In the Media
Facing Tomorrow’s High-Tech School Surveillance
Motherboard -- 11/01/2018
“The mechanisms that perpetuate such systemic inequalities do not magically disappear when a new technological system like facial recognition is introduced into classrooms and therapeutic environments,” said Meryl Alper, an assistant professor of communication studies at Northeastern University. “History shows that they actually tend to amplify them.”…
Massachusetts residents agree traffic is getting worse, poll finds
Mass Live -- 11/01/2018
Research from Northeastern University in Boston and elsewhere has targeted ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft as contributing to congested cities. And while there have been improvements like new train cars and a balanced budget from the MBTA, the system has struggled.
Higher Halloween crime rates make it a real fright night
CBS News -- 11/01/2018
One university professor believes Halloween brings out the Freddy Kruegers of the world, possibly because of its association with paranormal psychology and urban legends. “The evening violent crime count on Oct. 31 is about 50 percent higher than on any other date during the year, and about twice the daily average,” said Northeastern University professor James Alan Fox.
Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Puts Spotlight on Fringe Platforms and Their Partners
Wall Street Journal -- 11/01/2018
David Lazer, a computational social scientist at Northeastern University who has studied social networks and misinformation on the internet, says any company that is helping to keep the lights on at a site trafficking in hate content, including web hosts and payment processors, will face difficult questions. “Each company has some potential control,” he says. “Which are the ones we decide should be held accountable?”…
Life, Death And The Lazarus Drug: Confronting America’s Opioid Crisis
NPR -- 11/01/2018
This week on Hidden Brain, the podcast talks with users, families, and researchers, including Northeastern’s Leo Beletsky, about risky drug use. …
Any piece of technology that stores information could be compromised—even obsolete devices that get thrown out with the garbage
In the Media -- 11/01/2018
The risks created by easily accessible software are increasingly coming into focus. Recent research from Northeastern University in Boston has found that apps for Android phones were acting beyond their terms of use by recording users’ screens and sending that information back to the company. Of the 17,260 apps researched, they found over half had the potential to exfiltrate data collected through the phone’s camera, microphone or ability to record the device’s screen.
Can Trump end birthright citizenship? I asked 11 legal experts.
Vox -- 11/01/2018
Northeastern professor Jessica Silbey says, “The rule of citizenship acquired by birth by being born within the United States is the law of the Constitution. It is the first sentence of the 14th Amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” As such, it cannot be changed through executive order or legislation, but only by amending the Constitution.”…
The Beginning of a New Era in the Online Degree Market
EdSurge -- 11/01/2018
Sean Gallagher, founder and executive director of Northeastern University’s Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy, discusses online degrees.
Social Stigma Is One Reason The Opioid Crisis Is Hard To Confront
NPR -- 11/01/2018
Researchers say one reason there is so much stigma around drug use is that many people view addiction as a moral weakness. Leo Beletsky, a public health researcher from Northeastern University, says stigma enters the political discourse “around personal responsibility versus coddling and enabling.”…
How Many Guns Do Americans Own?
Wall Street Journal -- 11/01/2018
Ms. Azrael is one of the researchers behind the 2015 National Firearms Survey, conducted by the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and Northeastern University, which provided some of the most up-to-date estimates of who owns guns in the U.S.
Got a friend trying to sell you things you don’t want? Here’s how to just say no
Boston Globe -- 11/01/2018
“We don’t want to hurt feelings,” said Northeastern University marketing professor Jay Mulki, who studies personal selling. “It’s like when you go to someone’s house, and even if the baby is ugly, you are not going to say the baby is ugly. You are going to say, ‘Ahh, look at the cute baby.’ ”…
How to criticize the press—responsibly
Columbia Journalism Review -- 11/01/2018
Northeastern University journalism professor and longtime media reporter and critic Dan Kennedy tells me that, of the hundreds of journalists he knows or has written about, he can probably count the number of bad apples he’s encountered—people who plagiarize or fabricate—on one hand. The rest “are absolutely trying to do the best job that they can, oftentimes under very difficult circumstances,” he says.