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From racial codes to technology design, “bland erotic pudding,” and why college is still worth the cost (but maybe shouldn’t be)—all that and a bag of weed (well, an article on the uneven policing of possession) on this week’s Friday Roundup!

In Case You Missed It:

“Woman Enough to Win?” Cheryl Cooky and Shari L. Dworkin on the history of gender and sex-testing in Olympic sport, just in time for Sochi!

Features:

“Students Squeezed by an Hourglass Economy,” by Robert Crosnoe. How college is still worth the cost, how those who benefit most are least likely to get a college education, and why decoupling “good” jobs from degrees could help everyone.

Citings & Sightings:

“Women and Poverty,” by Kat Albrecht. “When women do well, men do well and our nation does well.” So maybe equal pay and educational access are good things? Hrm.

Reading List:

“The Personal (Finance) is Political,” by Evan Stewart. New research finds odd behavior: support for social support programs hinges more on party affiliations than personal finances.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Can Investigations of Disasters Go Beyond Rhetoric to Yield Meaningful Lessons?” by Thomas A. Birkland.

“Shattering the Glass Ceiling for Women in Politics,” by Shauna Shames.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images. Soc. nerds were thrilled to be reminded of MLK’s sociology BA, everyone wondered “Whose economic recovery is it?“, and we learned the amazing phrase “bland erotic pudding.” K-Y mocked its presumed customers, Richard Sherman de-coded the word “thug,” and marijuana policing continued to be its own code (in short: arresting black people).
• Cyborgology. On the bro-tastic world of dubstep, Technologically Mediated Embodiment, and why the end-user designers envision is nearly always themselves.
• Girl w/ Pen! In a “flash roundtable,” GWP grabbed some top scholars and thinkers to discuss an NYTimes piece.

Last Week’s Roundup