Hoosiers running for public office often criticize "the government," despite wanting to be part of it.

Research published in The Conversation, a leading publisher of research-based news, finds many people misunderstand civil jobs and federal employees are dedicated to serving the public and upholding government integrity.

James L. Perry, professor emeritus of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University, who contributed to the research article, said the federal government has grown to include about 3 million career civil servants, models for democratic governments worldwide.

"We didn't have NASA. We didn't have the Social Security. Medicare came in the mid-1960s," Perry outlined. "We just have all these enterprises that are now part of the federal domain that didn't exist a few decades ago, much less 150 years ago."

Despite political differences, Perry noted civil servants prioritize executing lawful orders and providing vital expertise. Appreciating their merit-based service is crucial for maintaining effective governance. Opponents often describe the bureaucratic government jobs as the "administrative state" or "deep state."

Perry emphasized federal workers handle diverse responsibilities, from environmental protection to disaster relief, with professionalism and dedication.

"They take an oath of office, more highly respected than recent president have respected oath of office," Perry pointed out. "The reality is that civil servants take that very seriously because they say, 'I'm working on behalf of the constitution and constitutional principles.'"

Research underscores the valuable contributions of civil servants despite political rhetoric suggesting otherwise.

This story was produced with original reporting by Jaime Kucinskas and James L. Perry for The Conversation.


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The regularity of news stories with individuals being misled or even radicalized by social media brought two Colorado State University researchers to compare social media algorithms to villains in classic tragedies such as Shakespeare's "Othello."

In a paper published last fall, researchers examine how algorithms can transform a person's view of reality in ways leading to detrimental actions. Platforms track user engagement with content and then feed users more of what they like.

Hamed Qahri-Saremi, assistant professor of computer information systems at Colorado State University and co-author of the paper, said even if you are following a news website such as CNN or Fox, you will not see every post by the outlets, only what the feeding algorithm thinks will maximize your engagement.

"It's not about the source, even," Qahri-Saremi explained. "It's about what these feeding algorithms are showing to you. So if you just go onto social media to get your news, most likely you're going to be very polarized. You see the world differently, because a big part of the picture, the true picture of the world, is going to be eliminated, is going to be masked from you because that's the job of the feeding algorithms."

The authors compare algorithms to the Shakespearean character Iago, who uses lies and manipulation to mislead Othello into murdering his wife.

The paper illustrated how platforms learn about users directly by observing their behavior, including which posts they spend time with and like, and learn about users indirectly by identifying and verifying the most similar platform users. The authors refer to it as a "matching mechanism" and users can see its effects with platform suggestions of who users should follow or connect with.

When offering content to users, platforms use social signaling to drive engagement by showing them which friends liked or commented on a post. Qahri-Saremi noted when misinformation is presented, social signals increase the likelihood users will engage.

"The person who sees that misinformation on social media is not just any random person, it's a person that the algorithm has selected and probably have added some social signals to it," Qahri-Saremi pointed out. "This significantly increases the power of this misinformation content."

Platform algorithms have the ability to select from the many millions of pieces of content floating around on social media, and choose the ones driving individual user engagement the most. With social media platforms primarily in the business of selling advertising, Qahri-Saremi emphasized the kind of granular data algorithms can learn about users makes them some of the most profitable companies around.

"These are some of the best algorithms," Qahri-Saremi stressed. "That's why social media companies are so wealthy. They can sell ads like nobody else; they can customize ads like nobody else. So now the same machine is being used to disseminate misinformation."

The paper suggested methods to combat misinformation, among them using an "endorsing accuracy" prompt such as "I think this news is accurate" and connecting it to the sharing function.

In just six years, the U.S. has pivoted from a complete ban on sports betting to a place where it is legal in most states, and young men could be paying a heavy price.

Joshua B. Grubbs, associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico, found in his research risky types of drinking -- both heavy and binge drinking -- often go hand in hand with sports wagering.

Grubbs analyzed data from more than 4,000 adults across the country who shared their drinking and betting habits. He said excessive drinking can lead to problematic betting behaviors.

"With sports gambling in particular, it tends to appeal to young men -- and we already know from past research that watching sporting events is associated with drinking more -- it's the common American hobby of, you watch the game, toss back a few beers with your friends," Grubbs noted.

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to adopt sports betting, although it is still illegal in 12 states, including the two most populous, California and Texas. New Mexico does not allow online betting, but does allow "in person" betting at a handful of tribal casinos.

Grubbs pointed out on average, gamblers report more frequent binge drinking episodes than the general public but episodes among sports gamblers are considerably higher than either group. Because people drawn to such activities are typically younger, they are also more impulsive, which he said makes it important to set a "loss limit," a firm amount of money they are willing to lose.

"If you go into gambling saying, 'I'm going tonight with my friends to the casino, I have a $100 I can lose and I'm willing to lose $100 to have fun with my friends.' If that mentality is something you stick to, you're very unlikely to have a problem," Grubbs contended.

Grubbs added while there are designated federal research funds for drug use or alcohol misuse, they have not been used for treating gambling addiction, despite clear links between gambling and substance use problems. The research, funded by the International Center for Responsible Gaming, was published on the JAMA Network Open.

New worker safety regulations meant to log how many hours truckers are on the road may have inadvertently exposed millions of U.S. 18-wheelers to hackers who could take control of entire fleets of vehicles, according to a new Colorado State University paper.

Jake Jepson, co-author and graduate research assistant at Colorado State University, said it's important to create guard rails as the nation's transportation networks, power grids, water systems and other critical infrastructure move online.

"Each year those systems that never used to be connected to the internet or have any wireless connections are becoming more and more connected," he said. "And that can introduce vulnerabilities."

C.S.U. researchers found the cybersecurity gaps in electronic logging devices, which track a host of data required for inspections. The devices are connected to the vehicle's control systems, and are not currently required to carry cybersecurity precautions. In one example, the paper shows how hackers can manipulate trucks wirelessly and force them to pull over.

Jeremy Daily, C.S.U. associate professor, said students were able to locate the gaps by reverse-engineering one of the devices, which are produced by third-party vendors, and that adding new electronics to trucks that don't go through a typical manufacturer's design process can introduce new vulnerabilities.

"When regulators are introducing new requirements, they have to be aware of the cyber security implications," he explained.

Daily estimates that more than 14 million medium-and heavy-duty trucks that form the core of the U.S. shipping sector may have been exposed. He says the paper's findings can help device vendors fix the problem.

"The happy ending of this story is that we have worked with the vendor, and they have come up with a patch to the problem," he continued. "And so, it's important for the truckers and the people that have these devices to pay attention to those software update recommendations when they come out."