...Ecologically, that is.
From the Post:
[NKU President] Votruba is a charter signatory to a new movement called the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment
Universities use a lot of energy, and the group's goal is to get as many universities as possible to do as much as possible to reverse global warming. At NKU, that will start with all new buildings constructed according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
NKU also will expand a partial recycling program to full recycling.
Votruba said he wants NKU to be a community leader when it comes to taking steps to reverse global warming.
After reading this, I wondered how other regional colleges stack up on efficiency and consumption. Turns out the Sustainable Endowments Institute keeps track of these things, and it recently released a College Sustainability Report Card.
NKU wasn't evaluated, but many other regional institutions were:
U of Michigan: B+
Case Western: C+
Oberlin: C+
OSU: C
Purdue: C
Michigan State: C
Renssalaer: C-
U of Cincinnati: C-
U of Kentucky: C-
U of Louisville: C-
Indiana U: D+
Notre Dame: D-
(Interesting how sustainability correlates with proximity to Ann Arbor).
Those crazy enough to read some of the reports of these schools might be confused as to what it takes to get an "A". Oberlin, for example, seems to have done quite a lot yet was graded "C+". To get an idea of what it means to go the extra mile, the reports of the "A" schools have to be read (there are only four: Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, and Williams).
The message seems to be: keep up the good work, because there's plenty of room for improvement.
19 June 2007
18 June 2007
Internet and Higher Ed
Larry Sanger (the Wiki & Citizendium fella; see previous post) speculates about how the internet might change the dynamics of higher education:
Imagine that education were not delivered but organized and managed in a way that were fully digitized, decentralized, self-directed, asynchronous, and at-a-distance. It is not hard to imagine a digital, decentralized degree-granting institution that “lives” primarily on the Internet, and organizes teachers and students to meet face-to-face. Such an institution need not offer courses, pay teachers, or collect tuition from students at all, but could act merely as a middleman and record transactions.
eBay, Meetup, and Craigslist all show that Internet methods of real-world organization can be employed to create vast, complex systems of social organization that would otherwise be too expensive and difficult for humans to administer. With the Internet, such systems can be relatively simple to code and to use – and they can even be largely self-organizing. Indeed, many different ways to organize education via the Internet are possible. But for simplicity’s sake, let me describe just one – first from the student’s perspective, then from the teacher’s.
More...
Imagine that education were not delivered but organized and managed in a way that were fully digitized, decentralized, self-directed, asynchronous, and at-a-distance. It is not hard to imagine a digital, decentralized degree-granting institution that “lives” primarily on the Internet, and organizes teachers and students to meet face-to-face. Such an institution need not offer courses, pay teachers, or collect tuition from students at all, but could act merely as a middleman and record transactions.
eBay, Meetup, and Craigslist all show that Internet methods of real-world organization can be employed to create vast, complex systems of social organization that would otherwise be too expensive and difficult for humans to administer. With the Internet, such systems can be relatively simple to code and to use – and they can even be largely self-organizing. Indeed, many different ways to organize education via the Internet are possible. But for simplicity’s sake, let me describe just one – first from the student’s perspective, then from the teacher’s.
More...
16 June 2007
Better then Wikipedia?
Who knew Wikipedia was co-founded by a Buckeye?
[Larry] Sanger, who received his master's and doctorate degrees from Ohio State and taught in the department of philosophy until 2005, had previously been editor-in-chief of a project called Nupedia.
"The problem with Nupedia ... was that it was not growing as quickly as we thought a free encyclopedia project could grow," Sanger said.
He said the Nupedia community did not support the project, so he came up with the name Wikipedia and it was launched under its own domain name.
As Wikipedia's success grew, Sanger said, so did its problems.
Although Sanger admits the reason Wikipedia has grown so quickly is because it is a "radically open project," he said the accuracy of entries is an issue because there is little to no input by experts.
Sanger is currently working on a project called Citizendium... He said it is similar to what he originally envisioned Wikipedia would be.
"We don't want another MySpace that's basically uncontrolled. We want a project that uses real names and where people take responsibility for what they do."
[Larry] Sanger, who received his master's and doctorate degrees from Ohio State and taught in the department of philosophy until 2005, had previously been editor-in-chief of a project called Nupedia.
"The problem with Nupedia ... was that it was not growing as quickly as we thought a free encyclopedia project could grow," Sanger said.
He said the Nupedia community did not support the project, so he came up with the name Wikipedia and it was launched under its own domain name.
As Wikipedia's success grew, Sanger said, so did its problems.
Although Sanger admits the reason Wikipedia has grown so quickly is because it is a "radically open project," he said the accuracy of entries is an issue because there is little to no input by experts.
Sanger is currently working on a project called Citizendium... He said it is similar to what he originally envisioned Wikipedia would be.
"We don't want another MySpace that's basically uncontrolled. We want a project that uses real names and where people take responsibility for what they do."
Body Parts on Display!
From Columbus Business First:
An exhibition featuring preserved human body parts is coming to Columbus this summer.
Bodies: The Exhibition will open at Easton Market June 30. The show... includes human tissue, bones, muscles, nerves, blood vessels and organs that have undergone a one-year preservation process using liquid silicone rubber.
More at the exhibition's website.
The Easton Market website.
An exhibition featuring preserved human body parts is coming to Columbus this summer.
Bodies: The Exhibition will open at Easton Market June 30. The show... includes human tissue, bones, muscles, nerves, blood vessels and organs that have undergone a one-year preservation process using liquid silicone rubber.
More at the exhibition's website.
The Easton Market website.
08 June 2007
Food Additives & Children: Bad Combination, Says UK Study
A story I found on New Zealand's TV3:
Food safety experts around the world are advising parents to eliminate a series of additives from their children’s diet as they await the final findings of a study that could decisively link these ingredients to behaviour problems.
Researchers at Southampton University in the UK have tested combinations of food colourings and a preservative widely used in sweets, drinks and processed foods.
What they have found is no surprise to many health professionals.
It's a 5-min. video clip.
Food safety experts around the world are advising parents to eliminate a series of additives from their children’s diet as they await the final findings of a study that could decisively link these ingredients to behaviour problems.
Researchers at Southampton University in the UK have tested combinations of food colourings and a preservative widely used in sweets, drinks and processed foods.
What they have found is no surprise to many health professionals.
It's a 5-min. video clip.
03 June 2007
Paul Newman Donates $10m to Kenyon College
Paul Newman donated $10 million last week to his alma mater, Kenyon College.
Newman, a 1949 graduate of Kenyon, and his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, were the honorary chairs of Kenyon's most recent fund-raising campaign from 1998 to 2001, the college said.
At Kenyon, Newman studied English, theater and economics and started a popular laundry service to earn extra money, the college said.
"I owe Kenyon a great deal," he said. "I even started my first business there, and I depended on that extra $60 a week. I personally feel great affection and a debt of gratitude for Kenyon."
The Newman-supported scholarship fund will generate at least $450,000 each year for minority and other underrepresented groups.
Three interesting factoids about Kenyon:
My friends Patrick and Ann went there;
It is located in the geographic center of Ohio;
According to a couple of psychics, the most evil spot on earth is on the campus.
Newman, a 1949 graduate of Kenyon, and his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, were the honorary chairs of Kenyon's most recent fund-raising campaign from 1998 to 2001, the college said.
At Kenyon, Newman studied English, theater and economics and started a popular laundry service to earn extra money, the college said.
"I owe Kenyon a great deal," he said. "I even started my first business there, and I depended on that extra $60 a week. I personally feel great affection and a debt of gratitude for Kenyon."
The Newman-supported scholarship fund will generate at least $450,000 each year for minority and other underrepresented groups.
Three interesting factoids about Kenyon:
My friends Patrick and Ann went there;
It is located in the geographic center of Ohio;
According to a couple of psychics, the most evil spot on earth is on the campus.
30 May 2007
Improving Education: More Science, More Arts
A business magazine/website is probably not the first place you'd think to find an article supporting the importance of arts in education, but here it is.
Want a second opinion? Here's a recent NEA study that shows the arts mean a lot more than good business.
Want a second opinion? Here's a recent NEA study that shows the arts mean a lot more than good business.
Unfunded Mandate for Ohio Schools?
OHDave questions the value of Jarod's Law, about to go into effect this fall in Ohio. The law had good intentions but its real-world effect may be little more than diverting resources away from actual education.
An important issue for anyone concerned about education. Go read.
An important issue for anyone concerned about education. Go read.
28 May 2007
Memorial Day Post: Honoring Charles Drew
It's normal to remember and honor veterans on Memorial Day, but there are others who should also be remembered and honored for their sacrifices and contributions during wartime. Journalists and medics, for example, rarely get the regard they deserve. The families who hid Jews in their homes during the holocaust are another example. And intelligence agents will probably always toil in anonymity.
Today I'd like to call attention to one man who may have saved more soldiers' lives than anyone else; a man whose name most people have probably never heard.
Charles Drew was born in 1904 in Washington, D.C. As a student he distinguished himself academically and athletically, eventually earning an athletic scholarship to Amherst College. After college he went to medical school and then after that he continued postgraduate studies at Columbia, earning a D.Sc. degree in 1940. The title of his dissertation was "Banked Blood: A Study in Blood Preservation".
Drew's timely discovery, on the cusp of WWII, was that blood could be stored and reconstituted if the cells and plasma were separated. At the time, the British were being bombed by the Nazis and were in desperate need for blood. They tried Drew's method, delivering the blood on "bloodmobiles"-- trucks outfitted with refrigeration systems.
It worked, and the U.S. asked him to do the same for the American military as well. He organized the entire system of blood drives, storage, and transfusion. He was appointed director of the Red Cross Blood Bank in NYC.
It's hard to overestimate the number of lives all over the world that were saved-- then as well as now-- because of Charles Drew's work. The most frequent cause of death in war is shock, i.e. loss of blood.
But here's the bitter irony: if Charles Drew himself had needed blood from the blood bank of which he was the director, he would not have received it. Because at the time, the military insisted on separating blood by race. And Charles Drew was black. And blacks weren't allowed to donate blood or receive "white" blood.
Drew railed against the military's unscientific policy and was asked to leave the project. He accepted a position at Howard University (which, ironically, had rejected him for medical school 13 years earlier because he didn't have enough English credits). He continued to be a successful surgeon, researcher, and educator. He died in a car accident in 1950 at the age of 45.
Today I'd like to call attention to one man who may have saved more soldiers' lives than anyone else; a man whose name most people have probably never heard.
Charles Drew was born in 1904 in Washington, D.C. As a student he distinguished himself academically and athletically, eventually earning an athletic scholarship to Amherst College. After college he went to medical school and then after that he continued postgraduate studies at Columbia, earning a D.Sc. degree in 1940. The title of his dissertation was "Banked Blood: A Study in Blood Preservation".
Drew's timely discovery, on the cusp of WWII, was that blood could be stored and reconstituted if the cells and plasma were separated. At the time, the British were being bombed by the Nazis and were in desperate need for blood. They tried Drew's method, delivering the blood on "bloodmobiles"-- trucks outfitted with refrigeration systems.
It worked, and the U.S. asked him to do the same for the American military as well. He organized the entire system of blood drives, storage, and transfusion. He was appointed director of the Red Cross Blood Bank in NYC.
It's hard to overestimate the number of lives all over the world that were saved-- then as well as now-- because of Charles Drew's work. The most frequent cause of death in war is shock, i.e. loss of blood.
But here's the bitter irony: if Charles Drew himself had needed blood from the blood bank of which he was the director, he would not have received it. Because at the time, the military insisted on separating blood by race. And Charles Drew was black. And blacks weren't allowed to donate blood or receive "white" blood.
Drew railed against the military's unscientific policy and was asked to leave the project. He accepted a position at Howard University (which, ironically, had rejected him for medical school 13 years earlier because he didn't have enough English credits). He continued to be a successful surgeon, researcher, and educator. He died in a car accident in 1950 at the age of 45.
25 May 2007
A Brief History of Immigration (Don't Tell Lou Dobbs)
A very interesting and informative look into the history of Chinese immigration and integration into Canadian society. The CBC has separated the story into a series of video segments, ranging from a few to several minutes.
Watching it, I couldn't help but note the obvious parallels to America's current immigration bugbear. I felt a little bit like I was not only watching the past in Canada, but peeking into the future in America. It's quite good and well worth the time, even if you are Lou Dobbs.
Watching it, I couldn't help but note the obvious parallels to America's current immigration bugbear. I felt a little bit like I was not only watching the past in Canada, but peeking into the future in America. It's quite good and well worth the time, even if you are Lou Dobbs.
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