March 2019
‘Bias deep inside the code’: the problem with AI ‘ethics’ in Silicon Valley
By: | March 31, 2019
According to the Guardian, “Major tech corporations have launched AI “ethics” boards that not only lack diversity but sometimes include powerful people with interests that don’t align with the ethics mission. The result is what some see as a systemic failure to take AI ethics concerns seriously, despite widespread evidence that algorithms, facial recognition, machine […]
Read more →
Looking to the Future, Public Sees an America in Decline on Many Fronts
By: | March 24, 2019
When Americans peer 30 years into the future, they see a country in decline economically, politically and on the world stage. While a narrow majority of the public (56%) say they are at least somewhat optimistic about America’s future, hope gives way to doubt when the focus turns to specific issues, says a new Pew […]
Read more →
The College Admissions Scam Opens a New Front in the Affirmative Action Debate
By: | March 20, 2019
Why take a spot away from a more deserving student? Those phrases are part of the rhetorical toolkit opponents of affirmative action have long used to attack the policy. But defenders of using racial preferences in college admissions now have a new response to complaints that undeserving black and brown students are getting help: What […]
Read more →
Public Attitudes Toward Computer Algorithms
By: | March 18, 2019
Americans express broad concerns over the fairness and effectiveness of computer programs making important decisions in people’s lives according to Pwe Research. This skepticism spans several dimensions. At a broad level, 58% of Americans feel that computer programs will always reflect some level of human bias – although 40% think these programs can be designed […]
Read more →
Is Meritocracy a Myth?
By: | March 18, 2019
Meritocracy may be a myth, but that means someone is keeping the fiction alive. The multimillion-dollar college admissions scandal the Justice Department announced this week gives us a sense of who — and why according to the Washington Post. The Meritocratists mindset in one of the most pervasive lenses in the world. To what extent […]
Read more →
Tattoos Were Once for Rebels. Have They Gone Too Mainstream?
By: | March 17, 2019
So how do you stand out and display your identity in a world that rewards the cookie-cutter and the ubiquitous approach to life? And just how original or rebellious can having a tattoo be if 38 percent of young people ages 18 to 29 have at least one tattoo according to the Pew Research Center […]
Read more →
World’s 26 Wealthiest Own As Much As Poorest 50%
By: | March 4, 2019
World leaders are gathering in Davos, Switzerland for the annual summit hosted by the World Economic Forum where heads of state along with business and cultural leaders discuss problems facing the globe. Many leaders are sitting this summit out as they deal with domestic disputes at home, including UK Prime Minister May, U.S. President Trump, […]
Read more →
Virginia Politics: The Uneasy Marriage of New Liberalism and Historic Racism
By: | March 4, 2019
Virginia is home to America’s original contradiction – the peculiar juxtaposition of slavery and freedom. The recent “blue-ing” of Virginia has obscured a sobering political reality: Racial progress and racial bigotry can exist at the same time. Those contradictions were on display when Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam recently admitted to, and subsequently denied, being […]
Read more →
How Capitalism Reduced Diversity to a Brand
By: | March 4, 2019
Back in 2000, Diallo Shabazz was surprised to see himself on the cover of the University of Wisconsin admissions booklet. But there he was, cheering in the stands at a football game he never attended, just behind a group of white students. In 2013, Leong wrote a lengthy article in the Harvard Law Review in […]
Read more →
Gen Z entrepreneurs view higher education as vital to their startups
By: | March 3, 2019
Young entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to universities to help launch their businesses. Eric J. Barron, Pennsylvania State University Today’s college students – dubbed Generation Z – are beginning to make their mark on the workplace with a distinctly unconventional and often irreverent approach to problem-solving. In my day-to-day interactions with our students, I find that […]