Category Archives: Computer Science
A look back at ORHS grad Dick Sites beginnings, and the world of computers – Oak Ridger
Benita Albert and D. Ray Smith/Historically Speaking| Oakridger
Benita Albert brings us another story of an Oak Ridge Schools graduate. Thanks to Mike Coveyou, who suggested to Benita that Dick Sites would be a good subject for her to consider. You will enjoy this two-part series
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Dick (R.L.) Sites wrote his first computer program at age 10, a project which produced a Pascals Triangle display, a triangular array of the coefficients in successive binomial expansions. This topic from algebra was most certainly ahead of the mathematics expected of him at that age. The computer on which his program ran was the ORACLE (Oak Ridge Atomic Computer and Logical Engine), a scientific digital computer that used vacuum tubes.
Dick said, My mentor took my program to the Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL), where ORACLE was housed, time and time again until it ran successfully. I wrote the program code in assembly language.
Only in the fifth grade at the time, he was hooked! This son of Oak Ridge pioneers was on his path to his future, now a more than 60-year love affair with computer science. He has made prodigious contributions to advancements in the field, continuing even now as, in his supposed retirement, he is completing a graduate textbook on measuring software performance.
Dicks classmate, Mike Coveyou, suggested that I write this alumni story about his friend from their Oak Ridge High School (ORHS) Class of 1965. It was Mikes father, Bob Coveyou, an ORNL mathematician, who introduced Dick, Mike, and another friend to coding during sessions in his home during the summer of 1959.
The ORACLE computer, Dick would later learn, was a machine Bob Coveyou helped build. It was the fastest computer in the world when it became operational in 1953.
Dick remembers seeing the ORACLE through a protective glass barrier on a family visitation day at ORNL. It was one of the last homemade computers, and it became obsolete by the 1960s.
Dick is the son of John R. Sites, a physicist who was recruited out of graduate school to come to Oak Ridge to work on the Manhattan Project in 1944. John worked in a mass spectrometry lab at Y-12 until he retired in 1983. Dicks mother, Winifred, was a homemaker and math tutor. John and Winifred were married on Sept.19, 1942; incredibly, this was the same date as Gen. Leslie Groves choice of the secret government site, Oak Ridge.
They arrived in East Tennessee with a son, Jim (born in 1943), and the family grew to include Marj (1946), Dick (1949), and Jana (1957). Older brother Jim is the retired head of the Physics Department at Colorado State University. His sister Marj has worked at a variety of jobs while living in Alaska, and sister Jana is a retired software engineer and office manager, now living in Virginia. Jims parents moved to Colorado in 2006. They both passed away on the same date in 2016, shortly after celebrating their 74th wedding anniversary.
Dick and his siblings attended Cedar Hill Elementary School, Jefferson Junior High School (above Jackson Square), and ORHS. A February birthdate delayed Dicks school start, but he skipped second grade and eighth grade, graduating from ORHS at age 16. Dick described himself as a nerd. He was one of six precocious students identified by his fifth-grade teacher, Lanis Pullum, as needing enhanced math instruction.
Through grade realignments, Dick said he was fortunate to have Pullum again for his sixth-grade year where he and friends continued their accelerated math program. However, at mid-year his teacher was told by school officials to discontinue this separate offering, since as Dick recalled, A school board member argued that the average students in the class were being neglected.
Through the efforts of Mary Laycock, ORHS math teacher and mathematics coordinator, the six students were subsequently selected to begin Algebra I in the seventh grade. (Note: This first group led the way for an expanded seventh-grade algebra program in the Oak Ridge Schools, as well as the creation of additional high school math offerings to meet the accelerated program needs.)
Dicks sophomore year included Laycocks Algebra II class at ORHS. He greatly profited from her strong advocacy for his math talents and from her efforts to maximize his collegiate opportunities. Dick proudly mentioned his participation in Tennessee State Math Competitions: At age 12 he was second in the state in Algebra I, and this was topped off by a first place in state on the highest-level test, Comprehensive Mathematics, in his senior year.
Dick praised the special high school mathematics texts from the School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG) that the ORHS Mathematics Department adopted. The SMSG texts were government sponsored, enhanced curricular materials. The paperback texts ORHS students used were written by an elite committee of mathematicians in response to the considered crisis in the U.S. mathematics program for grades 7-12.
The crisis was identified after the launching of Sputnik in October 1957, and the fear of losing ground in math and science provoked a major redesign called new math, an ambitious, accelerated, and enriched program of study. Oak Ridge Schools were among the first in the nation to participate in intensive teacher training and to use the SMSG materials during the early 1960s. Dick's admiration for Laycock and her special efforts to challenge him formed a lifelong bond a later, close friendship, including many visits in her home in California.
Dick was a star at math, but physical education was a different story. He said he was small and young for his age as an ORHS sophomore, and he attributes that as a part of the reason for the grade of F he received.
He said, My classmates were much bigger, and they had muscles.
Dick smiled remembering that his parents snuck into a separate room to laugh upon learning about his grade.
During summers after his sophomore and junior years, Dick was chosen to attend selective National Science Foundation (NSF) Math Camps. His first summer was at the University of Florida where, along with math and geology classes, he learned to write programs in Fortran. The second summer was spent at Purdue University.
As a teen he was already dreaming of a career in computer science, and he was quietly building a resume to suit his plans. Dick said, I spent my high school years writing programs for my father on the CDC 1640, a 48-bit Cray. He humorously added, It was my dads way of keeping me off the street.
Dick described his hometown as a special environment: … A lot of bright people with a strong interest in science. A completely safe town, especially for kids. My parents never locked the front door. I also fondly remember several foreign exchange students, especially Shigi, from Tokyo, circa 1964. I was too young to appreciate that his year in Oak Ridge was only about 20 years after the bombings (in Japan).
Continuing memories of his Oak Ridge childhood, Dick wrote, The style at home when I was small was that we could earn money doing odd jobs, washing dishes and such, eventually mowing the lawn when I was big enough. My parents didnt believe in kids allowances. My brother Jim delivered papers for The Oak Ridger for about five years from 1956-1961 (when he graduated and left for Duke University).
I then delivered the same route for four more years until I graduated. The route covered Porter Rd., Union, top part of Utah, Powell Rd., East Price, West Price, and a few houses on Pennsylvania Ave. I grew up in the C-house at 101 Powell Rd. I did not know that the rest of the world managed without fixed floor plans lettered A-H until I reached college.
It was through a friend at NSF Math Camp that Dicks interest in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) began. His parents were unsure he could qualify and also were unsure of the cost, but at least a dozen teachers and scientists supported his application with their recommendations under Laycock's determined lead.
Dick only applied to three schools, Harvard, Duke, and MIT. He was accepted at Duke and MIT, both wonderful choices, and even though his older brother was a Duke graduate, Dick chose MIT.
The summer before his freshman year at MIT, Dick lived on campus and worked in the University of Tennessee Computation Center. This job, again championed by his beloved mentor Mary Laycock, gave him access to both the IBM 7040 and the 1401. Dick described the 1401 as one of his favorite machines.
He recalled, Having lots of time, I could type and run programs of my own.
This hands-on experience would lead him to the next step forward in the burgeoning world of computers, not only through collegiate study and access, but in his own initiatives for part time work in the computer field.
Dick continued, At the end of the UT summer job, I asked the Universitys IBM representative where I might write IBM about a part-time job while at MIT. In a couple of days, he came up with a generic address in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., so I wrote them about a job in Boston, summarizing my experience and interest in computers and my interest in IBMs announced-but-not-yet-delivered IBM System/360 line and PL/I programming language.
Dick and his parents made a side trip on the way to begin his freshman year at MIT, veering the route through Poughkeepsie for a visit and interview at IBM headquarters.
Upon their arrival in Poughkeepsie, and after some confusion about his official appointment/interview, Dick remembered, Some kind IBM person arranged someone for me to chat with for an hour. … The guy had no idea who I was, but he explained he was working on operating system generation writing a runnable operating system image on a disk. I had no clue what that was, but it seemed complicated. We went on to Boston with somewhat diminished expectations, and my parents dropped me off. I started looking for on-campus mess-hall jobs.
About four days later, I got a telegram at my dorm, asking me to call Len Page at IBMs Boston Programming Center, which turned out to be in Cambridge on the edge of the MIT campus. Telegrams were on their way out, but with no phone and way-before email, they had no better way to reach me quickly.
So, I called Len the next morning and they had me over to interview.
It turned out that they were intrigued by my letter (which IBM had managed to find and forward). They had just decided to take a flyer (a chance, flyer is a part of Dicks unique Dick Speak!) on cheap college students, and I was their first prospect. They offered me an amazing $2.50/hour for ten hours a week, and I took it. Except for a one-semester hiatus my sophomore year after I flunked a course, I stayed with them for four years. I had to go to the local high school administration office to get a work permit, since I was 16 and Massachusetts law assumed that I must be in high school.
IBM did one amazing thing for me that year. I could order any and all manuals at no cost. Over the next four years, I devoured IBM manuals, learning about disk drives, programming languages, software diagnostics, and anything else that struck my fancy. It was a fluke gift that affected the next 20 years of my life. Dick and two of his campus friends, whom he recommended, secured approval to stay on campus over the first summer and continue their work with the Boston IBM office. The next two summers were spent at IBM in Boulder, Colo., where during the second summer he recommended a 1965 classmate from ORHS, Jeff Schmidt, for a position. Jeff was a student at Vanderbilt whose later career was as a professor of computer science at Towson University in Maryland, now retired.
After initially choosing electrical engineering studies at MIT, Dick ultimately declared mathematics for his major course of study. He reported that there was no computer science degree offered at MIT until the year after he graduated in 1969. He said that he benefitted from the many, newly-developed courses in computer science offered during his final undergraduate years. He summarized his collegiate academic experience: I was a mediocre student. A senior year, first semester course in Point-Set Topology put me on academic probation. It was a theory course with true-false tests, which I failed. My parents panicked when they learned of my resultant academic probation for my final term, but my advisor recommended a course that allowed me to graduate. I finished in four years with a 'B-' overall average.
As an afterthought, Dick quipped, My parents didnt want a fifth year of tuition.
Knowing all that Dick has accomplished in the world of computer science, beginning with intense part time work projects throughout his collegiate career, reminds me of so many other computer geeks who took the road less traveled, some even dropping out of higher education to pursue their own tech dreams and opportunities. Instead, Dick kept abreast of the rapidly changing technology world through teaching, research, and corporate computer work, while also completing a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford in 1974.
He was only nine years out of ORHS and ready for an incredible professional journey, focusing his talents on computer performance and making hardware and software faster. The second part of his story will highlight his many accomplishments and seek his counsel on personal computer security, the state of American education, and how to respond to the challenge of working in such a rapidly changing field.
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Benita has introduced us to Dick Sites and his early experiences starting at age 10 when his computer programming experience began. She took us through Oak Ridge Schools and on to his advanced education. Next Benita will take us to his career choices and significant accomplishments.
If you would like to see Sites oral history, it is online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A47a6Nqa2aM
For those of you who are interested in more details from Dick, here is a link to a talk he gave in 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBu2Ae8-8LM.
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A look back at ORHS grad Dick Sites beginnings, and the world of computers - Oak Ridger
Harvard team wins Boston Regional Datathon – Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
A team of four Harvard students won first place in Citadels Boston Regional Datathon, receiving a $20,000 prize and entry into the international Data Open Championship, which carries a grand prize of $100,000.
The team was comprised of Seth Billiau, A.B. 21, a statistics concentrator with a secondary in government, Sarah Lucioni, A.B. 21, a computer science and statistics concentrator, Dasha Metropolitansky, A.B. 22, a statistics concentrator with a secondary in computer science, and Maarten de Vries, A.B. 21, a statistics concentrator with a secondary in neuroscience.
COVID-19 was the theme of the Boston Regional Datathon, and the teams submission explored the relationship between public trust in government and excess mortality from COVID-19.
The Citadel Datathon is a prestigious data science competition where teams of undergraduate and graduate students are judged on their ability to discover and present groundbreaking insights from complex, real datasets.
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Harvard team wins Boston Regional Datathon - Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
James Calvin Poling Jr. | News, Sports, Jobs – The Inter-Mountain
James Calvin Poling Jr., 54, went home to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, surrounded by his loving wife and three adoring children.
Jim was anticipating having a liver transplant soon, but passed away due to sudden complications from his three-year battle with NASH liver cirrhosis.
James was born on July 30, 1966, in Parsons, to James Calvin Poling and Janice Fay Pennington Poling. Jim married his best friend and love of his life, Diana Lynn Arbogast, on Nov. 16, 1996, in Buckhannon.
Jim was a member of Living Hope Church of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Huntsville, Alabama. He was an amateur radio operator and proudly carried on his granddads call sign, K8VWO.
He graduated from Tucker County High School in 1984. He received his Associates in Applied Science degree in Computer Science from Potomac State College in 1986 and his B.A. in Computer Science from Alderson Broaddus University in 1988.
At the time of his death, Jim had been employed at Huntington Ingalls -Technical Solutions Division in Huntsville, Alabama, on May of 2018 as a wide area network engineer. Prior to that, he was the senior network administrator at Davis Health System in Elkins since 2008. From 1998-2008, Jim was the Network Specialist for West Virginia Wesleyan College and from 1992-1998 was a computer programmer for MPL Corporation, both in Buckhannon. He was employed at DataServ as a programmer in Chantilly, Virginia, from 1988-1992. Jim had also worked as a tour guide for the NRAO in Greenbank, and as a counselor at YMCA Camp Horseshoe.
Jim was a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ and served Him and people with all his heart. Jim treasured spending time with his family. He loved studying Gods word and was a wonderful example of what a Christian husband and father should be, leading his family even through his last moments on this earth.
Over the years, Jim served as treasurer at both the Elkins Alliance Church and Buckhannon Alliance Church, where he was an elder and ran the sound and video for a time as well. He also taught Sunday School classes, was an AWANA leader, a Bible quizzing coach, and assisted with childrens hand bell choirs.
Jims sense of humor was appreciated by everyone who knew him. He also enjoyed woodworking, gardening, hummingbird watching, music, cooking, HAM radio and astronomy.
He was a life-long learner and his vast knowledge was an asset to everyone who knew him.
James is survived by his parents, James and Janice Poling of St. George; his wife, Diana Poling of Athens, Alabama; one daughter, Sarah Ellen Poling of Huntsville, Alabama; two sons, Nathaniel Nathan Richard Poling and Jonathan Eugene Poling, both of Athens, Alabama; two brothers, Matthew Poling (Becky) and Joshua Poling (Stefanie), both of Parsons; and many other family members, who will miss him greatly.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, March 13, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. ET). Pastor Mark Nymeyer will officiate. You can find the link for Living Hope Churchs YouTube channel at the churchs website http://www.livinghopehsv.org as we hope to stream the service for those who cant attend in person.
The family is also considering having another memorial service in Elkins at the Elkins Alliance Church sometime in the summer of 2021.
If you would like to honor Jims memory, please consider donating blood to your local blood bank and becoming an organ donor. Some of Jims coworkers have created a GoFundMe campaign to benefit his wife and children to cover expenses in the upcoming months. If you feel led you may contribute at https://gofund.me/b3064f57.
Online condolences may be expressed to the family at http://www.McConnellFuneral.com.
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James Calvin Poling Jr. | News, Sports, Jobs - The Inter-Mountain
‘The Maine Question’ asks what AI is and roles does it play in everyday life – UMaine News – University of Maine – University of Maine
Despite sounding like a futuristic tool exclusive to science fiction, artificial intelligence is used everyday in contemporary life. People capitalize on this emerging technology when they apply for jobs, order groceries, access bank accounts, take out a loan application or scroll through social media.
University of Maine computer scientists and engineers are developing new forms of AI and novel applications for it. The University of Maine Artificial Intelligence Initiative (UMaine AI) was launched to unite various stakeholders aiming to make the state a hub for AI research, education and use.
In Episode 3 of Season 4 of The Maine Question, host Ron Lisnet speaks with Penny Rheingans, director of UMaines School of Computing and Information Science, and Roy Turner, an associate professor of computer science at UMaine, to help unravel the complicated story of AI, examine how it can both improve lives and cause problems, and explore the various research developments for this technology at UMaine.
Listen to the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Spotify or The Maine Question website. New episodes are added Thursdays.
What topics would you like to learn more about? What questions do you have for UMaine experts? Email them to mainequestion@maine.edu.
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Faculty of Arts and Sciences scholars named to endowed professorships – Yale News
Seven members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) have recently been named to endowed professorships by vote of Yales Board of Trustees.
They are:
Phillip Atiba Goff, who studies the science of racial bias and discrimination through analysis of police behavior and other aspects of our criminal legal system, was appointed the Carl I. Hovland Professor of African American Studies and Professor of Psychology.Read more
Emily Greenwood, a scholar of ancient Greek prose literature and the reuse of ancient Greek and Roman classics in modernity, was appointed the John M. Musser Professor of Classics. Read more
Gerald Jaynes, who studies race relations and the economic conditions of African Americans and immigrants, was appointed the A. Whitney Griswold Professor of Economics, African American Studies, and Urban Studies. Read more
Tavia Nyongo, who works on historical and contemporary approaches to Black performance, was appointed the William Lampson Professor of Theater and Performance Studies, Professor of American Studies, and Professor of African American Studies. Read more
Ana Ramos-Zayas, who conducts ethnographic research on the anthropology of race, class, and affect, was appointed the Frederick Clifford Ford Professor of Ethnicity, Race, and Migration and Professor of American Studies and Anthropology. Read more
Kenneth Scheve, a political economist who studies the domestic and international governance of modern capitalism, was appointed the Dean Acheson Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs. Read more
Nisheeth K. Vishnoi, who studies the foundations of computer science and machine learning, was appointed the A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of Computer Science. Read more
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Faculty of Arts and Sciences scholars named to endowed professorships - Yale News
Seed Grants Help Faculty Lead the Way in Confronting Racism and Bias – Duke Today
Faculty-led projects aim to strengthen Duke community and contribute to anti-racism effortsFirst row: Pedro Lasch, Beverly McIver, Fred Boadu, Arnetta Girardeau, John Myers, Christin Daniels, Zackary Johnson, Sarah Jean Barton; Second row: Barbara Hooper, Tomeico Faison, Charlotte Clark, Anne Derouin, Minna Ng, Billy Pizer, Christopher Sims, Michael Betts; Third row: Margory Molloy, Angela Richard-Eaglin, Don Taylor, Patricia Garrett-Peters, Charmaine Royal, Joshua Socolar, Phillip Barbeau, Anne-Maria Makhulu; Fourth row: Susan Alberts, Elaine Guevara, Nicki Washington, XiaoweiYang, Eliana Schonberg, Aaron Colton
The Office for Faculty Advancement has awarded seed grants to 14 faculty-led projects exploring new ideas and expanding existing initiatives to promote an equitable and inclusive academic environment at Duke. The theme for this cycle was "Confronting Racism and Bias: Fostering an Inclusive Community." Faculty Advancement Seed Grants provide a financial head start for novel faculty development initiatives within academic units.
This forum will convene monthly during 2021-2022 for presentations and discussions of themes proposed by AAHVS graduate students, faculty and teaching staff. Themes will address one or more of the following goals: share anti-racist methodologies and strategies already in use; identify opportunities to incorporate anti-racist pedagogies into teaching practices; and identify areas in AAHVS curricula in which pedagogies and approaches to disciplinary content can be implemented or augmented.
This book club aims to confront racism and bias by facilitating the exploration of inclusion and professional advancement issues faced by Black faculty and staff. Belonging While Black at Duke will encourage members to build bridges with each other and explore issues found in a predominantly white institution.
The goal of this project is to raise awareness of racial justice and equity at each component of the research lifecycle by developing a streaming podcast, Breaking Research Barriers. This monthly podcast will consist of conversations with research leaders to elicit actionable and applied strategies to ensure racial justice and equity in clinical research.
This project seeks to establish new connections between the Duke University Marine Lab and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) community leaders in Beaufort, NC. A monthly lunch-and-learn for all participants will be supplemented by a final all-hands meeting during Black History Month for a shared meal and storytelling. Invitees, format and assessment metrics will be refined through an initial development period.
This project will establish a Coalition for Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity chapter at Duke. Two graduate assistants will lead the development and implementation of the chapter, which will contribute to national efforts to create a more diverse workforce in occupational therapy and local efforts to foster interprofessional dialogue and community engagement.
This new course is a dedicated space for PhD students to expand their awareness of the contributions of professionals in their field who have an identity different from their own, are from a historically underrepresented identity for their field and/or engage in work on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. The course will enhance academic communities and support students and research collaborators through culturally-responsive scholarship and teaching, and will provide a space for recognition, inclusion and equity among peers.
The Anti-Racism Instructor Preparatory Academy will draw on expertise from the Center for Documentary Studies and its network of community partners, artists and activists. Drawing from case studies, testimonials from other students and instructors, the creative energy and feedback of artists and conversations with communities, participants will be equipped to reimagine their syllabi and make their classroom and research practices more equitable and anti-racist.
The goal of this project is to develop an educational toolbox, including a training manual, to guide standardization and sustainability of a proposed educational program. Trigger films are short educational video vignettes that illustrate a specific theme and focus on social guidance themes that engage the affective domain. Newly created scenarios will present a social or practice issue intended to trigger a response by the viewer, and initiate participant reflection and discussion by highly trained facilitators.
This project seeks to provide a holistic and comprehensive approach to confronting racism and bias by combining four unique learning experiences into a year-long integrated learning series. Designed to address participants understanding of racism and bias at the individual, interpersonal and institutional levels of change, the series will be piloted and assessed with faculty, staff and affiliates of Dukes Social Science Research Institute.
This project seeks to improve the departments collective ability to recognize racism within its walls and respond to it effectively through a series of events. The events will bring department members together for education and training in developing a climate promoting anti-racist principles, and will train faculty to lead future sessions.
The Department of Cultural Anthropology will conduct a year-long effort to promote diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging across its faculty and graduate program. This work will involve reevaluating internal policies and procedures through an equity lens to ensure that all voices are heard and that everyone has the resources to work sustainably in the department. The department will offer workshops and trainings, provide fee waivers for graduate students from historically marginalized communities and rethink the graduate curriculum.
The aim of this project is to advance faculty skills, develop an enhanced anti-racist curriculum and foster a more inclusive and equitable culture in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology. A new working group of faculty, postdocs and graduate students will develop flexible teaching modules on topics including race and scientific racism. The group will also convene a departmental forum for seminars from invited experts, reading groups and discussions about race and racism in the discipline and the academy.
To provide more opportunities for Computer Science students, faculty and staff to collectively learn about racism, bias and their impact on the discipline (its environment and technology) the Identity and Computing Lecture Series will include a department-specific workshop and a series of invited talks from experts on various topics of identity, racism, bias and their impact in the field.
Writing Studio consultants are faculty, graduate students and undergraduates who meet with Duke writers fordiscussions of any aspect of their writing. To deepen consultants knowledge of anti-racist theory and to expand their application of anti-racist pedagogy, the Writing Studio will host three scholars on race, writing centers and writing pedagogy to conduct virtual seminars with Writing Studio consultants.
Learn more about Faculty Advancement Seed Grants, view the 2020-21 recipients, and read related stories:
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Seed Grants Help Faculty Lead the Way in Confronting Racism and Bias - Duke Today
Career-ready skills gained through a campus job | Article – Denison University
When Nicholas Reichert 22, a longtime lover of computers, first started at Denison, a job wasnt on his radar. However, sometimes an opportunity so perfect comes up, and you just have to take it.
That ideal opportunity was in the Informational Technology office. He realized he could be doing the stuff that I enjoy and that Im really good at. Reichert adds, It turned out to be perfect. I applied and interviewed, they hired me, and Ive been working with my boss Jon Stevens ever since.
His campus job has given Reichert valuable lessons outside the classroom. This was my first time jumping into an existing codebase and having to figure things out.
He also learned time management, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Ive learned a lot about solving problems within an organization. You have to weigh their needs and you have to evaluate and think, Whats the best way to spend my time?
In addition to his campus job, Reichert has an internship with Kroger Digital. Kroger is absolutely huge. Any sort of organizational changes take a lot of work. Denison has been a stepping stone to working somewhere that big. I went from working on stuff on my own, to working at Denison with a couple other people, to working at Kroger with thousands of people.
From a young age, Reichert was interested in computers and programming. I started trying to teach myself programming before high school, and it was really hard at times because I didnt have anyone to learn from. At Denison I knew computer science was a fit. Im really interested in the theory as well as the practice of programming. Some of the computer science theory might not be as essential to the work, but I just find it interesting and useful.
One example is a data structures class with Associate Professor Ashwin Lall. Data Structures is kind of the core of computer sciences, and Dr. Lall did an amazing job explaining things.I feel like I got a really good, strong foundation for CS. It certainly was hard and a lot of work.
And some of Recherts favorite classes have been outside his major, especially his music theory classes with music faculty Seth Rogers. He is just so good at explaining the music theory concepts, but at the same time he is really laid back and someone you can kinda be friends with. Ive really liked him and his teaching.
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Career-ready skills gained through a campus job | Article - Denison University
How to get involved with female empowerment initiatives on campus and beyond – CU Columbia Spectator
Happy International Womens Day! March 8 is a day to celebrate the global achievements of women and work toward a more gender-equitable future. So if you want to learn more about female empowerment or contribute to the cause but arent sure where to start, check out the resources we have listed below.
The Womens Network: Columbia
Check out its Instagram.
The Womens Network is a nationwide club that connects undergraduates with professional leaders. Unlike other pre-professional clubs, it encompasses a variety of interests, including business, engineering, and the sciences. By joining the Womens Network, you will be able to meet other hard-working people from diverse backgrounds. The club organizes many workshops, speakers, and networking opportunities with top titans of industry and pioneers. At these events, you will have many opportunities to deepen your knowledge as well as expand your social connections. Recent events include a Women of Color in Law Zoom call with four lawyers as panelists, a discussion on mental wellness and politics with advocate Miyume McKinley, and a talk by author Meredith Fineman.
Superposition
Check out its Instagram.
The Superposition chapter at Columbia is one of 25 chapters in the country. Superposition is an international organization that aims to achieve gender equality in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields and create more opportunities for women in STEM. Some of its activities include a large-scale hackathon in partnership with VSCO and Uber and an Uber mentorship program and chapter program.
Women in Computer Science
Check out its Instagram.
Computer science is a rapidly growing field, but it is also a field that is heavily dominated by men. Women in Computer Science is a great club to break the ice and test members love for computer science or continue this passion of yours. Its primary purpose is to bring people of all genders together to support the advancement of women in the computer science field, especially by helping prospective majors. The community is made up of undergraduates, graduate students, faculty members, and more. This club also hosts many workshops and bonding events; some examples include teaching assistant workshops, internship panels with Columbia alumni working at Google, and mock interview sessions. Women in Computer Science might be a good fit for you if you are interested in learning more about computer science, majoring in the field, or making friends with like-minded people.
Society of Women Engineers
Check out its Instagram.
The Columbia chapter of the Society of Women Engineers club strives to establish more opportunities for women in the engineering field, especially in positions of power. Some of its past events include a Johnson & Johnson Industry panel that focused on the female experience in engineering and a Citibank Technology panel that focused on Tech at Citi. This club is great for anyone who wants extra support in the engineering field.
Campus opportunities are great for getting involved with other students and making new friends and connections, but for people who are looking for a more global perspective, check out these resources below.
Audiopedia
Audiopedia is an international nonprofit organization that aims to provide free audible health education to illiterate girls and women and close education-associated gender gaps. Specifically, the bulk of the companys activity focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, where it works with local NGOs to help raise the worlds lowest adult female literacy rate. Audiopedia has already launched successful pilot projects in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Nicaragua, and the Congo, providing women and girls with vital information ranging from sex education and gender identity to simple medical facts of immediate use in the household.
The organization restructures the definition of empowerment to address community-specific needs, putting women at the forefront of change and adapting to the social conditions of its female participants. Audiopedias instruction is in the local language, the lessons are curated for specific rural populations, and the education is readily available anywhere women would like and through many supported devices. You can help support the cause by joining Audiopedias Crowdimpact project and becoming one of the thousands of allies!
Solar Sister
The mission of this organization is to fight energy poverty by empowering marginalized women in rural Africa. Solar Sister focuses on fostering a network of female entrepreneurs who resell Solar Sister clean energy technology, in the form of lights and cookstoves, to people in their communities. The companys efforts are directed toward the region of sub-Saharan Africa where 600 million people have no access to electricity and 700 million people rely on harmful fuels. As of today, the organization has successfully provided 400,000 clean energy products, reaching approximately 2 million people and supporting over 5,000 female entrepreneurs.
Solar Sister finds the link between sustainable development and gender equality by noticing that climate change widens the gender gap in Africa and that women play a key role in the process of implementing green solutions. External pressure in the form of climate-associated natural cataclysms or disease forces governments and households to adapt. These changes are often in distribution of resources, prioritizing male members of the society over their female counterparts. Organizations like Solar Sister are needed to compensate for the gender disparity.
Girls Write Now
If you are looking to support a cause that can directly impact the Columbia community, consider Girls Write Now. This New York City-based organization strives to empower young girls to tell their stories and express themselves through writing. GWN inspires its mentees to develop their natural talents and acquire the much-needed confidence for future success in any field. The initiative effectively fills in gaps in the public school system by providing girls with the necessary resources, guidance, and care to explore critical writing, participate in college preparation programs, and publish their pieces.
The organization primarily focuses on supporting underserved girls and gender-nonconforming youth. In fact, the GWN community currently includes 750 mentors and mentees, of whom 90 percent are girls of color, 90 percent are high need, 75 percent are immigrants or first-generation, and 25 percent are LGBTQ. If you want to get involved or recommend one of GWN programs to someone you know, explore the initiatives website and start making a difference today from the comfort of your dorm room.
We hope these resources will help you deepen your understanding about the cause and connect with new people along the way.
Staff writer Charlotte Wu can be contacted at charlotte.wu@columbiaspectator.com.
Staff writer Victoria Tereshchenko can be contacted at victoria.tereshchenko@columbiaspectator.com. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec.
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How to get involved with female empowerment initiatives on campus and beyond - CU Columbia Spectator
UMaine Online Program adds new degree and certification programs – The Maine Campus
The University of Maine Online has been working hard to offer new graduate and undergraduate programs to students. UMaine Online offers a variety of mostly graduate programs for students to earn masters or certificates, as well as some undergraduate major and minor courses of study.
Among some of the newer additions to the courses of study for undergraduate students are a minor in legal studies and a new certification program in surveying engineering technology. This certification program provides students with the necessary tools and foundations for surveying technology, and may also act as a starting point for students looking into pursuing a bachelors degree in surveying technology. The surveying technology certification program is the first certification course to be offered through UMaine Online to undergraduate students, and requires 15 credit hours. The legal studies minor can be paired with any of the other undergraduate programs offered by UMaine Online, and takes 18 credit hours to complete.
The newest graduate certification program is in the discipline of data science and engineering. Graduate certification courses require at least a bachelors degree for enrollment. The data science and engineering certification program provides students the skills and knowledge necessary to manage complex data and analysis challenges which are prevalent in a rapidly changing technological field. It is a 15 credit program, and has a wide variety of classes and enrollment options for students to select from depending on their interests within the field.
The newest graduate degree UMaine Online is offering is a masters program in data science and engineering. This masters program is a total of 30 credit hours, and is recommended for students who have undergraduate experience in the fields of computer science, engineering, mathematics or similar fields. The program is designed to teach students a variety of useful skills in the rapidly changing field of data science. Some skills involve data analysis and acquisition, effective data storage and issues facing data processing and storage, leveraging modern computational infrastructures for performing large scale data analysis, effective data presentation and communication skills, strategies for data security and the ethical issues facing modern data analysis and acquisition.
These skills are useful in a variety of fields, as there is a growing demand for those trained in data science and engineering. There is a rapidly changing environment of data and computer science, and as the state becomes increasingly reliant upon advanced technologies, it also becomes increasingly reliant upon those who are capable of understanding complex data and engineering.
The new focus on engineering technology and advanced science studies in the realm of computer and data sciences reflects a rapidly changing technological landscape in Maine and beyond. The UMaine Online programs are designed to meet those new demands and train students in an efficient and affordable way.
UMaine Online is accepting rolling admissions to their undergraduate and graduate certification programs as well as to their masters degree programs. Interested students should visit the UMaine Online website, or contact the admissions office or advisors for more information on any of the available programs.
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UMaine Online Program adds new degree and certification programs - The Maine Campus
In Nairobi, Female Coders Are Flipping the Silicon Valley Trope on Its Head – Vogue
In the popular history of Kenyas technology industry, women are at the center. It was a woman, Ory Okolloh Mwangi, who first put out a call on her blog, kenyanpundit, inviting coders to build a platform that would track violence and other emergencies following the 20072008 elections, resulting in the now global platform known as Ushahidi. It was market women, shunned by formal banks well into the 1990s, who arguably have been driving the use of mobile money, making Kenya the world leader in such technology. Advocacy through organizations like the Lawyers Hub, a leading digital law group, is driven by women, and the most prominent tech training platforms in the country, like AkiraChix and Akili Dada, were founded and are run by women.
Women are and have always been the beating heart of Africas unlikeliest tech success stories. But while women drive the conversation, Kenyan society still routinely treats the work of women as secondary. And so a group of Kenyan women is working to increase the visibility and influence of women in tech by providing the mentorship and skills that young women need to not only succeed in one of the most competitive tech markets in the developing world but have their contributions recognized as well.
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In Nairobi, Female Coders Are Flipping the Silicon Valley Trope on Its Head - Vogue