Vaclav Havel's Legacy of Freedom

Vaclav Havel changed history as an advocate of freedom and universal human rights. A playwright, essayist, poet, dissident, and politician, Havel became a symbol of the civic opposition to the communist government in Czechoslovakia. After the Prague “Velvet Revolution” that toppled the communist regime, Havel became president of Czechoslovakia, and later the first president of the Czech Republic. Ten years ago, on September 21, 2002, President Vaclav Havel came to FIU and delivered memorable remarks about freedom and in support of a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. Madeleine K. Albright is Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Chair of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets. She was the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. On May 29, 2012, Dr. Albright received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Obama. She received an honorary degree from FIU in 1996. Dr. Albright is a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. The panel discussion includes: Thomas Dine, President of the American Friends of the Czech Republic The Honorable Petr Gandalovic, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the U.S. Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy Martin Palous, Director, Vaclav Havel Library, SIPA Senior Fellow Marifeli Perez-Stable, Interim Director, Latin American and Caribbean Center

Economic Inequality and the Conditions of Freedom- Views from the American Founding

Professor Clement Fatovic, Director of Graduate Studies for Politic Sciences, lectures on the subject of the American Founding. Lecture held at the Green Library, Modesto Maidique Campus, Florida International University, on April 10, 2013.

Design and development of a one-degree-of-freedom force-reflecting manual controller prototype for teleoperation

The present research is carried out from the viewpoint of primarily space applications where human lives may be in danger if they are to work under these conditions. This work proposes to develop a one-degree-of-freedom (1-DOF) force-reflecting manual controller (FRMC) prototype for teleoperation, and address the effects of time delays commonly found in space applications where the control is accomplished via the earth-based control stations. To test the FRMC, a mobile robot (PPRK) and a slider-bar were developed and integrated to the 1-DOF FRMC. The software developed in Visual Basic is able to telecontrol any platform that uses an SV203 controller through the internet and it allows the remote system to send feedback information which may be in the form of visual or force signals. Time delay experiments were conducted on the platform and the effects of time delay on the FRMC system operation have been studied and delineated.

3D navigation with six degrees-of-freedom using a multi-touch display

With the introduction of new input devices, such as multi-touch surface displays, the Nintendo WiiMote, the Microsoft Kinect, and the Leap Motion sensor, among others, the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) finds itself at an important crossroads that requires solving new challenges. Given the amount of three-dimensional (3D) data available today, 3D navigation plays an important role in 3D User Interfaces (3DUI). This dissertation deals with multi-touch, 3D navigation, and how users can explore 3D virtual worlds using a multi-touch, non-stereo, desktop display. ^ The contributions of this dissertation include a feature-extraction algorithm for multi-touch displays (FETOUCH), a multi-touch and gyroscope interaction technique (GyroTouch), a theoretical model for multi-touch interaction using high-level Petri Nets (PeNTa), an algorithm to resolve ambiguities in the multi-touch gesture classification process (Yield), a proposed technique for navigational experiments (FaNS), a proposed gesture (Hold-and-Roll), and an experiment prototype for 3D navigation (3DNav). The verification experiment for 3DNav was conducted with 30 human-subjects of both genders. The experiment used the 3DNav prototype to present a pseudo-universe, where each user was required to find five objects using the multi-touch display and five objects using a game controller (GamePad). For the multi-touch display, 3DNav used a commercial library called GestureWorks in conjunction with Yield to resolve the ambiguity posed by the multiplicity of gestures reported by the initial classification. The experiment compared both devices. The task completion time with multi-touch was slightly shorter, but the difference was not statistically significant. The design of experiment also included an equation that determined the level of video game console expertise of the subjects, which was used to break down users into two groups: casual users and experienced users. The study found that experienced gamers performed significantly faster with the GamePad than casual users. When looking at the groups separately, casual gamers performed significantly better using the multi-touch display, compared to the GamePad. Additional results are found in this dissertation.^

3D Navigation with Six Degrees-of-Freedom using a Multi-Touch Display

With the introduction of new input devices, such as multi-touch surface displays, the Nintendo WiiMote, the Microsoft Kinect, and the Leap Motion sensor, among others, the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) finds itself at an important crossroads that requires solving new challenges. Given the amount of three-dimensional (3D) data available today, 3D navigation plays an important role in 3D User Interfaces (3DUI). This dissertation deals with multi-touch, 3D navigation, and how users can explore 3D virtual worlds using a multi-touch, non-stereo, desktop display. The contributions of this dissertation include a feature-extraction algorithm for multi-touch displays (FETOUCH), a multi-touch and gyroscope interaction technique (GyroTouch), a theoretical model for multi-touch interaction using high-level Petri Nets (PeNTa), an algorithm to resolve ambiguities in the multi-touch gesture classification process (Yield), a proposed technique for navigational experiments (FaNS), a proposed gesture (Hold-and-Roll), and an experiment prototype for 3D navigation (3DNav). The verification experiment for 3DNav was conducted with 30 human-subjects of both genders. The experiment used the 3DNav prototype to present a pseudo-universe, where each user was required to find five objects using the multi-touch display and five objects using a game controller (GamePad). For the multi-touch display, 3DNav used a commercial library called GestureWorks in conjunction with Yield to resolve the ambiguity posed by the multiplicity of gestures reported by the initial classification. The experiment compared both devices. The task completion time with multi-touch was slightly shorter, but the difference was not statistically significant. The design of experiment also included an equation that determined the level of video game console expertise of the subjects, which was used to break down users into two groups: casual users and experienced users. The study found that experienced gamers performed significantly faster with the GamePad than casual users. When looking at the groups separately, casual gamers performed significantly better using the multi-touch display, compared to the GamePad. Additional results are found in this dissertation.

Freedom of religion : a case study of the Church of Lukumí Babalú Ayé v. City of Hialeah

This thesis attempted to explain society's worldview of Santeria and its practice of animal sacrifice, and the breakdown between the federal and local government after a 1993 Supreme Court ruling affirming their right to engage in this sacred ritual. Santeria practitioners are harassed and prosecuted for exercising their right to practice animal sacrifice. The research was intended to present the cosmology of the Lukumi tradition, the intellectual framework explored, a review of Freedom of Religion and the case of Lukumi v. Hialeah, and finally the media's role in shaping the worldview of Santeria that have perpetuated this breakdown. The thesis consisted of 87 research items, a community survey, interviews, a Santeria divination, and review of case law, books,newspaper and online journals. These findings demonstrated that freedom of religion is not so free in the U.S., and exists only to the extent the media and municipal laws choose to allow.

The correlation of structure and electronic properties near the surface of transition metal oxides

The strong couplings between different degrees of freedom are believed to be responsible for novel and complex phenomena discovered in transition metal oxides (TMOs). The physical complexity is directly responsible for their tunability. Creating surfaces/interfaces add an additional ' man-made' twist, approaching the quantum phenomena of correlated materials. ^ The dissertation focused on the structural and electronic properties in proximity of surface of three prototype TMO compounds by using three complementary techniques: scanning tunneling microscopy, angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction, particularly emphasized the effects of broken symmetry and imperfections like defects on the coupling between charge and lattice degrees of freedom. ^ Ca1.5Sr0.5RuO4 is a layered ruthenate with square lattice and at the boundary of magnetic/orbital instability in Ca2-xSrxRuO4. That the substitution of Sr 2+ with Ca2+ causing RuO6 rotation narrows the dxy band width and changes the Fermi surface topology. Particularly, the γ(dxy) Fermi surface sheet exhibited hole-like in Ca1.5Sr0.5RuO4 in contrast to electron-like in Sr2RuO4, showing a strong charge-lattice coupling. ^ Na0.75CoO2 is a layered cobaltite with triangular lattice exhibiting extraordinary thermoelectric properties. The well-ordered CoO2-terminated surface with random Na distribution was observed. However, lattice constants of the surface are smaller than that in bulk. The surface density of states (DOS) showed strong temperature dependence. Especially, an unusual shift of the minimum DOS occurs below 230 K, clearly indicating a local charging effect on the surface. ^ Cd2Re2O7 is the first known pyrochlore oxide superconductor (Tc ∼ 1K). It exhibited an unusual second-order phase transition occurring at TS1 = 200 K and a controversial first-order transition at TS2 = 120 K. While bulk properties display large anomalies at TS1 but rather subtle and sample-dependent changes at TS2, the surface DOS near the EF show no change at T s1 but a substantial increase below TS2---a complete reversal as the signature for the transitions. We argued that crystal imperfections, mainly defects, which were considerably enhanced at the surface, resulted in the transition at TS2. ^

Friends of the Everglades

Marjory Stoneman Douglass delivering presentation, April 3, 1973. Marjory Stoneman Douglas was born on April 7, 1890. In South Florida she is best known for her environmental advocacy passionately fighting for the protection and preservation of the Florida Everglades. As a writer, her most influential book was the book The Everglades: River of Grass (1947), which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a worthless swamp. Moving to South Florida to pursuit a career in journalism, she began writing for the Miami Herald newspaper and then worked as freelance writer, producing over one hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Throughout her long life (lived until age 108), she received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was inducted into several halls of fame. She died on May 14, 1998. A statue of her invites visitors at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida to sit with her statue and contemplate the garden. Two South Florida public schools are named in her honor: Broward County Public Schools' Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Miami-Dade County Public Schools' Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary School.

Friends of the Everglades

Charles Perry shaking hands with Marjory Stoneman Douglas in front of easel with map of Florida. Charles Edward Perry (Chuck), 1937-1999, was the founding president of Florida International University in Miami, Florida. He grew up in Logan County, West Virginia and received his bachelor's and masters's degrees from Bowling Green State University. He married Betty Laird in 1960. In 1969, at the age of 32, Perry was the youngest president of any university in the nation. The name of the university reflects Perry’s desire for a title that would not limit the scope of the institution and would support his vision of having close ties to Latin America. Perry and a founding corps opened FIU to 5,667 students in 1972 with only one large building housing six different schools. Perry left the office of President of FIU in 1976 when the student body had grown to 10,000 students and the university had six buildings, offered 134 different degrees and was fully accredited. Charles Perry died on August 30, 1999 at his home in Rockwall, Texas. He is buried on the FIU campus in front of the Graham Center entrance. Marjory Stoneman Douglas was born on April 7, 1890. In South Florida she is best known for her environmental advocacy passionately fighting for the protection and preservation of the Florida Everglades. As a writer, her most influential book was the book The Everglades: River of Grass (1947), which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a worthless swamp. Moving to South Florida to pursuit a career in journalism, she began writing for the Miami Herald newspaper and then worked as freelance writer, producing over one hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Throughout her long life (lived until age 108), she received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was inducted into several halls of fame. She died on May 14, 1998. A statue of her invites visitors at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida to sit with her statue and contemplate the garden. Two South Florida public schools are named in her honor: Broward County Public Schools' Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Miami-Dade County Public Schools' Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary School.

Friends of the Everglades

Charles Perry and Marjory Stoneman Douglas in front of easel with map of Florida. Charles Edward Perry (Chuck), 1937-1999, was the founding president of Florida International University in Miami, Florida. He grew up in Logan County, West Virginia and received his bachelor's and masters's degrees from Bowling Green State University. He married Betty Laird in 1960. In 1969, at the age of 32, Perry was the youngest president of any university in the nation. The name of the university reflects Perry’s desire for a title that would not limit the scope of the institution and would support his vision of having close ties to Latin America. Perry and a founding corps opened FIU to 5,667 students in 1972 with only one large building housing six different schools. Perry left the office of President of FIU in 1976 when the student body had grown to 10,000 students and the university had six buildings, offered 134 different degrees and was fully accredited. Charles Perry died on August 30, 1999 at his home in Rockwall, Texas. He is buried on the FIU campus in front of the Graham Center entrance. Marjory Stoneman Douglas was born on April 7, 1890. In South Florida she is best known for her environmental advocacy passionately fighting for the protection and preservation of the Florida Everglades. As a writer, her most influential book was the book The Everglades: River of Grass (1947), which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a worthless swamp. Moving to South Florida to pursuit a career in journalism, she began writing for the Miami Herald newspaper and then worked as freelance writer, producing over one hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Throughout her long life (lived until age 108), she received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was inducted into several halls of fame. She died on May 14, 1998. A statue of her invites visitors at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida to sit with her statue and contemplate the garden. Two South Florida public schools are named in her honor: Broward County Public Schools' Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Miami-Dade County Public Schools' Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary School.

Design and construction of a portable force-reflecting manual controller for teleoperation systems

A man-machine system called teleoperator system has been developed to work in hazardous environments such as nuclear reactor plants. Force reflection is a type of force feedback in which forces experienced by the remote manipulator are fed back to the manual controller. In a force-reflecting teleoperation system, the operator uses the manual controller to direct the remote manipulator and receives visual information from a video image and/or graphical animation on the computer screen. This thesis presents the design of a portable Force-Reflecting Manual Controller (FRMC) for the teleoperation of tasks such as hazardous material handling, waste cleanup, and space-related operations. The work consists of the design and construction of a prototype 1-Degree-of-Freedom (DOF) FRMC, the development of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), and system integration. Two control strategies - PID and fuzzy logic controllers are developed and experimentally tested. The system response of each is analyzed and evaluated. In addition, the concept of a telesensation system is introduced, and a variety of design alternatives of a 3-DOF FRMC are proposed for future development.