You can hear Nancy Aronie cheer you on to be the best writer possible in her compelling new book “Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay.” Both in person and on the page and warmth — all of which come across as she shares her seven secrets which she has come to over her lifetime of writing One of Aronie’s core beliefs is how writing about our mini or large traumas is a way to heal both emotionally and physically: “Yes sorrow and keeping your story inside affect your health Telling or writing your story and having it be listened to Nestled within Aronie’s seven secrets is a treasure trove of personal essays that reflect how a particular secret works Virtually all of them were written by people who have taken one of Aronie’s workshops They were created in 20 minutes in response to a prompt or as a homework assignment that wasn’t edited The pieces are little gems that can inspire you to write and even more so when Aronie adds a related prompt at their end for us to use she also gives her take on one of the essays providing keen insight into how she “knows” when something works Aronie tells us to “Kill ’em with the first line” in “Secret One: Start with a Compelling First Statement.” Peter Meyer’s essay “A Holy Bagel,” does just that: “There I sat To my right sat my girlfriend and her sweet and authentic family I’m a Jew being held temporarily captive in a church for Christmas Mass To my left sat true believers listening intently to the word of God “Secret Two” is closely related: “Introduce a Dramatic Scene” — make us want to know what happens next 1969,” Ellenora Cage thrusts us into a tale about the devolution of her mother We meet her dressed in purple suede go-go boots her mother falls three stories through electric wires that soften her fall into a dumpster full of glass Clorox bottles But it’s the last line that will leave you gasping for its brilliance Discover and Reveal a New Insight About Yourself.” The author and they stayed where I put them.” She draws us into how her mightily successful freelance writing career was utterly upended when a drunk driver stole a truck and compressed a parked car with her in it She takes us on an intimate journey into what it was like to try and put her life together after her brain “broke”: “Words start coming back Just not the right words at the right time … I need 12 words for a thought “Is there a certain number of memories my damaged brain can hold Does making new memories push old memories out I won’t ask to make new memories if you’ll let me keep the old ones “Be Vulnerable” is “Secret Four,” a core one for Aronie: “I’m big on this one My preference is that I want to feel something.” Susan Joyner launches us into what we know will be quite the tale: “My mother was full of salt shaking it into my wounds of inadequacy … She was the unofficial editor of my life and I went from writer to failure.” Her continual criticism made Joyner abandon her plans to be an English major — “making it seem a sham “trying to remove all my many unacceptable parts.” She recognizes that her mother’s behavior stems from her father’s harsh words and that she must take responsibility for freeing herself from this toxic familial legacy The remaining secrets are incorporating direct quotes with equally strong examples and intriguing prompts Any given essay doesn’t have to have all seven elements but Aronie points out that a powerful opening sentence is universal; otherwise the reader won’t go further She says about knowing when something works: “It’s emotional I want to know everything this writer has written Aronie concludes by emphasizing how all of us have stories that are different it becomes harder to see them as separate from us “We all just want to be understood … I’m hoping reading these different pieces and writing some of your own has reminded you that compassion has always been your first language.” Aronie hopes the book will inspire readers to write to the prompts and keep going “that they love these stories the way I do!” “Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay” is a beautiful read whether you are toying with the idea of putting pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) or simply want to gain insight into what makes good writing work “Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay,” by Nancy Slonim Aronie Aronie and contributors will appear on Dec The MV Times comment policy requires first and last name for all comments Slonim called for the return of hostages held in Gaza and emphasized the importance of unity during unprecedented times By - July 29 One day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress the director of development at the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton who represents Greater Binghamton in the House Slonim called for the safe return of all hostages held in Gaza and proclaimed the importance of unity during difficult and unprecedented times He asked that Congress be blessed so they could foster an environment of love under challenging circumstances and was introduced on the House floor by Molinaro and Speaker Mike Johnson “It was a true honor and privilege to have been invited to our nation’s capital to offer the opening prayer as a representative of the 19th District of NY,” Slonim said in a press release it was humbling to have the opportunity to bring the Torah’s message of unity and purpose — illuminated by the Rebbe’s teachings — to the Congress My sincere appreciation to Congressman Molinaro for this unique invitation.” Referencing the teachings of the Rebbe — Rabbi Menachem M a global spiritual leader whose passing 30 years ago was commemorated earlier in the month — Slonim said individuals do not need to be driven apart by their differences Every legislative session has started with a prayer While an official chaplain position was established in 1789 a member of Congress may request that the prayer be delivered by a local minister and community service is an inspiration to us all,” Molinaro said “I am honored to have him in DC to offer the opening prayer on behalf of Binghamton and all of Upstate New York.” Slonim attended the Rabbinical College of Canada earning his Rabbinic ordination from the Central Rabbinic Court of Chabad of Israel He serves as co-director at Chabad Downtown with his wife the student president of Chabad and a rising senior majoring in Judaic studies expressed pride in Slonim and the work she has been able to do alongside him “It is a tremendous honor to see him represent our school community in the House of Representatives delivering the opening benediction,” Levine wrote “His words provided much-needed comfort during these turbulent and stressful times reflecting a sentiment that resonates deeply with me: despite our diverse backgrounds we are all human and should treat each other with respect and we can all make a difference with acts of kindness.” Slonim has continued his parents’ local legacy welcoming up to 1,500 students yearly at Chabad at Binghamton He has implemented programs like the Jewish Greek Council and the Listen Up mental health fellowship and he has led more than 800 students to Israel on birthright trips an appearance that was boycotted by several legislators and sparked large protests outside the Capitol with many denouncing the Israeli government’s role in Gaza’s humanitarian crisis The prime minister reiterated the longstanding alliance between the United States and Israel marking his first time abroad since the war began at that very same podium where PM Netanyahu stood just hours before addressing the nation I felt — and knew — that I was representing each and every one of you; my dear friends of this special community the extended Binghamton family,” Slonim wrote in an email We have the address for the funeral home & the family on file If you're not happy with your card we'll send a replacement or refund your money Alan Slonim, 90, of Terrell, NC died at home in his sleep from a heart attack on Monday, June 6, 2022. We are grateful he was able to be active and live independently through the end. Alan grew up in Brooklyn, NY and New Rochelle, NY. He received... View Obituary & Service Information The family of Alan Ivan Slonim created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories © 2025 Cavin-Cook Funeral Home & Crematory Made with love by funeralOne « Back One year after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, Chabad at Rice University honored the victims with scripture songs and stories of survival at a vigil in Rice’s Farnsworth Pavilion 713-348-0000 | Privacy Policy | Campus Carry Scarsdale residents Michelle Slonim and Ben Rosenfeld are all about bringing comedy to the 'burbs "without paying the congestion fee.” The husband-and-wife duo, longtime New York City comedians, are the founders of the newly minted Westchester Comedy Club, which has its first show at 8 p.m., April 5, in the private dining room of Tre Angelina in White Plains the organization was known as the Rye Comedy Club Slonim said they rebranded to streamline the business as their goal is to perform at venues throughout the county Travel: Spring break getaways with easy access from the Lower Hudson Valley and NYC Additional shows are scheduled for April 24, May 29, June 26, July 17 and Aug. 7 at the Rye Grill & Bar in Rye In addition, they've run Living Room Laughs for nearly a decade creating a comedy club-like vibe at various events such as in-home birthday parties we’ve made people laugh there," said Slonim Slonim said it's mostly professional New York City comedians they’ve known for years "They’ll be funny and fearless: on stage and on Metro-North," she said "We're basically running a comedian refugee program." is to bring top-tier comedy to Westchester and to grow the local comedy community Long story short: Expect an open mic and comedy class at Jackie B’s in Scarsdale who taught standup at the legendary (since closed) Carolines On Broadway Slonim insisted it's also part of the experience offers a special subset of their menu for the comedy show which includes a selection from the bar "We encourage enjoying a cocktail or two so you’re just tipsy enough to laugh but sober enough to remember why you're laughing," joked Slonim Of interest: New York City-based restaurant group opens first location in Westchester "We're honored to bring the comedy while they bring the cannoli." The two are also actively scouting for new restaurant venues across the county and have a wish list that includes spaces with at least 75 seats in a private room Said Slonim: "Think of us as comedy matchmakers — every Westchester town wants to laugh and we want to organize it." Details at westchesternycomedyclub.com Women of Iron Unite and Inside Out podcast hosted by Rivkah Krinsky and Eda Schottenstein collaborated for a meaningful conversation around Tznius Women of Iron Unite and the hosts of the incredible Inside Out podcast collaborated to create content and a meaningful conversation around Tznius The premise of the discussion centered around Tznius and the mixed emotions and feelings women and girls have about it Joyce shared her journey as a baalas teshuva in the multi-million-dollar world of fashion Joyce expressed her appreciation for Tznius and how it has shaped her life She draws a correlation between the fashion industry and how it measures the greater quality the clothing with the greater level of care given to the material design packaging and yes its level of modesty brought to the podcast her perspective and insights As a shlucha on campus she interacts with young women on a daily basis She uses her vast knowledge to influence those around her who live in a very immodest world when discussing modesty and its seemingly many restrictions and rules of conduct yet the entire order of the world exists on rules and modesty is just one aspect of that Mrs Slonim highlighted The Rebbes clear and thoughtful views on this topic Eda and Rivkah masterfully joined and added to the conversation with their own personal stories/struggles Eda shared her perspective: “Modesty was always presented to me as a top-down concept—taught by mentors and teachers rather than explored through personal experience especially in settings like the beach or the gym This conversation challenged me to think about modesty beyond my own biases and to see its authenticity in a deeper way I never expected to do a podcast on this topic as it’s something I’ve personally struggled with but hearing perspectives from Joyce and Rivka was eye-opening to say the least Whether or not modesty is a challenge for you this episode offers insight into its deeper meaning beyond just clothing.” Rivkah shared so beautifully: “Because of my own journey it’s something I deeply value and feel proud to discuss so I was honored to take part in this conversation Rivkah Slonim shared profound wisdom on the Rebbe’s approach and how tznius empowers women while Joyce Azria’s journey was incredibly inspiring—showing how she embraces modesty while thriving in the fashion industry Their insights left me feeling truly uplifted and grateful to be part of this discussion.” feel privileged to have facilitated this important conversation and we say a huge thank you to Eda The journey and the conversation are not over Click here to listen to the podcast. Click here for video. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" To the Gates of Jerusalem: The Diaries and Papers of James G Bloomington: Indiana University Press and U.S Envoy to the Promised Land: The Diaries and Papers of James G exactly eleven minutes after David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel The president was defying the firm advice of his State Department and its head Marshall had told Truman that the rush to recognize was pure politics he would not vote for the president in the November elections McDonald (left) meets with Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion President Harry Truman selected McDonald as special envoy against the wishes of the State Department He had promised Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann that he would recognize the Jewish state without delay The president was also outraged by the State Department which in March 1948 had publicly humiliated him by reversing his support for partition and proposing to put Palestine under temporary U.N it was his turn to surprise the “striped-pants boys” (as he dismissively called State’s bureaucrats) Truman quickly decided that it was essential that the United States have a special representative in Israel With the State Department once again aghast the president proceeded to select his own candidate The recent publication of McDonald’s diaries and papers clarifies his He studied at Indiana University and completed an M.A he was appointed League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees met with Hitler shortly after he became chancellor of Germany McDonald was appalled to hear Hitler say: “I will do the thing that the rest of the world would like to do It doesn’t know how to get rid of the Jews I will show them.” He reported Hitler’s remark to the newly-elected president Franklin Roosevelt who was too busy trying to revive the American economy to give much thought to the Jewish plight As the Nazi oppression of Germany’s Jews began and tens of thousands sought refuge in other countries McDonald toured the world to find countries to provide haven for the fleeing masses The State Department’s visa division was headed by Breckinridge Long a Roosevelt crony who had faithfully raised funds for the president’s election campaigns ostensibly to prevent spies entering the country Long recorded in his diary a message that he sent to all U.S and postpone,” issuing visas for entry of refugees into the United States McDonald and other critics met with the president in an attempt to pry the door open Roosevelt apparently told him not to “pull any sob stuff.” McDonald was close to the president but not close enough to convince him to modify his policy on refugees To the Gates of Jerusalem and Envoy to the Promised Land record McDonald’s relationship with Truman and his work promoting the Zionist cause The editors have done an outstanding job in sifting through the diaries and countless documents that McDonald preserved regarding his public service It was in 1946 that McDonald first came to Truman’s notice in connection with the formation of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine Truman had called upon the British to admit 100,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors into Palestine This led to the creation of the committee to be composed of six British appointees and six Americans McDonald’s experience with refugees in the 1930s was a key factor in his appointment He was also well known to several prominent Jews who worked vigorously for his inclusion on the U.S one of two presidential advisers kept over from the Roosevelt administration His closeness to Truman was a crucial factor in resolving differences that arose in the president’s relations with leading Zionists Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion (right) with Israeli ambassador to the United States Abba Eban (center) Truman recognized the Jewish state minutes after Israel was established Two episodes reveal the crucial role McDonald fulfilled helping Truman avoid pitfalls that might have undermined his stand as a firm supporter of Jewish statehood in ensuring that Washington did nothing that would compromise its independence The first critical issue related to the Morrison-Grady Plan for autonomous Jewish and Arab provinces under British sovereignty McDonald’s campaign in opposition to that plan is charted in To the Gates of Jerusalem that Israel give up the Negev in contravention of the November 1947 partition resolution it was McDonald’s direct intervention that saved the future Israeli state from emerging as a tiny canton under British tutelage from having the Negev detached from its territory Both schemes originated in the British Foreign Office and received State Department blessing As a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry McDonald worked assiduously to ensure that the committee endorsed two goals: The first was to alleviate the plight of the Jewish refugees languishing in European camps by gaining the committee’s endorsement of Truman’s proposal for the immediate admission of 100,000 Jewish refugees into Palestine The second was to ensure that whatever recommendations the committee might adopt would reflect the unanimous agreement of all its members Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin had promised committee members that he would do everything he could to implement a unanimous report would provide an avenue to avoid its proposals by reference to a minority opinion The report was composed of ten major recommendations at the heart of which was the urgency of admitting the refugees to Palestine McDonald also realized that many of the British delegates were incensed at the Jewish Agency which they felt acted in unison with the Jewish underground to undermine British authority in Palestine It was a difficult task to ensure that the report contained no condemnation of the agency or demands for disarmament of the Hagana which had to be handed in only four months after the committee’s formation The report shocked Bevin and Prime Minister Atlee who claimed that it was unworkable and would bring immediate fighting between Arabs and Jews They insisted that implementation of any part of the report be gradual most particularly that admission of the 100,000 refuges commence after a series of steps to normalize the situation They proposed that a small joint committee meet in London to iron out the procedures expecting this was designed to expedite entry of the 100,000 agreed and appointed the State Department’s Henry Grady to meet with Herbert Morrison This led to the Grady-Morrison Plan that proposed semi-autonomous Jewish and Arab cantons under a central trusteeship government run by the British The entire plan was a pipedream; neither Jews nor the Arabs were prepared to accept it hoping this would finally lead to implementation of the scheme for the 100,000 It was here that McDonald proved his mettle Linking the 100,000 to Arab acquiescence in a cantonal settlement meant admission would be permanently postponed This would be a repudiation of the president’s wish McDonald met with Secretary of the Treasury John Snyder McDonald engaged in a vigorous debate with Truman about how Grady had been sold a bill of goods in London that would so adversely affect the president’s name that “he will go down as anathema He [the president] exploded at this point.” McDonald said he and he “had no object in coming except to tell the truth.” To this Truman replied I hear it too seldom.” The two senators later said that “they had never seen as frank a statement by a non-politician to the president.” Truman became convinced and ordered the Grady team to return to Washington He even sent a letter to McDonald expressing his appreciation and added: “I hope [the White House meeting] wasn’t too hard on you.” McDonald’s intervention was clearly the decisive factor that brought the president around to ditching the entire Morrison-Grady scheme five Arab armies invaded the territory of the Jewish state locking Israel in a life-and-death struggle Truman decided that the United States needed a representative in Israel to keep the White House informed of developments Truman had been impressed with McDonald’s forthrightness in guiding him away from a debacle over Morrison-Grady and moved to appoint him over the State Department’s vociferous objections They insisted recognition had only been de facto and at least until armistice agreements were secured a diplomatic representative was out of place these officials felt the president’s choice was particularly injudicious Undersecretary of State Robert Lovett charged that McDonald “was recognized as a proponent of the Zionist cause,” and his appointment could adversely affect the present truce Truman ignored the opposition and made the appointment In a meeting with McDonald before his departure the president “stressed his desire to have his own means of communication and of information to and from the State of Israel.” This was a sad reflection on Truman’s confidence in his Department of State Security Council adopted a resolution imposing a four-week ceasefire in the Arab-Israeli war and appointing Count Folke Bernadotte of the Swedish Red Cross to serve as a peace mediator After extricating Britain from the Palestinian morass Foreign Minister Bevin now decided it was essential that it gain control of the Negev to serve as a base to protect the Suez Canal not only to protect its oil resources but also as a vital launch pad for long distance bombers against the Soviet Union in the event of an actual conflict Bevin kept pounding Washington with messages on the critical role slated for the Negev in British-U.S and Bernadotte was glad to cooperate in implementing the British-U.S Early in September, British and U.S. officials met secretly with Bernadotte in Rhodes and were pleased that his proposal paralleled the views of their two governments. [4] The essence of the plan was that the Negev should be detached from Israel and transferred to Transjordan Bernadotte also called for Jerusalem to come under Transjordanian authority but later proposed that the city be internationalized Truman was dissuaded from sending the telegram since the effect would have been disastrous for his election campaign: The president and secretary of state would be revealed as engaged in a public squabble possibly leading the latter to resign on the eve of the elections the State Department continued to promote the plan appointed mediator Folke Bernadotte proposed that the Negev be detached from Israel sweeping Egyptian forces out of the Negev and shutting the door on this British-U.S.-hatched scheme Israel was not about to surrender the Negev How then did Bevin think he could compel Israel to withdraw His plan was to invoke the force of a Security Council resolution Fighting with the invading Arab states had been constant from the day of Israel’s birth simply enabled the Arab states to avoid coming to terms with the reality of the Jewish state Egypt controlled the road from Majdal to Beit Jibrin cutting off twenty-five Israeli villages in the northern Negev and in light of Bernadotte’s proposal for the Negev to be detached from Israel the government decided to launch Operation Yoav Israeli forces swept most of the Egyptian forces out of the Negev leaving only four thousand Egyptian troops surrounded in the Faluja pocket Israel had effectively shut the door on the British-U.S Draft Security Council resolutions from the two Western allies called for immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces to the October 14 lines the envisioned boundary of the supposed detached Negev Bevin demanded that the draft resolution include a threat that failure of any party to withdraw to those lines would subject the violator to U.N a deadly prospect for the nascent Jewish state Most importantly, McDonald contacted two members of the U.S. delegation to the U.N., Benjamin Cohen and Eleanor Roosevelt, both of whom he knew were sharply critical of U.S. acquiescence in the wild British scheme. [9] This triumvirate succeeded in turning U.S Our weight will have to be thrown back of Israel if we really mean to sustain partition [to which America was committed] ... Israel without the Negev cannot possibly be independent and self-supporting ... [it is only our] support in the negotiations which will make it possible for her to exist at all. [10] In a November 6 letter to both Roosevelt and Cohen How blind are men who permit their hatreds and their frustrations to close their minds to realities. And, how tragic that other men should accept such men as dispassionate, disinterested and trustworthy guides. [11] delegation over support for the Bernadotte Plan and the inclusion of the threat of sanctions in the Security Council resolution took place against the backdrop of the presidential elections on November 2 Truman had given explicit instructions that the U.S delegation not act on any proposal without receiving his clear authorization The delegation had a special meeting on the resulting in modifications to the Security Council draft resolution adopted the next day any failure of a party to withdraw its forces to the October 14 line would be reported by the acting mediator to the Security Council which would then consider what measures under chapter VII of the U.N The crisis was averted and the British scheme was checked Israel’s hold on the Negev was never again to be challenged Truman’s victory in the presidential contest sealed the issue of the Negev exactly a year after the U.N.'s adoption of the partition resolution Truman wrote a letter to President Weizmann of Israel Thanking him for his congratulatory message The publication of McDonald’s diaries makes his major role in the formation of U.S policy at this critical juncture fully visible at last The cover of volume 3 of the McDonald diaries contains the following sentence: “It is entirely possible that [the birth of the modern state of Israel] would not have come about were it not for the determined efforts of James G McDonald.” While this is possibly an overstatement few non-Israeli individuals had as great a share in the creation of the Jewish state as did James G Advocate for the Doomed: The Diaries and Papers of James G Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine,Nov. 29, 1947 Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) President Truman to the President of the Provisional Government of Israel (Weizmann) © 2025 Middle East Forum • E-mail: info@meforum.org • Tel: 1 (215) 546-5406 Drug Discovery and Development By | November 8 While many AI companies focus on analyzing existing scientific literature, this approach faces a fundamental challenge: the reliability of the source material itself. “Up to 70% of experiments described in publications cannot be replicated,” notes Yochi Slonim, CEO of Anima Biotech Slonim is referencing a seminal 2016 Nature survey that found that more than seven out of ten researchers had attempted and failed to reproduce another scientist’s experiments, and more than half had failed to reproduce their own experiments. The problem persists to the present day prompting new initiatives aimed at transparency such as open data sharing and preregistration of study designs While Anima has contributed to the scientific literature itself, with a growing list of peer-reviewed publications on protein synthesis monitoring and tRNA visualization Slonim argues that relying solely on mining existing research isn’t enough Anima Biotech focuses on AI but isn’t applying traditional models to old processes or extracting findings from decades-old literature “Let’s say you have an experiment showing that A affects B where AI and B are proteins,” Slonim explained “A researcher might then find another study that finds B affects C and another database where D is connected to C Anima is taking a “direct interrogation” approach The company runs millions of parallel experiments examining cellular pathways in both healthy and diseased cells generating roughly 100 million images in a typical run Their system tests 500 different biological pathway hypotheses simultaneously with each hypothesis tested a million times Neural networks analyze these images in real-time identifying and ranking pathways that show the most significant differences between healthy and diseased states “There is a disease mechanism; there is something unique that you need to drug to correct,” notes Slonim “If aliens were coming with a spaceship landing on Earth and they want to drug diseases they would bring on the spaceship a lab like this We are going to just do—give us the disease We are going to do a million experiments over 500 visualizers… and in a month Anima adds thousands of their own experimental results and 2 billion images that they generated over a decade When identifying a potential disease mechanism the company visualizes biological processes directly within living cells “What people have been visualizing is cellular morphology meaning they see the cells,” Slonim explains “But there will be no hint as to what’s the biology behind it The language of imaging doesn’t mean that we are talking biology.” Anima has built an mRNA biology knowledge graph—a structured representation of data that contextualizes mRNA biology including experimental results from billions of cellular images “What we are doing is experimental biology at scale that is actually asking the disease itself not the researchers who worked on the disease.” “We are conducting a million experiments over 500 processes A typical run like this will generate 100 million images the neural network is actually looking at them “The assets that we bring in are our unique neural networks trained on 2 billion mRNA pathway visualizations the world’s largest curated mRNA knowledge graph and a specialized library of RNA-binding protein modulators.” The approach has attracted significant pharmaceutical interest Academic collaborators include universities like Duke the University of Oxford and research organizations such as the Scripps Research Institute Anima has also established partnerships with Eli Lilly “We are well-funded in comparison to some [techbio] companies,” Slonim notes explaining that the company built its lab through pharma collaborations rather than traditional venture capital “We never published or disclosed how much money we got in the press but there are more things that happen as part of extending them or milestones.” When asked about the future of drug discovery Slonim returns to his central theme: “AI needs data The right answer is from the disease itself Go and experiment; do very large-scale experimentation and experimentally generate new data that nobody has seen before.” As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us Renown Health Board Chairman David Line announced today that Anthony D has been named president and chief executive officer for Renown Health "We are extremely fortunate to have secured someone with Tony's unique combination of education and experience," Line said Slonim brings over 15 years of executive healthcare leadership experience Slonim served as the executive vice president and chief medical officer for Barnabas Health in West Orange overseeing all initiatives supporting the delivery of exceptional patient care including clinical care areas accountable care initiatives and information technologies Barnabas is a $2.5 billion not-for-profit health network with eight acute care facilities His previous roles include chief medical officer for Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville Md.; vice president of medical affairs at Carilion Medical Center in Roanoke Va.; attending physician at Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C.; and professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke Slonim is on the forefront of healthcare innovation and has shaped the future of medicine for more than a decade He is a fellow of the American College of Physician Executives and the College of Critical Care Medicine He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine Internal Medicine Critical Care and Pediatric Critical Care and holds faculty appointments at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey the Jefferson College of Nursing and Health and is a tenured professor of Basic Sciences Medicine and Pediatrics at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine He also holds a master's degree and a doctorate in Administrative Medicine and Health Policy from George Washington University School of Public Health Drawing from his experience as a medical professional and executive leader Slonim has published numerous articles on healthcare with emphasis on physician alliance He was also a registered nurse who practiced in the emergency department while attending medical school After a year-long search and extensive interview process including more than 30 community leaders He takes over for Interim CEO Don Sibery who has been in place since April of 2013 Slonim is on board to ensure a smooth transition Slonim is enthusiastic about his new role with Renown stating "When you combine a great organization like Renown and a great community like Reno The people I met and the ownership they feel for the health and well being of this community stands out These are people I want to work with and a place where I feel like I can make a difference for patients." Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device In a powerful and moving event at Camp Gan Israel Detroit, Mottel Slonim, the Learning Director of the Bar Mitzvah Division, completed a Siyum on the entire Sefer HaMaamorim Melukat, the collection of the Rebbe's edited Maamorim. Full Story, Photos, Video In a powerful and moving event at Camp Gan Israel Detroit the Learning Director of the Bar Mitzvah Division completed a Siyum on the entire Sefer HaMaamorim Melukat the collection of the Rebbe’s edited Maamorim held in honor of thirty years since Gimmel Tammuz leaving a lasting impact on the almost 400 campers and staff in attendance The day was officially declared “Melukat Day,” and the entire camp gathered together with the BMD division for an evening that would be remembered for years to come The atmosphere was charged with excitement and reverence as everyone came together to honor Mottel’s incredible achievement and a special video presentation produced by videographer Shmulie Grossbaum featured campers and staff explaining the history of Melukat and the vital importance of learning the Rebbe’s Torah This presentation set the tone for the evening emphasizing the significance of the moment and inspiring all present to deepen their connection to the Rebbe’s teachings Mottel’s family, though unable to attend in person, joined the celebration via Zoom, sharing in the joy and pride of the occasion. Friends of Mottel added to the emotional atmosphere of the evening by compiling a special Teshurah which included some never-before-seen letters from the Rebbe adding a deeply personal touch to the event One of the most touching moments of the evening came when Mottel’s friends surprised him with a stunning custom-made leather-bound set of Sefer HaMaamorim Melukat The beautiful gift left Mottel visibly moved and added to the sense of accomplishment and recognition of his dedication to learning the Rebbe’s Torah As Mottel completed the final lines of the Melukat the room was filled with a sense of awe and celebration Camp director Rabbi Levi Raichik then addressed the crowd reinforcing the importance of making the Rebbe’s Torah a central part of daily life further inspiring the campers and staff to follow in Mottel’s footsteps The formalities gave way to spontaneous dancing as the entire camp joined in the joyous celebration a deeply emotional song about the importance of learning the Rebbe’s Torah The Siyum and the evening’s events were not just a celebration of Mottel Slonim’s personal milestone but a call to action for all who were there The hope is that the campers and staff will carry the lessons and inspiration from Melukat Day with them throughout their lives constantly striving to make the Rebbe proud by learning and living his Torah The Siyum has not only left a deep impression on the camp itself but has also sparked a wave of renewed commitment to Torah study far beyond its borders The inspirational event has become a catalyst for many to reexamine and deepen their own learning of the Rebbe’s teachings The ripple effects of the Siyum are already being felt in communities around the world wrote about the profound impact it had on him: “Slonim created a great awakening by publicizing the Siyum on Melukat I remember hearing someone say that he studies a Maamar of the Rebbe every day I feel that the day hasn’t been fully fulfilled “Every time I share an audio clip from Ashreinu or from Igros Kodesh my intention isn’t just to highlight the content but to publicize that I’m listening to a particular Farbrengen and reading the Igros I’ve suggested in public to study a particular Sicha this is where the power struggle should be… Not in the seats at the picture of the Shluchim… In any case any publicity in this area is very praiseworthy.” has taken to social media to post photos of his daily study of the Melukat His consistent dedication has not gone unnoticed and rumors are circulating that he may soon make his own Siyum Mottel Slonim’s Siyum has become more than just a personal milestone; it has ignited a global movement of increased devotion to the Rebbe’s Torah The hope is that this awakening will continue to grow encouraging more people to take their learning seriously and perhaps even inspire additional Siyumim in the near future Sign up for the COLlive Daily News Roundup and never miss a story Δdocument.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()) Δdocument.getElementById("ak_js_2").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()) I’ve been a close friend of Mottel’s for many years now And as we like to say he’s a “role Mottel” for his friends May Hashem Bench you and give you the strength to many more accomplishments Rabbi Wagner is gonna do ‘his thing’ up there Project Melukat – we connect to Rabbi Wagner’s neshama as well as to the ‘ba’al Hama’amar’ – the rebbe I strongly believe that THIS project will tip the scale and end it all As it literally bring ‘Emes Haveyeh’ – L’Olam IN to THIS lowly world Just do it – you’ll thank yourself later Wow this is what is gonna keep chabad alive go mottel how we should really all be doing the siyum taking example from the distinguished individuals mentioned here Mazal tov Mottel on this tremendous milestone!! There are three levels of fandom: an enthusiastic devotee “fanatic,” taken over my moderate interest in the Celtics Probably because of my three adorable brothers-in-law collectively screaming into their streaming phone calls So now I have become one of those overly committed devoted disciples who is willing to leave a dinner party early because the game is starting The fact that I am willing to miss dessert for a game should tell you something I have been known to belt out the tune “Happy Birthday” at the top of my lungs in a restaurant for someone else’s celebration if I see flaming baked Alaska or a red velvet cake with candles arriving at a table (not even that close to me) in acknowledgement for my exuberance and sheer volume will generously ask if I would like a taste I have already learned how to look sheepish if it’s a floating island or panna cotta or crème brûlée it becomes “Sophie’s Choice.” But anything like carrot cake (keep your carrots in your salad please) or bread pudding (keep your bread near the butter dish) or tiramisu (too much sugar and not enough tirami) I politely say my goodbyes and head for the door But when I found out how much these guys were making I complained to my husband and my brothers-in-law I have been thinking about those bloated salaries for a while now and it might start to put a kink in my love for the game the outrageous paychecks of my beloved Celtics were at the forefront of my mind “Would you still play if you got $3 million instead of $34.8?” My hope would be that he’d say I feel fortunate to get paid for doing something I love doing.” And then the owner would ask Porzingis the same question I love the game.” And if all the owners asked all the players I bet you every one of them would say the same thing: “Yes “What else would I do?” and the other half say and even though my knees hurt and my hips creak and my feet start to burn if I can distract myself with new ideas of how to fix the big world or how to fix my little world when I was thinking about changing the over-the-top salaries of my guys and realizing they had to have something that would make them feel okay about giving up all that money What if they get to choose a charity — any charity — and the balance of what they had formerly earned goes in full to that charity I was so excited I broke my no-phone-in-the-woods rule and I called my brother-in-law For the Celtics.” And I proceeded to lay it out Notices are posted by 10 am Monday through Saturday Adjust Text Size: A+ A- As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 31, 2024, Aug 31, 2024 Share your memories and/or express your condolences below. Fields marked with a * are required. All others are optional. Unfortunately with the need to moderate tributes for inappropriate content, your comments may take up to 48 hours to appear. Thank you for your understanding. ©2025 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved. The mathematics department grew exponentially this semester, bringing on two new professors: Assistant Professor of Mathematics Daniel Slonim ’16 and Assistant Professor of Computer Science Oliver Serang.  “I’m excited about the opportunity to not just be part of the department, but of the college and the Hillsdale life,” said Slonim, who studied probability at Purdue University and went on to do a postdoctoral research program at the University of Virginia. Slonim graduated from Hillsdale with a double major in mathematics and philosophy, although he said mathematics was not initially part of his career path. “I actually wanted to go into filmmaking and was thinking about screenwriting,” Slonim said.  Known as “the math kid” of his family, Slonim said he initially didn’t realize the extent to which math could go, but after taking some college classes, he came to love the subject. “I was aware that it was possible to major in math, but at the same time, I also had the feeling that once you hit calculus 1, 2, and 3, it’s about over and there’s no more math after that,” he said. “Little did I know that there’s still an overwhelming amount of math that nobody knows, and people are still trying to figure it out all the time.” While a student at Hillsdale, Slonim wrote for The Collegian and took several journalism classes.  “Daniel was a delight to have in class and as a Collegian writer,” Assistant Director of the Dow Journalism Program Maria Servold said. “I’m glad he’s come back to Hillsdale. This shows that journalism students can do anything — even become math professors.” Slonim is teaching Calculus 1 and Multivariable Calculus this semester, and although he taught several courses during his time at the University of Virginia, he said his classes at Hillsdale offer him a newfound flexibility. “I’ve never really had a chance to be totally in charge of my own Calculus 1 course. So it’s exciting to be able to do that, but also kind of daunting,” Slonim said. Assistant Professor of Computer Science Oliver Serang is the second faculty member to join the computer science department — a department that is growing quickly after it began three years ago, according to Chairman and Professor of Mathematics Thomas Treloar. “Some of those computer science classes were getting up to 20 to 25 students regularly,” Treloar said. “It starts getting difficult to teach that large of a class.” Serang will not only help decrease class sizes, but he will bring new classes to Hillsdale, potentially including a cybersecurity course in the spring semester, according to Treloar.  Serang graduated from North Carolina State University in 2006 with a degree in computer engineering and studied genetics at the University of Washington in his doctorate program. “I got a grant from Howard Hughes Institution,” he said. “I worked for the genetics department, and then after it finished, they hired me, and I stayed on. And for three years of school, I just worked there, doing IT and research.” After his graduate program, Serang taught at several universities, including Universität Bremen and Freie Universität Berlin in Germany, as well as the University of Montana. Most recently, he worked as a software engineer in Chicago, but he’d had his eye on teaching at Hillsdale for the last five years. “It’s been on my bucket list. It’s like seeing the aurora borealis,” Serang said. “I thought it just seemed like a really nice place with good values. And I thought I would like to work there before I get older.” This semester, Serang is teaching Algorithms and Introduction to Computer Science, and he said he is most excited to work with Hillsdale students because of the energy they bring to the classroom. He compared teaching Hillsdale students to explaining a magic trick to a rapt audience. “It’s like hanging out with curious kids,” he said. “I think that spirit is like a big lab meeting rather than a class, when a room gets fired up like that. I like that a lot.” According to Treloar, the two new hires will help the department offer new classes they were previously unable to. “We have a much bigger math department, and part of it is just to see what those new hires are attracted to and sort of where we can plug them in,” Treloar said.“Whatever either of them does, just to build the programs and make them stronger is always good.”  Treloar said he is optimistic about the future of the math department with the additions of Serang and Slonim. “I’m just excited to have them come in,” Treloar said. “We have a good department here. We have a department that really gets along, and they seem like great guys that are gonna just fold into that pretty seamlessly.” California fires tear through Altadena, California. Courtesy | Avedis Maljanian My family’s phones screamed with alerts at about 6:30 p.m.... When I nannied for millennial parents who raised their kids with the “gentle parenting” philosophy, I saw disastrous results.  The... After 40 hours of work and two tons of ice blocks, four men from Simpson Residence constructed an igloo outside... Bonei Olam Chabad invites all women to join them next week for an incredible evening of inspiration, hope, and meaning, hosted by Mrs. Rivkah Slonim and designed to inspire, connect, and empower. Bonei Olam Chabad invites all women to join its 4th Annual Show Up event, an evening designed to inspire, connect, and empower. Women of Crown Heights, it’s time to Show Up. Join hundreds of women for an incredible evening of inspiration, hope, and meaning. Hosted by the dynamic Mrs. Rivkah Slonim, this gathering is more than an event—it’s the opportunity to be a part of Bonei Olam Chabad, an organization that transforms whispered tefillos into the joyous cries of newborns. Because 1 in 6 couples struggles with fertility. Because behind every miracle born in our community, there is often so much more. So many tears, failed efforts, invasive procedures, and thousands of dollars. This past year alone, 55 new lives were brought into the world, each one a world of their own. On January 20th, come together with women across our community to celebrate the 55 miracles already born and to bolster the dreams yet to be fulfilled. Enjoy a delicious dairy dessert while being uplifted and inspired by stories of resilience and triumph. You’ll witness firsthand the profound difference your presence can make. Every dream begins with someone showing up—someone who believes in the power of hope. By showing up on January 20th, you’ll not only celebrate life but also help turn dreams into miracles for couples yearning for the gift of parenthood. So, mark your calendar and be part of this extraordinary evening. Show up for the miracles, for the dreams, and for the hope that together, we can create more miracles. Show up as a reminder for everyone- don’t forget to dream. Open to all women over 18. Doors Open 8:00 PM. Program Begins 8:30 PM. Valet parking for your convenience.  Let’s dream together. Let’s create miracles. Let’s show up. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Volume 4 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/ffutr.2023.1003175 Pedestrian fatalities have been increasing in the United States over the past decade; in 2021 they reached a 40-year high and together with an increasing number of bicyclist fatalities surged to over 8,400 vulnerable road users (VRUs) killed by motor vehicle crashes There is widespread recognition of the link between passenger fleets transitioning from sedans to SUVs and pick-up trucks and the increase in vulnerable road user fatalities Larger light-duty vehicles generally have larger blind zones and larger blind zones are prominently linked to crashes with vulnerable road users which comprise only four percent of vehicles on the road are disproportionally associated with over eight percent of vulnerable road user deaths With direct vision unregulated in the United States there is a limited domestic market for large trucks with high direct vision despite research showing that one-quarter of the approximately 620 annual truck-involved pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities result from low-speed maneuvers with impaired direct vision and could be prevented by higher vision truck cabs Communicating the seriousness of this problem is critical This methods article presents an easy-to-use tool designed to give the public and fleet managers information to assess vehicle safety by quantifying driver blind zones using whatever driver eye positions are thought to be most applicable and with the option to standardize said eye position measures of the percentage of volume surrounding the vehicle that cannot be seen or the number of people outside the vehicle that can fit in the blind zone could only be made with specialized instrumentation VIEW or visibility in elevated wide vehicles can be used by anyone with a camera and access to the internet to obtain within approximately 15 min a reasonably accurate measure of the blind zone size considerably faster than manual measurement methods This article details the app usage procedure as well as the validation work conducted and heavy-duty commercial trucks may change if drivers had an easy-to-use method to determine how much situational awareness they would be missing before they purchased a particular vehicle And the Horizontal Planar Projection method uses specific eyepoints to measure the field of view at a given elevation While the above methodologies have helped advance blind zone research and detection especially in the establishment of standards for how the seat should be positioned (e.g. seatback angle) and where the eyepoint should be located in space with respect to the seat position given the different anthropometric dimensions of drivers they all require time and materials to produce an analysis This is a barrier for individual consumers who may well not conform to the standard for fleet managers who cannot afford the time or equipment required to take standardized measures and for consumer organizations that analyze hundreds of new vehicles each year The need for a simplified method to collect blind zone data should allow for further use by individuals and research by different groups with fewer resources This methods article analyzes the accuracy of VIEW as a tool for estimating vehicle blind zone volumes The validation requires gathering predictions made by VIEW of the nearest visible point (NVP) and collecting ground truth measurements of NVP (the nearest visible point as seen by an observer having the same eye location as the VIEW app camera) at discrete points in front and to the side of a vehicle These predictions and ground truth measurements are then compared Given the rise in both child and adult pedestrian deaths in the United States, now at a 40 year high (Machek, 2022) understanding a vehicle’s ability to provide drivers with direct vision of VRUs is important to measure and broadly communicate to the public Such an understanding could contribute to better informed vehicle purchases by individuals and fleet managers and to developing new safety policy to regulate direct vision these changes could lead to a safer transportation system for VRUs This analysis aimed to collect validation data by recreating the blind zone through field measurements on the surface of a parking lot (the observed nearest visible points) and comparing with the VIEW app output from the same driver in the same seating position (the predicted nearest visible points) The equipment and procurement cost required to conduct the field measurements and collect the validation data are as follows: The team needed one smartphone capable of panoramic photos one aluminum 0.5-inch outer diameter pole with five horizontal markings positioned one foot apart starting from one foot above the ground mounted to a 1-by-1-foot square of marine-grade plywood sheet via a floor flange and set screw (pole assembly costing $35.34) one pack of jumbo sidewalk chalk costing $9.99 two 25-foot tape measuring tools costing $35.98 one 500 mm digital protractor costing $30.99 about 1,000 feet of white vinyl tape costing $83.94 one 328-foot roll of jute twine costing $5.99 two pairs of laser safety goggles costing $31.98 and one 65-foot laser distance measure costing $49.97 and scissors were already in the team’s possession and did not incur any procurement costs the smartphone and scissors would have cost approximately $799.00 and $25.00 and measuring tape are required for the VIEW app measurements including a panoramic mode capable of up to 63 megapixels The remaining materials were required for the manual validation measurements The validation method is fourfold. First, it consists of preparing the measurement area (Section 3.1.1) Second, the research team obtained driver view images (DVIs) from the vehicles. These images together with measurements related to the vehicle and driver eyepoint (camera lens) were then uploaded to the cloud-based VIEW app and the driver was instructed to trace certain features of the digital, panoramic photograph that was presented to him or her. The VIEW app was then used to predict the NVP along each of the radial lines (Section 3.1.2) Drone imagery of the field measurement area with four distinct lines of tape for the edges of the driver field of view and the points directly in front and to the passenger side of the driver Individual tape segments mark each five-degree point at five-foot increments from the driver Fourth, each of these sets of predicted NVP values could be paired with each group of ground truth measurements corresponding to a single height and seating position. These known pairs of predicted and observed values provided the necessary inputs for the team to conduct analyses of the accuracy of the VIEW application’s underlying methodology (Section 3.2) The field measurements took place in a cordoned off area of a parking lot The process began with preparing the measurement area by laying out a polar coordinate system on the pavement the research team could then record the measurements that are necessary for the statistical analysis The field measurement process required extensive preparation to accurately collect validation measurement data. The aerial imagery of the measurement process is shown in Figure 1 two for the edges of the driver field of view and two for the points directly in front and to the passenger side of the driver There are five steps in the preparation process the research team roped off an approximately 60-foot by 60-foot area in a parking lot This would generally allow for tracking the nearest visible points around the driver field of view A larger area may be needed for vehicles with larger blind zones the team began by marking the driver eye position 3) The team then used the protractor to lay out the markings using tape at key angles, marking the angles exactly in front of the driver and to the right of the driver (see long white lines extending from under the vehicle cab in Figure 1) 4) With these core measurements tracked on the parking lot, the research team filled in the remaining markings at every five degrees from −20° to 110°. At every five-degree increment, the research team placed tape at five-foot radial increments from the driver eyepoint origin marking (these tape marks appear as the white dashes in a circular pattern in Figure 1) 5) The team then moved the vehicle, a 2006 Chevrolet Suburban, the dimensions of which are 219.3 inches long, 78.9 inches wide, and 73.6 inches tall (Edmunds, 2023) so that the driver eye point aligned exactly above the polar grid origin for the first of three seating positions to be measured After the preparation process, the VIEW app measurements were collected in each seating position. The passenger seat was kept in the same position, a comfortable track distance and seatback angle for an average height male, for all measurements across seating positions. As shown in Figure 2, the VIEW app measurements include the driver’s cyclopean eyepoint height from the ground (A in Figure 2) the distance from the cyclopean eyepoint to the passenger side window (B) the distance from the vehicle to a measurement pole (C) and the distance from the cyclopean eyepoint to the front of the vehicle (D) There are five steps in the VIEW app measurement process 1) After the preparation of the markings for the measurement area, for each seating position, the team moved the vehicle directly over the driver eye point marking, corresponding to the point of intersection of the major axes, marked in solid white in Figure 1 The measurement team checked under the vehicle from the front and sides to ensure proper alignment of the axes with the driver seating position 2) A researcher then moved the pole forward from the truck along the 0-degree radial line until the 1-foot mark was just visible over the hood line to the seated observer the measuring pole was set directly in front of the driver where the bottom of the pole was obscured but the one-foot mark on the pole indicating a distance of one foot above the ground was just visible over the hood of the vehicle 3) A panoramic photo was taken from the driver’s cyclopean eyepoint out the front of the vehicle An accurate panoramic picture was obtained by pivoting the camera immediately in front of the driver’s face from left to right with the lens always centered on the driver’s cyclopean eyepoint and the camera maintained on a vertical axis VIEW app measurement instructions showing the placement of the five-foot measurement pole the smartphone or tablet in the driver seat (The lens position is assumed to be the location of the cyclopean viewpoint) the steering wheel begins to obstruct the driver’s view The ground truth measurements were made with several individuals one an observer seated in the cab and two researchers who recorded measurements of the NVP There are three steps in the field measurement process 1) After taking the panoramic photo and completing the VIEW app process at a given seat position the same driver sitting in the cab used a hand held laser pointer to indicate the exact location of the nearest visible point that the driver could see on the ground with their naked eye on the ground at each five-degree increment 2) The other researchers marked this location with chalk and recorded the radial measurement 3) The team compiled these measurements at each degree into a corresponding dataset to be used in the analysis as the validation data The field measurements obtained using the method described in Section 3.1 were used as the ground truth and values obtained from the corresponding vehicle imagery processed by the VIEW application were used as the predicted values Both sets of values were used to calculate the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) for each of the three seat positions for the average height participant that was used in this trial the percent difference between measured and predicted NVPs and the percent difference between areas under the curves for each series of NVPs were also analyzed All analysis was performed in R using R Studio and the “jsonlite,” “dplyr,” “tidyverse,” and “ggplot2” packages for R The results from the field measurements of the observer’s NVPs were digitized into a csv file with non-visible points coded as 1,061 ft which was well beyond the furthest measured points among the NVPs the photos that accompany the three seating positions for an individual of average height were input into the VIEW app using the preferred drawing method that was established previously The VIEW app produces a JSON object file containing the phi values and corresponding NVPs which were placed into a data frame and merged with the observer’s NVP data For the forward seating position, the non-visible points around the A-pillar and passenger side mirror span the length of the orange line in Figure 4 corresponding to phi values of 60–85° These A-pillar and mirror points were excluded from the data set the NVPs corresponding to phi values between 65 and 80° were excluded the NVPs correspond to phi values between 45 and 75° were excluded any points that were coded by either the app or the field measurements as non-visible points were excluded from the validation analyses The non-visible points around the A-pillar in the forward seating position Figure 5 is a plot of the measured (blue dots) and predicted (red dots) NVPs against the phis in degrees with the shaded blue area illustrating the A-pillar and mirror area points that were excluded Since the field measurements occurred at only every fifth degree all predicted points not at a multiple of five phi value were excluded for the RMSE and the percent difference between predicted and field measured NVPs The percent difference between areas under the NVP vs phi curves retained all phi values for the predicted NVPs Let N equal the number of radial lines spaced 5° apart N = 26 since phi ranges between −20 and 110 The RMSE was calculated using the following equation The mean of absolute errors was calculated using the following equation The percent difference of NVPs was calculated at each phi using the following equation The area under the curve in which NVP is plotted against phi represents the area of the blind zone formed by the plane of the bottom of the driver’s view plus the area occupied by the vehicle’s hood and interior Since the vehicle area is constant between predicted and measured the difference in the NVP areas is simply the difference of the areas under the curves The equation used to calculate the NVP areas is as follows where Areap is the predicted NVPp curve’s area and Aream is the measured NVPm curve’s area The percent different areas is then calculated as below The measurements of the observer’s NVP are shown in the Supplementary Appendix SA1 A, B, C, and D, as shown in Figure 2 are listed for each of the seating positions The VIEW app outputs for the three different seating positions, furthest back, standard, and furthest forward, are visualized below in Figure 6. The perimeters of the black zones are the predicted NVPs. The VIEW app fills in everything between the NVP and the vehicle (blackened area, Figure 6) The number of adults in the blind zone is the predicted number of standing adults that could fit shoulder-to-shoulder within the footprint of the blind zone such that the driver cannot see their head and shoulders adults typically only fit in the passenger A-pillar blind zone multiple standing adults can be obscured by the hood or passenger door Predicted blind zone generated by the VIEW app for the forward The field measurements for the average height participant in the three different seating positions are visualized in Figure 7 The blind zone corresponding to the forward seating position is shaded in pink while that of the standard seating position is shaded in purple and that of the rearmost seating position is shaded in lavender Notice the “spike” corresponding to the location of the passenger side A-pillar The furthest circumferential line marking is at 40 feet The measurements extend beyond the 40-foot marking in several locations illustrating a limitation of the field measurement method Nearest visible points for the one participant at the three different seating positions The VIEW app outputs and field measurements are plotted against each other in Figures 8, 9, 10 prior to exclusion of the non-visible points Notice the “spikes” in each of the plots between approximately 60 and 80° This area is the passenger A-pillar and mirror region The treatment of these points is further elaborated upon in the Discussion section Notice that for the forward and standard seating positions the VIEW app overestimated the NVP distance the VIEW app both underestimated or overestimated with many points being close to the field measurement value the gap between the predicted and measured values appears to widen near the zero degree and 45° points Forward seating position: Measured and predicted Standard seating position: Measured and predicted Rearmost seating position: Measured and predicted The RMSE, mean of absolute error, and percent difference in areas results are as follows in Table 1 and difference of areas occurred for the Standard seating position The lowest of each error measure occurred at the Rearmost seating position Notice that the Standard error values are extreme and the average error values deviate considerably from the median values except for the RMSE The plot of percent difference between NVPs at each degree of phi is shown in Figure 11 The percent difference varied from −15% to 40% The forward and standard seating position measurements appear to follow a similar trend with large spikes in difference near the −10 and 50° phis while the rearmost seating position measurements do not follow that trend The VIEW app performed best in the rearmost seating position The nearest visible point RMSEs for the forward The mean absolute errors (average of the difference in the absolute values of the predicted and observed measures) follow the same trend as the RMSE and rearmost seating positions having mean absolute errors The predicted area under the NVP curve is larger than the observed area under the NVP curve for the forward standard and rearmost seating positions by The answer is observable in the three figures depicting the drawings of the bottoms of the forward and passenger side fields of view, from the forward, standard and rearmost seat positions. The visual contrast of the dashboard and steering wheel against the pavement in front of the vehicle is much sharper in the rearmost seat position (Figure 3) than the contrast between the dark vehicle hood and the pavement in the forward and standard seat positions shown it was presumably easier for the observer to trace an accurate red line representing the NVPs in the rearmost seating position as compared to the other positions where the edge of the field of view showed lower contrast Additional research is needed to understand the effects of the panoramic photo quality on the accuracy of the VIEW app outputs The A-pillar does not fully obscure a human adult and can be seen on either side of the A pillar which is why the two blue dots (observed NVPs) are relatively near at 65 and 70° whereas the red dots (predicted NVPs) are at infinity even a 20% difference between the predicted and measured NVPs These results support the validity of VIEW as a screening or estimation tool for comparing the blind zone size and associated VRU safety risk of different vehicles on the road and on the market for a given driver; and for comparing the same among different drivers and seating positions for a given vehicle The sheer number of vehicles with large blind zones is on the increase, as are the number of VRU fatalities. Not only do trucks contribute to this count, but there is widespread recognition of the link between passenger fleets transitioning from sedans to SUVs and pick-up trucks (Federal Reserve, 2022) and the increase in vulnerable road user fatalities (Auffhammer, 2014) The VIEW app offers a fast way to obtain estimated blind zone measurements Comparing the VIEW app to this study’s manual measurement method which required at least three people and 5 hours the VIEW app takes about 1.5% of the person-hours to obtain the measurements The VIEW app has now been used by individuals from a spectrum of organizations state and municipal government agencies in the United States Feedback has been incorporated into the VIEW app and it is continually updated based on stakeholder engagement The use of crowdsourcing to enter the data means ultimately that with enough users information will be available on the blind zone size for a large range of different seat positions and other demographic variables on the full range of vehicle makes and models random variation in entry of the data should even out to quickly compare the blind zones of existing vehicles and help fleets incorporate direct vision into purchasing decisions At scale with crowdsourcing or in partnership with key organizations the VIEW app methodology can serve to foster blind zone awareness and drive fleet selection of vehicles with improved direct vision The tool may also inform future vehicle safety rating programs or procurement standards that could potentially help address the safety threat to VRUs of increasingly large vehicle blind zones the field measurement method was prone to human error and bias Human error during the field measurements could consist of inaccurately recorded data inconsistency in the setup of the measurement area A possible bias toward points in the vicinity of the A-pillar as visible instead of non-visible may have resulted in recording fewer non-visible points than the VIEW prediction shows This bias is a result of the natural tendency of a driver to shift to get a better view whereas the VIEW app assumes a stationary cyclopean point there are also limitations due to the fact that only one vehicle body type and one participant were used to record and trace the photographic input for the app Additional research is needed on the VIEW app’s validity across vehicle body types and weight classes. In addition, the effect that photo quality has on the VIEW app outputs will need to be explored in order to inform future efforts in training a machine learning algorithm to automatically process panoramic photos (European Parliament, 2019) The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author All authors listed have made a substantial and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffutr.2023.1003175/full#supplementary-material 1Note that because the predictions of the VIEW app are compared with the driver’s estimate of the NVP at the same eye point the exact driver seat position and angle are not relevant to this study and were not measured were the VIEW app to be used as a measure corresponding to a standard and driver eye point would need to be the same as that used by the standard and both measured and reported 2Full instructions are available on the VIEW app website, https://blindzonecalculator.herokuapp.com/addvehicle 4The app enables estimation and visualization of preschool children and elementary school age children on bicycles that are obstructed by a measured vehicle’s blind zone Pounds that kill: The external costs of vehicle weight CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Truck driver vision and pedestrian/nonmotorist crashes in low speed maneuvers USA: Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congressand Exhibition Google Scholar Edmunds, (2023). Used 2006 chevrolet suburban specs & features. Retrieved from edmunds.com https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/suburban/2006/features-specs/ Google Scholar European Parliament Council of the European Union Regulation (Eu) 2019/2144 of the European parliament and of the council Europe: Official Journal of the European Union Google Scholar Federal Reserve (2022). Motor vehicle retail sales: Light weight trucks. Retrieved from FRED: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LTRUCKSA Google Scholar Fmcsa, (2019). Large truck and bus crash facts. Federal motor carrier safety administration (FMCSA). Washington, DC, USA: U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved from https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-truck-and-bus-crash-facts-2019 Google Scholar Iso, (2006). Earth-moving machinery: Operator's field of view: Test method and performance criteria. London, USA: International Organization for Standardization ISO. Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/standard/45609.html Google Scholar Visibility of children behind 2010–2013 model year passenger vehicles using glances CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Machek, K. (2022). Pedestrian traffic fatalities by state: 2021 preliminary data. Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA). Retrieved from https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/Pedestiran%20Traffic%20Fatalities%20by%20State%20-%202021%20Preliminary%20Data.pdf Google Scholar Google Scholar Google Scholar Nhtsa, (2022). Fatality and injury reporting system tool. Retrieved July 7, 2022, from https://cdan.dot.gov/query Google Scholar Nhtsa, (2020). National Highway traffic safety administration. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved from https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813266.Overview of motor vehicle crashes in 2020 Google Scholar Nycdot, (2010). NYC pedestrian safety study & action plan. New York, NY, USA: New York City Department of Transportation. Retrieved from https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/nyc_ped_safety_study_action_plan.pdf Google Scholar Google Scholar Sae, (2010). Describing and evaluating the truck driver's viewing environment. Retrieved from https://www.sae.org/standards/content/j1750_201010/ Google Scholar Sae, (2019). Describing and measuring the driver's field of view J1050. Retrieved from https://www.sae.org/standards/content/j1050/ Google Scholar Summerskill, S. (2015). Understanding direct and indirect driver vision in heavy goods vehicles: Final report prepared on behalf of Transport for London. Loughborough, UK: Loughborough University. Retrieved from https://content.tfl.gov.uk/understanding-direct-and-indirect-vision-in-hgvs-full-technical-report.pdf Google Scholar United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, (2022). Proposal for a new UN regulation on uniform provisions concerning the approval of motor vehicles with regard to their direct vision. Retrieved from https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2022-10/ECE_TRANS_WP.29_2022_140r1e.pdf Google Scholar Epstein AK and Fisher DL (2023) Evaluating the performance of a web-based vehicle blind zone estimation application: Validation and policy implications Received: 27 July 2022; Accepted: 22 March 2023;Published: 04 April 2023 Copyright © 2023 Drake, Vennema, Slonim, Englin, Brodeur, Epstein and Fisher. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Juwon Drake, anV3b25kcmFrZUBnbWFpbC5jb20= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish. Daniel Barban Levin finally gets to tell his story Daniel Barban Levin needed to find an apartment in New York City for the summer between his sophomore and junior years of college He ended up joining what he now describes as a cult instead Levin and several of his friends were drawn into the dangerous orbit of Larry Ray the parent of one of Levin’s friends at Sarah Lawrence College Ray was a master manipulator who drew vulnerable students into his grasp by holding one-on-one coaching sessions where he promised to help them “achieve clarity.” Levin met with Ray at a Starbucks for one of the sessions where it was now dark and a limousine filled with all his friends was waiting for them; they had been talking for six hours Ray was indicted by federal prosecutors for sex trafficking It wasn’t until after the article came out that Levin realized he needed to be the one to write his story — especially because Hollywood was interested “Soon there were a lot of powerful men trying to tell my story for me all these adults were fighting over this story of trauma,” Levin tells NYLON but they wanted to make it into entertainment and I just couldn’t stomach it But writing a memoir after being gaslit and abused poses some nightmarish psychological gymnastics: How do you trust your memory after someone intentionally did everything possible to make you doubt it What are the ethics around telling other people’s stories Is writing an art of emotional cartography or self-reclamation How do you take back a story you were told wasn’t yours Levin tries to untangle these emotional Gordian knots in his memoir Slonim Woods 9 extremely vulnerable and extraordinary account of what happened to Levin and the emotional and psychological fallout which makes the book so tantalizing: There’s both a morbid curiosity to learn what happened and how and why — but an even bigger impulse to see Levin come out the other side The book is dedicated “to the friends I cannot reach,” which Levin tells NYLON is less a naive hope that they’ll leave Ray’s grasp but a longing for who his friends once were “It makes me really sad because what I wish is that none of this had ever happened and I guess when I say ‘to the friends I cannot reach,’ I’m talking about people who existed many years ago about the experience of excavating trauma and taking back a story that you were told wasn’t yours At what point did you decide to write a book about this experience I talk about it at the end of the book; it’s hard to define when you start writing something There’s a moment after I left the situation living with my friend’s dad in Manhattan and being a part of this abusive group and not really understanding what I was going through while I was going through it and I started dating someone after I got out and there was a point where we were walking in the city is a reminder of the trauma and brings things up I didn’t understand then and I hadn’t really told her that much about it because the way I understood it it was just my friend’s dad and he was an intense guy he hit me at some point,” that was kind of a thing and I realized at some point that she wasn’t next to me anymore because she had stopped in the street and was crying I didn’t understand what was strange about that because it had been so normalized for me that this violence was expected It didn’t occur to me that it would be totally inappropriate for a friend's dad to be hitting kids She and I sat down and I explained the whole thing to her and it was as if a mirror was held up I started to really see what had happened to me and slowly from there work to be able to call it what it had been I had no frame of reference because most people I think have a very specific definition of what cult is That was years before I started writing this book trying to figure out how to make it make sense to other people all the while also trying to hide from the people I thought might come after me and try to hurt me if I said something bad about them When was that conversation with that girlfriend It was the end of senior year at Sarah Lawrence or maybe in the summer immediately afterward right towards the end of finishing school and going out into the world part of this whole experience was just in college it's sort of this fulcrum; you’re turning into the person you're supposed to be and part of how this happened was that I just didn’t know how to live in the world or certainly how to find an apartment in New York and had this horrible dry run where this guy offered me his apartment and I had to try to figure out how to do it all over again once I escaped When the New York Magazine article came out — you had a quote that really stood out to me That article was so big and led to Larry being arrested and I’m wondering how the article affected your life Where were you in the process of writing this book when that came out The first thing I should say -- I was trying to hide and protect myself for years I got out of this and described the process of extricating myself in the book but part of how that happened was I had to try to lead these people to believe that I wasn’t turning against them because I knew what it looked like when someone became the enemy I had to sort of slink away and hope that no one would follow me and maybe the best way to reframe this is that I encountered a man who was such a skilled storyteller that he could tell you a story about you and what had happened to you and your memories and you would believe it more than you believe yourself I left and I was just trying to figure out how to rewrite my story and figure out what was real and what had happened to me and I was doing that for years if they get a call from some reporters saying we're working on a story about your friends poisoning some people What they were telling me wasn’t surprising at all there was no way this group would be sustainable for years I thought surely it’d fall apart and what they were telling me is it had been going on the whole time I was gone and this man's story Now it was spreading beyond the group because people were believing the types of accusations I’d seen over and over while living with my friends and him in this apartment which is that one of us hurt someone or poisoned someone or damaged something It became my responsibility to tell my story the version of the events from my perspective just to correct the record for my friends’ sake I wasn’t anywhere in writing this book at this point beyond the poems I had written What happened after the article came out was that soon there were a lot of powerful men trying to tell my story for me all these adults fighting over this story of trauma and so I did that and we’ll see how that goes Is this book at all part of the healing process or an act of self-reclamation It was somehow simultaneously both traumatizing and healing but in order to survive it you put it in a windowless room and when you're being abused you have to go back into that room but you know it's separate from everything else in your life you walk back out the door and the door disappears behind you and now you're back in your normal life where that’s not happening So I had to reopen the room and take the walls down I had to go back inside of it and in this book what I try to do for other people — I wanted so badly for the people I encounter in the world to understand just a little bit what it's like to feel less alone — but I didn't want to traumatize anyone the process how can I re-enter this room and make it safe for me and for a reader was that it’s as if I put walls back up around it so it still feels safe to me; it's encapsulated But now I can look at it a little more clearly I can walk around and look at it from each side but maybe it was a stepping stone towards being able to do the processing that is necessary to heal but are you familiar with EMDR therapy at all or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is a psychotherapy method that helps people recover from trauma.) What you just said reminds me of what you’re trying to do in EMDR but you’re making it a safer place so that you can look at everything That makes sense and I should say that in the writing process that was also happening in a literal sense I moved across the country to California and interestingly My therapist says this is something our brains do naturally is try to access echoes of the traumatic experience And if I was writing a chapter that took place in the living room of this apartment I’d go to my actual apartment in California and go into the living room and it felt as if I was in both places at once I read that therapy was difficult for you because it mimicked Larry’s treatment How were you eventually able to begin to heal to get to a place where you could even start to write this book The path of healing from trauma is not straightforward at all My whole body was shaking and all my muscles were spasming; I could barely do it but I was trying to say it and watching the face of this therapist and her jaw was on the floor and she didn’t really know how to react I think it was really hard coming out of this and feeling constantly like no one has any frame of reference for it so no one’s going to understand and they’re either going to look at me like a freak because when we think about people who are cult members we think of something particular and it’s not “us.” So it would mean I’d be held at arm's length When I talked to those reporters and time went on I thought that if I wrote this book maybe it would mean that people would understand this experience a little bit better and breach that gap There's a support group in New York that I went to for people who had escaped cults and that helped democratize my understanding or complicate my understanding of what a cult survivor is or what a cult is There were people in those support groups that were in what most people would describe as an abusive partnership but we were talking about it in terms of cult dynamics All of this helped me see myself inside of this a little bit more were you able to talk to anyone else who’d been in the cult with you to help remember details or process or anything I’m not sure how much I can even talk about it for the sake of preserving the authenticity of each person’s memories of their experience which is really hard because you go through an experience with a man who the whole design of the experience seems to be around making you question your memory of what’s real and what happened The act of me writing this book was sitting down alone and saying “Someone did everything they possibly could to make me not trust myself and my memory of certain events,” and now I just have to say “I trust myself.” This is an act of self-confidence that I believe what happened about the possible fallout from sharing your experience The most obvious: One day I was living in the apartment where I wrote the book it was someone with mental health issues or something the apartment was on Sunset Boulevard — was slamming on our door and I looked out my window and this person had a knife My mind immediately jumped to: They sent someone to kill me This is where I’m at in terms of fear for physical safety I’m afraid of fallout because I told my story but my story involves a lot of other people’ stories people who have been victims of the same thing I have or adjacent versions who are going to feel just as bad about having someone else tell them what happened I thought that what I wanted was for everyone in my life to know what had happened to me I thought on some level they can just read the book and we never have to talk about it again It turns out that something that is so hard for you is hard for the people who love you in a different way You have to take care of yourself and take care of other people and it’s really hard “to the friends I cannot reach.” Are you hoping you can reach them through this I think what I felt when I was writing the book was that there were all these people I loved who had been a part of the fabric of my social world The friends you make in college are the foundation of your social life for a lot of people for the rest of their lives — and that whole part of my life has been blown up I try not to harbor any delusions about being able to change anything I think the best thing I can hope for is that maybe other people who experienced anything like this other people who are in my position where they really don’t know what to call what they’re experiencing or what they’ve gone through if I can reach one of those people and maybe it helps them help themselves it makes me really sad because what I wish is that none of this had ever happened and I guess when I say “to the friends I cannot reach,” I’m talking about people who existed many years ago How did you take care of yourself while writing this book I had to relearn not only how to trust myself but how to trust other people because if you have a whole group of friends and then they turn into a cult Something that’s supposed to be reassuring and supposed to give you safety in fact feels dangerous I felt like I couldn’t believe what had happened: I moved into this apartment in LA and suddenly I had a group of friends who are all amazing and new and not the people I knew in college and had nothing to do with them If I went through writing a particularly retraumatizing chapter I could then go into the living room and watch a movie with some of my roommates I got to live in the present and would dip back into the past I was dating someone who was amazing and really supportive and all these things grounded me so I had this firm foundation and then I could step off the foundation and go into the deep water and have something to come back to Has anyone who's in the book seen it or have you gotten any response from them I think that I actually can’t comment on that one What was the most challenging part of writing this book There were a lot of things that were really challenging about writing it writing the book was less challenging than the process — and I’m having a great time talking to you — but the process of talking about writing about this is harder because the experience was all about loss of control Someone else got to take control and it’s as if whatever part of you that you look to to make decisions or to tell you what is right and wrong— this guy was there instead I got to retake control and it was hard of course to make every little decision trying to remember what people said and is it appropriate to put an exclamation point you’re excavating your trauma and then figuring out how to make it consumable for someone else is really But what’s so scary for me now is not the writing: It’s going to go out into the world and I can’t control that There are going to be people who don’t read the book who are going to want to talk to me about it I'm having such a lack of control now that I'm having to work on accepting It’s one thing to write a book and it’s quite another to have it going out into the world especially when it’s so deeply personal and about your trauma and every day there’s a new version of the hardest ethical question you’ve ever been asked I mean that’s part of the challenge of memoir but this is an extreme example of that challenge I certainly have developed an immense amount of admiration for anyone who does this because it’s so strange and I don’t think I appreciated how strange it is to try to write down what’s happened to you until I was doing it Slonim Woods 9 is out now via Penguin Random House This article was originally published on Sep Tuesday World Subscribers only Trump-Carney meeting: Canada seeks reconciliation World Subscribers only Friedrich Merz bets on two private sector converts to revive the German economy and reform the state World Subscribers only 'A Pope in the tradition of Francis': From New York to Ghana Catholics hope for continuity at the Vatican World Subscribers only Chancellor Merz's diplomatic first week World Subscribers only Founder of Sant'Egidio community fears next pope could undo Francis's legacy Opinion Subscribers only 'Russian gas and Europe is an old story that ended badly Economy Subscribers only Europe's steel industry flattened by crisis World Subscribers only How European countries plan to fund defense efforts France Subscribers only Macron announces citizens' convention on school schedules France Subscribers only 21 charged over French prison attacks as investigation narrows in on drug traffickers France Subscribers only French mosque stabber was driven by 'morbid fascination,' prosecutor says France Subscribers only At the trial of Kim Kardashian's robbers Videos World expos: From Paris 1855 to Osaka 2025 Videos How the Trump administration is attacking scientific research in the US Videos Tesla cars set on fire in Las Vegas as calls to boycott Musk's company grow worldwide Videos Can France's nuclear deterrent protect Europe Opinion Subscribers only 'The American dream is dying' Opinion Subscribers only 'It is pointless to imagine a significant wave of American academics leaving' Opinion Subscribers only 'The trade war creates new opportunities for Europeans and France' Magazine Subscribers only Tracking down the pianos taken from French Jews during the Nazi Occupation Magazine Subscribers only Eve Rodsky the American helping couples balance the mental load Magazine Subscribers only Desecration or more glory Joan Didion's private diaries are revealed Magazine Subscribers only For Jewish cartoonist Joann Sfar 2025."> Pixels Subscribers only Golden Owl solution is revealed but leaves players of 31-year hunt disappointed Pixels Subscribers only Secrets of decades-long Golden Owl treasure hunt to be revealed Lifestyle Inside Chanel's French leather workshops Culture Subscribers only The marvelous bronzes of Angkor on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris has been deteriorating since the end of the Second World War the building was sold to a Russian entrepreneur By Hélène Bienvenu (Warsaw (Poland) correspondent) The exterior of the Slonim synagogue in Belarus ANTON TRAFIMOVICH The saga of the Slonim synagogue one of the most beautiful in Belarus and the second oldest in the country it was bought back for 42 Belarusian rubles (€12) at an auction organized by the authorities in February met with the head of the Slonim regional executive committee in May "My intentions to restore the Slonim synagogue are very serious," assured the mysterious Russian businessman reported by local newspaper Slonimski Vesnik who made his fortune in construction but about whom little else is known now has five years to renovate the religious building while preserving its historical and stylistic features Dudarev's company was the only one to participate in the sale of the synagogue the starting price was reduced to the modest sum of.. You have 80.8% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial 2021: Started 34 games serving as the teams primary shortstop…Led the team with 10 home runs collecting 46 hits with nine doubles…Scored 36 runs and drove in 29…Tallied a season best three runs and four RBI in walk-off win over Concordia Chicago (March 29)…Added a second two home run performance and adding three runs in game one against Wisconsin Lutheran (May 1)…Recorded 15 multi-hit games…Owns the single season home run record with 10 There are no statistics available for this player Thanks for visiting ! The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and strive to honour their rich history of storytelling in our work and mission The Jewish Independent acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia In the days and weeks following the brutal October 7 effectively blaming Israel for the violence inflicted on it.This rhetoric reveals a dangerous misunderstanding of both the situation on the ground and the broader context of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.Analysing and deconstructing these false narratives using Aristotle’s principles of rhetoric provides a powerful lens through which we can expose their flawed reasoning.In his seminal work Aristotle presents two key rhetorical devices for constructing arguments: the syllogism and the enthymeme.An enthymeme often called a "rhetorical syllogism," is a more subtle device It assumes one or more of its premises are understood by the audience leaving them unstated but implicitly accepted This makes enthymemes particularly powerful in persuasive speech because they rely on the audience's shared beliefs or assumptions Socrates is mortal.” The implicit and agreed premise is that men are mortal and thus can be left unsaid.These two forms of reasoning are present in many anti-Israel arguments today in misguided and fallacious forms.Syllogistic fallacies in pro-Hamas rhetoricThe syllogistic reasoning often employed by those who defend or justify Hamas’s actions while attacking Israel frequently follows a pattern like this:Premise 1: The Palestinians are oppressed.Premise 2: Hamas represents the Palestinian people.Conclusion: Therefore Hamas’s actions are justified as resistance to oppression.At first glance but the identification of Hamas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian cause is deeply problematic a designated terrorist organisation by many countries including Australia and has long prioritised its religiously inspired ideological commitment to the destruction of Israel and Jewish people over the welfare of the Palestinians.Moreover to argue that Hamas’s brutal tactics—massacres and indiscriminate rocket attacks—are justified resistance to oppression is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of legitimate resistance The syllogism is not only invalid because its premises are questionable but also because it leads to a morally reprehensible conclusion.The enthymeme: exploiting assumptionsEnthymemes are especially powerful because they operate on assumptions that audiences already accept without critical examination one common enthymeme is as follows:Unstated Premise: Israel is a colonial occupier.Stated Premise: Colonial occupiers are always in the wrong.Conclusion: Therefore and Palestinian violence is justified.The key to understanding the persuasiveness of this argument lies in the unstated premise: that Israel is a colonial state rooted in unhistorical anti-Israel rhetoric resonates with audiences familiar with anti-colonial movements in places like Algeria pro-Hamas advocates position Palestinian violence as akin to the anti-colonial struggles of the 20th century.But this comparison is both historically inaccurate and morally dubious Unlike European colonial powers that sought to dominate foreign lands the modern state of Israel was established through legal channels and formed as a homeland for the Jewish people after centuries of persecution the Jewish people have historical and religious ties to the land going back thousands of years We have archaeological evidence of the existence of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea.The colonial framework grossly misrepresents the historical reality and ignores the important and additional fact that Israel has repeatedly sought peace and co-existence as evidenced by the offers it has made in various peace negotiations over the decades False equivalence: a common enthymemeAnother dangerous enthymeme used by Western critics of Israel particularly in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks can be summed up as follows:Unstated Premise: Both sides engage in violence.Stated Premise: Violence is always wrong.Conclusion: Therefore and Israel's actions are no more justified than Hamas’s.This argument attempts to create a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas suggesting that both are equally culpable in the ongoing conflict But this reasoning fails to account for the profound asymmetry between the two is bound by international law and the principles of proportionality and distinction in warfare Israel’s military takes measures to avoid civilian casualties—such as warning residents before airstrikes—despite facing an enemy that deliberately hides behind civilians.Hamas violates international law as a matter of policy It embeds its military infrastructure in civilian areas deliberately targets Israeli civilians in its attacks To ignore this fundamental difference and present both sides as equally culpable is to commit a fallacy of false equivalence It is an enthymeme that resonates with Western audiences because it plays into a broader cultural aversion to violence The moral appeal to victimhoodOne of the most pervasive rhetorical strategies employed by pro-Hamas audiences is the appeal to victimhood often looks like this:Premise 1: The Palestinians are victims of Israeli occupation.Premise 2: Victims have a moral right to fight back.Conclusion: Therefore Palestinians have the right to engage in violent resistance.While it is undeniable that many Palestinians have suffered under difficult conditions the leap from victimhood to justification of terrorism is a dangerous one does not grant carte blanche to commit atrocities The emotional appeal to victimhood is disconnected from the ethical imperatives of justice and human rights leading to a perverse justification of the obscene violence perpetrated on October 7.Enthymemes and antisemitic tropesFinally many of the false narratives propagated by pro-Hamas audiences rely on age-old antisemitic tropes disguised as legitimate criticism of Israel an enthymeme might look like this:Unstated Premise: Jews have disproportionate influence in Western politics and media.Stated Premise: Israel is supported by Western governments.Conclusion: Therefore Jewish influence is responsible for the West’s support of Israel.This argument which taps into deeply rooted antisemitic stereotypes shifts the blame for the conflict away from the complex geopolitical realities and onto the Jewish people It assumes that support for Israel is the result of a Jewish conspiracy to manipulate global politics The enthymeme here is powerful because it plays into pre-existing biases but it is both false and dangerous.Aristotle’s teachings on rhetoric offer a valuable framework for analysing and dismantling the arguments put forward by pro-Hamas advocates in the West We must reject the flawed logic that underpin these arguments To do otherwise is to allow emotional rhetoric to guide our understanding of one of the world’s most enduring and complex conflicts The stakes are too high for such inadequate thinking In the reality ,there was much sympathy for Israel and Revulsion of Hamas barbaric atrocity October 7 to October 10 2023 but the far away humane and democratic states wanted the killing and capturing of only the Hamas They believed one civilian death particularly young children was a war crime and Israel had the pecision weapons to avoid any civilian deaths or injuries But in WW2 against Nazism and the Empire of Japan ,in the Korean war ,the Vietnam war ,the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and in the war against Sadaam Hussein and the Baath in Iraq and against ISIS it proved an impssible task to avoid tradgic civilian deaths a place where the truth guides people to be good to one another and ideas are shared and debated Consistent with the aftermath of most national tragedies the reductive takes have come fast and furious Political narratives have focused on the emboldening of the alt right’s violent fringe; religious arguments have pointed to the omnipresence of anti-Semitism even in areas where Jews feel most comfortable; regulatory discourse has predictably centered on gun control issues Still others have steered the conversation to examining the shooter’s poorly diagnosed mental illness the epidemic of disaffected “angry white men,” and how to better police our communities A feeling of tremendous unease that the “never again” mantra is being challenged in our own country — combined with an inability to understand where one’s own experience fits within the historical framework — has had a deeply isolating effect on many of us Are we helpless to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again I have found that constructing a family history — both the process of assembling one and the history itself — can help illuminate the present in ways that the endless onslaught of competing narratives fails to deliver My grandmother Dora (Dweyra) and great aunt Miriam (Mera) left their village of Slonim after being ghettoized and forced into slave labor all 25,000 Jews of Slonim were shot by the Nazis and their local volunteers most of them massacred in pits outside the city The remainder were burned alive over a two-week period of chaos as the ghetto was razed A tiny number of survivors slipped into the forest and joined partisan units My great grandmother and another great aunt were included in the group that did not make it out Thus ended the 600-year history of Jews in Slonim This was the basic outline I was given as a child I have been drawn to this gruesome series of events in Slonim was typical of the atrocities wrought by Hitler’s mobile death squads As the last members of the “Slonim generation” — my grandmother and my great uncle Isaac — started to pass away in their adopted home of Argentina If I were not the one to keep Slonim alive in my family Might the story of Slonim offer some insight on the present I sought to construct a personal history tightly focused around this one Belarusian village the last member of my family to be in Slonim was my deceased great aunt My search for what transpired there turned up one out-of-print book and a couple early internet-era websites I began my search as many do: by purchasing an ancestry.com subscription A week of digging yielded two yellowed ship manifests from my grandmother and great aunt’s transatlantic journey to Buenos Aires both identified as “HEBREW TRANSMIGRANT ALIENS” with “SLONIM” clearly marked as place of birth Holding these documents in my hand and imagining these two Yiddish-speaking Slonimers — 16 and 20 at the time of their departure — being counted by a British immigration clerk without understanding that they were escaping certain death and would never see their mother and third sister again While I have always regarded myself as the product of refugees (my mother had to flee her native Argentina as well) the tactile sensation of leafing through these pages connected me with their legacy in a way that I had never felt I would search through depositions of German POWs listen to interviews of aging gentile Slonimers who had witnessed the executions search through Nazi files and attempt to track down anyone living in Slonim today “I was holding a whip or a pistol…The men children and mothers were pushed into the pits Children were first beaten to death and then thrown feet [first] into the pits…There were a number of filthy sadists in the extermination Komando pregnant women were shot in the belly for fun and then thrown into the pits…Before the execution the Jews had to undergo a body search during which…anuses and sex organs were searched for valuables and jewels. ” As my picture of these blood-soaked days became more vivid I was interested in speaking with someone who had been in Slonim recently and could tell me what it felt like to stroll streets that had been bustling with Jews for hundreds of years and were one day wiped completely clean I felt that the “missing link” in the conversion of my recent immersion into the horrors of my family’s past into a perspective that would help me better understand the present would be a first or secondhand observation of Slonim itself As I grappled with how to make this happen, I connected with Aleksander and Helen at MI POLIN a Polish company that seeks to deepen the connection of Jews to their ancestors who perished in the Holocaust they visit the former Jewish ghettos of the “bloodlands” (Belarus searching for mezuzah traces on door frames They then make a bronze cast of the mezuzah trace and attempt to find out what happened to those who used to live in that residence When I asked them if they would visit Slonim on my behalf and received a quick message back of “Sure just PayPal me $60 for travel fare from Warsaw,” I could barely contain my enthusiasm my contacts located a mezuzah trace on the doorframe of a Belarusian gymnasium that was being repainted that very day is located at “2 Communist Street” and is one of 21 synagogues that existed in Slonim on the eve of the first World War I could identify that this building was ultimately used by as a German POW camp To think that this mezuzah trace survived on the doorframe of a Nazi jail and then witnessed another four decades of brutally anti-Semitic Soviet rule felt like a barely masked metaphor for perseverance amid unspeakable adversity the importance of remembering the past has taken on renewed relevance there are more than a few glimmers of hope The World Monuments Fund began restoration work on Slonim’s baroque synagogue which has been labeled as one of the most endangered Jewish sites in Europe The organization Yahad In-Unum works tirelessly village-by-village to document the largely unmarked graves that characterized the “holocaust by bullets.” MI POLIN does amazing work in helping diaspora Jews feel connected to their past It is ultimately on individuals to remain vigilant and fulfill the famous charge of former Congressman and Holocaust survivor Tom Lantos: “The veneer of civilization is paper thin Ezra Mehlman is a healthcare investor and an adjunct professor at Columbia University He holds a BA in History from Washington University in St Louis and an MBA from Columbia Business School [1]Klee and Volkier Reiss (eds), The Good Old Days: The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders (Free Press Healthcare investor and an adjunct professor at Columbia University The Polish community of Slonim attempted to protect their Jewish neighbors and were massacred for it en masse After the liquidation of the Ghetto several hundred of them and their priest (who was regarded as the ring leader by the Nazis) were massacred for the “crime” of sheltering Jews (which they were indeed “guilty” of) We should always remember the rightous gentiles even when their efforts were in vain as they were in Slonim Former Renown Health CEO and President Tony Slonim sold his home in the west Reno gated community of Lakeridge Shores for $3.1 million dollars according to Washoe County property records The 4,623-square foot home on Lake Ridge Shores sold on April 8, a month after Slonim was fired by the Renown board It was listed by Margaret Kazmierski of Dickson Realty Renown board members and executives said Slonim was fired after an extensive investigation that involved more than one personnel issue.   who made $1.7 million a year according to 2020 tax filings of the not-for-profit has declined to make a comment about his firing when reached by the RGJ.  Slonim bought the lakefront home in 2019 for $1.4 million and sold it for more than double what he paid two years ago.  The real estate listing said the Frank Lloyd-inspired house was completely remodeled in 2020 and 2021 with a chef’s kitchen luxury master suite and a generator to power living areas.   Slonim has also listed a 21,000-square-foot lot on Falabella Way at Rancharrah Equestrian Estates for $785,000.  Property records show that Slonim bought the land for $725,000 in January Slonim on COVID-19's personal toll: 'Sometimes all you can do is hold someone's hand' Siobhan McAndrew tells stories about the people of Northern Nevada and covers education in Washoe County. Read her journalism right here. Consider supporting her work by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal.  we’re preparing for a three-day online workshop to develop how Philadelphia district school teachers educate around climate change and sustainability I’m helping keep track of a registry for existing district school greenscapes/aquaponics as well as a guide to help interested schools develop useful educational greenscapes in their communities I applied for this internship because I’m extremely interested in green infrastructure and was excited about seeing the avenues through which sustainability is incorporated into public institutions and structures—especially public schools I’ve also done a good deal of work with urban community gardens so working with school green spaces seemed like a new extension of terrain I’m somewhat familiar with.  What has been your favorite part of this internship My favorite part of this internship has definitely been the people I’ve found myself working with it was (and still is) a little hard to follow some of the current goings on when my main mode of contact is Zoom calls but all of my supervisors and coworkers have been extremely helpful and understanding in navigating my work It’s also very exciting to think about the kinds of work that can be done when (if) the school green spaces and gardens can safely open again and that the work I’m doing now might support future efforts What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect but I’m learning a lot about the frustrations that come with working in a large public system like the school district It comes with a lot of obstacles and stagnation which seems to be a common observation among people who have been working there for very long What I’ve learned from this is that these kinds of red-tape roadblocks are often inevitable especially in a system with so many layers of organization and such a large aspect of dealing with that is all in communication this is hard to do in a very layered system but going through the process and finding people with similar goals and other perspectives is extremely rewarding outright Visit the Summer 2020 Internships page to read more student stories Growth and Structure of Cities Renown Health President and Chief Executive Officer Anthony Slonim has been fired Slonim’s firing was confirmed by Renown on Thursday afternoon “A new direction and leadership is needed given the critical work ahead,” said Adam Kramer who already oversee health care system operations and will help ensure a smooth transition.”  Renown did not provide specific details on what caused the firing “Following the completion of a thorough investigation of concerns raised to the Board of Directors its patients and staff required new leadership,” Renown said in a statement sent in response to a query asking for confirmation about the firing Slonim, who started his tenure back in July of 2014, is the latest firing of a Renown CEO amid controversy. Slonim replaced former CEO Jim Miller, who stepped down in 2013 following controversy over a cardiologist group that was acquired by Renown The incident resulted in a nearly $4.9 million settlement Slonim served as the executive vice president and chief medical officer at Barnabas Health in West Orange also had experience in medical practice and had teaching stints in Washington Slonim received rave reviews from then-Renown Board Chairman David Line at the time of his hiring “We are extremely fortunate to have secured someone with Tony's unique combination of education and experience,” Line said Slonim oversaw several initiatives as CEO, including a community-wide DNA testing effort started in late 2016 known as the Healthy Nevada Project The population-based study was a joint partnership between Renown the Desert Research Institute and also garnered support from then-Gov Three years later, however, Renown would undergo restructuring as it laid off 61 employees Renown would also lay off 166 employees and freeze hiring that year Graf will continue to hold his position as chief clinical and quality officer at Renown as well as senior associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of Nevada In addition to Graf taking the interim CEO post Chief Operating Officer Sy Johnson will be serving as interim president We're on a mission to spread meaningful content far and wide By subscribing I accept the terms of use and privacy policy. We use cookies to personalize content and ads and to analyze our traffic and improve our service When I was asked to interview Daniel Barban Levin about his recent memoir, Slonim Woods 9 (Crown) thought a lot about what draws people into cults And even more intriguing is that this particular cult narrative involved a small group of students attending Sarah Lawrence College As someone who went to a commuter-style state school for undergrad I was immediately hooked by the idea that something like this could happen at such an idyllic I had it in my mind that a place like Sarah Lawrence is all about fall sweaters I would never imagine that a cult led by one of the students’ father could happen at such a place I wondered: How could a parent get away with living on an elite college campus with his daughter and her roommates And how could that parent end up at the helm of a small but psychologically damaging cult Those years of a person’s life are often vulnerable and exploratory And this is what Levin and I spoke about during our interview What I gleaned from his insightful and often heart wrenching book is that this is the trap that their perpetrator set for Levin and his friends: the extreme rawness of young adulthood I am certain this book will be a tremendous help to others who have gone through something similar Frances BadalamentiI’d like to unpack the use of the term “cult” in your narrative we often think of larger groups of people like Jonestown the Rajneesh movement or the Branch Davidians You told me that by revisiting your experiences through this book you wanted people to see that those who got pulled into cults were not stupid or seen as vulnerable What was it that makes what happened to you and your former roommates a cult a relationship—can become “cult.” Because cult and questioning your own sexuality are such important aspects of your book and certainly things that Larry I had already had a number of experiences that had made me intensely confused about what kind of man I was Larry was essentially exploiting narratives that are already rampant everywhere He was the manifestation of a society that pathologizes men who are sensitive, vulnerable and interested in intimacy. (I’m borrowing language from my friend Selina Fillinger here who’s a playwright and better at articulating this than I am.) Just recently before the Delta variant was running rampant grabbed my penis through my pants on the dance floor I didn’t understand why I was incapable of being sexual without being intimate “like a man,” I thought I was the problem—not a society that encourages men to behave this way and everyone else to believe it’s all they’re capable of DBLEveryone’s life is a story they tell themselves: who you are I encountered a man who was better than me at telling that story who was such a compelling storyteller that I began to believe his version of my identity Writing this book wasn’t just about setting the record straight or telling my story as I experienced it—it was about claiming that my account matters That what I experienced and how I felt about it—my perspective—is valid they should have known.” I hope the book refutes that possibility.  Slownim Woods 9 is available for purchase here Frances Badalamenti is the author of the novels I Don't Blame You and Salad Days Some of her shorter work can be found at The Believer Magazine The wedding of Yisroel Slonim of Binghampton NY and Chaya Mushka Rivkin of New Orleans LA  took place Monday night at Razag Ballroom Frances is the beloved sister of Nancy Slonim Aronie of Chilmark where she occasionally co-facilitated Writing from the Heart workshops with Nancy “The New Woman Warriors Handbook: Not for Women Only” and “The Beauty of Impermanence.” She attended Boston University and in 1970 was ordained as an interfaith minister Frances was among a small group of women artists in New York City’s Lower East Side where she painted and collaborated with artists she met at the iconic Cedar Tavern and was an advocate for women’s healthcare In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in her name at farmersfootprint.us Currently in Humboldt County ’til April/May Thinking of your heart…and the writings to follow Renown Health CEO and President Tony Slonim was fired after an extensive five-month investigation that involved more than one personnel issue, according to Renown Marketing Officer Suzanne Hendery and board member Jim Devolld Renown would not provide any details on the nature of the investigation or details on the findings Both Hendery and DeVolld spoke with the Reno Gazette Journal on the record on Friday when asked for details including on the financial health of the not-for-profit that has been under the helm of Slonim since July 2014 and we are processing,” Hendery said of Slonim's firing “I am going to hold off for now.” Slonim said he would submit something to the RGJ Hendery said the board’s audit and compliance committee approved hiring attorneys to investigate allegations against Slonim and other employees She said the board was confident that the investigation was done correctly and thoroughly and that there were no doubts to fire Slonim “for cause.” Hendery also said the decision was made by the full board and not just its leadership team who was chairman of the board before current chairman Adam Kramer.  She said she did not know whether Slonim was working under a contract at the time or if he received any kind of settlement according to 2019 tax documents of the not-for-profit who was the only one listed in the original press release about Slonim’s firing and vice chair Tammy Dermody did not return requests for comment Kramer is quoted as saying it was time for Slonim to step down and change was needed developer of Somersett, and Harvey Fennell, principal of Dickson Commercial Group had no comment on the news when reached by the RGJ  Both Smith and Fennell’s terms on the Renown board ended in December which was within the time frame of the investigation Reno President Brian Sandoval serves on the board due to his role at the university UNR’s communications department said all questions on Slonim were being directed to Renown  Sandoval was at the Nevada basketball game in Las Vegas and traveling as the news broke about Slonim on Friday Renown and UNR’s partnership has grown with both having a stake in who will take over as head of the medical school since Dean Thomas Schwenk retired in August 2021 The RGJ reached out to doctors and employees at Renown None agreed to go on the record about the culture at Renown or Slonim’s departure Some were learning of Slonim’s firing from the RGJ on Friday Hendery said allegations against other employees which have circulated in emails within Renown and publicly including to media outlets Some of the allegations sent in anonymous emails have pointed fingers when asked directly about those allegations said other employees were separately and individually investigated “Renown takes every allegation seriously,” Hendery said “All other allegations made were investigated and all other Renown staff members were cleared of any allegations made,” Renown said in a statement sent Friday afternoon Devolld said the fact that the issues were personnel-related made it difficult for Renown or the board to say much He also said no other employees were at fault or linked to Slonim’s termination Hendery said the reason Slonim was fired did not involve previously filed lawsuits or layoffs or terminations Renown laid off 166 people in July 2021 amid the pandemic when talking about layoffs with the RGJ last December said it was about a restructuring of medicine He said medicine was changing and managers administrators and even some specialties were the casualty of the changing nature of the business  He said top executives at Renown were taking on more responsibility as the need for doctors and nurses was the hiring priority Slonim fired Renown’s Chief Executive Officer Ty Windfeldt filed a lawsuit in district court against Renown in November 2021 While the lawsuit is centered on  issues he has with Renown because of a non-compete agreement he signed preventing him from working in the medical field the lawsuit points at issues he had under Slonim’s reign The lawsuit says that “Renown terminated Plaintiff ‘not for cause,’ but refused to provide any information as to the reason When Plaintiff requested more information from Renown’s Chief Human Resources Officer she stated she 'was not involved in any of this and [had] no background.'" Windfeldt alleges that Slonim made disparaging and untrue statements about him and his termination including a “comment in Las Vegas on August 16 Slonim is believed to have stated he 'fired (his) top executive last week for not following direction.'” Slonim's termination also did not involve the end of a contract in January with a local anesthesiologist’s group filed a lawsuit with North American Partners in Anesthesia a national company that bought out a local medical group of 59 anesthesiologists Local doctors blame the national group for failing to meet the terms of the contract with Renown Questions surrounding Renown’s financial health including impacts from lawsuits and the pandemic we are seeing a financial hit but it’s not unlike what is happening everywhere,” DeVolld said “Renown Health’s financial situation and balance sheet is very strong and is rated A+ by Fitch,” Renown said in a statement sent to the RGJ  Fitch is an American credit rating agency “Renown generated positive operating levels through fiscal 2020 (FYE June 30 suffered some operational weakness in fiscal 2021 (unaudited) with the result of the impact from the coronavirus incorporated into both fiscal years Fitch believes that the operational softness conferred by the coronavirus pandemic is temporary and that the organization has already implemented steps to return to more normal levels of profitability,” Renown said in statements to the RGJ According to Renown’s 2021 annual report the economic impact of Renown is $2.6 billion annually The report also said Renown has 7,200 employees  and it credits itself for employing an additional 7,400 people indirectly Hendery and Devoldd said there have been no conversations about Renown being for sale Our weekly email is chockful of interesting and relevant insights into Jewish history Eva Slonim was a victim of Mengele’s horrific experiments in Auschwitz Her grandson Ronen’s revenge is proudly defending the Jewish People she was tortured by the notorious Josef Mengele in Auschwitz Stories of her harrowing years in the Shoah and her defiant path to rebuilding her life after the war left an indelible mark on her grandson Ronen Ronen left his comfortable life in Melbourne Australia and moved to Israel where he is serving in the Paratrooper unit From his army base where he is mid-way through advanced combat training his decisions and the relationship with his grandmother that has guided him every step of the way Growing up in the leafy Melbourne neighborhood of Caulfield Ronen says he was in his teens when he first understood his grandmother Eva had an important story to tell “I would visit every Shabbat and usually during the week as well as Shabbat was drawing to an end and we were sitting together she would open up about some of the things she went through." Eva Slonim showing he tattoo she received in Auschwitz-Birkenau was born Eva Weiss in 1931 to a religious Jewish family in the Slovakian capital Bratislava Her father owned a successful textile business she attended a Jewish day school and enjoyed happy times in what was then one of Europe's thriving Jewish communities The second oldest of five children when Hitler rose to power Bratislava was part of a protectorate which aligned itself to Nazi Germany Amid a steady rise of anti-Semitic legislation and attacks she witnessed her brother assaulted in broad daylight and her grandfather’s front teeth knocked out when officials stormed into their family home Her father was also arrested with no reason given released two weeks later for a heavy ransom which her mother managed to pay Understanding that things were only getting worse the Weiss family separated and went into hiding Eva was 12 in 1943 when she and her younger sister Martha Guards at Auschwitz had specific instructions to pull identical twins from the crowds of confused arrivals at the camp Although escaping the immediate death sentence that awaited most others deemed useless to the Nazi regime these children were to become human guinea pigs at the disposal of the notorious Dr Eva looked very similar to her younger sister and they were pulled aside It was under Mengele’s cruel watch that she sustained a series of often daily examinations and injections leaving her weak and ill as the so-called medical team at Auschwitz noted the daily effects of their tests on her Never told the reasons of what was being done to her she saw other inmates fall sick and die around her never knowing what the next day would bring On one occasion her number was called and she had four bottles of blood removed leaving her already frail body on the brink of collapse and even more exposed to disease Eva and her sister (center) united with other survivors pictured on their liberation By the time of her liberation she was suffering from tuberculosis Together with her sister she was one of ten children photographed behind barbed wire by the Soviets as they liberated the camp on January 27 1945 her sister and the other surviving children pictured beyond the barbed wire Eva has said that even during her most difficult experiences a great love of the land of Israel kept her alive “It gave me enormous hope and aspiration to the future It was something I could really cling to.” She made a pact with God after seeing the horrific state of the inmates on her arrival to the camp “I saw women standing against a barbed wire fence looking emaciated,” she said in testimony “They looked more like caged animals than humans.” Terrified that she would become one of the inhuman mass of bodies she was looking at I will have a large family and try and rebuild all that has been destroyed,” she said “But only if you don’t deprive me of my feelings.” both sisters were reunited with their parents far away from Europe’s blood-soaked shores It was there that Eva kept her part of the promise and together they set about raising a family built on the strong Jewish values Eva had remembered from her own childhood "We joined my grandparents every Friday night,” Ronen says “The Shabbat meals were full of singing and there was always a warm atmosphere Judaism played a central role in our family.” Eva’s father had buried a Torah scroll the family had owned He managed to dig it up after the war and take it with him to Melbourne It still gives my grandmother great joy to hear one of her grandson's read from it." “My grandparents had a big influence on me when I was growing up,” Ronen says “It was quite difficult to hear the things that she had been through,” recalling that he sometimes woke up with nightmares “The stories of how she managed to stay connected to her Judaism also had a big effect on the way I saw Israel and the heavy role in its importance,” he adds He visited Israel with his family to mark his bar mitzvah "It was a very special experience," he says "especially to be there with my grandparents There were lots of family and close friends there and I read from a Torah scroll at the Western Wall." this time to pursue his Jewish studies at the Har Etzion yeshiva south of Jerusalem where his love of Torah learning grew alongside his desire to one day make Israel his home "It was something I thought a lot about then," he says but shelved for a few years as he returned to Australia to complete a degree in Economics at the University of Melbourne "I’d always thought that if I made aliya I would also serve in the army," he said "But I was getting close to my mid-twenties.” Realizing he was running out of time if he wanted to join a combat unit it was Seder night during a family trip to Israel in 2017 “It was the moment I knew that Israel was where I belonged,” he said Finding it hard to break the news to his mother "It was the easiest way to express it," he said adding that the decision was made harder because his father had passed away when he was just 14 I just wanted to be a part of what I saw and felt in Israel." Telling his grandmother he was leaving Australia was one of the hardest things Ronen says he has had to do "We are very close; even now we speak every week and catch up She is a big supporter of Israel and after everything she went through she is very proud to have a grandson serving in the army.” When he made known his plan to volunteer two years in a combat unit where he would be five years older than his commanding officers "’You won't cope being told what to do by 18 year olds,’ people told me But it hasn’t been further from the truth," he says "I have really bonded with the soldiers around me." “It is immensely satisfying and meaningful to be here I am privileged to be able to play a small part in protecting the Jewish People One of a handful of religious soldiers in his unit he is given time to pray three times a day in accordance and says he always finds times to study Torah every day and when we are out in more rugged terrain It's become an essential part of me which I couldn't be without." “One thing that has always stuck in my mind from my grandmother's experience,” Ronen says “was something her father told her before they separated to go into hiding ‘Who knows long it will be before we can speak to each other again,’ he told her “Gazing at the stars” would later become the title of Eva Slonim's memoir a chilling and inspiring account of her life before The words have also left their mark on Ronen Sometimes I think about my grandmother and what she described sometimes I think about my father and my family and sometimes I just pinch myself wonderidng if this is all real I am living a dream serving in the Israeli army." Thank you for signing up for the aish.com free newsletter Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission Reporters who stand behind the velvet ropes at parties shouting celebrity names and “Who are you wearing?”” tend to be a tight-knit crew in sensible shoes with backup recorders stuffed in their pockets begging reluctant and sometimes inarticulate celebrities to talk to you for three seconds which sounds hard to believe now that red carpets before major-awards shows have become hours-long opportunities for celebrities to advertise which designers they are wearing or which nail-polish brand they used (think mani-cam) he wore a tux or white tie with a dashing opera scarf a country-club blazer and khakis in the Hamptons — often he looked as good or better than the crowd he interviewed I asked Jeffrey to report on the celebrity beat because I knew he took his assignment thoroughly to heart He was one of the first contributors and continued to work with me for all 25 years Jeffrey never bothered with the “Who are you wearing?” or “How do you juggle it all?” nonsense His questions were often deliberately disarming “How do you get ready for summer?” Jeffrey would ask expecting to hear “spray tan,” “bikini wax,” or “juice fast.” Roseanne Barr answered “Do you look better naked or dressed?” and George Clooney said “What’s your favorite pose on the red carpet?” who responded when Jeffrey offered Donald Trump a layup with “What’s your favorite compliment?” the response was almost a parody: “That I’m the best-looking man in America and Melania is the best-looking woman As time went by and he developed a reputation the clever and the press-hungry strode right up to him His eyes twinkled and sometimes they rolled You could tell he had a genuine connection with his subjects many of whom made a ritual of greeting him with a kiss He took Julianne Moore to his high-school prom and their sweetness when they saw each other at countless movie premieres and awards shows Jeffrey Slonim and I grew up in the media business together and wrung our hands over kindergarten admissions and SATs returning to the office from a party and transcribing his quotes Then he’d rush home in time to take his sons to school Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York “When big pharma collaborates with biopharma companies but the commitment of the partner,” according to serial entrepreneur Yochi Slonim The question arises in partnering meetings routinely potential partners need to know each other’s intent and vision of the future pharma and biotech often don’t have the same view of the future Biotechs usually want to collaborate to gain credibility…but may quit when progressing becomes too hard,” he said a company first must intend to actually collaborate A collaboration will compete for management attention and priority with your internal priorities and plans Will you invest in the collaboration to make it successful or turn to something your investors now say is important?” he asked you need to dedicate yourself to the collaboration so you don’t consider it less important than your internal programs we share how we do things with the intention of expanding projects toward the licensing of our platform But you have to be committed,” he stressed Slonim honed that philosophy in the world of high tech He was instrumental in the inception of three successful software companies the most notable of which was Israeli-based Mercury Interactive where he was VP of R&D and CTO from its formation in 1989 until 1996 when he left to become COO of Tecnomatix and to found two more software firms and a company accelerator “but for the feeling that I was doing something meaningful I wanted to do something that was worth dedicating the next 25 years of my life to,” he recalled Slonim became acquainted with Anima when the company was little more than an idea Anima developed a platform to discover small molecule mRNA drugs for us internally or with partners’ targets and cloud-based computational biology of mRNA imaging analysis with AI software The core of the fully-automated platform is a patented technology that visualizes with light pulses the translation of mRNA into protein by ribosomes in real time so scientists may better understand the underlying mechanisms and disease progression across individual cells It is used in collaborations with Lilly and Takeda Pharmaceuticals as well as by Scripps Research Institute and academic institutions The company recently reached its first milestone in its collaboration with Takeda for a Huntington’s disease target Achieving this milestone is very important to Slonim “Takeda put its hardest targets in front of us so this means our technology is demonstrating its ability to deliver There are so many others you also need to achieve.” Slonim held a Master’s degree in computer science from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem “I studied biology and trained myself by taking more than 30 university courses online Slonim approaches biotech much as he did high-tech “I wanted to bring the technology to its maximum potential.” That means flexible partnering technology handover can occur whenever the pharma partner wants whether that’s after identifying hits or leads Many biotech companies have solutions that may apply to hundreds of targets “everything hinges on the lead program,” he observed out why not rely on 10 or 20 partners?” Slonim asked “Investors haven’t seen companies partner at scale sustainably so they recommend investing in a few indications and mitigate their risks by investing in multiple companies Slonim and Anima Biotech take a different approach “mRNA is a once-in-a-generation type of opportunity single validated drug mine of this generation.” mRNA vaccines developed for the COVID-19 pandemic have been validated by one billion people who have received the vaccine in less than a year “Controlling mRNA biology with small molecules is now seen by big Pharmas the next step in mRNA drugs,” he said The past year has changed the challenges for Slonim and Anima significantly “almost nobody knew much about mRNA biology,” so he was following the latest research and educating big pharma and investors Few believed there were drugs to be found there so now people are mining for drugs like miners once mined for gold “Anima combines live biology with the software that enables scientists to understand the mechanism of action early on.” To do that “We built a platform that is screening phenotypically in live cells We combine the technology with big data in the cloud with mRNA biology data and find the mechanism of action of the drugs almost automatically big pharma could spend as long as five years trying to understand the mechanism of action of a single molecule and still fail to identify how the compounds work is “to put our technology into the largest number of programs as possible to maximize the chance that its value will be realized.” Anima’s R&D operations are based in Tel Aviv with partnering offices in London and Boston Slonim splits his energy among those offices while carving out time for his family – he has four daughters – and for exercise “I invest my free time in sports,” he said “Making sure you’re fit and healthy is super important if you want to run a company.” Slonim’s measure of success encompasses the whole picture beyond having a drug approved or increasing shareholder value “Success for me is enabling 100 drug discovery programs from our technology to give them a chance to treat diseases for which nobody had a really effective strategy there is a wide variety of directions that companies can go Many high-profile biopharma companies have a focus on messenger RNA (mRNA) and some are broadening their horizons by taking an interest in artificial intelligence is merging mRNA therapeutics with its own AI and bioinformatics capability co-founder and chief executive officer of Anima Biotech took time to speak with BioSpace about the company and mRNA therapeutics Slonim started with an introduction to genetic translation which is the process of mRNA delivering genetic code to ribosomes Slonim noted that traditional drug development involves small molecules and disarm the protein from doing its chemical activity they are called hard targets or undruggable targets because the industry for over 70 years has been unable to find them.” The industry has been quite successful at finding low-hanging fruit There have been approaches with nucleic acid drugs that bind to the mRNA and sort of kill it called “knockdown.” Slonim observes that this is something of a one-way street Whenever diseases lack a protein or are underexpressed only how to kill it after it is made or prevent it from being made.” A new approach is to try and knock down the mRNA itself with small molecules and it’s not completely clear what these molecules can do or what will happen if you apply these small molecules to an mRNA or ribosome.” This brings the subject around to Anima Biotech’s approach “We have discovered molecules that control the translation of the mRNA by ribosomes into protein We can actually discover molecules that do that specifically for individual proteins because we go after a new target a rational target instead of the mRNA itself.” And the technology uses actual imaging techniques which they merge with an AI system that scans and analyzes the images the production of proteins by ribosomes,” Slonim says The core technology of the company was developed at the University of Pennsylvania and it labels the transfer RNA (tRNA) which acts as the physical link between the mRNA and the amino acid sequence of proteins The patented technology for this leverages FRET signals (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) FRET basically means that when two molecules come close together and if they are labeled with fluorescent dyes And that energy transfer in labeled molecules causes an increase in light—the more energy transfer and this occurs millions of times over and over again in each of the trillions of cells in the body—it’s all they do pair together amino acids to build the chain of the protein.” What Anima’s technology platform allows them to do is select a signature pair for each target protein and label them “So the light you see is highly correlated to the target protein,” Slonim says “It’s the proteins being assembled by ribosome in real-time And you can use it as a primary assay as a screening system that scans molecules The molecules that create light means it is creating the production of the target protein Increasing the light means it’s increasing the target protein.” That means the company’s technology can screen a library of compounds and actually identify if a compound is interacting with a ribosome and whether it is increasing protein production or decreasing protein production “Our technology enables us to do this for almost every disease And the technology of the company has evolved over the years into a product We are now building a pipeline that currently includes multiple programs,” Slonim says For most of the programs they are in the “hit to lead” area prior to a preclinical and clinical program although Slonim believes they will be into the clinic in 18 months to two years their programs are for Collagen I for lung fibrosis The company also has a major partnership deal with Eli Lilly Although he won’t discuss the specific targets or diseases they are utilizing their technology platform on targets selected by Lilly The light created by the images is too subtle for the human eye to evaluate effectively a typical compound library contains 200,000 compounds Slonim notes that in a typical project like the one with Lilly there will be multiple cells that act as samples of the disease and in each one there will be a different compound out of the 200,000 compounds And an automated system runs them under the microscope They may get 5,000 individual images multiplied by 200,000 compounds with each light representing production of the protein and since they take images on several channels there’s something like 5 billion examples and hundreds of data points “We cannot look at those images one by one,” Slonim says “We can’t hire 2,000 people in India to look at them the increase in light might be by 20% and that light could represent a possible drug “We use AI to actually identify the activity the molecules that are actually the ones doing the magic It’s like finding maybe 20 out of 200,000 but looking at a billion data points in order to do that.” Their AI system also learns and Slonim compares it to facial recognition software but the outcome is that with this technology we are teaching the system what it can see in the millions of examples of compounds that don’t work and the ones that do the system learns more and more and is more able to discover new drugs The more we discover the more it CAN discover.” And Slonim feels that it’s this combination of good biological understanding and cutting-edge AI software that gives Anima Biotech an edge in this field Asked about how biopharma is generally using AI Slonim compares it to a horse and carriage Most in the field of AI as applied to drug discovery have a dilemma There is a carriage but no horse or a horse but no carriage to carry there is a concept where you don’t take any particular biological data you just take cells and flow compounds into them But rather than look at this particular data you have the computer take images and it learns by itself what is healthy and what is sick the computer is guessing if the cells are better than before Slonim and Anima Biotech believe that their advantage is that they also have a novel biological mechanism to investigate as well as an imaging system and AI analysis system if you have this idea that you have compounds but no deep understanding of how they work and what they do it’s very hard for pharma companies to partner with you.” many AI companies partnering with pharma companies do so as a service model rather than as a drug discovery partnership “I think it’s better to start with the biology generate new biological data to give you insight about something that happened in the disease and use the computer to provide understanding and meaning to what you’re seeing not to get what is a disease and what is not I think biologists should be working together with the AI guys side by side—that’s the winning approach,” This opinion column was submitted by Melissa Piasecki School of Medicine and acting chief academic officer at Renown Health; Brian Sandoval president of the University of Nevada president and CEO of Renown Health and clinical professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Nevada Reno Renown Health and the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) came together to memorialize a relationship that dates back to 1977 The new level of partnership between our institutions aims to expand clinical programs increase the number of clinical trials available to the community and advance undergraduate and graduate medical education with expansions in class sizes and new programs to train specialists We are grateful to the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents Steve Sisolak and both houses of the Nevada Legislature for approving the affiliation agreement in June 2021 Their efforts allowed Renown Health and UNR Med to create Nevada’s first integrated health system and to improve access to health care and address medical education in new ways To keep our community consistently informed of the exciting work that is occurring long-term strategic plan to achieve our shared vision of “A Healthy Nevada.” This five-year plan will serve as a guide to enhance the health of our community through expanded clinical care a range of "Destination Health" clinical programs (oncology neurosciences and pediatrics) will advance care with highly skilled and dedicated practitioners offer new opportunities for medical students and resident physicians and provide new opportunities for scientific discovery through research we have made a number of advancements together The first is the transfer of UNR Med’s clinical practices thereby uniting the clinical and electronic medical record operations of both organizations for seamless and coordinated care between facilities nearly 70 University Health physicians and providers now offer the following medical specialties: 25 UNR Med medical and physician assistant students received $350,000 in scholarships from Renown UNR Med has a consistent track record of keeping the costs of education affordable and is often cited as a leader in public education ranking 30th out of nearly 200 medical schools in the country for medical school graduates practicing in primary care by U.S We hope these scholarships will help defray the costs of medical education for future physicians and physician assistants we have launched national searches for a new Dean of the School of Medicine to help guide this new partnership National searches for leaders who will service as academic department chairs and clinical service chiefs of several departments are also underway These accomplishments are only the beginning of our vision for improving the health of our state and region We know that the best relationships are built on trust and respect Every day we are growing our shared culture and values We are committed to educating and preparing a skilled and compassionate health care workforce for the future so you can count on us for generations to come The real testament of our commitment will be seen in the years ahead We are indebted to our teams who are working diligently each day to assure that this partnership has value for you and your family — in sickness and in health and appreciate your help and support toward “A Healthy Nevada.” MD is acting dean of University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine and acting chief academic officer at Renown Health. Brian Sandoval JD is president of the University of Nevada FACHE is president and CEO of Renown Health and clinical professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Nevada Reno Have your say: How to submit an opinion column or letter to the editor