#i dont think its all academia for her. its socializing and travel

[calypsolemon]

I feel like a lot of the fandom assumes Connie during future is studying to an unhealthy extent and is making 0 time for herself but I feel like that's not the case? She literally introduces Steven to 3 new friends in Bismuth Casual, she seems to have free time for fun activities and hanging out. It's just... Steven who she doesn't always have time for, and I'm willing to bet it has just as much to do with her schooling than it does his own crazy busy schedule.

As usual, I think the perspective that Connie is always busy is mostly an effect of the show being told through Steven's perspective. She's always busy in the few moments that Steven has spare time. The thought of her moving far away for school, hanging out with people he doesn't know, moving on from the stressful things they had to do as kids... thats scary for Steven. But I think thats why Connie is more grounded than Steven in future, she's allowing herself to grow past gem stuff, make more friends than she ever had when she was younger, see the world for her own purposes rather than to do missions or save the world. Steven feels like he can't do all that, so he's imagining her as drifting away from him, with school as the culprit.

[nekomasmissingmanagers]

hi, i’m here for a matchup please!! i use she/her pronouns and i am a straight asexual. i’m a scorpio sun, virgo moon, sag rising, and a libra venus! my mbti is isfp and my top love languages are physical touch and quality time. i’m somewhere between a slytherin and a ravenclaw (pottermore is weird) but i think i’m more of a slytherin tbh. i’m 5’3-5’4 ish, i might have grown or something. i have a slim ish athletic figure since i do ballet and i’m pretty active in general. i have wavy dark-brown-almost-black hair that reaches the middle of my back but im chopping it to my shoulders soon, might fuck around and dye it white or lilac too. when i’m not doing ballet or homework i’m probably experimenting with different outfits (my style is mostly black + white + earth tones and a mix of streetwear and dark and chaotic academia) or i’m sleeping. i’m a busy person so i don’t have a lot of freetime to myself but i try to make the most of what i have. i have a major rbf and it doesn’t help that i’ve been wearing more sharp winged eyeliner, but at least i feel pretty and badass (,: personality wise i’m a quiet person overall, i’m reserved and i don’t have a lot to say but my thoughts are very abundant and diverse. i trip over my words most of the time too if i don’t take the time to calculate and rehearse in my head, but i usually still trip over a word or two anyway, hence the physical touch love language. even if i am quiet that doesn’t mean that i don’t have a sense of humor! you can expect a lot of memes, sarcastic quips, roasts that are coated with love, etc., ESPECIALLY when texting or if im comfortable around whoever im with !! however i do match energies, whatever energy you give off is what ur getting back. i’m a very perceptive and intuitive person, i can read the room and read people easily so i always somehow know what to say. i’m adaptive to everything, however i do adapt to people’s personalities a lot so that has made me a social chameleon. i can fit into any group but i’ve never felt like i belonged, yknow?? still tho its made me well known among my peers. anywho when you get to know me you’ll see just how chaotic i can be, but not the super loud chaotic, more like the “how bad of an idea can it be to give me a knife??” chaotic. i’m resourceful and i do my best to be calculating, but yknow sometimes i act with my heart instead of my head. also im not like.. big on pda, just hand holding or an arm around my shoulder or a kiss on the cheek is fine for me. even then im not like, big on makeout sessions in private either (no sex at all either pls! just tryna be a happy ace), im just here for cuddles and cute domestic shit but also spontaneous 3am adventures and travelling a lot and just all that dumb kids in love thing. i love art history, history, literature, and psychology and other humanitary subjects since im good at them but i have to try significantly hard in maths and sciences (still a top student tho). i’m an absolute night owl bc of this, i’m very sleepy and can fall asleep anywhere but i can also stay awake for a while too. last tidbit i can think of is that there are days where i need to shut myself in my room and not socialize or interact while i recharge. im unfortunately hyperaware of myself and how i spend all my energy on others, so being by myself helps me keep my sanity. i guess i wouldnt mind having my boy there with me for cuddles and being together in comfortable silence + whatever music is playing, i just want him to understand that i cant change this about myself and that i need to recharge. its okay if he tries to get me out of my comfort zone but if he ignores me giving signs that its too much, i dont think we could work. just know that im very loving, even if im not the best at being verbal about it. UHHH thats all i have, thank you soso much!! sorry for it being super long ahhh

thank you so much for your request!

we match you with: yahaba shigeru

→  like you, yahaba isn’t very big on pda and will hold your hand when the two of you are out on dates together. if there’s a lot of people he’ll but his arm around you to make sure you don’t get lost in the crowd.

→ yahaba loves the duality between your quieter personality and your sense of humor. he appreciates the memes you send him, and he loves your sporadic quips especially over text.

→ aoba johsai is a team that uses physical affection as a way to tell each other that they are there so you can expect a lot of small soft touches from yahaba. they’ll usually come in the form of a head pat or giving your a slight squeeze while he’s holding it.

→ if you’re ever struggling in math or science, yahaba is more than happy to have a study date with you. whether he’s helping you with math or you’re explaining art history or psychology concepts to him, he enjoys the more intellectual sides of your dates as most people usually acknowledge him as shallow despite him being in an advanced class.

→ when you need time to yourself, yahaba is very understanding of that and unless you say it’s alright for him to be there with you, he’ll send texts to check in to see how you’re doing. He’ll also pick up your favorite snacks for you and ask if he can swing by to give them to you.

→ if you’re up too late and yahaba catches you, he’ll either try to get you to sleep or he’ll stay up with you for late night warm drinks and talking. when he tries to get you to go to sleep, he’ll cuddle with you and doesn’t mind being the big or little spoon. if he’s staying up with you, he’ll either make tea or hot chocolate for the two of you to talk over.

→ a common date for you and yahaba is going on walks together, sharing earbuds, hand in hand, and just enjoying each other’s company. more often than not you and yahaba will be out late into the night since you both lost track of time.

admin rose’s second choice: nobuyuki kai

admin camellia’s second choice: yaku morisuke

[viralhottopics]

How this weekend could shape US Soccer’s long-term future

The US soccer federations annual meeting is this weekend in Hawaii, where a number of decisions impacting the tone of the future could be made

Who will lead US Soccer into the next decade?

That wont be explicitly decided this weekend when representatives of every state and soccer organization convene in Hawaii for the federations annual meeting, an event that doesnt typically get a lot of attention. But with US Soccer at a spaghetti junction, still revamping at the grass roots while dealing with immediate issues on the mens and womens national teams, what happens in Hawaii may set the tone for the federations short-term and long-term future.

Over the past 15 years, the federation has revved up sponsorship and marketing deals. Many budget items both revenue and expenses have roughly tripled since 2006. It has also abandoned its laissez-faire approach to youth soccer, stepping in with new programs and mandates.

Years ago, they made a big turn in trying to help promote the game in this country along with MLS, said Peter Vermes, a Hall of Fame player and Sporting KC manager who served many years on the federations board. In most respects, theyve done a very good job boys academy, girls academy, those things are highly important to the overall growth of the game. Not just growth in numbers but growth in quality.

This weekend, the federation is essentially asking its general membership, from state associations to board members, to sign on to change. The big item on the agenda: term limits for the president, vice president and independent directors, along with a new nomination process that allows time for background checks.

Current elected officials would be allowed to run for one more term. But Sunil Gulati, president since 2006 and vice president for six years before that, has not decided whether to run again next year. So especially if the term limits are approved a likely bet but not a sure one would-be reformers should have a golden opportunity to step forward and claim leadership roles.

Gulatis tenure has coincided with massive leaps forward in soccers presence in the United States and the rise of new media, from Twitter to talk radio, that amplify and examine every aspect of the sport. In this diverse, argumentative nation of zealous soccer fans, Gulatis seat is a warm one. Message boards and social media occasionally rage with a Fire Gulati sentiment, albeit often by those who dont understand that the USSF president is an elected volunteer. More credibly, longtime soccer writer Steven Goff of the Washington Post heaped praise upon Gulati but called upon him to depart at the end of his term next year, mostly to bring fresh ideas and faces into the feds leadership.

Yet within US Soccer, the presidency hasnt been disputed since 1998, when Bob Contiguglia defeated Larry Monaco with 57.6% of the vote. The same year, Gulati lost the race for vice president to John Motta by 11 votes, 372 to 361.

The federation then put the presidency and vice presidency on different electoral cycles, and Gulati won the seat from Motta who has since returned to the board via the Adult Council in 2000. The rest of the decade saw a series of unopposed elections: Contiguglia in 2002, Gulati in 2004, Gulati to the presidency in 2006, three independent directors (Carlos Cordeiro, Fabian Nunez and Donna Shalala) in 2007 and 2008. Mike Edwards was appointed to fill Gulatis VP seat when Gulati moved to the presidency, and he was unopposed in 2008.

Americas soccer migrants: the US footballers crossing Mexicos border

The vice presidency was contested in 2012 and in 2016, when Cordeiro ousted Edwards in an election in which the candidates could hardly stop praising each other. But Gulati was unopposed in 2010 and 2014. Cordeiro, Nunez and Shalala are the only independent directors the board has had, though with Cordeiro now in the VP slot, this years general meeting will elect a replacement.

And its not that the federation has put up barriers to running for office. The new term-limit bylaw also includes a requirement that presidential and vice presidential candidates must declare 60 days before an election and submit to a background check. In previous general meetings, the nomination process has been as open as the Planet Express election in the Futurama episode in which Fry nominates That Guy to run the company. But few people run for office.

Thats not to say the general membership is placid. The National Council, whose proceedings are transcribed for all to see on US Soccers site, is rarely content to simply rubber-stamp everything the Board of Directors has done or said, often shooting down suggested bylaws or raising contentious often tedious arguments from the floor. The 2003 meeting had angry state representatives warning of democratic paralysis and anarchy and revolution as several proposed bylaws were voted down.

Our relationship with the state associations has changed dramatically, Gulati said. Its become more positive. The federation has more resources and can accommodate a lot of things.

In the wake of the 2003 uprising, US Soccer embarked on a governance review. The general membership agreed with slashing the board from an awkward group of 40-some people down to its current size of 16, mirroring similar moves in other US sports federations. But in 2005, the members voted against a term-limit proposal.

The federation has gone through another governance review and will try again this year. So will one of its members, who has proposed a separate bylaw change with a slightly different set of term restrictions.

Whether the members vote yea or nay, they will one day have to replace Gulati. That wont be easy. Not just because Gulatis tenure has been successful by many measures MLS continues to grow despite ever-increasing competition on TV from foreign leagues, the mens team has had its share of successes, and the womens team has won more trophies. Gulatis role and influence within Fifa have grown.

The other difficulty: US Soccers presidency is neither the easiest nor most rewarding job. As presidents of other organizations (or countries) often find, the tedium can easily outweigh the glamor. The board has evolved from an operational role to a strategic one, but it still has to play referee in arcane disputes among state associations and sort out issues with US leagues, at times including indoor soccer and futsal.

The president is unpaid, despite occasional calls from the membership to compensate him or her. Gulati has mixed feelings about it. Others dont.

I think it should be a paid position, Vermes said. Theres so much time required.

And its a position that invites scrutiny. The federations site, in addition to the National Council transcripts, currently has 10 years of financial reports, board minutes dating back to 1999, federation bylaws and policies, detailed committee reports ahead of the annual meeting, etc.

Because of technology, theres been increased access to those sorts of documents, and weve been conscious about making as many things public as we got, Gulati said.

And these documents show the federation is both bringing in and spending much more money than it was a decade ago. At the 2001 general meeting, new US Soccer secretary-general Dan Flynn still the organizations top paid staff member showed how the federation turned a projected $2.2m deficit into a small surplus with a hiring freeze and a slashed travel budget. Thats not an issue today.

Gulati, though, measures the success of the federation which he stresses is not personal success not by money but by national team results, the growth of Development Academies in youth soccer, governance reform, and the growing awareness and appreciation of the sport.

Were a nonprofit corporation, so I dont measure our success by increased revenues, Gulati said. I measure our success by what those revenues can do. We have a bigger budget and bigger expenditures. But we dont measure what we get on our assets, but what happens on the field and the growth of the game.

Still, the federation faces some restrictions. Financially, US Soccer has to meet all the criteria to remain a nonprofit. US law also requires the fed to give athletes (current or recently retired) at least a 20 percent share of voting rights, which works well on the board but leads to unusual weighting in general membership meetings, with the handful of athletes in attendance each wielding the voting power of many state associations.

Nor can the federation easily split its duties as amateur overseer and pro developer. In accordance with the Sports Act and the requirements of Fifa and the United States Olympic Committee, the Federation shall be autonomous in its governance of the sport of soccer in the United States and may not delegate its governance responsibilities, reads Bylaw 105(1), which is not slated for an overhaul at this weekends meeting.

Thats what federations do all over the world, Vermes said. It goes with the territory. Theyre directly connected to Fifa.

Indeed, Englands Football Association, the original soccer federation, bears some similarities to US Soccer. It has representatives of the Premier League and the Football League. And those who complain that US Soccer is run by too many people from business or academia may be surprised to learn the FAs chairman is the former CEO of Cable & Wireless, and its executive director is the former CEO of United Biscuits.

USA Basketball also resembles US Soccer, at least since pro players entered international basketball competitions in the late 80s. The NBA directly appoints some board members in addition to the required athlete reps.

And the federation simply cant be the top-down authority over all soccer in such a diverse country in which the game has grown in fits and starts. The Development Academies have been controversial, especially with the new Girls Development Academy treading into the same space long occupied by US Club Soccers ECNL. Recent mandates on youth soccer, a rare effort by the federation to dictate how the youth game is governed, caused the USAs often-warring youth groups to form a Youth Council Technical Working Group, which still meets several times a year, to demand more of a say.

When it comes to promotion and relegation between pro leagues, a favorite topic of soccer pundits but rarely discussed in US Soccers board and meeting minutes, Gulati sees the federation being willing to accept it but not impose it.

Its not the rules of the game that people came in on, Gulati said. When you buy into a particular structure, thats what you expect the rules to be. But if the leagues or a league wants to engage, were happy to be support that.

Indeed, innovation can happen elsewhere. Thats by design. The federation has a lot of jobs. Starting or running a league is one it does only reluctantly, such as the combined NASL/USL second-division league of several years ago or the infrastructure for the NWSL after two previous womens leagues failed.

But the federation still serves vital roles beyond being an administrator of soccer. It hires and fires national team coaches. It is taking more responsibility in developing the next generations of players. It runs coaching education programs. And it generally tries to stop the contentious soccer organizations in this country from destroying each other.

So when will the next leader step forward?

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from How this weekend could shape US Soccer’s long-term future

[viralhottopics]

With A Stroke Of A Pen, Trump May Have Sparked An American Brain Drain

Mohammed Salih is precisely the type of academic the United States would want to keep within its borders: a 33-year-old doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvanias Annenberg School for Communicationstudying how extremist movements in the Middle East use and manipulate the media.

Its a research area with obvious implications for counterterrorism operations. And its one that Salih wants to continue pursuing in the United States after he gets his degree.

But Salih, who is here on a student visa, has a problem. Hes from the Kurdistan region of Iraq, which means that under President Donald Trumps executive order designed to impede the worst outcomes of extremism he would be prohibited for the next 90 days from coming back into the country should he leave.

And he needs to leave. His research brings him back to Iraq as well as to various international conferences. He attended one in Beirut just four days before Trumps inauguration. His family is in Iraq, too, and should there be an emergency, hed be forced to choose between uprooting his life or missing out on family events.

He is now contemplating the once unthinkable. After waiting seven months for his first visa and four months for his second, hes now waiting 90 days to see if the suspension of refugees and travelers from Iraq and six other countries is lifted. If it is not, hell explore greener career pastures outside of the United States.

Before coming to Annenberg, I had admission from Concordia University in Montreal, which is also a good school. And when I was weighing my option, I was thinking quite a bit about it given the rhetoric in the primaries, Salih said. At the end, because of Annenbergs standing and reputation, I decided I would want to come here. And you can imagine, right now, im sort of wondering quite a bit if I made the right decision. Im actually wondering whether I should have not picked the school in Canada and gone there.

After just 10 days in office, Trump has shaken the world of science and academia. Its not just the general skepticism that he and his Cabinet seem to bring to some fields (predominantly climate science) or the promises hes made to tighten the nations discretionary spending, which could come at the price of federally funded scientific research. The Trump White Houses decision to clamp down on communication from various federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, has left researchers frightened over political influence seeping into their work. And his executive order has left students and scientists in limbo, removed from their classrooms and work.

Advocates are warning that the inhospitable environment will lead, quite quickly, to a brain drain. A young generation of thinkers, academics and researchers might simply look to other countries to conduct their work.

We understand that a strong visa policy is important for our national security. But if we abandoned our goal here of attracting the best and brightest, the long-term implications are serious for our leadership in the world, said Association of American Universities President Mary Sue Coleman. I would have a tough time, if I felt that we couldnt be welcoming as a country, telling a student that he or she should come here.

Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

Protests of Trump’s order have extended overseas, including this one in London. Other countries might benefit, however, if top scientists choose not to work in the U.S.

Already, the beginning of brain drain is taking shape. Coleman said the Institute for International Education estimates 16,000 to 17,000 students hold valid visas from the seven countries were listed in Trumps executive order. Many prominent schools spoke out in concernMonday, while entire research labs were thrown into uncertainty.

Beyond that, there are faculty and university staff from those seven countries who are unable to leave the U.S. now or, in some cases, return to their classrooms. Two associate professors at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth were detained at Bostons Logan International Airport over the weekend. A Yale professor was separated from his wife and newborn, who were visiting family, while a professor at Middlebury College remained decamped in Iran with his two children waiting for further guidance on whether hed be allowed back into the United States with his green card. The Association of American Medical Colleges warned that its ability to attract top talent from around the world was being threatened.

Scientific consortiums and organizations are planning to move conferences overseas for fear that they couldnt have full attendance under the constructs of Trumps order. The International Astronomical Union urged U.S. officials to reconsider their screening measures, noting that they had hosted a conference in Hawaii in 2015 with about 3,000 astronomers, including some from the seven targeted countries. Wendy Naus, executive director of the Consortium of Social Science Associations, said that, on a phone call to discuss the executive order Monday morning, two members of a group of scientific societies pushed to move their conferences to Canada.

People are scrambling right now in the scientific community to figure out all the ways it plays out and what it means for grad students, innovation and the private sector, Naus said. If it is a glitch or a blip, and the outrage is heard and things go back, the damage isnt done. But if it is the new normal, then, yeah, we are risking our competitive advantage. These are fundamentally things weve never confronted before.

Chris Wattie / Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been more welcoming to refugees and could see an upswing in scientists coming to Canada as a result.

As the United States begins closing its doors on foreign-based scientists, other countries are sensing an opportunity. Kaz Nejatian, co-founder and CEO of Kash, a next-generation payment company, promised to connect those turned down for H-1B visas (which Trump is rumored to be targeting for restrictions) with Canadian tech companies who are hiring. Meanwhile, U.S.-based tech companies at least those who spoke out were uniform in their disapproval of the executive order, noting that theyd be left without the ability to recruit from some of the best workforce pools.

Lawmakers are acutely aware of this issue, not least because many hail from districts with universities and others receive campaign donations from groups and industries affected by the executive order. But the prevailing sentiment within the White House has been against opening up U.S. borders.

Thats a real problem, said Liz Mair, a pro-immigration Republican strategist, both in terms of risking longer-term brain-drain but also in terms of actual direct, day-to-day health care where America is very reliant on foreign nationals something that might change in 10 years but cant change in the course of 72 hours and might matter to a lot of people in the next 90 days.

The concerns for science and research advocates go beyond immigration policy. Apparent gag orders at the EPA along with the fear of belt-tightening from Congress will sour the scientific climate and drain the pool of funds for prospective researchers. In that environment, the more established scientists with better known projects tend to thrive, while the younger ones flounder, become discouraged and look elsewhere.

Naomi Charalambakis, 26, a U.S. citizen, is a third-year doctoral student at the University of Louisville, studying anatomy and neurobiology. But upon graduation, she plans to leave the field. Part of it is a lifestyle decision, an eagerness to have a family and a 9-to-5 job. But the funding climate is also daunting: Her mentor, she said, has stopped ordering lab supplies over concerns that appropriations will dwindle. And her career choice is a reflection of that.

After earning her doctorate, Charalambakis plans to come to Washington, D.C., to advocate for expanded budgets at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and elsewhere.

My colleagues are frustrated and dont know what to do. A lot of them say they dont know if they can continue in the lab and are wondering if they will have to start all over and have another career entirely. I feel we just cant be quiet.

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from With A Stroke Of A Pen, Trump May Have Sparked An American Brain Drain