The Conversation

Is charter school fraud the next Enron?

Written by Preston Green III, John and Carla Klein Professor of Urban Education, Professor of Educational Leadership and Law, University of Connecticut

In 2001, Texas-based energy giant Enron shocked the world by declaring bankruptcy. Thousands of employees lost their jobs, and investors lost billions.

As a scholar who studies the legal and policy issues pertaining to school choice, I’ve observed that the same type of fraud that occurred at Enron has been cropping up in the charter school...

New statistical methods would let researchers deal with data in better, more robust ways

Written by Rand Wilcox, Professor of Statistics, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Collecting the data comes first, but then you have to analyze the data.Cameron Neylon, CC BY

No matter the field, if a researcher is collecting data of any kind, at some point he is going to have to analyze it. And odds are he’ll turn to statistics to figure out what the data can tell him.

A wide range of disciplines – such as the social...

Is there any way to stop ad creep?

Written by Mark Bartholomew, Professor of Law, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

It never ends.Daniel Oines/flickr, CC BY

Ethics lawyers and historians have argued that Donald Trump has blurred the line between his public office and private business interests in an unprecedented fashion.

In another sense, it’s part of a much larger social trend.

Commercial entreaties – whether in the form of magazine ads, radio...

National monuments: Presidents can create them, but only Congress can undo them

Written by Nicholas Bryner, Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy, University of California, Los Angeles

Bears Ears National Monument, Utah.Bob Wick, BLM/Flickr, CC BY

On April 26 President Trump issued an executive order calling for a review of national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act. This law authorizes presidents to set aside federal lands in order to protect “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other...

Trump’s offshore oil drilling push: Five essential reads

Written by Martin LaMonica, Deputy Editor, Environment & Energy Editor, The Conversation

Shell's drilling rig destined for waters off Alaska met with problems in the Arctic and protesters in Seattle.AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

This article is based on a collection of archival stories.

When it comes to energy, perhaps the only thing President Trump loves more than coal is oil and gas. Just a day shy of 100 days into his presidency, Trump is...

Is the death penalty un-Christian?

Written by Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross

Kurt Morrow, CC BY-NC

Arkansas executed a fourth prisoner on death row last night. Three days prior to that, the state had done two back-to-back executions by lethal injections in Lincoln County, Arkansas. Four other executions have been blocked by court order.

As a Catholic scholar who writes about religion, politics and policy, I understand how...

Did artists lead the way in mathematics?

Written by Henry Adams, Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History, Case Western Reserve University

Is there a geometry lesson hidden in 'The Last Supper'?Wikimedia Commons

Mathematics and art are generally viewed as very different disciplines – one devoted to abstract thought, the other to feeling. But sometimes the parallels between the two are uncanny.

From Islamic tiling to the chaotic patterns of Jackson Pollock, we can see remarkable...

The changing nature of sacred spaces

Written by Wendy Cadge, Professor of Sociology and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University

The Multi-faith Chapel at Hebrew Senior Life / Newbridge On The Charles, Dedham, Massachusetts.Randall Armor, CC BY-NC-ND

Congregational membership in the United States is slowly declining. Data from the General Social Survey show that 17 percent of Americans attended a religious gathering weekly in the 1990s. By 2010, this number had dropped to 11...

Is the paper industry getting greener? Five questions answered

Written by Gary M. Scott, Professor and Chair, Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Plant worker at Gorham Paper & Tissue, Gorham, New Hampshire, 2015.Erikabarker/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

Editor’s note: Arbor Day, which falls on April 28 this year, was established in the United States in 1872 as a day to plant and care for trees. To mark the event, Gary M. Scott, chair of the Paper and Bioprocess Engineering Department at...

One way Trump went big league in his first 100 days

Written by Mark Major, Senior Lecturer, Pennsylvania State University

Trump signs the Waters of the United States executive order on Feb. 28, 2017. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Since FDR, a president’s first 100 days offer an important – if arbitrary – measure for evaluating success. While it is unlikely any executive will again match the productivity of Roosevelt, most scholars of the presidency agree...