Career Center hosts Arts & Letters week
The Career Center is focusing on internships, graduate schools and jobs for students in the College of Arts & Letters this week. The “What’s Next Week” events are geared helping Arts & Letters majors learn what they could do with their majors, said Rose Kopec, associate director of the Career Center. “We have something for everybody,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what year you are in school or what major you are pursuing, all Arts & Letters students are welcome to attend.” Compared to last year, the Career Center moved “What’s Next Week” from the first week of November to the first week of October so the students can take full advantage of the program, Kopec said. “[Applying to jobs, internships and graduate school is a] very time consuming process and the sooner students getting started, the better,” she said. On Monday, the Career Center hosted an information session about the internship search. The next event is a Wednesday session about graduate and professional school, Kopec said. She said it is aimed at sophomores, juniors and seniors who want to learn about the application process from a panel of experts. Several companies — including AT&T, Cummins and Target — will be at a Thursday networking event. These companies value Arts & Letters majors who want to go into business, Kopec said. “Students should come prepared with employers who already recognize the importance of their skills and background,” Kopec said. In addition to this week’s events, the Career Center had funding opportunities dedicated to Arts & Letters students. Last year, the University distributed over $300,000 to students for various paid and unpaid internships through the Rogers Arts and Letters Internship Program, the Global Internship Initiative, INC @ ND, Alumni Legacy Fund and the Gluck Pioneer Internship Program.
When University President Fr. John Jenkins was officially inaugurated on Sept. 23, 2005, Notre Dame — and the world — were much different places.Hurricane Katrina had just slammed into the Gulf Coast. Pope Benedict XVI was in his sixth month as pope, following John Paul II’s death in April. The Notre Dame class of 2019 was in third grade.At Notre Dame, construction on Duncan and Ryan Halls had not yet begun. Jordan Hall of Science would not open for another year. And Brady Quinn was the starting quarterback for an Irish team that would eventually fall to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.Amidst all this, Jenkins stood at a podium in the Joyce Center, at the outset of his presidency, and laid out an ambitious vision for the University in the 21st century.“With respect and gratitude for all who embraced Notre Dame’s mission in earlier times, let us rise up and embrace the mission for our time: to build a Notre Dame that is bigger and better than ever — a great Catholic university for the 21st century, one of the pre-eminent research institutions in the world, a center for learning whose intellectual and religious traditions converge to make it a healing, unifying, enlightening force for a world deeply in need,” Jenkins said in his inaugural address, 10 years ago Wednesday.“This is our goal. Let no one ever again say that we dreamed too small.”Now, 10 years into his presidency, with at least another five to come, Jenkins said he is proud of the progress the University has made during his tenure. In a recent interview with the Observer, he said, from a personal standpoint, he is most proud of working to keep Notre Dame balanced and stable through challenging times.“I think the challenge with Notre Dame is to try to keep balanced a number of aspects of the University — one is excellent education, comparable to the best universities, another is research, another is Catholic mission, another is residential life. Athletics is important [too],” he said.“I think what I’m most proud of is that we … have been able to make progress on all those fronts and keep that balance together. I think if we lose aspects of that wonderful mix of things that make Notre Dame, we can lose the spirit of Notre Dame, and I don’t want to do that. So, I’m most proud of making progress by keeping all those aspects of the University moving forward.”In addition to maintaining balance between Notre Dame’s many facets, Jenkins has also instituted a variety of new programs that constitute a vision for the future of the University.As part of his inaugural ceremonies, Jenkins established the Notre Dame Forum, the first of which focused on religion and faith in a plural world and featured former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw as the moderator. Since then, the Forum has continued each year and provided a yearlong conversation on a different issue each academic year, ranging from global health and immigration to education and women in leadership.During his tenure, Jenkins has consistently emphasized Notre Dame’s research efforts for both students and faculty. Jenkins oversaw the creation of the office of vice president for research in 2007 and announced significant increases in research funding the following year.Jenkins and his administration continue to prioritize research today, with construction under way for McCourtney Hall, an interdisciplinary research facility on the east side of campus set to open in June 2016. In May 2014, alumnus and trustee John W. “Jay” Jordan donated a University-record $75 million for the establishment of a science and technology research program.In recent years, building projects, most notably the Campus Crossroads project, have become another defining characteristic of Jenkins’ tenure. In addition to Campus Crossroads, the University is currently building two new residence halls and several new class buildings, including Jenkins Hall, which will house the Keough School of Global Affairs, the University’s first new school in nearly a century.The new buildings, research programs and academic initiatives during Jenkins’ time as president have kept Notre Dame at the forefront of American higher education, but coming into the job, Jenkins said he didn’t have any real expectations of what it might hold.“I don’t think you can, for a job like this, appreciate the many aspects before you come in,” he said. “You can know about them abstractly, but I don’t think you can really appreciate them. So I don’t know if I had any really good sense of what the demands and pressures of the job are.“So I think I’ve acquired that, and it’s both more rewarding than I thought it would be and more challenging than I thought it would be. It is an intense job — there are a lot of things on your plate. But it’s just remarkable to be associated with a university like Notre Dame, that people love so passionately and they expect so much of, and they want to succeed.”That intensity of the job has been brought into focus several times throughout Jenkins’ tenure, and his time in office has not been without controversy. This was perhaps most clear in 2009, when President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address. In the face of the controversy surrounding Obama’s views on abortion, Jenkins responded by reiterating the University’s commitment to the sanctity of all human life and creating a Task Force on Supporting the Choice for Life.Citing Pope John Paul II’s idea that a Catholic university should foster “a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture,” Jenkins welcomed Obama visit to campus as an opportunity to respectfully encounter opposing views.“More than any problem in the arts or sciences, engineering or medicine, easing the hateful divisions between human beings is the supreme challenge of this age,” Jenkins said at the time of Obama’s visit. “If we can solve this problem, we have a chance to come together and solve all the others. Difference must be acknowledged, and in some cases, even cherished.”Going forward, Jenkins said he feels he still has work to do. In January, the board of trustees elected Jenkins to a third five-year term as president. While he declined to say whether or not he would continue to serve as president after that term expires, Jenkins said he plans to continue to make Notre Dame an example for the world and a leader in the Church.“I think we need to continue to make progress,” he said. “I do think … our Catholic mission is something we need to continue to talk about, especially at this time. It’s a challenging time, but I think there’s no institution placed like we are to speak to really serious issues in the world about the environment, about economic inequality, global solidarity.“So if we can play that role — that role, that I don’t think it’s too strong to say, we are uniquely positioned to play — that will be a great thing, and it will go beyond me and go into the future.”Editor’s Note: Editor-in-Chief Greg Hadley contributed to this report.Tags: 10-year anniversary, Barack Obama, Campus Crossroads, Fr. John Jenkins, inaugural address, Notre Dame Forum, research, University President
Josephine and I Josephine and I interweaves a modern day story of an ambitious young woman with the life of the peerless, fearless, Josephine Baker. Born into poverty in the slums of St. Louis, Baker became the first African-American performer to rise to international prominence. A French Resistance spy and civil rights activist who was married twice by age 16 and served as muse to Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, Baker’s life inspires a young woman to face up to the sacrifices required to follow one’s dreams. Show Closed This production ended its run on April 5, 2015 View Comments Jumbo received the 2013 Emerging Talent Award at the Evening Standard Awards for Josephine and I. Her additional stage credits include the Lloyd-helmed Julius Caesar, for which she garnered an Olivier nomination, A Doll’s House and As You Like It. On screen, Jumbo has starred in the TV series Vera and the film Remainder. Cush Jumbo may be finishing up her run in the Hugh Jackman-led The River on February 8, but tickets are now available to see her next project—Josephine and I. The self-penned solo show will be directed by Phyllida Lloyd and play a five-week limited engagement off-Broadway at the Public’s Joe’s Pub from February 27 through April 5. Opening night is set for March 10. Related Shows
In southeast Georgia, an area of the state known for its blueberries, Brantley Morris of Morris Nursery in Alma, Ga., gets calls at least once a week from farmers who want to grow pomegranate trees.“Right now I can’t supply the plants to the people who want them,” he said. “There’s such a demand for them.” Some Georgia farmers are looking to bank on the multi-seeded, high-value, hard-to-peel fruit, which has surged in popularity in recent years, said Dan MacLean, a researcher with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences based in Tifton, Ga. “Pomegranate is moving beyond a curiosity crop in Georgia, and now farmers are making a go of establishing a solid industry,” MacLean said.Cash cropThe demand for trees is a reflection of the demand for the fruit. From juice to energy bars to salad dressings, pomegranates have found their way into supermarkets and kitchens across the country.The interest in pomegranates, especially around Alma, comes from “blueberry farmers wanting to diversify,” Morris said.Blueberry farmers finish their harvests in the summer. Adding pomegranates to their fields would give them another harvest in the fall – and a way to balance the books in any given year if the blueberries don’t produce like they had hoped.But it’s not just blueberry growers who are adding pomegranates. MacLean has worked with a farmer who grows corn silage and pomegranates in the same field. Other farmers he knows have cleared out a few acres of peach trees to make way for pomegranates.Currently, most pomegranates grown in the United States come from California. Most of the production is vertically integrated, MacLean said, meaning that orchards are owned, fruits are processed, and products are marketed all through a single corporation. This leaves plenty of opportunities for Georgia growers to sell their fruit to other companies.“One of the growers I know has already secured a market for his fruit,” MacLean said. “The company he’s talked to told him to ‘let us know when your orchards start producing, and we’ll buy everything you have.’”Pomegranate studyOn the UGA campuses in Tifton and Athens, MacLean and plant pathologist Harald Scherm are trying to figure out how to keep pomegranates in the best shape possible. Disease pressure brought on by Georgia’s humid climate isn’t making it easy. Scherm and graduate student Lucky Mehra have found Cercospora fruit spot on pomegranates MacLean picked from several test plots in Tifton, Byron and Alma. Fruit spot doesn’t hurt the arils, or the fruity flesh inside, but it does make the fruit look bad.“It’s a new disease in Georgia,” Mehra said. “It’s been reported in India. It’s easy to control, but we don’t have chemical products registered for pomegranate. Getting them registered – that’s a big deal.”Controlling diseases is one of many aspects of production that Scherm and MacLean hope to work out. So far, they’ve only been able to look at the pomegranate fruit at harvest time.“On the pathology end, we like to look at fruit in a season-long fashion,” Scherm said. “How do you actually manage them? There’s a lot that needs to be done.”“There are a ton of production-issue questions to look at,” MacLean said. “We’ve looked at the fruit, but not at the trees themselves.” From hundreds of pomegranate cultivars, MacLean and Scherm have been able to find about 20 that do well in Georgia. Fruit from these cultivars are being evaluated for juice-making potential and antioxidant contents by Casimir Akoh and Karina Martino in the CAES Department of Food Science and Technology in Athens.Regional meetingAt the end of September, 50 people gathered in south Georgia for the first Southeast regional pomegranate meeting. MacLean coordinated interested industry and university faculty from South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. “We’re approaching pomegranate production more on a regional level,” he said.Thirty people stayed the next day to learn more about pomegranates in Byron. “If that’s any indication, I think there’s a real solid interest in the crop,” MacLean said.“We have a big potential for a big market,” Morris said. “We’re where we were 20 years ago with blueberries. Over time, I think we can build an industry in Georgia that will last like blueberries.”
Google Adds to Wind Deals With New Contracts in Iowa, Oklahoma, and South Dakota FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享Bloomberg News:Google, the biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy, is buying even more — 536 megawatts of wind power from four different power plants.The Alphabet Inc. unit agreed to buy 196 megawatts of wind power from two Avangrid Inc. power plants under development in South Dakota, according to a statement Thursday. It also agreed to buy 200 megawatts of wind power from an EDF Renewable Energy project in Iowa, according to a separate statement Thursday. And it agreed to buy 140 megawatts of wind power from an Oklahoma wind project built by Enel SpA. Terms of the deals weren’t disclosed.Google has now signed enough renewables deals to match all of its energy needs this year, though not all the projects are currently operational. The company has agreed to buy 2,397 megawatts of clean power in the U.S. — and 3,186 megawatts overall, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Amazon.com Inc. is the second biggest corporate buyer, with 1,219 megawatts, all in the U.S.Its “electricity consumption is considerable, but for them to meet that already by buying renewable energy is a huge achievement,” Kyle Harrison, a New York-based analyst at BNEF, said in an interview Thursday. “Google is buying renewable energy across three continents, and has paved the way for dozens of other companies.”In the Avangrid deals, Google will buy the output from the Coyote Ridge and Tatanka Ridge wind projects. They each have 98 megawatts of capacity and combined will produce enough electricity to power more than 50,000 homes. EDF’s Glaciers Edge Wind Project in Cherokee County is expected to be operational in December 2019. Enel’s 300-megawatt Red Dirt wind farm in Kingfisher and Logan counties will go into service by early next year.Google, Biggest Corporate Buyer of Clean Power, Is Buying More
Adani’s Carmichael Coal Project Takes Another Hit FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPrint分享The Guardian:The global engineering company AECOM, the firm that had been designing Adani’s $2.2 billion rail line to its Carmichael coal mine, says that it has “demobilised” and is no longer working the project with the Indian conglomerate–but Adani says it is still “100% committed to the Carmichael project.”Engineering design contracts often have several milestones at which point the design is reviewed and the project then moves to another phase. The AECOM contract was ended at such a milestone with all contracts honoured. But sources have told Guardian Australia the expectation had been that AECOM would shepherd the rail project to its conclusion.Adani remains silent on its attempts to finance the Carmichael project, having missed two deadlines, the most recent in March.AECOM’s departure from the project comes amid increasing uncertainty around Adani’s ability to finance the Carmichael coalmine. The company had sought assistance for its rail project through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) but the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has vetoed a federal loan.A spokesman from AECOM told Guardian Australia the company was no longer working on the Adani rail project. “Our people have demobilised,” he said. “We’ve handed over our design to the client. It’s up to them what happens after this.”Guardian Australia understands AECOM stopped working on the project after the engineering design company was unable to gain access to key sites in order to progress its design work. The reasons for that are unclear.More: Carmichael Rail Line: Engineering Firm Says It Has ‘Demobilised’ From Adani Project
Our favorite outdoor clips from around the internet for the week that was:Not Quite Good EnoughIf this musky refusal doesn’t get your blood going, I don’t know what will. JUST TAKE THE FLY, DAMMIT!The Great Musky Refusal from TheNewFlyFisher on Vimeo.We Are the Appalachian TrailThis short video won the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s I Am the Appalachian Trail video contest. Very cool.
Kickstand KickstarterThis is a Kickstarter campaign video for a new-age, state-of-the-art, featherweight kickstand for your roadie. The Upstand is the creation of Garrett Blake of Chapel Hill, NC, and we are always one to support our region’s entrepreneurs. Plus, despite the kickstand’s rep over the past decade or so, we kinda want one of these. Make the kickstand cool again, consider donating. Also a plus? Blake’s epic handlebar stache. Combined with the chrome dome, it’s worth the price of admission alone. The ExplorerSeems like everyone is making these type of videos these days, but epic outdoor shots with voiceover by Buzz Aldrin? Yes! May we never stop exploring, and may we always enjoy awesome videos like this.
“Based on our analysis,” the regulator said, “only 13% (previous year: 41%) of the pension funds without a state guarantee have to be assessed as having a high or rather high risk.”It added that other measures – such as lowering the conversion rate or switching defined contribution – also helped improve the funds’ ability to absorb shocks.But the OAK also noted that “pressure on returns remains high, as the interest rate guarantees promised on benefits are still much higher than the interest rates used to calculate liabilities”.However, according to official statistics, pension funds continue to adjust their parameters and are increasingly cautious in their calculations.In 2013, only 29% used a discount rate, or technischer Zins, of more than 3.5%, compared with 47% the year previous.The number of pension funds using the most up-to-date biometric data increased to 91% (84%), and of those, 22% (20%) are including a future increase of the longevity in their calculations of liabilities.In its 2013 report, the OAK also pointed out that the structural reform that was initiated in 2011 still has not been fully implemented.To date, it added, three regional supervisors have failed to create entities independent of any cantonal or other regional authorities as required by law.“The OAK will insist on the implementation of the principle of independence with these authorities,” it said.For 2014, the OAK is planning to “re-calibrate risk parameters” for pension funds in order to “better identify” possible measures that might need to be taken – no further details have been disclosed.The supervisor also wants to increase the “user friendliness” of data collected from pension funds and aims “not to increase the burden” for the Pensionskassen. The average pension fund in Switzerland returned 6.1% in 2013 compared with 7.4% the year before, according to figures collected by the country’s top supervisory authority, the Oberaufsichtskommission (OAK).This figure is based on 91% of Swiss pension funds that have so far reported to the OAK and is in line with recent estimates by Towers Watson and Swisscanto.Despite the slightly lower returns, more pension funds without a state guarantee were at least 100% funded compared with 2012.Their share increased by 300 basis points to 93%, according to the OAK.
The family of a teacher imprisoned over charges of partaking in protests loyal to former president Mohamed Morsi has said that he remains in prison, despite the fact that he was granted a presidential amnesty in late September. The Mo3taqaleen website has said that the family of Mohamed Talaat Shemeis, a senior math teacher from Mansoura, Daqahlia, confirmed that the 65-year-old was not released, though he was granted amnesty along with 100 other detainees days before the holy Islamic Eid al-Adha feast.The family added that Shemeis now suffers from skin cancer, due to poor sanitation in prison, and demanded a health release for “unjustified intransigence” by his wardens.Occasional prison deaths have been reported since the 2011 uprising. In early June, a report by the National Council for Human Rights blamed authorities for the mounting number of prison deaths due to torture and poor incarceration conditions.
NewsRegional US embassy warns Americans in The Bahamas by: – March 19, 2012 Share 15 Views no discussions Share Photo credit: eritrea.usembassy.govNASSAU, Bahamas — The United States Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas, is warning Americans living in and traveling to New Providence, to be aware of recent reports of robberies tied to staged vehicle accidents in the capital.The embassy said on Thursday that there have been reports in the local media of criminals using the staged accidents as “a ruse to rob the driver and passengers of their possessions”.“In recent cases robbers have either hit or bumped the victim’s vehicle from behind or stopped quickly to cause an accident. Once the cars are stopped, they will approach the driver in an attempt to rob the driver and passengers” said the embassy, which also attributed the details to media reports, though it was unclear exactly which reports it was referring to.“There is no indication that US citizens are specifically being targeted for these crimes. However, the US Embassy would like to remind US citizens to be extra vigilant when involved in a vehicle accident and to keep windows and doors locked until you are able to assess the situation.“If you feel threatened or believe it is not safe to get out of your car, you should immediately call police (919 or 911) or drive to the nearest police station.”Police did not offer any comment when asked about reports of robberies at staged vehicle accidents.US Embassy Public Affairs Officer Erica Thibault told The Nassau Guardian that the message was issued to provide timely, safe information to American citizens.“The US Embassy’s recent message reminding US citizens to be extra vigilant when involved in a vehicle accident reflects similar warnings issued to the Bahamian public by local law enforcement authorities,” said Thibault.The embassy also warned US citizens that if they are being followed, not to go home or to their hotel.“Either stay on the phone with police and give them your location so they can provide assistance, or drive to the nearest police station or to the US Embassy (42 Queen Street) depending on which is closer,” the embassy advised.The embassy also suggested that drivers should keep one to two car lengths distance (20 feet) from the car in front of them to allow for an escape path in the event they are targeted by robbers.“This also prevents a chain reaction accident in the event that you get hit from behind and pushed into the car in front of you,” explained the embassy.It also recommended that those involved in accidents take pictures of the scene for their records.The embassy also told Americans not to expect police to respond to accidents on private property unless there are injuries to passengers or if it is reported that a car was hit intentionally in order to carry out a crime.Thibault pointed out that the message also encouraged all US citizens traveling or residing overseas to enroll in the US State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) via https://travelregistration.state.govBy Juan McCartneyNassau Guardian Senior Reporter
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