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CBS Boston / WBZ | MIT Conference To Focus On Space Travel For The Public CBS Boston / WBZ The New Space Age conference is being held Saturday at the Samberg Conference Center. The discussion focuses on the new space race as private companies continue to create and expand a new commercial market for space travel. Participants will ... |
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MIT Conference To Focus On Space Travel For The Public - CBS Boston / WBZ
United State Congress has passed a huge funding bill that gives NASA $19.5 billion for space exploration and has presented it to the president. The NASA Authorization Act of 2017 is focused on transforming NASA back into the great scientific organization it was during the Apollo Program. The bill authorizes NASA programs like the Space Station, deep space exploration, and asteroid redirect missions for 2017. Also included in the bill is a mandate for human space travel to Mars in 2033.
As part of the mission, Congress has asked NASA to create an initial human exploration roadmap by December 2017. The roadmap, which NASA has been working on for a while, is a step by step guide on how to get to Mars. It includes ever expanding stages of space travel starting with low-Earth orbit, then cislunar space, and culminating in the mission to Mars. NASA calls these stages Earth Reliant, Proving Ground, and Earth Independent.
The authorization report;
SEC. 435. MARS 2033 REPORT.
(a) In General.Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall contract with an independent, non-governmental systems engineering and technical assistance organization to study a Mars human space flight mission to be launched in 2033.
(b) Contents.The study shall include
(1) a technical development, test, fielding, and operations plan using the Space Launch System, Orion, and other systems to successfully launch such a Mars human space flight mission by 2033;
(2) an annual budget profile, including cost estimates, for the technical development, test, fielding, and operations plan to carry out a Mars human space flight mission by 2033; and
(3) a comparison of the annual budget profile to the 5-year budget profile contained in the Presidents budget request for fiscal year 2017 under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code.
(c) Report.Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the study, including findings and recommendations regarding the Mars 2033 human space flight mission described in subsection (a).
(d) Assessment.Not later than 60 days after the date the report is submitted under subsection (c), the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an assessment by the NASA Advisory Council of whether the proposal for a Mars human space flight mission to be launched in 2033 is in the strategic interests of the United States in space exploration.
NASA has often been criticized for being slow to adapt to change and advancements in technology. They have their old ways of doing things and are traditionally very hesitant to explore new options. This has given rise to the private space industry and companies like SpaceX.
Ever since Apollo 11, NASA has had its sights set on Mars as the new final frontier. The Curiosity and 2020 rovers are key tools in discovering what resources Mars has to offer. This funding bill and Mars mandate has the space community rejoicing; and for good reason. Were one step closer to what will arguably be the greatest event in human exploration, ever.
Source: Techspot
Innocent Korie is an ICT and Project Management Professional with very good flair in business development, and social media management. He has a degree in Electronic & Computer Engineering. He is currently stationed at the Online Unit of Nigerian Television Authority
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Greg Fischer
After months of uncertainty and a continued push from some Ascension residents Parish President Kenny Matassa was indicted by a grand jury on Friday, March 10, 2017.
Gonzales businessman Olin Berthelot was indicted separately. Both men are officially charged with offering a bribe to former candidate for Gonzales City Council, Wayne Lawson. This was said to be done in order to get Lawson to drop out of the council race, last Summer.
"Those indictments were based on a bribery scheme perfected by Mr. Matassa and Mr. Berthelot wherein they attempted to induce a candidate for a city council election to withdraw in exchange for cash and political favors," Brandon J. Fremin, Director of the Criminal Division with the Attorney General said.
Their bonds have been set at $5,000 each. The men now have warrants out for their arrest but will most likely be given a chance to turn themselves in, according to Assistant Attorney General Jeff Traylor, who will also serve as lead prosecutor. They will likely post bond.
The jury began their proceedings at 10:30 a.m., and finished near 3 p.m.
"Attorney General Jeff Landry has on many occasions said that public officials have to be held accountable for their actions," Fremin said. "They must hold themselves to a higher standard. They must be fair, honest and ethical, and that they must follow the law. If that does not happen it undermines the public trust in our system of government, and that is absolutely unacceptable."
Berthelot's lawyer Steven Moore maintains that his client is not guilty. He said particularly that he would like the case to play out in the courtroom.
"I think I should let it play out in the courtrooms," Moore said. "And not in the media, and not in blogs that people have, and just kind of let that ridiculousness go away."
Moore is most likely referring to a July 31 blog posted in the Pelican Post, owned by Wade Petit, who posted a video of the bribe almost as it occurred. And which can still be viewed as of today.
However, both sides maintain that this is just the beginning.
"At the outset, we started this investigation at the request of the locals here," Fremin said. "Following the recusal of attorney Ricky Babin, our attorneys took the lead in the case, brought the case to the grand jury, which culminated in the events for which we're here right now."
The charge carries 0-2 years imprisonment with or without hard labor, or a maximum $2,000 fine, according to Fremin.
Follow Greg on Twitter @AscensionEditor
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Ascension Parish President Matassa indicted - Weekly Citizen
Researchers take big step forward in nanotech-based drugs ... Science Daily New research takes a step forward in the understanding of nanoparticles and how they can best be used to deliver drugs. |
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Researchers take big step forward in nanotech-based drugs ... - Science Daily
By Jorge Silva | WAT BANG PHRA, Thailand
WAT BANG PHRA, Thailand Deep in trances, devotees of a Thai temple charged through gathered crowds on Saturday mimicking the beasts on their tattoos.
Some had their hands curled into tiger claws, some became crocodiles, some were transformed into Hanuman, the monkey god.
The annual tattoo festival at Wat Bang Phra, about 80 km (50 miles) from Bangkok, draws thousands of devotees every year who come to recharge the power of sacred Sak Yant tattoos.
The tattoos are inked by Buddhist monks using sharpened bamboo sticks or long metal needles. Originally etched for warriors needing protection in battle, they are also believed to bring luck and give strength.
But every year, their magic power needs to be restored at the festival, where thousands of devotees pay their respects to the temples master tattooist.
Not everyone goes into a trance. Those who do take on the characteristics of their tattoos. They try to charge toward the temple, but are held back by a wall of temple guards and soldiers.
(Writing by Matthew Tostevin; Editing by Sam Holmes)
The majority of respondents to a new U.S. poll opposed laws barring transgender people from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identities and indicated growing acceptance for gay rights, a nonpartisan research group said on Friday.
CAIRO Archaeologists from Egypt and Germany have found a massive eight-meter statue submerged in ground water in a Cairo slum that they say probably depicts revered Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.
BERLIN Turkey expressed hopes on Friday for a revival of its tourism industry after security concerns caused a 30 percent drop in foreign visitors and revenues last year.
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Groove to the tracks of popular UK band Above & Beyond at a pulsating Holi gig
It's rare to hear of English Trance bands perform at Indian festivals. But for Above & Beyond, who have been coming to India over the years, it is no less than fascinating. The trio, comprising Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamki, are a unique bunch. They have an acoustic and soulful side to their music too. They also host a weekly radio show titled Group Therapy Radio, and are the owners of London-based music labels, Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep. Ahead of their Holi-themed gig, McGuinness opens up about their work and their association with India.
Excerpts from an interview.
Over the years, what changes have you noticed in India's music scene? Ever since we started our label, Anjunabeats (named after Anjuna beach in Goa) in 1999, we have been fascinated by Indian culture, people, food, music and the parties. The Electronic scene has grown rapidly in the last five years. There is so much enthusiasm and energy in the parties. We can't get enough!
Yours is the only EDM act that is into Trance as well as melodious acoustic music. What inspires you to compose? It can be almost anything a book we've read, a film we've seen or something that's happened to us that sparks a train of thought that needs a musical or lyrical solution. Fiddling with instruments, be it a guitar or a piano, is a fruitful route as well.
Have you played Holi before? What's on the gig playlist? We have not, although we have heard a lot [about the festival] and seen photographs. I am not trying to do much research, let it be a surprise. Every gig we play is especially made for the event and we are looking forward to get into the Holi mood.
Tell us about your collaboration with Lagori, the Indian band. They recorded Indian versions of our songs, Sun & Moon and We Are All We Need (using a sitar and various other Indian instruments). They are available on YouTube. They rewrote the verses but used the choruses from the original versions.
Do you plan to use Indian instruments in your tracks? None of us play or own Indian instruments. It is odd because our record label is named after an Indian beach that was influential in creating a Trance scene in India. We have always felt close to the country and its people, though.
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Michele Mandel, Postmedia Network Mar 10, 2017
, Last Updated: 10:19 PM ET
Its time we gave rampant political correctness on campus a failing grade.
A Ryerson University student is told she can only use feminist sources for her paper and dont bother consulting Statistics Canada. Its part of the patriarchy.
A University of Toronto professor is threatened and vilified by peers and students because he dared to use his right to free speech and refuse to use gender neutral pronouns.
A renowned criminal lawyer is told she isnt welcome to speak on campus by womens studies students who object to her defence of Jian Ghomeshi on sexual assault charges.
When did institutions of higher learning decide there is only one way to think and anything outside that world view can be censored and silenced? And why are we funding this insanity?
A business and marketing major at Ryerson, Jane Mathias is taking a sociology elective. The 21-year-old wanted to write a paper about the gender gap myth but was told by her instructor that her premise is wrong.
Instead, she should write about the glass ceiling and consult only feminist sources. Do NOT use business sources. They blame women. The reality is patriarchy, the instructor wrote in her e-mail. Not even government agencies such as Statistics Canada would be considered acceptable scholarly sources, she said, because they usually reproduce mainstream stereotypes, assumptions and misconceptions.
Are you kidding me?
Dr. Jordan Peterson was bemused at my surprise. I know, when you first discover it, you say What the hell; whats going on here? he acknowledged. Unfortunately, its pretty par for the course. This is standard practice.
He should know. The U of T psychology prof ignited a firestorm of criticism last fall from trans activists, faculty and students when he ran afoul of the PC police by posting a video on his YouTube channel saying that he wouldnt use gender-neutral pronouns such as they, ze and zir. Protesters called for his dismissal and someone poured glue into the lock of his office door.
Wheres the intellectual discourse, the room for contrary views?
This is the thing people dont understand about postmodernism: postmodernists dont debate. They dont believe in debate, its not part of the creed, Peterson argued.
All these ethnic studies, gender studies, most of the humanities, a good chunk of the social sciences, its all gone down the postmodern rabbit hole. Theres no debate. Its a political war. You dont talk to the other side.
Dialogue with those you dont agree with would be giving them a platform and respect they dont deserve. Instead, you just shut it down. This is how it is. This is a university, he sighed. It sure would be nice if was unbelieveable, but unfortunately, its how it is.
So Mathias was told her paper was offside even before shed typed a word. Shes basically telling her shes wrong before shes heard her argument, the professor said in exasperation. Your premise is wrong? Guess what, thats what you decide after you read the essay.
Theres no room for critical thinking or alternative argument. Isnt that what university is supposed to be about?
Everything bad is about patriarchy, scoffed Peterson said. Why does hunger exist? Patriarchy. Why does suffering exist? Patriarchy. Its so pathetic.
Many students tell him they fear their only way to get good grades is to shut up and toe the party line. I tell them you never, ever bend what you think to suit a professors whim. Thats not education.
That, he said, is indoctrination.
So whats the solution? His advice is almost as radical as some of the ideas he protests.
Cut the university funding by 25% until they sort themselves out. Id starve them because some decisions have to be made. But failing that, people have to wake up and understand where theyre sending their children.
Universities have become little more than cults and Ive seen them do serious damage to their students mental health.
Read Mandel Wednesday through Saturday.
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Give political correctness a failing grade - Canoe News - Canoe
Byron Donalds(Photo: Submitted)
Its been more than three years since a school board meeting in Volusia County was cancelled after a heated dispute over what some considered to be pro-Islam content in a history textbook raised safety concerns over potential violence. Dozens of protesters gathered before the meeting, holding signs with messages such as Stop Teaching Lies.
But the battle over what should be taught in classrooms is still raging, and its expanded to the state level.
Last week state Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Naples, introduced House Bill 989, which specifiescriteria classroom materials must meet. It states these materials must provide a noninflammatory, objective, and balanced viewpoint on issues, be free of pornography, and be age appropriate. If passed, the bill would also give all taxpayersthe right to dispute these materials in front of a school board. In Donaldshometown in Collier County that right is reserved for parents only.
Donalds, whose three sons attend a charter school in Southwest Florida, said the bill is intended to ensure children are exposed to quality instructional material that adheres to Florida standards and to provide an easily accessible avenue for the public to vet classroom materials.
Donalds assured the purpose of his bill is not to accomplish a defined outcome.
His critics and there are many argue the bill gives evolution and climate change skeptics a platform to influence how these subjects are taught in classrooms, or if theyll be taught at all.
In the extreme case, is that possible? Yes, Donalds said. But (these critics) are trying to read down a slippery slope that doesnt exist.
Donalds emphasized such changes could only be made if approved by a school board.
Collier's school board is currently made up of three moderate and two conservative members, one of which is Donalds'wife, Erika. If the bill is passed, significantmodificationsto thecurriculum would be highly unlikely. However three seats will be up for election in 2018, and if those are won by conservatives, the county could witness major changes in what students are being taught.
Many districts in Florida are conservative, and those values and ideologies may alreadybe reflected in their elected school board members.
This has caused a chilling effect on teachers, said Brandon Haught, a high school biology and environmental science teacher in Orange City, Florida, and a founding member of Florida Citizens for Science, a group that describes their mission as defending against attacks on science education from lawmakers.
Haught pointed out many people find the teaching of evolution and climate change inflammatory and unbalanced, thus any person visiting Florida who pays tax on a cup of coffee could make the case for teaching creationism and non-human induced climate change in front of a school board. If the majority of the board agrees, those topics would be integrated into the curriculum of each public school in that district.
We would definitely not want that being taught in a science classroom, because, well, its not science, Haught said.
Keith Flaugh, co-director of the Florida Citizens Alliance, a conservative group that helped write the language for the bill, doesnt deny the possibility of that outcome.
So long as the material is presented in a balanced way, thats fair game, he said. We want kids to get a balanced view of the world, not an indoctrinated view of the world.
Mike Mogil, co-owner of Mathworks Tutoring in Naples and a former meteorologist, said if the bill is passed he would use the opportunity as a non-parent to challenge how climate change is taught.
On a scale of 1 to 10, 6,000 I would be there in front of the school board, he said. If were going to teach climate change, lets teach it in the context of geological changes. Not to say that humans are great stewards of planet Earth we are not but CO2 produced by humans is not the primary cause.
But Flaugh assured that exposing children to these types of alternative views isnt the intention of the bill.
Our kids should not be pawns between the Rs and the Ds, he said.
Flaugh said he identified 60 textbooks used in several Florida counties that he believes violate Florida standards because they contain abusive material.
This is not just about pornography. This is not just about religious indoctrination. This is not just about political indoctrination. This is about the total rewriting of our constitutional values, he said.
Andrea Messina, executive director of the Florida School Board Association, said she thinks teachers and administrators do a good job of vetting school materials and ensuring they comply with Florida standards.
People dont just randomly bring in books for no reason, she said.
However, Messina embraces the idea of opening up the materials vetting process to taxpayers. She said it would encourage parents to become more involved and open up an important dialogue that would make us be more intentional about what we use and why we use it.
State Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, disagrees. She said the bill has good policy intent but that the vetting process shouldnt be left up to all taxpayers.
The whole random nature of it would make it chaotic. I dont think theyre accomplishing what they intended to, she said.
Donalds said part of the reason he hopes to expand vetting rights to the public is to help relieve parents of that responsibility.
If you have two or three children and you work all day and take your kids to extracurricular activities and put food on the table, its so incredibly difficult to find the time to sit there and go through that process, he said. We should let the public, who funds education, have a seat at the table.
In Collier County, that process requires a parent to go directly to their childs teacher to address their concerns. If a solution isnt reached with the teacher, the problem would be put forth to the principal, then the districts curriculum specialist and then the school board.
Collier County school board vice chairwoman Erika Donalds said shes not happy with the status quo.
Theres excessive red tape. The process really discourages anyone from bringing up an issue, she said.
Furthermore, she notes some Florida counties dont have a defined process for how parents can challenge their childs curriculum in front of a school board.
Though anyone has the right to voice their opinion during the public comments portion of a school board meeting, many proponents of the bill argue these speakers arent taken seriously.
The school board has the purview to largely ignore them, Byron Donalds said. We all know that doesnt actually put you in the game.
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Teaching of evolution, climate change at stake in Byron Donalds' bill - Naples Daily News
EDMONTON, Alberta Thursday was a bit of a travel day for Oskar Sundqvist.
He got word in the afternoon that he was getting called up from the American Hockey Leagues Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins to the big-league club.
The only problem? The Penguins were in Edmonton, getting ready to play the Oilers. Believe it or not, there arent direct flights from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to Edmonton.
So Sundqvist went from Wilkes-Barre to New York, New York to Toronto and Toronto to Edmonton, arriving at the team hotel late Thursday.
It took a while, he said after the Penguins morning skate Friday. A lot of running through airports.
The call-up itself has also been a bit of a long time coming for Sundqvist, who played in 18 regular season games and two playoff contests for the Penguins last year. This season, though, he has spent the whole year in Wilkes-Barre, scoring 16 goals and notching 23 assists in 53 games.
You need a little bit of luck, Sundqvist said. When I went on a hot streak down there, everyone was healthy up here, then I went down a little bit. You need a little bit of luck for when it comes. I havent been thinking about it too much. Just been trying to find my game and play my game down there.
After Sundqvists stint in the NHL last year, during which he recorded one goal and three assists, he and Penguins brass both agreed his offensive game needed some refining before he could claim a regular spot on the big-league roster.
Thats precisely what he has tried to focus on in Wilkes-Barre this season. It didnt take long for Sundqvist to start producing results, either, with 30 points in his first 28 AHL games this season.
I played in a lot of offensive situations down in Wilkes, Sundqvist said. It gave me a lot of confidence, especially in the offensive zone.
His offensive production has cooled a bit recently, partially due to some injuries, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach Clark Donatelli said he can see the progress Sundqvist has made this season.
At 6-foot-3, the rangy Sundqvists defensive length will likely always been his greatest asset, but if he wants to fill the third-line center role the Penguins envision for him, he has to be able to contribute on the offensive end, as well.
We wanted him to play well defensively, but also when he gets a chance, to take advantage of the offensive abilities he has, Donatelli said. To challenge defensemen offensively, challenge them in the [offensive] zone. Hes done that. Hes answered the bell.
Given his size, one of the best ways Sundqvist can contribute offensively is by getting to the front of the net and wreaking havoc for opposing goalies, and Donatelli said he even could be a net-front man on the power play if called upon.
Its unlikely the Penguins will use him in that capacity, at least right away, but coach Mike Sullivan agreed with Donatellis assessment of Sundqvist. His natural defensive ability is still there, but the improved offensive game is what has the Penguins bullish on Sundqvists prospects for this season and beyond.
We knew that [defense was] the strength of his game, Sullivan said. We can use him in a checking capacity, hes a good penalty killer, hes got good awareness away from the puck.
But really, the evolution in his game this year has been on the offensive side. Hes turned into a good playmaker. Hes going to the net, hes scoring goals. Thats great for us. Its great for him, and its great for us, to see his complete game develop down there.
Dave Molinari contributed. Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG
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Oskar Sundqvist's 'evolution' brings call-up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Whether Darwinian evolution is at bottom a process driven by chance, happenstance, randomness is a question that Darwinian apologists have habitually sought to cloud in obscurity. That might be because, to our intuition, the world of life certainly does not present itself as a production of chance. As an illustration, the insistence that evolution isnt random was the theme of a rebuke to Discovery Institutes Stephen Meyer from Richard Dawkins following Meyers debate with cosmologist Lawrence Krauss.
However, as our historian colleague Michael Flannery notes in a new article in the journal Metascience, Darwin himself was absolutely committed to the chance view as the distinguishing characteristic of his theory. Flannery reviews Darwins Dice: The Idea of Chance in the Thought of Charles Darwin (Oxford University Press), by Curtis Johnson:
Johnson has meticulously examined the role of chance in Darwinian evolution and produced a superlative study. By dissecting the mass of Darwins writings back to his earliest notebooks, Johnson has concluded that Darwinism had a single meaning . . . from beginning to end (xii) and that chance formed the leitmotif of his thought from his Notebooks B and C commenced in July of 1837 to his death in April of 1882. A designed world in all of its parts and operations, he writes, cannot be a chance world in any them; and a world in which chance plays any role at all seems to be one that excludes a place for an omnipotent designer (67). Darwin had to choose between a designed world or a world of chance; he chose the latter and adopted a variety strategies aimed a concealing this atheistic proposition.
Focusing on chance allows Darwinian evolution to come into much sharper metaphysical focus. Johnsons assertion that Darwins departure from Christianity was early and abrupt may be uncomfortable to some, but his detailed and exhaustive analysis makes it hard to argue against the fact that Darwins chance-governed world seems tantamount to a godless world (xviii). As such, Johnsons bold and clearly argued thesis makes for an important addition to our understanding of the man and his theory.
Theistic evolutionists or as Flannery calls them, Darwinian theists are especially inclined to becloud the contradiction between chance and providence, as if there were no choice to be made between Darwins theory and any coherent understanding of Christianity or Judaism. Flannerycites Karl Giberson and Kenneth Miller as cases in point. No matter what interpretation of Genesis one invokes, the tension between Darwins chance and Gods providence will be there.
And that is surely true. Theistic evolutionarythinking is designed, whether intelligently or not, to reconcile religious believers to the denial of their own common sense as interpreters of their faith in relationship to science. Darwin himself, at least, was candid enough to admit that a fundamentalchoice indeed needs to be made. Read the rest of Michael Flannerys very interesting review here.
Photo: Ivory dice, by Liam Quin [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
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"Darwin's Dice" -- Michael Flannery on the Role of Chance in ... - Discovery Institute
The Trumansburg Central School District Board of Education got a special treat during Monday nights meeting when the Trumansburg High School Robotics Team demonstrated some of what they do.
The Robotics Team is under the advisement of Brad Farnham and Jeff Honig. The team is comprised of 16 students with over one-third being female.
Thats a big plus for this team, said Farnham. We were trying to garner more female people in the group.
Teams from all over participate in what is called FIRST Robotics Competition, which is also known as the varsity sport for the mind.
Part of the teams presentation was a video that explains this years game and how its scored. Each year a different game is played and this years is First Steamworks.
The game calls for two adventure teams that can have three alliances each, according to a video Farnham showed about the game. The teams prepare for a long distance airship race by collecting fuel to build steam pressure.
In this case, the fuel are tennis balls that the robots carry and shoot into the boiler. Each robot starts at the alliance stations against a wall, where teams can load up to 10 fuel elements and one gear on each robot.
More fuel is found in hoppers that are spread out around the perimeter of the playing field, as well as at the alliance loading stations. For 15 seconds the robots are autonomous, with the goal of reaching the baseline, scoring fuel in the boiler or delivering gears to the airship.
When the teams are able to control the robots again, they have two minutes and 15 seconds to gather fuel for the boilers, as well as collecting and delivering gears.
Team members located behind the alliance station wall deliver gears and recycled fuel to robots through the loading stations, according to the video. The more fuel placed in the boiler, the higher the steam pressure.
The teams are able to earn points based on how much steam pressure is built and they can also earn extra points with pressure over a certain level. Gears also need to be delivered to the rotors with the goal of making as many of them spin as possible in the given time frame.
Teams also get points for each rotor that spins as well as how many robots are attached to the airship toward the end of the match. The winner is determined by the highest number of points.
The first Saturday in January it was revealed at the same time around the world, Farnham said.
After the game is revealed, teams have six weeks to create industrial-size robots that can play the game against other competitors. They are challenged to use their teamwork and problem solving skills to create the robots under strict rules and limited resources.
We were fortunate enough to be able to build two robots this year, Farnham said. One we are able to use for practice. We can take certain components off this robot and put it on the competition robot depending on weight limits and so forth.
Farnham said the robotics team has also taken a huge undertaking with what program they use to program the robots.
He added that while the team lost four members to graduation, they still have a nice core of students ranging in grade levels.
Its a heck of a nucleus to move forward, Farnham said. Its a great foundation to keep us going.
The team will be participating in two upcoming events. The first is from March 15-18 at RIT and the second is from March 29-April 1 at the Long Island SBPLI.
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A year-long effort to establish a robotics program as an official 4-H club was rewarded this week.
A year-long effort to establish a robotics program as an official 4-H club was rewarded this week. Shari Graber, a White Pigeon resident who oversees the club, said she was informed Tuesday that the robotics club was approved as a 4-H activity, a status she had been pursuing since last year. A big step for us, a very exciting step, she said. The club started meeting in summer 2016 to prepare a robot for display at the St. Joseph County Grange Fair. The final project was an underwater robot that Graber said debuted very well and drew plenty of attention at the fair. Work centered on wire-cutting and stripping, water-proofing, engineering and other tasks, including determining the flow of electricity. The project, Graber said, involved a substantial amount of teamwork and also required knowledge of electronics, mechanics and programming. Every single member participated, which really pleased me and the success of it really united the group, Graber said. Were now in the process of putting robot guidelines into the fair book so there is a benchmark for judging. Future entries will be categorized in the fairs ribbon class, she said. The club is open to St. Joseph County residents ages 9-19. Beginning in April, members meet 6-8 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday each month at Centreville Elementary School. Graber said the club started with 11 members and now has 25. The growing number, she said, reflects the interest in like-minded students with an interest in the field of robotics. There are kids who are good at sports and thats what they do. There are kids in band and they are good at it, and thats what they pursue, Graber said. There are kids who are more engineering-minded, who are really interested in the technological side of things, and the robotics club is where they seem to shine. Graber earned qualifications to lead the club following a training session at Kettunen Center near Cadillac. Her interest in the program began when she lived elsewhere in Michigan and found herself driving her 8-year-old son an hour each way to a location in Fort Wayne, Ind. Graber found that, after moving to St. Joseph County, her son maintained an interest in the robotics program. Graber, however, decided she had had enough of the hour-long drives. The training took some time and, of course, it was a necessary step, she said. But it was worth it. The kids really enjoy this and I think the parents are happy that the only distance they have to travel is to Centreville once a month. The group currently is working on a robot using eight Lego Mindstorm EV3 core sets. Each kit costs more than $800 and assembly involves knowledge in touch and color sensors, speed, direction and sonar. It also will be programmed to talk and play music, Graber said. What it is is a simplified version of a robot that police, for example, would use to go into a house that might not be safe for a human to enter, Graber said. We have between now and September to perfect it. Graber said a robotics club is common in larger communities or bigger school districts. The larger districts and communities have the luxury of stronger funding, but the St. Joseph County club has a small but strong amount of financial support from residents and local businesses. Knowledge of designing robots is relevant in St. Joseph County, she said. Think about the robotics already in use for agriculture purposes milking, irrigating, soil testing, lots of things out in the fields, Graber said. Beyond that, think about how robotics are used industry right here in St. Joseph County. Im really excited about this club and its potential its exciting to see the kids taking such a strong interest in it. The Centreville-based group is called the CloverBOTS 4-H Club. BOTS is an acronym for Builders Of Technology and Science. The club is supported by Centreville Lions Club, United Way of St. Joseph County, St. Joseph County Youth Council, Meijer, Walmart, Western Diversified Plastics and TH Plastics. In addition to Graber, the club is overseen by Valerie Bungart and Kenton and Michele Kelley.
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News Focus: Club offers youth opportunity in robotics - Sturgis Journal
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Hospitals affiliated with Yale, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and other top medical research centers also aggressively promote alternative therapies with little or no scientific backing. Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT
Theyre among the nations premier medical centers, at the leading edge of scientific research.
Yet hospitals affiliated with Yale, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and other top medical research centers also aggressively promote alternative therapies with little or no scientific backing. They offer energy healing to help treat multiple sclerosis, acupuncture for infertility, and homeopathic bee venom for fibromyalgia. A public forum hosted by the University of Floridas hospital even promises to explain how herbal therapy can reverse Alzheimers. (It cant.)
This embrace of alternative medicine has been building for years. But a STAT examination of 15 academic research centers across the U.S. underscores just how deeply these therapies have become embedded in prestigious hospitals and medical schools.
Some hospitals have built luxurious, spa-like wellness centers to draw patients for spiritual healing, homeopathy, and more. And theyre promoting such treatments for a wide array of conditions, including depression, heart disease, cancer, and chronic pain. Duke even markets a pediatric program that suggests on its website that alternative medicine, including detoxification programs and botanical medicines, can help children with conditions ranging from autism to asthma to ADHD.
Weve become witch doctors, said Dr. Steven Novella, a professor of neurology at the Yale School of Medicine and a longtime critic of alternative medicine.
STATs examination found a booming market for such therapies: The clinic at the University of California, San Francisco, is growing so fast, its bursting out of its space.
CHART: See which alternative therapies are on offer at 15 top academic hospitals
[If a hospital is] offering treatment thats based on fantasy, it undermines the credibility of the institution.
Just in the past year, the teaching hospital connected to the University of Florida began offering cancer patients consultations in homeopathy and traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia launched an institute whose offerings include intravenous vitamin and mineral therapies. And the University of Arizona, a pioneer in the field, received a $1 million gift to boost practitioner training in natural and spiritual healing techniques.
Even as they count on these programs to bring in patients and revenue, several hospitals were reluctant to talk to STAT about why theyre lending their distinguished names to unproven therapies.
Duke Health declined repeated requests for interviews about its rapidly growing integrative medicine center, which charges patients $1,800 a year just for a basic membership, with acupuncture and other treatments billed separately.
MedStar Georgetown quietly edited its website, citing changes to its clinical offerings, after a reporter asked why it listed the energy healing practice of reiki as a therapy for blood cancer. Cleveland Clinic struggled to find anyone on its staff to defend the hospitals energy medicine program, ultimately issuing a statement that its responding to the needs of our patients and patient demand.
And the director of an alternative medicine program at another prestigious hospital declined to speak on the record out of fear, he said, that his remarks would be construed as fake news and stir a backlash.
The rise of alternative therapies has sparked tension in some hospitals, with doctors openly accusing their peers of peddling snake oil and undermining the credibility of their institutions.
By promoting such therapies, Novella said, physicians are forfeiting any claim that we had to being a science-based profession.
As for patients? Theyre being snookered, he said.
Online promotions with little room for nuance
The counterargument: Modern medicine clearly cant cure everyone. It fails a great many patients. So why not encourage them to try an ancient Indian remedy or a spiritual healing technique thats unlikely to cause harm and may provide some relief, if only from the placebo effect?
Yes, as scientists, we want to be rigid. But me, as a physician, I want to find whats best for a patient. Who am I to say thats hogwash? said Dr. Linda Lee.
A gastroenterologist, Lee runs the Johns Hopkins Integrative Medicine and Digestive Center, which offers acupuncture, massage therapy, and reiki a therapy that the centers website describes as laying on hands to transmit Universal Life Energy to the patient.
Yes, as scientists, we want to be rigid. But me, as a physician, I want to find whats best for a patient. Who am I to say thats hogwash?
Lee and others who promote alternative therapies are careful to say that they can supplement but cant replace conventional treatments. And they make a point of coordinating care with other doctors so that, for instance, patients dont get prescribed herbal supplements that might interact badly with their chemotherapy.
Here at UF, we do not have alternative medicine. We do not have complementary medicine. We have integrative medicine, said Dr. Irene Estores, medical director of the integrative medicine program at the University of Florida Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla.
But while those cautions may come through in the clinic, the hospitals also promote alternative medicine online often, without any nuance.
READ MORE: Alternative therapies go to med school
Dukes Integrative Medicine store, for instance, sells Po Chai Pills that are touted on the hospitals website as a cure for everything from belching to hangovers to headaches. The site explains that taking a pill harmonizes the stomach, stems counterflow ascent of stomach qi, dispels damp, dispels pathogenic factors, subdues yang, relieves pain. None of that makes sense in modern biomedical terms.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals website touts homeopathic bee venom as useful to relieve symptoms for arthritis, nerve pain, and other conditions. The site does tell patients that the biological mechanism for the treatment is unexplained but asserts that studies have been published in medical journals showing homeopathic medicines may provide clinical benefit.
Asked about the therapy, Dr. Daniel Monti, who directs the integrative health center, acknowledged that the data is largely anecdotal, and said the hospital offers the treatment only rarely, when there are few other options. But those caveats dont come through on the website.
Novella gets alarmed when he sees top-tier hospitals backing therapies with scant evidence behind them. Patients only want [alternative medicine] because theyre being told they should want it. They see a prestigious hospital is offering it, so they think its legitimate, said Novella.
The perpetuation of these practices is a victory of marketing over truth, said Steven Salzberg, a biomedical engineer at Johns Hopkins who lectures in the medical school. If a hospital is offering treatment thats based on fantasy, it undermines the credibility of the institution.
READ MORE: Essentially witchcraft: A former naturopath takes on her colleagues
The debate burst into the public view earlier this year when the medical director of the Cleveland Clinics Wellness Institute which markets a variety of alternative therapies published an article raising discredited theories linking vaccines to autism.
Cleveland Clinics chief executive, Dr. Toby Cosgrove, disavowed the article. And the clinic told STAT last week that it will take down its online wellness store and stop selling homeopathy kits.
But Cosgrove has stood up for the general principle of offering alternative treatments.
The old way of combating chronic disease hasnt worked, Cosgrove wrote in a column posted on the hospitals website. We have heard from our patients that they want more than conventional medicine can offer.
Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT
A booming market for natural therapies
Theres no question that patients want alternative medicine. Its a $37 billion-a-year business.
The typical American adult spent about $800 out of pocket in 2012 on dietary supplements and visits to alternative providers, such as naturopaths and acupuncturists, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hospitals have taken note. A national consortium to promote integrative health now counts more than 70 academic centers and health systems as members, up from eight in 1999. Each year, four or five new programs join, said Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, the chair of the consortiums policy working group.
In most cases, insurers wont cover alternative therapies theres simply not enough evidence that they actually work so patients pay out of pocket: $85 for acupuncture, $100 for reiki, $38 for pills made from thyme and oregano oils that promise to harmonize digestive and respiratory function.
READ MORE: Homeopathic remedies harmed hundreds of babies, families say, as FDA investigated for years
To be sure, not all such integrative medicine clinics are big profit centers. Many are funded by philanthropists, and some hospitals say their programs operate at a loss but are nonetheless essential to woo patients in a highly competitive marketplace. If they failed to offer natural therapies, some hospital executives fear they would lose a chance to attract patients who need more lucrative care, such as orthopedic surgeries or cancer treatments.
The integrative medicine center at Thomas Jefferson, for instance, is part of an enterprise strategy for growth and development, Monti said.
The people running the hospitals are doctors, but they also have MBAs. They talk of patients as customers. Customers have demands. Your job is to sell them what they want, said Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York Universitys medical school. Too often, he said, the attitude is, Were damn well going to do it if the guys down the street are doing it.
Weve become witch doctors [forfeiting] any claim that we had to be a science-based profession.
While most hospitals declined to give specific revenue figures, STAT found indications of rapid growth.
Were literally bursting. We have to convert office space to clinic exam rooms, said Shelley Adler, who runs the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. It offers a wide range of services, including Chinese herbal medicine, massage therapy, and Ayurveda, an ancient healing system from India based on the belief that health results from a balance between the mind, body, and spirit.
The center is on pace to get more than 10,300 patient visits this fiscal year, up 37 percent from 2012. Its expanding its clinical staff by a third.
Duke Universitys integrative medicine clinic, a stunning space with arching wood ceilings and an indoor garden, has seen strong growth: Total visits jumped 50 percent in 2015, to more than 14,000, Dr. Adam Perlman, the executive director, told IntegrativePractitioner.com. (He declined to talk to STAT.)
The centers membership count also jumped, up 25 percent to 885, Perlman said. If all members paid the list price, that would bring in more than $1 million a year just for primary care.
READ MORE: A supplement maker tried to silence this Harvard doctor and put academic freedom on trial
At the University of Pittsburghs Center for Integrative Medicine, meanwhile, our volume pretty much has increased steadily, even when weve had recessions and financial downturns, said Dr. Ronald Glick, the medical director. The center now treats about 8,000 patients a year.
Many hospitals have also expanded into more general wellness offerings, with classes in healthy cooking, tai chi, meditation, and art therapy. UCSF offers a $375 class on cultivating emotional balance (and a free class on laughter yoga). Mayo Clinic sells a $2,900 signature experience, which includes consultations with a wellness coach.
And the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital offers specialized stress management services to help patients deal with conditions including cancer, infertility, and menopause. John Henry, the owner of STAT, has contributed funding to the Benson-Henry Institute.
Wellness programs which are designed to ease stress and encourage healthy behaviors are seen by many clinicians and hospitals as key to slowing Americas epidemic of chronic disease. They dont tend to draw sharp criticism, except for their cost.
Its the alternative therapies promoted as a way to treat disease that raise eyebrows.
Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT
Energy healing takes root
Despite their deep wells of medical expertise, many top hospitals are offering to help treat serious medical problems with reiki a practice based on the belief that lightly touching patients can unleash a cosmic energy flow that will heal them naturally.
STAT found that it is widely used by academic medical centers, including Johns Hopkins, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, part of Partners HealthCare in Boston.
So, wheres the evidence supporting it?
There is none, according to a division of the National Institutes of Health that funds research into alternative medicines. It says the practice has not been shown to be useful for any health-related purpose and adds that there is no scientific evidence that the natural healing energy its based on even exists.
Asked about the Cleveland Clinics promotion of reiki, Dr. Richard Lang, the recently named interim director of the clinics Wellness Institute, said he hadnt had a chance to think about it. I dont know that I could give you a plus or minus on that, he said. Lang served as a vice chair of the wellness institute for nearly a decade before taking the top post.
[Hospital executives] talk of patients as customers. Customers have demands. Your job is to sell them what they want.
Pressed for a more substantive answer, the clinic sent a statement saying it offers energy medicine as a complementary therapy, not as a replacement solution. But its website only briefly alludes to a patients broader care team in describing a full range of emotional and physical issues that can be treated with energy therapies, including autoimmune diseases, migraines, hormonal imbalances, and cancer treatment support and recovery.
Academic medical centers often boast that theyre more rigorous in evaluating alternative therapies and weeding out scams than a for-profit wellness center might be.
The important thing about practicing in an academic center is that we must hold ourselves to certain standards, said Estores, the medical director at the University of Floridas integrative medicine clinic.
At the University of Pittsburgh, Glick echoed that sentiment: Were an academic institution [so] were offering services that have greater evidence basis [and] scientific explanation.
READ MORE: Should researchers study bunk science? Among respected scientists, a debate ensues
But that evidence isnt always rigorous.
The University of Florida, for instance, is using Facebook to advertise a herbal medicine workshop for providers and the public that promises to answer questions including, How can we stabilize or reverse Alzheimers disease?
Asked about the evidence for that statement, Susan Marynowski, the herbalist presenting the workshop, cited several papers and a book chapter that she said showed herbs, in conjunction with lifestyle adjustments, could reverse Alzheimers-associated memory loss. However, at least two papers were small collections of case studies published in a journal with a reputation for less-than-rigorous review. (Marynowski said she knew the studies size and design limited the strength of their conclusions, but that she was not aware of the journals reputation.)
At Pittsburgh, the integrative medical center does take care to note on its website that alternative therapies generally have not been subjected to the same level of research as standard medical approaches.
But the site then goes on to promote dozens of treatments for everything from ADHD to whiplash, saying they have appeared to be beneficial in this and other complementary medicine clinics. (Glick noted that the body of research had grown since he wrote the caveat on the website in 2003.)
Illustration by Molly Ferguson for STAT
Its not black and white
Perhaps the most prevalent alternative treatment STAT found on offer is acupuncture. Its promoted for more than a dozen conditions, including high blood pressure, sinus problems, infertility, migraines, and digestive irregularities.
A 3,000-year-old Chinese therapy, acupuncture is based on the belief that by stimulating certain points on the body, most often with needles, practitioners can unlock a natural healing energy that flows through the bodys meridians. Research suggests it helps with certain pain conditions and might help prevent migraine headaches but it also suggests that the placebo effect may play an important role.
Its value in treating other conditions is uncertain, according to the NIHs center on integrative medicine.
READ MORE: Vitamin IVs promise to erase jet lag and clear your mind. Wheres the evidence?
Several major insurers, including Aetna, Anthem, and regional Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates, cover acupuncture as a treatment for chronic pain and nausea. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wont pay for acupuncture, dismissing the scientific evidence as insufficient.
Still, its important for physicians to keep an open mind, said Lang, the interim director of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.
He said, for example, that he used to avoid referring patients for acupuncture, until he saw the benefit it provided to some of them. I have seen it work in some chronic pain situations, said Lang. It can be very helpful. If it doesnt work, I dont know that youve lost anything. If it does, you do get to a better place.
If it doesnt work, I dont know that youve lost anything. If it does, you do get to a better place.
And while the evidence of its efficacy is not ironclad, neither is the evidence for various pharmaceutical therapies that are routinely provided by hospitals and covered by insurance. Some of those solutions, such as opioids to treat pain, have resulted in addiction and harm to patients.
Advocates of alternative medicine say its difficult to test some alternative therapies through rigorous clinical trials, primarily because treatment techniques vary from patient to patient. (The federal government does, however, spend roughly $120 million a year to fund research through the NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.)
They note, too, that traditional doctors sometimes stray from proven treatments, for instance when they prescribe medicines off-label for conditions the drugs have not been approved to treat.
We do use things that arent necessarily 100 percent evidence-based, but I would argue thats also true within all of medicine, said Dr. Jill Schneiderhan, co-director of the University of Michigans integrative family medicine program. I feel like its not black and white.
This article is reproduced with permission from STAT. It was first published on March 7, 2017. Find the original story here.
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Top U.S. hospitals promote unproven medicine with a side of ... - PBS - PBS NewsHour
I support replacing our current mish-mash of income-support programs with a basic-income guarantee.
A basic-income guarantee is the most effective, democratic and competent way to shift the largest number of people from a life of poverty to a life where income is sufficient to meet basic needs. Our current system does not provide enough support to allow anyone to live a life of dignity, free from the fear of how to meet the most modest survival requirements.
The announcement that Guy Caron has entered the race for leader of the federal NDP is great news for basic-income advocates. He has declared that his first policy proposal would be a basic income.
I am so pleased to see that the leader of the B.C. Green Party, Andrew Weaver, is an advocate for basic income, calling for a pilot project in B.C. The government of Ontario, in early 2016, committed to implementing a pilot project for basic income.
Rather than let opponents hijack the conversation, our goal as advocates must be to ensure that the electorate knows what basic income is to allow it to make an informed decision.
Come on, people of Vancouver Island. This is the only part of the country that voted overwhelmingly NDP in the last federal election. Are we going to let Ontario lead on the most progressive way to end poverty?
Now is the time to end poverty in Canada.
Wendy Devlin
Chemainus
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Basic-income guarantee is way to end poverty - Times Colonist
ADT Pulse NOW WORKS WITH NEST
With ADT Pulse, you can arm and disarm your security system, access home automation features such as, control lights and temperature or watch security videofrom anywhere, through your tablet or smartphone.
Now, ADT Pulse works with the Nest Learning Thermostat so you can control your homes temperature via the ADT Pulse mobile app.
Get a Nest Learning Thermostat Installed at no cost* with ADT Pulse. A $249 value.
*Requires 36-month monitoring contract with an Extended Warranty Plan. Early termination fee applies. Applies to Pulse Control or Video service levels only. See important terms and conditions here. Nest and Nest Learning Thermostat are trademarks licensed by Nest Labs, Inc.
With ADT Pulse, you can arm and disarm your security system, access home automation features such as, control lights and temperature or watch security videofrom anywhere, through your tablet or smartphone.
Now, ADT Pulse works with the Nest Learning Thermostat so you can control your homes temperature via the ADT Pulse mobile app.
Get a Nest Learning Thermostat Installed at no cost* with ADT Pulse. A $249 value.
*Requires 36-month monitoring contract with an Extended Warranty Plan. Early termination fee applies. Applies to Pulse Control or Video service levels only. See important terms and conditions here. Nest and Nest Learning Thermostat are trademarks licensed by Nest Labs, Inc.
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Reese vs. Nicole vs. Bette vs. Joan? It's Not Too Early to Get Psyched for Best Actress at the Emmys Decider For season 3, the focus turns to modern-day immigrant farmers, wage slavery, sex slavery, all loosely situated around a family-run agricultural business in North Carolina. As with the first two seasons, Felicity Huffman takes a lead role as a member of ... |
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The National Insurance rise announced by Philip Hammond in the Budget on Wednesday is not going to happen. The only thing that saved the Chancellor from the embarrassment of the U-turn headlines was that the rise was planned for April next year. That means that there is plenty of time to obscure the climbdown behind a review of the jobs market in the autumn Budget.
Normally, after a Budget, MPs have to vote on the Finance Bill that puts the measures into law. Hence the humiliation of George Osborne last year, when he dropped the cut in disability benefits (or, more strictly, the cut in the planned increase) in the days between his Budget speech and the Finance Bill. Tory MPs were threatening to rebel, and Iain Duncan Smith resigned as Work and Pensions Secretary anyway.
There have been similar U-turns in the past. Gordon Brown had to send Alistair Darling, his Chancellor, to the Commons to announce a rise in the personal allowance in September, the middle of the tax year, in 2008. This was to head off a rebellion of Labour MPs against the abolition of the 10p income tax rate which Brown had announcedas Chancellorthe year before. The most celebrated case was in 1994, when Kenneth Clarke lost a vote to raise VAT on domestic energy. He had to put up taxes on cigarettes and alcohol instead.
Hammonds retreat will avoid going down in history with these disasters because MPs dont have to vote on the change yet although there are already enough Tories prepared to rebel. The Chancellor has time to fix the U-turn so that it wont look quite so U-shaped. More of a tangled knot by the time he has finished, I suspect.
Brexit, Budget and Donald Trump: PM's Brussels talk in 60 seconds
But the fuss raises two questions. One is why Hammond announced it this month when there will be a second Budget in November before the change happens. The other is why he thought he could get away with breaking the manifesto pledge: A Conservative government will not increase the rates of VAT, income tax or National Insurance in the next parliament.
The first is easy enough to answer. Hammond wanted to announce extra spending on social care, to try to relieve some of the immediate pressure on the NHS, and he felt it important to show that he was raising money at the same time. When I say, at the same time, I mean he wanted to make the announcements at the same time, because in fact he will be spending the money before he raises it. He is Chancellor of the Exchequer, after all. But announcing them at the same time makes an important political point, not just to the country but to the Prime Minister: spending public money is easy; raising it is hard. A source close to Hammond told the Telegraph: There is real frustration in the Treasury about this. No 10 want the spending but they arent prepared to stand up for the decisions that have to be taken to pay for it.
The mystery, though, is why Hammond and Theresa May, who was fully consulted thought it was all right to break a manifesto promise. Perhaps they thought, because it is true, that it was a sensible change to reduce the tax advantage of self-employment. (Yes, they know that the self-employed dont get sick leave and so on, but the advantage was about to increase.) Perhaps they thought that no one would therefore hold them to a silly pledge (Paul Johnson, Institute for Fiscal Studies) that the fools Cameron and Osborne should never have made. This is not how politics works.
One of the Prime Ministers big things is that she does what she says she will do. This includes not having an early election in which she could make her own pledges. In which case she has to keep the pledges on which she stood in 2015. She and Hammond might say, But we broke a more important promise to achieve a budget surplus by the end of the parliament. Again, that is not how politics works. You are allowed to break silly pledges by spending more or taxing less. You are not allowed to break them by taxing more.
There will be a fudge, therefore. We can guess roughly what it will be. On Wednesday,Hammond set out changes to self-employed National Insurance contributionsthat would raise a net 215m in the year before the 2020 election. In the national finances, this is a trivial sum. What is likely to happen in the autumn Budget, then, is that this will be reduced to zero.
Then the Chancellor can say he hasnt raised National Insurance. If he restructures Class 2 and Class 4 contributions (to recoup the cost of abolishing Class 2, which Osborneannounced last year)he could even avoid raising the rate ofClass 4 contributions,which is also covered by the manifesto promise. This could be part of a wider change, giving the self-employed more legal rights, or even merging income tax and National Insurance.
Spreadsheet Phil joked in his Budget speech that Norman Lamont was sacked 10 weeks after delivering what was also billed as the last spring Budget in 1993, in which he raised taxes in breach of an election promise. Hammond has time to put right the same mistake, so he will, I expect, last longer than the middle of May.
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The tax hike for the self-employed isn't actually going to happen - The Independent
Alan Morrell Published 10:56 a.m. ET March 11, 2017 | Updated 59 minutes ago
Optimax Systems(Photo: Provided by Optimax)
As a high-precision optical firm, Optimax Systems does a lot of work for the defense and semiconductor industries.
Some of the other work, well, thats where it gets pretty futuristic and sounds pretty amazing. Optimax is involved in still-in-development stuff like the newest Mars Rover and autonomous vehicles think of driverless trucks hauling freight down the Thruway.
Company CEO Rick Plympton discussed another project that would radically change laser-eye surgery.
Its like something out of Star Trek, he said. Its cool.
Melisza Campos to deliver keynote at Top Workplaces event
The Ontario, Wayne County, company with humble roots has averaged 25 percent growth each year since it was founded in 1991, Plympton said. Optimax started with two people in a barn in Webster; now there are 300 or so employees in a three-building, 60,000-square-foot facility.
Optician Jesse Mottler inspects a high precision optical lens.(Photo: Provided by Optimax)
Optimax also has made the Democrat and Chronicle Top Workplaces list for four years running. Plympton talked about the companys unique corporate culture, tossing out phrases like personal accountability and empowerment and discussing a move away from top-down management systems.
Weve always run our company open-book, he said. Were working hard at handing off responsibility and authority throughout the organization. The sphere of influence here is huge ... We have a fundamental belief that people want to go to work and create value and be rewarded.
That includes monthly bonuses, or profit-sharing checks. Optimax has created a program to fund new spin-off companies for employees with entrepreneurial spirit. As for the attitude, consider the word mellow.
Tie dye is our corporate uniform, Plympton said. The business started with a lot of musicians who love the Grateful Dead, he added.
Mike Mandina(Photo: Provided by Optimax)
Former Eastman Kodak employees launched Optimax in 1991 with an idea of building high-precision custom optics and optical components via concurrent engineering or, as company president Mike Mandina has said, To build prototypes while developing systems.
That approach made Optimax faster to respond to customer needs. The approach took time to gain traction. Optimax at the beginning had no telephone and no accounting system because no money was changing hands.
Eventually, the company got a newly developed high-end grinding machine called an Opticam and things began to take off. Optimax moved, first to an old cabbage factory building in Ontario and then in 1996 to its current site in an industrial park on Dean Parkway.
Optimax diversified into areas like fiber-optic telecommunications, solid-state lighting, digital photography and diagnostic medicine. Through word of mouth, the company grew, Plympton said. Were make-to-print manufacturers. (Customers) come to us and say This is what we need, and we make them.
Top Workplaces 2016(Photo: FILE)
That has resulted in the companys ongoing growth and success. Plympton called the aerospace work one of the funnest markets and discussed Optimaxs involvement making optics for what NASA is calling the 2020 Rover, which is set to launch in 2020 and explore Mars.
Optimax is continuing to increase its workforce and utilizing its unique corporate culture to retain and encourage employees. Thats paid off with the Top Workplaces awards.
Thats reinforcement that were doing something right, Plympton said with a laugh, even if we dont know what it is.
Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.
Rick Plympton(Photo: Provided by Optimax)
Founded: 1991.
Location: 6367 Dean Parkway, Ontario, Wayne County.
Executives: Rick Plympton, CEO; Mike Mandina, president.
Employees: 300.
Website:www.optimaxsi.com.
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