On today’s episode of The Confluence:When Carnegie Mellon University staff and students arrived at TCS hall in 2020, a new research project had installed mites, devices that collected data, in the university building. This sparked questions about privacy, technology and research. We speak with Tate Ryan-Mosley about where this conversation stands now. (0:00-8:13)Like districts all across the country, a rural Beaver County school district is wrestling with how to respect identity – both religion and gender. Families say their kids deserve to feel safe in school. But others in the community – including a teacher – say being required to use students’ preferred names or pronouns infringes on THEIR rights. And as 90.5 WESA’s Sarah Schneider reports, the small community is debating core identity issues in a public forum. (8:14-15:53)Cherry blossom trees are blooming in North Park! We speak to Barbara Litt, a board member with the Pittsburgh Sakura Project, about where to find the trees and what these delicate blooms symbolize. (15:53-22:30)