Jimmie Waugh interview, 15 January 2025

Jimmie Waugh discusses moving from Mississippi to the Mount Pleasant neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio around 1959. He talks about attending Alexander Hamilton Middle School and John Adams High School before joining United States Military in 1965. He then tracks his professional pathway after leaving the military: he worked for the Warrensville Fire Department and then began doing maintenance work for the Thea Bowman Center when it still a part of Epiphany Catholic Church. He talks about the evolution of his work at the Thea Bowman Center, the network of churches in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, and the community surrounding the Thea Bowman Center

Plenary #1: Care + Open Practices = Hope

During this collaborative workshop, facilitators will present a values-based framework that can ground our work as practitioners and partners in the open movement. As we present the framework, which includes care as a key component, we will share specific strategies from our work with faculty and other collaborators on open projects. Participants will have the opportunity to experience a few ways in which we operationalize care in our work. As a collective, we will have space to reflect and discuss how these strategies may help us actively create spaces of hope through engaging in open practices

An Enhanced Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based P-EDR Mechanism for Diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) using Machine Learning

This study focuses on Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), a disease caused by diabetes that affects the retina of the eye and eventually leads to blindness. Diabetes development progresses to retinopathy and must be addressed at an early stage for effective treatment. Currently, DR is classified as Non-Proliferative DR (NPDR) and Proliferative DR (PDR). This study proposes an Enhanced DR (P-EDR) method based on CNN using a high-resolution dataset benchmark of retinal images. Initially, the data were preprocessed by normalization, augmentation, and resizing to improve image quality and feature extraction. Evaluation was based on accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and AUC-ROC. The proposed CNN-based P-EDR outperformed advanced ML strategies such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Probabilistic Neural network (PNN), and Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) that were executed and compared to diagnose and classify DR. The proposed P-EDR extracts features such as a hemorrhage of the NPDR retina image to identify the disease using image processing for classification. P-EDR provides significant features from images in detection and classification, making it a successful model for diagnosing DR with improved accuracy of 93%, sensitivity of 92%, specificity of 94%, and AUC-ROC of 0.97%. These results highlight the potential of a P-EDR-based machine learning model to support ophthalmologists with the early and precise detection of DR, eventually helping with appropriate treatment and prevention of vision loss

The Deferential Asian American: Low Racial Status and the Invisibility of Asian Americans in Leadership and the American Narrative

This Article will proceed in five parts. First, an important caveat. When the Article refers to Asian Americans, it refers to all Asian American subgroups except for South Asian Americans, because South Asian Americans are not perceived to be deferential in the same way as other Asian American subgroups. Consequently, their experience with leadership is unique among Asian Americans, and much of the analysis in this Article does not apply to them. With that caveat, Part I will discuss the invisibility of Asian Americans generally, but particularly in leadership positions. Part II will discuss the concept of social status bias and inequality. It will explain that inequality consists of three, independent dimensions— status, economic, and political inequalities. As independent elements, a social group may achieve economic equality yet still experience social status inequality, as is the case with Asian Americans. Part III will argue that the low racial status of Asian Americans is due to the presumption of their general incompetence. It will argue that Asian Americans are perceived to be categorically inept in virtually all domains except the STEM fields, and even in STEM, Asian Americans are perceived to have just limited, technical skills. Why? Because Asian Americans are perceived to be intellectually deficient in critical and creative thinking. Part IV will explain that the presumption of general incompetence rooted in intellectual deficiency is based on the perception that the racial character of Asian Americans is fundamentally deferential by nature. Specifically, Asian Americans are perceived to be compliant, conformist, passive, and humble, deferential traits that make Asian Americans seem like a low status, subservient class of people. Part V will explain how the low racial status of perceived deferential Asian Americans operates to exclude them from leadership positions. In the professional context, the deferential Asian American is perceived to be a technician by nature. Technicians are not the high status genius scientists, but the low status, dependable, but intellectually limited, lab assistant. Technicians are servants to their scientist masters. Perceived as subservient technicians whose sole duty is to assist but not lead intellectual or scientific endeavors, Asian Americans are perceived to be unequivocally unqualified for leadership. And just as technicians are invisible in the narrative of scientific inquiry because of their subservient identity, so too are Asian Americans in the American narrative of race. The Article will conclude by briefly discussing steps that should be taken to promote equal racial status and leadership for Asian Americans

Rethinking Ohio Mandated Reporting for Child Neglect

This article briefly outlines the history and harm of family separation, reviews applicable federal and Ohio laws concerning child neglect and screening guidelines for investigation, and examines the social justice implications of rethinking mandated reporting requirements and implementing alternatives to protect children from systemic oppression and violence from the family policing system

Cleveland Financial Empowerment Neighborhoods of Strategic Focus: Data Profile

This report primarily focuses on the data that supports the need for financial empowerment policies, programming, and planning in the City of Cleveland, with a specific focus on the target neighborhoods identified. Demographic and economic data alike show that residents in target neighborhoods face substantial challenges when it comes to economic stability and mobility. This is true citywide for minority populations, especially, and the target neighborhoods of this project face notable challenges beyond that. The neighborhoods targeted for this project include Downtown, Central-Hough, Glenville-Collinwood, Buckeye-Woodhill, Broadway-Slavic Village, Clark Fulton, and Old Brooklyn. Together, these neighborhoods contain over 256,000 residents, which makes up 72% of the total population of the City of Cleveland

Book Sale--October 23 and October 24, 2025

Friends of the Library Book Sale! Thursday. October 23 and Friday, October 24 Location: Michael Schwartz Library 1st Floor, Connection Lounge Thursday, October 23, 2025 Member Preview Sale: 9:00 am - 10:00 am (membership can be purchased at the sale with a check or cash) Campus Community and General Public, Free Admission: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Friday, October 24, 2025 Campus Community and General Public, Free Admission: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Book Sale Bargains! · $2 for hardcover ·$1.00 for softcover · Media: $.50 Visit the Library and browse! Books are categorized by subject, and we accept cash and credit cards

Bowers, Lawrence and Obergefell: A Case-by-Case Analysis

What does Bowers v. Hardwick, Lawrence v. Texas, and Obergefell v. Hodges all have in common? Each of these Supreme Court cases chronicles the passage of time and advancement in LGBTQ+ rights in America. Not only, however, do they chronicle the rights that have been achieved for LGBTQ+ individuals, but they also chronicle the evolution of the Justices on the bench. These cases here help us understand the influences that encourage the Justice’s decision-making, whether it be the state of the law or the Court’s environment. By analyzing each case, we can understand not only how these cases were decided, but also how past cases would have been decided by our current Supreme Court bench

Marion Anita Gardner Interview, 01 July 2025

In this 2025 interview, Marion Anita Gardner discusses her early life in Cleveland, memories at Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, and her eventual move to the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. Gardner describes her work as the founder and CEO the Concerned Citizens Community Council on Kinsman Road, her work as a machinist at TRW, and her early education. At the end of the interview, Gardner expresses her love for Cleveland and leaves a message for future generations