Noted educator and architect William Bill McMinn passes away at 89 – The Architect’s Newspaper
Posted: September 2, 2020 at 1:56 am
William G. Bill McMinn, an architect and educator who served as dean of three architecture schools, died August 21 in Asheville, North Carolina, of complications from a stroke. He was 89.
In 1974, McMinn was named the founding dean of the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University (MSU), part of the College of Architecture, Art and Design, and stayed there until 1984. In 1997, he was named founding dean of the School of Architecture at Florida International University (FIU) now part of its College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts.
In between, from 1984 to 1996, he served as dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) at Cornell University. While at Cornell, he founded the Cornell in Rome Program for students, taking advantage of the expertise of Professor Colin Rowe and others, and was instrumental in establishing an undergraduate program in the colleges Department of City and Regional Planning. He also helped raise funds to improve the colleges facilities and served on the board of the I. M. Pei-designed Herbert F. Johnson Museum on campus.
Bill McMinns contributions to the stature of the college cannot be overstated, write Meejin Yoon, Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of AAP, in an article posted on the schools website.
As a founder of the Cornell in Rome program, he enriched the lives of so many as the program has grown into a vital component of many architecture, art, and planning students education. He was a practitioner as well as an educator, and his influence will continue to be felt beyond scholarship to the underpinnings of the culture at AAP and well beyond.
According to the Cornell article by Patti Witten, McMinn was modest about his accomplishments as an educator, insisting that colleges cant really teach architecture. At best, he would say, we provide a place for students to discover it, Witten wrote.
Bill was the right person to start a program in Mississippi, said Robert V. M. Harrison, an early faculty member and founder of the schools advisory board, in an article on the MSU website.
He was a people person and brought in the right people. He had the knack to communicate with everyone. Architects,accreditation teams and legislators respected him. He got a full accreditation for the school at the earliest possible date, which is miraculous. A miracle worker.
As part of his effort to give the new Mississippi school a national presence and broaden the students perspective, former students and faculty members say that McMinn established a lecture series that brought big-name architects and critics to campus in the 1970s and 1980s, including Stanley Tigerman, Robert Venturi, Michael Graves, Rem Koolhaas, Charles Moore, and writers Ada Louise Huxtable and Paul Goldberger.
One story that has made the rounds for years is that McMinn was so eager to bring luminaries to campus that he would play one architect off the other, calling Michael Graves and telling him that Peter Eisenman was coming to campus and then calling Eisenman and telling him that Graves was coming.
McMinn was a strong supporter of architects who wanted to use their education to influence other fields, said alumnus Janet Marie Smith. She used her MSU degree to carve out an unconventional career in sports architecture, building or renovating stadiums including Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Fenway Park in Boston, and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
After 12 winters in upstate New York, McMinn moved to Florida in 1996 to become director of FIUs program in architecture, then part of its School of Design.
A year later he was named founding dean of the FIU School of Architecture. Under his leadership, the school earned full accreditation from the National Architectural Accrediting Board, changing its status from a department to a school. McMinn initiated a competition that led to the construction of the Bernard Tschumi-designed Paul L. Cejas School of Architecture Building on the FIU Modesto Maidique campus.
According to FIU, the curriculum under McMinn incorporated pre-professional undergraduate programs in architecture and interior design, graduate programs in architecture, landscape architecture and environment and urban systems, and study-abroad programs. McMinn stepped down as dean in 2000 to return to teaching. He retired in 2004 and moved to North Carolina.
Born in Abilene, Texas, McMinn earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1953 from Rice University and a Master of Architecture degree in 1954 from the University of TexasAustin. He began teaching in 1956 at Texas Tech University and then held teaching or department leadership positions at Clemson University, Auburn University, and Louisiana State University.
In 2006, he received the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the highest award for outstanding contribution to architectural education in the U.S.
A Fellow of the AIA and the American Academy in Rome, McMinn received the ACSAs Distinguished Professor Award in 1991 and the Educational Leadership Award in Architecture from the AIA Miami chapter.
According to the AIA, he helped establish a School of Design at King Fahd University in Saudi Arabia, was a U.S.-appointed consultant to the School of Architecture at the University of Jordan, and helped improve the curriculum at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul.
Bill McMinn has, throughout his career, served as a strong bridge between practice and education. His vision has always been to provide a seamless transition between the two realms, said John McRae, then-dean of the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design, in nominating McMinn for the Topaz Medallion.
I have known dozens of deans, said FIU president Modesto Maidique in his nomination letter. Seldom have I found one with the passion, dedication and sophistication that Bill exhibited during his tenure.
In addition to his teaching career, McMinn practiced architecture professionally from 1968 to 1971 as director of design at Six Associates in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1980, he was appointed to the National Architectural Accreditation Board and was elected NAAB President in 1983. He chaired NAAB reviews of 24 architecture programs, including those at Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Following his retirement to North Carolina in 2004, McMinn continued to advise on architectural design competitions and projects. He served as the professional advisor for a national competition to design a Performing and Visual Arts Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina, a contest that drew 58 entries. In 2004, he helped select the dean of the architectural school at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Of all his achievements, one that made him especially proud was the Cornell in Rome program and the creation of the Cornell Center in Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, dedicated in 1997. In addition to Colin Rowe, early faculty members included architecture professor John Shaw and sculptor and fine arts professor Jack Squier. Roberto Einaudi was Cornell in Romes first director.
Bill was firmly convinced that Rome, this most ancient and complicated of cities, is the ideal laboratory for the disciplines of architecture, art, and planning, said Jeffrey Blanchard, the current academic director for Cornell in Rome, according to the AAP article. While Bills distinguished career as an educator unfolded in a number of institutions and was marked by many achievements and awards. I believe he always considered the creation of Cornells Rome program to be one of his most important and enduring accomplishments.
McMinn is survived by his wife of 64 years, Joan; his son Kevin, and his daughter Tracey.
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Noted educator and architect William Bill McMinn passes away at 89 - The Architect's Newspaper
Peter: the Human Cyborg, review: the only problem with this inspiring film was that it ended too soon – Telegraph.co.uk
Posted: at 1:53 am
Peter Scott-Morgan is blessed with a rare abundance of positive mental attitude. Receiving a devastating diagnosis of motor neurone disease in 2017, he decided not to give into fate but to set about subverting it. His plan: to use his background in robotics to become a pioneer, part-human, part-machine.
That none of the necessary technology existed didnt deter him. For two years Peter: The Human Cyborg (Channel 4) followed his quest inspired by everything from Doctor Who to fellow MND sufferer Stephen Hawking to source new technology to replace body parts and bodily functions that the disease would steal from him, gradually locking him intoa body unable to move or even speak.
The ambition was huge: a rigid, self-propelled exoskeleton, new plumbing to cater for nutrition and waste disposal, synthetic speech via a computer hardwired to his brain, a responsive screen avatar to replace immobile facial features. The journey took him, and us, to places where technology really was beginning to look capable of fundamentally changing humanitys relationship with disease and physical frailty. Maybe even mortality, eventually.
But for now, the science stubbornly lagged behind the rapid progress of the disease, unable to do everything Scott-Morgan hoped of it. Even so, what he achieved in two years was phenomenal. By the time we left him, in March this year, the disease had locked him in almost totally. For six months hed been voiceless, breathing through a tube, wholly dependent on his partner of 40 years, Francis. Still, hed just had delivered his cutting edge new wheelchair, complete with built-in life support, a comms computer and on-screen avatar.
It feels like Ive woken up on another planet, Scott-Morgan said. Or rather his new synthetic voice did his first utterance since losing speech to a laryngectomy. Now is not the end of anything, he added. This is where the fun begins.
Disappointingly, though, that was the end of something: the film. And while it closed on this powerful note of uplift and optimism, as a viewer it left us hanging. What happened next? How did he cope during the pandemic? How did he get on with his new kit?
It is a rare compliment these days to complain of a documentary being too brief. But this was an exception.
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Peter: the Human Cyborg, review: the only problem with this inspiring film was that it ended too soon - Telegraph.co.uk
Dictionary.com adds Black, as it refers to a person, in massive update around definitions that reflect culture, identity, and race – WDJT
Posted: at 1:53 am
By Leah Asmelash, CNN
(CNN) -- "Afro-Latinx." "Deadname." "Janky." These are just some of the many terms now on Dictionary.com.
The dictionary website announced an update of more than 15,000 entries, refining and adding terms specifically related to race, identity, sexual orientation, and mental health.
"The work of a dictionary is more than just adding new words. It's an ongoing effort to ensure that how we define words reflects changes in languageand life," said John Kelly, a senior editor at Dictionary.com, in a news release.
"Among our many new entries are thousands of deeper, dictionary-wide revisions that touch us on our most personal levels: how we talk about ourselves and our identities, from race to sexual orientation to mental health. Our revisions are putting people, in all their rich humanity, first, and we're extremely proud of that."
The update includes the capitalization of Black, an increasingly popular move by many websites and news organizations as White America begins to reckon with race.
The website called the move "a mark of respect and recognition that's in line with capitalizing other cultures and ethnicities." It also added terms like Afro-Latina, Afro-Latino, Afro-Latinx, brownface, Filipina, Filipinx, Pinay, Pinoy and Pinxy.
In the update, the word "gay" replaced "homosexual," and "gay sexual orientation" replaced "homosexuality." The decision was made to remove "the implication of a medical diagnosis, sickness, or pathology when describing normal human behaviors and ways of being," Dictionary.com said in its release.
The website added other LGBTQ terms as well, including "ace," "asexual," "deadname" and "gender-inclusive."
Dictionary.com also updated its language around suicide -- replacing its previous wording of "commit suicide" with "die by suicide" or "end one's life."
There were some fun additions, too, like the acronym "GOAT," or greatest of all time, and "amirite" (the website used it in a sentence for convenience: "College admissions essays are exercises in creative writing, amirite?!")
Here's a look at more of the added terms:
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Dictionary.com adds Black, as it refers to a person, in massive update around definitions that reflect culture, identity, and race - WDJT
Coronavirus Scotland: Mental health hubs saved lives during lockdown and we cannot afford to lose them – The Scottish Sun
Posted: at 1:53 am
THE record of this newspaper on campaigning for mental health is second to none.
Our Mind The Future campaign pressed for action to help Scotlands young people. And the Scottish Government has undoubtedly sharpened its focus on the issue.
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But the problem hasnt gone away and it extends much more widely than our young people alone, especially in light of the effects of the pandemic on the nations mental health.
Scotland remains addicted to drink, addicted to drugs and, sadly, prone to suicide and self-harm. All of those things are signs and symptoms of a serious mental health crisis.
And though the SNP came to power on a promise of cutting anti-depressant use by 10 per cent, the number of people using drugs to combat their mood has continued to rise.
With thousands of people facing something like imprisonment during lockdown, the mental health crisis has only deepened.
The Scottish Government responded rightly with a dozen emergency mental health assessment centres, nine operating non-stop, in the first month of the pandemic.
But there are fears those services could be withdrawn as life returns to something like normal.
Ministers says they are exploring how best to develop the mental health hubs which sounds encouraging.
But money remains tight, the pandemic has left a huge backlog of postponed and delayed treatments and mental health has always been the ugly sister of the healthcare system.
Once and for all we have to change our attitudes and acknowledge that a broken mind is as serious as a broken limb. It requires treatment with all the urgency of any other wound or illness.
These mental health hubs have been a success. They almost certainly saved lives. We cannot afford to lose them.
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AS part of total Scottish Government spending, 3,000 doesnt even add up to a drop in the bucket.
But thats how much it cost to translate the FACTS campaign on Covid hygiene into three dozen languages.
For a nurse earning 28,000, the bill for translation adds up to six months worth of income tax.
Someone inside the Scottish Government seriously thought it was a good idea to make someone else work for six months in order to translate basic information into languages that virtually no one speaks.
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Last week we learned that there is a black hole in Scotlands public finances worth 15billion and thats before we start paying for the pandemic.
These posters explain why.
The posters add up to almost nothing in themselves but they point to an attitude towards public spending which has led us inescapably to this massive national overdraft.
And that attitude needs to change.
We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at scoop@thesun.co.uk or call 0141 420 5300
Were All Being Tested in 2020 But We Are Americans – Rush Limbaugh
Posted: at 1:53 am
RUSH: And greetings to you, music lovers, thrill-seekers, conversationalists all across the fruited plain. I gotta dial it back. Im so amped, so amped to be back in the air chair here at the EIB Network and the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Studies on everything that matters. Really, really great to be back. Cannot tell you how much, and I really, really am sorry for missing last week. It was totally unexpected. It was not planned. And it was well, it was what it was.
Ill tell you, 2020 has been some year, hasnt it? Were all being tested in a lot of different ways, a lot of various ways. But when you strip everything away and when you boil everything down to its essence, my friends, we are Americans, which means were tough, which means that we are oriented toward overcoming any challenge that we are faced with.
For many Americans, a challenge is just the next thing on the docket, the next thing you have to deal with. Thats how I treat them. Its just the next thing up, the next thing you have to deal with. I mean, you can spend some time lamenting it and you can spend some time going woe is me, but it doesnt get you anywhere. Its a natural human reaction to have.
But for me and for millions of others, its just the next thing thats happened that you have to deal with. You have no choice. And when that is your attitude it becomes simply something that you have to accomplish or achieve but, more importantly, just deal with, accepting the realities of life and dealing with them the best you can, getting as much help and assistance from whoever is best to provide it and then trusting that everything is going to work out.
Thats the beauty of being an American, the ability to trust that everything is going to work out. Because, ultimately, it does. There is good in everything that happens. Sometimes you have to spend a little bit more time looking for it, and sometimes it doesnt reveal itself immediately. But theres always good in everything that happens. If you look at back on the history of our great and miraculous country, weve had our share of trials. Weve had civil war. Weve had world wars, terror attacks.
Were undergoing terrorist attacks even now. Its the most amazing thing. Have you noticed, by the way, you could see it shift yesterday. You could see it. It was almost like youre out on the beach and you see a tsunami out there and you see it building and you see it coming and, all of a sudden, guess what? All of a sudden all of the rioting and all of the looting and all of the destruction and all of the damage in Democrat states and cities is dadelut, dadelut, dadelut Donald Trumps fault.
All of a sudden, every Democrat, be he or her in the media, be they in the Democrat Party, be they Black Lives Matter, be they Antifa, all of a sudden, its all Donald Trumps fault. And why? Well, folks, I have to tell you, those internal polls must really be bad. I alluded to this on Friday. They must really be bad. You know, the internal polls, the polls that you are paying for, they dont lie to you. They give you the straight skinny. And Im telling you, the internal polling has gotta be such that its run its course.
The day or days of the media and the Democrats getting away with standing mute, staying silent while their cities burn to the ground, while their cities openly support burning to the ground, openly support the inflicting of damage and mayhem and harm on other human beings, those days have come to an end, and now all of a sudden somehow its Donald Trumps fault in all these blue places. It isnt gonna work.
But its breathtaking to see. You could see it happening yesterday. The whatever it is marching orders, the mass tweet went out from somewhere, and the orders were given, and everybody on the left began to sing from the same song, the same hymnal. Through all of this, the natural disasters, the terrorist attacks, we have never given up. We have always persevered as determined Americans. Its who we are. Thats why this COVID thing has been such a well, its been a bunch of things. Some of its been disappointing. Some of its been eye-opening. But we dont cower in the corner in the midst of such challenges. Some of us would like to. Some of us would like to cower in the corner. Some of us would like to do anything we can to blame it all on Donald Trump.
But thats not who Americans are. Its not what America is. And its never been what America is. You deal with what happens. You deal with it head on. I had to spend some time in the hospital. There was no other way around it. And it was the last thing I expected to ever be happening. But were here, and were back. Every day I thank God, I wake up and Im not joking on this, folks. I know its clever sounding and it may be even a little humorous.
When I wake up every day, the first thing I do is thank God that that happened. And then I sincerely thank you all for the notes and prayers. We have a special page on RushLimbaugh.com where people can drop notes, prayers, what have you, and they are deeply meaningful to me and my entire family.
But, you know, without embarrassing anybody, nobody can do as many of you know, Im by no means going through something that nobody else has gone through. Its just the exact opposite. Im going through what millions have gone through. And those of you who have know full well you cannot do it on your own, no matter how strong you are and no matter how committed you are. No matter, as in my case, how brilliant you are, you still cant do it on your own.
And if I didnt have the support group that I have and my support group is one person. Its Kathryn. And you stop and think about the effect of all this on family members. It is devastating. Its devastating to everybody you know. Its devastating to particularly your family. And it takes a special something to gut it up and deal with it head-on, try to maintain, you know, good mood, positive mental attitude. I am so, so fortunate for the people that I have in my life. And I cannot tell you how fortunate that you all are in that massive group of people who are in my life. Its really terrific to be back here. And the plan is to be here for the entire week.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Why was I in the hospital? I thought I mentioned this last week. I got an infection. The one thing I cant get, the one thing that I have been studiously trying to avoid is getting an infection. You know, the chemotherapy reduces the immune system; it attacks the immune system. Anybody who has undergone chemo knows this.
So, if an infection comes down, all youve got are whatever antibiotics they prescribe, and it can get scary. Thats what happened last week. Yeah, theres a lot more to it than that, but thats You know, Im not gonna be a cancer patient on the radio, and thats sufficient in terms of information. But I thought Id mentioned it on Friday.
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Were All Being Tested in 2020 But We Are Americans - Rush Limbaugh
5 Challenges a Swimmer Faces and How to Conquer Them – Swimming World Magazine
Posted: at 1:53 am
5 Challenges a Swimmer Faces and How to Conquer Them
Anybody who is familiar with competitive swimming knows that with all of the rewards the sport offers, they come with a price. This price includes a variety of challenges that can push your body and mind to their absolute limit. Below are five of the most common challenges swimmers face that require a certain degree of determination, grit, and motivation to conquer.
Early morning swims can test any swimmers will. Swimming back and forth as the world sleeps, we work to sharpen our craft. But why do we do this, and how can such a challenge be overcome? One of the best ways to power through early morning practices is to think through the benefits. Mental toughness is quite possibly the most significant benefit of enduring early morning swims. Being able to swim set after set with success as youre cold and sleep-deprived can give you the confidence to own that next practice. Doing this day after day can help you become better with time management as well, which is a vital skill for anybody. If youre a swimmer who trains in the morning consistently, your body can adjust to performing at its best potential, which can help a lot with morning competition. As early mornings are dreaded by many, it is easy to have a negative attitude, always thinking how much you would rather be in bed. The next time you are struggling through a rigid morning set, try to remind yourself why you are doing it and what you will ultimately get out of it. With the right attitude, your goals come closer to becoming a reality.
The second challenge swimmers commonly face is that intense hunger both during and after practices. According to Livestrong.com, the body expends calories not only to keep swimming but also to maintain its temperature. The colder the water, the more of an appetite one develops. Caloric expenditure during swimming is also affected by the type of stroke you swim. You will likely feel hungrier after swimming a high-intensity stroke such as freestyle, backstroke, or butterfly, as opposed to a resting stroke like breaststroke. The best way to curb hunger is to fuel up beforehand. It is best to allow a gap of 2-4 hours in between a heavy meal and swimming, and 30 minutes to 2 hours between snacks and swimming.
Another common challenge swimmers experience is failure. When putting in hours of work preparing for a race, goals are expected to be reached. Of course, this is not always the case. To be successful, one needs to fail and learn how to pick themselves up again. It is okay to be disappointed, but you never want to beat yourself up too much as success sometimes has to wait another turn.
Additionally, it is crucial to reflect on the disappointing race result. You need to think back and figure out why things didnt go according to plan. Did you set unrealistic goals? Was your preparation adequate? If not, what could you have done better? With a lousy race, sometimes you can use it as an advantage in the future. Failure can be a great motivator as well. To be able to absorb a loss, remembering that terrible feeling can make you even more driven to do whatever it takes not to feel that way again. Gary Hall Jr. once said, A champion is not someone who has an obsession with being the best, rather an obsession with being better, continually striving to improve oneself. They are also determined by how they overcome obstacles, defeats, adversity, hardship, toils, and pain.
Whether its the brackets, your stroke feels off, or youve just had a rough day, we all have had those days where we have a monumental set to do, and the energy and motivation just arent there. Even if the energy is enough, the set can start to feel like too much to bear. If its one of those days where you would rather be anywhere but the pool, one strategy that could get you through is by visualizing success. Thinking about your goals, imagining yourself having just achieved them, and making family, friends, and coaches proud can turn that negative energy into positive energy that will charge you through that practice. On the other hand, if you feel beat and dont feel as if you can make it anymore, it can be helpful to focus on your technique or by continually telling yourself to do just one more. Picking up a specific technical issue you may be struggling with can not only help to get your mind off of whatever pain you are going through but also prepare you for your race when you are enduring the same pain. The one more mentality can be especially useful when dealing with a high volume of reps in a given set. Breaking down a big set can make it seem less daunting and discouraging.
Spending so much time in the pool can make it challenging to balance the swimming life with school life, work life, etc. Figuring out a schedule that works for you can take some work, especially as you get older and have more responsibilities. With such a packed schedule, it is essential to prioritize what is most important in your schedule and then to find ways to fit in other things you enjoy when you can. Picking up a planner can also help keep you organized and less stressed. Although swimming, school, and jobs can consume the majority of your day, it is a great idea to find the right plan that allows you to get everything done while also taking care of your mental and physical health.
Swimming is a gratifying sport, but it is not without its challenges. Sometimes swimming can give us miserable moments, but the way we react is what matters. You cannot allow your results to determine your love for swimming; rather, remember why you swim in the first place. If challenges ever seem to be too much, try to remember when you were younger, and you swam merely to go down to the pool, be with friends, and do your best. Being able to put things into perspective, remembering that swimming is a sport that is supposed to be fun and that we are lucky to be able to participate in is critical if you are ever getting too down on yourself.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
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5 Challenges a Swimmer Faces and How to Conquer Them - Swimming World Magazine
Turning old into gold – The News International
Posted: at 1:53 am
Gold, lustrous and precious, has provided a metaphor for the years after retirement described as the golden years however, in contemporary times this notion of a valued old age seems more and more archaic.
With each passing year, growing old is becoming less of a joy and more of a concern. What alchemy is needed to transmute old into gold again? The formula in one word is: attitude. Attitudes underpin actions and negative attitudes towards ageing and older adults hinder the social, economic and political impetus to improve the quality of life of older people.
The ageing population is a reality that should not be overlooked. With improvements in healthcare and standards of living, the average life expectancy has been increasing. According to the 2019 UN World Population Prospects report, in 1950 life expectancy was around 47 years and by 2019 this number had increased to around 70 years. As people live longer, the total number of people in their advanced years is also increasing and in 1950 the percentage of global population that was 65 years and over was around five percent and by 2019 this number had almost doubled. In Pakistan, while the percentage of population in the 65 years and over age bracket is lower than the global average; still, the total numbers of people in this age bracket has grown from around two million in 1950, to close to ten million at the present time.
The graying of the global population necessitates new policies, however, preceding the change in policies is the need for a change in attitudes. The attitudes towards the aged in society provides a foundation on which actions towards health and wellbeing are constituted, workplace environments are fashioned, institutions are designed, legislation is passed, and policies are formulated. Unfair or negative views about ageing and about the aged can lead to older adults being unfairly disadvantaged. These negative views can coalesce into negative stereotypes or unfavorable expectations and beliefs about older adults.
Stereotyping is a form of cognitive categorization that helps individuals navigate through the complexities of life. Widely held stereotypes, regardless of whether they are true or not, influence perception, thinking and interactions. Sometimes the negative views can be subtle, implicit or seemingly innocuous; nonetheless, their manifestations can be quite impactful. Though there may be some elements of truth in a certain stereotype, the unfairness comes into play when the stereotype is unquestioningly and readily applied with a broad brush to all members of a group.
The stereotype with regards to older adults can include views about skills, ability, competence, sincerity, trustworthiness, etc. Examples of negative stereotypes faced by the aged could be the view that they are uninterested in the new digital technology and, therefore, are unable to learn how to use social media applications, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.
In many cases the negative stereotypes of older adults unfairly questions their physical and mental ability and their general competence. Such negative stereotypical categorization of older adults, especially with regard to their skills and competence, can have serious consequences in the workplace. Negative stereotyping can also be of consequence in interactions with professionals, such as in the medical, legal, and financial fields, and also in interactions across other spheres of society.
Negative stereotypes can sometimes be so widespread that, in addition to the non-older adults, they can even colour the beliefs of older adults themselves.
To address negative stereotypes, there is a need to begin with an awareness of the existence of stereotyping and to understand how it can be unfair. Institutional processes and policies of the government need to be reviewed to see if they are reinforcing an unfair and negative stereotype against older adults. The media can be an important source for perpetuating a negative stereotype; more importantly, the media can be a powerful source of correcting an unfair and negative stereotype.
As increasing numbers of people live to old age, there is a need to realize that unfair stereotyping of the ageing and the aged can significantly contribute to diminishing the luster and value of the golden years for the older population.
The writer heads a university-basedpolicy centre in Islamabad.
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Turning old into gold - The News International
Dictionary.com Adds ‘Jabroni,’ ‘DGAF’ and More in Massive Update – CBR – Comic Book Resources
Posted: at 1:53 am
Dictionary.com has added 'jabroni' and 'DGAF' as part of its latest update, which consists of 15,000 new entries meant to better reflect modern life.
"Jabroni" and "DGAF" are among the terms that have been added to Dictionary.com as part of a sweeping new update consisting of 15,000 new items.
Marking the company's largest update ever, the release includes 650 brand new entries, along with thousands of new and revised definitions, etymologies and pronunciations. As PR Newswire points out, many of the changes are inspired by the slang and trends used on social media and in popular culture.
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Dictionary.com even made the update announcement by posting a shout out to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, tweeting, "Yes, we put jabroni in the dictionary. We assume The Rock could smell us cooking up this update the whole time."
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Fans of the WWE will recall that Johnson frequently uses the slang word, which is now officially defined as both "a stupid, foolish or contemptible person; loser" and "a jobber; a wrestler whose purpose is to lose matches against headlining wrestlers in order to build up the status and fame of the headliners." DGAF -- which is among a list of shorthand slang that also includes AF and GOAT -- is officially defined by Dictionary.com as "[an abbreviation of] dont give a fuck: to not care at all (a euphemistic initialism used to indicate an indifferent or unbothered attitude, without explicit vulgarity)."
"The work of a dictionary is more than just adding new words. It's an ongoing effort to ensure that how we define words reflects changes in language -- and life," Dictionary.comSenior Editor John Kelly said in a statement. "Among our many new entries are thousands of deeper, dictionary-wide revisions that touch us on our most personal levels: how we talk about ourselves and our identities, from race to sexual orientation to mental health."
The update also incorporates beauty and fashion trends, such as "zhuzh" and "contouring," as well as terms that reflect ongoing societal talking points -- such as "emotional labor," "dead white male" and "MeToo." "Gender reveal," "ratio," "sharent," "swole" and "Twitch" are also among the new additions.
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Keegan Prosser is a writer, editor and pop culture nerd based in the Greater Seattle Area. She has previously contributed to publications including The Seattle Weekly, Rolling Stone Magazine and the Alaska Airlines blog. She can usually be found perusing record stores or revisiting the Harry Potter (book) series.
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Dictionary.com Adds 'Jabroni,' 'DGAF' and More in Massive Update - CBR - Comic Book Resources
VOICES: Dr. Dara Bushman // The secret to surviving COVID and a pandemic – AVLtoday
Posted: at 1:53 am
Dr. Dara Bushmanis a psychologist and author who appears on numerous media outlets sharing expertise on COVID counseling, trauma, and wellness. She lives in Asheville, NC. This is a contributor-submitted Voices piece. Want to join the conversation? We invite you to write for us.Learn how to share your voice here.
Dear everyone that does or does not like exercise,
Are you too tired to exercise? Not sure how to navigate through this pandemic? Feel like you cant keep your shiFt together? Or are you doing well, feeling strong and would love some validation of why you keeping up with your exercise regimen is so critical to fight off COVID and feel mentally strong?
Check out this weeks Truth with Dr. Daras Covid Chronicles question
Dear Dr. Dara,
What can I recommend to my clients to prevent COVID and how can they stay mentally positive during this time?
Bea Metz, Fitness Coach
Dear Bea,
As an experienced fitness coach with immense wisdom and knowledge, I believe you will be happy with my suggestions.Move, move, move and move more. (Hear the Madagascar song: I like to move it move it, I like to move it move it!!!) I am referring to activity, exercise, playing with your kids, physical exertion, jumping around wearing spandex like Jane Fonda, counting jumping jacks with Dolphin shorts on like Richard Simmons, W.A.L.K.I.N.G., or anything that adjusts and re-positions your limbs in some capacity. (Madagascar chorus playing: Move it!!)
I am not a medical doctor. I am a psychologist and I advocate for wellness and mental fitness. Until there is an immunization, nothing can keep anyone from getting COVID-19! If there was a cure I would not have experienced COVID-19 hell! But, there sure are some ways to avoid it. First and foremost, #maskitup people! In addition, lets do whatever we can to strengthen ourselves so our bodies can physically and mentally defend against illness, ick, and bad mo-jo!
Movement is the modern-day cure to everything just as Windex was in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding! I will spare you the complete list of the benefits of exercise it builds up your immune system, strengthens your cardiovascular system, lowers your risk of disease,and kicks up your endorphins to maintain sanity! Physical movement, A.K.A. exercise, can be anything that gets your heart rate up: yoga, running, jump roping, walking, playing with your kids, lifting weights, sexercise, dancing, pilateswhatever! For the sake of being professional and scholarly, check this article. This is one of many I pulled up to empirically validate how exercise protects from COVID and lessens the intensity of complications.If it was not for my physical and emotional strength, I am not sure how detrimental and severe the illness and complications I had from COVID would have been.
Wait, what is it you say? I cant go to exercise classes. I dont have money to join a gym. I am too stressed to start a program now. I am not in good enough shape to exercise. I dont have time between working and homeschooling. I am tired. I have to lose weight first.Come on, you have to give me better EXCUSES than that. Those are lame! LOL. Now is the time, the perfect time to move it, move it! It doesnt have to be a grand or a huge commitment. You just need to do a bit more than what you have been doing. If you didnt exercise before the pandemic, who cares? Now is the best time to create your new health regimen. You get a blank slate to decide how you want your mojo and what you want into the next segment post-pandemic. Yes, I am serious!!
This leads me to answer not just how you keep from getting COVID, but how to survive a pandemic and stay positive. You guessed right if you knew I would say EXERCISE and EXERCISE again! Even if you are soooo sick from COVID-19. The only way to get out of it, is to move out of it. Carefully, slowly, cautiously, smartly. You dont have to jump around after being really sick or emotionally paralyzed by the trauma and stress of COVID, but you do have to get some fresh air and stretch your body. If you dont use it, you lose it! You dont want your heart muscles to deflate and shrivel up into a wad of bubble gum like substance? You dont want your core being to dry up, dehydrate with lifelessness and lose its ability to function? When the beast of COVID told me to rest, I stayed up. I did the opposite of what it wanted me to do. Yes, I was miserable and could barely move. But, not moving only stiffened me up and weakened my soul from the inside as my organs would potentially harden and rot (ok, a little dramatic, but is it really?). Some days I stood up the entire day to let the blood flow and let COVID know who was boss, who was dominant, and who was running the show ME! WE HAVE TO APPLY THIS TO THOSE EXERCISE-MOVEMENT DEMONS that tell us to wait, say we are not good enough or say we cant or shouldnt! When it tells you to start tomorrow, start right this minute. Right then start shaking your body and moving around. Shake it off! Remember when Forrest Gump said, Stupid is what stupid does!? Well positive is what positive does. If you do positive actions (despite how you feel), like move, then you feel and stay positive.
Like I said last week in a blog, my emoji for the pandemic is a magnifying glass. It has made everything in our lives bigger, bolder, and problematic. Lets face it though, if there was not a pandemic we would find another reason or crisis to not exercise or be fine with atrophying our inner being. I dont need a crystal ball or to be psychic to know that if you are not doing crapola now, you wont do craploa in the future. I am not being Dr. Poopypants, I am being realistic. So, NOW, now, now is the time to take a hop forward, a baby step, slide over, lean in, make a bridge, dance a step ball change, or do 1% more than you were doing before. If you want to know what your health will look like in 60-90 days, or your activity level, or what your coping techniques will be, take a good, long, hard look in the mirror at what they look like right now, today!
With or without being infected with COVID-19, here is the numero uno survival technique for a pandemic or any life changing circumstance or event. Red carpet roll out please, drum roll
Freedom Rings: Three rings intertwined, overlapped, and overshadowing like the Olympic Rings. Ring one is the past. Ring two is the present. Ring three is the future.
This is how it goes. When I meet with athletes we clarify the concept of practicing like you compete and competing like you practice. You cant show up at a competition and expect miracles if you didnt do the work. You also cant expect that you wont make errors when competing if you made them in practice. You have to carry the same work ethic, routines, and mentality into practice as you do for competition. Are you getting the picture? So, whether it is competition, a pandemic, a new job, moving, having a child, starting a new relationship, or any life shiFting or changing event, in order to survive you have to bring what you did before into the event. Then, take out parts that you implemented during the event that you like and install them into your life. Like when you do healthy things on vacation- going to bed early, walking and resting.
As you return to regular life and back to work, carry those things over and incorporate them into your everyday life!! My biggest rules during the pandemic 1) Get dressed and brush your hair everyday and 2) Get fresh air daily. Consider it part of your physical conditioning. Get used to being consistent and setting your goals/rules to something you can maintain and follow through with. Sick or well, change your underwear and your lounge wear! You wore clothes before the pandemic and will most certainly wear them out of the house again! Sixty to 90 days from now I see you dressed and ready for life, not looking like you just rolled out of bed. Pandemic or not, we have to train like champions. Add on a small physical activity along with a must-do like getting dressed. This aint a dress rehearsal!! If you want to be healthy, active, and exercise in a couple months, NOW, now now, move it move it move it! Do something. Anything! Walk to the mailbox, sit outside, do 10 push ups on the wall, sit down and stand up out of a chair 10 times (Did you know as people age the first physical ability we lose is to get out of a chair, which is why so many elderly people fall off the toilet! Just saying.), dance, sweep the floor with an attitude, park farther away from your destination, take the stairs, take your things to your second floor individually without stockpiling it for the next trip up, march in place, OPEN YOUR WINDOW AND GET FRESH AIR AND STAND OUTSIDE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
In conclusion, move your way to health to fight off COVID, move your way to deal with the pandemic, move your way to get healthy from COVID, and move your way to move ahead of the pandemic. See yourself healthy, do healthy. Godspeed.
Warmly,
Your no bull-shiFt, COVID SURVIVOR, advice giving, Mental Fitness RANTING, Mom, Psychologist, friend and wife, Dr. Dara
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VOICES: Dr. Dara Bushman // The secret to surviving COVID and a pandemic - AVLtoday
Interstellar Reconciled the Past to Deliver Hope to the Future – Observer
Posted: at 1:53 am
If time does indeed flow linearly, than there exists a distinct separation between past, present and future. Three factions of space-time that exist independently of one another, rather than a one-way progression. Christopher Nolan does not subscribe to this line of thinking.
Instead, he champions the theoretical proposition of causal loops, or a bootstrap paradox, in which a sequence of events causes another event, which then creates the first link in the chain. A popular example of this is John Connor sending Kyle Reese to the past inTerminatorto become his own father, essentially creating himself in the process. Such brain busters are at the very center of Interstellar, Nolans most polarizing blockbuster (even in the face of positive but divided reviews for Tenet, his latest).
At its core,Interstellaris Nolans most personal and hopeful film. But underneath that hope theres a steady stream of mental baggage that this decaying world and its characters must contend with; a baggage that exists materially apart from the film but nonetheless informs the narrative and their choices in it. The movie knows there can be no present or future without the past, but suggests we are not beholden to the mistakes and problems of before as we look to move forward.
Interstellaris a unique time-centric blockbuster in that its heart and mind belong to the past even as it leaps forward into ensuring humanitys future, literally traversing that vast distance throughout the course of the story. Set in the year 2067, the movie actually opens nearly a century later with an important framing device: a documentary that recounts the time that the films events actually take place.
The documentary, which delivers exposition about the crop blights, dust storms and starvation plaguing Earth, introduces the audience to this new era. It is perhaps intentionally reminiscent of Ken Burns 2012 documentary The Dust Bowl, which recounts the unimaginable struggle of the United States during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression of the 1930s. In a way, this is Nolans attempt to reinvent a past catastrophe and retrofit it for a realistic future setting. Looking back on the state of the world in this way is the catalyst for the films actions, sure, but its also a thematic motif that runs throughout the film. We are constantly considering the past. This idea is vocalized in varying ways. Murphs teacher argues that the U.S. faked the moon landing as a brilliant piece of propaganda that caused the Soviet Union to bankrupt itself in the Space Race. As delivered, its implied this idea is not nearly as far-fetched to the people of 2067 as it sounds to us here in 2020 (a year with its own apocalyptic undertones). Later, Matthew McConaugheys Cooper laments that humanity used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars. Now we just look down, and worry about our place in the dirt.
The first instance implies that the society of the future is more interested in rewriting history to better fit their current narrative and desperate situation as opposed to looking to the horizon for solutions. The second crystallizes the contrast between what humanity once represented and what it now has become. For a futuristic blockbuster, Interstellaris clearly enamored with the idea of reconciling the past versus the future.
Nolan then redevelops the connection between the past and future into a new, morbid iteration. Matt Damons Dr. Mann and his fellow astronauts are sent through a wormhole to explore potentially habitable worlds on the other side of the universe. Their mission is part of the Lazarus Program, a reference to the religious figure Lazarus of Bethany who was said to be raised from the dead by Jesus four days after his demise.
Lazarus came back from the dead, Michael Caines Dr. Brand said, insisting its a symbol of hope. Sure, but he had to die in the first place, Cooper retorts. Great suffering, despair, and loss must first occur for this rebirth to be possible. Not only is this a subtle nod to Dr. Brands true agenda (he has already lost hope for the humans of Earth), but a summation of this worlds mental state. Something must be lost or taken before it can be gained and found; what has happened supersedes what will happen. And yet, Interstellarwith its chaotic fascination with a past full of horrors and the small mindedness of looking backwardis actually quite hopeful for the future.
Interstellaris steeped in the past, using it as a framing device, a mental state and a nihilist attitude.
Something sent you here. They chose you, Dr. Brand tells Cooper. We ultimately discover that Cooper chose himself through one of those fancy schmancy causal loops we mentioned earlier. But that doesnt undercut the fact that Interstellarhinges on the idea that our choices and actions in the future are actually our salvation. In fact, it heightens it.
The very undertaking of this mammoth mission inInterstellarspeaks to the limitlessness of human potential and, therefore, a hope and belief in our ability to endure and survive. The future, despite Dr. Brands cynical condemnation and this worlds mental immobility from the past, is actually our way forward and not just our inevitable end. Rage against the dying of the light, goes the oft-quoted Dylan Thomas poem that surfaces several times in the film. Yet few in the world of this film are capable of truly challenging the hold the past has on us. It is only when we realize that the next choice is actually an opportunity that we begin to turn our gazes to the horizon and understand Thomas true intention.
Interstellaris steeped in the past, using it as a framing device, a mental state and a nihilist attitude. And yet that focus only enhances its future-set story, which makes a hopeful push toward whatever is next on humanitys journey. Time may be used as a relative and physical construct that positions one familys struggle as a parallel to mankinds and dictates the flow of the plot. But its also the core message of the film. Were in this together and the only way forward is, well, forward.
NOLAN/TIMEis a series exploring how weve watched the clock in Christopher Nolans films.
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Interstellar Reconciled the Past to Deliver Hope to the Future - Observer