This agreement between the Republican incumbent and his Democratic challenger comes only two years after the decision in the now-infamous Citizens United case, in which the United States Supreme Court effectively ruled — to put it rather bluntly — that money is speech and corporations are people in the realm of campaign finance law. Whatever one thinks of either Warren or Brown, they’re certainly bucking a national trend.

With an eye toward the rest of the country in this heated election season, Bierman writes that over $90 million have been in spend in 13 states with Senate races this year alone. None of this money, trickling down from political action committees (PACs) and other interest groups, has so much as paid for a sound bite in the election here in Massachusetts.

You have to wonder how the candidates are making this work in what might very well be one of the country’s most acrimonious, grudging, and competitive Senate race this year. But early on they came up with a relatively simple solution: every time a third-party group runs an advertisement, the party that benefits from the advertisement’s message must make a donation to charity directly out of its own coffers.

The Brown-Warren pledge represents a model for the rest of the country, one that should be strictly adhered to in an election season that promises to be rife with a slew of misinformation and even outright lies. And while I’ll refrain from coming down in this post for one candidate or the other, I should mention that I have a great deal of respect for both Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren in light of this agreement. At least the candidates are speaking for themselves.

–Will Holt also blogs at Letters from a Bay Stater, where this blog initially appeared.  http://williambrianholt.wordpress.com/

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning  marketing and communications firm.

Cambridge startup  Latitude News and Public Radio Exchange (PRX) have  launched a  podcast series aimed at bringing global stories with local importance to new audiences.

Latitude was founded earlier this year by veteran BBC producer Maria Balinska to bring “a new  brand of global storytelling connects on an emotional level to audiences who are curious about the world,” Balinka said.  Its  journalists–based in Cambridge and abroad, use  a Website, social media and podcasts to crowdsource stories that connect Americans with the world.

PRX operates public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering thousands of audio stories for broadcast and digital use. Signature PRX programs include the Moth Radio Hour, RadioLab, This American Life, KCRW Music Mine and the Public Radio Player.

Under an agreement announced earlier this week,  Latitude will produce 12 podcasts and broadcast segments for PRX showcasing a distinctive editorial style that links Americans to the rest of the world.

The first podcasts launched this week; one looks at why the US faces a shortage of cod and Norway does not; the other examines the role that one US preacher has played in the anti-gay movement in Uganda.

The Latitude News podcasts are hosted by award-winning journalist Daniel Moulthorp.

Moulthorp  is co-founder of The Civic Commons. He is also a former program host of 90.3 WCPN’s Sound of Ideas and co-author, with Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari, of the best selling book Teachers Have it Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers (The New Press, 2005).

John Barth, Managing Director of PRX, said, “The extension of Latitude News to podcasts and broadcast is a natural step as PRX reaches engaged audiences hungry for more meaningful  international stories.”

“We’re thrilled to work with PRX to illustrate how our new brand of global storytelling connects on an emotional level to audiences who are curious about the world,” Balinska said.

The podcasts and segments are made possible by a grant to PRX by the Open Society Foundations aimed at expanding global storytelling for American audiences.

http://www.prx.org/group_accounts/142068-latitudenews

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant  in Cambridge, MA.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group–an-award-winning strategic communications firm based  in Kendall Square, Cambridge.

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Last week at swissnex, the Swiss Consulate in Cambridge, university communications and institutional research experts  expressed frustration at the ways in which university rankings are established–and doubt about the accuracy and usefulness of most rankings.

Urs Hugentobler, head of Institutional Research at ETH Zürich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology–the top ranked university outside of the US– described the vagaries of ranking systems and especially the nebulous “reputation” category, which both impacts and is impacted by a university’s ranking.

Norbert  Staub,  head of internal communications and deputy head of corporate communications at ETH, emphasizzed the importance of  managing a university’s reputation in order to attract students, donors, funding, faculty and the like–all of which influence and are influenced by  rankings.

Roundtable participants  Dawn Terkla,  Associate Provost for Institutional Research and Evaluation at Tufts University,  and  John Scanlon,  an institutional researcher at Harvard,  described the challenges involved in responding to differing requests from numerous  ranking agencies and in evaluating the meaning of rankings when results change from year to year.

Hugentobler pointed out that rankings  ordinarily do not change substantially over the short term–but Terkla  said that one year, Tufts saw a 30% decline when a ranking agency changed its methodology.    All of the participants agreed that rankings that can be inaccurate, haphazard and difficult to influence.

Gina Vild, associate dean for communications and external relations at Harvard Medical School said that while it is not easy for a university composed of many smaller organizations to raise its overall ranking, it may well be possible for individual units  to raise their rankings through communications outreach.  In fact, she said, even a crisis, if well-handled, can  help raise rankings by increasing an institution’s name recognition and enhancing its reputation.

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Joe Wrinn, former director of news and public affairs at Harvard, emphasized the importance of honesty and transparency in dealing with crises and the media.

But several participants   cited examples of  rather nefarious tactics–such as inviting huge numbers of unqualified applicants to apply for admission and then turning them down in order up appear more selective and, thus, obtain higher rankings. And before the meeting, Hugentobler mentioned that it is not uncommon for Asian universities to contact those in Europe–at the very least  enhanging name recognition should they be contacted by a ranking company.

As moderator, I asked if any of the participants knew of instances when the rankings had been used to encourage positive change within a university; no one responded.

When I mentioned that it seemed like universities are held hostage by the rankers,  Terka said that if universities don’t  respond,  they will likely be ranked anyway.  Philip Altbach, director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, agreed–saying that sometimes university units are ranked even if they don’t exist.

When I asked what can be done to remedy the situation, both Terkla and Scanlon mentioned that institutional researchers often communicate with ranking agencies in order to ascertain what information is being sought. Terkla said that an organization comprised of  institutional research experts frequently discusses the rankings.   James Honan,  senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, advised:  “Educate your trustees” so they understand what rankings do and do not show.

HarrisCom Group member David Rosen, former Chief Communications Officer at Brandeis and  Harvard Universities, the University of Chicago, and Emerson College, posted a blog on various  international ranking systems and how communicators can influence results at eduniverse.org:

—Anita M. Harris

Anita Harris is president of the Harris Communications Group, a strategic pr and marketing communications firm specializing in health, science, technology, education and energy.

Governor Deval Patrick and Medicon Valley Officials after signing collaboration agreement at 2012 Bio International Convention on 6/20/12. Photo by Anita Harris, Harris Communications Group.

“It’s not about what we can give you or take; it’s about how we can share.” So said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick before signing a collaboration agreement with officials from Medicon Valley MOU –located in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Zealand in Denmark and Region Skåne in Sweden. The  agreement was one of two  partnerships signed today between Massachusetts and European regions. The second was with Catalonia, Spain.  Both  agreements were signed at the BIO International Convention.

“Our innovation economy is thriving here in Massachusetts and establishing and encouraging international partnerships is an important part of our future growth,” Governor Patrick said. “Catalonia and Medicon Valley are important regions in Europe’s innovation sector, and these partnerships will allow us to move forward on our mutual goals in this part of the global economy.”

The Medicon Valley memo of understanding (MOU) was signed by Governor Patrick and officials from the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Zealand in Denmark and Region Skåne in Sweden.

The agreement focuses on enhancing research partnerships in life sciences by an exchange of researchers and students; identifying special projects, partnerships or collaborations that can lead to new or enhanced research opportunities; and establishing a framework to be used in joint projects that could be financed by the European Union or National Institute of Health to develop new products and processes that can be used in the global market, according to a press release furnished by the governor’s office.

Medicon Valley is a bi-national region composed of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark and the Skåne region of southern Sweden. It is home to over 200 companies in biotech, med-tech, and pharmaceuticals with over 350 additional companies in those fields having affiliate or branch offices in the region. These industries employ 40,000 people.

The MOU with Catalonia, Spain was signed by Governor Patrick and the President of Catalonia, Spain Artur Mas I Gavarro, with U.S. Ambassador to Spain Alan Solomont present for the signing. The Patrick-Murray Administration has partnered with the Catalan Government to put real collaboration into a renewed agreement on the 20^th anniversary of Lieutenant Governor Paul Cellucci signing a Declaration of Intent of Cooperation in 1992 between Massachusetts and Catalonia, according to the release.

The agreement facilitates collaboration in the following areas:

a)         Bilateral cooperation in research, and technological and industrial innovation;

b)         Business cooperation and economic development in key productive sectors, especially in life sciences, renewable energy, information technology, advanced manufacturing and infrastructure, and;

c)         Academic cooperation.

Catalonia has pursued a policy similar to Governor Patrick’s of investing in the innovation economy. Areas of convergence include the life sciences, mobile devices, clean energy technology, and advanced infrastructure. In 2011, Spain was Massachusetts’ 21st largest export partner, with Massachusetts exporting approximately $326.99 million worth of goods and services.

The BIO International Convention provides Governor Patrick, Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, state and industry leaders with an opportunity to showcase Massachusetts as a global leader in the life sciences industry, and the preeminent place for life sciences companies to invest in and expand. On Tuesday, Governor Patrick announced the first round of grants awarded under the Massachusetts-Israel Innovation Partnership (MIIP). MIIP is a formal collaboration between the State of Israel and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to encourage and support innovation and entrepreneurship between Massachusetts’ and Israel’s life sciences, clean energy and technology sectors. A total of at least $1.3 million is being awarded to four research & development (R&D) collaborations between Massachusetts and Israeli companies that have been jointly approved by the funding agencies on both sides. The total budget of the awarded projects is estimated at approximately $3 million. The Massachusetts awardees are located in Natick, Needham, North Billerica and Wilbraham.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Governor joined seven global biopharmaceutical companies to announce the formation of the Massachusetts Neuroscience Consortium. Participating companies include Abbott, Biogen Idec, EMD Serono, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Merck, Pfizer and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. The Consortium will fund pre-clinical neuroscience at Massachusetts academic and research institutions.

Governor Patrick’s ten-year, $1 billion life sciences investment package has strengthened the state’s global leadership in the life sciences. The initiative melds all of the state’s key resources in order to spur research, investment, innovation and commercialization. Now the life sciences industry in Massachusetts is thriving, with more than 52 percent job growth in the biopharma sector since 2001 and more than 80,000 employees working in the life sciences.

–Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning  public relations and marketing communications agency located in Cambridge, MA.

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Four Massachusetts-Israeli business collaborations have received a total of $1.3M in grant funding under the  Massachusetts-Israel Innovation Partnership (MIIP)–a  formal collaboration between the State of Israel and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to encourage and support innovation and entrepreneurship between Massachusetts’ and Israel’s life sciences, clean energy and technology sectors.

The grants were announced yesterday at the  2012 BIO International Convention in Boston by Massachusetts  Governor Deval Patrick and  Israeli Chief Scientist Avi Hasson, of  MATIMOP, the  Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

The four winning projects are:

• SBH Sciences (Natick) and Improdia (Israel) will work together toward the development and manufacture of a chronic inflammation-dependent immunosuppression prognostic kit. SBH will receive $184,000 from the Center and Improdia will receive $202,000 from Israel’s OCS.SBH Sciences is a discovery and preclinical contract research organization with expertise in production and analysis of cytokines and biomarkers. Improdia is a life science start-up focused on implementing novel biomarkers for immune system modulating therapies– using  simple blood tests for patients with chronic disease.

•  Automated Medical Instruments (AMI – Needham) and STI Lasers (Israel) will develop new technology involving radio frequency energy to perform circumferential ablation of the pulmonary veins. AMI will receive $116,000 from the Center and STI Lasers will receive $110,000 from OCS. AMI is a start-up medical device company developing novel technology to perform atrial fibrillation treatment. STI Lasers is a medical device company specializing in laser cutting, micromachining and finishing of miniature metal components.“AMI is developing the CircumBlator™,  to offer a reliable and curative, minimally invasive treatment for millions of patients with atrial fibrillation, a disease that causes over 20 percent of strokes and untold misery,” said Martin Sklar, President and CEO of Automated Medical Instruments.

• Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. (North Billerica) and Check-Cap (Israel) will  develop a novel 3-D imaging capsule that can be used to screen for polyps and lesions associated with colorectal cancer. Lantheus will receive $300,000 from MTC and Check-Cap has been selected to receive at least an equal amount from OCS. Lantheus  develops, manufactures and distributes innovative diagnostic imaging agents. Check Cap is a medical device company located in Mount Carmel, Israel with a “breakthrough” solution for Colorectal Cancer Screening.  “As a global leader in diagnostic imaging, Lantheus is dedicated to providing physicians with breakthrough new tools to enhance patient care. Teaming up with Check-Cap to develop and manufacture a cutting-edge imaging capsule further advances this ongoing commitment,” said Don Kiepert, President and CEO, Lantheus Medical Imaging.

• FloDesign Sonics (Wilbraham) and Transbiodiesel (Israel)  will use FloDesign’s acoustic molecule separation technology to separate oil that can be used to create fuel from Transbiodiesel’s oil-generating algae. FloDesign Sonics will receive $55,000 from MassCEC and Transbiodiesel will receive $20,958 from OCS. FloDesign Sonics uses a novel ultrasonic acoustophoretic separation technology developed at Western New England University for a more efficient approach to wastewater treatment and micro-algae harvesting for biofuels. Transbiodiesel is a start- up company with a novel technology for producing biodiesel fuels from a variety of oils

The MIIP program was first announced in June 2011 at the BIO International Convention in Washington, D.C. and the first joint solicitation for proposals was launched in September 2011 by MATIMOP on the Israeli side and by the three participating Massachusetts agencies: the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). Total funding for the current projects is approximately $3m.

The partnership came as a result of a 2011 trade mission in which  Governor Patrick and a coalition of Massachusetts business executives and senior government officials explored growth opportunities of common interest for Massachusetts’ and Israel’s innovation industries. During that mission Governor Patrick and Shalom Simhon, Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, signing on behalf of their respective states, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Jerusalem. MIIP was established to implement the MOU’s framework.

Massachusetts is the first U.S. state to establish a significant industrial R&D program with the State of Israel, according to a press release issued yesterday by Patrick’s office.

Today there are nearly 100 companies with Israeli founders or Israeli-licensed technologies in Massachusetts, according to the release.  In 2009, these companies employed nearly 6,000 people and generated $2.4 billion in direct revenue for the state. Local firms exported over $180 million worth of goods to Israel in 2009. Home to 377 hospitals and 37,000 practicing physicians, Israel is an important market for health-related technologies.

The New England-Israel Business Council, the US-Israel Science and Technology Foundation, the Government of Israel Economic Mission to North America, the Consulate General of Israel to New England and MOITI have all played an important role in promoting the program, according to the release.

–Anita M. Harris

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning strategic public relations,  marketing communications and thought leadership firm in Cambridge, MA.

SHANAHAN NAMED VP OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

—One of the newest international companies to expand into Cambridge is Ariana (R)  Pharma–a 2003 spin-out of the Pasteur Institute in Paris.  Its  subsidiary, Ariana Data Intelligence, Inc., located in the Cambridge Innovation Center at 1 Broadway,  will provide novel non-statistical clinical data analysis technology to pharma and the FDA,  Ariana announced today.

The technology,  “Knowledge Extraction and Management Technology (KEM)” is aimed at reducing cost, bias, and risk in clinical trials.

“The US pharma and biotech markets tend  to be early technology adopters and are searching for better data analytics tools to advance personalized medicine using all the new biomarker, genomic, proteomic and metabolomic data now being generated,” said  Dr. Mohammad Afshar, Ariana’s President and CEO.

KEM   “is the only FDA-tested technology that  can simultaneously analyze all these variables and pull out patient responder sub-groups, optimize biomarker signatures and remove bias from clinical trials,” Afshar said.

A “unique” association rules-based (non-statistical) analytical technology, KEM  finds patient responder sub-populations and biomarker signatures that statistical methods are unable to detect, according to Afshar.  KEM thus optimizes clinical trial inclusion/exclusion criteria, thereby lowering the number of patients needed to reach clinical endpoints and saving sponsors both time and cash, and reducing clinical drug development risk.

In conjunction with the opening, Ariana has appointed James M. Shanahan as Vice President  of Business Development.  Shanahan was previously a co-founder and is currently a  board member of SynDevRx, Inc., an oncology-focused biotech company. He was also a co-founder and VP Corporate Development of JAM Technologies, Inc.

Ariana offers something “special and desperately needed “by the pharmaceutical industry, Shanahan said.   “Companies spend tens of millions generating data.  Now, it’s all about making sense of that data.  KEM identifies useful, complex biological relationships that statistics routinely miss.”

More information is available at  http://www.arianapharma.com/  .

–Anita M. Harris

My friend Bill Lichtenstein is working on what’s certain to be a wonderful nonprofit documentary film about WBCN–a groundbreaking Boston radio station deeply involved in the political and cultural changes of the 1960s.  He’s seeking funding through Kickstarter: an innovative fundraising mechanism that will be of interest to entrepreneurs of all stripes–in order to help change the future.

The film, entitled  “The American Revolution: How a Radio Station, Politics and Rock and Roll Changed Everything”  documents Boston radio station WBCN from 1968 (when Bill, as a 14-year-old high school became the station’s youngest DJ) through 1974.

As reported in the Boston Herald (Dec. 5, 2011), during those years, Bruce Springsteen did his first radio interview ever on WBCN;  Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir,  of the Grateful Dead, and  the Allman Brothers’ Duane Allman stopped into the studio at 2 AM and jammed for an area. When Nixon invaded Cambodia, “BCN got local college kids to strike.

WBCN  “had tremendous national impact both musically and politically,” Lichtenstein told the Herald. “We changed the world one time,” Lichtenstein says.  And, with this film,  “we can do it again.”

Lichenstein, who has produced TV news and documentaries for ABC and PBS, has gathered more than 50,000 documents, photos,  and tapes–which include performances by Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground.

He has also garnered some $50,000 in contributions–but needs to double that amount by Dec. 19 to complete the film.

He’s  seeking $104 thousand in donations via Kickstarter–a nonprofit that allows contributors tax deductions–but gives fundraisers just a month to get the entire bundle.That is, Kickstarter takes an all or nothing approach:  Lichtenstein must  bring in all $104K by Dec. 19–or he gets nothing.

After three weeks of fundraising, he’s  now almost at the halfway point, with just a week to go.

More info and the film trailer are available at  www.KickstartWBCN.com.  Lichtenstein and Kickstarter will be featured on Boston’s WCVB-TV  “Chronicle”  on Dec. 13, 2011.

——Anita Harris

Anita M. Harris is president of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations firm located in tyhe Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square,  Cambridge, MA.   Anita  is a former national journalist who got HER start in the alternative press–as a founder of the Harrisburg Independent Press and writer for  the The Real Paper and Phoenix in Boston, MA.

After a week of torrential rains,  my friend E and I  felt a huge need for light and color–so took in  two excellent retrospective art exhibits: Dale Chihuli’s  Through the Looking Glass at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and   El Anatsui‘s When I Last Wrote to You about Africa at  Wellesley College’s Davis Museum, in Wellesley, MA.

Through the Looking Glass is a 40-year retrospective of the Washington State artist’s blown glass sculptures–such as a boat containing thousands of  glass flowers, fantastical forests,  sculptures based on South American basketry–which took  us out of our doldrums and got our imaginations flowing and reminded us that we can each create worlds of our own.

In When I Last Wrote to You about Africa ,  the  West African artist El Anatsui  transformed mundane materials into forms and objects that were beautiful and real.

Surveying nearly five decades of the West African artist’s internationally renowned career, the exhibit featured some sixty works in wood, metal ceramic, painting, print and drawing.  E and I especially loved the gorgeous tapestry created from used wine-bottle caps and labels; wooden sculpture made from open boxes meant to remind viewers of the opening of market stalls and paintings of African colors, shapes. More difficult and disturbing was  a stone-carved head–with traditional face but open in back to reveal not much in the brain.

An additional highlight was an exhibit of fashions designed by Wellesley students–meant to interpret the  show.  I particularly liked one showing a long, flowing fancy dress which, on closer glance, turned made of a black garbage bag, with collar and ruffle resembling feathers–but made from cut up magazines–all commenting on the ephemeral nature, I believe, of show business careers.    E was partial to a dress with a bodice composed of typewriter keys…reflecting El Anatsu’si use of everyday objects in creating new ones.

Apologies for waiting so long to see/write about this one–(it closed on June 26) but E says the ICA has acquired one of the works; that will definitely be worth seeing, there.

Chihuly/ Through the Looking Glass will be at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, through August 7, 2011.

Anita M. Harris

Anita M. Harris is a journalist, photographer and President of the Harris Communications Group of Cambridge, MA.