On track at ‘The Wild’

Why Oscar Peters built a rollercoaster in an Amsterdam art space.

Exploring the art of curating for the duration of July, Glamcult caught up with kinetic artist Oscar Peters, the Dutch creative behind the rollercoaster that currently dominates Amsterdam’s independent art space W139. His huge installation is part of The Wild, an exhibition with several large-scale artworks that push the limits of art as much as the limits of the public. “I really liked the idea of danger.”

What’s the main idea or concept behind this exhibition?

There’s so many influences in making this. I studied in Pittsburgh, where I had the pleasure of working with Jonathan Armistead. Together we set up a soapbox derby. The carts were extremely colourful and elaborate, with crazy costumes and performances from the other art students. Upon graduating I made a wooden rollercoaster, which had a moon that would be hoisted to the top and then rolled down to the bottom, a sequence that was constantly repeated. Combining these two lead me to The Wild.

Why did you decide to have an open call for this event?

The open call was really interesting as I asked for submissions from artists to create carriages, but never actually told them they would be going on a track! I wanted to be able to surprise not only the audience but also the artists involved. I just gave them weight restrictions, height restrictions and told them it would have to move around but with no mention on what. That really worked because I wanted the carriages to look completely out of place. Also, I feel as an artist at the moment it’s very hard to get an opportunity like this, so it’s always great to be able to include as many people as possible.

Now that the exhibition is complete, is there an artist that really stands out?

No, yes, no… em, yes! I’d say one of my favourites is definitely the floppy column by Carolin Giessner. It’s incredibly phallic and bounces around the track, which I find hilarious. At the highest point it fits exactly between the track and the ceiling so it actually looks like it’s supporting something in the structure, which adds to the humour of it all. She kind of knew what was going on in terms of the rollercoaster so I think that allowed her to really take advantage of the moving aspect.

W139 seems to have a very packed schedule. How long did it take to set up the exhibition?

This exhibition took five weeks to make. We had the good fortune of using the W139 production space, which is roughly the same size as the main hall here. So we got to build half of the track and then moved it across to finish the rest.

How do you find the right balance between concept and visual aesthetics?

Well, the show is called The Wild because of the wilderness and exploring the unexplored, but it’s also a comment on how these things have disappeared. People no longer go out of their way to explore. I feel, however, that the idea of the amusement park is a substitute for this human urge to explore and to expose ourselves to terror and danger. This work is meant to give that idea of the theme park rollercoaster and simulating the feelings when you are there waiting to go on—that adrenalin rush. I wanted to capture the feeling you have in any situation when you’re nervous, as it’s a fantastic feeling. It really makes you feel happy in a way and that’s one thing I enjoy: creating a space that is able to evoke these emotions!

What’s been the biggest reaction since you opened?
Honestly, one thing I’ve noticed is that these installations are selfie machines. People come in and straight away they are taking loads of selfies—it’s hilarious. As the installations are highly photogenic and work in a way that you’d want to take your picture with it; this is something I had already envisioned.

It’s a very intense experience to allow the viewer so close to the exhibition riding past. Was this intentional?

Yeah, definitely! When looking at it, I wanted to give the feeling that it could come off the track at any minute; I really liked the idea of danger. The idea of “it could happen”. It doesn’t… but it could.

8 July until 13 August 2017

W139, Amsterdam (NL)

Words by Tom Robertson

Photography by Chun-Han Chiang

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Chapter 11

BIOLOGY 1M03 Chapter 11: Chapter 11- From Hominoid to Hominin

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Chapter 11: From Hominoid to Hominin - during Miocene, Earth’s temperature began to fall because: o total amount of rain declined each year o rainfall became more seasonal, so there were several months each year when no rain fell - some animals failed to adapt and became extinct - spread of woodland and savanna led to evolution of first hominins about 6 mya - hominins were different from any of the Miocene apes in two ways: 1. they walk upright ▪ bipedal locomotion led to major morphological changes in bodies 2. in new savanna and woodland habitats, new kinds of food became available ▪ caused changes in teeth, jaws, and skulls - 5 categories distinguish modern humans from contemporary apes: 1. We habitually walk bipedally. 2. Our dentition and jaw musculature are different from those of apes in a number of ways. 3. We have much larger brains in relation to our body size. 4. We develop slowly, with long juvenile period. 5. We depend on an elaborate, highly variable material and symbolic culture, transmitted in part through spoken language. - hominins are not included in the same genus (Homo) as modern humans At the Beginning - last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees lived between 7 and 5 mya - Ardipithecus ramidus, Orrorin tugenensis, and Sahelanthropus tchadensis have begun to shed light in history of human lineage Ardipithecus - genus Ardipithecus include two species (A. ramidus and A. kadabba) and both have similarities to both humans and chimpanzees - several features suggest that A. ramidus was a hominin o opening on bottom of skull through which spinal cord passes (foramen magnum) is located forward under the skull, as it is in humans o forward placement of foramen magnum is associated with bipedal locomotion o were smaller, more incisorlike canine teeth that are not sharpened by the lower premolar, unlike apes, which have relatively large canines o enamel is thinner than in other early hominins, and the canines are smaller than in chimpanzees and gorillas but larger than in later hominins o seemed to have lived in a forested environment ▪ based on fossils of wood and seeds found at site - unclear whether Ardipithecus is related more closely to humans or to chimpanzees 1 Orrorin tugenensis - second early fossil with similarities to humans - incisors, canines, and one of the premolars are more like with the teeth of chimpanzees than of later hominins - arm and finger bones have features that are believed to be adaptations for climbing - thigh bones are more similar to those of later hominins than to those of apes - habitat was a mix of woodland and savanna Sahelanthropus tchadensis - fossil consists of a nearly complete cranium, two fragments of lower jaw, and several teeth - fossil shook paleontological community because: 1. it came from an unexpected place ▪ most work on human evolution has focused on East Africa and South Africa, but this specimen comes from the middle of Africa • suggests that hominins had a larger range than believed 2. this fossil is surprisingly old ▪ geology of site does not allow radiometric or paleomagnetic dating ▪ oldest hominin cranium 3. possesses a very surprising mix of anatomical features ▪ face is relatively flat and massive browridge over eyes The Hominin Community Diversifies - a number of hominin species lived in Africa between 4 to 2 mya o they are divided into three genera: Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and Kenyanthropus 1. Australopithecus o includes 6 species: A. anamensis, A. afarensis, A. africanus, A. garhi, A. habilis, and A. rudolfensis o the australopithecines had small bipeds with teeth, skull, and jaws adapted to a generalized diet 2. Paranthropus o includes 3 species: P. aethiopicus, P. robustus, and P. boisei o similar to the australopithecines from neck down, but had massive teeth and jaws adapted to heavy chewing of tough plant materials, and a skull modified to carry enormous muscles necessary to power chewing apparatus 3. Kenyanthropus o includes 1 species: K. platyops o distinguished by a flattened face and small teeth Australopithecus - A. anamensis o bipedal, but had a more apelike skull than later australopithecines had o found near Kenya o found parts of upper and lower jaw (part of tibia- larger of two bones in lower leg) and numerous teeth 2 o large molars with thick enamel and smaller canines, and the shapes of knee and ankle joints strongly indicate it was bipedal o arm bones suggest that it retained adaptations for life in trees o ear holes are small and shaped like ellipses, as they are in living apes, but ear holes of later australopithecines are larger and more rounded o dental arcade is more like U shape (seen in chimpanzees and gorillas), unlike the V-shaped dental arcade seen in later australopithecines o lived in a mixture of habitats including dry woodlands and gallery forest along rivers - A. afarensis o most extensive fossil collections come from several sites in Ethiopia o found bones of a 3 million year old knee joint that showed striking similarities to a modern human knee o also discovered fossils in Tanzania o habitats ranging from woodland to dry savanna o cranium (skull minus lower jawbone) is quite apelike o its endocranial volume (capacity of brain cavity) is small ▪ about size of modern chimpanzee o front of case below the nose is pushed out- a condition known as subnasal prognathism o jaw point is shallow o teeth and jaws are intermediate between those of apes and humans 1. dental arcade of A. afarensishas an intermediate V shape, the canines are medium-sized, and the diastema (space between teeth and jaw) is modest 2. in its canines, A. afarensis displays less sexual dimorphism than chimpanzees but more than modern humans 3. first lower premolar has a small inner cusp and a larger outer cusp • chimpanzees have a single cusp, whereas humans have two cusps of approximately equal size o was bipedal Cranium of A. afarensis 3 Teeth and Jaws of Australopithecus afarensis Pelvis of A. afarensis 4 Schematic Diagram of Lower Body at Point of Stride o although they are bipedal, it is not clear whether this hominin had same striding pattern as modern humans because many features in the pelvis and legs are different than those from modern humans o have shorter legs than modern humans o pelvis is much wider, which means minimized vertical motion of body during walking o probably spent a good deal of time in trees o traits of feet, hands, wrists, and shoulder joints suggest that they were partly arboreal o variation in size of A. afarensis adults ▪ could represent sexual dimorphism ▪ could also represent two different species • bigger one could have adapted to savanna and smaller one could have adapted between tree climbing and walking - A. africanus o base of skull has fewer air pockets, face is shorter and less protruding below the nose, the canines are less dimorphic, and the base of cranium is bent further upward, or flexed o molars are quite big, and lower jaw is larger and sturdier than in modern humans o matured rapidly, unlike humans o if we know rate at which teeth developed in extinct hominins, we can estimate how rapidly they developed overall ▪ enamel is secreted as teeth grow o developed faster than chimpanzees, not slowly like humans ▪ these results show that australopithecine infants did not have as long a period of dependency as human children do 5 - A. garhi o lived about 2.5 mya in East Africa o discovered a number of postcranial bones and partial skeleton of one individual in Ethiopia o later discovered pieces of skull, maxilla (upper jaw), and teeth come from the same stratigraphic level as postcranial remains o had small brains, like A. afarensis and A. africanus o canines, premolars, and molars were generally large o also had a sagittal crest, a fin of bone that runs along the centerline of the skull (like a Mohawk haircut) o do not reveal some interesting developments in hominin lineage o resembles chimpanzees in proportions of bones (humerus, the radius and
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Tara Tamburello is employed as a web designer/editor. She’s married to the most charming guy you’ll ever meet and is the mother of two sparkling children. She grew up in a converted summer cabin along a brown creek, where she spent a lot of time wandering the woods with her dog, just thinking about things.

She studied writing in college and was awarded Eastern University’s Dorothy McCollum Siebert award for creative writing upon graduation. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The First Line, Vestal Review‘s Condensed to Flash: World Classics anthology, The Blue Route, Tikkun.org, and elsewhere.

In her late teens and early twenties, she spent some time writing plays, which were produced in and around Philadelphia.


Sentence Examples with the word ALPS

They consist chiefly of Jurassic and Triassic beds, but it is the Trias and the Jura of the Eastern Alps and not of Switzerland.

Even more picturesque, though less lofty, than the Alps of Japan, are the Nikko mountains, enclosing the mausolea of the two greatest of the Tokugawa shoguns.

In the case of the Western Alps (minus the bit from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for the Alpine region took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphine and Provence.

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He deliberately chose the difficult route over the French Alps because he recognized that his opponents would neither expect him by this route nor be able to concert combined operations in time to thwart him.

The Carnic Alps are divided by the Gail valley into the South Carnic group and the northern Gailtal Alps.

Hastening back to Italy he withdrew his three remaining legions from Aquileia, raised two more, and, crossing the Alps by forced marches, arrived in the neighbourhood of Lyons to find that three-fourths of the Helvetii had already crossed the Saone, marching westward.

General List Of Books And Maps.-(I) Books.-For a longer list than we can give see John Ball's Hints and Notes for Travellers in the Alps (new ed., 1899) and also A.

Principal Passes.-Though the Alps form a barrier they have never formed an impassable barrier, since, from the earliest days onwards, they have been traversed first, perhaps, for purposes of war or commerce, and later by pilgrims, students and tourists.

The eastern Alps are continued by the Karst mountains, which in their turn are continued by the Dinaric Alps, which stretch through Croatia and Dalmatia.


Statuary mfrs supls

Homechevron_rightCategories chevron_rightStatuary mfrs sup...

This is the list of Statuary mfrs supls in . In this list you can find the companies registered in your area that are dedicated to provide services, sale, purchase or distribution of Statuary mfrs supls. Among the companies shown on this page are: .

Each page of the Statuary mfrs supls listing in is organized into groups of a total of 0 businesses.


God Loves You. - Chester Blue by Suzanne Elizabeth Anderson

When Miss Millie’s business appears doomed to be closed, is there any hope that God can help her—and when He does send something, how can a blue teddy bear help her?

War Room

With her marriage crumbling, can Elizabeth Jordan learn to wield the weapon of prayer before it is too late?

Facing the Giants

Coach Grant Taylor feels like a failure in life—but what will happen when he surrenders the results to God and determines to praise Him no matter what the outcome?

After an accident, Judah Ben-Hur is sent to work the galleys while his mother and sister disappear. Is there any way he can forgive the Romans who seem determined to rip his life, family, and country apart?

Patterns of Evidence: Exodus

Is there evidence for the Biblical Exodus? If there is, where is it? Mahoney was determined to find out—and what he discovered was astounding.

Fly Away Home

After discovering some goose eggs, Amy decides to try to rescue them—but what will happen when the goslings need somewhere safe to spend the winter?

Courage and Corruption by Sarah Holman

Can Christopher learn to surrender to Christ and be trustworthy in the tasks he is given?

Christmas Embers by Chautona Havig

When unfaithfulness is discovered, the effects are far reaching—is there any hope that one can find forgiveness after something like that?

Two O'clock Slump by Chautona Havig

As Alexa returns to her hometown to visit her estranged family, she runs into major trouble at her hotel. Is there any way she can find reconciliation and peace in her life?

21 Days of Grace by Kathy Ide

Twenty-one well written short fiction stories encouraging you in your Christian faith.

The Sparrow Found a House by Jason McIntire

Join the Rivera family as they learn what it means to have a new Dad and learn to follow the Lord for the first time in their lives.

Crime of Fashion by Chautona Havig

Alexa, an author with an eccentric wardrobe, is given the opportunity to help a new clothing business get off the ground—but when someone starts trying to harm the venture and the manager is killed, can they catch the criminal before any more harm is done?

Hazardous Duty by Christy Barritt

As a crime scene cleaner, Gabby St. John thinks she’s seen everything—but when she uncovers evidence the detectives missed, she has to decide whether to let them do the job themselves or do a bit of digging for the truth on her own.

Shadow the Barn Cat by Helga Moser

Shadow the cat has a secret—but can she find a safe place to keep her secret until she’s ready to share it?

Coffee Cake Days by Amanda Tero

Meg has a problem: How can she balance her desire to learn from the Lord and the needs of her family?

Sacred Allegories by Rev. William Adams

Four challenging but encouraging short allegories depicting our duties as Christians, somewhat reminiscent of The Pilgrim’s Progress.

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ORI-GEN is a design performance conceived especially for Dubai Design Week 2015. Hosted by thejamjar and supported by Alserkal Avenue, the production weaves body gestures and generative origami design, and aims at involving the audience in an interactive setting that continuously transforms and evolves.

In nature nothing is lost, nothing is created, but everything is transformed. Eons by eons, millennia by millennia, season by season, day by day, second by second, everything is running on the edge of a fragile and ephemeral balance where no moment is equal to another while still looking exactly the same. Similarly microscopic and macroscopic environment are sharing the same fate.

ORI-GEN consists of magnetic modules where aggregation generate geometric compositions and structures; performers from The Ripple Effect troupe create diverse environments linking the pattern of their movements to different rhythms and emotions while engaging with the audience in a collaborative act.

Beyond its artistic and expressive application ORI-GEN is conceived to be a versatile multipurpose interior element that could become divider, enclosure, lighting and other fixtures, complementing open spaces with its dynamism, interactivity, adaptability and practicality.


Affirmations to Rid Chakra 'Demons'

There are emotions and states that are able to close down chakras, if they’re not processed adequately. Anodea Judith calls them ‘demons’ in her book, Eastern Body, Western Mind. The demons affect the ‘rights’ that are associated with the chakras, which are listed below:

1. Root Chakra:  D- Fear;  R-The right to be here    2. Sacral Chakra:  D-Guilt; R-The right to feel
3. Solar Plexus:  D-Shame;  R-The right to act    4. Heart Chakra: D-Sorrow; R- The right to love and be loved
5. Throat Chakra; D-Lies; R-The right to speak and hear truth    6. Brow Chakra; D-Illusion; R-The right to see
7. Crown Chakra; D-Attachment; R-The right to know
Affirmations To Rid Chakra 'Demons'
Using affirmations helps rid the chakra ‘demons’.  By working with affirmations, one becomes more aware of their emotions and feelings and chakra healing begins.  Are you ready to join me in the 15 day challenge?


Please place your pdfs discussing relationships here. The intention is to figure out (if that can be figured out) why certain ground state methods (e.g., hybrid functionals) yield reasonably-looking band gaps as one would expect them from GW, why some serve as good starting points for GW while others do not, etc.
If you plan to use something else than pdf, please contact me beforehand. VB.

I can show a few transparencies about the comparison of BSE and TDDFT for several materials - only pptx, not pdf.


Will Shuster

1893 – 1969
Functions, Occupations, and Activities
William Howard Shuster Jr. (1893–1969) was an American artist...He was born November 26, 1893 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the second of three children. He served in the army during World War I in France where he developed tuberculosis from being gassed. He moved to New Mexico in 1920 to improve his health, and became friends with the small but growing arts community...In 1921 he became a members of Los Cinco Pintores ("the five painters"), and showed throughout Santa Fe and the rest of the country as a group. In 1926 Shuster built and burned the first ever Zozobra, a giant puppet now burned every year in effigy, and symbolizing the gloom of the passing year. In addition to painting, Shuster received a disability pension and made money doing ironwork. In 1952, he created El Toro, a symbol for the Santa Fe Rodeo. [Retrieved on 11/8/2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Shuster] His artwork is in the permanent collections of the Stark Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Delaware Art Museum, Newark Museum, and New Mexico Museum of Art.[5]
Geographic names
Santa Fe
Related people/organizations
Ansel Adams (is friend of)
Gustave Baumann (worked with)


Journal of ISSN: 2373-6445JPCPY

Psychology & Clinical Psychiatry
Review Article
Volume 1 Issue 6 - 2014
Helping Children Build Inner-Driven Self-Esteem by Turning Praise into Encouragement
Mina Dordevic*
Psychologist, Croatia
Received: October 29, 2014 | Published: November 13, 2014
*Corresponding author: Mina Dordevic, Psychological Association for Research, Education and Counselling "Research Me", Buliceva 10, Zagreb, Croatia, Tel: +385919163592; Email: @
Citation: Dordevic M (2014) Helping Children Build Inner-Driven Self-Esteem by Turning Praise into Encouragement. J Psychol Clin Psychiatry 1(6): 00038. DOI: 10.15406/jpcpy.2014.01.00038

In order to test the efficacy of praise for boosting self-esteem and strengthening motivation for mastering difficult task, scientists have looked into various types of positive feedback given to children and analysed their effects and possible developmental outcomes they may produce. Praise given for personality-traits is conducive to fear of future performance and valuing oneself according to the achievements attained. Praise focused on the effort is felt as a support to the child to stay in the activity and work hard to achieve their best. On the contrary, a feedback provided in a form of encouragement helps the child meeting their relational needs and supports their autonomy, which raises internally driven self-esteem.
Keywords:Praise; Encouragement; Self-Esteem; Motivation; Communication; Resilience

Communication awareness and meeting relational needs
People are born in a relationships and need them throughout their lives in order to meet their basic needs such as having a sense of belonging, feel secure in a relationship, being recognized and positively validated, influencing other people, forming self-identity etc. [1]. Relatively stable pattern of how people relate to others and try to meet their relational needs largely replicates the character of early relationships with significant others, primarily attachment figures. Therefore, awareness of how interpersonal interactions can influence and shape personality is of crucial importance for parents, teachers and all educators concerned with the children’s development and well-being.
The fundamental elements of the intricate workings of human interactions are communication transactions or messages people try to convey to one another. Positive feedback to the children intuitively seems as an utterly positive and unquestionable aspect of communication, though the way it is to be formulated has stirred some controversy over the last decades among parents and caregivers alike. The most conventional type of positive feedback is praise. Praise is ingrained in our society and widely used as a way of either modifying or reinforcing children’s behaviour. As transactional analysis theory vividly describes, expressions often heard throughout childhood, such as "Good boy!" or "You are so smart!", as much as more negative ones, are recorded in people’s minds as if on the recording tapes. They represent interjected pre-judged and pre-programmed statements which are automatically activated and expressed in similar situations in adult life [2]. Over the past several decades, researchers have tried to comprehend the meaning that such expressions may carry as well as their implications for children’s development and psychological well-being.
It is important to mention this distinction in order to talk about the shift of libido during pregnancy. First of all, a woman has to use her object libido to get pregnant that is, she has to reach another object to conceive a baby. Pregnancy is a state that could be understood as a very narcissistic one where many women can feel ultimately "complete". The feeling of having a human being inside her womb can be very powerful, people will take care of her, sexual experience is often limited and an internal journey takes place as libido is taken inwardly in order to preserve a balanced state that reassures the process.
Today the association between excessive praise and its harmful effects to internally driven self-esteem, intrinsic motivation and even performance is well documented [3,4]. Nevertheless, more perceptive statements of encouragement which mirror the intrinsic feelings of a child and communicate to the child that they are seen, accepted as are and believed in, strengthen the child’s autonomy and positive feeling about themselves. The author does not intend here to provide an extensive review of the findings in the field, but rather a summary and discussion of the literature that highlights the beneficial effects of descriptive and empathetic feedback compared to simple praise statements.

Effects of communicating praise
Praise is positive, well intentioned statement, often deliberately given to children to boost their self-esteem. In order to test efficacy of such endeavour, the researchers have distinguished praise given for ability or personality trait (e.g. "You are so intelligent!" or "You are such a good boy!") from praise given for the process of engaging in an activity (e.g. "You are working hard!").
The research has shown that person-praise creates the idea that personality characteristics are stable and not particularly susceptible to change. The implication of such praise for potential failure ist hat the children who received a lot of person-praise (e.g. "Bravo, how clever/witty you are!"), attribute lack of success in a certain activity to their innate, fixed characteristics or conceived inadequacies. Equally, they tend to measure their abilities by the level of achievement in a certain activity, which makes them fully focused on the outcome while neglecting emotions attached to the process of performance [5]. Such attitude contributes to the fear of meeting high standards and feeling of shame in a case of failure, thus rendering a child more emotionally vulnerable [6]. This developmental outcome further steers children’s behaviour towards avoiding challenging tasks and thus losing an opportunity to learn, less intrinsically enjoy the play or learning process and may even prompts them to cheat [5,7].
In addition, praise for an easy task may well be explained by children as lack of faith in their abilities or actual low level of abilities and thus negatively impact their self-worth [4]. Moreover, pairing person-praise with social comparison ("You are the best helper/artist/speaker in the class!"), makes the children inclined to assess their worth against how successful they are in regard with their peers. The notion of having failed due to irreparable flaws which others do not possess, elicits the feelings of frustration and helplessness. If perpetuated over time and across various situations, such states may become pretty stable characteristics interfering with well-being in adulthood.
Gunderson et al. [7], ideas of the innate human characteristics emerge as early as in preschool years and apply equally to both cognitive as well as socio-moral attributes. If a child is made believe that goodness is a fixed trait then they would feel more righteous if an interpersonal conflict occurs and less likely to put an effort to constructively solve the dispute. Such beliefs are developed if a child gets frequently labelled as "good", "nice", "sensitive", "neat" etc. An attribution is to be obeyed "implicitly" and is, in a sense, equivalent to an instruction [8]. Assigning attributes in a superficial manner without endeavouring to really understand and mirror child’s true feeling and drives in a specific situation may result in developing characteristics which are not inherent or authentic to the child.
Furthermore, praise statements experienced as controlling ("Excellent, you should keep up with the good work!") may haved etrimental effect on intrinsic motivation unlike more informational feedback, as the former is felt as putting additional pressure [9]. In addition, expressing excessive praise and proud ness in children’s success, even when a child does not seem to enjoy the particular activity is, contrary to the common belief, not contributory to the children’s motivation but rather a way to turn child’s achievement into parent’s own story. A child becomes happy for pleasing the parent and starts worrying about receiving the same acceptance in the future [3].
In classroom setting, praise statements given by teachers have shown to be associated with shorter task persistence, more hesitant speech when answering questions, fewer possible answers to the question and lowered expectation of success for difficult tasks [10]. On the other hand, process-praise ("Your persistence in such a difficult task is really admirable!") is more focused on the effort and level of commitment a child displays when undertaking an activity. This type of feedback given to a child is more associated with valuing the effort, viewing a challenging situation as an opportunity to learn [7] and forming more realistic belief that success is attainable.
Nevertheless, a study in which the intrinsic motivation for the task was assessed in three groups of pre-schoolers which received a person-praise (e.g., "You are a great puzzle-solver!"), process praise (e.g.,"You’re finding really good ways to do this!") and neutral feedback (e.g., "You finished both puzzles."), respectively, for task performance and subsequently failed in a second task, showed that the greatest benefit for the intrinsic motivation was elicited by the process-praise then person-praise and that the least beneficial was neutral feedback [4]. Still, the study did not include the encouragement situation (e.g. "I knew you would finish both puzzles, and look how quickly!") and although, contrary to earlier mentioned findings, it sheds some positive light on praise-formulations it is not informative of its effects in comparison with encouragement.
Effects of communicating encouragement
Taking classical verbal reinforcement such as praise one step further and turning it into encouragement, which is less of a value judgement and more of a description of the processes that arise when a child engages in an activity, results in different and more favourable developmental outcomes [10,11].
When caregivers are attentive about emotions that certain activity elicits in a child and try to reflect those feelings back to the child in order to help them raise awareness or knowledge about the interconnection between their thoughts, behaviours and feelings they are using encouraging messages. Recognizing how pleasing or simulative an activity is for a child and showing emotional tuning rein forces child’s intrinsic motivation [10]. Thus a sentence such as "You seem to be really enjoying your dance class each time!" conveys an impression of child’s feelings and is more likely to make the child pursue their activity then a more evaluative feedback as "You are a good dancer!". In a similar fashion, a statement "You are really proud of what you’ve achieved! I suggest we go and celebrate it now!"offers celebration of child’s feelings instead of reward for child’s success. To the contrary, a statement "This is a great picture; you’ve made your Dad really proud! Now I’ll buy you some new tools that you wanted!" focuses on pleasing parent and therefore earning a reward.
Acknowledgment of the engagement and effort a child puts in a freely chosen activitystrengthens the child’s autonomous functioning as it is a sign of accepting children as they are [3]. This is illustrated in a message such as" You seem very committed to doing your best here!" or "You’ve been working hard and you have achieved your goal!"or "You have made a plan and have stuck to it!" Furthermore, encouragement induces children to compare progress they are making with their earlier level of attainment in a specific activity without having to divert their attention to the achievement of others [8]. Social comparison may produce unhelpful anxiety and takes up part of the child’s capacities which could have been better used if devoted to enjoying the process itself. A general statement like "Look at the progress you’ve made!" or even more specific feedback (e.g. "Each time you make it, your wood block castle gets more and more elaborated!") draws child’s attention to their internal process and developments ensued their efrom.
Additionally, encouragement shows caregiver’s faith [3] into child’s capabilities thus enablingthemto internalize that confidence and generalize it across various traits and situations. Examples are: "I am confident you will figure it out!" or "You know how to do it your own way!" Similarly, encouragement messages convey appreciations for child’s contributions such as: "I appreciate your help very much!", or "You’ve made me look at it from different perspective and that was a great help!"
However, the author concludes that encouragement received during childhood predisposes children to depend less on the evaluative judgements expressed by others, usually authority figures such as parents, teachers or supervisors and managers, later in life, and give more utterance to the internal messages .In line with the Steiner’s tape-recorder metaphor, encouragement frequently received in childhood makes this inner voice more positively charged thus rendering a person more inclined to view stressful situations as temporary obstacles or challenges. Thus perseverance and drive for improvement is not motivated by the fear of failure or criticism but rather by feeling of pleasure for achieving one’s internal standards.
A frame of mind structured in such a manner allows for internally driven motivation to guide behaviour and for creativity to thrive, and moreover, it strengthens confidence into successful coping with any type of adversities what builds emotional resilience and self-esteem [3].
Sources of unambiguity
Finally, it is important to mention that children interpretations of feedback messages are influenced by various moderating variables (e.g. gender, age, contextual variable such as presence of another child, quality of relationship with the adult etc.) and mediating variables (e.g. the psychological process such as perception of an adult as controlling and manipulative or helpful and sincere, etc.) [4] making thus difficult to draw unambiguous conclusions of the potential effects of such statements. Also, when examining the effects of praise, it is important for research studies to include encouragement as an experimental situation in addition to type of praise, lack of praise or neutral feedback in order to allow for more elaborate examination of communication effects.
With regard to direction for future research, it would be invaluable to assess the effects of encouragement versus both type of praise statements on preschool children, while taking into consideration the emotional tone accompanying each statement, and examine their potentially long-term effects on the development of traits such as autonomy and self-worth.

Teaching children to heavily rely on the compliments, especially for their innate characteristics and task outcomes, makes children attribute failures to personal deficiencies which interfere with psychological well-being. However, praise focused on the effort and improvement is more associated with persistence in a task as the engagement in the process is being reinforced. Nonetheless, excessive praise makes children value their own worth according how much praise they receive from others and creates sort of praise contingent self-esteem.
On the other hand, encouragement which is a descriptive message encompassing child’s feelings about an activity, their level of engagement, faith in their capacities and appreciation of their contributions stems from healthy relational dynamics between a child and a caregiver and as such cultivates a strong sense of self-worth and nourishes the child’s feeling of being ok.

  1. Erskine, Richard G (2011) Attachment, Relational-Needs and Psychotherapeutic Presence. International Integrative Psychotherapy Association Conference. Vichy, France.
  2. Steiner C (2000) A Compilation of Core Concepts. Compiled by the ITAA Development Committee Task Force on Transactional Analysis Core Concepts.
  3. Landreth GL, Bratton SC (2005) Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
  4. Henderlong J, Lepper MR  (2002) The effects of praise on children's intrinsic motivation: A review and synthesis. Psycho Bull 128(5): 774-795.
  5. Mueller CM, Dweck CS (1998) Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. J Pers Soc Psychol 75(1): 33-52.
  6. Brummelman E, Thomaes S, Overbeek G, Orobio de Castro B, van den Hout MA (2013) On feeding those hungry for praise: Person praise backfires in children with low self-esteem. J Exp Psychol Gen 143(1): 9-14.
  7.  Gunderson EA, Gripshover SJ, Romero C, Dweck CS, Goldin-Meadow S (2013) Parent praise to 1â€to 3â€yearâ€olds predicts children’s motivational frameworks 5 years later. Child Dev 84(5): 1526-1541.
  8. Steiner C (1974) Scripts people live; transactional analysis of life scripts. Grove Press, New York, USA.
  9. Deci EL, Koestner R, Ryan RM (1999) A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychol Bull 125(6): 627-668.
  10. Kelly FD, Daniels JG (1997) The effects of praise versus encouragement on children’s perception of teachers. Individual Psychology: The Journal of Adlerian Theory 53(3): 331.
  11. Carns MR, Carns AW (1998) A review of the professional literature concerning the consistency of the definition and application of Adlerian encouragement. Journal of Individual Psychology 54(1): 72.
Based on a work at


Customer decision process

Understanding Our Customers' Decisionmaking Processes

Understanding the consumer decision making process and developing social media tactics to make sure your brand is making the cut at each stage in the process will propel your brand to the top.The seller may need to attributes the product by compared with the competition with own advantages and giving trial or sampling of the product hope the sale increasing.With an eye on growing its business while also keeping its costs down, CSX, a transportation company based in Jacksonville, Florida, is adopting a strategy to make its freight trains more reliable.

Consumer Decision Process -Beer Run

An increasing number of corporations will no longer own major assets such as large office buildings or workshops.Read on so that you can create a content strategy that aligns with this process.Data lakes can be configured in a variety of ways: centralized or distributed, with storage on premise or in the cloud or both.Most of the companies are focusing on improving the relationship between with customers.Growth is essential for U.S. railroads, which reinvest a significant portion of their revenues in maintenance and improvements to their track systems, locomotives, rail cars, terminals, and technology.Image: Digital Disruption and How Businesses Can Best Leverage It.

He has worked in the UK, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Silicon Valley, and currently lives in Paris, France.Customers will pay more attention if your content is relevant and timely.

Read the Digitalist Magazine and get the latest insights about the digital economy that you can capitalize on today.The difference will be made by motivated, resilient, and creative workers.Consumers are using their mobile devices and tablets for the following tasks at a sharply increasing rate.Here are five steps of the consumer buying decision process to stay a step ahead of your buyers.Perception process which we attach meaning to the surrounding world, how consumer affect by the five senses (sight, sound, touch, smell and taste).

Staying fresh with the content you provide is almost as important as ensuring high-quality content.Without the recognition of the need, a purchase cannot take place.

Consumer Behavior Flashcards | Quizlet

Ego-defensive function means the attitudes of people that are formed to protect them-self either in internal feeling or external threats.More and more businesses are focusing marketing efforts on content.Companies must create data usage policies, then, that clearly define who can access, distribute, change, delete, or otherwise manipulate all that data.Your reviews are a proxy for your online reputation, so pay careful attention to them.LTM is allow to store the information for permanently and its unlimited capacity.And with shrinking amounts of farmland, we must find more efficient ways to feed them.However, because his good friend, who is also a photographer, gives him negative feedback, he will then be bound to change his preference.Depending on their branding and the products or services that they offer, some companies may be able to profit from these changes by customizing the content that they promote on Facebook for an older demographic.

Data lakes have democratized both the access to data and its role in business strategy.Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.Some neuromarketing research papers examined how approach motivation as indexed by electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry over the prefrontal cortex predicts purchase decision when brand and price are varied.

Mobile assets and paid social media are more important than ever.It still does that, but now FINRA has added a data lake to find patterns that a human might never see.

They are qualitative rather than quantitative and build on sociological factors like cultural influences and family influences.In first stage of CDP starts with need recognition, the buyers understand what their problem or need in between current motivation state and desired motivation state.Evaluation of Decision Once the purchase has been made, does it satisfy the need or want.Low-involvement purchases mean have simple and low expenses in evaluation process.B2B customers prefer learning about products and services through content as opposed to paid advertising.Behind the scenes at Climate is a deep-science data lake that provides insights, such as predicting the fertility of a plot of land by combining many data sets to create accurate models.

Image: 4 Compelling Stats That Prove Email Marketing Is Alive.Deploying and managing a massive data store is a big challenge.Our understanding breaks down really fast as the products under consideration get more diverse.Beyond the technical issues, IT and the business must also make important decisions about how data lakes will be managed and who will own the data, among other things (see How to Avoid Drowning in the Lake).We develop some of our attitudes for these products offer pleasure or pain.The consumer develops a need or a want that they want to be satisfied.

In the searching phase we research for products or services that can satisfy our needs or wants.At the same time, the company introduced the new symbols with Swoosh trademark and the brand name Nike it mean the Greek goddess of victory.For example, I feeling hungry need to buy food and I straight forward to make purchase decision to buy my favourite food McDonald.In fact, some studies suggest that Millennials are particularly attracted to content with great visuals.Here are some aspects to consider when designing or transforming organizations.Political powers and society will have a say on this, but without a doubt, companies must learn to capitalize and secure their data assets.

The consumer decision‐making process: European Journal of


What do you get when you combine the artistry of trick shots with the yummy flavor of marshmallows?

Why, shmallowing, of course.

In this video, some friends use marshmallows to pull off crazy shots in something they call shmallowing.

We're not usually in favor of delaying time before eating marshmallows, but these stunts are pretty cool, so we'll let it slide.


Computerized Enumeration and Bio-volume Estimation of the Cyanobacteria Anabaena flos-aquae

Chao Jin, Maria Mesquita, Monica Emelko, Alexander Wong

One of the most noticeable consequences of global climate change is the increased occurrence of algae and cyanobacteria blooms in surface waters. Some of these organisms may release hazardous toxins which represent a threat for human and animal health worldwide. Accordingly, the identification of threshold levels of toxic cyanobacteria cells has become common practice to ensure successful water management. The majority of current methods for cyanobacteria enumeration and bio-volume assessment are very time-consuming and costly. Furthermore, when dealing with multicellular organisms (i.e., filaments, colonies, agglomerates etc.), none of the existing enumeration methods can achieve good accuracy and all tend to underestimate cell concentrations and bio-volume. In this study, we introduce an integrated method for automated enumeration and bio-volume estimation of Anabaena flos-aquae, a common filamentous species of cyanobacteria often present in water blooms. Since Anabaena filaments are often long and tangled, a sample of its culture was first sonicated to isolate individual cells, and then imaged while being excited by a 546nm light source to considerably improve contrast. A probabilistic unsupervised classification was introduced to detect the target cells, and the size distribution of the cells was used for model calibration. Using this learned cell model, subsequent samples with natural Anabaena filaments were automatically enumerated and the bio-volume estimated. Compared to traditional manual enumeration using a hemacytometer, the developed method achieved equivalent accuracy in much less time, with less resources, and provided additional bio-volume information. These preliminary results demonstrate the potential of the developed method as a robust tool for water quality monitoring.

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La Digue

La Digue

La Digue is the third most populated island in the Seychelles. It is the ideal place for your little getaway with your partner. The island is serviced by the hotel La Digue Lodge. The latter has a diving center where you can learn diving at several levels from beginner to pro diving! It also has a spa center. In short, La Digue has everything you need for an unforgettable experience in the Seychelles!

Modern historians suggest that La Digue was first spotted in 1742 by Lazare Picault who was a French navigator. The island was named in 1768 and is still bearing the same name La Digue today. The island was first occupied in 1789 by French colonists who settled the islands together with their slaves of African origins. The majority of the first settlers returned to France and the few who stayed have their names still living in our times among today’s inhabitants.

The majority of the population of La Digue was catholic. The island got its first Catholic chapel in 1854 which was constructed by Father Theophile. At the time, the French squatter fabricated coral lime. This is believed to be the major factor for the decline of La Digue’s coral reefs. They also manufactured copra out of coconuts and harvested vanilla on their plantations. These practices are still implemented today.

In 1798, a group of individuals were expatriated from Bourbon as they took part in a political rebellion there. These people were to be dispatched to the East Indies. However, as many had relatives in the Seychelles, they bribed the captain to send them to La Digue.

Politics and Government service

The government in Victoria sets the laws and legislation which is followed by the Seychelles including La Digue. The law system of the republic of Seychelles is mock up on European politics. The Seychelles have a president while the main political sides are the SNP and the PP.

La Digue has a population of around 2800 individuals and is the third largest in terms of inhabitants. However, 2800 is still a small amount compared to the 77000 people residing in Mahé. As a result, government services and buildings are scarce in La Digue.

The island has a post office which is opened from Monday to Saturday closing on Sundays. There is also a small police station and a small hospital. However, the locals usually go to the hospitals in Praslin and Mahé for checkups and treatments. The women residing in La Digue travels to Mahé to give birth.

La Digue

La Digue is reputed for its gorgeous beaches. There are many spots where you can enjoy a tranquil and romantic moment with your partner on the beach.  Two such examples are Grand Anse and Anse Source d’Argent.

Grand Anse beach

Grand Anse is a picturesque beach which is well surrounded by large granite rocks. However, due to larges waves, we do not recommend swimming in the lagoon. There are even some warning signs along the seashore cautioning against the dangers of swimming in the vicinity! While crystal clear waters of the sea merges with the golden beach, capture some amazing pictures and enjoy this magnificent spot to the max.

Anse Source d’Argent

You may have already seen this beach! Guess where? Anse Source d’Argent has been in many films, tv shows and adverts. It is one of the most photographed beaches in the universe! Its fine white sand, unique boulder and background make it a must visited place if you are in La Digue.

The main industry of La Digue is tourism. This is also the case for all the islands of the Seychelles. Recently, La Digue proceeded through a significant tourist increase. This has had major influence on the economy of the Seychelles as a whole.

Before, ownership of a car in La Digue was forbidden. Although this is not the case anymore, the main means of transportations remains the bicycle. La Digue is a very small island of 10.8 kilometer square. Therefore, cars are not an adequate means of transportation. Most vehicles are owned by hotels and they are available to rent. Another quite unpopular method of transportation in La Digue is using an ox cart.

Flora and Flauna

La Digue seychelles

La Digue is home to many rare species such as the black paradise flycatcher. The latter is an endangered species. There is actually around 100 paradise flycatcher in the whole world and they live on La Digue. The underwater world of the island is also quite astonishing. In its sea resides a variety of fish, rays and sharks, promoting the diving activities. Divers and snorkellers may spot the blacktip reef sharks or if they are lucky enough, the whale sharks. The latter can be spotted mainly in winter.

The island also has a significant population of giant Aldabra tortoises. Other endemic species are the coconut crab, the sunbirds, terns, fodys, fruitbats, geckos and sheath-tailed bats. These species are threatened by the increasing amount of visitors and boats which pollutes the waters of the island. Moreover, the first inhabitants of La Digue brought along with them rats, cats and dogs to the island. These imported animals are a threat to the endemic species that live in La Digue, especially the rats which feed on endemic birds’ eggs and damage their nests.

The Seychelles is a rare archipelago where warm temperatures are present almost during the whole year. The temperature varies between 24 to 32 degree celcius. There are constant heavy rainfalls which last for only one hour at most. The period with the highest amount of rainfall is from October to March while July has the lowest amount of rainfall.

La Digue Lodge

The best accommodation in La Digue remains the La Digue Lodge. There are many more ladigue hotels but the best one is still La Digue Island Lodge. There are a variety of activities which is provided by the hotel. Boat trips, diving courses, restaurants, spa treatment and the list goes on.


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Michigamme, MI Schools

There are a total of n/a public schools, n/a private schools and n/a post-secondary schools in Michigamme. Using the proficiency score averages, the average test scores for Michigamme, MI schools is n/a. The average student to teacher ratio is n/a. In Michigamme, MI, an average of 94.9% of students have completed 8th grade and an average of 94.9% have completed high school.


Hilarious video by SnG Comedy shows what would happen if match fixing was cool

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No seriously, have you ever given a thought about this? What if all of the match fixing that goes around was cool? How would it look like? Would the thrill quotient still remain the same?

SnG Comedy explores all the possibilities in this hilarious video. Warning: there are major LOLs in the video! Watch it here:

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Teaching Chinese students

The first time I encountered a Chinese student in a university classroom was a harrowing experience. As a first year PhD student working on a thesis about Taiwan I was invited to give a guest lecture for comparative social policy Master’s class. My lecture about Taiwan was one of six case studies introducing students to social policy in different societies. I had taught a lab-based stats class, but this was my first experience in a lecture theatre. I struggled with anxiety and low self-confidence throughout my PhD and I was nervous. Within the first few minutes of the lecture, still in the grip of nerves, one of the only Chinese students in the theatre raised her hand. I wasn’t expecting or inviting questions at this point. “Hi, you have a question?” She didn’t have a question, it was more of a statement: “Taiwan is not a country”.

I was at a loss for words. The lecture was about social policy, and I had no idea why this student felt the need to intervene with such a statement. As she didn’t offer further comment, I continued the lecture. Halfway through the lecture the student raised her hand again. “Taiwan is not a country”. This time, I was a little less patient. “I’m talking about healthcare why are you telling me this?” It seems that I’d compared Taiwan’s health insurance system to that of “other countries,” thereby implying that Taiwan was also a country. I was astonished, annoyed and embarrassed. But it was a useful lesson. More than a decade has passed and I’ve taught hundreds of Chinese students since, and I have never been interrupted like this again.

I confess after that first lecture, decompressing with a beer on campus by myself, my thoughts were rather uncharitable to the Chinese student. Later, I was better able to empathize. Imagine if everything in your environment since childhood had instilled in you “incontrovertible facts”, and then an outsider, who you’ve also been primed to believe is biased against you and hell bent on denying what you “know” is right, does exactly that. It isn’t the fault of the Chinese students who turn up in your classes that they have grown up in an authoritarian information environment where the Party is highly motivated and capable through control of the media and education systems to instil a particular worldview.

Does that mean we should avoid talking about certain issues, or modify the way we talk about them, for fear of upsetting our Chinese students? Absolutely not. To do so would be a disservice to the profession, the discipline, and all of the students in the class, including the Chinese ones. For any HE professional, avoiding or sugar-coating a legitimate and necessary topic (like Tiananmen or Taiwan), is anathema. But, we also know that cognitive dissonance is one of the biggest impediments to positive learning outcomes, so we do need a strategy. For colleagues in most disciplines this is not a huge issue – it is for me because I teach Chinese politics and society, often to Chinese students.

At the outset of my classes I explain and exemplify how there are usually two sides to any story, and seemingly “incontrovertible facts” have their own distinct provenance and meanings. I then explain that we will be discussing and interrogating western and Chinese understandings of China. I explain that there is instrumentality on all sides in the construction of these understandings and I always ensure that different views are provided and critically assessed. I require all students to ask why different actors evince the views that they do.

This is the broad context in which my classes are taught and it is the approach I take to all issues, including ones that might elicit “emotional” or “unquestioning” responses. I assure students that any viewpoint is valid, and encourage them to voice “unpopular” or uncomfortable ones; but they must agree to make a reasoned argument and to respect and engage with others who do so. We don’t shy away from interrogating the education system and information environment in China that Chinese students have grown up in.

In all cases I treat students respectfully, tactfully and non-confrontationally. Deliberately making students uncomfortable or attempting to negate their prior knowledge is a recipe for disengagement and potential conflict, none of which improves learning outcomes. We can address any issue in class, but we do so in an atmosphere that encourages exchange and learning. That may sound idealistic – but it has allowed me to deliver on my duty as a teacher.

I am there to provide my students with all the relevant knowledge I have at my disposal, some of which will certainly challenge that made available in Chinese curricula and media. I want students to learn how to critically evaluate information, critically engage with different viewpoints and to compose reasoned arguments. In the process of implementing these techniques, some Chinese students will come to question some of their assumptions, go beyond and challenge previously acquired knowledge. Others won’t, and that’s fine.

I have had many Chinese students thank me for illuminating their own understanding about China. As I commented for a recent piece, many Chinese students understand that the worldview they receive in China is partial and are receptive to different perspectives. As a teacher, it is extremely gratifying to see students learn and develop. But it isn’t my job to try to change their worldviews.

If Chinese students are going to have a more profound experience studying overseas, I believe it will come from their experience outside the classroom, from their interactions with host populations and local cultures. Chinese students are often critiqued for hanging out together to the exclusion of others. But in their defence, little thought has been put into how to create and manage a more holistic overseas study experience that enables them to go beyond the comfort zone created by associating with their compatriots. For instance, we organize lubricated “socials” for freshman students to get to know one another – but what about Chinese students who don’t drink, or have insufficient confidence or language skills to engage socially in this context? In some schools, cohorts of Chinese students are taking degrees and classes in which their classmates are also mostly Chinese. Few opportunities exist for facilitated exposure to local communities.

In the UK, “student experience” has become a buzzword, mainly because of the National Student Survey and other League Tables that can affect recruitment. As domestic student fees have risen and students have been framed as “customers”, universities have made huge investments in fancy gyms, dorms and catering facilities. But as a sector we need to think more specifically about the “Chinese student experience”, inside and outside the classroom.

Taiwan and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation

China’s core leader, Xi Jinping, believes the time has come for the country to grasp a “strategic opportunity” to advance the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. He intimated as much in his work report to the 19th Party Congress. And this week the Communist Party paper the People’s Daily published a “manifesto” in the People’s Daily, explicitly stating that China stands on the cusp of writing a new chapter in the history of the nation.

The “manifesto” is an extraordinary document, part cheer-leader for the Party’s achievements, part call for a newly robust Chinese posture. It reflects the Chinese leadership’s belief that China has a historical opportunity to stake out a global leadership role. Enumerating the numerous ills facing western societies, which have accelerated the long-held feeling that the west is in decline, it is a statement that China is ready to seize the moment and restore China’s rightful position in the world. “Rejuvenation” is no longer a distant aspiration.

This isn’t a surprise for anyone with an understanding of the CCP’s “historical determinist” worldview. The Chinese leadership has watched its economic, diplomatic and military power grow, and “bided its time” as the west’s fortunes have waned. The election of Donald Trump has hastened the feeling that American hegemony has begun its inexorable decline. Trump’s abdication of American global leadership combined with a global system that was already in flux, has accelerated the feeling that China’s time has come.

Chinese leaders remind us that China does not seek hegemony and does not have a history of imperial expansion. Indeed, China has not invaded and occupied other sovereign nations, engaged in covert security operations, enforced regime change, or any number of other foreign interventions carried out in the name of American national interests.

But, a newly robust Chinese world view informing its foreign policy behaviour has important implications, not least for Taiwan, a mere hundred miles away and the locus of contemporary Chinese nationalism. After the violent denouement of the Democracy Spring movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989, the CCP has staked its legitimacy on economic growth and nationalism. As growth has slowed, the balance between these two pillars has shifted.

For Chinese nationalists, the “manifesto” is a long-yearned for assertion that under the Party’s leadership China’s rise necessitates a recalibration of the world order – one in which China will play a much more prominent role. Symbolic Centennials of the founding of the CCP (2021) and the PRC (2049) are no longer on the distant horizon. Xi has risen to unassailable power, but a paramount leader needs to deliver more than tub-thumping rhetoric.

The CCP has found nationalist causes, especially Taiwan, useful for entrenching popular support. It has also primed the Chinese people to believe that the CCP leadership is the only means to restoring China to greatness. But on one part of the “national rejuvenation” puzzle, it has failed to deliver. The desire to “recover” a Taiwan “lost” during the “hundred years of national humiliation” has been so relentlessly affirmed through the education and media systems that it is the sina qua non for patriotic Chinese.

Separated by vastly different socio-economic development experiences, most Taiwanese identify with Taiwan as a discrete, democratic society that is manifestly not-China. The desire for unification in Taiwan is virtually non-existent. Decades of Chinese carrots in the form of economic opportunities and sticks in the form of enforced international isolation and underlying military threat have removed “Taiwan independence” from the political agenda, but failed to move opinion towards China. The CCP’s favoured political partner in Taiwan, the KMT, was unable to change opinion in a meaningful way and alienated voters in trying to do so.

And so China continues to exert pressure on Taiwan, each turn of the screw designed to undermine, isolate and incapacitate Taiwan and the Tsai administration. A symbol of the new world order, it does so with impunity. PLA Air Force planes can circumnavigate Taiwan and the Civil Aviation Administration of China can unilaterally establish new routes in the Taiwan Strait because no-one bar the Taiwanese object. It can jail Taiwanese activists or bar Taiwan from WHA meetings. When it requires Taiwanese criminals are repatriated to China, countries from Spain to Kenya oblige. All are demonstrations that Taiwan is subordinate, that the privileges of “functional autonomy” extend only so far.

While western countries like Australia are newly discovering a sting in the tail to their ‘win-win’ engagements with China, Taiwan is used to dealing with Chinese pressures. The question is how much pressure China will dial up. Courting Taiwan’s small number of diplomatic allies, barring Taiwanese representation from international meetings and enforcing the political correctness of multinational companies’ drop-down menus is pressure at a much lower level than China is capable of exerting. And it is unlikely to deliver results commensurate with the aspirations of a new era of national rejuvenation.

Indubitably nested within the relationship between the US and China, it is easy to forget that Taiwan was, until relatively recently, a geopolitical hotspot. In the mid-1990s, Chinese missile exercises prior to the first direct election of the president in Taiwan, necessitated President Clinton’s dispatch of the Pacific Fleet to the Taiwan Strait. In the mid-2000’s Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian’s rhetoric threatened to cross Chinese “red lines”, and the PRC passed legislation requiring a military response to prevent “Taiwan independence”.

In the past decade, cross-Strait relations have receded from the global stage. While not resolving the underlying militarization of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou’s entente cordiale added a veneer of stability. Underpinned by the diplomatic fudge of the “1992 Consensus”, economic cooperation reduced tensions between Taiwan and China to an unprecedented extent. The partial detente was good timing for a hands-off Obama administration preoccupied with the Middle East and Afghanistan, and the first Xi administration dealing with monumental domestic challenges.

Donald Trump has an uncertain China policy that veers between extreme deference and spiky rhetoric: No one really knows what his intentions are towards China, possibly least of all, Trump himself. His preferences, unstable as they are, may become clearer if and when a House Foreign Affairs Committee bill that would authorize high level official visits between the US and Taiwan and an act of Congress encouraging consideration of US Navy port calls in Taiwan progress. These would likely be seen as unacceptable provocations by a country no longer shy about its aspirations.

Dr Jonathan Sullivan is Director of the China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham

Sage’s position on censorship in China

I have had some correspondence with Sage today regarding their position on the censorship of academic publications in China. The publisher provided a clarification of the company’s position in response to this piece I wrote for D&C, which included the line “Sage meanwhile suggested that it would [remove content] if asked”. The line was referencing this report in the Financial Times, written by Ben Bland who has become the leading chronicler of academic censorship in China.

Sage’s clarification of its position is as follows:

As a matter of general principle, SAGE does not block or remove content in response to such a request. It is possible that the Chinese importers or authorities could themselves block access to content. In that case, our preference would be that the entire product is withdrawn as far as that is possible in order to preserve its intellectual integrity. However, in all cases we would first consult with the content owner, society or journal editor as appropriate to ascertain their preferences in the situation.

To also clarify, we have not received a request from the Chinese authorities or other entity to remove or block access to certain documents or content within China. We have however, as have other publishers, been warned that there is a risk that this may happen. If you have become aware of any SAGE content that appears to be blocked in China, we would very much like to receive details of this so that we can investigate the situation.

It is important that publishers are called out for any acts of censorship, but it is equally important to note where they are resisting such pressures. I hope that this clarification is noted therefore, and invite colleagues who do notice any Sage material that appears unavailable in China to contact the publisher as requested.

The slippery slope of western academic censorship

Every sector of Chinese society has become more constrained under Xi Jinping. The Communist Party, private business, the media and internet, civil society and academia have all been affected by moves to reign in their “degrees of freedom”. For better or worse, this is the prerogative of the Chinese leadership. What I am about to write is thus not about imposing my “western values” on China or dictating how China should be run. Instead, it is about “us”, western societies, institutions, businesses and individuals, and how we conduct ourselves in our interactions with China.

Given the tightening parameters of China’s authoritarian information order, it was only a matter of time until western publishers became a target for exerting greater control. The first target, Cambridge University Press, initially acceded to demands from Chinese authorities to remove content from its website in China, only to reverse track when the backlash from academics threatened lasting reputational damage. Other publishers have followed. Some, like MIT, Oxford and Chicago University Press have said they will not self-censor. Sage meanwhile suggested that it would if asked.

Springer Nature stands out, not only because of its status as one of the world’s largest academic trade presses, but because it actively barred access to some of its content to Chinese internet users. Moreover, Springer Nature has been admirably forthright in defending its decision to do so. Its rationale is that removing a small portion of its catalogue (albeit over 1,000 articles) was a small price to pay for continuing to provide access to material deemed agreeable to the Chinese state.
As an economic argument, it is unassailable. The offending materials come exclusively from journals publishing work on Chinese politics and related fields – a negligible part of Springer Nature’s output. The economic impact is especially minimal when compared to consumption in China itself, where medical, engineering, business and language-learning texts are in high and lucrative demand.

It is when we go beyond purely economic cost-benefit analysis that Springer Nature’s decision raises serious issues. By allowing the Chinese government to decide what is legitimate knowledge the publisher undermines the ethos (freedom of thought and dissemination) and the process (review by peers not political officials) on which academic research is predicated. If that is so, we might question the legitimacy of Springer Nature’s role in the academic sector. How can we trust the integrity of an academic institution (which is what presses are whether they are also commercial enterprises or not) if the ultimate arbiter of academic research is outsourced to an unrelated body whose primary criteria is not academic but political?

When I submit my work to an academic publisher (based on my labour that is paid for by the British taxpayer), I enter an informal contract based on trust that the submission will be stringently but fairly reviewed by academically competent persons who are picked by the publisher and whose identity I do not know. If my work is deemed by blind peer review to make a contribution to knowledge, I trust that the press will publish it in accordance with the sector’s standards in a timely fashion and make it available to all subscribers.

If this process is not adhered to, that betrays not just my trust but that of all academic colleagues. The decision whether an essay is a contribution to knowledge must not be outsourced to a government whose primary concern is political correctness.

This may sound overly abstract given the “negligible” practical impact. The readership of the blocked content in China is likely very small. However, there are practical implications. In some cases, for example where Chinese academics have had their articles removed, it could affect professional advancement. The years of dedication and hard work required to publish academic research could, in theory, be negated as authors are denied promotions or tenure due to the idiosyncrasies of a crude keyword search (the method Springer Nature appears to have employed).

At the present time, the likelihood of such extreme hypothetical scenarios is low. But, my major concern is that we are at the beginning of a long downward spiral. A precedent has been set. What can Springer Nature do but accede to the Chinese authorities’ wishes next time it decides to demand content removed? Today it is “highly sensitive” topics like Tibet and the Cultural Revolution that have been removed; tomorrow it may be slightly less sensitive topics and so on. This is a slippery slope, the end point of which is conforming with the Chinese definition of legitimate knowledge.

As I said, I am not here to tell the Chinese authorities what they should do. But I must state that for academics outside China it is an intolerable intrusion on our fundamental freedoms to have the merits of one’s professional output dictated by a foreign government.

Which brings me to my final point. As China’s global engagement intensifies, as Chinese interests and confidence to assert and protect them increases, it is inevitable that they will come into contact with our own. It is therefore essential that in western academia, and in western societies more generally, we consider our own interests and values. We need to decide what we value and what we are willing to do to protect it. Do we value the freedoms of academic inquiry and expression? Or are those values that we are willing to compromise?

This piece was originally published in Development and Cooperation.

Dude, where’s my paper?

Xi Jinping Thought – implications

It is a very significant, and staggeringly rapid, achievement for Xi to have his Thought elevated to the Party charter. The comparisons with Mao are becoming harder to resist, simply because he has accumulated such incredible power in such a short space of time. We should resist the temptation though, because there is no indication that Xi has any Mao-like proclivities or intentions. And, the one caveat to Xi Thought is that it is an add-on to Deng’s, rather than a unique stand alone – which suggests that behind the scenes there is resistance to giving Xi an even stronger mandate.

What he does have though, is the basis for shaping China in his image almost without obstacle in the near term, and the foundation for continuing to influence the country for a long time, far exceeding the next 5 years. With Xi Thought ensconced as guiding ideology, it is unlikely that China will diverge from Xi’s vision in the short-medium term and, potentially, for decades to come.

In one way this is good news for the rest of the world: at least we know what we are dealing with. In another, it represents a very real challenge, because Xi’s vision includes, for the first time in contemporary Chinese history, staking out a global leadership role. This will inevitably bring China’s interests up against those of other powers, and a strategy for managing relations and expectations of a more “robust” Chinese global engagement policy is crucial.

America’s foreign policy disarray and leadership vacuum represents a “strategic opportunity” for China as Xi noted in his work report and I expect taking advantage of this opportunity to be a major feature of Xi’s second term.

Meanwhile, the issue of succession has been rendered much less significant by the elevation of Xi Thought, which will tie the hands of anyone who follows. Xi is looking more and more like a “paramount leader” a la Deng and Mao, albeit one who still has a lot to prove.

CUP reverses pledge to remove CQ content in China


OK 4.0 hours The Law of the Land-Fair Housing – Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus:

4.0 Elective Hours.

Three terms come up frequently in discussion of fair housing laws steering, blockbusting, and redlining.

The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits taking any action that would otherwise make residential property unavailable or deny it to any person. This is commonly known as steering. Steering relates to buyers or renters and is defined as channeling prospective buyers or renters to or away from specific neighborhoods based on any protected class.

Blockbusting is a prohibited act under federal and state law. It is defined as inducing or attempting to induce any person to sell or rent property based on representations made regarding entry into the neighborhood of persons of a specific race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Before the Federal Fair Housing Act, unscrupulous real estate agents intimidated homeowners into selling their homes. Homeowners were led to believe that their property values would be lower, the area would experience higher crime rates, and the quality of schools would decline.

Redlining relates to mortgage lending and insurance brokers. Redlining is defined as discriminating against anyone by a lender in making a loan for buying, building, repairing, improving, or maintaining a dwelling. Redlining is a refusal to make loans or issue insurance policies on property located in a neighborhood effectively, drawing a red line around an area.

Upon completion of this course the real estate professional will have a thorough understanding of the Fair Housing Act and some of the most common violations.


We Who Believe in Freedom

What We Don’t Notice

I was in the group Music by Rules: Life DeCoded. For my project, I thought about amplifying the subtleties of daily life that we tend to not notice. For example, things people do when they are not consciously thinking about their actions, absorbed in something other than their body movements, and subtle fidgety movements that people typically do not notice in each other. I examined a friend (the friend was unknowing that he was a subject) for 2 minutes and recorded every little movement he made. I wrote the movements down in my notebook taking note of both chronology and frequency of the movements, then I associated a letter key with each sound, essentially creating a composition using the structure of the fidgety movements. I wanted to use MAX/MSP because for my research group I looked at many algorithmic sound art pieces and was fascinated by the idea of using algorithms to represent something more organic, like human fidgeting.

sound art

Using MAX/MSP, I programmed 7 keys on my computer keyboard to trigger certain sounds that I found from freesound.org. I used mostly sounds in the key of G, just to have a harmonious sense to the piece, but a few are lacking melody all together. I play the keys in time with the movements to create a representation of the subtle movements through sound. I also finally started to understand MAX/MSP, which is a nice skill to have for future projects. I think it would be interesting to take this project to a larger scale and create sound pieces for people of different genders, ages, and other demographics to see how certain people sound when compared to each other. Here’s a picture of what the final piece on MAX looks like.

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 3.28.43 PM

I do not have a sound clip to share on here, but I will be performing this piece live tonight. I originally had the idea to perform it live and have it be based off of the class in the moment (sort of an improvisational piece), but I decided to have more of a pre-produced project (it still is improvisation to an extent, because the score I wrote out is not a traditional score by any means). This was an interesting project for me in the sense that being able to interpret subtle human intricacies through sound gives a broader understanding of the fact that we are never truly still. I also feel great about understanding MAX/MSP a little more! Hopefully I’ll be able to incorporate this technology into my future music and future sound art projects.

Sonic Cinematic: How Sound Environment Can Affect Emotion and Meaning

My project went through many different phases, which resulted in a slight change of idea. This tends to be a recurring theme, but I guess the process is as important as the end product. I originally wanted to record people speaking and replace the words with sounds from nature and machines. This proved to be too difficult; as I could not figure out a way to match up the sounds I was finding on freesound.org accurately enough with the shapes of the words. So, I after fooling around on various programs, I decided to change my idea slightly. I would keep the soundtrack, but modify it. I ended up using a short video clip, and creating six different samples of the soundtrack. Using Reaper, I layered effects onto the original sound clip. Each track has at least three effects that I tailored to create the sound environment that I wanted. Each of the six clips has a unique tone. I wanted to create a unique space for the sound to exist in and see how the clip changed in meaning with different sound effects.

I did not want to lose the video aspect of my original idea. So, there are two aspects to my project. The six clips can be heard without video, but I also put the effected sound back onto the video using iMovie. The entire video can be viewed as well as just the audio. The video contains this unexpected sound that creates a strange environment (typically, weird sounds are associated with equally weird imagery. In my video, the imagery is completely normal and expected, with strange and unexpected sounds.) I chose the segment that I did because without context, it seems strange and confusing (similar to how without the context of the video, the sound clips are strange and confusing). the link to the audio is here https://ellawilliamssoundart.bandcamp.com/album/robs-opinions-of-the-prairie-audio and the video is here https://vimeo.com/108821090

How Was Your Day? A Self Portrait With Sound

For this project I wanted to explore what different spaces mean to me, and the role sound plays in creating and shaping environments. I was interested in which sounds occupy my day frequently and obviously, and which sounds may occur frequently but go more unnoticed. I also wanted to apply rhythm to things that we typically do not apply rhythm to. People often do not consciously notice how rhythm is present in non-musical sounds sounds that exist.

As I worked on my project, I realized more and more that the sounds that are part of my day might not be the sounds that are part of someone else’s day. I wanted to create a self-portrait, document my daily life, and explore how I uniquely experience Grinnell through sound.

I executed this by carrying a sound recorder with me everywhere. I was not able to capture every single environment I exist in during a standard day, but I ultimately captured the environments that are most meaningful to me, or where I spend the most time. For the first track, I layered every single snippet I recorded (without censoring any material) to create an organic, honest representation of every aspect of my day. I played with putting different tracks in the left or right ear to create a three-dimensional experience. The next 5 tracks are single, specific moments that define my current life through sound. I used organic, unedited snippets, along with spliced sounds to create a sense of rhythm and composition.

Ultimately, this project is a compilation of all the sounds I regularly hear and the sounds that define my daily experience. They offer insight into my personal experiences as a student at Grinnell, and insight into different environments at Grinnell that everybody might experience.