David Blumenfeld, Carmit Hoomash, Alexandra Eaton and Meg Felling , The New York Times; How Israeli Civilians Are Using A.I. to Help Identify Victims
"“Brothers and Sisters for Israel” formed initially to protest judiciary reform. After Oct. 7, they shifted their mission to helping victims of the attacks, and together with volunteers from Israel’s leading tech companies, created a sophisticated data operation to help find out more about those missing, taken hostage or killed."
BILL SCHACKNER, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE; At Pitt, war or not, Russian and Ukrainian cultures share a bond
Immigrants who helped build the 'Steel city' are part of famed Nationality Rooms
[Kip Currier: An uplifting, poignant article, amidst the wrenching scenes emanating from an under-siege Ukraine.
The Nationality Rooms (more aptly, Classrooms) are one of the United States' truly singular treasures -- at the nexus of cultures and education -- and are my favorite place to take visitors, having had the privilege of serving as a Quo Vadis student organization volunteer tour guide for these architectural marvels during my undergraduate years at Pitt.]
"The Russian room, dedicated in 1938, and the Ukrainian room, dating to 1990, are historical treasures. But just as important, they are functioning classrooms at the University of Pittsburgh — part of the Cathedral of Learning's 31 famed Nationality Rooms.
Built on ethnic pride and donations, the rooms honor immigrants whose labor in the steel mills helped make Pittsburgh what it is today. In that, the two Eastern European communities share a deep bond.
Only now, Russia has invaded Ukraine and the countries are at war. Pitt undergraduates who routinely sit in these rooms taking classes that have nothing to do with geopolitics find themselves surrounded by trappings of cultures now locked in bloody conflict.
Time will tell if Pitt can turn all that into a teachable moment.
The rooms, like the people whose contributions built them, have always been about advancing understanding globally across cultures, said Kati Csoman, director of Pitt’s Nationality Rooms.
"They are intended to be spaces of, really, timelessness and cultural values," she said. "These are volunteers who have worked hard to raise funds for scholarships."
The Nationality Rooms are located on the first and third floors of the Cathedral, one of the world’s tallest classroom buildings, 42 stories high, its summit visible for miles beyond the sprawling Oakland campus. The massive Indiana limestone structure was opened in 1936 after a decade of construction.
Then-Chancellor John Bowman wanted to harness the enthusiasm of immigrant mill workers by establishing classrooms that would honor their traditions and inspire their children to seek a college education. That idea became the Nationality Rooms."
, The New York Times ; Their DNA Hides a Warning, but They Don’t Want to Know What It Says
"Benjamin Berkman, a bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, said that, in his view, the benefits of telling participants about genetic findings that can be treated or prevented greatly outweighed the risk that the participants might be frightened or fail to follow up.
“These are important pieces of information that can be lifesaving,” he said.
But not all biobanks give subjects the chance to receive health warnings.
At Vanderbilt, Dr. Clayton said, she volunteered genetic information to a biobank whose participants have been de-identified — all names and other personal information are stripped from the data. It also has other protections to prevent individuals in the bank from being found. While she happily contributed to the research, Dr. Clayton said, she is glad her data can’t be traced and that no one will call her if they find something that may be worrying.
“I don’t want to know,” she said."
