Category Archives: Progress

It's been a busy week in the world of international trade. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai discussed the Phase One agreement with China this week but went further in discussing the future. Jacqui Fatka, policy editor for Farm Progress, covered that conversation and offers insight on just where trade talks may be headed. Chances are a "Phase Two" isn't in the cards and she explains.

In addition she helps dig into an issue regarding Section 232 and the Executive Branch's power to issue tariffs. There's another bill in Congress to curb that effort. And she discusses that.

The rapid ramp up of trade with China has been a boon to farmers as commodity prices have jumped with that increased demand. Fatka discusses what that might mean for the future too.

Give it a listen.

Related: Ambassador Tai looks to correct course with China

Beyond Around Farm Progress we've got more podcasts to share. Check out all our podcast links at FarmProgress.com/farm-progress-podcasts to keep up on not only Around Farm Progress but daily updates from Max Armstrong, and more.

And if you want quick access to top news from Farm Progress, sign up for our mobile text service by texting FARM to 20505. Note that there may be a text or data cost for using the service.

The podcast Around Farm Progress goes live online by 3 p.m. Central time each Friday and will engage editors from around the country as well as experts in our industry. You can listen to this week's episode above or subscribe using your favorite podcast service just search "Around Farm Progress" and subscribe so you don't miss an episode.

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Digging in on the China trade situation - Farm Progress

City promising a micro-shelter in West Salem

by: Elise Haas

SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) The City of Salem said theyre making steps on the solutions they promised regarding unmanaged homeless camps in 2 city parks that got out of hand during the pandemic. But officials said theyre facing resistance from residents, after getting a flood of public testimony in opposition to a proposed village site in the West Ward.

Salem is taking a different and urgent approach to their homeless crisis. Theyre promising another micro-shelter community like 2 others already operating in North Salem.

But residents in West Salem say communication was non-existent before the city recently announced their latest proposal a lot along Wallace Road next door to where they live.

Theres just so many unanswered questions and they show up at these meetings and they just deflect, deflect, deflect, resident Melinda Azule told KOIN 6 News.

Gretchen Bennett, the City of Salem Homeless liaison, said she apologizes for anybody we needed to talk with that we didnt get a chance to do.

Salem Dashboard as of August 2021. UGM runs at half-capacity due to COVID protocols

Bennett admitted theyre working through a learning curve, trying to balance homeless demands and community concerns. She said that location is the only city-owned property thats unused.

I regret each conversation I didnt have earlier, Bennet said. Any time we talk to people we learn and we have the opportunity to share information so were always looking for how to communicate more, and more completely.

Meanwhile, Union Gospel Mission spokesperson Alena Harvey said nearly 80 men are now receiving addiction recovery services and shelter at their newly opened location.

For some they were looking to break their addiction, some came from the camps, Harvey said.

However, the 284-person nightly shelter is currently capped at half-capacity due to COVID protocols.

The quality of sheltering this year I worry a little bit about, said Jimmy Jones, the executive director of Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency. Im thankful the city has put in resources into doing more.

As a lead homeless advocate in Salem, Jones explained the biggest issue at this moment is money. He said state has an additional $25 million in sheltering reserve that they desperately need to get out soon, to help make up for the 20% cut to the primary homeless funds during the session.

While some progress has been made in Salem, Jones said there is a great deal of work to do.

Coming in November and December, the city council is going to look at proposed changes to the Salem Revised Code for the siting of sheltering strategies within the land use process.

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Salem makes progress on homeless issues, but more to be done - KOIN.com

Whether it is water for cattle, resistant weeds, or the appetite of three growing boys, some things never stop. And we should not want them to. My hope is that our own hunger for progress never does either.

Progress does not have to mean the same to you as it does for Joe Farmer down the road or even yield winners 137 counties east or west of you. Maybe for you it is identifying a plan with focus on timely decisions or starting the process for the next growing season earlier. We have observed that inputs like fertilizer, chemical and seed prices tend to follow or mirror commodity prices. If possible, leverage your connections to take advantage of current supply and capitalize on value. These early actions can help assure availability when you need it most and likely insulate margins.

What about new technology? I dont mean autonomous tractors, although I can see how they may help with labor challenges, waste reduction or safety. To me, technology is like simple math. It should be cumulative and match our adoption curve. We cannot expect to jump to calculus without first learning how to add and subtract. Regardless, progress is key. Will a new technology have an immediate impact or measurable response? It better. Does it offset dollars, labor, or help with tasks like spraying windows or drive yield within two to three cropping-cycles? These considerations help you evaluate return and the importance of the investment and progress for your farm long term.

Whether your operation is 100 acres or exceeds 10,000 acres, the simple matter is the prism of progress is about you. Just dont stand still. As a coach, I often ask the team the question, Why are we different? We have heart and we have desire to learn and grow with purpose. Always get better. At High Plains Journal, we have four core values that guide us. The primary principle influences the other three, Find a better way. This does not mean constant change but rather constant awareness and constant evaluation. It sounds simple, but as you know, that kind of dedication can make a small difference become a big advantage. That is what progress is all about.

Remember there is joy in simple gains and minimizing defeats. We will make mistakes, but lets keep them small. It is not about hitting homeruns but rather getting on base. Sure, I like 40-foot combine headers, 1,200+-bushel grain carts, and Lebron-sized seedstock, just like most American fellas. What I really appreciate though is the beauty behind simple. Remember that sentiment when picking corn and your combine monitor leaps over 200 bushels on irrigated ground or 50+ bushels for dryland soybeans. Even if it is only for a moment, you know it is possible. Progress is the prize and despite all the economic and environmental pressures, your fight for progress and fire in your belly did it again. High five!

Link:

Strive for progress, not perfection | Opinion | hpj.com - High Plains Journal

Join gaming leaders online at GamesBeat Summit Next this upcoming November 9-10. Learn more about what comes next.

After playing several hours of Far Cry 6 on Xbox Series X, I think the word guerrilla has lost all meaning to me. This action title, which officially launched on October 7, has a lot of what makes this series great, but it also has a lot of what drags it down. Its a fun game wrapped around a core of flavorless pseudo-political stuff, a game thats a regular barrel of monkeys when its indulging in dumb fun but also really, really wants you to think its smart.

I suspect this game has a few final twists waiting for me, so I will update this review when I have finished it, though I do think Ive seen enough of the gameplay, side missions, and critical story to give a good summary of whats what so far.

The game takes place in Yara, an island nation ruled by El Presidente Anton Castillo. Yaras main claim to worldwide fame is a drug called Viviro, a cancer treatment cultivated from Yaran tobacco. However, under the auspices of Castillo and his platform of True Yaran patriotism, the country has devolved into a dictatorship where anyone the regime deems unworthy is forced to be a slave to the state. Now a number of dissident groups within the country are poised to strike back.

The player character, Dani Rojas, is a sharp swing from Far Cry 5s Rook, being fully voiced and having an actual name and personality and not a bad one, either. Theyre initially dragged into the revolution against their will, only to later become attached to their friends and wanting to personally put an end to Castillos rule. They play a fairly straitlaced foil to some of the crazier NPCs, but they are not without their moments of levity, my favorite being their interactions with their menagerie of animal companions.

Three top investment pros open up about what it takes to get your video game funded.

The moment when the villain makes their first appearance is always a major Far Cry staple, and it shows you how big of a threat theyre going to be. Far Cry 6 delivers on this scene, which was spoiled in the trailers. Unlike previous Far Cry villains, who all seemed to take an immediate, creepy interest in the player character, Anton Castillo doesnt even deign to look at Dani during this cutscene, ordering death upon them and their childhood friend Lita with a flick of his hand. Its different but still good.

Credit where its due: Giancarlo Esposito does not give this villain performance anything less than he gives his other roles, playing the narcissistic, sinister Castillo with appropriate gravity and menace. The games script sometimes lets him down, but hes at least doing his best. Anthony Gonzalez was equally good as his son Diego, who has his own character arc separate from his father.

Also, playing this game on an Xbox Series X its absolutely stunning. I know thats going to become a tiresome compliment to games on next-gen consoles, as they are supposed to look beautiful, but I felt it was worth mentioning as sometimes I just had to sit and watch the Yaran sunset. Also, the animation on the animal companions, especially little Chorizo with his squeaky wheelchair, is excellent. Its a small thing, but it gave me a lot of joy during my playthrough.

When Far Cry 6 is being loud and over the top, or when its letting its villain shine thats when its good. It does, however, have several problems that hold it back from greatness, most especially a series of unusual design choices and unnecessary extras that add nothing but bloat. Its a series of little things and one big thing that hold this game back from being great.

For starters, in-game weapon modding is touted as a major part of being a guerrilla fighter, but in practice this system is fussy and no fun. I encountered too many weapons, for starters I do not need to pick from twenty different assault rifles with twenty different possible scopes. Some of them have situational uses or are just there to fill the wacky quota, with the CD-firing gun shown in the trailers being a prime example.

The Supremo, the backpack-mounted super weapon that serves as Danis ultimate ability, is the biggest victim of this. You can find multiple types of Supremos, including one that shoots flames and one that heals Dani (dont ask me how that works). But across most of Yara, the starting Supremo, which launches multiple flaming rockets that automatically seek the nearest hostile target, was the best one. I hardly ever used the others.

The design feels inconsistent in several places. For example, the game is entirely first-person for the first couple of hours, including when youre in the Libertad home base. However, once you meet another faction and enter their home base, the game goes third-person for no apparent reason. Dani can deploy their growing cadre of bandidos in missions in a primitive strategy minigame, sort of like the war table missions in Dragon Age: Inquisition, except you get results instantly. Its a strange extra piece of gameplay that seemingly only exists to give players an incentive to stop and save those captured rebels, so they can join your cause. I did one mission and then never went near it again.

My biggest problem with Far Cry 6 is that it clearly wants to be about something, and even after hours and hours of playing it, I dont know what that is. I think years of taking inspiration from politically fraught real world scenarios has bewitched Ubisoft into thinking Far Cry is some kind of smart political thriller. That would be fine, except Ubisoft will not do any of the work it would take to actually make Far Cry 6 that kind of game.

Far Cry has a list of things it must have, including wacky characters, over-the-top missions with explosions, and animal companions. These quintessential Far Cry elements take up so much of the air that they leave no room for anything more than a clumsy attempt at socio-political commentary. Occasionally someone will make a speech in the presence of Dani that sounds like it means something but really doesnt leave much of an impact. This is why I say the voice actors are sometimes let down by the script, as they deliver each speech with such conviction that you can almost forget theyre not saying anything.

I guess the best accolade I can give this game so far is that its another Far Cry game, and its a good one at that. Its nice to see the return of the player characters actual character. The villain is monstrous yet complex. Things explode. But its probably going to feel like a drag for far longer than it should, both in gameplay and in the story.

Far Cry 6 is out now for PC and consoles. The developer provided GamesBeat with a code for this review.

Original post:

Far Cry 6 review-in-progress: A silly game trying to be smart - VentureBeat

San Bernardino County welcomed hundreds of business, government, and community leaders to its State of the County | Regional Business Summit at the Toyota Arena in Ontario on Oct. 6.

The five members of the Board of Supervisors each delivered a message on critical areas of success in county programs that included education and workforce, economic development and foreign trade, public safety, healthy communities, and increasing equity.

Included in these programs was the recognition that San Bernardino County became the first county in California to declare racism a public health crisis.

Our hope is that the equity element group and the conversations that it is conducting will help us to grow a more fair, just and more prosperous community for everyone in San Bernardino County, said 2nd District Supervisor Janice Rutherford, who represents part of Fontana as well as other communities.

Just like other parts of the state, San Bernardino County was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic during the past year, but the supervisors said the county is still moving forward.

While this past year has tested each and every one of us, it has not slowed down the pace of progress. Billions of dollars are being invested in San Bernardino County in technology, transportation, healthcare, and new entertainment venues, said Curt Hagman, the chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

Hagman and the countys new Chief Communications Officer Martha Guzman-Hurtado teamed up to share more news on these developments, including an update on the TopGolf entertainment experience being built in Ontario the first in Southern California, as well as The Boring Companys plans for an underground transit loop that will shuttle thousands of passengers between Ontario International Airport and the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink station.

A subsequent video reported on investments in the county by Brightline West, Starlink and General Atomics Aeronautical.

These innovations were followed by an interview with Ken Ramirez, the chairman of the San Manuel Mission Band of Indians, who shared more on the tribes economic and philanthropic investments, including the creation of more than 7,000 local jobs.

San Manuels goal is to keep philanthropy dollars in local communities, so that everyone has a chance at success, said Ramirez.

Hagman also shared a video featuring the work of county-based MP Materials, the only integrated rare earth mining and processing site in North America, and KIGT, the only and first African-American manufacturer of electric vehicle charging stations. These firms exemplify the countys burgeoning electric transportation infrastructure that benefits the nation and world, the county said in a news release.

The final business video focused on small business success and young business leaders.

Many of these businesses are founded by young people who are born here, grow up here, and are now ready to invest here because they believe in what San Bernardino County has to offer. In many ways they are community champions, said Hagman.

The video highlighted the work of local investor and entrepreneur David Friedman of Realicore Real Estate Group and Destiny Muse of Grounded Self Care Studio, along with the non-profit Youth Action Project (YAP) and its empowering work through its Black and Brown Economic Empowerment Partnership (BEEP) that supports young people who are working to redevelop their communities.

Reinvesting matters to this region. If we can find a way to develop our local region that makes it attractive for residents to stay, to retain our local talent, the County will thrive, noted Tremaine Mitchell, the co-founder and executive director of YAP.

The State of the County | Regional Business Summit closed with a live acoustic performance by Chayce Beckham, this years American Idol winner and Apple Valley native, who played his number one hit 23.

To view the State of the County | Regional Business Summit, visit the link at San Bernardino: San Bernardino (selectsbcounty.com) or on CountyWire at State of the County 2021 Delivers Strong Message of Opportunity and Growth | County of San Bernardino CountyWire (sbcounty.gov)

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Progress is being made, supervisors say at State of the County | Regional Business Summit - Fontana Herald-News

ALTON - Each year, one of the most popular events at the Liberty Bank Amphitheater Complex is the annual Food Truck Festival. For those who enjoy this type of festival, soon a new Alton Food Truck Park location will be finished between East Broadway and Landmarks Boulevard in Alton.

The project is part of AltonWorks overall plan to help revitalize Downtown Alton. Work on the project has been intense this week, and Alton Mayor David Goins says a lot of progress is being made.

We hope the project may be completed by end of this month but definitely by November, he said. It will be a wonderful addition. I am super excited about it. It will be a plus and really help the front door of our community, especially coming off the bridge with the food truck park, how it is built, and also the landscaping around it.

Goins again said he was uncertain of a date for project completion, but emphasized it should be in the near future.

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Alton Food Truck Park Construction Makes Great Progress - RiverBender.com

As soon as I opened the acceptance letter to the University of Georgia, I ran down to my mother and jumped on her yelling, Lo logramos mama! It wasnt only a win for me, but for my entire Latinx community.

Plenty of Latinx immigrants come to America in search of the American Dream, which holds promises for many of us. For many Latinx parents, that dream includes a higher-level education for their children that they werent able to get because of lifes obstacles and hardships at home.

Being accepted let alone graduating from a predominantly white institution proves that the American Dream is possible to achieve, because against all odds, in a system that wasnt initially designed for us, we triumphed.

Many of our parents immigrated here and worked very low-paying jobs. At many times, these jobs were labor-intensive, but regardless of the toll that these jobs took on them, they still had time to share their culture with us. Those sacrifices are the reason why Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated and why Latinx students at UGA continue to bring their culture onto campus. Although we cant bring our Latinx community with us, we can continue to celebrate them with our accomplishments and embrace our culture while we do so.

Being a Latinx student at UGA has come with obstacles at times because many of us are first-generation students. As I arrived on campus, it seemed almost expected of me to be familiar with college like many of my peers, whose parents had shared their experiences with them.

Fortunately, in recent years we have seen an increase in higher education among our Latinx community. If you share that experience, you know that navigating an overwhelming big school with few students of your background can be very frustrating.

At first, it felt like I had no community to lean on or people to share my experiences with. As I ventured out, I found my Latinx community through the Hispanic Student Association on campus.

The HSA meetings reassured me that I wasnt alone and there were many Latinx students just like me trying to create their community.

HSA has provided that safe space for hundreds of our members. HSA has been able to promote education among our students and promote our different cultures. Slowly but surely, the imposter syndrome went away, because HSA helped me discover the confidence that had been hiding within myself.

As I have come to be comfortable at UGA, I have also come to understand the privilege I have that some students in the Latinx community dont.

The University System of Georgias policy manual has a clause barring students who cannot verify proof of legal residence from enrolling in its schools, including UGA. Many undocumented students have lived most of their lives in the United States. They have attended the same public schools and received the same education as any other admitted UGA student.

These students continue to face uncertainty, as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival applications may no longer be accepted after a July 2021 federal judge in Texas declared DACA an illegal federal program.

Not only are DACA recipients effectively barred from enrolling at UGA and other schools, but they are also ineligible for federal student aid at all colleges. Over 20,000 DACA recipients live in Georgia, according to the American Immigration Council. Although the university is controlled by the USG Board of Regents, university faculties have the power to influence their decisions by making suggestions that represent the student body.

In past years, protesting has shown effectiveness by changing policies made by the BOR. Therefore, during this Hispanic Heritage Month, it is important to not only recognize the culture, but also help create change that benefits the whole Latinx community in the struggle to pursue a college education.

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GUEST COLUMN: Progress and setbacks in Latinx education - Red and Black

New World review in progressDespite bugs and queue times, Amazon Games' new MMORPG is good piratey fun (especially the Faction system), but the early game is very grindy and you will cut down a lot of trees.

Even the name New World feels like a brash statement of intent, doesn't it? Amazon are shouldering their way into the market with a brand new MMORPG, a fresh digital playground that is, the name implies, unlike any you've seen before! In practise, of course, it is a lot like MMOs you've seen before, albeit with its own twists on the formula to get you hooked. New World understands that formula well, and I am a simple creature, so attaching a button marked Endorphin Release to my brain and pressing it every five minutes or so works as well on me as it does on a lab rat.

The world of Aeternum is a sort of pirate-themed, fantasy-adjacent place that you wouldn't be surprised to see as an area of a theme park, and straight away you discover that you're far from the first person to arrive. This is always the funny bit of MMORPGs: an NPC with an English regional accent telling you that you're the only one who can help, while dozens of other versions of you solemnly crab-crawl up and down a flight of stairs two feet away. But still, New World's beginning is more compelling than your average dump in media res. You arrive as one of the crew on a ship that was lost in a storm, and learn that Aeternum grants a lot of its residents a kind of immortality, i.e. if you die you res at your last designated inn or camp.

It's legitmately quite thrilling at the very start. The character creation is cool, there are big weird vistas to look at, and towns where old tall ships have been made into buildings. The colours are inescapably vibrant, with trees and palms and grassy grass shining in a bright artifical green. The setting sun glints off the water in swamps, or filters through waving blossoms in the wide grasslands. NPCs are there to ease you in, and send you to kill drowned zombie sailors and corrupted farmhands who throw lumps of their own vomit at you. Collect 5 bags of this. Kill 8 of those. And so on. There is a story, but you will not care about or pay attention to it. Pity the writers of MMOs.

New World does make an effort to mix up the familiar pattern, though. Most notable is a Faction War system akin to the ongoing battle in Ubisoft's online fighty game For Honor. You can join one of three teams, Syndicate, Covenant and Marauders, who all technically have their own backstories, but are really only different on a vibes and colour scheme basis (I picked Syndicate because I like purple, though you can change your faction every four months).

If you opt in on PVP, rival factions can attack you. There are also wars for the control of the different map areas, big 50v50 battles with the victorious faction getting to set taxes on trades and crafting. Once you join a faction you get to see the faction-only chat, where there is always at least one member of your team complaining that not enough Syndicate players are doing PVP/on the discord/grumble grumble attack the fort, etc. I really like the faction system so far, because even when I'm not participating it does give me a sense of being part of something bigger.

And the New World community, as we might term it, seems to be a fairly chill one, at least in my server. People still sometimes drop to the floor to crawl as a little communal hello. There's a decent amount of implicit PVE, with players helping each other out if someone's in a tough fight by themselves. The chat has, so far, been shockingly free of abuse. I ran into one guy called Rohan Strider who was just quietly cosplaying being Aragorn by himself, crouched in some bushes. I regret that I am not that invested.

Day-to-day your life is more obviously affected by the combat, which feels more action-adventure than RPG. It isn't turn based, and you have to do all your dodging and blocking and attacking yourself, rather than clicking your row of favourite hotkey-assigned abilites. I can really feel myself get better at it, and it's more immediate and tense, but it's also chaotic and given to stickiness on the block button. And, crucially for part-timer players, it's much harder to get away with being mediocre at it.

There are no classes, New World again preferring a vibes-based system where you go with what you like the look of. Different weapon damages scale with different stats, and you can respec your stats build at any time (and for free, up to level 20). It's a great option for players still finding their way, and one I have availed myself of several times. The more you use any kind of weapon, the better you get at it, periodically earning mastery points that you can use to get a special attack or ability. If you use sword and board a lot you can get a defensive shield rush; if you use the life staff you get powerful healing spells. Despite the illusion of freedom, the builds are still all slanted in the direction of Healer, Tank, DPS, your standard MMO team roles. You can technically try being a rapier-wielding rogue who also carries a fire staff, but it probably won't go too well.

The more exciting PVE adventures are still a mystery to me, though. New World's version of dungeons are called Expeditions, and promise exciting battles, environmental puzzles, and serious teamwork for five players in a similar vein to Destiny's best work. But they're also for level 25 and up, almost half the current level cap of 60, and to which giddy heights I have not yet climbed. You level up quickly enough, but not as quickly as I'd like, taking into account that I can't dedicate 10 hours a day playing New World.

This comparatively late level gate (World Of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV both open their dungeons to you at level 15, which I've already more than passed in New World) does, I think, result in a possibly unintentional sleight of hand in those first 20 or so levels. You start off running around doing your quests or your PVP or whatever you fancy - and there's a lot to choose from, with fishing, fighting, leatherwork, smithing, mining, special items, trades to make, Faction Missions, area-specific quests, and soon. But in fact a pretty efficient way of levelling is by crafting. Every time you make a thing - armour, or weapons, or a fetching pair of curtains - you get some XP. Depending on your outlook or your build (especially if you're a squishy healer), going out and spending ages harvesting herbs to make potions might be your easiest route to dungeoning. I've found that I now, instead of being a brave and dashing adventurer, basically just have a job, and it feels more than usually grindy.

The thing is, though, that I don't exactly hate it. I've chosen to be a carpenter and spend a lot of my days in the forest, strip cutting the whole place with a song in my heart and the sun at my back. There are a truly dizzying number of achievements in New World, and I've got my sights set on the Master Carpenter one, partly out of spite at this point. And, you know, a good MMO should facilitate you playing how you want. It's just, I do also really want to do the dungeons.

Link:

New World review in progress: a fresh, swashbuckling MMO that's still very grindy early on - Rock Paper Shotgun

NEW YORK -- WABC-TV, New York's No. 1 station and the most-watched television station in the nation, will air "Breast Cancer: Updates & Progress in A Pandemic" On SUNDAY, OCT. 17 (5.30 p.m. EDT), and will rebroadcast SUNDAY, OCT. 24 (5.30 a.m. EDT), marking WABC's 27th year working with the American Cancer Society. Hosted by Eyewitness News anchor Liz Cho, the special features inspirational breast cancer survivors who share their private struggles to protect their health during the pandemic.

The special shares moving stories of breast cancer survivors who took on the odds, confronted daunting obstacles and want to motivate others to do the same. Featured stories include the following:

-A married New Jersey mother of two had a family history of cancer and obtained genetic testing at age 20. It confirmed her need to be vigilant. With informed choices, she used prophylactic measures that have kept her cancer-free, and now at age 44, she is enjoying her two children and family. She stresses the importance of being informed.

- A newly retired breast cancer survivor of 22 years was diligent with her annual mammograms, which saved her life when diagnosed with Lymphoma. Her new doctor promised her a long life, saying, "I'm going to take care of you till you get to be a really old lady".

- A Long Island resident speaks of how losing her mother to pancreatic cancer left her wanting a career in health and physical education. Involving her students in the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk was an annual event that coincided with her finding a lump. She speaks about the need for vigilance and hopes the COVID-19 pandemic will not prevent her from walking this year, on her 5th anniversary of diagnosis.

The annual special is part of WABC-TV's continuing commitment to the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign. The station has produced a number of compelling local specials raising awareness of breast cancer. Previous specials have won seven Emmy Awards and three National Gracie Allen Awards. Viewers can access resources and information at ABC7NY.com/BreastCancer.

About ABC7/WABC-TV New York WABC-TV has been the leader in local news and entertainment programming in the New York City area for more than 60 years. Producing more than 45 hours of live, local news and weather each week, Channel 7 "Eyewitness News" is the most-watched local news in New York and the United States. WABC-TV also produces the No. 1 syndicated talk show, "Live with Kelly and Ryan," weekdays at 9:00 a.m., which is seen in more than 200 markets across the U.S. Quality news and programming, cutting-edge technology and ongoing community outreach are the hallmarks of excellence that have consistently kept WABC-TV New York's No. 1 station and the most-watched television station in the nation.

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Breast Cancer: Updates & Progress in A Pandemic - WABC-TV

George Bernard Shaw has a great quote that my father used to include at the bottom of every email to me when I started my undergraduate degree: The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. It was my fathers way of telling me university was going to be a big change, and it would sometimes require me to adapt if I was to thrive.

Adaptation is something Ive tried to continue doing since becoming an academic. Admittedly, my stubborn streak has at times made me the unreasonable man (my father clearly knew me well!), but I think Ive adapted fairly well. Ive picked up new concepts,learned new skills in digital education, and designed new ways of teaching and assessment that encourage student engagement and improve performance. Its been incredibly rewarding to see the positiveeffects theyve had.

But it is one thing to implement changes in your own pedagogy. It is quite another to change how your colleagues and your university work. Diplomacy is both a necessary currency and a frustrating hindrance.

Without a diplomatic approach to any idea, project or problem that needs something from someone, feelings will be hurt and nothing will get done. The diplomatic approach, however, is often so delicate, so light-touch that the message doesnt get through andstillnothing gets done or it gets done so slowly that by the time the initiative is implemented, the particular year of students who could have benefitted are long gone. And Im left wondering whether we failed those students in terms of what their educational experience and employability prospectscouldhave been.

Administrative or bureaucratic processes are one classic go-to for rationalisingwhysolutions to ongoing problems are never implemented. But is a more likely culprit the fact that we are afraid of saying to colleagues: Just get on and do it? If we continue to precede this isnt working with now, I know we all do some fantastic things, will we ever acquire the impetus to address an issue evidenced as a real concern in a timely manner? The complacency of everything is fine the way it is will continue to hold us back from seeing that, actually, it isnt and that adaptation is in order.

Take assessment. Quite rightly, one cannot look at the effectiveness and suitability of an assessment format until it has been used for several academic years and the data and feedback from students and staff can speak for itself. But once it becomes clear that the current cohort of students is not finding assessment challenging or engaging or conducive to their learning, it makes sense to adapt that assessment to meet the needs of the next cohort even if it involves questioning the opinion and the historic hard work of someone else.

However, even taking the direct approach of declaring (assuming you have sufficient formal authority to do so) thatthis is what we are going todo results just as often in a tools-down response from those who feel steamrollered or slighted.

Arent we all adults, though? Cant we handle a little directness without taking it personally? Should we not recognise that it is our responsibility to do the best we can for our students, and that this might involve adapting to this ever-changing world? And should we not have the strength to express that therearethings that need doing, fixing or changing? That the thing Frank is supposed to lead on actually needs doing now and is not a mere suggestion that can be kicked into the long grass if you dont like the look of it?

Being the person to say all that definitely isnt comfortable. Heck, Im acutely aware of my shortcomings regarding tact (you may have noticed). My passion for wanting to make things the best they can be and to make a difference for my studentswhile theyre still my studentsoften gets me into hot water. And I amtryingto do a bit more playing nice or keeping quiet in the hope that things will eventually improve; Im not going to being able to progress professionally otherwise especially in this digital age, in which perceived tone in communications is a constant worry.

Yet sometimes it feels as if Im adapting to suit a sector locked in a previous iteration of itself, in which fitting in was more important than striving to evolve and improve. Diplomacy and tact remain valuable tools, and in many cases they are appropriate. But if their overuse holds us back from adapting to a changing world, in an era of mass higher education, then they cant be the only tools in our managerial toolboxes.

Those who deflect or put off change should reflect on Bernard Shaws quote, too. If their pride and inertia prevents them embracing innovations that would improve students experience or performance, are they really being more reasonable than those who demand change? And if they are, isnt the dramatist right about whose approach is the most valuable?

Chris Moore is senior lecturer in anatomy at theUniversity of the West of England.

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Diplomacy is sometimes a barrier to progress in universities - Times Higher Education (THE)