This year marks the 30th anniversary of Return Of The Jedi, the Ewok-filled amazingness that spelled the end of the original Star Wars trilogy. That film contained one of the most amazing high-speed chases ever seen on film. This is how they brought that death defying chase to life.
One of the highlights of Return Of The Jedi is the speeder chase between the Rebels and the Empire. The Rebels need to distract the Scout Troopers in order to deactivate the shield generator. That would let the Rebel fleet penetrate the Death Star and defeat the Galactic Empire.
But you knew that already.
Luke and Leia jump on the speeders and then race through the forest at seriously crazy high speeds. There are tons of narrow misses and there was obviously no way to safely or realistically do this at those high speeds.
That's because it wasn't close to real. The natural assumption is the chase was filmed on a dirtbike and then the footage was sped up, but there's a problem with that: Dirtbikes aren't exactly the smoothest riding vehicles in the world. The speeders float on the air, which means they need to be way smoother than a motorcycle could ever be.
Just 100 more yards. My left hand is slippery with sweat. Legs tired. Brain hurts most of all. I wonder if really intense concentration produces any lingering harmful effects...look at Bobby Fisher! (At a camera speed of only 3/4 frame per second, a thousand feet of precise walking gets you just 16 feet of VistaVision in the can, and every take you forget a few more important phone numbers, or a family birthday.) Is it worth it? At this rate I will be illiterate in a week and a vegetable in two.
Not only was cameraman Garrett Brown wearing the steadicam, he also had two gyroscopes attached to it for extra stabilization, although a slight amount of wobble was still wanted to make it semi-realistic. He also had to concentrate on the target like a sniper. One misstep would mean a ruined take and another slow trudge through the forest. At 3/4 speed, Brown says that 1,000 feet of walking got him 16 usable feet of footage.
Brown was personally skeptical on the idea when it was presented to him. But instead of saying no, he decided to go for it. What resulted was walking with pounds of equipment slowly through the forest, where a slight error would cause him to start over again and again and again.
The 3/4 speed footage was sped up 30 times in order to make the film the standard 24 frames per seconds. That also made the speed become a mind-boggling 120 MPH through the forest. Brown had to repeatedly walk through the forest in order to get the right shots. Filming at a slow speed like that also didn't let them calculate for exposure, but it seems that their guesswork was spot on and corrections done in post made for a great looking scene.
Was the agony of walking through the forest super slowly and making hundreds of cuts to get a three minute chase worth it? Damn right it was.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged higher on Thursday, as investors digested a raft of earnings and a drop in initial jobless claims, though declines in Dow components ExxonMobil and 3M Co capped the advance.
United Parcel Service Inc, considered an economic bellwether, advanced 1.5 percent to $84.74 after the world's largest package-delivery company reported a quarterly profit above analysts' estimates.
Akamai Technologies Inc surged 18 percent to $42.59 as the best performer on the S&P 500 after the internet content delivery company posted first-quarter earnings above Wall Street estimates and forecast second-quarter results above analysts' expectations late on Wednesday.
"Investors coming into this earnings season were quite fearful, so even modestly positive news becomes great news and that is what we've experienced for the last several days," said Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manager at Federated Investors in Rochester, New York.
"It's probably a little early in the earnings season to talk about aggregate results but it's important to recognize that earnings are growing and so higher prices are deserved."
But declines in ExxonMobil and 3M Co briefly dragged the Dow into negative territory and curbed gains on the S&P 500.
ExxonMobil Corp dipped 1.4 percent to $88.15. The largest U.S. company by market capitalization said its quarterly profit edged up, helped by its chemicals business, but oil and gas production fell.
Fellow Dow component 3M Co lost 3.7 percent to $103.86 after the diversified U.S. manufacturer posted first-quarter earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street expectations and cut its 2013 profit forecast.
Economic data showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits in the latest week dropped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000 versus expectations for 351,000.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 8.02 points, or 0.05 percent, to 14,684.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> added 4.48 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,583.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> rose 18.60 points, or 0.57 percent, to 3,288.25.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc jumped 14 percent to $20.78 after the iron ore and metallurgical coal miner posted earnings late on Wednesday that were much better than analysts had estimated.
Qualcomm Inc lost 5.4 percent to $62.43 after the mobile chipmaker forecast earnings below expectations late Wednesday.
Companies expected to post earnings after the close include Amazon.com Inc and Starbucks .
Verizon Communications Inc rose 2.1 percent to $52.87 after sources told Reuters it has hired advisers to prepare a possible $100 billion cash and stock bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless from joint venture partner, Vodafone Group Plc .
Earnings season has been largely positive, with 68.4 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported results through Wednesday morning beating expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning. Since 1994, 63 percent have surpassed estimates on average, while the beat rate is 67 percent for the past four quarters.
Analysts see earnings growth of 3.1 percent this quarter, up from expectations of 1.5 percent at the start of the month.
Revenues, however, have been disappointing, with only 40.1 percent of 119 reported companies having topped expectations, well short of the 62 percent average since 2002 and the 52 percent beat rate for the past four quarters.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the Boston bombing proved his tough line on insurgents in the North Caucasus was justified and that Russia and the United States must step up cooperation on security.
After receiving almost 2 million questions from the Baltic Sea to Russia's far east, Putin used his annual "hotline" dial-in to present the image of a man still in control a year into his third term and not afraid of criticism at home and abroad.
"If we truly join our efforts together, we will not allow these strikes and suffer such losses," he said in the phone-in, which critics say is looking increasingly outdated as he fields often predictable questions from loyal factory workers, airforce pilots and struggling mothers.
But this time he made sure there were some critical voices in the audience, with former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin taking him to task over economic decline. Putin shrugged off his criticism by jokingly calling him a "slacker".
Looking stern and occasionally shifting forward in his chair to make a point, Putin took questions on issues ranging from pensions and roads to the ethnic Chechens suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings.
He avoided criticizing the U.S. failure to prevent the bombings despite Russian concerns about the brothers, but he took the chance to justify using heavy force against Islamist militants who oppose Russian rule in the North Caucasus.
"We have always said that action is needed and not declarations. Now two criminals have confirmed the correctness of our thesis," the former KGB spy said.
Putin, who first asserted his authority by crushing a Chechen independence bid in a war over a decade ago, has long said the United States underestimates the security threat posed by the Islamist militants and rejected international accusations that Moscow's use of force in the region has been heavy-handed.
His remarks underlined his intention to use heightened concern over security to win closer cooperation with the United States in the run-up to the Sochi Winter Olympics next February.
The Olympics are a pet project for Putin and intended as a showcase of what Russia can achieve. A fatal attack on the Games would put those efforts in doubt.
PM'S DISMISSAL UNLIKELY
Putin, 60, was taking part in his first phone-in with the Russian public since returning to the presidency last May after four years as prime minister.
The phone-in, broadcast nationwide, has been an almost annual event since 2001 - he did not do one last year.
Critics say the format has become outmoded and shows Russia has not moved with the times under Putin, who is accused by the opposition of being out of touch and allowing the country to stagnate economically and politically.
But Putin, whose approval rating still hovers above 60 percent, spoke fluently and looked at ease as he reeled off figures and answered questions - all of which he appeared to expect - as he sat at a desk behind a laptop in a suit and tie.
One of his aims was clearly to show he has reasserted his grip on power, which was undermined just over a year ago during the biggest street protests since he first rose to power.
The protests have since dwindled and the opposition remains disjointed although critics accuse him of violating human rights with a clampdown on dissenters.
Putin also used the call-in to play down suggestions that he disagrees with his government over economic policy and show he will not respond to calls to dismiss Dmitry Medvedev, the long-time ally whom he replaced as president last year.
There has been speculation for months in the media and among political analysts that Putin could make Medvedev a scapegoat if Russia's economy continues to slide towards recession.
But in response to a question, Putin said: "There is no division between the government and the president, or the presidential administration (on the economy)."
He acknowledged there may be many complaints about the government's work but, indicating it needed time to prove itself, he said: "The people have only been in their jobs about a year."
(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman, Douglas Busvine and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)
Even with $145 billion in its back pocket, Apple isn't above a little cost-saving. Following rumors that its new campus was $2 billion over budget, the company has revised its plans for the facility. While the UFO-style HQ is untouched, a secondary complex that was to be built along North Tantau Ave. has been pushed back to phase two -- which means it'll begin construction in 2016, just after people start working in the spaceship.
(Reuters) - This year's U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania has attracted a record total of 9,860 entries, the United States Golf Association (USGA) said on Thursday. The number of applicants for the June 13-16 tournament eclipsed the previous best of 9,086 for the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. "The fact that we have a record number of entries, from across the world, is a testament to both the great appeal of the U.S. Open and the historic nature and grandeur of Merion Golf Club," USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said in a statement. The U.S. ...
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 15 policemen and 31 Sunni Islamist militants were killed in clashes on Thursday in the northern city of Mosul, sources said, on the third day of the most widespread violence in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011.
Gunmen attacked Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday night and seized western parts of the city after using a mosque loudspeaker to rally Sunnis to join the battle.
Military sources said federal police and the army regained control after surrounding a police headquarters seized by militants, who were holding 17 hostages. The federal police chief said 31 militants had been killed in the fighting.
A source at a local morgue said they had received the bodies of nine militants and 15 policemen but others had yet to be recovered.
Troops and tanks also encircled the town of Suliaman Pek, 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, awaiting the arrival of special forces to drive out militants who took control overnight. The highway between Kirkuk and Baghdad was closed.
More than 100 people have been killed in fighting since Tuesday, when troops stormed a Sunni protest camp in the town of Hawija near Kirkuk, 170 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces.
The clashes were the bloodiest since thousands of Sunni Muslims started protests in December to demand an end to what they see as marginalization of their sect by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the years following the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni.
Sectarian violence, including bomb attacks which have killed dozens of people at a time, has increased across Iraq this year.
Provisional reports from rights group Iraq Body Count indicate about 1,365 people have been killed up to March 2013.
Militants partially blew up a pipeline carrying Iraqi crude from Kirkuk to Turkey's Mediterranean coast on Thursday, stopping the flow of oil, sources at Iraq's North Oil Company and the oil ministry told Reuters. The attack took place in the town of Shirqat, close to Hawija.
Clashes also erupted in Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, after militants attacked a federal police headquarters. The number of casualties was not known.
Sectarian bloodshed reached its height in Iraq in 2006-2007, three years into the U.S. occupation, when tens of thousands were killed.
(Additional reporting by Sufyan al-Mashhadani in Mosul; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Participants look at a LED display before a signing ceremony for the joint use agreement between the National Archive and the George W. Bush Presidential Center Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in Dallas. Bush and his wife, Laura, attended Wednesday's ceremony in Dallas the day before the official dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The George W. Bush Foundation raised the money to build the center. The foundation donated the library and museum portion of the center to the National Archives, which provides access to presidential records, documents, historical materials and artifacts over time.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Participants look at a LED display before a signing ceremony for the joint use agreement between the National Archive and the George W. Bush Presidential Center Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in Dallas. Bush and his wife, Laura, attended Wednesday's ceremony in Dallas the day before the official dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The George W. Bush Foundation raised the money to build the center. The foundation donated the library and museum portion of the center to the National Archives, which provides access to presidential records, documents, historical materials and artifacts over time.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Former President George W. Bush participates in a signing ceremony for the joint use agreement between the National Archive and the George W. Bush Presidential Center Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in Dallas. Bush and his wife, Laura, attended Wednesday's ceremony in Dallas the day before the official dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The George W. Bush Foundation raised the money to build the center. The foundation donated the library and museum portion of the center to the National Archives, which provides access to presidential records, documents, historical materials and artifacts over time. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk over to greet guests who awaited for them to arrive at Love Field Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in Dallas. The President will be in attendance Thursday at the George W. Bush presidential library dedication. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Bush Center president Mark Langdale, front left and national archivist David Ferriero, right, sign a joint use agreement for the George W. Bush Presidential Center Wednesday, April 24, 2013, in Dallas. At rear from left are board chairman of the George W. Bush Foundation Don Evans, former first lady Laura Bush, former president George W. Bush, and Bush Center Director Alan Lowe. Bush and his wife, Laura, attended Wednesday's ceremony in Dallas the day before the official dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The George W. Bush Foundation raised the money to build the center. The foundation donated the library and museum portion of the center to the National Archives, which provides access to presidential records, documents, historical materials and artifacts over time. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
DALLAS (AP) ? All the living American presidents past and present are gathering in Dallas, a rare reunion to salute one of their own at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
Profound ideological differences and a bitter history of blaming each other for the nation's woes will give way ? if just for a day ? to pomp and pleasantries Thursday as the five members of the most exclusive club in the world appear publicly together for the first time in years. For Bush, 66, the ceremony also marks his unofficial return to the public eye four years after the end of his deeply polarizing presidency.
On the sprawling, 23-acre university campus north of downtown Dallas housing his presidential library, museum and policy institute, Bush will be feted by his father, George H.W. Bush, and the two surviving Democratic former presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. President Barack Obama, fresh off a fundraiser for Democrats the night before, will also speak.
In a reminder of his duties as the current Oval Office inhabitant, Obama will travel to Waco in the afternoon for a memorial for victims of last week's deadly fertilizer plant explosion.
Key moments and themes from Bush's presidency ? the harrowing, the controversial and the inspiring ? won't be far removed from the minds of the presidents and guests assembled to dedicate the center, where interactive exhibits invite scrutiny of Bush's major choices as president, such as the financial bailout, the Iraq War and the international focus on HIV and AIDS.
On display is the bullhorn that Bush, near the start of his presidency, used to punctuate the chaos at ground zero three days after 9/11. Addressing a crowd of rescue workers amid the ruins of the World Trade Center, Bush said: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."
"Memories are fading rapidly, and the profound impact of that attack is becoming dim with time," Bush told The Associated Press earlier this month. "We want to make sure people remember not only the lives lost and the courage shown, but the lesson that the human condition overseas matters to the national security of our country."
More than 70 million pages of paper records. Two hundred million emails. Four million digital photos. About 43,000 artifacts. Bush's library will feature the largest digital holdings of any of the 13 presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration, officials said. Situated in a 15-acre urban park at Southern Methodist University, the center includes 226,000 square feet of indoor space.
A full-scale replica of the Oval Office as it looked during Bush's tenure sits on the campus, as does a piece of steel from the World Trade Center. In the museum, visitors can gaze at a container of chads ? the remnants of the famous Florida punch card ballots that played a pivotal role in the contested 2000 election that sent Bush to Washington.
Former first lady Laura Bush led the design committee, officials said, with a keen eye toward ensuring that her family's Texas roots were conspicuously reflected. Architects used local materials, including Texas Cordova cream limestone and trees from the central part of the state, in its construction.
From El Salvador to Ghana, Bush contemporaries and former heads of state made their way to Texas to lionize the American leader they served alongside on the world stage. Among the foreign leaders set to attend were former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
The public look back on the tenure of the nation's 43rd president comes as Bush is undergoing a coming-out of sorts after years spent in relative seclusion, away from the prying eyes of cameras and reporters that characterized his two terms in the White House and his years in the Texas governor's mansion before that. As the library's opening approached, Bush and his wife embarked on a round-robin of interviews with all the major television networks, likely aware that history's appraisal of his legacy and years in office will soon be solidifying.
An erroneous conclusion that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, a bungling of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina and a national debt that grew much larger under his watch stain the memory of his presidency for many, including Obama, who won two terms in the White House after lambasting the choices of its previous resident. But on Wednesday, Obama staunchly defended Bush's commitment to America's well-being while addressing Democratic donors.
"Whatever our political differences, President Bush loves this country and loves his people and shared that same concern, and is concerned about all people in America," Obama said. "Not just some. Not just those who voted Republican."
There's at least some evidence that Americans are warming to Bush four years after he returned to his ranch in Crawford, even if they still question his judgment on Iraq and other issues. While Bush left office with an approval rating of 33 percent, that figure has climbed to 47 percent ? about equal to Obama's own approval rating, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released ahead of the library opening.
Bush pushed forcefully but unsuccessfully for the type of sweeping immigration overhaul that Congress, with Obama's blessing, is now pursuing. And his aggressive approach to counterterrorism may be viewed with different eyes as the U.S. continues to be touched by acts of terrorism.
Although museums and libraries, by their nature, look back on history, the dedication of Bush's library also offers a few hints about the future, with much of the nation's top political brass gathered in the same state.
Clinton's wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, stoked speculation about her own political future Wednesday in a Dallas suburb when she delivered her first paid speech since stepping down as secretary of state earlier this year. Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, another potential 2016 contender, flew to Texas to take part in the library dedication. And Bush talked up the presidential prospects of his brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in an interview that aired Wednesday on ABC.
"He doesn't need my counsel, because he knows what it is, which is, 'Run,'" Bush said.
Obama, too, may have his own legacy in mind. He's just a few years out from making his own decision about where to house his presidential library and the monument to his legacy.
___
Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP
INFORMS awards 2013 UPS George D. Smith to the Naval Postgraduate SchoolPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Barry List barry.list@informs.org 443-757-3560 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) has awarded its prestigious UPS George D. Smith Prize to the Naval Post Graduate School. The prize was announced at a banquet on Monday, April 8 in San Antonio, Texas at the 2013 INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research.
The UPS George D. Smith Prize is awarded to an academic department or program for effective and innovative preparation of students to be good practitioners of operations research. It is accompanied by a $10,000 cash award. For the purpose of this award, operations research is defined broadly to include operations research, management science, and analytics.
INFORMS, the INFORMS College for the Practice of Management Science (CPMS), and UPS collaborated to establish this award to emphasize the importance of operations research practice and to encourage operations research/analytics programs around the world to focus on preparing students for operations research practice. In the two years since its inception, the prize has gained international stature, and has been attracting applications from highly recognized academic programs in U.S. and abroad.
Delivering the selection committee's decision, Dr. Donald Smith of Monmouth University who chaired the committee, stated, "The Naval Postgraduate School trains its students in making important line and policy research that is meant to ensure military preparedness, proper military planning, strong execution during wartime, and overall enlightened policy planning. Its graduates help making important decisions at multitude of levels. The program is unique in its strong and inexorable link to its sponsor, the U.S. Department of Defense, which keeps NPS students and faculty focused on applying methods to solve problems facing the military and other diverse branches of government, with a focus improving operational efficiency and effectiveness. By awarding the 2013 UPS George D. Smith Prize, the committee recognizes the outstanding contribution made by the Naval Post Graduate School, and its graduates, by the practice of operations research."
The other finalists for 2013 were:
The Lehigh University Enterprise System Center and Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Leaders for Global Operations Program
Accepting the award on behalf of NPS, Dr. Robert Dell, the chairman of the school's Operations Research Department, said, "It's an honor to be recognized as an exceptional program. Certainly what we strive to do is produce exceptional practitioners of operations research who graduate from our program and go on to make a difference in their militaries, both in the U.S. as well as around the world. The idea behind the prize is to ensure that the best practices for universities are acknowledged and an opportunity to share best practices provided so other programs can learn and improve."
The Naval Postgraduate School began offering its degree program in Operations Research in 1951, making it the first O.R. degree program in the country.
Approximately 55 students per year graduate from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) with a Master of Science in Operations Research degree. Its students are practitioners upon entry to the program, and on exit. They come to NPS in midcareer in the military, and leave it with a position in the military. They are full time employees of the military even as they undertake the NPS OR program. Thus, the practical usefulness of the material is paramount.
Students are required to conduct a three-week 'experience tour' in which they immerse themselves in the field to gain first-hand experience with the application of their research topic. The department celebrates student O.R. practice with a competition within each graduation class for the MORS/Tisdale award that is won by the student whose thesis demonstrates the greatest impact of operations research on the Department of Defense.
The NPS faculty frequently publishes on its teaching philosophy in the INFORMS magazine OR/MS Today and other outlets, and is regularly among the top schools in practical research according to the association's Rothkopf Rankings. They have received multiple Teaching of OR/MS Practice awards from INFORMS, among other awards.
The NPS program treats real world practice as laudable and necessary products of O.R. As such, NPS seeks to influence policy. NPS acts as a trusted source of policy advice for our government, and has been credited with advising and shaping defense investments of over a trillion dollars.
The UPS George D. Smith Prize is named in honor of the late UPS Chief Executive Officer who was a patron of operations researchers at this leading Fortune 500 corporation. George D. Smith was the second CEO of UPS, holding the position from 1962-1972. He joined UPS as an accountant in 1925and at some point in his long and illustrious career held almost every functional title within the company. He believed operations research practice was vital to the sustained growth of the company and championed its practice. UPS is generously underwriting the expenses for this prize to recognize the contribution of operations research discipline in transforming a small messenger company to a global logistics company.
###
More information about the prize is at http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/UPS-George-D.-Smith-Prize.
About INFORMS
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is the leading professional association for professionals in advanced analytics. INFORMS is an international scientific society with 10,000 members, including Nobel Prize laureates, dedicated to applying scientific methods to help improve decision-making, management, and operations. Members of INFORMS work in business, government, and academia. They are represented in fields as diverse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, financial engineering, and telecommunications. INFORMS serves the scientific and professional needs of operations research analysts, experts in analytics, consultants, scientists, students, educators, and managers, as well as their institutions, by publishing a variety of journals that describe the latest research in operations research. Further information about INFORMS, analytics, and operations research is at http://www.informs.org.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
INFORMS awards 2013 UPS George D. Smith to the Naval Postgraduate SchoolPublic release date: 25-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Barry List barry.list@informs.org 443-757-3560 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) has awarded its prestigious UPS George D. Smith Prize to the Naval Post Graduate School. The prize was announced at a banquet on Monday, April 8 in San Antonio, Texas at the 2013 INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research.
The UPS George D. Smith Prize is awarded to an academic department or program for effective and innovative preparation of students to be good practitioners of operations research. It is accompanied by a $10,000 cash award. For the purpose of this award, operations research is defined broadly to include operations research, management science, and analytics.
INFORMS, the INFORMS College for the Practice of Management Science (CPMS), and UPS collaborated to establish this award to emphasize the importance of operations research practice and to encourage operations research/analytics programs around the world to focus on preparing students for operations research practice. In the two years since its inception, the prize has gained international stature, and has been attracting applications from highly recognized academic programs in U.S. and abroad.
Delivering the selection committee's decision, Dr. Donald Smith of Monmouth University who chaired the committee, stated, "The Naval Postgraduate School trains its students in making important line and policy research that is meant to ensure military preparedness, proper military planning, strong execution during wartime, and overall enlightened policy planning. Its graduates help making important decisions at multitude of levels. The program is unique in its strong and inexorable link to its sponsor, the U.S. Department of Defense, which keeps NPS students and faculty focused on applying methods to solve problems facing the military and other diverse branches of government, with a focus improving operational efficiency and effectiveness. By awarding the 2013 UPS George D. Smith Prize, the committee recognizes the outstanding contribution made by the Naval Post Graduate School, and its graduates, by the practice of operations research."
The other finalists for 2013 were:
The Lehigh University Enterprise System Center and Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Leaders for Global Operations Program
Accepting the award on behalf of NPS, Dr. Robert Dell, the chairman of the school's Operations Research Department, said, "It's an honor to be recognized as an exceptional program. Certainly what we strive to do is produce exceptional practitioners of operations research who graduate from our program and go on to make a difference in their militaries, both in the U.S. as well as around the world. The idea behind the prize is to ensure that the best practices for universities are acknowledged and an opportunity to share best practices provided so other programs can learn and improve."
The Naval Postgraduate School began offering its degree program in Operations Research in 1951, making it the first O.R. degree program in the country.
Approximately 55 students per year graduate from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) with a Master of Science in Operations Research degree. Its students are practitioners upon entry to the program, and on exit. They come to NPS in midcareer in the military, and leave it with a position in the military. They are full time employees of the military even as they undertake the NPS OR program. Thus, the practical usefulness of the material is paramount.
Students are required to conduct a three-week 'experience tour' in which they immerse themselves in the field to gain first-hand experience with the application of their research topic. The department celebrates student O.R. practice with a competition within each graduation class for the MORS/Tisdale award that is won by the student whose thesis demonstrates the greatest impact of operations research on the Department of Defense.
The NPS faculty frequently publishes on its teaching philosophy in the INFORMS magazine OR/MS Today and other outlets, and is regularly among the top schools in practical research according to the association's Rothkopf Rankings. They have received multiple Teaching of OR/MS Practice awards from INFORMS, among other awards.
The NPS program treats real world practice as laudable and necessary products of O.R. As such, NPS seeks to influence policy. NPS acts as a trusted source of policy advice for our government, and has been credited with advising and shaping defense investments of over a trillion dollars.
The UPS George D. Smith Prize is named in honor of the late UPS Chief Executive Officer who was a patron of operations researchers at this leading Fortune 500 corporation. George D. Smith was the second CEO of UPS, holding the position from 1962-1972. He joined UPS as an accountant in 1925and at some point in his long and illustrious career held almost every functional title within the company. He believed operations research practice was vital to the sustained growth of the company and championed its practice. UPS is generously underwriting the expenses for this prize to recognize the contribution of operations research discipline in transforming a small messenger company to a global logistics company.
###
More information about the prize is at http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/UPS-George-D.-Smith-Prize.
About INFORMS
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is the leading professional association for professionals in advanced analytics. INFORMS is an international scientific society with 10,000 members, including Nobel Prize laureates, dedicated to applying scientific methods to help improve decision-making, management, and operations. Members of INFORMS work in business, government, and academia. They are represented in fields as diverse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, financial engineering, and telecommunications. INFORMS serves the scientific and professional needs of operations research analysts, experts in analytics, consultants, scientists, students, educators, and managers, as well as their institutions, by publishing a variety of journals that describe the latest research in operations research. Further information about INFORMS, analytics, and operations research is at http://www.informs.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
New Yorkers weigh in on the big Android question of the year
Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One? It's a question that's bound to be asked over and over in the coming weeks and months, as Samsung and HTC do battle over the crucial U.S. market. As we've now got both phones in-hand, we headed down to New York's Central Park to find out what a handful of real, live human beings thought of this year's leading Android phones.
Check out the video above, and be sure to share your own thoughts down in the comments.
Discovered: A mammal and bug food co-op in the High ArcticPublic release date: 24-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Brian Murphy brian.murphy@ualberta.ca 780-492-6041 University of Alberta
University of Alberta researchers were certainly surprised when they discovered the unusual response of pikas to patches of vegetation that had previously been grazed on by caterpillars from a species normally found in the high Arctic.
U of A biology researcher Isabel C. Barrio analyzed how two herbivores, caterpillars and pikas, competed for scarce vegetation in alpine areas of the southwest Yukon. The caterpillars come out of their winter cocoons and start consuming vegetation soon after the snow melts in June. Weeks later, the pika starts gathering and storing food in its winter den. For the experiment, Barrio altered the numbers of caterpillars grazing on small plots of land surrounding pika dens.
"What we found was that the pikas preferred the patches first grazed on by caterpillars," said Barrio. "We think the caterpillar's waste acted as a natural fertilizer, making the vegetation richer and more attractive to the pika."
U of A biology professor David Hik, who supervised the research, says the results are the opposite of what the team expected to find.
"Normally you'd expect that increased grazing by the caterpillars would have a negative effect on the pika," said Hik. "But the very territorial little pika actually preferred the vegetation first consumed by the caterpillars."
The researchers say it's highly unusual that two distant herbivore speciesan insect in its larval stage and a mammalreact positively to one another when it comes to the all-consuming survival issue of finding food.
These caterpillars stay in their crawling larval stage for up to 14 years, sheltering in a cocoon during the long winters before finally becoming Arctic woolly bear moths for the final 24 hours of their lives.
The pika does not hibernate and gathers a food supply in its den. Its food-gathering territory surrounds the den and covers an area of around 700 square metres.
The researchers say they'll continue their work on the caterpillarpika relationship to explore the long-term implications for increased insect populations and competition for scarce food resources in northern mountain environments.
Barrio was the lead author on the collaborative research project, which was published April 24 in the journal Biology Letters.
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For a research photograph please contact Brian Murphy.
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Discovered: A mammal and bug food co-op in the High ArcticPublic release date: 24-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Brian Murphy brian.murphy@ualberta.ca 780-492-6041 University of Alberta
University of Alberta researchers were certainly surprised when they discovered the unusual response of pikas to patches of vegetation that had previously been grazed on by caterpillars from a species normally found in the high Arctic.
U of A biology researcher Isabel C. Barrio analyzed how two herbivores, caterpillars and pikas, competed for scarce vegetation in alpine areas of the southwest Yukon. The caterpillars come out of their winter cocoons and start consuming vegetation soon after the snow melts in June. Weeks later, the pika starts gathering and storing food in its winter den. For the experiment, Barrio altered the numbers of caterpillars grazing on small plots of land surrounding pika dens.
"What we found was that the pikas preferred the patches first grazed on by caterpillars," said Barrio. "We think the caterpillar's waste acted as a natural fertilizer, making the vegetation richer and more attractive to the pika."
U of A biology professor David Hik, who supervised the research, says the results are the opposite of what the team expected to find.
"Normally you'd expect that increased grazing by the caterpillars would have a negative effect on the pika," said Hik. "But the very territorial little pika actually preferred the vegetation first consumed by the caterpillars."
The researchers say it's highly unusual that two distant herbivore speciesan insect in its larval stage and a mammalreact positively to one another when it comes to the all-consuming survival issue of finding food.
These caterpillars stay in their crawling larval stage for up to 14 years, sheltering in a cocoon during the long winters before finally becoming Arctic woolly bear moths for the final 24 hours of their lives.
The pika does not hibernate and gathers a food supply in its den. Its food-gathering territory surrounds the den and covers an area of around 700 square metres.
The researchers say they'll continue their work on the caterpillarpika relationship to explore the long-term implications for increased insect populations and competition for scarce food resources in northern mountain environments.
Barrio was the lead author on the collaborative research project, which was published April 24 in the journal Biology Letters.
###
For a research photograph please contact Brian Murphy.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
(Reuters) - Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co cut its 2013 profit forecast on Thursday, citing weakening demand for flat-panel televisions as well as the stronger U.S. dollar.
The lowered outlook came after first-quarter profit and revenue both missed Wall Street expectations.
3M, which makes a range of products from Post-It notes to Scotch tape, blamed falling sales in its consumer electronics segment, which makes films used to make flat-panel TV displays.
Prices for those TVs, as well as the amount of televisions sold, have fallen recently as consumers move toward touch-screen devices. Global demand for TVs is expected to plateau this year as many consumers in developed countries already own a flat-screen TV.
TV manufacturers Sony Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd are among 3M's largest customers. Both are paring their TV units.
3M executives had expected weak demand for TV parts and other electronic materials, including insulation and fluids used to make computer chips, but they said actual sales were worse than feared.
"We expected a challenging start to the year, but in fact market conditions were tougher than we had expected," Chief Executive Inge Thulin said on a conference call with investors.
The machines 3M uses to make the TV films are complex and expensive, and the trick for the company will be to find even more ways to use the machines for touchscreen products, William Blair & Co analyst Nick Heymann said.
Already, Apple Inc is a key 3M customer.
"You just have too much capacity" in the TV market, Heymann said. "3M is working through it. Now, they've got to move to the next market."
While a 56 percent drop in pension payments boosted first-quarter margins, analysts were wary because higher sales failed to contribute more to the margin strength.
3M now expects to earn $6.60 to $6.85 per share this year, a range mostly below the $6.82 average analyst estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
3M previously had expected to earn $6.70 to $6.95 per share this year.
Also, the rising value of the U.S. dollar compared with other global currencies harmed results, executives said. Previously, the company had not expected foreign currency changes to harm 2013 results, but now it was seen cutting revenue by 1.5 percent.
3M shares were down 2.4 percent at $105.33 late on Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has gained about 16 percent this year, outpacing the Dow Jones industrial average's rise of roughly 12 percent.
REVENUE RISES
St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M posted first-quarter profit of $1.13 billion, or $1.61 per share, compared with $1.13 billion, or $1.59 per share, in the year-earlier period.
Profit per share missed analysts' estimates of $1.65. The number of outstanding shares fell, boosting the most recent earnings per share.
Revenue rose 2 percent to $7.63 billion, missing the $7.81 billion estimate from analysts.
Thulin, who took the top job last year, began a restructuring in January. He merged 3M's security and traffic-safety units, eliminating about 300 jobs, and identified other units that 3M would need to fix, sell or close.
Thulin has said 3M needs to prune its broad portfolio of products, and is likely to focus on fewer but larger takeovers.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in New York; editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Maureen Bavdek, Jeffrey Benkoe and Matthew Lewis)
Customer Service Representative Full Time at Preston and Headquarters-1300351
Customer Service Representative
We invite you to explore the award-winning culture, people, rewards and opportunities that make Comerica Bank so special. Make your next career choice a confident one. The Customer Service Representative (CSR) is responsible for contributing to the overall success of a Retail Banking Center by meeting or exceeding sales goals, achieving prescribed customer service levels and executing operational objectives. This position's work schedule involves evenings and occasional Saturdays and requires the lifting and movement of currency/coin packages weighing up to 25 pounds.
Position Competencies
Successful incumbents possess integrity, are trustworthy, have composure, listening skills, interpersonal savvy, a drive for results, time management, functional and technical skills, are customer focused, and have the ability to develop peer relationships and boss relationships.
Comerica Bank uses IBM Lotus Notes for database, calendaring and e-mail functions.
Reporting Information/Location
This Customer Service Representative position is located at 8208 Preston Road, Plano, Texas 75024 and reports to the Retail Assistant Banking Center Manager. This position has no direct reports.
Position Responsibilities
1. Sales/Service
a. Meet or exceed individual goals for sales and referrals. Provide remarkable customer service through all customer interactions, opening new accounts, problem resolution, telephone answering, safe deposit access, etc.
b. Responsible for developing an in-depth knowledge of consumer products and services; referring loans and deposit products to consumer and small business customers and prospects.
c. Uncover customer needs through the use of probing techniques and other sales tools.
d. Conduct outbound calls by using referral sources, walk-in sources, telephone or in-person calls.
e. Actively participate in sales meetings and offer creative ideas.
f. Provide transactional customer service, including but not limited to the following: accept and process deposits, withdrawals and payments and handle other over the counter and mail transactions.
2. Operations
a. Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations, and Comerica's policies and procedures. Ensure compliance and completion of necessary compliance related training.
b. Adhere to all Banking Center audit and compliance standards.
c. Control losses by following policies and procedures.
3. Teamwork
a. Assist management with daily activities as assigned.
Total Rewards
We know that our employees are critical to our overall success. We are dedicated to investing in their future to maintain long-term relationships for lasting commitments. One of the ways we do this is to offer a comprehensive package of compensation and benefits programs which are regularly reviewed to maintain them at competitive levels. Your salary will be commensurate with your work experience.
Travel
Travel is not required of this position.
Qualifications - High school diploma or general equivalency diploma (GED) - 2 years of Customer Service experience - 1 year of experience as a Customer Service Representative (Teller) or In-Store Banker - 1 year personal computer, system data entry or Internet search experience
Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by the Business Bank, the Retail Bank, and Wealth & Institutional Management. Comerica's more than 9,200 colleagues focus on relationships, and helping people and businesses be successful. In addition to Texas, Comerica Bank locations can be found in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada and Mexico.
Upon offer, Comerica conducts a comprehensive background check and a hair follicle drug test. Upon hire, a fingerprinting check is completed.
Comerica is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to workplace diversity.
Primary Location: US-TX-Plano Job: Banking Center Management/Teller Schedule: Full-time Shift: Day Shift Work Hours (Example: 8:00am - 5:00pm Monday - Friday): 7:15am-6:15pm Monday-Friday;8:45am-12:15pm Saturday; Must be able to work a flexible 40 hour week during the times listed.
Environmental activists are turning up the heat on President Obama as he faces what could be the trickiest decision of his second term: whether or not to approve the controversial proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which could reach his desk this summer.
The project, which would transport oil from the tar sands of Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, promises jobs and energy. But critics say it will ravage the environment and send oil overseas.
?We put him in the White House because we thought he was the best chance of really making progress on the issue of climate,? the Sierrra Club?s Courtney Hight told ?Power Players.?
?He?s strongly said that he wants to do something?and this is one of his best opportunities to actually follow through,? she said.
Hight is no ordinary environmentalist. She was one of the first foot soldiers for Obama in New Hampshire in 2007 and later led his campaign?s outreach to youth voters in swing-state Florida.
In 2008, she joined the administration as a member of the president?s Council on Environmental Quality, but later quit her post disillusioned by what she saw as Obama?s weak commitment to cleaning up the earth.
?I worked for the president because I believed that he would change the way Washington fundamentally worked,? Hight said. ?It?s still important to me, and I think part of governing is that you need people to push.?
And push she has. Hight has helped to mobilized hundreds of young people to boycott the pipeline in Washington. During one protest, she was arrested in front of the White House fence.
With Obama no longer under pressure of re-election, it?s unclear what leverage Hight and fellow activists may have. Polls show a strong majority of Americans favor of approving the pipeline. It?s also backed by labor unions and business groups.
?It?s not just about denying this pipeline,? Hight said. ?It?s about, you know, making good on his investment or his promise to invest in clean energy and put that money into that, into clean energy opportunities verses into oil.?
The State Department, which is reviewing the pipeline plan, has released a favorable environmental review. However, the Environmental Protection Agency this week raised objections over the potential for harmful impacts.
What does Hight predict President Obama will do, and what are the potential consequences of his decision? Check out this episode of ?Power Players.?
ABC's Eric Wray, Alexandra Dukakis, Freda Kahen Kashi, Dick Norling, and Shari Thomas contributed to this episode.
You're looking at the Sony DEV-50V, an overhauled version of the pricey multi-gadget Sony announced at IFA a few years ago. Meet the new and improved Swiss Army goggles. They're part 25x zoom digital binoculars, part sophisticated 3D camcorder, and all kinds of crazy expensive. More »
Apr. 23, 2013 ? Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at University of the Pennsylvania have shown that an area of the brain that initiates behavioral changes had greater activation in smokers who watched anti-smoking ads with strong arguments versus those with weaker ones, and irrespective of flashy elements, like bright and rapidly changing scenes, loud sounds and unexpected scenario twists. Those smokers also had significantly less nicotine metabolites in their urine when tested a month after viewing those ads, the team reports in a new study published online April 23 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
This is the first time research has shown an association between cognition and brain activity in response to content and format in televised ads and behavior.
In a study of 71 non-treatment-seeking smokers recruited from the Philadelphia area, the team, led by Daniel D. Langleben, M.D., a psychiatrist in the Center for Studies of Addiction at Penn Medicine, identified key brain regions engaged in the processing of persuasive communications using fMRI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging. They found that a part of the brain involved in future behavioral changes -- known as the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) -- had greater activation when smokers watched an anti-smoking ad with a strong argument versus a weak one.
One month after subjects watched the ads, the researchers sampled smokers' urine cotinine levels (metabolite of nicotine) and found that those who watched the strong ads had significantly less cotinine in their urine compared to their baseline versus those who watched weaker ads.
Even ads riddled with attention-grabbing tactics, the research suggests, are not effective at reducing tobacco intake unless their arguments are strong. However, ads with flashy editing and strong arguments, for example, produced better recognition.
"We investigated the two major dimensions of any piece of media, content and format, which are both important here," said Dr. Langleben, who is also an associate professor in the department of Psychiatry. "If you give someone an unconvincing ad, it doesn't matter what format you do on top of that. You can make it sensational. But in terms of effectiveness, content is more important. You're better off adding in more sophisticated editing and other special effects only if it is persuasive."
The paper may enable improved methods of design and evaluation of public health advertising, according to the authors, including first author An-Li Wang, PhD, of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. And it could ultimately influence how producers shape the way ads are constructed, and how ad production budgets are allocated, considering special effects are expensive endeavors versus hiring screenwriters.
A 2009 study by Dr. Langleben and colleagues that looked solely at format found people were more likely to remember low-key, anti-smoking messages versus attention-grabbing messages. This was the first research to show that low-key versus attention-grabbing ads stimulated different patterns of activity, particularly in the frontal cortex and temporal cortex. But it did not address content strength or behavioral changes.
This new study is the first longitudinal investigation of the cognitive, behavioral, and neurophysical response to the content and format of televised anti-smoking ads, according to the authors.
"This sets the stage for science-based evaluation and design of persuasive public health advertising," said Dr. Langleben. "An ad is only as strong as its central argument, which matters more than its audiovisual presentation. Future work should consider supplementing focus groups with more technology-heavy assessments, such as brain responses to these ads, in advance of even putting the ad together in its entirety."
Co-authors of the study include Kosha Ruparel, MSE, James W. Loughead, PhD, Andrew A. Strasser, PhD, Shira J. Blady, Kevin G. Lynch, PhD, Dan Romer, PhD, and Caryn Lerman, PhD, of the Department of Psychiatry at Penn Medicine, and Joseph N. Cappella, PhD, of the Annenberg School for Communication.
This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R21 DA024419).
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Public release date: 25-Apr-2013
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