Penn State News - Top News
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — John Christman, Penn State professor of philosophy, political science, and women’s studies, has been named the inaugural director of the Penn State Humanities Institute. Christman’s appointment is effective July 1, which also will be the institute’s first day of operations.“I am delighted that John has agreed to assume the helm of the Humanities Institute,” said Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, in announcing Christman’s appointment. “His previous leadership experience, his reputation as a teacher, adviser, and scholar, and his interdisciplinary breadth are the perfect combination needed to help guide the new institute as we further our efforts to advance the humanities disciplines. Under John’s leadership, I believe the institute will become a hub of greater intellectual discovery on humanistic concerns such as ethics and their impact on our actions, or how historical and cultural perspectives structure the way our society functions today.”
Christman joined the Penn State faculty in 1998 and has served as acting or interim head of the Department of Philosophy on four separate occasions since 2005. A specialist in ethics and socio-political philosophy, he has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications related to his research, including a book, “The Politics of Persons: Individual Autonomy and Socio-historical Selves” (Cambridge University Press, 2009). Christman is also a well-regarded teacher and adviser, as evidenced by his receiving the Penn State Graduate Faculty Teaching Award in 2013 and the College of the Liberal Art's Advisor of the Year award in 2011.
As the institute’s inaugural director, Christman hopes to strengthen Penn State’s reputation and prominence in the humanities, while also highlighting the critical role that humanities play in the world today.
“The humanities have faced really acute challenges over the past several years,” Christman said. “The Humanities Institute needs to position itself as a prominent voice touting the value of humanities research and push ...
Read More
Monday, March 13, 2017
John Christman named inaugural director of the Penn State Humanities Institute
Schiel breaks MSU record, earns third title at Big Sky Indoor Championships
Sports – The MSU Exponent
Christie Shiel, mid-distance runner for the MSU track team, pictured on Friday, March 3, 2017.
Photo by Zach NellAt the Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 25, senior standout Christie Schiel ran a time of 2:08.29 in the 800-meter run, earning her third Big Sky Conference title and breaking the school record. Her converted altitude time of 2:07.69 is the eighth fastest in this event in conference history.
A fifth-year senior, Schiel redshirted indoor season her freshman year and outdoor season her sophomore year. The Cheyenne, Wyoming native never competed in track and field in high school, but instead ran cross country and played basketball and soccer. “I wanted to do athletics in college, and I decided I wanted to run track because it was something I never got to do, and I thought I’d be pretty good at it,” Schiel said. She was recruited by MSU for her cross country times, and her first ever year of track was her freshman outdoor season. With two meets left in that first season, Schiel ran her first competitive 800-meter run. “It went really well, and from then on I’ve been an 800 runner,” she said.
Schiel had been working hard to break the school record all season, and the hard work finally paid off. “There’s a big clock at the finish line, so crossing the line I knew right away that I’d broken it,” she explained. “I don’t know quite how to articulate that feeling. It’s something I’ve been working toward all season, so it was really rewarding knowing all the hard work paid off.”
Schiel also said that, “records are meant to be broken.” To her, being an MSU record holder is something she’s proud of, but something she hopes one of her younger teammates will also be able to achieve. “It’s really nice ...
Read more
March Madness: Getting to know the No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament
NCAA RSS
*Note: All data is from the 1985 tournament to the present.
In 1985, the Villanova Wildcats shocked the college basketball world with their 69-64 upset over Georgetown in the title game. The team not only won the first tournament that expanded to 64 teams, but nearly 31 years later, Villanova remains the lowest seed to ever capture the national championship.
But the Wildcats almost didn’t make it out of the first round as they barely escaped No. 9 seed Dayton with a 51-49 win. Sometimes for the eight seeds, the opening round can be just as challenging as any other part of the tournament.
No. 8 seeds have the most difficult match ups (as "favorites") in the first round since they are usually so evenly matched with their No. 9 seed counterparts. Since the tournament expanded to 64, teams in the eight slot have won 64 of the 128 first-round matchups (exactly half), but the No. 8 seed holds the slimmest margin of any first-round game: 0.05 points.
Another Wildcats team in the No. 8 seed almost didn’t make it out of the opening round. The 2014 Kentucky Wildcats barely survived No. 9 Kansas State but eventually advanced to the national championship against seventh-seeded Connecticut. Kentucky is tied with BYU for the most appearances as an eighth-seed and has a 3-1 record compared to the Cougars' 0-4 record.
More than 60 percent of the 8-9 games have been decided by single digits.
It is also rare for all four eight seeds to sweep the nine seeds and it has occurred only three times since 1985, including 2015’s tournament field of North Carolina State, Cincinnati, Oregon and San Diego State.
Last year almost saw the opposite happen as Saint Joseph’s was the only No. 8 seed to advance, only doing so after No. 9 Cincinnati’s last-second game-tying dunk was called off, giving the Hawks a 78-76 win, though they would fall to No. 1 seed Oregon in ...
Read More
The Value of Cutting Arts Programs
Opinion – The MSU Exponent
Currently, Montana State University is operating at a healthy profit, making about $10 million per year with increasing enrollment meaning greater revenue. While promising, this situation is precarious, as at any time an economic decline or act of government could cause MSU expenses to increase. The imminent $23 million budget cut in the Montana university system is an example of this. So, in this case, MSU should strongly consider decreasing the amount of funding it provides to arts programs before cutting other programs or increasing tuition. While a philosophical belief of whether money or culture is more important to societal development may ultimately decide a person’s view on this issue, there are some logical reasons for taking this course of action.
The primary argument revolves around projected earnings post-graduation. According to MSU survey data, students who graduate with arts and architecture majors earn an average of $34,549 per year in entry-level positions, while the average of all other majors’ entry level positions provide $42,231 per year in earnings. Although career earnings are extremely variable, simulations also show that average career earnings for arts majors are nearly uniformly lower than career earnings for business, engineering and other majors. Given that our society runs on money, it can be said that non-arts majors give graduates an advantage when entering and living in the real world.
With this in mind, MSU should consider the financial well-being of their students when applying budget cuts. By restricting some programs, ideally students will turn toward other, more lucrative majors, improving their quality of life after graduation. It may not have been their first preference, but the stability will be worth it. MSU would also be wise to channel funds into their better performing majors for the long term health of cultural programs. By ensuring the economy has enough skilled workers to fuel it, society will have enough excess money ...
Read more
Farewell to another Legacy
Sports – Dakota Student
The victory gave the Fighting Hawks a Big Sky regular season title, as well as the no. 1 seed in the conference tournament in Reno, Nev. The Hawks’ 19-9 regular season record (14-4 Big Sky) is the best in UND’s Division I history.
“It’s something special. It’s unbelievable, really,” Hooker said. “It’s everything that being a basketball player you dream of as a young kid and to be able to do that here at the University of North Dakota. I’m truly just so thankful.”
The regular season title was UND’s first in the Big Sky Conference and for Hooker, it was a long time coming.
“All the glory goes to God,” Hooker said. “We could not have done this without Him. Truly, this has been four years in the works. seeing my freshmen year, getting to that championship and how close we were to getting a regular season championship then. There’s still a lot of work to be done. We are going to enjoy this moment for today and just be blessed to be in this position.”
While Hooker has his sights on a Big Sky tournament championship, he has arguably established himself as the top player of UND’s Division I era already.
Throughout his career, Hooker is a three-time captain, three-time UND leading scorer, two-time First Team All-Big Sky honoree, and a Lou Henson Mid-Major All American. In addition, he became the first player to average more than 20.0 points per game in ...
Read more
Beronda Montgomery: Growing from adviser to mentor
MSUToday - Featured stories March 8, 2017
Beronda Montgomery is MSU Foundation Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and microbiology and molecular genetics in the Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory. She serves as assistant provost of faculty and academic staff development—research and scholarship.
I remember the great responsibility I felt when the first graduate student decided to join my research team. In preparing for her arrival, I highlighted the list of course requirements for her doctoral program and quickly outlined the first biochemistry experiments that she would conduct. I was cautiously optimistic that we would be positioned to make significant inroads in understanding how plants perceive what is going on around them to inform which activities and behaviors best situate them for success and productivity based on the environments in which they exist, which is one focus of my scientific work.
As the student began to work diligently in the laboratory, it quickly became clear that my preparation had positioned me to serve as an adviser, but not necessarily a mentor. These are two names that are often used interchangeably to describe what happens when engaging with those individuals we supervise. However, I have come to fully understand that advising does not equal mentoring. Advising at its core is offering advice or factual information that would benefit any individual on a defined course of action – and I was clearly prepared to do that valiantly. I knew exactly what classes a student seeking a doctoral degree in my student’s chosen discipline needed to take.
Mentoring is so much more than offering generic advice. As I began to know the student, I realized that her needs were centered in her prior experiences and individual characteristics. The challenge that I faced was that in all of the preparation I had received for leading successful research, I had not received intentional preparation for developing a personal philosophy ...
Read more
A conversation with Paul G. Allen
www.dailyuw.com - RSS Results in news,news/* of type article After an event establishing the new Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, The Daily got the opportunity to sit down with the school’s new namesake to discuss his philanthropic contributions and the future of coding.The Daily: You have given a lot to the university over the years. We’re in a building that bears your name and now the school will too. How do your goals and values align with the UW and why is having this relationship with the university important to you?Paul Allen: Well I have such a strong historical and family connection to the university, so probably some of my first memories as a kid were coming here with my mother and waiting for my father to end his workday at the library. And after awhile my dad said, ‘Hey I’m gonna be working, why don’t you come and just hang out in the stacks and read books while I’m working?’ I used to do that for hours on end, so even as a kid I was spending hours every month on campus. And it’s a great university and I’ve always felt that kind of deep connection, although I’m sure not — I may have taken a summer school course here, but I don’t think I took any — I went to Washington State. But even my parents picked our house so they could be in the Ravenna neighborhood so we could be close to campus, so there’s a lot of continuity there and it’s a great university, and I’ve always wanted to try to help out where I could.
The Daily: You have made a lot of contributions to many different areas — music, brain science, conservation efforts — and clearly have a diverse array of interests. When in college, it can sometimes be ...
Read more
March Madness: Getting to know the No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament
NCAA RSS
*Note: All data is from the 1985 tournament to the present.
For 17 of the 31 years since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams, at least one No. 14 seed has triumphed over a No. 3 seed. Last year, that No. 14 seed was Stephen F. Austin, thanks to Thomas Walkup, who hit 19-of-20 free throws and ended with 33 points as the Lumberjacks took down West Virginia 70-56.
The No. 14 seed's first-round record is still well below average (21-107), but the likelihood of a upset is still higher than a 15 or 16 seed winning an opening-round match.
Only two of 14 seeds have ever advanced past the second round, and college basketball fans were treated to a big Cinderella story in 1986 when Cleveland State upset Indiana, 83-79, in the first round and then Saint Joseph's in the second round 75-69.
[embedded content]
Cleveland State’s run in 1986 was special, but Chattanooga’s race to the Sweet 16 in 1997 was a bit more exciting. The Mocs pulled out a three-point win over third-seeded Georgia in the first round, 73-70. With the momentum in the second round, Chattanooga stormed past Illinois in the second round and into the Sweet 16, but lost to 10th-seeded Providence by six points.
While the average margin for the 14 vs. 3 games is 10.6 points, the lower-seeded teams are actually 11-9 in matches decided by 3 points or less. Before SFA, the last two 14 seed upsets (Georgia State over Baylor and UAB over Iowa State in 2015) were decided by one point.
The biggest upset in a 14 vs. 3 game — 14 points — is tied between SFA's win last year, and when Ohio topped Georgetown 97-83 in 2010. Armon Bassett scored 32 points for the Bobcats and DJ Cooper added 23 to shock the Hoyas.
The 14 seed has also come on strong in the last four years, where five of 16 matchups have gone to the lower-seeded team.
Read More
Rebels Hit the Road for Spring Break
The Daily Mississippian Map created by students in a journalism class.
Spring break has arrived, and Rebels are making their way all around the country to celebrate.
Some students, like sophomore accounting major Nathan Bell, are driving hours across the map for a change in scenery.
“My friends and I are going to Colorado this year instead of the whole beach thing like last time,” Bell said. “For sure it’s a long drive, but it’s nice being able to kick it in the snow.”
Senior business major Shanice Powell is also avoiding the beach this week. Powell is an exchange student from Germany and said she is excited to spend her first spring break in the United States.
“We don’t have it in Germany because our spring semester – we call it summer semester – doesn’t start until late March or even the beginning of April,” Powell said.
Powell said she is flying to Washington, D.C., over the break and knows her trip may not be the ideal spring break for a college student.
“There is nothing particular I’ve always wanted to do,” Powell said. “But I didn’t want to go to Florida to drink for five days straight and party like many people would.”
Ole Miss Outdoors is offering its own alternative to the warm beaches, big cities and snow-covered mountains toward which many students gravitate.
This spring break, OMOD will take students on two different wilderness expeditions – through the canyons of Utah and along the Buffalo River in Arkansas.
The group’s land-based trip will take place at Zion National Park in Utah, and students on the water-based trip will paddle canoes down the Buffalo River.
At Zion National Park, participants will hike through canyons called “The Narrows” and “Angel’s Landing.” On the canoe expedition, participants will spend six days on the river, stopping at ...
Read more
Football player John Plattenburg to retire
Daily Trojan
The Trojans’ secondary took a hit on Thursday as senior safety John Plattenburg retired from football due to concussion concerns. Plattenburg is coming off a season in which he suffered two concussions: one prior to the start of the campaign and one during USC’s Rose Bowl victory in January.The Trojans were wrapping up their second practice of the spring when head coach Clay Helton made the announcement.
“Because of medical situations, he’s chosen to just concentrate on academics and go ahead and pull away from football,” Helton said.
Plattenburg arrived at USC in 2014 and started six of USC’s final seven games during his freshman season, splitting three starts at each safety position. He built on that foundation his sophomore year, appearing in all of the Trojans’ games except one due to illness and drawing eight starts. Plattenburg grabbed two interceptions in 2015 and won USC’s Community Service Award.
He suffered his first concussion during 2016 fall camp, however, which forced him out of the Trojans’ first four games of the season. Plattenburg missed another two games working back into the safety rotation and was eventually limited to just six games (no starts) in his junior campaign, suffering another concussion in USC’s season finale against Penn State.
Going into spring practice, Plattenburg was looking to carve out a role in the safety rotation in his final Trojan season.
“Great kid; he’s done so much for us,” Helton said. “He’s a Trojan for life, absolutely love him, but he will finish out and get his degree. He has a special place in our hearts.”
Read more
Sac State spiked against Boise State beach volleyball team
The State Hornet
Sacramento State senior Madeline Cannon spikes the ball for a point against Boise State Sunday at the Livermore Community Park. (Photo by Matthew Dyer)
The Sacramento State women’s beach volleyball team lost to Boise State Sunday in a 5-0 sweep at Livermore Community Park in Folsom.
The Hornets’ No. 5 duo of juniors Lana Brown and Hannah Meadows had close sets against the Broncos, but came up short in both, 21-18 and 21-19. Sac State sophomores Skyler Takeda and Brie Gathright pushed their No. 4 match to a third set, but couldn’t catch up to the lead Boise State set early on, falling 15-5.
“We had a couple of teams put themselves in positions to win, but it just didn’t go our way this time,” Sac State co-head coach Ed Jackson said. “That’s how it works.”
Early losses in the first two matches left the Hornets in need of three consecutive wins to defeat Boise State.
“Just the way that beach is set up, it’s tough to watch two teams lose,” Sac State senior Madeline Cannon said. “That’s a lot of pressures on (No. 3) and on (No. 1) and (No. 2) to try and alleviate that stress.”
Sacramento State senior Lexie Skalbeck dives for the ball against Boise State Sunday at the Livermore Community Park. (Photo by Matthew Dyer)The No. 3 team of junior Kennedy Kurtz and freshman Sarah Davis lost in the first (21-10) and second set (21-17) — ensuring an overall win for Boise State.
The Broncos ended the match in a 5-0 sweep after Sac State junior Shannon Boyle and senior Lexie Skalbeck lost at No. 2, while Cannon and senior Morgan Stanley were defeated at the No. 1 spot in their third set, 15-11.
“I just think we didn’t come out aggressive to play today,” Stanley said. “We just weren’t as prepared as we have ...
Read more
Softball defeats Northern Iowa for third straight win
The Louisville Cardinal By Dalton Ray–After having two games canceled on day two, softball (15-7) held off a late rally from Northern Iowa (12-10) on day three of the Louisville Tournament. The 8-5 win gives Louisville their eighth win in the last nine games.Senior Maryssa Becker (11-4) pitched her third game of the weekend and pitched all seven innings. Sitting down seven, the dual player upped her yearly total to 84 strikeouts. In her 11th complete game, Becker allowed four hits and three earned runs in the fifth inning.In the bottom of the first inning, redshirt junior Nicole Pufahl reached on a fielder’s choice that scored senior Jordan McNary. Pufahl scored when junior Allison Szdlowski attempt to steal second base.Becker started the second inning by striking out the side and Louisville tacked on another pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.In the third, an error allowed UNI’s Courtney Krodinger to single and placed Jaci Spencer in scoring position. With runners on the corner and two outs, Becker got out of the jam with a ground-out.In the bottom of the fourth, freshman Caitlin Ferguson recorded her second and third RBI of the game with a shot to left field. McNary’s RBI single pushed the Louisville lead to 7-0.The Panthers got the best of Becker in the top of the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out. Brittany Krodinger double to left field brought home two runs. UNI scored another two runs before the end of the inning.Junior Jamie Soles recorded her second RBI in the bottom of the fifth, making the score 8-4 Louisville.In the top of the sixth, UNI’s Spencer recorded an RBI single to cut the lead to three.In Northern Iowa’s final at bat, Becker’s fatigue started to show as she allowed two runners ...
Read more
Letter from University President John R. Broderick and SGA President Rachael Edmonds
From the moment students set foot on campus, Old Dominion University fosters a climate of inclusion. We take great pride in the displays of unity and mutual support that take place here every day.This morning, the University community learned of an extremely offensive video circulating online that features a person wearing an Old Dominion University branded shirt. This is an outrageous act of hate and intolerance and we are sickened by this vile video. There is no place on this campus for hate and divisiveness.University administrators are taking this matter seriously and University police are investigating. If you have any information that may be helpful to this investigation, please call the ODU Police Department at 757-683-4000.These types of incidents stand as a stark reminder that we must continue our resolve to educate on the importance of civility and inclusion. It is what we as a Monarch Nation stand for and represent every day.We understand that hateful words and messages cause harm, and our beloved university community stands together to support each other. Our Counseling Center is open to anyone who needs support and the Office of Intercultural Relations staff are available to all who would like to engage in discussion and in support of one another.We are a caring and inclusive university community, and united, we strongly denounce the video and stand against hate. Our resolve to build a unified campus community is stronger than ever.Sincerely,John R. BroderickPresidentRachael EdmondsSGA President[Editor’s note: On Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2:46 p.m., the ODU PAO released the following folo statement to Mace & Crown in an email regarding the controversial, racist rap video posted on YouTube – “Old Dominion University Police are diligently investigating this matter. Because it is an active investigation, no further information is available at this time.” – Mace & Crown will keep you updated as soon ...
Read more
Legislators Push Restructure Bill to Referendum
News – The Emory Wheel
A bill to restructure the undergraduate student government will go to an undergraduate-wide referendum after it passed the 50th legislature of the Student Government Association (SGA) Monday. SGA convened Monday night to host a second public forum on the undergraduate government restructure bill and vote on the restructure and diversity and equity bills.
Bill 50sl24 to restructure the legislature passed 14 for, one against, falling one voter short of quorum according to SGA’s Constitution. However, SGA Executive Vice President and Goizueta Business School senior Gurbani Singh said that the legislature has been deciding votes on simple majority since the split bill referendum. SGA President and College senior Max Zoberman said in a Feb. 27 interview with the Wheel that the legislature did not need to reach quorum to pass the bill because SGA is loosely following the pre-split Constitution so long as it does not prevent them from creating a new government structure.
There is currently a debate on the state of the SGA Constitution. All undergraduate students will be able to vote on the restructure bill in a referendum March 13 to 15 via Orgsync. A simple majority is required to pass the bill.
An amendment to the bill that would have created four new divisional councils under SGA — recreation and wellness, service, arts and media — failed to pass with a vote of 14 against, one for and five abstentions.
College Council (CC) Liaison for SGA and College senior Taj Singh read a letter from CC President and College senior Molly Zhu on behalf of CC to SGA expressing opposition to the amendment to create new divisional councils.
“Members of CC are not comfortable with this amendment because there are so many unknown details of the structure … including chartering and financial impact … and the necessary conversations with constituents have not occurred,” Singh read.
Although CC acknowledged that issues in its “bylaws have left ...
Read more
March Madness: Getting to know the No. 15 seed in the NCAA tournament
NCAA RSS
*Note: All data is from the 1985 tournament to the present.
After the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, it took six years before a 15 seed knocked off a 2 seed, when Richmond beat Syracuse in 1991, 73-69. And every couple of years, a 15 seed shocks the college basketball world with a crazy upset.
We got that shocker last year when No. 15 Middle Tennessee never trailed in their opening round matchup on the way to upsetting No. 2 Michigan State 90-81.
The Spiders jumped out to an early 44-36 halftime lead and despite an Orange comeback in second, held on for the 73-69 win on March 14, 1991.
Richmond was the first, but seven others have followed, including four in the last five tournaments, meaning the 2 seed isn’t as safe as some may have believed.
The 2012 NCAA tournament was particularly volatile for the 15 vs. 2 match-ups, as lower-seeded Norfolk State and Lehigh grabbed impressive wins in the first round on the same day. After 11 years of smooth sailing for second-seeded teams, Norfolk State eked out a win over Missouri and Lehigh built up enough momentum to beat Duke by five.
While the 15 seed sports a lowly winning percentage of 6.25, a good 25 percent of the matches have come to within single digits for the lower-seeded team, almost double the amount for the 16 seeds.
Only one 15 seed has advanced past the second round, when Florida Gulf Coast made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen in 2013. In only its second year of full NCAA eligibility and first in the NCAA tournament, the Eagles shocked the college basketball world by not only beating second-seeded Georgetown by 10 points in the first round, but also beating seventh-seeded San Diego State to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Louisiana Monroe and Belmont own the most 15 seed appearances, as both the Warhawks and the Bruins have four berths at that slot in the 31 years ...
Read More
Police Blotter
NEWS – The Parthenon
Filed under NEWSAdvertisement
Close Modal Window
Close Modal Window
Manufacture of Controlled Substance
At 10:18 a.m. March 2, two incubators for plants with marijuana growing in them were found in the maintenance room in the basement of Smith Hall. Marshall University Police confiscated and processed the plants. There are no suspects at this time.
Destruction of Property
March 2 between 6:20 and 9:30 p.m. a Cadillac vehicle was scratched on the driver’s side. It was parked on the third floor of the Third Avenue parking garage. The victim estimated the damage to be $1000. There are no suspects.
Burglary
Between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. March 2, a victim reported $200 was stolen from an unlocked room in Freshman North Residence Hall. He stated an unknown person had entered his room when no one was present and forcefully opened the lid of a locked locker box that contained a jar of $20 bills amounting to $200. MUPD processed the box for finger prints, but no suspects have been identified.
Possession of Marijuana
During a patrol of the Third Avenue parking garage March 5 at 2:05 a.m., an MUPD officer identified a white male laying back in the driver’s seat of a dark blue Jeep Liberty who appeared to be under the influence. After searching the vehicle, the officer recovered two small joints and a Yuengling beer. The suspect was issued an arrest citation for unlawful drinking under the age of 21 and possession of marijuana. The joints were seized and logged into evidence.
Heather Barker can be contacted at [email protected]
Read more
Dane County Board moves to amend ordinance to protect immigrant community
News – The Badger Herald
Shortly after President Donald Trump issued a second executive order with regard to immigrant and refugee entry, the Dane County Board planned to amend an ordinance that will now require the county to keep community members’ immigration status confidential.The amendment provides clarification on what items fall under “confidential information” and outlines which county employees are required to not disclose the information.
Dane County Board says ‘no’ to executive orders, ‘yes’ to inclusionThe Dane County Board of Supervisors took a stand against two of President Donald Trump’s controversial executive orders Thursday, as Read…
Information the county obtains regarding sexual orientation and immigration status now fall under “confidential information,” according to the amendment.
In an email to The Badger Herald, Supervisor Carousel Bayrd, District 8, said this ordinance protecting confidential immigration status will go a “long way” toward addressing the fear some of her constituents feel.
“The fear in our immigrant community is real,” Baryd said.
According to the amendment, if there is a need for the information to be released to outside agencies, county employees must first talk with the Dane County corporation council. Aside from this, information is not to be released by any county employee except for employees of the District Attorney’s Office, Dane County Sheriff’s Office or the Clerk of Courts.
Dane County Board stands in solidarity with Muslim communityThis can’t be real, University of Wisconsin junior Najeeha Khan thought to herself. Khan and likely millions of other Muslims Read…
Bayrd said she wanted to recommend the amendment to the executive council to address any concerns they may have with it.
“I certainly want to protect our immigrant community,” Bayrd. “I also don’t want to give the impression that we are trying to do an end-run around open government. Open government, and open access to legal information, is essential to democracy.”
The county ...
Read more
As Moore’s law ends, brain-like computers begin
Stanford News
March 13, 2017As Moore’s law nears its physical limits, a new generation of brain-like computers comes of age in a Stanford lab Conventional computer chips aren’t up to the challenges posed by next-generation autonomous drones and medical implants. Now, Kwabena Boahen has laid out a way forward, using ideas built in to our brains.
Facebook
Twitter
Email
By Nathan Collins
For five decades, Moore’s law held up pretty well: Roughly every two years, the number of transistors one could fit on a chip doubled, all while costs steadily declined. Today, however, transistors and other electronic components are so small they’re beginning to bump up against fundamental physical limits on their size. Moore’s law has reached its end, and it’s going to take something different to meet the need for computing that is ever faster, cheaper and more efficient.
Professor Kwabena Boahen has written “A Neuromorph’s Prospectus” outlining how to build computers that directly mimic in silicon what the brain does in flesh and blood. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)
As it happens, Kwabena Boahen, a professor of bioengineering and of electrical engineering, has a pretty good idea what that something more is: brain-like, or neuromorphic, computers that are vastly more efficient than the conventional digital computers we’ve grown accustomed to.
This is not a vision of the future, Boahen said. As he lays out in the latest issue of Computing in Science and Engineering, the future is now.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we need to do something different,” said Boahen, who is also a member of Stanford Bio-X and the Stanford Neurosciences Institute. “Our lab’s three decades of experience has put us in a position where we can do something different, something competitive.”
30 years in the making
It’s a moment Boahen has been working toward his entire adult ...
Read more
Slam dunks of silver screen
Cavalier Daily
Ranking best basketball movie classics
by Dan Goff
| Mar 13 2017 | 1 hour ago
Sports movies often get a bad rap. They are criticized for being formulaic and predictable, with one-dimensional characters played by athletes, who are not natural actors. That being said, the true classics of sports movies should not be overlooked — and this is doubly true of basketball movies. Here are five of the most notable, well-made or otherwise memorable basketball movies.No. 5: “Teen Wolf”Some may consider this an odd way to start off the list, but look past the admittedly campy premise and a poignant coming-of-age story can be found. Michael J. Fox plays Scott Howard, a high-school loser who finds popularity and young love when he starts transforming into a werewolf, which in turn makes him a basketball star. But Scott soon experiences the dark side of his hairy fame and must win over his sweetheart — and save his struggling team — as a mere human.It sounds almost unwatchable, but there are some genuinely touching moments in this film. Scott’s quest for love is relatably embarrassing to many high school boys, and the basketball scenes — while far from realistic — are always entertaining. Forget “Back to the Future” — this was Fox’s role of a lifetime. No. 4: “Glory Road”This is definitely one of basketball’s more formulaic movies, but still a classic dramatization of one of the sport’s most historic moments. Josh Lucas is earnest if not remarkable in his role as Don Haskins, the coach of the first NCAA basketball team to have an all-black starting five. He worked young recruits into shape throughout a plot rife with training montages, but they are enjoyable nonetheless.The story follows the traditional “insurmountable odds” arc, leading the viewer to guess the ending even if it’s not already known from history. But more than anything else, “Glory ...
Read more
Syracuse earns top seed in National Invitation Tournament
The Daily Orange – The Independent Student Newspaper of Syracuse, New York
Syracuse earned a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament after missing the NCAA Tournament when eligible for the first time in nine years.
The Orange will play eighth-seeded North Carolina Greensboro on Tuesday in the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m. The Spartans finished the regular season 25-9 and first in the Southern Conference. The last time SU played in the NIT, 2008, the Orange made the quarterfinals. Syracuse also made the NIT quarterfinals in 2007.
SU got off to its worst start ever through 12 games under Jim Boeheim, dropping to 7-5 after a 33-point loss to St. John’s in the Carrier Dome. That was only one of five losses to teams that finished outside the RPI Top 100, including defeats to Connecticut, Georgetown, Boston College and Pittsburgh.
The Orange beat five teams in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, Duke, Florida State, Virginia, Miami and Wake Forest. Respectively, those teams were seeded seventh, 10th, 17th, 30th and 43rd overall by the selection committee in this year’s 68-team field.
In the NIT, the higher seed hosts until the Final Four, which is played at Madison Square Garden. That means the Orange will host a maximum of three games before traveling to New York City if it advances that far.
If Syracuse beats UNC Greensboro, it will face the winner of Monmouth and Mississippi in the Carrier Dome.
“When we get ready to play a game, as a competitor, you want to go out and win the game,” Boeheim said. “Our players are going to want to win. They’re disappointed, everybody’s disappointed, but you have a game, whenever that may be and you want to get ready and you want to go out and play.”
Published on March 12, 2017 at 8:40 pm
Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman
Read more
Potential bill could force UH to cooperate with federal immigration requests
News – The Daily Cougar By Traynor Swanson March 10, 2017
If passed by the Texas House of Representatives and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, Senate Bill 4 could require college campuses to enforce federal immigration law or be faced with a loss of state funding. | File photo/The Cougar
Texas public universities could lose state funding if they fail to comply with federal immigration enforcement in the detention of undocumented immigrants, according to the Texas Tribune.
Senate Bill 4, passed by the Texas Senate in February, would penalize any local or state government entities, including college campuses, that do not cooperate with federal immigration requests, known as ICE detainers — effectively preventing Texas cities from becoming so-called sanctuary cities. Any entity in violation of the law could lose state funding.
Officials could be subject to a Class A misdemeanor, resulting in a punishment of up to one year in a county jail and a fine up to $4,000, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“The law in effect tries to create a situation where localities will feel pressure to enforce the immigration laws,” said Geoffrey Hoffman, director of the UH Law Center Immigration Clinic.
Hoffman said enforcing immigration laws is the “province of the federal government — not the states,” under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
According to the Texas Tribune, Laredo Sen. Judith Zaffirini proposed an amendment that would have removed college campuses from the bill, but it was voted down across party lines. If the bill is passed by the Texas House of Representatives and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, UHPD officials could be charged if they do not enforce federal immigration laws.
Executive Director of Media Relations Mike Rosen said that UH complies with all local, state and federal laws. A cursory search of UHPD’s records did not reveal any instances of someone being detained strictly for the purpose of an ICE investigation, he said.
The ...
Read more
March Madness: Getting to know the No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament
NCAA RSS
*Note: All data is from the 1985 tournament to the present.
The history of the 16 seed is well-documented: No wins in 128 games against a 1 seed in the history of the men’s tournament. But that doesn’t mean there weren't great performances or close games that pushed the envelope of history.
While the average margin for a 1 vs. 16 game in the NCAA tournament is 25.1 points, 15 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points. And in 1989, two 16 seeds took their opponents to the brink of defeat, as East Tennessee State and Princeton both led their opponents at halftime. However, ETSU failed to put away Oklahoma, who came back from 17 points down to win, 72-71, and Princeton narrowly lost to Georgetown, 50-49.
RELATED: Have 1 seed vs. 16 seed games been getting closer?
Oklahoma trimmed ETSU’s double-digit lead in the first half to six at halftime, and a go-ahead score by Mookie Blaylock with 1:21 left in the game pushed the Sooners past the Buccaneers on March 16, 1989. One day later, again history was almost shattered, as Princeton had two chances to win its opening round game over Georgetown before center Alonzo Mourning blocked last-second shots by Bob Scrabis and Kit Mueller to preserve the victory for the Hoyas.
One year later, a 16 seed took a 1 seed to overtime for the first time in tournament history, as Murray State’s Greg Coble hit a 3-pointer late in the game to tie Michigan State 65-65 before the Spartans eventually won in overtime.
Year
Winner
Loser
Score
1985
Michigan
Fairleigh Dickinson
59-55
1989
Oklahoma
East Tennessee State
72-71
1989
Georgetown
Princeton
72-71
1990
Michigan State
Murray State
75-71
1996
Purdue
Western Michigan
73-71
Read More
Website supporting international students on display at Faculty Senate meeting
Western Herald - news
Western Michigan University continues showing it’s support for International students by creating the link https://wmich.edu/global/welcomeatwestern.
The “You Are Welcome Here” section was created on a part of WMU’s Global engagement website and was highlighted at the Faculty Senate meeting on March 2, which contains resources for both students and faculty.
Wolfgang Schloer, gave the update on the international students and what issues were faced due to the perception of the proposed executive order that eventually failed back in February.
“Mostly with students on campus and with prospective students, which we have seen an impact on recruitment efforts,” Schloer said.
International students completed surveys in regards to concerns and comments on campus.
“We were pleased to hear that those students truly appreciate and feel the support from the campus community,” Schloer said. “There is no doubt that Western and Kalamazoo are supportive.”
In other news, progression in the general education conversation continued as they took the time to recap the history of general education, as well as delve into the importance of the the design for the general education curriculum that is currently ongoing.
Mervyn Elliott discussed the reasons of why the current general education curriculum is unsatisfactory, highlighting one of the main responses heard on campus from students. As most students claim to say they are just random classes they take “just to get them out of the way.”
“They don’t feel there is enough purpose, they feel their resources and money could be spent better,” Elliott said.”Often times because general education’s purpose is not explained to them, which will be improved on in the future.”
Also, the renovations of Dunbar Hall which are going to include asbestos removal, HVAC and new windows were brought to the faculty’s attention. With one of the main concerns involving class relocation to Brown Hall.
...
Read more
Sunday, March 12, 2017
The Quad: USAC members and the distraction of social media
Daily Bruin If you’ve never paid much attention to the undergraduate student government, you’re in good company; the men and women of the council themselves seem to be a bit distracted as well.
Over the past six weeks, Daily Bruin Opinion columnists attended USAC meetings to observe council members and their social media and phone habits. For each member, we collected two metrics – whether they attended the meeting and whether they used social media during the meeting – in order to get an idea of how engaged council members were during their crucial weekly gatherings.
To be fair, it’s hard to focus for almost two hours straight, especially after a long day of work and classes. However, each council member makes up to $10,000 a year – all funded by student fees. They should be paying close attention to what’s going on during their meetings for just a few hours every week.
When measuring social media usage, we mainly relied on whether council members visited a social media site – such as Facebook or Twitter – on their laptops. We did not always have a clear view of each of the members in every meeting, however, so there’s a good chance we’ve missed out on some social media usage.
Internal Vice President Sabrina Zeigler and Community Services Commissioner Zack Dameron set the standard for engagement. Though she used her phone a couple of times, Zeigler stayed on task for almost the entirety of the meetings. And Dameron was by far the most focused member on council. From our observations, he never used social media during a meeting. In fact, he was often times seen taking down notes or intently going through the USAC funding matrix.
Most importantly, Dameron offered some of the more insightful points during council discussions. He showed that avoiding social media isn’t a superhuman feat and can ...
Read more
Leave Juicy tracksuits in 2007
Opinion – The Nevada Sagebrush It is no secret that the Kardashian/Jenner family is basically pop-culture royalty. And while they sit on that throne they hold the title of some of the most influential fashion icons in the world. Fashionistas all over the map could argue that, at the moment, Kylie Jenner may just be the most prominent of them all in setting the latest trends.
Kylie brought back sleek white Adidas kicks. She also brought back satin embroidered bomber jackets, but dear god, Kylie, why couldn’t you just leave Juicy Couture in 2007, where it belongs?! Back in January, Jenner posted a pic on Instagram sporting high-waisted black velour sweat pants with, yes you guessed it, “Juicy” across the butt. I mean, I wasn’t really an enormous fan of the whole white tee shirts under dresses trend, but now all that is looking very Kate Middleton in comparison. The pants were bad enough without the added mom jean flare.
I hoped Jenner’s Instagram post would spark some sort of revolutionary uprising in 17 year olds everywhere: Kylie, we will play into your lip kits and your body con dress revival but you have taken this one too far! Wishing, praying, hoping that this was a trend that no one would pick up on, I sort of let the idea go that there could be an army of girls running around in velour tracksuits again. My life resumed per usual.
Then, the other day my worst nightmare was confirmed. I was in my first class of the day, doing what everyone does in class, going to browse the apartment section of Urban Outfitters, when I saw that the home page wreaked of Juicy. I saw my girl Kehlani posing as the new spokesmodel for the Juicy Couture line Urban is releasing. Kehlani, you are way too cool to be pulling this.
Kehlani and ...
Read more
Gamers should wait before buying the Nintendo Switch
A+E – UNLV Free Press
On March 3, Nintendo’s highly anticipated Switch console was released, along with 21 launch title games. Among the games were “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” “Super Bomberman R” and “1-2-Switch.”
The console works as advertised. The Joy-Con controllers can be pulled off of their combining grip and held in two halves. The two halves can also be slid onto the sides of the screen, giving the console the look of a Wii U tablet.
But do not fear; the Switch is nothing like the Wii U. The system runs smoothly, and the gameplay really does transfer from the TV dock to the tablet almost instantly when pulled out. The console also actually has games, which is more than what can be said about Wii U.
Unfortunately, this is where the compliments for the console end.
The first major problem is with the controller. The structure of the Joy-Con is lackluster, and no matter what formation the controller is in, it’s an uncomfortable hold.
Both halves of the Joy-Con controller are small and feel rather fragile. Each half can be turned sideways and turned into two independent controllers. While a unique feature, the parts are too small to really utilize as independent remotes.
The triggers in particular are more like small nubs that are hard to grasp, and the overall size of the controllers is a painful issue. However, If you feel like dropping another $60, you can get the Pro Controller which has the same layout as the Xbox controller.
Another crippling problem is that the Switch has not gone live with its Virtual Console yet. The Virtual Console is a service that has existed since the original Wii. It allows players to buy and download games from older Nintendo consoles like the NES, SNES and GameCube.
While the system has its issues, the machine works perfectly well. The Switch will be worth the buy in a few months, but not right now. Gaming website Eurogamer has already counted over 100 games announced for the console, but most of them don’t even have release dates.
The verdict: buy the Switch in September. The Virtual Console should be live by then, and the system will have a majority of their games out. It would also be wise to get the console before the holiday craze.
While the Nintendo Switch has downfalls (mostly in the controller), it is a unique piece of technology that will eventually have an immense library of games. The key is to wait and allow the game collection to grow.
7 out of 10
Read more
NCAA tournament bracket: What makes each region unique?
NCAA RSS
Seth Davis dubbed the South Region “the glamour bracket” during Sunday’s selection show. He’s got a point. North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA, the South’s top three seeds, have a combined 24 national championships.
As regions are unveiled, themes emerge. This year’s South is all about glitz and glam; only the best jewelry will satisfy these bluebloods. Let’s look at the rest of the bracket and dive deeper into the region run by college hoops royalty.
South Region
From afar, is seems a No. 4 seed like Butler has little-to-no chance to advance beyond the Sweet 16 – perhaps the Bulldogs could make a run in an ordinary region, but the glamour bracket is anything but.
Intentional or not, sometimes the committee has a sense of humor. To rattle off a few of Butler’s losses: Indiana State, St. John’s, Georgetown. That’s code for: scroll through KenPom with your eyes closes, stop at random, and you’ll probably land on a school that could beat the Bulldogs.
Now, onto their wins: No. 1 overall seed Villanova (twice), Arizona, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Xavier twice. Butler is the classic “plays to the level of competition” case study; heck, No. 13 Winthrop probably loves its opening matchup. But looking ahead to the Sweet 16, North Carolina might not be as enthused.
This may be the region of college basketball elites, but the committee stuck a few menaces in there to keep the big boys honest. Wichita State has a higher KenPom ranking (8) than NCAA tournament seed (10). Enjoy that potential Round of 32 matchup, Big Blue Nation. No. 12 Middle Tennessee did this last season:
[embedded content]
If Wake Forest can escape the First Four, the casual college hoops observer will get to meet John Collins. Here are Collins’ sophomore year numbers next to a mystery player who – let’s not get carried away here – had a satisfactory ...
Read More
Annual report shows CPD made 11.1 percent more arrests in 2016
The Maneater: Latest Stories An annual internal affairs report released March 1 revealed the Columbia Police Department made 11.1 percent more arrests in 2016 than in 2015.
According to the report, 3.1 percent of all citizen contacts resulted in arrests. This amounts to 4,836 recorded arrests, a noticeable increase from the 4,531 arrests made the previous year.
Despite these statistics, it is unclear whether the increase was a result of more misdemeanors or more felonies committed. Sgt. Brian Tate, who is part of CPD’s internal affairs division, said his department does not separate arrests by type and only calculates the total number of arrests.
“To try and determine why exactly arrests rose from the previous year would only be speculation at this point,” Tate said. “It is not atypical for arrests to fluctuate from one year to the other.”
However, Tate suggested the rise could be due to increased demand from Columbia’s growing population. Calls for service by citizens rose by 2.8 percent, and officers made a total of 150,874 citizen contacts, up from 146,683 in 2015.
“It goes without saying because calls for service rise, the chances for additional arrests will increase as well,” Tate said. “Columbia is a community growing yearly, so therefore the chances for calls for service and arrests may continue to increase.”
The report also included information about cases of police misconduct. Citizens reported 66 cases in 2016, yet 23 were determined to be unfounded and 20 were exonerated by Chief Ken Burton.
Regarding cases of internal misconduct, officers reported 40 cases, 28 of which were sustained. This is a decrease from 2015, when 51 cases were reported and 39 were sustained.
Edited by Madi McVan | mmcvan@themaneater.com
Read more
Inaugural Race for the Cure event to take place in Jonesboro
The Herald - news
The inaugural Northeast Arkansas Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure event will be held May 6.
The event will allow residents in the region who cannot travel to Little Rock a chance to participate.
For the last 23 years, over 1,000 people have traveled from Northeast Arkansas to Little Rock for the annual Komen Arkansas Race for the Cure.
The Northeast portion of Arkansas has an above average rate of breast cancer and mortality.
The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is the world’s largest, most successful fundraising and education event for breast cancer. Each year, over 1 million participants come together to take part in the fight against breast cancer.
The race allows participants the opportunity to honor breast cancer survivors and those who have died.
Seventy-five percent of the money raised will remain in Arkansas to fund local breast health educational programs and breast cancer screening treatments. The remaining 25 percent will fund national research grants related to the treatment and cure of breast cancer.
A fundraising goal of $50,000 has been set for the Northeast Arkansas (NEA) Race for the Cure. NEA Race for the Cure has raised $3,305 thus far.
All Race Day events will take place at Centennial Bank Stadium at Arkansas State University. Registration is $30 and includes a Race bib and Race for the Cure t-shirt.
Registration begins at 6:30 a.m and the race begins at 9 a.m.
For more information about the race visit komenarkansas.org.
Read more
Fatal shooting at the Grove Apartments leaves one dead
The George-Anne - news
A victim died from multiple gunshot wounds at the Grove Apartments Thursday night.
The murder may have been a "drug transaction gone bad," the Statesboro Police Department (SPD) said in a Friday press release.
The SPD responded to a call at the apartment complex on Brampton Avenue at approximately 10:52 p.m. Officers administered first aid on the victim until medical personnel arrived, according to the press release.
The coroner later arrived on the scene and announced the victim deceased, according to the press release.
The investigation was turned over to detectives from the SPD's Criminal Investigations Bureau.
Anyone with information concerning this case may call the SPD at 912-764-9911, anonymously submit information to tipsoft.com or text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) with “TIPSSPD plus your message." All information is confidential.
Read more
Baseball bumped by Bama
Feature Sports – The Hawkeye Filed under Feature Sports, SportsClosePhoto courtesy of Alabama AthleticsPhoto courtesy of Alabama Athletics
Close Modal Window
Close Modal Window
Despite some tough losses already during their 2017 season, the ULM baseball team showed up on Friday to compete against the University of Alabama with an early push for offense, but later would fall by a final score of 4-3.
The Warhawks jumped out to an early three run lead in the first two innings but the Crimson Tide came back later in the seventh inning, tying the game to set them up for a dramatic finish in the ninth.
Senior infielder, Nathan Reynolds led the Warhawks on offense as he singled and later scored off of an RBI base hit by Turner Francis. In the next inning, the Warhawks continued their offensive push against the SEC squad.
Blake Buckman had a two run double to left center field which helped set up two other Warhawk scores. This would give ULM a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.
The ULM pitching staff was able to hold off the Crimson Tide until late in the innings as they posted five strikeouts and only one walk.
Starting pitcher Josh Leon led the way when he pitched six innings, five hits and only three runs.
Leon faced a total of 23 batters and was able to move the game along, forcing outs along with his strikeouts he recorded during the contest.
The Crimson Tide were able to find the late game heroics in the bottom of the ninth inning when Hunter Alexander hit a walk-off single up the middle to score the runner from third and take the game by a final score of 4-3.
ULM relief pitcher, Kyle Backofen, would be handed the loss in the game after coming in and providing one and two-third innings of relief.
After their series ...
Read more
Troy Art Day: students connect, learn, express themselves
Lacey Alexander
Staff Writer
Nearly 400 middle and high school students from Alabama participated in the fourth annual Trojan Art Day on Friday, Feb. 24.
Twenty-four counties were represented at the event, and students stayed on Troy’s campus from 8:15 a.m. to roughly 2 p.m. The students participated in workshops, classes, tours and an award ceremony that closed the event.
Larry Percy, associate professor of art at Troy, lead Trojan Art Day.
“This was our fourth year, and I think it was probably our biggest and best,” Percy said. “Each year has been an expansion of the year before . . . I could not do it without the support of my chair and the full faculty.”
“In terms of providing the experiences and creating the workshops, each one of them kind of decides what they want to do.”
Percy taught a workshop on creating bowls with clay, and the other offered workshops and events ranged from sidewalk chalk drawing to digital art.
“Sarah Dismukes did calligraphy,” Percy said. “And she isn’t necessarily an expert on that, she just wanted to learn more about it herself . . . You know that old saying, ‘if you want to learn something, teach it to somebody else.’”
Troy art students were also heavily involved in Trojan Art Day, serving as ambassadors.
After each professor decides what they want to do, they identify student helpers they want personally, according to Percy.
Marcus Dorsey, a senior graphic design major from Montgomery, served as the ceramic demonstrator during the event and social media coordinator.
“Being able to work with these students and see the work that they are producing, especially at the age that they ...
Read more
BECOMING THE TAX MAN: ISU OFFERS NEW DEGREE PATH
News – The Bengal
Staff Writer
The College of Business has added the option for students who wish to pursue careers as tax experts to work towards a graduate degree in taxation. This is focused more specifically on taxation than a master’s in accounting.
Daniel Ames, a professor in the College of Business, says that businesses are looking for graduates with taxation degrees when they hire.
“Nationally and in metropolitan areas, publicly traded firms definitely need the tax help,” Ames said. “There aren’t really enough programs currently to fill the need on the employer’s side, so there’s usually a premium salary-wise for graduates of a M-tax type program and placement rates are typically very high.”
To find a job immediately after graduation in this field, companies expect applicants to have a graduate degree in taxation.
“Among the big four it’s become increasingly standard practice,” said Ames. “Smaller and medium-sized firms do really value the more generalist degree. It is still valuable and you can certainly still get a job with the big four, just not on the tax side.”
Those “big four,” companies are EY, Deloitte, PwC and KPMG.
Both Deloitte and KPMG have offices in the Boise area.
The program begins in the upcoming Fall semester and is expected to have about fifteen students participating in its first year.
“I am teaching two of the classes, one focusing on the fundamentals of tax, and a second class focused on advanced topics dealing with taxes on corporations,” said Ray Rodriguez, a college of business professor. “I’ll also serve as an adviser to students in the program.”
Rodriguez is one of four professors who are experts on taxation and will be in charge of teaching all of the master’s program courses.
Ames says that these four professors are part of what spurred the idea to bring ...
Read more
Warm winter has put state’s apple crop at risk, expert warns
Penn State News - Top News
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With less than two weeks until the official end of an unusually warm winter in Pennsylvania, the apple crop is in some jeopardy, warns a tree fruit specialist with Penn State Extension.Unseasonably warm temperatures in December and January and the warmest February on record in the state have advanced fruit tree bud development by about two weeks earlier than normal. That leaves them vulnerable to frost, said Richard Marini, professor of horticulture.
"That's bad news because if these trees bloom too early and we get a hard frost that kills flower buds, we could lose part of the crop," Marini said.
Apples are an important part of Pennsylvania's agricultural industry. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state ranks fourth in the country in apple production at more than 400 million pounds annually.
The average date of the last frost in central Pennsylvania is about May 10, and in Adams County, in the southeastern part of the state — where most of the tree fruit is grown — the last frost date is April 11, Marini pointed out. And most apple trees in the state bloom at about the same time as the average last frost.
Healthy apple blossoms from a recent year at Penn Stare Extension's Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville, Pennsylvania. All buds on a tree do not bloom at the same time. The earliest flowers may bloom about a week earlier than the latest flowers.
Image: Penn State
“As a result, we usually have a chance of frost during bloom. For every day we bloom earlier than the average bloom date, the likelihood of a frost increases,” he said. “So, if we bloom two weeks earlier than normal, the probability of having a frost during bloom is greater than normal.”
Right now, apple tree buds can probably withstand temperatures around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. At full ...
Read More
Women’s Basketball clinches regular season Big Sky Championship
Sports – The MSU Exponent
The Bobcat Women’s Basketball Team finished their regular season at home, defending the Brick against the Idaho State University Bengals and the Weber State University Wildcats. With the two wins the Cats extended their home-game winning streak to 25 straight games, and defended last year’s regular season Big Sky Conference title. The Bobcats clinched the number one seed in the Big Sky tournament, and earned a first-round bye.
The team faced off against the Bengals in Worthington Arena on March 1. The Cats struck first, and established an early eight-point lead, 10-2, only a few minutes into the first quarter. The Bobcats did not relent, and by the end of the first quarter, held a 20-point lead over the Bengals, scoring 27 points to the Bengals’ seven.
The Bengals slowly worked away at the Bobcat’s lead, outscoring the Cats 22-14 in the second quarter and 22-13 in the third quarter. MSU held a 54-51 lead over the Bengals at the start of the fourth quarter, but precise free-throw shooting and good defense held Idaho State at bay, and the Cats took a 73-67 victory. Senior Peyton Ferris registered a double-double for the Bobcats, putting up 22 points and snagging 12 rebounds. Senior Riley Nordgaard contributed 13 points, and junior Delany Junkermier tallied 11 points while dishing out four assists.
The Weber State Wildcats came to Worthington Arena on March 3 for the Bobcats’ last home game of the season. Montana State’s first points came from Ferris with three, and the Bobcats led 7-3 just over two minutes into the first quarter. The Cats stretched out their lead to 11 points by the end of the first quarter.
The Bobcats jumped out ahead in the second half, leading 26-11 at the 8:19 mark. However, the Wildcats came back and at the end of the second quarter the Bobcats only led by 10 points, 36-26. MSU came out in ...
Read more
DII basketball: Northwest Missouri State quickly recovers from only loss
NCAA RSS
A week ago, Northwest Missouri State experienced a four-hour bus ride home that had a very unfamiliar aura in the 2016-17 season: The Bearcats had to think about a loss.
For nearly all of the regular-season, Northwest Missouri’s journey has been smooth. The Bearcats clinched the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular-season title with three games remaining.
Northwest shattered an 86-year-old conference record for consecutive regular-season victories. The old mark was 19 straight set in 1931. Northwest won 28 straight. They were winning most conference games this season by double-digits. Only one of their 18 conference wins were by single digits.
And then came an 88-71 loss at Missouri Southern on Feb. 18.
No. 1 @NWbball falls to @mososports 88-71. This is the first regular season loss for the Bearcats since Jan. 30, 2016. Northwest is now 24-1
— NW Missourian Sports (@NWMSports) February 18, 2017
“It was a pretty somber bus ride just because of the kind of players we have here,” said senior forward D’Vante Mosby. “We are very goal oriented and fully committed to what we want to do with our goals.”
How would the Bearcats respond in their final two regular-season games?
“They didn’t understand how to take the loss because they hadn’t lost,” said Northwest coach Ben McCollum. “They bounced back and had a great practice on Monday and Tuesday.”
The Bearcats turned those good practices into solid performances Thursday and Saturday, winning by 16 and 29 points, respectively, to conclude the regular season 26-1 overall and 18-1 in the MIAA.
.@NWbball routs Lincoln 82-53 on Senior Night for @AWoods_veinte, @ZhSchneider and @theMOSBYfactor. pic.twitter.com/iCKf7o6hy6
— Brandon Zenner (@NPNowZenner) February 26, 2017
“Just to get our confidence was huge,” said senior Zach Schneider about the last two games. “A couple of guys were down just mentally playing in a game like that. We hadn’t experienced it this year. It was big to ...
Read More
Women’s Center holds “process and action” workshop on coping with despair, strategizing for justice
www.dailyuw.com - RSS Results in news,news/* of type article On Wednesday afternoon, the welcoming wooden structure of the UW’s wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Intellectual House played host to a workshop organized by the UW Women’s Center and led by professor Anu Taranath, titled “Coping with Despair and Strategizing for Justice.”Despite each speaker’s diverse perspective on social justice, they all shared a common goal: gaining tools for becoming each other’s allies in a time of uncertainty.Taranath, who teaches postcolonial world literatures in the comparative history and ideas (CHID) and English departments, created a safe space through the Women’s Center partnership where “each intersectionality matters.”
Intersectionality as a concept has been heard a lot lately in the feminist movement, but can be applied to many fronts. It’s based on the act of acknowledging the way the sum of each individual’s identities affect the way we collectively experience discrimination, vulnerability, and oppression.“This is a space where all our identities are welcome to the room,” Taranath said. “Your identities and my identities. Your immigrant status is welcome to the room, your documentation is welcome to the room, your complexities of your body are welcome to the room, your whiteness is welcome to the room, your maleness, femaleness, or anything else is welcome to the room … This is an intersectional space.”Taranath addressed the issue of feeling safe on campus to the concerned expressions of the audience, asking if each person felt welcome for their identity across campus. Contrary to the initial expectations of the organizers, what was supposed to be a mainly undergraduate-oriented event became a workshop with both students, professors, advisors, and university staff. Taranath adapted her tools and ideas to cope with the vulnerability being felt around the university and beyond. Professionals in the world of education intend to offer guidance to students, but in some cases don’t know how to, ...
Read more
Four homers gives MSU win at Georgia Tech
MSUToday - Featured stories MSU used the long ball (repeatedly ) to down homestanding Georgia Tech, 7-3, March 8 in Atlanta. Sarah Gutknecht tied the school record with a pair of home runs, and Lea Foerster and Kelly Zackrison each added round-trippers. Junior pitcher Bridgette Rainey threw six innings - including five-plus innings of no-hit ball - to earn her sixth win of the season. Read more at msuspartans.com.
Read more
NCHC suspends Will Borgen
Sports – Dakota Student
During the Huskies’ last regular season series, defenseman Will Borgen, argued a slashing penalty called against him which led him to shove the referee. The shove resulted in a game misconduct and now a two game suspension.
“Unfortunate evening,” SCSU head coach Bob Motzko said. “I think it’s one of those things in life where you’d like that moment back. What’s fortunate, for us, is we’ve got a guy who can go right in and fill a lot of those minutes with a lot of experience.”
Borgen has tallied only two goals this season but has notched 10 assists to sit 10th in points for the Huskies.
“He’s been great for us all year… He’s an awesome teammate and awesome guy off the ice, Everyone makes mistakes and (Borgen) feels horrible about it. We’re just going to have to deal with the adversity.”— Jimmy Shuldt, St. Cloud State Huskies Captain
The hit in question was deemed through the conference’s supplemental discipline review process, it was found Borgen violated Rule 40 (Abuse of Officials) and Rule 41 (Physical Abuse of Officials) of the NCAA Rules and Interpretations.
In addition, the actions were found contrary to the NCHC Student-Athlete Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct explicitly states student-athletes are to be respectful of officials at all times and should not demonstrably question the decisions of game officials.
Several suspensions have been issued by the NCHC this season, but none have gone over two games. It might seem ridiculous compared to the ten game suspension Anaheim Ducks’ Antoine Vermette received for slashing the referee but there are a few things kept in mind.
Despite how light the slash ...
Read more
Save the Arts, Cut Business
Opinion – The MSU Exponent
When budgets are tightened, stern gray utilitarians emerge from their newly-renovated buildings to inform us that it’s the creative and humanities-oriented types they’ve looked down on for years should suffer when the state decides to slash education funding.
The Montana state university system is facing a potential $23 million budget shortfall, so some combination of budget cuts and tuition hikes will almost certainly be necessary to close the gap. The arts and humanities seem to be on the cutting block by default, but the equally-expensive business college somehow tends to evade scrutiny in public conversations on budget cuts.
In 2010 (the most recent department-level data available online), the MSU College of Business Instruction received $3.9 million, Art received $1.5 million, Media and Theater Arts received $1.5 million and Music received $1.4 million, for a combined total of $4.4 million. History and Philosophy received $1.8 million, Political Science received $600,000, English received $1.7 million and Sociology received $900,000 for a total of $5 million. Anyone seeking to fill a budgetary hole by cutting the arts or humanities could squeeze just about as much money out of cutting the business college, and MSU would not have to sacrifice concerts, theater performances or the core subjects of a liberal education.
While both the arts and humanities have deep value in fostering self-expression and the exploration of the human experience through art or the creation of an educated and engaged citizenry through the humanities, the College of Business does not even pretend to have intrinsic value. Its entire purpose is to prepare students to be high earners, and business colleges as a whole do an abysmal job at even this limited mission. Business majors come in 56th in long-term earning potential, behind archetypical “useless majors” like philosophy and history, in part because the job market is flooded with them — business majors make up about 20 percent of college graduates — and in part because 93 percent of ...
Read more