United Federation

• NEW YORK, March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Vibrant Emotional Health (Vibrant), one of the nation's leading mental health organizations, announces a new partnership with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) to introduce transformative mental health and emotional well-being helpline 1-800-UFT-FOR-U designed for nearly 200,000 union members.
• With this partnership, Vibrant and the UFT aim to bolster mental health resources and promote emotional well-being throughout the education system in New York City.
• "At Vibrant Emotional Health, we are committed to breaking down barriers to mental health care and ensuring that support is readily available to those who need it most," said Lisa Furst, Chief Programs Officer at Vibrant Emotional Health.
• Vibrant is committed to working with other cities nationwide to prioritize educators' mental health needs.

• During a 2021 Virginia gubernatorial debate, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe made a critical mistake that led to his defeat by GOP challenger Glenn Youngkin.
• Instead of acknowledging concerns that parents were having over school curriculum, McAuliffe dismissed them.
• “I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decision,” McAuliffe said during the debate.
• But at Ocean Hill-Brownsville, it was Black and Latino parents who demanded their right to have a say in the education of their children.

Inside the classrooms

• In the 1960s, only a handful of textbooks on the Board of Education-approved list discussed the history of African Americans in significant detail.
• The lack of such material was widely blamed for the disappointing academic performance of Black and Latino students.
• Not everyone supported the changes to what was being taught in the classrooms.

• In this racially charged atmosphere, local parents enjoyed an unprecedented opportunity to assert their rights.
• Their recommendations would eventually influence the direction of curricula in the New York City public school system as a whole.

A constant struggle

• Indeed, in Virginia itself, Black parents are still having an effect on what is taught in public schools.
• Black politicians and parents criticized those revisions as “white-washing,” and the changes were later rejected by the state Board of Education.

• In a further blow to conservatives, parental activists helped shepherd new, more historically inclusive standards that were approved in April 2023.
• As history has shown – and today’s debates over school curricula show – “parental rights” are for all parents.

Jerald Podair does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Society’s understanding of technology and cybersecurity often is based on simple stereotypes and sensational portrayals in the entertainment media.
• Or think of counterintelligence specialists repositioning a satellite from the back of a surveillance van via a phone call.
• And that’s important, because whether it’s a large company, government or your personal information, we all share many of the same cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities.

The nature of the threat

• Starfleet is the military wing of the United Federation of Planets, of which Earth is a member.
• In Season 3, the final season, Picard’s ultimate enemy, the Borg, returns to try conquering humanity again.
• The Borg is a cybernetic collective of half-human, half-machine “drones” led by a cyborg queen.
• Equally important, “Star Trek: Picard” presents the very real and insidious nature of the insider threat faced by today’s organizations.

Humans remain the weakest link

• The ultimate safeguard.” With these words, humanity’s military defenders activated a feature that linked every Starfleet vessel together under one unified automated command system.
• In essence, Starfleet created a Borg-like defense system that the Borg itself used to attack the federation.
• But even then, technology alone can’t protect humans from ourselves – after all, it’s people who develop, design, select, administer and use technology, which means human flaws are present in these systems, too.

Resiliency is not futile

• To counter the Borg’s final assault on Earth, Picard’s crew borrows its old starship, Enterprise-D, from a fleet museum.
• Offline from the others.” From a cybersecurity perspective, ensuring the availability of information resources is one of the industry’s guiding principles.
• Here, the Enterprise-D represents defenders in response to a cyber incident using assets that are outside of an adversary’s reach.

Prepare for the unknown

• The “Star Trek” universe explores the unknown in both the universe and contemporary society.
• Often, such solutions are derived from characters’ interests in music, painting, archaeology, history, sports and other nontechnical areas of study, recreation or expertise.
• Season 3, in particular, offers viewers both entertainment and education – indeed, the best of both worlds.

• HOUSTON, Oct. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --Growing esports franchise Valhallan announced today its acquisition of NXT UP Esports , the largest provider of virtual youth esports camps and leagues across the United States.
• Together with Valhallan's exclusive training program, the company offers the best training and competition whether virtual or in Valhallan's arenas for youth esports players.
• "By combining the training and curriculum of Valhallan with the virtual capabilities of NXT UP Esports, Valhallan can offer the experience of a lifetime for young gamers from almost anywhere in the world," said Zelon.
• "With the new addition, Valhallan can now reach a larger audience while bringing exciting new opportunities to the world of esports."