Thursday October 10th: Day 10

You heard it right. Republicans say that the defunding of of Obamacare will no longer be part of on-going negotiations to bring an end to the Shutdown.

Great! Now we can flip the big old switch on Capital Hill and get our government running again right? Yeah about that…

We’re ten days in, thousands of federal employees are sitting at home twiddling their thumbs, and we’re right back where we started, maybe even on square -1 #ThanksCongress.

And wasn’t it the Republicans’ dogmatic determination to defund Obamacare that got us into this whole mess in the first place? 

Tomorrow we will learn more as talks between the White House and the Republicans on the government shutdown and debt ceiling continue.

President Obama has been coy and may yet reject the GOP overtures in those areas.

So…don’t break out the champagne glasses just yet!

You have got to hand it to those Tibetans… they are a resilient bunch.

Tibetans have been tortured, starved, browbeaten for more than 60 years and more than 1 million of them have died at the hands of the Communist Chinese. But it seems nothing can snuff out their spirit & their love of the Buddhadharma. Ki Ki! So So!

Here’s an amazing picture of one of the largest Buddhist schools in the world – Serthar Buddhist Institute – located in China’s Larung Gar Valley. The closest large city is over 400 miles away and requires a 15 hour drive.

These tiny box houses built around a monastery are home to over 40,000 monks, nuns and students of religion. Its become quite a tourist attraction recently.

You can check out more pictures of the village here.

Today it seems like everybody’s tweeting…

Especially teens, who often put a lot of their feelings out on social media.

New research suggests that Twitter could literally be a lifesaver. Tweets can be monitored to identify people at risk of  committing suicide. 

“The value of Twitter is that it is real time, and because it’s real time, we have an opportunity to be taking action instead of looking at suicide data, suicide rates and saying ‘What are we going to do?’” – Michael Barnes, Brigham Young University

The team from Brigham Young University searched for tweets that contained words and phrases identified as red flags. Their research showed that states with the highest suicide rates also had the highest number of suicide related tweets. 

Monitoring tweets to save lives sounds good… or does it?

Some might suggest it is yet another example of someone snooping and intruding into your personal business.

Should Twitter be used to monitor and prevent suicide? Where do we draw the line between expressing feelings and posing a serious threat online?

Let us know what you think…

October 7^th meeting agenda!

Date/Time: October 7^th, 2013 – 12-12:50pm at Sondheim 108

Agenda

·     Becoming an Official member

§ Email Catherine at cwofford@sigmaalphalambda.org if you have any questions.

§ Go on http://salhonors.org/

·     Attending Meetings

o  Meetings are bi-weekly. We will send out emails to remind you so include your email on sign in sheet.

o  Add us on myUMBC.

o  Add us on Facebook.

o  Point System reminder - come to events and meetings and earn a point.

o  AT THIS POINT, PASS OUT A SIGN IN SHEET WITH NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS, YEAR, AND MEMBER (OR NOT).

·     Planned events for the year

o  Thanks for coming out to the food bank

- For people who couldn’t make it, was it because of the day? What other day is best for you?

�  If you have forms please give us now or by the end of the meeting.

�  Social Event Alert - UMBC SAL Game Night! Games and refreshments. There will be giveaways! October 17^th from 7:30 - 9:30 event location pending. - Flier will be uploaded on FB and myUMBC page so check there and tell your friends about it. Everyone is invited! Even non members

·     Volunteering Opportunities

o  Volunteering Forms. Will be uploaded on the FB page and the myUMBC page.

§ Be Great: Graduate

·     Program providing consistent support from volunteers in helping students develop academic, emotion, and social skills needed to achieve academic success.

·     Working with children  from Baltimore City.

·     Volunteering is available all year rounds for people who are free during after school hours and on evening weekly. 

·     AT least one hour weekly - and commit to working with an individual youth.  

·     Go to http://www.bgcmetrobaltimore.org and contact Matthew Justus - the Director of the community outreach.  

§ Soccer Without Borders - Baltimore

·     SWB seeks volunteers to serve as Academic coaches for middle school student athletes.

·     Need volunteer that are free after school on weekdays.

·     Skills – people who are good with working with people and can help students with homework.

·     Go to http://www.soccerwithoutborders.org/baltimore and contact Kate McGrain, the volunteer coordinator.