Remember the discussions of “optics” and trying to manufacture the perception of support for Hillary Clinton?   It’s all a pretense; a fraud; a corporate media ruse.

Well, a great example comes today from “The Hill”, an on-line media outlet promoting the speech of candidate Clinton.  Notice anything, well, ‘odd’ about the picture:

It’s a 100% photoshopped image (link) assembling multiple rally crowd pictures to give the impression of Hillary Clinton in St. Petersburg.

Hillary is holding a rally at the St. Pete Colliseum in down town St. Petersburg. Located at 353 4th Ave North, the Coliseum venue holds approximately 4,000 people.  Hillary Clinton didn’t come close to filling it:

A couple of hundred people showed up [door count puts the number at 171] within a St. Petersburg venue capable of holding in excess of 4,000 without seating (link).

But the media,… well, in the land of make believe, they just can’t help but manufacture the optics because the same media are selling an entirely different story with their polling:

At this point, the action of the media is beyond ridiculous.  Some in the media even note their own embarrassing behavior:

[…] Polls shows that journalism is one of the least respected professions in the country, and with Trump calling out media organizations for their bias, widespread slanted reporting is bound to reinforce this point — and to backfire.

Trump’s campaign is throwing down the gauntlet to the political class. If journalists are seen as the mouthpiece of that class, they may soon find themselves covering Trump’s inauguration.  (link)

As if on a very predictable cue, pollster Patrick Murray strolls in to deliver his narrative.

With ABC (Disney) dropping their media poll on Saturday night, and with Monmouth today having joined the collective, the circle of wagons has closed and our prior prediction stands affirmed.

Dr. Claudia Pearce, UMBC Alumna and Senior Science Authority at NSA

On October 11, 2016, there will be a networking opportunity for CWIT, Meyerhoff undergraduate scholars, and PROMISE members from 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM to meet the 2016 ADVANCE Distinguished Lecture, featuring, Dr. Claudia Pearce,  M.S., ’89 and Ph.D., ’94 and 2014 UMBC Alumna of the Year in COEIT. Dr. Pearce is currently Senior Computer Science Authority at NSA, a member of UMBC’s COEIT advisory board, and involved in collaborative research our CSEE faculty. 

EVENT DETAILS

Event: Networking Opportunity with Dr. Claudia Pearce

Date: October 11, 2016

Time: 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM

Location: UMBC Campus, Commons 331

REGISTRATION

Members of the UMBC Community:

Please RSVP at http://my.umbc.edu/groups/advance/events/41572.

Members who are not part of the UMBC Community:

Please RSVP with your interest in attending in the comments section below.

This networking opportunty is part of her visit for the 2016 ADVANCE Distiguished Lecture later that day at 4:30 PM, a campus-wide talk on her career trajectory at 4:30pm in the Library Gallery followed by a reception. All are welcome to the afternoon event as she will share a personal story of perseverance in her educational, research, and career journey as a computer scientist.  We are proud to incorporate this event into UMBC’s 50th Anniversary celebrations where she will deliver. 

Dr. Claudia Pearce, UMBC Alumna and Senior Computer Science Authority at NSA

On October 11, 2016, there will be an ADVANCE Distinguished Lecture, featuring, Dr. Claudia Pearce,  M.S., ’89 and Ph.D., ’94 and 2014 UMBC Alumna of the Year in COEIT. Dr. Pearce is currently Senior Computer Science Authority at NSA, a member of UMBC’s COEIT advisory board, and involved in collaborative research our CSEE faculty. All are welcome to come as she will share a personal story of perseverance in her educational, research, and career journey as a computer scientist.  We are proud to incorporate this event into UMBC’s 50th Anniversary celebrations where she will deliver a campus-wide talk on her career trajectory at 4:30pm in the Library Gallery followed by a reception.

 EVENT DETAILS

REGISTRATION

Elizabeth Weingartner and Camilo Vanegas, third-year students in the School of Medicine’s Graduate Program in Life Sciences (GPILS), have been named winners in a Nanotechnology Startup Competition sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI).

Ten teams advanced in the worldwide competition. The winning entrepreneurs were selected based on 10-page business plans, financial models, and 20-minute “live pitches” to a panel of expert judges.

“The competition started with us picking a technology patented by the NIH,” says Weingartner, a PhD candidate in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. “Then we researched and decided the technology could be further developed to replace the current, antiquated method for monitoring the remission status of chronic myeloid leukemia [CML],” a type of cancer that starts in certain blood-forming cells of the bone marrow.

New Technology

Their entry, Nanobernetics, plans on utilizing newly developed carbon nanotube technology for their first product “Smart CML Detection.” Millions of carbon nanotubes act as transistors attached to CML probes. When a probe hybridizes to its target CML biomolecule, a shift in electrical current is identified. This shift gives clinicians critical information pertaining to the remission status of the patient’s CML. The current method for detecting this CML biomolecule is not sensitive enough, say UMB’s young research pair. “It’s like comparing a VCR to a Blu-ray player,” says Vanegas.

Weingartner and Vanegas created a two-minute video, a 10-page business plan, and gave a live pitch to the judges on Nanobernetics, which they hope to advance as a new classification of cancer remission, “Deep Molecular Remission.”

Development Guidance

Winners of an Innovation Spotlight Award for “Smart CML Detection,” they will receive guidance from the CAI about incorporating as a startup and negotiating with NIH for a license to develop the technology into a product.

The 10 winning teams will move forward to the third and final phase of the challenge — the Startup Phase. In this phase, the winning teams will form their startups to advance cancer nanotechnology inventions.

“We couldn’t be more excited about advancing in the Nanotechnology Startup Competition,” says Vanegas, a PhD candidate in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “Our success was possible because of the support we received from our PIs, mentors, and the UM Ventures office.”

The Nanotechnology Startup Challenge is supported by regional partners such as MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca.

The three screen Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Film Center will present film, digital video, educational, and live music offerings in the heart of Baltimore City in the renovated, historic Parkway Theater. The Film Center, a partnership among the Maryland Film Festival, Johns Hopkins University and MICA is slated to open in spring of 2017 and will offer a broad range of the world’s best art-house, independent, documentary, and classic cinema.