National Friendship Week

Send this to everyone you are friends with.

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Thanks Gina!

Robotics Institute: Teaching technical creativity through Robotics: A case study in Ghana

There has been a robotics major at Schenley High School. They are now being moved to Peabody, it seems. Plus, there is to be a Univeristy High School Partnership with Pitt that is going into an old middle school.

I wonder what these kids in Africa have next to what we do with our own kids?

Robotics Institute: Teaching technical creativity through Robotics: A case study in Ghana Creating technology that is relevant and accessible to developing communities is an emerging area of scholarly and practical importance. Diversity in both the creators and conshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifumers of advanced technology is required to develop sustained and useful applications of robotics, AI, and other technical fields in developing regions. Increased diversity will result in a wider array of technological innovations that are of benefit to both developed and developing regions. However, due to restricted access to technical resources, infrastructure, and expertise, technology education in developing communities is non-trivial. Thus, international partnerships and creative course designs are required. In response to this need, we developed a partnership between Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA and Ashesi University in Accra, Ghana to design and implement an undergraduate introductory Robotics course targeted towards the Ghanaian context.

Check out this example of what's going on with high-tech in developing countries:http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

http://www.techbridgeworld.org


Of particular interest (from Joel) is one article linked to from the "Publications" section of the site:

http://www.ri.cmu.edu/pubs/pub_5743.html

Click on the "pdf" link to get the whole essay.

One has to respect these people -- both the folks from Carnegie Mellon and the natives of Ghana-- who are willing to take on subjects like AI (Artificial Intelligence) and robotics under the conditions they faced.

Near the end of the article, the authors describe themselves as being "in the preliminary development stages of a robotics kit modeled on the Open Source Software approach." I wonder how much progress has been made in this area? Is anyone up for contacting the article's authors and pursuing this?

Rogge: IOC cannot fix worldly woes - Chew on this while your at it.

SI.com - More Sports - Rogge: IOC cannot fix worldly woes - Thursday February 21, 2008 12:25PM: "With the clash between sports and politics sharpening as the Beijing Games near, the president of the IOC says the Olympics cannot solve the world's problems."

Of course the Olympic Games can't fix the problems of the world.

In other news, pack a lunch if you are going to compete. Bring bread. The typical kitchen in China does NOT have an oven. But, there are plenty of bakery outlets. And, bring cereal. They don't eat it. In China, it is really hard to eat your Wheaties. They don't sell cold milk either. Buy it warm. Then put it into the refrig.

We hope to go to Beijing. We'll do what I can to bring our appetites. We're not going to compete. And, after the events, I expect you'll see a lot of very hungry, ready to party US Olympians.

The United States Olympic Committee's plan to bring its own food to China has disappointed the leader of food services for the Beijing Olympics.

"I feel it's a pity that they (Americans) decided to take their own food," Kang Yi, the head of the Food Division for the Beijing organizing committee, said Thursday. She added the USOC had not officially notified her department of the plan.


The USOC is planning to transport tons of meat and other foods to a training camp at Beijing Normal University.

The 600-plus American athletes are expected to eat their daily meals at the Athletes Village, USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said. But the U.S. delegation also includes an additional 400-plus personnel -- support coaches, trainers, etc. -- who are not eligible for food service at the village and therefore will eat most of their meals at Beijing Normal.

Seibel said the food service at Beijing Normal will serve as a supplement to the Village, which will house about 17,000 athletes and officials during the Aug. 8-24 Games and be capable of serving 6,000 meals simultaneously.

"We have absolutely no concerns about the quality and safety of the food in the Athletes Village," Seibel said. "Also, we will be sourcing products from local suppliers for our training table, in addition to bringing some products with us. We had the same approach during the Athens and Torino Games, as well."

Food safety in China has become a major issue for the Olympics, following recent incidents of tainted products and reports of the heavy use of drugs and insecticides in food production. Officials are aware a positive drug test triggered by contaminated food could ruin an athlete's career and generate a public-relations disaster for China, which is intent on showing itself as a modern, sophisticated country.

"We have made lots of preparations to ensure that they (athletes) can get together at the Olympic Games," said Kang, speaking at a news conference Thursday on food safety.

Another official said there was no evidence drugs and growth stimulants used in meat production could trigger positive doping tests.

"As far as we know we haven't found any scientific report on this," said Lu Yong, director of the Beijing Municipal Food Safety Monitoring Center.

Tang Yunhua, a spokeswoman for the Beijing Municipal Office for Food Safety, repeated Thursday the plans for extensive monitoring from the pasture to the plate -- using bar codes, satellite tracking devices and labor-intensive operations -- for food served at the Olympic Village.

"We can guarantee the food safety during the Olympic Games," Tang said.

"We have a safety plan during the Olympics Games to guarantee our venues will be safe," she said. "And the standards for Olympic food safety are much more strict than international standards. So all the delegations can enjoy the food provided during the Olympic Games."

In the US, we have our own food worries with recalled BEEF. And, much of our food is not welcomed in other parts of the world -- as we use too many drugs and steroids. Go figure.

Making an Ethical Stand: Ethical operations deals among ethical players.

Part 2 on my series on Campaign Finance Reform

by Mark Rauterkus

Conducting a business presents choices as to who to deal with and who to avoid. The suppliers and providers of the the goods and services you buy matters greatly and impact the end product, the economy and one's sense of satisfaction.

The same holds true for the business dealings of our government entities.

The city of Pittsburgh buys supplies, obtains materials and lets contracts. Municipal, county and state government, as well as the authorities, have massive budgets. Some businesses cater to government sales and contracts, no doubt.

It makes great sense to be particular as to who you do business with and who to avoid.

If we want to live in a more ethical city and region, we need to tell our city leaders that we don't want them to spend any money with unethical suppliers. For instance, the City of Pittsburgh will NOT sell property it owns to anyone who already owes back taxes to the City of Pittsburgh on other property. If you want to obtain new property, from the public holdings, you had better not be a tax cheat. That makes sense.

This same line of thought can be applied to other aspects of city government. Felons need not apply for jobs in the courts. Background checks are needed for those who work in the schools and at parks. Campaign finance issues can come under the same type of scrutiny.

New laws on campaign finance reform are being discussed in city hall this week.
A public hearing is slated for 2 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2008. Check out the ordinance to supplement administrative code, by adding "Campaign Finance Regulations," sponsored by Council member Bill Peduto at his blog: http://www.reformpittsburghnow.com/ And, visit http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com and search for "Finance."

Holding better campaigns and elections is important to the health of the region. But massive weakness with enforcement and penalties may cripple the good intentions of better elections and cleaner candidates.

If everyone plays above board and follows the (new, proposed) rules, we'd have wonderful new day. Dream on. This is politics. We're in Pittsburgh, a one-party town. Some have been known to cheat in the past.

When cheating occurs, the fair-minded folks get screwed while the cheaters trump the system. Those that are more clever at money laundering shouldn't have an upper hand in getting government jobs. Candidates who can money launder well and win elections would then get put into positions where they'd further refine their skills with tax-payer funds.

Keeping participants more faithful to the rules and spirit of campaign finance reform needs drastic, yet simple, measures.
I suggest a "Scarlet Letter Penalty."

If you want a city contract, you can't break our campaign finance rules. If you are at odds with the campaign finance measures, you're out. Let's live in a city that chooses to only make payments to those who honor our campaign finance laws.

If a culprit breaks any campaign finance reform law, that person, as well as his company, becomes ineligible for any contract from city government. All payments from the city to the offending person and firm, including pay checks, are terminated. These individuals and firms would wearing a 'scarlet letter" so as to be "black listed at the time of cutting city checks."

This "scarlet letter penalty" would apply to both, the candidate and the donor. A candidate that wins an election could keep his post, as the people voted and the election was won. But, the candidate won't get paid.

If a mythical great uncle wants to give a large sum of money to his favorite nephew to run a campaign in Pittsburgh, fine. The money from the great uncle can be taken by the candidate, reported and spent. Meanwhile, the generous great uncle won't be eligible to get any city contract. He won't worry about city contracts and won't try to benefit from them. This great uncle donor has no worries about getting special influences, and in turn, the taxpayers have few fears about corruption from that source.

The length of punishment is another factor to consider.
Some say that a four-year punishment is long enough. In their point of view, if someone gets caught and screws up in the 2009 election and buys a candidate a seat, in part by breaking a campaign finance law, the guilty donor would be eligible for city contracts four-years later, in 2013.

I don't like the timing of a four-year penalty phase. Four years could be too short. Or, it could be too long.

Consider, for example, Don Barden or some other slots parlor operator seeking to buy city council members. Barden holds a contract with the state for the exclusive operation of a slots operations in the city. The state sold license to Don Barden never expires. His was a one-time payment that lasts forever. Four years is NO TIME AT ALL in that type of deal.

A contractor that builds bridges, tunnels and other mega projects -- such as light rail extensions to Oakland and the East End -- would gladly suffer a few years of penalties to have votes on city council and contracts awarded in year five and beyond.

Punishment to the ones that make the infraction to the campaign finance regulations should be in effect for as long as the candidate that benefited is an elected official in any public position. The "scarlet letter penalty" should end when the candidate exits all public positions.

For the sake of example, if a guilty employee at a developer such as Forrest City gets caught giving $50,000 to a council candidate, (the limit is $2,500), then that firm is OUT for all city contracts. However, if the candidate who took the money resigns his or her post, then the firm could get back into the game for city contracts. The candidate who took the money and the company that gave the money are in bed together. They both should be linked while that candidate stays in any government post.

A big payment that exceeds the limits could go to a candidate can not be spent for years. The funds could sit and gather interest for future campaign cycles, decades into the future. The city does not have term limits.

I'm not fine with specific dollar amounts of the proposed fines.
Another suggestion was to set penalty amounts for fines for the rule breakers. They wanted to attach the dollars of the sin in the campaign finance deed to the penalty. The thinking of the rule makers was to charge the villains a three-fold putative damage. Make the guilty pay a fine that is three times what was spent on the candidate.

I think it is impossible to set uniform dollar amount penalties in this realm. In recent times, $50,000 could easily buy a seat on city council. If the risk of getting caught means a pay-back of three times that amount, say $150,000, that's nothing when contrasted with the totals being spent in public building projects. A public financed parking garage, for example, can cost $10-Million. That penalty of three times the amount of damages as tied to the sins that flowed into the election coffers is chump change.

A Sister and Rabbi and a vacant seat huddle and an Ethics Hearing Board meeting breaks out.
The new bills sponsor has the proposed campaign finance regulations being upheld by the Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board. I've seen glaciers move faster than the Ethics Hearing Board. That body is a total failure. The mayor's golf outing with UPMC executives in the summer of 2007 won't be resolved until the spring or summer fo 2008. They want to change the employee handbook to redefine perks from nonprofits. Sad to say, the Ethics Hearing Board in Pittsburgh, as appointed, can't navigate its way out of a wet paper bag. It would be more effective to administer Boy Scout Oaths to candidates, or do nothing.

Employees, companies, and citizens, it is time to ponder these proposals. Those who make and receive political donations are doing so with good intentions, but we need to think them through. I want the new rules to benefit challengers, competition, taxpayers and freedom.

---

Postings in this series:

Part 1: Local Campaign Finance Reform http://rauterkus.blogspot.com/2008/02/local-campaign-finance-reform.html

Part 2: Making an ethical stand. http://rauterkus.blogspot.com/2008/02/making-ethical-stand-ethical-operations.html

Part 3: Proposal to Bankers for a Campaign Marriage, with drive-through guests http://rauterkus.blogspot.com/2008/02/proposal-to-bankers-for-campaign.html

A new platform: The Libertarian Majority

Libertarian Majority: "As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

This is great.

Singapore will host first Youth Olympics in 2010

SI.com - More Sports - Singapore will host first Youth Olympics in 2010 - Thursday February 21, 2008 8:09AM: "The event, to be held every four years, is designed to encourage youngsters to get involved in sports and spend less time in front of computer and television screens. The first Winter Youth Olympics will be in 2012.

Let's not bash computer screens. I think it would be great to blog at that event. :)

Rogge said broadcasters will be offered free daily television highlights from the Singapore Games.

"We know that youth sport is a difficult issue for broadcasters who are not showing much of it and I regret that," he said. "However, this exposure will be much bigger than for any other junior world championships."

Perhaps we can get the feed and stream them onto PCTV 21.

Vote on closing Schenley High School delayed - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Vote on closing Schenley High School delayed - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "City schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said he delayed a vote on closing Schenley High School to give supporters time to raise money to fix it and to study if it would be cheaper in the long run to repair the structure.

In other Schenley news:

The topic of this evening's PSCC was scheduling for next year's classes. Mrs. Facaros facilitated the meeting with counselors Dr. Dillard and Mrs. Martin. Sample course selection sheets for incoming 9th graders, 10 through 12, and IB Diploma Programmed Course Requirements were available. Counselors will be meeting with each student to plan schedules for next year; students will bring schedules home to be signed.

Grades and records of 10th grade students will be reviewed carefully before students sign for IB courses. An attempt will be made to coordinate the block schedules with non-IB classes for flexibility if the student has difficulty with the IB classes. The goal of scheduling is to find the right level of class for each student.

Schedules for next year are tentative, depending on the outcome of the school board's vote next week on the move to Reizenstein, the expansion of Frick to include 9th grade, the move of 9th grade students to Milliones for university prep, and the move of the tech program to Peabody. For example, if the moves do go through, it will eliminate culinary arts as an elective for all but the Peabody students. With the 9th grade in the basement of Frick, the food prep rooms will be eliminated; Reizenstein does not have facilities for food prep either.

Discussion on proposed moves: As usual when there are Schenley parents, there was an informal discussion of the proposed moves for next year. Time is passing very quickly to have classes in place for next September. As stated above, certain aspects of the schedule will have to be changed depending on the location of various students. If the 9th grade is to remain at Frick, renovations will be needed to the basement floor which currently houses the kitchen, sewing, industrial arts classrooms. After the location of students is determined, the placement of teachers will have to be determined. Teachers who have been trained for the IB program will have priority over teachers who have not been trained. At this time, it is planned that the 9th graders at all "Schenley" sites will follow the high school bell schedules. Teachers, especially world language teachers, will probably travel between the two IS sites. It is possible that buses will transport students for advanced math and after school activities although those details have not been worked out.

A parent requested and Mrs. Facaros will try to arrange a tour of the Reizenstein facility for those who would like to tour the building. This will need to be arranged before any renovations are begun on the building.

Although this was a short meeting, there was a lot of information. If anyone who was at the meeting has anything to add, please email me and I will make corrections/additions.

Next PSCC meeting: March 19. Topic: IB/IS
Please put the April 16 PSCC meeting on your calendar when Duquesne University will be doing a parent evaluation of High School Reform. We need parental input.

amy moore

Great, another institution doing an evaluation on high school reform after the deal has been cut. The evaluation needs to happen in April -- for changes in say 2010 and unfolding to 2014.

David C. Salo is publishing a new book -- June or July 2008

Dave Salo, Ph.D., head men's swim coach at USC, author of the now out of print book, Sprint Salo, is publishing a new book with Human Kinetics.

Sounds good. Total conditioning for swimmers, or something like that.

Can't wait.

Finally the skeleton spotlight to herself. - Wednesday February 20, 2008 2:36PM

We are NOT talking about "BODIES" at the Science Center.

SI.com - More Sports - Katie Uhlaender finally has the American skeleton spotlight to herself. - Wednesday February 20, 2008 2:36PM: "Katie Uhlaender finally has the American skeleton spotlight to herself."

Darfur activists urged to keep Olympics non-political - Wednesday February 20, 2008 10:22AM

SI.com - More Sports - Darfur activists urged to keep Olympics non-political - Wednesday February 20, 2008 10:22AM Beijing Olympics officials defended China's stance on Darfur and appealed to activists Wednesday not to pressure sponsors to pull out of the Games.

Those pesky Darfur activists.... Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone.

Singapore believes size is advantage - Wednesday February 20, 2008 11:20AM

SI.com - More Sports - Singapore believes size is advantage - Wednesday February 20, 2008 11:20AM The Youth Games are likely to only feature one-third of the athletes -- all aged between 14 and 18 competing in 26 sports -- that the Summer Olympics draws.

We are not a rubber stamp. We are the council of the city of Pittsburgh.

Them thar are fighting words from Bruce Kraus.

Gosh. Notes (live blogging) of the city council meeting on Wed, 2-20-08.

Process.

Investigation or Conversation?

"I support a hold," says Jim Motznik. Motznik wants to refer it to somewhere else. Let the buck stop elsewhere.

Bill Peduto introduced a bill to begin an investigation. Too bad there are no others on city council with a backbone.

Even Doug Shields made a wish upon a eclipse that the administration make a statement to rescind the sign deal.

Dan Deasy says that they are a long way off from determining if the sign is appropriate or not. That's called being 'out of touch.'

Rev. Burgess thanks Bill Peduto for his leadership on this matter. The process of how the sign got approved is broken. But he'll want to exhaust the powers of council.

Tonya Payne says we may be getting too far out there. She has not heard one thing from anyone on this issue. Does Tonya read the paper? Does Tonya only live for the mob mentality? She doesn't want to do anything that is so political. She doesn't see the remedy. She is without vision. Her good judgement means following the marching orders of the mayor.

Tonya, the URA is a city authority -- not a state authority, by the way.

Tonya, when things get tossed around in a campaign, such as merging the URA and the City Planning Department, they are NOT real. Campaign chatter is just campaign chatter. Campaign ideas do NOT establish laws.

Tonyna thinks, "If you want to keep this clean -- calling for an investigation only sees who is on whos side." -- NO.

An investigation is NOT a political call. A campaign is a political side struggle.

Bill Peduto says last year is last year. Dennis R, Cathy McN, domestic violence. Bill thinks that city council is powerful and it can pummel. Whew. This isn't just about a billboard. City employees and past city employees put this together. The pattern includes the threat that employees would NOT be able to talk to city councilmembers.

Steps: Zoning, planning, conditional use, bid. Investigate now or get pulled into a lawsuit that the city (Ravenstahl bending over for Lamar Advertising) will not win.

Kraus is proud to sit on this body for an important issue. This is never about politics. It is about our sworn duty. Very difficult territory. One must be willing to leave one's comfort zone. Kraus is unsure about public hearings and post agendas. Kraus is worried about spending taxpayer money if council should hire an attorney. Gosh.

Doug said that this is a civil, not criminal matter. The big fear is the fallout of people being put under oath. Then it gives rise to criminal. None are talking about any criminal matters at this time.

It is a fricking sign. It isn't an important issue. And Pat Ford is playing the city like a fiddle. What is the next verse? Dance on or end the tune?

The cure, for Doug Shields, is to have this go through all the normal steps.

I think that the cure is to fire Pat Ford. Nuke the darn sign too. Then, move to liquidate the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Ravenstahl appoints Lanier treasurer - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Ravenstahl appoints Lanier treasurer - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review She will not receive a pay increase.

This is the second new hire that gets a new job title and does NOT get a pay raise.

If I get hired as the newest member of the Pittsburgh Ethics Hearing Board -- the number of new hires without any pay increase would be three!

Really, I'd be 'appointed' -- not 'hired.' The post comes without any pay.

Yesterday, in my public comment at city council, I told Luke Ravenstahl, that I was available. I had sent him a letter in the past.

Slippery Rock Gets One More Year

CollegeSwimming.com::Slippery Rock Gets One More Year “Women’s swimming just completed its 2007-08 season. With the announcement today, students who will be seniors next year know they will have a final season at SRU and underclassmen will have time to evaluate the options concerning their future. Water polo competition begins in March so those student athletes now know definitively this is their final season.”

There is no honor is cutting a team. To have a phase out is okay -- but don't begin to talk about 'honor.'

SRU President, Robert Smith, sucks. May the pox that falls upon him and his career be painful and forever.

I look forward to the return of those teams in better times.

Learn about publishing on the web with these tutorials

Feds tell Pittsburgh schools to destroy recalled beef

Feds tell Pittsburgh schools to destroy recalled beef - Examiner.com: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told the Pittsburgh school district to destroy 323 cases of recalled beef."

Where is the beef?
There are a few things that should be recalled in Pgh Public Schools. High School Reform needs to be recalled.

Inside PA Political Elections

The PA Elections Division is to hold the ballot position lottery drawing for delegates and alternate delegates on Wednesday, February 20, 9:30 A.M. in the Keystone Building - Hearing Room #1 (intersection of Forster St. & Commonwealth Ave.).

The last day for D and R party candidates who filed nomination petitions to withdraw has been extended to Friday, Februray 29, 2008, 5 P.M.

Dear Campaign Finance Reform Supporter:

Pittsburgh City Councilmembers need to hear from YOU!

Next TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH, at 2 PM, City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed campaign finance reform legislation recently introduced by Councilman Bill Peduto that aims to limit individual and PAC contributions to local politicians in election and non-election years.

As observed in Philadelphia and other cities that have already implemented similar rules, passing this legislation would help to further reform the local government process by limiting the impact of large-scale donors and reducing their access to decision-makers, while also enabling less well-funded candidates to run for office.

To help convince undecided members of Council, I urge you to please consider attending the hearing, along with other members of your organization (or with friends!).

The details of the meeting are below, and the legislation and talking points are attached.

Tuesday, February 26th, at 2 PM in City-Council Chambers
5th Floor, 414 Grant Street

If you would like to make a public comment, please call Linda Johnson-Wassler in advance at 412-255-2138 to sign up.

If you have other questions about the meeting, please call Dan Gilman at 412-255-2133.

Links:

Post-Gazette article announcing the introduction of this legislation:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08007/847284-53.stm

Recent City Paper article with quotes from both sides of the debate:
http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A42016

Thanks in advance!

Julia Nagle
(contact deleted by blog owner)

---

Talking Points for the PEDUTO CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM


- Legislation limits the amount any individual can donate to a candidate to $2,500 per year

- Legislation limits the amount any Political Action Committee donations to $5,000 per year

- If a candidate spends more than $250,000 of their own money, the contribution limits for all other candidates double

- Limits the amount a candidate can raise in non-election years. A mayoral candidate can raise no more than $250,000, a controller candidate $100,000, and a council candidate $75,000.

- Prohibits any individual or business that contributes the maximum to a candidate from receiving any no-bid contracts from the City.

- Calls on the City Controller to place all campaign finance reports online

- Requires the Ethics Board to advertise the contribution limits and other aspects of the campaign finance regulations

- May take violators to court for an injunction

- Ethics Board has right to punish for violations

Full bill from Google Document

Costs for 2014 Games have doubled - Tuesday February 19, 2008 11:43AM

SI.com - More Sports - Costs for 2014 Games have doubled - Tuesday February 19, 2008 11:43AM Russia was awarded the games last year, with an ambitious plan to build almost all facilities from scratch at the Black Sea resort. Among them was an elaborate light-rail system leading from the seaside ice-sport venues to the snow sports locations in the Caucasus Mountains 30 miles sway.

Dutch lawmaker calls for Olympic boycott

SI.com - More Sports - Dutch lawmaker calls for Oly boycott - Tuesday February 19, 2008 9:44AM: "Voordewind also suggested setting up a venue in Beijing during the games where visitors can discuss human rights.

He expected opposition from organizers, but said, 'If the Chinese are against the plan, that means they are against human rights.'

Voordewind has only just begun enlisting world support. Neither the Dutch government nor the Olympic Committee have backed him."

Well, there is ONE place to eat Kosher food in Beijing. Perhaps that venue can be a place to chat about human rights.

Did Dan Onorato or Luke Ravenstahl visit with this guy while in the Netherlands?

Perhaps I should.