Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/260768627?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, November 5, 2012
Ryan Clark crushes an unsuspecting Victor Cruz: dirty hit or legal play? (VIDEO) | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
Every borderline hit in the NFL is watched repeatedly, for clues on whether a hit is vicious and dirty and a threat to player safety, or just part of a sometimes violent game.
Did the defensive player hit with his shoulder or helmet? Did he aim at the offensive player's head? Is a shot below the neck good and legal, or is it worth a penalty (and perhaps more, because the league office is going to watch the hit a few times as well) because the offensive player was defenseless?
via sports.yahoo.com
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City lenders explore new ground | South China Morning Post
Some local mainland banks are trying to get an edge over the country's Big Four state lenders by expanding into non-banking businesses that are relatively new to the domestic players.
At least eight city commercial banks were working together to draft plans to lobby the mainland's banking regulator to allow them to set up lease financing companies, state media reported.
Industry watchers say the banks are ambitious but face obvious challenges.
The eight banks named in a recent report by the Shanghai-based newspaper China Business News included Bank of Hebei, Longjiang Bank and Hangzhou City Commercial Bank.
Meanwhile, Bank of Beijing and Bank of Shanghai, the two leading players among more than 100 city commercial banks on the mainland, were also planning to set up fund management companies before the end of the year, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.
The Big Four banks, all headquartered in Beijing, include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's biggest bank by market value.
They have all been expanding into non-banking businesses such as funds management and insurance, often through joint ventures with foreign partners.
The four lenders jointly control more than half the mainland's banking business, lending in particular.
For non-banking businesses like funds management, it's a different story - there the Big Four banks don't play leading roles, because they face competition from fund houses that have a much longer history in the investment management business.
"The homogenisation of China's banking industry is severe, so every bank is seeking to expand so as to sustain their business," Zhang Taowei, an associate professor at Tsinghua University's school of economics and management, said.
A spokesman for the Bank of Beijing confirmed that the bank planned to set up a fund management company but he declined to say when the new company would be open for business.
Some analysts said city commercial banks were facing increasing pressure to diversify their revenue mix, as the government's plan to gradually liberalise interest rates would lead to fiercer competition.
Like large mainland banks, smaller banks would likely see a slowdown in the growth of their interest income and profit.
However, as the products of mainland banks become undifferentiated commodities and their services become homogenised, it is not easy for the city commercial banks, the smaller players in the banking industry, to grab a bigger piece of the market pie.
When asked if city commercial banks would be able to compete with their larger counterparts, such as the Big Four banks, Zhang was doubtful.
"City commercial banks don't have any advantages in the lease financing and fund management businesses," he said.
Source: http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1075054/city-lenders-explore-new-ground
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Monday weather forecast: Cooler, cloudy, chance of rain | NOLA.com
Today: Partly cloudy with thunderstorms and rain showers. High of 75. Winds from the north-northeast at 5 to 10 mph, shifting to the east in the afternoon. Chance of rain 20%.
Tonight: Partly cloudy with rain showers in the evening, then overcast with a chance of rain. Low of 59. Winds from the north-northwest at 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20%.
Source: http://www.nola.com/weather/index.ssf/2012/11/monday_weather_forecast_cooler.html
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Thursday, November 1, 2012
Music theater major takes on eventful senior year | The Pendulum
For a while in middle school, she wanted to be a marine biologist and ride killer whales, or an interior designer like those in the Sims computer game. But those desires didn?t last long. Virginia Claire Mason always knew she was going to be in musical theater.
Mason, a senior BFA music theater major, performed in her first play in the first grade. It was a musical called ?Going Buggy.? She was assigned to play Little Miss Muffet, and her job was to chase a classmate dressed as a spider with a tennis racquet.
Senior Ginna Claire Mason gets ready backstage before a performance of ?Crazy for You? in McCrary Theatre. Photo by Gloria So, staff photographer.
?I was like, ?This is fun,?? Mason said. ??I like chasing boys around with a tennis racquet.??
Mason continued to participate in theater throughout middle and high school. She did shows with her community children?s theater, the Star Bright Players in Franklin, Tenn.
Mason saw her first Broadway show, ?Les Miserables,? when she was in fourth grade. At intermission, she eagerly turned to her mom and asked if the actors and actresses performed for a living. When her mom said yes, Mason knew she wanted to pursue the stage.
She started looking at potential colleges as a freshman in high school. Mason?s audition at Elon University was the first of 12 as she searched for a school that fit her interests. She didn?t know very much about Elon, except that it had a music theater program, so she went into the audition without anxiety.
?I think I went in with the attitude, ?This is just for fun. It?s just practice,?? Mason said. ?I think it made it so I was really laid-back and really was just having fun. It made for all the elements of a good audition ? just enjoying it.?
The same weekend she auditioned, Mason sat in the audience at Elon?s fall musical, ?Sweeney Todd.?
?I remember looking at this girl on stage,? Mason said. ?She was playing Mrs. Lovett. I just thought she was the most phenomenal thing I had ever seen. Her training really showed.?
The more Mason watched the girl perform, the more interested she became in Elon?s music theater program. She couldn?t believe she was not in New York City. The show seemed to be Broadway quality.
After Mason?s acceptance into the music theater program, she befriended the girl, Emily Rice, whom she had seen on stage a year earlier. They had one year of overlap at Elon, and during their time together, the two became best friends. Now, Rice is one of Mason?s bridesmaids for her wedding in June 2013.
Paving a path at Elon
Mason has been active with the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and her Bible study group, called Crazy Love, since she was a freshman. She has been with the same group throughout college.
?They?re the best girls,? Mason said. ?When I joined it freshman year, it was led by two sophomore girls, Gretchen Honnold and Becca Moffett. I remember that year, just looking up to those girls and how Becca was so good at really leading the group and guiding the group in conversation.?
Ellie Erickson, one of Mason?s friends from the Bible study group, has known Mason for 20 years. Their families went on joint vacations, and they both applied to Elon. After deciding to room with different students in order to meet new people, the system randomly paired them up as suitemates in Staley. Their friendship has grown during the course of college and they now live together in an off-campus house.
?Since coming to Elon, Ginna Claire and I have both grown in our faith in God,? Erickson said. ?Through InterVarsity and our small group, we have struggled and grown in our faith. Her unwavering faith is an inspiration to me and pushes me to continue striving to know God better.?
Mason auditioned at the Southeastern Theatre Conference in the spring of her freshman and sophomore years. The SETC offers a way for actors and actresses to work professionally during the summer as they study music theater during the school year, and Elon encourages students to pass the qualifying rounds and then go to the conferences.
After an audition, Mason received a callback and a subsequent job in Findlay, Ohio playing the title character in ?Thoroughly Modern Millie,? and as Chiffon in ?Little Shop of Horrors.?
Behind the stage curtains?
That summer in Ohio consisted of working, bike riding, swimming, eating ice cream and getting to know the Moffett family, which included Becca?s brothers, Mark and Eric. But one member of the family became something particularly special for Mason.
?The Fourth of July rolled around and Becca and Mark were both out of town and Eric was like, ?Do you want to go watch fireworks?? So we did,? Mason said. ?And at the end of the summer, he asked me to be his girlfriend.?
Ginna Claire Mason shows off her engagement ring. She and her fiance will wed June 28, 2013. Photo by Gloria So, staff photographer.
Their relationship was usually long-distance. When he was in Colorado, she was in North Carolina. When he was in Ohio, she was studying theater, art and voice in London. While the distance was long, it did not weaken their feelings, and this past summer, the couple got engaged.
?We?re getting married in 247 days,? Mason said. ?June 28th.?
Mason?s fiance comes to every show in which she performs, including ?Crazy For You,? which had its opening night Oct. 25.
The show?s musical director and conductor, Richard Church, helped Mason as she learned vocals for the show.
?We worked on how to approach these songs not only as a professional singer, but as a professional actor,? Church said.??We adjusted how to breathe while singing and being held on the shoulders of two chorus men, how to carry her breath through on long phrases while tapping to a rigorous dance.?
One of Mason?s biggest songs in the play, ?I Got Rhythm,? includes a few high notes she was unsure she could hit. Church saw this uncertainty as a challenge. They worked on it tirelessly, and now Church said Mason is belting perfectly during every performance.
?Her face when she figured out in my studio that she could do this was reward enough for me,? Church said. ?Such a joy.?
The show has presented many other challenges to Mason, but the biggest obstacle she had to overcome was her knee, which she broke when she was 16 and again at age 18.
?I?ve had three knee surgeries,? Mason said. ?But I can still dance. It?s a lot to work through. I?m in physical therapy. I have to ice it every day. It?s hard, it?s really hard.?
But the struggles to be the best she can be for ?Crazy for You? are not all Mason is working through.
?We?re already into rehearsals for ?Into the Woods,? which is our senior musical,? Mason said. ?We?re already in full rehearsals for that so it?s crazy.?
Mason will play the role of Little Red Riding Hood for the complex show. Despite a busy schedule, Mason said she has a firm grip on everything happening around her.
?The craziest part about the semester is being the audition coordinator, applying for graduate school, doing ?Crazy for You,? doing ?Into the Woods? and planning a wedding,? Mason said. ?It?s a lot, but it?s all fun stuff. It?s all good stuff.?
After graduation, Mason hopes to go to graduate school in New York, where she will live with her fiance.
Mason has picked out some small details for the June wedding: the photographer, the ivory bridesmaid dresses, colorful flowers, a church in Nashville and a reception downtown in Houston Station, Tenn. Everything is falling into place, and Mason said she is excited for what?s to come.
She even thinks she?s found the perfect dress.
About Stephanie Butzer
Stephanie Butzer is a a Senior Reporter for the Arts and Entertainment section of The Pendulum. The Georgia native loves distance running, photography, playing guitar, writing and laughing. Her dream job would be to work for National Geographic as a photojournalist or work for another nature-oriented magazine.
View all posts by Stephanie Butzer
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Source: http://elonpendulum.com/2012/10/music-theater-major-takes-on-eventful-senior-year/
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China's communist elite readies for power transfer
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-communist-elite-readies-power-transfer-091930095.html
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Privacy vs. protection
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_ssKDmdiiqDI23j1My6Ixvd_vxdfwbKIqU49MCuOZw-COjR6x67_WMVpFHI3nAyenL12DXW0tOihptODHSRCkY7lRE8usoUkKtXcpkD6l0=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 1-Nov-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Catherine Crawley
ccrawley@nimbios.org
865-974-9350
National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS)
Study considers how to manage epidemics in information blackouts
KNOXVILLE When foot-and-mouth disease swept through the British countryside in early 2001, more than 10 million sheep, cattle and pigs were slaughtered to control the disease. Despite the devastation, the disease was contained within ten months in part owing to the availability in that country of finely detailed farm data, which enabled mathematical modelers to make accurate predictions about the spread of the disease and suggest optimal ways of managing it.
Should foot-and-mouth disease occur in the United States today where privacy laws restrict the accessibility of data, making predictions about the disease might not be so easy, according to a new study that weighs the costs of privacy in preventing disease outbreaks.
Foot-and-mouth is one disease that livestock owners dread most. It spreads widely and rapidly, infecting cloven-hoofed animals such as cows, pigs, sheep and goats. Infected livestock have to be quarantined and are usually killed.
The costs of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth in the United States could easily exceed $50 billion, which is why the US Department of Homeland Security has labeled it as a threat to national security. The last outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States occurred in 1929.
The study, which appears in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, utilized land cover maps to approximate the likely location of farms to improve the accuracy of mathematical models that could be used in making disease control predictions. Land cover maps, which aggregate data on habitats rather than providing information on individual farm locations, are the only kind of maps available in the United States where privacy laws protect precise locations of livestock farms in order to protect the anonymity of farmers. The mathematical models in the study showed that highly resolved land cover maps could act as an accurate predictor for farm locations and provide accurate advice regarding the optimal strategy to control disease spread.
In the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak, the UK government approved the culling of not only animals on infected farms but also culling of animals on adjacent farms as they were considered at increased risk of infection. Thus, the precise location of farms is vital knowledge to making epidemiological predictions. While this study focused on the foot-and-mouth outbreak, the method could also be used for planning purposes in the event of a future outbreak of other infectious diseases in livestock.
"The advantage of the current study is that it provides a framework for assessing the potential epidemic impact that might occur in environments that lack sufficient data," said the study's co-author Mike Tildesley from the University of Warwick. Having accurate epidemiological models can help policymakers explore a range of control measures beyond culling, such as vaccination, movement restrictions, and increased farm security.
###
The study's other author is Sadie Ryan from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Ryan and Tildesley developed the model as a part of their research as visitors to the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis.
The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) brings together researchers from around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life sciences. NIMBioS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 1-Nov-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Catherine Crawley
ccrawley@nimbios.org
865-974-9350
National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS)
Study considers how to manage epidemics in information blackouts
KNOXVILLE When foot-and-mouth disease swept through the British countryside in early 2001, more than 10 million sheep, cattle and pigs were slaughtered to control the disease. Despite the devastation, the disease was contained within ten months in part owing to the availability in that country of finely detailed farm data, which enabled mathematical modelers to make accurate predictions about the spread of the disease and suggest optimal ways of managing it.
Should foot-and-mouth disease occur in the United States today where privacy laws restrict the accessibility of data, making predictions about the disease might not be so easy, according to a new study that weighs the costs of privacy in preventing disease outbreaks.
Foot-and-mouth is one disease that livestock owners dread most. It spreads widely and rapidly, infecting cloven-hoofed animals such as cows, pigs, sheep and goats. Infected livestock have to be quarantined and are usually killed.
The costs of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth in the United States could easily exceed $50 billion, which is why the US Department of Homeland Security has labeled it as a threat to national security. The last outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States occurred in 1929.
The study, which appears in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, utilized land cover maps to approximate the likely location of farms to improve the accuracy of mathematical models that could be used in making disease control predictions. Land cover maps, which aggregate data on habitats rather than providing information on individual farm locations, are the only kind of maps available in the United States where privacy laws protect precise locations of livestock farms in order to protect the anonymity of farmers. The mathematical models in the study showed that highly resolved land cover maps could act as an accurate predictor for farm locations and provide accurate advice regarding the optimal strategy to control disease spread.
In the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak, the UK government approved the culling of not only animals on infected farms but also culling of animals on adjacent farms as they were considered at increased risk of infection. Thus, the precise location of farms is vital knowledge to making epidemiological predictions. While this study focused on the foot-and-mouth outbreak, the method could also be used for planning purposes in the event of a future outbreak of other infectious diseases in livestock.
"The advantage of the current study is that it provides a framework for assessing the potential epidemic impact that might occur in environments that lack sufficient data," said the study's co-author Mike Tildesley from the University of Warwick. Having accurate epidemiological models can help policymakers explore a range of control measures beyond culling, such as vaccination, movement restrictions, and increased farm security.
###
The study's other author is Sadie Ryan from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Ryan and Tildesley developed the model as a part of their research as visitors to the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis.
The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) brings together researchers from around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life sciences. NIMBioS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/nifm-pvp102912.php
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