But we really dont know how.

One of the women leveling sexual harassment suits against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has stepped forward; putting a face on the scandal. Sharon Bialek has gone public, giving her own account of Cain’s sexual advances.

If you were hoping that Cain would get clear of that thicket… it’s safe to assume he just fell head first into the briar patch.

This November, the STARS team continues its monthly blog post on facts, trends, and best practices in campus sustainability, based on data submitted by over 125 STARS Participants as of September 2011. With a focus this month on curriculum and innovation, we hope to recognize a job well done and to share ideas and inspiration on advancing sustainability in higher education. In particular, this month’s blog will highlight ER Credit 9: Sustainability Learning Outcomes and the Innovation category as it relates to sustainability-related publications.

Sustainability Learning Outcomes
ER Credit 9 recognizes institutions with sustainability learning outcomes that are associated with program degrees or courses of study.

Did you know?
There is tremendous room for improvement to promote sustainability learning outcomes in higher education. Although three out of four STARS-rated institutions have programs or courses that include sustainability in required learning outcomes, only 26 percent of students are exposed to these courses or programs before they graduate.

• Green Mountain College (STARS Gold, July 2011) has a unique Environmental Liberal Arts program that engages all students in the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability. With 23 sustainability learning outcomes, students are challenged to make connections across disciplines to explore sustainability problems from multiple viewpoints.

• As part of its program review process, California State Polytechnic Institute, Pomona (STARS Silver, May 2011) reviewed departmental learning outcomes to identify courses with a sustainability requirement. At Cal Poly Pomona, 55 percent of graduates completed programs with sustainability learning outcomes.

Innovation Credits
Innovation credits recognize institutions that are seeking innovative solutions to sustainability challenges and demonstrating sustainability leadership in ways that are not otherwise captured by STARS. We turn our attention this month to sustainability-related publications that are highlighted in the Innovation category.

Did you know?
Out of all STARS-rated institutions, 76 percent submitted one or more Innovation credits. Establishing an innovative sustainability-related publication is one of many ways that institutions are claiming Innovation credits.

• Dalhousie University (STARS Silver, August 2011) publishes an online Campus Green Guide that provides sustainable lifestyle and green living resources to the Dalhousie Community. The concept has recently been adapted to suit university campuses in Kenya.

• Kankakee Community College (STARS Bronze, January 2011) created The GreenScene, an online quarterly publication in partnership with the Kankakee Daily-Journal. The publication highlights a particular sustainability challenge each quarter, with insights to help identify sustainable solutions.

December’s factoids and best practices will highlight resource conservation practices and campaigns. Please give us your feedback on future STARS data analysis updates by sending your ideas to stars@aashe.org.

It still won’t be able to pass as a human like the Nexus 6, but Honda’s Asimo robot now enjoys more autonomy.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled an all-new ASIMO humanoid robot newly equipped with the world’s first1 autonomous behavior control technology. With a further advance in autonomy, the all-new ASIMO can now continue moving without being controlled by an operator. Moreover, with significantly improved intelligence and the physical ability to adapt to situations, ASIMO took another step closer to practical use in an office or a public space where many people come and go.

Cyber Security Situation Awareness and Impact Assessment:
Issues, Models and Applications

Dr. Gabriel Jakobson
Altusys Corporation, Princeton NJ

10:30-11:30am 8 November 2011, ITE 325

Cyber attacks committed against IT networks and services have profound impact both on ongoing mission and future missions, whose operations are based on these networks and services. The attacks, by exploiting the vulnerabilities of the software assets can push their impact through Cyber Terrain – a dependency network of structural, spatial, functional and other domain-specific dependencies that exist among software assets and services, and reach the missions. In this presentation we will introduce a novel approach of assessing impact of cyber attacks on missions (business process) and describe the basic models and algorithms of the approach.

Dr. Gabriel Jakobson is the VP and Chief Scientist at Altusys Corp., a consulting firm specializing in the development of intelligent situation management technologies for defence and cyber security applications. During his more than 20 years tenure at Verizon he had increasing responsibilities of leading advanced database, expert systems, artificial intelligence, and telecommunication network management programs. He has authored (and co-authored) more than 100 technical papers and is principal author of 5 US patents in situation management and event correlation. He received PhD degree in Computer Science from the Institute of Cybernetics, Estonia. Dr. Jakobson holds the honorary degree of Doctor Honorius Causa from the Tallinn Technical University, Estonia, and is Distinguished IEEE Lecturer. Dr. Jakobson is the member of the Board of Governors of IEEE Communications Society, Director, IEEE ComSoc North America Region, co-chair of the Tactical Communications and Operations Technical Committee of IEEE ComSoc, chair of the IEEE ComSoc Sub-Committee on Situation Management.

Host: Anupam Joshi

Cyber Security Situation Awareness and Impact Assessment:
Issues, Models and Applications

Dr. Gabriel Jakobson
Altusys Corporation, Princeton NJ

10:30-11:30am 8 November 2011, ITE 325

Cyber attacks committed against IT networks and services have profound impact both on ongoing mission and future missions, whose operations are based on these networks and services. The attacks, by exploiting the vulnerabilities of the software assets can push their impact through Cyber Terrain – a dependency network of structural, spatial, functional and other domain-specific dependencies that exist among software assets and services, and reach the missions. In this presentation we will introduce a novel approach of assessing impact of cyber attacks on missions (business process) and describe the basic models and algorithms of the approach.

Dr. Gabriel Jakobson is the VP and Chief Scientist at Altusys Corp., a consulting firm specializing in the development of intelligent situation management technologies for defence and cyber security applications. During his more than 20 years tenure at Verizon he had increasing responsibilities of leading advanced database, expert systems, artificial intelligence, and telecommunication network management programs. He has authored (and co-authored) more than 100 technical papers and is principal author of 5 US patents in situation management and event correlation. He received PhD degree in Computer Science from the Institute of Cybernetics, Estonia. Dr. Jakobson holds the honorary degree of Doctor Honorius Causa from the Tallinn Technical University, Estonia, and is Distinguished IEEE Lecturer. Dr. Jakobson is the member of the Board of Governors of IEEE Communications Society, Director, IEEE ComSoc North America Region, co-chair of the Tactical Communications and Operations Technical Committee of IEEE ComSoc, chair of the IEEE ComSoc Sub-Committee on Situation Management.

Host: Anupam Joshi

Students completing internships at the Women’s Center work an average of 8 hours per week during the academic semester. The spring 2012 internship will begin in January and go through May.

Women's Center interns are an integral part of the Women's Center staff, contributing to the Center’s mission of “assisting all women in achieving their full potential in education, career and personal life through academic and intellectual growth, professional development and personal empowerment.”

This internship may look differently from year to year depending on the intern involved because the Women’s Center strives to maximize on the current intern’s interests and strengths. While we are able to offer some flexibility, all interested intern applicants should work within the parameters of the description below:

UMBC Women’s Center Programming, Outreach & Activism Internship

Programming:

·    Organize a program or series on a topic affecting women and/or marginalized groups. Potential programs can be flexible to meet your interests and your academic program’s needs.

• Some ideas include: Women’s physical/mental health; Sexual education; LGBTQ issues; International women’s issues; Leadership development; Body image; Sex-trafficking; Feminization of poverty; Intersectionality; Media portrayals of women and girls.

·    In addition to a program of interest, interns will be responsible for helping the Women’s Center staff with programming related to 1) Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April) and 2) the Center’s 20^th Anniversary Celebration. Related responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Sexual Assault Awareness Month: helping to manage the Clothesline Project; organizing partnership with other universities for Take Back the Night options;
• Women’s Center 20^th Anniversary Spring Events: promoting Anniversary events; aiding in organization of previously planned 20^th Anniversary events

Outreach & Activism:

·    Update and add resources in the Women’s Center library and help manage/update the website

·    Generate fundraising and/or sponsorship ideas by working to partner with local and national organizations that may support the Women Center’s mission.

·    Write for the Women’s Center Newsletter about various topics and/or organize a group of interested students to create a feminist Zine on campus

·    Create ways to connect with non-traditional audiences about Women’s Center programs and services (e.g. Athletes, Greek Life, religious organizations, International Programs, Residence Life, etc.)

The Women’s Center is always looking for creative and inventive people to make a difference at UMBC.