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What Counts as an Extracurricular Activity?
With the lure of high salaries and strong job prospects, many students enter college thinking they will major in engineering. The actual math and science demands of the field, however, quickly drive some students away. If you think engineering might be a good choice for you, a summer engineering program is a stellar way to learn more about the field and expand your experiences.
This introductory engineering course for high school juniors and seniors is offered by Johns Hopkins University at several locations across the country.
Engineering Innovation teaches critical thinking and applied problem-solving skills for future engineers through lectures, research, and projects. If the student achieves an A or B in the program, she will also receive three transferable credits from the university.
The program runs for four or five days a week over four to five weeks, depending on the location. Eligible students applying to one of the commuter program locations may apply for need-based financial assistance. Most locations offer commuter programs only, but the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus in Baltimore and Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, both offer residential options.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers this enrichment program for high school seniors interested in engineering, science, and entrepreneurship.
Students select five of 14 rigorous academic courses to study over the six-week residential program. MITES offers opportunities for students to network with a diverse group of individuals within the fields of science and engineering. Students also share and celebrate their own cultures.
MITES is scholarship based, with all coursework, room, and board provided. Students selected for the program need only provide their own transportation to and from the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hosted by the University of Michigan's Society of Women Engineers, the Summer Engineering Exploration Camp is a one-week residential program for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors interested in engineering.
Participants have the opportunity to explore several different areas of engineering during workplace tours, group projects, and presentations by students, faculty, and professional engineers.
Campers also enjoy recreational events, exploring the town of Ann Arbor and experiencing a university residential atmosphere in the University of Michigan dorms. Scholarships are available to students with financial need.
The Summer Academy for Mathematics and Science (SAMS) is a rigorous summer program for high school juniors and seniors with a strong interest in math and science who may be considering a career in engineering. With separate tracks for each grade level, the academy offers a combination of traditional lecture-style instruction and hands-on projects that apply engineering concepts.
SAMS runs for six weeks, and participants stay in residence halls on the Carnegie Mellon campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The program does not charge tuition, housing, or dining fees. Students who are admitted to the program are only responsible for textbook fees, transportation, and recreational expenses.
This residential summer engineering camp for high school juniors and seniors is offered by the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering program, headquartered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Campers have the chance to interact with engineering students and faculty, visit engineering facilities and research labs at the university, and work together on hands-on engineering projects. During the program, students also participate in traditional camp recreational and social activities.
Applicants to the program are required to complete a 500-word statement-of-purpose essay and provide the contact information for a teacher recommender. The camp runs for two one-week sessions each summer.
The University of Maryland offers a number of summer programs to high school students for exploring various disciplines of engineering. The Discovering Engineering program for high school juniors and seniors is a residential one-week immersion in the university's engineering program. Discovering Engineering includes tours, lectures, laboratory work, demonstrations, and team projects designed to help students develop their math, science, and engineering skills and decide if engineering is right for them.
The university also offers Engineering Science and Technology to Energize and Expand Young Minds (ESTEEM), a four-week commuter program for high school seniors that explores engineering research methodology through lectures, demonstrations, and workshops.
Applicants to both programs are required to submit an essay explaining why they would like to participate in their selected program. All programs are held on the University of Maryland campus in College Park.
The University of Notre Dame's Introduction to Engineering program offers high school seniors with strong academic backgrounds and an interest in engineering the opportunity to further explore potential career paths in engineering. During the two-week program, students can experience a taste of college life, staying in Notre Dame campus housing while attending lectures with Notre Dame faculty members.
Students may study aerospace, mechanical, civil, computer, electrical, and chemical engineering in addition to participating in hands-on laboratory activities, field trips, and engineering design projects. Upon acceptance to the program, students may apply for a limited number of partial scholarships.
The University of Pennsylvania offers motivated high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors the opportunity to explore engineering at the college level during its three-week residential Engineering Summer Academy at Penn (ESAP).
This intensive program includes lecture and laboratory courses in biotechnology, computer graphics, computer science, nanotechnology, robotics, and engineering complex networks. All courses are taught by Penn faculty and other distinguished scholars in the field.
ESAP also includes extracurricular workshops and discussions on topics such as SAT preparation, college writing, and the college admissions process. Applicants to the program are required to complete a personal essay and provide two letters of recommendation.
The University of California San Diego branch of the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) emphasizes technology and engineering in its summer course offerings for high school students.
Students enrolled in this rigorous four-week residential program choose one of nine academic subjects or "clusters" from topics such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, biodiesel from renewable sources, earthquake engineering, and music technology.
Students also take a course on science communication to help them prepare a final group project to be presented at the end of the session. Full and partial financial assistance is available to students with a demonstrated need who are California residents.
The University of Kansas School of Engineering in Lawrence offers a five-day intensive learning camp where ninth through 12th graders receive a hands-on introduction to engineering principles and various career opportunities within the field of engineering.
Campers follow a curriculum specific to their individual areas of interest such as computer science, aerospace, mechanical, chemical, civil/architectural, or electrical engineering. Students build their problem-solving skills by working together with fellow campers and faculty to find solutions to real-world engineering design problems. Participants also have the opportunity to visit local engineering facilities to see different types of engineers at work.


text:
package org.olat.presentation.course.nodes.portfolio;

/**
 * Description:

 * TODO: srosse Class Description for PortfolioPeekviewController
 *

 * Initial Date: 6 oct. 2010

 *
 * @author srosse, stephane.rosse@frentix.com, http://www.frentix.com
 */
public class PortfolioPeekviewController {

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Durban and the NGOs
United Press International
http://www.islamicpluralism.org/1089/durban-and-the-ngos
The massive political carnival that has taken place in Durban, South Africa, over the past week--the third United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (to use its full, trumpeting title)--has had many moments of high and low comedy. It seemed to have reached its nadir early, with the controversy that consumed it over Zionism and the state of Israel. But it also ended by making "racism" so wide and vague a category of evil that members of "low castes" in India, women, and gays and lesbians - none of whose problems are directly implicated with "race" - were all represented as the victims of racism by the close.
To some extent, this confusion can be blamed on the major role assumed at the Durban conference by some 4,000 "non-government organizations" or NGOs. As debate raged over a draft conference resolution that labeled Israel as "a racist apartheid state" and denounced it for "war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing," many NGOs expressed support for such intemperate anti-Israel language-and this made headlines for a day. But it also raised the question of exactly what are these bodies that apparently play such a central but also controversial role in the UN and world affairs.
The answer is that NGOs are several things. Some are activist charities such as Oxfam, Amnesty International, and Medecins Sans Frontieres. Others are what used to be called "special interest groups" in American political parlance. And even before that, in the period when Russian Communism remained a major force in world affairs, many of them would have been called "front groups." Indeed it is a sobering thought that many of the most prominent NGOs today are the same entities that the Soviets used, once upon a time, to spread propaganda and disinformation worldwide.
In other words, NGOs are activist groups - councils, committees, clubs, associations, cults, sects, and "tribes" - formed to press their demands and recommendations for the betterment of the world. The extent and diversity of such groups is so extraordinary that they constitute a kind of surrealist political universe unto themselves. For funds they depend on the traditional sources: donations by rich humanitarians and charitable foundations like the Ford Foundation, public grants from governments, national and local, to alleviate social problems or advance certain ideas, and clandestine aid from other governments aiming to exploit various grievances for their own foreign policy ends, and so on.
Sources of funding, of course, change with social and political change. American NGOs in particular tend to draw from the deep pockets of '60s "social action" veterans who have grown wealthy. In some parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, NGOs still receive subsidies that began under the old Soviet Union, as well as from the Cuban and Chinese Communist regimes. In the same regions, many are supported by the moderate social-democratic governments of Germany and Scandinavia, or by local authorities in France, Italy, Spain and other European countries.
Most NGOs are open, indeed campaigning, about their aims. But some disguise themselves with names and costumes intended - as in the Soviet period - to hide their real intentions. One thing, however, is certain: where there are NGOs, there are Web sites. NGOs have probably done more than any other force in the world to expand the political use of the Internet. Numerous NGOs too have been involved in the successive waves of rioting at meetings of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other global institutions.
To genuinely understand and navigate through the NGO swamp, one must have a background in the study of politics, mainly progressive politics. Without such knowledge, most people are bound to be overly impressed, baffled, or fooled by the pretensions some NGOs assume.
Not all NGOs, of course, are equally respectable or equally influential. As Durban illustrated, some fortunate ones have been lifted into the world of global policymaking by accreditation to the United Nations. The main coordinating agency for NGOs is the UN Conference of NGOs or CONGO. A century ago, the real country of Congo was a site for rich exploitation of natural resources; today the UN's CONGO is even more important as a place where social and cultural grievances may be exploited for political advantage. Indeed, the world of NGOs has become an important environment for the fostering of careers in politics and governance.
CONGO publishes a list of its members at www.conferenceofngos.org. It is hard to see, however, on what principles they have been selected for UN approval and accreditation. At the top, because its name cannot be alphabetized, is the 3HO Foundation: Healthy, Happy, Holy. Checking the website, we find this is "a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the teachings of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan."
The list continues, alphabetically, with a traditional religious group: the Adventist Relief and Development Agency International. Presumably, the body does more to alleviate suffering than simply promote a form of yoga; it might well coordinate with the UN on issues involving children, hunger, and refugees. But as we continue down the inventory, another name quickly stands out: the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization. This is the nom de plume of a support network for guerrilla movements established in the 1960s by the Soviet Union and Cuba. A dispassionate observer might argue that this group, with its focus on "anti-imperialist war," has been responsible for much of the victimization of children, the hunger, and the flows of refugees that the Adventists have been alleviating over the same period.
Further on, we find that CONGO also comprises the Croatian World Congress, an ethnic mobilization effort sponsored, in the past, by the Croatian government. Reassuringly, CONGO also encompasses some legitimate groups--for example, the American Cancer Society, the Child Welfare League of America, and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions--that must feel out of place rubbing elbows with either the promoters of yoga, of armed insurgencies, or of ethnic particularism: Rising above such petty inconsistencies, however, are such groups in the CONGO directory as the marvelously-named International Organization of Experts, whose mission, as described on its website, is "to maintain the dignity, independence and quality of the titles of Expert and Expert-Adviser"--a doomed cause, alas,. in these days of television "talking heads."
In other words, NGOs are do-gooders, with the proviso that their ranks also include such do-badders as the Federation of Cuban Women, an arm of the Castro dictatorship to mobilize and control women rather than an independent organization to represent female interests.
The significance of NGO accreditation with the UN is that it bestows on all these very different organization some considerable credibility, justifiable or not, with governments and media. In Bosnia-Hercegovina and Kosovo, for example, legitimate freelance journalists are barred from obtaining press credentials, but employees of NGOs are handed press cards virtually on arrival in Sarajevo or Pristina. And they accordingly shape outside perceptions of what is happening there more than many media organizations.
It used to be said that war was good business, but, as one may observe in war-torn settings like the Balkans, peace is also good business. Even with NGOs present on the ground in plenitude, many ordinary people in these regions still go without food or shelter, news of their disappeared relatives, or medical care for the victims of aggression. But thanks to NGOs, numerous functionaries, bureaucrats, and experts, as well as their translators, drivers, and other employees, have jobs. As long as there is pain and oppression in the world, it seems, there will be NGOs -- some of them really helping to alleviate the world's problems, others aggravating them.
At Durban a meeting of UN-accredited NGOs aggravated the world's problems in a modest way by their overwhelming support for anti-Israel and anti-Western slanders of the crudest and most morally objectionable kind. They have pretensions, favorably looked upon by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, to form the nucleus of "international civil society." Rather than encouraging such utopian ambitions, the UN should reform its procedures for accrediting NGOs to ensure that they are at least respectable organizations that do more good in the world than simply produce extremist political rhetoric.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Wellness Series uses the proven benefits of self-hypnosis to foster a positive, healthy mind-set that can greatly speed recovery and ease pain. Using the relaxation and positive visualization techniques presented in this series, you will reduce stress, and help your body to work to its maximum potential. Your positive outlook will give you a better chance of conquering your condition or disease.


Get some fresh air in your home with the Olsenmark 16inch Wall Fan. The 3 speed setting control helps you to manage speed of the fan according to your mood. It also comes with an oscillation setting to spread air all over the room and keeps you stress free.


Stop at Best Western Plus Spasskaya to discover the wonders of Tyumen. Both business travelers and tourists can enjoy the hotel's facilities and services. Facilities like 24-hour front desk, facilities for disabled guests, luggage storage, room service, airport transfer are readily available for you to enjoy. Guestrooms are designed to provide an optimal level of comfort with welcoming decor and some offering convenient amenities like air conditioning, heating, desk, mini bar, soundproofing. The hotel offers various recreational opportunities. For reliable service and professional staff, Best Western Plus Spasskaya caters to your needs. The hotel provides limited shuttle service only from the hotel to the airport.


text:
Мінтерн () — місто () в США, в окрузі Лоуренс штату Арканзас. Населення — 109 осіб (2010).

Географія
Мінтерн розташований за координатами  (35.975787, -91.027562).  За даними Бюро перепису населення США в 2010 році місто мало площу 1,37 км², уся площа — суходіл.

Демографія

Згідно з переписом 2010 року, у місті мешкало 109 осіб у 46 домогосподарствах у складі 33 родин. Густота населення становила 80 осіб/км².  Було 55 помешкань (40/км²).

Расовий склад населення:

До двох чи більше рас належало 2,8 %. Іспаномовні складали 0,0 % від усіх жителів.

За віковим діапазоном населення розподілялося таким чином: 28,4 % — особи молодші 18 років, 55,1 % — особи у віці 18—64 років, 16,5 % — особи у віці 65 років та старші. Медіана віку мешканця становила 36,5 року. На 100 осіб жіночої статі у місті припадало 87,9 чоловіків;  на 100 жінок у віці від 18 років та старших — 95,0 чоловіків також старших 18 років.

Середній дохід на одне домашнє господарство  становив  доларів США (медіана — ), а середній дохід на одну сім'ю —  долари (медіана — ). За межею бідності перебувало 7,6 % осіб, у тому числі 0,0 % дітей у віці до 18 років та 0,0 % осіб у віці 65 років та старших.

Цивільне працевлаштоване населення становило 16 осіб. Основні галузі зайнятості: сільське господарство, лісництво, риболовля — 43,8 %, транспорт — 25,0 %, освіта, охорона здоров'я та соціальна допомога — 18,8 %.

Джерела

Містечка Арканзасу
Населені пункти округу Лоуренс (Арканзас)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Kitchens Are Monkey Business: Rosie Is ... Mentioned.
My Outer Banks Home - Soft shell crabs.
Check out the next to last paragraph.
Be sure not to blink!
As a part of a sandwich, there's no denying they look a bit strange, with their spidery-looking fried legs hanging over the edges. But once newcomers actually try a bite, they realize what most Outer Banks locals already know – that soft shell crabs are simply delicious and a seasonal delicacy we wait for every year.
So what are these creatures? How are they harvested? Soft crabs are simply blue crabs that have recently molted, shedding their hard shells, leaving a paper-thin exoskeleton that hardens within hours. So timing is everything in the harvesting of these delicious little beauties.
We came across this great blog by Terry Moore, writing for Southern Shores Realty, about local soft shell crabs and the harvesting process. And I have to tell you, even though I've been eating them for years, I didn't know all of this.
"How do commercial fishers know Soft Shell Crab season has started?
In a normal year the season will start somewhere in late April, early May. Some people will take a net and drag it to see if they catch any "peelers" (a peeler is a crab that has left or is leaving its shell), but what most people do is they set an empty peeler pot and see if one goes into it. A crab will usually go in for protection. When they're soft they become vulnerable. But people do it in different ways.
How can a consumer know it's Soft Shell Crab season?
Visiting your local seafood market often is the best way. Many say that soft shell crab season starts around the same time as strawberry season (strawberry patches near the area where the crabbing takes place); how accurate that is I don't know. We do know that the crabs will shed the most around the full moon.
Why are the crabs getting soft?
They're shedding their hard shell in order to grow. When they get out of their shell they are already larger. And within hours they are hard again and bigger.
What is the strategy in catching the crabs?
Happily, most of the Outer Banks restaurants that normally serve seafood will also have seasonal soft shell crabs specials on their menu. Or if you prefer, you can also purchase them at a local fish market and try frying them up yourself! If you're unsure of how to cook them, just ask when you're purchasing them. Local fishmongers are always happy to help. Here is one recipe by local cook and author, Rosie Hawthorne.
to which the above links.


Exploring Ascension, Light and Alchemy.
This retreat is designed for Lightworkers, Healers and Starseeds. Held in the beautiful and sacred landscape of Glastonbury that is often referred to as the Heart Chakra of the planet. Glastonbury is certainly a place of connecting to light, alchemy and ascension.
This retreat is an opportunity to dive into the energies and themes of ascension, alchemy and self-mastery. There will also be space to visit many of the important sites such as The Tor and Chalice Well Gardens.
Ascension means moving from a 3D fear/separation timeline to a new 5D love-interconnectedness-multidimensional timeline. This weekend is a space to release the old 3D matrix and embrace more of your inner light, inner divinity, and align with the new frequencies impacting the planet now. (Please note that ascension is not about leaving our bodies and living in the etheric - it's about bringing light to everyday life and earth).
There will be processes, meditation-transmissions, time for personal reflection, and the wonderful landscape of Glastonbury to help you ground that light in the cells of your energy bodies.
Steve Ahnael Nobel is a published author (his most recent being Starseeds), book mentor, coach, and founder of Soul Matrix Healing. He was a director of Alternatives for 13 years.
Catherine Björksten is a spiritual counsellor and Soul Plan reader. After many years spent working in marketing and advertising Catherine's life took a turn when she came to a major crossroad (i.e. she crashed and burned out. This experience pointed the way towards connecting with the multidimensional worlds of spirit. Her journey has taken her to experience sacred plant medicine, a vision quest in the Pyrenees and the Peruvian Andes to work closely with the Paqos (Incan wisdom keepers).
Price £250 per person. Travel and accomodation not included.


WinRAR latest APK 5.61 (67) is great for you who want to manage RAR document inside Android device with the easy and simple way. Yes, this app is special because it offers many usages for you. It is simple, free, original, quick and easy to compress some files. Besides, it is also useful as the archiver, assistant, extractor and manager of the file explorer. For the document needs, I am sure that it is a very nice app to have.
This app is able to create the RAR and ZIP file. Then, it is also useful to unpack many kinds of archives files, which will help you to open the files, as you want. The tool app is developed by RARLAB, which is known as one of the special app developers. The app works as file commander. It will show you some folders inside your device and also the files of it. After it, you could archive the files or unpack the downloaded or the copied file. To do the business with this app, you only need a simple way. Just click the folder or archive, you could do anything that you want.
As we have said before, this app is very nice by the features. This app is good because here, you could pack or achieve the files into ZIP or RAR, so you could compress and send those files with easier ways. Besides, it is also very good to unpack files with many different extensions, so you could open and read the achieved files without difficulties.
This app is available for any kind of Android device. Then, in order to use Win RAR for Android, the users of Android do not need to root their device. It means that this app is nice and easy to use. Moreover, the size of this app is also small and it is safe for your internal memory.
Simpler prompt is displayed to grant access to external SD card in Android 7+. Unlike earlier Android versions, it is not needed to select SD card root when accessing the card for the first time.
Delete command issues an error message if it cannot delete a file or folder. Previously it skipped such items silently.
Fixed a rare crash on startup.


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Those who knows anything about Scottish winter climbing will know the names Jimmy Marshall and Robin Smith. Although their reputations as climbers spread well beyond what they did in this week 50 years ago , 6-13 February 1960 will forever be acknowledged as a significant time in the history of Scottish climbing.
As part of a commemorative event to mark the achievement, Hot Aches is working with the Fort William Mountain Festival to film Dave Macleod and Andy Turner repeating the adventures of Smith and Marshall. We will be filming and editing as we go. Below is a short clip of their ascent of the Great Chimney.


text:
Life at SLU
Home » News » » » Write Stuff: Elizabeth Blake, Ph.D.
Write Stuff: Elizabeth Blake, Ph.D.
Learn about the projects and passions of SLU faculty and staff members who have written books, in their own words.
Elizabeth Blake, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Russian and the Russian division coordinator in the College of Arts and Sciences's Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. Blake's research interests include migration and exile cultures, the 19th Century European novel, studies of empire and dialogues between Catholicism and Orthodox churches. Her latest work and new book examine the work of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, a piercing social critic, philosopher and giant of Russian literature.
Elizabeth Blake, Ph.D., first read Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment in high school, but a growing interest in the work of existentialist writers including Albert Camus led her to focus on the Russian writer as a graduate student. Submitted photo
Travels from Dostoevsky's Siberia, published in the summer of 2019 by Academic Studies Press, is a collection of translations with introductions and commentary on the texts written by Siberian exiles who shared Dostoevsky's experience of being deported to Western Siberia. These accounts provide readers with uncensored insights into crime, power and punishment in Dostoevsky's Russia.
It is her second book exploring the work of the Russian writer, who is also the author of several classic novels including Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and Notes from the House of the Dead.
Blake's work has been grants from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Education and a Mellon Faculty Development award through SLU.
I am native to the D. C. area, majored in French and Russian Studies at the College of William and Mary and then went on to receive my Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in Slavic Languages and Literatures.
I have travelled to and conducted research in several European countries, but I have spent most of my time in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, although I did visit Siberia on my latest trip.
Tell us about your book.
My book is a collection of translations with introductions and commentary on the texts written by Siberian exiles who shared Dostoevsky's experience of being deported to Western Siberia.
They provide the reader with uncensored witness testimony concerning interrogations, denunciations, incarcerations, corporal punishment, and means of survival. For this reason, they can enrich our reading of Dostoevsky's autobiographical novel about his imprisonment, Notes from the House of the Dead, and provide new historical information about a repressive judicial system under the tsars.
What sparked your fascination with Dostoevsky?
I read Crime and Punishment in high school, but I did not appreciate Dostoevsky until after I read some of the existentialists, especially Camus's The Renegade and The Fall. Then, I returned to Dostoevsky, bought the first volumes of Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky autobiography, and decided to focus on Dostoevsky's contribution to Christian thought for graduate school.
Can you tell us more about the members of Polish literary society with whom Dostoevsky worked?
Dostoevsky was imprisoned with two men who have written recollections about the experience, but the texts are not completely independent of one another.
Szymon Tokarzewski's remembrances have been published in Polish and Russian, but I translated memoirs written by Józef Bogusławski (and edited by Tokarzewski) from an archival copy donated to a library in 1898 and first published in partial form in 1896. I argue that the provenance of the manuscript, based on historical information, predates the 1863 January uprising, so it is therefore of greater interest to Dostoevsky scholars seeking information about his 1850-54 term in the Omsk prison fortress than Tokarzewski's later posthumous publications (1907/1918).
What compelling things have you unearthed in the Russian writer's relationships with his Polish counterparts?
All of the authors in the collection agree that the authorities in Siberia display tyrannical habits, that informants cause great harm, and that their very survival depends on the good will of persons of influence.
Still, I had not appreciated before completing the translation how much Bogusławski resented Dostoevsky's military education and attributed the author's loyalty to the tsar to the influence of the Orthodox Church and the Russian military. I think that the most shocking discovery in these uncensored recollections is the depiction of the criminal environment (physical and sexual assault, circulation of counterfeit money, prison guards' appropriation of inmates' property, and aggressive verbal abuse) in Dostoevsky's prison.
In addition, the common images of exile shared by these writers, such as the organizing motif of homeland, the privilege of martyrdom, the witness to depravity, and a fascination with the criminal mind, reflect an experience that transcends linguistic and national divides.
Tell us about your research process for this project.
I have been gathering materials on Polish exiles in Siberia for many years, and I have presented on the information in various local, national, and international fora in addition to publishing several articles on the topic.
Several sources of funding––including a Mellon from SLU, a Department of Education award, and a Department of State grant––allowed me to travel to Russia and Poland to collect the materials necessary for the project over the course of the past three years.
What does lessons do Dostoevsky's works, particularly House of the Dead, have for us today?
I often work on cultural and religious conflict in Russian Imperial space, so I approach House of the Dead from this standpoint. When I look at Siberian writings from this period, I am impressed by the levels of tolerance and intolerance displayed by exiles from various nations as they seek to define communities and develop relationships that allow them to survive, even to thrive, in these hostile settings. Dostoevsky's crime novels, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons, and The Brothers Karamazov, display a profound understanding of and sympathy for an array of criminals, so they celebrate the authors' ability to translate a traumatic experience into narratives exploring redemptive suffering.
In our current debates about the criminal justice system, political discourse and policing, does Dostoevsky's experience as a political prisoner in Siberia offer insights for us today?
Since my expertise is nineteenth-century European literature, I do not usually venture into the contemporary period with Dostoevsky's experience. However, I will be teaching a course in spring 2020, entitled "In Prisons Dark," which explores the thesis that the habit of incarcerating and exiling political misfits in the nineteenth century paved the way for the GULAG in the twentieth. Having read many accounts of arrests and imprisonment, I can also conclude that the arguments maintaining that ethnicity, class, financial resources, and political persuasion impact the carceral experience have been true for centuries.
Dostoevsky's novels are also frequently invoked in debates against capital punishment. If we believe our judicial system to be democratic, then maybe it should concern us that parts of it resemble institutions in Dostoevsky's Russia.
How do your book and your writing life inform your life as a SLU faculty member?
Both of my books have been impacted by a course I developed for the English department, "Dostoevsky Through the Centuries," and another course I designed for the Department of Theological Studies, "The Russian Orthodox."
I have also given lectures in the local community related to this research and am currently pursuing closer ties with Catholic Studies, since I will be giving a lecture on October 14th, "Collared and in Siberia: Catholic Priests in Imperial Russia."
Being a cradle-Catholic, having taught a course on Orthodoxy for a decade, and being married to a Presbyterian liberation theologian, I am a visible presence in the spiritual life on campus.
After I complete my third book, as a requirement of my grant, I plan to work on a project in an on-line platform summarizing and organizing my Siberian research in order to rebuild the personal histories of prominent exiles with respect to their conspiratorial history, place of incarceration, and location(s) of exile. At this point, I hope to involve students in a larger guided research project.
What is your favorite thing you encountered in the archive? Can you tell us its story?
My favorite early find from my 2015 trip to Krakow is published in this new collection. Although I was looking through folders of Polish literary figures who had been exiled to Siberia, I found a handwritten copy describing the sentencings of 22 of the Petrashevtsy, including Dostoevsky. It offers further confirmation of the links between the Orenburg circle of writers and Dostoevsky's co-conspirators, so it joins two chapters in Russian Siberian history––Dostoevsky's and the mass deportation of Poles.
How does this work speak back to your way of living out SLU's Jesuit mission?
My international collaborations speak to the mission's purpose to welcome representatives of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, and my own research recaptures a history of ecumenical dialogue (Anglican, Orthodox, and Catholic) which receives little attention, owing to the Bolshevik Revolution with its destructions of churches, extermination of clergy, and persecution of Christians.
The University resources I have used have been combined with national grants in order to examine the hardship of exile for the inter-revolutionary generation of Poles who shared Dostoevsky's experience of incarceration, deportation, deprivation of financial assets, and loss of noble privileges.
It also helps to preserve for Russians an early chapter in their national history of political repression, which is a focus of the well-known International Memorial Project. In the project's catalogue of victims from the Soviet period, one may find a detailed list of resources on the persecution of the Catholic Church (1918-1980s), which unfortunately has a rich history in the nineteenth century.
For those who know enough Russian to read these documents, the spring course "In Prisons Dark" will present an opportunity for them to conduct original research based on rare resources.
What else should we know about you?
Favorite Books: New Testament, Pride and Prejudice, The Brothers Karamazov
Favorite Outdoor Sport: Boating
Favorite College Course: Surrealism
Favorite Quote (Variable): "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes through the Father except through me."
The Warsaw Citadel, a site related to Blake's research. Submitted photo
Write Stuff is a new, occasional series of interviews with SLU faculty and staff authors who have newly-published or forthcoming books. To submit your work for possible inclusion in the series, email Newslink.


Interesting, amazing and little known facts about Germany.
Germany's most beautiful medieval castles.
Germany's most beautiful palaces and schlösser.
All of Germany's must-see destinations.
Explore the towns and villages renowned for their traditional half-timbered architecture.
A list of national parks with their official websites.
A concise list of individuals associated with Germany.
With 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the EU's most populous nation. It is divided in 16 federal states, some larger and more populous than most European countries. This is why we think that each state deserves its own guide (except for the three city states, which were treated as cities within Lower Saxony and Brandenburg).


I just love all of your designs. Thank you for helping me learn to use your alphabets.
Cute Greek Alphabet Applique 9 is a single design from the Cute Greek Alphabet Applique design set. The name says it all - this set is a cute Greek Alphabet that is great for children and teenagers (or adults).


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You are here: Home Page > Social Sciences > Interdisciplinary Studies > Communication Studies > The Power of Narrative
The Power of Narrative
Climate Skepticism and the Deconstruction of Science
Raul P. Lejano and Shondel J. Nero
Offers fresh insight into why climate skeptical narratives can compete with the scientific narrative of climate change
Provides extended narrative and critical discourse analysis of climate skeptical texts
Introduces new tools and methods for narrative analysis for science and technology scholars and policy makers
Probes policy controversies to explore the importance of narrative in constructing a network around ideological belief systems
There is an ideological war of words waging in America, one that speaks to a new fundamentalism rising not just within the American public, but across other ideologically-torn nations around the globe as well. At its heart is climate skepticism, an ideological watershed that has become a core belief for millions of people despite a large scientific consensus supporting the science of anthropogenic climate change. While many scholars have examined the role of lobbyists and conservative think tanks in fueling the climate skepticism movement, there has not yet been a systematic analysis of why the narrative itself has resonated so powerfully with the public.
Pulling from science and technology studies, narrative and discourse theory, and public policy, The Power of Narrative examines the strength of climate skepticism as a story, offering a thoughtful analysis and comparison of anti-climate science narratives over time and across geographic boundaries. This book provides fresh insight into the rhetorical and semantic properties on both sides of the climate change debate that preclude dialogue around climate science, and proposes a means for moving beyond ideological entrenchment through language mediation, further ethnographic study, and research-informed teaching. The Power of Narrative culminates in the revelation of a parallel between narratives about climate skepticism and those in other issue areas (e.g., gun rights, immigration, health crises), exposing a genetic meta-narrative of public distrust and isolation.
Ultimately, The Power of Narrative is not a book about climate change in itself: it is, instead, a book about how our society understands and interacts with science, how a social narrative becomes ideology, and how we can move beyond personal and political dogma to arrive at a sense of collective rapprochement.
Chapter 2. Ideology as Narrative
Chapter 3. When Skepticism Became Public
Chapter 4. Skeptics Without Borders
Chapter 5. Unpacking the Genetic Meta-Narrative
Chapter 6. The Social Construction of Climate Science
Chapter 7. Ideological narratives and beyond in a post-truth world
Raul P. Lejano is Professor at New York University where he teaches environmental policy and sustainability education. He applies his expertise in the complex logics of collective action to problems of designing the resilient city, addressing vulnerabilities of the marginalized to climate change and environmental hazards, and environmental justice. One of the analytic tools he employs is narrative analysis.
Shondel J. Nero is Professor of Language Education at New York University. Her primary research focus is on language variation and its relationship to identity and education, especially for minoritized populations in the US and the Anglophone Caribbean. She employs ethnographic and critical discourse analytic methods to examine the language and education of speakers of nonstandardized varieties of English, World Englishes, and Caribbean Creoles. A Fulbright scholar, Nero is the inaugural recipient of the James E. Alatis Prize for an outstanding article on language education policy in educational contexts.
Winner, American Association for Applied Linguistics Book Award
2021 Outstanding Publication of the Year Award by the Narrative Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association
Recipient of the 2021 Daniel E. Griffiths Research Award
"Scholarly yet accessible to a variety of readers, including undergraduates ... this thought-provoking work is especially commended to scholars and students of environmental studies and the sciences, political science, communication, and journalism." -- C. A. Badurek, CHOICE
"The book feels remarkably fresh because it tracks steadily along the narrow path of rationality and does not get distracted by fraught engagements with the flawed arguments of those it studies. The result is an achievement of moderation and focus that is unique among media about science skepticism.... Lejano and Nero's The Power of Narrative traverses the crowded field of misinformation studies to offer valuable information on a notoriously slippery concept." -- Ryland Shaw, International Journal of Communication
"Scholarly yet accessible to a variety of readers, including undergraduates, this text ably complements prior works on climate skepticism, scientific opinion, and media, such as Merchants of Doubt, by Naomi Oreskes. This thought-provoking work is especially commended to scholars and students of environmental studies and the sciences, political science, communication, and journalism. Highly Recommended." -- C. A. Badurek, CHOICE
"Throughout their analysis, the authors maintain their unbiased stance and avoid the use of absolutist terms like 'denialists' from the very beginning. Their inclusion of the other part of the story – the narrative of climate science, its danger of becoming an ideology and the need for climate scientists to consider how they use their authority when publicly addressing any scientific issue—provides a comprehensive understanding of narratives.... [I]t lays the paving stone for approaching the construction of the whole climate change debate while putting on our critical lenses." -- Sneha Biswas, LSE Review of Books
"If you have wondered how the science of climate change became a hot-button political question deeply embedded in the Left-Right polarization in the United States, this book is for you: The Power of Narrative explains the history of climate change skepticism and offers clues for resolving our current dilemma." -- Anne H. Ehrlich, Senior Research Scientist, Emerita, Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, Stanford University
"Lejano and Nero bring the full power of narrative analysis to bear in explaining how and why the storytelling of groups and organizations rejecting the reality and seriousness of climate change has been so strongly embraced in the American public. Indeed, their signature contribution is explaining how the evolving ideological narrative of climate change disbelief and the coalitions promoting this narrative are co-constituted, resulting in greater political polarization on climate change and the rise of echo chambers over time. Their work on the cultural resonance of climate change disbelief is an essential complement to other bodies of work that have documented the financial resources, organizational structure, and political strategies of the climate change denial machine." -- Aaron M. McCright, Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Sociology, Michigan State University
"The Power of Narrative examines the ways in which narrative contributes to the cultural divide over climate change. While political actors can promote the climate skeptical narrative as motivated by self-interest, its meaning for members of the general public is quite different, often weaving experience and ideology into a sense of personal identity and group solidarity. This book offers valuable insights for improving the efficiency of efforts to make headway on climate policy — any climate scientist or activist could benefit from the fundamental perspectives offered here by Lejano and Nero." -- James S. Clark, Nicholas Professor of Environment, Duke University
Practically Speaking
Dan Rothwell
Earth Matters
Richard Bardgett
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Communication and Critical Cultural Studies
Dana Cloud
Global Sustainable Development Report 2015: Climate Change and Sustainable Development
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
The Oxford Handbook of Networked Communication
Brooke Foucault Welles and Sandra González-Bailón
Low Carbon Energy Transitions
Kathleen Araújo
Practices of Looking
Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright
Oxford Bibliographies in Environmental Science
Ellen Wohl
Language and Communication at Work
Francois Cooren, Eero Vaara, Ann Langley...
The Extinction Market
Vanda Felbab Brown
Images at Work
David Morgan
Social Sciences > Interdisciplinary Studies > Communication Studies
Science & Mathematics > Environmental Science
Social Sciences > Interdisciplinary Studies > Communication Studies > Communication & Rhetoric Studies


Several studies demonstrate that lenalidomide (LEN) maintenance post autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) reduces the risk of disease progression or death in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) by approximately 50% (Attal, NEJM, 2012; McCarthy, NEJM, 2012; Palumbo, NEJM, 2014). However, these studies were not powered for overall survival (OS).
To conduct a meta-analysis assessing the effect of LEN maintenance post ASCT on OS.
(hazard ratio [HR] = 0.78).
From 2005 to 2009, 1209 patients were randomized in the 3 RCTs to receive LEN (n = 605) 10 mg/day on days 1-21 (GIMEMA) or 1-28 (IFM and CALGB) of 28-day cycles or control (n = 604). With a median follow-up of 6.6 years, 491 patients (41%) had died. Baseline characteristics were generally balanced in the pooled data. After induction and single (82%) or tandem (18%) ASCT, 55% of patients achieved a complete response (CR) or very good partial response (VGPR). Median OS for the LEN maintenance group was not reached compared with 86 months for the control group (HR = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.62-0.89; log-rank P =.001; Figure A), and 5-, 6-, and 7-year OS were longer in the LEN maintenance vs the control group (71% vs 66%, 65% vs 58%, and 62% vs 50%, respectively). Fisher's combination test confirmed the significant OS benefit in the meta-analysis (P = .001). Patients who achieved ≤ PR post ASCT benefited from LEN maintenance (HR = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.65-1.15) as did patients with CR/VGPR (HR = 0.70; 95% CI, 0.54-0.90). OS benefit was generally consistent across subgroups. Based on a heterogeneity test (Pignon, Lancet Oncol, 2001), the OS study results from the efficacy meta-analysis were considered significantly heterogeneous (P = .047; Figure B) across studies for both the intention-to-treat post-ASCT population and for all patients randomized. Potential factors contributing to the heterogeneity between the clinical trials were explored and identified, including baseline/disease characteristics (such as International Staging System stage, cytogenetics), study conduct, and second-line therapy. Second primary malignancy data will be presented.
This large meta-analysis demonstrates that LEN maintenance significantly prolonged OS vs control (placebo/no maintenance) post ASCT, including in patients who achieved CR, demonstrating benefit in patients in all response categories.


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December 7, 2016	Chris Del Castillo
Windjammers and Ys Origin coming to PS4 and PS Vita next year
While there will always be video games that fans would love to see released, it doesn't always happen. There is always that chance that it eventually will. During the PlayStation Showcase, Gio Corsi, the senior director of third part production at Sony Interactive Entertainment America, revealed the "building the list" initiative which would take various titles requested by fans and turn them into reality.
Two titles announced for release on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita were the 1994 cult classic NeoGeo arcade title Windjammer and Nihon Falcom's Ys Origin, which is currently only available on Steam.
Windjammers is a flying disc-based game where the goal is to use your skills and special abilities to score points against your opponent. Think of Ice Hockey only with frisbees and super abilities that can knock your opponent into their goal. The game was developed by Data East, and outside of emulation, arcade, or owning it on a Neo Geo system, you are out of luck. The game will also include an online multiplayer.
While DotEmu is known for porting over classic games to current generation consoles, the other titled revealed was a nice surprise. In 2012, XSEED Games released Ys Origins on Steam, but for some reason never on the PlayStation 3. Until now, the only way to play the game was on PC. Now PlayStation owners will be able to play the game on either their PS4 or Vita when it releases in 2017.


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El conflicte sociolingüístic de Bèlgica o problema lingüístic belga que encara perviu en l'actualitat, entre les comunitats neerlandòfones i francòfones, té arrels assentades des d'abans de la primera Constitució de Bèlgica.

Polítiques favorables a l'idioma francès
Entre els anys 1815 i 1830, tot l'actual Estat Belga formava part del Regne Unit dels Països Baixos. El rei neerlandès Guillem I, va haver d'enfrontar-se amb una poderosa oposició per diferents estaments socials: els catòlics estaven en desacord amb la ingerència del monarca en la religió i la immensa majoria dels francoparlants d'idees liberals i les classes burgeses s'oposaven a la postura lingüística del rei, al seu govern despòtic i a l'escassa representativitat del seu territori en les milícies i en els organismes administratius. L'acuitat declivi econòmic, que va conduir a altes taxes d'aturats i a un augment important de la inflació de l'import dels aliments, va provocar àmplies revoltes que desencadenarien el que a posteriori seria conegut com a Revolució belga.

La disconformitat de les classes belgues va esclatar de manera exabrupta a l'agost de 1830, durant la representació de la famosa opera «La Muette de Portici» (una exaltació de la lluita dels napolitans contra els espanyols per aconseguir la seva emancipació). Després de les revoltes es va establir un Govern de caràcter provisional que va declarar a Bèlgica com a estat sobirà.

La primera legislació lingüística de Bèlgica, publicada com a decret el 16 de novembre de 1830, pel comitè central del govern provisional deia:
La primera constitució belga -promulgada el 7 de febrer de 1831- no establia cap llengua oficial; no obstant això el seu article 23 resava:

Atès que en la pràctica el francès era la llengua utilitzada per les classes dominants, tant flamenques com valones, això es va traduir en el seu ús exclusiu com a llengua oficial. De fet les 2 lleis que van desenvolupar l'article 23 de la constitució -promulgada la primera el 19 de setembre de 1831 i la segona, que la va substituir, el 28 de febrer de 1845- van ancorar el francès com a llengua oficial. En les albors de l'estat belga, les classes elitistes flamenques no van dubtar a atribuir a l'idioma francès exclusivitat en el seu ús institucional, doncs a l'històric prestigi que aquesta llengua tenia, calia sumar-li la seva ocupació com diseminador de les idees revolucionàries pròpies de l'Europa de les llums. El neerlandès -que comptava amb un 55-57% de parlants flamencs- era considerat una llengua primitiva i indigna per les mateixes elits flamenques; veient-se, a més, clarament desfavorit pel clergat catòlic, que ho percebia com un perillós difusor de les idees derivades del protestantisme calvinista, l'arrelament del qual als Països Baixos els causava temor.
També cal tenir en compte que en els seus orígens el neerlandès a Flandes, al no estar normalitzat, es trobava fortament dialectitzat, comptant amb gran quantitat de variacions. Tal com és recollit en l'exposició de motius del Decret del 16 de novembre de 1830.

Alguna cosa similar succeïa, aleshores, en la part valona de Bèlgica, convivint majoritàriament diversos idiomes tradicionals -alguns d'ells, minoritàriament, encara perviuen- com el való, el picard, el lorrain i el gaumais; però donat la considerable similitud d'aquestes llengües amb el francès, es va produir un acrescut canvi lingüístic.

En definitiva, potser el millor esment sobre el tema es recull en el pensament del politòleg i historiador belga Xabier Mabille, qui en el seu llibre "Història política de Bèlgica" cita textualment:

Principi del reconeixement oficial de l'idioma neerlandès

El reconeixement dels drets lingüístics dels neerlandòfons es va començar a implementar a partir de l'últim terç del segle XIX: el 1873 va poder emprar-se el neerlandès a Flandes en el sistema judicial; a partir de 1878 es va permetre el seu ús en el sistema administratiu públic de la regió flamenca; el 1883 en l'educació secundària; el 1886 es va començar a encunyar la moneda belga de manera bilingüe; el 1890 s'estableix mitjançant llei l'obligatorietat d'acreditar el coneixement de la llengua neerlandesa per ser nomenat funcionari públic en les Administracions situades a la zona flamenca,; el 18 d'abril de 1898 s'aprova (per 47 vots a favor, 39 en contra i 3 abstencions) una llei, coneguda com a llei de Coremans-De Vriendt (atès que va ser proposada pels representants flamencs Juliaan De Vriendt i Edward Coremans), que obliga a publicar els documents oficials també en llengua neerlandesa, no obstant això, caldrà esperar fins al 1967 per disposar d'una versió oficial de la Constitució en flamenc; a partir de 1899 es van començar a imprimir els segells en tots dos idiomes; a partir de 1910 i la llei de 31 de juliol de 1921 va assentar el principi d'ús d'ambdues llengües en l'administració pública flamenca, d'aquesta manera s'acorda el bilingüisme per a les administracions centrals i els seus funcionaris, els quals han de conèixer les llengües de la regió en la qual exerceixen les seves funcions: a partir d'una petició del 20% dels electors, les comunicacions i avisos dirigits al públic havien de fer-se en les dues llengües de la regió.

Encara restava pendent que la llengua neerlandesa tingués cabuda a la universitat: les quatre universitats del país impartien les classes en llengua francesa i fins a la invasió alemanya de Bèlgica, durant la Primera Guerra Mundial, no va ser possible instruir-se en neerlandès. Els invasors alemanys ho van permetre a la universitat de Gant, però només a partir de 1930, un segle després de la creació de Bèlgica, va ser quan la universitat flamenca de Gant ensenyarà definitivament en neerlandès i no en francès. El moviment nacionalista flamenc, conscient de la importància de tenir una elit intel·lectual, va demanar la instrucció en neerlandès en aquesta universitat, però la classe alta flamenca de la ciutat, fortament francòfona, s'hi va oposar argumentant el subdesenvolupament de la llengua flamenca i la falta de llibres científics en neerlandès. Potser el francòfon flamenc més destacat, que es va oposar feroçment va ser Maurice Maeterlinck (premi Nobel de Literatura el 1911).

L'actual frontera lingüística
Entre el 2 de març i el 21 de març de 1932 es va aprovar al parlament bicameral una mutable frontera lingüística, on es definia una fragmentada Bèlgica: una de parla neerlandesa i una altra francesa, amb l'acord de la majoria dels diputats de Valònia. Els valons no van voler acceptar el bilingüisme en la totalitat de l'Estat belga -com els flamencs eren partidaris-, perquè temien que en un estat bilingüe els flamencs estiguessin avantatjats per poder ocupar llocs institucionals, en posseir els seus veïns del nord un major coneixement d'ambdues llengües.

Aquesta boga de llengües depenia d'un cens lingüístic que es realitzava aproximadament cada quinze anys i atès que el creixement del francès es veia afavorit en cada cens, sobretot en la perifèria de Brussel·les, els flamencs no van trigar a sentir-se desconfiats d'aquesta llei -el 1961, 278 alcaldes flamencs es van negar a complir la llei i a realitzar els censos de llengües- i reividincaren la fixació definitiva de les fronteres lingüístiques basant-se en el cens de 1947, que va ser l'últim que es va realitzar a l'estat. Aquestes exigències flamenques coincidien amb el declivi de la indústria valona de la dècada dels 60: fins llavors l'economia valona, basada en una rica indústria de carbó i acer, era de les més importants d'Europa (i per descomptat la primera amb diferència de Bèlgica) explicant una àmplia importació de mà d'obra flamenca (i italiana, espanyola, etc.), però les seves mines van deixar de ser rendibles i la seva indústria metal·lúrgica va perdre competitivitat; això va succeir al mateix temps que l'economia flamenca floria enèrgicament (fins llavors tan sols posseïa una economia bàsicament agrària) a causa de, principalment, al fet que les empreses americanes es van instal·lar en el nord animades per la proximitat del mar que els oferia el potencial port d'Anvers (el segon major port d'Europa).

La llei del 8 de novembre de 1962 va establir la invariabilitat de la frontera lingüística de Bèlgica i la llei del 2 d'agost de 1963 va establir definitivament les quatre regions actuals: la dels francòfons (on van passar a formar part 25 municipis flamencs que constaven de 87.000 habitants) que inclou les cinc províncies valones (el Brabant Való, Hainaut, Luxemburg, Namur, i Lieja, excepte els municipis pertanyents a la regió de llengua alemanya), la dels neerlandòfons (on van passar a formar part 25 municipis valons que tenien 23.000 habitants) que inclou les cinc províncies flamenques (Anvers, el Brabant Flamenc, Flandes occidental, Flandes oriental i Limburg), la dels germanòfons que inclou 9 municipis enclavats a la província de Lieja i la regió bilingüe de Brussel·les-capital, que comprèn els 19 municipis del districte administratiu de Brussel·les-capital.

També es van establir les denominades "facilitats lingüístiques" dividides en quatre tipus: municipis perifèrics de Brussel·les, situats a la regió de llengua neerlandesa, amb facilitats per als francòfons; municipis de la frontera lingüística, situats a la regió de llengua neerlandesa i també a la regió de llengua francesa, amb facilitats per als francòfons o neerlandòfons segons els casos; municipis "malmediennes", situats a la regió de llengua francesa, amb facilitats pels germanòfons; i municipis de la regió de llengua alemanya, amb facilitats per als francòfons. En aquestes 10 circumscripcions (a Flandes: Bever, Mesen, Ronse, Spiere-Helkijn i Voeren; a Valònia: Enghien, Comines-Warneton, Mouscron i Flobecq; a la perifèria de Brussel·les-capital: Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem, Linkebeek, Wemmel, Drogenbos i Sint-Genesius-Rode) els habitants poden fer ús de la seva llengua materna en l'administració pública, així com assistir al sistema educatiu en l'idioma que desitgin.

El consens aconseguit per a aquestes facilitacions lingüístiques no va ser fàcil per a la seva ciutadania: A la perifèria de Brussel·les, els flamencs van haver d'acceptar el francès en una ciutat que per història consideraven seva; i els francòfons van haver d'acceptar que la capital belga fos oficialment bilingüe (malgrat tenir una molt minoritària població neerlandòfona), envoltada del monolingüe Flandes i separada tan sols per 3,5 km de la monolingüe Valònia (a través de Sint-Genesius-Rode). Així mateix, els francòfons van haver d'acceptar que els Fourons (Voeren en neerlandès), de majoria de parla francesa, fossin transferits a la província flamenca de Limburg amb facilitats lingüístiques. Pel que fa als Fourons és important insistir en un incident esdevingut el 1986, on José Happart, alcalde triat per un grupet de 5 llogarets que constaven amb 5.000 habitants, on més del 60% era francòfona, va ser obligat a dimitir pel consell d'estat per no saber neerlandès.

La crisi més apressant, que va ser el preludi final d'una inevitable modificació constitucional des d'un model unitari a un descentralitzat, va ser el que va esdevenir a la Universitat Catòlica de Lovaina (fundada el 1425 i que va comptar amb alumnes de la talla d'Erasme, Janseni, Vesali, Désiré Félicien-François-Joseph Mercier i Gerard Mercator) situada en la comunitat monolingüe flamenca: es van produir diverses manifestacions pels neerlandòfons, a tot Flandes, a favor de l'ús exclusiu del neerlandès en les classes i l'exclusió del francès, la qual cosa va provocar la partició de la universitat en dues (la universitat francòfona es va traslladar als afores de Brussel·les, de comunitat lingüística francesa). A Dixmude, Flandes, els estudiants d'ensenyament mitjà es van manifestar per mostrar la seva solidaritat amb els estudiants neerlandòfons; a Oostende, uns 3.000 alumnes es van manifestar per recolzar a la secció neerlandesa de la universitat i van exigir el trasllat immediat dels estudiants francòfons a Valònia; i a Bruges, els estudiants de les escoles lliures van realitzar una vaga de no assistència a classe. El conflicte va ser tal, que entre la nit del 26-27 de gener de 1968, es van produir 675 detencions. Aquest episodi va produir diferències molt profundes en el principal partit belga, el partit socialcristià, que van acabar, poc després, amb l'escissió entre la seva facció flamenca (CVP) i francòfona (PSC). Era la primera de les successives separacions que a partir de llavors van afectar als partits belgues d'àmbit estatal.

Els successius canvis constitucionals: La descentralització de l'estat belga

L'esdevingut el 1968 a la Universitat de Lovaina -que va produir la seva divisió entre francòfons i neerlandòfons i la seva secció francòfona traslladada al Brabant Való - va desencadenar finalment la descentralització de l'Estat belga. El 1970, el primer ministre Gaston Eyskens va afirmar davant el Parlament belga, en un discurs que avui pot ser qualificat com a històric, que:  La primera reforma constitucional d'importància va ser la de 1970. Abans s'havien produït modificacions el 1892 i 1921, relatives a la instauració del vot plural la primera, i del sufragi universal pur i simple la segona, si bé van tenir un considerable abast polític, no alteraven en absolut els principis fonamentals. En la reforma de 1970 es van crear tres tipus de comunitats lingüístiques: les comunitats francesa, flamenca i alemanya (denominades llavors comunitats culturals); a les quals se'ls van atorgar la competència d'educació. S'estableix la creació dels Consells Culturals i s'ordena la publicació bilingüe (francès-flamenc) del text constitucional, tenint tots dos igual força legal.

Aquestes divisions lingüístiques queden reflectides al Parlament nacional. Segons la llei de 3 de juliol de 1971, el repartiment dels parlamentaris es va fer entre els dos grups lingüístics majoritaris. Pertanyen al grup lingüístic francès els diputats i senadors triats a les regions de llengua francesa i alemanya i els triats en la circumscripció de Brussel·les que prestin jurament en francès o alemany. I formaran part del grup lingüístic neerlandès els diputats i senadors triats a la regió de llengua neerlandesa i els triats a Brussel·les que prestin jurament en neerlandès. El 1980 es van institucionalitzar a més tres Regions (Flandes, Valònia i Brussel·les capital). No obstant això, la regió de Flandes i la comunitat lingüística neerlandòfona es van fusionar, establint-se la capitalitat a la regió de Brussel·les-capital el 6 de març de 1984 (contradient al consell d'estat, que deia que una regió no podia establir la seva capitalitat a una altra regió). I el 1993 Bèlgica es va transformar en un Estat federal compost per dos tipus d'entitats federades: les Regions (a les quals se'ls amplia lleugerament les competències) i les Comunitats. Ambdues col·lectivitats polítiques posseeixen una assemblea o consell, òrgan legislatiu triat directament per sufragi universal directe, i un govern, òrgan executiu. Es va dividir la província de Brabant -autèntic nucli de Bèlgica- en dues províncies noves, una francòfona que s'adscriu a Valònia i una altra neerlandòfona que s'adscriu a Flandes.

Actualitat
En els últims anys el conflicte belga ha perdurat de manera intensa, després de la modificació de la constitució el 2001, va arribar la del 29 de març de 2012. Aquesta revisió va arribar després d'un ardu procés de negociacions -de 14 hores- entre els representants de 8 partits belgues: quatre partits flamencs (el democristià CD&V, el socialista SP.A, el liberal Open VLD i el verd Groen) i els quatre francòfons (el socialista PS, el democristià CDH, el liberal MR i el verd Écolo); aquesta modificació va assegurar a Elio di Rupo -que havia aconseguit ocupar el càrrec executiu al desembre de 2012 després de 541 dies, en el qual el país va mancar d'executiu, sent l'estat que més temps ha estat sense govern- com a primer ministre, càrrec que un való no aconseguia des de 1974. En aquesta ocasió el canvi constitucional versava sobre la complexa situació de Brussel·les-Trobi-Vilvoorde, l'únic districte electoral i judicial, a cavall entre les dues regions de Bèlgica, compost per 19 municipis de la regió de Brussel·les-capital (bilingües) i 35 que es troben a Flandes (entre ells 6 municipis flamencs amb facilitats lingüístiques -Drogenbos, Linkebeek, Sint Genesius-Rode, Wemmel, Kraainem i Wezembeek-Oppem- per uns 150.000 francòfons que podien votar per candidats de la bilingüe regió de Brussel·les-capital i gaudir tant del sistema judicial com de l'educatiu en la seva llengua materna).

Aquest districte va provocar la caiguda d'Yves Leterme a l'abril de 2010 i va impedir una formació governant al país. Finalment es va decidir que els electors d'aquests municipis podrien triar entre votar a llistes locals o de Brussel·les (fins llavors podien votar a tots dos) però el districte no s'escindirà per a les complicades eleccions al Senat belga. A més, els francòfons de la perifèria flamenca de Brussel·les seguiran tenint accés a la justícia en la seva llengua.

Vegeu també
 Partició de Bèlgica
 Crisi lingüística de Lovaina

Referències

Enllaços externs
 El divorci dels belgues. 18 de febrer de 1993. El País

Política de Bèlgica
Sociolingüística


text:
A long wobble
Yes, here we are again! It has been a while.
We have been working on Wobbler2 for about 18 months now. We brought a sort-of working prototype to Superbooth21 and an even better prototype to Superbooth22. Now, we are usually not the fastest designers because we take our time to probe it until we really, really like it. There is also a lot of software development involved which is in part parallel to the hardware development but takes longer to go from functional to the AMAZING we are aiming for. But the Wobbler2 has also had a long personal delay… and we are still not ready.
The Wobbler2 is already a product redesign to get around the chip shortages. We changed our still-not-available chip to the marvellous RP2040 and had so much computation room left that we expanded the LFO with a whole drum synthesizer (and a surprise). There were many delays in the chain and then Stijn caught Covid in June. All things came to a grinding halt. Very slowly he got physically better and even slower he got mentally better. He is still not fully back to his former self.
Months of brain-fog with very limited mental energy and the tiniest of concentration spans meant that the almost ready hardware design of Wobbler2 just hung there. Slowly progress could be made on days when the fog lifted enough to think. With the help of friends double-checking routing and designs we got to what should be our hardware 'golden prototype'. Turning this on for the first time was an exciting moment. We could finally move on to production (exhale). Our assembly house has done a lovely job and we have tested, assembled front/knobs and burnt in all our Wobbler2s. Now, they have to wait for the software to go from functional to amazing before they can be flashed, calibrated and packed. This magical software moment cannot be forced but it is close. Much like Stijn it is already fully functional but not at the amazing we are used to.
Meanwhile we also have BIG other plans that will take years to come together. It is all about the Big Fish, Stijn's dream synthesizer. He has been working on parts of this, developing the idea for perhaps 20 years. To truly make this Big Fish synthesizer shine it would need to be in a box with a wonderfully responsive keyboard that is not available to us. So we plan to make them ourselves. We aim to make a keyboard that is particularly suited to synthesizers. We want to have playing features and interactions that make sense with synthesized sounds. To make this economically feasible and to share this fantastic keyboard as much as possible, we plan to sell them to other synth manufacturers so that they too can build their dream synths around it. For now, we have a very early one-octave prototype and we are still developing the mechanical design and sensoring involved. When we have a fully functional prototype, we can start on the challenge of designing the FACTORY FLOOR that it would take to produce our own keyboard: the Hammerhead.
We are ALSO a long way into designing another eurorack module that we intend to produce this year. One that is bigger than it should be. It is also time for Tuesday to come around again.
Let's hope we can get ourselves together in 2023 and do some amazing things.
About the Author: Priscilla Haring-Kuipers
WOBBLER launch
WOBBLER LAUNCH PARTY 23.03


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Q: A simple distribution problem Suppose that $x \sim U(0, 255)$ and and $y \sim U(0, 255)$, and that $x$ and $y$ are independent.
What is the distribution of $x - y$?
If I were to draw 1,000 samples from this distribution, how many times should I expect to see each possible value?
NB. These are all discrete random variables, in case that wasn't clear...

Update:
I've written a computer program to work out the expected count for each difference value. However, when I ask the computer to sum them all, it doesn't add up to 1,000. Clearly I've done something wrong somewhere, but I'm not sure precisely what. I'm probably just being dumb; if somebody could walk me through this slowly, it would be helpful.
The reason I'm doing this is that I want to do a chi-squared test to see if the data I'm getting actually does follow the expected distribution. Clearly this doesn't work if you calculate your expectations wrong. (!)
In addition, I think I may have over-simplified the program description. What my program actually does is obtain $x_1 \ldots x_{1000}$, and then compute $d_n = x_{n+1} - x_n$. Would that mean that the $d$ values are not statistically independent? If so, presumably a chi-squared test won't work at all. (I suppose I could throw away all the even-numbered $d_n$ so I'm left with non-overlapping pairs...)

A: For a uniform, distribution, the distribution of the difference is a triangle centered on zero and falling to zero at +/- 2*255, the height given by requiring normalizing to 1.
You're problem is using integers so this isn't exact. The exact value is given by the convolution of the two distributions. The distribution is just the number of possible values from both distribution whose difference is that value (and normalized to 1).

A: Following the comments from Dilip Sarwate, I was able to get the expected outcomes to sum to 1,000.
My mistake was in assuming that I only need to count how many ways you can make (for example) 17, not the probability of each of those ways.
What I eventually came up with is
\begin{equation}
  \Pr(d = v) = \frac{256 - v}{256\times256}
\end{equation}
and therefore the expected count for $d=v$ is the above probability multiplied by the number of items in the sample.
This just leaves open the question of whether it's appropriate to use a chi-squared test on the differences of overlapping pairs in the first place...

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