The food pyramid that for 20 years has been the symbol of a healthy diet has been bumped by a circle icon called MyPlate that is more “socially friendly” and also can be quickly adjusted to accommodate people with special diet needs, such as diabetics or individuals struggling with their weight, says a Baylor University dietitian and national nutrition expert.
“This is something people can take ownership of,” said Suzy Weems, Ph.D., chair of Baylor’s department of family and consumer sciences and past chair of the American Dietetic Association’s legislative and public policy committee.
The new icon, with guidelines approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, may be viewed at choosemyplate.gov The plate is split into four sections, each with a different color representing a food type (protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables). A smaller circle next to the plate represents a dairy product, especially milk.
With just a mouse click on a section, such as fruits, a viewer can see numerous menu choices, Weems said. One more click, and a photo with a recommended measurement of the choice pops up.
Two Baylor University professors use a bottle of Coca-Cola to teach basic business principles to minimally educated entrepreneurs in developing countries.
“Sold in more than 200 countries and territories, it is a readily available resource for teaching business lessons in developing countries,” said Blaine McCormick, Ph.D., professor of management at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business. “Our goal is to teach small business owners how to increase demand for what they sell and the many ways that Coke does that.”
Laid out in a recent issue of the Journal of Management Education, the article “Message in a Bottle: Basic Business Lessons for Entrepreneurs Using Only a Soft Drink” includes 12 lessons that were developed after a trip to Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. The paper is available at http://jme.sagepub.com/content/35/2/282.abstract . The topics include listening to the consumer, product placement and promotion, marketing, inventory, finance and sustainability.
Dr. Joel C. Gregory, professor of preaching at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, presented a special report on “Global Baptist Preaching” to the Baptist World Alliance meeting July 4-9 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Gregory, a member of the BWA Commission on Worship and Spirituality, was commissioned to report on Baptist preaching in the six BWA-defined global regions. He collected and edited 24 contemporary sermons from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America and North America to present to the BWA. In addition, Gregory analyzed the sermons in a 70-page analytical presentation. Three of the 24 preachers were present in Kuala Lumpur, and Gregory interviewed them as part of his presentation. These included Dr. Solomon A. Ishola of Nigeria, Dr. Ross Clifford of Australia and Pastor John Kok of First Baptist Church in Kuala Lumpur.
Baylor University Press has agreed to publish a book of the sermons and analyses. It will include the sermons presented at Kuala Lumpur as well as others from global Baptist preachers.
Research universities with an organizational climate that actively supports commercialization and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers are more likely to produce invention disclosures and patent applications, according to a Baylor University study.
Published online June 29 in the Journal of Research Policy, the study by Emily Hunter, Ph.D., assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, showed that a favorable organizational climate had a sizeable and direct impact on the development of new inventions and patents.
“University-based inventors were more likely to generate more early-stage commercialization when they perceived an atmosphere that was supportive of commercialization and provided opportunities for collaboration which spanned the research boundaries of academic disciplines,” Hunter said. “We also found that a good organizational climate is more readily influenced by management than by other environmental factors such as the availability of venture capital.”
The study focused on Engineering Research Centers (ERC), which were formed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1985 to support commercialization.