The Follow-Up to Rain Room Is Brilliant and Unsettling – The Atlantic

The seven helium-filled white globes that hover, swarm, and form kaleidoscopic patterns above visitors to Londons Roundhouse are neither friend nor foetheyre inanimate drones programmed by an algorithm to move, and to respond in turn to the various movements of people below them. And yet their behavior is familiarly, unsettlingly alive. They seem curious at some points, breaking away from their pack to investigate individuals on the ground. Theyre menacing at others, gliding gracefully into imposing structures overhead. Theyre sometimes clumsy, colliding with each other and veering awkwardly upward. And theyre mesmerizing, evoking entities as disparate as birds and bacteria in the ways they gently dance and dip under the Roundhouses domed ceiling.

The balloon-drones are Zoological, a flock of autonomous, flying spheres created for the installation +/- Human by the studio Random International, the artists best known for Rain Room. That work, which debuted at Londons Barbican in 2012, helped usher in a new age of Instagram-friendly immersive artworks, attracting day-long lines when it moved to New Yorks Museum of Modern Art prior to a 15-month stint at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. But where Rain Room allowed visitors to feel omnipotent, walking freely through a room of falling water without getting wet, Zoological encourages a sense of vulnerability. The ever-shifting constellations overhead are beautiful and unsettling: They catalog and respond to human behavior. This is an artwork that you observe while aware that its observing you right back.

Art for Instagrams Sake

+/- Human includes dance performances choreographed by Wayne McGregor, devised to provoke and create new patterns of movement as the dancers and the spheres interact. During the day, visitors can simply enter the Roundhouses space and move around underneath Zoological, which is accompanied by original music composed by Warp Recordss Mark Pritchard. The score is pivotal, offering ethereal layers of electronic harmonies, and then jarring, discordant sounds of exaggerated humming or screeching. At times the room feels like a scene from Denis Villeneuves Arrival; at others like a particularly traumatic episode of Black Mirror. The drones are benign, staying out of arms reach, but their behaviorboth pre-programmed and responsiveis impossible to predict.

Zoological, as a work, seems intended to play on subconscious anxieties about everything from driverless cars to alien invasions to mutating pathogens. The ways in which the spheres rise and fall around each other mimic the ways birds fly, and bugs swarm, and computers generate graphics that move to music. Its eerily familiar, but inhuman. Random International describes the work as an amplified and physical manifestation of our lived experience in a world increasingly run by algorithms, and its rendering of our uncertain, symbiotic, increasingly dependent relationship with machines and code captures the flux of an era in which technology is evolving faster than our ability to devise ethical frameworks for it. The spheres in Zoological are harmless, but for how long?

Its perhaps less instantly gratifying and joyful than Rain Room, but much more thought-provoking. Its also of a piece with other recent works of art and entertainment that try to wrestle with how drones are changing the nature of warfare or how technology will ruin humanity if were not perpetually vigilant. Its a theme Random International has considered over and over, in a series of Swarm Studies that examine and mimic collective behavior, and in works that reflect the human form in motion as pinpricks of light. Zoological, fascinating and occasionally alarming, encourages engagement, but the underlying note is one of caution.

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The Follow-Up to Rain Room Is Brilliant and Unsettling - The Atlantic

Taming ‘the terrible passions’ – Inquirer.net

While Donald Trumps mighty guns of August are locked and loaded, this piece will try to revive the protracted duel between reason and emotion.

Its a debate that never dies: What defines and animates humanity? Is it calculating reason that invented the tools and amenities of civilization, or what the painter Vincent van Gogh called the terrible passions that drove us to where we are now?

If we survey the events of history all the way to that fateful day a wily serpent tempted an innocent Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, it is undoubtedly the passions that largely rule our behavior. Rationalists may declare with certitude the unstoppable, onward march of reason to the omega of human evolution, but immortal myths and facts on the ground tell a more convincing story of an untamable animal spirit that drives human thought and action: the lust for adventure, the inordinate appetite for fighting, hurting, and dominating others in short, the desire for mate, love, revenge, power and glory.

Think of the wars, great and small, that have been fought because of matters of emotional fury. Think of the mythical thousand ships launched by the Greeks to bring back the beautiful Helen from the arms of Paris in Troy; think of the mesmerizing beauty of the Taj Mahal built by the grieving emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz; recall the hundreds of millions of people who lost their lives in numberless killing fields throughout the world; and more recently, dance to the irresistible beat of Despacito which briefly united us in over four billion views. Finally, think of the staying power of the great religions of humankind, and you get some insights into human passions in all their mystery, splendor and savagery.

Sadly, the marvels of science and cybertechnologies that have reduced Earth to a small village of competing tribes have not freed humanity from its Neanderthal moorings. As in the past, its swords, guns and bombs, not plowshares and classrooms, that make the difference.

And so, unsurprisingly, we find lunatic nations like North Korea, enamored of their newfound nuclear toys, and great powers like China and America, playing out their existential imperatives on the world stage, while a fearful humanity holds its breath, knowing that any miscalculation could lead to nuclear war and global catastrophe.

Is reason really impotent when besieged by the passions? If there is one big lesson to be learned from human frailty, its that we have not learned from history. Barbara Tuchman inferred in her classic The March of Folly that governments throughout millennia have never learned how to tame the passions. Thus, since governments advent in 2000 B.C., there has been no marked improvement in it as an instrument for the rational and just management of human society. And if we cannot learn from our mistakes (follies), we are certainly doomed to repeat them.

Serious students of human behavior conclude that while the sciences have progressed by leaps and bounds, government has been at a standstill no better conducted now than 4,000 years ago.

David Hume believes that reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them. Translation: Passions, not the cold logic of reason, motivate human action. Thus, in our world of dizzying technological developments, beware of the many disguises of the passions used by those in power to make their lies appear palatable and reasonable.

In the Philippine context, that could mean that propaganda its arsenal of alternative facts, half-truths, and post-truth that flood social media actually speaks the language of reason even when its aim is to fool people because its authors know that their real target is the passions. Thats what makes it so dangerous to a gullible, undiscerning public.

If there is a moral to this piece, it is that we must realize we live in a maddening world where real truth is often stranger than fiction; that in a larger sense, the conflict between the passions and reason has barely begun. The passions and reason are what make us uniquely human. They are inseparable and need each other, for good or ill.

* * *

Narciso Reyes Jr. (ngreyes1640@hotmail.com) is an international book author and former diplomat. He lived in Beijing in 1978-81 as bureau chief of the Philippine News Agency.

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Taming 'the terrible passions' - Inquirer.net

Kids & Musical Theater: The Off-Stage Impact – HuffPost

With the spectacular success of Hamilton, musical theater has moved from a niche market to the national stage in recent years. And for good reason the impact of Hamilton has has reached far beyond the entertainment world, spanning culture in general, rap, education and even Congress. Among other things, it has shown that musical theater can offer a fresh, exciting way to learn about history and culture, and it can offer much more than that even to those who dont aspire to perform on Broadway.

Indeed, musical theater is a powerful art form that can transform the lives of those who take part, but its power is often overlooked. Now is the time to pull the curtain back.

Reams of statistics show that learning a musical instrument can lead to a whole host of benefits, from improved discipline, perseverance and collaboration to enhanced cognitive skills and positive neurological effects. While these benefits are beyond dispute, its worth considering that musical theater mostly left out of conversations like this expand upon them.

Among other life lessons and traits, musical theater can teach and foster these important skills:

1) A deeper understanding of human behavior and psychology: Researchers have argued that psychologists can look to how actors create emotions to understand human nature in a new way. Thats because a performer must understand others actions and the meanings behind them to convincingly portray another character, environment and tone on stage. In doing this, they conversely learn to identify their own innate biases and practice empathy when interacting with the people around them.

2) A sense of ownership and independence: In a theater production, theres no sitting on the sidelines! Theres only one person for each role and a small margin for error, so performers must learn to work independently and arrive prepared. They are expected to pull their own weight and sometimes even more -- to produce the best show possible.

3) Creative thinking and problem-solving skills: Anyone partaking in a production is involved in the business of creation whether its building scenery, a script, a costume, props, and so on. On stage, performers create characters, moods and settings. They must also use problem-solving skills to decide how a character will react, what decisions they will make, and how their actions will help tell the story.

4) How to give and take feedback effectively: Giving and receiving constructive feedback is a regular part of any form of theater. Performers understand that feedback is a useful part of the learning process and how to channel it into success. At the same time, they are also challenged to give feedback to their peers that is respectful and useful. Critical thinking and listening are just as an important piece of the puzzle as performing on stage.

5) The importance of teamwork and the unique value that every individual brings: Musical theater is arguably the most collaborative form of creative expression. It takes a range of people writers, actors, designers, directors, choreographers, and more to put together a successful performance. Performers cant get on stage without the help of the off-stage crew; what happens behind the scenes is just as important as what happens when the curtain rises. Theater demands that anyone working on a project is an important part of the show the final product can never be completed unless every team member is working toward the same goal.

As executive director of Kaufman Music Center in New York City, Ive seen this first-hand at the organizations annual Summer Theater Musical Workshop, where young people of all backgrounds and interests learn to shine on stage. The workshop is primarily for kids with various interests, not just for those who want to spend their lives professionally on stage. For those who may already be instrumentalists, musical theater takes them further, allowing them to express their musical talent through their own body. It helps the shy or quiet child come out of his/her shell and boost confidence, and has been known to turn the class clown into a real star. For many people, theres something about singing with a group, working with others to pull off a number and flexing many different talents singing, dancing, acting, writing thats stimulating, moving, motivational, fun and inspirational. At the same time, it leads to a mastery of stage presence a boon for any musician, attorney, physician, teacher and the list goes on!

For an experience that will have a long-lasting and potentially life-changing impact, everyone and anyone should take part in musical theater. You might be surprised at the result, and have a lot of fun as well.

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Kids & Musical Theater: The Off-Stage Impact - HuffPost

To build a $200 million neuroscience lab, Caltech is relocating … – The Pasadena Star-News

Unable to find someone to take the buildings, Caltech plans to pick up and move seven historic bungalows to a parking lot two blocks away to free up space for a $200 million neuroscience research center.

The Spanish Colonial Revival-style bungalow court, built in 1923, is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, according to Pasadenas Design and Historic Preservation department.

The city suggested it might qualify as historically significant and we actually hired a historic preservation architect to do a study of it, said Hall Daily, Caltechs director of government relations. They deemed it was significant, not because the buildings are significant at all, but because Pasadena prizes bungalow courts and has established them as a priority to preserve.

Caltech offered to pay part of the relocation costs if a private party would take the bungalows, but there were few sites in Pasadena that could accommodate the homes. The institute has successfully relocated 40 buildings for preservation in the last 25 years with most moving off campus, Hall said.

The little buildings will be disconnected from their foundations, shored up and then trucked to their new home down the street. Caltech did not have an estimate for the cost.

Pasadena is considered the birthplace of the bungalow court, a collection of small one-to-two bedroom houses with common space in between. Developed generally from 1909 to 1942, bungalow courts were originally meant for transient, seasonal use, but over time became permanent residences sought for their unique architectural style, according to a city report.

They are very nicely designed, but theyre designed to work together, said Sue Mossman, executive director of Pasadena Heritage. Newlyweds, single-parent families and young adults often sought out the bungalows because they offered a sense of community at a lower cost, she said.

Pasadena had 112 bungalow courts left during a 2011 count, down from highs of more than 200 in previous decades. Of the remaining courts, 91 had a historic designation or were eligible.

We have lost a lot of them and they have become ever more precious, Mossman said.

Pasadena Heritage supports Caltechs solution for preserving the buildings and the layout of the homes, Mossman said.

Its not easy and its not inexpensive, but it can be so worth it if you look at the whole picture, she said.

Caltechs bungalow court, used for graduate student housing, no longer fits with the other buildings at the southwest corner of Wilson Avenue and Del Mar Boulevard. As the campus has evolved and changed over the years, the bungalows neighbors were replaced with parking lots and academic buildings.

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The proposed new site is a small parking lot in a residential area near San Pasqual Street and Catalina Avenue. The rest of that block is used for graduate student apartments.

Caltech must maintain the original configuration of the court as much as possible. Early plans suggest they may flip the layout by 90 degrees so the courtyard would face south. The courtyard may also be narrowed by five to 10 feet in width and length due to the smaller size of the new lot, according to a project description.

Caltech is constrained in part by their master plan, a guiding document for development on campus. Pasadena Heritage wants Caltech to seek an amendment from the City Council to allow more space for the court, but that may take too long.

One of the reasons officials at Caltech chose to pick up and move the court is because its faster than wading through bureaucracy.

Most of the options take much longer to resolve, said Hall, the Caltech official. In light of that fact that wed really like to put together this neuroscience center, I think it serves all parties to move it very close by.

Caltech wants to break ground on the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Neuroscience Research Building in early 2018, so the bungalow court needs a new home quickly.

The 150,000-square foot neuroscience facility, scheduled to open in 2020, will have labs and offices for researchers, a 150-seat lecture hall and support spaces for the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering.

The buildings name comes Tianqiao Chen and Chrissy Luo, two philanthropists who donated $115 million last year to support the institutes endeavors to better understand the brain.

Chen, a businessman who started games company Shanda Interactive Entertainment, is among the richest individuals in China, according to Forbes.

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To build a $200 million neuroscience lab, Caltech is relocating ... - The Pasadena Star-News

What neuroscience can tell us about the Google diversity memo – The Conversation UK

Everybody seems to have an opinion about Googles recent sacking of its malware software engineer James Damore for circulating a memo arguing that women and men are suitable for different roles because they are intrinsically different. The debate so far has centred mainly on the pros and cons of diversity programmes, which partly sparked Damore to construct his document, and whether Google was right to fire Damore.

While there have been some less vocal comments about the biological differences Damore referred to ranging from finding them spot on to wrong his assertions havent been challenged much on the actual neuroscience behind his basic assumptions. Is there any truth to the idea that we are all destined by our biology? To understand this, lets take a look at the most recent advances in the field.

The memo, titled Googles Ideological Echo Chamber, was sent to an internal company network and criticised the companys diversity initiatives. It quoted psychological studies, Wikipedia entries and media reports to argue its case.

It claimed women are underrepresented in the tech industry because of biological differences, arguing that women have a stronger interest in people rather than things, and that they are prone to neuroticism and anxiety. Men, on the other hand, have a higher drive for status, according to the document. While the memo stopped short of actually spelling it out, it certainly implied that these differences are innate, fixed and unchangeable.

But this kind of thinking is changing at every level. Psychologys go-to list of cognitive differences between males and females has been dismantled, with overwhelming evidence that women and men are more similar than they are different. Many alleged sex differences in skills, aptitudes and personality including science-based interests have been shown not to fall into two neat categories,but rather exist on a spectrum.

At the level of the brain, the concept of a male or a female brain has been challenged supported by evidence indicating that brains are a mosaic of both male and female characteristics.

One breakthrough in our 21st-century understanding of the brain is that the brain is plastic, which means that it can change depending on the experiences it is exposed to. This was clearly demonstrated in the well-known taxi-driver studies which showed that acquiring expertise is associated with significant brain changes and many others. If brain characteristics can be altered by experience, then it certainly seems wrong to argue that sex differences are innate.

Take, for instance, the gender gap in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths), which is presumably something Google is looking to address. It is often argued that this is associated with men having better spatial cognition it isnt. There is actually clear evidence that spatial cognition training can change the brain, boosting its performance. Whats more, the gender gap in spatial skills has been shown to be diminishing over time, even disappearing. In certain cultures, the situation is actually reversed.

The brain is also porous or permeable and will respond to and change as a function of attitudes and expectations, both external and internal. Stereotype threat is a well-known process in which people feel anxiety connected with particular skills perceived to be associated with members of another group. This can affect their performance and their brain activity. For example, girls may feel this way about maths thinking its a boy thing. Sadly, this mechanism has been shown to be real for example affecting girls performance on maths tasks.

It also changes brain activity. One study showed that people who perceived themselves as being of lower status than others had different volumes of grey matter in brain regions involved in experiencing emotions and reacting to stress than those who did not. We have also shown this to be true in our lab when it comes to taking a negative, self-critical view of events in your life.

So if you are in an environment where there are stereotypical views that, as a member of a particular group, youre unlikely to succeed, this may indeed make you anxious and self-critical. And that will actually affect the way your brain works, meaning it is not necessarily something you were born with. And of course, this holds true for mens brains as well.

Damore strongly opposed certain social engineering activities to make the tech industry more welcoming to women. But actually, research shows that empowerment techniques can alter brain activity and overcome the negative effects on performance of stereotype threat and performance anxiety. Importantly, altering a self-critical mindset will actually make the brain process information differently.

So even if biology could be blamed for the problems Damore identified they could also arise from the very environment he appears to be channelling with stereotypical, deterministic thinking about aptitudes and abilities. I dont know the details of the diversity training he was so clearly uncomfortable with, but if it involves changing this environment and offering forms of training and empowerment to their employees, then they are doing exactly the right thing to alter what Damore wrongly assumed to be fixed and unchangeable.

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What neuroscience can tell us about the Google diversity memo - The Conversation UK

Why Neuroscience Should Be Taught in Teacher-Preparation Programs – Education Week (subscription) (blog)

Most teacher preparation programs focus exclusively on education. Future elementary school teachers learn about the latest methods for teaching students reading, writing, and math. Middle and high school teacher preparation programs focus on the content area their students will be teaching.

This sounds like a great idea. Teachers should know about education research, methods, and the content they'll be teaching. But if teacher preparation programs want their students to become truly great educators, they need to teach more than just these things.

In fact, teacher preparation programs should be getting into the sciences--neuroscience, that is. Neuroscience is the study of how the brain and nervous system are developed and how they work. Neuroscientists examine how the brain is connected to behavior and cognition.

How could neuroscience help teachers? Neuroscience can help teachers understand how the brain learns new information. Even having a basic knowledge of neuroscience can inform the way teachers teach.

For example, neuroscience tells us that when children learn new information, that information goes through pathways in the brain. These pathways connect neurons together. The more connections that exist between neurons, the easier it is for the brain to access information.

What does this mean for teachers? When students learn something new, they need to be able to connect it to something they already know. This forms strong neural pathways and makes recall easier.

Teachers who have studied neuroscience know this and more. They know how to get all of a student's brain active and ensure that what students learn sticks.

In addition to helping future teachers understand how students learn best, neuroscience can help them manage student behavior. Often, the reasons students behave poorly is due to stress. Neuroscientists have studied how stress affects the brain, and their findings can help teachers better understand students' behavior.

By preparing future teachers with knowledge about how the brain works, universities can help create better teachers. Teachers who are experts on neuroscience and the brain know how to teach students in a way that will make information stick. They're also better prepared to handle problem behaviors and understand what makes students act out.

Though including neuroscience in teacher preparation programs isn't traditional, the benefits it offers are numerous. More and more teacher preparation programs are including classes on neuroscience in their curriculum.

What do you think teachers should know about neuroscience? How can studying the brain help future teachers? Let us know what you think!

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Why Neuroscience Should Be Taught in Teacher-Preparation Programs - Education Week (subscription) (blog)

Award Supports Novel Methods to Produce Ammonia and Hydrogen – University of Arkansas Newswire

University Relations

Jingyi Chen and Lauren Greenlee

Ammonia is the world's primary raw material for nitrogen-based fertilizer production, but producing it consumes a large amount of energy1- to 2-percent of energy consumption worldwide. The National Science Foundation has awarded $450,000 to Jingyi Chen and Lauren Greenlee to develop alternative processes for producing ammonia. The research will also lead to a more refined and environmentally softer method of producing hydrogen for energy storage and fuel and chemical production.

Chen is an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and Greenlee is an assistant professor of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering. Their work supports the NSF's goal of discovering and developing sustainable energy sources.

Conventional processes for ammonia production, primarily the Haber-Bosch thermal catalytic method, rely on hydrocarbon resources for the hydrogen needed to produce ammonia. Chen and Greenlee are developing catalytic electrochemical processes, or "electrolyzers," for an alternative method of producing ammonia and hydrogen. Specifically, they focus on a method called nitrogen reduction reaction, in which nitrogen is combined with water molecules to form ammonia. They are also studying oxygen evolution reaction, during which water splits to oxygen and hydrogen. For both methods, the researchers are seeking efficient, nonprecious-metal nanocatalysts that can operate at ambient temperature rather than the high-temperature conditions required for hydrocarbon-based technologies.

The researchers will characterize iron and nickel nanostructures as bimetal catalysts and evaluate the reactivity and selectivity of these catalysts for both electrochemical processes. They will then use x-ray absorption spectroscopy to develop methods to correlate the structure and composition of the metals with electrocatalytic activity.

The goal of the project is to design a low-cost and better performing catalytic electrolyzer that can be developed for commercial production.

By integrating research and education, the project is designed to increase student participation in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Chen and Greenlee will recruit students from under-represented groups to participate in the research program. The researchers' findings will be integrated into teaching and curriculum development for the departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry.

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Award Supports Novel Methods to Produce Ammonia and Hydrogen - University of Arkansas Newswire

Walnuts Boost Good Gut Bacteria – Anti Aging News

Recent study shows that walnuts increase the diversity of gut bacteriaand appear to act in much the same manner as prebiotcs.

Research Associate Professor of Physiology at LSU, Lauri Byerley, has determined the consumption of walnuts alters the composition of bacteria within the gut. This finding suggests a new manner in which walnuts might improve human health. The details of the finding were recently published online in The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

About the Study

Dr. Byerley keyed in on walnuts as they are generally revered as a superfood. Walnuts are loaded with the omega-3 fatty acid known as alpha-linoleic acid. They also contain fiber and an abundance of antioxidants. Dr. Byerley's finding shows this superfood provides yet another benefit by promoting beneficial alterations to microbiota within the gut.

Dr. Byerley made use of a rodent model for the study. Her research team provided one group of mice with walnuts in addition to their regular food consumption. The other group continued consuming its normal diet without walnuts.

A Closer Look at the Finding

The researchteam measured the number and type of gut bacteria within the descending colon and compared the results. They determined there were two unique bacteria communities within the groups. The type and number of walnuts altered in the group of mice that consumed walnuts. Even the functional capacity of the bacteria changed in this group. As an example, the research team pinpointed a meaningful boost in Lactobacillus, a beneficial bacteria. The consumption of walnuts resulted in a significant increase in the diversity of bacteria within the gut. Other unrelated studies have tied low levels of bacterial diversity with a wide range of diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and even obesity.

Walnuts as a Prebiotic?

Dr. Byerley suggests walnuts might function as a prebiotic as they heightenthe level of numerous bacteria such as Lactobacillus that is usually associated with probiotics. Prebiotics are best defined as substances that catalyze the activity and number of helpful bacteria.

Why the Study Matters

The health of the human gut is one of the hottest areas of contemporary research. Scientists are finding that improved bacterial diversity might be tied to improved health outcomes. The research team determined that altering the gut microbe community through the incorporation of walnuts to one's diet provides a new means of enhancing health. It is also worth noting that the consumption of walnuts is also tied to decreased cardiovascular disease risk, better brain health and a slowing of tumor growth in animals.

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Walnuts Boost Good Gut Bacteria - Anti Aging News

College of Science student named Undergraduate Student Senate president – Clemson Newsstand

CLEMSON, South Carolina When biochemistry student Leland Dunwoodie interviewed to be a part of Clemson Universitys Student Government (CUSG) nearly four years ago, he thought he was a shoo-in for Undergraduate Student Senate. However, he ended up being placed on Freshman Council instead, where he learned the principles of servant leadership and how to be an effective collaborator.

Dunwoodie will serve as President of theUndergraduate Student Senateduring the 2017-18 academic year.Image Credit: Bryce on a Boat Photography

Now a rising senior at Clemson, Dunwoodie saidthat losing out on Student Senate as a freshman was exactly what he needed when he needed it. The skills he gained on Freshman Council inspired him to try for Student Senate two more times, eventually landing him his current role of 2017-18 Undergraduate Student Senate president.

Student Senate president is a role that Im really excited about and a role that Im really honored to take, said Dunwoodie, who is from Milton, Georgia. My past roles in Student Government have had me doing projects, directly mentoring my peers in some of their projects, as well as collaborating with others on theirs. This role will be more about empowering others and empowering others to empower others. Its going to be a shift in the way Im looking at problems, which I think will be really good for me, and I hope for everyone involved.

Dunwoodie will direct Senates committee chairs and executive team, as well as lead Student Senates weekly meetings. Dunwoodie will also serve as a voice for the universitys student population in meetings with campus administrators.

Beyond these basic duties of the position, Dunwoodie hopes to move Student Senate in a fresh direction.

For me, that means helping senators take on initiatives that will impact Clemson students, Dunwoodie said. I think Senates done an awesome job in the past of handling the finances, structure and legislation involved with Student Senate. Id love to see us carry on that tradition, but I also want every senator to do something collaborate on something, finish something that they can point to and be proud of and that personally impacts Clemson students. At the end of the day, thats what I think were all here for in Student Government: to positively impact Clemson students and grow in the process.

Dunwoodie also wants to implement a system that allows all Clemson students to feel comfortable encouraged, even when seeking help from Student Government.

Every student that steps on campus should know they have a friend in CUSG regardless of who they are. I dont know if thats attainable, but its something Im going to shoot for, Dunwoodie said.

Next to CUSG, Dunwoodies other passion is his undergraduate research, which he conducts under professor Alex Feltus in the department of genetics and biochemistry. There, he investigates gene networks, which are groups of genes that work together to control a specific process or protein. Dunwoodies gene network of interest is specific to glioblastoma, an invasive form of brain cancer.

I think its interesting, because many traditional scientific approaches have been: Lets find one gene that we can knock out to make the tumor go away. But, by understanding coexpression how groups of genes are expressed and controlled together we can look at a broader, network-level approach that leads to some interesting insights, Dunwoodie said.

Research intuition like this is what Feltus emphasizes about Dunwoodie.

Leland has been an excellent collaborator, Feltus said. He aggressively dissects biological problems using wet and dry lab methods and is already making an impact in biomedical research. For example, he has identified several genes that appear to be mis-expressed in brain cancer and has authored a scientific manuscript currently in peer review.

Dunwoodies success in his undergraduate research has helped him acquire three external internships during his summer breaks from Clemson. He spent summer 2015 and 2016 at the Van Andel Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he studied pancreatic cancer and autophagy, or the breakdown of proteins and organs within a biological cell. Currently, he is finishing up another study of pancreatic cancer at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Its his research with Feltus and his efforts in Student Government that have inspired Dunwoodies career plans after graduation.

My passion for interacting, leading and empowering people through Student Government, in addition to the informatics side that Dr. Feltus has taught me, have put me in a unique position, Dunwoodie said. Im hoping to become a clinician that uses informatics to gain new insights into diseases and to help researchers advance the standard of care. I think, as a physician-informaticist, I will have room to navigate. Its a unique career path, and it could be an interesting bridge between working with people and working with the newest technology.

His future career is something he might not have discovered, if it wasnt for the problem-solving skills that Feltus urged him to develop.

Dunwoodie plans to graduate in May 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry.

Ive been blessed to be in the right place at the right time, he said.

END

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College of Science student named Undergraduate Student Senate president - Clemson Newsstand

Anatomy of a crisis: The North Korea threat – POLITICO.eu

July 28, 2017

North Korea tests a ballistic missile experts say could reach the continental United States.

August 5, 2017

The United Nations Security Council unanimously passes sanctions on North Korean exports in response to its missile tests.

The United Nations Security Council just voted 15-0 to sanction North Korea. China and Russia voted with us. Very big financial impact!

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2017

August 8, 2017

Trump promises Fire and Fury will meet North Korean threats.

North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

August 10, 2017

General Kim Rak Gyom, head of North Koreas strategic missile forces, outlined a plan to fire missiles into the waters around Guam and derided President Trump.

Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him.

August 11, 2017

President Trump warns U.S. military is prepared to respond to any North Korean attack.

Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2017

August 11, 2017

Guams Joint Information Center releases a fact sheet preparing for an imminent missile threat.

For years, North Korea has had the ability to launch short-range missiles at targets up to 800 miles away. But this year, North Korea successfully tested intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Experts now think the country is capable of hitting targets more than 7,000 miles away, which includes cities in the continental United States.

North Koreas nuclear program has grown under Kim Jong Un, while missile ranges have considerably expanded. Kim conducted 24 missile tests in 2016 and 14 tests already in 2017.

Only 2,100 miles southeast of North Korea, Guam is a strategic target because of its two American military bases Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam. There are 3,831 U.S. military personnel stationed there in addition to several B-1 bombers and fighter jets.

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Anatomy of a crisis: The North Korea threat - POLITICO.eu