Who should control the national parks?

Edition: US - Today's top story: Corporate sponsors at Yosemite? The case against privatizing national parks [Click here to view this message in your browser]. Edition: US 25 August 2016 [[The Conversation]Academic rigor, journalistic flair] Editor's note As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th birthday today, U.S. national parks are more popular than ever, drawing over 300 million visitors yearly. But critics argue states or the private sector could run the system more efficiently, and that states should have more say in the creation of new parks and monuments. Scholars of conservation history and former national park rangers, John Freemuth of Boise State University and William Lowry of Washington University in St. Louis, [disagree] and explain why privatizing the parks would undermine the goal of preserving them for all Americans to enjoy. And today, three researchers – Sara Rasmussen and Brian Schwartz of Johns Hopkins University and Joan Casey of University of California San Francisco – release their third study examining the health records of people in Pennsylvania who live near natural gas drilling sites. The fracking boom has been an energy success story, they write, but their study is part of a growing body of evidence [linking fracking to public health problems.] Jennifer Weeks Editor, Environment and Energy Top story Camping under the Milky Way, Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Emily Ogden, National Park Service/Flickr [Corporate sponsors at Yosemite? The case against privatizing national parks] John Freemuth, Boise State University; William Lowry, Washington University in St Louis As the National Park Service turns 100 years old, two conservation scholars and former park rangers respond to critics who support privatizing national parks or putting them under state control. Environment + Energy - [Fracking and health: What we know from Pennsylvania's natural gas boom] Sara G. Rasmussen, Johns Hopkins University; Brian S. Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University; Joan A. Casey, University of California, San Francisco Three studies find higher rate of health issues for people who live near large or many fracked natural gas well sites. - [Italy's deadly earthquake is the latest in a history of destruction] Brendan Duffy, University of Melbourne; Mark Quigley, University of Melbourne; Mike Sandiford, University of Melbourne Central Italy has been hit by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake, only seven years after a similar devastating quake in the region. Politics + Society - [David Duke, Donald Trump and the dog whistle] Kirby Goidel, Texas A&M University ; Charles S. Bullock III, University of Georgia; Keith Gaddie, University of Oklahoma The former KKK grand wizard from Louisiana is hopeful Trump supporters will turn out for his bid for U.S. Senate. Political scientists who have studied his career consider his chances. Health + Medicine - [The real reason the EpiPen and other off-patents are so expensive] Timothy Holbrook, Emory University The maker of the EpiPen has raised the price of two injectable treatments to about US$600, six times the price nine years ago. Why do drug companies do this? Because they can. The FDA ends up helping. - [Understanding mosquitoes can help us find better ways to kill them] Aparna Telang, University of South Florida While no one likes getting bitten by mosquitoes, you might be surprised (and even a little fascinated) at the complex adaptions mosquitoes have developed to locate their favorite food sources. Science + Technology - [Possibly habitable planet found around our nearest neighbor star] Martin Archer, Queen Mary University of London Scientists have finally found an Earth-like planet we may actually be able to visit. - [This little-known pioneering educator put coding in the classroom] Therese Keane, Swinburne University of Technology; Leon Sterling, Swinburne University of Technology Seymour Papert's vision has helped computers become widespread in education today, and gave birth to the movement to teach children to program. Education - [Could gay-straight alliances reduce school bullying?] Robert Marx, Vanderbilt University; Heather Hensman Kettrey, Vanderbilt University The most effective weapons in the fight to stop LGBTQ bullying might just be quite simple – young people coming together to talk, laugh and share their lives. Rest of the World - Africa [The link between uranium from the Congo and Hiroshima: a story of twin tragedies] Susan Williams, Institute of Commonwealth Studies The mine that produced the uranium that made the Hiroshima bomb has since been closed. But its troubling legacy continues to haunt the Democratic Republic of Congo and the local community. - Australia [Oil, gas and marine parks really can coexist in our oceans – here’s how] Cordelia Moore, Curtin University; Ben Radford, Australian Institute of Marine Science; Clay Bryce; Hugh Possingham, The University of Queensland; Oliver Berry, CSIRO, and Romola Stewart Marine parks need to cover large swathes of ocean, but they also need to cover the right areas if they are to deliver the best conservation. New research off Australia's northwest suggests how. - United Kingdom [How to help refugee children get through the trauma of what’s happened to them] Panos Vostanis, University of Leicester It's not just children who need support to cope, their families and caregivers do, too. [The Conversation on Twitter] [The Conversation on Facebook] 3.3 million unique visitors a month You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation]. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe instantly]. We’ll miss you. 745 Atlantic Ave. 8th Floor Boston, MA 02111