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Dear Commons Community,

The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article this morning entitled, “Is It Time to Regulate AI Use on Campus?” Written by Lee Gardner, it reviews the issue of whether/how to regulate AI use on our campuses.  It also is a call for colleges and universities to establish policies especially regarding student use of generative AI for writing assignments.  I completely support the need for AI policies but I doubt very much whether we can “regulate” its use.  The genie is out of the bottle and it will be impossible to put it back in.

Below is an excerpt from the article. 

Tony

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“Last fall, instructors at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst suddenly started receiving scores for every student’s writing assignment, estimating how likely it was that they had been completed using generative artificial intelligence. The percentile scores were generated by an AI tool built into the institution’s learning-management system. The scenario, administrators say, caused “massive confusion.” Faculty members might see a high percentile score for an assignment, but how high did a score have to be to justify some kind of action? What if the software’s analysis gave an assignment a 51 percent likelihood of AI use? How does a professor interpret that? And the leapfrogging rate of innovation in AI technology made the university’s own computer scientists skeptical that AI-detection tools were reliable predictors of anything at all.

The tool fueled a discussion already underway at UMass Amherst and many other institutions: the need to create a university-wide generative AI policy. As the technology spreads throughout all aspects of academe — and evolves at a pace measured in months, not years — experts and a burgeoning number of administrators believe that colleges need to establish guidelines about its use or face potential disaster.

What kind of disaster? So far, higher education has been devoid of major public AI scandals. But ungoverned use of the technology across a campus could lead to exposure of sensitive data and the proliferation of inconsistent uses that could potentially harm students and other stakeholders as well as the institution. Confusing or patchy AI policies might be worse than none at all.

The need for comprehensive AI policies is already apparent to colleges’ technology leaders. A survey conducted in the fall of 2023 by Educause, a membership organization for technology professionals in higher education, found that almost a quarter of respondents’ colleges had policies in place to regulate AI use. Nearly half of respondents, however, disagreed or strongly disagreed that their institutions had sufficient existing policies in place.

The biggest use of generative AI at most colleges is in the classroom, and at many colleges, administrators let instructors determine how, or if, the technology can be used in their courses and provide some guidelines.

Alyssa Schukar for Education Week

Dear Commons Community,

On Tuesday evening, one of my graduate students asked during class “Can the U.S. Department of Education be abolished?”  It was a good question and I gave a lengthy answer basically coming to a conclusion that it would not be easy to accomplish given the fact that such a move would have to be approved by Congress and there are many senators and representatives whose states benefit from its policies.  However, that does not mean that certain programs could not be abolished or having funding significantly reduced.  Education Week  had an article that speculated on the USDOE under Trump.  Its messaging coincides with much of my thinking.

Below is the entire article.

Tony

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Education Week

Can Trump Really Dismantle the Department of Education?

It’s not impossible, but many of its functions would need to move elsewhere

By Evie Blad — November 07, 2024

Plans to abolish the U.S. Department of Education—a key part of President-elect Donald Trump’s platform and a priority for his political allies—are a key concern for schools as he prepares to retake the White House in January.

But can he—and will he—actually carry through on the promise? And what would it mean if he did?

The short answer: Ending the agency would require approval from Congress and a great deal of political capital that Trump may want to target elsewhere, especially in the early days of his administration in which he will be under pressure to deliver promises around tax cuts and immigration. But it is possible.

Trump attempted to dismantle the Education Department in his first term, but his efforts got little traction. His supporters say he may have a clearer path to accomplishing his priorities with the momentum of reelection. And with the help of a Republican-controlled Senate and the possibility of a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Trump is likely to pursue plans to scale back and consolidate some federal programs, even if he doesn’t fully end the agency.

Here are five critical things to know.

Republicans have a long history of unsuccessful efforts to kill the U.S. Department of Education

Republican presidents and presidential candidates have threatened to end the U.S. Department of Education since it was first established as a cabinet-level agency under former President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Before then, all enforcement of federal education laws fell under the purview of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which was renamed the Department of Health and Human Services when the law was enacted.

As Education Week reported in August, efforts to end the agency started before the ink on Carter’s signature on that bill was dry.

The best chance for getting it done may have come in 1981, when former President Ronald Reagan’s Education Secretary Terrel H. Bell drafted a 91-page memo about converting the nascent federal agency to a small foundation that would conduct research and provide support but “avoid direction and control.”

That plan faced resistance in Congress and, later, from Bell himself, who believed the federal government had a role in ensuring schools confronted “a rising tide of mediocrity” in American education.

In 1981, Reagan signed the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act, which reduced federal regulations for Title I, a grant program that provides extra money for schools that enroll large amounts of students from low-income households. But his plans to end the Education Department fizzled.

Before Trump, the last presidential candidate to call for abolishing the Education Department in the party platform was Sen. Bob Dole, who lost to former President Bill Clinton in 1996. Former President George W. Bush, who was elected in 2000, favored a stronger federal role, and that philosophy became the basis for No Child Left Behind, a bipartisan law that introduced new requirements for testing and accountability as a condition of federal funding.

The U.S. Department of Education’s role includes civil rights enforcement, student loans

The Education Department’s largest K-12 role is overseeing implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which requires states to monitor their schools’ progress and intervene in poorly performing schools in exchange for federal money, including funding from Title I, an $18.4 billion program.

The department also administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA‚—a $14.2 billion program that helps schools pay for special education services for students with disabilities—and a portfolio of grants related to school safety, teacher training, and workforce preparation.

In 2020-21, the most recent school year for which federal data are available, the federal government was responsible for 10.6 percent of the nation’s spending on public schools, and that share was elevated due to the infusion of COVID-relief funds.

The Education Department ensures compliance with federal laws that protect civil rights and disability rights in public schools. That includes investigating complaints that schools aren’t doing things like meeting the needs of students with disabilities, responding adequately to sexual harassment or bullying, or ensuring fair treatment for students of color.

The agency also collects data on a range of issues, including school safety, student discipline, the teacher workforce, and civil rights.

In higher education, the Education Department oversees the Free Application for Student Aid, or FAFSA, and the massive federal student loan and grant programs (the federal direct student loans program has a portfolio of outstanding loans totaling over $1 trillion).

There’s widespread misunderstanding among the general public about the Education Department’s role, policy advocates say. The agency does not dictate what educators teach, and the funding it administers makes up a relatively small portion of school funding compared to state and local revenue.

Some significant federal education programs in schools are administered by other agencies. Head Start, the early childhood education program, is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and the National School Lunch Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Why Republicans want to shutter the Education Department

Conservatives who support closing the Education Department see the agency as a symbol of a bloated federal bureaucracy and an infringement on states’ rights under the 10th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which says that powers that aren’t specifically enumerated to the federal government are the responsibility of states.

But supporters of the agency say it plays an important role in ensuring students are treated fairly and helping states raise the bar for school performance.

Even if Trump got congressional approval to shut down the agency, he would have to move its responsibilities—managing student loans and administering existing funding streams—to other agencies. Critics say that wouldn’t have a meaningful effect on the federal education footprint, because the department’s programs would still exist in federal law, though the administration could ask Congress to revoke them or to zero out funding for them.

Trump tried and failed to axe the Education Department in his first term

During his previous term, Trump proposed merging the department with the U.S. Department of Labor in a 2018 plan that never got off the ground. He also proposed converting 29 existing federal programs into a flexible block grant, a proposal Congress rejected.

Trump supporters have continued those calls during the 2024 campaign.

Trump has not detailed how he would close the Education Department, a proposal that’s mentioned only broadly in his campaign rhetoric and in the GOP platform.

Project 2025, the conservative policy document spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and written by a number of former Trump aides and allies, proposes scrapping the department and making major changes to the two major K-12 funding streams it oversees: converting funding for the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act into “no strings attached” block grants to states and ending Title I.

Why Trump is likely to face resistance

As the saying goes, all politics is local. That’s especially true for school districts, the most local form of local government.

Schools are in a financially complicated position this year as they slim down their budgets to deal with declining enrollment and the end of federal COVID-19 aid.

Superintendents and school boards are likely to fight against the reduction or elimination of federal funding streams that help them stay out of the red. And every member of Congress will likely hear from those influential community leaders as they weigh any proposal to do so, Margaret Spellings, who served as U.S. Secretary of Education under Bush, told Education Week in August.

Senator John Thune of South Dakota. Photograph: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images.

Dear Commons Community,

Senate Republicans have elected Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) as the next Senate majority leader after rejecting public overtures from allies of President-elect Donald Trump who backed a different candidate.

Thune won in a secret-ballot vote of 29-24, beating out opposing candidates Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rick Scott, R-Fla.

The 63-year-old Thune will succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has led his chamber’s Republicans since 2007 and is the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history.  As reported by USA Today

The Senate majority leader is one of the most powerful people in Washington – and soon will have an important say over Trump’s agenda. Thune will have the power to set the schedule for the Senate, which has sole control over confirmation of the Cabinet, about 1,200 other high-level government jobs and a president’s judicial nominees.

Thune’s win is even more significant because Republicans regained control of the upper chamber in the November election, putting the GOP on track to hold total control over Congress and the White House for the next two years.

Scott didn’t make it past the first round of voting despite having the support of prominent Trump allies including Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who the president-elect named on Tuesday to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” to slash federal government spending, waste and regulations.

U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD) walks on Capitol Hill on the day U.S. Senate Republicans meet to vote on leadership positions, including Senate Majority (Republican) Leader, for the 119th Congress in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024.

Trump’s Senate allies had also been advocating for Scott, who has a longstanding relationship with the president-elect and who is typically more ideologically conservative than Thune or Cornyn. However, Trump did not decide to endorse in the race himself.

Thune was long considered the favorite in the three-way race, given his No. 2 position in the Senate Republican leadership, though Cornyn was also considered a serious contender.

Thune has served as whip since 2019 and campaigned heavily for his GOP colleagues during this election cycle, a metric often used to size up candidates’ fundraising prowess and willingness to help out the party. Thune raised $33 million this cycle and attended more than 200 events for Republican candidates, according to his office.

Conservative media personalities and Trump allies honed in on Thune’s close ties to McConnell, arguing he would be a continuation of McConnell’s style of leadership. Trump and McConnell have had a famously frosty relationship.

But Thune argued his leadership experience would allow him to effectively lead the conference – and represent Trump’s interests in Congress.

“We have an ambitious agenda, and it will take all of us – each and every Republican – working together with President Trump’s leadership to achieve it,” Thune wrote in an op-ed for Fox News. “If we don’t successfully execute on our mandate, we risk losing the coalition that swept Republicans into office up and down the ballot.”

Thune has served in the Senate since 2005. Before that, he was South Dakota’s at-large representative in the House for six years.

After Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, Thune was among the many senators of both parties who condemned the rioters and opposed Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Trump then called for someone to challenge Thune in his 2022 primary, but no one emerged, and Thune prevailed.

Thune initially endorsed Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., in the 2024 GOP primary, but later supported Trump after Scott dropped out of the race for the White House.

In the months since, Thune has worked to repair his relationship with the Trump, including visiting Mar-a-Lago and speaking with him several times on the phone, including as recently as last week. He also met with members of the Trump transition team in September, according to his office.

Still, Thune on CNBC over the weekend urged the president-elect not to “exert” influence over the Senate leadership election.

Most senators kept their preferences secret ahead of Wednesday’s vote. But three senators publicly endorsed Thune: National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.; Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.; and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.

Good luck to Senator Thune!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

The New York Times  has a featured article this morning entitled, “Running vs. Walking: Which Is Better for Lasting Health?”  It is a  balanced review of two of the most popular forms of exercise.  As someone who has had a knee replacement and reconstructive ankle surgery, I have become a regular walker averaging a little more than two miles per day. The article provides a number of useful suggestions for both forms.  I fully support the walking option. 

Below is an excerpt from the article.

Tony

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The New York Times

Running vs. Walking: Which Is Better for Lasting Health?

By Cindy Kuzma

Published Nov. 14, 2023

“Walking is among the world’s most popular forms of exercise, and far and away the most favored in the United States. And for good reason: It’s simple, accessible and effective. Taking regular walks lowers the risk of many health problems including anxiety, depression, diabetes and some cancers.

However, once your body becomes accustomed to walking, you might want to pick up the pace, said Alyssa Olenick, an exercise physiologist and postdoctoral research fellow in the energy metabolism lab at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

If you can nudge even part of your walk into a run, it offers many of the same physical and mental benefits in far less time. But just how much better is running? And how can you turn your walk into a run?

Why Walking Is Good for You

When considering the health benefits of an activity like walking or running, there are two connected factors to keep in mind. One is the workout’s effect on your fitness — that is, how it improves the efficiency of your heart and lungs. The second is the ultimate positive outcome: Does it help you live a longer life?

The gold standard for assessing fitness is VO2 max, a measure of how much oxygen your body uses when you’re exercising vigorously. It’s also a strong predictor of life span, said Dr. Allison Zielinski, a sports cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute.

Even doing a small amount of activity — like taking slow steps throughout the day — somewhat improves VO2 max compared with staying completely sedentary, according to a 2021 study of 2,000 middle-aged men and women. But bigger benefits come when you begin walking faster, which raises your heart and breathing rates.

If you’re working hard enough that you can still talk but not sing, you’ve crossed from light to moderate physical activity. Studies suggest that moderate activity strengthens your heart and creates new mitochondria, which produce fuel for your muscles, said Dr. Olenick.

What Makes Running Even Better

So how does running compare with walking? It’s more efficient, for one thing, said Duck-chul Lee, a professor of physical activity epidemiology at Iowa State University.

Why? It’s more than the increased speed. Rather than lifting one foot at a time, running involves a series of bounds. This requires more force, energy and power than walking, Dr. Olenick said. For many people first starting out, running at any pace — even a slow jog — will make your heart and lungs work harder. That can raise your level of effort to what’s known as vigorous activity, meaning you’re breathing hard enough that you can speak only a few words at a time.

Federal health guidelines recommend 150 minutes to 300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, like brisk walking, or half as much for vigorous activity. That might suggest that running is twice as good as walking. But when it comes to the key outcome of longevity, some studies have found running to be even more effective than that.

In 2011, researchers in Taiwan asked more than 400,000 adults how much vigorous exercise (like jogging or running) and moderate exercise (like brisk walking) they did. They found that regular five-minute runs extended subjects’ life spans as much as going for 15-minute walks did. Regular 25-minute runs and 105-minute walks each resulted in about a 35 percent lower risk of dying during the following eight years.

Those numbers make sense, given running’s effect on fitness. In a 2014 study, Dr. Lee and his colleagues found that regular runners — including those jogging slower than 6 miles per hour — were 30 percent fitter than walkers and sedentary people. They also had a 30 percent lower risk of dying over the next 15 years.

Even though he’s an enthusiastic proponent of running, Dr. Lee suggested looking at walking and running as being on a continuum. “The biggest benefit occurs when moving from none to a little” exercise, he said.

Whether you’re walking or running, consistency matters most. But after that, adding at least some vigorous exercise to your routine will increase the benefits.”

Dear Commons Community,

A federal judge yesterday blocked a Louisiana law that was to require a display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom in the state, ruling that it is likely unconstitutional and is similar to another state’s law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980.  As reported in Education Week.

The Louisiana law, H.B. 71, “is impermissible under Stone v. Graham,” said U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles of Baton Rouge, referring to the high court decision that struck down a similar Kentucky law that required displays of the Ten Commandments.

The judge noted that both laws required such displays on the wall of every public school classroom, contained a “context statement” purporting to explain the historical tradition for such displays, dictated the size of the document, and allowed for private funds to pay the costs.

“Subsequent [Supreme Court] cases do not undermine the application of Stone to this case; they strengthen it, particularly in their emphasis of the heightened First Amendment concerns in the public-school setting given the impressionability of young students and the fact that they are captive audiences,” deGravelles said in his 177-page opinion on Nov. 12 in Roake v. Brumley.

The decision was a victory for Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union, which represent plaintiffs suing to overturn the measure signed into law June 19 by Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican. The law also requires that a Protestant version of the Ten Commandments from the King James Bible be used in the classroom displays.

“This ruling should serve as a reality check for Louisiana lawmakers who want to use public schools to convert children to their preferred brand of Christianity,” said Heather L. Weaver, a senior staff lawyer with the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

Rachel Laser, the president and CEO of Americans United, said, “This ruling will ensure that Louisiana families—not politicians or public school officials—get to decide if, when, and how their children engage with religion.”

Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill, a Republican, said on the social media platform X that “we strongly disagree with court’s decision & will immediately appeal.”

While the state has numerous arguments about why the law should be upheld under existing precedents, there is a view that the ultimate goal is to get to the Supreme Court, where a conservative majority that has been more open to government accommodation of religion might be willing to overrule the Stone decision and uphold the Louisiana law.

The Louisiana law was set to require the displays by Jan. 1, 2025. State officials defended the requirement as being consistent with history and tradition in this country, and they offered numerous sample displays that showed the Commandments alongside founding U.S. documents or even playfully next to “classroom rules” or the “duel commandments” from the musical “Hamilton.”

DeGravelles, an appointee of President Barack Obama, included the samples in his opinion, but he rejected the state’s arguments that the many possible ways of displaying the Ten Commandments made it impossible for the plaintiffs to succeed on their broad challenge to the law on its face.

The defendants “would have aggrieved parents and children play an endless game of whack-a-mole, constantly having to bring new lawsuits to invalidate any conceivable poster that happens to have the Decalogue on it,” the judge said, noting that the statute still requires the Ten Commandments to be the “central focus” of any display.

DeGravelles rejected the state’s arguments that the 1980 Stone v. Graham decision was no longer good law because the Supreme Court had since rejected a key precedent used in the decision. In Stone, the court ruled 6-3 (in an unsigned opinion issued without oral argument) that the posting of the Ten Commandments on classroom walls served no educational function as they might if they were properly integrated into the curriculum.

Only the Supreme Court may overrule Stone, deGravelles said, which it has not done.

The judge cited a fundraising letter sent by Landry after the lawsuit was filed urging supporters to help him “ADVANCE the Judeo-Christian values that this nation was built upon.”

DeGravelles said such statements and the legislative history behind the statute support a conclusion that “any purported secular purpose was not sincere but rather a sham.”

The judge also rejected the state’s arguments that the historical record showed a longstanding, widespread tradition of displaying the Ten Commandments permanently in public elementary and secondary school classrooms. The state cited such early American schoolbooks as the New England Primer and McGuffey Readers.

DeGravelles credited a report and testimony from the plaintiffs’ expert, Steven Green, a professor of history and religious studies at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., who concluded that history does not support the Louisiana statute’s claim that “the Ten Commandments were a prominent part of American public education for almost three centuries.”

The judge said the plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that the Louisiana law violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against government establishment of religion “because it does not fit within and is not consistent with a broader tradition in place at the time of the Founding or incorporation [of the amendment to the states].”

“Moreover, even if there were a broader tradition in play, the practice mandated by the act would be inconsistent with that tradition because it is discriminatory and coercive,” deGravelles said.

I am sure this ruling will be appealed to a higher court.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

As a follow-up to my posting last month on chronic absenteeism in New York City schools, I just came across a report issued a couple of weeks ago entitled, Missing School New York’s Stubbornly High Rates of Chronic Absenteeism.  Issued by New York State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, this report broadens the scope of the issue to New York State and beyond.  Below is an executive summary.  If you are at all interested in the topic, this report is important reading.

Tony

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Executive Summary

Chronic absenteeism is defined by the U.S. Department of Education as the share of students who miss at least 10 percent of days (typically 18) in a school year. Chronic  absenteeism increased during the pandemic and peaked in the 2021-2022 school year. In the 2022-2023 school year, the most recent for which data are available, approximately 1 in  3 New York students were chronically absent from school. Important findings include:

• The chronic absenteeism rates were higher for high school students—34.1 percent, 7.6 percentage points higher than elementary and middle schools. A deep dive into the data for high school students in the 2022-2033 indicates large City (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers) and Charter Schools had the highest chronic absenteeism rates: 64.2 percent and 52.1 percent,  respectively.
• High schools in these designations also had the greatest increase in chronic absenteeism between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023. New York City schools had a 43.1 percent chronic absenteeism rate in the 2022-2023 school year, an increase of 9.3 points.
• Chronic absenteeism rates are higher in high-need school districts than in low-need districts. High need rural districts had a chronic absenteeism rate of 33 percent, a 10.1 percentage point increase from 2018-2019, and high need urban-suburban districts had a rate of 40.9 percent, an 8.6 point increase from 2018-2019. Low-need districts had a chronic absenteeism rate of 13.4 percent.
• There are racial disparities in chronic absenteeism rates. Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (21.3 percent) and White (24.7 percent) high school students have much lower chronic absenteeism rates than Hispanic or Latino students (43.7 percent) and Black or African American students (46.4 percent).
• Rates are also higher among Economically Disadvantaged students, English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities. In the Large City high schools,the 2022-2023 absenteeism rate for Students with Disabilities was an alarming 71.2 percent.

Reduction of chronic absenteeism has been a point of emphasis at federal, State, and local levels. NYSED has also engaged as a partner with the Council on Children and Families, who launched the Every Student Present initiative, a public awareness  campaign to help parents, school staff and communities understand the impact of chronic absence. The State Education Department should commit to  continuing to report chronic absenteeism for schools and school districts as it currently does, to allow parents, policy makers, and concerned members of the public to understand the issue and track the State’s and district’s progress towards reducing chronic absenteeism rates.

Dear Commons Community,

Chris Wallace, the Emmy-winning broadcast journalist, will be leaving CNN and is looking to establish an independent podcasting or streaming service. Wallace previously worked at NBC News, Fox News and ABC News.  As reported by The Daily Beast.

“Not knowing is part of the challenge. I‘m waiting to see what comes over the transom. It might be something that I haven’t thought of at all,” Wallace told the news outlet. “I have nothing but positive things to say. CNN has been very good to me.”

Notably, Wallace, 77, left Fox News to join CNN in 2021 with the aim of joining CNN+, a subscription streaming service that launched in 2022 and was shuttered a month later. Since then, Wallace has led “The Chris Wallace Show” on CNN, which will wrap up next month, and “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” on Max, which started on CNN+ and will end Friday.

“Chris Wallace is one of the most respected political journalists in the news business with a unique track record across radio, print, broadcast television, cable television and streaming,” CNN Chief Executive Mark Thompson said in a statement, according to CNN. “We want to thank him for the dedication and wisdom he’s brought to all his work at CNN and to wish him the very best for the future.”

Prior to moving to CNN, Wallace appeared on ABC’s “PrimeTime Live,” Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Sunday” and NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and “Today.”

Wallace is the son of legendary “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace, who died in 2012.

Chris Wallace’s departure comes as the news and media landscape continues to evolve, as captured by the rise of successful podcasters and influencers.

I always thought Wallace was one of the best journalists we have on cable news.  I don’t believe CNN ever used him properly.

Tony

Dawn Marie Picciano Divano

Dear Commons Community,

Today we honor and thank all the men and women who served in our armed forces. They gave unselfishly to protect us and secure our way of life.

We are such a better nation because of them!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Technology and loneliness are interlinked, researchers have found, stoked by the ways we interact with social media, text messaging and binge-watching.

Brian X. Chen, the author of Tech Fix, a column about the social implications of the tech we use, has a featured article in today’s New York Times entitled, How Tech Created a “Recipe for Loneliness.”  He documents three behaviors that are correlate social media use and loneliness as follows:

• On social media apps like Instagram, many fell into the trap of comparing themselves with others and feeling that they were lagging behind their peers.
• Text messaging, by far the most popular form of digital communication, could be creating a barrier to authentic connection.
• And, perhaps unsurprisingly, some people who felt lonely also exhibited addictive personalities — in this case, to streaming videos — that kept them indoors.

Here is an excerpt:

“Over the summer, Laura Marciano, a researcher at Harvard, interviewed 500 teenagers for a continuing study investigating the link between technology and loneliness. The results were striking.

For several weeks, the teenagers, who were recruited with the help of Instagram influencers, answered a questionnaire three times a day about their social interactions. Each time, more than 50 percent said they had not spoken to anyone in the last hour, either in person or online.

To put it another way, even though the teenagers were on break from school and spending plenty of time on social media apps, most of them were not socializing at all.

Americans now spend more time alone, have fewer close friendships and feel more socially detached from their communities than they did 20 years ago. One in two adults reports experiencing loneliness, the physiological distress that people endure from social isolation. The nation’s surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness an epidemic late last year.

Ever since, scholars and psychologists have accelerated research into whether technology is contributing. The rise of smartphones and social networking apps has forever changed social norms around how we communicate. More personable interactions like phone calls have been superseded by text messages. When people broadcast their lives on TikTok and Instagram, they may not be representing themselves in a genuine way.

“It’s hard to know who’s being real online, and it’s hard for people to be themselves online, and that is a recipe for loneliness,” Dr. Murthy said in an interview. He concluded that loneliness had become an epidemic after reviewing scientific studies and speaking with college students last year, he said.

I went down a rabbit hole for the last few months reading research papers and interviewing academics about tech and loneliness. (Many studies focused on how younger people used technology, but their conclusions were still relevant to older adults who used the same tech.)

The consensus among scholars was clear: While there was little proof that tech directly made people lonely (plenty of socially connected, healthy people use lots of tech), there was a strong correlation between the two, meaning that those who reported feeling lonely might be using tech in unhealthy ways.

Chen goes on to describe further what we should know and what to do with your tech if you’re feeling lonely.

The entire article is worth a read!

Tony

A two-acre brush fire ignited in Brooklyn’s historic Prospect Park on Friday.

Dear Commons Community,

During the Fall dry season we are used to hearing about devastating fires in California and other parts of the American West but not in Brooklyn.  However, a serious brush fire broke out in Brooklyn’s historic Prospect Park on Friday night amid a drought across the northeast.

 A passerby reported the fire at about 6:40 p.m., and firefighters battled the blaze for more than three hours.

“Approximately two acres of extremely dry vegetation in the park ignited among heavy wind gusts,” the FDNY said in a statement.

The FDNY added that it’s been a “historically dry time for New York City” with more than 100 brush fires occurring in the area this month alone.

The fire was in an “extremely dense” part of the park, Tucker said during his news conference. No one was hurt in the fire, and no structures were nearby.

“Firefighters operated overnight to extinguish the blaze and remain on scene with a watch line as a precaution,” the FDNY added in its statement.

On Saturday, New York City and New Jersey were placed under red flag warnings and air quality alerts as nearly a half-dozen wildfires have continued to burn across New Jersey. A wildfire in the Pompton Lakes has grown to more than 160 acres, threatened 55 structures, and was 50% contained as of late Saturday afternoon.

This fall has also been the driest on record for New York City, with just 1.59 inches of rain in Central Park since Sept. 1.

Tony

New Jersey Wild Fire.  Courtesy of ABC News.