Category Archives: Computer Science
Student-run HPAIR conference goes virtual this year – Harvard Gazette
Juniors and Quincy House residents Zeel Patel and Eric Lin excitedly took the reins of the Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations last summer as its new co- presidents. They looked forward to hosting the groups two flagship student-run conferences one in Cambridge and one in an Asian city carrying on the 30-year-old groups longtime tradition of creating spaces for a global cohort of students and young professionals to connect to one another.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic worsened, they had to cancel their summer conference in Taipei, scheduled for August. They were disappointed, but undeterred. Given the logistical obstacles and ongoing political and public health uncertainties, Patel and Lin designed a virtual version of their winter conference, which would normally take place on Harvards campus.
This weekend, young Asian professionals, students, and others from around the country will join them to learn from speakers including Tedros Adhanom, director-general of the World Health Organization; Kevin Sneader, the CEO of consulting firm McKinsey & Company; and Yang Lan, a media executive and talk-show host known as the Oprah Winfrey of China. So far, more than 1,800 participants have registered to attend.
We realized a lot of the friction points for running a conference were no longer there in a virtual setting. Speakers wouldnt have to fly in to our site and stay in hotel rooms, and then speak at the conference. They could just dial in from anywhere, and the same [was true] with the delegates, said Patel, a computer science and neuroscience concentrator from Calgary, Canada. So we wanted to be really ambitious about the speakers we invited and how we organized it.
Using their computer science skills and knowledge of the Silicon Valley start-up world, Patel and Lin secured a contract with events platform Run the World to manage delegate coordination, breakout rooms, one-on-one pairing with mentors, and social events. Its a move that the team hopes will help bring the intimacy and collaborative spirit of an in-person gathering to delegates logging on from more than 10 time zones worldwide.
The theme of the conference is Embracing Change, with a focus on the democratization of information and providing networking resources to students and young people who lack the access to high-powered individuals that a Harvard education can provide. The conference is free for Harvard undergraduates and HPAIR offers scholarships for low-income delegates, no matter where they are located.
Eric and I saw this as a really cool opportunity to leverage the power of software and make our conference super-accessible to everyone, said Patel.
We see these resources offered at well-off institutions like Harvard, and in Western countries more generally, but the same opportunities are not present in other areas, added Lin, a computer science concentrator from McLean, Virginia. We want delegates to see what, for example, the CEO of McKinseys vision is for the world, and be able to talk to him in an intimate setting. I hope it triggers inspiration and ignites some kind of motivation for them to explore beyond their local communities.
The changes to the conference format havent deterred interest from would-be participants; sign-ups from applicants for the 2021 meeting are more than three times what they have been in the past. Lin attributed the increase to the outreach and promotion work by the planning team of 40 Harvard students and their 30 counterparts at Asian universities.
The growth of the conference also allowed the team to expand in a new way. In previous years, financial margins were tight. But after the unexpected bump in revenue and reduced costs from this years conference, HPAIR will donate a portion of the funds raised by the conference to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
These achievements are a testament to how hard our team has worked to get this up and running and to grow it in a completely different new way, [and was] a full team effort, said Lin.
I hope Harvard students [who attend] can see the different cool organizations that are part of Harvards campus and what they can be involved in when theyre back on campus, said Patel. [Eric and I] have similar immigrant backgrounds, and [with HPAIR], its been exciting to see what life is like in developing countries, and then put a spotlight on it so that other people who havent had that exposure can see it.
HPAIR Harvard Conference 2021: Embracing Change runs Jan. 15-18. Content from the conference will be available on the groups YouTube channel later this month.
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Student-run HPAIR conference goes virtual this year - Harvard Gazette
Bylaws of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering – Nevada Today
The Chair shall be appointed by the President of the University of Nevada, Reno, acting on the nomination of the faculty and endorsement of the Dean of the College of Engineering. The term of office for a new Department Chair shall be five years. Reappointment is possible for a three year term if re-nominated by a majority of the Departmental voting faculty. For the five year initial appointment, the voting faculty will vote at the end of the third year to recommend to the Dean the termination or continuation of the original term.
The Chair shall be the administrative and executive officer of the Department, the Chair of its faculty, and ex-officio member of all its committees not having to do with the evaluation of the Chair. The Chair shall also serve as the chief representative of the Department within the University and as the chief spokesperson for the faculty of the Department. The position of Chair shall carry with it full authority to manage the Department and the person filling that position will be responsible for administrating the Department in a manner generally compatible with the thinking and expressed wishes of a majority of the faculty.
The Chair shall be responsible for recommending the appointment of new personnel and making recommendations for promotion and tenure. Such recommendations concerning tenure, promotion, merit, and non-renewal of contract shall be made by the Chair only after considering the written recommendations of the Departmental Personnel Committees. In the event the Chair disagrees with the recommendation of a personnel committee, a written justification shall be provided to the personnel committee.
The Chair shall, in consultation with the Faculty, prepare class schedules, make teaching assignments and prepare the Department budget. The Chair shall keep the faculty advised of his decisions regarding expenditure of funds, assignment of duties to Department staff and committee assignments. Capital expenditures in excess of $5,000 shall receive prior review by the Equipment and Facilities Committee. In addition, the Chair shall perform other management tasks as needed, and carry out such duties as expected of a faculty member.
The Department Chair will be evaluated annually according to the Nevada System of Higher Education Code by the Personnel Evaluation Committee and the results reported to the Dean of the College of Engineering, or his designated representative.
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Bylaws of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering - Nevada Today
MIT’s College of Computing building takes shape as Alexandria and BioMed make moves in Boston – Cambridge Day
The College of Computing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill.
Plans were released this week for the building that will house a College of Computing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology an eight-story, 120-foot structure of 174,000 square feet coming to 51 Vassar St., Area II, replacing the institutes distinctive Cyclotron Building. Demolition on that structure, also known as Building 44, began in September.
Completion of the headquarters is expected in 2023. Its the final step in a $1.1 billion initiative that began taking shape just in October 2018 with a $350 million gift from Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of the asset management firm Blackstone. The college became a priority when MIT leaders saw historically high numbers of students declaring majors and choosing classes in computer science, according to materials from the college.
The building is expected to be complete at 51 Vassar St. in 2023.
The building will provide state-of-the-art space for computing education and research. It will also serve as a nexus for interdisciplinary work, engaging computer scientists as well as faculty and students in sciences and engineering, architecture and urban planning, business management, and the humanities and the arts, according to online materials. We expect the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will become a convening force for research and scholarship on societal responsibilities of computing and AI, or artificial intelligence.
The building will include offices for new faculty the college is hiring 50, though half will be shared with other departments. Also in the building: space for research groups, labs, open and closed community and meeting spaces, two classrooms, a street-level caf and possibly event space, Kristina Chen reported in The Tech, the institutes student newspaper.
As designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill, the building has a couple of distinctive features, including a front of translucent baffles taller and wider than the main structure itself, divided at its central entrance and stairwell and revealing a section of each floor above it. At the rear, the building is suspended by columns over train tracks.
Other developments
The weeks development moves also included some companies that are giant in Cambridge but are making giant moves in Boston, Bldup reported:
Alexandria Real Estate Equities said it planned to buy 401 Park, the former Landmark Center, for $1.5 billion.
BioMed Realty has announced its buying 601 Congress in The Seaport, a 482,000-square-foot building that was once headquarters for John Hancock.The delivery is expected in late 2022. A price wasnt disclosed.
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Carver Community Center to offer free pampers to mothers, free coding classes for youth – Marshall News Messenger
Marshalls Anointing Grace Ministries and George Washington Carver Community Center are pleased to announce new outreach partnerships one with Lullaby House, offering free pampers; and another with Prairie View A&M to facilitate free online computer coding classes for youth.
Lullaby House manager, Paula Cornelius, is really excited about our partnership and shes eager to come to Marshall for the first time, said Angelita Jackson, who serves as co-director of the ministry and community center with husband, Kenneth Jackson.
The community center, located at 2302 Holland St., will host a Lullaby House-Free Pamper Giveaway/Pickup Pamper Pop Up on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, Jan. 18, for mothers and expecting mothers in Marshall and the surrounding area.
Were looking for not just (mothers) in Marshall, said Jackson. It could be (throughout) Harrison County, Gregg County anyone in our area.
We want to make it worth their while to come, she said. If its a rainy day, come on. Well make sure theyre safe.
The Pickup Pamper Pop Up will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jan. 18, which is the community centers MLK Day of Service. While walkups are welcome, registration is preferred.
We have a goal of covering 200 babies, said Jackson. All mothers are encouraged to sign up in advance for proper sizing.
Registration will be conducted now through Sunday, Jan. 17. Mothers can sign up on the Anointing Grace Ministries Facebook page or text their name and contact information to (903) 930-8325. Mothers can also email AnointingGraceMinistries@gmail.com.
Registration is also open now for youth ages 9 and older to participate in free virtual online computer coding classes, provided through a partnership with the community center and Prairie View A&M University.
Classes will begin February 1. Jackson encourages youth to register now as space is limited.
This is a great opportunity to begin computer coding, college readiness, and scholarships for college, said Jackson.
Prairie View is teaching the classes virtual and were working on getting laptops at the center for those that dont have one, said Jackson.
The deadline to register is Monday, Jan. 25. Prospective participants can register on the Anointing Grace Ministries Facebook page or text coding and a contact number to (903) 930-8325; or email the participants name, age and contact information to AnointingGraceMinistries@gmail.com.
Jackson said they are particularly excited that youth as young as age 9 can gain such a valuable skill, for free.
It really is the future, she said.
The Athletes for Computer Science program encourages an interest in computer science. One of the program highlights is partnering with professional athletes through video conference STEM lessons to increase awareness and engagement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Other highlights include introducing students at an early age to careers in STEM and teaching students the skills needed for computing and information technology careers.
We believe that when athletes engage students in computer science, the experience will provide confidence and positive associations that will make a measurable difference, Prairie View officials stated.
Jackson said the community center is thrilled about the program.
We want to get them as early as possible to stay in the program, said Jackson. The great thing is theyll be proficient by the time they get in high school.
If we get them early enough, theyll stick with us, she said.
The free coding program will provide books, career assessments, interest tests and a virtual college tour.
Thats part of the program, said Jackson.
Seating is limited for that, she reiterated. Email their name, age and phone number. Well call them back and get them properly registered.
Since repurposing the former George Washington Carver Elementary School into the areas first privately owned, fully operational Christian community center a little more than a year ago, the center has been running full speed ahead, fulfilling its mission.
Our mission is that you may know Christ and have life abundantly, said Jackson.
Weve been serving kids. We have summer feeding, serving the community throughout the summer, she shared.
The community center also distributed PPE (personal protective equipment) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recognition of Black History Month, the center hosted a Black History Brunch last year.
We finished the renovation of our sanctuary, which were really proud to say; and the Carver Center is available for leasing if somebody wants to lease a space, Jackson said.
The center is now planning to have its first board meeting with its newly established board, consisting of educators, other professionals and active members of the community. The virtual meeting will be January 28 at 6 p.m.
Were moving forward, said Jackson, adding they also have programs for senior citizens in store whenever the pandemic calms.
Weve applied for several grants, she said, noting grants will benefit afterschool programs and more.
We want people to pray with us, too, that God will bless us with some of the grants that will come through, said Jackson.
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He Was Going to Close the Family Diner. Then He Got a Sign. – The New York Times
Doors opened at 5:30 a.m., welcoming the morning coffee crew, including the homeless who could get free coffee, said Susan Guercio, who has been a customer for 22 years. Doors closed at midnight, seven days a week. That is, until the pandemic shut the city down last March.
But his father tried to be upbeat about the situation, Mr. Panayiotou recalled. I remember one of the waiters said: All right, Pete. Goodbye, and my dad said, Not goodbye till I see you again.
The next day, Chriss father complained about a stomachache. We told him, Maybe youre nervous, Mr. Panayiotou said. It was the first time Gee Whiz had shut down in 30 years, apart from the aftermath of Sept. 11, during which Peter Panayiotou spent several months cleaning up the damage from the terror attacks, just blocks away.
Being exposed to the pollution in 2001 contributed to Peter Panayiotous need for a double-lung transplant seven years ago. As the virus emerged, he was 65 years old and considered high-risk for Covid-19. To be safe, the family took him to the emergency room, but he was sent home and told to isolate. By then, Chriss mother, Maria, 67, had tested positive for the virus. Two days later, his father returned to the emergency room, but was again sent home. The following day, he turned blue. An ambulance came.
That was the last time we saw Dad, turning that corner in the ambulance, Mr. Panayiotou said. This time, his father remained at the hospital and was put on a ventilator. He died on April 5, nine days after the death of Andy Koutsoudakis, his business partner of 30 years, also from Covid-19.
Chris was devastated. Days were spent in bed, and nights were spent on his living room sofa staring at the wall in the dark. He started smoking again, going through a pack of Marlboro 27s a day and shedding close to 50 pounds in four months.
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He Was Going to Close the Family Diner. Then He Got a Sign. - The New York Times
Members of Several Well-Known Hate Groups Identified at Capitol Riot – FRONTLINE
This story is part of an ongoing collaboration between ProPublica and FRONTLINE that includes an upcoming documentary.
Members of the ultranationalist street gang known as the Proud Boys were easy to spot at the protests that flared across the United States throughout 2020, often in the middle of a brawl, typically clad in black and yellow outfits.
But in December, as the groups leaders planned to flood Washington to oppose the certification of the Electoral College vote this week for President-elect Joe Biden, they decided to do something different.
The ProudBoys will turn out in record numbers on Jan 6th but this time with a twist, Henry Enrique Tarrio, the groups president, wrote in a late-December post on Parler, a social media platform that has become popular with right-wing activists and conservatives. We will not be wearing our traditional Black and Yellow. We will be incognito and we will spread across downtown DC in smaller teams. And who knows.we might dress in all BLACK for the occasion.
The precise composition of the mob that forced its way into the Capitol on Wednesday, disrupting sessions of both houses of Congress and leaving a police officer and four others dead, remains unknown. But a review by a ProPublica-FRONTLINE team that has been tracking far-right movements for the past three years shows that the crowd included members of the Proud Boys and other groups with violent ideologies. Videos reveal the presence of several noted hardcore nativists and white nationalists who participated in the 2017 white power rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that President Donald Trump infamously refused to condemn.
Tarrio does not appear to have been present during the insurrection. Two days before members of the House and Senate gathered to certify the Electoral College results, Washingtons Metropolitan Police Department arrested Tarrio and charged him with possessing high-capacity firearm magazines and destruction of property over the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner last month. A judge barred him from entering the city while he awaits trial.
Read more: Capitol Rioters Planned for Weeks in Plain Sight. The Police Werent Ready.
But it appears that Tarrios followers heeded his advice. A journalist working with ProPublica and FRONTLINE encountered members of the Proud Boys in dark clothes walking through Washington on the night before the attack. The four men posed for a photo and confirmed their membership in the group. Few participants involved in the Capitol siege were seen wearing Proud Boys colors or logos.
But since the incident, Proud Boys social media channels have flaunted their direct role in the attack and looting of the Capitol.
One prominent Proud Boys account encouraged rioters as the chaos was unfolding: Hold your ground!!! DO NOT GO HOME. WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF SAVING THE CONSTITUTION.
So far, police have arrested more than 80 people in connection with the attack, including at least one Proud Boy, Nick Ochs. They have seized pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails and arrested at least six people on illegal firearms charges, including one Maryland man who was captured in the visitors center of the Capitol. More arrests are expected.
Listen: Chaos at the Capitol
As the crowds ringing the Capitol swelled on Wednesday, a small group of men clad in body armor shuffled toward the doors at the center of the buildings east-facing facade.
The eight men, whose movements were captured on video, were identified by ProPublica and FRONTLINE as members of the Oath Keepers, a long-standing militia group that has pledged to ignite a civil war on behalf of Trump. Members of the group joined the protesters and insurrectionists flooding into the Capitol. Footage from later in the day shows Oath Keepers dragging a wounded comrade out of the building.
Stewart Rhodes, a former soldier and Yale law school graduate, who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 and built it into a nationwide network, was seen on video standing outside the Capitol building. While he was not seen entering the Capitol, he could be seen talking with his militia followers throughout the day.
Several other of the participants ProPublica and FRONTLINE identified from video have direct links to the white nationalist movement, which has seen a resurgence of activity during the Trump era.
One was Nick Fuentes, an internet personality who streams a daily talk show on DLive, an alternative social media platform. Fuentes, who marched in Charlottesville during the 2017 white power rally there, speaks frequently in anti-Semitic terms and pontificates on the need to protect Americas white heritage from the ongoing shift in the nations demographics. He has publicly denied believing in white nationalism but has said that he considers himself a white majoritarian.
Fuentes, who spoke at pro-Trump rallies late last year in Michigan and Washington, D.C., said he was at the rally on Wednesday but didnt follow the mob into the Capitol. One group of Fuentes supporters, who call themselves the Groyper Army, was filmed running through the Capitol carrying a large blue flag with the America First logo.
Days before the Capitol was stormed, Fuentes seemed to encourage his followers to kill state legislators in a bid to overturn Bidens electoral victory, as Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University who follows online extremist communities, noted on Twitter.
What can you and I do to a state legislator besides kill him? he said with a smirk. We should not do that. Im not advising that, but I mean, what else can you do, right?
Squire fears that Fuentes incendiary rhetoric will inspire his followers to engage in more drastic even lethal acts of political violence. Instead of trying to appear democratic hes making an argument for fascism, for monarchism, she said. Hes criticizing democracy at every turn. He doesnt believe in democracy and its scary because his fans find him fascinating.
DLive recently announced that it has booted Fuentes from its platform.
Another figure inside the Capitol with ties to white nationalists was Tim Gionet, a livestreamer who uses the handle Baked Alaska and who participated in the Charlottesville rally, which left one woman dead. Gionet was photographed within the Capitol and apparently used DLive to stream from within the building as events unfolded. Part of his video appeared to show him in Nancy Pelosis office, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
Other extremist figures present either at the rally or within the Capitol included Vincent James Foxx, an online propagandist for the Rise Above Movement, a now-defunct Southern California white supremacist group.
Also on scene: Gabe Brown, a New Englander who helped create Anticom, a now-defunct organization devoted to physically combating leftists. In 2017, Anticom members posted a vast trove of bomb-making manuals to a private online chatroom.
The militant group members joined with scores of others who rampaged inside the Capitol.
Rep. Andr Carson, a Democrat from Indiana, said the scene reminded him of a Ku Klux Klan rally. Photos from within the Capitol showed one unidentified man carrying a Confederate battle flag and another wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with a skull and the words Camp Auschwitz, a reference to the infamous Nazi death camp.
Carson and other House members who spoke to ProPublica and FRONTLINE said the body would be launching an extensive investigation of the Capitol Police force and its mishandling of Wednesdays events.
The rioters, said Carson, who is Black, were hostile. They were venomous. And I think there was a sense of entitlement that they carried that somehow their country was being taken away from them.
After the siege, a Boogaloo Bois group called the Last Sons of Liberty, which includes militants from Virginia, posted a video to Parler purporting to document their role in the incident a clip that shows members inside the Capitol. A loose-knit confederation of anti-government militants, the Boogaloo Bois have been tied to a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and to the murder of two law enforcement officers in California. ProPublica and FRONTLINE have been unable to independently confirm their involvement.
Some far-right activists are already calling for retribution over the death of Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from California who was shot and killed by a security officer. Weve got a girl thats dead. Shes shot, laying on the ground in there, said Damon Beckley, leader of a group called DC Under Siege, in an interview just outside the Capitol while the riot was ongoing. Were not putting up with this tyrannical rule. If we gotta come back here and start a revolution and take all these traitors out which is what should happen then we will.
Another person took to Parler to say that they were planning to show up, armed, in Washington for Inauguration Day. Many of us will return on January 19, 2021 carrying Our weapons, wrote the Parler user, who goes by the handle Colonel007. We will come in numbers that no standing army or police agency can match.
The Proud Boys also celebrated on social media. On Parler, one Proud Boys leader posted a photo of members of Congress cowering in fear and captioned it with a menacing statement: Today you found out. The power of the people will not be denied.
Logan Jaffe of ProPublica and Lila Hassan, Dan Glaun and Zoe Todd of FRONTLINE contributed reporting.
Correction, Jan. 9, 2021:This story has been updated to remove the name of an individual who upon further investigation could not be definitively identified.
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Members of Several Well-Known Hate Groups Identified at Capitol Riot - FRONTLINE
Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University hosted the International Conference on Computing, Mobility, and Manufacturing (CMM 2020) – PRNewswire
The Industry 4.0's movement toward data analytics, machine learning and smart automation in industrial technologies are the cornerstone of the CMM 2020 conference. A complementary AI workshop took place on December 7th.
"We cannot face an industrial revolution by conventional educational methodologies," Al-Ansari said. "Universities today should focus more than ever on human sciences as means to balance the technical outcomes of the 4th Industrial Revolution."
More than 380 people attended with the convenience of the Saudi Arabian time-zone providing greater accessibility especially for those in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Prof. Patrick S.P. Wang from Northeastern University gave the first keynote lecture from Boston, Massachusetts and interacted in real-time with enthusiastic participants," following his talk on intelligent pattern recognition and its applications to e-forensics and Smart Cities. Conference organizers worked within the digital platforms like Zoom to facilitate participation and engagement among attendees.
Prof. Vincenzo Piuri from the Department of Computer Science at the Universit degli Studi di Milano, Italy spoke about environmental and industrial applications of artificial intelligence. The second day included an address on the stability of complex networks and relation to power grid applications from Dr. Jrgen Kurths from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, and Humboldt University Berlin's Institute of Physics, followed by Dr. Hong Yan from the Department of Electrical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong speaking about human face tracking and the recognition of facial expressions.
"PMU, like many other institutions around the globe, needs to ensure that the pandemic does not affect the networking and advancement within our academic communities and does not halt our internationalization efforts," Al-Ansari said.
The University's offerings in education and global leadership in the MENA region with events like the CMM 2020 conference contribute to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, and provides opportunities to students to engage in global issues and be prepared for complex and challenging futures.
Contact: Ankit S Bhosale, (+966 13) 849 9346 [emailprotected]
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1393617/CMM_2020.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1393618/PMU_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (PMU)
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These Are the College Majors That Pay Off the Most – 24/7 Wall St.
Special Report
January 7, 2021 9:39 am
Last Updated: January 7, 2021 9:48 am
A college education opens the door to higher-paying jobs. College-educated workers 25 and older earned a median income of $56,344 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Workers with no more than a high school diploma earned far less just under $32,000 per year. Yet not all bachelors degrees have the same earning potential with some degree fields generally leading to much higher-income careers than others.
To determine the highest paying college majors that is, the college majors leading to highest-income careers 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on average annual earnings for 173 undergraduate majors from the Public Use Microdata Sample summary files of the U.S. Census Bureaus 2019 American Community Survey.
The vast majority of the highest paying majors are in STEM science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. There are eight different engineering majors among the 25 entries on this list as well as a number of medical specialties.
Most of these majors are in fields that require a high level of specialization, such as medicine or research. This means applicants often need advanced degrees a masters or even a doctorate before they can begin working in the field, or in order to advance.
While deciding on a major is important to the future earnings of a student, the college itself is important as well. The quality of the education a college provides, alumni connections, and many other factors can set students up for success or leave them behind their peers. Students must vet their college choices before enrolling to ensure that they are not overpaying for entry to a lackluster college. These are the top ranked colleges that pay off the least.
Click here to see the highest paying college majors.Click here to see our methodology.
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These Are the College Majors That Pay Off the Most - 24/7 Wall St.
Students express concerns over teaching appointment of Jason Mars – The Michigan Daily
This story has been updated to include information from an email sent by Michael Wellman, Chair of Computer Science & Engineering.
Some University of Michigan students are unhappy with the appointment of Jason Mars, assistant professor of computer science, to teach EECS 370 for the winter 2021 semester. The course is required for all computer science and computer engineering majors.
Previously, Mars faced allegations of sexual misconduct and abusive behavior during his tenure as CEO of Clinc, an Ann Arbor artificial intelligence startup. A Feb. 13 article published in The Verge outlined claims of inappropriate behavior by the professor.
Later in February, an investigation by New York public relations firm MWWPR prompted Marss resignation from Clinc and found his behavior harmed Clincs success, though it also found the allegations of retaliation by Mars did not have merit. In an email to employees explaining his resignation at the time, Mars acknowledged he drank too much and failed to develop proper boundaries with employees.
An email template has been circulating among computer science students, calling for Mars to be removed from the course and for more communication from the University about the appointment. Students are asked to send the template to University President Mark Schlissel and Professor Westley Weimer, CSE Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee chair.
The University of Michigan claims to want to support women in technology, yet they are placing a known sexual harasser in a position of power over undergraduate students, in a course computer science majors are required to take in order to graduate, the template reads.
Michael Wellman, chair of the computer science and engineering department, sent an email to all computer science and engineering faculty, staff and students Wednesday evening addressing concerns over Marss appointment.
The College has learned that Jason Mars has engaged in conduct that the College of Engineering determined was contrary to its values and standards regarding the conduct of faculty, the statement reads. The behavior was unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the College. Appropriate preventive and corrective actions are being taken in response that will further the Colleges goal of embracing and promoting a culture of inclusivity that is free from harassment and other forms of misconduct.
Despite acknowledging student concerns and Marss misconduct, Wellman confirmed in an email to The Michigan Daily that Mars will still be teaching EECS 370 in the winter. Wellman reiterated that the course will be fully remote and will hold entirely remote office hours.
We will be communicating directly with students enrolled in EECS 370 in January, prior to the start of classes, about instructional arrangements for the course, Wellmans email reads.
As of an email to The Daily Tuesday, University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald confirmed Marss appointment to teach the EECS 370. Fitzgerald stressed it is a wholly virtual course and that the College of Engineering is taking all appropriate preventive and corrective actions related to earlier allegations of inappropriate behavior by Mars outside of the classroom.
LSA junior Michelle Belkovski is taking EECS 370 next semester. She said she could not believe the University would appoint Mars to teach again, virtually or otherwise.
Its the idea itself that hes still teaching, especially a mandatory course, it almost feels like a taunt, Belkovski said.
The Daily reached out to several other current computer science students, including those who made the email template, but all declined to comment.
In a statement to The Daily, Mars wrote he had not heard of the outrage prior to The Dailys requests for comment.
Given the sensational misinformation and false allegations spread in and by the press, however, I understand where the student concerns are coming from, Mars wrote. Students should know that I fully support the objectives of the Universitys policies prohibiting sexual harassment and misconduct, and which promote professional and civil interaction between students, faculty, staff and visitors. I take these policies very seriously.
Mars pointed to his fall 2020 course evaluations as evidence students should not be worried to take his course. Mars taught EECS 498 during the fall 2020 semester, for which he did not face backlash. EECS 498 is a senior-level elective course.
The reality is that students should not be concerned about taking my classes, Mars wrote. My student evaluations from this term (EECS 498), for example, demonstrate how students who have actually taken my courses feel about me as an instructor To the question, Jason Mars treated students with respect(,) students gave me a median rating is (sic) 4.9/5. Students can expect the same level of excellence from me in the future.
Mars provided screenshots of the Bluera results page, the Universitys course evaluations system, to confirm his instructor rating.
Belkovski said the most infuriating part is that the University did not discuss this appointment with students.
You notice all this outrage from students making email templates, open letters, petitions, doing interviews, Belkovski said. Thats where you see that you didnt even bother checking in with your students, the students who have had past experiences with teachers who have already been like this toward them It felt like we were forgotten in this situation.
In an email obtained by The Daily, Weimer wrote that he passed student concerns up to departmental leadership. In a statement to The Daily, Weimer wrote that the email was not an official stance and was meant to reassure and thank the students who wrote to him.
I commend you for bravery, Weimer wrote. Some of you are alumni or friends at other schools, but most are current undergraduate majors. It takes courage to stand up and sign your name to such a request At this point I can only reiterate that your petition has definitely been received, can only observe that the issue is being discussed at multiple administrative levels, and can only thank you for making your voices and concerns heard.
Daily Staff Reporter Dominic Coletti can be reached at dcoletti@umich.edu.
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Students express concerns over teaching appointment of Jason Mars - The Michigan Daily
This tool helps predict which COVID patients will need hospitalization and which can be sent home – Press-Enterprise
A Thanksgiving traveler arrives in Terminal 4 after his flight into the Ontario International Airport as the number of COVID cases are on the rise during the pandemic in Ontario on Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
The coronavirus surge continues unabated. People fill airplanes for holiday travel despite urgent pleas to hunker down at home. Hospitals weigh how to ration critical care because theyre swamped with patients.
As emergency rooms brace for a surge atop a surge, UC Irvine has unveiled a free, online tool to help health care pros predict which patients might be safely sent home, and which might need the most critical care.
The goal is to give an earlier alert to clinicians to identify patients who may be vulnerable at the onset, said Daniel S. Chow, an assistant professor in residence in radiological sciences and first author of a study published in PLOS ONE, in a prepared statement.
The machine-learning model does this by weighing a detailed list of vitals age, gender, body mass index, co-morbidities, respiratory rate, blood cell counts and more to predict the probability that a patients condition will worsen within 72 hours, requiring a ventilator or ICU care.
Researchers began collecting COVID-19 patient data at UCI Health in January, and produced a prototype of the tool by March. Then they began to test it, finding that its predictions were accurate about 95% of the time.
Interestingly, variables which have previously been reported to be associated with worse COVID-19 disease, most notably including older age and hypertension, were less predictive in our sample than body mass index, total number of comorbidities and several laboratory values, the study reported.
But while the tool proved highly accurate with UCI Health patients who lived in the same area and were primarily Asian American, Latino and Caucasian would it work in other places, with different patient populations? They tested that with a random sample of 40 patients at Atlantas Emory University. It did.
Front-line medical providers have been inundated with critically ill COVID-19 patients, the paper said. A simple web-based tool utilized at patient presentation may facilitate decision making by simplifying integration of numerous clinical variables which can increase physician confidence in determining which patients may be discharged safely.
Thats of particular utility when critical-care beds are in short supply, when physicians are treating higher-than-expected numbers of patients or are working outside of their standard practice, it said.
Its not magic in and of itself, though. You have to talk to your specialists, your doctors; you have to assess how many beds you have available and come together as a group to figure out how you want to use the tool, said Peter Chang, assistant professor in residence in radiological sciences and designer of the machine-learning model.
The work was a collaboration between the School of Medicine, the Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing, the Program in Public Health and the Department of Computer Science.
(R)eliable prediction of disease severity is essential for critical care capacity management and may enable earlier targeted interventions to improve patient outcomes, the paper said.
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