Category: op-ed

Democrats Can Reclaim the Center By Reviving James Carville’s Resonant Message Strategy

Posted on

March 2, Rita Kirk, Professor of Political Communication and the William F. May Endowed Director of SMU Dallas’ Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, for a piece suggesting Democrats pivot on their messaging and reclaim the “middle.” Published in Inside Sources under the heading Democrats Can Reclaim the Center By Reviving James Carville’s Resonant Message Strategy: https://bit.ly/3HAfzaA 

“Give me one good reason to vote for you.” That’s the challenge to Republicans and the rallying cry for voters hoping to find an alternative Democrat to support in the 2022 elections. I spend a lot of time talking to undecided voters. This year, I am finding many who embrace the “none of the above” option.  Here’s why.

Neither party seems to be talking to centrists. Yet Republicans have established a message strategy that keys on themes most of us can repeat without prompting: Trump supports me, I’m more like Trump than my opponents, the 2020 election was rigged, immigration is bad, Roe v. Wade should be overturned, get rid of mask mandates, and the border wall should be completed. Run through advertisements of most any candidate running on the Republican ticket and you will find at least one of these issues. That’s message discipline. The absurd part is even incumbents whose offices have nothing to do with certain issues like the border wall try to find a hook claiming they have been “leading the fight” on that issue.

Continue reading “Democrats Can Reclaim the Center By Reviving James Carville’s Resonant Message Strategy”

What if we couldn’t see the stars anymore?

Posted on

Feb. 27, Krista Lynne Smith, an observational astrophysicist and assistant professor at SMU Dallas specializing in star formation in distant galaxies, for a commentary explaining how the proliferation of satellites in space threatens our ability to stargaze or conduct research. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading What if we couldn’t see the stars anymore?: https://bit.ly/3tdWnKx 

​If you live in the heart of North Texas or any large metropolitan area, you are probably familiar with a light-polluted sky. Even at midnight, the sky glows a dark blue, fading to dusky yellow near the horizon. At most, you can see a handful of the brightest stars reduced to dim pinpricks.

However, if you drive just a few hours outside of town, you can experience a breathtaking sight: a night sky filled with glittering stars, the shimmering swath of the Milky Way arcing overhead, and if you’re lucky, a few bright planets like steady jewels among them.

Such a sight is viscerally awe-inspiring in its natural wonder, hearkening back to our ancestors looking up and asking the kind of questions that led to all of human endeavor. Our species has since learned to read the secrets of the universe in the light we receive from the heavens. We have built technological marvels: observatories with instruments sensitive enough to collect the photons, little individual packets of light, sent to us from distant stars, galaxies and planets around other suns.

Continue reading “What if we couldn’t see the stars anymore?”

Dan Patrick, don’t mess with Texas public universities

Posted on

Feb. 22, Michael Harris,  professor of higher education and chair of the Department of Education Policy and Leadership in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU Dallas, for a piece critical of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s stands on tenure and Critical Race Theory. Published in the Houston Chronicle under the heading Dan Patrick, don’t mess with Texas public universities: https://bit.ly/3BNPljp 

On Friday, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican up for re-election, proposed the elimination of tenure for new faculty hires at all Texas public universities. There’s more: Patrick would enable revocation of tenure for faculty who teach critical race theory.

Universities are powerful engines of economic and social improvement in Texas and the nation. Unfortunately, Patrick’s political stunt threatens to do irreparable harm to these institutions.

Patrick may score political points by attacking university faculty, but his proposal would inflict significant damage on Texas students and businesses. And, in the process, he would give politicians unprecedented influence over what’s taught in universities.

Continue reading “Dan Patrick, don’t mess with Texas public universities”

Spotify minus Joni Mitchell reminds us that social media is more like a parking lot than a paradise

Posted on

Feb. 3, Jared Schroeder, associate professor of journalism at SMU Dallas and a specialist in Frist Amendment issues, for a piece that explains the business motivations of Spotify and the options consumers have if they don’t wish to support unregulated social media platforms. Published in the Houston Chronicle under the heading: Spotify minus Joni Mitchell reminds us that social media is more like a parking lot than a paradise : https://bit.ly/3GoUOhp

Great. Now we can’t listen to Joni Mitchell on Spotify anymore.

But we can still listen to “The Joe Rogan Experience,” whatever that is.

Spotify, thanks to Neil Young, was shoved into the blaring, often unintelligible, spotlight of the national content-moderation conversation last week.

It joined Meta, which is what Facebook wants us to call it now, Twitter, and YouTube, all of whom continue to experience criticism for very public growing pains about how they handle how people use their spaces.

Young gave the music-streaming giant an ultimatum: Remove Rogan’s popular podcast because it’s communicating false and misleading health information or take his music off the platform. Spotify chose to remove Young’s music, and Mitchell asked her music be removed as well.

Continue reading “Spotify minus Joni Mitchell reminds us that social media is more like a parking lot than a paradise”

Microsoft Bid to Purchase Activision-Blizzard Is Less About the Metaverse and More About Marketing

Posted on

Jan. 31, Gary Brubaker, director of Guildhall, the graduate program for game development at SMU Dallas, for a piece defining the marketing approach Microsoft is adopting in the video game sector following the purchase of Activision-Blizzard. Published in Inside Sources under the heading Microsoft Bid to Purchase Activision-Blizzard Is Less About the Metaverse and More About Marketing: https://bit.ly/3gfKqy0

Don’t buy into the hype about this being a move by Microsoft to own the Metaverse. But it is a strong signal that MS is in the game to stay.

The Metaverse is coming, and it will change our lives. However, Microsoft purchasing Activision-Blizzard is about making Game Pass the dominant game subscription service.

Consumers have shown they prefer the all-you-can-eat subscriptions for consuming media, including books (Kindle), music (Spotify), and movies/TV (Netflix). Subscriptions provide corporations with valuable consistent revenue. However, none of the current subscription strategies map clearly to video games. Many companies have tried to bring the Netflix model to video games. To date, they have ranged from failures (Stadia) to moderate successes (Apple Arcade), but none has at the Netflix level.

Continue reading “Microsoft Bid to Purchase Activision-Blizzard Is Less About the Metaverse and More About Marketing”

Could Russia legally use nuclear weapons in response to a U.S. intervention in Ukraine?

Posted on

Jan. 26,  Anthony Colangelo, Professor of Law at the SMU Dallas Dedman School of Law, for a piece outlining the consequences of using nuclear weapons should Russia decide to do so during aggression against Ukraine. Published in Foreign Policy News under the heading Could Russia legally use nuclear weapons in response to a U.S. intervention in Ukraine?: https://bit.ly/32KnQKu

There is an ominous new development in the potential Russian invasion of the Ukraine and the U.S. response. According to the New York Times, “nuclear weapons could be shifted to places — perhaps not far from the United States coastline — that would reduce warning times after a launch to as little as five minutes, potentially igniting a confrontation with echoes of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.”

This is in keeping with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire to expand Russia’s sphere of influence to Eastern Europe and commitments that NATO will not enlarge. Some of Putin’s aides suggested last week that should he fail to achieve these objectives, he would pursue Russia’s security interests with results that would be felt in Europe and the United States, including the placement of nuclear weapons near the United States coast close enough to reach the capital.

Continue reading “Could Russia legally use nuclear weapons in response to a U.S. intervention in Ukraine?”

America should honor MLK’s vision by halting the death penalty

Posted on

Jan. 16, Rick Halperin, director of the SMD Dallas Human Rights Program, for a commentary advocating that the U.S. should follow the belief of Dr. Martin Luther King and end capital punishment. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading: America should honor MLK’s vision by halting the death penalty: https://bit.ly/3GHjtP4

On Monday the nation will pause, perhaps too briefly, to remember and pay tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., arguably the leading U.S. (and global) civil and human rights activist who was the voice of reason and conscience during the onset and growth of the modern civil rights struggle in this country between 1955 and 1968.

As America reflects on King’s life, oratory and inspirational vision of what this country could, should and is still struggling to become, I would urge us all to remember another anniversary commemorated on the same day. On Jan. 17, 1977, Gary Gilmore, a convicted felon on death row in Utah, was executed by a Utah firing squad and thus became the first condemned inmate to be put to death in this country in 10 years — a mere six months after the U.S. Supreme Court, on July 2, 1976, upheld the legality of the death penalty in the case of Gregg vs. Georgia.

​

Continue reading “America should honor MLK’s vision by halting the death penalty”

New Technology Mapping Landslides Can Save Lives, Mitigate Damage

Posted on

Jan. 3, Yuankun Xu and Zhong Lu, geophysicists within the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences at SMU Dallas, for a piece about their groundbreaking research on mapping West Coast landslides in order to forewarn emergency services agencies about looming death and destruction. Published in Inside Sources under the heading New Technology Mapping Landslides Can Save Lives, Mitigate Damage: https://bit.ly/3EXf9tk 

It’s that time of year on the West Coast when emergency managers prepare for a host of catastrophic weather events — everything from Pineapple Express systems that dump intense rains on the regions to the flooding and landslides that often follow.

Landslides are a near-constant threat to the safety of communities and infrastructure in this part of the U.S. Once an unstable slope gives away, the formed debris flow could travel at a speed exceeding 35 mph, leaving limited time to evacuate people along the flow path and often leading to devastating consequences. Some other landslides, though not evolving into deadly flows, result in constant damages to highways, houses and underground infrastructure.

Continue reading “New Technology Mapping Landslides Can Save Lives, Mitigate Damage”

Yes, it is possible to study theology without choosing an ideological side

Posted on

Dec. 26, Craig Hill, Dean of Perkins School of Theology at SMU Dallas, for a commentary advocating that students should not have to subscribe to any ideology when considering careers in the ministry. Published in the Dallas Morning News under the heading Yes, it is possible to study theology without choosing an ideological side: https://bit.ly/3HsFQI4

Times are tough for organized religion. Just 47% of American adults reported belonging to a church, synagogue or mosque in a Gallup survey earlier this year, so it should come as no surprise that the pool of prospective graduate theology students is declining, as well.

The polarization of mainline denominations only compounds the challenge. Imagine you are considering a career as a minister, or perhaps as a church musician or youth leader. Must you join an ideologically-pure alliance to follow that career path – even in choosing where to attend seminary?

Some require it, but I’m here to tell you in no uncertain terms the answer is no.

Continue reading “Yes, it is possible to study theology without choosing an ideological side”

Yes, the US can legally intervene if Russia invades Ukraine

Posted on

Dec. 20, Anthony Colangelo, Professor of Law at the SMU Dallas Dedman School of Law, for a piece explaining why the U.S. has a legal right to intervene in Ukraine should Russia decide to invade. Published in History News Network under the heading ‘The U.S. Can Legally Intervene in the Ukraine Should Russia Invade’: https://bit.ly/3msrL5n , and subsequently in The Hill Jan. 27, 2022: https://bit.ly/3AOSEGt

Recent signs suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seriously considering invading Ukraine. To help prevent this from happening, the United States has two options: the soft option and the hard option.

The soft option involves diplomatic measures such as increased sanctions and trade punishments like cutting off financial markets. Generally, countries prefer utilizing this option to foster de-escalation for the simple reason that it is cheaper and minimizes civilian death and suffering. But there is a chronological component here: There must be enough time for the measures to work, and if there is not, countries may be forced to pursue the hard option.

Continue reading “Yes, the US can legally intervene if Russia invades Ukraine”