Long Distance Relationships Are Beneficial
Everyone thinks that long distance relationships are impossible. I couldnt tell you the number of friends who have had long distance relationships and ended it just because of the distance. They claim that the distance cant work because they couldnt trust the other.
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Three UT students win prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Three UT students win prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Three graduate students at UT are recipients of the 2011 National Science Foundations Graduate Research Fellowship.
The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based masters and doctoral degrees.
Frankie Pack, anthropology graduate student, Kemper Talley, a biophysics graduate student, and Samantha Tracht, a mathematics graduate student, are the 2011 recipients. Each will receive $30,000 over the next year along with a $10,500 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees and opportunities for international research and professional development.
Four students received honorable mentions: Jacob Lamanna, graduate student in mechanical engineering; Sara Kuebbing, graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology; Jessica Bryant, graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology; and Joshua Birkebak, graduate student in plant physiology.
Pack came to UT from Baylor University where she spent five years working at Baylors university museum, the Mayborn Museum Complex. Currently, she is a member of the Department of Anthropologys molecular anthropology laboratories where she is part of a team combining information from ancient DNA analyses and skeletal analyses to learn about the connections between genotype and phenotype. Her research, conducted with her mentor, Graciela Cabana, an assistant professor in anthropology, will take her to New Mexico and Argentina to look at the impact of genetic research on societal attitudes.
Talley comes to UT from Clemson University. At Clemson, Talley studied protein biophysics, publishing four papers in different peer-reviewed journals. He is a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar; received the Outstanding Senior in Sciences award and the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics award for the best senior in physics at Clemson University; and expects to be graduating summa cum laude from the university. Talley will be part of the inaugural class of the Center for Interdisciplinary and Graduate Research Education (CIRE) at UT. His research for the NSF fellowship will possibly involve interdisciplinary work with biophysics and nuclear physics. The current situation in Japan has elevated Talleys desires to pursue nuclear energy and physics research which expands the understanding of environmental and biological impacts of nuclear power.
Tracht came to UT from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. She is in the mathematics PhD program and is a Program for Excellence and Equity in Research scholar. She spent the past two summers as a research assistant at Los Alamos National Lab. Tracht specializes in mathematical biology with an interest in infectious disease modeling. Her proposed research for the NSF fellowship is a comprehensive model for raccoon rabies in which she will use optimal control to determine the best placement for oral rabies vaccines. Working with her research mentor, mathematics professor Suzanne Lenhart, her goal is to build a realistic model using USDA data and obtain more accurate economic costs for the bait distribution.
The NSFs fellowship program aims to help ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the US The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based masters and doctoral degrees.
NSF fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nations technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large.
As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the fellowship has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Google founder Sergey Brin, and Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt.
Ready for the World Cafe serves up Central American and South American cuisine
The Ready for the World Cafe at UT will celebrate Central and South America this week.
The Day of the Americas, a Honduran holiday, is Thursday.
The menu will include roasted chayote and red pepper salad with tangerine dressing, Aztec chicken, grilled tilapia Vera Cruz with lemon and thyme, scented salsa, Yucatan style pork, meatless tamale pie, Ecuadorian potato cakes with peanut sauce, and green beans with coriander and garlic.
The cafe is an international buffet operated by students in the advanced food production and service management class, Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism (HRT) 445, at UT.
The cafe is open from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm each Monday through Thursday in the Hermitage Room on the third floor of the UC.
Diners pay $11 for the all-you-can-eat buffet or $9 for a plate of food to carry out. Aramarks faculty/staff discount card can be used at the cafe.
Students in HRT 445 take turns planning the menus, marketing the cafe and working in the cafe. ARAMARK, UTs provider of dining services, prepares the food.
This weeks cafe manager is Ben Nadeau.
Nadeau, of Vienna, Virginia, is a senior in HRT with a minor in business. His concentration is in lodging, and this past summer, he completed an internship at Wintergreen Resort, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia.
International festival to include celebration of civility, community
This years International Festival at UT will feature booths selling food and entertainment ranging from juggling to Chinese acrobatics to Egyptian belly dancing. And, this year, the International Festival also will include a Celebration of Civility and Community, hosted by Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek.
The twenty-sixth annual International Festival, hosted by the International House, will take place from 10 am to 3 pm on Friday on the UC Plaza. It is free and open to the public.
The civility initiative was launched last semester by the chancellor after several incidents of disrespect and discrimination occurred on campus. Cheek appointed a task force that recommended ways to promote civility on campus.
During the Celebration of Civility and Community, Student Success Center Director Anton Reece will introduce Cheek, who will talk about civility efforts on campus. Jessica Session, who performed a moving poem during the kickoff to the 50th anniversary of African American Achievement, will perform another original work.
Commerce members talk growth challenges
BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) - Bringing greater prosperity to Western Massachusetts was on the minds of local businesses and lawmakers Wednesday at the annual Beacon Hill Summit. At discussion were challenges to business growth for members of the Springfield, Holyoke and Chicopee Chambers of Commerce.
Senator Gale Candaras (D-Wilbraham) hosted the event to help local business leaders connect face-to-face with the state executive and their legislators.
"We want to hear from them. What we can do to help them as businesses grow and prosper," said Candaras.
"I think it's very helpful for [lawmakers and state officials] to hear directly what some of the challenges are that face us and for us to hear some of the very positive things that's going on here in the legislature in support of the effort in Springfield," said Charles Rucks, the Executive Director of the Springfield Neighborhood Housing Services.
A hot topic was healthcare cost containment: How to keep Medicaid and employee insurance liabilities down. Department of Revenue Commissioner Navjeet Bal, spoke about fair tax collection practices and emphasized the importance of commerce to "make sure that people have jobs and that businesses can prosper in the state."
Representative Joe Wagner (D-Chicopee) was optimistic that resort casinos could help create, at least in part, some jobs if Western Massachusetts made itself an attractive place to do business. He will chair a hearing on expanded gambling next Wednesday.
"If there is a competitive process, Western Massachusetts is going to have to step up and be as competitive or more competitive than other regions hoping to establish casino gambling," said Wagner.
Senator Candaras says the challenge moving forward will be making cuts to vital social service programs to balance the budget, but she said supporting business growth is a way to lead the state back to prosperity.
CE Week Registration is Open
Registration is now open for CE Week, the mid-year conference and new technology showcase that will take place from June 20 to 25 in New York, CEA said this week.
To register, visit this page on CEWeekny.com
In addition to the previously announced CEA Line Shows, the Digital Downtown conference and CEA Demo Suites and Conferences, several other events will be part of the CE Week festivities:
- gdgt Live!, presented by the GDGT.com website, is CE Weeks official consumer event and is scheduled for June 21.
- 3D Entertainment Summit and NY Mobile Entertainment Summit, both located at the New York Hilton, are scheduled for June 21 and 22. The events will focus, respectively, on how the 3D entertainment transformation is affecting the business of entertainment and a unique environment that enables attendees to engage, debate and define the latest developments in the mobile marketplace.
- Techlicious Moms, which is part of the CEA Line Shows event, the first conference and luncheon that unites the most influential Mommy bloggers. It will take place June 22-23, concurrently with CEA Line Shows at 7 West. 34th St.
- The EVERYTHINGi Pavilion is also part of CEA Line Shows on the 22nd and 23rd. Presented by iLounge, which produces the annual iLounge Pavilion at International CES, showcases the latest and greatest third-party accessories and software for Apples iPod, iPhone, iPad and Macintosh platforms.
CE Week is a weeklong, citywide event in New York City, including CEA Line Shows and Digital Downtown Conference, CEA Demo Suites and Conference, organized in association with CEA, the producer of the International CES, along with Martin Porter Associates and Consumer Technology Publishing Group/NAPCO, publisher of Dealerscope, Custom Retailer and E-Gear Magazines.
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How Apple Can Become the Next Gaming Giant
Apple has proven itself in the technology industry. It delivers some of the best computers in the world, it has the top smartphone, and its tablet is setting the benchmark by which all other devices are judged. All that has combined to make the company one of the most financially successful firms in the world.
A key component in the success of Apple's mobile products has been games. The company's App Store is filled with outstanding titles, including Angry Birds and Tiny Wings, that captivate audiences across the globe. But there's another important result of the success of those games: Apple's iPhone and iPad are stealing mobile gaming market share from companies like Sony and Nintendo.
Although some might not want to put Apple on the same level as Nintendo and Sony in the gaming market, I think it's impossible not to do so. Apple is a provider of products that millions are playing games on. And the time has come for everyone to stop ignoring that fact.
The only issue is, those critics can't necessarily believe that fact until Apple does as well. The company has acknowledged that games are popular on iOS, but it hasn't gone much further. It seemingly believes that games are a key component in its App Store strategy nothing more.
But perhaps the time has come for Apple to do more than just offer an App Store. As a hardware company that has witnessed its many products take out the competition with ease, it's now time for Apple to double down on gaming, and become a key player in the living room gaming space.
Luckily for the company, it can do so with ease, thanks to the Apple TV. The only issue is, it can't use the Apple TV in its current form. The company would need to deliver a new version of the device that delivers more capability (especially storage) and perhaps most importantly, access to its App Store.
The future of the gaming business is in downloads. People don't want to head down to GameStop to buy a game when they can get a title for cheaper by downloading it to their respective device. Apple can appeal to that desire now, thanks to its App Store. It's a major advantage.
The device itself can be one of two things: it can be designed for the casual gamer, or Apple can make a device that appeals to both the casual and hard-core gamers among us. In either case, I think the console would be a hit.
As I wrote on these pages recently, I believe the PlayStation 3 is the best entertainment device in the living room. But it didn't earn that by simply offering games. It boasts a Blu-ray player, online-gaming functionality, streaming content, and more. It's a full-fledged entertainment platform.
I believe Apple can deliver the same experience. And the best part is, it's practically there already. It has the streaming content, it offers movies, and it has a digital-delivery system in the App Store. The only major element it's missing is gaming.
Given Apple's history of developing hardware, I think the company could come up with something special. And if it can follow the same path it has in the past, there's no reason to think its console won't top Sony's as the best in the business.
Lanter named Antioch Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year
ANTIOCH -- Fifty-year resident Jim Lanter was named Citizen of the Year, Most Impact, at the Antioch Chamber of Commerce inaugural gala on April 22.
Lanter, an Antioch insurance agent, is active helping children with special needs and in numerous other community organizations, including the PTA, Little League and Rotary.
He is also co-chair for An Elderly Wish Foundation and a member of the Antioch Economic Development Committee.
But Lanter says his passion is working with and for special needs adults and children.
People with special needs can include those with cerebral palsy, seizures, Down syndrome, autism, brain injuries and other disabilities.
Lanter, 62, was one of the founders of Born to Dance, a 25-year-old dance group for special needs adults that has sponsored more than 220 dances.
He also helps sponsor and host an annual Christmas party for special needs children.
Passion is something we all have inside of us, Lanter told gala attendees at Lone Tree Golf and Event Center. If you dont have one, call me.
Lanter is a 1966 graduate of Antioch High School. He and his wife, Earlene, have two sons and six grandchildren.
A second Citizen of the Year award for lifetime service went to Bill Chapman.
Chapman, a longtime Antioch resident, is especially active in organizations supporting seniors.
He is chairman of the Antioch Committee on Aging, the Antioch Low Cost Senior Housing at
Mo-peds becoming more common mode of travel
CHARLESTON, SC One man wanted to shrink his carbon footprint. Another saw a chance to save gas money. A third needed a way to get around after losing his drivers license.
All turned to the venerable mo-ped, a low-powered form of two-wheeled transportation thats been around for decades but has surged in popularity in recent years.
For a long time, mo-peds were known as liquor cycles or DUI mobiles, a fall-back ride for folks who lost their drivers licenses to drunken-driving charges. That all changed with an evolving environmental consciousness, a crippling recession and gas prices that hover around three bucks a gallon. Now, all sorts of people are riding mo-peds, from penny- pinching college students to free-spirited nuns.
Business is a lot better than we anticipated, said George Merriweather, a regular rider whose wife owns Moped Medic in West Ashley. Its just really taking off.
Just up Savannah Highway, Lowcountry Scooter owner Carl Hall estimates he has sold about 400 of the diminutive cycles since April.
The attraction is obvious: Theyre cheaper than cars, get great gas mileage -- 70 miles a gallon or more -- dont require insurance and are easy to park. But they can also seem pretty puny and exposed putting along the open road at 30 mph.
George Lutz of Yonges Island is among the mo-ped converts. He bought a Keeway Hurricane to save on gas and create less pollution. Now, he uses it any chance he gets.
I just absolutely love the freedom a mo-ped gives you in terms of being in touch with the environment and enjoying all the different smells you dont get in the cage of a car, Lutz said.
Not everyone is so thrilled with the preponderance of mo-peds on the road. Some conventional motorists chafe at getting stuck behind the slow-moving scooters on busy roads. Count Albert Robison of West Ashley among that group.
I just get so annoyed with those things. Its like the people on them are in the Twilight Zone. They dart out in front of you, and then theyre in the middle of the road and you cant get around them, Robinson said, his voice rising. I can understand someone needing to get from Point A to Point B. But thats what the city bus is for. This is the open road.
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More wrecks
The state Department of Motor Vehicles doesnt keep figures on the total number of mo-peds in South Carolina, but it does track the number of people with licenses that limit them to driving mo-peds. That figure has more than doubled, to nearly 6,000 riders, over the past five years, said DMV spokeswoman Beth Parks.
With their increased presence on the roadways has come a nearly two-fold jump in the number of wrecks involving mo-peds. Preliminary figures show mo-peds were involved in 479 crashes across the state in 2010, with 16 people killed and 476 injured, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
In November, a 23-year-old man was killed when an allegedly intoxicated driver struck his mo-ped in West Ashley. Two months earlier, a 62-year-old man on a mo-ped was killed in Berkeley County when a car struck him from behind. And in August, a 57-year-old man died when his mo-ped struck a utility pole in Mount Pleasant.
Such incidents have caught the attention of state lawmakers, and a number of bills are in the legislative pipeline to improve safety. Various measures would require mo-ped riders to carry liability insurance, install strobe lights and wear reflective vests for greater visibility. Still another bill would definitively make it a crime to drive drunk on a mo-ped in South Carolina, eliminating language that specifically excludes mo-peds from the definition of a motor vehicle.
State Sen. Thomas Alexander, an Oconee Republican, is pushing the strobe light bill. He said mo-peds can be tough for other motorists to see until its too late, particularly along the steep, twisty roads in his Upstate district. You come around a corner and youre right on top of a mo-ped before you realize its there, he said. Its dangerous.
Hall, of Lowcountry Scooter, said many of his customers already employ such measures and buy insurance as a precaution. Several riders interviewed also said they would not object to additional safety requirements.
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An eye for safety
Lauri Shay, a pre-school teacher from Mount Pleasant, said she is very safety conscious on her scooter. She tries to stick to backroads, rides only in daylight and limits her sojourns to local travel, mainly going from home to work, the grocery store and the beach. Still, shes managed to pile 2,200 miles on her Keeway Venus scooter since August while spending as little as $2 a week on gas.
Shay got her scooter after a car wreck left her without a ride. Now, she hardly misses the car at all. The scooter is great, she said. I cant travel anywhere far, but I dont have to pay car insurance or property taxes.
Rich Lail of West Ashley got a mo-ped because he had a suspended drivers license (too many points) and was sick of taking the bus to classes at Trident Technical College in North Charleston. Hes logged 8,000 miles on his mo-ped, which gets 75 miles to the gallon. Like Shay, Lail said hes encountered very few problems with other drivers.
From the perspective of other drivers, I understand that Im a little slower than most traffic so I dont try to block people or hog the road or anything like that, Lail said.
Todd Simonis, a minister at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Mount Pleasant, has been riding a mo-ped for more than two years, and he said he feels as safe as can be. Other motorists seem to accept mo-peds on the road more readily than they do bicycles, he said. Mo-ped riders just shouldnt assume they hold a special kinship with their larger cousins on the road.
Motorcyclists dont like it when you wave to them, he said. We are in the lower caste system for sure.
Simonis does offer waves to a local mo-ped-riding nun he encounters. Unlike Simonis, she eschews the use of helmet. Obviously, he said with a chuckle. She must have more faith than me.
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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com
Silver Linings: Sony Online Entertainment Not Actually Compromised
Youd have to have been living under a rock, or getting your news from Sony itself, not to know that the PlayStation Network is now believed to be maliciously compromised. Hackers are even now, perhaps, cackling with glee as they rifle through our stolen credit card details, our passwords, and our very hopes and dreams. But Sony Online Entertainment is safe and has not been compromised, we are being reassured - even if you cant actually play games like DC Universe Online on your PS3 due to the network being down.
We have been conducting a thorough investigation and, to the best of our knowledge, no customer personal information got out to any unauthorized person or persons. We are continuing that investigation and monitoring the situation carefully; should the situation change, we will of course promptly notify you, writes SOE Director of Community Relations Linda Carlson on the DCUO forums.
To apologise for the inconvenience, SOE are offering some special events this weekend. To thank players for their patience, we will be hosting special events this weekend across our game portfolio, including a Double Station Cash day on Saturday, April 30th. We are also working on a make good plan for players of the PS3 versions of DC Universe Online and Free Realms.
Thanks, Eurogamer!
Community College Scholars Selected to Design Robotic Rovers
HOUSTON, April 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eighty students from community colleges in 28 states and Puerto Rico have been selected to travel to a NASA center to develop robotic rovers. The National Community College Aerospace Scholars program encourages students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)
The students will visit either NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., April 27-29 or the Johnson Space Center in Houston May 12-14. Participants were selected based on completion of Web-based assignments during the school year.
The students will establish teams and form fictitious companies pursuing Mars exploration. Each team will shape a company infrastructure to develop and design a prototype rover. The on-site experience includes a tour of NASA facilities and briefings from agency scientists, engineers and astronauts.
This innovative experience allows students to take what theyve learned in the classroom and apply it to technical questions in the real world, simulating what NASA engineers and scientists do every day, said Leland Melvin, NASA associate administrator for education. It will help them develop the skills they need to be the problem solving explorers of tomorrow.
The program is based on the state of Texas Aerospace Scholars, originally created in partnership with NASA and the Lone Star states educational community. The programs are designed to encourage community and junior college students to enter careers in science and engineering and ultimately join the nations highly technical workforce.
Through this program, NASA continues the agencys investment in educational programs that attract and retain students in STEM disciplines critical to NASAs future missions.
For a complete list of the students, their states and the community colleges they represent, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/descriptions/National_Community_College_Aerospace_Scholars.html
For more information about NASAs National Community College Aerospace Scholars Program, visit:
http://aerospacescholars.jsc.nasa.gov/
For more information about NASAs education programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education
SOURCE NASA
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