Tuesday, February 26, 2013

How to ask for a reference letter? | Wall Street Oasis

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Source: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/how-to-ask-for-a-reference-letter

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Monday, February 25, 2013

First lady to press governors on veterans' jobs

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sits next to first lady Michelle Obama as President Barack Obama welcomed the governors of the National Governors Association to the 2013 Governors? Dinner at the White House in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sits next to first lady Michelle Obama as President Barack Obama welcomed the governors of the National Governors Association to the 2013 Governors? Dinner at the White House in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(AP) ? First lady Michelle Obama will challenge governors to make it easier for military members to transfer their skills to civilian jobs.

Mrs. Obama wants states to pass legislation or take executive action allowing veterans to receive professional credentials or licenses based on their experiences in the military. Administration officials said that would allow veterans to apply for jobs more quickly rather than having to take courses for skills they already have.

Mrs. Obama will announce her proposals Monday during remarks to governors who are in Washington for their annual meeting. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will also address the governors during the event at the White House.

The veterans' initiatives are part of Mrs. Obama's "Joining Forces" program, which aims to help veterans and their families. The program has focused in particular on assisting military personnel find civilian jobs, an effort that is expected to take on more urgency as more than 60,000 U.S. troops return home from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Mrs. Obama will ask states to focus in particular on making it easier for veterans to obtain credentials and licenses for commercial driving, nursing, and emergency medical services, administration officials said. The White House has outlined suggested legislative language states can use for implementing the changes.

Officials did not have an estimate for how much it would cost states to implement the credentialing programs. But they suggested the programs could eventually be a cost-saver by keeping veterans off unemployment.

Mrs. Obama has previously called on states to help military spouses transfer their state-specific credentials when their families move due to changes in deployment. Seventeen states have passed such legislation over the past year, joining 11 states that already had laws on the books.

The officials requested anonymity in order to speak ahead of Mrs. Obama's announcement.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-25-Michelle%20Obama-Veterans/id-d5f1ac08cdf8441daf29d56d8d1c98d8

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Te'o doesn't duck NFL media blitz

?

INDIANAPOLIS - The circus organs had finally stopped piping and the media tidal wave had receded.

An hour had passed Saturday since Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o walked off Podium C at the NFL scouting combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. And now Gil Brandt stood in a concourse trying to summarize the weekend's most anticipated interview.

Te'o had been under the spotlight for 14 minutes and 36 seconds, fielding 34 questions and trying to provide an honest if totally abbreviated update on his oh-so-peculiar 2013.

Brandt, once the vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys and now a senior analyst for the NFL's website, shrugged and gave a preliminary nod of approval.

"Handled himself incredibly well," Brandt said.

Pointed questions were fired Te'o's way about the now-infamous Lennay Kekua fake girlfriend hoax. Yet he navigated the session with grace.

His answers were direct. His sentiments seemed sincere.

"Once you do this head on," Brandt said, "hopefully you get it behind you and it's history. And before long, this can be about him as a football player again."

?????

A night earlier, as hundreds of combine participants were being fed at the nearby Crowne Plaza, Brandt made a point to seek out Te'o. He wanted to measure the linebacker's anxiety, to get a feel for his mindset, to offer a nuggets of advice.

Brandt sat with Te'o as he ate and told him it would be in his best interest to attack all the athletic testing and drills at the combine without reservation. Te'o said he planned to.

Brandt advised Te'o not to dodge the media.

Te'o never intended to.

"I'm like everybody else," Brandt said. "I want to know what the kid is made of. And I've been really impressed. He has great communication skills. He interacts so well."

So when it finally came time for Te'o to march into the teeth of an unprecedented combine media blitz, he climbed the podium steps and looked out at a swarm unlike any he'd seen.

"Pretty crazy," he said. "I've been in front of a few cameras. But never as many as this."

Not only had all 32 chairs set up in front of the podium been full for some time, but 43 TV cameras had also jockeyed for position, with another eye-opening overflow of reporters lined eight and nine bodies deep across the room, some climbing on top of chairs to get a view.

By most accounts, the interest dwarfed even that of Tim Tebow's 2010 appearance here.

Te'o was asked why he had been slow in speaking up after the story broke on the website Deadspin on Jan.?16 with bizarre revelations that his late girlfriend had not only never died of leukemia but wasn't a girl at all -- rather a social media creation by hoax perpetrator Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.

"It was just a whirlwind of stuff," Te'o explained. "For me, a 22-year-old, a 21-year-old at that time, you're just trying to get your thoughts right. Everything's kind of chaos for a little bit. So you let that chaos die down and wait until everybody's willing to listen."

For the past 5 1/2 weeks, Te'o admitted, he has found himself fighting past humiliation.

"You're walking through a grocery store," he said, "and you kind of give people double-takes to see if they're staring at you. It's definitely embarrassing."

?????

Over 15 minutes, the linebacker's mellow deportment seemed to calm the fascination in his plight.

Consider that a Te'o victory, as minor as it may be. Still, the media crush provides another variable for NFL general managers to consider.

Even if teams can find comfort that Te'o has been truthful about the hoax, even if they're sold he can be a difference-maker, they will have to wonder whether the media swarm Te'o will attract will become a nuisance.

It's not only the linebacker who will have to get used to that crush. Fifty-two other teammates will have to deal with its annoyances. And ask the Jets if there was any fatigue related to the media swarm that Tebow's arrival brought last season.

The Vikings will be one of those teams doing an exhaustive evaluation on Te'o. With the draft's 23rd pick and needs at middle linebacker, GM Rick Spielman will measure his Te'o intrigue across the board.

Can the kid play? Can he fit within the defensive scheme? Will he be a match for the brand of tough, disciplined and unselfish players head coach Leslie Frazier wants?

Those assessments should be fairly easy to complete.

Then, the Vikings will dig deeper into Te'o's background and the complex scandal that engulfed him, creating layers of confusion that still haven't been cleared up.

Said Spielman: "We know some things that have not been reported in the media. I'll say that."

?????

In a new phase of this college-to-NFL transition, Te'o not only answered reporters' questions Saturday, he had private 15-minute interviews scheduled with 20 teams this weekend.

The linebacker will also try to provide additional answers Monday when he runs the 40-yard dash and goes through athletic testing.

And when those formalities are finished, the far more extensive interactions will ramp up.

The Vikings, for one, seem likely to schedule Te'o for a Winter Park visit. And they will look forward to compiling results of the psychological testing they will put Te'o through, an exercise they hope can provide a reliable profile of who he is.

"There are a lot of different areas we really hone in on and try to look at," Spielman said. "Coachability. Social maturity. Self-esteem. Mental quickness."

On Thursday, before the Vikings had their chance to meet with Te'o, Spielman had no gut feeling for how his feelings might change.

"I don't know," Spielman said. "Because I haven't talked to him. ... So I don't know what percentage [the hoax stuff] is going to play. It could be, we're fine with what happened. Or maybe it's like, 'Yeesh. I don't know.'

"To be honest with you, I don't understand [some of it]. But I'm not a social media savvy guy. I ask my kids sometimes, 'Can you actually have a girlfriend online? How does that work?' I'm pretty naive when it comes to that. But honestly, I can't answer that question until we get in front and speak with him. I'm sure we'll have numerous conversations beyond the combine."

As well as Te'o handled Saturday, he best remain prepared. The demands of the pre-draft process are far from behind him.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/sports/192768291.html

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Cape Fear region people serving in the military

Pvt. Kyle Edwards has graduated from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. He is a 2011 graduate of Hoke County High School.

Pvt. Jarid M. Adkins has graduated from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. He is a 2010 graduate of Southern Lee High School, Sanford.

Pfc. Jacquelyn A. Sumrell, daughter of Lei A. Sumrell of Troy and Michael A. Sumrell of Fayetteville, has graduated from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C.

Seaman Apprentice Kenneth H. Dowdy, son of Patti L. Dowdy of Lillington, recently completed Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. He is a 2012 graduate of Harnett Central High School.

Seaman Apprentice Alexis M. Posey, daughter of Linda A. and John A. Posey of Fayetteville, recently completed Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. She is a 2010 graduate of Village Christian Academy of Fayetteville.

Seaman Halle A. Lowman, daughter of Tonya L. Carrington of Fayetteville, recently completed Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. She is a 2012 graduate of Douglas Byrd High School.

Pfc. Marcus D. Brown, son of Karen K. and Marcus D. Brown of Fayetteville, has graduated from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. He is a 2012 graduate of Pine Forest High School.

Pvt. John K. Cooke, son of Rebecca M. Hunt of Bladenboro and Johnny L. Cooke II of Clinton, has graduated from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. He is a 2012 graduate of West Bladen High School.

Pvt. Richard Z. Alston, son of Nathaniel Alston Jr. of Fayetteville, has graduated from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. He is a 2012 graduate of Douglas Byrd High School.

Pfc. Tyron Santiago, son of Milagros and Ramon Santiago of Bunnlevel, has graduated from basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. He is a 2012 graduate of Overhills High School, Spring Lake.

Airman Stephen R. Elliott, son of Joan Elliott of Eastover and Diana Aspeitia of Fayetteville, has graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He is a 2012 graduate of Massey Hill Classical High School.

Airman Andrew M. Prokop, son of Mike Prokop of Lakeville, Minn., and Shellaine Prokop of Sanford, has graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio.

Airman Jacob D. Bonter, son of Tracy Bonter of Fort Bragg, has graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He is a 2011 graduate of E.E. Smith High School.

Airman Troy W. Tew, son of Samuel Tew of Fayetteville, has graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He is a 2012 graduate of Douglas Byrd High School.

Items on local soldiers and airmen come from the Army and Air Force Hometown News Service in San Antonio. Items on local members of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard come from the Fleet Home Town News Center in Norfolk, Va.

Source: http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/02/23/1237395

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Gibbs: I was told not to acknowledge existence of drone program

Gibbs (Getty)

Robert Gibbs, President Barack Obama's former press secretary, says that he was once instructed by the White House not to acknowledge the administration's use of drones.

"When I went through the process of becoming press secretary, one of the first things they told me was, you're not even to acknowledge the drone program," Gibbs said on MSNBC's "Up With Chris Hayes" on Sunday. "You're not even to discuss that it exists."

Or, to paraphrase an oft-quoted line from David Fincher's 1999 film "Fight Club": The first rule of the drone program is you do not talk about the drone program.

Gibbs, who was recently hired by MSNBC as a contributor, called the proposition "inherently crazy."

"You're being asked a question based on reporting of a program that exists," Gibbs, who served as White House press secretary from 2009 to 2011, said. "So you're the official government spokesperson acting as if the entire program?pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

Obama's former spokesman said that while the administration has recently expressed the need to be more transparent about its use of drones, certain aspects of that program are "highly sensitive" and will likely remain secret.

?I have not talked to him about this, so I want to be careful," Gibbs said, "but I think what the president has seen is, our denial of the existence of the program when it?s obviously happening undermines people?s confidence overall in the decisions that their government makes.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/gibbs-drones-obama-talk-fight-club-174044860--politics.html

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Microsoft hit by similar hack to Apple, Facebook

By Reuters

Posted on 23 Feb 2013 at 11:43

Microsoft admitted a small number of its computers, including some in its Mac software business unit, were infected with malware.

It said there no evidence of customer data being affected and it is continuing its investigation.

Microsoft said the security intrusion was "similar" to recent ones reported by Apple and Facebook.

The incident, reported on one of the company's public blogs happened "recently", but Microsoft said it chose not to make any statement publicly while it gathered information about the attack.

"During our investigation, we found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniques similar to those documented by other organizations," said Matt Thomlinson, general manager of Trustworthy Computing Security at Microsoft, in the company's blog post. "We have no evidence of customer data being affected and our investigation is ongoing."

"This type of cyber-attack is no surprise to Microsoft and other companies that must grapple with determined and persistent adversaries," he added.

Over the past week or so, both Apple and Facebook said computers used by employees were attacked after visiting a software developer website infected with malicious software.

Source: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/380170/microsoft-hit-by-similar-hack-to-apple-facebook

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On Ethics and Self-Policing in (Citizen) Science

Science is experiencing a boost in enthusiasm and participation from the Citizen Science Movement.? For those familiar it conjures up images of kids, adults and seniors counting birds or counting stars at night.? Having thousands of eyes and ears all over the globe helping a team of scientists collect or sort through piles of data is so amazing. And impactful and evolving. Not only can you help collect data but you can be apart of the research, too. Projects like Your Wild Life allow you sample species in your navel, under your arm and on your kitchen counter. However, decentralizing the scientific process doesn?t mean that the rules of ethics don?t apply. Indeed Citizen Science becomes more popular and diverse, scientists are working diligently to stay ahead of the Ethics Curve.

Meet uBiome!

World?s FIRST citizen science project to sequence the human microbiome. Available INTERNATIONALLY in 196 countries. Learn about your health & change the world!

Now enter the IRB Ethical Debate. Boundary Layer Physiology (here, here, here) Comradde Physioprof (here, here, here), Drugmonkey (here), Janet Stemwedel (here), Peter Lipson (here) all had plenty to say. Short story: It?s complicated. uBiome, said Citizen Science Project would like to collect and analyze microbes living on our body. It is an exciting sounding project and I completely see how they were able to raise over $300K to fund it. But the Doctors and Physiologists (and some Ethicists, too) raised an eye brow or two. The campaigners weren?t very upfront about how they address ethical issues since they were working with human subjects.

uBiome from uBiome on Vimeo.

It sounds awesome, right?? So, what?s the big deal.? For the average person, everything looks and sounds fine. You donate some money, you get a kit, you swab yourself, you *knowlingly* participate, you learn some cool stuff about yourself and contribute to science. What?s not awesome about that?

Well, it?s a little thing, but it matters SO much: You must have ALL of your bases covered, even the ones nobody will likely reach. You must do this first. You must be upfront about everything you are or will do. You must be completely UNAMBIGUOUS. No matter how innocent and benign things may seem or be, you must handle all of the details related to safety, privacy, risk and you put it out there for EVERYBODY to see and criticize before you announce or open for business. Kind of like this:

The Twitter back and forth with the uBiome CEO really suggested the organization was a little defensive.? And to a non-scientist perhaps the Physiology Bloggers did come on heavy handed. But the thing is, there is no light way address Ethical issues. At. ALL. We scientists have rules. These rules are not only for the research project at hand but for the sake of the entire discipline.? When one person gets out of line, we ALL take a hit for it, get scrutinized and in some cases demonized for not being ethical.

This is an issue I address often as an African-American researcher. I struggle constantly and earnestly to present science and research as an inclusive and plural enterprise.? Most of my folks don?t trust human research of any kind ? invasive, observational, even educational research that only requires answering questions on a test. NOTHING!? The biggest challenges I deal with is convincing them that the rules and oversight for science medical research 1) exist ? there were no such rules during the Tuskegee experiments, 2) are taken seriously by all professionals and 3) are strictly enforced with oversight by other scientists and the government.

As a scientist it is essential that we are the first ones to call out something that doesn?t seem right.? People closest to the infraction are expected to be the first to nip things in the bud. Addressing the situation directly, unambiguously and yes sometimes vehemently is required, even for the most simple and minor infractions.? That isn?t to say that people will be excommunicated from school or science for little things, but it about jerking chains. uBiome go their chains jerked and they didn?t like it. Frankly, they weren?t supposed to.

You see, scientists are NOT inherently ethical. Plus, ethics are not static. They change and are subject to context and human fallibility.? Even in our most honest and sincere intentions we ? Scientists ? can still run afoul. And it often starts innocently and small. Left unchecked things can get bad, and they have gotten bad before.

Spring 2011 I lead a three-part book discussion of Rebecca Skloot?s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.? Ethics, Accessibility, and Faith were three of the major themes presented in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and each of the book discussions titled ? Confronting Science: African American Perceptions of Science and Medical Research. These themes are also major filters through which many African-Americans (and other ethnic minority individuals) view science today.

For me the book revealed seven major ethical issues of science and medical research that plagued the doctors and researchers in The Immortal Life and today?s researchers continue to grapple with these issues, too. (Link to full set of book discussion questions on Ethics here.)

1.Consent and Informed Consent
2.Privacy
3.Benevolent Deception
4.Vulnerable subjects
5.Blind Objectivity
6.Capitalistic Urges
7.Game changers

Sometimes we, Scientists, assume that ?For the sake of Science? is the highest value possible. Our training to disassociate with subjects and focus on unbiased questions and yield concise, clear details we can become blind to the pain of others.? I call this Blind Objectivity and it is as dangerous to the success of an experiment as prejudice is.

Using The Immortal Life as a discussion/study tool, in Chapter 7. The Death and Life of Cell Culture, we learn that Dr. Gey begins sending HeLa cells all over the world to anyone wanting to do cancer research.? Researchers could do to the cells ?what would have been impossible with a living human being.?

By today?s ethical standards, researchers are required to reduce exposure to any experiment to a living organism (whether human or animal) where ever possible.? HeLa cells make it possible to try out all kinds of potentially dangerous treatments without harming a person.? But at what cost did the research community make this ethical gain?? Was it a fair trade-off, in light of the pain and exploitation of Mrs. Lacks and her family?

Gey is a lot like most researchers who find something neat and wants to spread the word.? I doubt he would have imagined the ethical fiasco he birthed. Not accusing the uBiome team of any notions of down-the-road wrong-doing, but seriously how are you all making sure your volunteers will not be exploited by you or others in the future?

In Chapter 12. The Storm. Mary Kubicek was Gey?s laboratory technician who did the bulk of the cell culture work with HeLa cells.? She handled her tumor and watched it grow.? Mary was also present to collect more tumor samples from Mrs. Lacks? body at her autopsy. She reveals how she doesn?t really realize that HeLa cells come from a real person until this moment:

?When I saw those toenails, I nearly fainted. I thought, Oh geez, she?s real person. I started imagining her sitting in her bathroom painting those toenails, and it hit me for the first time that those se cells we?d been working with all of this time and sending all over the world, they can from a live woman. I?d never thought of it that way?.

Researchers are taught to remain objective when designing and completing experiments.? This is especially true when dealing with living subjects.? How might the dissociation of researchers have paved the way to other ethical breeches we learn about in the book?

In science, the pursuit of data can consume a researcher.? It seemed as if the Gey lab was set on getting additional cells from Mrs. Lacks post-mortem.? Researchers asked Mr. David Lacks for permission to harvest more cells from Mrs. Lacks and he said no.? They didn?t let up until they got what they wanted, because it was for the good of science.

Do you think it was ethical for the researchers to continue to ask Mr. Lacks after he said no?? Was it unethical of them to deceive him and say the research might help his children?

Years later, researchers would continue to collect samples from the rest of the family, bothering them, frightening them.

Does ?to the benefit of science and the public good? really justify actions of Gey, TeLinde and the other researchers and HeLa cell manufacturers who benefited from Mrs. Lacks and failed to consider her family?

Does this explanation justify it for anyone?? Are there ways we can protect people, even from ourselves?

To that last question, I say yes. Science isn?t a sterile industry, but together we make it better and accountable.? I commend Melissa Bates, Dr Free Ride, Drug Monkey, Peter Lipson, Comradde Physio Prof and others for holding the UBiome team accountable. Together, we make science safe for everyone.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=4e7cea08ce474698a3abfdf7b104eaa8

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