Because this is the one that someone chose 40 years ago and there is a lot to compare your work to. Given the fact that there is absolutely nothing at all offensive about this image, other than the source, why stop using it?

Cartman would call you pathetisad and I would be inclined to agree with him. You and Maddie should both take the time to learn why this image was used and grow up a little.

No where in any of this is there any hint that there was a parent that complained or even supported the complaint.

Even with safe search off and on the images page I have no nudity with that search in the first 1000 images... The first 5 pages of standard google results don't lead to any nudity either. Why again was the teacher wrong? The first image under image search is the desired head-shot.

But as a computer vision scientist you can surely understand why that particular image is used. It is used because it has been used before. Sure there are other fairly common images, but none with the same ability to allow wide-spread comparison with other research. New research that doesn't use it is weaker because it lacks the direct comparison. Perhaps if there was a movement to begin establishing a new baseline it could be done away with. Seems like a pointless waster of time and resources to me. the image itself isn't offensive. The fact that it comes from Playboy is only offensive to be people that are looking for a reason to be offended.

You should read her editorial it barely talks about anything in the summary or the comments.

Why is it wrong? I didn't try to overstate it. future students will not get the benefit of directly comparing their work against most of the meaningful literature in the field. How will they not be less prepared?

Taxes and fees..

You're the second person to mention Seattle in these comments. I would have never guessed the local government has essentially kept Seattle in the early 90s. It is sad.

Thing is, this is not a generic STEM class (since such a thing does not even exist). This is a CS class that was working on image processing. The image in question has been used in nearly all of the image processing literature for the last 40 years. The teacher would be doing a huge disservice to the students by not using this image. They should be encouraged to compare their work to previous work. It is how technological advancement continues. The time to object to the image was in the 1970s.

I would be interested in the rest of the story. Her editorial is almost pure drivel and it seems likely that she had a lot of input from someone pushing a social agenda. Very little of the editorial discusses the image or why it might have been a bad choice. From an argument standpoint it is a complete failure because it doesn't address the primary counter-argument, that there is no better image, in any way. Maddie has done real damage to all future students at TJ. That is really unfortunate.

Really seems like you are the one missing the context. A CS classroom is far and away the most appropriate context for showing the Lena image. There are at least hundreds of papers written on processing algorithms that reference results for using this image. If the students want to be able to compare their results to the work of others there is no better choice of image. Maggie was wrong, the news paper was wrong to publish her editorial, and the school was wrong to cave into her demands. Now CS students graduating from TJ will be slightly less prepared than they would have been.

My iPad 2 is still in use now too. I bought it on release day and use it myself until the iPad Air 2 came out. I used my iPad 2 longer than I have used any laptop I have ever owned and it is still being used in my house. Apple kept good software support on the two and after 4 years the battery still lasts all day long. What more could you want.

Too bad they completely open-sourced research kit already.

According to Doctors, every symptom may indicate cancer.

You think you should be able to discriminate against people because of their race? Maybe you want to be able to keep the disabled away?