ProfNet Experts Available on North Korea, ADA Laws, More

NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.

You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network – it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform

EXPERT ALERTS

• ADA Website Wars Coming to a Retailer Near You
• How the Health Benefit Plan Industry is Changing in Response to New Laws, Regulations, and Realities

EXPERT ROUNDUP

• North Korea (18 experts)

MEDIA JOBS

• Reporter, White House – MLex (DC)
• Executive Producer, Corporate, Tech & World – Wall Street Journal (NY)
• Biopharma Reporter – MedCity News (US)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

• Is Social Media and Journalism Linked?
• 9 Tips: Defeat Your Inner Editor to Write Better and Faster
• Blog Profiles: Weather Blogs

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EXPERT ALERTS:

ADA Website Wars Coming to a Retailer Near You
Audrey Mross
Employment Law Attorney
Munck Wilson Mandala in Dallas
A federal judge in Florida recently found that a nationwide grocery chain's website was inaccessible to visually impaired individuals and thus in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public places, like stores and movie theaters. Increasingly, a battle has been brewing over whether or not websites for such "places of accommodation" must also be accessible. Says Mross: "In this case, the court agreed that because the company's website was closely integrated with its stores, the web content must be accessible to the hearing and visually impaired. If consumer-facing businesses were not aware of ADA website compliance, this case should be an eye-opener."
Contact: Robert Tharp, robert@androvett.com

How the Health Benefit Plan Industry is Changing in Response to New Laws, Regulations, and Realities
Ron Peck
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
The Phia Group, LLC
"In the health benefits industry, and healthcare in general, change is the only constant. New laws and regulations seem to be popping up daily, and varying interpretations of those rules even more often. Different entities are approaching the issue from different angles based on their own perspective and agenda – creating conflict between parties that are both right, and both wrong. Ultimately, identifying the best way to maximize benefits and minimize costs will come down to each individual's priorities -- from employers seeking to secure the best coverage for their employees, to lawmakers seeking to secure coverage for all Americans -- these and other noble goals may not be compatible."
Based in Braintree, Mass., Peck is available to discuss the health benefit plan industry, including self-funded health benefits vs. traditional "fully funded" insurance; the growth of self-funding in the U.S.; adverse selection, self-funding, and the impact on Obamacare; and the benefits of self-funding health plans. As an ERISA attorney with The Phia Group, Peck has been an innovative force in the drafting of improved benefit plan provisions, handled complex subrogation and third party recovery disputes, healthcare direct contracting and spearheaded efforts to combat the steadily increasing costs of healthcare. Considered to be not only one of the nation's top ERISA lawyers, Peck is also viewed as one of the nation's premier self-funded health plan consultants and health benefits attorney, lecturing at and participating in many industry gatherings. He is also frequently called upon to educate plan administrators and stop-loss carriers regarding changing laws and best practices. His theories regarding benefit plan administration and healthcare have been published in many industry periodicals, and have received much acclaim. Prior to joining The Phia Group, Peck was a member of a major pharmaceutical company's in-house legal team, a general practitioner's law office, and served as a judicial clerk. He is also currently of-counsel with The Law Offices of Russo & Minchoff. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University School of Law and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. He now serves as The Phia Group's Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and is also a dedicated member of SIIA's Government Relations Committee.
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/ronpeck
Website: https://www.phiagroup.com
Contact: Matthew Painten, mpainten@phiagroup.com

EXPERT ROUNDUP: North Korea (18 experts)

Following are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss North Korea:

Srinivasan Sitaraman
Associate Professor, Political Science
Clark University, Massachusetts
"The President's speech was astonishing on multiple levels, and surely played to his base in the United States. The most extraordinary aspect of the speech was when the president issued an open threat to 'totally destroy North Korea,' referring to Kim Jong Un as the 'Rocket Man on a suicide mission.' Such a direct threat is only going to be interpreted by North Korea as evidence that the United States is out to get them and it will only accelerate its weapons production and ballistic missile testing. There is no reason to believe that North Korea is going to be cowed by this threat. It likely will only help to further breed North Korean anxieties and brinksmanship. The president's speech also threatened to tear up the Iranian nuclear deal -- a poor time to back out of the UN-brokered multilateral agreement. This sends a wrong signal to the world community that the United States is not a trustworthy dealmaker. Iran will not have any incentive to follow through on the deal. Overall, the speech emphasized that the Trump Administration is more about outcomes than ideology. The speech was too in-your-face and often contradictory. Certainly, Trump did not appear conciliatory or aiming to build coalitions for collective solutions to tackle global challenges."
Website: http://www.clarku.edu
Contact: Jane Salerno, jsalerno@clarku.edu

Michael Desch
Director, Notre Dame International Security Center, and Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
On North Korea's threat to America, Desch says: "America has nearly 5,000 warheads compared to North Korea's 30 to 60. All of ours are reliable and deliverable; the same cannot be said for the Hermit Kingdom's Pygmy arsenal. Given this disparity, the United States can credibly threaten not only Kim Jong Un's hold on power but his very existence. That is a very robust deterrent."
Desch, an expert in national security and foreign policy, is a former member of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division of the Congressional Research Service and a former staffer in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research in the State Department.
Contact: Brittany Kaufman, collins.189@nd.edu

Lowell Gustafson
Professor, Political Science
Villanova University
"If North Korea actually sent a nuclear missile in the direction of the U.S., Guam, Japan, South Korea, or another U.S. ally, or if we had solid evidence that they were about to very soon, we would be forced to destroy at least their leadership and offensive capability. To this degree, I reluctantly agree with Trump. Before that, we need to send accurate information about North Korea, the U.S., and international/political events, as well as culture, in a variety of ways to North Korea. The long-term goal is to undermine the North Korean government. We have tried diplomacy, bribes, and sanctions. None have worked. We need to accept North Korea into the nuclear club, as long as they do not use these weapons or attack our allies or us in any way. Even then, the costs will be horrible. Short of a North Korean attack or an imminent attack, there is no justifiable way we can start a war with them."
Bio: https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/media/facultyexperts/asexperts/lowell_gustafson.html
Media Contact: Zach Chizar, Zachary.chizar@villanova.edu

Dr. Paul F. Diehl
Ashbel Smith Professor of Political Science
The University of Texas at Dallas
"No option with respect to North Korea is a desirable one, except compared to the others."
Diehl is a leading expert on international conflict who can discuss the consequences of various approaches to responding to threats from North Korea. Diehl writes extensively about international conflict in academic journals and is author of several books including "The Puzzle of Peace: The Evolution of Peace in the International System" (https://tinyurl.com/y8oekte2) and "Peace Operations (War and Conflict in the Modern World (https://tinyurl.com/yaqmlny8). Diehl is former director of the Correlates of War Project, the largest data collection effort on international conflict in the world and past president of the International Studies Association, the largest professional organization of its kind in the world, with membership from 109 countries.
Bio: https://www.utdallas.edu/chairs/profiles/diehl.html
Website: http://www.correlatesofwar.org
Contact: Kim Horner, kim.horner@utdallas.edu

Gary Cohen
Clinical Professor of Logistics, Business and Public Policy, Robert H. Smith School of Business
University of Maryland
Cohen is available to discuss China's quandary in mitigating North Korea's aggression: "China has concerns about a flood of migrants crossing its border with North Korea, similar to what's been seen with Syrian immigrants fleeing their country, if the economic sanctions become too great and North Koreans become desperate for a better life. China may have humanitarian concerns about what happens in North Korea, but also, this is really just something that China doesn't want to have to deal with at their border. It's difficult to use leverage with [Kim Jong-un] who just doesn't put his citizens first."
Cohen recently helped develop, and led, the Smith School's Beijing-based China Executive MBA Program.
Bio: https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/directory/gary-cohen
Contact: Greg Muraski, gmuraski@rhsmith.umd.edu

Dr. Monti Datta
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Richmond
"North Korea is a strategic rational actor seeking to play the 'nuclear card' in order to extract economic concessions from the international community and survive."
Dr. Datta can discuss what North Korea really wants; whether Kim Jong Un is rational; and how to contain the North Korea nuclear threat.
Bio: http://polisci.richmond.edu/faculty/mdatta/
Contact: Pryor Green, pryor.green@richmond.edu

George A. Lopez
Hesburgh Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies, Keough School of Global Affairs
Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies
University of Notre Dame
Lopez is a former member of the UN Security Council panel of experts for sanctions on North Korea and former vice president of the United States Institute of Peace. He can speak on: economic sanctions, North Korean in particular; United Nations; nuclear nonproliferation; peacebuilding. This past week, he had an op-ed published in The Hill (https://tinyurl.com/y73wjmee), and was featured in Bloomberg News (https://tinyurl.com/ycjzmt56 and https://tinyurl.com/y89pxgc9), WBEZ, NPR's Chicago station (https://tinyurl.com/y7aemkeo), and CNN (https://tinyurl.com/y7xtxd5p).
Bio: https://kroc.nd.edu/faculty-and-staff/george-a-lopez/
Contact: Amanda Skofstad, skofstad@nd.edu

Sean Kane
Counsel
Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Washington, D.C.
Kane is available to discuss economic sanctions with regard to North Korea, whether they are really effective, and what more can be sanctioned at this point. He is the former deputy assistant director for policy in the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, who oversaw a team of sanctions policy advisors to develop and implement sanctions measures across more than 30 portfolios, including North Korea. He also played a leading role in shaping the development of new sanctions authorities, OFAC regulations, and policy guidance, coordinating closely with interagency partners at the National Security Council (NSC), U.S. Department of State, and the Bureau of Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Kane also regularly engaged with Congress on pending or proposed sanctions legislation, and worked closely with colleagues at the Treasury Department on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) issues, as well as Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) matters.
Contact: Ted Mills, tmills@greentarget.com  

Tony Talbott
Interim Executive Director
University of Dayton Human Rights Center
Talbott has taught courses in global politics, global security, nationalism and identity politics, southeast and east Asia, and Asian politics.
The university has broadband studio capabilities.
Bio: https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/politicalscience/talbott_tony.php
Media Coverage: https://www.diigo.com/profile/UDNews?query=%23Tony_Talbott+%23North_Korea
Contact: Shawn Robinson, srobinson1@udayton.edu

Raymond Kuo
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Fordham University
Dr. Kuo is available to discuss: 1) All turns on whether Kim is rational -- and he's given every indication that he is. He may be extreme, but he's methodically testing nukes and even defenses against American counter-measures (salvo test in February). 2) Kim's ability to craft an ICBM-sized warhead is very concerning, and any nuclear encounter would impose unacceptable, devastating costs on both U.S. and North Korea, if not others in the region. 3) There are no good military options that wouldn't result in deaths of thousands in the first day, and even then it might not eliminate DPRK's capability. 4) We may ultimately have to rely on mutually assured destruction -- that nukes self-deter and no one goes to nuclear war. But that will also create great instability on a conventional and unconventional warfare level. 5) Ironically, it may be Trump that escalates and causes war.
Dr. Kuo specializes in international security and American foreign policy, and his current research focuses on international order and security and the political effects of technology and democratization. Dr. Kuo has published in top journals, including International Security, International Relations, and Ethnopolitics. He will teach courses contributing to political science, as well as the Fordham's MA Program in international political economy and development. He was recently quoted in an AP story on North Korea and Trump (see https://tinyurl.com/yctrvgws) and is available for phone and email interviews.
Bio: https://www.fordham.edu/info/20845/political_science/7162/raymond_kuo
Contact: Rachel Roman, rroman7@fordham.edu

Zhiqun Zhu
Professor of Political Science and International Relations
Bucknell University
Zhu has followed the ongoing relationship with the United States and North Korea for the past several years. He's written extensively on the subject, including multiple op-eds for U.S. News & World Report since the start of the Trump presidency. Above all, Zhu believes the two sides simply don't understand each other's goals or points of view and that diplomacy has been nonexistent.
Op-eds: https://www.usnews.com/topics/author/zhiqun-zhu
Bio: http://www.bucknell.edu/arts-and-sciences-college-of/academic-departments/political-science/faculty-and-staff/zhiqun-zhu.html
Contact: Jeff Canning, jeff@dickjones.com

Thomas Karako
Director, Center for the Study of American Democracy; Director, Missile Defense Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Kenyon College
Karako is an expert in national security issues, U.S. nuclear forces, missile defense and proliferation. He was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow for 2010–11, during which time he worked with the professional staff of the House Armed Services Committee on U.S. strategic forces, nonproliferation and NATO. Karako has been quoted in CBS News, the New York Times, CNBC, Fox News and WIRED, among others.
Contact: Mary Keister, keisterm@kenyon.edu

Ambassador Robert Holleyman
Partner
Crowell & Moring, Washington, D.C.
Holleyman, the former Deputy United States Trade Representative from 2014-2017, is available to discuss the UN sanctions and the impact on both U.S. and non-U.S. businesses; if secondary sanctions, which appear imminent, will target additional Chinese banks and trading companies in jurisdictions like China, Singapore, and Malaysia; additional forfeiture actions in the United States.
Contact: Stephanie Holtzman, sholtzman@jaffepr.com

Cari Stinebower
Partner, International Trade and White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement Groups
Crowell & Moring, Washington, D.C.
Stinebower is available to discuss: the UN sanctions and the impact on both U.S. and non-U.S. businesses; if secondary sanctions, which appear imminent, will target additional Chinese banks and trading companies in jurisdictions like China, Singapore, and Malaysia; additional forfeiture actions in the United States.
Contact: Stephanie Holtzman, sholtzman@jaffepr.com

Jeff McCausland, Ph.D.
Visiting Professor of International Security Studies
Dickinson College
McCausland is the former dean of academics at the U.S. Army War College. A veteran of the Gulf War, he is a retired Army colonel whose work has taken him all over the world serving in a variety of command and staff positions including the National Security Council Staff and at the Pentagon. McCausland sparred in the national media with then-candidate Donald Trump over military strategy in Iraq (see https://tinyurl.com/ya62kg7z). He is the founder and CEO of Diamond6 Leadership and Strategy, LLC, and a national security consultant for CBS radio and television. He has provided analysis of American national security policy and the situation in Korea for more than 14 years.
Bio: https://www.dickinson.edu/site/custom_scripts/dc_faculty_profile_index.php?fac=mccauslj
Contact: Craig Layne, laynec@dickinson.edu

Douglas Stuart, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science and International Studies
Dickinson College
Stuart holds the J. William Stuart and Helen D. Stuart Chair in International Studies, Business and Management at Dickinson. He is also an adjunct research professor at the U.S. Army War College. His research focuses on the history, and proposals for the reform of, the U.S. national security bureaucracy and U.S. foreign and security policies in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. His writings on Asian security have appeared in several journals, including Asian Affairs, the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs and the Korean Journal of Defense Analysis.
Bio: https://www.dickinson.edu/site/custom_scripts/dc_faculty_profile_index.php?fac=stuart
Contact: Craig Layne, laynec@dickinson.edu

Jina E. Kim, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies
Dickinson College
Kim's research and teaching areas include Korea under Japanese colonial rule, transnational Asian studies, the Korean diaspora and Korean War, all of which pay close attention to the history of North Korea and North Korean relations with its East Asian neighbors. Her writings have appeared in the Journal of Korean Studies, Review of Korean Studies and Harvard Asia Quarterly.
Bio: https://www.dickinson.edu/site/custom_scripts/dc_faculty_profile_index.php?fac=kimji
Contact: Craig Layne, laynec@dickinson.edu

Donald Mazzella
COO
Small Business Digest
Mazzella is a veteran newsman, national radio host and commentator, COO of Small Business Digest publications, and author of many books, including "An American Family Sampler." Besides a long career as a foreign reporter, he has been on MSNBC and Fox News, and has been written about by the Wall Street Journal. Mazzella is a nationally known commentator covering not only great events but the intimate lives of ordinary citizens.
Expert Contact: dmazzella@is-incorp.com

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MEDIA JOBS:

Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/

• Reporter, White House – MLex (DC)
• Executive Producer, Corporate, Tech & World – Wall Street Journal (NY)
• Biopharma Reporter – MedCity News (US)

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OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at profnetalerts@prnewswire.com

• IS SOCIAL MEDIA AND JOURNALISM LINKED? Recently, Cision published the 2017 Global Social Journalism Study, conducted in partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University, which surveyed journalists on their social media habits, preferences and views. In the first of a series of videos, Jay Baer, founder of Convince & Convert and New York Times best-selling author, shares his thoughts on the research. For this first video, Baer asks and answers the important question: Is social media and journalism linked? View the video or read the transcript here: http://cisn.co/2heZvV9
• 9 TIPS: DEFEAT YOUR INNER EDITOR TO WRITE BETTER AND FASTER. Our inner editors are sometimes our biggest enemies. These nine reminders may help you write stronger pieces – and become a better, no-holds-barred editor of other people's work: http://prn.to/2xBCYsD
• BLOG PROFILES: WEATHER BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and profiles a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at a few weather blogs:http://bit.ly/2xaQOyR

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