The Conversation

What consumers want in GM food labeling is simpler than you think

Written by Katherine McComas, Professor of Communication, Cornell University

Social research shows that consumers want a say in GM food labeling. ctsenatedems/flickr, CC BY-NC

The fast-approaching July 1, 2016, deadline for Vermont’s new labeling law – and a new federal proposal that would set a national system for disclosure – for genetically modified (GM) food has provoked a range of responses from food...

Eliminating inequalities needs affirmative action

Written by Richard J. Reddick, Associate Professor in Educational Administration, University of Texas at Austin

The Supreme Court has upheld the affirmative action admission policy of University of Texas. Abigail Fisher, a white woman, applied to the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in 2008. She sued the university after she was denied admission on the grounds that the university’s race-conscious admissions policy, violated the equal...

Why bad news for one Muslim American is bad news for all Muslims

Written by Muniba Saleem, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Faculty Associate at the Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan

On the morning of June 12, as details emerged from a shooting at an Orlando nightclub, Muslim Americans across the country likely reacted with horror, while secretly hoping that the shooter wouldn’t turn out to be one of them. Many had gone through the same roller coaster of emotions after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and the San...

Britain exits the EU: how Brexit will hit America

Written by Terrence Guay, Clinical Professor of International Business, Pennsylvania State University

The U.K. has voted to leave the European Union, 51.9 to 48.1 percent.
Prime Minister David Cameron announced early Friday that he will step down in three months' time.
Unwinding the union will be a messy process that will take months, if not years, and have broad political and financial impacts.
The pound dropped in value on the London exchange early...

Does eating bamboo make it harder for pandas to reproduce?

Written by Garret Suen, Assistant Professor of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Will this make my tummy hurt?Chi King, CC BY-SA

Most people get upset stomachs from time to time. Usually, a few trips to the bathroom or antibiotics solve the problem. For pandas, it’s an entirely different story. Our research into panda digestion shows that pandas get upset stomachs so frequently it may help explain why it’s so hard...

Will the new toxic chemical safety law protect us?

Written by The Conversation Contributor

What's in that bottle? And is it safe?www.shutterstock.com

In a major overhaul of U.S. regulation of toxic chemicals, Congress recently passed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the largest piece of environmental legislation passed in the United States since 1990. President Obama signed the bill into law on June 22.

The...

After Supreme Court’s Fisher decision: what we need to know about considering race in admissions

Written by Liliana M Garces, Associate Professor of Education, Pennsylvania State University

On Thursday, June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a race-conscious post-secondary admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, considered to be the swing vote, joined Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, in a 4-3 decision that affirmed the constitutionality...

How the 2016 presidential election will shape American identity

Written by Viviane Seyranian, Assistant Professor of Psychology, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

The 2016 American presidential election will boil down to one simple question:

Who do we want to be as Americans?

The language used by the leading presidential candidates reveals that both candidates want to appeal to what it means to be American – though this may mean different things for each of them.

On Tuesday, presumptive Democratic...

Trump's energy plan poses climate threat to U.S. economy

Written by Robert Kopp, Associate Professor, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, and Associate Director, Rutgers Energy Institute, Rutgers University

Last December in Paris, the nations of the world agreed to an ambitious goal for greenhouse gas emissions: to bring net emissions to zero in the second half of this century. Their objective: to limit global warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius (2.7 to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial temperatures, or equivalently about 0.5 to 1.0°C...

How community schools can beat summer learning loss for low-income students

Written by Laura Bronstein, Dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs Professor, Binghamton University, State University of New York

School closure over the summer widens the achievement gap between classes.School chair image via www.shutterstock.com

This article is a part of The Conversation’s series on summer learning loss. For other articles in this series, read here and here.

My children spent summers reading Harry Potter, playing chess, swimming and hiking the...