It’s critical that we share images with the world of this place in order to continue to study and preserve the islands’ unique biodiversity. Today we’re honored to announce, in partnership with Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Parks Directorate (GNPD), that we’ve collected panoramic imagery of the islands with the Street View Trekker. These stunning images will be available on Google Maps later this year so people around the world can experience this remote archipelago.

Daniel Orellana of Charles Darwin Foundation crossing a field of ferns to reach Minas de Azufre (naturally-occurring sulfur mines) on the top of Sierra Negra, an active volcano on Isabela Island. The Google Maps team traveled for more than three hours, hiking and on horseback, to reach this remote location.

Images, like the one you see above, are also an important visual record that the CDF and GNPD will use to study and protect the islands by showing the world how these delicate environments have changed over time.

Daniel Orellana of the Charles Darwin Foundation climbs out of a lava tunnel where he was collecting imagery. The dramatic lava landscapes found on Isabela island tell the story of the formation of the Galapagos Islands.

Our 10-day adventure in the Galapagos was full of hiking, boating and diving around the islands (in hot and humid conditions) to capture 360-degree images of the unique wildlife and geological features of the islands with the Trekker. We captured imagery from 10 locations that were hand-selected by CDF and GNPD. We walked past giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies, navigated through steep trails and lava fields, and picked our way down the crater of an active volcano called Sierra Negra.

Life underwater in the Galapagos is just as diverse as life on land. We knew our map of the islands wouldn’t be comprehensive without exploring the ocean that surrounds them. So for the second time we teamed up with the folks at the Catlin Seaview Survey to collect underwater panoramic imagery of areas being studied by CDF and GNPD. This imagery will be used by Catlin Seaview Survey to create a visual and scientific baseline record of the marine environment surrounding the islands, allowing for any future changes to be measured and evaluated by scientists around the world.

Christophe Bailhache navigates the SVII camera through a large group of Sea Lions at Champion Island in Galapagos. Image courtesy of the Catlin Seaview Survey.

We truly believe that in order to protect these Galapagos Islands, we must understand them. As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” We hope this Street View imagery not only advances the important scientific research, but also inspires you to learn more about this special place. Stay tuned for updates on this collection—the first time we’ve captured imagery from both land and sea! We can’t wait to share this amazing imagery with you later this year.

Posted by Raleigh Seamster, Project Lead, Google Maps

One person was killed Thursday morning in a crash on the Chicago Skyway, Chicago Police said.

The crash happened just after 5 a.m. in the eastbound lanes near 84th Street, police said. 

The Skyway was closed to all outbound traffic while the scene remained under investigation.

Police said the crash involved two vehicles, both with front-end damage.

PAWS Chicago is sending its medical team and volunteers to Oklahoma Friday to take in about 75 displaced, injured and homeless pets as a result of the tornado. PAWS Chicago executive director Rochelle Michalek talks to Daniella Guzman.

Michael Santoro, 19, faces felony disorderly conduct charges.

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(Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Nike)

Does Barbara Byrd-Bennett know which city’s schools she’s closing?

During an interview on Good Day Chicago, Bennett declared that the Chicago Public Schools’ decision to close 50 schools was “not made haphazardly. It was made with children in mind and not adults, and it was made so that we could level this platform for the children and move forward. I mean, our children in Cleveland are underperforming on every measure.”

The show’s host tried to rescue Bennett.

“You meant to say Chicago, right?” he asked. “You said Cleveland. That’s where you used to work. I certainly understand that.”

“I guess coming from Cleveland and New York and Detroit, you get pretty tough,” she responded.

A veteran of distressed urban school systems, Byrd-Bennett was Chief Executive Officer of Cleveland’s schools for seven years. Before that, she was a teacher, principal and superintendent in her native New York City. She also served as Chief Academic and Accountability manager for Detroit Public Schools. So it must be difficult for her to keep track of which city she’s in this year. Byrd-Bennett is the kind of bureaucrat Rahm Emanuel likes: a professional, unsentimental out-of-towner whose first loyalty is to the mayor, not Chicago. There’s always been a question, though, of how well his appointees understand the city.

Byrd-Bennett went on to criticize protestors for using uncivil language “in front of our children,” but said she understood the anger over school closings.

“People are angry because the district has never engaged them, hasn’t trusted them, hasn’t respected them, and despite the fact that people are angry now, we have to continue to engage every level of the community,” she said. “The overwhelming number of people, over 30,000 people, who came out to the 277 meetings, that’s not the behavior I saw exhibited. They were thoughtful, they were angry sometimes, but they also knew, as a result of our listening to them, we removed 277 schools. We moved from 129, we moved to 54. So we were listening.” 

The host also asked how CPS could ensure the safety of children who will be crossing gang lines to attend their new schools.

“The security has always been foremost,” she said. “It has been the foremost of consideration, and so in working with CPD, working with our internal security, who does this work every day — Safe Passages for over 40 schools in our neighborhoods. For the most part, the perimeters of our schools are safe, and we have been guaranteed by the Chicago Police Department and our sister agencies, that we’re locking arms, to ensure that our students are going to be safe to and from school.”

Several buses full of protestors headed to McDonald’s shareholders meeting Thursday to fight for less than minimum wage.

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NBA coaching legend Phil Jackson will make a stop through Chicago on Thursday to promote his new book, “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.”

In 1980, the Chicago Tribune’s Richard C. Longworth wrote this city’s epitaph. The steel mills were closing. The wealthy had fled to the suburbs. The Loop was a grotty district of peep shows and gin mills where no respectable citizen ventured after five o’clock. Chicago, Longworth concluded, was headed for the same civic scrap heap as Cleveland, Buffalo and Detroit.

“Chicago’s basic problem is that it is losing industries, stores and jobs,” Longworth wrote in a series entitled “Chicago: City on the Brink.” “Because of this, it is losing tax money. Because of this, it won’t be able to support itself, to pay for the services of a going city. And because of this, it will lose more industries, stores, jobs and taxes…The cycle here been going on for 30 years. There is no reason to think it will reverse when the present recession ends. According to available evidence and many experts, there is no reason to think it will ever turn around.”

Chicago’s current challenge, says Longworth, is that only a third of its population enjoys the prosperity that comes with globalization — and that third lives in wealthy lakefront neighborhoods isolated from the rest of the city. Maintaining the infrastructure necessary for global business — the airports, the public transit system, the great universities, the fiber-optic network — requires raising taxes and user fees, which may Manhattanize the city by driving out the middle class. 

“The kind of people we want are the kind of people who want to live anywhere,” Longworth said. “How do you do this without making the city too expensive for kids of steelworkers, for artists and musicians, teachers, cops, average people? This is typical of global cities everywhere: New York, Shanghai, Los Angeles. Globalization rewards its high flyers and really punishes everyone else.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is a quintessential global Chicagoan, but without a middle class as a stabilizing political force, the city’s have-nots could elect a populist mayor who is uninterested in a global agenda.

Paul O’Connor, a former director of World Business Chicago, believes Chicago needs to concentrate the region’s growth in the central city. Between now and 2040, Chicago is the only metropolitan area in the developing world that will become a megacity, passing the 10 million mark in population. The city itself could reach 3.5 million, equaling its all-time high of the 1950s. But they’ll be more concentrated than they were in the 20th Century, so Chicago has to add train lines and build a wastewater system designed for a dense population along the lakefront.

“Younger people are giving the finger to cars,” O’Connor said. “They want to be able to walk to coffee and have the Iowa State bar within stumbling distance.”

Gery Chico, who was Mayor Richard M. Daley’s chief of staff during the city’s rise to global status, agrees that Chicago has to preserve its middle class. The best way to do that is with a strong school system that includes charters, baccalaureates, military academies, as well as Catholic and private schools. Because it’s a regional hub, Chicago can poach bright graduates from other states, with no public investment of its own. But Chico disagrees with the notion that the city’s high schools are less important than its universities, because they don’t produce the creative, intellectual types that global businesses covet.

“Global entities look at this when making decisions as to where to locate,” Chico says. “Everybody in college comes from someplace. Even if you’re a newly transplanted executive, you’re going to send your kids somewhere.”

Chicago will remain a global city for the foreseeable future. The question is whether it will belong only to the global citizens, or whether it will be a city where anyone can afford to live.

Police said Wednesday they found two men dead in the trunk of a car on the Chicago’s south side.

Officers responding to a call requesting a well-being check in the 7100 block of South Oakley Avenue found the bodies of two people in the trunk of a vehicle about 3:20 p.m., police said.

They were both male adults, police said.

Area South detectives were investigating and an autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.
 

A Portland, Ore., man was charged Wednesday with three felonies stemming from an incident earlier in the week in which he was shot by an off-duty police officer outside a northwest Indiana Planned Parenthood building.

Craig leonard Strand, 43, was charged with disarming a police officer, battery resulting in bodily injury and resisting law enforcement, officials said. All are felonies.

According to a criminal complaint, Strand illegally parked his tractor trailer in the parking lot of the Planned Parenthood, in the 8600 block of Connecticut Street, in Merrillville. Officer Curtis Minchuk, who was off-duty but working security for the facility, issued two citations.

Strand returned to the truck about two hours later and went inside the Planned Parenthood to complain about the citations.

Minchuk, an eight-year veteran, told Strand to take any complaints to the Merrillville Police Department. Strand allegedly responded by saying, “I’m tired of you cops doing this to us.”

The officer got into his Merrillville police car and drove to the back of the parking lot, according to a statement by the Major Crimes Task Force. However, Strand refused to leave the Planned Parenthood property and the officer had to tell him again to move the semi truck.

Strand refused to leave and began cursing at the officer, according to the task force. The officer then attempted to arrest Strand, who pushed the officer in the chest and punched him in the mouth.

Both men fell over a curb onto the ground and Strand punched the officer in the face about a dozen times while shouting “I’ve got something for you,” officials said.

Strand had the officer pinned to the ground and later a parked vehicle and allegedly tried to disarm him numerous times, according to the task force. The officer pushed Strand away with his foot, grabbed his gun shot him once the abdomen area as he tried to attack again.

The officer suffered wounds and swelling to the head and face and cuts and bruises to his arms and backs, the task force said. He was treated and released from an area hospital.

Strand was taken to an area hospital, where he underwent surgery and remains in intensive care, the task force said.

The task force ruled the shooting “justifiable” and cleared the officer of any misconduct, according to the statement.

A Des Plaines student said she was pulled over and had her car searched. Authorities say it wasn’t a real cop. Dick Johnson reports.

A group of former Six Flags Great America employees have raised serious questions about the way first aid is delivered by the Gurnee park, NBC5 Investigates has found.

“I’ve seen strokes, I’ve seen seizures, I’ve seen femur fractures,” said Stephanie Galiardo.

“Everything from stubbed toes all the way up to cardiac arrest,” added Dinah Tonne.

Six Flags hired Karen Wilkison, Stephanie Galiardo and Dinah Tonne to give first aid at the park.

“I would say the quality of care we were forced to give is not good,” said Karen Wilkison.

The former employees are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s) or Paramedics. Some worked at the park as early as 2008 and others as recently as 2011. They and seven other colleagues with whom NBC Chicago spoke, including one who still works there, said too often park officials pressured them not to call 911.

“It came from management and they did not want to up their numbers when it came to calling 911,” said Wilkison.

The former park employees say sometimes Six Flags was more concerned about its image than providing proper medical care.

“They don’t want to make it seem like the park is unsafe. They don’t want the presence of paramedics and ambulances on scene,” added Wilkison.

They also say Six Flags dispatchers would not give them crucial medical information over the radio as they responded to a call for fear someone outside the park might hear about an accident or injury.

“We would ask, ‘What is the nature of the injury or the illness? We need to know so that we know which crew to send out there,’ and they would just respond, ‘Guest illness’ or ‘Guest injury,’” said Galiardo. “It makes the park look bad. They don’t want the public knowing what goes on at the park.”

The women told us they sent their concerns in writing to park officials in April 2012 and also complained about a notice requiring a managers approval to transport employees in need of medical care, saying those managers weren’t as qualified as they were to make a medical decision. They also said the people in charge of emergency care at Six Flags were not doctors, paramedics or EMTs.

Six Flags declined a request for an interview but in a written statement said, “WWe conform to or exceeds all local, state and federal standards for emergency care.”

The company also said their medical care program is reviewed by an emergency room doctor off site.

Officials said their top priority at Six Flags is the safety of our guests and employees, adding: ”We would be both appalled and disappointed if NBC were to run a sensationalist story based on unsubstantiated statements by one or more forger disgruntled employees.”

We asked if the women were former employees striking back at the park.

“I’m upset about how patient care was delivered but that’s the extent of it. We don’t want to get back at the park. That’s why we tried to keep it internal by going through the chain of command. The media was not our first avenue,” said Galiardo.

“I’m speaking out now because I will never be able to forgive myself if someone got severely injured or worse died and I knew about this and did nothing about it,” added Wilkison.

As a final point, a Six Flags off-site doctor said that he feels extremely confident the park meets the standards to maintain their medical license. Six Flags also says following the April 2012 complaint, it “completed an exhaustive review of all of our EMS practices…and with the exception of a few minor items that were immediately corrected, the allegations made by these former seasonal employees are false and unmerited.”

We asked Six flags what changes were made and they responded that they would have no further comment.

]]> http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/ex-staffers-question-first-aid-at-six-flags/feed 0 http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/ex-staffers-question-first-aid-at-six-flags http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/windycitynews/~3/URwpnDj5ogI/chicago-school-board-votes-to-close-50-schools http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/chicago-school-board-votes-to-close-50-schools#comments Thu, 23 May 2013 01:14:25 +0000 AzzanoDuthie559 http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/chicago-school-board-votes-to-close-50-schools

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CTU President Reacts to Closure Vote

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says Wednesday vote to close 50 schools was made by people under “mayoral control” who are wedded to bad policy.

CPS Chief Talks Promises After School Closings

Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, addresses major investment plans for schools receiving students from schools on the final school-closings list.

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The Chicago School Board voted Wednesday to shutter 49 elementary schools and one high school in the nation’s third-largest school system despite demonstrations and community outrage over the closings. 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools officials said the move is necessary to improve education and get the school district on better financial footing.

“The only consideration for us today is to do exactly what is right for the children,” schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett said before the board’s vote.

But Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis called the closings a “cowboy mentality” and said education “has been hijacked.” She said Wednesday was a “day of mourning” for many schoolchildren who will be forced to cross gang boundaries in order to get to their new classrooms.

“Mayoral control is out of control,” Lewis told reporters. She pledged a voter registration drive in an attempt to register 200,000 new voters before the 2015 municipal elections — when Emanuel will be up for re-election — and to raise funds to support candidates for mayor, city council and statewide office.

“We know that we may not win every seat we intend to target but with research, polling, money and people power we can win some of them,” she said.

Emanuel noted there may be political consequences for the closures but paid them no mind, saying that taking no action would mean far greater consequences for students.

“I know this is incredibly difficult, but I firmly believe the most important thing we can do as a city is provide the next generation with a brighter future,” he said in a written statement after the board’s action. “More hard work lies ahead, but I am confident that together with teachers and principals, engaged parents and community support, our children will succeed.”

Four schools escaped the closure list that was released in March. Chicago Board of Education vice president Jesse Ruiz confirmed to NBC Chicago hours before the vote that Byrd-Bennett had  withdrawn her recommendation to close George Manierre Elementary School, Marcus Garvey Elementary School, Mahalia Jackson Elementary School and Leif Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy.

The Chicago Teachers Union has said a single school closure is one too many and 50 or more would be catastrophic for the district, but teachers admitted the late move was a step in the right direction.

“It’s a great start. We have 50 more to go,” Chicago Teachers Union member Kristine Mayle said earlier Wednesday. 

“There’s an old expression,” CTU Vice President Jesse Shakey said. “Don’t put a knife in my back six inches, pull it out a couple and say you’re doing a favor.”

Other union members left for Springfield Wednesday morning to press lawmakers to pass legislation that would put a moratorium on school closings, and in Chicago, there was optimism that more schools could be saved.

“We saw at the last board meeting that there actually was some dissension for the first time,” Mayle said. “We’d never seen that before in all these years we’ve been doing this. Hopefully when they actually got out to these schools they saw what was actually happening in these neighborhoods.”

Chicago is among several major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit to use mass school closures to reduce costs and offset declining enrollment. Detroit has closed more than 130 schools since 2005, including more than 40 in 2010 alone.

The school closings are the second major issue pitting Emanuel against the Chicago Teachers Union. The group’s 26,000 members went on strike early in the school year, partly over the school district’s demand for longer school days, idling students for a week.

More than 300 of the district’s 681 schools were initially eyed for closure. That number was dwindled to 129 schools in February when Byrd-Bennett announced more specific criteria as to which schools might be affected to deal with what she called a “utilization crisis.”

She’s maintained the district has about 100,000 more seats than students at a time the district is facing a $1 billion deficit. Each closed school, she’s said, would ultimately save the district between $500,000 and $800,000, saving the district $560 million over 10 years in capital costs and an additional $43 million per year in operating costs.

CTU officials have openly questioned those figures.

Byrd-Bennett: Closures Mean Additional Resources for Remaining Schools

 

Byrd-Bennett: Safety Trumps All Other Decisions

 

Byrd-Bennett on Potential School Closure Moratorium

 

Parent: School Closures Especially Difficult for Special Needs Kids

 
The Associated Press’ Sara Burnett contributed to this report.

]]> http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/chicago-school-board-votes-to-close-50-schools/feed 0 http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/chicago-school-board-votes-to-close-50-schools http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/windycitynews/~3/QpYf7kGaNvQ/obama-campaigns-tech-team-wins-webby-award http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/obama-campaigns-tech-team-wins-webby-award#comments Thu, 23 May 2013 01:14:21 +0000 MiriamMeholick764 http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/obama-campaigns-tech-team-wins-webby-award

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Michael Stalby, Harper Reed and Teddy Goff accept with their Webby Award.

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Harper Reed Discusses Chicago’s Tech Scene

Digital technologist discusses his favorite Chicago startups, what the city needs to do to keep pushing forward and what’s next for his career.

Spotlight: Digital Technologist Harper Reed

The former CTO of Obama for America discusses the technology behind the President’s successful re-election campaign.

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The Obama for America 2012 tech team was widely lauded as a major factor in helping to elect the president to a second term, and Tuesday night they were recognized for their efforts at the 17th Annual Webby Awards.

Obama’s tech team, which operated out of the campaign’s Chicago headquarters, received the Webby Breakout of the Year Award. Michael Slatby, Harper Reed and Teddy Goff were on hand to accept the award with the maximum five-word acceptance speech.

Winning at the Webby Awards, held annually in New York, is a major accomplishment for tech and internet industry insiders, but it also manages to attract big names in the political and entertainment worlds.

Aside from providing the strongest commentary on the running theme of the night — whether the word GIF should be pronounced with a soft or a hard G — the tech team has a lot of reasons to pat themselves on the back.

The team is known for its cutting-edge use of data, which helped the winning campaign apply analytics in creating election simulations and to make more efficient decisions on deploying assets.

Senior campaign strategist David Axelrod told the Chicago Sun-Times that using the data models the team created helped “save tens of millions of dollars in targeting voters using social media and broadcast ads.”

]]> http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/obama-campaigns-tech-team-wins-webby-award/feed 0 http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/obama-campaigns-tech-team-wins-webby-award http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/windycitynews/~3/OQyIxTdpBa0/dr-jeffrey-matthews-named-president-elect-of-chicago-surgical-society http://chicagopressrelease.com/science-and-health/dr-jeffrey-matthews-named-president-elect-of-chicago-surgical-society#comments Thu, 23 May 2013 01:14:15 +0000 rodpiyoo http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/dr-jeffrey-matthews-named-president-elect-of-chicago-surgical-society

Jeffrey B. Matthews, MD, Dallas B. Phemister Professor of Surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine, has been named president-elect of the Chicago Surgical Society.

The Chicago Surgical Society has served as a platform for continuing medical education and the exchange of ideas affecting surgical practice for more than 100 years. In his new role, Matthews will support the Society’s pursuit in hosting educational conferences for practicing and attending surgeons, residents, fellows and medical students in Chicago. Matthews’ term as president begins in 2014. Matthews will succeed Allan Fredland, MD.

“The Chicago Surgical Society brings together our vibrant community of surgeons from Chicagoland’s many outstanding hospitals, independent practices and academic medical centers,” Matthews said. “The camaraderie and intellectual exchange of the CSS is invigorating, and I feel truly honored to follow in the footsteps of so many distinguished leaders of Chicago surgery over the past century.”

Matthews, who has served as chair of the Department of Surgery since joining the University of Chicago Medicine in 2006, is an international authority on the surgical treatment of diseases affecting the pancreas, bile ducts and liver. He also has clinical expertise in the treatment of acute and chronic pancreatitis, bile duct reconstruction, and islet autotransplantation. Matthews has been honored as one of America’s Best Doctors by Best Doctors Inc., since 2006.

Matthews is also a prolific researcher, author, editor and teacher who has published more than 150 original articles, chapters and reviews in high-impact national and international journals. His research endeavors have focused on the cell biology of epithelial transport and barrier functions, and his laboratory has been supported by the National Institutes of Health for nearly 20 years. He has delivered invited lectureships and served as visiting professor to departments of surgery around the globe.

He is a senior director of the American Board of Surgery and has served as President of the Society of University Surgeons and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. He also is co-editor in chief of the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery and serves on the editorial boards of 12 scientific journals and textbooks.

Matthews completed his medical training at Harvard Medical School and surgical residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, including a fellowship in hepatobiliary surgery at the University of Bern in Switzerland. He began his academic and clinical career at Harvard and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In 2001, he joined the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine as Christian R. Holmes Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery. He served in that capacity till 2006, when he joined the University of Chicago Medicine.

“Dr. Matthews is an outstanding surgeon-scientist who has had a broad impact as a clinician, teacher and researcher,” said Kenneth Polonsky, MD, executive vice president for medial affairs at the University of Chicago and dean of the Biological Sciences Division and Pritzker School of Medicine. “I cannot think of a more appropriate role model to lead the Chicago Surgical Society.”

UCH_034786 (2)

]]> http://chicagopressrelease.com/science-and-health/dr-jeffrey-matthews-named-president-elect-of-chicago-surgical-society/feed 0 http://chicagopressrelease.com/science-and-health/dr-jeffrey-matthews-named-president-elect-of-chicago-surgical-society http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/windycitynews/~3/qZvFGX6E7SY/joseph-ceithaml-phd-1916-2013 http://chicagopressrelease.com/science-and-health/joseph-ceithaml-phd-1916-2013#comments Thu, 23 May 2013 01:14:12 +0000 reedjoyner1026 http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/joseph-ceithaml-phd-1916-2013

May 22, 2013

Joseph J. Ceithaml, PhD, dean of students emeritus for the Pritzker School of Medicine and the Biological Sciences Division and professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago, died on Saturday afternoon, May 11. He was 96.

Ceithaml served as dean of students in medicine and the biological sciences from 1951 to 1986, shepherding the academic careers of 2,914 future physicians and 1,460 research biologists. He was a central figure in shaping the character of medical and biological education at the University, building the medical school’s national reputation and attracting many of the nation’s best and most well-rounded students to the program.

He also was influential at the national level in efforts to expand the pool of applicants for medical schools. He fought the idea that the standard biology-based “pre-med” curriculum was a prerequisite and sought students with diverse interests, origins and socio-economic backgrounds. When he became dean of students, half of all medical students came from families with incomes in the top fifth of the population. Changing that meant funding need-based scholarships.

“Dean Ceithaml made it possible for thousands of students to develop into outstanding doctors and scientists, and he was firmly committed to ensuring that students received financial aid, thus allowing more flexibility in their career decisions,” said Holly Humphrey, MD, current dean for medical education at the University of Chicago. “He was a kind and generous man who placed student well-being at the top of his priority list.”

Ceithaml was a tireless advocate for students, helping them progress through their medical education without amassing huge debts. He grew the medical school’s no-interest loan fund program from $25,000 in 1951 to more than $6 million in 1986. The Ceithaml Scholarship, named in his honor, funds the medical education of many students each year and continues to expand.

“Dr. Ceithaml was one of the most revered student deans in the country,” said Norma Wagoner, PhD, who became dean of students soon after Ceithaml stepped down. “He served as a mentor to many, and was the most important mentor in my own life. He was one of a kind.”

During his 35 years in the dean’s role, Ceithaml developed the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University, obtaining federal funding in 1967 for what would become one of the leading programs in the country. He implemented the medical school’s pass/fail system. He also helped develop the centralized American Medical College Application Service through the Association of American Medical Colleges.

“He was the kind of person you would want to have with you in tough times,” said his friend, cardiologist Louis Cohen, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Chicago and a former member of the admissions committee. “He was dependable, loyal, reliable and incorruptible. No one ever bought their way into this medical school.”

Ceithaml’s family can vouch for that. When his son, Eric, now chief of pediatric cardiovascular surgery at the University of Florida at Jacksonville, was looking at medical schools, his father told him: “Don’t even apply here. You won’t get in. Your grades are not good enough.”

“He did put in a good word for me at another medical school,” Eric said. “He was strict and he had high expectations, but he was always supportive, always there for us. If you had a problem or a challenge, he would help you sort it out. That’s why so many med students loved him unconditionally.”

His daughter, Lenore, who practices immigration law in San Diego, said the University and the medical students were like a second family to him. “He kept in touch with them after graduation and remembered all their names and details about their lives,” she said. “He left quite the legacy.”

Colleague Frank Fitch, MD, professor emeritus of pathology and a former member of the admissions committee, lauded Ceithaml for his ability to discern the quality of a student applicant.

“Joe had a fantastic talent for recruiting the really good students, a knack for spotting those with tremendous potential even if they had some questionable credentials, and the talent and inclination, almost paternal, to help those who got into difficulties,” Fitch said. “There are not many people around like him.”

Born May 23, 1916, into a family of Czechoslovakian immigrants on the Southwest Side of Chicago, Joseph James Ceithaml graduated from Lindblom High School as valedictorian of his class. He was the first of his parents’ six children to go to college. He entered the University of Chicago in 1933, where he discovered a passion for biochemistry. After graduating in 1937, he entered the biochemistry doctoral program and completed his PhD in 1941, just weeks before Pearl Harbor was bombed. In May 1942, he married Ann Bednarik, a high school friend.

During World War II, Ceithaml worked on a malaria-research project based at the University of Chicago and run by the Office of Scientific Research and Development of the U.S. War Manpower Commission. In 1946, he was named an assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Chicago. He also worked part time as a pre-med adviser. In 1948, he and his wife left Chicago for a post-doctoral fellowship at California Institute of Technology, where he worked with geneticist George Beadle — who would win the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1958 and become president of the University of Chicago in 1961.

In 1949, after completing his fellowship, Ceithaml returned to the University of Chicago. In 1950, he won the University’s Quantrell Award, the highest honor bestowed upon undergraduate teachers. In 1951, he was named dean of students for medicine and biological sciences. He was promoted to professor in 1958. He retired in 1986 at age 70.

As dean of students, Ceithaml was revered for his in-depth knowledge about every student and for his efforts to help students with academic, financial or personal problems. He tackled similar issues at the national level, serving as chairman of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ committee on medical student financing, from 1961 to 1964, and as vice chairman and chairman of the Group on Student Affairs, 1965 to 1969. He also served on the board of directors of the National Resident Matching Program from 1967 to 1980, during the period when the computerized Match system was implemented.

“Joe and two other student deans founded the Group on Student Affairs at the AAMC,” Wagoner said. “When he spoke, everyone listened, and very few ever refuted anything he had to say. His brilliant, practical, down-to-earth solutions always seemed to be on target. As a result, many of the policies that govern the Group on Student Affairs today initially came from him.”

Among those students who was impacted by Ceithaml: Ted Steck, MD, professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biology.

“He was totally committed to the students, the University and his job,” recalled Steck, who was interviewed by Ceithaml when he applied to the medical school and later became Ceithaml’s department chairman. “I should add that he always had the same hair style – a crew cut, flat on top — for all the decades I knew him.”

Ceithaml received several career honors but was particularly proud of the 1982 Gold Key Award, which recognizes outstanding and loyal service to the Biological Sciences Division and to the University of Chicago, and for having the medical student and alumni center named for him, just before he retired.

“His hobbies kept him fit long after he retired,” said Ernest Mhoon, MD, professor of surgery at the University of Chicago. “He played squash, he loved fishing and he enjoyed hiking through the woods looking for mushrooms, which he often shared with my wife and me. We would not ordinarily eat wild mushrooms, but this was Joe Ceithaml. We trusted him.”

Ann, his wife of 43 years, died of cancer in 1985. Ceithaml is survived by his second wife, Mildred, whom he married in 1989, and her son Bob Husa; two children, Lenore and Eric; Eric’s wife Susan; three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Services were private. A memorial service at the University is being planned. In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Pritzker School of Medicine: Joseph J. Ceithaml Scholarship Fund, designed to lessen the large debt burden medical students often face upon graduation.

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]]> http://chicagopressrelease.com/science-and-health/joseph-ceithaml-phd-1916-2013/feed 0 http://chicagopressrelease.com/science-and-health/joseph-ceithaml-phd-1916-2013 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/windycitynews/~3/dclFl1dk1Tw/%e2%80%9ccoming-home%e2%80%9d-by-wisconsin-student-wins-u-s-2013-doodle-4-google-competition http://chicagopressrelease.com/technology/%e2%80%9ccoming-home%e2%80%9d-by-wisconsin-student-wins-u-s-2013-doodle-4-google-competition#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 20:12:36 +0000 Articlefree4all http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/%e2%80%9ccoming-home%e2%80%9d-by-wisconsin-student-wins-u-s-2013-doodle-4-google-competition After 130,000 submissions and millions of votes cast, Sabrina Brady of Sparta, Wisc. has been named the 2013 U.S. Doodle 4 Google National Winner. Her doodle, “Coming Home,” will be featured on the Google homepage in the U.S. tomorrow, May 23.

Students across all 50 states amazed us with their creative interpretations of this year’s theme, “My Best Day Ever…” From scuba diving to dinosaurs to exploring outer space, we were wowed by the ways young artists brought their best days to life in their doodles.

Sabrina’s doodle stood out in the crowd; it tells the story of her reunion with her father as he returned from an 18 month deployment in Iraq. Her creative use of the Google letters to illustrate this heartfelt moment clearly resonated with voters across the country and all of us at Google.

In addition to seeing her artwork on the Google homepage, Sabrina—who is in 12th grade at Sparta High School—will receive a $30,000 college scholarship, a Chromebook computer and a $50,000 technology grant for her school. She will attend Minneapolis College of Art and Design this coming fall, where she will continue her artistic pursuits. Congratulations Sabrina!

In addition to the National Winner, voters across the country helped us determine the four National Finalists, who will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship:

• Grades K-3: Reagan Gonsalves (Grade 1, Santan Elementary School, Chandler, Ariz.) for her doodle “My best day ever is learning about nature.” Reagan says, “My best day ever is to be around the pretty animals and plants in nature, because I love to know about what is around me. I love to watch hummingbirds drink nectar out of flowers. I love to read books on nature and how plants and animals grow.”
• Grades 4-5: Audrey Zhang (Grade 4, Michael F. Stokes Elementary School, Levittown, N.Y.) for her doodle “…When I discover paradise!” Zhang says, “My best day ever will be when I discover paradise. In paradise, I could play with dragons, romp with leopards, and chat with fairies…It would be the best day ever when I could finally live in a mystical, dreamy realm.”
• Grades 6-7: Maria Iannone (Grade 7, Chestnut Ridge Middle School, Sewell, N.J.) for her doodle “The best day ever.” Maria says, “Where I live, it’s difficult to view the night sky very well. Having an interest in astronomy, a day where I can observe the things I study on my own time would satisfy me.”
• Grades 8-9: Joseph Han (Grade 8, Falmouth Middle School, Falmouth, Maine) for his doodle “Late-afternoon bliss.” Joey says, “For me, ‘the best day ever’ doesn’t consist of ambitious dreams, but rather the enjoyment of a day spent in carefree euphoria. Being in the woods is something that evokes such happiness in me. The lighthearted joy of rafting, fishing or catching fireflies is what I’ve attempted to capture.”

After the awards ceremony, all 50 of our State Winners will unveil a special exhibition of their artwork at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where their doodles will be displayed for the public to view from May 22 – July 14.

Thanks to all who voted and helped us select the 2013 Doodle 4 Google winners. Even more importantly, thank you to all of the students who submitted their artwork and the parents and teachers who continue to inspire and support their young artists. Until next year… happy doodling!

Posted by Ryan Germick, Doodle Team Lead

]]> http://chicagopressrelease.com/technology/%e2%80%9ccoming-home%e2%80%9d-by-wisconsin-student-wins-u-s-2013-doodle-4-google-competition/feed 0 http://chicagopressrelease.com/technology/%e2%80%9ccoming-home%e2%80%9d-by-wisconsin-student-wins-u-s-2013-doodle-4-google-competition http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/windycitynews/~3/AZc27GBLeEs/brian-urlacher-retires http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/brian-urlacher-retires#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 20:12:26 +0000 steven726 http://chicagopressrelease.com/news/brian-urlacher-retires

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DETROIT, MI – DECEMBER 30: Brian Urlacher #54 of the Chicago Bears watches the action. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

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Brian Urlacher will not play for another team in the 2013 season.

The sure-bet hall of fame middle linebacker released a post on the social media site WhoSay.com letting fans know that he will be ending his career as a Bear.

“After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a desicion,” he wrote.

Urlacher, 34, played 13 seasons for Chicago, earning numerous honors including Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2000. Urlacher was selected to 8 Pro Bowls.

The defensive stalwart parted ways with the team shortly after the free agency period began. Bears General Manager Phil Emery offered Urlacher a deal that amounted to just over the veteran minimum to stay with the club, Urlacher declined the offer and moved on.

See the statement below.

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