2006 Commencement Address: Bob Wright \u2765

Bob Wright ’65, chairman and chief executive officer of NBC Universal and vice chairman and executive officer of the General Electric Company, delivered the principal address and received an honorary degree on May 26, during the 160th commencement ceremony of the College of the Holy Cross.Wright has had one of the longest and most successful tenures of any media company chief executive. Under his leadership, NBC was transformed from a broadcast network into a global media powerhouse, with leadership in broadcast network television, cable programming, station ownership and television production. With the formation of NBC Universal, Wright heads one of the most rapidly growing and profitable media and entertainment companies in the world. A former Trustee of the College, Wright has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame; he serves on the boards of the American Film Institute, the Museum of Television and Radio and the Motion Picture and Television Fund Corporation. Wright has worked closely with the Archdiocese of New York on raising support for inner-city Catholic schools and other projects. He is also co-founder (with his wife, Suzanne) of Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to raising awareness and funding to find answers to the causes of autism.In his address, Wright congratulated the graduating students on earning “the gift” of a Holy Cross education.https://crossworks.holycross.edu/commence_address/1010/thumbnail.jp

Bolzano's Definition of Analytic Propositions

We begin by drawing attention to some drawbacks of what we shall call the Frege-Quine definition of analytic truth. With this we contrast the definition of analytic propositions given by Bolzano in his Wissenschaftslehre.If Bolzano’s definition is viewed, as Bolzano himself almost certainly did not view it, as attempting to capture the notion of analyticity as truth-in-virtue-of-meaning which occupied centre stage during the first half of the last century and which, Quine’s influential assault on it notwithstanding,continues to attract philosophical attention, it runs into some very serious problems. We argue that Bolzano’s central idea can, nevertheless,be used as the basis of a new definition which avoids these problems and possesses definite advantages over the Frege-Quine approach

Gut Feeling in Small Design Consultancies

A participatory study of product design teams in six design consultancies in the north west of the UK is described. Prior research indicates that designers and new product developers often attribute the term ‘Gut Feeling’ (GF) to decision-making that is perceived as difficult to articulate and typically outside acknowledged causal models. From the use of participant-observation to elicit detailed hindsight narratives, the notion of GF appears to be systemic within the early stages of the design development process. GF use represented the synthesis of causal and effective knowledge. Its value impacted new product design and development

Project LOCOST: Laser or Chemical Hybrid Orbital Space Transport

A potential mission in the late 1990s is the servicing of spacecraft assets located in GEO. The Geosynchronous Operations Support Center (GeoShack) will be supported by a space transfer vehicle based at the Space Station (SS). The vehicle will transport cargo between the SS and the GeoShack. A proposed unmanned, laser or chemical hybrid orbital space transfer vehicle (LOCOST) can be used to efficiently transfer cargo between the two orbits. A preliminary design shows that an unmanned, laser/chemical hybrid vehicle results in the fuel savings needed while still providing fast trip times. The LOCOST vehicle receives a 12 MW laser beam from one Earth orbiting, solar pumped, iodide Laser Power Station (LPS). Two Energy Relay Units (ERU) provide laser beam support during periods of line-of-sight blockage by the Earth. The baseline mission specifies a 13 day round trip transfer time. The ship's configuration consist of an optical train, one hydrogen laser engine, two chemical engines, a 18 m by 29 m box truss, a mission-flexible payload module, and propellant tanks. Overall vehicle dry mass is 8,000 kg. Outbound cargo mass is 20,000 kg, and inbound cargo mass is 6,000 kg. The baseline mission needs 93,000 kg of propellants to complete the scenario. Fully fueled, outbound mission mass is 121,000 kg. A regeneratively cooled, single plasma, laser engine design producing a maximum of 768 N of thrust is utilized along with two traditional chemical engines. The payload module is designed to hold 40,000 kg of cargo, though the baseline mission specifies less. A proposed design of a laser/chemical hybrid vehicle provides a trip time and propellant efficient means to transport cargo from the SS to a GeoShack. Its unique, hybrid propulsion system provides safety through redundancy, allows baseline missions to be efficiently executed, while still allowing for the possibility of larger cargo transfers

Junior Recital: Bob Wright, jazz trumpet

This recital is presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Bachelor of Music in Performance. Mr. Wright studies trumpet with Douglas Lindsey.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1253/thumbnail.jp

Potential impact of removing general practice boundaries in England: a policy analysis.

In 2015, the UK government plans to widen patient choice of general practitioner (GP) to improve access through the voluntary removal of practice boundaries in the English NHS. This follows a 12-month pilot in four areas where volunteer GP practices accepted patients from outside their boundaries. Using evidence from the pilot evaluation, we discuss the likely impact of this policy change on patient experience, responsiveness and equity of access. Patients reported positive experiences but in a brief pilot in four areas, it was not possible to assess potential demand, the impact on quality of care or health outcomes. In the rollout, policymakers and commissioners will need to balance the access needs of local residents against the demands of those coming into the area. The rollout should include full information for prospective patients; monitoring and understanding patterns of patient movement between practices and impact on practice capacity; and ensuring the timely transfer of clinical information between providers. This policy has the potential to improve choice and convenience for a sub-group of the population at lower marginal costs than new provision. However, there are simpler, less costly, ways of improving convenience, such as extending opening hours or offering alternatives to face-to-face consultation

Feeding Scab-Infected Wheat to Livestock

Fusarium head blight, also called scab, is a disease of many small grain crops including wheat, barley, and rye. Oats can also be affected but generally with less damage. Scab is caused by the fungus Fusarium. Several species of Fusarium can cause the disease, but far and away the most common in South Dakota is Fusarium graminearum. This is the same fungus that causes Gibberella stalk rot in corn. When F. graminearum infections occurs in corn ears, the disease is referred to as Gibberella ear rot; it does not arrest kernel development. Generally, warm and wet conditions at wheat flowering favor scab. Disease incidence is favored by temperatures in the 80-95°F range during flowering and by substantial rainfall during the 7 days previous to flowering

Pubscape; innovation by design in the British pub

Purpose: The decline of the British public house (pub), well documented over the past three decades, is often linked to detrimental social and economic conditions in communities. The purpose of this study was to explore brewery responses to turbulent market conditions for the pub trade, with a focus on innovation through design. Design/methodology/approach: A longitudinal, qualitative study was conducted over 12 months, with 4 months of close participant observation within the company, to explore the experiences of a design team located within a medium-sized UK brewery. Findings: The “pubscape” emerged, extending and augmenting earlier models of the “servicescape”, driven by an entrepreneurial shared vision recognising the importance of design and innovation in delivering the modern pub. Research limitations/implications: A single case – one brewery – formed the basis for a longitudinal qualitative study, with the associated benefits and disadvantages typical of single case research in providing insights rather than measurable outcomes. Other cases and other research methods would allow testing of ideas, rather than exploration, and generate different perspectives. Practical implications: The research indicates the value of adopting an entrepreneurial approach to address challenging trading conditions and shows the practical role that design can play in rethinking service offerings to fit consumer needs and aspirations. Originality/value: New insights into modern pub management have emerged from this study, positioning design innovation as a route to delivering successful British destination pubs by innovating while retaining traditional brand values and local identity markers, using the “pubscape” as a specific way to envisage innovative servicescape environments