The May Report: 4/26/2011: Well, well, well, it’s been less than a week since Thornton’s new job in Cleveland was announced, but now, after already hiring the guy, the sleazy ties between Tom in Kansas and Tom in Ohio are starting to come out (and the Cleveland folks are on the defensive), prime among those ties $200K from the KBA to BioEnterprise in Ohio and the role of dual board member Bill Sanford; Groupon, look out, here comes Facebook!; Chernobyl’s 25th anniversary today; Uki and Natalia start new company; Advanced Diamond Technologies’ UNCD Electrodes Reduce Water Treatment Costs by a Factor of Ten; and what does Harvard strategy guru Michael Porter and Libya have to do with Steve Kaplan, Scott Meadow, Groupon, HPA, etc.? — turn on Channel 11 and Chicago Tonight: Mason and Lefkofsky being interviewed now!

The May Report April 26th, 2011

Editor and publisher: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com , 773-525-3944.

Assistant editor: Melanie Adcock, iPHONE: 312-259-0610, melanie_adcock@msn.com

If you missed an article, go here: www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter
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BizStarts Milwaukee’s Venture Track provides investors access to a rich deal flow of opportunities in Southeastern Wisconsin. We filter and polish high-growth, early stage companies and prepare them for equity investment. For more information, www.bizstartsmilwaukee.com/Investors.htm
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Going Mobile – Web Content 2011 Conference – June 6 & 7
Gleacher Executive Conference Center – Chicago

“Smart from the Start” – Content Strategy ½ Day Workshop by Brain Traffic
15 mobile-focused sessions over 2 full days

Early bird registration through 4/29. Save $100

www.webcontent2011.com/

“A power-packed crew of content strategists and technologists ready to talk the future of smart, targeted and user-benefiting mobile content experiences.” – DopeData

“In the world of online content, mobile is the new black! Join national content experts, marketers, strategists, developers and other industry thinkers June 6th and 7th in sunny Chicago at WebContent 2011.” – CMSWire
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Funding Feeding Frenzy May 4th Event Countdown

The May 4th Funding Feeding Frenzy is rapidly approaching. The Funding
Feeding Frenzy is the place to be for CEOs and founders of fast growing
companies to get connected with a group of investors who just may be waiting
to sink their teeth into their winning idea.

For business owners raising capital, this is an opportunity that cannot be
missed. The Funding Feeding Frenzy is a unique opportunity to network with
those ready to recognize the potential their company holds. Attendance at
this event could be a tremendous step forward in securing the funding needed
to rapidly grow their business.

We’ve assembled some of the most innovative and exciting companies around to
present their businesses in an attempt to take their companies to new
heights of success. Here’s a sample of some of the companies that you’ll be
seeing on May 4th:

- City Soles
- Mega Pools Inc.
- Aridhio Technologies
- Brand BBQ Market
- Grouve.it
- many more…

To make this event even more powerful, we’ve put together a group of
panelists including (Angel Investors, Venture Capital, Private Equity and
other funding resources) with the hopes of helping great companies find the
funding they need for growth. Below are samples of some of the investors
that will be at the event.

- Origin Ventures – Steve Miller
- New World Ventures – Rishi Roongta
- Gentry Capital Partners – Glen Gottfried
- Red Rocket Partners – George Deeb
- Michael Gruber – Angel Investor
- Many more…

To Attend the Funding Feeding Frenzy, register at:

fundingfeedingfrenzy.eventbrite.com/

To present your company at the Funding Feeding Frenzy, register at:

fundingfeedingfrenzy-company.eventbrite.com/

If you would like more information about this unique experience, please
visit www.FundingFeedingFrenzy.com to learn more.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

– Now, they finally start to do due diligence on Thomas Volney Thornton in Cleveland! The whole thing is about to unravel as key links are exposed between BioEnterprise in Ohio and $200K given to that organization by the KBA; and Bill Sanford who is on the Cleveland Clinic board along with having ties to the KBA; and the Wagle committee investigation along with the Johnson County DA investigation will continue according to my sources
– Melanie Adcock says that Ron May to offer new service at The May Report — hmm, that’s news to me
– Look out Groupon! Here comes Facebook!
– Girl Develop IT Chicago, A Brand new Meetup in Chicago!
– The Netherlands Ranks #1 Worldwide in Penetration for Twitter and LinkedIn
– Uki Lucas and Natalia Cantemir’s New Company, CyberWalkAbout, Creates App for Chicago Auto Show
– ChicagoAndroid.com invites you to Monetizing your content and in-app payments. (Apr 29, 2011)
– Advanced Diamond Technologies’ UNCD Electrodes Reduce Water Treatment Costs by a Factor of Ten
– DoubleDutch Receives Investment from Groupon Co-founders — not a Chicago firm
– Sneak Peak at the 2011 Chicago Innovation Awards Upcoming Events
– Thursday, April 28: CIOsynergy Chicago
– Thursday, April 28: Spring 2011 IPRO Day!
– Thursday, May 5: NBC News Education Nation presents: Job One: Preparing America’s Workforce to Compete in the 21st Century — [Editor's note: May here. I take the list of sponsors as a direct repudiation of Terry Ivan Howerton II and the ITA -- otherwise James Alfred Hoch, how can you explain the absence of the ITA in the sponsor list?]
– Chernobyl 25th Anniversary is April 26- How safe is the Midwest from Nuclear Disaster?
– Dino Pappas: PyroPhase announcement
– So what does this have to do with Chicago or high tech in general or anything that comes to mind? Harvard University Avoids Debate on University Professor Michael E. Porter’s Libya Report — what it has to do with is Steve Kaplan, Scott F. Meadow, Eric Lefkofsky, Brad Keywell, et. al., all of whom sit on boards and who use the University of Chicago (hey, it could just as easily be Northwestern or other schools as well). As one person puts it in the comments “it isn’t ok for the university to indirectly lease out its prestige as an alternate form of salary for professors who are going to abuse that privilege.” And this applies to many other issues: Advisory boards that are effectively for sale — prior to the French Revolution offices and aristocratic titles were for sale too; adjunct teaching positions for sale, university and corporate board seats for sale, and students being used routinely by firms for not only cheap labor bordering on indentured servitude. Doesn’t that undermine credibility and objectivity? How can we have objectivity and intellectual honesty if HPA or Groupon uses those students to “help out”?, so we have the same alloyed ethical system here that we have in so many areas and Michael E. Porter is just a good current example of the problem, and it bothers me that the students are being indoctrinated and co-opted by all of this.
– Hostway Named Microsoft® Hyper-V Cloud Provider of the Year
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BizStarts Milwaukee’s Venture Track is the source for high-growth investor-ready startups in Southeastern Wisconsin. Get connected now.

www.bizstartsmilwaukee.com/Investors.htm

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Happy to announce about upcoming “Social Media for Business” Training Workshop starting May 25. It is a 5 week, 100% online training that includes 8 Strategy sessions + 5 How-to sessions.

Some of top Social Media Authors and leading thought leaders would be training this workshop that includes:

* Dan Zarrella, Author of Facebook Marketing and Social Media Marketing book
* Ramon De Leon, Dominos Pizza
* Greg Jarboe, Author of YouTube & Video Marketing: An Hour a Day
* Hollis Thomases, Author of Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day
* Simon Salt, Author of Social Location Marketing
* Barbara Rozgonyi, Founder Social Media Club Chicago
* Marshall Sponder, Author of Social Media Analytics
* Krista Neher, SXSW Speaker & Author Social Media Field Guide
* Eric Enge, Author of The Art of SEO

and many others…

Early Bird Special of $299 through April 25th. SEMPO members get additional 10% off.
Sign-up below:

instantetraining.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=1&aff_id=1004

After this workshop you will be able to…

* Learn to create a successful Social Media Marketing Strategy for your business
* Be able to put together an Online Reputation Management plan
* Able to build community on Facebook in a very scientific manner
* Have a clear communication strategy on Twitter
* Be able to leverage Location based marketing tools like Foursquare and others
* Become a power user LinkedIn expert
* Learn to integrate Video marketing as part of your marketing strategy
* Be able to understand the importance of Search Engine Optimization(SEO) for Social Media
* Learn the future of Social Media Marketing for Marketing ROI
* Hear case studies from leading experts and business owners

To sign up and learn more about this workshop please visit:

instantetraining.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=1&aff_id=1004

Thanks!
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4th Annual Guys Night Out for the Kids Benefiting the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center

Friday, May 6, 2010 5pm-9pm
Carmichaels Chicago Steak House, 1052 W. Monroe

About Guys Night Out
Don’t miss the chance to hang with “the guys” on Friday, May 6 at Carmichael’s for the 4th Annual Guys Night Out for the Kids. The event kicks-off with an outdoor Happy Hour in the courtyard followed by an indoor barbeque, games, golf pros, hand-rolled cigars and celebrity athlete appearances that last year included Zack Bowman, current Chicago Bear, Jerry Azumah, Kevin Butler, and Jim Thornton all alums of the Chicago Bears, and Ron Kittle and Dan Pasqua, Chicago White Sox alums. There will be a live auction featuring unique items such as a VIP package to a White Sox game including the opportunity to be on the field for batting practice.

All proceeds from the evening benefit the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center (CCAC) for abused children. Founded by Mayor Daley, the CCAC has served over 22,000 abused children and their families since opening its doors in August 2001.

Details
Date: Friday, May 6, 2011
Where: Carmichael’s Steak House, 1052 W. Monroe
Time: 5pm-6pm Outdoor Happy Hour in the Courtyard
6pm-9pm – Party inside!

Tickets: $100

To Purchase Tickets: www.chicagocac.org

Current Sponsors:
U.S. Cellular, Northern Trust Corporation, Illinois Medical District Commission, Sidley Austin LLP/Partners of Sidley Austin, Johnson & Krol, LLC, Loop Capital, CDW, Wirtz Beverage Group, Budweiser, Goose Island and Vienna Beef

For More Information: www.chicagocac.org; 312.492.3730 Melissa Siemasz
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BizStarts Milwaukee’s Venture Track provides investors access to a rich deal flow of opportunities in Southeastern Wisconsin. We filter and polish high-growth, early stage companies and prepare them for equity investment. For more information, visit www.bizstartsmilwaukee.com/Investors.htm
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The Scoop section:
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Now, they finally start to do due diligence on Thomas Volney Thornton in Cleveland! The whole thing is about to unravel as key links are exposed between BioEnterprise in Ohio and $200K given to that organization by the KBA; and Bill Sanford who is on the Cleveland Clinic board along with having ties to the KBA; and the Wagle committee investigation along with the Johnson County DA investigation will continue according to my sources

www.medcitynews.com/2011/04/cleveland-clinic-innovations-new-hire-has-kansas-right-behind-him/

Cleveland Clinic Innovations’ new hire has Kansas right behind him

It’s a tale of two hires. Either Cleveland Clinic Innovations just landed the heavyweight leader of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, or that leader got out of Kansas just in time.

Cleveland Clinic Innovations will look to Tom Thornton, the former president and CEO of the Kansas Bioscience Authority, to manage and expand the Clinic’s promising research collaboration efforts. The job, formally called general manager of alliances for Cleveland Clinic Innovations, is a new position that will help find partnerships with other healthcare institutions to develop new medical technologies, Cleveland Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil said.

But Kansas legislators are questioning everything from Thornton’s exit and the way he managed the Kansas organization to the relationship between Thornton and business partners in Ohio. In essence, they assert Thornton was fleeing an uncomfortable situation in Kansas with the help of alliances he made in Cleveland.

“The road to Ohio could be paved with our taxpayers’ dollars, and we’ll be looking into it,” Kansas State Sen. Susan Wagle, who is planning to probe the Ohio connections, told The Wichita Eagle. “It’s really difficult for me to believe that Tom’s wheeling and dealing (at the KBA) didn’t open doors for his new job.”

Sheil said: “Our response to the Kansas article is that we take this very seriously, and are looking into it at this point.”

Thornton resigned from the Kansas Bioscience Authority a week ago and started at Cleveland Clinic almost immediately after. The authority spends hundreds of millions in public dollars to support Kansas’ bioscience industry. But it has become the subject of a criminal investigation and a series of legislative hearings over everything from salaries to conflicts of interest.

Thornton supporters have intimated the probes are politically motivated, and point to the fact that the organization has created more than 1,000 new jobs and nearly $80 million in new wages in the last several years.

Ohio organizations have varying connections with the Kansas Bioscience Authority. BioEnterprise, the Cleveland-area biotech trade group, received more than $200,000 in consulting fees from the authority, according to reports in Kansas. Also, Bill Sanford, whose biotech associations range from leading STERIS Corp. to the commercial outlet Symark, is on the Cleveland Clinic’s board as well as the Kansas Bioscience Authority.

BioEnterprise CEO Baiju Shah and Sanford said Thornton’s new job was news to them. Sanford told Kansas media he would have been reluctant to give a recommendation for Thornton because of the good job Thornton was doing there. Shah, meanwhile, said he hadn’t spoken to Thornton in more than a year.

Looming questions could prove disruptive to Thornton’s position in Cleveland. Cleveland Clinic Innovations continues to provide new revenue opportunities for the health system. A Clinic spinoff recently landed the health system $28 million, and Cleveland Clinic continues to grow a promising pipeline for additional exits. The alliances Thornton will oversee are crucial to maximizing Cleveland Clinic’s strength in commercialization.
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Melanie Adcock says that Ron May to offer new service at The May Report — hmm, that’s news to me

Subject: Ron May to offer new service at The May Report
Date: 4/26/2011 5:13:19 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Ron May to offer new service at The May Report

Does your start up have what it takes to be successful? Could your pitch use some tightening up? Why wait for rejection from investors to find out the holes in your business model when you could schedule your very own session to get grilled by Ron May? Famous for speaking his mind without bias Ron May will not hold back on comments and questions that not only pack a punch, but can help make a real difference to your future success. Ron doesn’t care who you are- he is able to take the gloves off and get down to business. Nowhere else will you find this kind of comprehensive review. In addition to a personalized one-on-one pitch review session with Ron May, you also get an honestly and fairly written evaluation that will be shared in The May Report. He’s so honest he’ll say your company stinks even after you’ve paid him. Better your pitch and get some press by one of the few legitimate hard nosed business critics in the Midwest. How cool is that? Sign up today to get some tough love from Ron, and you’ll be guaranteed to be ready for anything. If you’d like to show the real investors out there that you’re legit, not a wimp, and have some true guts then get off your duff and set up your session with Ron May today. Don’t underestimate the benefits of Ron’s blistering remarks and ability to skewer your product idea. His honesty is your ticket to real learning and getting the true respect of the investment community. For an additional charge he’ll even do a full scale investigation of your company and tell everyone whether or not you’re the real deal. Do you have what it takes? Call me at 312-259-0610 and I’ll book your appointment today.

p.s. This is for real. Ron’s retirement fund isn’t going to just appear out of thin air. Besides, it’s about time he stopped doing everything for free. Stop being a crybaby and toughen up your start up. Sign up now.

-Melanie Adcock

Melanie Adcock
Assistant Editor of The May Report
312-259-0610 melanie_adcock@msn.com
LinkedIn: linkd.in/MelanieAdcock
The May Report Facebook Page: on.fb.me/TheMayReport
Visit The May Report Archives: bit.ly/TheMayReportArchives
Subscribe to The May Report: bit.ly/TheMayReportSubscribe
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May here. Melanie has every right of course to put forward any proposal or opinion that she wants to, but I am not endorsing this idea, although it does have intriguing possibilities if one can get past the glaring and obvious conflicts of interest.
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Look out Groupon! Here comes Facebook!

Subject: Look out Groupon! Here comes Facebook!
Date: 4/25/2011 11:34:20 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Look out Groupon! Here comes Facebook!

I looked at a few articles on this news topic and liked the Daily Deal Media’s coverage of Facebook’s Launch of Facebook Deals (article is copied below). The Daily Deal Media is a Wisconsin based newsletter and website and we republish a few of their articles here and there. I like that they are based in the Midwest and do look at things from a more Midwestern lens. Interestingly enough they specifically cover the online deals marketplace and the progress and or failure of all of the Groupon wannabes. Their article below mentions a few of these smaller “me too” discount sites that have already partnered with Facebook. Most of the other news articles about this story does not bother to mention the names of the nine partners who have signed with Facebook. Gilt City, one of the nine companies mentioned, was recently a sponsor at Tom Kuczmarski’s talk on Innovative Leaders and his book Apples Are Square.

-Melanie Adcock

The word is out that Facebook Deals will be launching sometime tonight in a limited number of test markets including Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco. Deals is the social networking megalith’s attempt to carve out a space in the daily deals industry and compete against the likes of Groupon, LivingSocial and at some point Google if they ever get their deals platform off the ground.
This latest news come from The New York Times reporter Miguel Helft who says that Facebook is entering an already saturated market but it seems that consumers can’t get enough of the deep discount phenomenon and with its over 600 million members Facebook says it hopes by tapping into existing networks of friends, it will be able to offer a more compelling service than its competitors.
It will be easy to share deals with friends, see when a friend buys something and find offers that your friends are interested in, said Emily White, Facebook’s director for local. Facebook will focus on offers for things that are best done with friends, like concerts or events, she said.
Helft points out that Deals may also provide a boost to another of Facebook’s programs, Credits, the social network’s virtual currency. Users will have the option of purchasing deals with either a credit card or with Facebook Credits. In the past Credits were only redeemable for virtual goods such as upgrade items in games.
It was announced last month that Facebook had already signed nine partners: Gilt City, HomeRun, OpenTable, PopSugar City, Tippr, KGB Deals, Plum District, ReachLocal and Zozi.
It was noted that Groupon and LivingSocial were conspicuously absent from the list but Liz Gannes from All Things Digital said that even if they had been invited to participate, it’s doubtful that the daily deals giants would have accepted. They both prefer to control their consumers’ full transaction and both have a policy of not sharing affiliate fees with distribution partners, something that the small deal sites are willing to do.

Short URL: www.dailydealmedia.com/?p=8370
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Girl Develop IT Chicago, A Brand new Meetup in Chicago!

Subject: Girl Develop IT Chicago, A Brand new Meetup in Chicago!
Date: 4/26/2011 3:56:57 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Girl Develop IT Chicago, A Brand new Meetup in Chicago!
Sounds great, ladies. Please let me know how we can support your efforts. I look forward to attending and wish your group lots of success. -Melanie Adcock

Let’s Get This Started!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011
7:00 PM

SELECTED BY: MELISSA PIERCE
Northside Bar and Grill
1635 N Damen Ave Chicago, IL

SELECTED BY: MELISSA PIERCE
19 Nerdettes going

“Interested in learning about, teaching at, or just networking with Girl Develop IT Chicago? Let’s meet for drinks discussion and brainstorming about what we want Girl Develop IT Chicago to be all about!”
Who’s hosting? Melissa Pierce

Teching Women How to Code IT!
Welcome to the Chicago Chapter of Girl Develop IT

What? Women Developers and Programmers! Want to learn how to code? Have a great idea? Don’t be shy. Develop it! It can be intimidating for women to learn and ask questions when they are in an extreme minority. While open and welcoming, today’s budding developer community is up to 91% male. There isn’t a comfortable place where women can learn at their own pace and not be afraid to ask “stupid questions.” We decided it was time to provide a place where all questions are OK and everyone can learn in a supportive environment. Our courses focus on coding, leveraging existing technology, and having something to show for it (aka building sweet websites). We will be presenting these classes in subjects: Subject 1: HTML/CSS 101 Subject 2: Beginner Javascript Subject 3: Introduction to Object Oriented Concepts and Data Structures Subject 4: Starting Web Applications Using Ruby on Rails Subject 5: Advanced Excel VB Macro & Microsoft Access Visual Basic (Subject 5: free for girls)

Subject: FW: The Netherlands Ranks #1 Worldwide in Penetration for Twitter and LinkedIn
Date: 4/26/2011 3:53:07 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Press Release
Contact Us by Phone
Contact Us Online
The Netherlands Ranks #1 Worldwide in Penetration for Twitter and Linkedin
Hyves Maintains Position as Top Social Networking Site in the Netherlands Despite Facebook’s Rapid Advances

London, UK, 26 April, 2011 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of social networking usage in the Netherlands based on the comScore Media Metrix service. The study reveals that the Dutch social networking market continues to grow strongly as sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin extend their respective footprints in the market.

“The social networking market in the Netherlands is really quite unique and full of interesting storylines,” said Mike Read, svp and managing director of comScore Europe. “It is one of the few markets remaining where a local social networking player [Hyves] continues to lead Facebook, but that lead is becoming increasingly tenuous. Another interesting facet to this market is that the Netherlands has the highest Internet penetration worldwide for two of the other key global social networking sites, Twitter and Linkedin. The Netherlands is in many ways a nexus of global social networking behavior.”

Hyves Leads Facebook in Dutch Social Networking Market
Despite the overall maturity of the Internet market in the Netherlands, the social networking category continues to advance, growing 18 percent to 11.5 million visitors in March 2011 (representing 96 percent of the online population). Hyves continues to hold the top position among social networking sites in the market with more than 7.6 million visitors in March, but Facebook is quickly gaining ground, surging 76 percent in the past year to nearly 6.6 million visitors. Twitter.com and Linkedin.com rank third and fourth, respectively, with more than 3 million visitors and each growing approximately 70 percent in the past year.

Top 5 Social Networking Sites in the Netherlands
March 2011 vs. March 2010
Total Netherlands, Age 15+, Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Mar-2010 Mar-2011 % Change
Total Internet : Total Audience 11,927 11,953 0
Social Networking 9,742 11,490 18
Hyves 7,692 7,650 -1
Facebook.com 3,717 6,556 76
Twitter.com 1,923 3,207 67
Linkedin.com 1,830 3,118 70
Windows Live Profile 2,924 2,769 -5
*Excludes visits from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Netherlands Ranks #1 in Linkedin and Twitter Penetration
The Netherlands also has an exceptionally high representation among social networking sites Twitter.com and Linkedin.com, ranking #1 among all countries in Internet penetration for these sites. In each case, more than one in four Dutch Internet users visits these sites during the course of the month. While the top ten countries in Linkedin penetration are either English-speaking or in Western Europe, the top countries for Twitter touch virtually every corner of the globe.

Top 10 Countries in Internet Penetration for LinkedIn.com and Twitter.com by Reach (%)
March 2011
Total Internet, Age 15+, Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix
LinkedIn.com % Reach Twitter.com % Reach
Netherlands 26.1% Netherlands 26.8%
Ireland 21.0% Japan 26.6%
United States 17.6% Brazil 23.7%
Canada 15.6% Indonesia 22.0%
United Kingdom 14.9% Venezuela 21.0%
Denmark 14.4% Canada 18.0%
Australia 13.1% Argentina 18.0%
New Zealand 12.9% Turkey 16.6%
Belgium 12.6% Philippines 16.1%
Singapore 12.0% Singapore 16.0%
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo

Forward to a Friend
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Uki Lucas and Natalia Cantemir’s New Company, CyberWalkAbout, Creates App for Chicago Auto Show

Subject: FW: Uki Lucas and Natalia Cantemir’s New Company, CyberWalkAbout, Creates App for Chicago Auto Show
Date: 4/26/2011 3:50:47 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Uki Lucas and Natalia Cantemir’s New Company, CyberWalkAbout, Creates App for Chicago Auto Show
There is already buzz about this brand new venture. Way to go, guys!

Android’s presence at the International Auto Show

exm.nr/eG6ldN

April 20th, 2011 1:35 pm ET
Alain Joseph
NY Android Examiner

Android is everywhere. If you look closely you’ll see Andy the Android bot, everywhere and that includes cars. The New York International Auto Show is something that generally my wife and I like to attend every year. We take our time and go on days and times that aren’t jam packed. A Jacob Javits Center is the best place in the world to do it. The place is huge and has different levels. If you don’t know the date and time it is as follows: Friday April 22nd through Sunday May 1st – NEW HOURS! Monday – Saturday: 10am – 10pm (Sundays: 10am – 7pm).

Apps
Unfortunately the NYIA’s website has only an iPhone app available. What the? In this day and age let’s face it you should have both an iPhone app and more importantly an Android app. Now Core-apps has created the Washington Auto Show app and they have 60 apps all targeted towards Conferences and Shows, so they definitely have my vote for publicizing an app should they create one. However on the other hand you have CyberWalkAbout, which is a great local Android company that has profiled apps for specifically for Chicago (got to love it!). In this case they created a great app for the Chicago Auto Show. So if you follow me and down with the Chicago Code get an app from CyberWalkAbout and if you want to have information on almost “any” conference try Core-Apps. If any of these companies come out with an app for the NYIA I will certainly point you to it.

Cars
There are two cars that have displayed interest in Android to my knowledge. Those two manufacturers are SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) and SAAB. Some of you may remember or may not even know that SAIC came out with the Roewe 350 last year which was the first Android car. Roewes are luxury vehicles. Check out some photos in the slideshow. SAAB is really trying to push innovation in personalization. SAAB has implemented Android in their IQon system which promotes ‘Open Innovation in Car Infotainment’. They have stated:

‘Saab will issue third-party developers with a vehicle application programming interface (API) providing access to more than 500 signals from different sensors in the vehicle. These measure, for example, vehicle speed, location and direction of travel, driver workload, yaw rate, steering wheel angle, engine speed and torque, inside and outside temperature, barometric pressure and the sun’s position.’

It is an 8″ screen that provides car services and information, phone, online navigation and on-board music storage. Hopefully after I attend the auto show, I will have more to share.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Android’s presence at the International Auto Show – New York Android | Examiner.com

Alain Joseph
NY Android Examiner
FollowSubscribeSponsor an Examiner
Alain Joseph is a seasoned business leader, with a dynamic background at major Internet properties and media agencies. He has written for online magazines and HotJobs.com. He can be reached at alainjos71@yahoo.com or follow me on Twitter: @alainrj.
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ChicagoAndroid.com invites you to Monetizing your content and in-app payments. (Apr 29, 2011)

Subject: FW: ChicagoAndroid.com invites you to Monetizing your content and in-app payments. (Apr 29, 2011)
Date: 4/26/2011 2:59:30 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Monetizing your content and in-app payments.
Friday, April 29, 2011 from 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM (CT)
Chicago, IL

bit.ly/eGriP7

This Google Technology / Chicago Android User Group is a continuation of very popular set of sessions focused on mobile media.
In this round-table session will be focused on ways of making money via your applications.
Among other things we will announce Pay-Pal challenge $25,000 and discuss possible concepts and maybe create relationships for artists, developers and business people to succeed.
Please help us with promotion by posting on Twitter / Facebook:
Chicago Android / Google Tech: Monetizing Your Content and in-App Payments. bit.ly/gMjXFJ #ChicagoAndroid
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Advanced Diamond Technologies’ UNCD Electrodes Reduce Water Treatment Costs by a Factor of Ten

Subject: Advanced Diamond Technologies’ UNCD Electrodes Reduce Water Treatment Costs by a Factor of Ten
Date: 4/26/2011 6:05:19 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: jill@calyxconsulting.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com

Advanced Diamond Technologies’ UNCD® ElectrodesTM Reduce Water Treatment Costs by a Factor of Ten

Romeoville, IL-April 26, 2011- Advanced Diamond Technologies, Inc. (ADT) announces the immediate availability of UNCD® ElectrodesTM for advanced electrochemical water treatment applications. Compared to conventional electrodes and incumbent boron-doped diamond (BDD) technologies, UNCD Electrodes deliver the power of diamond to the water treatment industry with a combination of long operating lifetimes and high current density capabilities which lower costs. ADT is also pleased to announce that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Klaris Corporation to promote and support the implementation of the UNCD Electrode technology world-wide.

Current industrial and municipal wastewater treatment technologies have become increasingly challenged by the growing presence of chemicals that cannot be broken down. Electrochemical treatment technologies used to treat such wastes require robust electrodes that can generate powerful oxidants. UNCD Electrodes meet that challenge and reduce the cost to purify contaminated wastewater due to their extreme efficiency and low operating costs.

Diamond has many attributes that make it attractive for electrochemical applications including: high efficiency oxidant generation, high chemical stability, environmental compatibility, and resistance to fouling and scaling. UNCD technology offers lifetimes that are orders of magnitude superior to previously available technologies and can be operated at high current densities; thus, reducing the size and cost of the electrochemical cell needed for specific applications. “UNCD Electrodes can run for hundreds of hours in conditions well beyond what other electrode materials can withstand,” said ADT co-founder and chief technology officer, Dr. John Carlisle. “This is a game-changing technology-UNCD Electrodes can reduce treatment costs by more than a factor of ten.”
Diamond is attractive for water treatment technologies that utilize electrochemical processes to generate powerful yet environmentally friendly green oxidants, such as ozone. “Finally, UNCD technology delivers a robust diamond electrode technology that really works and we’re excited to get them in the hands of others who are developing electrochemical technologies for water treatment,” said Dr. Thomas Urbanek, vice president of research and development, Klaris Corporation.

UNCD Electrodes are based on boron-doped UNCD thin films deposited on niobium and tantalum substrates and are custom made per customers’ specifications. Further details can be found at www.thindiamond.com/products/electrodes and ordering information can be found at www.klaris.ca.

About Advanced Diamond Technologies, Inc.

ADT develops products that are enabled by thin smooth diamond. ADT is a World Economic Forum 2007 Technology Pioneer, a recipient of a 2008 EuroAsia IC Award in the Materials Enabling category from EuroAsia Semiconductor, a 2008 R&D 100 Award winner for UNCD Seals (mechanical seals for pumps), and a 2009 R&D 100 Award winner for NaDiaProbes® (AFM probes made entirely of diamond). For more information about ADT, visit www.thindiamond.com.

About Klaris Corporation

Klaris develops, manufactures, and markets water treatment equipment. Klaris innovates and provides products that are manufactured from high quality materials and are creatively simple to assure long-term durability and uncomplicated maintenance to offer exciting new possibilities in water disinfection and decontamination. For more information about Klaris, visit www.klaris.ca.

Calyx Consulting
Jill Jackson
Email: jill@calyxconsulting.com
Phone: 312.231.9870

UNCD and NaDiaProbes are registered trademarks of; and UNCD Electrodes and the ADT logo are trademarks of Advanced Diamond Technologies, Inc.

You are included in this distribution because you are a business contact of Advanced Diamond Technologies, Inc. (ADT). If you would like to be removed from the list, please click below to opt-out.
______________________________
DoubleDutch Receives Investment from Groupon Co-founders — not a Chicago firm

DoubleDutch Receives Investment from Groupon Co-founders

Reply |Melanie Adcock to ronaldmay, me
show details 10:40 PM (1 hour ago)

fromMelanie Adcock
toronaldmay@aol.com,
ron@themayreport.com

dateMon, Apr 25, 2011 at 10:40 PM
subjectDoubleDutch Receives Investment from Groupon Co-founders
mailed-bymsn.com

hide details 10:40 PM (1 hour ago)

Ron, This is an interesting article by our buddy Boyan Josic that mentions Lightbank funding companies on the West Coast rather than the Midwest. The Article also mentions Zaarly Inc. the company I met with and spoke to this week. -Melanie

DoubleDutch Receives Investment from Groupon Co-founders

April 25, 2011
By Boyan Josic, Editor-in-Chief

bit.ly/hpigeu

Daily Deal Media

San Francisco-based DoubleDutch the creators of mobile, geosocial applications, announced earlier today that they have received $1.2 million in a funding round led by Lightbank. Lightbank is the investment fund started by Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky, two of Groupon’s co-founders.
DoubleDutch, founded in 2009 by Lawrence Coburn and Mathew Spolin, develops mobile resource management tools designed to help field employees stay connected, log activities, and work more efficiently.
“DoubleDutch has a running start in one of the strongest tech categories in recent years. Its customer list, which includes Cisco, HP, Adobe, Gannett, and TED, is strong and growing quickly,” noted Paul Lee, Partner at Lightbank. “We’re excited to be playing a role in the success of this promising company and its valuable products.”
“DoubleDutch is thrilled with the group that came together for this opportunity,” said Lawrence Coburn, DoubleDutch chief executive officer. “This funding will give us the resources we need to continue to build on our head start in bringing mobile, social functionality to the enterprise.”
Last month Lightbank also invested $1 million in the Wikipedia-like service Qwiki with earlier investments in Zaarly Inc. and Hipster, all California based companies that go beyond the initial plan the Groupon co-founders had of focusing their investing on the Midwest.
Paul Lee, a third partner that joined Lightbank earlier this year said there were going to be more investments in different regions because Lightbank is developing a growing interest in companies looking to profit from location-aware social-media applications.
Participants in DoubleDutch’s initial funding included Charles River Ventures, Launch Capital, Accelerator Ventures, Venture51, and Zig Capital.

Short URL: www.dailydealmedia.com/?p=8363
__________________________________
Sneak Peak at the 2011 Chicago Innovation Awards Upcoming Events

Subject: Sneak Peak at the 2011 Chicago Innovation Awards Upcoming Events
Date: 4/25/2011 11:52:56 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

Sneak Peak at the 2011 Chicago Innovation Awards Upcoming Events

Nominations open May 1st for this year’s Chicago Innovation Awards. www.chicagoinnovationawards.com/ Details are still being ironed out but it looks like there is an event every month from June through November in the works for this year’s 2011 Chicago Innovation Awards.

Events

Join the Chicago Innovation Awards as we ring in the 2011 Season of Innovation in Chicago. Be inspired by new ideas and fresh new directions. Spend time throughout the year with Chicago’s finest minds and today’s hottest innovators.
Kickoff Reception
June 2011
Announcing the start of the annual Chicago Innovation Awards event season, friends and guests come together for an insider’s look at the year ahead.
Check back soon for registration.

Past Winners Showcase
Google’s Office, July 2011
Celebrating the rich history of Chicago innovation, a special panel is assembled featuring some of the most successful past winners of the Chicago Innovation Awards.
Check back soon for registration.

Innovation and the Media
August 2011
Introducing a new event to the Chicago Innovation Awards calendar: Innovation and the Media. Last year, we learned that gaining awareness in the marketplace is the #1 challenge faced by Chicago’s innovators. This year, we’ll be hosting a panel discussion and media workshop with leading media and advertising experts to help Chicago innovators navigate and capitalize on the ever-changing media landscape.
Registration opens in the summer.
Nominee Reception
House of Blues Chicago, September 2011
To recognize Chicago’s innovators, all of the year’s nominees are honored. 332 organizations were celebrated at the House of Blues in 2010. This year, we encourage companies, organizations, and non-profits from all across the region to nominate and attend this fantastic networking and celebratory event.
Registration opens in the summer.
The Practical Innovator
Kellogg School of Management, September 2011
Hosted by one of the top business schools in the world, this event will feature expert Kellogg faculty that teach the practical skills of innovation, including Mohan Sawhney, Tom Kuczmarski and James Conley. A special panel of past Chicago Innovation Award winners will also be assembled for the event. Join us for this stimulating day of insights and innovation from some of today’s brightest minds as we continue to celebrate the creative spirit of the Chicago region. The top 75 nominees receive a $2,500 scholarship to this education course.
More info to come.
10th annual Chicago Innovation Awards
Goodman Theatre, November 2011
In this turbulent economy, innovation is more important than ever. Innovative new products and services are one of the most effective ways to help a business prosper and grow or a nonprofit to achieve its goals. That is why we are proud to host the 10th Annual Chicago Innovation Awards. For the 10th consecutive year, the awards will celebrate the creative spirit of the Chicago region by recognizing and honoring the city’s most innovative new products and services.
Registration will open in the fall.
______________________________________

Thursday, April 28: CIOsynergy Chicago

Subject: 4/28 event for May Report consideration
Date: 4/25/2011 2:54:35 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: nancy_tubbs@fullcalendar.com
To: ronaldmay@aol.com, melanie_adcock@msn.com

Hi Ron and Melanie,

Here’s an event for consideration for The May Report.

Thanks very much,
Nancy Tubbs
====================

Ciosynergy presents:

CIOsynergy Chicago

DATE/TIME:
Thursday, April 28
1:00pm-7:00pm

LOCATION:
Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel
163 E Walton Place
Chicago, IL, 60611

www.millenniumhotels.com/millenniumchicago/

COST/REGISTRATION:
Complimentary to actively employed IT professionals.

chicago.ciosynergy.com

MORE INFO:
Website: chicago.ciosynergy.com
Email: nepalp@ciosynergy.com
Phone: 312-462-4462
Contact: Nepal Patel

DESCRIPTION:
On Thursday April 28, 150 IT leaders will join us for CIOsynergy Chicago.

CIOsynergy is a collaboration of 150 IT leaders over an epicurean feast & cocktails. Attendees are empowered with a local network of contacts that face the same daily hurdles; an external network to support todays CIO with personal branding… elements that play a vital role in attaining a position in the executive office.

As CIOs look to 2011 and beyond leadership skills are put to the test as they develop teams and infrastructure designed to walk organizations on a path of innovation. Invited keynote Howard Putnam looks to add a thought leading conversation to this afternoon as he walks our audience through his tenure as CEO of Southwest Airlines. Here he transformed a small entrepreneurial venture into a major competitor. In three years profits increased by 200 percent.,On Thursday April 28, 150 IT leaders will join us for CIOsynergy Chicago.

As CIOs look to 2011 and beyond leadership skills are put to the test as they develop teams and infrastructure designed to walk organizations on a path of innovation. Invited keynote Howard Putnam looks to add a thought leading conversation to this afternoon as he walks our audience through his tenure as CEO of Southwest Airlines. Here he transformed a small entrepreneurial venture into a major competitor. In three years profits increased by 200 percent.
_____________________________________
Thursday, April 28: Spring 2011 IPRO Day!

Subject: Join us for Spring 2011 IPRO Day!
Date: 4/25/2011 3:42:02 P.M. Central Daylight Time
From: ipro@iit.edu
To: ronaldmay@aol.com

Spring 2011 IPRO Day Guest Invitation
Thursday, April 28, 2011

Quick Links

IPRO Program Website
IIT Website
IPRO Contact List

About IPRO

The IPRO Program brings together undergraduate students from all disciplines at IIT to work in multidisciplinary teams on real-world projects in engineering research, process improvement, sustainability, service learning and venture development. Many of the projects are sponsored by corporations or community partners.

Be Our Guest for IPRO Day!
An IIT interdisciplinary student team project competition

If you have already signed up as a guest or judge, then please disregard this email.

Join us for Spring 2011 IPRO Day as a guest.
Register online here.

Teamwork, innovation, and complex problem-solving skills make successful professionals – and reflect the overall performance of their organizations. Since 1995, the IPRO team project course at IIT has been teaching students how to excel in the workplace by providing them the practical tools that can make a difference in their professional and personal lives.

The IPRO program joins together students from various academic disciplines to work as a team to tackle a real-world problem. Students from architecture, engineering, and humanities may create low-cost shelter solutions, or chemistry, business, and law students may develop best practices in CO2-reducing technologies. Such experiential learning reinforces traditional education methods, providing students a richer academic experience.

Join us on April 28th for IPRO Day, where you will be able to interact with some of the most talented students in the U.S. and see how they’ve chosen to solve real-world problems. You can read descriptions of the more than thirty current IPRO project topics here.

Students involved in IPRO Day benefit greatly from professionals in the Chicago area who volunteer as judges to provide valuable feedback on various IPRO presentations and exhibits. If you would like to volunteer as a IPRO judge, registration is available here. Participating judges will be entered into a raffle for a chance to win an iPad 2!

There are two roles for judges at IPRO Day: evaluating presentations or exhibits. Both assignments begin with a one-hour orientation meeting at 9:00 a.m. Afterward presentation judges follow a set schedule until 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., while exhibit judges evaluate team projects in a trade show-type setting on an open schedule that can be completed in as little as three hours. The competition is followed by a reception and awards ceremony.

Your support of the IPRO Progam is greatly appreciated!

Event Information
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 28, 2011

Illinois Institute of Technology
Hermann Hall Conference Center
3241 South Federal Street
Chicago, Illinois
______________________________

Thursday, May 5: NBC News Education Nation presents: Job One: Preparing America’s Workforce to Compete in the 21st Century — [Editor's note: May here. I take the list of sponsors as a direct repudiation of Terry Ivan Howerton II and the ITA -- otherwise James Alfred Hoch, how can you explain the absence of the ITA in the sponsor list?]

Subject: NBC News Education Nation presents: Job One: Preparing America’s Workforce to Compete in the 21st Century
Date: 4/26/2011 10:01:42 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: leo@howehutton.com
Reply To:
To: pincon@digibridge.org, field@iit.edu, treed@oaiinc.org, bmcvey@oaiinc.org, onepresence@yahoo.com, DSSA310@aol.com, rzambon@sbcglobal.net, friendofoaks@aol.com, pierreaclark@gmail.com, lknight@one-economy.com, djohnson@lbldc.org, esanders@gagdc.org, computoon1@aol.com, KKennedy@lumity.org, bmuhammad@ntginc.net, FRoehm@skokielibrary.info, onehouseinc@mac.com, mrsreed@att.net, Fernando.Chavarria@illinois.gov, ccc@digibridge.org, mcodina07@att.net, wilcynt@sinai.org, cbrown@nflalumnichicago.org, rbsteeleassociates@yahoo.com, robertanechin@msn.com, jlmiles@jlmsr.com, conradger@gmail.com, tutormentor2@earthlink.net, mp@maprealestate.com, amy@wishnickandassociates.com, thom@newstips.org, bpopovic@cantv.org, RONALDMAY@aol.com, tfigel@lake-effect.com, curtis@newstips.org, deontae.moore@gmail.com, chevelle.blackburne@gmail.com, animationnation@netzero.net, queenjb@ymail.com, diananews5@gmail.com, d.crawford000@gmail.com, LFMatuszewich@mkm-law.com, thacker@clsupreme.com, ddebelle@gmail.com, Cesar.Lopez@illinois.gov, aprentzas@oaiinc.org, tmcmeen@greenstreetproject.org, twheatle@wheatlepeart.com, andy@andyvass.com
CC: obarbara87@aol.com

Colleagues,

May 5 6-8pm high visibility update sponsored by key workforce stakeholders at Field Museum.

Referred by Barbara Olson (thanks!).

Layton
——————————————————————————–
From: obarbara87@aol.com [mailto:obarbara87@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 5:40 PM
To: Layton E. Olson
Subject: Fwd: NBC News Education Nation presents: Job One: Preparing America’s Workforce to Compete in the 21st Century

NBC News Education Nation presents: Job One:
Preparing America’s Workforce to Compete in the 21st Century

Dear Workforce Partners,

The city’s top business and civic leaders are coming together to share ideas on ensuring our workforce is competitive in the global economy. Be a part of this discussion and share how WIA Keeps America Working! Your participation is requested, click here to get registered.

NBC News Education Nation presents:
Job One: Preparing America’s Workforce to Compete in the 21st Century
Moderated by: Andrea Mitchell of NBC News

Thursday, May 5, 2011
6:00 pm Welcome Reception
7:00 pm Program
Field Museum
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive

Sponsored by the University of Phoenix

In partnership with:
Chicago Community Trust
Chicago Public Education Fund
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
Civic Committee of the Commercial Club
Economic Club of Chicago
Executives Club of Chicago
iBIO
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Joyce Foundation
____________________________________
Chernobyl 25th Anniversary is April 26- How safe is the Midwest from Nuclear Disaster?

Subject: Chernobyl 25th Anniversary is April 26- How safe is the Midwest from Nuclear Disaster?
Date: 4/26/2011 1:00:27 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: melanie_adcock@msn.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com

April 26, 1986, Chernobyl disaster, 25 years later: commemoration around the world
Xeni Jardin at 6:49 PM Monday, Apr 25, 2011

www.boingboing.net/2011/04/25/chernobyl-disaster-2.html

It’s early morning on April 26 in Kiev, Ukraine, where the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happened exactly a quarter century ago. On this day in 1986, reactor number four at the plant exploded, setting off a catastrophe that still reverberates far beyond the 30-kilometer exclusion zone.

Demonstrations are taking place throughout Europe. In Tokyo, anti-TEPCO protests mark the occasion and its parallel to the still-unfolding disaster at Fukushima. The “liquidators” who were sent in to clean up the radioactive mess at Chernobyl back in 1986 received medals Monday from Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, but controversy still surrounds the health impact of the dangerous work they performed. The so-called “sarcophagus” surrounding the disaster site in Kiev is leaking, and world leaders have pledged “to provide $780 million for the construction of a shelter designed to house the toxic remains for another century.” But even if and when that new container is finally in place, the radioactive mess will remain active-and hazardous-for many thousands of years more.

Maggie pointed to this recent report from Chernobyl for PBS NewsHour by Miles O’Brien- it’s embedded above youtu.be/KbcbyUK5rqQ in this post, and worth another view on this day. [video link, or watch on PBS.org, photo gallery].

Revisiting Chernobyl: A Nuclear Disaster Site of Epic Proportions
PBS NewsHour by Miles O’Brien
AIR DATE: March 29, 2011
Watch the Video: youtu.be/KbcbyUK5rqQ
Read the Transcript: to.pbs.org/hvUfDp

Transcript
GWEN IFILL: The nuclear crisis in Japan immediately brought back memories of the meltdown at Chernobyl, which still ranks as the world’s worst nuclear accident.

Nearly 25 years later, NewsHour science correspondent Miles O’Brien returned last week to see what life is like there now.

MILES O’BRIEN: For an infamous ghost town of epic proportions, Chernobyl sure is a busy place. Past the guards, through the gates, and into this time capsule of the life Soviet, you must first find your way to the exclusion zone office, where the phone does not stop ringing these days.

Marina Polyakova tells me it’s mostly reporters calling, wanting to visit since the meltdown at Fukushima.

What am I paying for here? What am I getting for 1,064?

WOMAN: That’s for the entrance.

MILES O’BRIEN: Paying the entrance fee, I remember many Ukrainians who would like to open the place to tourists, a macabre theme park, to be sure.

Do you think tourists would come here?

People can come to the area to see everything themselves and then make their own opinion, she told me, not on the basis of what journalists say about this place.

No offense taken, I guess. But what a difference 25 years can make.

ROBERT MACNEIL, former PBS anchor: Good evening.

In the news today, there was an accident at a Soviet nuclear plant, causing some casualties.

MILES O’BRIEN: Two days before the Soviet government announced the problem, reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, 80 miles north of Kiev, blew up, spewing out more radioactivity than 100 Hiroshima bombs. With a cloud of fallout rapidly spreading north and west over Europe, there could be no state secrets. The Kremlin could not keep a lid on Chernobyl in every respect.

MAN: The results were alarming. Significantly higher than normal levels were recorded.

MILES O’BRIEN: About 30 workers and firefighters died in the first week, untold numbers in the 25 years since.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY, University of Kiev: Very important to have these devices.

MILES O’BRIEN: My guide inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone was physicist Gennadi Milinevsky of the University of Kiev.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: It should be 12 microrems per hour.

MILES O’BRIEN: So, this is a little bit…

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: It’s a little — it’s twice more.

MILES O’BRIEN: This is two, almost three times more background radiation just right here.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Two more times right here more than the ground. But…

MILES O’BRIEN: So, should we be worried about that?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: No, not really.

MILES O’BRIEN: Not that big a deal?

It’s not enough to cause harm within a short period of time.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: For those who saved the world.

MILES O’BRIEN: We stopped by a monument to the firefighters who fought valiantly for 10 days to douse the nuclear inferno.

Are they heroes?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Yes, heroes. It’s — many of them received a dose not connected with — with life.

MILES O’BRIEN: Yes.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: They died in one month.

MILES O’BRIEN: Really?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Yes. They were sent to Moscow to special clinic for treatment. But they were — died.

MILES O’BRIEN: Helicopters finally smothered the fire with sand, clay, boron, lead, and liquid nitrogen. Eventually, 600,000 Soviet army conscripts were dispatched to Chernobyl to shovel the lethal mess back into the remnants of the reactor, so that it could be encased in steel and concrete.

VASYL KAVATSIUK, Chernobyl liquidator: Our job was to put the radioactive material back…

MILES O’BRIEN: I see.

VASYL KAVATSIUK: … to the reactor, yes.

MILES O’BRIEN: I see. So, then — so they could cover it over?

VASYL KAVATSIUK: That’s exactly right.

MILES O’BRIEN: So you — you were in very close proximity to this stuff?

VASYL KAVATSIUK: Cannot be closer.

MILES O’BRIEN: They called them liquidators. And Vasyl Kavatsiuk was one of them. A demolition expert, he spent 37 days working at the wrecked reactor.

VASYL KAVATSIUK: If you think about that, you are getting more sick more than you’re supposed to be. You are just thinking I have to do this. This is my job. I have to finish this. I have to do this. Anybody — anyhow, somebody must do that.

MILES O’BRIEN: Until he collapsed and had to be medevaced to Moscow. His wife, Maria, gave birth to a girl, Marta, in 1987. Just shy of her second birthday, she died suddenly of leukemia. In 1989, they had another daughter, Maria. She too contracted leukemia, but survived.

Is there a lot of cancer in your family?

VASYL KAVATSIUK: Never had one.

MILES O’BRIEN: Never?

VASYL KAVATSIUK: Never.

MILES O’BRIEN: Is there any doubt in your mind that the leukemia your two daughters had, had something to do with Chernobyl?

VASYL KAVATSIUK: I have no doubt about that.

MILES O’BRIEN: There’s no doubt radiation causes cancer and genetic defects. The fast-moving subatomic particles plow into molecules with enough energy to knock lose electrons. The dinged molecules, called ions, can kill or damage cells. Enough of this will kill you quickly. Less damage can cause cancer or, if DNA is the target, create genetic mutations.

This is the town of Pripyat.

MILES O’BRIEN: Pripyat was just one of 150 towns and settlements evacuated after the accident. More than 300,000 people were displaced, while a few hundred stubborn holdouts remain on their land, people like Maria, who, at 75, says she is more worried about her cottage falling down than radiation.

Children are the most vulnerable to the effects of radiation. After the explosion, there was a big spike in birth defects and thyroid cancer, extremely rare among children. And researchers say there is also a significant drop in the intellect in the region.

At the dilapidated regional hospital closest to Chernobyl, the medical staff is convinced there is a direct link between chronic exposure to radiation and a whole assortment of diseases and deformities.

I asked Dr. Constantine Cheres if he is convinced people are more sick here because of the Chernobyl accident. “Of course,” he told me. “Of course they are more sick.”

But the Chernobyl Forum, a group of U.N. agencies focused on the accident, estimates only 4,000 people died as a result of the explosion and its aftermath. One of the four members, the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, issued a report contending: “There is no clearly demonstrated increase in the incidence of cancers or leukemia due to radiation in the exposed populations. Neither is there any proof of any non-malignant disorders that are related to ionizing radiation. However, there were widespread psychological reactions to the accident, which were due to fear of the radiation, not the actual radiation doses.”

But Ukrainian scientist Maryna Naboka begs to differ. She told me people here get sick more often and they become more seriously sick. They receive little doses of radiation, but they do it on a day-to-day basis, and the second generation continues getting the radiation.

Radiation contamination is very stubborn. Gennadi Milinevsky took me to a place inside the exclusion zone, 30 kilometers, or 18 miles, around the plant, that is still heavily irradiated.

They call it the red forest because why?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: They call it red forest because this is strong radiation. The leaves of trees became red.

MILES O’BRIEN: Right.

It killed the trees.

The radiation killed pine trees in a 30-square kilometer, 11-square-mile swathe. As we hiked in, the Geiger counter got very excited.

All right, so now we’re more than — we’re at 400 times. Are we OK?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Yes.

MILES O’BRIEN: Are we safe?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Safe.

(LAUGHTER)

MILES O’BRIEN: All right. All right. Just checking. We just don’t want to stay here too long, do we?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Yes. If you put it on the ground…

MILES O’BRIEN: Yes.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: … it became much…

MILES O’BRIEN: Oh, look at that, look at that, 5.5 half right there. That’s 500 times right there. This used to be pine trees as far as you can see.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Yes.

MILES O’BRIEN: And the cesium came through here after the explosion. And that’s — and to this day is…

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Yes, still over there.

MILES O’BRIEN: Are there animals that can live here, or not?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: No, no.

MILES O’BRIEN: Milinevsky’s colleague, Tim Mousseau, believes animals are the key to settling the debate over the long-term health effects of Chernobyl. He and his team have spent more than a decade studying birds in the Chernobyl region and beyond.

TIMOTHY MOUSSEAU, University of South Carolina: But it’s clear that this low-level contamination is — is probably more dangerous in the long run than — than having a single hot spot.

MILES O’BRIEN: In contaminated areas, there are half as many species and one-third number of birds you would expect. Their brains are smaller. Forty percent of male barn swallows have abnormal sperm. One in five have strange colored plumage that makes it hard to attract mates.

There are unusual beak deformities and large tumors that scientists have never seen before. What, if anything, can we extrapolate between that bird population, that population of barn swallows, and humans?

TIMOTHY MOUSSEAU: I would argue that, you know, we’re all — we’re all animals, and birds are actually more similar to us than dissimilar to us.

MILES O’BRIEN: Mousseau’s colleagues are also looking at Chernobyl’s grasshoppers. They frequently have asymmetrical wings, and fruit flies, which are easily impacted by radiation. Those found around Chernobyl have gray eyes, instead of red, and deformed wings.

Biologist Irina Koretsky studies the little bugs, in part because they only live about a month, meaning she can track genetic changes through many generations in short order. She worries about the sporadic funding for research that could lead to some definitive answers about the Chernobyl riddle.

She told me: “This is the worst thing that can happen. If there are gaps in the research for two or three years, we cannot have this full picture.”

At the remains of reactor number four, I saw the concrete and steel sarcophagus that was completed six months after the explosion.

Is it holding? Is it doing its job?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: It’s not — not carefully doing this job, because there’s many holes inside and, still, in windy weather, we have some dust coming outside.

MILES O’BRIEN: Ukraine is asking the west for $800 million to pay for a new shelter over the old sarcophagus that would last 100 years. Beneath it is all is a molten witch’s brew of radioactive isotopes, including plutonium, with a half-life of 24,000 years, meaning, in 24,000 years, half of it will still be here, and 24,000 years later, half of that will still be here, and so on.

Do you think human beings are capable of keeping this thing safe for tens of thousands of years?

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: If he covers it, will try to keep it safe.

MILES O’BRIEN: Yes.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: But this place, this area will be still not good for life.

MILES O’BRIEN: Forever.

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: Yes, forever, yes.

MILES O’BRIEN: And — and…

GENNADI MILINEVSKY: That is problem for all nuclear power plants. When we build new nuclear power, power plants, always, you create some headache for future generations.

MILES O’BRIEN: And something for our generation to consider as we weigh the pros and cons of nuclear power.

How safe is the Midwest from Nuclear Disaster?
By Melanie Adcock

I don’t know about you, dear readers, but I sure would like to know just how safe we are here in the Midwest from a Nuclear disaster. Do you think we should believe everything we read and hear? I tend to be pretty skeptical myself. Here is a brief list of resources that may help answer that question:

*Treehugger.com gives a good run down of Nuclear Reactors in Earthquake Zones in the U.S. complete with maps: bit.ly/f4z17P
*U.S. Nuke Plants ranked in order of quake risk: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42103936/ns/world_news-asia-pacific/
*37 Aging Nuclear Power Plants in the Great Lakes Basin: bit.ly/dGNt7q

Dino Pappas: PyroPhase announcement

PyroPhase announcement

Reply |c. dino pappas to Bob, rickrosen18
show details 12:53 PM (5 hours ago)

fromc. dino pappas
to”\”Bob Abels\”" ,
rickrosen18@sbcglobal.net

dateMon, Apr 25, 2011 at 12:53 PM
subjectPyroPhase announcement

hide details 12:53 PM (5 hours ago)

Recently much attention has been focused on the drawbacks of hydro-fracking.
PyroPhase has the solutions to the problems presented by current hydro-fracking techniques, (water table pollution
and earthquake stimulation) in addition to curing the current drawbacks the results are far greener than any other
production technique, also resulting in higher yields, up to 70%+. PyroPhase uses renewable energy sources for it’s
electricity or if we use the grid we help we stablize it. We add no water to the formations which we produce, which is very
important in arid dry areas and in areas where there are concerns about fracking fluids polluting the water tables.
The PyroPhase solutions are available on the PyroPhase.com website, also feel free to call me at 847 361 3160, or email
Dino@PyroPhase.com.

Driller halts Pennsylvania fracking after blowout
04/21/2011
By Edward McAllister
NEW YORK | Thu Apr 21, 2011 2:43pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Chesapeake Energy suspended the use of a controversial natural-gas production technique in Pennsylvania on Thursday as it worked to contain a well blowout that spilled toxic fluid into a local waterway.
Chesapeake, one of the state’s biggest shale gas producers, will use a mix of plastic, ground-up tires and heavy mud to plug the well – an operation that echoes BP’s “top kill” effort to seal its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well last year.
The company said it still did not know the cause of the blowout a day and a half after it occurred.
The accident in northeastern Pennsylvania has stoked an already fierce debate in the United States over hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” – a process to release gas trapped in shale formations by blasting a mix of water, sand and chemicals into the rock.
Proponents say extracting shale gas through fracking will slash U.S. reliance on foreign oil and cut carbon emissions.
President Barack Obama has made natural gas the cornerstone of his energy policy, in part thanks to the huge reserves unlocked by the use of fracking. Shale gas now accounts 23 percent of U.S. natural gas production, rising from a negligible amount in 2004.
But environmentalists and residents complain that fracking can pollute water supplies, raising calls for increased regulation on natural gas production.
“This is the kind of incident that is likely to shine a spotlight, again, on the fact that despite repeated assurances from industry and regulators in Pennsylvania, things there keep somehow going wrong,” said Kate Sinding, senior attorney for the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council.
The accident comes at a sensitive time for energy drillers, just a year after an explosion that led to the massive BP oil spill. Regulators are now considering whether to allow the technique in neighboring New York state.
Immediately after the blowout, the Chesapeake well spewed thousands of gallons of fracking fluid into a nearby creek, Bradford County emergency management officials said on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the company said the well was stable and fluid was flowing into containment vessels.
“We have put all well completion operations on hold. Hydraulic fracturing is completely within that process,” company spokesman Rory Sweeney said. He said seven well sites were affected by the suspension.
Well completion, which involves fracking, is work to prepare a site for production after drilling has been completed.
Chesapeake was listed as the largest shale gas driller in Pennsylvania, with 87 active wells in the second half of 2010.
Chesapeake stock fell 0.8 percent in early Thursday trade but shares have moved little since the blowout.
DRILLING TECHNIQUE UNDER SCRUTINY
Workers lost control of the hydraulic fracturing well in the state’s Marcellus Shale natural gas formation at 11:45 p.m. (1545 GMT) on Tuesday.
Tests from the nearby Towanda Creek indicated little contamination, Chesapeake added.
Gas drilling in Pennsylvania, and in particular in the Marcellus Shale play, has drawn the attention of major energy companies due to estimates that the region holds enough gas to meet total U.S. needs for a decade or more.
Senator Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, on Thursday defended the use of fracking as a way to boost U.S. energy supplies, and said the technique has not resulted in any documented cases of groundwater contamination in his home state, where it has been used since 1948.
The Pennsylvania spill “has nothing to do with hydraulic fracturing,” Inhofe said in an interview with Fox News Radio, noting the spill was above ground.
Experts mulled the possibility that the company might abandon the well after the operation to plug it.
Local residents were evacuated from the scene. All but one family had returned to their homes by Wednesday night, and Chesapeake said no one was hurt.
(Additional reporting by Joshua Schneyer, Janet McGurty, David Sheppard in New York, Dan Wiessner in Albany and Roberta Rampton in Washington, DC ; Editing by Matthew Robinson and Frank McGurty)
Arkansas quakes decline since hydrofracking injection wells were closed
Published: Monday, March 14, 2011, 7:08 PM Updated: Monday, March 14, 2011, 7:08 Pm
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – The number and strength of earthquakes in central Arkansas have noticeably dropped since the shutdown of two injection wells in the area, although a state researcher says it’s too early to draw any conclusions.
“We have definitely noticed a reduction in the number of earthquakes, especially the larger ones,” said Scott Ausbrooks, geohazards supervisor for the Arkansas Geological Survey. “It’s definitely worth noting.”
The Center for Earthquake Research and Information recorded around 100 earthquakes in the seven days preceding the shutdown earlier this month, including the largest quake to hit the state in 35 years – a magnitude 4.7 on Feb. 27. A dozen of the quakes had magnitudes greater than 3.0. In the days since the shutdown, there have been around 60 recorded quakes, with only one higher than a magnitude 3.0. The majority were between magnitudes 1.2 and 2.8.
The two injection wells are used to dispose of wastewater from natural-gas production. One is owned by Chesapeake Energy, and the other by Clarita Operating. They agreed March 4 to temporarily cease injection operations at the request of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission.
The commission said preliminary studies showed evidence potentially linking injection activities with nearly 1,000 quakes in the region over the past six months.
But Ausbrooks said it’s too soon to tell if the decline in quakes is directly related to the injection well closures, adding that the drop could just be a normal low period of the swarm cycle. “Either way, I wouldn’t expect (the earthquakes) to quit immediately,” he said. “If there is a relationship, the seismic activity could go on for weeks, months or even years.”
Chesapeake Energy has said it does not believe there is a connection between the injection wells and the area’s seismic activity.
A six-month moratorium on new injection wells in the area took effect in January to allow time to determine what relationship, if any, there is between the wells and the earthquakes.
The Fayetteville Shale, an organically-rich rock formation underlying the region, is a major source of natural gas in Arkansas. Drillers free up the gas by using hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” which requires injecting pressurized water to create fractures deep in the ground. The two injection wells at issue dispose of “frack” water when it can no longer be re-used by injecting it into the ground.
The state’s Oil and Gas Commission will reconsider the issue at a meeting March 29 when both sides will get to testify.
Related topics: hydrofracking

C. DINO PAPPAS
Vice President for Development @ PyroPhase, Inc.
The Future of U.S. Energy…….. //:\\
MAIL: POB 652, SKOKIE, IL. 60076-0652
STREET: 8453 N. LAWNDALE AVE.
SUITE 1, SKOKIE, IL. 60076
847 676 4169 VOICE /// 847 361 3160 CELL
c.dinopappas@usa.net // c_dinopappas@yahoo.com
__________________________________

– So what does this have to do with Chicago or high tech in general or anything that comes to mind? Harvard University Avoids Debate on University Professor Michael E. Porter’s Libya Report — what it has to do with is Steve Kaplan, Scott F. Meadow, Eric Lefkofsky, Brad Keywell, et. al., all of whom sit on boards and who use the University of Chicago (hey, it could just as easily be Northwestern or other schools as well), as one person puts it in the comments “it isn’t ok for the university to indirectly lease out its prestige as an alternate form of salary for professors who are going to abuse that privilege.” And this applies to many other issues: Advisory boards that are effectively for sale — prior to the French Revolution offices and aristocratic titles were for sale too; adjunct teaching positions for sale, university and corporate board seats for sale, and students being used routinely by firms for not only cheap labor bordering on indentured servitude. Doesn’t that undermine credibility and objectivity? How can we have objectivity and intellectual honesty if HPA or Groupon uses those students to “help out”?, so we have the same alloyed ethical system here that we have in so many areas and Michael E. Porter is just a good current example of the problem, and it bothers me that the students are being indoctrinated and co-opted by all of this.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/4/12/porter-lewis-university-faculty/

University Avoids Debate on University Professor Michael E. Porter’s Libya Report
By Gautam S. Kumar, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Published: Tuesday, April 12, 2011
15 Comment Email Print Despite media criticism and some faculty disquiet, the University has stayed mum on University Professor Michael E. Porter’s involvement in crafting a report commissioned by the Libyan government under Muammar Gaddafi.

In the 2006 report, Porter claimed that Libya was a democracy-a conclusion that former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 criticized during a Faculty meeting last week. Lewis said that Porter’s financial ties to Gaddafi colored his analysis of the Libyan regime.

The Globe, which has been covering the controversy over the past few days, published a staff editorial yesterday that encouraged University Drew G. Faust to publicly condemn Porter.

“Harvard needs to zealously protect the freedom of speech and expression of those in its community,” the staff editorial said. “But it shouldn’t be afraid to draw some sharp lines to prevent violations of human rights.”

The Globe highlighted Faust’s strong advocacy for gay rights, noting that she has taken principled stands in the past and should be willing to do the same with regard to Porter.

Several professors said that they largely understand Lewis’ statements, but they sympathize with Faust’s hesitation to use her position to publicly condemn Porter.

While University Professor Stanley Hoffmann said that, based on Lewis’ statements, he found Porter’s actions to be “revolting,” he nonetheless expressed concerns about censuring Porter.

“I am not sure I would want to whip him in public,” Hoffmann said, adding that he nonetheless believes there should be “limits” to professors’ actions that might reflect negatively on Harvard.

Professors also expressed concerns that rebuking Porter would establish a worrying precedent.

“I can understand Professor Lewis’s concerns,” said Professor Jeffrey A. Miron, director of undergraduate studies for economics.

“[But] if the president started taking a stand on faculty activities or positions, there would be an endless series of issues to address.”

In the Faculty meeting last week, Lewis said that Porter’s actions were “wrong,” arguing that the University professor allowed for financial ties with the government to influence the report’s published findings.

But Porter said in an emailed statement to The Crimson last week that his research and the report were completed between 2004 and 2006, a period during which the future of the nation looked more optimistic.

Porter said that Libya was at the time opening up to the Western world and making reparations for former behavior.

Faust has not followed up on comments she made regarding the controversy at last week’s Faculty meeting, in which she said that it was not high on the President’s list of responsibilities to serve as “scolder-in-chief.”

“What is high on the list,” Faust said at the meeting, “is to allow for people to say what they think.”

University spokesperson Kevin Galvin said yesterday that the University backs Faust’s statement.

In the Faculty meeting, Lewis encouraged the president to consider criticizing professors for outside behavior that paints Harvard in poor light.

Lewis condemned Porter in strong language, saying that Porter had been swayed by financial incentives and that Porter had claimed the government was a democracy “for a price.”

The 2006 report was compiled by the Monitor Consulting Group, a firm established by several Harvard Business School professors, including Porter, in 1983.

The document repeatedly referred to the Libyan government, which had been led by Gaddafi since 1969, as a “democracy,” and lauded the government for its Westernization efforts.

Porter said that after 2007, when he came to believe that reform had halted, he cut associations with Libya.

-Staff writer Gautam S. Kumar can be reached at gkumar@college.harvard.edu.
TAGS FAS, Faust, University COMMENT
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Winthrop78 1 week ago

Yes, if the University started taking a stand on the ethics of faculty outside gigs, it would lose most of its Economics department and all of HBS.
Tenure is prized not for the promise of academic freedom, but for the millions in consulting fees one can reap. Isn’t this a form of corruption?
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ProfessingforDollars 1 week ago

Right On Winthrop!
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Marvin L Foushee 1 week ago

After the Postdam Conference, Harry Truman sold the psychopathic, brutal dictator Joseph Stalin to the American public as “Uncle Joe.”

According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared than loved. but that it doesn’t hurt to have an ‘”Uncle Joe” face in your political portfolio.
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Errata 1 week ago

Nitpicking here, but Monitor is just “Monitor Group,” not “Monitor Consulting Group.” This error has occurred twice now in the Crimson. Monitor Consulting Group (monitorconsultinggroup…. is a website with no ties to the actual Monitor Group, although it does have a nice color scheme.
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menckenlite 1 week ago

And what about the additions to the endowment from stocks, bonds, futures speculating, legal consulting at the law school, and those millions from foreign countries that hate America?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

bostinnovation.com/2011/04/06/former-dean-questions-response-to-professors-past-financial-ties-to-libyas-gaddafi-news-the-harvard-crimson/

The Harvard Crimson – Ex-Harvard Dean Questions Professor’s Past Financial Ties to Libya
Kevin curated this post using Pinyadda. To learn more, click here.
Kevin McCarthy
BostInno Staff

BostInnovation, Pinyadda

co-founder at Streetwise Media (property: BostInnovation, platform: Pinyadda). Follow me on twitter (@kmccarth), linkedin and hypem. April 6th, 2011 – 9:22 am This post is at 0Here is what happened yesterday (from the article): “Computer Science Professor and former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 questioned University President Drew G. Faust on whether the University should actively criticize University Professor Michael E. Porter for his financial ties with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.”

Back in 2006, Prof. Porter was a consultant for the Monitor Group, a corporation and government consultancy organization. Porter helped Monitor “get a contract with Libya worth more than $3 million to consult on political and economic reforms.” (read more here). Although Porter believed that Libya was at “the dawn of a new era” and called Gaddafi’s Libya a “popular democracy system”, Porter eventually quit his work with Libya after he realized Gaddafi wasn’t all about reform (shocker).

Prof. Lewis now wants Harvard to actively criticize Porter for his actions, which is basically amounts to a good and necessary PR move for the university given the current situation in Libya.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/4/6/university-lewis-faculty-harvard/

Former Dean Questions Response to Professor’s Past Financial Ties to Libya’s Gaddafi
By Gautam S. Kumar and Sirui Li, CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
Published: Wednesday, April 06, 2011
06 Comment Email Print Computer Science Professor and former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 questioned University President Drew G. Faust on whether the University should actively criticize University Professor Michael E. Porter for his financial ties with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

At yesterday’s Faculty meeting, Lewis chided Porter for a 2006 report to the Libyan government on the part of his private consulting firm, Monitor Consulting Group, which repeatedly dubbed the regime a “popular” and “direct” democracy. Lewis said that Porter’s actions represented Harvard in a poor light, negatively affecting its global image.

“Harvard rightfully expresses its pride when a member of our community does something noble,” Lewis said. “I wonder if the University should not also express its shame when a faculty member disgraces the University.”

The Faculty meeting was otherwise largely policy-oriented, developing next year’s Optional Winter Activities Week and endorsing scheduling morning classes on Fridays next semester.

Following concerns expressed by faculty members and students about a lack of transparency in the process, Faust also summarized the University’s decision to repeal a ban on Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

‘CRIMSON-TINGED REPORT’

Lewis addressed Faust after the University president had closed her presentation for the meeting.

“I don’t know that Professor Porter broke any laws or University rules, and I would not want any new regulatory apparatus,” Lewis said. “Yet taking money to support a tyranny by dubbing it a democracy is wrong.”

In February 2006, Porter presented a 200-page document to officials in Tripoli as a consultant to Monitor, a firm formed by several Harvard professors that was under several million-dollar contracts with the country.

In the report, Porter argued that Libya “has the only functioning example of direct democracy on a national level,” and that Libyans were able to directly contribute to the decision-making process, which drew heavy fire from Lewis in yesterday’s Faculty meeting.

“To put it simply, a tyrant wanted a crimson-tinged report that he was running a democracy,” Lewis said, bringing up the question of whether the University should acknowledge the “shame” when a faculty member disgraces the University in such a way.

“Shouldn’t Harvard acknowledge its embarrassment, and might you remind us that when we parlay our status as Harvard professors for personal profit, we can hurt both the University and all of its members?” Lewis said.

In response to Lewis’ criticism, Faust said that it was not the president’s responsibility to serve as “public scolder-in-chief.”

She said that Harvard recently conducted a review of the University’s policies on conflict of interest. But she said it should also be the University’s priority to support all faculty members to pursue academic inquiry.

DOCUMENTING ROTC

Faust offered a brief summary of the decisions that led to the return of ROTC to campus.

Her comments came less than a week after a Columbia university-wide legislative body made up of students, faculty, and staff announced their support for ROTC on campus. That move raised concerns at Harvard among students and the Faculty about the transparency of Harvard’s own process to recognize ROTC.

Faust said University President Neil L. Rudenstine established a committee in the 1990s that pivoted the ban of ROTC on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” legislation. Once Congress repealed the policy, she said, the University could no longer legitimize banning ROTC.

“I viewed the repeal of DADT as a significant step towards inclusiveness,” Faust said.

BREAKFAST SEMINARS

Acknowledging that Friday “has become a day that is under-scheduled,” Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris said that planning seminars to accommodate for athletes and students with inflexible afternoon responsibilities has become increasingly difficult.

Currently, no class longer than an hour can be scheduled before 1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Classes before 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday can be up to 1.5 hours.

But Harris said that longer seminar classes back loaded in the afternoon leave only a small window for students who juggle other activities during that time.

Harris also announced a Faculty decision to facilitate Harvard students who are not concentrating in Music but want to continue cross-registering at the New England Conservatory.

The policy change would allow students to take one or two courses in a term at the New England Conservatory.

-Staff writer Gautam S. Kumar can be reached at gkumar@college.harvard.edu.

-Staff writer Sirui Li can be reached sli@college.harvard.edu.
TAGS FAS Administration, Faculty COMMENT
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Marvin L Foushee 2 weeks ago

Thesis: Libya is a democracy.

anti-thesis: Libya is a relatively progressive northern African nation ruled by a homicidal criminal enterprise form of government and a despotic dictatorship.

The “Libya is a Democracy” thesis should be shot and killed at the Office of the Dean of Faculty Flunks.
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ygl 2 weeks ago

It’s not the job of Harvard’s president to be scolder-in-chief? May I ask, then, how does President Faust propose we stop professors from becoming paid surrogates for unworthy causes, producing shoddy if not outright dishonest work in the process? Either she thinks this is a problem worth addressing, or not. My guess: not. Too much money in it.
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UniversityProfessor 2 weeks ago

Hmmm….Is Libya the only criminal enterprise here? Ghaddafi may know how to dress, but the real lesson is that if you want to lie, cheat and steal and get away with it: Always wear a suit and tie.
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Guest 2 weeks ago

For whatever it’s worth: Monitor Group is also the oufit which advised Harvard on its governance reform.
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Kristiebonventre 2 weeks ago

Anything for money…
Flag 1 person liked this. Like ReplyReply
Jeffrey 2 weeks ago

I’m a little uncomfortable with the idea of the university scolding professors for taking stances either in their professional or personal lives. But I think Harry Lewis has a point here, which is that it isn’t ok for the university to indirectly lease out its prestige as an alternate form of salary for professors who are going to abuse that privilege. [Editor's note: May here. I decided to add the bolding here.] Fortunately for Faust, Lewis has now done the shaming and the official organs of the university didn’t have to say anything.
__________________________________
Hostway Named Microsoft® Hyper-V Cloud Provider of the Year

Hostway Named Microsoft® Hyper-V Cloud Provider of the Year
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subjectHostway Named Microsoft® Hyper-V Cloud Provider of the Year
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Hostway Named Microsoft® Hyper-V Cloud Provider of the Year
Company Recognized for Unique Offering and Affordable Pricing
Chicago, Illinois, April 26, 2011-Hostway Corporation, a global leader in infrastructure and cloud hosting services, today announced it has been selected as the 2011 Microsoft Hyper-V Cloud Provider of the Year. Hostway was recognized for its unique solutions that offer exceptional flexibility and provide enterprise-grade compute capacity in the cloud at an unbeatable value.
Hostway’s FlexCloud™ Servers were designed to be one of the most flexible, reliable and easy-to-use cloud hosting solutions on the market and are based on Microsoft’s Hyper-V and System Center, supporting both Windows and Linux virtual machines. An intuitive Web-based management console enables users to create and self-manage multiple clouds, automating the administration of resources including server instances, CPU/RAM/Disk, IP addresses, security, load balancing and more. Public and private image libraries facilitate saving and cloning of images, user-initiated snapshots save multiple states and backups are automatically scheduled and performed. With FlexCloud, provisioning takes minutes, enabling near real-time availability of resources to meet growth and variability requirements.
Hostway is the first cloud hosting provider in the industry to offer Automatic Price Protection, a revolutionary billing model that was commended for the value it affords customers. Automatic Price Protection guarantees the lowest price by automatically billing for services at whichever model costs less: hourly billing based on usage or a fixed monthly rate, providing a predictable cap to help control costs.
The Hyper-V Cloud Provider of the Year award was presented by Austen Mulinder, CVP, CS, corporate vice president of the Communications Sector at Microsoft during the opening keynote of the 2011 Microsoft Hosting Summit in Bellevue, Wash.
With more than 75 Microsoft Hyper-V Cloud Service providers offering their own unique services, Hostway’s vice president of Enterprise Hosting Todd Benjamin says the Hyper-V Provider of the Year honor from Microsoft is strong validation of Hostway’s superior, cost-effective offering.
“We’ve received numerous accolades and best-in-class rankings from a wide range of industry analysts and publications, but we are especially thrilled to be recognized by Microsoft for our innovation in technology and customer focus,” Benjamin said. “We look forward to the opportunity to continue evolving our services in concert with Microsoft to meet our clients’ every-changing needs.”
For more information about Hostway FlexCloud as well as other managed hosting, ecommerce and network/infrastructure services, visit www.hostway.com.
About Hostway Corporation
Hostway Corporation provides dedicated hosting, shared hosting, colocation, domain name registration, ecommerce solutions and other Web-based services to over 1.4 million Web sites and 600,000 customers worldwide. The company operates more than 250,000 square feet of state-of-the-art data center space that reduces the complexity and cost of Web-based technologies for small businesses and large enterprises. Founded in 1998, Hostway is one of the world’s largest Web hosting companies with a direct presence in 14 countries, 17 worldwide operation centers and more than 700 employees. www.hostway.com
Media Contact:
Alisha Smith
604-688-8946 ext 137
alisha.smith@hostway.com
_______________________________________
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