I did not intend to make a new seat for this bike, at least not at first. My real goal was to (eventually) make a carbon seat for my next bike, and the first step was to make a fiberglass prototype to test some ideas and improve my composite building skills. It was only after making the fiberglass prototype that I decided to make this carbon seat for the Mistress. Below I describe making both the fiberglass prototype, as well as the carbon seat shown above.
My plan was to build a male form for the top face of the seat, and build up the seat in layers on top of that form. I still had the templates I used for my Mistress frame, so I decided to use it as a template for my new form. After a trip to the hardware store for the lumber, I cajoled my son, home from school for winter break, into helping me build the form. We traced the profile onto two 1x10 pine boards and cut out the rough shape with the jigsaw. We temporarily screwed the two boards together and sanded them to the exact profile using the drum sander attachment on the drill press.
After sanding the profile just right, we assembled the form using 1x12 pine boards between to two profiles. Just about the time we got to this point, my son got a text and says to me, "Uh, Dad, I was planning to go to the movies, do you mind?" Frankly, I was happy our "quality time" had lasted as long as it did.
I screwed a sheet of aluminum to the form. Form completed, on to the fiberglass prototype!
Here I've applied the first two layers of fiberglass. It's a plain weave that seems to be about 6 oz/square yard. Before wetting out the fiberglass with epoxy, I used spray adhesive to attach a sheet of 2 mil (0.002 in) clear plastic sheet to the aluminum sheet, to keep the epoxy from sticking to the aluminum form. I needed some help applying the plastic sheet without two many wrinkles and bubbles, so this time I enlisted my daughter, also home from school for Christmas break. This was turning into a real family affair!
I cut out two 40" x 11" pieces of the fiberglass cloth and laid them both on top of the form. I then mixed the epoxy, drizzled it onto the cloth, and spread it around with a plastic squeegee as it soaked into the cloth. I used West Systems 105 Epoxy with 206 hardener for this project.
One really nice thing about fiberglass, unlike carbon fiber, is that it becomes transparent when it is wet out with epoxy. That really helps you to know whether or not you have saturated the fibers with epoxy. Notice the two outlines (one red, one black) of the seat shape in these images. Those outlines were actually drawn directly on the aluminum sheet, but you can see them right through the layers of fiberglass and plastic.
After the fiberglass was completely wet out, I placed another layer of the plastic sheet on top and dragged the squeegee across the plastic to remove excess epoxy. I could have done the same thing without the extra plastic layer, but it allowed me to squeegee a little more aggressively than I would have otherwise.
My basement workshop is only about 60 F, which gives me more working time with the epoxy, but makes for slow curing. So I put in front of the fireplace for a little boost.
Next it was time for ribs. I used the wood form shown here to make foam ribs. The foam is one inch thick Owens Corning polystyrene insulating foam. I cut a piece about 3 inches wide and used spray adhesive to attach it to the form. Then I sanded it down to the width of the form (2.5 inches) using the drum sander. Finally I turned the form upside down and sanded down the corners to make the trapezoidal profile. The result was a trapezoidal profile 2.5 inches wide at the base, about 1.1 inches wide at the top, and one inch thick.
The pink foam is really stiff, so for it to conform to the curves of the seat, I cut a series of slits in the foam, on the compression side of each curve. Cutting the slits was tedious, and a bit nerve wracking, since the rib got pretty flimsy and fragile with all the slits.
After cutting all the slits, I epoxied the rib to the fiberglass. I used a bunch of strips of plastic and tape as straps to hold the rib in place while it cured (not shown).
Next I added fiberglass layers on top of the rib. First I added a 0/90 strip about 1.5 inches wide directly on top of the foam rib, then added a bias cut (45/45) layer of cloth on top of that, this layer covering the rib as well as that entire side of the seat from the seat edge to just over the center line. I used a bias cut layer here to allow the cloth to conform to the compound curves of the rib and seat, and was happily surprised at just how easily it worked.
For both the initial 0/90 strip and the final 45/45 layer, I wet out the cloth with epoxy between two layers of clear plastic sheet before transferring the cloth to the rib. I wet out the two cloths separately, but applied them in the same step. That is, I applied the 45/45 layer on top of the still wet (uncured) 0/90 strip.
After the layers were partially cured (leathery), I used a knife to trim the excess cloth that overlapped the centerline.
Here I've added the second rib and layers of fiberglass, just like for the first rib.
Finished prototype. I had actually planned on another layer of cloth on the back, but decided to remove it from the form and feel how stiff and heavy it was. I was happily surprised at how light it felt. Earlier I was afraid I had used too much epoxy but this thing felt like a feather. But at the same time, it felt remarkably rigid, at least the ribbed area did. On the other hand, the top and bottom ends, which extended beyond the ribs, were remarkably floppy.
Overall, I was pleased with how this prototype turned out. Honestly, I know this prototype is not stiff enough or strong enough to be a functional seat for a typical recumbent design. But it left me feeling pretty good about the possibility of building my own carbon fiber seat that would be plenty stiff and strong, and be as light as most any commercial carbon seat.
I'm still thinking about exactly how I might use this fiberglass prototype in the future. Most likely, it will just be another piece in my museum of practice pieces. On the other hand, I could use it as a male plug for building a future carbon fiber seat. If I do, I'll probably need to extend the ribs a bit higher up the headrest portion of the seat, and maybe a bit closer to the bottom edge as well. We'll see if I ever do.
The design of my next bike was still percolating in my mind, so I was not quite ready to build "that" seat, but I was too excited about the success of my prototype that I had to build something. It only then occurred to me to build a carbon seat for the Mistress. Frankly, there was not really much justification for it. The aluminum seat it already had was perfectly functional, decent looking, and pretty light. I had never weighed it, but based on its dimensions and the density of aluminum, I estimated its weight to be only about 1 lb (450 g). So, frankly there was not much to be gained. On the other hand, carbon does have more cache than aluminum, and I was eager to make something!
I ordered some carbon fabric from Soller Composites. The fabric I picked was a 6K, 11 oz/square yard, 2x2 twill with a nominal cured thickness of 15 mils (0.015 inch). I planned to use the same epoxy (West Systems 105), but this time ordered the special 207 hardener, which is non-yellowing and UV resistant.
My plan for the Mistress seat was to simply use two layers of the carbon fabric, sandwiching a pair of shallow but wide foam ribs. Since the Mistress frame supports the seat, I probably could have gotten away without any ribs at all. But there would have been no challenge in that, and I figured that a shallow rib would at least give the seat a little more body and stiffness, while also looking more professional than a simple flat seat.
The image above shows the first layer of carbon wet out with epoxy. I did this a little differently than for the fiberglass seat. Firstly, I replaced the 2 mil plastic I had on top of the aluminum with a much heavier (15 mil) sheet of white, glossy, plastic. The 2 mil plastic had wrinkles and creases in it which had transferred to the surface of the fiberglass seat. The thicker plastic was quite rigid and free from wrinkles and creases, so I thought it would make for a nicer finished surface.
Also, this time I wet out the carbon fabric with epoxy between two sheets of clear plastic before transferring it to the form. I was afraid that if I applied the epoxy directly to the fabric on top of the form, I could not be sure if I had wet the fabric thoroughly. By doing it between clear plastic sheets, I could at least tell that both surfaces were thoroughly saturated. After the fabric was wet out, I peeled off one layer of the clear plastic, laid the fabric onto the form, and then peeled off the second layer of plastic.
Then I applied a layer of "peel-ply" polyester fabric on top of the carbon. The purpose of the peel-ply is to leave a textured surface to which subsequent layers of carbon can be added without sanding in between. The fabric is light blue, which you can see along the sides of the seat in the image above. There wasn't enough epoxy on the surface to wet out the peel ply, so I had to add a bit more epoxy on top.
Then I made this paper and posterboard template for the seat shape. For the fiberglass prototype, I just traced my old seatpad to get the shape, but this time I wanted a proper CAD drawing of the seat, mainly to allow me to make a template for the ribs.
I cut out this plywood form and used it to shape the foam for the ribs. I used polystyrene foam about 1/8 inch thick.
Here are both polystyrene foam ribs.
I used my router with a 45 degree bit to bevel the edges of the foam ribs. The plywood template served to guide the router bit.
Then I epoxied the two polystyrene ribs to the seat and held them in place with all manner of straps and weights.
Ribs epoxied in place. Now it was decision time. I considered simply adding the second carbon layer directly on top of the ribs with the whole thing still on the mold. On the other hand, I felt it would be preferable to use some vacuum to pull the second layer tightly to the ribs and ensure a great bond to the the first carbon layer, but to do that would require removing the seat from the mold now, before it had any real rigidity to the structure. To vacuum, or not to vacuum, that was the question.
To help me decide, I made a little test piece to see how well the carbon fabric would conform to the rib shape without any vacuum. It didn't. So it was clear that I'd need to use vacuum.
So I peeled the seat from the mold, and was excited to see that the surface that had been against the mold was gorgeous. Well, mostly anyway. As you can tell from the image above, the smooth glossy surface of the new plastic sheet transferred directly to the surface of the carbon, and it looked great. Better than I imagined it could, in fact. Except that there were a few areas where the fabric was apparently a little starved of epoxy, and those didn't look so good. Apparently, way back when I peeled the clear plastic off the carbon fabric before applying it to the mold, just a bit too much of the epoxy went with it, leaving a few areas a little bit dry. Too bad, it was almost perfect.
This shows a close up of one of the areas that was starved of epoxy. This would be addressed eventually. But the immediate job was to apply the second layer of carbon on top of the ribs.
Here it is with the second layer applied and all bagged up. As in building my original Mistress frame, I again used the Foodsaver vacuum bags and pump to provide my vacuum. The Foodsaver bag is only about 10.5 inches wide on the inside, so I trimmed the seat down to about 10.25 inches wide to allow it to fit inside. The final seat width was to be about 9.125 inches. I wet out the carbon, but this time between one sheet of plastic and one layer of peel-ply fabric. Before applying the wet out carbon on top of the ribs, I painted a layer of epoxy on top of the ribs and exposed carbon to ensure that interface would have plenty of epoxy and make a good bond. I added a layer of breather batting (the white stuff in the picture) and loosely taped it in place.
I needed help for the next part, and this time it was my lovely wife that I enlisted. I had a feeling that sliding the seat (with new carbon plus batting) into the long narrow bag would not be easy. So we actually practiced our technique before applying the carbon cloth and batting layers in hopes that we would not fumble around too much once that carbon was in place. The practice run went smoothly.
The real thing, not so much. After sliding it in about halfway, it was not so eager to go farther. My instinct was to push harder! It went in a bit farther, but not much. So I pushed even harder, and it went in a bit farther, but now batting was bunching up, and presumably doing the same thing to the carbon fabric underneath. Crap. Luckily my wife, not being as tense about the whole thing as me, realized that shimmying bag from the far end was much more effective than just ramming it in from the front. That way we managed to get it fully inside the bag, and I was able to reach in afterwards and smooth out some of the bunching my method had caused. I turned on the Foodsaver machine to pull the vacuum and seal the bag.
After letting it cure overnight, and removing the batting and peel-ply, it looked like this. The lower portion was virtually perfect, while the upper portion had a few, relatively minor wrinkles. I was relieved to see that.
The image on the left shows it after I sanded out the wrinkles. I had to sand into the carbon a bit, to smooth it out, but not too deeply, it seemed. On the right, I have trimmed the seat to the final shape, and painted a layer of epoxy over the back surface. By "painting", I mean I spread a thin layer of epoxy using a foam brush.
Then I turned my attention to the front surface, and those spots that were starved. I sanded the entire surface, especially around the starved areas, then painted on a layer of epoxy. With the epoxy still wet, I rolled a piece of my smooth, glossy, thick white plastic on top of the epoxy and vacuum bagged it.
Unfortunately, it made it worse. There were still good spots, but there were several areas where bubbles of air were trapped, leaving craters in the surface. I sanded them out and tried a second time. This time, I used a rolling pin to try and eliminate any trapped bubbles. It worked better than the first attempt, but still left bubbles. The big problem, I realized, was that I could not see the bubbles through the white plastic, so I was working blindly. For the third try, I used a piece of clear plastic instead of the white plastic. Rather than using the wrinkled and creased plastic sheet I had on hand, I cut a Foodsaver vacuum bag apart and used the smooth side of the bag (one side has ridges to help channel air flow, but the other side is smooth). This time, after painting on an epoxy layer and applying the plastic on top, I used my plastic squeegee to work out all the bubbles. This worked beautifully. It had been my intention to vacuum bag it after pushing all the bubbles out, but I realized that was unnecessary.
After letting it cure and peeling off the plastic, it looked like this. Ah, much better. Then it was time to obsess over the other side.
So, now I understood that the trick to a great surface was to let the epoxy cure against a nice smooth film, with all the trapped bubbles removed. But his would be a bit more difficult on the back side, due to the ribs. I got pretty good results, however, on the ribbed side of the seat by painting the surface with epoxy, then vacuum bagging the seat with the smooth side of the Foodsaver bag against the ribbed surface, and using the squeegee to push all the bubbles off the edge. It would have been difficult (maybe impossible) to paint the entire back surface with epoxy and manage to slide it all the way into the bag. But I was able to do it in two separate steps. First applying epoxy only to the lower part of the seat, sliding it into the bag top end first. After letting it cure, I repeating the process with the upper part of the seat. This strategy provided a very smooth and wrinkle free surface over most of the back surface of the seat.
The area shown here was one area that had the worst wrinkles. But I knew I would be able to sand them smooth.
Yes, that is a bit of blood. Gross, I know. About this time I had rediscovered wet sanding. Wet sanding eliminates all the dust which is a very good thing, and was also less abusive to my hands. But, by this time I had done enough dry sanding that my fingertips were worn thin, and even wet sanding was more than they could take.
After wet sanding both front and back with a series of grits (as fine as 2000), I planned to finish up with a few coats of spray polyurethane. I tried several different brands, but they all left a slightly textured surface. Not terrible, but not what I was hoping for. Finally, I tried a "wipe-on" polyurethane (Minwax) that did a great job. I put 3 or 4 coats on both sides and was finally happy with the finish.
And another shot of the finished front side.
And finally mounted on the bike, with the door edge molding added to protect the edges. Finished weight was 350 grams, but 400 grams including the edge molding. A whopping 50 grams lighter than the original!
In the sun, with a few velcro circles to secure the seatpad. But I don't want to cover it up!
Copyright © 2006 Carbon Bent. All Rights Reserved.


"Last major region" is an interesting choice of words – at the other end of Planet Earth is another "major region" which has a developed set of international agreements, but as of yet, not protection: the Southern Ocean, surrounding Antarctica. Just this week, Interpol has issued three "purplenotices" against illegal fishing vessels operating in the Southern Ocean, while both the New Zealand Navy and activist group Sea Shepherd have had separate runs with the pirate fishing boats.
While commending both Russia and Norway for their Arctic cooperation during a difficult period for international diplomacy, and agreeing that the protection Arctic marine biodiversity is of utmost importance, it's time to remind Minister Shestakov and his Norwegian colleague, Leydulvom Namtvedtom, that both nations also have a responsibility to ensure creation of marine protected areas in the Antarctic. We note that while history was made over the weekend at a UN meeting, with countries agreeing to create a global treaty for protection of world's oceans, Russia was one of the countries reluctant to commit.
For several years, two comprehensive plans for widespread protection of the Antarctic marine ecosystem, across the Ross Sea and East Antarctica have been on the table at meetings of the Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). While most strong Antarctic nations are backing the protection urgently needed for this important ecosystem, home to penguins, whales, seals, and other incredible creatures, at four consecutive meetings, Russia has blocked adoption of the proposals, which, if agreed, would create the largest marine reserves on Earth.
If this statement by Russia means that it truly has no problem with individual marine sanctuaries, why not sign up for them, as a piece in the puzzle of Antarctic governance?
Governance of the Antarctic continent was solved with the 1959 signing of the Antarctic Treaty signing by Russia and eleven other nations – including Norway. Now it's time to sign up an international agreement with 23 other countries (also including Norway) and the EU.
With the 200th anniversary of Captain Bellinghausen's historic 1819 Antarctic expedition approaching, President Putin and Minister Shestakov have an opportunity to make history by putting signing up to Antarctic marine protection. What do they have to lose?
Meanwhile, Norway has a strong role to take on Antarctic issues. With a great Antarctic history stretching back to Amundsen's reaching of the South Pole in 1911, Norway also has a foot in both polar regions. In February of this year, King Harald of Norway will visit Antarctica, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Norwegian Scientific Research base Troll. En route to Troll, the King and his delegation will fly over the wild waters of the Southern Ocean. While a strong player at CCAMLR, Norway must take a stronger stand on the conservation of these waters – and Foreign Minister Børge Brende must convince his Russian counterparts to echo their joint exploits in the Arctic by agreeing to the creation of permanent marine protected areas in the Ross Sea and East Antarctic.
So, Russia and Norway. You've prevented unregulated fishing in the Arctic Ocean. Will you do the same for Antarctic waters?


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Looking back on a decade of momentum
January 6, 2020 · 10 min read
by Deann Gayman and Lindsey Amen | University Communication
Macy Behrens | University Communication
How much can happen in 10 years? In this piece, Nebraska Today reflects on the past decade and how it transformed the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
How much can happen in 10 years?
On Jan. 1, 2010, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln was still a part of the Big 12 athletic conference and had no permanent home for its research endeavors. The use of drones was the stuff of science fiction, and the State Fair had just moved to Grand Island to make room for Nebraska Innovation Campus.
As the university enters a new era, Nebraska Today is looking back at the events that defined the decade and transformed campus.
Craig Chandler | University Communication
Nebraska's Whittier Research Center is dedicated in a 2010 ceremony.
At the beginning of 2010, there were murmurs of conference realignment, but publicly, Nebraska was firmly entrenched in the Big 12. That changed June 11, when it was formally announced that Nebraska was indeed joining the Big Ten, as well as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation. The university was enjoying a year of growth. Most notably, the Whittier Research Center opened following a $20 million renovation to the former Whittier Junior High School. Other changes were afoot as well:
The Water for Food Institute was founded in April with a gift of $50 million from the Robert B. Daugherty Charitable Foundation. The interdisciplinary institute has become a global leader in freshwater research, management and policy guidance.
The Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center opened in April 2010. The 30,000-square-foot facility was the nation's largest multicultural center attached to a student union.
Robert E. Knoll Residential Center opened in the fall, adding a 565-bed suite-style housing unit to campus. Knoll was the first suite-style residence on campus.
Then-chancellor Harvey Perlman celebrates Nebraska's entrance into the Big 10 conference.
Nebraska became an official member of the Big Ten, and Chancellor Harvey Perlman touted the academic strength and culture of the new conference. A campus-wide celebration was held July 1. Also on campus and around Lincoln:
University and city officials worked together to build public support for a new arena in Lincoln. The arena was needed to replace Pershing Auditorium and to host a growing fanbase of Nebraska men's and women's basketball. Voters passed the $25 million bond to build the arena in May, and Pinnacle Bank announced naming rights in December.
The university launched the nation's first Drone Journalism Lab, under the direction of Matt Waite, professor of practice.
A gift from Omaha philanthropist Susie Buffett helped establish the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska.
Construction on Nebraska Innovation Campus continues after a 2012 announcement.
Nebraska Innovation Campus — which had been an abstract idea to many Nebraskans — began taking shape. The university broke ground on the future research and business park Nov. 16, and announced at the same time that ConAgra would be the park's first tenant when the first buildings were finished. Also, in 2012:
The university began offering 'employee plus one' benefits for domestic partners. The Board of Regents voted to enact the change June 8.
Lady Gaga launched the Born This Way Foundation, with Nebraska scholar Sue Swearer chairing its Research Advisory Board. The university is a current partner with the foundation.
High-energy physicists at Nebraska were part of the international team that discovered the 'God Particle.' The discovery of the Higgs Boson would go on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Pinnacle Bank Arena became the home of commencement and men and women's basketball in 2013.
Public and private investment in the university came to fruition in a big way in 2013. Downtown Lincoln's Pinnacle Bank Arena opened in August, with its first event being August commencement for Nebraska graduates. The arena also welcomed the start of basketball season in the fall. Meanwhile, the Devaney Sports Center completed its conversion into a volleyball mecca. Across campus:
The East Stadium expansion of Memorial Stadium was completed, which further integrated academic and athletic pursuits through the new Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior and the Nebraska Athletic Performance Lab.
An $8 million gift established the Glenn Korff School of Music in August.
The WISSARD team found aquatic bacteria under a half-mile of Antarctic ice.
Nebraska alumna Willa Cather was celebrated again when some of her letters were published for the first time in a book co-edited by professor Andrew Jewell.
Parasitologist Scott Gardner examines a preserved specimen in the Manter Laboratory of Parasitology.
Husker scholars made national news with several groundbreaking scientific discoveries in 2014. The ANDRILL team — a geological drilling project based in Antarctica — started the trend with headlines at ABC News, Smithsonian Magazine and National Geographic among others in January, following a published article identifying a new species of sea anemone. The discovery was made in 2010, but verification and publication in PLOS One took three years. Other wide-reaching discoveries and events of note include:
Husker virologists and Johns Hopkins colleagues discovered that an algae virus can jump to humans.
Parasitologist Scott Gardner was among an international group of scientists that identified a pinworm from 240 million years ago. The most ancient pinworm in the fossil record was found in a piece of fossilized dung.
Campus recreation offerings expanded when the Outdoor Adventures Center opened.
Longtime NU system president J.B. Milliken announced his resignation. Milliken was appointed Chancellor at the City University of New York.
Craig Chandler | University Communications
Nebraska's freshman class of 2019 participates in the annual August tunnel walk. Enrollment in 2015 soared to an all-time high.
Transitions of leadership marked the middle of the decade at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Following Milliken's resignation, the Board of Regents appointed Mississippi educational leader Hank Bounds as president of the NU system in January. In April, Chancellor Harvey Perlman announced plans to step down and return to the faculty in the College of Law, launching a search for a new Chancellor. During his 16-year tenure, Perlman had challenged the university to grow, and 2015 was evidence of that momentum:
Student enrollment reached an all-time high of 25,260. This record was broken again in 2016 and 2017.
Nebraska Innovation Campus held its grand opening. Although still under construction, NIC opened with the Greenhouse Innovation Center, Food Innovation Center and Innovation Commons completed.
The new East Campus Recreation and Wellness Center opened in July, providing more fitness options than ever before for students, faculty and staff.
The Military and Veteran Success Center opened, providing renewed support to student veterans.
Hank Bounds (left), NU president, introduces Ronnie Green as the new chancellor of the university.
Following a national search, Nebraska's own Ronnie D. Green was named chancellor of the university in April. Green kick started his tenure, but hit a slight snag when state legislators began signaling future budget cuts due to a revenue shortfall. The NU system responded with a hiring freeze and travel restrictions. Still, campus continued its growth streak:
Love Library became a student hub when the Adele Hall Learning Commons opened.
Nebraska engineering received national attention when professors Chris Tuan and Lim Nguyen invented conductive concrete, which de-ices itself.
The largest freshman class ever to enroll arrived on campus in the fall. The previous record had been set in 1979.
The Nebraska Food For Health Center was launched with support from the Raikes Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The multidisciplinary center brought together strengths in agriculture and medicine from throughout the university system to develop hybrid crops and foods and improve quality of life.
Thousands of Huskers looked to the sky on Aug. 21, 2018, to witness a rare total eclipse.
Out with the old, in with the new. After five years of planning, fundraising and construction, Nebraska's College of Business moved to the $84 million, 240,000-square-foot Howard L. Hawks Hall at the start of the fall semester. The year ended with a rumble, as the university imploded Cather-Pound Residence Hall in December. The footprint of the buildings was converted to a temporary green space.
Campus was buzzing the first day of fall semester, but this was different from the normal first-day jitters. A rare total solar eclipse was visible in Lincoln Aug. 21. Students, faculty and staff gathered on walkways and malls across the university, using special cardboard glasses to watch the sky go dark at 1:02 p.m.
A statewide budget shortfall led to a system-wide effort to find savings of $49 million. Many administrators were asked to serve on Budget Response Teams and make recommendations. Changes included streamlining travel requests, centralizing information technology services, consolidating human resources offices on campuses and reviewing benefits vendors.
East Campus was expanded with the addition of Massengale Residential Center, which opened for student housing in the fall.
A new behavior of light was also discovered with the world's then-brightest laser.
Huskers united under a new brand, "In Our Grit Our Glory," in 2018.
With an eye on the upcoming 150th anniversary of the university's founding, Chancellor Ronnie Green established the Commission of 150, comprised of faculty, students, staff and stakeholders, and charged them with crafting the vision for Nebraska's next 25 years. Though campus had an eye on the future, nothing detracted from these 2018 events:
The new University Health Center opened to serve students' physical and mental health needs. The center also houses the Lincoln division of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's nursing program.
A new brand house and marketing campaign launched. "In Our Grit, Our Glory" became the Husker rallying cry.
The Athletic Department began funding a new scholarship program for non-athletes. Husker Scholars is funded with a $5 million annual contribution from Athletics and provides more than 3,000 awards to students each year.
A Nebraska-led discovery of two new fatty acids was the world's introduction to Nebraskanic Acid.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln researchers achieved a record $308 million in total research expenditures.
Justin Mohling | University Communication
Spectators watch fireworks during Charter Week, Nebraska's 150-year celebration.
Nebraska celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding throughout 2019. Charter Week, held Feb. 11-16, included a gala, lectures, alumni and community celebrations, and Glow Big Red. During the celebration, the University of Nebraska State Museum at Morrill Hall opened its newly renovated fourth floor exhibition, "Cherish Nebraska." The momentum of the university continued:
University leaders announced plans in September for a new, $85 million engineering building, made possible with a $20 million gift from Peter Kiewit Sons' Inc.
The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts opened to students in August, hosting a grand opening celebration Nov. 15-17.
Chigozie Obioma, assistant professor of English, made the Booker Prize shortlist for a second time with his second novel "An Orchestra of Minorities."
Glenn Korff School of Music
Journalism and Mass Communications
Military and Veteran Success Center
Research and Economic Development

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The NFC Ring is an authentication wearable device that can can be programmed to carry a transmittable NFC signal. This signal can be used to transfer information, start apps, or unlock any compatible NFC device (e.g.: smartphone, tablet, door lock, etc.). The NFC Ring is a passive electronic device, which means that it does not require a power source (like a battery). Technically, this technological device doesn't completely qualify as "Wearable Technology" by our strictest definition, however, we see so much potential benefit to the workplace we decided to include it.
Worn on the Fingers and used for Lifestyle & Entertainment applications.
Worn on the Fingers and used for Fitness & Lifestyle applications.


Kindly remember me and my family in your prayers..! May Allah accept our prayers and ibadaat.. and may HE answer all our prayers Ameeen!
Previous PostJab Koi Baat Bigar Jaye…!Next Postwhen..
To you too dear and your family.
Ramadan Mubarak to you too.


As we enter the New Year, goal planning via New Year's Resolutions becomes a priority for a lot of people.
However, as many of us would be aware, there's a big difference between goal setting and goal achieving.
There are too many people with unfulfilled dreams and goals, so the intention of this post is to give you four simple, easy to remember steps to assist you in achieving your goals.
One of the challenges when aspiring to excel at anything is focussing so much on your skills and abilities that you forget about your audience.
We expect others to change for us, to adapt to us and to meet our expectations instead of the other way around.
In the 1980's Torvill and Dean turned ice dancing on its head when they began to combine excellent skating with vivid story-telling in their routines that people immediately responded to and instantly loved.
There were other skaters who probably had more technical ability, but people couldn't relate to them and they had no audience.
2010 is almost over, so I thought that I would list the 10 most popular of the 200 posts that have been written here on the Better Life Coaching blog this year.
As an apprentice blogger, it's been interesting for me to learn about what readers are either finding through search engines or passing on to their friends.
These aren't necessarily the best posts that I've written, but they are the most popular. I've chosen not to include my "About Darren" page on the list, although that did rank higher than any of these posts.
Many years ago, three cedar trees sprouted in the once beautiful forests of Lebanon. Cedar trees take a long time to grow, and these trees spent whole centuries contemplating life, death, nature and mankind.
"I'd like to be part of something that turns Evil to Good forever." Commented the second.
"Myself, I'd like it if every time someone looked at me, they thought of God." Replied the third.
Just imagine travelling through the desert.
It's stinking hot and dry. The sun is almost unbearable as its rays beat mercilessly down upon your head.
And then in the distance, you see signs of life.
You focus all of your energy on your goal and drag yourself towards your desired destination.
And then you get there, only to find nothing but sand.
What you thought was an oasis was a mirage.
Paulo Coelho tells the story about when the Ice Age came and porcupines had to find a way to survive.
At first they decided to group together to keep warm and protect one another.
Unfortunately, their spiky quills made it uncomfortable to stay in such close proximity, so they dispersed.
Of course, this left them exposed to the elements and they started to freeze to death until they realised that they needed to make a significant choice.


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2) If we find some means of complying with collecting and remitting sales taxes for 12,000 jurisdictions, we'll face even more unfair competition from Chinese sellers via Ali Babba and now JD.com after their partnership with Google. The Chinese won't have to collect and remit sales tax for 12,000 jurisdictions and can sell online at an even bigger advantage over US sellers (they already have a sweetheart deal from the US Postal Service with ePacket shipping).
This issue really hits home for us. Selling online is a difficult occupation, and one we've put our heart and soul into. Competition with the likes of Amazon and the Chinese is difficult enough, but I never imagined that my own country would put me out of business and kill my American dream.


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text:
Videoconference at NRDC-ITA on how to catch opportunities in a complex world.
General Desportes illustrates the principles of strategy in a complex society, such as the present one.
Milan, May 13, 2020. Today, as part of the interesting series of conferences aimed at increasing the professional growth of the NRDC-ITA staff, French Major General (ret) Vincent Desportes presented the e-Lecture Catch opportunities in a complex world.
General officer of the transalpine army, Desportes has had a longstanding operational career, undertaking many prestigious assignments, at home and abroad. Amongst them, a special mention goes to his presence in the United States as Military Attaché at the French Embassy in Washington. With a degree in Engineering and a doctorate in History, Desportes, who had already been involved in training and strategy during his professional career, further developed his studies in this field after his retirement. He has published numerous articles and books on the subject. He is currently an affiliated professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and lectures at numerous international colleges and major corporations.
At the beginning of his speech, General Desportes addressed the concept of complexity, applied to the current world and military strategy. Whilst it provides more opportunities in the planning phase, it also makes it more difficult to predict the effects, with obvious consequences in the executive phase, and subsequently in command action. Using quotes from great strategists of the past, such as Carl von Clausewitz, Napoleon Bonaparte, Horatio Nelson, Ferdinand Foch and Charles de Gaulle, he highlighted how the principles of the art of war, even if conceived and applied at different times, remain substantially valid in the modern world.
Innovation was also discussed during the talk, in terms of adaptability and as an essential part of the planning processes at different levels and the exercise of Command and Control, especially in a historical period where the strategic space is constantly evolving, to the point that it no longer only includes the military domain, but also the political, economic, social, communication and technological ones.
Finally, General Desportes retrospectively analysed the hierarchical relationship of subordination, referring to what should be considered the essential characteristics of command action and the pillars of effective leadership: trust in one's subordinates, ability to motivate them, and coherence. In the context of careful planning, throughout the chain of command and up to the tactical level, a good balance of these elements enables to consolidate the fundamental success factors: consensus, cohesion, will and determination in pursuing the assigned objectives.
Today's online event has allowed a large part of the NRDC-ITA staff to expand a complex topic that is extremely useful from a professional point of view, as it is closely connected to the core of their daily activities in the field of the Command of Rapid Deployable Corps.
WATCH THE CONFERENCE RIGHT NOW, CLICK HERE


How political are art and artists allowed to be? This summer, the Ruhrtriennale in Bochum and Berlin's Pop-Kultur festival showed that questions like this can turn a cultural event into a political minefield.
In Bochum, the rap trio Young Fathers sparked controversy for their open support of the Israel-critical movement Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS). Meanwhile, artists from all over the world declined to take part in the festival in Berlin because the Israeli Embassy was one of its financial backers. Here, too, the international activists' campaign BDS got involved.
BDS is a pro-Palestinian network campaigning for a political, cultural and economic boycott of Israel. It denounces the country as a human rights abuser.
A question often at the heart of the debate surrounding BDS is: At what point does criticism of Israel become anti-Semitism? For Germany, the country that perpetrated the Holocaust, this question is an especially difficult one.
In 2005, more than 170 Palestinian civil society organizations came together to call for "boycott, divestment and sanctions" against Israel. At this point, a dozen years had passed since the signing of the Oslo peace agreement — years in which the Palestinians had seen no progress at all. Instead, the number of Jewish settlers in the occupied territories had almost doubled, to just under 500,000.
According to the BDS website, the boycott aims to exert "non-violent pressure on Israel until it complies with international law by meeting three demands:" the end of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, full equality for its Arab-Palestinian citizens, and the right of return for the Palestinian refugees of 1948. The last demand is especially politically explosive, despite being backed by UN Resolution 194. Critics say the demand for a comprehensive right of return jeopardizes Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.
After a slow start, BDS is now having a noticeable effect. In 2014 the biggest Dutch pension provider, PGGM, took eight-figure sums out of Israeli banks. And as early as 2011 a subsidiary of Germany's state rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, withdrew at the planning stage from a new, €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) stretch of railway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv because it had been routed in part through occupied territory. SodaStream, the manufacturer of fizzy-drink machines, in 2015 moved its factory from a settlement in the occupied West Bank to Israel proper. The BDS movement said SodaStream caved to boycott pressure, while the beverage company said the relocation was a financial decision.
On its website BDS demands that Israel be excluded from international organizations, ranging from the United Nations to sports associations such as world football's governing body, FIFA. Artists are called upon not to perform in Israel or take part in events that Israel has sponsored. Academic exchange is also affected. One prominent example was the astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who died in March of this year. In 2013, he canceled an appearance as a guest of honor at the Facing Tomorrow conference in Israel. Hawking had previously been strongly critical of Israel's "completely disproportionate reaction to the rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip" during the 2009 war there.
The BDS campaign is now active worldwide as a loosely coordinated network of groups and individuals. Beneath the large umbrella of this group you can find a very broad spectrum of positions, ranging from the differentiated, pacifist, and ready to compromise, to the radically polarizing. But are some of them also anti-Semitic?
"…to decisively oppose the worldwide movement 'Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions.' The German Bundestag strongly condemns the call for a boycott of Israeli businesses and goods as well as the labelling of goods from Israel with 'Don't Buy' signs. It is the task of the independent judiciary to examine the extent to which a boycott contributes to the commission of statutory offenses such as incitement of the people and, if applicable, to impose appropriate penalties on the perpetrators."
Furthermore, in its resolution the Bundestag emphasizes that it takes the view that anti-Semitism also includes all "anti-Semitic remarks and attacks formulated as supposed criticism of the politics of the state of Israel."
In May, the German government appointed career diplomat Felix Klein as its commissioner for anti-Semitism. "The BDS must be classified as anti-Semitic in both its aims and its methods, as Israeli citizens are collectively held hostage by the boycott," he told DW. "And its methods have clearly borrowed from deplorable Nazi rhetoric: 'Don't buy from Jews.'"
In an interview with DW, the spokesman of the BDS group in Bonn, George Rashmawi, rejected this accusation. "The Palestinians' activities are not directed against Jews as Jews," he said. "They would not behave any differently if the occupiers were Christians or Buddhists." In an e-mail to DW on July 30, the co-founder of BDS, Omar Barghouti, also referred to what he described as the decidedly anti-racist character of the movement: "BDS is anchored in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and as such categorically opposes all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism. Jewish support for BDS or for the right to BDS is growing impressively around the world."
Presenting itself as a human rights campaign does indeed make BDS acceptable to many Jews. Most recently, in mid-July, more than 40 left-leaning Jewish organizations from all over the world signed an open letter calling on people not to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism and specifically defended the BDS campaign.
Avi Primor, a former Israeli ambassador to Germany, believes there is a "certain sensitivity" in Germany around the issue of anti-Semitism. "That's understandable. And I'm certainly not going to criticize that," he told DW. "But in my view the leitmotiv of the BDS movement is justice for the Palestinians and an end to the occupation." It's true, Primor says, that there are loud anti-Semitic voices among the ranks of BDS. "But these represent neither the official politics of the movement nor the opinion of the majority of its members."
BDS has sparked a battle for interpretive authority and moral superiority that is making the Israeli government nervous. In 2015, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described BDS as "the greatest threat currently facing Israel," and warned his Cabinet: "We are in the midst of a great struggle being waged against the state of Israel, an international campaign to blacken its name."
This warning was followed by actions, including the provision of additional funds to the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, which has been entrusted with the fight against BDS. Minister Gilad Erdan explained that they were moving "from the defensive to the offensive."
"The most dangerous thing that could happen to Israel is nonviolent resistance," says Iris Hefets when explaining the way Netanyahu's government has reacted to BDS. Hefets, an Israeli Jew, is on the board of Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, a German organization that supports BDS.
"This is the first time the Israeli government has encountered a movement over which it has no influence — and which is gaining in popularity," she told DW. "It's about thought, about ideas. It's about people who see an injustice, who discover their power and do something about it. What can Israel do about it? Nothing! Apart from totalitarian attempts to prevent it, and to influence politics."
For Hefets, this included the closure of her organization's account at a German bank. A journalist from the Jerusalem Post had contacted the institution and said that the account belonged to an "anti-Semitic group." It was the first closure of an account in Germany belonging to a Jewish organization since World War II.
The move left Hefets outraged. "To receive this notification of the closure of our account, to experience that as a Jew in Germany, was extremely unpleasant," she says. "But it's not a threat to us. We only work with volunteers, and we finance ourselves through member subscriptions and donations. Despite our limited means, we've managed to reopen the account. Because a lot of small organizations and people from civil society stood up for us and said: If the Jewish Voice doesn't get its bank account back, we will leave the bank as well."
Save Israel — Stop the Occupation co-founder Nirit Sommerfeld, a Jewish actress and singer who was born in Israel and grew up in Germany, says she often faces resistance to her work even though she not affiliated with BDS. "Wherever I'm due to perform or have been invited, prominent members of the Jewish community in Munich write asking them to please uninvite me," she says. "In Munich I've now been uninvited four times, or not invited in the first place."
"I'm constantly being associated with [BDS]. The accusation that I'm a BDS activist even appeared in a Wikipedia entry about me, written by someone or other without my knowledge. At the top [of the entry] the only activity on there was that I was supposedly involved with the 'anti-Zionist BDS movement,' which is quite simply a lie," she explains. "But I have absolutely no desire to have to distance myself from BDS. Because I don't think BDS is either anti-Semitic or criminal in any other respect. I think that, in principle, it's totally legitimate for people to want to exert economic pressure through boycotts and sanctions."
Anti-Semitism is seen as a particularly despicable form of racism, which is why its definition is considered so important. The German government has adopted the definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), according to which "Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. … Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity."
"If, for example, the EU decides — despite Germany's opposition — to put special labels on products that come from settlements disputed under international law, personally I don't think that's a good thing, but I wouldn't describe it as anti-Semitic per se. I'm also surprised that something like this is only politicized in this way in the case of Israel. As far as I'm aware there's no campaign to put special labels on goods produced, for example, in Crimea, which is disputed under international law.
The BDS movement's call for a boycott is so all-encompassing. It's saying: 'We want to isolate Israel in all areas – culture, economy, politics, sport.' In my view, this radicality means that all Israeli citizens are stigmatized. And I see this radicality as anti-Semitic."
On the BDS website it says the movement was inspired by the fight against the racist apartheid regime in South Africa. The use of the term "apartheid" has sparked a particularly bitter debate. In July 2017, for example, the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak explained in an interview with DW that Israel was on the brink of a "slippery slope towards apartheid." Klein believes that such a comment is "politically absolutely correct," because Barak is not the only one with concerns about Israeli settlement policy.
"Everyone knows what's meant by 'slippery slope towards apartheid.' And it's not anti-Semitic per se," he says, though cautions: "If you say that Israel is an apartheid state, then to my mind a red line has been crossed."
Berlin's star conductor Daniel Barenboim overstepped what Klein calls a "red line" very publicly at the end of July when he commented on Israel's new nation-state law. The law says that "the realization of the right to national self-determination in Israel is unique to the Jewish people." Barenboim wrote an opinion piece for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on July 22 in which he said: "We have a law that confirms the Arab population as second-class citizens. It follows that this is a very clear form of apartheid." He ended the piece with the sentence: "Therefore, I am ashamed of being an Israeli today."
In dealing with Israel, Horst Teltschik, a close confidant of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and chairman of the Munich Security Conference for almost a decade, advises taking a cautious approach. "Criticism of Israeli policy has to be very level-headed and very well grounded in reality," he said. "You must be sure to be extremely well-informed."
"But this cannot mean that, in order to escape the accusation of anti-Semitism, you deem everything the Israeli government decides — the current government in particular — to be right and good," Teltschik continued. Germany cannot not be indifferent to the Israeli government's decisions, because, among other things, he explained, this was not in its own basic interest: "The volatility of the Near and Middle Eastern region is such that it also impacts directly on peace and security in Europe."
And, as we have seen in Bochum and Berlin, it also impacts directly on social peace in Germany.


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