Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · Aug 12

The capitulation of universities—one after another after another after another without a shared strategy to fight the fascist assault together—is a historical blunder that will also end these elite institutions as ostensible places of genuine knowledge seeking.

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Joé McKen @joemcken.net · Aug 8

Science is effectively dead in the US for at least the next 3½ years, and will then take another several years to even get started again. Canceled research doesn’t just uncancel itself, and scientists who find opportunity elsewhere won’t just come flocking back.

The damage is generational.

Mark Lemley @marklemley.bsky.social · Aug 8

All scientific grant funding must now be approved by a political appointee and "demonstrably advance the President's policy priorities."

I wonder where innovation will happen in the future? It won't be in the US

arstechnica.com/science/2025...

New executive order puts all grants under political control

All new funding on hold until Trump administration can cancel any previously funded grants.

arstechnica.com

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Anthony Perillo, Ph.D. @anthonyperillo.bsky.social · Jul 22

If you missed @caitcavanagh.bsky.social’s discussion of adolescent development & legal system issues, her Law & Mental Health Series talk is available on our YouTube channel:

youtu.be/RlFj6bu0A3E?...

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · Jul 22

Great discussion today as part of the University of New Mexico Law & Mental Health series! Thanks @anthonyperillo.bsky.social for the invite and to the participants for joining the conversation.

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · Jul 15

I’m very proud of Dr. LaBerge and we will all miss her in the lab. Can’t wait to cheer her on as her career develops!

Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · Jul 15

Her dissertation examines the predictive validity of a commonly used juvenile risk assessment tool for dual-system youth. As with all her work, it was rigorous (collecting/cleaning the data took months, let alone all the new analyses she self-taught for post-doc robustness checks) and actionable!

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · Jul 15

Alyssa is a natural leader and a hard worker. Although this early bird will never understand her night owl ways, she has been incredibly productive, balancing many publications, community-engaged research, and a passion for teaching so strong that she earned a fellowship to train others in pedagogy!

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · Jul 15

A huge congratulations to the newly-minted DOCTOR @alyssa-laberge.bsky.social!

Alyssa has worked with me for 7 years, first as a master’s student and then as a PhD student. Her growth as a scholar, teacher, and person has been such a joy to witness.

She’s on to a TT position at UW LaCrosse!

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

ProPublica @propublica.org · Jul 14

The number of extreme weather disasters has jumped fivefold worldwide over the past 50 years, and the number of deaths has nearly tripled, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

The Texas Flash Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come

Climate change is making disasters more common, more deadly and far more costly, even as the federal government is running away from the policies that might begin to protect the nation.

www.propublica.org

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · Jul 10

Deporting childcare workers is a backhanded way to force US-born White women out of the workforce and into stay-at-home motherhood, where they'll become easier targets for conservative propaganda campaigns.

Ben Zipperer @benzipperer.org · Jul 10

🚨🚨 Trump's deportations could destroy millions of jobs for immigrants and US-born workers 🚨🚨

New report from me @epi.org

Trump’s deportation agenda will destroy millions of jobs: Both immigrants and U.S.-born workers would suffer job losses, particularly in construction and child care

Deportations will eliminate millions of jobs held by immigrant and U.S.-born workers according to research on increased immigration enforcement.

www.epi.org

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Amy Diehl, Ph.D. @amydiehl.bsky.social · Jul 7

In a study of professors, women got 378 new work requests over 4 weeks vs 118 for men. Women spent more time on service, advising & teaching; men on research. Orgs should track who is taking extra duties & ensure they are rewarded and distributed fairly. www.forbes.com/sites/kimels...

Being Too Helpful At Work Can Hurt Your Career—Here’s How To Say No

Women are more likely to take on behind-the-scenes duties at work—extra tasks like onboarding or event planning—and it's hurting their careers. Here's how to say no.

www.forbes.com

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Dr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · May 28

US science is being taken apart brick by brick.

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · May 27

"Kennedy said the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet...were 'corrupt'...'Unless those journals change dramatically, we are going to stop NIH scientists from publishing in them and we’re going to create our own journals in-house'”

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · May 27

RFK Jr. threatens to bar government scientists from publishing in leading medical journals www.politico.com/news/2025/05...

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · May 24

tl;dr — this EO co-opts the language of open science to implement a system of political control wherein presidential appointees are given broad latitude to designate any number of reasonable scientific activities and inferences as scientific misconduct, and to penalize those involved accordingly.

Restoring Gold Standard Science

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United

www.whitehouse.gov

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · May 22

Harvard today, your institution tomorrow.

It's all part of the Project 2025 plan to destroy high education in America.

All leading US universities depend on federal funding and tuition dollars from international students. They severely curtailed the former. Now they're eliminating the latter.

The Trump administration on Thursday halted Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, taking aim at a crucial funding source for the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college in a major escalation in the administration’s efforts to pressure the elite school to fall in line with the president’s agenda.

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · May 18

say it again:

4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities

ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x

demolishing higher education is economic sabotage

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · May 18

There is a false dichotomy drawn between "the ivory tower" and "the real world," and I'm here to report that in a post-industrial society, your real-world economy absolutely hinges on the university.

University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · May 18

A must read

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 16

Hiiiiii, please check out “Chain Gang All-Stars” from your local library!

The Daily Beast @thedailybeast.bsky.social · May 15

Kristi Noem has been working with the producer of “Duck Dynasty” to pitch a reality TV show—titled “The American”—where immigrants will compete in a string of challenges across the country “for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship,” according to a new report.

Noem Plots Reality Show Where Migrants Fight for Citizenship

A Homeland Security official told the Daily Beast that the show is in the early stages of vetting, though approval has not been given—or denied.

www.thedailybeast.com

Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 9

Check this one out! Our daily diary study examined how virtual social interactions influenced youth mental health during COVID. Justice-involved youth saw strong enough benefits from virtual social contact to make up the "well-being gap" between JJ-involved and community youth.

April Thomas @aprilthomas.bsky.social · May 6

New article alert w/ @caitcavanagh.bsky.social and others! In this daily diary study, we explored how virtual social interactions (i.e., via phone or online) affected the mood and mental health of justice-involved and community adolescents across the first year of the pandemic.

t.co/DxOa8NwMC0

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00938548251336784

t.co

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Reposted by Dr. Cait Cavanagh

Juvenile Law Center @juvenilelawcenter.bsky.social · May 1

This is devastating. It will cause immense harm and make communities less safe. We know that youth justice programs like these benefit everyone. We condemn this cut to critical funds. imprintnews.org/justice/juve...

Trump Delivers Massive Blow to Youth Justice Programs | The Imprint

Trump administration cuts to federal grants threatens organizations with programs to prevent gun violence, protect runaways and more.

imprintnews.org

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 6

Last week was Youth Violence Prevention Week! Here's an op-ed I wrote about violence prevention efforts in Michigan.

cj.msu.edu/news/2025-ca...

Preventing Youth Violence in Michigan | School of Criminal Justice | Michigan State University

For Youth Violence Prevention Week, Dr. Cait Cavanagh wrote this op-ed discussing preventing youth violence in Michigan.

cj.msu.edu

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 5

Take-home messages:

FOR RESEARCHERS: In program eval, examine WHY and for WHOM a program is not working. I wish we had qual data for this!

FOR PRACTITIONERS: Ineffective, misaligned interventions can do more harm than good and waste resources. Families need programs that meet them where they are.

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 5

This one is a great example of how our research partners co-create research with us. The court had a sense that this parenting program was not going well, and asked us to evaluate it empirically. Now, they can change their approach to something more successful.

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 5

Although the program was well-intentioned, participating families often had more serious challenges than the program was built to address. Rather than offering relief, the demands of program may have added stress for parents already stretched thin by jobs, health, and childrearing.

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 5

What’s going on here? A moderation analysis revealed that the iatrogenic association was stronger for youth who entered the court with a low risk of recidivism, as well as for families who did not complete the program.

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 5

Using 15 years of juvenile court data (N = 1,844), we found that, controlling for robust predictors of recidivism, participation in the parenting program was NOT associated with a decrease in recidivism for their justice-involved children, but rather an INCREASE in recidivism.

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Dr. Cait Cavanagh @caitcavanagh.bsky.social · May 5

🚨New article alert! Led by a team of 3 awesome doc students. You probably know I’m a big believer in family-level interventions for justice-involved youth. But, not all programs work for a given population. We evaluated a voluntary parenting program 🧵

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

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