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Why your favorite catalogs are smaller this holiday seasonWatch as boos rain down after Brad Jacobs intentionally gives up a steal to Brad Gushue to tie the game and give his team the hammer in the eighth end of the quarterfinals of the Kioti National.
Diversity statements will no longer be used in University of Michigan faculty hiring, promotion and tenure, a move applauded by critics who have called the practice "litmus tests" that limit diversity of thought while diversity advocates said the process was "preordained" and dishonest. Provost Laurie McCauley announced the decision Thursday based on a recommendation from a UM faculty working group to end diversity statements. But the recommendation is "deceptive," coming after the regents rejected a previous recommendation to keep the diversity statements, a faculty leader said. Diversity statements are documents written by faculty job candidates that let applicants explain to a search committee the distinct experiences they would bring to the university along with their commitment to diversity. The statements help search committees identify applicants "who have professional skills, experience and/or willingness to engage in activities that would enhance campus diversity and equity efforts," according to a University of California at San Diego statement referenced by UM's Center for Research on Learning & Teaching. McCauley's announcement came hours before the Board of Regents is scheduled to meet and a protest is planned beforehand at UM President Santa Ono's house. Many in the UM community are concerned the regents may dismantle a multimillion dollar diversity, equity and inclusion effort built after the school was at the center of a decade-long national debate around affirmative action in higher education, and DEI programs have been under attack across the nation.. "Diversity, equity and inclusion are three of our core values at the university," McCauley said in the University Record, an internal UM publication for faculty and staff, in announcing the end of diversity statements. "Our collective efforts in this area have produced important strides in opening opportunities for all people. As we pursue this challenging and complex work, we will continuously refine our approach.” But there is more that happened in this process, UM Faculty Senate Chair Rebekah Modrak wrote on the University Record page under the announcement. After the regents called for diversity statements to be banned last summer, McCauley formed a faculty committee to review diversity statements in the spirit of shared governance that came up with a different recommendation, Modrak wrote. "My understanding is that the committee’s first report recommended that the use of diversity statements should be up to each unit, a recommendation that honors our decentralization, independence, and academic freedom," Modrak wrote. "The Regents rejected that report and central leadership didn’t support their own faculty committee. Sending a committee back to work to give a second report with preordained results is neither honest nor respectful of faculty expertise. The University Record’s erasure of the Regents’ autocratic hand in this process is also deceptive." Regents will not vote on the provost's action, but may discuss it during the meeting, said Regent Sarah Hubbard, one of two Republicans on the eight-member UM board. "I applaud the provost for ending the practice of requiring diversity statements," said Hubbard. "This policy change removes a barrier to diversity of thought on campus by eliminating the ideological litmus test." No action is expected during Thursday's meeting around other DEI issues, added Hubbard, who previously said the regents have been looking for a long time at the university's DEI efforts and want to realign funds closer to student scholarships. Any budget decisions wouldn't happen until next year when budgetary decisions get made, she said. Even so, hundreds of students, faculty and staff demonstrated on campus earlier this week to show support for the university's DEI programs, and others are planning to attend the protest organized by UM's Black Student Union before the regents meeting and show up to the official meeting. UM's decision to discontinue diversity statements came after the statements were also eliminated in May at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in June at Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In June, UM's provost charged the eight-member faculty working group to examine diversity statements, though the university did not have an institutional policy on the statements but units did have the discretion to ask for them. The working group recommended the end of the statements after reviewing other policies and surveying more than 2,000 faculty members. “Critics of diversity statements perceive them as expressions of personal identity traits, support of specific ideology or opinions on socially-relevant issues, and serve as a ‘litmus test’ of whether a faculty member’s views are politically acceptable,” the working group wrote in its report. “Thus, as currently enacted, diversity statements have the potential to limit viewpoints and reduce diversity of thought among faculty members.” The working group said it acknowledged the concerns. "But, well-written diversity statements do not necessarily require expression of one’s identity, and they need not express one's beliefs or stances on socially-charged issues," the working group wrote. "Instead, well-written diversity statements contain reflections of how identity has shaped a faculty member’s approach with their students, how they work with their colleagues, and how they interact with society. These are desirable features of current and future U-M faculty members, and this information should be considered when potential faculty are hired and current faculty are promoted." The work group also offered two other recommendations, including that the university "can and must" incorporate of content about DEI into teaching, research and service statements. "Through this incorporation, the problematic features of diversity statements can be eliminated, while the useful and necessary information that exists in diversity statements can be saved and placed where it more naturally belongs," the group wrote in its report. However, UM did not adopt those recommendations. UM's decision to discontinue diversity statements followed other steps the university has taken in recent months that supporters said will create an environment that expands diverse views on campus. They include the regents' controversial adoption last month of a policy on institutional neutrality that prohibits some officials from taking public stances on political and social issues not related to the internal governance of the university. Last month the Faculty Senate passed a resolution censuring the Board of Regents and accusing the regents of "increasingly exhibiting authoritarian tendencies, and silencing free speech. ©2024 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Kinkead Dent and diverse ground game powers UT Martin past New Hampshire, 41-10 in FCS 1st roundFRIDAY, Dec. 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Faced with rising cases of bird flu virus being detected in raw milk in California, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday announced it would mandate testing for the virus in milk nationwide. The National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS) "builds on measures taken by USDA and federal and state partners since the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza [HPAI] H5N1 in dairy cattle was first detected in March 2024," the agency said in a statement . Any entity that handles pre-pasteurized raw milk -- milk processors and transporters, for example -- must hand over samples for testing to USDA staff upon request. According to the USDA, this could be an efficient way to identify herds infected with H5N1. As of Thursday, 718 cattle herds nationwide are known to be infected with the avian flu virus. The new testing initiative "will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the USDA statement. The move comes only a few days after a California dairy farm said it was expanding its recall of raw milk and cream after state health officials discovered bird flu virus in more milk samples. In a notice posted Tuesday, Fresno-based Raw Farm LLC said it has now recalled all whole milk and cream products with "use by" dates of Nov. 27 to Dec. 13. Meanwhile, California health officials took additional steps to keep consumers safe, including quarantining the farm. "While this voluntary recall only applies to raw whole milk and cream, due to multiple bird flu detections in the company's operation, the California Department of Public Health [CDPH] urges consumers to avoid consuming any Raw Farm products for human consumption including raw milk, cream, cheese,and kefir, as well as raw milk pet food topper and pet food kefir marketed to pet owners," the CDPH said in a health alert posted Tuesday. "In addition to the statewide voluntary recall, CDFA [California Department of Agriculture] has placed the farm under quarantine, suspending any new distribution of its raw milk, cream, kefir, butter and cheese products produced on or after November 27," the agency added. No human bird flu cases linked to the consumption of raw milk products have been confirmed at this point, the CDPH noted. Unlike raw milk, pasteurized milk is heat-treated to kill off any viruses and remains safe to drink. The latest actions follow recalls of two lots of Raw Farm products after bird flu was first reported in raw milk samples on Nov. 24. Bird flu first surfaced in U.S. dairy cows in March. Since then, the virus has been spreading across the country, particularly in California, where nearly 500 of the more than 700 infected herds nationwide have been detected, the Associated Press reported. So far this year, the virus has infected 58 people in the United States, including 31 in California, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Mild illnesses have been seen in dairy and poultry workers who had close contact with infected animals. No cases of bird flu spreading between people have been detected so far, the agency added. In a statement posted to its website, Raw Farm officials said they were working to restore raw milk supply quickly. “There are no illnesses associated with H5N1 in our products. But rather this is a political issue,” the post stated. “There are no food safety issues with our products or consumer safety. We are working towards resolving this political issue while being cooperative with our government regulatory agencies.” Any move to restrict public access to raw milk could be challenged by the incoming Trump administration, however. Robert Kennedy Jr., who has long criticized crackdowns on raw milk, has been nominated to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and has vowed to push for greater distribution of raw milk products. More information The CDC has more on bird flu . SOURCE: U.S. Department of Agriculture, news release, Dec. 6, 2024; California Department of Public Health, news release, Dec. 4, 2024; Associated Press A California dairy farm has issued a full recall of its raw milk and cream after bird flu was discovered in more milk samples.
Notre Dame puts losing streak in past, turns focus to DartmouthWhile the rest of the Notre Dame community figures out whether it's worth paying four figures for a ticket to the College Football Playoff first-round home game against Indiana, the men's basketball team continues to figure out how to survive without Markus Burton. Notre Dame (5-5) hosts its next-to-last nonconference game Wednesday night against Dartmouth (4-4), which plays its sixth contest of a seven-game road trip. The Fighting Irish took a promising step -- and snapped a five-game losing streak -- on Saturday by edging Syracuse 69-64 in their ACC opener. "We needed to be in a close game and we needed to win a close game so our guys can build some belief back," head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "We can't take any steps back on Wednesday." Without Burton -- the stat sheet-stuffing sophomore point guard who injured the medial collateral ligament in his knee Nov. 26 against Rutgers -- the Irish are struggling to find someone to run the offense, as evidenced by their seven assists versus 15 turnovers against Syracuse. At the same time, players are filling the scoring void. Braeden Shrewsberry poured in a career-high-tying 25 points versus the Orange while hitting 6 of 11 3-point attempts. Tae Davis averaged 12.4 points and 7.2 shots per game when Burton was healthy, but he has upped his mean production to 16.6 points and 12.2 shots in the past five games. Micah Shrewsberry, though, prefers to measure progress on a possession-by-possession basis. "Just the toughness," he said. "There have been times when we haven't gotten the key stop. We haven't gotten the bucket when we quite need it. It gets deflating sometimes." Dartmouth knows that feeling. On Sunday, the Big Green took a one-point lead with 4:03 left in overtime at UIC -- and then failed to score on their final six possessions to suffer a 69-68 loss. The Big Green, who haven't posted a winning season since 1998-99, believe whole-heartedly in launching 3-pointers as they take 48 percent of their shots from behind the arc. Senior Cade Haskins (13.6 ppg) has hit a team-high 28 of 68 3-pointers this season, though fellow senior Ryan Cornish stacks up as the team's top scorer (14.3 ppg), passer (3.0 assists per game) and defender (2.3 steals per game). In its only previous game against a power-conference opponent, Dartmouth upset Boston College 88-83 on Nov. 29. --Field Level Media
The Bears look for an interim coach bump when they visit the struggling 49ersNotre Dame puts losing streak in past, turns focus to Dartmouth
NoneTopline President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name former Sen. Kelly Loeffler his nominee for Agriculture secretary, CNN reported Friday, elevating the Georgia Republican after she and her billionaire husband spent more than $5 million boosting Trump during the election, ranking among his top donors. Key Facts What To Watch For Federal filings on campaign donations are only available through Oct. 16, so it’s possible Loeffler and/or Sprecher gave more money to support Trump right before Election Day that won’t be publicly reported for another few weeks. Who Is Kelly Loeffler? While she gained national attention in Congress, Loeffler’s career has primarily been as a businesswoman. She worked as an executive at Sprecher’s Intercontinental Exchange and went on to run cryptocurrency company Bakkt, a subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, R, appointed Loeffler to the Senate in 2019 to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Johnny Isakson when he resigned. Loeffler served as a senator only briefly from 2020 to 2021, when Sen. Raphael Warnock unseated her in a special election. Why Was Loeffler’s Time In The Senate Controversial? Loeffler garnered controversy in the Senate for her stock moves in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, selling approximately $20 million worth of shares between late January and March after lawmakers received private briefings on the pandemic’s potentially devastating impact. The Senate Ethics Committee cleared her of any wrongdoing in June 2020, but Loeffler said in an April 2020 op-ed that she was divesting from her individual stocks even as she maintained she and her family “never used any confidential information I received while performing my Senate duties as a means of making a private profit.” Loeffler also stepped down from the Senate Agriculture Committee’s subcommittee on commodities and trade amid the controversy, though she remained on the full Agriculture Committee. Though she was cleared of wrongdoing, the controversy continued to be an issue during her ultimately unsuccessful race against Warnock. Forbes Valuation Forbes values Sprecher’s net worth at $1.1 billion as of Friday afternoon. Key Background Assuming she is announced, Loeffler will be one of a number of loyal Trump allies that the president-elect is now rewarding with top positions in his administration, along with figures like campaign manager Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as attorney general and longtime adviser Stephen Miller as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy. Loeffler is not the only billionaire donor to make it into Trump’s administration, with the president-elect also naming Linda McMahon, wife of wrestling mogul Vince McMahon, to lead the Education Department after she similarly poured millions into his election. Elon Musk, who became one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters before the election while also spending millions through his America PAC, is also set to run a “Department of Government Efficiency” alongside billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy when Trump takes the White House, though that’s expected to operate outside of the government. Trump’s election was propped up by billionaires donating heavily to super PACs supporting the ex-president, as Trump’s main campaign fund—which is subject to limits on donations, unlike super PACs—significantly lagged behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ cash haul. While Harris outraised Trump by nearly three-to-1 ahead of Election Day in terms of their main campaign funds, federal filings suggest the top 10 super PACs supporting Trump actually took in more money than those supporting Harris. Further Reading
Marvel Discovery Corp. to Return to Blackfly Gold Project and Duhamel Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Projects; Evaluates Joint Venture Opportunities for Elliott Lake Uranium & Critical Element AssetsNYT's Brooks: Smith Was Right to Drop Case, It's More Dangerous if We 'Use Trials as Political Weapons' Going ForwardThe Bears look for an interim coach bump when they visit the struggling 49ers