text:
Luks.fe.uni-lj.si
Melita Hajdinjak and France MiheliˇcUniversity of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Slovenia{melita.hajdinjak,france.mihelic}@fe.uni-lj.si and http://luks/ Keywords: natural-language dialogue systems, Wizard-of-Oz experiment, dialogue-manager evalua-tion, PARADISE evaluation framework Human-human and human-computer dialogues differ in such an important way that thedata from human interaction becomes an unreliable source of information for some im-portant aspects of designing natural-language dialogue systems. Therefore, we beganthe process of developing a natural-language, weather-information-providing dialoguesystem by conducting the Wizard-of-Oz (WOZ) experiment. In WOZ experiments sub-jects are told to interact with a computer system, though in fact they are not sincethe system is partly simulated by a human, the wizard. During the development of theweather-information-providing dialogue system this experiment was used twice. Whilethe aim of the first WOZ experiment was, first of all, to gather human-computer data,the aim of the second WOZ experiment was to evaluate the newly-implemented dialogue-manager component. The evaluation was carried out using the PARADISE evaluationframework, which maintains that the system's primary objective is to maximize usersatisfaction, and it derives a combined performance metric for a dialogue system as aweighted linear combination of task-success measures and dialogue costs. been argued that human dialogues should be re-garded as a guidance and a norm for the de- In a nutshell, a dialogue system or a voice in- sign of natural-language dialogue systems, i.e., terface enables users to interact with some appli- that a natural dialogue between a person and a cation using spoken language. The application computer should resemble a dialogue between hu- in question, for example, can be a piece of hard- mans as much as possible. On the other hand, a ware (command & control systems) or a kind of computer is not a person. Consequently, human- database (interactive voice response, information- human and human-computer dialogues differ in providing dialogue systems, problem-solving dia- such an important way that the data from hu- logue systems). A detailed overview is given by man interaction becomes an unreliable source of Krahmer [1]. In this article, we will focus on information for some important aspects of design- information-providing, natural-language dialogue ing natural-language dialogue systems, in par- systems, which have already been developed for ticular the style and complexity of interaction different domains, for instance, restaurant infor- mation [2], theatre information [3], train travel language dialogue systems are influenced by the information [4, 5], air travel information [6, 7], system's language [11], i.e., they often adapt their behaviour to the expected language abilities of It is generally acknowledged that developing the counterpart. Therefore, instead of gather- a successful computational model of natural- ing human-human data, we started the process language dialogues requires extensive analysis of of designing the Slovenian and Croatian spo- sample dialogues, but the question that arises ken, weather-information-providing dialogue sys- is whether these sample dialogues should be hu- tem [12] by conducting the Wizard-of-Oz (WOZ) man dialogues. On the one hand, it has often experiment [10, 13], which is a more accurate pre- dictor of actual human-computer interaction [9].
responses as well as forms, image fields and This is because in WOZ studies subjects are told to interact with a computer system, though infact they are not. The system is at least partly simulated by a human, the wizard, with the con- Slovenian text-to-speech synthesis [16].
sequence that the subjects can be given more free-dom of expression or be constrained in more sys- Hence, the task of the wizard in the first WOZ tematic ways than this is the case in already ex- experiment was to simulate Slovenian speech understanding (speech recognition and natural- language understanding) and dialogue manage- information-providing dialogue system the WOZ ment. Croatian speech understanding was not experiment was used twice. While the aim of the performed since only Slovene users were being in- first WOZ experiment (section 2) was, first of all, volved into the experiment. During the experi- to gather human-computer data, the aim of the ment, the wizard was sitting behind the graphi- second WOZ experiment (section 3) was to eval- cal interface, listened to users' queries and tried to uate the newly-implemented dialogue-manager mediate an appropriate response, which was be- component [14]. Consequently, while in the first ing successively followed by the natural-language- WOZ experiment dialogue management was still generation process and the text-to-speech process.
one of the tasks of the wizard, in the second However, a total of 76 Slovene users (38 fe- WOZ experiment it was performed by the newly- male, 38 male) were chosen to take part in the implemented dialogue-manager component. The first WOZ experiment. The statistical distribu- differences in the data from both WOZ exper- tions of the users' ages, educations, dialects, the iments therefore reflect the dialogue manager's telephone units and the background environments performance. However, this data was evaluated from where the telephone calls were made were with the PARADISE evaluation framework [15], chosen to simulate the actual scenarios. The users i.e., a potential general methodology for evaluat- were given verbal instructions about the general ing and comparing the performance of spoken di- functionality of the system and a sheet of paper alogue agents, which maintains that the system's containing a description of the tasks they were primary objective is to maximize user satisfaction, supposed to complete. They had two scenarios and it derives a combined performance metric for to enact. The first task was to obtain a partic- a dialogue system as a weighted linear combina- ular piece of weather-forecast information, such tion of task-success measures and dialogue costs.
as the temperature in Ljubljana or the weatherforecast for Slovenia tomorrow, and the secondtask was a given situation, such as "You are plan- ning a trip to. What are you interested in?",the aim of which was to stimulate the user to ask The aim of the first WOZ experiment [13] was context-specific questions. After these two sce- to gather data that would serve as the basis for narios, users were given the freedom to ask addi- the construction of the dialogue manager and the speech-understanding component within the In order to evaluate user satisfaction, users were developing Slovenian and Croatian spoken di- given the user-satisfaction survey [17] used within alogue system for weather-information retrieval the PARADISE framework (section 4), which asks [12]. However, the first WOZ system consisted to specify the degree to which one agrees with several questions about the behaviour or the per-formance of the system (TTS Performance, Pace, User Expertise, System Response,Expected Behaviour, Future Use). The an- wizard's graphical interface [13], designed as swers to the questions were based on a five-class an internet application, which included facil- ranking scale from 1, indicating strong disagree- ities for the playback of predefined spoken ment, to 5, indicating strong agreement. All the mean values are given in table 1. A comprehen- and the same user-satisfaction survey as the users sive User Satisfaction was then computed by in the first experiment. All the mean user val- summing each question's score, and thus ranged ues, which were slightly worse than the values in value from a low of 8 to a high of 40. In the from the first WOZ experiment, are given in ta- first WOZ experiment, the mean User Satisfac- ble 1. The mean User Satisfaction value was tion value was 34.08, with a standard deviation this time 31.96, with a standard deviation of 4.99.
Note, the difference between the mean User Sat-isfaction values in both experiments is expected since the wizard with her human-level intelligence should had been able to manage the dialogue bet- ter than the implemented dialogue-manager com- The Slovenian spontaneous speech data col- lected during the second WOZ experiment was named Slovenian Spontaneous Speech Queries 2 In agreement with previous studies [9, 10, 11], we observed that in both experiments the usersadapted their behaviour to the expected language abilities of the natural-language-spoken WOZ sys- (WOZ1) and the second (WOZ2) WOZ experi- tem. In several dialogues the first question was much longer than the following ones and, in caseof repetitions, requested by the system, the speechmode became more articulated, slower and/or The spontaneous speech data, named Slove- louder. Moreover, while the wizard was medi- nian Spontaneous Speech Queries (SSSQ), that ating her response some users made fun of the was collected during the first WOZ experiment, system, they made comments like "What a voice was transcribed with the Transcriber tool [18].
- terribly", "It is thinking", "It is searching in The transcription was labelled for turns and ut- the computer", and they laugh. But such side re- terances, and special labels for dialectal words marks certainly would be rather strange in a nat- and non-speech sounds were added. An example ural information-providing task because, in both experiments, subjects were basically role playing.
They were not real users with real information re-quirements or real time constraints and telephone The second WOZ experiment was carried out inorder to evaluate the performance of the newly- implemented dialogue manager [14], build on thebasis of the data collected during the first WOZ The dialogue-manager component [14] was evalu- experiment. Therefore, all the other components ated using the PARADISE framework [15], which of the system remained the same. Hence, in com- maintains that the system's primary objective is parison with the first WOZ experiment, the task to maximize user satisfaction, and it derives a of the wizard in the second WOZ experiment was combined performance metric for a dialogue sys- only to simulate Slovenian speech understanding.
tem as a weighted linear combination of task- The wizard was sitting behind the dialogue man- success measures and dialogue costs (i.e., dialogue- ager's interface and entered the meaning repre- efficiency costs and dialogue-quality costs). The PARADISE model of performance posits that a A total of 68 Slovene users (29 female, 39 male) performance function can then be derived by ap- were chosen to take part in the second WOZ ex- plying multivariate linear regression (MLR) with periment. They were given the same instructions user satisfaction as the dependent variable and Hello. The dialogue system for weather-forecast information speaking. Can I help you? Wait a moment, please . [the wizard is choosing her answer]In ˇ Stajerska today - the visibility will be more than 10 km. Is there something else? For which location are you asking for? Wait a moment, please . [the wizard is choosing her answer]No, in ˇ Stajerska today – the sky will clear up. Is there something else? What about the weather in Poland in the next few days? Wait a moment, please . [the wizard is choosing her answer]In Varˇsava, Poland - it is cloudy, the air temperature is -6 degrees Celsius. Is theresomething else? I do not offer this information. Do you have any other question? Thank you for your cooperation. Goodbye. Table 2: The Slovene-English translation of an example dialogue between a user (U) and the WOZsystem (S), recorded during the first WOZ experiment.
task-success measures, dialogue-efficiency costs, Message Ratio (HMR), i.e., the ratio of sys- and dialogue-quality costs as the independent tem help moves; Check Ratio (CR) and Num- variables. Here, user satisfaction, which has been ber of Check moves (NC), i.e., the ratio and frequently used in the literature as an external the number of system moves checking some in- indicator of the usability of a dialogue system, is formation regarding past dialogue events; Non- calculated with the survey [17], used in our WOZ Provided Information Ratio (NPR), i.e., the ratio of user-initiating moves that do not result In order to model the performance of both in relevant information being provided; No-Data WOZ systems, we selected 17 regression pa- rameters. First, we computed the task-success sponses (NNR), i.e., the ratio and the number measure Kappa coefficient (κ) [19], reflect- of system moves stating that the requested in- ing the wizard's typing errors, and the dialogue- formation is not available; Relevant-Data Ra- efficiency costs Mean Elapsed Time (MET), tio (RDR), i.e., the ratio of system moves di- i.e., the mean elapsed time for the completion recting the user to select relevant, available data; of the tasks that occurred within the interac- Unsuitable-Initiative Ratio (UIR), i.e., the ra- tion, and Number of User Turns (NUT). Sec- tio of user-initiating moves that are out of context; ond, the following dialogue-quality costs were Non-Initiating Ratio (NIR), i.e., the ratio of selected: Task Completion (Comp), i.e., the user's perception of completing the given task; Mean Words per Turn (MWT), i.e., the mean the first WOZ experiment to derive a performance number of words per user's turns; Mean Re- sponse Time (MRT), i.e., the mean system- tio, Non-Provided-Information Ratio, Task response time; Max Response Time (MaxRT), i.e., the maximum system-response time; Rejec- tion Ratio (RR), i.e., the ratio of system moves that significantly contributed to user satisfac- asking for a repetition of the last utterance; Help- tion. On the other hand, the most significant parameters in the second WOZ experiment were manager should be as flexible as possible in directing the user to select relevant, available Walker et al. [17] found in their experiments that Task Completion, rather than Kappa,was a significant factor in predicting user sat- isfaction, and argued that this was because the ducted WOZ experiments, aim of which was to user's perceptions of task completion sometimes gather human-computer data and to evaluate the varied from Kappa. In our experiments, Kappa dialogue-manager component of the developing, only referred to the wizard and Task Comple- Slovenian and Croatian spoken dialogue system tion was related only with the first task, which could be the reasons why we did not come to the The results of applying PARADISE to the data same conclusion. On the one hand, in these ex- from both WOZ experiments have been given.
periments, Kappa and Task Completion were These have shown that user satisfaction is sig- uncorrelated, but on the other hand, in the sec- nificantly correlated with the percentage of those ond WOZ experiment, Kappa was an even more user initiatives that did not result in relevant in- significant predictor of user satisfaction.
the ability to direct the user to select relevant, available data is of great importance, and, con- sequently, that a dialogue system should give no information only if there is no other available data that might be relevant to the user's request.
Message Ratio is a consequence of the user'sbehaviour during the conversation, which is, [1] Krahmer, E.J. (2001) The Science and Art on the other hand, influenced by the system's of Voice Interfaces, Philips research report, level of user-friendliness and cooperation.
user-friendly and cooperative dialogue systemshould not only play an active role in directing [2] Jurafsky, D., Wooters, C., Tajchman, G., Se- the dialogue flow toward a successful conclusion gal, J., Stolcke, A., Fosler, E., and Morgan, for the user, it should also be able to take the N. (1994) The Berkeley Restaurant Project, initiative and to instruct the user if he/she asks Proc. of the 3rd International Conference on for help. However, because some novice users Spoken Language Processing, Acoustical So- of a dialogue system who are not able to adapt ciety of Japan, Yokohama, Japan, pp. 2139– quickly are likely to need instructions provided by the system, Help-Message Ratio is ex-pected to reflect user satisfaction. Furthermore, [3] van der Hoeven, G., Andernach, J., van der because Check Ratio is in a way related to the Burgt, S., Kruijff, J., Nijholt, A., Schaake, J., speech-understanding process, which is usually and de Jong, F. (1995) A Natural Language the most problematic part of a dialogue-system's Accesible Theatre Information and Booking performance, it is inappropriate to try to decrease System, Proc. of the 1st International Work- it at any price. Consequently, user satisfaction shop on Applications of Natural Language to can be remarkably improved only by decreasing Data Bases, AFCET, Versailles, France, pp.
be done by preventing the dialogue manager fromgiving no information before first checking that [4] Eckert, W., Kuhn, T., Niemann, H., Rieck, there is no other available data that might be S., Scheuer, A., and Schukat-Talamazzini, relevant to the user's request, i.e., the dialogue for Weather Information Retrieval, Proc. of quiries, Proc. of the 3rd European Conference the 8th European Conference on Speech Com- on Speech Communication and Technology, munication and Technology, ISCA, Geneva, ISCA, Berlin, Germany, pp. 1871–1874.
[5] Allen, J.F., Schubert, L.K., Ferguson, G., [13] Hajdinjak, M. and Miheliˇc, F. (2003) The Heeman, P., Hwang, C.-H., Kato, T., Light, tion Retrieval, Lecture Notes in Artificial In- telligence 2807: Text, Speech and Dialogue, Project: A Case Study in Building a Conver- pp. 400–405. Matouˇsek, V. and Mautner, P.
sational Planning Agent, Journal of Experi- mental and Theoretical AI, Taylor and Fran-cis Ltd, pp. 7 7–48.
[14] Hajdinjak, M. and Miheliˇc, F. (2004) [6] Ipˇsi´c, I., Miheliˇc, F., Dobriˇsek, S., Gros, ment, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence J., and Paveˇsi´c, N. (1999) A Slovenian 3206: Text, Speech and Dialogue, pp. 595– Spoken Dialogue System for Air Flight In- 602. Sojka, P., Kopecek, I. and Pala, K.
quires, Proc. of the 6th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology,ISCA, Budapest, Hungary, pp. 2659–2662.
[15] Walker, M.A., Litman, D., Kamm, C.A., and [7] Stallard, D. (2000) Talk'n'Travel: A Con- versational System for Air Travel Planning, Agents, Proc. of the 35th Annual Meeting Proc. of the 6th Applied Natural Language of the Association of Computational Linguis- Processing Conference, Association for Com- tics, Association for Computational Linguis- putational Linguistics, Seattle, USA, pp. 68– [16] Gros, J., Paveˇsi´c, N., and Miheliˇc, F. (1997) [8] Zue, V., Seneff, S., Glass, J., Polifroni, J., Text-to-Speech Synthesis: a Complete Sys- Pao, C., Hazen, T.J., and Hetherington, L.
tem for the Slovenian Language, Journal of Computing and Information Technology, versational Interface for Weather Informa- University Computing Centre Zagreb, pp.
tion, IEEE Transactions on Speech and Au- dio Processing, IEEE, pp. 8(1) 85–96.
[17] Walker, M.A., Litman, D.A., Kamm, C.A., [9] Fraser, N.M. and Gilbert, G.N. (1991) Sim- and Abella, A. (1998) Evaluating Spoken Di- ulating Speech Systems, Computer, Speech and Language, Academic Press, pp. 5(1) 81– Studies, Computer, Speech and Language, Academic Press, pp. 12(3) 317–347.
[10] Dahlb¨ack, N., J¨onsson, A., and Ahrenberg, [18] Barras, C., Geoffrois, E., Wu, Z., and Liber- How, Proc. of the International Workshop on and Use of a Tool for Assisting Speech Cor- Intelligent User Interfaces, ACM Press, Or- pora Production, Speech Communication: Special Issue on Speech Annotation and Cor- [11] Zoltan-Ford, E. (1991) How to Get People pus Tools, Elsevier Science, pp. 33(1) 5-22.
[19] Di Eugenio, B. and Glass, M. (2004) The derstand, Journal of Man-Machine Studies, Kappa Statistic: A Second Look, Computa- tional Linguistics, The MIT Press, pp. 30(1) Zibert, J., Martinˇci´c-Ipˇsi´c, S., Hajdinjak, M., Ipˇsi´c, I., and Miheliˇc, F. (2003) Develop-ment of a Bilingual Spoken Dialogue System
Source: http://luks.fe.uni-lj.si/en/research/publications/papers/melitah-informatica04.pdf
Caffeine extraction
ISOLATION OF CAFFEINE FROM TEA EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES REQUIRED OTHER DOCUMENTS INTRODUCTION Caffeine is a commonly encountered mild stimulant and a diuretic; it is widely used in proprietary drugs for the stimulant effect to prevent drowsiness. Caffeine is naturally present in the fruit and bark of a number of plants, including tea, coffee, and cacao. Tea contains about 30-75
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Trucking 'Uber' Start-up Cargomatic Slashes Staff
April 06, 2016 by Jerry Hirsch, @Jerryhirsch
Jonathan Kessler, CEO of Cargomatic. (Photo: Gary Ambrose/Trucks.com)
Cargomatic, a Venice, Calif., trucking industry start-up that is patterned after Uber, but carries freight instead of people, has laid off 50 to 60 workers, or about half its staff.
The on-demand shipping platform is one of several seeking to connect shippers directly with carriers, competing with third-party brokers in the process. It is for local deliveries rather than long-haul freight transport.
The staff reduction was first reported by Business Insider and also noted by reviewers on online employer-rating service Glassdoor.
"Key to growing a successful company is knowing where to staff appropriately at different growth phases. Sometimes that means making difficult decisions, and to that end, we recently reduced the size of our marketplace operations and inside sales teams," Jonathan Kessler, Cargomatic's chief executive and co-founder, said in a statement.
"The Cargomatic marketplace continues to expand and has enjoyed year-over-year growth since our founding in 2013," Kessler said.
The cuts come as competition heats up in on-demand service by local truckers.
Last month Convoy, a Seattle start-up in Seattle founded by former Amazon employees, completed a new round of funding, raising $16 million. Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, was part of investor group that put money into Convoy last year.
Cargomatic has raised $17 million from investors, according to a company spokesman.
Although the company has cut staff, Kessler said it also is working to grow the business. He said the staff cuts allowed the company to hire Chuck Oeleis as executive vice president of sales last month. Oeleis, a former vice president for Carlile Transportation, is responsible for building and managing Cargomatic's sales efforts.
The company also named Meaghan Diem as vice president of enterprise sales to focus on growing Cargomatic's large-volume client base. Diem is a former vice president at Coyote Logistics.
"Their wealth of experience across the logistics, transportation, and supply chain sectors will greatly benefit Cargomatic as we enter our next stage of growth," Kessler said.
Cargomatic operates in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. It hopes to expand "all over the U.S. and, really, internationally as well," Kessler told Trucks.com earlier this year. It's not clear how the staff reduction will affect those expansion plans.
The company's spokesman declined to answer Trucks.com questions, saying that Kessler's statement would be Cargomatic's only response.
In an interview with Trucks.com earlier this year, Kessler expressed optimism about Cargomatic's prospects, saying that it could fill a gap in the trucking industry.
"We give the ability to shippers to work with all these independent operators from the local level," he said. "And because we're connecting with so many of these different small trucking companies, we have very competitive pricing."
He said Cargomatic was "democratizing" technology for trucking companies and carriers.
"Everything we give, we give away for free," he said. "We give the ability to the small trucking companies to act like they're big trucking companies. They get EDI [electronic data interchange] feed integration and the ability to take all the information associated with a shipment and pass it over to the customer. And of course we fill their space on the truck."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
Howell Choir's put on annual fall Concert
Bridget Janis, Arts & Entertainment Editor
On Thurs, Oct 27, Howell High School Choirs will be hosting their annual fall concert. Directed by Mr. Brendan Closz, the choirs will be singing songs such as "Seal Lullaby" and "Ain't That News" in his first choir concert with HHS. This event will be from 7:00-8:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Howel...
Tags: choir, choir concert, fall concert, Mr. Closz
Behind Closzed Doors
Kayte Connell, Staff Writer
Some students of Howell High School can hear the vocals of the choir floating through the hallway during an average school day. While the HHS choir room was directed by Rod Bushey for the past 44 years, there is a new era beginning. Behind the closed choir doors is a man who is keeping the choir ...
Tags: choir, feature, Mr. Closz, teacher
A cappella makes their way to CMU
Hannah Maki, Staff Writer
On Friday Oct 23, Howell High School's top choir class, A cappella, took a trip to Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
Tags: a capella, choir, CMU, music
Band and choir unite for annual Collage Concert
Jordan Pudvay, Social Media Editor
Howell High School has a great musical arts program and this Thursday, April 30, there will be a Collage Concert. This concert will show off the talents of the top choirs and bands at HHS. This includes Jazz band, Wind Ensemble, Perc Ensemble, Women's Chorale, A Cappella and Highlander Chorale. The concert will start at 7 p.m. and everyone is welcome to support the HHS music programs. The admission is free for all and open to the public.
Tags: Auditorium, band, choir, Collage, collage concert, Concert, Mr. Bushey, Mr. Smigell, music, performance
Singing valentines go on sale
Kyra Moen, Staff Writer
Valentine's Day is fast approaching and if you're looking for a cheap gift for a special someone, look no further: Classicality and Calamity are once again selling their singing valentines. For two dollars, Classicality or Calamity will deliver a carnation to the recipient along with a romantic song, however, no note can be written. The valentines are on sale February 9th, 10th, and 11th.
Tags: bushey, calamity, choir, classicallity, Singing Valentines, valentine's day
HHS choirs perform annual concert for the holidays
Jackie Keranen, Staff Writer
The Howell High School choir is having a concert on Wednesday, December 17 and Thursday, December 18. The concert is at 7 p.m. for both days, so be sure to make it! The theme is Fan Fair for the Holidays. By Staff Writer: Jackie Keranen
Tags: choir, choir concert, choirs, Concert, fanfare for the holidays, HHS
HHS auditorium being renamed for Choir Director
Sarah Cortez, Staff Writer
During the "First Impressions" choir concert on Thursday, Oct 23 it was announced that the Howell High School Auditorium will be renamed the Rod Bushey Performing Arts Center at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 school year. The auditorium will be named in honor of Bushey, for the lasting and lifelong...
Tags: Auditorium, choir, Mr. Bushey, Renaming, Rod Bushey
Choir gears up for first concert
Passion, dedication, practice. Class after class spent memorizing songs, perfecting pitch and pronouncing different languages, knowing that soon they will be singing on stage for friends and family to hear. Preparing for the choir concert "First Impressions" on Thursday, Oct. 23rd takes hard work. Students'...
Tags: A Cappella, choir, choir concert, Concert, first concert, music, Rdo, Rod Bushey, Rodney Bushey
Upcoming Classicality and Calamity auditions
By A & E Editor: Madison Deadman Classicality and Calamity are student-led female and male groups that perform pop culture music A cappella. For those interested, please attend these upcoming auditions. "The audition process is challenging for the performers and those making selections. Not ...
Tags: auditions, calamity, choir, Classicality, Jack Porath, Katie Wesley, Mr. Bushey
Final band, choir concerts approach, seniors last high school music experience
By Staff Writer: Marissa VanDaelen It's been a long, successful year for Howell High School band and choir students and final concerts are coming up soon. Of course, these are the last concerts for seniors who are involved. The last band concert is May 20 at 7 p.m. in the HHS auditorium. The last ...
Tags: band, choir, Concert, final concert, seniors
Annual concert unites choir and band programs
By Editor in Chief: Natalie Dunn As the rain and temperature continue to fall, it seems as though April showers are coming late, and delaying the May flowers this spring. Luckily, the first...
Tags: band, bushey, choir, Collage, smigell
Music programs ready for festival
By News Editor: Kayla McClain The month of March does not consist of usual music band or choir concerts, but it is when students compete in the annual festival competition. On March 15, Howell High School band students will be going to Lake Orion High School, while on March 19 and 20, all choirs are...
Tags: band, choir, festival, msboa, msvma


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The death of dignity: Do we really want our leaders to be truly authentic?
IMD Professor Jennifer Jordan on dignity and leadership
By Jennifer Jordan
In reflecting back on the last 18 months of the U.S. election, I experienced many emotions: sadness, anger, pity, confusion. But one thing that stuck with me most was a change that I have seen gradually building over the last few decades: the death of dignity. What do I mean by dignity? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, dignity is defined as behaving in a way that expresses self-control and elicits respect from others.
Where does this gradual decline come from? I would partly attribute it to the growth in popularity of "authentic leadership" – a leadership style that calls for leaders to be themselves, open, and transparent. Yes, there are undoubtedly many positive attributes that accompany the concept of authentic leadership – including being ethical and honest. But do we really want our leaders to be authentic all the time? I don't believe so. Sometimes, we want our leaders to preserve a sense of stability, even when they are feeling unstable. A sense of calm, even when they are feeling stressed. A sense of decorum, even when they feel like saying something crass. A sense of self-restraint, even when they feel like acting uncivilized.
Another cause is the vast increase in transparency throughout the public sphere. My grandmother grew up in Depression-era America. She often reminisces about how the American people were completely unaware that their president, Franklin Roosevelt, was paralyzed from the waist down. He could not walk on his own and spent most of his time in a wheelchair. A half-century later, the American public found out that their president, Bill Clinton, wore briefs instead of boxers. The change in transparency and the level of intimacy in what we know about our leaders (at least within the West) is astonishing.
Am I advocating for society to go back to the days where leaders had to disguise their disabilities in order to be supported by their constituents? Where leaders had to hide their true selves in order to be accepted by society? Absolutely not; this extreme is also ridiculous. Am I suggesting that leaders become stiff as a board, never crack jokes, and hide all their feelings, opinions, and beliefs? No. What I am advocating for is some return of the decorum and respect that I believe should accompany people in leadership positions. Political opinions aside, I think that most of the world would agree that Barack Obama was the epitome of modern dignity – cracking jokes when appropriate and not being afraid to show the public his "softer side" – while still maintaining a respectful and elegant persona.
The line between inaccessible and inappropriately exposed is often a thin one to walk. But great leaders are those who are keenly self-aware and so perceptive of their social environment that they can successfully capture the balance. I also believe that great leaders are those who want to maintain the respect and reverence that their privileged positions deserve.
Jennifer Jordan is Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at IMD. She teaches on the Orchestrating Winning Performance and Building on Talent programs.
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text:
Purebaghrai is situated in Lambhua tehsil, Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is one of 453 villages in Lambhua Block, along with villages like Narayanpur and Bharthipur. The nearest railway station to Purebaghray is in Lambhua.

References

Villages in Sultanpur district

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
MULGREW'S DAILY NEWS OP-ED
UFT President Michael Mulgrew outlines the UFT's current thinking on opening school buildings in the middle of a pandemic in an opinion piece the Daily News. He calls the reopening of elementary and D75 buildings a "success" but later points out that "roughly 30% of those school buildings have been shut in response to a virus discovery." Judge for yourself whether he makes his case.
In schools, safety matters most: The teachers union president lays out his COVID priorities
By MICHAEL MULGREW
The arrival of vaccines against the coronavirus is the news we have been waiting for — the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. But we can't let that good news lead the city to abandon a careful approach to getting and keeping our schools open.
The hundreds of elementary and other schools recently reopened have shown very low levels of coronavirus infection — thanks in large part to the protective equipment and procedures the United Federation of Teachers, which I lead, insisted upon.
But the in-school testing that should provide an early warning system for rising infection rates is already strained, making it unlikely that the system could meet the challenge of testing a significant number of reopened middle or high schools. In addition, even a rigorous testing process in the schools will not be enough if the overall infection rate in the city skyrockets after the holidays.
New York can't let its success in re-opening its schools be undermined by trying to open more schools beyond the city's realistic testing capacity, or by keeping schools open in the face of a significant increase in community infections.
So I say to those hoping to open schools at all grade levels all across the city: We need to go slow.
The standards under which schools reopened this fall included the guaranteed presence of enough masks and face shields, improved ventilation, rigorous cleaning and classes small enough to ensure social distancing — and the most extensive virus testing regimen in the country.
The city's current agreement with the state calls for 20% of the eligible school population to be tested every week. In terms of sheer numbers, the city has so far been successful in meeting its in-school targets, reaching tens of thousands of people in schools overall.
However, a number of problems have emerged.
In many schools, the overwhelming number of test subjects are adults, not students. Some schools — despite the pledge to reach every building — have not been tested at all.
More troubling is the fact that the city promised to return test results within 24 to 48 hours — yet thousands of results have not been posted within this time frame, some as many days after the test crews have visited.
As of Monday morning, Dec. 21, for example, nearly 1,000 test results from Monday, Dec. 14 had yet to be posted.
The whole point of regular, frequent testing is to identify individuals who show no symptoms yet carry the coronavirus and can spread it to other people in the building. Exposing students and staff to infected individuals for up to a week is completely unacceptable.
New York City's virus testing capacity far exceeds that of any other jurisdiction, but it is already spread thin over more than 800 buildings and other program sites. Adding the now-closed middle and high school buildings to this mix would only result in less efficiency, slower tests and higher risk for all. That would be unwise.
Even with its current problems, the testing process has kept virus rates in the schools under control, thanks to its requirement that buildings be closed from 24 hours to two weeks if infections are discovered.
Under these guidelines, hundreds of schools across the five boroughs have closed temporarily. Even since Dec. 7, when pre-K, elementary and District 75 schools reopened, roughly 30% of those school buildings have been shut in response to a virus discovery.
Given this history, if community infection rates rise dramatically, infections will inevitably seep into schools, causing an even larger rolling schedule of shutdowns. At the same time, based on our conversations with outside medical experts, at some point in a period of high infections, schools could even become centers of virus spread.
We cannot afford to relax our vigilance. New York City — the only major urban center in the United States to reopen its public schools — has successfully done so because of its cautious approach and rigorous standards.
Remote instruction is far from perfect, but thanks to the efforts of thousands of dedicated teachers, it is getting better. To ensure that it can be as effective as possible, the Department of Education must do more to see that all students have working devices and all families have access to WiFi.
I appreciate how difficult it has been for many parents to deal with the challenges of remote learning, changing classroom schedules and temporary school closures. As a teacher, I also know that nothing can really replace the personal, face-to-face relationship between instructor and student.
In-person education is vital for our children's future. But in the midst of this pandemic their safety, and that of their teachers, has to come first.
Mulgrew is president of the United Federation of Teachers.
He's an expert at self praise and trying to make everyone happy. He ends up looking weak and ineffective to everyone. The elementary teachers are starting to wake up and he's already lost the support of recent retirees over the retro debacle, ATR debacle and Covid debacle. That should concern him because his real strength is with the 75 plus year old retirees as their numbers decrease so will his and Unity's strangle hold on the UFT.
Monday, December 28, 2020 12:48:00 PM
Not ready to Die said...
What about remote Danielson? When will that be dropped on us ? ERI ??? I am over this lack of leadership in the UFT and The City of New York.
Monday, December 28, 2020 1:54:00 PM
Still sending members to die...
This is the
@UFT
response to member concerns about the UFT not pushing to have schools closed among a covid case surge.
Criminally negligent.
Defund UFT leadership - it's the only way these fuckers will get the message they work for us, not the other way around.
Replying to @ElissaReilly @Mssarahmssarah and 2 others
Elissa, we are hyper-vigilant and doing everything we can to keep everyone safe. The virus levels remain low in our schools thanks in large part to the protective equipment and procedures we insisted upon.
Nicely done..
I got a message last week from a teacher who contacted the UFT for help with the Situation Room taking a long time and not completing contact tracing. She was told "we can't help you" and to talk to her principal and be patient. It's infuriating.
Well, Cuomo always said not only face masks, social distancing are important—but also testing,testing,testing... a phrase so often used on his kid brother's CNN program. However, there has been an inconsistency with reliable testing and misleading figures from the get go—despite all the testing promises made by Cuomo, DeBlasio etc. and it doesn't help when parents don't comply. So when it comes to Mulgrew—when will he ever learn that the politicians don't really give a hoot about the real safety of elementary school teachers—especially as infection rates continue to rise.
Well, I guess the uft doesn't care. What have you done? Call Sill?
Covid is benign to children. Read the stats on how many children have died so far. As for adults it is a serious threat if you are over 75 years of age. Otherwise if you get it you likely recover at home. People on this blog are in such a state of fear they cant think clearly. Including the administrator. Wonder what would happen if a real threat came along? Pitiful.
Wow. So I read this as "high schools and middle schools opening never...".
I think this will be ironed out in January.
6:45: You have a miniscule if any chance of being hijacked on a plane, yet look at all the security checks you go through. A threat is still a threat.
Journal for American Medicine:
Second, the reported number of COVID-19 deaths underestimates the excess deaths produced by the pandemic. Due to reporting delays and miscoding of COVID-19 deaths and an increase in non–COVID-19 deaths caused by disruptions produced by the pandemic, excess deaths are estimated to be 50% higher than publicly reported COVID-19 death counts. Third, COVID-19 is unlike other causes of death in the Table because it is communicable; individuals who die from homicide or cancer do not transmit the risk of morbidity or mortality to those nearby. Every COVID-19 death signals the possibility of more deaths among close contacts.
The failure of the public and its leaders to take adequate steps to prevent viral transmission has made the nation more vulnerable, allowing COVID-19 to become the leading cause of death in the United States, particularly among those aged 35 years or older. Much of this escalation was preventable, as is true for many deaths to come.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2774465
From the CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6942e2.htm
Overall, an estimated 299,028 excess deaths occurred from late January through October 3, 2020, with 198,081 (66%) excess deaths attributed to COVID-19. The largest percentage increases were seen among adults aged 25–44 years and among Hispanic or Latino persons.
NYC Teachers on The new grading policy: "My students continue NOT to log onto remote. Because they pass them anyway. Im so sick of it!" #edchat #educhat whats your thoughts on the new grading policy
Mulgrew's editorial betrays his deeply manipulated reality about the pandemic. Because our UFT dues are entirely obligatory voluntary, Mulgrew can promote this unhinged optimism about the handling of the pandemic within our collective work environment. This is palatable to the rank and file proletariat since our schools were Potemkin villages prior to the pandemic. They remain Potemkin villages when we return to the old normal.
@6:39, Sill is a nice person. Absolutely, completely, utterly ineffective in his role as ATR representative. A stranger on a train has more efficacy in that role, in that one could actually see and speak to the stranger - even though he would have as much power to intervene for me as Mr. Sill has - none. Mr. Sill personally inspired me to stop paying for the non- privilege of paying dues.
If Michael Mulgrew actually did something to protect children, my two kids would not be in quarantine right now. They are there specifically because Mulgrew, Mayor and Cuomo
adopted a policy that is at odds with what most experts believe it's the safe thing to do.
https://nationalfile.com/what-new-study-of-10-million-chinese-finds-asymptomatic-covid-spread-never-existed/
Maybe one of the dues payers can alert the uft president.
A four-year-old boy has died from COVID-19, the youngest person to die from the virus in Oneida County.
Xavier M. Harris of Utica passed away the day after Christmas, according to his obituary. https://wktv.com/content/news/Utica-boy-youngest-in-Oneida-County-to-die-of-COVID-573492191.html
So we know students are traveling this week. We know some of them will bring Covid back with them. But we're still opening buildings on Jan 4?
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 9:59:00 AM
Mulgrew basically reiterates what we all know; you are on your own, same as always. Whether it be as a targeted veteran teacher, an ATR , abusive administration, observations, old retro, contract violations or risking your life as a teacher during a pandemic - it's all the same to the UFT, it means nothing to Mulgrew or his UFT royalty. He's a hypocrite, he keeps 52 Broadway shuttered while sending elementary school teachers into classrooms, most commuting on mass transit. A friend to all is a friend to none. An organization that purportedly stands for everything actually stands for nothing. Happy New Year's James, and all my aggrieved brethren.
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 10:19:00 AM
weingarten's message - same as the UFT leadership - We get the dues money no matter what because we've rigged the system, so we do the bidding of the political/economic elites we identify with.
She should lead and teach five days a week instead of talking shit from home.
Almost triple the uft 3% threshold. So much for the safest. Pay dues everybody...
Mayor Bill de Blasio
@NYCMayor
Here's a look at our latest #COVID19 indicators:
• 182 new hospitalizations
• 3,390 new cases
• 7.45% positivity rate (7-day avg.)
Let's close out 2020 strong. Wear your masks. Practice social distancing. Get tested.
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 12:37:00 PM
As cases continue to surge, and ICUs in NYC continue to fill, is there a single politician in NY willing to stand up and advocate for NYC schools to be temporarily closed until after the next holiday surge?
Sounds familiar.
The San Diego Unified School District has abolished its traditional grading system for middle schoolers. "District officials evidently believe that the practice of grading students based on average scores is racist."
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 1:09:00 PM
Biden's pick for Sec'y Ed. will insist that public schools remain open before vaccination efforts create safer schools. More will die needlessly. Staff first. Capitalist intervention in vaccine availability will ensure a higher death rate.
Off topic. I let it in but please make it a thread on another blog.
Lol. Yeah, who would care about students actually earning a grade? Why would teachers worry about that?
No. Middle and high schools are still closed.
Mulgrew's editorial is his Christmas message to the his public audience.
This is Mulgrew's unique gift for unenlightened expression detached from facts, evidence or reality. Mulgrew's fantasy editorial is his gift of gab that keeps giving.
It reveals his inner identity where he envisions himself as Santa Claus and his Unity hacks are Santa's useful little helpers.
We have done plenty of pieces on grade fraud. Comment on one of them. This is a very serious post on Mulgrew's op-ed. Plenty to comment on there.
All your pieces have done nothing about grade fraud just like they have done nothing about the uft changing. SO Mulgrew wrote something, basically saying nothing, now what? Nicely done.
I am a blogger, not the UFT President or dictator. What would you like me to do?
Just saying. Pay dues, keep grade fraud going, keep going into infected buildings, covid running wild, spring break money nowhere, wait another year for retro....things going well.
Nothing to see...
@NYGovCuomo
Today's update on the numbers:
Total COVID hospitalizations are at 7,814.
Of the 160,164 tests reported yesterday, 11,438 were positive (7.14% of total).
Sadly, there were 124 fatalities
Did you ever imagine 7.14%? Wow. Well, enjoy the next few days before you are forced into the petri dish.
Last time De Blasio moved the goalposts from a NY city 3% positivity rate to 9% positivity rate. Now that the positivity rate is approaching 9% it is time to move the goalposts from 9% to 27%.
Because the idiots accept it. Stop paying dues. Stop going in.
You can't make this up... Biden spent months undermining public confidence in the vaccine and now he's complaining that Trump didn't roll it out fast enough.
signed an executive order yesterday offering flexibility to provide disadvantaged children with emergency K-12 scholarships to access in-person learning opportunities.
Cool! Open schools, right?
@politicalwire
Los Angeles Hospitals Turn Away Ambulances https://politicalwire.com/2020/12/29/los-angeles-hospitals-turn-away-ambulances/ via @politicalwire
Kamala: I will not take the vaccine because Trump told us to
Also Kamala: Got vaccine today
Quick, alert Mulgrew. School is open on Monday.
CNBC Now
@CNBCnow
· 16m
BREAKING: The first case of a new and potentially more infectious strain of Covid-19 has been confirmed in the United States, Colorado health officials say.
https://cnbc.com/id/106816171
Marc said...
Autistic deli worker, 25, who was frightened by customers not wearing masks dies of Covid
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2020/12/28/autistic-deli-worker-25-frightened-by-maskless-customers-dies-covid-13816251/?fbclid=IwAR3yNGeJ7ou0ViSm12DyIBy56BSWeJ-aHWRJXmPoyvJeS8spI6ZDQbgYecA?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/
DENVER (AP) — First reported U.S. case of COVID-19 variant seen in Britain has been found in Colorado, governor says.
Healthy teen dies after COVID-19 'ate her through,' family says
By Kate SheehyDecember 29, 2020 | 11:47am | Updated
https://nypost.com/2020/12/29/healthy-teen-dies-after-covid-19-ate-through-her-family/
Every NYC teacher along with other school personnel and teachers across the country—should have the immediate opportunity to take the COVID vaccine. That means now—especially if the politicians along with Mulgrew—insist on keeping elementary schools open —due to a demand of a vocal minority of parents in spite of the fact that things will continue to get worse over the next 2 months.
Nicely done, uft.
My daughter is a 2nd grade teacher. They claim 1% of students are COVID positive. I'm convinced they are not being tested. My daughter got COVID at school and spent a week in the hospital. 30% of the teachers at her school have had COVID.
My daughter didn't go anywhere else except school. She brought it home and her 3 year old triplets were exposed before we knew she was sick. When her fever hit, we as grandparents picked up the kids to get them out of the house. Her husband got sick.
The kids got sick, no fevers over 101.7. We got it. Our daughter is still on oxygen at home and it's been two months. We wore masks, washed hands and socially distanced. My daughter continued to teach. We all got sick.
We are extremely grateful our daughter lived through this horrible virus with her asthma. We're still fighting exhaustion and other symptoms. Looking forward to vaccine...we wouldn't wish this horror on anybody."
Safest and most robust?
Covid-19 vaccine update:
470k doses distributed
Ron DeSantis is once again outperforming Cuomo and the media will once again ignore the facts.
D75 kids w/o masks with some totally exempt from testing.Is there ANY otherjob that would demand exposure like this?you cant walk into q building without a mask.a doc wont see you without a mask.why are d75 staff expected to be in a room all day exposed like this? My April break pay was screwed and now this vacation ruined in quarantine.cant even enjoy the few milder days.i hate MOLDDOO!it is true that they miss out by being home, but it is damn selfish to send your fucking kid to school and put others at risk if your kid cant wear a mask.There, I said it, and no, I am not mean and insensitive.Yes. I understand the parents frustrations and missed interactions, but lives are in danger here.
Taking bets:who thinks Cuomo will close us at 9%?or will they change the bar again?so much for diblasio's statement about keeping his promise!cant we force Mulldoom out?He is ruining us like diblasio ruined nyc.
Florida 21,000 deaths is nothing to be bragging about. Could have been much lower. Trump 330,000 deaths. What a disgrace. Why politicize this.
James, thank you for creating this space where we can safely vent without repercussions. My friend who is not a teacher is clueless.i cant stand the arguements about covid anymore.if everyone did their part. I believe we would not be in this situation today.so much for hypocrites cheering first responders then going maskless indoors in groups, including a few friends.i have zero sympathy for them at this point in the pandemic.
Rep.-elect Luke Letlow (R-La.) has died from the coronavirus, multiple sources confirmed Tuesday evening. He was 41. https://politi.co/38Grrs2
When will high schools open?
Wednesday, December 30, 2020 8:05:00 AM
"The city's current agreement with the state calls for 20% of the eligible school population to be tested every week."
Is that a legit number 20% 200 students 20 get tested, does that make it safe now because 80% are not?
I find it fascinating the flu is at a .01 test rate last year at this time it was 3.2%.
@9:00 sounds like your small brain would explode if Biden was president for this, 2 million at least would be dead. No vaccine 3-5 years easy. No anger towards Cuomo who killed thousands??? No anger towards China who now cut 5 years off to take us over, 2028 now was 2033. They got exactly what they wanted seeing how TRump was pushing us far past them. Crippling us and helping weak Biden who China has compromised, let's be clear the russia crap was fake and many of you sad people believed it. Dems are in bed with China, can we be pissed about that?
I heard that middle schools and high schools wont open this school year.person who told me said he heard it from uft.but then again, ???
Wednesday, December 30, 2020 11:30:00 AM
Can anybody with access to the Open Market tell me if there are any PE jobs in Staten Island open?
Nice job, uft. Strike? Nah.
Here are the latest #COVID19 indicators for #NYC:
Keep doing what works: practice social distancing, stay home if you feel sick, wear a mask, and get tested: http://nyc.gov/covidtest
Wednesday, December 30, 2020 12:39:00 PM
"Mulgrew and the UFT Unity party are a Great Success."
Wednesday, December 30, 2020 3:16:00 PM
Blundered_Learning said...
RIP Joe Clark Only one principal I ever worked under had his 'spine', Joe Grizzlo in Williamsburg, there will never be anyone like them again
It is spreading, but we have robust testing, so mulgrew said not to worry. Oh, and he said thanks for the automatic dues checkoff he gets because you all went in during the March outbreak.
California has identified first case with new Covid strain, Newsom says
Dawn Wells, Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island, died at 82 from complications from Covid 19.
At least he is about to negotiate last spring break, right. But he promised.
Sure- we will return next Monday even if the numbers say 10% positivity.
I think Mayor Da Lousy and Gov Dumbo are deaf, blind and numb to the ever rising figures. You don't even hear Mulgrew. Is he there???
It doesn't fit with their mutual agendas of saying keep wearing masks and socially distance and we can fight this BS. The TSA numbers of millions of folks leaving their states for the holiday's doesn't fit with their plans either. The Gov wants a Bills football game and the Mayor want outdoor dining.. Oh, right- outdoor dining under a closed tent. That's safe... A football game with 6500 people-- kinda sounds like a Trump rally. Remember football fans, no shouting at the game!
New Yorkers are fools if we just keep listening to these "leaders" as we march one by one to the local hospital and see the "No Vacancy" signs..
11:42: I checked open market. There is a position open at Ralph Mckee Career and Tech. High School in Staten Island, but don't get your hopes up. A lot of those positions stay posted on open market long after they are filled. Good luck though.
Enough with all the bitching on here. It's disgusting. Let's protest on 52 Broadway. That caravan idea sounds great. How about tomorrow?
Time to move the school closure 9% infection rate cutoff to 27% infection rate.
After all, the 9% number was pulled right out of Cuomo's ass.
De Blasio did the tugging,
Keep those goalposts moving forward!
Dont bother protesting at 52 Broadway cuz nobody is there,lol.lets go to muldoos house and storm in unmasked.better yet. Bring in the unmasked students!
I got my doc letter to remote.will submit and appeal if it doesnt get approved.hopefully, it will.i am sorry for the people who dont qualify.i heard that many lie and say that they smoke, btw.just sayin...
Thanks 5:26. I know, I don't have much hope.
Seems like these teachers need therapists. That says it all.
Florida population: 21.5 million
NY population 19.5 million
% of population 65+
Florida: 21%
NY: 16%
DeSantis: History's greatest monster
Cuomo: Emmy award
Covid deaths:
They both did a lousy job. Did Cuomo do worse? Okay.
Thursday, December 31, 2020 12:01:00 AM
Oregon has 4.2 million people and 1,465 COVID-19 deaths. Should Governor Kate Brown who locked down quite hard get awards?
Speaking of effective COVID-19 leaders, Jacinda Ardern is the Prime Minister of New Zealand. The population is around 5 million. Total COVID-19 deaths: 25.
From AP
New Zealand's decision to eliminate coronavirus stemmed as much from fear as ambition, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has revealed, saying there was a point at which she realised the health system simply couldn't cope with a big outbreak.
When the virus began hitting Europe early in the year, Ardern said, the only two options countries were considering were herd immunity or flattening the curve. She originally opted for the latter.
"That's where we started, because there just simply wasn't really much of a view that elimination was possible," she said. But her thinking quickly changed.
"I remember my chief science adviser bringing me a graph that showed me what flattening the curve would look like for New Zealand. And where our hospital and health capacity was. And the curve wasn't sitting under that line. So we knew that flattening the curve wasn't sufficient for us."
Ardern said she didn't worry that elimination might prove impossible, because even if New Zealand didn't get there, the approach still would have saved lives. "The alternative is to set a lesser goal, and then still misfire.
And more:
New Zealand's response to the virus has been among the most successful, together with actions taken by China, Taiwan and Thailand early on in the pandemic. The country of 5 million has counted just 25 deaths and managed to stamp out the spread of Covid-19, allowing people to return to workplaces, schools and packed sports stadiums without restrictions.
After border closures and a strict lockdown in March, New Zealand went 102 days without any community spread. But then came the August outbreak in Auckland, which remains unexplained but likely originated abroad.
"We thought we were through the worst of it. And so it was a real psychological blow for people. And I felt that, too. So it was very, very tough," Ardern said.
She said they'd modelled different outbreak scenarios but the one that eventuated "was about the worst that you could even possibly imagine".
That was because the outbreak had spread across multiple groups in densely populated areas, she said, and some who caught it had been attending large church gatherings. But after a second lockdown in Auckland, New Zealand again stamped out the disease.
Ardern said she felt confident about her responses despite sometimes feeling a touch of imposter syndrome in her role as leader.
"You just have to get on with it. There's a job to be done," she said.
That's a leader. Easily reelected too this fall.
You know who else was easily elected? Ted Wheeler. What does that mean? All anarchy.
Thursday, December 31, 2020 8:15:00 AM
De blasio has 2 landslide victories. Happy now?
As of yesterday, the total deaths in the US due to CoVid, reported on World-o-meter, is 350,778. The next highest number of death is Brazil with 193,940.
Don't these numbers make everyone just a little suspect of what is going on in the US? Being told to wear a mask, stay home, and stay six feet apart is nothing but boondoggle medical advice. This advice comes from the crappy checklist doctors that remind me of the crappy checklist administrators in schools. These people, doctors and administrators, have no idea what they are doing and are just repeating what someone else said or something they read in the papers or social media. Very scary! Also, another similarity between the school system and the medical field: you have to dig deep to find the truth. There is a lot of money and power to be had by lying and perpetuating an illusory sense of purpose and function.
If a student in my class is on course to fail the class, I am expected to suggest and provide interventions. It is not acceptable for the student to think that he can maintain the same behavior and pass the course. Most teachers I know are willing to pass students who do place effort into their remote work, even if minimal. But, we as Americans, are similar to these failing students in wanting to maintain our lifestyle, and get a vaccine for CoVid; basically get a free pass without changing a thing.
Americans need to take a little more responsibility for their own lives and perhaps stop relying on the government, experts, pharmaceuticals, checklist doctors for their health. There are things we can be doing to strengthen our immune system. There is a lot of research on successful prophylactic and treatment protocols for CoVid rarely discussed in the US. This research is buried but accessible if you have patience.
CoVid combined with the disingenuous, self-serving, politicians, medical experts, media and social media should be a wake up call to all of us. We would all benefit by curbing our reliance on these people and make lifestyle choices that will improve our physical and mental health overall. The CoVid vaccine is not going to cure heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, STD's, kidney disease, etc.
As many of us say to our students, if you want to pass you have to do the work. If we want to live, we have to do the work. There are no free passes in real life.
8:15 and 8:16, Are you implying that Jacinda Ardern hasn't been successful fighting COVID-19 because deBlasio and Wheeler were reelected so elections don't matter? That's strange after I laid out a very good case on the unbelievable job PM Ardern has done combatting COVID-19.
Let's take those 25 NZ deaths and multiply by 60 since the USA is about 60X bigger than New Zealand. That would mean about 1,500 total deaths here if we had NZ equivalent deaths. Sadly,we get over twice that number each day in the USA. Our elected officials have failed from both parties.
Perhaps just better to lie about New Zealand like Trump did. I took that out from the AP article I cited because the virus shouldn't be politicized but constantly is so I have to counter the BS too.
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-health-coronavirus-pandemic-new-zealand-66fd79e174c610cc012b74b820d71e21
And there have been plenty of bumps along the way. When a handful of unexplained cases began cropping up in August, Ardern found herself defending wildly exaggerated claims from President Donald Trump, who told crowds at rallies there was a massive resurgence and "It's over for New Zealand. Everything's gone."
"Was angry the word?" Ardern said, reflecting on Trump's comments. She said while the new cases were deeply concerning, "to be described in that way was a misrepresentation of New Zealand's position."
You slow an airborne virus with hard lockdowns that people just accept before the virus is all over the place. See Taiwan, Thailand, Australia.
How about Australia?
WaPo
Several practical measures contributed to Australia's success, experts say. The country chose to quickly and tightly seal its borders, a step some others, notably in Europe, did not take. Health officials rapidly built up the manpower to track down and isolate outbreaks. And unlike the U.S. approach, all of Australia's states either shut their domestic borders or severely limited movement for interstate and, in some cases, intrastate travelers.
Perhaps most important, though, leaders from across the ideological spectrum persuaded Australians to take the pandemic seriously early on and prepared them to give up civil liberties they had never lost before, even during two world wars.
"We told the public: 'This is serious; we want your cooperation,' " said Marylouise McLaws, a Sydney-based epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales and a World Health Organization adviser.
A lack of partisan rancor increased the effectiveness of the message, McLaws said in an interview.
The conservative prime minister, Scott Morrison, formed a national cabinet with state leaders — known as premiers — from all parties to coordinate decisions. Political conflict was largely suspended, at least initially, and many Australians saw their politicians working together to avert a health crisis.
Point? Trump is bad? Mulgrew is good? De Blasio is good? Dues are worth it?
Trump bad, Cuomo bad, deBasio bad, Mulgrew bad, union needs change.
There have been outbreaks in many countries, recently and way back. Is that the fault of Trump?
What do you propose we do?
"Don't these numbers make everyone just a little suspect of what is going on in the US? Being told to wear a mask, stay home, and stay six feet apart is nothing but boondoggle medical advice. This advice comes from the crappy checklist doctors that remind me of the crappy checklist administrators in schools. These people, doctors and administrators, have no idea what they are doing and are just repeating what someone else said or something they read in the papers or social media. Very scary! Also, another similarity between the school system and the medical field: you have to dig deep to find the truth. There is a lot of money and power to be had by lying and perpetuating an illusory sense of purpose and function."
Countries that have been successful combatting COVID-19 have put aside partisan differences and worked together for everyone's health. I don't know if we are capable of doing that here in the US.
If you won't even admit, 11:11, that staying socially distant can slow the spread of an airborne virus, it is rather hard to have a conversation.
I admit and agree. I refused to go in to my teaching job, that us why I'm remote. I wear the mask everywhere and hardly go anywhere. Just not sure what you are saying. We should simply wash hands, social distance and wear masks? You said the numbers are suspect.
When did I say numbers were suspect? Even if played with, COVID-19 numbers are catastrophic in the USA. School buildings should be closed during this pandemic until they are safe. That has been my position since March. Unlike Mulgrew, my position has been consistent.
"Don't these numbers make everyone just a little suspect of what is going on in the US? Being told to wear a mask, stay home, and stay six feet apart is nothing but boondoggle medical advice."
Thursday, December 31, 2020 12:09:00 PM
Anonymous @11:11, I wrote the 8:41 post.
I propose we stop expecting the Federal government to save us. As soon as President Trump suggests any kind of prophylaxes or treatment for CoVid, the media and tech super powers in the US, shut him down and demonize the use of the medication even though it has been proven effective. If Trump were to even mention Ivermectin, this medication would suffer the same consequence as the other inexpensive, readily available, commonly used, long established, successful for CoVid recovery, medications.
We all need to decide for ourselves what to do and what is best for us: read, research, use common sense, lead a healthy life-style, etc. There is plenty of information available about how to be healthy and stay healthy. Stop waiting for "the solution" or the next best pill to solve medical issues that we can prevent, quell or solve if we made better choices regarding our health. Stop relying on the media and social media for news. Stop relying on someone else to save you; that includes the politicians, "medical experts", school leaders, union leaders, etc.
Sorry James, I know I am off topic. I do wish everyone a happy and healthy 2021!
Look what the Australians were willing to sacrifice for the good of the country's health. That spirit has not existed in our country since December 7, 1941
There is no willingness to sacrifice, even for a short term gain. Both parties are too distrustful to even consider that any call for action from the other side is anything else but bad faith. Too bad for us. We really were great once
Thursday, December 31, 2020 3:22:00 PM
Can't be great with felons running the streets.
DeSantis is a complete incompetent idiot.
I live in a rural FL county, our Health Department & Hospital have no way to store the vaccines at the temp they are required. Our Gov is not giving any assistance to help with funds & equipment. Not a single soul here has been offered and they have no idea if we will.
@james ane everyone happy new year!
Virus was projected to kill 2 million in US.
1. Cannot compare New Zealand who has 300 plus million people less. I can manage a class of 4 kids way better than 50.
2. Look at wuhan celebrations, I still find it amazing there is no anger to China, they owe us five trillion easy from negligence.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13617054/wuhan-locals-party-packed-nightclubs-world-covid-lockdowns/
3. FAUCI SAID NO MASKS AND DOWNPLAYED THIS AND HES THE LEAD DOCTOR LOL, GIVE HIM A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LIKE CUOMO DESERVED EMMY
4. Vaccine 10 months lol, Biden had millions dead and no vaccine and be best president ever, right
Saturday, January 02, 2021 9:38:00 AM
Politicizing the virus as left-right doesn't work. I purposely chose New Zealand which is left leaning and then Australia which has a conservative government to show both sides of the spectrum can do this properly. I am not quite sure how to put in Thailand's government on the left-right continuum. They silenced the opposition so I have little respect for them. Vietnam's government certainly would not qualify as a democracy. However, these countries have had some success fighting the virus.
Israel's government is no left wing paradise and look how efficiently they are getting out the vaccine compared to us.
We should stop thinking of this as a red-blue issue. It is a matter of competence. Trump kept downplaying the virus. He never really tried to shut the country down and then encouraged states to open up way too soon. His super spreader events did not help and since he lost the election, he has chosen not to lead on COVID-19 at all. I do give Trump credit for operation warp speed but there is no plan on distribution of vaccines other than to leave it to states. Fauci made mistakes for sure on masks. Cuomo and deBlasio have proven to be completely incompetent. Keeping NY open now is just letting more people get infected. The people in the USA do not trust what the leaders or whichever media they don't agree with say. This has led to a terrible response to COVID-19 which just continues.
With all of our wealth in this country, to have the most deaths from COVID-19 is a failure of government at all levels. Let's give Biden a chance to see if he can turn it around.
Saturday, January 02, 2021 10:25:00 AM
The lead doctors were downplaying this! Trump is not a doctor, I told you research, the WHO director is in cahoots wioth china, been bought and paid, spreading disinformation from get go. Again Trump shut down flights, where Joe Biden would hasve kept them cvoming and Pelosi kept telling people in march come to china town nothing wrong just like idiot Diblasio.
Maybe if people like Blooomberg gave the 600 million he gives to cheat elections to the American people we would all be fine. It's beyond pathetic the billions that go into elections and people are starving and businesses dying.
I am so disgusted with this government, to act like this was a covid releif when 700 billion goes oversees is the epitome of how backwards we are in this country. James of course this is politicized for TRump to lose by mainstream fake media followed with Pelosi who admitted she never gave people money because didn't want to give trump a win. I wish this waS NOT political.
Sunday, January 03, 2021 9:27:00 AM
I can call out the Democrats. There is no defending the woefully inadequate, incompetent Trump response. Shutting down some travel from China while letting others in and not shutting down travel from Italy until the middle of March was a terrible error. The incompetence continues with the vaccine.
Sunday, January 03, 2021 10:48:00 AM
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The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists has launched a call to action to physiotherapists – Respond to the first fracture; prevent the second. One of LLT's Directors, Dr Dawn Skelton, contributed to the document. The document provides really useful up to date costs of fractures and falls in the UK and a case study. Click here to download.


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Home » Blog » How to Apply for Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Georg Forster Research Award 2021 (Up to €60,000)
How to Apply for Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Georg Forster Research Award 2021 (Up to €60,000)
Filed in Prizes & Awards by Editorial on August 6, 2021 • 0 Comments
Applications are invited for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Georg Forster Research Award 2021. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation presents up to six Georg Forster Research Awards each year to internationally outstanding researchers from developing and transition countries in recognition of their academic record to date.
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Georg Forster Research Award 2021
The award is intended to support the long-term promotion of outstanding scientific multipliers in transition and developing countries whose research will contribute to improving living conditions in their countries of origin. The research award was named for renowned German ethnologist Georg Forster (1754–1794) and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The award amount is €60,000.
Award winners are also invited to conduct a research project of their choice at a research institution in Germany in cooperation with specialist colleagues there. The award enables a total stay of between six months and a full year, which can be split into multiple stays.
If required, they will provide further funding of up to €25,000 to finance academic collaboration – in particular to cover the costs of attending academic conferences, of material resources such as specialist literature or scientific equipment at the home institution, or of including junior researchers.
Nominator
Nominations for a Georg Forster Research Award may be initiated by established researchers at research institutions in Germany.
Humboldt Foundation award winners working abroad are also eligible to submit nominations jointly with a researcher working in Germany.
Eligible for nomination are researchers whose fundamental discoveries, new theories or findings have had a lasting effect on their discipline beyond their immediate research area and who will continue to contribute to developing research-based approaches to the specific challenges of developing and emerging countries. The individual nominated must additionally meet the following criteria:
The nominee's academic achievements must be internationally recognised and proven by corresponding successes in research.
The nominee may not previously have received an award from the Humboldt Foundation for her/his academic work.
The nominee must be a citizen of a developing or transition country
(excluding PR China and India, see list of countries (PDF)). The nominee must have lived and worked in one of these countries for at least five years at the time of nomination.
Self-nominations are not possible, nor may you nominate close relatives or your marital/registered partner. They particularly encourage the nomination of qualified female researchers.
The main selection criteria include:
the nominee's outstanding international reputation as a researcher
research findings with a demonstrable impact that extends beyond the immediate field of work
the significance of the awarding of a research prize in relation to the developmental relevance of the research (The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals can serve as a point of reference here.)
the nominee's multiplier effect in research, teaching, and science management and in other development-related processes outside the research field
The closing date for this year's nomination round is October 31, 2021.
Click here to nominate
For more information, visit Georg Forster Research Award.
Deadline: October 31, 2021
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For her trip, Caterina has scheduled a number of meetings to talk to local organizers, party officials, politicans, college students, etc. Her plan is to use this one-person-study-tour to gather rich and diverse input for her Magister Thesis that will also focus on the role of the youth in the current presidential elections.
Caterina will attend both national conventions. Luckily, she will report back to the American Studies Leipzig community through the new Election08 Special Blog, and you can use this blog to ask her for first-hand information from the States. Her day to day experiences, conversations with strangers, pictures and (yes!) even video will be available through Caterina' personal blog.
The map below details the locations currently scheduled.