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Duke University apologizes

Duke University moved quickly on Monday to offer apologies, launch an investigation and reassure a core group of graduate scholars after a medical school administrator sent an email warning Chinese students to speak in English.

Outcry mounted after an email sent on Friday by Megan Neely, who teaches in the biostatistics master’s degree.

Neely’s email to 50 biostatistics students said two faculty members approached her to complain about students speaking Chinese in a common area. She wrote that both were disappointed the students weren’t working to improve their English and wanted their names. The email urged international students to “keep these unintended consequences in mind when you choose to speak in Chinese in the building”.

Over the weekend, screenshots of the emails got scores of views and angry comments on social media networks in the US and China.

The Duke Asian Students Association issued a statement slamming Neely’s emails as discriminatory and harmful.

Amid the angry response, Neely stepped down as the program’s director of graduate studies, according to a letter from Dr Mary Klotman, the medical school dean.

Klotman apologized to students in the program in her letter, saying there was no restriction on using foreign languages in conversations.

Neely, who remains an assistant professor, also apologized in an email to program members, saying: “I deeply regret the hurt my email has caused. It was not my intention.”

 “Duke’s engagement with China, with Chinese students and with Chinese scholars is broad, deep and longstanding,” the Duke vice-president for public affairs, Michael Schoenfeld, said in an interview on Monday.

“We deeply regret that this particular incident might have compromised the very valuable and mutually beneficial relationship that Duke has with its Chinese students.”

Across all of Duke’s graduate and professional programs, 1,300 of about 8,500 students come from China. Thirty-six of the 55 students in the biostatistics master’s degree program are from China, and Chinese scholars represent one-fifth of the program’s approximately 50 faculty members.

International students are particularly attractive to US graduate programs because many countries abroad place more emphasis on math and science education, and because foreign students with the means to study in the US often can pay full tuition rather than seek financial assistance, said Scott Jaschik, the editor of Inside Higher Ed. He commended Duke for moving quickly to investigate, but added the school’s reputation could still suffer. “There is a quite a grapevine of information about international students back home- You can be sure people will hear about this,” he said in an interview.

Chi Liu, who’s from China’s Human province and is pursuing a chemistry PhD at Duke, said the university can maintain a good reputation abroad if it shows it’s taking the situation seriously. Liu believes Duke should fire Neely and the two unnamed faculty members who complained to her.

“All of us are angry. We feel offended,” he said, referring to the reaction among students from China. “You have this email to the Chinese students saying ... if you speak Chinese you will be remembered and identified, and that will affect your performance. That is very serious.”

Duke University - Aerial View 

From The Guardian (edited)

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Naomi Osaka's nationality

When Naomi Osaka won the Australian Open on January 26th and became the world’s top-ranked female tennis player, the inhabitants of her mother’s home town of Nemuro, on Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido, celebrated.

That may not seem strange, but in Japan people are typically considered Japanese only if they have two Japanese parents, speak fluent Japanese, look the part and “act Japanese”. Ms Osaka grew up in America and is only hafu (half) Japanese; her father is Haitian. She is more comfortable speaking English than Japanese. Her grandfather at first disowned her mother when she told him she was seeing a foreign man.

Japan may be becoming more tolerant of those who are different, however

To some degree it is a question of numbers: 3.4% of married Japanese have a foreign spouse and three times more foreigners live and work in the country today than a decade ago. 

Since Japan does not technically allow dual citizenship for those over 22, Ms Osaka will have to choose in October whether to remain Japanese or give up her American citizenship.

From The Economist (edited)

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Harley Davidson rough ride

A tour of the modernist building of the Harley-Davidson museum in Milwaukee helps to explain why the midwestern maker of motorcycles has iconic status, but also why it is struggling. Nearly all the visitors are white, middle-aged men, some in leather and heavily tattooed, others dressed conservatively. Harley is the quintessential baby-boomer brand but its customers are slowing down.

The firm has been losing sales at home for eight consecutive quarters. The total cost of tariffs (those imposed specifically on its bikes by the European Union and China, and also those levied by America on imports of steel and aluminium, its main materials), together with restructuring costs, wiped out its profits.

The 116-year-old business has been through tough times before. It almost went bankrupt in 1981 when America was in recession and Japanese makers of motorcycles dumped unsold inventory onto the American market at extremely low prices. Then a group of employees bought the company, persuaded the government to impose tariffs on Japanese bikes, improved the quality of its wares and returned to the heavy retro look of the 1940s. That did the trick for baby boomers who bought the expensive toys cleverly marketed as a symbol of freedom, individualism and adventure on America’s scenic roads.

Tariffs are the enemy again: the company expects their cost to rise to $120m this year.

Harley’s other challenge is to win over millennials, women and non-white buyers.

Dealers are counting on the 16 new motorcycle models to be more affordable, and attractive to a wider audience both in the USA and in international markets. 

Harley may suffer from the quality of its older motorcycles. Sales of used bikes are outpacing those of new ones by three to one (a decade ago it was the other way around). But while old bikes, and Harley accessories and clothing sold in specialist shops and on Amazon are selling well, they won’t compensate for the damage done by tariffs and youthful disinterest.

From The Economist (edited)

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What Is Affective Computing?

How would your computer respond if you looked frustrated or upset?  Could your phone comfort you if you were sad after getting a call?  Could your smart home adjust the music, lighting, or other aspects of the environment around you after you’ve had a bad day at work — without being asked?

It may seem far-fetched, but computers that can read your emotions and have some level of “emotional intelligence” are not far off.  The field is called affective computing, and it’s being developed for use in many applications.

Affective computing is not a new field but one that is becoming more relevant today, especially if you combine them with big data, robotics and machine learning.

Why do we want a computer to empathize with us?

Emotions are a fundamental part of the human experience — but they’ve long been ignored by technology development because they seemed difficult to quantify and because the technology didn’t really exist to read them. This has resulted in sometimes frustrating user experiences.

Programs will soon use facial expressions and micro-expressions, posture, gestures, tone of voice, speech and even the rhythm or force of keystrokes as well as the temperature of your hands to register changes in a user’s emotional state. Cameras and other sensors will  send the input data to deep learning algorithms that determine what your emotional state might be — and then react accordingly.

And the applications of these tools are practically limitless. E-learning programs could automatically detect when the learner was having difficulty and offer additional explanations or information. E-therapy could help deliver psychological health services online and be as effective as in-person counseling.

Companies including the BBC, CBS, Coca-Cola and Disney are already partnering with Affectiva, a leading company in recognizing facial expressions,  to test the effectiveness of advertisements, and how viewers react to film trailers and TV shows.

The company is now working with “a very large Japanese car company” to create in-car technology that can sense when you’re drowsy or distracted, and can contact emergency services or a friend or family member in an emergency situation.

Microsoft even recently tested a bra that can sense stress levels. Other applications are being created to help people on the Autism spectrum interact with others. People with Autism typically have difficulty recognizing the emotions of others, and small, wearable devices can help alert them to another person’s emotions to help them react and interact in social situations.

Another medical device can alert the wearer to changes in their biometric data (heart rate, temperature, etc.) in the moments before, during, and after a dangerous epileptic seizure.

Just as “artificial intelligence” isn’t the same as human intelligence (computers “think” in fundamentally different ways than the human brain), “emotional” machines won’t really be emotional.

By combining affective computing with machine learning, big data, and robotics, you’re on the edge of a time when machines will at least seem to respond to us with sympathy and other emotional responses.

Your refrigerator might suggest you skip the ice cream tonight because your stress levels are high. Your car might warn you to drive carefully because you seem tense.  Your phone might encourage you to take breaks because you’re getting frustrated.

Robots already exist that can recognize the faces of different family members and respond accordingly. Soon they will be able to recognize your emotions as well and offer helpful suggestions. The age of the “emotional” computer is coming.

Article by Bernard Marr (edited)

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Swiss guard new helmets

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican’s Swiss Guard, the colorfully dressed mini-army that helps protect the pope, will have cooler heads.  Their ancient metal helmets will be swapped for ones made by 3-D printers.

The new helmets, made of a thermoplastic, were distributed to the corps last month on the 513th anniversary of their foundation as a mercenary force in 1506.

They are nearly identical in appearance to the previous version and bear the coat of arms of Pope Julius II, who first used the corps for his personal protection.

One of the main advantages of the new helmets is that they will not heat up like the metal ones, so  the guards will sweat less.

The old helmets, made in Austria, weighed two kilograms, while the new ones, made in Switzerland, weigh 570 grams.

The 110 men of Swiss Guard wear the ceremonial uniforms of yellow, red and blue stripes at official papal services such as masses and visits by heads of state.

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Article from Reuters (edited)