There’s a place for everyone at ATEC

There’s a place for everyone at ATEC
If you’re an Alpha developer, you’ve no doubt heard about our yearly Alpha Technology and Education Conference (ATEC), and maybe even attended one yourself. This year’s conference took place in Atlanta from Sept. 4-6.

Every year, Alpha Five developers from around the world converge for a few days to share best practices, tools, tips, and techniques. But the conference emphasizes more than just theories and concepts of Alpha Five development. Rather, we show developers how to take full advantage of Alpha as both a desktop and Web database development program.

Sound good, but not sure if a full conference is the right place for you to learn more about Alpha Five? Our very own Jerry Brightbill attended this year, and wrote up a fairly detailed summary of his overall impressions of this year’s conference attendees. Here are his notes.

Most of the attendees were not full-time programmers. A significant portion were employees of companies where IT or application development was only a part of their jobs. The people in this category used Alpha Five mainly to fill a specific business need, and only learned enough about the product to meet that need. They had limited resources available to commit to a solution.

Nearly all of the application development was on the desktop using the built-in DBF data format, and most coding was limited to action scripting and simple Xbasic. Networked applications were common, but many were using terminal services or some type of VPN, rather than loading runtimes on users’ computers and using shadowed configurations.

Most of the small companies represented had some type of IT department, even if it was only one person working at it part time. This IT function typically limited the computer configurations allowed on the users’ computers, and was often tasked to do everything as cheaply as possible, which may be why few used runtimes loaded on multiple computers.

There were a few people there who could be considered full-time developers, but most were desktop only. Even the full-time developers used only limited parts of the capabilities of Alpha Five. Some had a commercial product, and limited their knowledge to the requirements of that product.

There were a couple developers who were doing Web development. Interestingly, these developers did almost no desktop development other than reports. A couple had worked on some hybrid solutions, but quickly moved to browser-based-only development.

A number of people were running most of their business processes using databases based on some version of Alpha Five, but very few of these systems could be considered “integrated.” Most were built piecemeal with little initial specification development or overall design.

Other data platforms, such as Excel, Lotus Notes, and paper-based processes, were common elements of the overall “system” in use. Most of the interest and focus appeared directed at solving a specific problem, and not on efficient overall design.

Since most of these systems were used by a limited number of users in a controlled environment, a number of elements considered critical in a commercial application were often not a concern. These limited interest areas included usability, scalable designs, limiting user access to program elements, etc.

Some people could be considered “dabblers” or “hobbyists.” Overall, the attendee makeup was heavily weighted to people using Alpha Five as a tool to solve a business problem. Previous conferences tended to have a larger proportion of the “hobbyist” element.

Many people expressed interest in alternative data platforms, but cost was a major concern. For that reason, many were looking at open source solutions, such as MySQL. Very few even considered more robust enterprise solutions as SQL Server or Oracle.

There was a lot of interest in Web development, primarily as an alternative to internal networked applications. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a large amount of interest in public Internet applications, but that may be because of the makeup of the attendees. Apparently some of the companies hired outside consultants to build limited public Web sites.

Most of the attendees recognized they have to learn new technologies, and the sessions on Web development and SQL were very well received. But there was a reluctance to move away from what they were doing now. As is common in small business, most were working on at least one generation old technology, and many were using Alpha Five Version 7 and Alpha Five Version 8.

A surprising number had not upgraded, as they felt they didn’t need Web capabilities or SQL support and the older versions worked adequately. There was some interest in future developments, but most wanted solutions they could use now.

The main reason given for not moving to Web or SQL was the learning curve. Many of the people were fairly new to database development in general, and had struggled to reach the knowledge levels they had achieved. The concept of learning any additional techniques was daunting.

The overall format of hands-on, two-hour training sessions was very popular. Approximately 50 to 60 percent of the people in each section actively participated, while others just watched the projection screens and followed the learning guides. In some sessions, the percentage was much higher, and some a little less. Each session included discussion periods that introduced a number of topics.

Most attendees expressed the importance of face to face discussion periods, such as question and answer periods, breaks, lunch, and even evening sessions. There was a lot of networking when sessions were not being held. All of the sessions seemed to have a lot of interaction between the instructors and the people in the session.

As you can see, Alpha Conferences are excellent learning environments for developers of all stripes and skill sets. I encourage you to attend the next one. You’ll be glad you did, and smarter, too!

Portable Fireworks 8
Fireworks 8 Portable | 35.27 MB Macromedia created Fireworks as a complete graphics applications aimed towards Web designers.It offers more advanced image control than existing packages, such as Photoshop or CorelDraw, for work that specifically relates to the Internet. Fireworks enables web designers to produce high quality images, export them in a variety of file formats while retaining

Administrators define the field

Administrators define the field
A panel of deans and directors from Kansas City educational institutions met at the School of Education Monday evening, affording students interested in college administration careers a chance to discuss the field’s challenges and opportunities.

The conversation was sponsored by UMKC’s Career Services Center and featured four panelists with extensive credentials in higher education administration including: UMKC’s Vice Provost for Academic Programs, Mary Lou Hines-Fritts, William Jewell College’s Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life, Ernie Stufflebean, Rockhurst University’s Assistant Dean of Students, Sean Grube, and Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley’s Dean of Administrative Services, Thomas Walker.

LiveScience: Era of Scientific Secrecy Near End
Era of Scientific Secrecy Near End / By Robin Lloyd, LiveScience Senior Editor / posted: 02 September 2008 11:30 am ET

Secrecy and competition to achieve breakthroughs have been part of scientific culture for centuries, but the latest Internet advances are forcing a tortured openness throughout the halls of science and raising questions about how research will be done in the future.

The openness at the technological and cultural heart of the Internet is fast becoming an irreplaceable tool for many scientists, especially biologists, chemists and physicists — allowing them to forgo the long wait to publish in a print journal and instead to blog about early findings and even post their data and lab notes online. The result: Science is moving way faster and more people are part of the dialogue.

[snip]

Open Science

The open science approach forces researchers to grapple with the question of whether they can still get sufficient credit for their ideas, said physicist Sabine Hossenfelder, co-organizer of a conference on the topic set to begin Sept. 8 at the Perimeter Institute in Ontario, Canada.

[BTW: I Will Be Attending This Unique Conference Science in the 21st Century: Science, Society, and Information Technology [http://tinyurl.com/6ll8fb] / Look For Conference-Related Postings on the _Scholarship 2.0_ Blog [http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/] within the next two weeks]

[snip]

Open science is a shorthand for technological tools, many of which are Web-based, that help scientists communicate about their findings. At its most radical, the ethos could be described as “no insider information.” Information available to researchers, as far as possible, is made available to absolutely everyone.

Beyond email, teleconferencing and search engines, there are many examples: blogs where scientists can correspond casually about their work long before it is published in a journal; social networks that are scientist friendly such as Laboratree and Ologeez; GoogleDocs and wikis which make it easy for people to collaborate via the Web on single documents; a site called Connotea that allows scientists to share bookmarks for research papers; sites like Arxiv, where physicists post their “pre-print” research papers before they are published in a print journal; OpenWetWare which allows scientists to post and share new innovations in lab techniques; the Journal of Visualized Experiments, an open-access site where you can see videos of how research teams do their work; GenBank, an online searchable database for DNA sequences; Science Commons, a non-profit project at MIT to make research more efficient via the Web, such as enabling easy online ordering of lab materials referenced in journal articles; virtual conferences; online open-access (and free) journals like Public Library of Science (PLoS); and open-source software that can often be downloaded free off Web sites.

[BTW: Several Of These Innovations Have Been Profiled In My SciTechNet(sm) Blog [http://scitechnet.blogspot.com/] and/or The Scholarship 2.0 Blog [http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/]

The upshot: Science is no longer under lock and key, trickling out as it used to at the discretion of laconic professors and tense PR offices. For some scientists, secrets no longer serve them. But not everyone agrees.

Networked Cyborgs

Just a few decades ago, as a scientist, here is how you did your work: You toiled in obscurity and relative solitude.

[snip]

However, today, more and more scientists, as well as researchers in the humanities, operate like transparent, networked cyborgs. Background research is mostly done online, not in the library. Some data and preliminary research might be posted online via a blog or open notebook. Early write-ups of the work might be announced to the public, or at least discussed online with peers. And these early write-ups might also be posted to an online publication that is not peer-reviewed in the strict sense.

[snip]

“In areas like my own subfields of theoretical physics,” said MIT physicist David Kaiser, “the only constraint [on how rapidly one generates research papers] is, ‘Did you have more coffee that day?’ We aren’t usually held up trying to get an instrument to work, or slogging through complicated data analysis.”Most people think faster is better, but there are other issues.

Is It A Good Thing?

There is “no question” that all efforts to make science more open are positive for the progress of science, says open science proponent and chemist Jean-Claude Bradley at Drexel University in Philadelphia, who posts his lab notebook online and started a blog in 2005 called UsefulChemistry where he and his colleagues regularly discuss chemistry problems as well as Web 2.0 tools and the technical and philosophical issues they raise.His online notebook and blog definitely make it easier to communicate with colleagues, he said. Such sharing also makes it easier for others to “replicate” scientists’ work — try it themselves and convince themselves that you are right. And this replication issue is one of the principles behind scientific research. Anyone who has written down a recipe for a friend knows that we all tend to spell things out more clearly when sharing them than we would if we were just taking notes for ourselves in our own shorthand.

Open science also has the potential to prevent discrimination in access to information. Arxiv, the site for posting pre-print physics papers, was started in 1991 by Cornell physicist Paul Ginsparg, then at Los Alamos National Laboratory, to help provide equal access to prepublication information to graduate students, postdocs and researchers in developing countries.

[BTW: Paul Ginsparg will be one of several Major Players attending/presenting at The Conference [http://science21stcentury.org/abstracts.html]]

[snip]

And open science benefits the public, Bradley said. He tries to keep his posts fairly accessible (although this is not the case for all open notebooks and open science blogs).

[snip]

“It’s not clear to me that professional scientists or people in academic institutions have a monopoly on good ideas,” he said. “There are very smart people outside of academia, for example hobbyists or people in industry who could contribute, and having more contributors can only help. The same applies to interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches.”

[snip]

Drawbacks of Open Science

One of the biggest fears of nearly all researchers is that someone else hears what you’re doing and beats you to publication. That means you wasted a lot of time (and most researchers work extremely long hours, so loss of productivity is especially painful and can also harm one’s chances for getting a job or promotion or funding for the next research project). Once you publicly reveal your thoughts, data or experimental results, some say, you lose control over ownership of that information. This topic is covered by an area of law called intellectual property, as well as patent law, and there can be significant money to be fought over when it comes to patents.

Hossenfelder, the conference organizer, says she knows of several examples in which scientists have had an idea for something, talked about it openly and then somebody else has published the fleshed-out idea first without giving any credit beyond an acknowledgment to the original idea-holder. Acknowledgments don’t advance careers.

However there are solutions to this, she said. For instance, the prominent scientific journal Nature encourages authors to include brief summaries of which author contributed what to a project. Some say that online posts provide a time-stamped record of when an experiment was documented. Those stamps can easily be arbitrarily altered after the fact, but it might also be possible to “lock” posts at a certain date after which they could not be changed without some sign-off permission to break the lock, Hossenfelder said. [snip]

Fear of Losing Peer Review

Another drawback of open science can be that results go public before they should. In science, experimental results are frequently proven wrong by subsequent work. Yet even peer review cannot ensure against this, nor can it prevent outright fraud, as proven by a 2005 case involving a South Korean scientist who claimed to have achieved the first cloning of a human embryo. A later examination of his work showed he had fabricated his results.

[snip]

“The social system of science has become so complicated, unregulated and dispersed in terms of geography and disciplines, so peer review has been elevated to a principle that unifies a fragmented field,” Biagioli said.

[snip]

And today, Arxiv, one of the most frequently cited examples of open science, has no peer review for individual papers, but it has begun to add in some constraints on allowable authors. The site used to allow anyone with email addresses associated with academic institutions to post their papers. Now, authors of research papers who post in Arxiv are vetted before they can post for the first time. In some ways, things are tightening up when it comes to openness in physics, Kaiser said. In any case, the function of print journals, in physics at least, is changing.

“Ease of sharing everything prior to peer review is flourishing, and in my opinion very few physicists are reading journals for information these days,” Kaiser said. “Journals have largely lost their information function.”

[snip]

For The Good Of Truth, Humanity, Economies?

Another argument in favor of open science is sort of a big picture issue for humanity, scientific truth and economies, Neylon said.

“Making things more open leads to more innovation and more economic activity, and so the technology that underlies the Web makes it possible to share in a way that was never really possible before, while at same time it also means that kinds of models and results generated are much more rich,” he said.

This is the open source approach to software development, as opposed to commercial closed source approaches, Neylon said. The internals are protected by developers and lawyers, but the platform is available for the public to build on in very creative ways.

“Science was always about mashing up, taking one result and applying it to your [work] in a different way,” Neylon said. “The question is ‘Can we make that as effective as samples data and analysis as it does for a map and set of addresses for a coffee shop?’ That is the vision.”

[http://www.livescience.com/culture/080902-open-science.html]

Thanks to Sabine Hossenfelder For The HeadsUp !

[http://friendfeed.com/rooms/science21]

Buyers swarm back to market, sending stock average higher - Sharon Herald

Buyers swarm back to market, sending stock average higher - Sharon Herald
Investors did an abrupt turnaround on Wall Street Thursday, muscling the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 550 points after driving it down near its lows for the year on a stream of negative economic and corporate news. After three days of selling that wiped out about $1 trillion in

Juanes sweeps Latin Grammy awards - Bennington Banner
HOUSTON (AP) — Colombian rocker Juanes ruled the Latin Grammys on Thursday, sweeping awards in five categories — including record of the year and album of the year — and setting a new record for total wins. Juanes’ joy-filled love song, “Me Enamora,” won record of the year, song of the year

Space shuttle Endeavour races toward space station - Beaufort Gazette
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Space shuttle Endeavour raced toward the international space station on Saturday for a home makeover job after a brilliant moonlit launch that had NASA managers in awe. The shuttle and its seven astronauts blasted into orbit Friday night on a mission to redo the insides of the

PhD Position in Accounting - University of Amsterdam

PhD Position in Accounting - University of Amsterdam
PhD Position in Accounting
University of Amsterdam Faculty of Economics and Business / Amsterdam Business School
Amsterdam, 1018WB (Noord-Holland) , hours per week

Job description
The project is entitled: The Construction of Assurance Expertise on Sustainability

The past decade has seen the emergence of practice in assurance on sustainability reports (‘sustainability assurance’) with high profile professional accountancy bodies such as the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, placing the development of a sustainability assurance standard near the top of its strategic agenda. This in-depth longitudinal field study aims to enhance our theoretical and empirical understanding of the processes surrounding the emergence of sustainability assurance. Empirically, the study will examine the role and focus of key actors in the emergence of assurance concentrating on: how competing claims to professional expertise in sustainability assurance have been constructed and legitimised; the dominant and shifting assurance discourses; and how target audiences have reacted to these discourses. Theoretically, the study will draw on frameworks derived from Actor Network Theory and neo-institutional theory. The study calls for a broad range of research methods competencies, particularly in qualitative methods, an excellent ability think conceptually, competence in research liaison with organizations and high level individuals, and excellent external presentation skills.

Requirements

Required education/skills: University Graduate

* Master’s (MSc) in the area of accounting (or equivalent) with excellent examination results in both course work and the MSc thesis component;
* Interest and experience in field research (for example, in the MSc thesis);
* Demonstrated Mastery of both written and spoken English;
* Conviction to complete the requirements toward a PhD degree within four years.

Job type: Research / Advising
Workfield(s) :
- Teaching & Research(Scientific discipline: Economics)

Organization
University of Amsterdam
Faculty of Economics and Business / Amsterdam Business School
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is a university with an internationally acclaimed profile, located at the heart of the Dutch capital. As well as a world center for business and research, Amsterdam is a hub of cultural and media activities. The University of Amsterdam is a member of the League of European Research Universities.

The Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) at the Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) provides academic courses in accounting, finance, management, marketing, economics, and econometrics. It also conducts international research in these areas. The Amsterdam Business School and the Amsterdam School of Economics form part of the FEB.

Conditions of employment
Employment basis: Temporary for specified period
Duration of the contract: see below
Additional conditions of employment:
The appointment will initially be for 18 months, to be extended to a total of 4 years upon excellent performance (an evaluation will be held after 14 months). The salary will be in accordance with the University regulations for academic personnel, and will range from € 2,000 (first year) up to a maximum of € 2,558 (final year) gross per month. The collective employment agreement of the Dutch universities will be applicable. The PhD thesis should be finalised within four years. In this period, the candidate will also be expected to do some teaching (20% of the time).

Additional Information
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from:

Professor Brendan O’Dwyer
Telephone number: 31 20 525 4260
E-mail address: b.g.d.odwyer@ uva.nl

Or additional information can be obtained through one of the following links:

* About the organization (http://www.uva. nl/start. cfm/la=en/ th=main)
* About the department (http://www.abs. uva.nl/)
* About the function (http://www.uva. nl/vacatures/ vacatures. cfm/6FFD1F92- 1321-B0BE- 6890350BCDF7D43B)

Application
You can apply for this job before 21-11-2008 (dd-mm-yyyy) by sending your application to:

University of Amsterdam Business School, Personnel Department
Bernadette Clemens
Roetersstraat 11
1018 WB Amsterdam
The Netherlands
E-mail: applications- feb@uva.nl

When applying for this job always mention the vacancynumber AT 08-5037.

Follow up on Duke’s Motion and Two Other Items
The Administration’s Motion Denied

As predicted, the judge in the civil suits denied the Duke administration’s motion to sanction opposing counsel for an alleged violation of Rule 3.6. (See previous post.) Here are details from the News and Observer and the Chronicle.

I wrote a letter to the Chronicle in which I call the actions by Duke’s counsel unprofessional. Understand that this motion was not a request for relief from any alleged harm. The administration’s lawyer denied in court that the motion was a request for a gag order. The motion was solely an attack on the integrity of Charles Cooper and his colleagues and, as I suggested in the previous post, one that had no basis in law. A bar complaint is a very serious matter touching on both the character and professional qualifications of an attorney. It should not be made lightly and certainly not to try and score a rhetorical point.

The administration’s motion is also a mean spirited cheap shot against the players who were also specifically targeted. Although Rule 3.6 only applies to attorneys, the motion requested that the court make a finding that “Plaintiffs and their counsel” violated Rule 3.6 and the local rule incorporating it. It accuses them of violating one of the same rules that their tormentor and the administration’s erstwhile codefendant, Mike Nifong did.

While the administration’s attorneys were rummaging through the Rules of Professional Conduct, perhaps they missed Rule 3.1:

A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)(2) has a similar requirement.

It is hard to see the administration’s motion as a good faith argument for the extension, modification or reversal of existing law. Interpreting a statute or rule is a matter of reading the text, which is entirely controlling, and there was no suggestion that the language used is vague or ambiguous. Duke’s argument that the spirit of the rule was violated, even if it were true, is utterly beside the point. Moreover, Rule 3.6(b)(2), the public documents exception, appears specifically intended to operate as a safe harbor rule for lawyers trying to comply with the general rule stated in Rule 3.6(a). Finally, even if the court did announce a new rule, it could not give it retroactive effect.

What we are left with the administration is attempting to try the case in the media under the guise of upholding the exact opposite principle. For the administration, appearances have always been the only thing that mattered. Still, this is a new low.

Elmo a Citizen

Congratulations to Moezeldin Elmostafa, or “Elmo” as he affectionately came to be known to supporters of the accused players, who recently became a US citizen. He was also recently named “Hero of the Year” by Reader’s Digest magazine. Durham needs more citizens like him.

Elmo was the taxi driver who picked up Reade Seligmann from the party and was able to help document Reade’s alibi. After Reade’s alibi came to light, Mike Nifong sent two detectives working on the lacrosse case to arrest Elmo on a stale warrant. When they arrested him, they asked him if he “had anything new to say about the lacrosse case.” When he said no, they then took him to a magistrate. He was eventually found innocent at trial.

I hope that the recent renewed publicity will focus attention on one loose end that remains in making Nifong fully accountable for his conduct. Attempting to alter the testimony of a witness is obstruction of justice. While Nifong’s ethical misconduct was addressed by the North Carolina Bar, he has never been made to account for his criminal conduct. Also suspicious was Nifong’s conduct in relation to another witness, the second dancer Kim Roberts. The same day that Nifong personally intervened to have her bail reduced on an unrelated criminal charge, she started giving an account that contradicted her earlier statement to police that no rape had occurred.

Elmo’s case also should be instructive to those who saw Nifong as some sort of champion for social justice because he was targeting affluent or supposedly affluent people. As an immigrant looking to become a citizen, Elmo was one of the most vulnerable people in our society. A criminal conviction of any kind could have resulted in his deportation and permanent exclusion from the United States. Yet, Nifong was as willing to maliciously prosecute him for his own purposes as he was Reade, Collin and David. Indeed, given the fact that Elmo refused to change his story when pressured by police, Nifong’s decision to prosecute him anyway was purely vindictive.

Amended Complaint

Bob Ekstrand who is representing three of the players in the civil suits recently filed an amended complaint which contains additional allegations and information. It also contains embedded audio and video exhibits. Warning! It is a huge file (121 MB). Such is the extent of the misdeeds of Duke and Durham’s leaders.

PhD Position in Accounting - University of Amsterdam

PhD Position in Accounting - University of Amsterdam
PhD Position in Accounting
University of Amsterdam Faculty of Economics and Business / Amsterdam Business School
Amsterdam, 1018WB (Noord-Holland) , hours per week

Job description
The project is entitled: The Construction of Assurance Expertise on Sustainability

The past decade has seen the emergence of practice in assurance on sustainability reports (‘sustainability assurance’) with high profile professional accountancy bodies such as the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, placing the development of a sustainability assurance standard near the top of its strategic agenda. This in-depth longitudinal field study aims to enhance our theoretical and empirical understanding of the processes surrounding the emergence of sustainability assurance. Empirically, the study will examine the role and focus of key actors in the emergence of assurance concentrating on: how competing claims to professional expertise in sustainability assurance have been constructed and legitimised; the dominant and shifting assurance discourses; and how target audiences have reacted to these discourses. Theoretically, the study will draw on frameworks derived from Actor Network Theory and neo-institutional theory. The study calls for a broad range of research methods competencies, particularly in qualitative methods, an excellent ability think conceptually, competence in research liaison with organizations and high level individuals, and excellent external presentation skills.

Requirements

Required education/skills: University Graduate

* Master’s (MSc) in the area of accounting (or equivalent) with excellent examination results in both course work and the MSc thesis component;
* Interest and experience in field research (for example, in the MSc thesis);
* Demonstrated Mastery of both written and spoken English;
* Conviction to complete the requirements toward a PhD degree within four years.

Job type: Research / Advising
Workfield(s) :
- Teaching & Research(Scientific discipline: Economics)

Organization
University of Amsterdam
Faculty of Economics and Business / Amsterdam Business School
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) is a university with an internationally acclaimed profile, located at the heart of the Dutch capital. As well as a world center for business and research, Amsterdam is a hub of cultural and media activities. The University of Amsterdam is a member of the League of European Research Universities.

The Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) at the Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) provides academic courses in accounting, finance, management, marketing, economics, and econometrics. It also conducts international research in these areas. The Amsterdam Business School and the Amsterdam School of Economics form part of the FEB.

Conditions of employment
Employment basis: Temporary for specified period
Duration of the contract: see below
Additional conditions of employment:
The appointment will initially be for 18 months, to be extended to a total of 4 years upon excellent performance (an evaluation will be held after 14 months). The salary will be in accordance with the University regulations for academic personnel, and will range from € 2,000 (first year) up to a maximum of € 2,558 (final year) gross per month. The collective employment agreement of the Dutch universities will be applicable. The PhD thesis should be finalised within four years. In this period, the candidate will also be expected to do some teaching (20% of the time).

Additional Information
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from:

Professor Brendan O’Dwyer
Telephone number: 31 20 525 4260
E-mail address: b.g.d.odwyer@ uva.nl

Or additional information can be obtained through one of the following links:

* About the organization (http://www.uva. nl/start. cfm/la=en/ th=main)
* About the department (http://www.abs. uva.nl/)
* About the function (http://www.uva. nl/vacatures/ vacatures. cfm/6FFD1F92- 1321-B0BE- 6890350BCDF7D43B)

Application
You can apply for this job before 21-11-2008 (dd-mm-yyyy) by sending your application to:

University of Amsterdam Business School, Personnel Department
Bernadette Clemens
Roetersstraat 11
1018 WB Amsterdam
The Netherlands
E-mail: applications- feb@uva.nl

When applying for this job always mention the vacancynumber AT 08-5037.

Research Doctoral Fellowship - University of Teeside
Research Doctoral Scholarships

The University of Teesside is offering three full-time Research Doctoral Scholarships across the broad theme of business applied to any area of the public, private or voluntary sectors or partnership working between them. Key areas of research strength within Teesside Business School (TBS) are around public sector management, public governance, HRM, urban and rural regeneration, leisure and tourism, marketing, organisational learning, leadership and strategy. Applications in these areas would be particularly welcome. The award/s will be for a period of three years and include fees (home/EU or international rate) and an annual stipend of £12,940. It is anticipated that the successful candidates will, through their research, also contribute to the delivery of business and/or business-related programmes within TBS for a maximum of 6 hours a week. Successful applicants should be in a position to take up the scholarship by November 2008.

For an informal discussions about these studentships please contact Dr Tom Mordue, Assistant Dean (Research), Teesside Business School: T.Mordue@Tees. ac.uk. Phone: +44 (0)1642 342808.

Research Doctoral Scholarships applicants should have at least an upper second class honours degree or equivalent qualification and ideally a postgraduate qualification. The minimum English language entry level is IELTS 6.5 with no grade below 6.0 or equivalent.

To apply for a scholarship you must contact the Graduate Research School for an application form:

University of Teesside Research Doctoral Scholarships
Graduate Research School
University of Teesside
Middlesbrough
Tees Valley
TS1 3BA
UK
Email: graduateresearchsch ool@tees. ac.uk or tel: +44 (0)1642 738033

Closing date: 27 October 2008

Nutritionists and Dietitians

Nutritionists and Dietitians
If anyone had any doubt about the differences between Nutritionists and Dietitians Catherine Collins put them straight on Radio 4 recently - ‘if your urine is too dark or you are thirsty then drink squash and coffee’ she told the Radio 4 listeners

She insinuated her clinics are full of people maimed by incompetent Nutritionists. In our nutritional therapy clinics we regularly see people who feel they have to pay £95 an hour because they have been failed by their NHS GPs and dietitians, left to suffer for up to 20 years with missed obvious clues to their underlying symptom causing conditions.

I guess that’s another difference with dietitian Catherine Collins and a good nutritionist , instead of hyperbolic whinging on the radio that all Doctors and dietitians should get some basic nutrition training or be thrown in jail, qualified Nutritional therapists get on with the job of healing people.

The final difference between Nutritionists and dietitians is the most important one. Patients rarely get ’sent’ to a nutritionist, they don’t have to come, sent by their doctor. Patients choose to come, choose their therapist, choose to pay and choose to follow a nutritionist’s advice. Patients usually arrive at our clinics after a personal recommendation from someone who’s life we have already transformed.

Yes it is a constant thorn in our side too, that there are some truly awful practitioners out there that call themselves nutritionists. Surprisingly we can’t get wait to get regulated (as long as the EU leave us the tools to do the job). However although regulation will weed out some of the Personal Trainers that call themselves nutritionists and a host of other ‘Jack of all trade’ alternative therapists it won’t solve the kind of problems that provoke Collin’s vitriolic attacks. GP’s are heavily regulated, it doesn’t stop them missing things that experienced qualified nutritional therapists regard as blatantly obvious. You can’t know everything - that’s why you have specialists.

It’s great that dietitians are finally regulated and now required to participate in regular professional development but old habits die hard and there are still the odd few that are able to do more harm than good. (Ice cream and custard creams for osteoporosis!!??!!) Frustated by the constraints of dietetics as a therapeutic tool some dietitians have gone on to learn about nutritional therapy and are now some of the most dynamic practitioners out there.

A modicom of common sense maybe useful here. Choose a nutritional therapist who specialises in nutrition, with experience, with insurance, with recognised qualificatons and preferably with a personal recommendation.

Nutritional therapy is performance based. If therapists don’t get people well, patients won’t come back, they won’t tell their friends and they won’t pay the money. Chances are they won’t be in business for very long.

If you want a dietitian make sure you get a good one

Always go to your Doctor first (it’s free!) if they can’t help you give us a call!

Tony Bishop-Weston - Nutritionists London Foods for Life

Medvedev seeks fresh start in Russia-US ties - Seattle Times

Medvedev seeks fresh start in Russia-US ties - Seattle Times
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s move to the White House is a chance for a fresh start between the two powerful, nuclear-armed nations, whose ties have deteriorated over the past decade. “We are ready to develop really good-neighborly relations

Cloud of Soot Above Asia Is Affecting Cities, U.N. Says - Wall Street Journal
BEIJING — A three-kilometer thick cloud of brown soot and other pollutants hanging over Asia is darkening cities, killing thousands and damaging crops but might be holding off the worst effects of global warming, the United Nations said Thursday. The vast plume of contamination from factories

Stocks stage huge rebound; Dow jumps 553 points - Miami Herald
NEW YORK — Investors did an abrupt turnaround on Wall Street Thursday, muscling the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 550 points after driving it down near its lows for the year on a stream of negative economic and corporate news. After three days of selling that wiped out about $1 trillion

Jobless claims and deficit jumps, but stocks soar - Philadelphia Inquirer
WASHINGTON - The nation’s financial picture grew darker Thursday, a day marked by breathtaking numbers: a quarter-trillion-dollar budget deficit for a single month, a half-million new applications for unemployment benefits and a 900-point swing that led Wall Street to its third-biggest point gain

Jobless claims and deficit jumps, but stocks soar - Philadelphia Inquirer

Jobless claims and deficit jumps, but stocks soar - Philadelphia Inquirer
WASHINGTON - The nation’s financial picture grew darker Thursday, a day marked by breathtaking numbers: a quarter-trillion-dollar budget deficit for a single month, a half-million new applications for unemployment benefits and a 900-point swing that led Wall Street to its third-biggest point gain

Cheneys Welcome Bidens At V.P. Mansion - CBS News
Vice President Dick Cheney and wife Lynne Cheney, welcome Vice President-elect Joe Biden, right, and his wife Jill Biden in the Vice President’s official residence at the Naval Observatory, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, in Washington. (AP) (CBS/ AP) Vice President-elect Joe Biden got a tour of his new

Cloud of Soot Above Asia Is Affecting Cities, U.N. Says - Wall Street Journal
BEIJING — A three-kilometer thick cloud of brown soot and other pollutants hanging over Asia is darkening cities, killing thousands and damaging crops but might be holding off the worst effects of global warming, the United Nations said Thursday. The vast plume of contamination from factories

The State of Things

The State of Things
by Jason Trumpbour, FODU spokesperson

ATAF Fundraiser

First, a reminder. Tickets remain for the Tahoe Raffle to benefit the defense fund. Click here or scroll down for information on how to order tickets. The proceeds support a very good cause you know you want that Tahoe! The number of tickets is limited and the drawing is on May 28th. Get yours before it is too late.

The End, the Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning.

Now that Reade, Collin and David have finally been exonerated, it is time to think about the future of FODU. Obviously, our number one priority was ending the hoax and getting Reade, Collin and David from out of harm’s way and that has been achieved. However, our approach was originally premised on the fact that Duke should be a part of that process, not only for the sake its falsely accused students, but for its own sake. That objective has yet to be realized. Together, with many others, we changed the world around Duke for the better. However, Bob Steel’s most recent letter and the News and Communications Office’s recent attempts at history show the University still singing exactly the same tune it was a year ago.

When FODU first began operating, a friend of mine who is an alumnus was excited because he thought FODU could become an alternative to the University’s official, administration run alumni organization that would be more responsive to the concerns of alumni. Something like that has already happened as the FODU bulletin board has morphed into the Duke Community Forum and will likely live on beyond us. For my part, I have always hoped that the need for our group would be temporary. Unfortunately, the legal case is over and here we all still are.

At some point, the administration will have to come to terms with the lacrosse case. It is not going to go away. The incident will be relived countless more times as the many books about it are released. The story is not going to get any better for Duke with each retelling–indeed, quite the opposite. Hopefully, the administration will engage in some self reflection and soul searching so that, if the past cannot be changed, the future will. The University will have opportunities to do this in the near future. Settling the Dowd case fairly was a small step in the right direction. We are not going away yet and will watch events in the coming weeks.

Celebrations!

Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of attending not one, but two celebrations. The first was a luncheon, hosted by our moderator for FODU members and parents in the Washington area. David Evans and his family were the guests of honor. The second was a dinner hosted in New York by the Wolcotts in honor of last year’s graduating seniors on the lacrosse team. It is a tradition to have a dinner each year for the graduating seniors, but circumstances prevented last year’s seniors from getting theirs.

Over the course of the last year, I have had a chance to get to know many of the player’s families. I never fail to be amazed at their ability to conduct themselves with grace and dignity and even good humor throughout their ordeal. I have also been impressed by their ability to remain charitable toward people who have wronged them and to vigorously pursue justice without malice and with an eye toward everyone’s good, not just their own. They are remarkable people and it was thus a joy to share these two moments of great happiness with them.

However, the real pleasure in these celebrations was finally meeting some of the players themselves and speaking to them. I knew they were basically good kids and not miscreants and libertines as the hoax enablers tried the paint them. Nevertheless, I was quite impressed with them. They were polite, thoughtful, sincere and straightforward young men. They thanked me profusely and I assured them that I stood in for the many, many people who contributed to their cause in large ways and in small, both through FODU and alongside us. I now pass their thanks on to all of you and offer you their worthy lives rescued from ruin as reward.

It is worth noting that, to date, the players are the only actors in the entire saga who have expressed any genuine regret for inappropriate behavior on their part and who have been willing to examine themselves with an eye toward improvement. They are better people for this experience and will use what they have learned to make a difference in the world. Who else in all this can say that?

For those of us who love Duke, the dignity with which the players, especially Reade, Collin and David, conducted themselves throughout their ordeal showed Duke students in such a positive light and gave us all something of which to be proud. Let us also not forget the character, fortitude and resourcefulness shown by the women’s lacrosse team in standing up for what was right.

I got involved with this case because of the issues it presented, not the people. Good, bad or ugly, none of the players had committed a crime and neither they nor their families deserved the terrible ordeal to which Mike Nifong subjected them. Neither did they deserve the unfair vilification of them by those who either wanted to enable the hoax or who wanted to rationalize their inaction. No one is safe in a society that allows manifest injustice such as the lacrosse case to go forward. No institution dedicated to knowledge and social betterment can look the other way when something like it occurs.

In the end, however, the people were what made this experience so truly rewarding. We could not have asked for more worthy beneficiaries of our efforts than the players and their families, especially Reade, Collin and David and their families. For that, I and my colleagues at FODU are most grateful to them.

Roy Cooper

I have to commend Attorney General Roy Cooper and the Special Prosecutors for the professionalism and leadership they demonstrated during their investigation. You may recall that, when the Attorney General’s Office took over the case I had this to say:

Roy Cooper and his attorneys have a real opportunity to restore confidence in North Carolina’s legal system. Furthermore, in doing so, they have a real opportunity to educate the public about the proper role of prosecutors in our legal system and how the legal system is supposed to resolve criminal matters. They can do these things by scrupulously executing their duties and exercising their discretion according to the requirements of law. Where Nifong allowed political considerations to influence his actions, they can embrace the rule of law. Where Nifong, abdicated his duties, they can embrace them. Where Nifong mislead the public as to the appropriate legal standards and his proper role, they can be honest. The public there and all over the world will be following their every move. Let us hope that they seize this opportunity and make the most of it.

Roy Cooper, Jim Coman and Mary Winstead did all these things and what a difference it made. Not only was justice done, but the way they conducted the investigation and the transparency with which they shared its results ensured that everyone, aside from a handful of narrow minded ideologues, would accept their findings. I am also grateful to Attorney General Cooper for going one step further and stating his conclusion that Reade, Collin and David were completely innocent. That he felt compelled to do so shows that he truly is a man of integrity.

We have had various letter writing campaigns asking our public officials to do something to help Reade, Collin and David. It is only fitting that we recognize them when they do something right. Please consider writing to thank Roy Cooper and his assistants for a job well done.

Final Fours

Finally, congratulations to the Men’s and Women’s lacrosse teams for advancing to the Final Four. That both teams could successfully overcome all of the enormous challenges presented by real life and also play lacrosse at the highest level is perhaps the final wonder of this whole saga.

A Conversation with Susan Pressler

A Conversation with Susan Pressler

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Today, we are sharing with you another ‘profile in courage’ written by our friend Joan Collins. In her latest profile, Joan writes about a selfless and inspiring woman. A woman who not only stood by her husband and family and supported them through extraordinarily tough times but also stood by 46 other families, Duke lacrosse families, who were devastated by the events that unfolded at Duke a year ago. This woman is former Duke Lacrosse head coach Mike Pressler’s wife, Susan Pressler. Thank you Joan, for talking with Mrs. Pressler and sharing your conversation with us.

In a book that will be published soon, there will be much more on the ordeal that Presslers along with 46 other lacrosse families went through between March 2006 and April 2007. To find out more or to purchase that book, use the link below.

It’s Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Case and the Lives it Shattered by Don Yaeger and Mike Pressler

Profile in Courage
A Conversation with Susan Pressler

For some time now, several Duke Lacrosse mothers have spoken to me about Susan Pressler, wife of former Duke Lacrosse Coach, Mike Pressler. They described a woman who not only has supported her husband and children through difficult and painful times, but has continued to be an inspiration to them and their sons. Some of the words used to describe her were “amazing, “a rock”, and “the wind beneath Mike Pressler’s wings”. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Susan Pressler.

Susan and Mike Pressler met at Ohio Wesleyan University where she was a swim coach, while he was head lacrosse coach. Originally from Illinois, she is both strong and loving. For over 16 years, Susan Pressler stood beside her husband as they made their home in Durham. As head coach, Pressler built Duke Lacrosse into a highly regarded program. Pressler compiled a 153-82 record at Duke, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship three times, while leading his team to 10 NCAA tournament appearances as well as the Division I men’s national championship game in 2005. Pressler was voted ACC Coach of the Year three times and also was honored as the U.S.I.L.A. National Coach of the Year in 2005. She worked with him in organizing the successful Duke Lacrosse Summer Camp.

The family immersed themselves in the Durham community. Their children were happy. Their two daughters, age 9 and 15, know of no home other than Durham. After her husband’s contract was renewed, they put a large addition on their Durham home, almost doubling its size, making it just the way they always wanted. They expected Durham would be their home for the next 20 years. Everything changed on April 5, 2006, when Mike Pressler lost his coaching job at Duke.

Sadly, Durham became a community Susan no longer recognized. After receiving threats and out of fear for their children’s safety, they sent their eldest daughter to live with friends in another city, while their youngest was sent out of state with family for a time.

Immediately after the players were indicted, she used a labeler to make handmade signs “Innocent #6- Innocent #13- Innocent #45” which she displays prominently on her license plate as she drives around Durham. She proudly wears a Duke Lacrosse wristband with the same inscription. Susan insists she will not remove the wristband, until Reade and Collin each score their first goal and she hears from Rae Evans that Dave is alright.

Although she is the mother of two daughters, Susan considers herself to have hundreds of sons. She spoke in a most loving, motherly way of Coach Pressler’s players, not just the recent team, but of all the players over the last 16 years of coaching at Duke. She estimates that about 200 players have passed through his program. “I am so grateful for the young men my husband has brought into our family. I love every kid,” said Susan. Her youngest daughter refers to the players as “Daddy’s Boys”. I would trust my girls with all 47 boys on the team,” Susan said. Parents of daughters understand what that means.

Several days before the Blue Devils played their first game of the season against Dartmouth, Susan Pressler addressed the team in the locker room, something she had never done before. She told them that Duke is not the administration or professors. She said, “Duke is the students. Once you wear that uniform you are always Duke.” She told the team the Pressler family never blamed them for what happened and that she loved them and they should feel proud again.

About Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann she replied, “I am so proud of these three young men and how they handled themselves in the face of the most unbelievable adversity. As the ones picked, it would ultimately be them and their families that the world would focus on. No one would represent Duke Lacrosse with more class and dignity. After their innocence was announced to the world, they spoke at a press conference, their poise and presence could make every Duke alumni proud again. It showed anyone willing to see, that these are great kids from great families, who were falsely accused.”

Ask to comment on John Danowski as Coach of Duke Lacrosse, Susan responded, “Duke Lacrosse is a great program. We were a big part of building the Duke Lacrosse brand. It is difficult to see someone else in that position, but I am glad it is John Danowski. His purpose is pure. He loves it as we did and he loves the boys.”

In August of 2006 Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island announced Mike Pressler would become their new head lacrosse coach. For the past 8 months Coach Pressler has been working at Bryant settling into his new position, while his family remained in Durham. In the next few weeks, Susan and her daughters will move to their new home in Rhode Island. For the Presslers, starting over will mean many changes. It means a new job, new community, new home, new schools and new friends. Her eldest daughter, a sophomore in high school, plays on a varsity volleyball team, Triangle, which has won 8 out of the last 9 state championships. Unfortunately, she must leave her team which means so much to her.

This past weekend at the Lone Star Classic National qualifier in Dallas, the Presslers eldest daughter, Janet, had a chance to meet some members of her new team, the Rhode Island Blast Volleyball. It was another glimpse for this teenager into what lies ahead. They were scheduled to play in the afternoon pool on court 38, the same court Janet’s Triangle 16-1 team played earlier that morning. Susan Wolcott, mother of a member of the Men’s Duke Lacrosse 2006 Team, was in the stands to cheer Janet and her team. For Susan Pressler, this represented the bridge between the Duke boys and the Bryant boys, which will forever be a part of the Pressler children’s lives.

On the same day back in Durham, younger daughter, Maggie, attended the Duke-Army Lacrosse game where Jimmy Regan, former Duke Lacrosse player and Army Ranger, recently killed in Iraq, was honored in a half time ceremony. Former Duke assistant Joe Albericci, and the Army Captains presented Regan’s parents and fiancé with a cadet sword. The Duke Captains presented his family with his framed No. 10 Duke Jersey. “Jimmy represented and lived the Ranger Creed, extraordinary but not surprising, for a Duke Lacrosse player. This is yet another reason for Duke Alumni to be proud of their lacrosse team again,” she said.

According to Susan, lacrosse in Rhode Island is at a stage similar to North Carolina when they first moved to Duke over 16 years ago. She described a Bryant University community that has been supportive and wonderful in welcoming them. The Bryant parents are excited that their children will have an opportunity to learn lacrosse from a man with the talent and expertise of Coach Pressler. The climate is much colder, so they will be practicing indoors a lot and shoveling snow, however the citizens of Smithfield have warm hearts to compensate for the colder temperatures.

During our conversations, I could not help but think of one of my mother’s favorite expressions, “When one door closes, another door opens.” I thought of all the New England boys who will benefit from another door that has opened.

Susan is optimistic about the future. Bryant has a student body of about 3,500 students. At Bryant’s first game of the season, there were 700 spectators, much more than attended Pressler’s first game at Duke years ago. In the stands were some of Pressler’s former players and their parents.

Susan is excited about Mike Pressler’s soon to be released book, “It’s Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Case and the Lives it Shattered”, which he wrote with Don Yaeger. It was written to fulfill a promise Mike made to the 47 players that he would tell the world the truth at the appropriate time and venue.

Bryant opened the door for Coach Pressler. As they hold the door open for Susan Pressler and her daughters to enter, they will soon learn that the woman entering the door has a heart big enough to love each and every one of Bryant University’s sons.

“Optimism is the foundation of courage,” wrote Nicholas Murray Butler, former President of Columbia University. “My goal is to not let the events of this last year taint my children’s view of the world,” said Susan Pressler. She is a testament to finding the inner strength to recognize the open door in front of you, when one had closed unexpectedly.

One former member of the Duke lacrosse team wrote to me, “I am forever indebted to Mrs. Pressler for what she did for me and my friends”. Heroes inspire us. Susan is an inspiration for us all to rise above feelings of disappointment and watch for our own opening doors.

Susan Pressler is a true hero.

Joan Collins
Garden City, NY

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