By: Marketwire
ANTIGUA and NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 04/30/09 -- The American University of Antigua (AUA), a major U.S. modeled medical and nursing school in the Caribbean listed by the World Health Organization, has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court against the Arkansas State Medical Board (ASMB) and its individual members for unfairly discriminating against graduates of medical schools located in the Caribbean who seek license to practice medicine in Arkansas, especially Americans who attend and graduate from those schools.
"There is a critical shortage of doctors in Arkansas and only one medical school, yet motivated and accomplished US citizens and Arkansas residents with medical degrees are being prohibiting from practicing medicine in their home state as a result of the AAMC, AMA and Arkansas State Medical Board's short sightedness and indolent approval practices," said Neal Simon, AUA Founder and President.
A recent report from the United States Department of Health and Human Services identified more than 225 areas in which there is a shortage of medical health care professionals in the State of Arkansas.
The AUA Complaint asks the Court to restrain the ASMB from including AUA on its list of disapproved medical school without proper investigation under, or adherence to, Regulation No. 3 of the Arkansas State Medical Board.
The AUA Complaint, filed jointly with two current AUA students and two AUA graduates, alleges that the ASMB -- in collusion with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and its two sponsoring bodies, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) -- is unlawfully, willfully and intentionally denying AUA students the right to apply for and to obtain licenses to practice medicine in Arkansas without due process of law and without equal protection of law, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Rather than institute its own standardized process to evaluate and approve individual applicants and medical schools, the ASMB improperly claims to defer to the California State Medical Board's list of approved and disapproved schools. However, even though AUA is not on California's list of disapproved schools, ASMB added AUA to its disapproved list. It did so without conducting a site visit, examining the school's curriculum or considering information compiled by the medical board of any state. By comparison, the State of New York granted AUA's application for approval of its clinical studies program based upon a thorough and detailed investigation of AUA, its curriculum, its faculty, its facilities and the quality of the medical education it offers.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
When gamers become gamblers
A new study suggests that video games are highly addictive, with game addicts showing more than half of the same traits as those addicted to gambling.
Researchers at Iowa State University and the National Institute on Media and the Family studied 1,178 American children and teenagers, aged 8 to 18, and found that addicted gamers played video games 24 hours a week, twice as much as casual gamers.
On a positive note, if kids 8 to 18 are spending so much time playing games, then there are big opportunities to make games more educational, or to make educational games more interesting.
One thing that is becoming very clear is that video games are the new TV.
Some gamers have shown similar symptoms to those suffering from gambling addiction, including:
* Lying to family and friends about how much they play games
* Using the games to escape their problems
* Becoming restless or irritable when they stop playing
Researchers at Iowa State University and the National Institute on Media and the Family studied 1,178 American children and teenagers, aged 8 to 18, and found that addicted gamers played video games 24 hours a week, twice as much as casual gamers.
On a positive note, if kids 8 to 18 are spending so much time playing games, then there are big opportunities to make games more educational, or to make educational games more interesting.
One thing that is becoming very clear is that video games are the new TV.
Some gamers have shown similar symptoms to those suffering from gambling addiction, including:
* Lying to family and friends about how much they play games
* Using the games to escape their problems
* Becoming restless or irritable when they stop playing
Thursday, April 16, 2009
American University Confers Honorary Degree On Ellen
Monrovia — Furman University in South Carolina, the United States, has conferred on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, an honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities.
In a citation, supporting the conferral, the President of the University, David Shi, described the Liberian leader as a leading promoter of peace, justice and democratic processes, who has worked tirelessly to bring about progressive changes in Liberia.
According to an Executive Mansion dispatch from Greenville, the Furman University President spoke of the Liberian leader’s courageous efforts over many years, resulting in imprisonment and threats on her life.
The risks, Dr. Shi noted, did not deter the Liberian President from continuing to work to free her country and remain a true champion of the rule of law.
“Her relentless efforts have helped Liberia’s transition from a long period of abusive, chaotic and horrific dictatorships to a stable democratic government, working to improve the lives of all its citizens,” Dr. Shi pointed out in the citation.
The Furman University President described the President’s personal courage and unwavering commitment to the pursuit of justice and peace, as an inspiration to people around the world.
Addressing students and faculty earlier during the forum, the President spoke of the progress Liberia has made over the last three years.
She cited among other developments, the restoration of electricity and safe drinking water to some parts on Monrovia and its environs; the opening of schools throughout the country, leading to increased enrollment; and efforts to cancel the staggering US$4.7-billion debt Liberia owes multilateral financial institutions.
Most importantly, the Liberian leader said, the country’s once battered image has been restored and the children of Liberia are now smiling again.
“It brings me the greatest satisfaction that hope has been restored, and our children now have a right to education and clean drinking water, where everyone has an opportunity to reach his/her potential with equal opportunity for all,” the Liberian leading told an capacity crowd Monday at the McAlister Auditorium in Greenville.
Despite the moderate progress, the President said, domestic violence against women and rape continue to pose a problem, in spite of the passage of a strong legislation, making rape a non-billable offense.
Unemployment, the President pointed out, also continues to undermine the gains the country has made.
The global financial crisis, the Liberian leader indicated, is also threatening the economic gains the country has made since her ascendency to the presidency of the country.
The forum was presented by the Riley Institute at Furman, a non-partisan organization affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Furman University.
Named for former Governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, and inaugurated in 1999, the institute engages students and citizens across South Carolina in the arenas of politics, public policy and leadership.
It brought together a cross section of residents of South Carolina, including students, faculty, politicians, among them Mr. Richard W. Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education and former Governor of South Carolina, as well as Liberians residing in South Carolina and other neighboring states including North Carolina and Georgia.
The President reiterated her call on American and other investors to visit Liberia and explore the investment opportunities Liberia offers. She cited the successful conclusion of the recent International Women’s Colloquium held in Liberia as another indicator that the country is opened for business.
Turning to students, the President admonished those aspiring for leadership to set their goals and start to work towards those goals. “Determine what you want to be; work towards it and pursue your dream, standing up with courage and motivation and above all, demonstrating a spirit of care for the people,” the President advised.
In a citation, supporting the conferral, the President of the University, David Shi, described the Liberian leader as a leading promoter of peace, justice and democratic processes, who has worked tirelessly to bring about progressive changes in Liberia.
According to an Executive Mansion dispatch from Greenville, the Furman University President spoke of the Liberian leader’s courageous efforts over many years, resulting in imprisonment and threats on her life.
The risks, Dr. Shi noted, did not deter the Liberian President from continuing to work to free her country and remain a true champion of the rule of law.
“Her relentless efforts have helped Liberia’s transition from a long period of abusive, chaotic and horrific dictatorships to a stable democratic government, working to improve the lives of all its citizens,” Dr. Shi pointed out in the citation.
The Furman University President described the President’s personal courage and unwavering commitment to the pursuit of justice and peace, as an inspiration to people around the world.
Addressing students and faculty earlier during the forum, the President spoke of the progress Liberia has made over the last three years.
She cited among other developments, the restoration of electricity and safe drinking water to some parts on Monrovia and its environs; the opening of schools throughout the country, leading to increased enrollment; and efforts to cancel the staggering US$4.7-billion debt Liberia owes multilateral financial institutions.
Most importantly, the Liberian leader said, the country’s once battered image has been restored and the children of Liberia are now smiling again.
“It brings me the greatest satisfaction that hope has been restored, and our children now have a right to education and clean drinking water, where everyone has an opportunity to reach his/her potential with equal opportunity for all,” the Liberian leading told an capacity crowd Monday at the McAlister Auditorium in Greenville.
Despite the moderate progress, the President said, domestic violence against women and rape continue to pose a problem, in spite of the passage of a strong legislation, making rape a non-billable offense.
Unemployment, the President pointed out, also continues to undermine the gains the country has made.
The global financial crisis, the Liberian leader indicated, is also threatening the economic gains the country has made since her ascendency to the presidency of the country.
The forum was presented by the Riley Institute at Furman, a non-partisan organization affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Furman University.
Named for former Governor of South Carolina and United States Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, and inaugurated in 1999, the institute engages students and citizens across South Carolina in the arenas of politics, public policy and leadership.
It brought together a cross section of residents of South Carolina, including students, faculty, politicians, among them Mr. Richard W. Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education and former Governor of South Carolina, as well as Liberians residing in South Carolina and other neighboring states including North Carolina and Georgia.
The President reiterated her call on American and other investors to visit Liberia and explore the investment opportunities Liberia offers. She cited the successful conclusion of the recent International Women’s Colloquium held in Liberia as another indicator that the country is opened for business.
Turning to students, the President admonished those aspiring for leadership to set their goals and start to work towards those goals. “Determine what you want to be; work towards it and pursue your dream, standing up with courage and motivation and above all, demonstrating a spirit of care for the people,” the President advised.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Brown University Kills 'Columbus Day' for 'Fall Weekend'
The faculty of the Ivy League university voted at a meeting Tuesday to establish a new academic and administrative holiday in October called "Fall Weekend" that coincides with Columbus Day, but that doesn't bear the name of the explorer.
Hundreds of Brown students had asked the Providence, R.I. school to stop observing Columbus Day, saying Christopher Columbus's violent treatment of Native Americans he encountered was inconsistent with Brown's values.
"I'm very pleased," Reiko Koyama, a sophomore who led the effort, told the student newspaper, the Brown Daily Herald. "It's been a long time coming."
The change will take effect this fall.
Although the students had asked the school to take another day off instead, Brown will remain closed on Columbus Day, in part to avoid inconveniencing staff whose children might have the holiday off, the Daily Herald reported.
Many other colleges are open on Columbus Day but give students short breaks later in the semester.
Last month a Brown Daily Herald poll found two-thirds of the students supported changing the holiday's name to Fall Weekend, the newspaper reported.
Hundreds of Brown students had asked the Providence, R.I. school to stop observing Columbus Day, saying Christopher Columbus's violent treatment of Native Americans he encountered was inconsistent with Brown's values.
"I'm very pleased," Reiko Koyama, a sophomore who led the effort, told the student newspaper, the Brown Daily Herald. "It's been a long time coming."
The change will take effect this fall.
Although the students had asked the school to take another day off instead, Brown will remain closed on Columbus Day, in part to avoid inconveniencing staff whose children might have the holiday off, the Daily Herald reported.
Many other colleges are open on Columbus Day but give students short breaks later in the semester.
Last month a Brown Daily Herald poll found two-thirds of the students supported changing the holiday's name to Fall Weekend, the newspaper reported.
Friday, April 3, 2009
American University Launches New Web Site Via Huge
Tanya Irwin
American University has launched a new site designed and developed by Brooklyn-based interactive agency Huge. The new site features interactive multimedia capabilities that provide user-generated content with Web 2.0 communication.
Huge began by reorienting the site's architecture, linking content, unifying visual design, and establishing relationships so that user movement is flexible and cross-navigational.
The traditional academic marketing model consists of guided visits, alumni magazines, and glossy brochures. That doesn't translate so well online, where people want authentic input from a variety of sources. The new American.edu puts people at the center of the experience, as opposed to individual schools or institutions. The site showcases user-generated content through a wiki system called AUpedia -- three parts blog, social application and discussion forum.
American University has launched a new site designed and developed by Brooklyn-based interactive agency Huge. The new site features interactive multimedia capabilities that provide user-generated content with Web 2.0 communication.
Huge began by reorienting the site's architecture, linking content, unifying visual design, and establishing relationships so that user movement is flexible and cross-navigational.
The traditional academic marketing model consists of guided visits, alumni magazines, and glossy brochures. That doesn't translate so well online, where people want authentic input from a variety of sources. The new American.edu puts people at the center of the experience, as opposed to individual schools or institutions. The site showcases user-generated content through a wiki system called AUpedia -- three parts blog, social application and discussion forum.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Jury Gets Case of Fired Professor
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
After a four-week trial, a jury in Denver is deliberating the case of Ward L. Churchill, a former University of Colorado professor who says he was fired because of an essay he wrote in which he called victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “little Eichmanns.”
The university says Mr. Churchill plagiarized and falsified parts of his academic research, particularly on American Indians, and cited this as grounds for his dismissal in July 2007. Mr. Churchill brought a wrongful termination suit against the university, seeking monetary damages for lost wages and harm to his reputation. He also wants to be reinstated to his job teaching ethnic studies.
The case is seen as a struggle between freedom of speech and academic integrity, and it has revived the longstanding debate about whether hate speech deserves protection by the First Amendment.
“If we win,” said David Lane, Mr. Churchill’s lawyer, “the symbolic First Amendment moment of Ward Churchill’s walking back into a classroom will be overwhelmingly positive.”
Ken McConnellogue, a spokesman for the university, said the university’s case was “nuanced” and “perhaps doesn’t translate as well as a sound-bite case.” Still, he said, “We believe we’ve put on a compelling case” that officials fired Mr. Churchill for inferior scholarship, not his 9/11 essay.
Mr. Churchill, 61, had been a tenured faculty member at the university’s campus in Boulder since 1991, and chairman of the ethnic studies department.
On Sept. 12, 2001, he wrote an essay in which he argued that many of those working in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 were not innocent bystanders but a “technocratic corps” of “little Eichmanns,” a reference to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi who has been called the architect of the Holocaust.
His suggestion was that their participation in the global financial system made them complicit in the terrorist attacks, just as Eichmann, who had said he was only following orders, was responsible for the extermination of the Jews.
The essay garnered little notice at the time but gradually seeped through the Internet, coming to light in 2005, and then creating an uproar.
At the time, the university defended his essay as free speech. But accusations began to emerge that in some of his other academic writings, especially about the persecution of American Indians, he had plagiarized other scholars and set forth false information.
The university said this scholarship — not the 9/11 essay — prompted a faculty investigation. And in May 2006, a faculty committee found that his work — including his theory that Capt. John Smith intentionally introduced smallpox among the Wampanoag Indians in the 17th century — was seriously flawed and had no basis in fact. In July of that year, the university’s Board of Regents voted 8 to 1 to fire him.
His lawyer, Mr. Lane, accused the university of conducting a McCarthy-era style “witch hunt” against Mr. Churchill, saying officials trumped up the charges of academic fraud as a pretext for getting rid of him. On the witness stand last week, Mr. Churchill, a somewhat flamboyant figure wearing his long hair in a ponytail, said he understood that his essay had been hurtful to the families of those who were killed on 9/11. But he also said he wanted the United States to take more responsibility for how it treated others around the world.
“If you make a practice of killing other people’s babies for personal gain, they will eventually give you a taste of the same thing,” he said.
Throughout the trial, the university maintained that it fired Mr. Churchill solely “for his research misconduct, for taking other people’s work and making it his own, for fabricating research, for falsifying research,” as Steven K. Bosley, a university regent, told the court.
“It was not one time, not even one time on purpose,” Mr. Bosley added. “It was a pattern of misconduct.”
The jury got the case Wednesday afternoon, after hearing closing arguments. If the jury sides with Mr. Churchill, it will set the damages, although the judge, Larry J. Naves, can modify the amount. Judge Naves will decide whether Mr. Churchill should be reinstated.
After a four-week trial, a jury in Denver is deliberating the case of Ward L. Churchill, a former University of Colorado professor who says he was fired because of an essay he wrote in which he called victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “little Eichmanns.”
The university says Mr. Churchill plagiarized and falsified parts of his academic research, particularly on American Indians, and cited this as grounds for his dismissal in July 2007. Mr. Churchill brought a wrongful termination suit against the university, seeking monetary damages for lost wages and harm to his reputation. He also wants to be reinstated to his job teaching ethnic studies.
The case is seen as a struggle between freedom of speech and academic integrity, and it has revived the longstanding debate about whether hate speech deserves protection by the First Amendment.
“If we win,” said David Lane, Mr. Churchill’s lawyer, “the symbolic First Amendment moment of Ward Churchill’s walking back into a classroom will be overwhelmingly positive.”
Ken McConnellogue, a spokesman for the university, said the university’s case was “nuanced” and “perhaps doesn’t translate as well as a sound-bite case.” Still, he said, “We believe we’ve put on a compelling case” that officials fired Mr. Churchill for inferior scholarship, not his 9/11 essay.
Mr. Churchill, 61, had been a tenured faculty member at the university’s campus in Boulder since 1991, and chairman of the ethnic studies department.
On Sept. 12, 2001, he wrote an essay in which he argued that many of those working in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 were not innocent bystanders but a “technocratic corps” of “little Eichmanns,” a reference to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi who has been called the architect of the Holocaust.
His suggestion was that their participation in the global financial system made them complicit in the terrorist attacks, just as Eichmann, who had said he was only following orders, was responsible for the extermination of the Jews.
The essay garnered little notice at the time but gradually seeped through the Internet, coming to light in 2005, and then creating an uproar.
At the time, the university defended his essay as free speech. But accusations began to emerge that in some of his other academic writings, especially about the persecution of American Indians, he had plagiarized other scholars and set forth false information.
The university said this scholarship — not the 9/11 essay — prompted a faculty investigation. And in May 2006, a faculty committee found that his work — including his theory that Capt. John Smith intentionally introduced smallpox among the Wampanoag Indians in the 17th century — was seriously flawed and had no basis in fact. In July of that year, the university’s Board of Regents voted 8 to 1 to fire him.
His lawyer, Mr. Lane, accused the university of conducting a McCarthy-era style “witch hunt” against Mr. Churchill, saying officials trumped up the charges of academic fraud as a pretext for getting rid of him. On the witness stand last week, Mr. Churchill, a somewhat flamboyant figure wearing his long hair in a ponytail, said he understood that his essay had been hurtful to the families of those who were killed on 9/11. But he also said he wanted the United States to take more responsibility for how it treated others around the world.
“If you make a practice of killing other people’s babies for personal gain, they will eventually give you a taste of the same thing,” he said.
Throughout the trial, the university maintained that it fired Mr. Churchill solely “for his research misconduct, for taking other people’s work and making it his own, for fabricating research, for falsifying research,” as Steven K. Bosley, a university regent, told the court.
“It was not one time, not even one time on purpose,” Mr. Bosley added. “It was a pattern of misconduct.”
The jury got the case Wednesday afternoon, after hearing closing arguments. If the jury sides with Mr. Churchill, it will set the damages, although the judge, Larry J. Naves, can modify the amount. Judge Naves will decide whether Mr. Churchill should be reinstated.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
American University launches new website
This afternoon faculty, students, and staff gathered in the Katzen Arts Center for the launching of American University’s new website. After three years of hard work, the team is finally able to show off all of their hard work. According to Maralee Csellar, from AU’s Media Relations Office, AU’s new grasp on technology would leave all but the tech savvy behind.
Many great features other people will see on this site, this is made for all and the will benefit lots of things from it. Just wait till it get live.
The new site is geared at prospective and current students alike. It allows students to post what their views are on the new AUpedia- AU’s version of wikipedia- and edit or comment on others works. There are also visual tours for prospective students that are designed to give that student the entire view of American, from a 3-D map to what students have to say. According to David Taylor, President’s Chief of Staff, the site is expected to compliment actually visiting the campus, in order to get the entire experience.
Also, AU now has a master calendar available on the site. This will allow students and faculty to plan events and be able to see what is going on the same day. This calendar will have all the events on and off campus that American University is involved in. When you click on a date, it will show everything going on that day!
Companies such as HUGE, Real View TV, Paper Thin, and Northhighland were American’s partners in this venture. HUGE, of New York, wanted the website to contain what students and parents were looking for, not necessarily what the school wanted them to know. Likewise, Real View TV, of Atlanta, recorded videos of students and their life at AU.
Everything is so well coordinated that each school has a global header and footer. So, check out American University’s new website! You might learn something new.
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