Lisbon – Jerónimos Monastery and the Church of Santa Maria de Belém

Exterior of the Jerónimos Monastery and the Church of Santa Maria de Belém

Dear Commons Community,

Yesterday, Elaine and I visited  the Jerónimos Monastery and the Church of Santa Maria de Belém.  They share a site in the Parish of Belem that is part of the of Lisbon Municipality. The Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery  is a former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome.  It is one of the most prominent examples of the late Portuguese Gothic Manueline style of architecture in Lisbon. It was erected in the early 1500s near the launch point of Vasco da Gama‘s first journey. In 1880, da Gama’s remains were moved to a new carved tomb in the nave of the  Church, only a few meters away from the tombs of King  Manuel I and Queen Maria. In 1983, the Jerónimos Monastery was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tomorrow we leave Lisbon for two days in Sintra!

Tony

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Jerónimos Cloister Courtyard

Elaine

The Second Level of the Jerónimos Cloister

Main Altar of the Church of Santa Maria de Belém

Tomb of Vasco da Gama

Tomb of Manuel I and Queen Maria

In Lisbon – The Arch!

The Rua Augusta Arch

Dear Commons Community,

After a pleasant overnight flight, Elaine and I arrived in Lisbon late yesterday morning.

AlmaLusa Hotel

We are staying at AlmaLusa, a boutique hotel in an 18th century building, on the Praça (Plaza) de Município.

Praça do Comércio

Our hotel is a one minute walk to the Rua Augusta Arch (Portuguese: Arco da Rua Augusta), a stone, memorial historical building on the Praça do Comércio.  It was built to commemorate the city’s reconstruction after an earthquake and tsunami completely destroyed Lisbon in 1755.  It has six columns and is adorned with statues of various historical figures.  In the center of the Praça do Comércio is the equestrian statue of King José I, dedicated in 1775.

The Statue of King Jose I in the Praca do Comercio.

A good first day in Lisbon.

Tony

 

 

 

Speaking Today at the 51st Annual Conference of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions

Dear Commons Community,

I will be at the 51st Annual Conference of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions in New York City today.  The program looks quite good.  If you are going to the conference, I will be on a panel this morning entitled, Navigating Generative AI in Higher Education: Implications for Pedagogy, Research, and Collective Bargaining.  It meets at  10:45 am – 12:15 pm ET (C201-202). On the panel with me will be: Kyle Arnone, AFT Collective Bargaining Center, Amanda M. Blair, Associate, Fisher & Phillips LLP, and Rob Weil, AFT Director of Policy, Research and Field Services.

If you are going to the Conference, I would love to see you!

Tony

Biden Takes Down Trump at DC Roast:  “two candidates have clinched their party’s nomination for president. But one is too old, too mentally unfit for the job…”  “The other’s me,”  

Dear Commons Community,

The big news this week, President Joe Biden said at a Washington roast, was that two candidates had clinched their party’s nomination for president. But one was too old, too mentally unfit for the job, he said.

“The other’s me,” Biden quipped.

The digs against Republican Donald Trump kept coming from the president at the annual Gridiron Club and Foundation Dinner, as Biden deflected ongoing criticism that his memory is hazy and he appears confused, instead highlighting moments when the 77-year-old Trump has slipped up, too.  As reported by The Associated Press.

“Don’t tell him, he thinks he’s running against Barack Obama, that’s what he said,” said Biden, 81, who also quipped that he was staying up way past his bedtime.

It was the first time Biden has attended the dinner during his presidency, and comes as the 2024 election looms and the rematch between Biden and Trump heats up. The annual bacchanalia, now in its 139th year, traces its history to 1885 — that was the year President Grover Cleveland refused to attend. Every president since has come to at least one Gridiron.

Biden veered quickly into the somber, though, highlighting what he sees as a real threat to democracy should Trump — who continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen — return to the White House. The speech had echoes of Biden’s campaign remarks, criticizing Trump as well as too soft on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We live in an unprecedented moment in democracy,” he said. “An unprecedented moment for history. Democracy and freedom are literally under attack. Putin’s on the march in Europe. My predecessor bows down to him and says to him, ‘do whatever the hell you want.’”

Biden then introduced the Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

“We will not bow down. They will not bow down, and I will not bow down,” he said.

Biden, dressed in white-tie attire as is the custom, brought his daughter Ashley.

The dinner has a reputation as a night of bipartisan mirth, and was jam-packed with politicians and who’s-who of Washington, including Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, at least eight other Cabinet members, at least five members of Congress, five governors and at least five ambassadors. Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who’s in town for St. Patrick’s Day, also attended.

Also speaking at the dinner were Harris, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican.

Biden closed out the dinner, speaking about the importance of a free press. Although he may not agree with everything the news media prints, he said, he understands the necessity of journalism and said he was still working to bring home journalists Evan Gershovich and Austin Tice, one held in Russia, the other who disappeared during a reporting trip in Syria.

“Good journalism holds a mirror up to society,” he said. “We need you.”

Amen!

Tony

 

Artificial Intelligence ‘assistant’ being tested by NYC teachers to create lesson plans!

Dear Commons Community,

An artificial intelligence program from South America that creates lesson plans for teachers is now being piloted in several Brooklyn high schools. As reported by The New York Post.

Teachers in northern Brooklyn are being trained on how to use YourWai, an AI “teaching assistant” created by developers in Colombia for the company Learning Innovation Catalyst, Superintendent Janice Ross announced at a parent council meeting on Wednesday.

“Teachers spend hours creating lesson plans. They should not be doing that anymore,” said Ross, who oversees high schools in Sunset Park, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy, Brownsville and East New York.

Teachers can enter students’ needs and the standards they want into the app and a lesson plan will be generated, Ross explained at the Citywide Council for High Schools meeting. She called it a “game changer” that will give teachers more time to “think creatively” and less time spent creating curricula.

“Will it take time, will we have to adjust it if you want more of this, want more of that? Yes,” Ross added. “We can never replace humans.”

But some educators and observers warned AI lesson planning is concerning on many levels: fledgling AI systems have been shown to lean left and present absurd historical inaccuracies, and lesson planning itself is an essential and creative teaching activity.

“The mistake is to see lesson planning as drudgery that can be off-loaded to a machine,” Brooklyn College and CUNY Grad Center education professor David Bloomfield told The Post.

“Using AI, like long-available commercial or free materials, shouldn’t be a crutch yielding sterile, depersonalized work, but a tool that teachers will need to be taught to use if it’s to be effective,” he added.

Google’s Gemini was recently blasted for creating “diverse” images that were not historically or factually accurate — like female popes and Native American Founding Fathers.

Adobe’s Firefly recently generated depictions of black Nazis.

A study conducted by New Zealand professor David Rozado for the right-wing Manhattan Institute last year found “instances of political and demographic bias” and “left-leaning” undertones in ChatGPT responses.

“Another potential problem with AIs creating lesson plans for students is the relatively high frequency with which AIs display hallucinations/confabulation,” he said. “That is, they make stuff up that is simply not true.”

Rozado presented the potential scenarios that could play out: AI can reinforce a human’s biases, a human can correct or learn from the technology, or, “in a more disturbing scenario, a biased system could present incorrect content in such a persuasive fashion that it convinces the user of its veracity,” he said.

“We know that AI can sometimes be wrong, and it must be used cautiously,” Queens Councilman Bob Holden, a member of the City Council’s Committee on Technology, told The Post.

But it is the future, the former educator noted, and has “hit us at warp speed.”

“As we embrace this technology in our daily lives, educators and students must use it responsibly and under careful supervision in schools,” Holden said.

NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks last May moved to embrace OpenAI’s ChatGPT following the DOE’s ban on the technology earlier in the year.

The city’s network of Urban Assembly schools introduced using AI for teacher coaching, Chalkbeat reported in January.

The district-led pilot is allowing teachers more time to engage with students, DOE spokeswoman Jenna Lyle told The Post.

“In order to prepare our young people for lifelong success and prepare them today to lead tomorrow, our students and educators must take full advantage of the technological advancements at their fingertips,” she said.

AI is here!

Tony

Fani Willis Can Stay on the Trump Election Meddling Case But Judge’s Criticism Is Devastating!

(John Bazemore / Associated Press)

Dear Commons Community,

Fani Willis won the court battle to stay on in the Georgia election-meddling case against Donald Trump, but the judge’s opinion contained damning statements that could be “devastating” to Willis’ career, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said yesterday.

Honig noted that the judge made several critical comments about Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, even as he ruled that she can remain on the prosecution if prosecutor Nathan Wade removes himself.

Willis and Wade were romantically involved, leading to a motion by Trump’s lawyers to dismiss the case on the grounds that Willis improperly benefited from their relationship.

Judge Scott McAfee dismissed the claim, but questioned Willis’ professionalism, character and truthfulness in a “bruising” opinion that would be a “career ender for a normal prosecutor,” Honig said.

“These are really serious findings by the judge about the D.A., and these are all verbatim from the opinion,” Honig said. “First of all, there is a quote, ‘significant appearance of impropriety that infects the prosecution team.’ Second, ‘a tremendous lack in judgment.’ Third, ‘the unprofessional manner of the D.A.’s testimony.’ Fourth, ‘the odor of mendacity remains.’”

Honig said the judge also suggested that Willis cast “racial aspersions on the defendants.” The CNN wonk saved for last what he thought was the most devastating comment of all: “There are reasonable questions about whether the D.A. testified untruthfully.”

“Any one of these statements by a judge would be a career ender for a normal prosecutor,” Honig said. “To have an on-the-record finding that there are reasonable questions about whether you lied under oath? That would be devastating.”

Willis has an election in November and a primary in May.  Her credibility will be on full display!

Tony

Mike Pence: “I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump”

Dear Commons Community,

Mike Pence said yesterday that he would not endorse former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race, months after the former vice president ended his own bid for the presidency.

As reported by NBC News.

“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence said of his former running mate during a Fox News interview this afternoon. “Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years, and that’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”

Trump’s former running mate said that while he’s “incredibly proud of the record of our administration,” he and Trump diverge on a series of issues.

“During my presidential campaign, I made it clear that there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues, and not just our difference on my constitutional duties that I exercised on January 6th,” Pence said.

Among their differences, Pence cited the national debt, attitudes about abortion rights, and Trump’s reversal on legislation that would mandate the sale of TikTok, whose parent company is China-based ByteDance.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.

Trump has drawn criticism from abortion opponents for declining to support a federal abortion ban and calling Florida’s six-week ban “too harsh.”

In spite of that criticism, Trump claimed credit for the overruling of Roe v. Wade in 2022, highlighting his role in nominating three Supreme Court justices who voted to end the precedent that held there was a constitutional right to abortion.

Earlier this week, the former president also reversed course on legislation that would ban TikTok unless it cuts ties with ByteDance, an arrangement that has drawn national security concerns on Capitol Hill. Trump said on Monday he now opposes a ban on the video-sharing social media platform “because there are a lot of people who talk that love it.”

During his presidential campaign last year, Pence suggested during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Trump is “walking away” from conservative principles, including “a clear commitment to the right to life,” and accused Trump of holding a position on the national debt that “is identical to Joe Biden’s.”

Many former 2024 rivals have endorsed Trump since ending their own bids. After ending his bid following the Iowa caucuses in January, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy endorsed Trump. Days later, after suspending his own presidential bid, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed the former president.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., a former presidential candidate and potential vice presidential pick, also backed Trump’s presidential bid.

But others have not lined up behind the presumptive nominee. Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who ended her presidential bid this month, hasn’t endorsed Trump and told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” earlier this month that she’s no longer bound by a pledge made to the Republican National Committee to support the GOP presidential nominee. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has ruled out voting for Trump, though he added that he “can’t imagine” voting for President Joe Biden.

President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign seized on Pence’s comments, and pointed at other former senior administration officials who served in Trump’s administration but haven’t endorse him, including former Attorney General Bill Barr.

“Those who worked with Donald Trump at the most senior levels of his administration believe he is too dangerous, too selfish, and too extreme to ever lead our country again — we agree,” Ammar Moussa, a campaign spokesperson, said in a statement.

Glad to see Pence putting concern for the country over party loyalty!

Tony

Gov. Gavin Newsom Calls House Speaker Mike Johnson “a Fraud”

Gavin Newsom and Mike Johnson

Dear Commons Community,

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) bashed each other’s efforts as leaders over topics such as immigration. The two leaders got into a direct spat on X on Wednesday. The exchange began when Newsom, quoting an article about machines used to detect fentanyl sitting unused, attacked Johnson over his record on border security.  As reported by The Washongton Examiner and The Gazette.

“As @GOP screams ‘BORDER CRISIS!’…Here’s what they are doing to help: NOTHING. Actually, worse than nothing,” Newsom wrote. “Machines that could stop the flow of fentanyl across our border are now literally sitting in warehouses. Unused. Not installed. All thanks to the fine leadership of @SpeakerJohnson, going above and beyond the call of Donald Trump.”

Johnson responded within hours, citing legislation opposed by Democrats that sought to secure the border while bringing attention to California’s response to immigration.

“Actually we’ve passed: HR 2, The Laken Riley Act, Bills to deter illegals from committing social security fraud, fleeing border patrol, or drunk driving,” the House speaker responded. “Much better than the Newsom approach of free health care, lodging & ‘sanctuary to all who seek it.'”

Newsom gave a concluding remark by accusing Johnson of blocking funding for border security, also calling the speaker a “fraud.”

“Oops. You left out that whole part about how you blocked $20 billion in funding for things like: – 1,500 new border agents. – 4,300 asylum officers. – New cutting edge tech to detect and stop the flow of fentanyl. You’re a fraud,” he said.

Johnson once again responded by questioning calls for further funding, accusing the Biden administration of being responsible for the border crisis that necessitates such funding.

“Why is the Administration asking for more money? Because their policies opened the border. And those failures are amplified by reckless mayors and Governors like yourself,” Johnson wrote. “Doubling down on these failed policies is why people are leaving California faster than any other state.”

Democrats and Republicans have blamed each other for the worsening situation at the border for months. Republicans allege that Democrats are aiming for an open border policy, while Democrats allege that Republicans are purposefully blocking border security legislation to harm Biden politically.

Good topic for these political leaders to debate!

Tony

 

University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee to close branch campus in Waukesha making it the 5th marked for closure!

Dear Commons Community,

The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee announced earlier this week that it will close its branch campus in Waukesha in the spring of 2025, making it the fifth two-year campus in the UW system to be marked for closure as the state grapples with the sustainability of its higher-education infrastructure.  As reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The latest closure plays out against the backdrop of a larger debate about the size and makeup of, and the competition among, the state’s public institutions of higher education. For decades, Wisconsin’s two-year branch campuses existed as a separate network. Amid declining enrollment and a sharp drop in state funding, the university system consolidated its 13 two-year colleges under several four-year institutions in 2018. Advocates for the two-year institutions argue the move pulled away funding, resources, and students, hurting the mostly rural campuses. They also point to a long history of state disinvestment that has made Wisconsin’s four-year public campuses among the lowest funded in the nation as having manufactured a crisis for the smaller campuses.

Enrollment at the Waukesha campus dropped by 65 percent over the past decade, which was similar to the 60-percent decline seen across the system’s other two-year branch campuses since enrollment peaked in 2010. As is also the case at many of the branch campuses, competition with nearby technical colleges played a role. UW-Milwaukee pointed to recently expanded associate-degree offerings at Waukesha County Technical College — located just miles away from its branch campus — as a driving factor behind the closure decision.

“You essentially have this duplication at a higher cost,” Mark Mone, UW-Milwaukee’s chancellor, told The Chronicle, adding that the cost-per-student is the same at the main R1 four-year campus as at its two-year campuses, but that the latter brings in half as much revenue. “There simply isn’t a positive path going forward.”

Mone’s reasoning echoed that provided for four other closures of UW system branch campuses in the past few months. In January, UW-Green Bay ended in-person classes at its campus in Marinette, Wis. A few months before that, in October 2023, Jay O. Rothman, the system’s president, closed a branch in Richland Center, Wis., and scheduled two others for closure, the campuses in Fond du Lac and Washington County.

Unfortunately, campus closures will continue in Wisconsin and elsewhere as projected student enrollment declines continue.

Tony