Tag Archives: Brigham Young University

News, Politics, Government

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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By The White House

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Deborah K. Jones – Ambassador to Libya, Department of State
• James Knight – Ambassador to the Republic of Chad, Department of State

President Obama also announced his intent to appoint the following individual to a key Administration post:

• Lesley Weiss – Member and Chair, Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

President Obama said, “It gives me great confidence that such dedicated and capable individuals have agreed to join this Administration to serve the American people. I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Ambassador Deborah K. Jones, Nominee for Ambassador to Libya, Department of State
Ambassador Deborah K. Jones, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, is Scholar-in-Residence at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. Previously, she was Senior Faculty Advisor for National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College. From 2008 to 2011, she served as U.S. Ambassador to the State of Kuwait. Ambassador Jones joined the Department of State in 1982. Her additional overseas posts include: Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey (2005-2007), Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (1998-2001), Consular Section Chief/Regional Counselor Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1992-1994), and Consular Section Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria (1990-1991). Her Washington assignments include: Director of the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs and Iran (2002-2004) and Acting Public Affairs Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs (1994-1995). Ambassador Jones received a B.A. from Brigham Young University and an M.S. from the National War College of the National Defense University.

Ambassador James Knight, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Chad, Department of State
Ambassador James Knight, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, is Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. From 2009 to 2012, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Benin. His additional overseas assignments include: Team Leader of the Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mosul, Iraq (2006-2007); Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Luanda, Angola (2004-2006); Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Praia, Cape Verde (2001-2003); Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar (1995-1998); and Political, Economic, and Consular Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Banjul, The Gambia (1993-1995). In Washington, his assignments include: Director of the State Department's Office of East African Affairs (2007-2009) and Country Officer for Ethiopia (1998-2001). Ambassador Knight served in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1973. He received a B.A. and an M.A. from Wichita State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individual to a key Administration post:

Lesley …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House Press Office

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Utah Education Network and University of Utah Select Ciena for Metro Optical Network

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Utah Education Network and University of Utah Select Ciena for Metro Optical Network

Ciena’s 100G coherent optical technology enables fast, scalable connectivity to support University research and education efforts, and to provide broadband access for schools

HANOVER, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Ciena® Corporation (NAS: CIEN) , the network specialist, today announced that the Utah Education Network (UEN) and the University of Utah have deployed Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, equipped with WaveLogic Coherent Optical Processors, to provide high-speed, high-capacity 100G connectivity between the University and its new downtown Salt Lake City data center, and to UEN member organizations. The new Ciena-powered metro optical network will also support the University’s diverse research portfolio, which requires robust scientific computing and visualization capabilities in the areas of biomedicine, genomics, geophysics, combustion, molecular dynamics, fluid dynamics and climate modeling.

Key Facts:

  • The University of Utah’s new metro optical network will connect the University to its Salt Lake City data center at speeds that will scale from 10Gb/s to 100Gb/s and beyond. This will allow the university to meet the advanced connectivity requirements of both research and general data traffic of the University, as well as UEN-connected institutions, on a converged network. In addition, extensions of the network to Provo and Logan are underway, enabling the network to serve Brigham Young University and Utah State University, as well.
  • Ciena’s technology will also provide high-performance optical transport to support UEN, which operates a statewide backbone for K-12 educational schools, Head Start organizations, higher education institutions and public libraries. UEN facilitates interactive video and web conferencing, provides instructional support services, and operates a public television station (KUEN) on behalf of the Utah State Board of Regents.
  • UEN also serves as the commercial Internet and provides connectivity between Internet2 and the state government and the Utah Telehealth Network, which connects health care providers across the state. UEN is an affiliate member of the U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) project that delivers network connectivity to more than 65,000 member organizations for the delivery of telemedicine, distance learning and other life-changing applications to communities across the United States.
  • Through a combination of grants from the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program …read more
    Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Is Budgeting the Best Way to Save? Seven Personal Finance Myths

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By CNBC

Money and happiness

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Think you’re financially savvy? When it comes to their personal finances, people carry around notions all their lives that may or may not be valid. For example, you’ve heard that money can’t buy you love, but can it buy happiness? Most people believe that it can’t — but science may prove them wrong.

Here are seven personal finance myths that happen to be everyday beliefs about the way we consider and handle money. Many of these myths fool even the smartest of savers. The latest research will help you discern the facts and see through the smoke.

Budgeting Is the Best Way to Save Money

A study by researchers from Brigham Young University and Emory University shows that consumers who shopped with a spending limit spent up to 50 percent more on a single item than consumers without a budget.

Jeff Larson, the study’s co-author and an assistant professor of marketing at Brigham Young, says when consumers set a budget for a specific item, they oftentimes limit their searches to items priced close to the budget’s upper limit. If given $1,000 for a flat-screen TV, for instance, consumers are likely to limit their selection to televisions priced between $800 and $1,000 before looking at each TV‘s features.

“We don’t claim that this indicates that you shouldn’t ever budget, that budgeting is overall a bad thing,” Larson says.

The effect is only present when shopping for single items. “Aggregate budgets” used for multiple products, such as groceries, generally help the user save money, Larson says.

He adds that consumers can potentially reverse the effect by limiting their selection based on qualities and features before looking at price.

“Instead of saying ‘I’m willing up to spend $1,000 on a TV,’ you say ‘I want a 42-inch TV,'” he says.

More Earnings Mean More Wealth

“The more people earn, the more they tend to spend,” says Stephen Goldbart, co-author of the book “Affluence Intelligence” and co-founder of the Money, Meaning and Choices Institute, a San Francisco-based company that provides advisory services for wealthy clients. “As people acquire more money, they almost immediately start purchasing things that they’ve felt they’ve always wanted rather than thinking about what percentages that they should put away and the consequences of changing their spending habits.”

This may explain why lottery winners are more likely to go bankrupt as those who didn’t stumble into thousands, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky, the University of Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt Law School. Or why 78 percent of NFL players are bankrupt or under financial stress within two years of retiring and 60 percent of NBA athletes are broke within five years of leaving pro sports, according to data from Sports Illustrated.

To ensure that higher earnings translate into higher net worth, Goldbart says, “Be conscious as a consumer. (Ask yourself:) ‘Is the purchase or …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Articles of Interest

Jimmy Hales, Gay Mormon, Comes Out To Family, Records Their Reactions In Amazing Clip (VIDEO)

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

An openly gay Mormon used to be something of a unicorn, but one young man’s proud coming out video is a statement to the contrary.

Jimmy Lee Hales, a Mormon student at Brigham Young University, came out to his family and friends in a touching, five-minute YouTube video that has already been watched more than 100,000 times.

Gay Mormons exist, Hales says in the video, but it can be a lonely existence.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post