The Lia Fund: An Adventure in Philanthropy

Randy Lia Weil made two highly unusual decisions about the $5 million she left to be donated after her death. The first was that she appointed 14 people she knew and trusted to select the organizations and individuals who would receive funding. Most of them were lifelong activists with decades of passionate dedication to environmental, cultural and social justice issues. The second unusual thing was that she left no instructions for how or to whom they should give her bequest. She trusted them to decide.This would prove to be an adventure and a discovery, and not without its challenges for the participants. Everyone sincerely wanted to be a responsible grantmaker and do what Randy would have wanted. But it was a complex journey to turn a group of passionate individuals into a group of effective funders. Before they could make any grants, they had to agree on their mission, vision, and values. They also had to decide how they would operate and make decisions in a way that honored Randy and the values that led her to choose them. It was a tall order.After spending a year planning to establish the Foundation, The Lia Fund awarded grants to 107 organizations from 2007 to 2013. Most of the grants ranged from$5,000 to $25,000. In total the Foundation gave away$5 million. This is the story of what The Lia Fund did, how they did it, and what they learned. It describes the impact of this type of grantmaking on some of the most important issues of our time. It also looks at what foundations and individual donors might learn from this adventure in philanthropy

Integrating social software into course design and tracking student engagement : early results and research perspectives

The uptake of social software is becoming more widespread in many sectors of education and organizational development. However, there is little empirical research on the impacts of adopting these technologies, and so it is difficult to determine appropriate pedagogic models and whether or not the desired learning outcomes are being realized. This paper reports early findings of an ongoing pilot study which is based on the concept of collaborative learning and supported by means of social software. It describes the educational philosophy behind the study and the teaching techniques used. The application of various features of social software, including blogs, file management and personalization, are discussed, as well as the different techniques for facilitating and measuring the level of student engagement with social software. The results indicate that student engagement with social software can be shaped by course design and activities that integrate educational technology into the course structure

Implementation of a Home-Based Walking Program to Address Cancer-Related Fatigue

Abstract Background: The non-treatment of cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in adult oncology patients on treatment is a clinical practice issue identified globally and at the local Hematology and Oncology Clinic. Despite the growing evidence supporting physical activity to address CRF, this problem remains prominent. Objective: An 8-week home-based walking program was implemented at the local clinic to address this problem. This project aimed to increase the prevalence of managing CRF and reduce the severity of CRF. Methods: With the provider\u27s recommendation, adult oncology patients on active treatment at the Hematology and Oncology Clinic registered for the program in the 3-week recruitment period. Then, the participants followed the 8-week walking regimen. Pre- and post-intervention CRF levels were assessed using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue. Findings: Fourteen patients participated in the walking program, and 12 patients were compliant with the regimen. There was an improvement in the prevalence of addressing CRF and CRF levels. Specifically, 71.4% of the patients were encouraged to walk before the program, and 100% were recommended after the program\u27s implementation (p = 0.03). Of the 12 compliant participants, CRF levels significantly decreased from the pre- to post-walking program (p \u3c 0.001). Conclusions: Based on the best available evidence, physical activity is the most effective intervention to address and reduce CRF. Walking is a cost-effective way to participate in physical activity and has proven to manage and mitigate CRF

Laboratory and theoretical studies of baroclinic processes

An understanding is being developed for processes which may be important in the atmosphere, and the definition and analysis of baroclinic experiments utilizing the geophysical fluid flow cells (GFFC) apparatus in microgravity space flights. Included are studies using numerical codes, theoretical models, and terrestrial laboratory experiments. The numerical modeling is performed in three stages: calculation of steady axisymmetric flow, calculation of fastest-growing linear eigenmodes, and nonlinear effects (first, wave-mean flow interactions, then wave-wave interactions). The code can accommodate cylindrical, spherical, or channel geometry. It uses finite differences in the vertical and meridional directions, and is spectral in the azimuthal. The theoretical work was mostly in the area of effects of topography upon the baroclinic instability problem. The laboratory experiments are performed in a cylindrical annulus which has a temperture gradient imposed upon the lower surface and an approximately isothermal outer wall, with the upper and inner surfaces being nominally thermally insulating