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(05/01/17 4:24am)
The Systems and Information Engineering and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department recently sent a mass email to the current students of both departments about a novel and potentially exciting initiative: merging the two departments together. While the impetus of the initiative still remains unclear, the email, sent on April 20, was the first notification most students received regarding a fairly monumental decision with potentially immediate ramifications. Students and faculty alike are generally mixed in their support of a potential merger. Some cite concern for curriculum change and others hoping that the merger could foster interdisciplinary analysis and study of engineering systems. While both sides have merit, the merger ultimately is an imprudent initiative. Not only would it dilute the engineering focus of the respective merging departments, but it would not necessarily encourage interdisciplinary thinking when tackling enigmas of engineering.
(04/21/17 4:26am)
As the popular adage goes, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” indicating that while individuals or institutions may brand an offer as free, there is typically some payment in one form or another that makes it less appealing and less free. Unfortunately, almost regardless of where you go, this dogma holds true — perhaps a cell phone service will you give you a trinket if you sign up for a plan or a restaurant will give you an appetizer if you buy two entrees. Falling in line with the “nothing is free” rule, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) recently signed a piece of legislation into law which, under specific circumstances, grants select students free tuition to attain their bachelor’s degree. Called the Excelsior Scholarship, students who attend the State or City Universities of New York and whose parents make under $100,000 now (and $125,000 in 2019) will fall within the confines of acceptance for the bill. While touted as a progressive, necessary step forward, Cuomo and the State Senate hastily put this bill into law without assessing the extent of the bill’s ultimate efficacy nor the ramifications of the bill on the United States as a whole.
(04/11/17 4:10am)
When we graduate from the University, we will foray into many domains of professional work — some will migrate to economic fields while others will flock to teaching while still others will migrate to health care, not to mention all the disciplines in between. Although similarities between disciplines are truly sparse and the differences abound, ethics is arguably the most important similarity across vocations. Ethics is typically sprinkled into four year curricula, but it is important for each major and degree combination to reevaluate the content of their course chronology and include a class devoted to ethics, an imperative and ultimately preparative concept to amalgamate into their future professional practices.
(03/30/17 5:34am)
It should come as no surprise House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump’s American Health Care Act, or AHCA, failed miserably when actually put to the test. For the past seven years, Republicans have relied on rhetoric and theoretical debate about the “repeal and replace” of Obamacare. The bill itself was ill-prepared for the rigors of what American health care requires and members on both sides of the aisle condemned it to a necessary defeat. Several congressmen have come out and offered their two cents about how to autopsy and revamp the bill. Especially after Trump chastised Congress about its purported ineptitude, several politicians — namely Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) — came out claiming the Trump administration needs to work with the Democrats in order for the bill to have a chance of passing. Trump’s following, like Jeanine Pirro of Fox News, lambasted Ryan, calling for him to step down as Speaker of the House since “he failed to deliver votes on his health care bill.” Trump and his administration must stop pointing fingers and work with Republicans and Democrats to ensure millions of Americans are not left uninsured.
(03/17/17 4:05am)
The Engineering School recently made a monumental decision to remove major caps and allow any upcoming first-year to enroll in their major of choice. While certainly celebrated by upcoming first-year Engineering students, such action may have consequential ramifications which may ultimately cause them hardship. The decision to eliminate major caps will not only deleteriously affect popular majors, but will also exacerbate the discrepancy in funding across majors.
(03/02/17 5:04am)
As high-school seniors, there are far and few between that did not scan the U.S. News and World Report rankings, scouring every pixel of their computer screen to determine their choice for college. Those same high school seniors years later, once again typically flock to U.S. News and World Report for rankings on graduate schools for their desired career trajectory. Unfortunately, while perhaps good intentioned, the U.S. News and World Report rankings are a true debacle and should undergo a serious overhaul to prevent tainting student’s minds with subjective, obfuscated and sometimes blatantly erroneous academic hierarchies.
(02/27/17 5:00am)
The Indian government attempted Nov. 8 to embark on an unprecedented journey to demonetize the Indian currency, opting instead to forcibly upregulate the use of credit and debit cards. Specifically, the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced the discontinuation of the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, opting instead for new 500 and 2,000 rupee notes. This endeavor consisted of a chronic attempt to decrease the quantity of cash bills in circulation, especially since clandestine and nefarious dealings, as well as terrorist activities, often find their means through cash. Even though the Indian government does have India’s best interest at heart, its lack of attention to detail and its misdirected attempt to combat corrupt and terrorist dealings might ultimately cause the second most populous nation to find themselves belly up.
(02/16/17 5:37am)
The phrase “same concept, different circumstances” is what characterizes and contextualizes the recent war on illegal drugs, illicit prescriptions and substance abuse in the United States. Louisville, Kentucky and its recent heroin overdoses are just another chapter in the melancholic book of disarray the U.S. narcotics agencies find themselves embroiled in. Louisville Metro Services reportedly responded to more than four dozen overdose calls in just over 32 hours last week, a marked jump from previous quantities of calls concerning overdose. But Louisville isn’t the only one dealing with a surprising level of overdose calls and substance abuse problems. Nationally, the total quantity of overdose deaths has more than doubled since 2007 with over 50,000 individuals dying from overdose in 2015. It is time we channel enough funds to narcotic watchdogs to ensure that we keep our streets clean, our citizens healthy and our medical institutions treating truly virulent pathologies, rather than the symptomatology of substance abuse.
(02/09/17 5:00am)
As President Trump’s cabinet ossifies into its final form, several Americans predict that many policy consistencies of the past are now at risk. One place of consistency is the landscape of stem cell research. The impacts Trump’s administration might have on biomedical science are still uncertain. Indeed, some cabinet appointments have incited fear in Americans who rely on stem cell therapy or perform research or work at institutions where stem cell research is a vital component of grants and general revenue. While uniformly and staunchly conservative, the Trump administration must ensure continuity within stem cell research not only to protect jobs and research institutions from bankruptcy, but to also preserve a therapy that might actually be a panacea for a range of maladies.
(02/02/17 5:03am)
With the end of syllabus week, most students have already spent several hundred dollars on bulky textbooks for their new classes. Coupled with the cost of tuition, living accommodation fees and food expenses, the often exorbitant prices associated with textbooks seem like the final straws that break the camel’s back. In a technologically savvy age, it’s time that we bring open sourcing to textbooks so that everyone can have access to course materials and can channel their fiscal resources to more immediate needs.
(11/15/16 5:03am)
About one month ago, the Centers for Disease Control published their 2016-17 vaccination recommendations for all individuals six months or older, marking another instance of the long war between those who advocate vaccine use and those who decry them. Indeed, for several decades the world has experienced a shift towards vaccine implementation. But with more than 71.6 percent of all U.S. children being vaccinated for a broad range of diseases as of 2014, according to the CDC, the lingering 28.4 percent can still bring devastating and debilitating consequences to our national population. What we need is a national, all-encompassing child vaccinations program.
(11/03/16 5:08am)
While diagnoses are still made at clinics and hospitals, more and more individuals find themselves navigating through online, public medical databases to determine the cause of their symptoms. Sites like WebMD and Mayo Clinic help provide non-clinicians medical information they can use to gain insight into their illness or disease. To some, this domesticity of medicine is helpful, as it provides a conduit through which everyday individuals can understand pathogens and how their body reacts to them. If the illness can be preliminarily evaluated and treated with over-the-counter medications, these sites allow would-be patients to manage their symptoms at home rather than rush to a possibly inundated triage room. And even if the illness is indeed serious, at least the individual who has done prior online research can present a greater understanding of his or her prognosis to the their physician.
(10/31/16 11:15am)
No matter how long the professor lectures or how interested you are in the subject, true acquisition of knowledge and meaningful inquiry often take place outside the lecture hall. As more and more University students gain exposure to various disciplines of science, math, politics, engineering and literature among others, research is something that should be strongly encouraged by not only faculty, but organizations around Grounds. While the Undergraduate Research Network, or URN, has shed its label as a neophyte organization a while ago, it requires assistance from faculty and other CIOs on Grounds to become the behemoth of research it should be. To this effect, and with collaboration from faculty and other CIOs, students can challenge the current literature of any discipline and embark on a meaningful, intellectual journey to inform the community at large.
(10/20/16 4:10am)
A couple weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg posted a live video of Facebook’s newest initiative: Virtual Reality. In reality, the virtual reality initiative is actually rooted in Facebook’s recently acquired sister company, Oculus. The initiative put on by Oculus and Facebook is a phenomenal step toward making virtual reality a staple of education, something that desperately needs to be done in order to ensure education is progressing with the 21st century.
(10/17/16 4:00am)
The recent surfacing of Douglas Muir’s defamatory comments toward the Black Lives Matter movement is illustrative of how much change still must occur before we can live in a true meritocracy — one in which we do not devalue or slander other demographic groups on the basis of the color of their skin or gender identification. Now, the comments do not necessarily reflect the University’s lack of advocacy. In fact, with organizations such as Green Dot among many others that promote advocacy for others, the University arguably has one of the strongest movements of advocacy of any organization in the United States. Still, the University and its governing officials can do more to ensure that once we leave this University, we are sensitive and supportive of others in whatever discipline or work force we choose to enter.
(10/05/16 9:29am)
Amidst the ruckus of the impending presidential elections, the EpiPen and its increasing cost have recently come under fire. Highlighted by a recent New York Times article, the case of the EpiPen and its disgustingly high cost is nothing new. Almost annually, pharmaceutical executives discreetly increase the prices of a much-needed product only until Congress scolds the corporations, to which the typical executive “pleads innocence and gives as little information as possible.” However, if this pattern is indeed perennial, why has it continued to persist, especially when devices as medically critical as EpiPens have become unavailable to the masses?
(09/28/16 12:38pm)
Come November, University students will have a lot to be anxious about, such as the impending presidential elections and inundation with tests, projects, problem sets and course work. An additional source of frustration for students will be course registration for the Spring 2017 academic semester.