The SJSU College of Social Sciences fall 2015 magazine is now online, in HTML and PDF formats. Check it out to learn more about the college’s people, processes, and plans! Also, please consider making an investment to assist us in our work. The college mailed an end of the year solicitation letter last month; I’ll reproduce it below. Please also spread the word to others!

December 3, 2015

Dear _____:

I trust you enjoyed your Fall 2015 copy of our college’s Together newsletter. If you have yet to receive a copy, you may view it online: sjsu.edu/socialsciences/about/newsletter. You will meet the college’s eight new faculty members, learn about the revamped Applied Research Center (ARC), and read about our Information Technology Coordinator’s long-term partnership with a local Native American community, the Muwekma Ohlone. The newsletter also includes some information about me, your new dean.

I’m writing to ask you to consider a year-end gift to the college. Your investment of any amount will directly and positively impact the important work of our students, faculty, and staff. As an example, at a recent ARC event, Professor Amy Leisenring discussed her research on parental engagement in San José elementary schools. The college supported this research with a grant; some of the grant money allowed undergraduate students to assist with data collection and analysis. This activity fit well into our college’s priority to provide financial support and opportunities for our graduate and undergraduate students to do actual research. As you can see, much of the research our students engage in is actually done in collaboration with local communities to solve pressing social issues.

Another college priority is to support our students so they can graduate as quickly as possible. A major strategy to accomplish this is through our Academic Counseling Center for Excellence in the Social Sciences (ACCESS). ACCESS provides students with academic advising, as well as tutoring in key social science skills like writing and statistical analysis. Our undergraduate students work 12-18 hours a week as peer advisors in ACCESS. A gift of $105 would enable one of these peer advisors to tutor an additional student for 10 hours. A $6,000 gift will enable a peer advisor to support fellow students for an entire semester!

Thank you for considering a year-end gift to support our work. An envelope is enclosed for your convenience. You may also go to our secured website to give: sjsu.edu/giving. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like additional information on ways you can help your college and its students.

Warmest Regards,

Walter R. Jacobs
Dean, College of Social Sciences

P.S. Together, we impact the future of countless students. Please make your gifts today before the year-end tax deadline.

Pacific Standard magazine has posted a comparative analysis of America’s seven most electable fictional presidents. Interesting, but they forgot to include the fictional African American presidents I analyzed in a 2010 article, “30 Years of Black Presidents.”  Of the seven presidents they analyzed, however, my vote is for 24‘s President Palmer!

Since the original Star Wars movie debuted in 1977 there have been over 1000 scholarly papers published about themes explored in the Star Wars movie franchise. Wow! I bet that many more will soon emerge, given the recent release of the seventh film in the series, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I saw it on Sunday and loved it, even with sky high expectations. The original was the first movie I ever fell in love with, and the first movie I saw more than once. (I viewed it three times in the theaters in the summer of 1977). I will have to re-watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens soon, as Sunday’s viewing was on an IMAX screen; it was hard to track everything given that the screen is so large. I’m also going to resist fancy 3D showings. Old fashioned 2D is the best format for me!

First Lady Michelle Obama and comedian Jay Pharaoh have partnered on a music video about the importance of going to college:

Awesome!

Pacific Standard magazine published an informative graphic about internet service inequality on Native American lands.

The news these days is filled with stories about students organizing on campus to improve the climate for those who are not members of traditional privileged college populations. This week I came across two very interesting — but very different — reactions to student activism. Check out “Jamar Clark: I’m Not Sure What to Say” and “This is Not a Day Care. It’s a University!” Which one resonates more closely with your views?

The new Pixar film The Good Dinosaur opens this week, and it will be preceded by the short film Sanjay’s Super Team. Pacific Standard magazine has an interesting article about the significance of Sanjay’s Super Team:

This seven-minute warm-up to the main attraction breaks lots of new ground for Pixar: It’s the first to feature a non-white lead, a director of Indian descent, and to touch on religion—Hinduism, specifically.

Sanjay’s Super Team depicts a young boy’s quest to bridge the generational and cultural gaps between his American and Indian heritage.

I want to see the last Hunger Games movie and latest Rocky franchise installment — Creed — but I should also add The Good Dinosaur to my list…

Wired magazine’s November 2015 issue has an interesting article about why most computer-generated voices are female. A sub-heading in the print version of the magazine notes, “When computers talk to us, their voices are almost always female. There’s actually science behind that — and potentially change ahead.” In the article the author says, “In the short term, female voices will likely remain more commonplace, because of both cultural bias and the role technology plays in our lives.” Later she adds, “As voice technology improves, though, designers say diversity will too. Thanks to big data, cloud computing, and the artificial intelligence those trends enable, companies will be able to tailor voices specifically to individuals, making sure you hear the ones that most resonate with you.” In short, culture and technological capabilities/constraints both play roles in the design of computer-generated voices. Why then, does the title of the online article scream “Siri and Cortana Sound Like Ladies Because of Sexism,” whereas the title of the article in the print magazine is the more ambiguous “Her, Again” [A reference to the movie Her]? Hhhmmm.

Yesterday I attended the Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge, an event that promotes creativity and entrepreneurship from San José State University students, alumni, faculty, and staff. One of the most interesting ideas was a project to deploy drones to monitor neighborhood criminal activity. I asked the students about privacy concurs, and they steered answered towards technical considerations. It appeared that they had not yet thought much about ethical and cultural issues surrounding drone deployment. I should have suggested that they add a social science major to the team!

The Pacific Standard magazine has a short article about a book with a very intriguing title: Why Does the Other Line Always Move Faster? The Myths and Misery, Secrets and Psychology of Waiting in Line. I will have to add this book to my reading list, as I always end up in long lines, no matter what!