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The future of research universities

By Guest PostDecember 24, 2013Education, Science21st century, maryland, merit based system, moocs, patrick harker, problem based learning, research universities, time to innovation, united states, university of delaware, university system, usm, william kirwan

Maryland chancellor shares ideas to enhance effectiveness of America’s research universities

For research universities to produce the ideas and talent the United States needs in order to lead in the 21st century, they “must make a steady and persistent movement to adapt to the times,” according to William (Brit) Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM).

Kirwan spoke on the future of research universities on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the University of Delaware. The talk, presented to a group of UD faculty and administrators, was designed to help set the scene and percolate new ideas as UD considers the next phase of its Path to Prominencestrategic plan, a process that will begin in the new year. (more…)

Überwachung, Totalkontrolle und tödlicher Irrtum

By Guest PostNovember 20, 2013Politicsard, bagdad, cheftechniker der cia, chilling effects, die brueder grimm, die mensch maschine, evgeny morosov, Facebook, fort meade, Google, google chef schmidt, google field, guantanamo, gus hunt, hauptquartier, internet kritikers, jakob augstein, keith alexander, koenig von hannover, maryland, national security agency, nsa, nsa chef, sascha lobo, silicon valley, spiegel online, toedlicher irrtum, totalkontrolle, ueberwachung, ueli maurer, Yahoo

Staatsmacht oder «digitale» Marktmacht: Mit «Big Data» arbeiten beide an der totalen Kontrolle der Menschen zu ihren Zwecken.

In diesen Tagen sind mir drei aufreizende Texte unter die Augen gekommen. Sie haben einen Zusammenhang.

Der erste stammt von Sascha Lobo. Lobo schreibt viel. Unter anderem eine regelmässige Kolumne in «Spiegel online» unter dem Titel «Die Mensch-Maschine». Jüngst mit dem Vermerk: «Volle Kontrolle». Er schreibt dort: «Eigentlich sollen die Bürger die Machthaber kontrollieren. Doch statt dessen zimmert sich der Staat einen Apparat für vollständige Überwachung zurecht. Plötzlich ist jeder verdächtig, soll alles gespeichert werden.» (more…)

Plan C: ‘All Roads Lead Back to Boehner’ – UMD’s Kettl

By Guest PostDecember 26, 2012Economy, Politicsboehner, dean, democrats, don kettl, election, fiscal cliff, house democrats, house republicans, maryland, negotiation, plan b, policy, public, republicans, schadenfreude, senate, university

University of Maryland School of Public Policy Dean Don Kettl on where the fiscal cliff negotiations head after Plan B fails:

“For the Republicans, this is a very weak situation. They’re struggling to get their mojo back after the election. It’s very clear they don’t know which way to go and they aren’t willing to follow anyone to get them there.

For the Democrats, there will be a powerful temptation to allow the Republicans to swing in the wind. It’s hard to beat something with nothing, and right now the Republicans have nothing to bring to the table. The Democrats will surely enjoy watching this for a few days, and watching the approval ratings of the House Republicans drop a few more notches. (more…)

Support for Gay Marriage Grows in Michigan

By Guest PostNovember 25, 2012Culture, General2012 survey, american, ballot, catholics, charles ballard, district of columbia, election, gallup organization, gay marriage, grow, income level, maine, maryland, michigan, michigan residents, michigan state university, michiganders, pew research center, protestants, religious preference, state survey, support, united states, Washington

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Support for gay marriage is growing in Michigan, mirroring changing attitudes in many parts of the United States, according to Michigan State University’s State of the State Survey.

A recent survey found that 56 percent of the state’s residents support gay marriage while 39 percent oppose it. Two years ago, 48 percent supported gay marriage and 51 percent were opposed. (more…)

Long-Term Sea Level Rise Could Cost Washington, D.C. Billions

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2012Environment100 years, air force base, annual rate, bilal ayyub, bolling, capital, city, climate change, commercial property, damage, dc, extreme weather, federal bureau, geographic information system, gis, global warming, government infrastructure, hurricane sandy, intensity, internal revenue service, investigation, isabel, justice department, maryland, millennium, naeem qureshi, northern virginia, property, real estate, rise, risk analysis, sea level, storms, tool, tropical storm, university, Washington

College Park, MD – A University of Maryland study projects that Washington, D.C. city and federal property could suffer billions of dollars in damage if sea level rise from global warming increases over the next century. Potential for significant damage will be even greater in the event of extreme weather like Hurricane Sandy

The study by Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Bilal Ayyub, Haralamb Braileanu and Naeem Qureshi, of the Clark School of Engineering’s Center for Technology and Systems Management, looks at possible long term effects of projected sea level rise on Washington, D.C. real-estate property and government infrastructure. They conclude that over the next 100 years, continuing sea level rise could cause damages of more than $24.6 billion to Washington’s commercial property, museums, and government agencies. (more…)

UMD Study: Fiscal Cliff Could Trigger Deep Recession, Fear of Cliff Has Cut GDP Already

By Guest PostOctober 30, 2012Economyamerica, analysis, congress, debt burdens, defense spending, economic crisis, economic environment, effect, employment level, Europe, federal spending, financial crisis, fiscal cliff, fiscal shock, gdp, government policy, inforum, interindustry forecasting project, jeff werling, maryland, multiplier, nation, prediction, recession, sequestration, tax cuts, tax increase, tax reform, u.s economy, university

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The so-called “fiscal cliff” has already begun dampening the U.S. economy – even before it officially kicks in – and by year’s end will have cut 2012 GDP an estimated six-tenths of one percent, says a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland’s Interindustry Forecasting Project (Inforum).

The study, called Fiscal Shock: America’s Economic Crisis, is one of the first to look beyond the first year effects of the combined federal spending cuts and tax increases. It projects an escalating impact into 2014 and beyond, as “multiplier” effects of fiscal contraction kick in. (more…)

Shark Social Networking

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012Natureacoustic tags, acoustic transmitter, apex predator, battery recharge, behavior, biotelemetry, coast, coastal water, concern, conventional, danielle haulsee, delaware, delaware bay, delmarva peninsula, device, dewayne fox, east coast, eastern seaboard, ecological balance, georgia aquarium, habitat, identification sensor, indian river, inlet, maryland, matthew oliver, migration pattern, mobile transceiver, network, ocean, ocean observation, oceanographic, otis, real-time, remote controlled, researcher, shark migration, species, telemetry, tiger shark, tracking technique, transmitter, underwater robot, university, vemco, vmt

Shark migrations studied with underwater robot along Delmarva Peninsula

University of Delaware researchers are using an underwater robot to find and follow sand tiger sharks that they previously tagged with transmitters. The innovative project is part of a multi-year partnership with Delaware State University to better understand the behavior and migration patterns of the sharks in real time.

“In the past week our new, specially equipped glider OTIS – which stands for Oceanographic Telemetry Identification Sensor – detected multiple sand tiger sharks off the coast of Maryland that were tagged over the past several years,” said Matthew Oliver, assistant professor of oceanography in UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. “This is the first time that a glider has found tagged sharks and reported their location in real time.” (more…)

USGS Releases First Assessment of Shale Gas Resources in the Utica Shale: 38 trillion cubic feet

By Guest PostOctober 7, 2012Environmentappalachian basin, barrel, brenda pierce, conventional oil, domestic, first assessment, gas liquid, geological survey, greater, green, hydrocarbon, marcellus shale, maryland, methodology, natural gas, new york, ohio, Pennsylvania, petroleum basin, protocol, recoverable oil, river basin, rock formation, source rock, southwestern wyoming, tcf, unconventional oil, united states, upper ordovician, US, usgs, utica shale, virginia, west virginia

The Utica Shale contains about 38 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas (at the mean estimate) according to the first assessment of this continuous (unconventional) natural gas accumulation by the U. S. Geological Survey. The Utica Shale has a mean of 940 million barrels of unconventional oil resources and a mean of 208 million barrels of unconventional natural gas liquids.

The Utica Shale lies beneath the Marcellus Shale, and both are part of the Appalachian Basin, which is the longest-producing petroleum province in the United States. The Marcellus Shale, at 84 TCF of natural gas, is the largest unconventional gas basin USGS has assessed. This is followed closely by the Greater Green River Basin in southwestern Wyoming, which has 84 TCF of undiscovered natural gas, of which 82 TCF is continuous (tight gas). (more…)

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