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I recall the first time I visited Nakheel Palestine for Agricultural Investments Company fields at Jericho two years ago, when MIGA was still at the early stages of underwriting the project constituting planting date trees. The land was empty and, at the first glance, the first thought that came to mind was "how can this be developed into arable land?" When MIGA's Executive Vice President Izumi Kobayashi visited the site for the first time a couple of weeks ago, we found ourselves in fields filled with baby date trees that have beautified the land with their green leaves. And in a tour in the packing facility of the project, we saw how young female workers were sorting and packing the dates, realizing that each of these workers is supporting a household of minimum five members in a very impoverished area.
In the latest West Bank and Gaza mission led by Kobayashi and Nabil Fawaz (a sector leader in MIGA), two major findings were revealed. The first is the resilience the Palestinian private sector shows as businesspeople insist on keeping operational in the face of the harsh conditions they face every day—whether we are talking about the movement restrictions, business interruption, the unpredictability of what tomorrow could bring, and the increased costs associated with such factors. For example, the plastic cup manufacturer that MIGA recently insured has to make sure that plastic granule supplies that they import from Saudi Arabia are not interrupted on the borders or internal checkpoints. Also, in the case of a dairy manufacturer whose expansion we recently insured, extra caution must be taken when transporting the dairy products to different West Bank localities or when exporting them to Jordan due to the back-to-back measures that need to be applied when moving goods. These measures cause damage to goods and increase transportation costs.
The second finding relates to the social responsibility of the Palestinian private sector, when entrepreneurs choose to employ people although they could depend fully on machines to operate their production lines. This is evident in the Nakheel dates project, Jebrini's dairy manufacturing project, and Al Haram plastic cups manufacturing facility.
The developmental impact of MIGA-supported projects in the West Bank and Gaza is huge in terms of the labor generated, the products manufactured that service both the local and export markets, and the revenues generated by these private-sector players. Building on the latest study Towards Economic Sustainability of Future Palestinian State: Promoting Private Sector Led Growth and according to its author John Nasir, it was noted that only "a sustainable private sector will be able to provide jobs needed by the rapidly expanding population and only a sustainable private sector will generate the revenues required to provide basic services."
As I am writing this blog the West Bank and Gaza experienced another wave of violence that erupted in the Gaza Strip and has had a ripple effect on the whole West Bank. This comes as reminder as to how fragile conflict-affected countries are, how quickly the situation can deteriorate, and how this unpredictability will always be the ultimate factor hindering private sector development—and thus hindering the development of a whole nation. MIGA's role will always be vital in such countries and in such situations, where private-sector players know that they are not alone out there.
And allow me to end this blog by praying for the souls of children who lost their lives in the past week, hope they rest in peace, and hope war will never knock on our ever-tired doors again.


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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
What To Do with…. Nutmeg
After sweet, intoxicating and ubiquitous cinnamon, nutmeg is easily one of my favourite spices. It's warm, exotic, and faintly sweet. Nutmeg evokes images of passing lazy days slung in a hammock under the warm Caribbean sun with a Hemingway novel in one hand and a rum drink within arm's reach of the other.
Nutmeg is mocha-brown and slightly larger than an unshelled hazelnut (or filbert) with a slightly ridged surface. This ovum-shape seed falls from an evergreen found in the Caribbean as well as parts of Indonesia and India. These little nuggets pack a powerful, fragrant punch that enlivens both sweet and savoury dishes. Even the smallest dusting can be transformational.
Nutmeg is sold as the whole nut and in powder form, however purchasing the whole nut is infinitely better. If you think nutmeg is abit pricey compared to other herbs and spices, just remember it will last a very long time if well stored. (I have read that spices should only be stored for up to 2 years, however, my stash of nutmeg is going on five years. And perhaps it is true, that it is not as potent as it was way back then, I have not seen any signs that my nutmeg has become rancid or otherwise inedible. The fragrance is still magical and potent after all this time.) However, I would recommend purchasing the whole seed for it ensures that you are not paying for "filler" product as well as it prolongs the potency of the spice. (This advice also applies for other types of herbs and spices. Whole, where possible, is usually better.) While there are specialized graters for this purpose, they are really not necessary. I use a micro-plane grater to scrape off what I need. (The micro-plane grater is easily one of the most important tools in my kitchen, I use it to zest citrus fruits, and shave Parmesan or nutmeg.) If you don't have a micro-plane rasp, you can use the finest side of a multi-sided grater. (It may be less smooth depending on how sharp your grater is, so please be careful.)
Unfortunately however, most people's relationship with nutmeg goes as far as the seasonal drink, eggnog. While nutmeg and eggs are a natural match, it extends far beyond the holiday drink. Nutmeg compliments eggs both in a sweet and savoury sense. Nutmeg tastes great in other egg-based dishes such as crème brulee, cheese soufflés, and scrambled eggs.
Nutmeg is also a natural pair for the king of spices, cinnamon. In my kitchen, nutmeg tends to follow cinnamon in my baking creations. Nutmeg often makes its way into my apple and cinnamon dishes including pies, muffins and crisps.
Nutmeg makes an unexpected but welcome appearance in these gourgères (cheese puffs). It subtly enhances the nutty flavour of the cheese and of course, the eggs. Admittedly, I had been intimated by gougères for the longest time... making a choux pastry and then piping them out, and hoping that they turn out airy and light.... sounds little fussy and potentially a world of let-down, doesn't it? (Thoughts of the acrid smell of burning butter and flour drift across my mind...) But I watched a friend pipe and bake them at a dinner party recently, I was amazed how quickly they came together. Inspired by the simplicity of making gougeres, I went home and tried out several recipes from my collection of cookbooks. It seemed to me the combinations were universal: 1 c flour, 4 eggs, 1 stick of butter (1/4c), a quantity of Gruyere or Emmenthal, a pinch of spice and a strong arm. In fact, my first batch, came pretty close to perfect. (What? Yes, it's true.) And subsequent batches? Even better... (No exaggeration.) Now, these gougeres make a regular appearance as a pre-dinner bite when we have have guests. I can whip them out like no one's business.
Admittedly, I like it when my food gets attention.... (I do write a food blog... ) But I relish the look of delight and surprise on my dear guests' faces when the puffs emerge from the hot oven and tumble onto a large platter. Make these and your friends will be in awe of your culinary prowess as you have mastered choux pastry. Of course, you don't have to tell them how easy they are to make. That's a secret we'll keep between you and me.
I found this recipe in one of my favourite cookbooks, The Gourmet Magazine Cookbook. (TGMC is a very excellent cookbook, by the way, that is, if you can manage to purchase a cookbook without the requisite food porn. It is a compendium of well-tested, no fail recipes ranging from the most basic to the rather complicated. Sadly, the only photo in the 1,000 page cookbook is of Gourmet Magazine's editor-in-chief, Ruth Reichel, located on the back flap of the jacket cover! Ruth's awesome, but I like to be inspired by gorgeous photos of delicious dishes I may have overlooked if not for a beautifully shot photograph.)
There are many gougère recipes out there and I have seen then call for a pinch of cayenne pepper instead of nutmeg, I've had them both ways and prefer the nutmeg. Also, I have found this recipe incredibly easy and concise. I have upped the salt on this a tiny bit, just to boost the flavour a little bit. But other than that, the recipe is easy to follow but requires a strong arm or a stand mixer.
Gougères (Cheese Puffs)
Makes approximately 4 1/2 dozen
1 cup water
1 stick butter, cut into large chunks
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 ¼ cup finely grated Emmenthal cheese
2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan Reggiano
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 400°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
Bring 1 cup water, butter, and salt to simmer in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add flour all at once. With a wooden spoon, stir firmly and quickly until the flour absorbs liquid and forms a ball. (It will be stuck around your spoon, pulled away from sides of saucepan.) Continue to stir for another minute or so to absorb addition moisture from the dough. Remove pan from heat; cool dough 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time until the dough incorporates the egg and it becomes sticky and glossy before adding another egg. Stir in cheeses, nutmeg and pepper.
To prepare for baking – you can scoop the dough into a pastry bag or a Ziploc bag and pipe into tiny mounds. (I prefer the latter especially if you're going to make this ahead. You can keep the dough in the fridge until your guests arrive. Then snip one of the bottom corners of the bag and pipe.) Alternatively, you can scoop the dough with two spoons. Once complete, I wet the bottom of the spoon to smooth out the mound and make it as round as possible.
Bake gougères for fifteen minutes, then reverse the positions of the pans. Bake for another 15 minutes until the gougères are light and golden. Serve immediately.
9 comments:
- Christina Kim said...
I've never tried grating fresh nutmeg, but I always see Rachael Ray on TV using it in things like mac&cheese and sauteed greens. By the way, my boyfriend is okay with me taking pictures at restaurants, as long as it's not a fine dining establishment... but he is always embarrassed!
- March 19, 2009 at 11:55 PM
We bumped into your blog and we really liked it - great recipes YUM!!! YUM!!!.
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- March 22, 2009 at 10:32 AM
- Kevin said...
Nutmeg also goes very well with Brussels sprouts. The gougères look mighty tasty too.
- March 22, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Stumbled in from Lily's blog. Nice place u have here! I am also from the Toronto area. I love using nutmeg esp when making anything with cream(soup, pasta sauce) or with spinach. It just gives everything a rounder flavour.
Just some info for everyone..the cheapest microplane zester is at Williams-Sonoma. I kid u not!
- March 22, 2009 at 10:09 PM
- Hungry Gal said...
Yes - I guess I should have mentioned I like a sprinkle of nutmeg on sauteed spinach and to cheese sauce (awesome on califlower)
cheapest micro-plane grater at Williams-Sonoma? Hmmm.. have you tried Tap Phuong on Spadina or Golda's? Even Kitchen Stuff Plus? I love WS - but it's spendy.
- March 23, 2009 at 9:57 PM
Great suggestions! I almost always grate some nutmeg into my béchamel.
- March 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM
- V said...
Nutmeg is native of Indonesian and therefore is used extensively in Indonesian cooking (esp. stew-like dishes seasoned with sweet soy sauce). The flesh is pickled and eaten as dessert!
I am amazed at how you are always one step ahead along my line of thoughts! Been thinking of making choux pastry myself as I am fascinated by the process. A question, when you beat in the eggs, did you use a food processor/mixer or just the wooden spoon?
PS: love microplane too! Can't live without it. Will check out the kitchen supplies you mentioned next time I'm there!
- March 25, 2009 at 8:02 AM
- Hungry Gal said...
@ V - you flatter me... I love your blog.
I use a wooden spoon.... and a little elbow grease. You could tramsport it to a mixer or food processor with a dough whip attachment but I find moving the dough from the pot creates more clean-up.
- March 25, 2009 at 7:19 PM
My daughter finally convinced me to start making my own peanut butter - so after I went through the work of making hers I made my own "french toast" flavor - Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, brown sugar and of course as my mother told me when I was little "people don't make french toast like this - I put in more than they do, a lot more" she never told me the exacts probably because she didn't know... but I picked up a couple of bags of whole kernels today and found your blog... it's quite lovely!
- May 11, 2014 at 1:37 AM

subset: commoncrawl


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Tonight on Raw: Ryback made quite the impression by laying out both Mark Henry and John Cena last week. Perhaps we'll learn why he did it. And CM Punk makes his return to the show, eight days after failing to beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania. What's on his mind? Best tune in to find out, as Raw goes live from the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, South Carolina on USA.
Match 1 – Randy Orton and Sheamus vs. Big Show
JBL seems kind of upset that Show is being forced to fight both of his former teammates, saying it's unfair. Yeah, a lot of people feel sorry for a guy who is seven feet tall and 400 pounds! Orton cheers Sheamus on, though the Great White has started slowly here. Make that very slowly as he has to scramble out of multiple pinning attempts. Show climbs the turnbuckles only to have Sheamus hoist him on his shoulders and drop him backwards. As Vader would say, impressive – most impressive. Orton finally gets tagged in, smacking Show with right hands and a dropkick. Randy DDTs Orton off the ropes and signals for the RKO. Big Show shrugs the first one off, but Sheamus' Brogue Kick ensures he's a sitting duck for the second attempt. Orton pins the big man, possibly ending this feud.
The members of 3MB inform Josh Mathews that they are headed to the ring to call out The Shield. Wait... what?
Apparently those guys are serious, because Heath Slater announces that The Shield can't steal their spotlight, and Drew McIntyre demands a hand-written apology. Gutsy, but maybe not so smart. Oh, and now maybe really not smart since it's Brock Lesnar who comes to the ring. Brock destroys 3MB both in and out of the ring, finishing with a flourish by dropping Slater on the barricade with an F-5. Actually, make that two. Paul Heyman tells Lesnar that's enough. Despite the loss at WrestleMania, Heyman says that Lesnar wants another fight with Triple H. As they see it, Lesnar and HHH are tied at one win apiece, and they're looking for a rubber match at Extreme Rules. Specifically, they issue a challenge for a Steel Cage Match. You know, when a No Holds Barred Match just won't cut it. We'll have to wait and see if The Game accepts.
Match 2 – Kofi Kingston (challenger) vs. Antonio Cesaro (champion) – United States Championship Match
From the "Time Flies" file comes the fact that Cesaro has held this strap since last year at SummerSlam. Geez. Kingston scores with an early Boom Drop and calls for the Trouble in Paradise. Cesaro evades it and connects with an uppercut for two. Commercial time. After the break, Kingston does hit the Trouble in Paradise, but it knocks Cesaro out of the ring where he can't be pinned. Kofi decides to try for a cross body off the top once Cesaro comes to, but he's caught and planted with a backbreaker. Back and forth we go with both men going for pins. Another Trouble in Paradise finally does the trick, and we've got ourselves a new U.S. champ.
In case you missed it, we get a replay of Dolph Ziggler (finally) cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Alberto Del Rio. To tell us all about it, Ziggler comes out with AJ and Big E Langston. He calls his win the greatest moment in the history of Raw, but he is confident he'll be able to top it because he's just that good. Ziggler is also enjoying the perks that come with the job, including fame, fortune and AJ. No one will ever be as good as him, and as he's about to go on, Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez make their way out. Alberto says he has a rematch clause, and he wants that match right now. Dolph scoffs at that idea, but Vickie Guerrero says it's happening as soon as a ref can get out there. Is it a good idea for Del Rio since his leg is still injured? Before they can begin, Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter join this party as well. Swagger goes after Del Rio's bad leg, smashing it into the post and stomping on it on the floor before applying the Patriot Lock. Some referees finally arrive to drag Swagger away and check on Del Rio, but the damage has already been done.
Match 3 – The Primetime Players vs. Team Hell No
The big news here is that Daniel Bryan and Kane will team with The Undertaker next week in London to face The Shield. In the meantime, they make short work of the PTPers.
He talks! I'm talking about Ryback, who addresses the camera with his reasons for attacking Cena last week. Seems he's just upset about having to climb all the way back up the ladder after WrestleMania. Ryback admits that Cena helped him out early in his WWE career, but he also wonders why Cena didn't help him out when he was getting attacked non-stop by The Shield. Good point.
Match 4 – R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett
Barrett will have to defend his IC title against the winner of a battle royal on Main Event this week. And in a sign that he might be in for a challenge, he gets pinned by Truth after he counters with a DDT. Even Truth looks a bit surprised that he won.
Teddy Long visits Vickie and Brad Maddox backstage to report that he's arranged for Swagger to face Ziggler and even given the Real American some extra incentive. But it's still Maddox's job to go tell somebody.
Match 5 – The Great Khali and Santino Marella vs. Team Rhodes Scholars
The Scholars don't fare so well against Khali, so they goad the big man into tagging his partner and go to work on Santino. Damien Sandow drops the Elbow of Disdain on Marella for two, but Santino rallies and the Cobra makes an appearance. Hornswoggle tries using a Mini-Cobra on Rhodes on the outside, and in the ensuing chaos, Sandow is able to roll up Marella and steal the win.
After we get a look back at all the Fandangoing that has been going on over the past week, the man himself makes his way out. Jerry Lawler introduces Fandango and then moves his hips back to the announce table. Who wants to go Fandangoing tonight? Well you still need to pronounce his name correctly. It's quite obvious that no one in South Carolina can do that, so they can all go Fandango themselves.
Cena quickly tells Matt Striker that he plans on discussing his reaction to Ryback's promo to his face. Okay then.
Match 6 – Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler
I can't believe I actually forgot that Ziggler and Swagger were stablemates not that long ago. See? Time does fly. JBL puts over Swagger's collegiate wrestling accomplishments as he takes control before the commercial break. And that continues after the ads, with Swagger pinning the champ. Nothing like making the new champ look strong, right (#Sarcasm)? But as Swagger makes his way back up the rank, he gets ambushed by Del Rio and locked in the cross armbreaker. A taste of his own medicine, yes?
Sheamus is about to get interviewed, but Henry will have none of that. Because that's what he does!
CM Punk comes to the ring with Heyman to speak for the first time since his loss to The Undertaker. He says he couldn't enjoy the ride of his long title reign because he was always looking to the next challenge. Punk says he always wants more, and he asked rhetorically where he could go next after battling The Rock. The answer was to try upending The Streak, and he claims he pushed Undertaker to the limit. And... then he just kind of walks off. Interesting.
Poor Teddy Long gets chewed out by Booker T for meddling in the World Heavyweight title situation. Booker changes things up just a bit, declaring that Ziggler will defend against both Del Rio and Swagger in a Triple Threat Match.
Match 7 – Kaitlyn vs. Nikki Bella
Did you know that you can now tell the Bellas apart after one had some, um, work done? That doesn't stop them from pulling off some more Twin Magic to steal a win here. I guess it just takes more willing suspension of disbelief now. Wink, wink.
It's now appropriate so say the champ is here again, because Cena is in fact the champ. It feels like a 50-50 crowd for him tonight. Cena wants Ryback to come to the ring immediately and gets exactly that. Face to face with the hungry superstar, Cena points out that Ryback hypocritically attacked him with his back turned last week, and that his speech sounded like a list of excuses. The champ also accuses Ryback of missing the two most important parts to be a champion: one between the ears and one between the legs. Cena challenges Ryback to make a move and earn the championship. Ryback turns to walk away, but he halts when he hears the music of The Shield. Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose make their way down at a slow pace, pausing just inside the barricade. The fans chant for Cena as everyone stares each other down. The Shield enters the ring to go after Cena, and Ryback just stands back and watches. Turnabout is apparently fair play as Cena goes for a triple power bomb ride, and The Shield stands over his prone body as Raw fades out.
Nick Tylwalk would never admit it in public, but he's been Fandangoing some over the past week. Oops, he did it again. Chastise him on Twitter, on Google+, or by email.


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Graduate Catalog
2014 – 2015
Office of Graduate Studies
McKelvie Hall, 102 W. Rosedale Avenue
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383
Phone: 610-436-2943
Fax: 610-436-2763
Revised June 2018
25 University Avenue, Room 101
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383
Dr. Jackson, Chairperson
Dr. Johnston, Assistant Chairperson
Dr. Gallitano, Graduate Coordinator
Gail M. Gallitano, Ed.D., Columbia University
Robert Gallop, Ph.D., Drexel University
Peter L. Glidden, Ph.D., Columbia University
Viorel Nitica, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
Randall H. Rieger, Ph.D., University of North Carolina
Waclaw Szymanski, D.Sc., Polish Academy of Sciences
Lin Tan, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Paul Wolfson, Ph.D., University of Chicago
Michael Fisher, Ph.D., Lehigh University
Shiv K. Gupta, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University
Kathleen Jackson, Ed.D., Temple University
Clifford Johnston, Ph.D., Temple University
Lisa Marano, Ph.D., Lehigh University
Scott McClintock, Ph.D., University of Kentucky
James McLaughlin, Ph.D., University of Illinois
Joseph Moser, M.S., Purdue University
Scott Parsell, Ph.D., University of Michigan
Brian Bowen, Ph.D., University of Delaware
Andrew Crossett, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University
Whitney George, Ph.D., University of Georgia
Daniel Robert Ilaria, Ph.D., Rutgers University
Kim Johnson, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
Allison Kolpas, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
Mark A. McKibben, Ph.D., Ohio University
Rosemary Sullivan, Ph.D., Lehigh University
Peter Zimmer, Ph.D., University of Kansas
Joann H. Kump, M.A.T., Indiana University
The Department of Mathematics offers the master of arts degree with options in mathematics and mathematics education, the master of science degree in applied statistics, and a certificate in applied statistics.
The mathematics option is for students interested in furthering their mathematical background. It provides the foundation for continued work in mathematics leading to the Ph.D. in mathematics.
The mathematics education option is directed to teachers of mathematics who wish to strengthen their background in mathematics and mathematics education; in addition, it provides the foundation for doctoral programs in mathematics education.
In addition to meeting the basic admission requirement of the University, applicants must have a bachelor's degree with a mathematics major or related field. Applicants must schedule an interview with the graduate coordinator prior to enrollment. Deficiencies, as determined by the graduate coordinator, may be removed by successfully completing appropriate course(s). Applicants must submit scores for the general section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
In addition to meeting the basic admission requirements of the University, applicants must have a bachelor's degree in mathematics or a related field. Applicants must schedule an interview with the graduate coordinator prior to enrollment. A full treatment of calculus along with an advanced undergraduate course in modern algebra, linear algebra, differential equations, and geometry is recommended. Deficiencies in these areas may be removed by successfully completing appropriate courses. Applicants must submit scores for the general section of the GRE.
In addition to completing the course requirements shown below, candidates must either pass a comprehensive examination or submit a thesis.
(Elective courses to be scheduled in advance on a rotating basis.)
Dr. Rieger, Program Director
Vital to a wide variety of disciplines, applied statisticians have found employment in pharmaceutical research and development, government public policy, economic forecasting and analysis, psychometrics, public health research, and many other areas. The mission of the program in applied statistics is to train students to possess the skills necessary for immediate employment and/or provide a course of study that would make further (doctoral) study in statistics, biostatistics, biomathematics, or other related fields feasible. The program provides strong training in statistical analysis and programming, design of scientific studies, and the ability to communicate statistical concepts.
In addition to meeting the basic admission requirements of the University, applicants must have knowledge of calculus and linear algebra. Deficiencies, as determined by the program director, may be removed by successfully completing appropriate course(s). Borderline candidates for admission may be required to present GRE scores at the discretion of the program director.
In addition to meeting the basic admission requirements of the University, applicants must have at least one undergraduate level (or higher) course in statistics. Deficiencies, as determined by the program director, may be removed by successfully completing an appropriate course.
After admission to the program, students will be allowed to select the thesis or nonthesis track for the M.S. in applied statistics. The thesis option replaces one of the elective classes and STA 531 with a six-credit thesis, to be initiated after the completion of STA 505 and STA 506.
Nonthesis Option (32 semester hours)
Thesis Option (32 semester hours)
Important information about the educational debt, earnings, and completion rates of students who attended this program.
503 History of Mathematics (3) Development of mathematics from prehistoric time to present. Emphasis on changes in the mainstreams of mathematical thought through the ages.
514 Theory of Numbers (3) Elementary number theory and selected topics in analytic number theory.
515 Algebra I (3) Elements of abstract algebra, groups, commutative ring theory, modules, and associative algebras over commutative rings.
516 Algebra II (3) A continuation of MAT 515. Vector spaces, representation theory, and Galois theory. PREREQ: MAT 515.
521 Discrete Mathematics and Graph Theory (3) Techniques of problem solving, including the use of binomial coefficients, generating functions, recurrence relations, the principle of inclusion exclusion, and Polya's Theorem.
532 Geometry I (3) This course is a rigorous introduction to geometry from a transformational point of view, emphasizing Euclidean, hyperbolic, and/or projective geometry. Other topics such as Spherical geometry, symplectic geometry, or Affine geometry may be included if time permits.
533 Geometry II (3) A study of geometry using calculus as our main tool. The course covers the basics of differential geometry - parametrizations, tangent spaces, curvature, geodesics - leading to Stokes theorem and the Gauss-Bonnett theorem. Several examples will be studied in depth, including the sphere and the projective plane (which were introduced in the first course).
535 Topology (3) A rigorous treatment of filters, nets, separation axioms, compactness, connectedness, and uniform spaces.
541 Advanced Calculus (3) For students with background deficiencies in analysis. Ordinary and uniform limits; sequences of functions; and the Riemann integral.
545 Real Analysis I (3) A rigorous study of real-valued functions of real variables. PREREQ: MAT 541 or equivalent.
546 Real Analysis II (3) Continuation of MAT 545. PREREQ: MAT 545.
548 Industrial Mathematics – Continuous Models (3) This course is designed to provide a survey of mathematical concepts, techniques, and numerical algorithms used to study real-world continuous mathematical models. Application areas include population dynamics, climatology, feedback and control systems, traffic flow, diffusion, Black-Sholes model, fluids and transport, and epidemiology. Computer software packages such as Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple will be used in the analysis of the problems. PREREQ: MAT 261, 311, and 343.
549 Industrial Mathematics – Discrete Models (3) This course is designed to provide a survey of mathematical concepts, techniques, and numerical algorithms used to study real-world discrete mathematical models. Application areas include forestation, particle dynamics, image processing, genetics, queues, efficient call and traffic routing, and optimal scheduling. Computer software packages such as Matlab, Mathematica, and Maple will be used in the analysis of the problems. PREREQ: MAT 261, 311, and 343.
570 Mathematical Models in the Life, Physical, and Social Sciences (3) Techniques and rationales of model building. Applications to the life, physical, and social sciences.
575 Complex Analysis I (3) A rigorous study of complex-valued functions of complex variables.
595 Topics in Mathematics Education (1-3) Topics announced at time of offering. Offered as needed. PREREQ: Permission of instructor.
599 Independent Study (1-3) Offered as needed.
609 Thesis I (3) Conduct literature search, develop thesis proposal, and begin research under the guidance of a mathematics faculty member. Offered as needed.
610 Thesis II (3) Carry out research proposal developed in MAT 609 and present results to committee. Develop a graduate-level thesis under the guidance of the Department of Mathematics. Offered as needed.
501 Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics I (3) Selected topics that reflect the spirit and the content of the modern elementary school mathematics programs. Logic, sets, functions, number systems, integers, number theory, rational numbers, and problem solving, including estimations and approximations, proportional thinking, and percentages.
502 Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics II (3) A continuation of MTE 501. The real number system, probability, statistics, geometry, measurement, and problem solving. PREREQ: MTE 501.
507 Foundations of Secondary Mathematics Education (3) Research methods in mathematics education; forces which have shaped mathematics education; classroom implications of 20th-century learning theorists; assessment in the classroom; methods of organizing for instruction; cultural and gender considerations.
508 Junior High School Mathematics - Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (3) This course will focus on the curricula, methods of instruction, and assessment techniques used to teach mathematics in a junior high school setting. Course topics will include elementary school mathematics from the perspective of a secondary school teacher, junior high school mathematics, algebra I, and general/consumer mathematics. Teachers also will explore strategies that can be used to integrate the calculator and computer into the mathematics classroom. PREREQ: MTE 507 for students in the M.A. program.
510 Algebra for the Elementary Teacher (3) An introduction to modern algebra. A comparative study of mathematics systems. PREREQ: MTE 501 or equivalent.
512 Senior High School Mathematics - Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (3) This course will focus on the curricula, methods of instruction, and assessment techniques used to teach mathematics in a senior high school setting. Course topics will include geometries, algebra II, trigonometry, precalculus, and discrete mathematics. Teachers also will explore strategies that can be used to integrate the scientific and graphing calculator and computer into the mathematics classroom. PREREQ: MTE 507 for students in the M.A. program.
530 Geometry for the Elementary Teacher (3) Basic concepts in geometry. Euclidean geometry and postulative systems. PREREQ: MTE 501 or equivalent.
551 Teaching Mathematics to Diverse Populations (3) Examination of current programs in mathematics for students with special needs; discussion of the pertinent research literature; and development of materials and techniques for these students.
553 Teaching Children Mathematics I (3) In-depth treatment of strategies, methods, and materials for teaching the following concepts in an elementary classroom: place value; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers; measurement; elementary number theory; geometry; fractions; and integers. PREREQ: Chapter 354 requires two mathematics courses.
555 Teaching Children Mathematics II (3) A continuation of MTE 553 that covers the strategies and methods for teaching such topics as real numbers, deeper concepts of geometry in the plane and space, percents, proportional thinking, and algebra. PREREQ: MTE 553; field clearances.
560 Teaching Algebra in the Secondary School (3) Methods and materials for teaching the concepts of first- and second-year algebra. Emphasis on relevant applications to real-life situations. Objectives and criterion-referenced test items are developed for prealgebra as well as for the two algebra courses. Current textbooks achievement tests and audio-visual materials on algebraic topics are reviewed.
561 Calculus for Teachers (3) Analytic geometry of both the straight line and conics, and elements of the calculus of functions of a single real variable are reviewed. Topics include limits, continuity, the derivative and integral and their applications, curve sketching, and polar coordinates. Emphasis on methods of teaching these topics to secondary school students.
595 Topics in Mathematics Education (1-3) Topics announced at time of offering. Offered as needed. PREREQ: Permission of instructor.
599 Independent Study (1-3)
604 Research Seminar (3) This course will focus on the study of research in mathematics education. Contemporary topics of research will be discussed and perused. Students will be expected to report on a topic of research of their choosing. In addition, empirical study and design will be discussed along with data analysis and the reporting of results.
610 Thesis (3-6)
505 Mathematical Statistics I (3) A rigorous mathematical treatment of the underlying theory of probability and statistical inference. Probability spaces, discrete and continuous distribution theory, functions of random variables, Central Limit Theorem, and other topics.
506 Mathematical Statistics II (3) Continuation of STA 505. Point estimation, hypothesis tests, confidence intervals, asymptotic properties of estimators, and other topics.
507 Introduction to Categorical Analysis (3) Data-driven introduction to statistical techniques for analysis of categorical data arising from a variety of studies. Contingency tables, logistic regression survival models, nonparametric methods, and other topics. PREREQ: STA 511 and 512 or permission of instructor.
510 Statistical Methods for Research (3) This course provides the tools and methods for designing a research project, conducting the research, managing and manipulating a dataset, and analyzing data. This course is for students not enrolled in the applied statistics graduate degree program. It requires no prior course in statistics or computer science. Topics include research design, basic statistics, introductory statistical programming using SAS and Excel, statistical analysis (including t-tests, linear regression, ANOVA, and chi-squared tests), and writing a final report, including graphics, summarizing the results.
511 Introduction to Statistical Computing (3) Course will give students the ability to effectively manage and manipulate data, conduct statistical analysis, and generate reports and graphics, primarily using the SAS statistical software sackage.
512 Principles of Experimental Analysis (4) Course provides technology-driven introduction to regression and other common statistical multivariable modeling techniques. Emphasis on interdisciplinary applications.
513 Intermediate Linear Models (4) Rigorous mathematical and computational treatment of linear models. PREREQ: STA 505, 506, 511, and 512 or permission of instructor.
514 Modern Experimental Design (3) Focusing on recent journal articles, this course will investigate issues associated with design of various studies and experiments. Pharmaceutical clinical trials, case-control studies, cohort studies, survey design, bias, causality, and other topics. PREREQ: STA 511 and 512 or permission of instructor.
521 Statistics I (3) For nonmathematics majors. Emphasis on applications to education, psychology, and the sciences. Distributions, measures of central tendency and variability, correlation, regression and hypothesis testing, and other topics.
531 Topics in Applied Statistics (3) Topics of current interest in research and industry announced at time of offering.
532 Survival Analysis (3) This course provides students with the knowledge and tools to conduct a complete statistical analysis of time-to-event data. Students will get experience using common methods for survival analysis, including Kaplan-Meier Methods, Life Table Analysis, parametric regression methods, and Cox Proportional Hazard Regression. Additional topics include discrete time data, competing risks, and sensitivity analysis.
533 Longitudinal Data Analysis (3) Introduction to the application and theory for clustered and longitudinal data models. Course addresses the analysis for both continuous and categorical response data. Course will be held in the statistics lab and use the statistical software package SAS. Other software such as R, HLM, SPSS, MIXORMIXREG may be introduced. PREREQ: STA 507, 511, 512, and 513 or permission of director.
534 Time Series (3) Time series analysis deals with the statistical study of random events ordered through time. This class focuses on the characteristics inherent in processes such as repetitive cycles and deteriorating dependence. Topics include seasonal decomposition, exponential smoothing, and ARIMA models. Emphasis will be placed on real-life data analysis and statistical communication. Data analysis will be done with a variety of programs such as SAS, R, and Excel. PREREQ: STA 511 and 512.
599 Independent Study (1-3) Individual exploration of nine topics in statistics.
601 Internship in Applied Statistics (1-6) In cooperation with a regional industrial company student will perform an internship in applied statistics.
609 Thesis I (3-6) Preliminary research under the guidance of a mathematics faculty member. Students must present oral preliminary findings before proceeding to STA 610.
610 Thesis II (3-6) Research project under the guidance of the mathematics faculty.
501 Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics I
502 Fundamental Concepts of Mathematics II
510 Algebra for the Elementary Teacher
553 Teaching Elementary School Mathematics I
560 Teaching Algebra in the Secondary School
561 Calculus for Teachers
562 Computer Applications for Elementary School Mathematics
521 Statistics I


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Linguini with Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Capers Recipe
Your source for quick recipe every single week day.
- Yield:serves 4
- Active time: 10 minutes
- Total time:15 minutes
- 1 1/2 pounds asparagus, ends trimmed, stalks and tips cut into 1-inch segments
- 3/4 pound dried linguini
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 tablespoon juice and 1 teaspoon zest from 1 lemon
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Grated parmesan, for serving
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Add asparagus and cook until bright green and tender, about 2 minutes. Remove with a wire mesh strainer and transfer to an ice bath. When cold, drain in a colander, and then dry on paper towels. Set aside.
Bring water back to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. When done, drain pasta in a colander.
Meanwhile, heat butter in a 12-inch skillet set over medium until melted. Add capers and cook until very fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add asparagus and cook with the capers, tossing occasionally, until warm.
Pour pasta water into skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and stir continuously, until water has reduced to a creamy sauce. Turn off the heat and stir in the pieces of prosciutto, lemon juice, lemon zest, and remaining tablespoon of butter. Taste and season with salt. Serve with grated parmesan.
This Recipe Appears InDinner Tonight: Linguini with Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Capers
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text:
Fuzhou Open | 22 - 27 April 2014
But 6-foot-9 Phil Dalhausser has noticed a worldwide trend, and it's not exactly an upward one for him.
"There are these 7-foot monsters like the Dutch guys, a 7-foot blocker and a 6-8 defender, and the other (Dutch) team won the World Championship, and they're 6-10 and 6-6," Dalhausser said.
Not to worry.
"There are are some big boys out there, but where there's a will, there's a way," Dalhausser said. "Every once in a while, I kind of have to flex my muscle. I used to be the biggest guy out there and now I'm not even close. There are probably like five 7-footers out there. They're bigger and bigger, and the guys are getting more skilled. It's tough."
Dalhausser, now living in Ventura, and partner Sean Rosenthal of Redondo Beach took off for China on Saturday to begin their 2014 season. It's the second year of a partnership that on paper looks like a golden combination, and it was at times.
But as much as Dalhausser has had to adapt to the competition, he had to adapt to the partnership and a position switch. Both of the players are natural left-side players, but Dalhausser took the right side in 2013.
Read the full story on SBSun.com
Dalhausser and Rosenthal will begin their 2014 FIVB beach volleyball run at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Fuzhou Open, beginning Tuesday. The pair will then move onto their first FIVB Grand Slam of the season in Shanghai, China.
07.05.2014 17:00:18
USA's Kerri Walsh and April Ross answer fan questions
Lausanne, Switzerland, May 7, 2014 – The first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event of the year kicked off with a bang in Fuzhou, China, with a thri... More...
28.04.2014 16:48:47
Ross and Walsh "know exactly what is required" - Natalie Cook
Lausanne, Switzerland, April 28, 2014 – Australian beach volleyball legend Natalie Cook looks back at the World Tour's first stop this year at the Fuz... More...
28.04.2014 15:14:53
Chinese beach volleyball stars answer fan questions
Fuzhou, China, April 28, 2014 – New Chinese beach volleyball partners Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi made great strides at the first FIVB Beach Volleyball Wor... More...
27.04.2014 12:08:46
Walsh and Ross clinch Fuzhou Open gold
27.04.2014 10:50:13
Juliana makes successful comeback to FIVB World Tour
27.04.2014 05:27:36
Juliana and Antonelli to meet Walsh and Ross in women's final at FIVB Beach Volleyball Fuzhou Open
26.04.2014 16:17:48
Netherland's Meeuwsen expected to return to FIVB World Tour in May
26.04.2014 13:55:43
Defending champs Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi on course for gold at FIVB Beach Volleyball Fuzhou Open
26.04.2014 11:49:29
Italy's Nicolai and Lupo grab first FIVB World Tour title
25.04.2014 17:06:35
Samoilovs and Smedins through to semis at FIVB Beach Volleyball Fuzhou Open
25.04.2014 16:32:39
Talita and Lima labor into second round knock-out phase at FIVB Beach Volleyball Fuzhou Open
25.04.2014 12:14:46
Catch the action of the Fuzhou Open on FIVB Web TV
24.04.2014 14:47:00
Defending champ Xue and Xia stunned by Japanese qualifiers at FIVB Beach Volleyball Fuzhou Open
24.04.2014 12:07:28
Emanuel and Pedro progress to knock out stage at FIVB Beach Volleyball Fuzhou Open
23.04.2014 15:41:35
Plavins and Solovejs upset defending champs in Fuzhou
23.04.2014 13:16:13
Laboureur and Sude storm into Fuzhou women's Main Draw
22.04.2014 18:05:19
Walkenhorst and Ludwig aiming to take final step
22.04.2014 17:01:00
German pair Laboureur and Sude top seeds at Fuzhou Open Women's Qualification Tournament
22.04.2014 11:38:34
Salvetti/Daguerre lead eight teams into men's Main Draw at FIVB Beach Volleyball Fuzhou Open
21.04.2014 20:43:00
Fuzhou Open starts Tuesday with men's qualifying
21.04.2014 15:20:09
Fuzhou Opens marks start of record-breaking season
20.04.2014 23:55:20
2014 FIVB World Tour debuts with Fuzhou Open
20.04.2014 17:36:14
Phil Dalhausser looks to climb back to the top in beach volleyball
20.04.2014 10:42:25
Fuzhou gets ready for first FIVB beach volleyball event of the year
19.04.2014 09:43:34
Fuzhou Open Q&A: Get to know China's beach volleyball stars
18.04.2014 10:41:08
Venezuelans back in tandem for Fuzhou Open
17.04.2014 17:59:46
Thailand and Iran claim gold at latest Asian Beach Volleyball Tour event
15.04.2014 17:27:05
Alison and Bruno continue impressive form
15.04.2014 16:58:05
FIVB World Tour champs hitting top form
14.04.2014 18:21:12
Zurich glory for Swiss and German duos
13.04.2014 11:20:07
Top New Zealand pair out to boost beach volleyball's profile before taking on world
10.04.2014 15:04:34
FIVB stars on show as Swiss Tour gets underway
02.04.2014 21:27:50
Juliana back in business as Fuzhou kicks-off World Tour
24.03.2014 12:47:30
Juliana makes mark before World Tour return
30.01.2014 10:04:59
2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour ready for more highlights in record-breaking year


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Stuffed crowdedly with adverbs
In Norbert Davis' stories, characters shave, kick, flip, search, punch, stab, fade, and flip through hotel registration cards "expertly." A street car clangs its way emptily down the street. Raoul Whitfield, too, used adverbs more than is fashionable today and, if my memory serves me well, Raymond Chandler and perhaps even Dashiell Hammett would have a light blinking redly from time to time.
When did adverbs slip out of fashion? And why?
"When he was through, he shook his head and silently cursed the stupidity of men trying to control a powder-keg situation two thousand miles from the likely explosion. ... Sometimes things get a bit hot; otherwise you just sit around and watch the desert."© Peter Rozovsky 2012
Labels: editing, Elmore Leonard, language, miscellaneous, Norbert Davis, Raoul Whitfield, Westerns


text:
Christoph Ono
User Experience Designer
The design studio of Christoph Ono. I work with clients, agencies and friends to create great user experiences.
Client experience
Recent work
Better car insurance
User experience design direction & execution for a mobile-first approach to modern car insurance.
Fitness for everyone
Showing off an amazing fitness product that's truly inclusive.
Captions & Collages
A beautifully simple app to create photo captions & collages.
Your creative archive
The place for creative people to collect & organize their favorite images & videos.
Banana Republic
The Magazine
Reinventing the classic fashion print catalog for a mobile world.


text:
thg needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 122 designs submitted by 16 freelance designers.
NetbookReviews.com is one of the top review websites for netbooks. After recently launching a new design we now need a logo to liven things up.
The target audience is web visitors looking for help deciding which netbook to purchase. I've spoken with individuals that were in college and elderly couples looking to buy a netbook to track their stock purchases.
Literally this site is for anyone and everyone that needs help deciding if a netbook is right for them. With this in mind, the current logo (rather the nonexistent logo) looks terrible! We need a new brandable logo.
1. The logo must incorporate "Netbook Reviews" text in the design
2. Try to fit within the current space on the website netbookreviews.com, but if you have an idea that needs more space please try it - I am looking for creativity.
3. Stick to the current color theme of the blog. Use the Blue as the primary color (perhaps Black as the secondary color?)
Or black as primary and blue as secondary...
4. Be creative. Don't copy other designers submissions, I'm looking for as many fresh ideas as possible!
For the winning designer:
I may ask you to resize the design. I may also ask you to change the color of the design.
Closing comments:
Remember, I am going to be using this logo design to help brand the website. The current text in use looks terrible. The website needs something strong and powerful to differentiate it from other netbook websites.
Be creative - I can't say it enough. (Try to incorporate a netbook into the design if possible? You decide. Just remember - think brand.)
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Exclusive: How to Get Hair Like the Olsen Twins--Tips Straight from Mary-Kate and Ashley
You already know the secret to Mary-Kate and Ashley's lived-in makeup is matte lip and eye pencils applied next to dewy skin, and the inspiration behind their new Elizabeth and James fragrances is a play on gender, so now it's time to talk about their hair routine. How, exactly, do the twins get their beach-meets-city, messy waves? We had to ask.
Forget any notion you have of the Olsens using curling irons or fancy texture spray. We sat down with Mary-Kate and Ashley and their mane man, Mark Townsend, and found out it's actually a cocktail of a drugstore dry shampoo and a very unique waving iron.
Click through our slideshow for Mary-Kate and Ashley's hair secrets, along with tips from their longtime hairstylist!
The Olsens have had their locks every which way—Ashley says she won't ever go back to brunette, Mary-Kate is more adventurous—but it's their tight waves that has become their signature.
The secret to Ashley's healthy locks? "I wash my hair every other day and never blow-dry it," she told us. "I go out with wet hair and just let it dry naturally." Townsend approves. "I love that Ashley has embraced her natural texture," he says.
It turns out, air-dried hair is the foundation of the twins' signature waves. "I rarely ever pick up a blow-dryer," Townsend confirms. Instead he reaches for Rsession Tools Nalu Waver ($179). "All I do is grab random chunks of hair here and there and wrap them in a figure-8 shape around the barrel," he says. Don't hold for too long, he notes, and gently shake the curl out before it sets, for a loose feeling.
Once Mary-Kate and Ashley have waves in their hair, it's time to add texture. Townsend's secret weapon? Dove's Dry Shampoo ($4), used like a texture spray, not a traditional dry cleanser. "It gives their hair the best texture," he says. "It has starch instead of powder, which literally builds layers, creating a piecey look and locks in the volume. Plus, it delivers a matte finish." Townsend suggest spraying the formula in small sections from root to tip until you reach your desired texture.
Mary-Kate and Ashley are well aware of the obsession over their locks. Their thoughts on the subject? "At the end of the day I think that [our fans] appreciate how natural we are," Mary-Kate told us. "For us, it's all about what makes us feel good, we don't really overdo it. And maybe that's where it stems from."
The finishing touch to the Olsens' signature waves? To balance the texture created by the dry shampoo, Townsend reaches for Serge Normant's Meta Sheer Dry Oil Finishing Spray ($24) next. "I only apply it on their ends to make the hair a little more piecey and close the cuticle of the hair," he says.
"Ashley's been growing her hair out for a few years now," Townsend says.
"I recently chopped off all my hair because it was so dead," Mary-Kate told us. "I'm still trying to get used to it." Getting accustomed to her shorter 'do means trying new styles. Her new go-to is slicked back and sleek. "They're always the first to try things," Townsend told us. "We're seeing the slicked-back look all over the runway."
To get Mary-Kate's new sleek look, Townsend reaches for gel. "I'll do the opposite of what I normally do,'" he says. "It's meant to look wet; meant to look greasy. I just put a ton of Oribe's Rock Hard Gel ($36) on her roots, then I pin it back and let it dry in place." Once dry, he blasts the ends with Dove's dry shampoo.
Photo:Getty Images
On a day off, Mary-Kate keeps the sleek look going. "For the most part I've just been wearing a good old ponytail," she says.
Photo:Getty Images
The best beauty advice the twins ever received? "Our dad always told us to wear our hair off of our faces," Ashley says. "I always thought that was pretty good advice."
Want more Mary-Kate and Ashley? Read the first part of our interview here!


text:
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Five local players were recently awarded all-conference honors from the National Trail Conference in baseball.
South Central's Dan Diss, Fischer Tharp and Noah Powless, and St. Elmo's Connor Beasley were named all-conference, while South Central's Kyle Bray was named honorable mention.
Dan Diss
The senior was South Central's ace this season, striking out 51 batters en route to a 5-2 record. He also had a save and a 3.13 earned-run average.
Offensively, he hit .365, with 15 RBI. His on-base percentage was .469.
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text:
bognet needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 16 designs submitted by 10 freelance designers.
Looking for a corporate and professional logo for a Commercial Construction and Management Company.
Capital Construction Management
The firm is Capital Construction Management. We are located in the Washington, DC metro area and provide general contracting and construction management. The company is new so we would like something fresh, classy, and professional!
- professional, clean, and simple logo
- 1 or 2 colors
- need a black and white logo as well
- unique design
- a house
- tools
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Some of My Best Friends are Republican August 19, 2013Posted by rogerhollander in Democracy, Religion, Right Wing.
Tags: american taliban, republican, Republican Party, republicans, right wing, roger hollander, tea party, the newsroom, voter id, voter registration, voter rights, voter supression, will mcavoy
1 comment so far
Roger's note: If you have any Republican family or friends, you may want to share this video with them.
Early Voting Sees Reports of Voter Intimidation, Machine Malfunctions October 28, 2008Posted by rogerhollander in Electoral Fraud.
Tags: amy goodman, Democracy Now, disenfranchising voters, early voting, Electoral Fraud, Republican voter fraud, roger hollander, steal election, voter disqualification, voter intimidation, voter rights, voter rolls, voting machine malfunction
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Amy Goodman, Democracy, Now!
October 22, 2008
Early Voting Sees Reports of Voter Intimidation, Machine Malfunctions
Early voting has begun, and problems are already emerging at the polls. In West Virginia, voters using touchscreen machines have claimed their votes were switched from Democrat to Republican. In North Carolina, a group of McCain supporters heckled a group of mostly black supporters of Barack Obama. In Ohio, Republicans are being accused of trying to scare newly registered voters by filing lawsuits that question their eligibility. We speak to NYU professor Mark Crispin Miller, author of Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy. [includes rush transcript]
Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media culture and communication at New York University. He is the author of several books, most recently Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008. His previous book is called Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election and Why They'll Steal the Next One Too.
Rush Transcript
This transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution.
Donate – $25, $50, $100, More…
AMY GOODMAN: Just days after reports that six early voters in at least two West Virginia counties claimed their votes were switched from Democrat to Republican, a couple in Nashville, Tennessee reported similar problems with paperless voting machines. In West Virginia, one voter said, "I hit Obama, and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines."
In Tennessee, a filmmaker couple also had difficulties casting their vote for the Democratic candidate, the Brad Blog reports. They had to hit the Obama button several times before it actually registered, and in one case it momentarily flipped from Obama to Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney. Patricia Earnhardt said, "The McKinney button was located five rows below the Obama button." The couple in Nashville were using machines made by the same company as those in the counties in West Virginia—by Election Systems and Software.
Meanwhile, there are reports of long lines at early voting sites in several other states, including some counties in Texas, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico.
Mark Crispin Miller is a media critic who's been focused on voter problems and election fraud in this country. He's a professor at New York University, author of several books. Most recently he edited Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008. His previous book, Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the 2004 Election and Why They'll Steal the Next One Too.
Mark Crispin Miller now joins us in the firehouse studio. Welcome to Democracy Now!
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Great to be here.
AMY GOODMAN: What are your concerns right now, Mark?
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Well, you've referred to a couple of them already. We now see a burst of vote flipping by machines, electronic voting machines in a couple of states. This is something that we saw in at least eleven states in the 2004 election, hundreds and hundreds of people coming forward to say, "I pushed the button for Kerry, and the button for Bush lit up." So, clearly, this was a systematic programming decision by the people in charge of the machines, which in that case and this one is the Republican Party. We're also seeing systematic shortages of working voting machines in Democratic precincts only. This is also something that did not happen only in Ohio in 2004, but happened nationwide. That election was, in fact, stolen.
AMY GOODMAN: How do you know that?
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Well, I know because there's been an audit of the vote in eighteen counties of Ohio by a researcher named Richard Hayes Phillips, who had his team literally scrutinize every single ballot that was warehoused in eighteen Ohio counties. They took over 30,000 digital photographs. This is not speculation, Amy. This is a meticulous, careful, specific and conclusive demonstration that John Kerry actually won some 200,000 votes in those eighteen counties only that were taken away from him. Bush's official victory margin, you may recall, was about 118,000. So there is no question about it. Ohio was stolen.
AMY GOODMAN: When they—OK, so they have the pictures of all these—
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Pictures, there's a CD with this book that you can—
AMY GOODMAN: But they have the pictures of the ballots.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Of the variously altered, mutilated ballots, yes. Ballots with stickers placed over the square that people had blacked in for Kerry/Edwards; somebody else blacks in Bush/Cheney. Thousands and thousands of ballots that were pre-marked before they were distributed, so that people would mark different boxes on them, and then they would be invalidated.
Even more chilling is the fact that after Phillips did his research, the boards of elections in fifty-five Ohio counties destroyed all or some of their ballots in defiance of a court order. So we have criminal behavior here of a kind of grand and systematic kind. But the point is—not to engage in what Sarah Palin calls finger-pointing backwards, the point here is to note that we're dealing with a consistent pattern of subversive behavior by the Republican Party since 2000 and extending all the way up to the present. What we're seeing now is an especially brazen and diverse range of dirty tricks and tactics that are being used both to suppress the vote and also to enable election fraud.
AMY GOODMAN: Ohio has been very much in the news this past week, not around the issue of voter suppression, but around the issue of fraudulent registration forms, the concern about them being handed in by the organization ACORN.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Yeah, the whole ACORN thing is a first-class propaganda drive. ACORN has done nothing wrong. ACORN has, however, been guilty of trying to register low-income citizens to vote. Because they've been in the sights of the Republican Party for several years now, they've always been extremely scrupulous about checking the registration forms that they garner from their volunteers.
You know, they pay people, basically, to register other voters. So, naturally, from time to time, some volunteer who wants the money will fill out a registration form, you know, with Mickey Mouse or the names of the Dallas Cowboys, something like that. Precisely because that is an ever-present possibility, the people at ACORN have always scrupulously checked the forms before submitting them.
And ten days ago, what they did was, in Las Vegas, their office in Las Vegas, they found a number of these suspicious forms, handed them over directly to the Secretary of State in Nevada, and his response was to turn around and say, "Aha! Here is evidence that you're conspiring to commit voter fraud." Now, that effort, that drive went from Nevada to Missouri to Ohio, and now we hear that the FBI is investigating ACORN.
The important point here, Amy, is that voter fraud is practically nonexistent. Several studies have taken a close look at this and found that there really is no voter fraud of this kind.
AMY GOODMAN: Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films has put out a new short film about ACORN and the attacks against them. Let me play an excerpt.
- SEN. JOHN McCAIN: We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.
GOV. SARAH PALIN: John and I are calling on the Obama campaign to release communications it has had with this group and to do so immediately.
CARMEN ARIAS: These attacks on ACORN are part of a pattern of voter suppression that the GOP has been carrying on for a long time.
PAUL WEYRICH: They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been, from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down.
ANDREW SULLIVAN: The McCain campaign has now two camps. And one of them is already assuming that he's lost, and he's aiming for the post-election warfare in the Republican Party, and part of that is the ACORN strategy, which is trying to delegitimize the result in advance, if Obama were to win, by saying it was rigged by minority voters. That's what this is about.
SEN. JOHN McCAIN: Someone here keeps yelling "ACORN, ACORN." Now, let me just say to you, there are serious allegations of voter fraud in the battleground states across America. They must be investigated.
NATHAN HENDERSON-JAMES: Let's look at North Carolina. We turned in 28,000 applications in North Carolina, and there are investigations into four of them right now. Over 95 percent of the cards we turned in were error-free. So we're talking about an extremely small percentage of the overall 1.3 million cards collected. To suggest that this is some kind of widespread criminal conspiracy is just absurd.
MONTAGE OF NEWSCASTERS: ACORN. ACORN. ACORN—is a left-wing—radical—extremist community group.
CARMEN ARIAS: This is hardly the first time that these Rove-style tactics have been used to suppress low-income minorities.
NATHAN HENDERSON-JAMES: They did it in 2000.
GREG PALAST: Voters were being removed from the registries by the Secretary of State, Katherine Harris.
NATHAN HENDERSON-JAMES: They did it in 2004.
UNIDENTIFIED: Evidence has emerged that in the last presidential election the Republican Party organized efforts to suppress the votes of active-duty military, low-income and minority voters by challenging their registrations. The Republicans put in motion a plan to hold down the Democratic vote in key battleground states. Many are convinced that Republican officials broke the law.
NATHAN HENDERSON-JAMES: And they're doing it again right now.
CARMEN ARIAS: Suppressing the low-income minority voters can swing an entire election. A handful of improperly filled-out voter registration cards cannot.
AMY GOODMAN: That, an excerpt of a piece by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films. Professor Mark Crispin Miller?
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Yeah, well, I think he hit the nail right on the head. The important point to get here is that the party that is itself engaging in disenfranchisement on a massive scale, the deliberate, systematic disenfranchisement of arguably millions of Americans, is clouding the issue by accusing—essentially accusing its victims of doing the same thing. OK?
Voter fraud—I want to repeat this—is virtually nonexistent. There have been several academic studies of this notion of whether individuals actually stuffed ballot boxes or show up at polling places pretending to be somebody else. There's actually not a single known case of any such type of voter fraud being prosecuted by the Department of Justice. And yet, that notion of voter fraud is used as the pretext for taking steps that do demonstrably result in tens of thousands of people being unable to vote, you see? It's a really masterful strategy. And I only wish that the Democratic Party had all this time been aggressive in pointing out that the Republicans are the party engaged in disenfranchisement.
AMY GOODMAN: Mark Crispin Miller, we have to break. When we come back, I want to ask you about a man named Stephen Spoonamore—
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: —a prominent expert, supposedly, on computer fraud, and what he has to say. Stay with us.
AMY GOODMAN: Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media, culture and communication at New York University is our guest. His most recent book, Loser Take All. Who is Stephen Spoonamore?
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Stephen Spoonamore is a conservative Republican, a former McCain supporter and, most importantly, a renowned and highly successful expert at the detection of computer fraud. That's his profession. He works for major banks. He works for foreign governments. He works for the Secret Service. Those are his clients.
He knows personally the principal players in Bush-Cheney's conspiracy to subvert our elections through electronic means since 2000, and he has named these principal players. Specifically, he has named a man named Mike Connell. Mike Connell, according to Spoonamore, is Karl Rove's computer guru. This is the guy who has helped Bush-Cheney fix election results through computers since Florida 2000, in Ohio in 2004, also in the stolen re-election of Governor Don Siegelman in Alabama in 2002, also in the stolen re-election of Senator Max Cleland in Georgia in 2002.
AMY GOODMAN: How?
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Well, basically, they use a kind of architecture that's called Man in the Middle, and it involves shunting election returns data through a separate computer somewhere else. This is something that computer criminals do all the time with banks. Spoonamore explains that the Man in the Middle setup is extremely effective and basically undetectable as a way to change election results.
Now, the scariest thing is that Connell told Spoonamore that the reason why he has helped Bush-Cheney steal these elections for the last eight years has been to save the babies. See? We have to understand that there's a very powerful component of religious fanaticism at work in the election fraud conspiracy. We saw a little bit of that in Greenswald's film, where Paul Weyrich was talking about how we don't want people voting.
AMY GOODMAN: The conservative activist.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Well, because the majority is a majority of unbelievers. They're pro-choice. They're corrupt. They're evil. They don't get it. It's therefore necessary to fix election results in order to prevent the unjust and the unrighteous from taking over.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Mark Crispin Miller, you keep saying the election was clearly stolen in 2004. This is not a widely held belief. Why do you think more information is not known about this?
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Because the press and the Democratic Party have steadfastly refused simply to mention, much less discuss, the evidence.
AMY GOODMAN: You talked to John Kerry.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: I talked to John Kerry. In fact, the last time I was with you, I was here to talk about that conversation with him. On October 28th, 2005, we met. I gave him a copy of my book Fooled Again, and we discussed the last election, and he told me, with some vehemence, that he believed it was stolen.
AMY GOODMAN: In Ohio in 2004—and Ohio, key battleground state right now—
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: And we remember at Kenyon, for example, those long, long lines in 2004, people waiting for hours.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: When you talk about the computer setup for 2004, explain further.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Well, what happened was, with the election results that were coming into Ken Blackwell's website, right, in real time—
AMY GOODMAN: The former Secretary of State of Ohio.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: The former Secretary of State.
AMY GOODMAN: The former chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign there.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: And co-chair of Bush-Cheney and a big-time election thief and an ardent theocrat, by the way. The election returns went basically from his website to another computer that was in a basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee, under the control of Spoonamore and a guy with another private company, another evangelical. The data was shunted through that computer and then back to the Secretary of State's website.
Spoonamore says that this Man in the Middle setup has only one purpose, and that is fraud. There's no other reason to do it. And he believes that such a system is still in place in Ohio, it's in place in a number of other states. And the crucial fact to bear in mind here, since we're talking about John McCain attacking ACORN and so on, is that Mike Connell is now working for John McCain.
Now, on the strength of Spoonamore's testimony, right, it's driving a RICO lawsuit in Ohio. On the strength of his testimony, Connell has been subpoenaed. He was subpoenaed last week for a deposition, so that he can answer questions on the record, under oath, about what he's been up to. He and a bevy of Republican lawyers have been very, very vigorously fighting this subpoena, because, of course, they don't want him to testify 'til after Election Day.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Mark Crispin Miller, the Bradley Effect that is being discussed, explain what it is and how you feel it's being used.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: The Bradley Effect is a theory which holds that African American candidates do better in pre-election polls than they do in elections, because white racists are shy about admitting to pollsters that they wouldn't vote for a black man. So they will tell pollsters, "Sure, I'll vote for him." Then they sneak into the polling booth and listen to the inner Klansman, you know, they vote as racists.
Now, the problem with this theory is that there are almost no examples of its having happened. It's named for Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles, who ran for the governor of California and did much better in polls beforehand than he did on Election Day. Well, it turns out, if you study that race, that the reason why he lost was that a lot of bad news about his tenure in Los Angeles came out just before the election. That's the reason why people often lose elections. There are only two races that we know of where the Bradley Effect may arguably have obtained, both in 1989: Doug Wilder's run for the governor of Virginia and David Dinkins's first run for the mayor of New York, where Dinkins didn't do as well as we thought he would. Well, in his second run, the polls were dead on.
The point is, we're talking about two races that may form the basis for this idea that Barack Obama, with his enormous lead, may lose because of millions and millions of closet racists, you know, who will say one thing to pollsters, out of a fear of not seeming politically correct, and then vote a different way. I'll tell you why I worry about this. Something that you very, very badly need to steal elections, aside from the apparatus and the volunteers and all the money and everything, is a narrative. You have to have a convincing rationale to explain an upset victory. Four years ago, the rationale was millions of values voters materialized on the horizon at the end of the day, and like Jesus with loaves and fishes, they suddenly multiplied and voted for Bush, and then they disappeared. Well, there's no evidence that that actually happened. But it served as a narrative. This time, I'm afraid the primary narrative will be racism: Barack Obama actually lost, despite all predictions, because so many Americans are racist.
I think that this is, first of all, unverifiable. We don't know that it's true, whereas we do know all the stuff about vote suppression and election fraud. But I'm afraid that people will be encouraged to accept this line to prevent them from taking a hard look at the real reasons why Obama may have "lost"—and I put "lost" in quotation marks.
AMY GOODMAN: Mark Crispin Miller, I want to thank you for being with us. Mark Crispin Miller is a professor at New York University and author of, well, the latest book he edited, this came out just this summer, Loser Take All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008.
Justices Rules Against Ohio G.O.P. in Voting Case October 17, 2008Posted by rogerhollander in Electoral Fraud, John McCain, U.S. Election 2008.
Tags: Democrat voter registration, Electoral Fraud, Help America Vote Act (HAVA), Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Ohio vote, Republican voter fraud, roger hollander, Supreme Court decision Ohio vote, voter disqualification, voter fraud, voter registration Ohio, voter rights
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by: Adam Liptak and Ian Urbina, The New York Times
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner attends a hearing in Columbus. (Photo: Kiichiro Sato/AP)
Washington – The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a lower court's order requiring state officials in Ohio to supply information that would have made it easier to challenge prospective voters. The decision was a setback for Ohio Republicans, who had sued to force the Ohio secretary of state, a Democrat, to provide information about database mismatches to county officials.
The decision has the potential to affect as many as 200,000 of the 660,000 new voters who have been registered in Ohio since Jan. 1, according Social Security Administration and state election officials.
The Supreme Court, in a brief, unsigned decision, said lower federal courts in Ohio should not have ordered the secretary of state, Jennifer Brunner, to turn over the information. The court acted just before a deadline requiring Ms. Brunner to act set by a federal judge in Columbus.
A 2002 federal law, the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, requires states to check voter registration applications against government databases like those for driver's license records. Names that do not match are flagged. Ohio Republicans sought to require Ms. Brunner to provide information about mismatches to local officials.
Those officials could use information to require voters to cast provisional ballots rather than regular ones. They could also allow partisan poll workers to challenge people on the lists. Given Democratic success in registering new voters this year, those actions would probably affect that party's supporters disproportionately.
The court said it expressed "no opinion on the question whether HAVA is being properly implemented." But it said that Congress probably had not intended to allow private litigants like political parties to sue to enforce the part of the law concerning databases.
Ms. Brunner welcomed Friday's ruling from the Supreme Court.
"Our nation's highest court has protected the voting rights of all Ohioans, allowing our bipartisan elections officials to continue preparing for a successful November election," Ms. Brunner said. "We filed this appeal to protect all Ohio voters from illegal challenges and barriers that unfairly silence the votes of some to the advantage of others."
Edward B. Foley, a law professor at Ohio State, said the Supreme Court's action in letting state authorities handle matters in the face of a late challenge was consistent with a general premise of election law. "Federal court intervention is a last resort, even if it's not at the last minute," Professor Foley said.
A federal judge in Columbus ordered Ms. Brunner to supply the information on Oct. 9, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, affirmed that decision on Tuesday by a vote of 10-to-6.
The majority decision in the Sixth Circuit acknowledged that the question about whether private parties may sue under the 2002 law was a close one. But Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton said that question could be deferred, as what the Republican party sought was just information.
No one argues, Judge Sutton wrote, "that a mismatch necessarily requires a voter to be removed from the rolls." A mismatch may merely prompt further investigation, he said, one that may be satisfied with an explanation as simple as a recent address change.
Voting experts and state election officials added that many voters were likely to be flagged erroneously because the databases used to check voter registrations were prone to errors. Most non-matches are the result of typographical errors by government officials, computer errors, use of nicknames or middle initials, not voter ineligibility, they said.
In one audit of match failures in 2004 by New York City election officials, more than 80 percent of the failures were found to have resulted from errors by government officials; most of the remaining failures were because of immaterial discrepancies between the two records.
Ms. Brunner had also argued that requiring so many voters to cast provisional ballots would raise tensions at the polls and worsen lines and confusion on Election Day in a year when she is expecting unprecedented turnout.
The state Republican Party rejected those arguments.
"Secretary Brunner has fought every effort to validate hundreds of thousands of questionable registrations," said Ohio Republican Party Chairman Robert Bennett. "As far as I'm concerned, Secretary Brunner is actively working to conceal fraudulent activity in this election."
The Ohio Republican Party had said it wanted the list so that local election officials could clear up any discrepancies before Election Day and in cases where that was not possible, those voters should vote using a provision ballot. Provisional ballots in Ohio are held for 10 days before being counted while workers check eligibility, and they are often subject to partisan wrangling and legal fights.
Friday's decision also means that the Ohio Republican Party will not be able to make public information requests to get the data so that poll workers can raise voter challenges at the polls.
In 2004, President George W. Bush won Ohio by a margin of about 118,000 votes. During that race, litigation over Republican plans to challenge about 35,000 voters went to Justice John Paul Stevens on the eve of the election. Justice Stevens said it was too close to the election to intervene, but he added that he expected both sides to act in good faith. The Republicans dropped plans for their challenges.
Polling in the state shows Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, with a slight lead on his Republican challenger, Senator John McCain.


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