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Shon Smith, clinical assistant professor in the UF Counselor Education program, recently received national attention for two major achievements involving separate divisions of the American Counseling Association.

Smith is being recognized for his leadership as president of the Florida Counseling Association, following the controversial 2012 shooting of black teen Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, and the subsequent acquittal in 2013 of Martin's shooter, George Zimmerman, according to a release from UF College of Education.

Smith facilitated the Florida Counseling Association's response to join the NAACP, local law enforcement and other community groups in a peaceful dialogue for healing, growth and empowerment and positive relationships with area police departments. The alliances and training sessions began in Sarasota and Manatee counties in 2013, and last year, expanded to Alachua and Marion counties.

Smith received the 2017 Mary Smith Arnold Anti-Oppression Award from ACA's Association of Counselors for Social Justice, which honors professional counselors and educators who have an exemplary record of challenging multiple forms of oppression in the counseling professions and in their local schools and communities.

Smith is president-elect of ACA's Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, which strives to improve cultural, ethnic and racial empathy and understanding through programs that advance and sustain personal growth.

Smith, who has a doctorate in counselor education and supervision from Duquesne University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, is the past chair of the ACA-Southern Region, representing 22,000 of the 56,000 ACA members. His research interests include multicultural and social justice competencies, leadership and advocacy within the counseling profession, and working with military families on adjustment and re-adjustment issues.

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Gainesville resident Henry J. Schott was named to the Rhodes College Honor Roll for the 2017 spring semester. To qualify for the honor roll, a student must be enrolled in at least 16 credit hours of academic work and must achieve a semester grade point average of 3.85 or better, according to a release from Rhodes College, a nationally ranked private liberal arts college Memphis, Tennessee.

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Gunwald named to fellowship

Sabine Grunwald, professor at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, department of water sciences, is one of 12 fellows selected to the Soil Science Society of America, a professional association.

According to UF/IFAS, Grunwald specializes in digital soil mapping and modeling of soil landscapes. One thing she measures is how well soil stores carbon and how it is changed by global climate and land-use shifts. Her research also includes soil sensing, ecosystem service assessment and developing new soil indices to optimize soil management.

Grunwald said her most recent research has found that climate change matters because it changes the total environment above ground and below ground - often impacting the whole system. She said soil is essential for a functioning environment and ultimately to preserve life on Earth.

We are all part of the environment, whether we live in cities or rural areas. Thus, how we treat and how we manage soil-ecosystems impacts all of us, she said.

Grunwald compares soil health to human health. We want to stay in the green zone to be healthy, Grunwald said. The same is true for soils. Staying in the green zone means to maintain healthy soil environments that benefit all of us. Imagine if there was no soil in your backyard, under the citrus grove, the blueberry field, the wetland, the forest or under your feet and you would likely recognize that the world is bleak, barren and inhospitable.

Her peers praised her work.

While her research program can be ranked as exemplary, her teaching program is where she shows her greatest level of creativity, said Nick Comerford, professor of soil and water sciences and director of the UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center in Quincy, Florida. Comeford said Grunwalds computer and digital media skills helped to develop the first master's distance education program for the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. At the time, Grunwald served as coordinator of the new masters program in environmental science and became director of the departments distance education programs.

Ramesh Reddy, chairman of the UF/IFAS soil and water sciences department, said Grunwald is the 12th active faculty member in the department chosen fellow.

Dr. Grunwald is an outstanding scientist who developed an internationally recognized interdisciplinary program focused on soil-landscape analysis to develop a framework for sustainable holistic land-resource management, Reddy said.

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Achievers: UF counselor noted for efforts with police - Gainesville Sun

Maxine Waters comments about Ben Carson knowing nothing about and caring nothing about people in public housing had me rolling on the floor. He grew up very poor. I think he has some idea. Waters on the other hand, doesnt even live in the congressional district she represents. It has the second highest number of African Americans in California. The district she actually lives in has 6 percent, nearing the level of segregation of the 1950s.

She also lives in a 6,000-square foot, $4.3 million mansion in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in L.A. How did she manage that working for 40 years in government? How does she keep getting re-elected when she doesnt even live in her district? Maybe the blacks in her home district need to be asking themselves these questions instead of falling for the same tired rhetoric from the Democratic Party that only seems to care about them around election time.

In the 513 days between the killing of Trayvon Martin and the courts verdict on George Zimmerman, 11,106 blacks were murdered by other blacks nationwide. 2014 statistics show that more black babies were aborted just in New York City (31,328) than were born (24, 759) disregarding all claims of the Black Lives Matter movement. Killings in Chicago, mostly black on black, have risen 46 percent since a year ago.

But all Democrats like Waters can do is trash President Trump and push for his impeachment? Why, because her candidate lost the election? I have to ask myself why African Americans are almost always Democrats with the track record they have for not keeping campaign promises. Think Obama. Not that the Republicans walk on water in that area. At least Trump appointed a man like Ben Carson over HUD as someone who understands and wants to help poor blacks improve their lives like he did his own.

The Democrats are playing you for a political chump, you are a traitor to your own race. Malcolm X, one of my heroes from the 60s said.

He was killed a few days later by black Muslim Democrats. Im also not forgetting the comment from then Democratic President, Lyndon Johnson after signing the Civil Rights Act. Ill have those n***ers voting Democrat for the next 200 years.

Wake up people. Stop complaining about whitey and do something about the so-called friends within your own ranks.

And as far as Im concerned, Maxine Waters is a perfect example of why Affirmative Action is not always a good idea. She opens her mouth and dumb rolls out. She is poised to take apart Ben Carson when he comes before her committee. She has vowed to take his a** apart. I have no fear for Ben Carson as he is a brilliant man who came up the hard way and hasnt forgotten it. I only hope its televised so we can watch him put her in her place.

Maxine Waters would do well to remember that famous Mark Twain quote, It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Instead of all the infighting between Dems and Reps, how about coming together and working for the people who put you in office?

Connie Knox

Fort Madison

Excerpt from:
Best to keep your mouth shut - Keokuk Gate City Daily

Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) core business is thriving, with strong engagement for the company's namesake social network and its Instagram subsidiary driving impressive top- and bottom-line growth. Here's a look at how the momentum from the company's social networks translated to earnings performance last quarter:

Data source: Facebook.

With Facebook having since passed 2 billion monthly active users and management indicating that ad placement on the social network is near a saturation point, growth could be more difficult to deliver going forward, but the company is hardly resting on its laurels. The leader in social networking is working on initiatives that have the potential to create huge benefits for its core products and open up new business avenues down the line.

Image source: Facebook.

From the invention of the television through the rise of the mobile phone, the screen has been at the center of the information age, but dramatic changes for display technology could be on the horizon. Virtual reality (VR) got its first big commercial push in 2016 and currently has niche appeal, but Facebook is betting on the technology's potential and angling to play a leading role in bringing it to the mainstream. The social media giant's virtual reality push is probably the company's most well-known innovation investment, with its $3 billion acquisition of VR company Oculus generating lots of press and evidencing a clear enthusiasm for display innovation.

Facebook's Oculus Rift headset has gotten off to a somewhat disappointing start, with the device receiving a number of price cuts following weaker-than-expected sales and trailing HTC's competing Vive hardware, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reiterated a belief in VR as the next big computing platform and has his company working on a range of hardware and content initiatives that could lay foundations for the future of the tech.

Facebook Spaces; Image source: Facebook.

The company recently launched Facebook Spaces, a platform that allows users to create an avatar to hangout and share pictures and video in virtual chat rooms. It also recently partnered with Samsung for the release of the Facebook 360 app, bringing the social network's panoramic photo and video content to the Gear VR platform.

In 2016, Facebook committed a $250 million investment in VR content, and Zuckerberg has indicated that his company plans to invest an additional $3 billion over the next decade to improve VR and drive adoption. The company also has plans to develop augmented reality (AR) offerings far beyond the filters currently available on Instagram, stating in its most recent earnings call that it plans to invest aggressively in content and infrastructure to build its position in AR. These technologies have the potential to change the way the world sees and interacts with information, and, if they take off, they'll open up innovations opportunities in industries ranging from retail to healthcare.

Image source: Internet.org.

Facebook is working to bring free (or at least low-cost) internet to the world, a move that will dramatically expand its addressable market -- and one that could threaten internet service providers (ISPs) and wireless carriers. The company recently launched Express Wi-Fi, a partnership project with a group of ISPs in Africa and Asia to expand the reach of connectivity, and it's got even more ambitious plans in the works. Here's a Zuckerberg quote from Facebook's most recent earnings call about the progress the company is making with its internet-beaming airplane project:

On the connectivity side, in April we successfully simultaneously beamed 16 gigabits of data in each direction between a location on the ground and a Cessna aircraft circling more than 7 km away. Eventually, we're going to use this technology along with Aquila, our solar-powered plane we're building, to beam internet to parts of the world that currently don't have access.

The company is also working on delivering internet by satellite. Of the roughly 7.5 billion people on Earth, roughly 3.7 billion are currently connected to the internet, so expanding the reach of network connectivity presents Facebook with huge growth opportunities.

Building its position in the telecommunications field gives Facebook ways to sidestep data cap and throttling issues the company faces from international ISPs as well as domestic providers including Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast -- issues that could become more pronounced as the social network makes streaming video content a bigger part of its platform. For now, Facebook's efforts are concentrated on making the internet more globally accessible, but, in the long term, growing its provider capabilities could make it significantly less dependent on today's telecom leaders.

Image source: Facebook.

Facebook is also aiming to shakeup the network hardware space, and has been distributing designs for "white box" alternatives and partnering with manufactures to make them available for enterprise. These are made with non-proprietary parts and run on open-source software, and pose a significant threat to networking companies including Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) and Juniper Networksbecause they offer levels of flexibility and customization beyond products from the current industry leaders. They also have the potential to dramatically reduce pricing power for routing, switching, and data center.

Increases in video streaming and the use of VR and AR technologies will put added pressure on data centers and increase costs for businesses. Facebook has an interest in facilitating these technologies, and reducing the expenses associated with networking hardware has the potential to remove a central roadblock to their progression. Lowering the costs of network infrastructure is also likely to play a big role in bringing internet connectivity to areas that are currently without it, so it's a disruptive initiative that could have huge payoff and pave the way for the evolution of the social network.

Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Beyond the Social Network: Facebook Wants to Disrupt These 3 Industries - Motley Fool

Social Networking Sites: Adding a New Dimension to Relations TIS Staffer 4/8/2017 7:47:16 PM

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Social networking sites that came into existence with great welcome by the people world over have given birth to new kinds of social relations and interactions that were never seen before. In todays world, if you dont have a Facebook/Twitter account or any other social networking sites account you may be tagged as backward and dubbed as being one who has not been able to keep pace with time. Somehow it has penetrated the peoples mind so much that having an account in social networking sites has become as essential as having your home address. It has not only fascinated younger generation but its charm can be found among all age groups.

Sharing ones mundane things is so common now a days and it is like a daily meeting online with different people and throwing open your personal life like anything which also comes for public scrutiny. Even people update their bad mood or illness and wait to know how many people liked it and how many comments it generated about your new status. You may not get opportunity to see your cousins child but you can see him or her growing online. Networking sites have provided a stage of sharing your personal feelings which were so personal earlier to highlight before others. In a way emotions are getting more public and a thing to be shared openly going beyond the boundary line of private and public sphere of sharing.

It has widened the personal sharing and has opened it for others to feel and interact. The face to face relationship is getting transformed into on-line relationships. It can be taken as further step in the secondary relations. New norms and values of sharing have been introduced by these social networking sites. We are heading towards a very dialectical kind of personality. On one hand we are getting more and more reserved and professional in our interactions but at the very same time we are more open and personal while interacting with our online friends. People are getting more and more conscious about their online impression management. They are now more conscious about their way of interaction and presentation of their feelings. They react the way they are driven by norms of social media. In some way it has become functional by enhancing the field of personal expressions. But sometimes pouring personal feelings before others may land one in trouble, causing mental frustration and depression.

The feelings and emotions are being channelized in different ways. There can be found a new kind of grouping that was never seen before, one can discover various fans clubs, people liking a particular party, brand or religious group. Social Networking sites in a way have become a platform which is uniting people on different issues. In the past ban on some social networking sites has exposed its potential to influence and mobilize people in todays world. In any major change or movement in future the role of these social networking sites cannot be neglected in mobilization and publicity. These sites are going to prove a major weapon of uniting and provoking people on any issue.

On the other hand it has driven people in an unrealistic world of happenings. People spend hours on sites just updating their status or sharing information and it seems that the gap between personal and private life has now narrowed to some extent. These online meetings have reduced to some extent the virtual dialogues in everyday life, making online friends more important than those we encounter with in our day to day life. We have started living a life that is far away from virtual one.

We live in an alienated and unreal world of incidents, though we think now we are more connected but actually we are getting disconnected from real life. The culture of expressing oneself in a particular way has fascinated young generation to such an extent that they try to pose themselves in different ways, guided by reactions and comments on their posts. No doubt these sites have affected our life in many ways but still there are some aspects which would unveil themselves with growing time. Let us be ready to see more faces of Facebook and other social networking sites.

(Dr. Supriya Singh who did her Ph.D. in social science from Lucknow University is a Guest Faculty in the Centre for Globalization and Development Studies, University of Allahabad. Views expressed here are personal.)

The rest is here:
Social Networking Sites: Adding a New Dimension to Relations - The India Saga (blog)

The Union Government is contemplating to regulate the functioning of social networking sites to ensure safety of the users' data.

The Central Government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it is contemplating to enact regulatory regime for social networking sites or services like Whatsapp, Facebook, Skype and others.

The Centre made these submissions before the five-judge Constitution Bench that is hearing WhatsApp privacy policy case.

The Centre told that personal data of users is a part of their right to life and it can't be shared freely by telecom providers or any social network sites.

Any attack on data is an attack on 'Right to Life', the Centre told the apex court.

During the hearing before a five-judge Constitution Bench, the bench asked the government whether it would regulate data.

Counsel for WhatsApp and Facebook, senior lawyers Kapil Sibal, Sidharth Luthra and Arvind Datar, said that they were willing to give an undertaking before the bench that WhatsApp has not and will not share data with anyone.

A nine-judge Supreme Court Constitution bench is also hearing various issues relating to right to privacy and data protection arising out of question whether whether Aadhaar violates right to privacy or not.

This bench is to rule whether right to privacy is a fundamental right or not, and other contours relating to data protection.

A nine-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar is examining the nature of privacy as a right in context of two judgments -the first in 1954, the other in 1962 - which held that privacy was not a fundamental right. (ANI)

Link:
Govt Planning to Regulate Social Networking Sites to Ensure Safety of Users' Data - Outlook India