NCAA Men's Basketball: Skidmore looks to get back on track versus Vassar Friday

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Skidmore's Tanner Brooks throws in three for the Thoroughbreds during Saturday's matchup against Union. Ed Burke 1/26/13

By ANDREW CHAMPAGNE
achampagne@saratogian.com
Twitter.com/AndrewChampagne

Skidmore's Aldin Medunjanin shoots over Union's Joe Mason during Saturday's Liberty League matchup. Ed Burke 1/26/13

SARATOGA SPRINGS ? Before the start of the 2012-13 season, uncertainty reigned around the Skidmore men?s basketball program.

The Thoroughbreds were coming off a second straight Liberty League championship, but lost eight seniors to graduation, including the 2011-12 team?s top five scorers. As a result, nine of the 2012-13 squad?s 15 players were newcomers to the team when practices started in the fall.

However, Skidmore has played its way into tournament contention despite its youth. With just two regular-season games to go, the Thoroughbreds are tied for fourth in the Liberty League, and in a conference where only four teams advance to play for the league title, those last two contests are huge.

?It?s ?win or go home? for us,? freshman guard Aldin Medunjanin said. ?We know we need to win these next two. This is basically our whole season, that?s what it comes down to.?

?It?s crunch time now,? fellow freshman Tanner Brooks added. ?We have to come to play.?

Medunjanin and Brooks have formed a high-octane backcourt in their first seasons at Skidmore. The first-year Thoroughbreds have combined for 29 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per game, and their contributions have played large parts in lifting the young team to a 14-9 overall record.

?I?m thrilled, to be honest with you,? head coach Joe Burke said when asked about his freshman class. ?We don?t settle here, but I had some question marks coming in. When you lose that much, that?s going to be the case.

?We have nine new guys, and I?ve been very pleased. Obviously, the contributions from the freshmen that happened right away have been huge. We certainly have some talented players, and it?s exciting.?

Skidmore will need to shake off a rough stretch heading into Friday?s home finale against Vassar. After a mid-season stretch that saw the Thoroughbreds win six straight games, the team has dropped four of its last five and is tied with Clarkson at 8-6 in Liberty League play.

?We?ve slipped up the past few games,? Brooks said. ?We have no more room for error.? Continued...

?Every game is big, but the bottom line is it?s the end of the season and our goal coming in is to be playing our best basketball,? Burke said. ?If we can do that this weekend, I?m confident we?ll do well. Whether that puts us in the playoffs, what seed that gets us, I don?t know.?

R.P.I., which Skidmore will play Saturday afternoon in Troy, sits third at 9-5 in league play. By winning out, Skidmore would assure itself a spot in the conference tournament. Even in a scenario where Clarkson and R.P.I. also finish at 10-6, forcing a three-way tie for third, the Thoroughbreds would advance by virtue of a 3-1 combined record against the two other teams.

To get to that point, both Medunjanin and Brooks agree that the Thoroughbreds need to focus on playing top-notch defense.

?At times, we?ve played defense for 20 or 25 seconds and then let up second-chance points,? Medunjanin said. ?Just getting stops on defense and not letting the other teams get second-chance opportunities (will be important).?

?We?re at our best when we?re playing good defense and getting out in transition, getting easy buckets? Brooks said. ?If we come out and play defense, I think we?ll be in the playoffs.?

Meanwhile, Burke, who would be gunning for a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Championship tournament if the team qualifies for postseason play, made it clear that the team is mature beyond its years.

?The mindset has been good and consistent all year,? he said. ?We may physically be freshmen and sophomores, but mentally, I don?t think that way.

?The bottom line is, we don?t go to the Liberty League tournament just to be there. We go there to win the thing. If we play well this weekend, develop some momentum, and get in, I think we?ve got just as good a shot as everyone else.?

Source: http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2013/02/14/sports/doc511d7ba36fff2351599076.txt

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Video: Sing it, girl! KLG?s hilarious impromptu performance

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50801603/

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Singapore Media Outlet e27 Gets $615K, Plans Southeast Asia Expansion

Singaporean media outfit, e27, has raised about US$615,000 (S$760,000) through a funding round with investors in the region, and plans to expand into Southeast Asia. The round was raised with B Dash Ventures from Japan, Pinehurst Advisors in Taiwan, Ardent Capital in Thailand and Dan Neary in Singapore. e27 has been around since 2006 and runs a news site on tech startups in Asia, and organizes conferences. Mohan Belani, e27?s CEO and co-founder, said that he is looking to hire editorial staff in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. The company?s focus, however, will remain on its annual flagship event called Echelon, he added. Last year, about 3,000 people attended Echelon, which also drew 50 startups and 150 investors. Echelon 2013 will be held on June 4 and 5 in Singapore this year. After this funding round, B Dash Ventures CEO, Hiroyuki Watanabe, will join e27?s board. Current members are Nic Lim (8capita) and founders, Belani and Thaddeus Koh. Belani said that the company has been bootstrapped so far, except for a small angel round raised in early 2012 by 8capita.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/HEwg7OCl1AM/

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Robert DeLong Ready To Test 'Global Concepts' As MTV's Artist To Watch

The L.A.-based electro artist is aiming for the big time with his Just Movement album.
By James Montgomery

Robert DeLong
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1701947/robert-delong-just-movement-artist-to-watch.jhtml

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Christianity influences meat taboos in Amazon

Feb. 13, 2013 ? The introduction of Christianity has changed the hunting habits of indigenous people in the Amazon. While some new practices could benefit animals, others could put populations at risk.

Religious missionaries have been transforming the belief systems of indigenous peoples deep within the Amazon since the 1700s, but the outsiders might be influencing more than just prayer. Research by Stanford biologists suggests that the introduction of Western religions is altering the biodiversity in the region.

In some cases, tribal members acting on newly adopted religious beliefs may benefit animal populations in ways similar to conservation efforts. Other introduced behaviors, however, might be endangering animals once protected by indigenous practices.

The finding comes from Jose Fragoso, a scientist at Stanford, and Jeffrey Luzar, a post-doctoral collaborator in Fragoso's group. The pair has conducted several years of ecological and anthropological research of the Makushi and Wapishana tribes in the Guyanese Amazon.

The researchers asked nearly 9,900 individuals ascribing to one of the three major religious influences in the area -- evangelical, Sabbatarian and Roman Catholic/Anglican forms of Christianity -- which animals they avoided eating, and compared the responses to the recommendations made by indigenous shamans.

For example, the Makushi and Wapishana believe that eating lowland tapir can make them sick because of potentially dangerous spiritual aspects associated with the animal and its meat. Yet, many people who follow these beliefs continue to eat tapir because they trust their shaman's ability to cure the illness.

However, the researchers found that people who converted to one of the Sabbatarian faiths -- those that strictly observe the Christian Sabbath, such as Seventh-Day Adventists -- that reject shamanism were less likely to eat tapir compared to those people who follow indigenous beliefs.

This change came because Sabbatarian missionaries introduced new taboos concerning pigs and their relatives. Based on the traditions of the Hebrew Bible, the people consider tapirs, along with some other native animals, such as peccaries, to fall under classes of animals prohibited for consumption.

And while the Anglican and Catholic churches place no restrictions on eating tapir and the converted people are generally free to visit shamans openly, the researchers found that many people were still more wary of killing traditionally tabooed species. This was true even in Evangelical and Sabbatarian communities where the shaman had been abolished.

"You can eliminate the shamans, but the spiritual belief system continues on for many generations," Fragoso said.

Ultimately, reluctance to eat commonly tabooed species such as tapir might serve as a resource management tool analogous to hunting bans, the scientists write in the paper, and could be beneficial for tapir numbers, as these endangered animals have low reproduction rates. Other species that have ties to shamanistic taboos -- such as capybara, red-footed tortoises and two species of deer -- are also subjected to fewer reported killings in converted communities.

This does not necessarily mean, however, that all animals thrive in converted communities. Shamans are also traditionally responsible for guarding special spiritual areas, large sections of off-limits land associated with powerful, and often dangerous, spiritual entities. With the dissolution of shamanism, particularly in the evangelical and Sabbatarian groups, some people now hunt in these areas.

When protected by shamans and the cautionary warnings they provide to hunters, these areas provide a safe space for many animals to mate, give birth and raise young. Hunting these animals could have negative effects on biodiversity throughout the region.

"Based on field observations, I think that the removal of shamans has translated into more killing of animals," Fragoso said. "Our perception is that they are killing more animals that are not taboo, such as pigs, and also that they are making kills in the holy areas, which were previously off-limits."

Fragoso and his colleagues will soon return to the Amazon to catalog kills to determine whether certain animals are being killed in greater numbers in the converted communities, and also whether there has been any response bias in surveyed groups.

This research was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford University. The original article was written by Bjorn Carey.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jeffrey B. Luzar, Kirsten M. Silvius, Jose M. V. Fragoso. Church Affiliation and Meat Taboos in Indigenous Communities of Guyanese Amazonia. Human Ecology, 2012; 40 (6): 833 DOI: 10.1007/s10745-012-9521-4

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/zOhK7DC_fqA/130213094115.htm

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Finger-pointing trumps problem-solving on budget

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio takes questions from employees after a tour of Vinylmax LLC, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, in Hamilton, Ohio. Vinylmax is a top window producing company. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio takes questions from employees after a tour of Vinylmax LLC, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, in Hamilton, Ohio. Vinylmax is a top window producing company. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Just about everyone in official Washington is in agreement that big across-the-board spending cuts at the Pentagon and throughout domestic federal programs on March 1 are a bad idea.

So far, however, the warring factions in the nation's capital seem more interested in finger-pointing than problem-solving.

Top House Republicans have embarked on a PR campaign reminding the public that the idea for the across-the-board cuts originated in Obama's White House.

Senate Democrats are preparing a bill to substitute about $120 billion in alternative deficit cuts over 10 years and prevent the automatic cuts ? in Washington parlance, a sequester ? through the end of calendar 2013. Its biggest component is a $47 billion tax increase on the rich; that is sure to prompt a GOP filibuster, probably successful, that will give Democrats political cover ? and ammo.

"We again find ourselves in sad and familiar territory," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "Democrats sit on their hands until the last minute. Then they offer some gimmicky bill designed to fail."

Then there's President Barack Obama. He appeared before reporters at the White House last week to urge lawmakers to come up with a short-term plan to avoid the sequester. But Obama offered nothing specific, even though there are plenty of options at the ready after several recent rounds of failed Washington budget negotiations.

House Republicans do not have a plan to shut off the cuts and instead point to a spending cut bill that passed twice last year, most recently by a slender 215-209 vote in December. The GOP now controls eight fewer seats in the House and there's hardening sentiment among some tea party Republicans to allow the automatic cuts to take effect. It's not clear whether GOP leaders like Speaker John Boehner of Ohio could muster enough support to stop them.

"They seem content to sit on the sidelines and let the sequester take effect," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The Senate bill would replace the automatic spending cuts with a tax increase patterned after the so-called Buffett Rule, which would require people with million-dollar incomes to pay a minimum 30 percent income tax. The rule is named after billionaire Warren Buffett, who championed it on the grounds that it wasn't fair for his secretary to pay a higher effective tax rate than him. That's because taxes on most earned or wage income are generally higher than taxes on investments.

The Buffett rule was a wedge issue in last year's campaign and was rejected by Senate Republicans in April. It's sure to prompt Republicans to scuttle the upcoming Democratic bill in a filibuster vote expected to be held just days before the cuts take effect March 1.

All sides now think Washington is inevitably drifting into the sequester trap. Everyone's sticking to their positions. It's as if the only way out of the crisis is to stumble into it ? and hope the resulting political heat drives the battling sides to compromise.

Republicans say the moment calls for presidential leadership.

"The president warned of grave economic consequences if the sequester were to go into effect, but he didn't announce any specific plans for how he would address it," Boehner told reporters last week. "He didn't bother to actually outline how he would replace the sequester that he suggested and insisted upon."

Senior White House aide Jason Furman said last week that any short-term plan should include "a balanced combination of spending and revenue measures." He would not elaborate. Nor have Obama and Boehner talked recently, other than pleasantries at the inauguration. Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., haven't been in touch either, even as the cuts loom ever closer.

"There's an eerie similarity here isn't there to previous occurrences?" McConnell said Tuesday. "Take no action. Go right up to the deadline. And have an 11th hour negotiation. Read my lips, I'm not interested in an eleventh-hour negotiation."

The idea for the sequester came from the White House during negotiations in the summer of 2011 to increase the government's borrowing cap. Then, the White House pushed it as a way to avoid a second vote to increase debt limit that would have occurred in the middle of Obama's re-election campaign.

Whatever their reservations, top Republicans voted for the idea.

The sequester was intended to be so harsh that its prospect would drive a deficit-cutting "supercommittee" created by those talks toward an agreement. It did not.

The cuts were originally due to hit Jan. 1 but lawmakers gave themselves a two-month reprieve in last month's deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Many Republicans see the prospect of the sequester as their best chance to force Obama to agree to cuts in government benefit programs like Medicare, and some tea party Republicans are willing to absorb the sequester cuts if he won't go along. GOP leaders across the board say they won't agree to tax increases demanded by Democrats as part of any solution.

Obama carries the power of his office and the fact that he's more popular with the public than Capitol Hill Republicans into the battle. So Republicans already have been working overtime to remind voters that the sequester idea came from Obama's administration. Still, blaming the president for something some GOP members are embracing promises to be a tightrope exercise for Republican leaders.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-12-Budget%20Fight/id-795a6c86770d442c93379cb1f6cec4cc

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Cao Yu: Pioneer of Modern Chinese Drama (February 12, 2013 8:00am)

On January 15, 2013, the exhibition entitled "Cao Yu, Pioneer of Modern Drama in China" will be opened in North Campus Research Complex. Cao Yu is the founding father of modern Chinese drama, often regarded as China's most important of the 20th century. The exhibition is as much a story of modern China as it is about Cao Yu himself because his life and career exemplify the dilemmas and difficulties faced by generations of Chinese intellectuals in the twentieth century. "Thunderstorm", Cao Yu's maiden work, and "The Savage Land", a film by Liang Zi based on the play by Cao Yu, will be screened at the U-M campus during the exhibition period, and Professor Siyuan Liu (Department of Theatre and Film, UBC) will give a presentation entitled, "From Aristotle to O'Neill: Western Influence on Cao Yu" at 4pm, February 8, 2013.

Source: http://events.umich.edu/event/11925-1179378

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