This is an aggregation of all of the recent blog posts of the Case Blog system. The entries are in reverse chronological order according to each entry's last modified date. Persons with questions regarding Planet Case or the Blog system can check the FAQ or email us at blog-admin@case.edu.
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November 22, 2009
My God, Did You See That?
I've missed the last few weeks of Saturday Night Live, but I tuned in last night simply because I happened to finish a book right around 11:30. I'm glad I saw this episode because host Joseph Gordon-Levitt kinda brought the house down. (In case the name's not familiar, or that picture's too small, he was the kid on 3rd Rock from the Sun; now he's 28 and making indie films. The Lookout was good; I hear Brick is great but it's been in my queue for about three years.)
It's a pretty regular occurrence for hosts to sing and dance in their monologue; Gordon-Levitt chose to emulate the "Make 'Em Laugh" number from Singin' in the Rain. If you have seen that movie, you know the insane physicality involved. If you watched the show, you know that he 95% pulled it off, and that's an incredible achievement.
This link to an Entertainment Weekly recap helpfully provides clips of both Gordon-Levitt's number as well as the original from Donald O'Connor. The writer of the recap, Ken Tucker, is very crotchety about the whole thing, huffing that he was not impressed because Gordon-Levitt didn't make it look as "effortless" as O'Connor did. Not to deride what O'Connor did back in 1952, but he had a cushion that Gordon-Levitt did not have: edits.
Gordon-Levitt did the whole damn thing live! He landed BOTH runs up the wall! So he was huffing and puffing a little by the end. Tucker complains that the thing "wasn't funny," but I think he's missing the point. It wasn't meant to be funny, and it wasn't meant to be better than the original; it was meant to be an incredibly bold gesture by a guy who's just been hovering on the edge of superstardom for the past fifteen or so years, and who I expect will be much-talked about for the rest of the week. It was a calculated move saying, "hey, don't underestimate me," and my prediction is that it will work.
(If you want funny, see the last skit of the night, also playable on the EW page. Gordon-Levitt played Lloyd Dobler doing the boombox serenade and Jason Sudeikis played the neighbor who just couldn't stop ruining it with questions. "Hey, whatcha doing? Is that Peter Gabriel?")
Anyway, it impressed me. Watch those clips--O'Connor's first, so you know what the standard was, and then Gordon-Levitt's--and tell me you didn't have at least a little bit of admiration for the kid. (Who is, incidentally, exactly my age but still seems like he's twenty, only because he's been on TV since he was like four.)
Posted on Cereal Monogamist by Erin Wolverton at 10:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: 3rd rock from the sun | TV | brick | donald o'connor | entertainment weekly | jason sudeikis | joseph gordon-levitt | ken tucker | lloyd dobler | make 'em laugh | saturday night live | say anything | singin' in the rain | the lookout
November 21, 2009
Castle Hunting & Research
Castle Hunting
People often ask why I call what I do Castle Hunting.
While exploring Ireland in 2003 I happened upon many unmarked ruins. Quite often the GPS would report the street as “unnamed country road”, I would have no idea of what town I was in and even worse it was not uncommon for the locals to just refer to it as the local ruin without having any idea of its name or history.
In order to avoid this type or frustration I try to keep very good notes to help me on the trip and allow me to further investigate when I return home.
Of the 95 castles I visited during my 2004 trip to France I was able to record the names of 94 of them. The one that eluded me was a ruin on a hillside somewhere on the D14 (the only information that I have). I promised myself that one day I would try and identify it and moreover that I did not want that to happen again.
Both before and during my 2009 expedition to France I conducted an extensive amount of research and I brought with me binders of information and maps and along the way took notes and of course photos.
Especially challenging are the mountaintop castles because they look very different from the air (which are the photos usually seen in books) than from the base of the mountain than from directly in front of or from inside. In fact on the entire drive to the Chateau de Peyrepertuse in the Pyrenees I was not 100% sure about whether the castle I was seeing in the distance was in fact Peyrepertuse or another of the many Cathar castles. The question of Peyrepertuse was quickly resolved as I drove up the mountain and was able to verify its identity in person.
From the peak of the Chateau de Peyrepertuse you can see another chateau in the distance this is the Chateau Queribus. It is well documented as being visible from Peyrepertuse and also very identifiable.
The next day as I was driving out of the Pyrenees towards the Mediterranean Sea and I spotted a small tower on a mountain peak. I pulled over to the side of the road and too this photo:
At the time I thought it was the Chateau Queribus from the other side and only later did I realize that I was nowhere near Queribus so now I had an unidentified chateau.
For this trip I used a geotagger. A geotagger is a GPS device that records in regular intervals exactly where I am located and saves this information as a time-coded data stream. By cross referencing this data with the time-stamp in my digital photos it can tell me exactly where I was when I took each photograph. From this I can see that the unidentified chateau photograph was taken from the side of the road in Cases de Pène.
My research could find no castles related to Cases de Pène which is not surprising considering how far away the castle looks from my location in the picture. This is the bad part about geotagging photos – it only tells me where I was standing – not in which direction I was looking or how far away the subject was.
Looking back at the photograph it is clear that the castle is situated on the peak of a hill so to find my unidentified chateau I need to look at a terrain map of the area.
Most of the elevations appear to the northeast where I see three possible peaks.
Returning to the satellite imagery, it is still very hard to see anything that looks like a structure.
However, when I zoomed in on the first location I can clearly see the circles of a structure that looks like a base and a tower. While not definitive proof, nothing rules this out as my unidentified chateau and I mark it on the map as the most likely item to research.
Returning to a wider view of the area it is becomes clear that the closest city to the unidentified chateau is not Cases de Pène but instead Tautuval.
The city of Tautuval has a very nice website (in French of course) and it mentions in the region that there is a local castle and a tower farther off.
http://www.tautavel.com/
The Château de Tautavel is located inside the city, on a much flatter area, and is made up of several ruined structures so it can’t be the one I am looking for.
The tower “la Torre del Far” however looks close. Described as being situated on a peak between the villages of Tautavel and Cases de Pène, could this really be the same place as the photo I took but from a different angle?
A quick search about the tower took me to a website about the history of the region.
http://histoireduroussillon.free.fr/Thematiques/Batiments/Histoire/TorreDelFar.php
The page includes an engraving of the southern elevation of the tower.
This exactly matches a close-up of unidentified chateau which is logical as I was in Cases de Pène and facing north.
There can be no question that the unidentified chateau is “la Torre del Far” - the Fire Tower also known as The Sentinel of Roussillon. While no records exist of its construction it is mentioned in an order to provide supplies for it in 1341.
Voila! I love research!
Posted on The Many Hats of Jared Bendis by Jared Bendis at 08:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Jared as Artist
November 20, 2009
Fast Food and Fashion...
...for a Friday night.
from Grub Street New York: Flowchart Helps You Determine What Crap to Eat
"Is your name Jared?" (if yes: Subway) if no: "Do you have more than $3?" (if no: Taco Bell) if yes: "Are you drunk?"
Thanks to the Fug Girls for the tip! (Speaking of the Fug Girls, read their take on the not-with-a-bang-but-with-a-whimper finale of Project Runway which aired last night.)
Posted on Cereal Monogamist by Erin Wolverton at 10:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: TV | carbs | clothes | floating around the 'net | food | go fug yourself | project runway
November 20, 2009
Minority Nurse Scholarship
Qualifications
The scholarships are open to racial and ethnic minority students who in fall 2010 will be enrolled in either:
• The third or fourth year of an accredited BSN program in the United States
• An accelerated program leading to a BSN degree (such as RN-to-BSN or BA-to-BSN)
• An accelerated Master’s Entry nursing program for students with bachelor’s degrees in fi elds other than nursing (such as BA-to-MSN)
Deadline
The application deadline for the 2010 Minority Nurse scholarships is February 1, 2010.
Minority Nurse will award $5,000 in scholarships:
• One $3,000 Scholarship
• Two $1,000 Scholarships
Submit
To download the application form go to http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/cgi/jump2.cgi?ID=1135
Contact Info
Website: http://www.minoritynurse.com/
Posted on Financial Aid by Christina Emerson at 08:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Minority | Nursing | Scholarships
November 20, 2009
When Drafting Applications & Interviewing: Remember What Employers Want
When you apply for a job, you know exactly what you're looking for. You want a company you love, great co-workers, a decent salary, a culture where you fit in and, most importantly, you want to love what you'll be doing.
But do you ever consider what the employer is looking for in its employees?
While it is important to tailor each application and interview to the specific qualities of each employer, there are some universal traits that all employers look for in their candidates. Make sure your application materials and interviews are addressing these things as well.
For a good article on what these universal traits are and how to approach them, see this article written by Rachel Zupek for CareerBuilder.com.
Posted on CSO Blog by Candice Derflinger at 04:22 PM
Entry is tagged: Interviewing
November 18, 2009
Medical Mart
Plain Dealer article (11/18/09)
Plain Dealer article (11/17/08)
Roldo Bartimole's blog entries (Nov., 2009)
Crain's Cleveland Business article (11/17/09)
Cleveland Magazine blog entry (11/18/09)
MedCity News article ('strong interest' in Cleveland medical mart from 20 companies)
MedCity News article: New York medical mart (11 tenants; four years away)
Tradeshow Week (6/1/09): Nashville dreams of a medical mart
Medical Mart FAQs (2007)
Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (overview)
Posted on JUST IN CASE by Andrew Dorchak at 04:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: News | legal news
November 20, 2009
Google Chrome OS
Computerworld (brief article on good and bad features)
Posted on JUST IN CASE by Andrew Dorchak at 03:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: New Tools and Databases
November 20, 2009
New Media Literacy Course!
I am posting this flyer around campus for my New Media Literacy SAGES seminar.
Figured my off campus friends might want to see it!
Posted on The Many Hats of Jared Bendis by Jared Bendis at 02:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Jared as Multimedia Instructor
November 20, 2009
Case Daily
Case Western Reserve biomed professor among panel of national translational medicine experts
Erin Lavik, a faculty member in Case Western Reserve University's Department of Biomedical Engineering, appears in Washington, D.C. this evening as part of a national discussion regarding translational medicine.
Lavik, who came to Case Western Reserve this summer from Yale University, will share details of her pioneering use of microspheres to deliver essential medication to glaucoma patients. Lavik is speaking as part of a “salon” sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the publisher of the journal Science, among many other activities.
Elias Zerhouni, former director of the National Institutes of Health, is moderating the event, which also features Hal Dietz, the Victor A. McKusick Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Johns Hopkins University. Dietz is an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medicine Institute and a member of the Institute of Medicine. He is known for his research on genetic factors that contribute to aortic aneurisms and other symptoms of cardiovascular disease.
Lavik has been recognized as a rising academic star by national organizations and publications such as MIT’s Technology Review and Wired. She also has conducted extensive work in the area of tissue scaffording to create new structures for the repair of spinal cord injury. More recently she has explored ways to develop synthetic platelets to stop bleeding after injury.
Treu-Mart Fellows Give Back to Community
Editor's note: The Treu-Mart Youth Development Fellowship provides support and professional development for professionals who work with youths during non-school hours. Case Daily will share a few of the program participants' stories over the next several months.
The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, a nationally recognized program, serves as a resource to the development of nonprofit leadership and community development. The programs offered through the center provide a greater depth of understanding of a topic not only through substantive content grounded in the latest research, but also through application techniques and support that enables participants to apply their knowledge to make meaningful positive changes in their workplace.
One of these signature initiatives is the Treu-Mart Youth Development Fellowship Program. Since its inception in 2004, more than 10,000 youths have been positively impacted by the work of the fellows.
Treu-Mart Fellows are professionals who:
- See the strengths and gifts in young people
- Commit themselves to providing youths the support they need to thrive
- Work with middle-school-aged young people during out-of-school-time in the Greater Cleveland area
- Seek to continually learn and develop their own skills and talents
Ben Hughes is one of almost 150 youth-service professionals who have benefited from the Treu-Mart Fellowship. Read his story.
Campus News
H1N1 updates for the campus community are available online. The university and its Emerging Infections Committee continue to monitor conditions and communicate with the campus community regularly to keep students, faculty and staff informed and to give them easy access to additional resources.
Submissions for presentations are being accepted through January 15 for Research ShowCASE 2010, which will take place Thursday, April 15, at the Veale Convocation Center. The campus community is invited to join fellow faculty, staff and students in presenting their latest research and scholarship. This year's graduate and post-doctoral poster competition will be more selective than in prior years, and include more cash prizes. Due to the earlier deadline of January 15, submission abstracts should be sent in before the holiday break. Refer to the Research ShowCASE Web site for details.
For the third consecutive year, the Case Western Reserve University football team will play in the NCAA Division III postseason. The Spartans will take on Trine University at noon, Saturday, Nov. 21, at Case Field. Ticket prices for Saturday's game are $8 for adults and $4 for children. Case Western Reserve students will receive free admission with their university ID, courtesy of the Division of Student Affairs.
The Psychology Clinic is available to provide flexible, low cost counseling for adults and children in the Cleveland community. Call 368-0719 to learn about the clinic's psychological services or to speak with one of the coordinators.
For Faculty and Staff
Due to the holidays and to ensure that month end payroll for December has sufficient time to process, there are changes to the December month-end cut off dates. The new date for time approval will be Dec. 17, which means the new date for time entry is Dec. 16. The new date for payment requests entered for 12/31 and for HR/ Records pay changes/updates also will be Dec 17.
For Students
The latest issue of The Observer is available online.
Students can now add or change their meal plan selection online on the CaseOneCard site beginning Dec. 1. Log in to "My Account" and select the Meal plan change tab. The online option will remain active for the spring semester meal plan selection until Friday, Jan. 22, at 5 p.m. Please note that not all meal plan selections are available to all students. Meal plan change requests must be received by close of business on the last day of the second week of classes to be considered. Students who change their meal plan more than twice within the first two weeks of classes will incur a $25 charge for each additional change.
Students are invited to volunteer with the Homeless Stand Down (HSD), a mid-winter retreat for those facing the challenges of poverty and homelessness. Guests relax to entertainment, enjoy hot meals, escape from the elements, receive health screenings and have easy access to social service providers. Mistletoe Residential College, CWRU Habitat for Humanity and the Interreligious Council invite people to volunteer at the event, which will be held in February 2010. Sign up in Leutner from 5 to 7 p.m. through Nov. 24. Send an e-mail to h-s-d2010@case.edu for additional information.
The Center for Civic Engagement and Learning is recruiting eight first-year students to participate as Civic Engagement Fellows during the spring 2010 semester. While serving four to six hours at a local nonprofit, fellows also will participate in seminars to increase their leadership skills and understanding of Cleveland. Fellows receive a stipend of $9.20 per hour. Applications can be completed online and are due by Monday, Nov. 23.
Sigma Psi Sorority will host its 31st Annual Mr. CWRU pageant tonight 7:30 p.m. in Schmitt Lecture Hall. Mr. CWRU is an annual philanthropy event with proceeds benefiting a local charity. Proceeds will benefit the East Cleveland Neighborhood Center. Tickets are on sale in Nord Hall, Thwing Center, and Fribley and Leutner Commons.
Events
On November 24, 1859, Charles Darwin's book, On the Origin of Species, appeared in print for the first time. A birthday party celebration will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 24, in Goodyear Auditorium (Clapp 108 ). Bruce Latimer, professor of anthropology, anatomy and cognitive science, will deliver a talk, and birthday cake will be served. Free, open to the public. Sponsored by the Evolutionary Biology Program, the EvoClub, and the Institute for the Science of Origins at Case Western Reserve.
The Flora Stone Mather Center for Women and the Master of Public Health Program will co-sponsor "The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Women in Cuyahoga County: A Focus on Prevention" from noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 1, in the Guilford House Lounge. The discussion will take place on World AIDS Day. The interactive panel discussion will feature Lita Townsend, responsible sexual behavior supervisor for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District; Tracy Jones, chief operating officer, AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland; and Jane Baum, clinical coordinator of the Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Case Medical Center Clinical Trials Unit. Lunch will be served at the event. Contact katie.hanna@case.edu for more information.
Alpha Phi will host its annual philanthropy event, Bid For Your Heart, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21, in the Thwing Ballroom. Bid for Your Heart is a date auction where auctionees and their highest bidders receive a gift certificate from a local vendor. All proceeds will be donated to the Alpha Phi Foundation, which aids in the research and prevention of cardiac disease in women. Tickets are $5 at the door. Contact Tera Schmidt.
The views and opinions of those invited to speak on campus do not necessarily reflect the views of the university administration or any other segment of the university community.
Et al.
Brad Ricca, a lecturer in the Department of English, is the winner of the 2009 St. Lawrence Book Award for his poetry manuscript, American Mastodon. Ricca will receive $1,000 and publication. American Mastodon will be available from Black Lawrence Press in late 2011.
Julie Wolfram, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Pathology, was awarded first place in the graduate biological category of the Microscopy Society of Northeastern Ohio's Fall Meeting and Student Poster Competition. Wolfram is co-mentored by Mark A. Smith, professor of pathology, and Hyoung-gon Lee, instructor of pathology.
November 20, 2009
A daily newsletter published by the Office of Marketing & Communications, Case Western Reserve University. Submit items for inclusion to: case-daily@case.edu.
Case in the News
For undefeated Case Western Reserve, QB Dan Whalen wraps up an unmatched career
The Plain Dealer, Nov. 20, 2009
This is a Division III football team that has been undefeated in the regular season for the last three years with one of the best quarterbacks in all of small college football. It's Case Western Reserve University. Almost sounds like Mount Union, but that's what former Willoughby South quarterback Dan Whalen has meant to the Cleveland academic powerhouse. Now, it's a force on the field with 31 consecutive regular-season victories.
NSF supports Case Western Reserve University's IDEAL
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, Nov. 18, 2009
A program at Case Western Reserve University to encourage career advancement of women and underrepresented minority men in sciences and engineering is expanding to five public institutions of higher education.
Research collaboration focuses on unfinished business at the end of life
MedPage Today, Nov. 17, 2009
Hospice workers have seen patients hang onto life to tell someone they love or forgive them. Researchers from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University will begin several end-of-life studies.
Evidence search resumes at Cleveland bodies house
Coshocton Tribune, Nov. 19, 2009
Investigators used shovels, a sledgehammer and a concrete-busting drill Wednesday in a renewed search of the home of a registered sex offender where 10 bodies and a skull have been found, but police said no additional bodies were found. Paul Giannelli, a law school professor at Case Western Reserve University, said police often will seek a new warrant to reflect the scope of an expanded search.
Discriminating against smokers again
The Observer, Nov. 20, 2009
According to an opinion piece in The Observer, Case Western Reserve University, along with many other colleges, has created designated smoking areas (DSAs) around campus. The goal is to isolate non-smokers from second hand smoke, for various reasons. Such action is becoming more common around college campuses, especially at public colleges.
Higher Ed News
Many parents inaccurately claim college tax credit
USA TODAY, Nov. 19, 2009
More than 314,000 taxpayers made inaccurate claims for a popular tax credit that helps pay college expenses, getting $532 million they weren't entitled to receive, a government report said Thursday. The Hope Credit provides up to $1,650 a year to help pay expenses for the first two years of college. The taxpayers claimed the credit for the same student three consecutive years, instead of the two years available, said a report by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.
Posted on CASE DAILY by Kimyette Finley at 12:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged:
November 20, 2009
Treu-Mart Fellows Give Back to Community
The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, a nationally recognized program, serves as a resource to the development of nonprofit leadership and community development. The programs offered through the center provide a greater depth of understanding of a topic not only through substantive content grounded in the latest research, but also through application techniques and support that enables participants to apply their knowledge to make meaningful positive changes in their workplace.
One of these signature initiatives is the Treu-Mart Youth Development Fellowship Program. Since its inception in 2004, more than 10,000 youths have been positively impacted by the work of the fellows.
Treu-Mart Fellows are professionals who:
- See the strengths and gifts in young people
- Commit themselves to providing youths the support they need to thrive
- Work with middle-school-aged young people during out-of-school-time in the Greater Cleveland area
- Seek to continually learn and develop their own skills and talents
Ben Hughes is one of almost 150 youth-service professionals who have benefited from the Treu-Mart Fellowship. Read his story:
Continue reading "Treu-Mart Fellows Give Back to Community"
Posted on NEWS CENTER by Kimyette Finley at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
Entry is tagged: Community Outreach | Mandel Center for Non-Profit Organizations | Philanthropy | features | news
November 19, 2009
Inform, Influence, Impact: The Role of Research in Supporting a Community's Commitment to its Children, November 2009
All too often research is conducted in a way that is disconnected from the reality of life in communities, with findings often having little relevance to real-world program and policy decisions. With this publication, the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development highlights an example of how research and evaluation data have been effectively used over time in a major community initiative in the Cleveland region.
Drawing on a decade of transformative research done in partnership with Cuyahoga County's Office of Early Childhood/Invest in Children and its public/private set of collaborators, the report describes the experiences of this community initiative and concrete examples of how data have been used to inform practice and policy.
Posted on Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences by Curtis O'Neal at 09:14 AM | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: CENTER SPOTLIGHT | Poverty Center | Poverty Center: Publications and Research | RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
November 20, 2009
links for 2009-11-20
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The prevalence of diabetes is at least twice as high in some ethnic groups as it is in whites[,] even among people with similar body mass index (BMI) numbers, a large new study finds[: "Differences between] ethnic groups persisted in normal-weight and underweight participants". [T]here’s a lot more to Type 2 diabetes than weight. [Of] 187,000 people in Hawaii and California...11.6% reported having diabetes. However, age-adjusted...prevalence was 16.1% in Native Hawaiians, 15.8% in Latinos, 15% in African-Americans, 10.2% in Japanese-Hawaiians, and 6.3% in whites....The reason ethnic minorities, low-income people, and unemployed people have so much diabetes is NOT mainly due to health behaviors. [A[ll behaviors combined explain less than 40% of the difference between the healthiest and the least healthy groups. The rest of it is due to the higher stress levels of, say, being an immigrant, being isolated, having economic difficulties, or being discriminated against.'
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Many women and doctors have said they might not follow the new recommendations. But even under the former guidelines, many women have apparently not had the screening, often because they lack insurance.
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Vital Signs - U.S. Draws a D From the March of Dimes in Its Report on Premature Births - NYTimes.comMore than half a million babies — one out of eight — are born prematurely each year in the United States, prompting the March of Dimes to give the nation a D on its premature births report card.
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Ohio's rate of obesity is expected to be one of the highest in the nation, with only a handful of states at over 50 percent. The national average for obese adults is expected to be 43 percent in 2018, according to research by Kenneth Thorpe of Emory University, who projected the future costs of treating chronic disease attributable to obesity.
Posted on HEALTH DISPARITIES BLOG by David Porter at 11:07 AM
Entry is tagged: Lunch Break Reading
November 12, 2009
ARNOVA Best Paper for 2008 by Prof. Mark Chupp
"Transforming Civil Discourse and Neighborhood Identity through Action Research," a paper written by Mark Chupp, was recently selected by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) as the "Best Paper for 2008." Chupp, Assistant Professor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and Faculty Associate of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, presented the paper at ARNOVA's 2008 conference.
Posted on Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences by Curtis O'Neal at 02:21 PM | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: MANDEL SPOTLIGHT | Poverty Center | Poverty Center: News | Poverty Center: Publications and Research
November 20, 2009
New Health Disparities Lectures Online
More of the lectures for the health disparities course that is taught at Case Western Reserve University have been uploaded to the Center's website at www.ReduceDisparity.org. They are located under the EDUCATION tab. These are the included lectures:
- "Evaluation of Health Programs"
- "Introduction to Health Disparities"
- "Genetics and Health Disparities"
- "Measurement of Race, Ethnicity, and Health Status"
- "Insurance First: Why Simplify the Disparities Agenda"
- "The MetroHealth Cancer Center B.R.E.A.S.T. Program"
- "Health Disparities in Asthma"
- "Ethical Aspects of Health Disparities"
- "International Health Disparities: Focus on Uganda"
- "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health Disparities"
- "Legal Interventions"
- "Cultural Competency In Research"
- "Epidemiology of Oral Health Disparities"
There are 2 more still to come, "Health Disparities in ICU Care" and"Cultural Competency in Health Care". Both should be up on the website before Thanksgiving.
Posted on HEALTH DISPARITIES BLOG by Michele Abraham at 09:58 AM
Entry is tagged: Case | Disparities | Education | Genetics | Health | Health Disparities Course | LGBT | Ohio | Reserve | University | Western | competency | cultural | evaluation | insurance | law | oral | special
November 13, 2009
Tianjin University in China and Case Western Reserve University Partner to Enhance Educational Experiences
New Agreement May Mean Future Collaboration in Research
This could be the start of a long-term international relationship. Both Case Western Reserve University and Tianjin University hope so.
Case Western Reserve has welcomed Tianjin University President Gong Ke for the signing of an agreement encouraging exchange of students between the two institutions beginning in the summer semester of 2010.
The agreement is likely to be the first formal step toward greater collaboration between Case Western Reserve and Tianjin, one of China's important national universities, particularly in engineering.
Representatives of both institutions met inside Case Western Reserve's Adelbert Hall to sign the agreement Thursday, enhancing their international scope.
Posted on NEWS CENTER by Kimyette Finley at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
Entry is tagged: Alumni | Case School of Engineering | Collaborations/Partnerships | Faculty | Provost Initiatives | Research | Students | news
November 19, 2009
Students, Organizations Observe Spirit of Thanksgiving with Special Dinners, Community Outreach
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, which means most students, faculty and staff are planning to spend the holiday with loved ones. While most people will leave to enjoy a meal with family and friends, several groups are planning to mark the spirit of the holiday right here on campus.
The International Club, along with International Student Services (ISS), will host a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Friday, Nov. 20, in Nord Hall 310. The following day, LL.M. (Master of Law) students will share a meal at the Triangle Apartments. And on the evening of Thanksgiving, Juniper Community Council will host an international Thanksgiving potluck for students in the Juniper community unable to make it home for the holiday.
In addition to the special meals, the Office of Multicultural Affairs is accepting donations for its Eighth Annual Turkey Drive, which benefits needy families and shelters in the local community.
Learn more about the special dinners taking place on campus and the turkey drive program:
Posted on NEWS CENTER by Kimyette Finley at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)
Entry is tagged: Alumni | Community Outreach | Events | Faculty | Staff | Students | news
November 20, 2009
Harun Yahya on evolution
(My latest book God vs. Darwin: The War Between Evolution and Creationism in the Classroom has just been released and is now available through the usual outlets. You can order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, the publishers Rowman & Littlefield, and also through your local bookstores. For more on the book, see here. You can also listen to the podcast of the interview on WCPN 90.3 about the book.)
In the previous post, I discussed the book The Creation of the Universe (2000) distributed under the name of Harun Yahya, which is the pseudonym of Adnan Oktar, a Muslim creationist based in Turkey. He has now put out an even more expensive 800-page glossy publication called Atlas of Creation (2006) that gives the creationist arguments against evolution. He has not deigned to send me a copy of it as yet, maybe because I am not on lists of biologist academics or I have dropped down in the rankings of worthy recipients. Darn!
They say politics make for strange bedfellows but so, apparently, does religion. Perhaps no group in America is as hostile to Islam as the evangelical/fundamentalist Christians. But this group has also demonstrated that when it comes to advancing their cause, they are willing to forge alliances with almost anyone. We have seen them cavorting with right-wing Israeli politicians in supporting their appallingly repressive policies towards the Palestinians in the occupied territories because they think such policies advance the day of the glorious Rapture. Of course, on that day Jews and all the other infidels will be slaughtered in a bloody rampage by the forces of Melvin. Why would Melvin commit such mass murder? Because he loves us.
Now, adopting the old dictum of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", American Christians are also joining up with Oktar/Yahya to spread their anti-evolution message worldwide. Scholars have found that Muslim creationists are importing creationist ideas from America to foster their own anti-science extremism in the Islamic world
What is disturbing is that Muslim creationists are not only spreading anti-evolution thinking, but are using it to buttress a virulent form of Islamic fundamentalism that sees the 'Christian' west as an enemy. This unholy alliance of supposedly holy groups is going to breed even more extremism.
Islamic creationists differ from Christian creationists in that they are not committed to a young Earth idea. They are willing to accept that the Earth has existed for billions of years. Their range of anti-science views go from demanding that all living species were special creations of god to one in which all species except humans have evolved. But they all denounce the theory of evolution by natural selection as not only wrong but as an idea that has had evil consequences.
As I said in the previous post, Oktar/Yahya's book The Creation of the Universe (2000) deals mostly with the origins of the physical universe but he has an appendix titled The Evolution Deceit that rehashes the old, familiar, and discredited creationist arguments against evolution.
He says that there must be a creator since all the things that we see could not have occurred by 'coincidence' (which is the word he uses for chance), thus ignoring the fact that natural selection is anything but chance but is a highly directed process. He calculates the odds that the base sequences in amino acids and proteins could have occurred by pure chance and writes out the result with a huge number of zeros.
He then reproduces the same bizarre argument about hybrids as Christian creationists, saying that evolution requires a "a bird popped all of a sudden out of a reptile egg" and "the existence of half-bird/half-reptile or half-fish/half-reptile freaks". Since none of these have been found, evolution must be false (p. 180). He also has the same mistaken idea that a 'transitional' form means something less than perfect, saying "Every living species appears instantaneously and in its current form, perfect and complete, in the fossil record." (p. 184)
Oktar/Yahya has had a love-hate relationship with the intelligent design creationism movement. In his 2000 book, he speaks favorably about ID because they are against evolution. But in a more recent press release, he denounced intelligent design as "another of Satan's distractions", since they did not explicitly acknowledge that Allah is the creator of all things but instead spoke vaguely of a 'designer' or some kind of 'force'. Oktar/Yahya has no patience for such wishy-washy euphemisms.
However, ever since the 2005 Dover, PA trial shattered the ID façade that theirs was not a religious theory, intelligent design creationists have been more open about the fact that their secretive designer is none other than (drum roll, please) Melvin. So now Oktar/Yahya seems to be willing to join up with them again.
The Discovery Institute, backers of the intelligent design version of creationism, have seemingly joined forces with Oktar/Yahya, thus finally shedding all pretenses that what they were advocating was a purely scientific idea.
So the Christian and Muslim creationists are joining forces against evolution. But it is only a matter of time before these two groups turn against each other because, after all, Islam and Christianity are fundamentally incompatible belief systems. They each think their own god is the true one and their own book is the one true revelation. They cannot both be right. Allah and Melvin cannot co-exist.
POST SCRIPT: Richard Dawkins on Harun Yahya
Dawkins gives a talk to the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain where he exposes the shallowness of Oktar/Yahya's book against evolution. Dawkins speaks for 16 minutes and then takes questions from the audience.
Unfortunately, the video does not show some of the images Dawkins projects on the screen that illustrate the ludicrousness of Oktar/Yahya's claims, but you can see a few of them here.
Posted on Mano Singham's Web Journal by Mano Singham at 08:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Religion
November 19, 2009
Question for Science Types and/or Those With Knowledge of Home Improvement
I am currently being driven mad by the front entryway to my house.
Here's the set-up: living room, wooden door, 3-4 feet of entryway, another wooden door, screen door, big bad outdoors world.
Here's the problem: there's this wind tunnel effect being created between the two wooden doors. The one on the outside closes and bolts and everything like it's supposed to, but somehow it traps a bunch of air in the entryway space. The indoors door doesn't latch very well, and as a result, the wind causes it to open in a ghostly manner. It also takes 3 to 10 slams to close in the first place.
It's not a security issue, of course--I do have a properly-locking door--but having the inside door hanging open makes the room kind of chilly, plus Skylar has taken to hanging around in the entryway so she can make sure no one with bad intentions is stepping on our porch. As far as I'm concerned, she can do that from the window.
So, my question is, how do I show this door who's boss? Physicists? Meteorologists? Just the generally handy? Advice, please!
Posted on Cereal Monogamist by Erin Wolverton at 11:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: house stuff
November 19, 2009
Memento: Time Travel for the Web : OCLC Research Distinguished Seminar Series Presentation
The topic of web archiving is enough to make your head spin, or at least feel like you are at the bottom of a very large ice berg... Herbert Van de Sompel (from Los Alamos National Laboratory) spoke this morning at OCLC about the current project focusing on some of the issues relevant to web archiving, called Memento. I found a similar talk and powerpoint slides from this morning's talk that include some of the visual represenations of how the underpinnings of the programming side.
Van de Sompel mentioned some other efforts to archive previous versions of websites, such as the Internet Archive. While this site did capture websites beginning in 1996 (an early Case Western Reserve homepage from the Internet Archive), it was rather intermittent when the capture took place. Van de Sompel spoke about integrating navigation- to provide a means to combine multiple manifestations of a page (particularly news content) in a way that is easier to navigate, or in his terms 'transparent content negotiation'. There were also terms of 'time gate' and 'time map' that may sound more something out of a science fiction book, but what was really interesting about Van de Sompel's lecture was addressing not only the navigating issues of dealing with multiple versioned content, while also dealing with the display and content of the changing websites. His work on Memento addresses the attempt to correlate these diverse efforts, into a single feed and display that is capable of accounting for muliple time points. This creates a method to navigate these web pages over time, and is certainly less clunky that the Internet Archive. A demo is currently up on the Memento project site.
Related article: Memento: Time Travel for the Web
Posted on Digital Library by Virginia Dressler at 07:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Current Interest
November 14, 2009
TEI conference, day 2
(notes from Day 2)
Computational Work with Very Large Text Collections: Google Books, HathiTrust, the Open Content Alliance, and the Future of TEI [slides] (Gallery, Hatcher Graduate Library North) Speaker: John M. Unsworth
Unsworth spoke on integrating research tools/other databases into a single interface, offering faceted browsing. Also differentiated between high level research and "non-consumptive research" (ex. image analysis, textual analysis, citation extraction, indexing)
Unsworth poses the question: does there exist a marriage of convenience between computer science and the humanties? (a doctored image of christopher columbus and Pocahontas- have the two worlds collided?)
Micropapers - (5 min mini presentations)
DeReKo goes P5: Customizing TEI P5 for the Mannheim German Reference Corpus- Andreas Witt- Database of written contemporary language, ca.
3 3/4 billion words (+300 million words added every year)
XCES was used initially; internal usage only in the beginning
using P5 now
The Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey in TEI- Douglas Knox
Transribed foreign language press; a number of languages surveyed- basic encoding. Using XSLT to expand on basic encoding. Project also points to a taxonomy created specifically by terms in survey (serves as a way to correct some of the issues, such as misspellings, authority name records, etc)
Evolving TEI standards and the burdens of digital project maintenance
-Andrew Jewell
Beginning to think about the transition from P4 to P5 with the Willa Cather archive (which is almost completely in TEI. When/how to migrate- how to make the decision for conversion, particularly with other migrations likely to occur in the future? Jewell states that in the digital realm, 'stability is an illusion'- something will always be changing down the road. How to make these long-term decisions about content?
The role of TEI in large text-analysis projects
-Brian Pytlik Zillig
Uses Abbot software for the project. Refers to the 'gated communities' of larger digital libraries (halitrust, etc.)
TEI documentation and the need to be responsive and accessible to a varied user community -Brett Barney
The difficultly of figuring out some of the more complex tags (restore)
How can the researcher turned digital project decifer the P5 guidelines- where does the computer science take over? is this tangible for researchers/humantists to use as well
making TEI more tangible and legible for consumption by a larger audience?
TEI in the classroom, with emphasis on the need for mark up that engages student interpretive interests
-Amanda Gailey
From the perspective of an english prof making applications in a classroom setting-
How to merge 2 worlds- mass digitization w/ literature
How to create meaningful projects
How to make this more approachable to non-techies?
Are there more learning environments and workshops to address this?
Also posed some larger issues on the TEI subject from discussion:
Can we study how TEI projects are used/researched (to what level of encoding, for example- basic?)
How to logistically keep up with levels/coding - how much time to spend on conversion, every level- every time you upgrade? or not?
where is your text going? do you want it to be conformant with other projects/digital repositories
How to sustain small TEI projects- where should they go? who will store these? curate? track?
Posted on Digital Library by Virginia Dressler at 06:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Digital Libraries (General)
November 19, 2009
Traveling through Hopkins over the Break?
Good news! You can do a little employer research while waiting to board your flight. Check out this article on Cleveland.com about the free wi-fi service at Hopkins International Airport that started this week.
Posted on CSO Blog by Kelli Curtis at 05:33 PM
Entry is tagged: Misc.
November 18, 2009
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Download file Senate health care bill (11/18/09, 2074 pages)
White House on health care
CNN news story
Posted on JUST IN CASE by Andrew Dorchak at 08:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: legal news
November 19, 2009
International Law in Crisis: A Qualitative Empirical Contribution to the Compliance Debate
Professor Michael Scharf has recently posted “International Law in Crisis: A Qualitative Empirical Contribution to the Compliance Debate” on the Social Science Research Network http://ssrn.com/abstract=1499401. Professor Scharf’s paper is based on meetings and exchanges with ten former State Department Legal Advisers about the role of international law’s impact on the formation of foreign policy.
Posted on JUST IN CASE by Lisa Peters at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Empirical Legal Scholarship
November 10, 2009
More about West and legal information competition...
This isn't the forum for yet more extended discussion on this issue, but Tom Bruce has another valuable post on the Berring-video kerfuffle. (Teasingly addressing only one of three points that "need serious attention from the library profession," with the other two left unspecified.) In the post, Prof. Bruce describes West as operating in a very distorted market. I think the most critical observation in this regard may be that the combination of bulk availability of 'raw materials' and the baseline service levels of free tools like LII's may ultimately create a much more fertile environment for smaller, entrepreneurial, commercial services than has previously existed -- and that this may play a role in the sensitivity Bruce sees West displaying in regards to free/bulk legal information. It is certainly true that West (to a greater degree than large commercial competitors Lexis and Bloomberg) has occupied a privileged position in terms of official legal publication, citation systems, and the certification of authenticity.
Andrew Plumb-Larrick
Posted on JUST IN CASE by Carl Plumb-Larrick at 10:00 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: FreeSearch | legal publishing and information
November 11, 2009
Bilski Oral Arguments
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments in the patent case Bilski v. Kappos, on appeal from the 2008 decision of the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit opinion had affirmed the Board of Patent Appeals in denying Bilski's attempt to obtain a process patent on a method of hedging financial risk. The case has been closely watched within the information and technology fields for its impact on the status of so-called 'business method' patents (including, famously, several related to e-commerce).
For news and background:
Orin Kerr at Volokh Cosnpiracy (and linking an article available through SSRN).
Jill Browning at PatentlyO.
Ashby Jones at the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog.
And I was hoping for one of Dahlia Lithwick's entertaining Supreme Court Dispatches from Slate, but it appears she wrote about the Graham v. Florida and Sullivan v. Florida arguments instead (cases regarding the constitutionality of life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders).
Andrew Plumb-Larrick
Posted on JUST IN CASE by Carl Plumb-Larrick at 01:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: legal news
November 11, 2009
Westlaw Password Changes
Westlaw is in the process of switching user accounts to a more robust password standard they are calling OnePass. We have received several reports of problems in getting accounts changed over to the new standard, and the law librarians are actively working with West on solutions for the problems we know about. Judy Kaul will post more details here as we have them. In the meantime, please let your librarians know if you have had trouble creating or using a OnePass username.
Andrew Plumb-Larrick
Posted on JUST IN CASE by Carl Plumb-Larrick at 02:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Service Alerts
November 12, 2009
Interested in empirical legal research?
A good place to start is reading The University of Chicago Law Review’s “Exchange: Empirical Research and the Goals of Legal Scholarship,” volume 69 (1) (2002).
The exchange begins with the Epstein & King article, “The Rules of Inference”(page 1).
It is followed by three critiques, Cross, Heise, & Sisk’s “Above the Rules: A Response to Epstein and King” (page 135), Goldsmith & Vermeule’s “Empirical Methodology and Legal Scholarship” (page 153), and Revesz’s “A Defense of Empirical Legal Scholarship” (page 169).
Epstein & King get the final word with “A Reply” (page 191).
[Note: access to articles limited to Case faculty, students, and staff. If you are wireless or off campus use VPN.]
Posted on JUST IN CASE by Lisa Peters at 05:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Entry is tagged: Data and Empirical Tools