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CLARIN

Argentine University Curriculum On Organized Crime

A drug bust in Buenos Aires
A drug bust in Buenos Aires
Ezequiel Viéitez

BUENOS AIRES — A bit bored by that class on basic accounting? How about a course instead on money laundering? Or maybe one on how to stop transnational mafia groups?

Some Argentine students will soon have access to just that kind of course material because certain universities, concerned about the expansion of organized crime in the country, are looking to target their curriculum accordingly.

Universities believe graduates are heading out into a world that is more "criminal," and therefore should be better prepared, especially those who go on to become entrepreneurs. There is so much "dirty" money in circulation, they reason, that people studying business or hotel and catering, for example, should be taught to detect money laundering and other suspicious transactions.

Ten of the country's private universities are introducing a seminar on "how to stop the advance of drug trafficking." The event, also broadcast to other Argentine schools, is the first in a series of seminars the universities are organizing to promote the issue both for public debate and as potential academic content.

"We want this to become a part of extracurricular activities for students as of next year," says Avelino Porto, a dean from Belgrano University, a private school in Buenos Aires.

Porto and his colleagues reportedly have the blessing of the Catholic Church. Another organizer of the seminars, Guillermo Marconi, says that Pope Francis himself supports the program.

"This series of proposals we are launching came from a request made by the Pope in an audience given to academic authorities," Porto says.

Pope Francis, an Argentine native, became the pontiff in March 2013. A year later, the Argentine Bishops' Conference publicly expressed concern about the advance of drug trafficking in Argentina. Regional crime organizations have shown growing interest in the South American country, which they view as both a relatively safe haven for their activities and a discreet hideout.

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Green

Forest Networks? Revisiting The Science Of Trees And Funghi "Reaching Out"

A compelling story about how forest fungal networks communicate has garnered much public interest. Is any of it true?

Thomas Brail films the roots of a cut tree with his smartphone.

Arborist and conservationist Thomas Brail at a clearcutting near his hometown of Mazamet in the Tarn, France.

Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema, & Justine Karst

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.

But is any of it true?

The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike.

First, let’s be clear: Fungi do grow inside and on tree roots, forming a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for the normal growth of trees. Among other things, the fungi can take up from the soil, and transfer to the tree, nutrients that roots could not otherwise access. In return, fungi receive from the roots sugars they need to grow.

As fungal filaments spread out through forest soil, they will often, at least temporarily, physically connect the roots of two neighboring trees. The resulting system of interconnected tree roots is called a common mycorrhizal network, or CMN.

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