Assault at BYU, Robot Composing Music, Child Favoritism

Results of Sexual Assault and Campus Climate Survey Guest:  Lindsay Orchowski, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Staff Psychologist, Rhode Island Hospital About a year ago, press investigations revealed that BYU students who had reported a sexual assault to campus authorities had their cases referred to BYU’s Honor Code office to investigate whether the victim had been doing anything that violates the honor code at the time of the assault. Extramarital sexual activity and alcohol and drug use are prohibited by BYU’s honor code. BYU’s president formed an advisory council to look at the issue. That council recommended sexual assault victims be given amnesty from honor code violations related to the reported incident. BYU implemented that policy in June. The advisory council also recommended BYU conduct a campus climate survey in order to gather research regarding perceptions and incidents of sexual assault. That survey is now finished and the results show there’s quite a bit of room for improvement. Read the results of BYU’s Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault here. Recognizing Hate Speech Online Guest: Matt Teichman, PhD, Full-time Lecturer, Division of Humanities, University of Chicago In the US, social media websites like Facebook and Twitter are not legally required to censor hate speech. But in Europe, they are. And all around the world, these companies face pressure from their users to police the ugliness of the internet. The problem is where to draw the line between someone spewing hate and someone exercising their right to speak freely.  Earlier this year, ProPublica published some internal documents Facebook uses to train content reviewers about what qualifies as hate speech and what doesn’t. The documents reveal just how tricky it is to police hate speech.  Tying Education to Trade to Keep Kids in School Todd West, Steering Committee Member of the Eastern Maine Skippers Program, Principal of Bucksport Middle School, Maine Did your Thanksgiving feast include lobster? Historians say it probably was part of the original celebration. And it’s still a big part of the New England coastal economy. Lobster is such a lucrative livelihood that some Maine high schools have trouble convincing kids to stay in school. That’s where The Eastern Maine Skippers Program comes in—it brings fishing into the classroom to help kids graduate. Musical Robot Uses AI to Compose Original Music Guest: Mason Bretan, PhD in music technology, Georgia Tech University Shimon the robot has four arms, one glass eye and a bobbing head. He plays the marimba, but that is not all. Shimon has learned to compose music.  Parent Previews: "Wonder" and "The Man Who Invented Christmas" Guest: Rod Gustafson, Host, Parent Previews  Born with a facial deformity, Auggie Pullman finds it difficult to fit into a new school. But his association with teachers and students soon has everyone learning that neither books nor faces should be judged by their covers. The story behind the creation of Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" is told as the author's imagination brings to life the beloved characters. Christopher Plummer also stars in the role of Scrooge. How Child Favoritism Affects Siblings Guest: Alex Jensen, PhD, Assistant Professor of Human Development, Brigham Young University  Most parents will vehemently deny having a favorite child. And most kids are pretty convinced their parents do have a favorite. How does this disconnect affect relationships in the family? BYU family life professor Alex Jensen has some answers, based on surveys done with hundreds of families over a couple of years' span.