Social Sciences Newsblog

Day: September 24, 2013

Mary Durfee and MindTrekkers

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Parade of Nations
Parade of Nations

As the representatives of some sixty nations were lining up in Hancock for the Parade of Nations, the sun came out and it was starting to warm up.

Nearby, Social Sciences Professor Mary Durfee was gathered with a group of students from Malta. They are attempting to create the first international chapter of MindTrekkers, that fantastic traveling science demonstration that has enthralled school kids around the Midwest and in DC.

Read more at Here, There, and Everywhere in TechAlum Newsletter, by Dennis Walikainen.

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Dyble Receives Award for Best Public Works Article

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Louise Nelson Dyble, former assistant professor of social sciences, has received the American Public Works Association (APWA) Michael Robinson Award for her article “Tolls and Control: the Chicago Skyway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.”

The award is presented by APWA’s Public Works Historical Society and recognizes the best essay or article published on a public works historical topic. Dyble’s article, published in 2012 in the Journal of Planning History, provides a historical perspective on two high-profile toll roads: the Pennsylvania Turnpike, operated by an independent public authority, and the Chicago Skyway, originally built and managed by the City of Chicago.

Dyble notes that great public works have resulted from cooperation among governments, and that the lack of cooperation is one of our society’s greatest obstacles. “Embattled cities, balkanized regions and dysfunctional states can’t support the infrastructure systems that we need,” she said.

Dyble is a member of the Public Works Historical Society’s Board of Trustees and is pursuing a law degree at the University of California, Berkeley.

From Tech Today.

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