WikiLeaks Heads an "Attack" on the American Government
Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, revealed the contents of 241 U.S. embassy cables on Sunday, leaking the documents exclusively to The New York Times, Der Spiegel, The Guardian, El País, and Le Monde.
Besides being labeled an "attack" on American integrity, the leak has also been called one of the largest sets of confidential documents to be released into the public realm.
WikiLeaks defended its decision to release such records by proposing that the documents will provide a much-needed glimpse into U.S. foreign involvement around the world.
Over 250,000 documents have been disclosed, dating as far back as 1966 and continuing until February of this year. These documents contain communications between 274 embassies, as well as within the State Department. About 15,000 of the cables were classified as "secret," leaving government officials in an uproar.
This leak presents an unparalleled look into American political and diplomatic progression, addressing foreign and domestic governmental proceedings while offering forthright portrayals of world leaders.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek Ranks MBA Program For the First Time
For the first time, Bloomberg Businessweek has included the UB School of Management in its rankings of MBA programs. Additionally, the UB undergraduate business programs were ranked 97th in a similar study.
The School of Management ranked 57 in the biennial ranking, joining over 20 other schools in the ranking's second tier. About 740 students are enrolled in the graduate programs at the School of Management. Seventy-five programs were eligible to be ranked.
The rankings were based on student satisfaction (45 percent of the total ranking criteria), corporate recruiter satisfaction (45 percent), and an intellectual capacity (10 percent), based on the number of articles published by each school's faculty.
Arjang A. Assad, dean of the School of Management, acknowledged the merit of the Bloomberg Businessweek rakings, but also emphasized that the ranking does not cover a few other important details.
"While we realize the importance of rankings for the reputation of the school, we do not rely on rankings as a tool for improving quality," Assad said. "New additions to the curriculum, such as our MBA LeaderCORE program, ensure that our graduates will ‘hit the ground running' upon graduation and make an immediate impact in their place of work."
Some undergraduate students at the School of Management feel that the program and school still have a few major deficiencies, such as overcrowding and understaffing.
According to Assad, however, the challenging financial environment has not allowed the School to implement all the changes necessary, but proper funding, a larger faculty, space, and maintaining the same strong initiative remain important objectives.
Senate Passes Legislation to Overhaul Food Safety Regulations
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed (by a 73-to-25 vote) legislation that would grant much greater power and responsibility to the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.), a federal organization that in recent years has focused more on the regulation of drugs and other medical products than food safety. The changes called for in the legislation were motivated primarily by a series of major food recalls in the past few years that sickened thousands across the nation.
The bill would give the F.D.A. the authority to demand food recalls, a power that it did not possess under the Bush administration. The legislation will also increase the number of required inspections for food processing plants, concentrating on the production of "high risk" foods. Which foods would be classified as "high risk," however, remains uncertain.
While both the House and the Senate are in favor of major regulatory food safety changes being implemented, their respective proposed bills differ significantly. The House version calls for federal funding of the required plant inspections and less leniency concerning the rules it will set out. The Senate version does not include funding for inspections and is far more moderate in its expectations from food companies.
Although Senate-House disagreements could prevent the bill from passing, it is likely that a compromise will be made and a revised, less strict version will be implemented.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
