and Massachusetts. “If this pilot is successful, the program will be expanded significantly next filing season,” said Villanova University tax law professor Leslie Book.

$7 Million for 30 Seconds? To Advertisers, the Super Bowl is Worth It
The New York Times
A cat meowing for Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Peyton Manning chucking Bud Light beers to patrons in a bar and Kris Jenner stacking Oreo cookies. They all have one thing in common: Those companies paid seven figures to get their products in front of viewers during this year’s Super Bowl...“It’s a throwback in terms of reaching everyone all at once,” said Charles Taylor, a professor of marketing at the Villanova School of Business.

The Long Odds of This Year’s Super Bowl Location
The Atlantic
For years, the NFL balked at even a whiff of gambling—and kept Las Vegas at a distance as a result. But as the league has become more open to gambling, it has also embraced the city synonymous with it...That the league is having this year’s Super Bowl in the shadow of the Strip is “mind-boggling,” Andrew Brandt, a sports-industry commentator and the executive director of Villanova’s Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law, said.
 
Are US, Iran Already at War?
The Hill
America’s mounting proxy battle with Iran over the past three months is spurring questions about whether the countries are at war...“At some point, theoretically, national command authority exceeds its authority to basically run an undeclared war against the Houthis,” said Frank Galgano, a retired U.S. Army soldier and Villanova University professor. “If this keeps going on for six months or a year, [Biden] is going to have to explain to somebody what he’s doing.”

Nuclear War Update as New Doomsday Clock Prediction Revealed
Newsweek
The Doomsday Clock has been officially reset and will remain at 90 seconds to midnight... Marcus Kreuzer, a political science professor at Villanova University who authored the book The Grammar of Time: A Toolkit for Comparative Historical Analysis, told Newsweek that he doesn't believe the clock is based on fear as that would imply some type of nefarious objective intended to intimidate people.
 
Retailers Increase Efforts to Reduce Racial Profiling in Stores
Wall Street Journal
Twenty-four companies owning nearly 70 retail brands and real-estate operators have promised to reduce racial bias in stores... Veteran profiling experts say there are several steps retailers can take to address racial profiling... Aronté Bennett, associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion at Villanova University’s business school says "corrective action on the store level sends a strong signal that zero-tolerance corporate policies carry weight."

Does Trusting Your Doctor's Gut Feeling Lead to Better Care?
National Geographic
To optimize patient care, some experts believe a hybrid approach that integrates clinical intuition, predictive algorithms, patient preferences and other key factors is essential. "Clinical intuition is a part of clinical expertise," says Jennifer Yost, a nurse specializing in pediatric intensive care and a professor at the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing at Villanova University. "Poor decisions in health care are made when clinical expertise is the only factor that’s considered."

Five Predictions About AI in 2024 That Will Come True (Except One)
Forbes
"AI dated everyone in 2023. Everyone matched them up and relationships blossomed until the parties realized that relationships should have some meaning after all the [flashy] stories – like 'AI will kill us all' – ran their course. 2024 will begin to define this meaning." Steve Andriole is the Thomas G. Labrecque Professor of Business Technology in the Villanova School of Business.

‘What’s He Worth? Make Your Case’: Villanova Law Students Win Baseball Arbitration Competition
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Three members of Villanova’s Sports Law Negotiation Team (SLNT), David Brake, Alex Shaff, and Alyssa Rodarte, last month won the International Baseball Arbitration Competition hosted by Tulane University in New Orleans...“For me, my dream was [just to compete in] it,” said Brake, who competed multiple times and performed better each year. “…To have it peak like that was a very goose bumps type of feeling.”

Villanova Engineering Students Help Provide Clean Water, Sanitation Services to Uganda Village
CBS3
Help save lives more than 7,000 miles away. That was the goal for a small group of Villanova University engineering students during their senior capstone course. CBS 3 spoke with professors Kelly Good and Virginia Smith, as well as participating students, about how they are addressing water and sanitation concerns in Uganda.