O.R. in the News
O.R., Reporters and Decision-Makers
By Barry List
As I write this in early September, we're preparing for the association's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., and I'm reminded of the fact that INFORMS members can share in efforts to familiarize decision-makers and the public about the contributions made by operations researchers.
If you attended the annual meeting, you might have had the chance to meet a top business reporter who has just written a book about the enormous value that we bring to business, government and healthcare. Business Week reporter Stephen Baker has been tracking mathematicians and operations researchers since 2006, when he wrote a cover story relating the importance of math to business and attended the inaugural INFORMS Edelman gala. In early September of this year, Business Week again carried a cover story about math and business by Baker, this time publishing an excerpt from his new book "The Numerati," which tells the tale of people like us who are bringing major improvements to the world.
Speaking of reporters, media trainer Denise Graveline was scheduled to address INFORMS members at the conference during a session called "Communicating Your Research to the News Media." Graveline recently gave a similar presentation at a workshop hosted by the National Science Foundation.
INFORMS members are always sharing their news with the world and explaining the way that O.R. is improving processes and operations. Below are some recent stories that made news.
To Make a Stock Pop, Innovate
"Especially when times are tough, beware of companies that cut their spending on research and development. The stock market tends to punish such businesses and reward those with a commitment to R.& D. — often years before long-term projects reap benefits.
"Those conclusions come from a study, 'Do Innovations Really Pay Of? Total Stock Market Returns to Innovation,' which has been accepted for publication in Marketing Science, a peer-reviewed journal. The study's authors are Ashish Sood, an assistant professor of marketing at Emory University, and Gerard J. Tellis, a professor of marketing at the University of Southern California.
— New York Times, Aug. 30, 2008
Clinton Foundation, Cornell Use O.R. to Treat HIV in Third World
"In the past 10 years, the global campaign to expand treatment for millions of people with AIDS living in resource-limited countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, has gained substantial commitments in public and private financing, and has made major strides in making treatment available to those who need it. A new collaborative study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative explores how to combine engineering science with medical care to guarantee the long-term success of these treatment programs.
"In an article published online this month in the BMC Health Services Research journal, the researchers show how the use of sophisticated mathematical modeling approaches used in the field of operations research can help maximize the efficient use of limited resources, notably antiretroviral drugs and medical personnel."
— Weill Cornell Medical College, Aug. 22, 2008
New HIV Infection Rate 40% Higher
"Approximately 56,300 Americans became newly infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in 2006 according to the findings of the first study to directly measure the incidence of new HIV infections in the United States. That estimate, which is based on new, more precise surveillance methods, indicates that the annual rate of new infections is higher than previously believed; it represents a 40% increase over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) former estimate of 40,000 new infections per year.
"The study 'Estimation of HIV incidence in the United States,' conducted by a CDC research team including Edward H. Kaplan, the William N. and Marie A. Beach Professor of Management Sciences at the Yale School of Management, professor of public health at the Yale School of Medicine and professor of engineering at the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science, is published in the Aug. 6 issue of JAMA."
— Yale School of Management News, August 2008
O.R., the Science of Speed
"What's the fastest way to get from point A to point B? Is there a scientific way to find a faster route home? Operations researcher scientists are searching for the answers to questions like these, in industries from shipping to product development. UPS Corporate Engineering Portfolio Manager Jack Levis and Yale School of Management Public Health and Management Science Professor Edward Kaplan give us the techy scoop."
— Maryland Morning, WYPR-FM, July 23, 2008
Barnett/Kaplan Electoral College Compromise: Weighted Vote Share System
"To summarize the math involved, the Electoral College as it exists today would be replaced with a WVS system — akin to a teacher telling her students that the final exam will be worth 50 percent of their final grade (the 'weighted' part of WVS). How it would work to actually elect a president is easy enough to understand. Each state would get the proportion they currently enjoy in the Electoral College. Expressed as a fraction; this would be (the number of electors per state) divided by (total electors). So California would enjoy 55/538ths of the total vote, and a small state like Wyoming would get 3/538ths. This ŚWeighted Vote Share' would retain the power currently held by the smaller states (since the smallest number of electors is 3 — one representative, two senators). But each state would no longer be winner-take-all.
— Chris Weigant, Huffington Post, July 23, 2008
Barry List (Barry.List@INFORMS.org) is the director of communications for INFORMS.
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