From Ratan Tata to Zakir Hussain to Manmohan Singh: The Legends We Lost in 2024As part of an experiential learning trip, Clemson students went to Georgetown, South Carolina, where they visited the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, toured Hobcaw Barony and went to Sandy Island where they interacted with the Gullah-Geechee community and concluded their trip with a private visit to the Gullah Museum. As part of an experiential learning trip, Clemson students went to Georgetown, South Carolina, where they visited the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Cent... Doctoral students Akshit Suthar and Crystal Anderson have been working on an umbrella project at the James C. Kennedy Waterfowl and Wetlands Conservation Center at Clemson University’s Belle W. Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science in Georgetown. As part of their research, Suthar and Anderson co-teach an undergraduate class – Historical Rice Fields and Tidal Wetlands of Coastal South Carolina: Drones, Ducks and Decision Support. In speaking with Jim Anderson, director of the Kennedy Center and the Baruch Institute, Suthar and Crystal Anderson thought it would be good to get the undergrads into the field where they could better understand the wetlands and waterfowl, the history of the antebellum rice fields and the Gullah-Geechee community, as well as assist with data collecting for his and Anderson’s research. Suthar has been using drones for waterfowl research and wetlands management. It is the first waterfowl drone survey conducted in South Carolina. Crystal Anderson is currently conducting a social dimension survey to explore how waterfowl managers, the public and Gullah communities engage with antebellum rice fields and their perspectives on priorities for future management. To deepen their understanding of social surveys, students have been assigned to design their own survey focusing on hunter satisfaction with current hunting rules and regulations. Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. “We designed the program for students to learn about the history, wildlife ecology and simultaneously they can go in the field and have real-world experience which will help them to be ready for the job market or their master’s program in the future,” Suthar said. “We teach about the different methodologies and how they can use drones for wildlife research. Also, our social dimension theme helps them design their social surveys and reach out to the people and collect their perceptions about the landscape.” From Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, the students went to Georgetown where they visited the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, toured Hobcaw Barony and went to Sandy Island where they interacted with the Gullah-Geechee community and concluded their trip with a private visit to the Gullah Museum. While at the Yawkey Wildlife Center, the students learned the background of what once was a historical rice field impoundment. This structure now continues the legacy established by Tom and Jean Yawkey of conducting pioneering waterfowl, wetlands and wildlife management activities supported by natural resources research. It also provides unique educational opportunities by interpreting the property’s diverse cultural and natural history. “The morning in the Yawkey Wildlife Center was my favorite part,” said Sarah Kolarik, a senior wildlife and fisheries biology major from Travelers Rest. “Jamie (Dozier, project leader of Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center) talked to us about management and what waterfowl are eating, and freshwater and saltwater fields and how they manage for that. What really made it memorable for me was just how wild it was. It was just a massive expanse of open land and native plants. I got to watch a northern harrier glide totally silently across the rice field for probably half an hour. There were just so many birds. All you could hear was bird song all around you. I think I’m probably going to hang onto that and carry it with me.” From there, the students toured Hobcaw Barony, a 16,000-acre research reserve with a rich diversity of every ecosystem found on the South Carolina coast. The students explored pine forests, hardwood bottomland forested wetlands, rice fields, a former slave village and coastal marshes. They also collected data using drone-based aerial surveys. On their final full day, the students visited the Sandy Island Gullah Community where they interacted with the Gullah-Geechee residents to collect social dimension data. They were treated to a traditional Gullah meal. “Sandy Island is a really unique place,” Kolarik said. “There’s land there held by The Nature Conservancy. We got to walk around and look at all the different ecosystems they have on the island, including maritime forests and sand hills. We talked to people who live on Sandy Island. The person leading the tour was Tyler Pratt, who was a Clemson graduate,” and currently works for the University of South Carolina on shared property with Clemson and Hobcaw Barony. That evening, the students had dinner with Jim Anderson at The Root in the historic waterfront of Georgetown where they discussed the course and future career objectives. Before returning to Clemson, the students stopped for a private tour of the Gullah Museum, led by Janette Rodrigues and her sister Beatrice. The students were given a comprehensive overview of Gullah history, language and culture, and were able to view art pieces associated with Gullah life. Suthar and Crystal Anderson said the trip gave the class a unique perspective into the program and the research being conducted on antebellum rice fields. “They learned about the history and the wildlife ecology,” Suthar said. “They also learned about the management. Many programs just take you into the field and you completely learn about the ecology or research. But they do not consider the social dimension. They also do not consider the management perspectives. “But on this trip, they experienced the people. They experienced the food. They experienced the culture. They experienced the exact area where these people used to work. This trip was more of an experience and holistic approach, how you can have ecology with imaging technology and human dimension.” Hannah Kern, a junior from Charleston, majoring in environmental and natural resources, said the trip was invaluable. “It was cool to get my name out there as a junior undergraduate and to be able to meet with so many different people,” Kern said. “I learned how to interact in those research environments. So much stuff is taught in class, but this was the first time that I was in a meeting where we talked and learned how to interact in those conference rooms. I got to see a lot more about what I want to do and don’t want to do post-grad.” Kern said she also got a chance to connect with members of her research team. Prior to the trip, most of their interactions were through text messages or via Zoom. “Being able to stay in the cabin together at Hobcaw Barony was a fantastic experience and we got so much done with our research because we were able to communicate with each other the whole time.” After compiling the data collected for the social dimension survey on hunter satisfaction, the students will have their findings published and they will be listed as co-authors, a rare experience for undergraduates. For the drone survey, they collected aerial images of the waterfowl and merged the color images with the thermal image, calculating and counting the birds using both images. “I’ve also gotten a recreational drone pilot license, which is a good step up,” Kolarik said. “The next one would be a commercial drone pilot license and that would be valuable and applicable to my future as a wildlife biologist. These things are preparing me for either continuing in academia or going straight into the workforce. I’ve gained a lot.” Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox.
ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who tried to restore virtue to the White House after the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, then rebounded from a landslide defeat to become a global advocate of human rights and democracy, has died. He was 100 years old . The Carter Center said the 39th president died Sunday afternoon, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, lived most of their lives. The center said he died peacefully, surrounded by his family. A moderate Democrat, Carter ran for president in 1976 as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad grin, effusive Baptist faith and technocratic plans for efficient government. His promise to never deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter said. Carter’s victory over Republican Gerald Ford, whose fortunes fell after pardoning Nixon, came amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over race, women’s rights and America’s role in the world. His achievements included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David for 13 days in 1978. But his coalition splintered under double-digit inflation and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His negotiations ultimately brought all the hostages home alive, but in a final insult, Iran didn’t release them until the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, who had trounced him in the 1980 election. Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded that he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives. Swinging hammers into their 90s, the Carters built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The common observation that he was better as an ex-president rankled Carter. His allies were pleased that he lived long enough to see biographers and historians revisit his presidency and declare it more impactful than many understood at the time. Propelled in 1976 by voters in Iowa and then across the South, Carter ran a no-frills campaign. Americans were captivated by the earnest engineer, and while an election-year Playboy interview drew snickers when he said he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times,” voters tired of political cynicism found it endearing. The first family set an informal tone in the White House, carrying their own luggage, trying to silence the Marine Band’s traditional “Hail to the Chief" and enrolling daughter, Amy, in public schools. Carter was lampooned for wearing a cardigan and urging Americans to turn down their thermostats. But Carter set the stage for an economic revival and sharply reduced America's dependence on foreign oil by deregulating the energy industry along with airlines, trains and trucking. He established the departments of Energy and Education, appointed record numbers of women and nonwhites to federal posts, preserved millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness and pardoned most Vietnam draft evaders. Emphasizing human rights , he ended most support for military dictators and took on bribery by multinational corporations by signing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He persuaded the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties and normalized relations with China, an outgrowth of Nixon’s outreach to Beijing. But crippling turns in foreign affairs took their toll. When OPEC hiked crude prices, making drivers line up for gasoline as inflation spiked to 11%, Carter tried to encourage Americans to overcome “a crisis of confidence.” Many voters lost confidence in Carter instead after the infamous address that media dubbed his “malaise" speech, even though he never used that word. After Carter reluctantly agreed to admit the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979. Negotiations to quickly free the hostages broke down, and then eight Americans died when a top-secret military rescue attempt failed. Carter also had to reverse course on the SALT II nuclear arms treaty after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Though historians would later credit Carter's diplomatic efforts for hastening the end of the Cold war, Republicans labeled his soft power weak. Reagan’s “make America great again” appeals resonated, and he beat Carter in all but six states. Born Oct. 1, 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. married fellow Plains native Rosalynn Smith in 1946, the year he graduated from the Naval Academy. He brought his young family back to Plains after his father died, abandoning his Navy career, and they soon turned their ambitions to politics . Carter reached the state Senate in 1962. After rural white and Black voters elected him governor in 1970, he drew national attention by declaring that “the time for racial discrimination is over.” Carter published more than 30 books and remained influential as his center turned its democracy advocacy onto U.S. politics, monitoring an audit of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results. After a 2015 cancer diagnosis, Carter said he felt “perfectly at ease with whatever comes.” “I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” Contributors include former AP staffer Alex Sanz in Atlanta.
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Maupay also had a dig at Everton when he departed on loan to Marseille in the summer and his latest taunt has further angered the Premier League club’s supporters. The 28-year-old said on X after Sean Dyche’s side had lost 2-0 to Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park on Sunday: “Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile.” Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile 🙂 — Neal Maupay (@nealmaupay_) Former boxer Tony Bellew was among the Toffees’ supporters who responded to Maupay, with the ex-world cruiserweight champion replying on X with: “P****!” Maupay endured a miserable spell at Everton, scoring just one league goal in 29 appearances after being signed by the Merseysiders for an undisclosed fee in 2022. He departed on a season-long loan to his former club Brentford for the 2023-24 season and left Goodison for a second time in August when Marseille signed him on loan with an obligation to make the deal permanent. After leaving Everton in the summer, Maupay outraged their fans by posting on social media a scene from the film Shawshank Redemption, famous for depicting the main character’s long fight for freedom.
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President-elect Donald Trump will return to power next year with a raft of technological tools at his disposal that would help deliver his campaign promise of cracking down on immigration — among them, surveillance and artificial intelligence technology that the Biden administration already uses to help make crucial decisions in tracking, detaining and ultimately deporting immigrants lacking permanent legal status. While immigration officials have used the tech for years, an October letter from the Department of Homeland Security obtained exclusively by The Associated Press details how those tools — some of them powered by AI — help make life-altering decisions for immigrants, including whether they should be detained or surveilled. One algorithm, for example, ranks immigrants with a “Hurricane Score,” ranging from 1-5, to assess whether someone will “abscond” from the agency's supervision. The letter, sent by DHS Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Eric Hysen to the immigrant rights group Just Futures Law, revealed that the score calculates the potential risk that an immigrant — with a pending case — will fail to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The algorithm relies on several factors, he said, including an immigrant’s number of violations and length of time in the program, and whether the person has a travel document. Hysen wrote that ICE officers consider the score, among other information, when making decisions about an immigrant’s case. “The Hurricane Score does not make decisions on detention, deportation, or surveillance; instead, it is used to inform human decision-making,” Hysen wrote. Also included in the government’s tool kit is a mobile app called SmartLINK that uses facial matching and can track an immigrant’s specific location. Nearly 200,000 people without legal status who are in removal proceedings are enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, under which certain immigrants can live in the U.S. while their immigration cases are pending. In exchange, SmartLINK and GPS trackers used by ICE rigorously surveil them and their movements. The phone application draws on facial matching technology and geolocation data, which has been used before to find and arrest those using the app. Just Futures Law wrote to Hysen earlier this year, questioning the fairness of using an algorithm to assess whether someone is a flight risk and raising concerns over how much data SmartLINK collects. Such AI systems, which score or screen people, are used widely but remain largely unregulated even though some have been found to discriminate on race, gender or other protected traits. DHS said in an email that it is committed to ensuring that its use of AI is transparent and safeguards privacy and civil rights while avoiding biases. The agency said it is working to implement the Biden administration’s requirements on using AI , but Hysen said in his letter that security officials may waive those requirements for certain uses. Trump has publicly vowed to repeal Biden's AI policy when he returns to the White House in January. “DHS uses AI to assist our personnel in their work, but DHS does not use the outputs of AI systems as the sole basis for any law enforcement action or denial of benefits,” a spokesperson for DHS told the AP. Trump has not revealed how he plans to carry out his promised deportation of an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally. Although he has proposed invoking wartime powers, as well as military involvement, the plan would face major logistical challenges — such as where to keep those who have been detained and how to find people spread across the country — that AI-powered surveillance tools could potentially address. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump, did not answer questions about how they plan to use DHS’ tech, but said in a statement that “President Trump will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation” in American history. Over 100 civil society groups sent a letter on Friday urging the Office of Management and Budget to require DHS to comply with the Biden administration’s guidelines. OMB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Just Futures Law’s executive director, Paromita Shah, said if immigrants are scored as flight risks, they are more likely to remain in detention, "limiting their ability to prepare a defense in their case in immigration court, which is already difficult enough as it is.” SmartLINK, part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, is run by BI Inc., a subsidiary of the private prison company The GEO Group. The GEO Group also contracts with ICE to run detention centers. ICE is tight-lipped about how it uses SmartLINK’s location feature to find and arrest immigrants. Still, public records show that during Trump’s first term in 2018, Manassas, Virginia-based employees of BI Inc. relayed immigrants’ GPS locations to federal authorities, who then arrested over 40 people. In a report last year to address privacy issues and concerns, DHS said that the mobile app includes security features that “prohibit access to information on the participant’s mobile device, with the exception of location data points when the app is open.” But the report notes that there remains a risk that data collected from people "may be misused for unauthorized persistent monitoring.” Such information could also be stored in other ICE and DHS databases and used for other DHS mission purposes, the report said. On investor calls earlier this month, private prison companies were clear-eyed about the opportunities ahead. The GEO Group’s executive chairman George Christopher Zoley said that he expects the incoming Trump administration to “take a much more aggressive approach regarding border security as well as interior enforcement and to request additional funding from Congress to achieve these goals.” “In GEO’s ISAP program, we can scale up from the present 182,500 participants to several hundreds of thousands, or even millions of participants,” Zoley said. That same day, the head of another private prison company told investors he would be watching closely to see how the new administration may change immigrant monitoring programs. “It’s an opportunity for multiple vendors to engage ICE about the program going forward and think about creative and innovative solutions to not only get better outcomes, but also scale up the program as necessary,” Damon Hininger, CEO of the private prison company CoreCivic Inc. said on an earnings call. GEO did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, CoreCivic said that it has played “a valued but limited role in America’s immigration system” for both Democrats and Republicans for over 40 years.
Croatia's incumbent president gains most votes for re-election, but not enough to avoid a runoffKashmir University postpones exams scheduled for tomorrow due to snowMaupay also had a dig at Everton when he departed on loan to Marseille in the summer and his latest taunt has further angered the Premier League club’s supporters. The 28-year-old said on X after Sean Dyche’s side had lost 2-0 to Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park on Sunday: “Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile.” Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile 🙂 — Neal Maupay (@nealmaupay_) December 29, 2024 Former boxer Tony Bellew was among the Toffees’ supporters who responded to Maupay, with the ex-world cruiserweight champion replying on X with: “P****!” Maupay endured a miserable spell at Everton, scoring just one league goal in 29 appearances after being signed by the Merseysiders for an undisclosed fee in 2022. He departed on a season-long loan to his former club Brentford for the 2023-24 season and left Goodison for a second time in August when Marseille signed him on loan with an obligation to make the deal permanent. After leaving Everton in the summer, Maupay outraged their fans by posting on social media a scene from the film Shawshank Redemption, famous for depicting the main character’s long fight for freedom.