Sallyportal: Madly Blogging Reed

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"statistics"


Orcas, Under Pressure, Adopt Killer Survival Strategy

New research by Reed bio major shows that killer whales are using novel forms of social organization to form hunting parties. Photo by Monika Wieland ’07

In the wine-dark waters of the San Juan Islands, a band of killer whales is fighting for survival.

Loss of habitat, human meddling, and intense competition for chinook salmon, its main source of food, have put severe pressure on these creatures. This band, known as the Southern Residents, is now smaller than any other group of resident killer whales, which live in communities scattered along the cold coastal waters of the North Pacific.

There are, in fact, just 81 whales left.

Class of '16 By The Numbers

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Photo by Leah Nash

Though the summer sun is still shining in Portland, fall semester is fully underway. The last few weeks have seen freshlings transformed from awe-struck new arrivals to awe-struck new arrivals who are behind on their Hum 110 reading.

One of the most remarkable things about the Class of '16 is that there are fewer of them: 320 this year, as compared to an average of 370 over the past three years.

Deal Faster, Cried the Losers

By Brandon Hamilton '11

No one likes to lose, and when the cost of defeat is an entire year's worth of timê, the stakes are high.

Continuing a long tradition, classmates sat down at the poker table in the Capehart room at Centennial Reunions to indulge in a little exercise in combinatorics.

New Mathematical Model for HIV

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By Ethan Knudson '11

Uganda 1993: Sociologist and statistician Martina Morris '80 had just presented her sophisticated mathematical model on the spread of HIV to a conference attended by African elders.

In the back, a man raised his hand and asked, "Can your models account for having more than one partner at a time?"

When Morris admitted they didn't, the man walked out.