Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 22h

Watched the Martian again, now with my teenager. It was devastating to be reminded for two hours straight that a) science and humanity are beautiful and b) we are now killing both.

The Martian (2015) ⭐ 8.0 | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi

2h 24m | PG-13

www.imdb.com

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Reposted by Byunghwan 'Ben' Son

Jeff Lockhart @jwlockhart.bsky.social · 4d

I'm excited to share my new paper with a former student, Tommy Smith. "'This Work Would Not Have Been Possible without...': The Length of Acknowledgments in Sociology Books"

Open Access in @sociusjournal.bsky.social : doi.org/10.1177/2378...

Main figure from the paper. Violin plots showing the length of acknowledgments sections in books by sociologists, broken out by gender, race, sexuality, parents’ education, millennium of author’s PhD, and publisher type.

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Posit @posit.co · 8d

The new ggplot2 4.0.0 is here! 🎉

This major update includes a foundational rewrite of S7 and user benefits such as smarter labeling and a revamped theming system.

Check the details: www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/09...

BONUS: Join the release party on Oct 3, 3pm ET. bit.ly/join-gg-extenders

#RStats

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 8d

Every morning, checking some news video clips. But PARTICULARLY this morning.

a close up of a man 's face with his eyes closed

ALT: a close up of a man 's face with his eyes closed

media.tenor.com

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 12d

they can do both ;)

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 12d

Every once in awhile, I run into these people who cannot accept an Asian as an authority figure and bring out ‘let me talk to your manager’ card. A perennial life challenge, I guess.

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 14d

One example would be emails. I noticed an uptick of unnecessarily long emails in the past 2 yrs or so. Perfect grammar and no typo but could be rewritten into just a couple sentences.

Techmeme @techmeme.com · 15d

Research: low productivity gains from AI may stem from employees using AI to produce "workslop", or low-effort, passable work that creates more work for others (Harvard Business Review)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 17d

NEW: Hours before a new entry ban is supposed to go into effect, the federal government officially acknowledges for the first time that the restrictions do NOT apply to people who currently have H-1B visas.

Link: www.uscis.gov/sites/defaul...

J.S. Citizenshit and Immigratior
Services
September 20, 2025
Memorandum
TO:
Associate Directors,
Deputy Associate Directors, Program Office Chiefs
FROM:
JOSEPH B
Digitaly signed by
JOSEPH B EDLOW
Joseph B. Edlow
EDLOW
Date: 2025.09.20
Director, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services **00
SUBJECT: Proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, H-IB
On September 19, 2025, the President issued a Proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, to address systemic abuse of H-1B nonimmigrant visas. Pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000. This guidance applies to H-IB employment-based petitions filed after 12:01 AM ET on September 21, 2025.|
This proclamation only applies prospectively to petitions that have not yet been filed. The proclamation does not apply to aliens who: are the beneficiaries of petitions that were filed prior to the effective date of the proclamation, are the beneficiaries of currently approved petitions, or are in possession of validly issued H-1B non-immigrant visas. All officers of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall ensure that their decisions are consistent with this guidance. The proclamation does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to or rom the United States.
cc: David V. Roy, Chief Counsel (A)
FOUO, For Official Use Only

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Vincent Arel-Bundock @vincentab.bsky.social · 20d

Whoa—my book is up for pre-order!

𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭 & 𝐌𝐋 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 #Rstats 𝐚𝐧𝐝 #PyData

The book presents an ultra-simple and powerful workflow to make sense of ± any model you fit

The web version will stay free forever and my proceeds go to charity.

tinyurl.com/4fk56fc8

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 22d

Call it a stretch, but I think this is a case for APSA/ISA in Detroit/St. Louis/Indianapolis :)

Ala Alrababah @aalrababah.bsky.social · 22d

🚨 New working paper alert 🚨
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 24d

I am dumbfounded that some people believe we are capable of indoctrinating young minds. Much of our job involves getting students to care about course readings and talking them out of using LLMs. Sometimes we even have to fight to get them to come to class. Maybe I am not doing this job right.

a close up of a man wearing glasses and a jacket with david worren written below him

ALT: a close up of a man wearing glasses and a jacket with david worren written below him

media.tenor.com

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 29d

When reading int'l news/explainers, it is important to consider that 'area specialists' offering them, particularly those from the region, tend to have a privileged background. So the narrative is not always 'neutral,' although they're portrayed as underprivileged in a Western society.

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · 29d

Skipping #APSA2025 for a multitude of reasons. But hope those going have tremendous fun in Vancouver!

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Laura K. Nelson @lauraknelson.bsky.social · Sep 5

At long last, I can post my team's summer project: applied modules to teach how ML/AI tools are changing social science and humanities research: ubcecon.github.io/praxis-ubc/

Highlights:

LegalBERT to analyze anti/pro-immigrant sentiment in 19th c. BC law: ubcecon.github.io/praxis-ubc/d...
🧵1

Praxis - Embedding Driven Text Analysis of Crease’s Stance Towards Chinese Immigrants

This notebook aims to demonstrate how machine learning can assist with historical and other humanity research.

ubcecon.github.io

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · Sep 2

added the link now.

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · Sep 2

Forgot the link: www.v-dem.net/media/public...

www.v-dem.net

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · Sep 2

For those who still follow the debate. #vdem

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Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · Sep 1

WE ARE HIRING! 2 Lecturers in Quantitative Social Science. Want a friendly interdisciplinary department in one of the world's most vibrant cities? This just might be for you.

Apply by: 10 Oct

www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · Aug 29

Just the beginning of a long list of things to come out. And bribery is on the more 'benign' side of it.

NBC News @nbcnews.com · Aug 29

The wife of South Korea’s jailed ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol and his former prime minister were indicted Friday as part of investigations into his administration and his attempt to overcome opposition by declaring martial law.

Wife and ally of ousted South Korean president indicted by special prosecutors

Kim Keon Hee was charged for violating financial market and political funding laws and receiving bribes, about two weeks after a court ordered her arrest.

nbcnews.to

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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · Aug 27

this picture of a mom shoes off sprinting to the Mpls school: www.startribune.com/minneapolis-...

By Richard Tsong-Taatarii for @startribune.com, which should be a go-to source for anyone following

A parent runs toward the school after the shooting Wednesday at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · Aug 26

Think lines represent backsliding cases. Thin red lines are everything else. Few downward trends.

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · Aug 26

I have a short working paper titled "Democratic backsliding does not threaten *nominal* central bank independence" (there are very few cases). Now it could be ill-timed.

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · Aug 25

Yes, 1/2 for a full-year leave and 100% for a semester's leave (for tenured ppl). One needs to apply and be selected, though. People get denied of the opportunity sometimes.

Reposted by Byunghwan 'Ben' Son

Nan Kim @nan-kim.bsky.social · Aug 25

In light of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to the US today, check out our latest thematic section in the Sept issue of Critical Asian Studies, "The Martial Law Crisis and Democratic Renewal in South Korea" (now online): www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/toc/rcra20/c...

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