Diversifying with few regrets, but too few to mention

Representative data provide users with a concise overview of their potentially large query results. Recently, diversity maximization has been adopted as one technique to generate representative data with high coverage and low redundancy. Orthogonally, regret minimization has emerged as another technique to generate representative data with high utility that satisfy the user's preference. In reality, however, users typically have some pre-specified preferences over some dimensions of the data, while expecting good coverage over the other dimensions. Motivated by that need, in this work we propose a novel scheme called ReDi, which aims to generate representative data that balance the tradeoff between regret minimization and diversity maximization. ReDi is based on a hybrid objective function that combines both regret and diversity. Additionally, it employs several algorithms that are designed to maximize that objective function. We perform extensive experimental evaluation to measure the tradeoff between the effectiveness and efficiency provided by the different ReDi algorithms

His excellency and the monk: a correspondence between Nyanaponika Thera and David Ben-Gurion

Between the years 1956 and 1962 the scholar-monk Nyanaponika Thera and the first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion have exchanged eight long letters. These letters—published here for the first time—expose the extent of Ben-Gurion's interest in Buddhism and reveal the Buddhist rhetoric used by one of Sri Lanka's most influential scholars. This rhetoric, which was generally well received by Ben-Gurion, was an exemplar of 'Protestant Buddhism'. It is suggested that Ben-Gurion could relate to this image of Buddhism because it reflected his own vision of Judaism that had 'protestant' characteristics. The letters contain autobiographical notes, unpublished comments on the Buddhist concepts of Suffering and Rebirth, and a curious plan to invite Nyanaponika to Israel

Doing Business in Tigray: Case Studies of Women Entrepreneurs with Disabilities in Ethiopia

[From Preface] The ILO Technical Cooperation Project, Developing Entrepreneurship among Women with Disabilities , is being implemented in Ethiopia by the Ethiopian Federation of Persons with Disabilities (EFPD) and the Tigray Disabled Veterans Association (TDVA). Funded by the Government of Ireland, the objective of the project is to devise a strategy for developing entrepreneurship among women with disabilities in Ethiopia, in an urban area - the city of Addis Ababa, and a rural area - Tigray Region, which can be replicated in other regions of the country and in other countries of the world. The project aims to promote economic empowerment among women with disabilities and women with disabled dependants, by providing training in micro-enterprise skills, arranging access to vocational skills training opportunities and credit, and supporting the women in starting a business activity or developing an existing one. It also seeks to increase the capacity of the EFPD and the TDVA to manage and sustain the new programme of training and support for its disabled women members

The Chronicle [January 15, 2009]

The Chronicle, January 15, 2009https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/chron/1688/thumbnail.jp

Meaning and Impact of Board and Staff Diversity in the Philanthropic Field: Findings from a National Study

The report's premise is that the staffs and boards of philanthropic institutions have not kept pace with the general population in terms of diversity, and that if responsiveness and diversity are linked, then foundations must attend to their internal diversity if they wish to offer a more credible outreach to diverse communities. It seeks to find answers to the following questions: What is the empirical reality that grounds these conjectures? Can we quantify the changes in foundation staffing? How well represented are different identity groups within the field, and how do members of these diverse groups fare in their career advancement? How do different types of foundations address inclusiveness, and what are examples of practices that lead to successful implementation of staff and board diversity? The report is the result of a multi-stage research project that combined surveys, interviews, and focus groups to reach more than 600 grantmakers nationwide