The reality of math

Is math real? The question seems absurd: Doesn%u219t two and two equal four? Can%u219t we describe the details of the universe in precise mathematical terms? Of course math is real! But Mario Livio, a senior astrophysicist at the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, isn%u219t so convinced.

In his fourth book, Is God a Mathematician?, Livio explores mysteries that have long perplexed theologians, philosophers, and mathematicians alike: Are mathematical concepts woven into the very fabric of the cosmos? And if they are, did a divine weaver put them there?

The answers, Livio tells us, are yes %u214 and no. Mathematical concepts %u214 like the golden ratio, or Euclidian geometry %u214 are useful fictions that don%u219t exist in the natural world. (In other words, the circle and the square are make-believe.) But mathematicians who work within these invented languages can discover concrete truths about the nature of the universe. As for God . . . let%u219s just say that He%u219s very, very improbable.

Source: http://www.veryshortlist.com/science/daily.cfm/review/958/Book/is-god-a-mathematician/

Good News: Bad Economy Killing Abusive Teen Programs

Maia Szalavitz
Posted January 30, 2009 | 05:48 PM (EST)

There is a silver lining to this bleak economy: Abusive and ineffective “tough love” programs for teens are failing right and left.

In just the last few weeks, the notorious Tranquility Bay program in Jamaica, Spring Creek Lodge in Montana, and Pathway Family Center in Detroit and Ohio have all been shuttered.

Tranquility Bay was known for making kids kneel on concrete for days and using “restraint” so harsh that it broke bones. Both Tranquility Bay and Spring Creek Lodge were part of a network called the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASP or WWASPS)–and the group’s philosophy involves constant use of emotional attacks and humiliation in a rigid, structured day in order to break teens’ spirits.

Spring Creek was notorious for a frigid, small isolation room called “the Hobbit”–sometimes teens were left there for months.

From Pathway–which was descended from the infamously abusive Straight Inc.–I received two separate accounts of suicide attempts by girls which were not reported to their parents, and many stories of the usual attack therapy and humiliation. Unfortunately, neither WWASP nor Pathway is completely dead yet: WWASP still has centers operating in the US and abroad, and Pathway has sites in Indiana: Porter and Indianapolis.

I-Team: Drug Center Closes

HELL YEAH!

A controversial drug treatment program the I-Team profiled several years ago has shut its doors to patients. But that doesn’t mean the controversy is over. The I-Team’s Hagit Limor says the teenagers have just been moved to another state.

Kids Helping Kids presented itself as the treatment of last resort when the I-Team got an unprecedented look inside four years ago. No cameras had been allowed before. The treatment the I-Team saw called for complete isolation of newcomers, who don’t go to their home or to school for months, sometimes longer. They aren’t allowed to listen to music or TV. They can’t talk to each other, and must get permission to speak at all.

The executive director of the facility in Milford, Ohio told us in 2005, there’s a reason for this tough love. Penny Walker said, “We deal with difficult kids and sometimes difficult families, and we’re not going to please everybody.” Walker no longer works for Kids Helping Kids.

Report Reveals Severe Cases of Abuse and Neglect of School Children

January 13, 2009 2:55 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Schoolchildren around the country have been subject to abusive – and in some cases fatal – uses of seclusion and restraint by school administrators, teachers and staff, according to a new report released today by the National Disability Rights Network. The report, the first national effort to examine these practices in both public and private schools identified hundreds of cases where the abusive and negligent use of seclusion and restraint injured or traumatized students, many of whom were disabled. In several cases, students died.

In light of this report, U.S. Rep. George Miller, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, announced the committee will hold a hearing on these abuses.

“These abuses are a shocking and disturbing betrayal of the trust that families and communities place in our schools. School administrators and teachers are tasked with providing not just productive and encouraging learning environments for students, but with keeping them safe. It is wholly unacceptable for children to be locked up in closets or for any staff member to use overwhelming – and in some cases deadly – force against their students.

“This report raises serious questions about the treatment of schoolchildren, the qualifications and training of staff, and what actions have been taken to address these unconscionable practices. No child should be at risk or in danger while at school, no matter what the circumstances. Our committee will hold a hearing to look at how we can address and hopefully end these horrific acts.”

The report, “School is not supposed to hurt: An investigative report on abusive seclusion and restraint in schools,”" provides an unprecedented look at the tactics used to isolate or restrain students. In one case, a seven-year old girl was killed in a special day program when four adult staff pinned her small body face down. The student had been blowing bubbles in her milk and would not follow directions to sit still. In another example, a thirteen year old boy committed suicide in a locked concrete seclusion room, hanging himself with a cord provided by staff to hold up his pants, after pleading with his teachers that he could not withstand the isolation in the small room for hours at a time.

A Record Year for the Pharmaceutical Lobby in ’07

A Record Year for the Pharmaceutical Lobby in ’07
Washington’s largest lobby racks up another banner year on Capitol Hill

By M. Asif Ismail
Data analysis by Helena Bengtsson

Washington, June 24, 2008 – Washington’s largest lobby, the pharmaceutical industry, racked up another banner year on Capitol Hill in 2007, backed by a record $168 million lobbying effort, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of federal lobbying data. Among the industry’s successes: getting two controversial laws extended and thwarting congressional efforts to restrict media ads for prescription drugs.

The spending represents a 32 percent jump over 2006. Driven in part by a busy legislative calendar dominated by issues critical to the industry, the effort raised the amount spent by drug interests on federal lobbying in the past decade to more than $1 billion. Pharmaceutical, medical device, and other health product manufacturers, together, spent more than $189 million on lobbying last year, another record and nearly three times the $67 million they spent in 1998, the first full year for which complete records and totals are available.

More than 90 percent of the total was spent by 40 companies and three trade groups: the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association.

The spending binge last year may have also been fueled by the previous November’s Democratic takeover of Congress. After the Democratic sweep of the House of Representatives, several long-standing critics of the industry, such as Representative Henry Waxman of California, assumed leadership roles of powerful committees. Intent on closer oversight of the industry, they conducted a series of hearings on issues such as drug safety, pharmaceutical pricing, and availability of generic medicines. Waxman and some fellow Democrats also tried to give more regulatory power to the Food and Drug Administration and revisit the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, a law that came into being in 2003 after heavy industry lobbying. The legislation, which resulted in the largest overhaul of Medicare in its history, provides prescription drug coverage through the program.