Patrick McCarthy

In a first for U.S. carriers, Alaska Airlines announced that it is once again shifting its inflight offerings, abandoning plastic cups in favor of eco-friendly replacements. The airline will switch to FSC-certified paper cups in the main cabin and reusable glassware in first class. The move is part of a multi-year process to transition away from the airline's five greatest sources of plastic waste, including stirrers, bottles and cups, by the year 2025.

Few universities could boast having an award-winning, high-caliber author as a faculty member, but Syracuse University is fortunate enough to have two. Professors in SU’s Creative Writing MFA program, authors George Saunders and Mona Awad met over Zoom Wednesday night to discuss writing, reading and teaching literature.

There’s an interesting oxymoron unfolding in the “smart” home arena, and it is underscored by, simply put, dumb devices. The market for smart devices is saturated. Everything from toasters to toilets can earn its badge and be marketed as ‘the device of the future.’ However, the same venture into the smart space feels much like the odd trend of adding “I” in front of every device, allowing manufacturers to reproduce a consumer’s emotional response to Apple-branded products.