Laura Levesque
9-1
On February 9th, 2010 there was a seminar held on the University of Maine campus for incoming students who are interested in the new minor in robotics engineering that is going to be available in the fall of 2010. There has now, also been an increase in the amount of robotics classes being offered to more than a dozen. “Mechanical and electrical engineering has offered a robotics class and students who took it wanted more, and we see robots becoming more prevalent every day” says Chet Rock, associate dean of the College of Engineering.
The major is designed to give students the fundamental understanding of robotic operation and preliminary training in design and use of robots. Students will have access to classes in mobile walking robots, robotic vision, robotic surgery, surgical micro-robotics and robot statics, kinematics, dynamics and control.
However, this seminar did not really get interesting until after the briefing when I got to speak with some of the students and professors that attended the meeting. I came across an Arts major and we began talking about the size of the engineering department versus the size of the other departments. This student brought up her concurs with the advertising major being dropped because of lack of funding, but there was enough money to fund another engineering minor. “ I hope that one day UMaine decided to only teach engineers because it is unfair that they only concentrate on that one department when there are so many other ones available.”
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Assignment 10-1
During disasters like hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, and earthquakes there are a lot of people that are going to either know or want to know what is going on. Before there were social media sites like twitter and Wikipedia it was not very likely that you were going to be able to get minute by minute coverage on what it going on in these disaster areas.
As a first time user of Twitter, it is clear that, although geared towards people interested in media, it is very accessible to the average person who may not be completely enthralled with the new technologies. This allows for the information posted onto these sites to have a very broad spectrum of topics and coverage of disasters.
When searching around for news sites that had coverage of disasters, there were a few key ones that seemed to show up more often then others; AidNews, Breaking News, and the American Red Cross. These groups are “followed” by people connected to the website where they can communicate back and forth about the goings on in the world.
In times of disaster these sites are great for keeping people in touch with other people in different parts of the world and country. Topics consisted mostly of information about these disasters typically in this particular order:
First, if it is certain that the disaster is going to happen, the topics revolve around what is expected to happen when the disaster hits, and what is pre-emptive actions are being taken to soften the blow of the disaster.
Once the disaster has struck the forums all seem to be buzzing with every detail of what is happening in the effected area. Topics including what is being done in the immediate future to help victims to safety, what are the effects of the disaster, including total of deaths, injuries, homes destroyed and the like.
After the disaster, there are endless posts about people wanting to collect supplies for the injured, how to donate money and time to the people effected by the disaster, the actions that are being done to now rebuild the area, and how the people that were affected are doing.
As a first time user of Twitter, it is clear that, although geared towards people interested in media, it is very accessible to the average person who may not be completely enthralled with the new technologies. This allows for the information posted onto these sites to have a very broad spectrum of topics and coverage of disasters.
When searching around for news sites that had coverage of disasters, there were a few key ones that seemed to show up more often then others; AidNews, Breaking News, and the American Red Cross. These groups are “followed” by people connected to the website where they can communicate back and forth about the goings on in the world.
In times of disaster these sites are great for keeping people in touch with other people in different parts of the world and country. Topics consisted mostly of information about these disasters typically in this particular order:
First, if it is certain that the disaster is going to happen, the topics revolve around what is expected to happen when the disaster hits, and what is pre-emptive actions are being taken to soften the blow of the disaster.
Once the disaster has struck the forums all seem to be buzzing with every detail of what is happening in the effected area. Topics including what is being done in the immediate future to help victims to safety, what are the effects of the disaster, including total of deaths, injuries, homes destroyed and the like.
After the disaster, there are endless posts about people wanting to collect supplies for the injured, how to donate money and time to the people effected by the disaster, the actions that are being done to now rebuild the area, and how the people that were affected are doing.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
8-2
The State of Maine Department of Labor issued a release late last week describing the first in a planned series of reports on the green economy sector in Maine. “Green Economy” is defined as a variety of industries and occupations engaged in activities that reduce the use of fossil fuels; encourage development of renewable energy sources; reduce pollution; increase energy efficiency; and minimize waste of natural resource. The release, “Maine’s Green Economy,” describes the scope as focusing specifically on the industry that comprises the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors in Maine.
The Maine Labor Commissioner noted there was a wide consensus that the growth of the sector would provide opportunity for workers and businesses.
“The availability of good data helps workers make informed decisions about career and training options, helps businesses identify opportunities in new markets, and helps policymakers, educators, and economic developers in shifting resources to where they are needed most,” said Fortman. “This report sets a baseline for us to move forward on a more definitive analysis of employment data and identify trends within the sector.”
Although recent employment estimates for renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors have varied, it is said to depend on the definition of “green jobs” used and the way the jobs were counted. Because the jobs are spread across a range of traditional and new occupations, it makes it difficult to tell the amounts of jobs and range of people which they would be offered to due to the knowledge that needs to already be known about the topic. The Different industry segments that are comprised by The Green Economy are:Research, Design, and consulting services, Manufacturing, Renewal energy generation, Governmental and Regulatory Administrations, Energy Efficiency
Maine House of Representatives (House District 5 of Bangor, ME) Adam Goode, when asked how he feels the “green economy” was going to affect Maine, he said “…Green economy in Maine is going to do nothing to hurt it, that is for sure…” He continued to say how he is extremely excited to see everything “when it really gets going. Where Maine is really getting into environmentalism and the ideas are catching like wildfires I believe it will only bring prosperity”. As a part of the environmental organization committee for District 15 Adam truly seems excited to see where these ideas are going.
This same “go green attitude” is spreading quickly all over Maine in other ways as well. Many local businesses are contributing to a greener community producing all natural products. Everything from Natural Clothing stores like “Follow Your Bliss” in Hodgdon, to sustainable furniture at Moose Pond Arts + Ecology in Norway, and a wind powered fiber mill in Hope. Hopes are high that this is only the first step in change and this positive attitude will carry out all over Maine.
Maine Government News. (2010, February 11). Report Examines Scope of Green Economy in Maine. Maine Department of Labor. Retrieved from:
http://maine.gov
Center for Workforce Research and Information. (2010, February 10). Maine's Green Economy: An Overview of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Sectors. Maine Department of Labor. Retrieved from:
www.maine.gov/labor
The Maine Labor Commissioner noted there was a wide consensus that the growth of the sector would provide opportunity for workers and businesses.
“The availability of good data helps workers make informed decisions about career and training options, helps businesses identify opportunities in new markets, and helps policymakers, educators, and economic developers in shifting resources to where they are needed most,” said Fortman. “This report sets a baseline for us to move forward on a more definitive analysis of employment data and identify trends within the sector.”
Although recent employment estimates for renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors have varied, it is said to depend on the definition of “green jobs” used and the way the jobs were counted. Because the jobs are spread across a range of traditional and new occupations, it makes it difficult to tell the amounts of jobs and range of people which they would be offered to due to the knowledge that needs to already be known about the topic. The Different industry segments that are comprised by The Green Economy are:Research, Design, and consulting services, Manufacturing, Renewal energy generation, Governmental and Regulatory Administrations, Energy Efficiency
Maine House of Representatives (House District 5 of Bangor, ME) Adam Goode, when asked how he feels the “green economy” was going to affect Maine, he said “…Green economy in Maine is going to do nothing to hurt it, that is for sure…” He continued to say how he is extremely excited to see everything “when it really gets going. Where Maine is really getting into environmentalism and the ideas are catching like wildfires I believe it will only bring prosperity”. As a part of the environmental organization committee for District 15 Adam truly seems excited to see where these ideas are going.
This same “go green attitude” is spreading quickly all over Maine in other ways as well. Many local businesses are contributing to a greener community producing all natural products. Everything from Natural Clothing stores like “Follow Your Bliss” in Hodgdon, to sustainable furniture at Moose Pond Arts + Ecology in Norway, and a wind powered fiber mill in Hope. Hopes are high that this is only the first step in change and this positive attitude will carry out all over Maine.
Maine Government News. (2010, February 11). Report Examines Scope of Green Economy in Maine. Maine Department of Labor. Retrieved from:
http://maine.gov
Center for Workforce Research and Information. (2010, February 10). Maine's Green Economy: An Overview of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Sectors. Maine Department of Labor. Retrieved from:
www.maine.gov/labor
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