West Chester BBYO

From Wikibbyo

West Chester Sondra B. Moore BBYO #5206 is a BBYO (co-ed) chapter in Central Region East #34. West Chester BBYO is the largest co-ed chapter in CRE, and the fifth largest chapter in the region overall (after Wilmington and Allentown AZA and BBG). West Chester is known for its spirit and strong leadership.

Advisers:

• Marla King
• Boaz Hirshberg
• Allie Proko (Adviser in Training)

Chapter History

Sondra B. Moore West Chester BBYO #5206 was founded approximately 40 years ago. The mascot and logo have been switched several times over the years, the most recognized currently is the Cows (specifically 'Moourice'). The chapter was named after a community member who died in childhood of cancer. Advised for many years by Maurice Linnette, the chapter grew to become one of the strongest in the nation, with members taking many regional positions and even helping to write Stand Together (former chapter Godol and regional Moreh, Larry Neil). As the chapter moved into the 21st century, major changes occurred. First of all, there was a massive growth in the Jewish population of Chester County, leading to the establishment of a new synagogue, the third in the area. Secondly, 2 synagogues, including Kesher Israel, started USY chapters. Kesher Israel USY and West Chester BBYO planned a few yearly events together, mostly joining in 'Left Over Turkey' overnight programs. In addition, growth within the chapter caused its board to decide to create two boards, one AZA and one BBG, for the chapter to get it ready to split. Replicating the style of Allentown and Wilmington, West Chester began to expand in leadership and size. A new advisor, Doreen Strauss, and new quality members have resulted in West Chester's reemergence as a force to be reckoned with within CRE and the international order. West Chester BBYO won International Chapter of the Year for 2010-2011 and the Division 1 Spirit Stick at Tournies of 2010.

Current Chapter Board (12-13)

• N'siah: Melissa Chesnick(2014)
• S'gan: Yonatan Hirshberg (2014)
• S'ganit: Hannah Levin (2014)
• Moreh: Jason Atlas (2015)
• Morah: Nicki Hagarty (2015)
• Mazkirah: Samantha Morrow (2014)
• Sh'licha: Nitzan Hirshberg (2015)
• Gizbor: Jason Levin (2015)
• Kohein Godol: Brett Krasner (2013)

I don't think that real numbers have to be stroed in the system in the sense of writing the number into a register as we would in a computer that clearly is not possible since such a registor would need to provide infinite storage. However, that does not mean a computational model of this type cannot be built. The real numbers in this model will represent the weights on the synapses' in the brain and will dictate the strength of the connections between the neurons' in the neural network. In the real brain the weights on the synapses are most likely to be continuous and infinitely precise (because it is a physical and analogue system and it also does not store synapse weights in registers). Also most likely the brain does not need to measure these synapse weights to perform its function (they instead direct its emergent behaviour) and therefore there is no contradiction with the quantum uncertainty principle either. The point about it being Super Turing seems to be that Hava Siegelmann has mathematically shown that if an artifical analogue neural network uses real number (i.e. infinite precision weights) then it can compute' more algorithms than any Turing machine or digital computer in history and indeed more algorithms than an analogue neural network relying on integer or rational weights. In other words a brain cannot be modeled/simulated properly' at all by an ordinary digital computer or by a neural network that relies on anything other than real number weights. This sounds quite interesting to me. If we are to have any form of Singularity then we need a computing model that truly simulates the brain and therefore we need to move in this type of new direction.