Dorothy R. Santos, Ph.D.

if you were to teach a class on the pre/history of AI in terms of key concepts ideas, what would they be? the mind/body problem? abstraction vs materialism? history of the database? automation?

Higher Ed in 2025 is opening your mailbox to see that your institution has sent you:

1. A Center for Teaching and Learning call to integrate AI into your classroom; and

2. An Office of Academic Integrity email encouraging you to crack down on students who use AI to cheat.

Portland has elevated protesting to an art form.

photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

Canada’s National Observer unveils a powerful tool for fighting disinformation Civic Searchlight brings together municipal meeting transcripts from across Canada into a searchable database for the first time. It has already been used to fight disinformation, report on impact, di...

Today, @nationalobserver.com is launching a tool to search municipal meeting transcripts across Canada. The tool has already helped us unearth a climate denial network targeting towns and cities, report on AI data centers, measure our impact and more.

Journalists and researchers, sign up for free!

Build Community Online with Decentralized Tools | Blacksky Decentralized tools to build community online. The intercommunal net where communities govern, pool funds and stay safe on their own terms.

Our new, rebranded website is live. 🚀

🤓: and, look at that -- it's federated blackskyweb.xyz/.well-known/...

The same is true for faculty extramural speech, which may be protected under APM - 010 only insofar as it is consistent with the standards of professional conduct set forth in APM - 015. The standard provided in APM - 015 allows for discipline only for conduct which is not justified by the faculty's ethical principles stated in APM - 015 and which significantly impairs the University's central functions, as defined in APM - 015's preamble. This analysis must recognize the particular context of the University as an environment that encourages free inquiry and the exchange of ideas and, as described in APM - 015, "seeks to provide and sustain an environment conducive to sharing, extending, and critically examining knowledge and values, and furthering the search for wisdom." Faculty, like all University employees, are also entitled to First Amendment protection for speech on matters of public concern, but only insofar as the employee's expressive interests outweigh the University's interests in fulfilling its public service mission.

Coordination with UC Police Departments: Beginning in Fall 2025, the Systemwide Office of Civil Rights will coordinate on developing systemwide guidelines in partnership with the UC Police Departments for sharing information in all misconduct cases, including expressive activities cases.

Notices to Respondents of Proposed Range of Disciplinary Sanctions: The Chancellor already has authority to propose a range of disciplinary sanctions in the notice of proposed discipline under APM - 016. Pursuant to the authority already provided in APM - 016, beginning, in the Fall 2025 term, when a Chancellor issues a notice of proposed discipline, the notice should include a range of proposed disciplinary sanctions. Also, in Fall 2025, campuses should begin including the dates the administration is available to participate in a hearing, providing five (5) or more options, in their notices of proposed discipline.

UC faculty are fighting through the courts to save the UC system. Our funding has been swept by central admin. We can’t pay to travel or research. Every time we lecture we’re at risk of attacks by right-wing mobs. Fortunately the UC Regents are on the ball: they’re…finding new ways to discipline us.

Court Rules in AAUP v Rubio: Trump Admin Violated First Amendment The AAUP and partners sued to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members for ideological reasons.

Some good news:

“In a landmark ruling, a federal court today ruled that the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the First Amendment.”

www.aaup.org/news/court-r...

UK's Labour Party Abandoned Trans People. Here's What American Dems Can Learn. Democrats: There is no “middle ground” on equal rights. Take it from UK Labour.

UK's Labour Party abandoned transgender people. The gambit to pursue rightwing voters by abandoning a targeted minority failed, and now they're facing the prospect of a historic loss.

US Dems could learn a lot from their failure.

Great piece from S. Baum.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

So good! 😆😂

Ah, my favorite and thinking of your voice memos STILL makes me giggle 😘😘😘

Report Warns That AI Is About to Make Your Boss a Panopticon Overlord Far from a dystopian fantasy, algorithmic management tech is rapidly expanding across the US and European Union.

The guide lists 7 risks “that come from AI governance: discriminatory work assignments, fluctuating wages, loss of worker control, constant surveillance, unreasonable performance evaluations, automated punishment, and non-payment.”

LOL. @aphid.org was JUST telling me about statements from a particular talking Cheeto. Ugh.

🤭

Thank you 🙏🏽 so so so much Erin to you and your team for all you do and the resources and news you provide! 💜

The Lavender Ledger: Your Strategic LGBTQ+ Reader By Erin In The Morning Our new service for the week to cover the news we did not carry but do not want you to miss.

We've launched a new report at Erin In The Morning: The Lavender Ledger, your strategic LGBTQ+ reader, covering the stories that we passed on because someone else covered it better than us.

Here is our first one!

One potential use is as a TV remote. "Once you start using it regularly, you put it on your wrist and you just start using it every day, it becomes infuriating that you're not using it for more things like picking up a TV remote," Bosworth says. "We think the opportunity for this to be a bigger input platform over time is really big." We also talked about the possibilities for typing, something Meta's research groups have discussed in the past. Bosworth says two neural bands would be needed, but it's being explored. "A really fun thing happens when you have two of these, you could also do typing. That's not a guarantee. We can do typing with downward-facing cameras pretty effectively, but [they're] expensive," he adds.

The reason they create devices is not to solve a problem but instead to build something that makes you a more perfect stream of data for them to monetize.

www.cnet.com/tech/computi...

DOT Sign Shop: Maspeth Central - Open House New York Visitors will see how New York City’s street signs are made, from start to finish. Every sign in NYC is made here, at the Maspeth Sign Shop.

I'm creating an OpenHouseNY shortlist for out-of-town guests, and I think it's 🤗 — and, I'll admit, touching — that you can see where the Dept of Transport makes its signs, or visit the Dept of Sanitation's waste transfer station + compost facility, or watch new garbage trucks demo big-bin pickup...

Western (read: American) is painfully obsessed with youth, acceleration, living forever, and valuation that it forgets what we can learn especially from QTBIPOC elders because they are here and have always existed. ♥️

And yes, I’m fully aware that elders have different ideologies and hard wired beliefs that might make this work of care difficult. But something I have been reminded of is the deep work of understanding and VALUING (!) of my mother’s insights, knowledge, and experiences.

Oops, typo, I meant “reassurance”

Caregiving is a whole a$$ job on its own. Often unpaid, often invisible. To be clear, there are “reasurance programs” here in the US…BUT they are often tied to law enforcement since they are tasked with doing the wellness checks. 🫣😭

I realize, as I have been caregiving (both for my partner and mom) in the past few years, I am not as trusting of people to care and look after my loved ones especially now. It really hurts my soul considering I have an advanced degree and the medical system CONFUSES ME!

And the reason why I care deeply about this matter is because I have witnessed my mom sacrifice (too much) over decades for her family and communities she cares about. But now, as an elder, I am doing my best to find addl’ support (mental and physical) for her and it’s actually challenging.

I asked her when she started moving up in her job (she is now the COO), “What is the one thing you want people to know about elder care in the US?” She replied, “The US doesn’t care about its elders. Not in the ways we see other cultures prioritize and revere their elders.”

One of my best friends helps lead a healthcare non-profit in the SF Bay Area focused on elder care (medical and housing). I’m very proud of her considering we met when we were 14 years old. There are things that can be done…but, she said something that has stuck with me for years 💔

a black background with the words star wars in yellow letters Alt: a black background with the words star wars in yellow letters

Showing my film students STAR WARS (1977) on a vintage 35mm print because that's what I'm talking about when talking about The Rapture.

🧵

🚨 Center for Coalfield Justice v. Washington County Board of Elections Learn more.

🚨BREAKING: Pennsylvania Supreme Court RULES that election officials violated voter’s rights by rejecting mail-in ballots with technical errors without notifying voters. Voters must be given notice their ballots won’t count so they can challenge the disqualification or cast a provisional ballot.

Honestly, a really good article.

It's not just Fox News and MAGA that have made it hell for trans people in recent years.

It's some of the "liberal" news outlets and centrist publications that made this possible too.