George Croll Baum: Building A Greater Gettysburg

On November 16th, 1926 George Croll Baum died. In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania the local newspaper covered his death. The Gettysburgian, the paper for Gettysburg College reported that Henry W.A. Hanson, the college president, was “deeply distressed and further noted that Baum\u27s death \u27touched the hearts of all that knew him with deep regret.\u27 Within a month Dr. Hanson had already ordered three memorial plaques to be placed on the campus. Baum\u27s family tried to help pay for them. Hanson refused the money. In a correspondence with Baum‟s brother about the plaques, Hanson told him, “What I did for your brother George was a service of love to him.” One of these plaques was placed in the main entrance to the Gettysburg College Eddie Plank Memorial Gym, where it remains today. But who was George Baum, this man whose death greatly affected Gettysburg College? If one were to search the Appendices of Charles Glatfelter‟s seminal history of Gettysburg College, among the list of faculty and trustees one will find no reference to George Baum, although three other Baums--George‟s father, brother and nephew--are in the list of trustees. Baum was in fact the architect for Gettysburg College from 1914-1926, during a career which saw the construction of four major college buildings still standing today, as well as work on numerous smaller projects. [excerpt] Course Information: Course Title: HIST 300: Historical Method Academic Term: Spring 2010 Course Instructor: Dr. Michael J. Birkner \u2772 Hidden in Plain Sight is a collection of student papers on objects that are hidden in plain sight around the Gettysburg College campus. Topics range from the Glatfelter Hall gargoyles to the statue of Eisenhower and from historical markers to athletic accomplishments. You can download the paper in pdf format and click View Photo to see the image in greater detail.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/hiddenpapers/1002/thumbnail.jp

The Pierre Auger Observatory: Results on Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays

The focus of this article is on recent results on ultra-high energy cosmic rays obtained with the Pierre Auger Observatory. The world's largest instrument of this type and its performance are described. The observations presented here include the energy spectrum, the primary particle composition, limits on the fluxes of photons and neutrinos and a discussion of the anisotropic distribution of the arrival directions of the most energetic particles. Finally, plans for the construction of a Northern Auger Observatory in Colorado, USA, are discussed.Comment: Proceedings of the International Workshop on Advances in Cosmic Ray Science, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, March 2008; to be published in the Journal of the Physical Society of Japan (JPSJ) supplemen

Measuring the Redshift of Reionization with a Modest Array of Low-Frequency Dipoles

The designs of the first generation of cosmological 21-cm observatories are split between single dipole experiments which integrate over a large patch of sky in order to find the global (spectral) signature of reionization, and interferometers with arcminute-scale angular resolution whose goal is to measure the 3D power spectrum of ionized regions during reionization. We examine whether intermediate scale instruments with complete Fourier (uv) coverage are capable of placing new constraints on reionization. We find that even without using a full power spectrum analysis, the global redshift of reionization, z_reion, can in principle be measured from the variance in the 21-cm signal among multiple beams as a function of frequency at a roughly 1 degree angular scale. At this scale, the beam-to-beam variance in the differential brightness temperature peaks when the average neutral fraction was around 50%, providing a convenient flag of z_reion. We choose a low angular resolution of order 1 degree to exploit the physical size of the ionized regions and maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. Thermal noise, foregrounds, and instrumental effects should also be manageable at this angular scale, as long as the uv coverage is complete within the compact core required for low-resolution imaging. For example, we find that z_reion can potentially be detected to within a redshift uncertainty of less than around 1 in around 500 hours of integration on the existing MWA prototype (with only 32x16 dipoles), operating at an angular resolution of around 1 degree and a spectral resolution of 2.4 MHz.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Version published in JCAP (appendix removed, some clarifications and changes to definitions

On the Use of a Cash Flow Time-Series to Measure Property Performance

Modern portfolio theory is increasingly being used to guide real estate portfolio decisions. However, to obtain meaningful results from complex mathematical techniques, the input data must meet at least two conditions: property values must be measured accurately, and the process by which property valuations change over time must be known. Neither of these conditions are satisfied by data currently available. This paper closely examines how value is measured and reported for commercial property. Commonly used time-series from NREI, NCREIF and ACLI are found wanting. An index of value using the popular "repeat sales" method is derived using data from Freddie Mac's multifamily portfolio. The focus of this paper is on developing an alternative measure of property performance based on property net operating income. Two cash flow indices are constructed from publicly available data and evaluated. It is recommended that the methodology developed here be used to create cash flow indices that can supplement or replace existing value indices in property analysis. The cash flow indices have much to offer researchers applying option-based models to real estate.

Constraining Relativistic Generalizations of Modified Newtonian Dynamics with Gravitational Waves

In the weak-field limit of General Relativity, gravitational waves obey linear equations and propagate at the speed of light. These properties of General Relativity are supported by the observation of ultra high energy cosmic rays as well as by LIGO's recent detection of gravitation waves. We argue that two existing relativistic generalizations of Modified Newtonian Dynamics, namely Generalized Einstein-Aether theory and BIMOND, display fatal inconsistencies with these observations.Comment: Minor clarifications, title changed, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter