Sports Marketing Ethics in Today\u27s Marketplace

Sports marketing is a fast-growing business endeavor. However, certain aspects of it have drawn criticisms from several corners (e.g., media, government, coaches, and fans). This paper raises a number of ethical questions about various dimensions of sports marketing. Advice for addressing some of the ethical problems that occur is provided. The paper specifically asks if organizations using professional sports associations as a promotional lever for increasing sales can be hurt by a lack of ethics on the part of the leagues, teams, or players. It also implies that sport organizations, regardless of economic benefits derived or strong player unions, have an obligation to create a positive and sustainable ethical climate and deliver an enforceable ethical code

Ceramic composition at Chalcolithic Shiqmim, northern Negev desert, Israel: investigating technology and provenance using thin section petrography, instrumental geochemistry and calcareous nannofossils

Technological innovations in ceramic production and other crafts are hallmarks of the Chalcolithic period (4500–3600 BCE) in the southern Levant, but details of manufacturing traditions have not been fully investigated using the range of analytical methods currently available. This paper presents results of a compositional study of 51 sherds of ceramic churns and other pottery types from the Chalcolithic site of Shiqmim in the northern Negev desert. By applying complementary thin section petrography, instrumental geochemistry and calcareous nannofossil analyses, connections between the raw materials, clay paste recipes and vessel forms of the selected ceramic samples are explored and documented. The study indicates that steps in ceramic manufacturing can be related to both technological choices and local geology. Detailed reporting of the resulting data facilitates future comparative ceramic compositional research that is needed as a basis for testable regional syntheses and to better resolve networks of trade/exchange and social group movement

They know everything: understandings of data privacy among teens in East Asia

In this blog, we report on interviews with teens in East Asia, many of whom are urban poor. We asked what social media apps might know about them, exposing a broad spectrum of understandings of data privacy. This is the third in a series of field dispatch reports conducted by Monica Bulger and Patrick Burton in East Asia for UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office in spring of 2019 [1]

The dark side of social media: child trafficking in East Asia

The internet offers many opportunities to children but in some cases, it can be associated with serious risks of harm for the most vulnerable. Monica Bulger and Patrick Burton talk about their research at a juvenile shelter in Jakarta, child trafficking and who is responsible for vulnerable teens’ well-being online. This is the fourth in a series of field dispatch reports conducted by in East Asia for UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office in spring of 2019

The dark side of social media: interviews with exploited teens in East Asia

When considering online risks and harms, it is important to account for the experiences and requirements of excluded populations of kids, rather than make assumptions around lack of access that could exclude them from targeted policies and systemic interventions to keep children safe online. Monica Bulger and Patrick Burton talk about their research at an assistance centre in Bangkok, online child sexual exploitation and what can be done to protect vulnerable children online. This is the final in a series of field dispatch reports conducted by in East Asia for UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office in spring of 2019. [1] Warning: this blog describes first-person accounts of sexual exploitation

Plant root-microbe communication in shaping root microbiomes

A growing body of research is highlighting the impacts root-associated microbial communities can have on plant health and development. These impacts can include changes in yield quantity and quality, timing of key developmental stages and tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses. With such a range of effects it is clear that understanding the factors that contribute to a plant-beneficial root microbiome may prove advantageous. Increasing demands for food by a growing human population increases the importance and urgency of understanding how microbiomes may be exploited to increase crop yields and reduce losses caused by disease. In addition, climate change effects may require novel approaches to overcoming abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity as well as new emerging diseases. This review discusses current knowledge on the formation and maintenance of root-associated microbial communities and plant–microbe interactions with a particular emphasis on the effect of microbe–microbe interactions on the shape of microbial communities at the root surface. Further, we discuss the potential for root microbiome modification to benefit agriculture and food production

Global Kids Online South Africa: barriers, opportunities and risks. A glimpse into South African children’s internet use and online activities

How do children use the internet? How do they access it? Does it present risks or opportunities for them, or both? What do parents think of their children’s online activities? Do they support it as an opportunity for learning? Or do they see it as harmful? We asked 913 children between nine and seventeen years, from three provinces in South Africa, and from different levels of household incomes, these questions and more. To compare their answers and find out more about the parents’ internet use, we asked 532 parents of the same children the same questions. Finally, we dug deeper into the children and parents’ answers with focus group discussions with 49 children and 20 of their parents. The report contains some of the things we found – some surprising, some not. It also makes some recommendations for opportunities for parents, teachers and schools, policy makers and reserachers, and mobile companies

MAKING THEIR MARK: Perceptions and experience of policing in Meadowlands

The Meadowlands police are faced with a disproportionate lack of resources and staff. In the meantime the people of Meadowlands experience high levels of crime that fuel a lack of faith in the police and perceptions of poor police performance. The police are seen as lazy, corrupt, and unwilling to venture into certain areas. The SAPS needs to determine whether these perceptions are justified, and whether there are simply insufficient resources at the station to meet the community’s demands. Yet, despite the constraints facing the police, public interactions with the SAPS do in some instances result in improved perceptions of the local police. The community also sees the police as the first port of call in times of trouble

EASY PREY: Results of the national youth victimisation study

Recent media reports have highlighted incidents of violence and crimes against children and young people in South Africa. Yet, up till now, there has been little exploration of the extent and nature of criminal victimisation against youth. The recent National Youth Victimisation Study reveals that young people are almost twice as likely to be victimised as adults, and that young people are surrounded by violence and crime in all the spheres they occupy: the home, the school and the community