Richard T. Antoun, Professor Emiritus, Anthropology, Binghamton University
Richard T. Antoun — a respected Binghamton University anthropology professor who grew up in Shrewsbury — spent his entire career seeking peace. His work focused on bridging the divide between religions and cultures, particularly in the Middle East.
But the 77-year-old professor’s life ended violently Friday when he was stabbed multiple times in his campus office, allegedly by a graduate student whom he was advising on his doctoral thesis.
The student, Abdulsalam S. al-Zahrani, 46, was from Saudi Arabia. Mr. Antoun was serving on the dissertation committee for Mr. Zahrani’s graduate thesis and apparently had known him for quite some time, according to news reports.
The university’s Web site says Mr. Zahrani’s doctoral thesis is called, “Sacred Voice, Profane Sight: The Senses, Cosmology, and Epistemology in Early Arabic Culture.”
Archive for the ‘Personal’ category
Professor Richard Antoun
December 8th, 2009
Uninteresting video of me talking about a bike ride
December 3rd, 2009I was excited because there was a break in the crappy weather that I took advantage of, it was my first ride since the surgery and because I was playing with this new video software. But it’s not terribly interesting.
» Read more: Uninteresting video of me talking about a bike ride
My Ride Tonight
October 4th, 2009My bike ride from today is on the map below. It was longer than I planned because I took a wrong turn, maybe two, and went a route I hadn’t intended to go. It was alright, though. It took me on a road that runs through the Broadmoor Audubon Reservation, which is bigger than I ever realized. I’ve walked the trails back there, but the trails don’t go all the way through.
I went out too late, so I barely got back before dark. I just haven’t been able to accept the shortening days yet. So I wento out at 5 thinking I still had a few hours of sun left. I didn’t. I was also late getting out because I am constantly saying to myself that I need to finish this, that and the other thing before I go out. I put off my bike rides in the same way I put off the gym, and yet they are so different.
I always really enjoy my rides. They are explorations. I never really have a plan, I just go. And I’ve gotten even more adventurous, now that I have an iPhone with GPS, because I know I can always get back. It is a sad state of affairs when procrastinate so much on something I like to do because I have work to do. That, my friends, make me a workaholic.
I do need to get road tires put on my bike. I have a Trek mountain bike, but I don’t have any place to go mountain biking, so I ride on nicely paved roads. Those big thick mountain bike tires are unnecessarily difficult. I should probably also get better reflectors for my bike. Because the people trying to get home around dusk on Sunday drive just like tense rush hour drivers.
Anyway, here’s the map of my route. It’s not a bad ride. I took it at a really leisurely pace. I wouldn’t do at around dusk. I charted it using iMapMyRide. I like that service, though I am still using the free version and that ads are bothering me. But is it worth the price of an upgrade just to get rid of the ads? Other features don’t seem all that useful.
A Historic Moment for Health Care Reform
September 7th, 2009In just three days President Obama will address a joint session of Congress on his plans for health care reform in the United States.
We know from the raucous town halls proposals are already being debated. But, we’ve had nothing really concrete, so supposition has run rampant. This has to change.
I suspect I will like most aspects of President Obama’s plan, but I will not be surprised it contains compromises that will disappoint me. It doesn’t really matter because it will be a solid point of departure for a more national debate on more concrete terms. Hopefully it will provide a chance to press the restart button.
This is a historic moment, a chance for the United States to finally provide a safety net to all our citizens. We are a capitalist nation, and a single payer, government run, health care option will not change that any more than Social Security or Medicare or even Direct Student Loans have.
It can work. Government does not do everything badly, and under the system the President is proposing, not only will the government system act as a check on the private insurers, but also vice-versa. Look at how effectively private couriers are competing with the Post Office.
But don’t take my work for any of this. Watch the speech. Listen to the opposition. Try and understand their arguments. Most importantly, however, check the facts. Because folks are being reckless with the facts.
Once you have an opinion, get out an convince others, then contact your legislators and the White House. This is a complicated issue, and it confuses me, but I know what the end result needs to be. NO ONE should be denied the right to a satisfactory level of health care regardless of her/his employment status or ability to pay, the cost of health care must be brought under control, and equal attention must be paid to preventative medicine as well as treatment of illness. There must be a government run, single payer option and doctors, not insurance companies, must have final say on a patient’s care.
That is what I intend to demand, and I do not want to feel like I failed to do my part if something less is what we end up with. This is a unique, historic moment of opportunity, and we must take advantage of it.
Annotated Bicycling Links
August 25th, 2009- Google Maps ‘Bike There’ For a Safer, Happier World Help us show the Google Maps team that we really really want the ability to get bicycle directions via the main Google Maps interface. We can get driving directions for cars, we get can wonderful mass transit directions, and now we want the ultimate in sustainability and self-reliance and exercise and healthy living – bicycle directions. If you haven’t yet signed the petition, please do so now.
Share the Road
- Map My Ride.com MapMyRide.com is a site where you can easily plot maps of your rides without a GPS, search for rides or routes globally, keep track of your routes including distances, and even calculate how many calories you’ve burned on one route versus another. There is a companion iPhone app, and perhaps for other mobile, GPS enabled apps, too.
- Bikes Belong Coalition Bikes Belong’s mission is to put more people on bicycles often by working with the federal government to maximize federal funding for bicycling, awarding grants to help create more and better places to ride, sponsoring programs to help cities and towns become more bicycle-friendly, promoting bicycling to get more people riding and cultivating cooperation throughout the bicycle industry
- Bicycle for Humanity began in September 2005 with the simple aim of enabling people to raise funds and collect unwanted bicycles to send to reliable partners in developing countries.
- Rails to Trails Conservancy a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission it is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people.
- Pedaling.com Free self guided road bike routes and mountain bike trails including maps, cue sheets and trail descriptions. Resources for local bicycle shops, bike safety information and community bulletin board for cyclist to share trail, road and cross country bike trip knowledge. Information about guided bicycle tours, cycling gear and bicycles.
- Cape Cod Bike Guide.com one-stop resource for road cycling and mountain bike information for the Cape Cod area with detailed Cape Cod trail listings, a searchable database of Cape Cod bike shops, links to popular bicycle resources etc.
Do you know any other good sites?
Tell My Momma I Miss Her So
August 22nd, 2009Indulging my inner redneck, I present this from Ryan Bingham’s new album Roadhouse Sun. I’ve talked about Ryan in the blog before. He’s fast becoming a favorite! If you like this and want to buy the album, consider using the link provided. A portion of this and any other Amazon.com purchases made through this blog will go to support the work of the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies.
MacBreakz: I’d Swear by this Program!
August 14th, 2009
MacBreakz Screenshot
If you own an Apple computer, however, I can recommend an excellent program. Go to this page http://www.publicspace.net/MacBreakZ/ and download a trial of MacBreakz. MacBreakz is a wonderful program that allows you to program the length of time you want between breaks, can provide you recommended stretches, can force you to take breaks by locking the screen, etc. But only if you enable it.
It is highly customizable, as well. Among various pre-programmed settings with pre-chosen time between stretches and lengths for breaks, it also has a “recovery” in which you can have the program start with frequent and long breaks and gradually shorten both over a set period of time. So you can start with 10 minute breaks every half hour and by the end of 2 months have the program work you down to a 3 minute break every 2 1/2 hours. But don’t take my word for it. Go to the site and give it a try.
It’s only available for Mac OS, but there are simial PC programs, but I hesitate to recommend one, not knowing them well.
Cities Go Blue for Colon Cancer New National Awareness Campaign Launched
August 11th, 2009This is the first part of a press release announcing a new initiative form the Colon Cancer Alliance which reports on its site that
Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the US.
But perhaps because it is one of those cancers that we don’t like to talk about, it doesn’t get much attention. It certainly got my attention by coming into my family, though. Here is the announcement. Full text at this link.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 10, 2009) – The Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA) today announced the launch of its national awareness campaign, Cities Go Blue for Colon Cancer. Philadelphia, PA has been selected as the inaugural host city with events kicking off on September 26-27, 2009.
“The purpose of the nationwide Cities Go Blue for Colon Cancer campaign is to promote awareness about colorectal cancer, by encouraging people to get screened and providing information and support to survivors and caregivers,” said Andrew Spiegel, CEO of the Colon Cancer Alliance. “Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the country and we need to make sure that everyone who should be screened is getting screened and those living with the disease have the information and support they need to improve their quality of life. Philadelphia has been selected as our kick-off city and we’re excited to work with community partners on a series of informative and fun events geared toward increasing knowledge of colon cancer and saving lives in the process.”
Are liberals seceding from sanity?
August 11th, 2009Check out this paragraph from a piece I just read.
Blacks and Latinos, it appears, are allowed to hold conventionally conservative social views about gay rights, abortion and (in the case of blacks) immigration without being mocked and denounced by elite white liberals in the pages of the Washington Post and Mother Jones, as long as they vote for the Democratic Party on the basis of other issues. This strategic logic should lead liberals to seek out and welcome the vote of white social conservatives in the South and elsewhere, as long as they vote for Democrats for reasons other than the social issues. Indeed, socially conservative white voters helped to create and to maintain the new Democratic majority in Congress. But many liberals, it would appear, would rather have a smaller Democratic Party than one that includes more white Southerners with typically “black” or “Latino” views about sex and reproduction.
via Are liberals seceding from sanity? | Salon.
It’s a provocative but perceptive quote from a very interesting article on Salon.com by Michael Lind. If you want to know what he means by “black” or “Latino” views you have to read the article. It’s worth it. Lind is spot on, however. I find that a lot of New Englanders understand the American South only slightly better than many Moroccans I met understood what life was like in Europe. This is a sad state of affairs.
iMix from Last Week: Where to Buy those Tracks
August 8th, 2009About a week ago wrote a post called I have strange tastes in music. I had created an iMix of that list so that you could hear samples of all the tracks on iTunes, but I forgot to post it. Here it is: Through that box you can listen to and purchase any of the songs.
If you really like any of them and want to purchase the whole album, please consider doing so from the links in my blog post. All proceeds from those sales will benefit the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies, a museum, research, cultural and community service center in Northern Morocco, the country with which the United States has its oldest friendship treaty. Learn more about it on our website.
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