Author: TheConversation

By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was killed in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without their consent. They said it had caused her loved ones extreme distress. Their appeal is immediately understandable – many people would be upset by seeing photos of a loved one everywhere after such a traumatic event. From the family of Ash Good: “Overnight we have been shocked by some media publications reproducing photographs of Ashlee, her...

By Nir Eisikovits, Professor of Philosophy and Director, Applied Ethics Center, UMass Boston The journalism industry has been under immense economic pressure over the past two decades, so it makes sense that journalists have started experimenting with generative AI to boost their productivity. An Associated Press survey published in April 2024 asked journalists about the use of generative artificial intelligence in their work. Nearly 70% of those who responded said they had used these tools to generate text, whether it was composing article drafts, crafting headlines or writing social media posts. A May 2024 global survey conducted by the...

By Omar H. Fares, Lecturer in the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, Toronto Metropolitan University; and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Professor and Associate Dean of Engagement & Inclusion, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University A new TikTok trend called “underconsumption core” is gaining traction online. This trend champions minimalism and frugality, and encourages people to maximize the utility of their purchases and buy only what they truly need, challenging the culture of consumerism. Instead of showcasing large hauls of clothing, makeup or over-flowing fridge shelves, users are posting videos showing thrift store purchases, modest wardrobes and...

By Ashley Robertson Preston, Assistant Professor of History, Howard University When I first landed an internship as an archives technician at the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House-National Historic Site, the DC home of the woman who founded Bethune-Cookman University, I did not see a strong connection between the college founder’s life and the rest of the African diaspora. Many of the requests I got from researchers were for records of Bethune’s work within what is known as FDR’s “Black Cabinet,” an unofficial Black advisory group that helped raise awareness of issues affecting Black America. Or her role as the...

By Jin Lee, Associate Professor of Educational Foundations and Leadership, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Policy changes brought on by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which former President Donald Trump signed into law at the end of 2017, appear to have led many small-dollar donors to give less money to colleges and universities, or to stop giving altogether. Individual donations, whether from graduates or people who didn’t attend those colleges and universities, declined by 4% from US$44.3 billion in the 2017-2018 academic year to $42.6 billion two years later. That’s what my colleague, Sungsil Lee, and I found...

By Michael F. Gorman, Professor of Business Analytics and Operations Management, University of Dayton Ever wonder what those colorful signs with symbols and numbers on the backs of trucks mean? They are just one visible part of a web of regulations that aim to keep workers and the environment safe while shipping hazardous waste. Transporting hazardous materials such as dangerous gases, poisons, harmful chemicals, corrosives and radioactive material across the country is risky. But because approximately 3 billion pounds of hazardous material needs to go from place to place in the U.S. each year, it is unavoidable. With all...