Dear Commons Community,

Californians showed amazing good sense by voting to  approve temporary tax increases to raise $6 billion a year to shore up the state’s tattered public schools and university system. The New York Times editorial (see below) reviews the importance of this referendum,  In essence, there were voters in these hard times agreeing to be taxed despite the “no new taxes” mantra of simplistic conservative politicians.

Good for California!

Tony

===========================================

New York Times Editorial

11/9/12

Californians Say Yes to Taxes

Of all the state election results across the nation, few can top the shocking good sense of California voters in approving temporary tax increases to raise $6 billion a year to shore up the state’s tattered public schools and university system. That’s right: There were voters in these hard times agreeing to be taxed despite the “no new taxes” mantra of simplistic conservative politicians.

The ballot measure, Proposition 30, was an audacious gamble by Gov. Jerry Brown. It was thoroughly derided by a well-financed opposition led by antitax conservative groups with undisclosed donors. It raises the state sales tax by one-fourth of 1 percent for four years and increases income taxes for seven years on those making more than $250,000 a year.

California’s serial budget crises over many years have resulted in increased class sizes in schools, reduced instruction time and layoffs of thousands of teachers across the state. Meanwhile, students in the state’s public colleges and universities have faced rising tuition, fewer campus resources and shrinking chances for enrollment. Officials say the ballot measure’s approval will mean that public school systems will not have to reduce the length of school years and colleges will not have to raise tuition. It will also allow community colleges to restore thousands of classes and add 20,000 students.

As is so often the case in California, where the 1978 property tax revolt led by Howard Jarvis became the stuff of political folklore, a new and unpredictable chapter may be opening. This week, voters also gave the Democrats, led by Governor Brown, two-third majorities in both houses of the State Legislature. This means that they will have “supermajority” control and the ability to raise taxes and pass other measures without Republican approval.

Mr. Brown, aware that single-party control can lead to trouble, quickly promised no new “spending binges.” Keeping that promise will require vigilance from voters. It will be interesting to see if in raising taxes for education, California will initiate another national movement.

Dear Commons Community,

This was passed onto me by my colleague, Janet Poley at the University of Nebraska.  The 15-minute video, “IT Accessibility: What Campus Leaders Have to Say,” features university leaders and campus-technology staff members speaking about the importance of using technology to make college campuses more accessible. The AccessComputing project, run by the department of computer science and engineering and the Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology Center at the University of Washington, produced the video with funds from the National Science Foundation.

Worth a look!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Analyses, speculations and critiques of the election  were in full swing yesterday and will continue for many days and weeks  to come. The New York Daily News had an interesting article on the winners and losers of the election.  Besides the obvious contest winners, the list included:

Bill Clinton who emerged as the “top-dog” of the Democratic Party;

Chris Christie for his non-partisanship in the throes of Hurricane Sandy;

Ohio which garnered more attention than any other state and propelled President Obama over the needed 270 electoral college votes;

Pollsters who were fairly consistent and accurate in their projections;

Big Bird who received praise and universal support after Romney vowed to cut funding to PBS.

The losers  included;

Donald Trump for acting like someone desperate for attention;

Clint Eastwood for his nutty rant at an empty chair at the Republican Convention;

Sara Palin who has become a non-entity except at Fox News and even there she was not given very much air time;

Pundits especially some of the cable news folks who tried to make every hiccup that either candidate made into national front page news.

I would add to the loser list, Karl Rove, who desperately tried to persuade Fox News on election night not to project Obama a winner in Ohio.  He looked pathetic with his PDA trying to make the case that there were a flood of Republican votes yet to be counted.  The problem was, as one statistician said, that there was an even bigger flood of Democratic votes yet to be counted .

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

For those of us who stayed up last night to watch the election returns, at about 11:15 pm, the networks started predicting that President Barack Obama won re-election.   It appeared to  be over when the state of Ohio with its eighteen electoral votes was projected in Obama’s blue column putting him over the 270 votes needed to be re-elected.   There was literally dancing in the streets of Chicago and New York.   As I write this, the state of Florida remained too close to call.

There were some testy moments for instance when Karl Rove challenged the Fox News projection that Obama had won Ohio and there was literally a disagreement if not an argument among the Fox News hosts on the air as to whether they should be declaring Obama the winner.    Rove’s diversion was enough  for Mitt Romney to take a little while longer than needed to concede defeat which did not happen until about 1:00 am.  The ugliest moment of the evening came courtesy of the “bloviating ignoramus” (George Will’s description) Donald Trump who twitted:

“This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy!… More votes equals a loss…revolution!”

It is sad to see poor Donald Trump become the laughing stock of the Republican Party.

Other elections for the US Senate and locally here in New York State ended favorably for the Democrats.  The Republicans will retain a majority in the US House of Representatives thereby guaranteeing the need for compromise by the two parties if the country is going to move forward to solve its problems.

Congratulations, President Obama!

You can read more about the election at:  http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/11/07/obama-wins-reelection-to-second-term/

and

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/07/us/politics/obama-romney-presidential-election-2012.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121107

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

After what has been the never-ending story of the 2012 presidential campaign, today it comes to an end when the American people get a chance to voice their opinions.  Please take a few minutes to vote for the candidates of your choice.  Besides the contest for president, there are United States Senate as well as a number of Congressional and state races that are on the ballot.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

I don’t know how many of you have been watching Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s daily updates on the recovery efforts following Hurricane Sandy.   To assist the deaf, Mayor Bloomberg has an ASL signer, Lydia Callis, who is absolutely mesmerizing to watch.  Below is an email by a colleague at Hunter, Sudi Shayesteh, alerting us to an article in the Atlantic featuring  Ms. Callis and her work.

Tony

==============================================================================

Hello and my hope that you and your loved ones are safe and out of harms way.

A spot-on article in The Atlantic re. Bloomberg’s ASL-English Interpreter who has become a media sensation; and, for the uninitiated, provides sound and good explanations why ASL is a visually animated “language”.

http://m.theatlantic.com/health/print/2012/11/why-great-sign-language-interpreters-are-so-animated/264459

FYI, one of Bloomberg’s two interpreters, Pam Mitchell, is a graduate of LaGuardia’s ASL-English Interpretation Program and covers some of Hunter College classes.

Best,

Sudi

Dear Commons Community

Paul Krugman examines the differences between the government’s response to Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina in his New York Times column this morning.  Given that Sandy’s devastation occurred last week, he specifically compares the two in light of the presidential election.    Here is a brief excerpt:

“As Sandy barreled toward New Jersey, there were hopeful mutters on the right to the effect that it might become President Obama’s Katrina, with voters blaming him for the damage, and that this might matter on Tuesday. Sorry, guys: polls show overwhelming approval for Mr. Obama’s handling of the storm, and a significant rise in his overall favorability ratings.

And he deserves the bump. For the response to Sandy, like the success of the auto bailout, is a demonstration that Mr. Obama’s philosophy of government — which holds that the government can and should provide crucial aid in times of crisis — works. And conversely, the contrast between Sandy and Katrina demonstrates that leaders who hold government in contempt cannot provide that aid when it is needed.

So, about that response: Much of the greater New York area (including my house) is still without power; gasoline is scarce; and some outlying areas are feeling neglected. Right-wing news media are portraying these continuing difficulties as a disaster comparable to, nay greater than, the aftermath of Katrina. But there’s really no comparison.

I could do a point-by-point — and it’s definitely worth it, if you’re curious, to revisit the 2005 Katrina timeline to get a sense of just how bad the response really was. But for me the difference is summed up in two images. One is the nightmare at the New Orleans convention center, where thousands were stranded for days amid inconceivable squalor, an outrage that all of America watched live on TV, but to which top officials seemed oblivious. The other is the scene in flooded Hoboken, with the National Guard moving in the day after the storm struck to deliver food and water and rescue stranded residents.”

Krugman’s conclusion is on target;

“Some Republicans have already started using Sandy as an excuse for a possible Romney defeat. It’s a weak argument: state-level polls have been signaling a clear and perhaps widening Obama advantage for weeks…

The fact is that if Mr. Romney had been president these past four years the federal response to disasters of all kinds would have been far weaker than it was. There would have been no auto bailout, because Mr. Romney opposed the federal financing that was crucial to the rescue. And FEMA would have remained mired in Bush-era incompetence.

So this storm probably won’t swing the election — but if it does, it will do so for very good reasons.”

Tony

Dear Commons Community, 

This email was passed on this morning by Greg Morris 
at Hunter College. This sounds like a great activity 
for all of us. 

Tony 
================================================================================================================= 
Students in WORD Contributing Editor Anne-Katrin Titze’s
Storytelling and Fairy Tale class write about facing death, 
being bored and giving thanks to God that their families 
and neighbors survived the storm and are trying to survive 
in the aftermath. Stories are trickling in. 
http://hunterword.com 

G Morris

Dear Commons Community,

David Ewing Duncan, science writer for the New York Times has a provocative op-ed today, that looks at the advances in technologies designed to enhance the human body including the brain. What used to be science fiction is now moving closer to reality albeit much of what Duncan discusses is still experimental to say the least.

Here is a partial checklist of cutting-edge medical-technology therapies now under way or in an experimental phase that might lead to future enhancements.

“More than 200,000 deaf people have had their hearing partially restored by a brain implant that receives sound waves and uses a minicomputer to process and deliver them directly into the brain via the cochlear (audio) nerve. New and experimental technologies could lead to devices that allow people with or possibly without hearing loss to hear better, possibly much better.

The Israel-based company Nano Retina and others are developing early-stage devices and implants that restore partial sight to the blind. Nano Retina uses a tiny sensor backed by electrodes embedded in the back of the eye, on top of the retina. They replace connections damaged by macular degeneration and other diseases. So far images are fuzzy and gray-scale and a long way from restoring functional eyesight. Scientists, however, are currently working on ways to mimic and improve eyesight in people and in robots that could lead to far more sophisticated technologies.

Engineers at companies like Ekso Bionics of Richmond, Calif., are building first-generation exoskeletons that aim to allow patients with paralyzed legs to walk, though the devices are still in the baby-step phase. This summer the sprinter Oscar Pistorius of South Africa proved he could compete at the Olympics using artificial half-leg blades called Cheetahs that some worried might give him an advantage over runners with legs made of flesh and blood. Neuroscientists are developing more advanced prosthetics that may one day be operated from the brain via fiber optic lines embedded under the skin.

For years, scientists have been manipulating genes in animals to make improvements in neural performance, strength and agility, among other augmentations. Directly altering human DNA using “gene therapy” in humans remains dangerous and fraught with ethical challenges. But it may be possible to develop drugs that alter enzymes and other proteins associated with genes for, say, speed and endurance or dopamine levels in the brain connected to improved neural performance.

Synthetic biologists contend that re-engineering cells and DNA may one day allow us to eliminate diseases; a few believe we will be able to build tailor-made people. Others are convinced that stem cells might one day be used to grow fresh brain, heart or liver cells to augment or improve cells in these and other organs.

Not all enhancements are high-tech or invasive. Neuroscientists are seeing boosts from neuro-feedback and video games designed to teach and develop cognition and from meditation and improvements in diet, exercise and sleep. “We may see a convergence of several of these technologies,” said the neurologist Adam Gazzaley of the University of California at San Francisco. He is developing brain-boosting games with developers and engineers who once worked for Lucas Arts, founded by the “Star Wars” director George Lucas.”

His conclusion considers the ethics of these developments:

“Ethical challenges for the coming Age of Enhancement include, besides basic safety questions, the issue of who would get the enhancements, how much they would cost, and who would gain an advantage over others by using them. In a society that is already seeing a widening gap between the very rich and the rest of us, the question of a democracy of equals could face a critical test if the well-off also could afford a physical, genetic or bionic advantage. It also may challenge what it means to be human.

Still, the enhancements are coming, and they will be hard to resist. The real issue is what we do with them once they become irresistible.”

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

You will hear a lot this weekend about the decision to cancel the New York City Marathon.  Given the devastating affects of Hurricane Sandy this week, questions were legitimately raised as to whether New York should be celebrating all its glory as well as deploying precious resources to this annual event.   My first thoughts on this were that the “show” should go on but I changed my mind thinking about how many people are hurting right now because they lost loved ones, property and parts of their lives.

George Vecsey has a fine piece in today’s New York Times exploring the decision to cancel the marathon.  His conclusion:

“The best barometer of the inappropriateness of a marathon on Sunday was the discomfort expressed by runners themselves. Finely tuned competitors, whether of the championship or the plodder variety, knew in their bones and their nerve endings and their hearts that it would be wrong to prance through a stricken city.

These affected athletes were way ahead of city and marathon officials who dithered for days, talking of the glory of this grand annual event, and the theoretical benefits to revenue and morale.

The idea of diverting energy, human and actual, to create that special one-day universe was suddenly passé, for this week, for this town. People had drowned or been crushed by trees or electrocuted all over the city, and in New Jersey and Long Island and Connecticut.”

Amen and we move on!

Tony