Student Senate reflects on inaugural Walk the Walk Week
Notre Dame’s Student Senate met Wednesday evening to exchange feedback pertaining to Notre Dame’s celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and the University’s inaugural Walk the Walk Week.Senators raised concerns about the effectiveness of this year’s scheduling and potential improvements for next year.Discussion lent itself to the possibility of a University-wide holiday without class.“One big concern was faculty — are they going to come in if if they don’t have a class to teach? Same thing with the students — if you get out of bed and go to a 9 a.m. [class], you might as well go to this [Celebration] Luncheon. As opposed to [thinking], ‘It’s a three-day weekend, I’m going to go out drinking on a Sunday night,’” student body president Bryan Ricketts said.In addition to discussion of Walk The Walk Week, the Senate approved the nomination of a new Director of Gender Issues, sophomore Alex Eisele.Ricketts said he nominated Eisele for the position after a thorough interview process.“Alex has been a good friend of many of the members of Student Government. … We talked to her about her experiences with the It’s On Us Campaign and GreenDot and her involvement with that,” Ricketts said. “We were very impressed with the way that, even though she wasn’t formerly involved in student government, she really took to heart the messages of the campaign.”Members of Senate proceeded to discuss and pass sophomore Sara Dugan, Parliamentarian, as an acting and non-voting member of Judicial Council’s election committee.This order was due to the fact that Ricketts and Zach Waterson, Judicial Council president, are currently searching for a new Director of Internal Affairs, a position previously held by sophomore student body vice-presidential candidate Rebecca Blais.Dugan’s role will include impartially advising the election committee on all constitutional matters, effective immediately, due to her extensive knowledge of the student government Constitution.Junior Isabel Fox, Ryan Hall Senator, expressed concern that Dugan is Blais’s roomate, sensing a possible conflict of interest.Waterson stated that Dugan will have a “fairly minor role” and will help the election committee understand the context of the Constitution’s clauses in the case that there is a violation of election rules and procedures.Tags: student senate, study body elections, Walk the Walk Week
The country’s banking industry recorded 5.93 percent loan growth in February, the lowest expansion since November 2009, according to Financial Services Authority (OJK) data. The figure is lower than the 6.1 percent booked in January.The non-performing loan (NPL) rate jumped to nearly 2.8 percent, the highest since May last year.The OJK and Bank Indonesia (BI) previously set a loan growth target of around 11 percent this year. The central bank recently slashed its projection to between 6 and 8 percent.Despite the projected decline in Indonesia’s banking sector, Aviliani expressed optimism the country’s financial sector would remain resilient, unlike during the 1998 financial crisis. The banks, she added, should start making projections of their liquidity, as many businesses would ask for loans to be restructured amid the economic crisis.“Let’s say if 10 percent of their customers file for debt restructuring, what sort of cash flow is needed? The banks should be prepared, so they will not face liquidity problems if their customers withdraw their money,” she said.The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has forced the government to call on citizens to stay home, causing disruption to businesses and harming people’s purchasing power.The government projects the country’s economy to grow 2.3 percent this year under a baseline scenario, which would be the lowest rate since 1999, or contract by 0.4 percent in a worst-case scenario.Besides calling on banks to anticipate liquidity issues, Aviliani also lauded the government’s efforts in maintaining stability in the financial sector through the issuance of a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on the COVID-19 response, calling it “a step in the right direction”.“This Perppu not only regulates the financial sector but also helps the real sector through incentive policies such as corporate tax relaxation, expediting tax returns and import fee waivers,” she said.President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued the Perppu on March 31, which activated a crisis protocol, widened the state budget deficit limit beyond 3 percent, cut corporate income taxes and allowed BI to throw lifelines to the government through purchases of government bonds through auctions, among other measures. Indonesia’s banking industry is expected to see a drop in loan growth to around 4 percent this year as the COVID-19 pandemic batters the economy, an economist has said.Senior economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), Aviliani, said Indonesian banks had become hesitant to provide loans to new debtors, as both the national and global economy had been disrupted by COVID-19.“I think loan growth will be around 4 percent and new loan disbursement will begin to return to normal in March 2021. The banks are hesitant to channel loans as demand will remain low until December,” she said during an online discussion on Friday.
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Geneva Motor Show 2019 Volkswagen reading • VW is still ‘100 percent’ investigating a pickup truck for the US 24 Photos 3 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid: First hybrid minivan wins on fuel economy The Atlas Tanoak concept used a unibody design, much like the Honda Ridgeline, and was well received by New York Auto Show attendees last year. Volkswagen is investigating bringing the truck to market like that — “we have opportunities to do it ourselves,” Keogh said.But a recent partnership with the Ford Motor Company brings other new opportunities, as well. In the initial agreement, Ford agreed to build a version of its European-spec Ranger truck for Volkswagen that will be sold in markets outside the US. Could something similar happen in the US?”We have opportunities with Ford,” Keogh said. “It’s something we are 100 percent investigating.”Keogh is mindful about Volkswagen’s credibility when entering a new market space, and that’s especially important with a segment like pickups in the US. “Does your brand belong there?” Keogh asks. “I don’t think it’s enough just to have a market opportunity. … When you get that marriage together, you have a home run, and that’s exactly what we’re looking at.”Enlarge ImageThe Atlas Tanoak concept used a unibody design, similar to the Honda Ridgeline. Volkswagen In the late 2000s, Volkswagen partnered with Chrysler to launch the Routan, a rebadged version of the Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans. The van was largely unsuccessful, commanding several thousand dollars more than its Chrysler and Dodge counterparts, and was discontinued after only a couple of years.In launching a new pickup, Volkswagen does not want to repeat this process, and Keogh says his company will “not just do a badging operation.””That doesn’t work for us,” Keogh said. “We have to have credibility and bring something to the table.”Exactly what — if anything — will happen remains to be seen, but Keogh is confident that a Volkswagen pickup truck could be a hit in America.”I think this is an opportunity for Volkswagen, if you look at how we position the brand,” he said. “We are capable of entering the pickup market with a car we’re proud of.” Geneva Motor Show 2019 More From Roadshow Apr 17 • The 2020 Jaguar XE gets its first major visual refresh 2019 Volkswagen Arteon first drive: Flagship fastback feels familiar Tags One year after showing the Atlas Tanoak pickup truck concept at the 2018 New York Auto Show, Volkswagen still hasn’t made a firm decision about whether or not to bring a production version to market. But according to Volkswagen of America boss Scott Keogh, it’s a segment the automaker is very, very keen on entering.”We think we are now, finally, with our SUVs, a mainstream manufacturer,” Keogh told Roadshow during an interview at the Geneva Motor Show this week. “But without a doubt, the biggest open space is pickup. Without a doubt.” Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak Concept is a pickup truck tease
Mar 7 • New Peugeot 208 debuts i-Cockpit with 3D HUD Combo dashboard Trucks Comments See All Share your voice Mar 7 • The Ferrari F8 Tributo is the last of the nonhybrid V8s VW Atlas Tanoak pickup is still a hard maybe 30 Photos • 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon: Holy hell Ford Honda Volkswagen Chrysler Dodge
Aung San Suu Kyi and her government are “burying their heads in the sand” over the violence in Rakhine state, Amnesty International said Tuesday, criticising Myanmar’s leader for failing to condemn the army’s alleged abuses in a televised speech.The United Nations, rights groups, and a tide of Rohingya refugees pouring into Bangladesh have accused Myanmar’s military of using bullets and arson to wage an “ethnic cleansing campaign” against the Muslim minority.In her speech Tuesday, Suu Kyi expressed sympathy for the “suffering of all people” swept up in the violence but did not address accusations of ethnic cleansing.She instead said only that anyone guilty of rights abuses would be brought to justice.“Aung San Suu Kyi today demonstrated that she and her government are still burying their heads in the sand over the horrors unfolding in Rakhine State. At times, her speech amounted to little more than a mix of untruths and victim blaming,” Amnesty said.The rights group blasted Suu Kyi for remaining “silent about the role of the security forces”, whom they have accused of being “engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing”.The watchdog also criticised Suu Kyi’s call for international observers to visit Myanmar to assess its troubles for themselves, citing her government’s blocking of a UN fact-finding mission to probe alleged army atrocities in Rakhine.“Aung San Suu Kyi’s claims that her government ‘does not fear international scrutiny’ ring hollow… If Myanmar has nothing to hide, it should allow UN investigators into the country, including Rakhine state,” Amnesty said.
Listen at WEAA Live Stream: http://amber.streamguys.com.4020/live.m3uMaryland Governor Larry Hogan says, `no’ to Syrian refugees and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake says, `yes.’ We’ll examine the Syrian refugee crisis through the lens of the GOP and Democratic parties. Plus, Baltimore mayoral candidate and state Senator Catherine Elizabeth Pugh sits down for an interview. These stories and more coming up this evening on AFRO’s First Edition with Sean Yoes.
The company also showed off another use of its technology in the form of embedded plates on the back of a smartphone. By placing two of them on the back of a phone, Ramstein explained, manufacturers could provide a new kind of feedback for their users. One example, he said, would be to allow for directional control for mapping applications. Because there are two plates, users would feel a vibration on the left or right, indicating a left or right turn, without the user ever having to look at their phone – a safer approach. Also demoed for the audience was a single piece of EMP material that was capable of playing a guitar solo.Strategic Polymers isn’t in the business of selling electronics to consumers; its demonstration was aimed at alerting consumers to what its products can do so that they will demand them from Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, etc. Because of that consumers won’t be seeing phones or tablets with the new technology until those that actually make them become convinced that consumers really want it. EMPs are a type of plastic that changes shape slightly when given an electric charge. A single piece, can for example, be made to distend and be held in that position for as long as the charge lasts. It can also be made to vibrate by turning a charge on and off very rapidly, and because of that, it can also serve as a form of speaker capable of broadcasting music. At CES, Strategic Polymers showed off what it calls “The Awake” a Bluetooth enabled keyboard that employs EMPs to provide feedback to the person typing.The keyboard doesn’t mimic the feel of a real keyboard, in the sense that the plastic doesn’t move down when touched then spring back up when released – instead, Ramstein explained, it offers a very small vibration. Each key is wired separately and vibrates just a little bit when pressed – enough to let the person typing know that the key is feeling their request and is sending it for processing. The advantage over traditional keyboards is that the Awake is much thinner and lighter. And it’s better than virtual keyboards, Ramstein added, because with those you can’t feel anything happen when you press a key. More information: www.strategicpolymers.com/ (Phys.org)—San Francisco based Strategic Polymers has unveiled new haptic technology the company has developed at this year’s Computer and Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. At a press conference, CEO Christophe Ramstein told those in attendance that his company has developed superthin electro mechanical polymers (EMPs) for use in smartphones and tablet computers. Explore further Lenovo applies for a patent for a grip tablet keyboard
SPS EMP demo April 2012 © 2013 Phys.org Citation: Company unveils haptic EMP feedback keyboard at CES (2013, January 9) retrieved 18 August 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2013-01-company-unveils-haptic-emp-feedback.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
Science, which focuses on facts, experimental validation and purported lack of social considerations, seems to be the last place where you could find gender disparity, but as experts say that it is a human activity after all and its practitioners, who largely happen to be men, cannot ignore their conscious or unconscious perceptions. Thus there have been no lack of erroneous assumptions about the sidelining of women in the scientific world. Also Read – Add new books to your shelfBut while these have been largely remedied, the proportion of women in the field happens to be smaller than needed and while there can be steps taken by the governments, it also needs women to increasingly plump for careers in this field, said an all-women panel, which included an iconic entrepreneur, a theoretical physicist and a science communicator.Initiating debate on “Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong”, moderator and journalist Namita Bhandare cited the TV pictures of sari-clad women scientists everytime India successfully tests a rocket or places satellites into orbit, but said this obscures the fact that only 20 per cent of employees at Indian Space Research Organization are women and no woman has ever headed the organisation. Also Read – Over 2 hours screen time daily will make your kids impulsiveEven Charles Darwin, who revolutionized science through his theory on natural selection, subscribed to the notion that women may be morally superior to men but intellectually inferior, she said. While this can be dismissed at the perception of his Victorian-era millieu, she noted that this still persisted in today and gave rise to the key question: Are women equipped to work in the field of science?Author Angela Saini, whose book inspired the title of the session and was the basis of the discussion, said that scientific studies questioning women’s ability to pursue science were often marred with observer bias as humans studying humans leads to dubious conclusions since researchers cannot entirely abandon their prejudices. Citing one such research which claimed that since women have a smaller brain, they are intellectually inferior to men, Saini said: “Had larger brains led to more intelligence, whales would have been the smartest species.” Stressing that size of brain is not an indicator of cognitive ability, she said while it was true that men and women had different brains, it was also true that “every single one of us has a different brain”.”Looking for group differences isn’t helpful, because individual differences are far more pronounced,” she said.Biocon founder and chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, said that questions over women’s supposed inferiority were a matter of nature versus nurture, and was “really about how you are raised.” She added that her father was a huge influence on her as he backed her to do unconventional things, such as study brewing.Noting that in India, 46 per cent of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Management) jobs at the entry level are occupied by women, she said that the numbers dwindle as you go up the hierarchy, as most companies use a review system to hire people at higher positions and since most of the reviewers are men, this leads to the skewed ratio.Harvard University professor and theoretical physicist Lisa Randall urged all women in the audience and elsewhere to pursue science. “You must want to do science and see real opportunity in it,” she said, adding that “big ideas are really fun to work on”.While Bhandare stressed that the common mindset of prefacing a successful woman’s achievements with the words “despite being a woman” must change. Mazumdar-Shaw said that unlike men, women often have to cross a “credibility curve”, putting in a lot more effort to prove that they are worthy. However, she added that once you cross it, people recognise you purely for your talent. Citing her own example, she said, that today she is not merely recognised as a “woman business leader”.She also noted that there were places where there was a conscious effort to promote women, citing the case of ICICI Bank, which accounted for four prominent Indian women bankers of the present, including its chief, Chanda Kochhar.All the panelists agreed that if tangible change is to be seen, women must themselves take the lead for more of them take up science and technology, the perception that women can’t do science will dissipate.