Downtown Portland Corporation honors UNE with Economic Achievement Award

Downtown Portland Corporation honors UNE with Economic Achievement Award

Portland Mayor Jill Duson, UNE College of Pharmacy Dean Doug Kay and UNE President Danielle Ripich
Left to right, Mayor Jill Duson, UNE President Danielle Ripich and Corson Ellis, President of Kepware Technologies.  In back, City Manager Joe Gray and Gary Goodrich, President of BioProcessing, Inc.

Portland, Maine — The Downtown Portland Corporation honored the University of New England on Nov. 12 with the 2009 Economic Achievement Award. 

UNE was recognized by Mayor Jill Duson for its contributions to the City of Portland’s economic vitality with the opening of its new College of Pharmacy on Stevens Avenue.

The newly constructed College of Pharmacy welcomed its inaugural class in September, joining the Westbrook College of Health Professions on UNE’s Portland Campus which employs more than 200 faculty and staff, 118 of which are residents of the City of Portland. 

The number of students on the Portland Campus totals 853. With a full cohort of 400 students and 47 faculty and staff in four years, the combined payroll and operating expenses for the College of Pharmacy will be $7M.  The total economic impact to the community will be $120M.

The 48,000 sq. ft. building was built by LEED sustainability standards. 

The research orientation of UNE's College of Pharmacy distinguishes it from most other pharmacy schools in the country and any other pharmacy school in northern New England with research labs designed to facilitate drug discovery and development, funded by a $4 million grant from the Maine Technology Asset Fund.  

Other awards presented by the Corporation for 2009 were: the 2009 Business of the Year award to Kepware Technologies and the 2009 Small Business of the Year award to BioProcessing Inc.

The Downtown Portland Corporation was created by the Portland City Council in 1990 to create and foster economic development within the city.

(News release posted November 10, 2009)

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Downtown Portland Corporation honors UNE with Economic Achievement Award

Downtown Portland Corporation honors UNE with Economic Achievement Award

Portland Mayor Jill Duson, UNE College of Pharmacy Dean Doug Kay and UNE President Danielle Ripich
Left to right, Mayor Jill Duson, UNE President Danielle Ripich and Corson Ellis, President of Kepware Technologies.  In back, City Manager Joe Gray and Gary Goodrich, President of BioProcessing, Inc.

Portland, Maine — The Downtown Portland Corporation honored the University of New England on Nov. 12 with the 2009 Economic Achievement Award. 

UNE was recognized by Mayor Jill Duson for its contributions to the City of Portland’s economic vitality with the opening of its new College of Pharmacy on Stevens Avenue.

The newly constructed College of Pharmacy welcomed its inaugural class in September, joining the Westbrook College of Health Professions on UNE’s Portland Campus which employs more than 200 faculty and staff, 118 of which are residents of the City of Portland. 

The number of students on the Portland Campus totals 853. With a full cohort of 400 students and 47 faculty and staff in four years, the combined payroll and operating expenses for the College of Pharmacy will be $7M.  The total economic impact to the community will be $120M.

The 48,000 sq. ft. building was built by LEED sustainability standards. 

The research orientation of UNE's College of Pharmacy distinguishes it from most other pharmacy schools in the country and any other pharmacy school in northern New England with research labs designed to facilitate drug discovery and development, funded by a $4 million grant from the Maine Technology Asset Fund.  

Other awards presented by the Corporation for 2009 were: the 2009 Business of the Year award to Kepware Technologies and the 2009 Small Business of the Year award to BioProcessing Inc.

The Downtown Portland Corporation was created by the Portland City Council in 1990 to create and foster economic development within the city.

(News release posted November 10, 2009)

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Online Personal Training: 6 Fitness and Nutrition Sites That Rock

Video: Weight Loss Tips

Video: Weight Loss Tips

Ever consider using technology to enhance your workouts or weight loss endeavors? There are hundreds of websites and phone applications designed to help you track your eating habits, increase the effectiveness of your workout routines, and find healthy food choices on the go. Here's a look at six of the best:

1. DailyBurn. This free app, designed specifically for the iPhone, will help you track your eating habits, workouts, and body measurements on a daily basis. It has an extensive database with thousands of foods including nutritional data from many restaurants. It also includes a FoodScanner app that uses your phone's camera to read barcodes from different products. Simply scan the barcode and input the number of servings you consume to have the nutritional data immediately logged into the application.

[5 Weight-Loss Websites That Work]

2. LoloBurn. This can act like your virtual personal trainer. For its $5 purchase price, the app download comes equipped with 36 workout routines for beginner, intermediate, and advanced users. A trainer's voice guides you through the workout and encourages you along the way. Another great feature of LoloBurn is that the music playing in the background is automatically sped up or slowed down to match the pace of your walk, run, or jog. That means you won't have to worry about trying to sprint while a slow love song plays on the radio.

[The Power of Wii: Getting in Shape with Video Games]

3. Couch to 5K. This $3 app helps beginner runners advance from couch potatoes to running 3.1 miles continuously over nine weeks—for those looking to train for a 5K race. Just plug in your headphones and the application tells you when to walk and run, and how much time you have left between running and walking breaks.

4. 80 Bites. This 99-cent app offers a unique approach to portion control, tracking the number of bites you take in a day rather than the number of calories or servings you consume. "We have a really simple and practical message for people: 'It's not so much the type of diet you eat; it's how much you put in your mouth,'" says Frank Sachs, a nutrition researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health who studied the 80-bite approach to eating. While some experts might criticize the lack of attention to the nutritional value of foods, it's a great method for controlling portions and avoiding overeating.

[Weighing the Evidence on 6 Popular Diet Programs]

5. Good Food Near You. Want to find low-calorie, nutritious options at local restaurants or when you're traveling? Check out this site available for free download to your Blackberry, iPhone or Android. Just punch in the zipcode and, presto!, a list of local restaurants, delis and markets pop up with specific menu options and their calorie counts.

6. Dinner Spinner Pro. This helps you plan healthy meals without too much leg work. The free app searches the entire database of AllRecipes.com, displaying them on your iPhone like a standard recipe card. First pick what type of meal you want to prepare, and then choose the main ingredient and preferred cooking time. The app will select recipes that fit all of your requirements. It also lets you search recipes by nutritional information and adjusts for the number of servings you'd like to prepare.

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UT College of Business Premiers Master’s in Business Analytics Degree

KNOXVILLE — In Major League Baseball, big money can land big name recruits. But for small-market teams such as the Oakland A’s, other tactics may be needed to enlist talented players. Instead of relying on costly and perhaps untested measures used by scouts, the A’s recruited players by analyzing statistics from the players’ college performances.

The results were millions of dollars in savings and five trips to the playoffs.

This is the power of “business analytics.” It is the focus of a new Master of Science in Business Analytics degree that was launched this fall in the College of Business Administration’s Department of Statistics, Operations and Management Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

UT’s College of Business Administration is the first business school in the nation to offer this degree.

Students learn data analysis and quantitative modeling skills to solve business problems and achieve better business performance. Additionally, they gain knowledge of core business topics, develop communication skills, and solve team-based, real-world business problems.

Organizations are searching for employees that have strong analytical and business skills.

“That combination seems to be rare among today’s graduates, yet is in incredibly high demand,” said Ken Gilbert, head of the Department of Statistics, Operations and Management Science. “Graduates who understand business analytics and have strong business and leadership skills have excellent job opportunities.”

In fact, a 2009 online survey of 75 corporations in 27 different industries conducted by Dobson Analytics Inc. found that, on average, these corporations expected to almost double the current size of their analytics staff within the next two years.

One company optimistic that the UT program could produce prospective new employees is dunnhumbyUSA, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company is a leader in using data to understand organizations and build customer loyalty.

“The key to growing a business is through building customer loyalty, and the best way to understand customers is by analyzing their behaviors,” said Dennis Goodman, dunnhumbyUSA analysis director and a UT statistics alum. “UT’s graduates bring to dunnhumbyUSA a strong statistical and business acumen; they therefore contribute to our success very quickly. With the new business analytics program graduating employees who will impact our organization even faster, UT will remain a target school for enabling our growth.”

Representatives from dunnhumbyUSA will be on the UT Knoxville campus Sept. 16-17 to recruit business analytics students with plans to hire 25 additional people in the area.

UT’s business analytics programs are offered several ways: as a single MS degree; a proposed dual-degree MS/MBA with UT’s full-time MBA program; and, for MBA students not wanting to earn the MS but who are interested in the subject matter, a concentration in business analytics. Plans for an undergraduate degree in business analytics are under way for the 2011-2012 academic year.

“We know of no other school in the nation providing this scope of business analytics offerings,” said Jan Williams, dean of the College of Business Administration. “Strengthening our graduates’ proficiency in business analytics is one of the college’s four strategic initiatives.”

The business analytics program encompasses four overlapping areas:

Data mining: uncovering information from a company’s database of historical records to discover trends, predict consumer behavior, etc.

Business Process Optimization: understanding and simplifying complex business decisions and processes

Applied Business Statistics: collecting and analyzing data to gain business insights

Business Intelligence: providing decision-makers with real-time information for making decisions

Business analytics is attractive to quantitatively oriented students who want to develop skills in solving business problems. Most likely, these students have either a technical undergraduate degree or have good analytical and quantitative skills.

“We are committed to having our business analytics programs be the best in the nation,” said Gilbert.

In most universities, statistics is housed in the college of arts and sciences; UT Knoxville is one of the few schools to recognize the power of statistics in business applications. The 2009 Rothkopf rankings support this finding, placing UT’s Department of Statistics, Operations and Management Science among the top 20 programs worldwide in the field.

For more information about the program, please visit http://bus.utk.edu/soms/analytics/index.htm.

For more information about the UT Knoxville College of Business Administration, visit http://bus.utk.edu.

C O N T A C T :

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)

Whitney Holmes (865-974-5460, wholmes7@utk.edu)

Related Posts

  1. UT College of Business Offers Summer Program for East Tennessee High School Students (May 1, 2008)
  2. UT Business Team Honored in Data Mining Competition in Italy (September 14, 2009)
  3. College of Business Receives PepsiCo Grant to Support Diversity Efforts (November 25, 2008)
  4. College of Business Receives PepsiCo Grant to Support Diversity Efforts (December 11, 2008)
  5. UT College of Social Work Offers Distance Education for Master’s Degree (February 25, 2008)
  6. Alum Celebrates Family Legacy with Gift to College of Business Administration (December 7, 2009)
  7. Strickland to Chair UT College of Business Administration Fundraising Campaign (November 3, 2009)
  8. UT Business Dean Jan Williams Is Board Chair-Elect of Premier Business College Accreditation Body (February 23, 2010)

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Here's Why Ford Is Surging And You Need To Take Notice (F)

Shares of Ford got a boost Thursday from CNBC's Jim Cramer, but they certainly didn't need it.

Cramer mentioned them as worthy of being a buy candidate, but this is nothing new. Ford's stock has been nothing short of remarkable, since December 2008 when it was under $1 per share. Shares are currently over $12, a remarkable run for a company that many though would need to go into bankruptcy or need government help.

Since dropping to under $1, Ford has done everything right. From cutting its massive debt load, getting products out to market, to making the company more competitive on a global scale, Ford has certainly stepped on the gas pedal at the right time and never looked back.

One can never underestimate goodwill, and Ford has certainly been a beneficiary of it. Consumers rewarded Ford by not taking government money, when competitors General Motors and Chrysler did. In tune, consumers bought more Ford products than they did GM or Chrysler to show their appreciation for doing business the right way, and it's showed.

Ford has continued to gain market share here in the U.S., and is now the 2nd largest automaker in the U.S..

Wall Street has been impressed with the turnaround story at Ford, as evidenced by an upgrade at Barclays.

This morning, Barclays analyst Brian Johnson upgraded the company to Overweight from Equal Weight, and raised his price target to $16 from $15, citing Ford's increased earnings power despite slow U.S. sales.

Ford is definitely one of the greatest turnaround stories this country has ever seen, as is a prime example of the "can do" spirit that American manufacturing is famous for.

Bravo Alan Mulally, you have done a wonderful job. You've turned a company around, made your shareholders much more wealthy and vastly improved the company's image in the eyes of the American consumer. That's something to be commended for.

 

-- Roger Nachman

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Newsweek And The Daily Beast To Merge?

Tina Brown
Daily Beast editrix Tina Brown has repeatedly batted down speculation that she's gunning to succeed Jon Meacham as the editor-in-chief of Newsweek.

"I'm not serious about the Newsweek thing! I'm serious about The Daily Beast ... I'm committed to my Daily Beast," she recently said.

But Keith Kelly brings us a fresh rumor that might account for why Brown's name keeps coming up: Daily Beast and Newsweek insiders have been speculating for weeks that Barry Diller is in talks to combine his IAC-owned news and commentary website with Newsweek's digital operations.

And the fact that Diller and nonagenarian Newsweek owner Sidney Harman were spotted having drinks at the Four Seasons recently hasn't exactly quelled the gossip, Kelly reports.

If the Daily Beast/Tina Brown rumors prove untrue, however, it actually might not bode well for Newsweek, considering there doesn't seem to be an outpouring of interest for editing the magazine, according to Memo Pad.

Adam Moss reportedly turned down the job, Slate chairman Jacob Weisberg prefers to "steer clear of the whole subject," he said, and "interest in Newsweek’s future appears to be waning, at least among some editors, one of whom sniped that 'no one finds this interesting,' while another insider called the newsweekly a 'major and probably futile rebuilding job.'”

Things will get more interesting next week, when dozens of staffers are expected to get pink slips.

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Getting a Degree in a Foreign Country


Getting a Degree in a Foreign Country

Aug 16, 2010 Veronika Kaufmann

Writing and the art of writing is something you'll never stop learning about. It's a continuous job. A part of the beauty of writing and being a writer is that everything and anything you do, see and experience, will ultimately enrich your mind and increase your output.

Going Back to School and Getting a Higher Education

Because I currently live in a non-English speaking European country, I decided to enroll at the University of Vienna and major in English and American Literature. The lectures are all in English, so this was a perfect choice for me. Depending on your own individual interests and goals, choose something that will enhance and help you, in your writing or in any other aspect you choose to excel at.

With a high school diploma, I was required to do an equivalency test. For enrollment at the University of Vienna, the best course of action is to visit the "Studienberechtigungs" office (or equivalency enrollments office). A similar information center exists at most universities and the procedures and enrollment requirements may vary. Contact the respective office at the university of your choice to find out how to proceed.

The information office is perfectly geared toward people like me i.e. a non-traditional pursuer of an higher education. Most of the information is offered online at the respective university sites. As it may seem overwhelming at first, a personal visit to the offices can help in finding the perfect majors and minors, along with the courses you may have to take to get an accredited degree.

Choose Your Own pace

During the first semester, I participated in one lecture only: Introduction to English Literature. As I was still working part-time, a timid approach characterized my initial experiences at uni. I attended one class and had no clue about the workings of university life, the procedural mechanics nor even dared set foot in the library.

Reaching the Point of Engagement at Uni

The successful passage of that first exam will increase your confidence enough to enroll in several more lectures the following semester. As you increase your attendance to lectures and study groups, your confidence will rise to the occasion. Slowly but surely, you will feel at home and learn to deal with the stressful exam situations.

Invaluable Advice for Newcomers to Uni

Speak with the lecturers and the professors. Make appointments with the various department heads and talk to them. They offer invaluable advice and are extremely helpful in finding potential shortcuts when it comes to mandatory courses.

English Literature as a Major

If you choose English and American Literature as your major in a non-English speaking country, you will benefit with the "native speaker" bonus. A lot of the obligatory lectures and workshops have to do with phonetics, grammar, pronunciation and integrated language study skills. Often, the curriculum requires completing various courses before you can proceed to the more interesting pro seminars on literature and cultural studies.

As a native speaker, passing all courses is required. However, there are ways to circumvent the system and accelerate your studies by having a word with the department head. There are guidelines in place for native speakers at most universities that allow you to expedite your studies.

Adjusting to the Pace of University Life

Although the pace of university life may seem laid back compared to the life at, say, an ad agency, it is a bit misleading. Sure, one witnesses a lot of "lying/lounging in the park and chillin'" scenarios. Attendance rates at lectures decrease as the semester progresses, much to the dismay of professors surveyed in a 2009 report, done by the University of Vienna's Alumni Club. However, to achieve your goal in the shortest amount of time, don't waste any of it. Attending each lecture, class and tutorial is not only fun, it's crucial to getting your degree within a reasonable time frame. As an older student, you have a huge advantage. Use your experience from the real world and plow through.

Certainly, as mid-term exams and various other deadlines for essays and presentations loom, the panic and anxiety levels increase. Be prepared for bumps in the road. Take advantage of all resources on offer during the semester. The aforementioned tutorials that accompany many lectures are invaluable. Mostly advanced students teach these tutorials and they are ones to make friends with. They know the system inside and out and tend to be less reluctant about giving tips. Plus, they prepare you for the respective exams.

Your Personal Pace at Uni and the Librarian

My own slow motion adjustment to uni life allowed me to increase my speed at a pace I was comfortable with, being able to enjoy the scenery along the way. I pretty much know how things work now, and if I don’t know, I know whom to ask. That is pertinent to one’s success, not only at uni. Don’t be afraid to ask. No question is too banal to pose.

One last tip: make friends with the librarian.

Copyright Veronika Kaufmann. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.


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