unfortunately, the modern buildings we live and work in rival cars and factories as sources of harm to the environment, contributing to deforestation, global warming, overuse of water and energy and carbon dioxide emissions. sustainable building refers to those buildings that are built to have the least impact on the natural environment, both in terms of the building itself, its immediate surroundings and the broader global setting. to construct in a sustainable way, some basic rules need to be followed : ( a ) minimization of non - renewable resource consumption ; ( b ) enhancement of the natural environment ; and ( c ) elimination or minimization of toxic emissions. almost every step of the green building process is heavily focused on how building elements fit together to optimize efficiency and sustainability. sustainable development marries two important themes : 1. environmental protection does not preclude economic development. 2. economic development must be ecologically viable now and in the long term. “ sustainable design ” involves the planning and development of projects in a manner that minimizes impact on natural resources, such as water and energy. there are many aspects to the sustainable process, one of which involves “ leed ” principles – leadership in engineering and environmental design, with standards for selecting materials and designing facilities established by the u. s. green building council. zurn strongly encourages organizations to consider including cost - effective and environmentally friendly practices in the design, construction and retrofit of buildings and facilities. in this way, your buildings and facilities not only exemplify your care for the environment and the well - being of the community that you serve, but they also decrease facility operating and maintenance costs.


the neem tree, environment, culture and intellectual property | ted case studies number 665, 2002 by sara hasan the neem tree, environment, culture and intellectual property | mandala home | | trade environment database | | inventory of conflict and environment | | global classroom | | etown | | environment, statistics and policy | | site map | 1. the issue the united states and india are currently involved in a biopiracy dispute over the rights to a tree indigenous to the indian subcontinent, the neem tree. while the neem tree has been used in india for over 2000 years for various purposes such as pesticides, spermicides and toothbrushes, a us company has been suing indian companies for producing the emulsion because they have a patent on the process. the dispute is over the rights of companies to conduct research and development by using patents against the interest of the people who live at the source of the resource. to what extent can multinational companies claim and patent resources from the develping countries, like india? the movement around the issue of the neem tree and trade - related aspects of intellectual property rights ( trips ) represents a challenge to the developing countries.. there are approximately 14 million neem trees ( azadirachta indica ) in india. access to neem products was very cheap ( if not free ) and easy to get. it is a tropical evergreen, related to the mahogany, that mainly grows in arid regions of india and burma and southwest asia and west africa. when temperatures do not drop below freezing, it may grow up to 50 feet tall. they are estimated to live up to 200 years. the neem tree has many versatile traits that can be traced back to the upavanavinod, an ancient sanskrit treatise dealing with agriculture. this treatise cites the neem tree as a cure for ailing soil, plants and livestock. the tree has been referred to as the ' curer of all ailments ' and the ' blessed tree ' by both the hindu and muslim population in india. the leaves and the bark have been used to treat illnesses such as leprosy, ulcers, diabetes and skin disorder. it has also been used to make spermicides and pesticides. the neem tree is known as the tree for all seasons because of its versatility. here is a list of its many uses : : 1 ) medicine - many ancient and traditional medical authorities indian texts place neem as a vital resource for pharmacy. they mention the usefulness of the leaves, bark


all seasons because of its versatility. here is a list of its many uses : : 1 ) medicine - many ancient and traditional medical authorities indian texts place neem as a vital resource for pharmacy. they mention the usefulness of the leaves, bark, flowers, seeds and fruit for treating several diseases such as diabetes, ulcers and skin disorders. for example, some people chew neem leaves in the morning for 24 days to protect the body from diseases like hypertension and diabetes. the juice of the neem tree ( 5ml ) mixed with equal amounts of honey reduces oozing from ears and also removes inflammation. the ash of the dry neem leaves is used to remove urinary stones. ( www. healthlibrary. com / ready / neem / chap3. htm ). 2 ) timber - the chemical in neem makes it resistant to termites, which is an extremely useful quality to have in construction. it is interesting to note that there is a new epa regulation that bans certain chemically treated wood. 3 ) toiletries - neem twigs have been used by millions of indians ( including my parents ) as an antiseptic tooth brush. its oil is used for preparing soap and toothpaste. 4 ) contraception - the oil of neem is a potent spermicide. 5 ) fuel - the oil can also be used as lamp fuel. 6 ) agriculture - even dating back to the ancient sanskrit treatise dating about 600 bc dealing with forestry and agricultural, the upavanavinod, neem was seen as a cure for ailing plants and livestock. the cake, or residue, is fed to livestock and its leaves increase the fertility of soil. the most important, and controversial, is its use as a potent insecticide. it is effective against approximately 200 insects. making pesticides emulsion does not take highly sophisticated equipment, as native peoples have been making it for over 2000 years. indians have developed their own process of cracking off the top that would then be used on plants as a pesticide. neem based pesticides, medicines and cosmetics have been produced by some laboratories in india, but there has not been an attempt to make ownership of the formula legal because indian law does not allow agricultural and medicinal products to be patented. in 1971, a timber company in the united states figured out that the neem tree ' s usefulness in acting as a pesticide and began planting neem tree seeds. he received a patent on it and, in 1988, sold the patent


. in 1971, a timber company in the united states figured out that the neem tree ' s usefulness in acting as a pesticide and began planting neem tree seeds. he received a patent on it and, in 1988, sold the patent to the us based company w. r. grace. in 1992, w. r. grace secured its rights to the formula that used the emulsion from the neem tree ' s seeds to make a powerful pesticide. it also began suing indian companies for making the emulsion. the controversy over who has the rights to the neem tree raised many questions. india claims that what the us companies are calling discoveries are the actual stealing and pirating of the indigenous practices and knowledge of its people. the indians and members of the green party in the european union oppose big businesses owning the rights to living organisms, otherwise known as biopiracy, because they believe that the rights of poor farmers in developing countries will be harmed. the villager supplier of neem products ranging from pesticides to formulations for creams to cure skin disorders, raju, was not the first in his family to use the " blessed tree " for as many purposes as possible. his family revered and know all of the tree ' s sacred qualities. while raju did not know the exact word for the extract of the neem seed, azadirachtin, he did know that it helped all the people in his village in one way or another. one day his life changed drastically. an american company called w. r. grace patented the natural insecticide that had been used for generations by indian farmers. the company was allowed to patent the process of making the insecticide because the indian government did not patent agricultural or pharmeceutical products. this patent caused many problems for raju because he could no longer use the traditional method of smashing the neem seeds, scooping the emulsion from the top, and selling it to local farmers as pesticide. this was the method he and his family had used for generations. he was told that he had to pay the company royalties for using their innovation because farmers in india did not hold a patent for the process. it just did not make any sense. the economy seemed to be overtaking his society. the worst part about it was that the community, his people, did not get any benefits from the patents. raju often asks, how is it possible for american companies to come into our country, steal our knowledge and make money off of it? he was also con


about it was that the community, his people, did not get any benefits from the patents. raju often asks, how is it possible for american companies to come into our country, steal our knowledge and make money off of it? he was also concerend why the indian government did not protect the neem emulsion through patents themselves. this is a question that many intellectual property disputes have to answer. there is an increasing awareness in india of the commodification of neem will lead to the expropriation by multinational corporations, like w. r. grace ( shiva, vandana " piracy by patent : the case of the neem tree, " in the case of the global economy : and for a turn toward the local, edited by jerry mander and edward goldsmith, sierra club : san francisco, 1996, p. 154 ). on indian independence day in 1995, farmers in from karnataka rallied outside the district office to challenge the demands for made by multinational corporations for intellectual property rights. as part of their protest, the farmers carried twigs and branches from the neem tree as a symbol of their collective indigenous knowledge of the properties of the neem ( shiva : 154 ). the united states, on the other hand, states that what they are doing will help the indian economy. india is not against sharing its information about the neem tree ' s virtues, but it is against countries and corporations that intend to stop india ' s present use of it. another issue is whether the neem tree is patenable, since it is a product of nature, which shows that it is not a result of innovation and discovery. the problem is that w. r. grace does not have a patent on the tree itself, but rather on the process of making the emulsion. they believe that this process is a discovery because it entails manipulation yielding greater and better results. in other words, discovery seems to have both old and new definitions. the problem is over the use of novel scientific advances on traditional indian techniques. according to vandana shiva, the director of the research foundation for science, technology and natural resource policy in india, " corporate processes are supposedly novel advances on indian techniques " ( shiva : 152 ). she goes on to state that the reluctance of scientists in india to patent agricultural and pharmaceutical inventions may be a result of their recognition that the bulk of work had already been accomplished by generations of anonymous, indian experimenters ( shiva : 153 ). for example, " dr. r p singh of the indian agricutural


agricultural and pharmaceutical inventions may be a result of their recognition that the bulk of work had already been accomplished by generations of anonymous, indian experimenters ( shiva : 153 ). for example, " dr. r p singh of the indian agricutural research institute asserts : ` margosan - o is a simple ethanolic extract of neem seed kernel. in the late sixties we discovered the potency of not only ethanolic extract, but also other extracts of neem...... work on the neem as pesticide originated from this division as early as 1962. extraction techniques were also developed in a couple of years. the azadirachtin - rich dust was developed by me ’ " ( http : / / www. healthlibrary. com / reading / neem / chap10. htm ). shiva also states that the discovery of the neem ' s properties and the means of processing the extract was not " obvious " but rather evolved through extended systematic development in non - western cultures ( shiva : 153 ). the world trade organization ( wto ) is asking developing countries to open up to foreign direct investment from abroad and to liberalize their trade policies. there has been a restructuring of general agreement on tariffs and trade ( gatt ) into the wto. this resulted in agreements on trade - related aspects of intellectual property rights ( trips ) made during the uruguay round. these agreements created a trend towards a legal framework for intellectual property rights including a consensus to follow and establish patent laws in conjunction with those of the developed world. while this can be seen as a good sign for india, it still causes a problem because of the indian government ' s reluctancy to issue patents on agricultural and pharmaceutical product. also, there is a lack of knowledge of the legal process that surrounds intellectual property rights. indian business owners argue that the lack of patents leads their technology to move to the developed world. india feels that by letting foreign companies control resources, they become more vulnerable to them. as a result, there has been a backlash on foreign investment and less joint ventures between india and the united states. 3. related cases basmati - trade dispute between an american company, ricetec inc., and india. sandalwd - india ' s attempt to limit the exportation of sandalwood because of its current trend towards extinction. chipko - problem of deforestation in india. beede - beedi cigarettes, popular for teenagers in america, are often rolled by indian children who were forced in


to limit the exportation of sandalwood because of its current trend towards extinction. chipko - problem of deforestation in india. beede - beedi cigarettes, popular for teenagers in america, are often rolled by indian children who were forced in bondage. bhopal - example of how developing countries are vulnerable to industrial crises. banana2 - trade dispute settlement between the united states and the european union regarding the sale of bananas by american companies. budweis - issue between the united states and the czech republic. canola - dispute between saskatchewan farmers and an american company called monsanto co. tequila - in light of nafta, mexico has demanded protection tequila " as a geographically indicated product " under intellectual property law. ginseng - ginseng acquiring a new niche in the international market had led to it possible extinction. mussel - mussel harvesting is a new cause of concern for the sustainability of mussel populations. 4. author and date : april 30, 2002 the world trade organization ( wto ) is encouraging developing countries to expand their legal protection of intellectual property rights in order to be on a similar " playing field " with the developed countries. in an effort to standardize trade rule, the wto is also asking developing countries to open up to foreign direct investment from abroad and to liberalize their trade policies. the wto believes that the restructuring will lead to a development of more modern economies. there has been a restructuring of the general agreement on tariffs and trade ( gatt ) into the wto. this resulted in agreements on trade - related aspects of intellectual property rights ( trips ) made during the uruguay round. trips, the forum for dispute, created a trend towards a legal framework for intellectual property rights. it also forced countries to honor the northern / western interpretation of patent rights ( shiva : 147 ). according to shiva, " the northern countries argued that when southern farmer ' s attempted to retain free use of their own seeds, developed by them over thousands of years, it was a form of piracy, but the pirate ' s hat clearly belongs on the other head " ( shiva : 147 ). one of the major parties involved is obviously the indian government who has signed onto the trips agreement. india ' s laws still do not allow patents on agricultural and pharmaceutical products. another party involved is the business community ( like w. r. grace ) that needs intellectual property rights to encourage development in foreign countries because it gives more incentive to the business owners that their property or " inventions " will be protected. they believe that


. another party involved is the business community ( like w. r. grace ) that needs intellectual property rights to encourage development in foreign countries because it gives more incentive to the business owners that their property or " inventions " will be protected. they believe that the result of researching and development in foreign countries can lead to a greater public good because of the new discoveries of medicines and other innovations that will result. another forum for dispute surrounding the neem tree is the convention on biological diversity ( cbd ) that took place in 1992 at the united nations conference on environment and development. article 15 of the convention states bio - assets are the property of the sovereign states in which they are from. in other words, they are not the property of the world at large. india ' s claim is that what the western world is calling discoveries is actually an indigenous method that they have been suing for years. they say that it is a bio - asset that is protected under article 15 of the convention. while cbd emphasizes the rights of sovereign nations over biological resources, such as the neem tree, it still calls for the acceptance of intellectual property rights. what this means is the cbd calls for governments, such as india, to provide the proper patents or other forms of protection on the life forms and include pharmaceutical products. another wto dispute that relates to the trips agreement is a case that involves india, as well. this case is regarding basmati rice. india feels that because the united states has granted a patent for basmati rice, that it is violating the trips agreement. they say that basmati rice is exclusively associated with india and pakistan. they want the united states to take away their patent on the rice because they felt it is an indigenous product of their country. india ' s problem with the neem tree is similar to the basmati case because they have realized the importance for creating laws that conserve bio - assets and control piracy. they feel that protecting their assets through patents may protect them from other companies like rice tec that took advantage of the nonexistent indian laws. indian farmers want to protect their cultural heritage. it seems the best way to do it is to change their philosophical attitude that natural resources should not be patented in order to protect and preserve india ' s biodiversity and also to conform to international laws and agreements like the trips agreement. according to shiva, there has been a new alliance of farmers and scientists to formulate an alternative form of intellectual property rights - what they term collective intellectual property rights ( cipr ' s


also to conform to international laws and agreements like the trips agreement. according to shiva, there has been a new alliance of farmers and scientists to formulate an alternative form of intellectual property rights - what they term collective intellectual property rights ( cipr ' s ) ( shiva : 157 ). it allows people to have the right to benefit commercially from traditional knowledge. in other words, the farmers want to solve their disputes at the local level or village organizations rather than through gatt panels. 5. discourse and status : disagreement and in progress 6. forum and scope : wto, gatt, trips and bilateral 7. decision breadth : the united states and india 8. legal standing : treaty 9. geographic locations a. geographic domain : asia b. geographic site : south asia c. geographic impact : india 10. sub - national factors : no 11. type of habitat : temperate 12. type of measure : intellectual property the trade measures that are most relevant to the neem tree case are intellectual property and patents. united states patents on neem tree products are seen as forms of " biopiracy " by the country of india, the green party and the european patent office. there are three main issues surrounding the patenting of local products used for medicinal or agricultural purposes by the united states. first, the farmers will no longer be able to use these products without paying royalties to the company that has a patent on it. secondly, consumers will be deprived of cheap medicines and agricultural products. last, local communities should receive a share of the profits because the companies learned the value of the species from local knowledge. ( source : trade and development center : a joint venture of the world bank and the world trade organization www. itd. org / isues / india6. htm ) since 1985, over a dozen of the u. s. patents by the united states and japanese firms are for the neem - based solutions and emulsions. there are a total of four patents are owned by w. r. grace. three patents are owned by another u. s. company, the native plant institute. two others are owned by the japanese company, terumo corporation ( source : vanadan shiva ' s article " piracy by patent : the case of the neem tree " in the case against the global economy ). remember that these patents are used for the process of making the emulsion from the neem tree, not on the neem tree itself. the us company had in fact created a new invention from the neem extraction process


against the global economy ). remember that these patents are used for the process of making the emulsion from the neem tree, not on the neem tree itself. the us company had in fact created a new invention from the neem extraction process. the local population, however, has been extracting the substances from the seeds for years, too, using a more traditional method of " smashing the seeds " and " scooping the emulsion. " the neem is not the only living organism that has become a subject of " patent " debate. there are scientists and farmers around the world that are trying to gain rights to protect their organisms. for example the africa soapberry has properties for insecticidal soap, fish intoxicant and a spermicidal contraceptive that african have used for a very long time. in 1964, though, things changed due to dr. akililu lemma ' s report to the tropical products institute in britain that it killed water snails ( which are used to fight the disease, bilharzia ).. at the time of his report, he was stunned to find out that the institute placed a patent on the extraction process without consulting or crediting him ( shiva : 157 ). 13. direct v. indirect impacts : direct and indirect 14. relation of trade measure to environmental impact a. directly related to product : yes - wood b. indirectly related to product : yes - manufacturing c. not related to product : no d. related to process : yes - deforestation 15. trade product identification : neem tree extract and seeds neem facial moisturiser neem hand & body lotion neem moisturizing cream neem organic shampoo neem organic conditioner neem eye gel neem lip balm dragon repellent candle pet flea powder head lice attack packs neem incense sticks bath fizz bombs powdered neem leaf pure powdered neem tree neem leaf capsules 16. economic data 17. impact of trade restriction : high 18. industry sector : agricultural and chemical ( use in pesticides ) 19. exporters and importers : united states and india patents on neem u. s. companies patents : the patents granted to w. r. grace for extraction and storage processes are the most controversial. recent indian patents : * information from neem tree foundation website : www. neemfoundation. org 20. environmental problem type : habitat loss and deforestation 21. name, type, and diversity of species name : neem tree ( azadi


indian patents : * information from neem tree foundation website : www. neemfoundation. org 20. environmental problem type : habitat loss and deforestation 21. name, type, and diversity of species name : neem tree ( azadirachta indica ) type : tropical evergreen related to the mahogany 22. resource impact and effect : low and production 23. urgency and lifetime : low and 200 years 24. substitutes : like products 25. culture : yes the controversy over the patents on the neem tree relates to environment and culture most importantly because the properties and utilities of the tree have been known to indians for millennia in both the muslim and hindu traditions. in sanskrit it is known as the " curer of all ailments " and in the muslim tradition it is known as the ' blessed tree. ' neem trees are everywhere in india. the extraction of the seed oil and emulsions is not difficult, the process has been used for ages in india ( third world network : http : / / www. twnside. org. sg / title / pir - ch. htm ). the village neem tree is a symbol of indian indigenous knowledge. it has also become a symbol of resistance against corporations that are trying to take the indian ' s knowledge for their own profit. the wto ' s goal is to promote market competition throughout the world. it is not the just the neem tree, as a product, that is being affected by the patents. culture, biodiversity, livelihoods, needs and rights are all reduced to the market the destruction of their livelihoods becomes reduced to the level of competition. many indians view fundamental life processes as sacred, not as commodities that should be bought and sold in the market. the idea of a disembedded economy, that karl polanyi discusses, is not applicable to the average poor indian farmer. in other words, indian farmers are not comfortable with having the economy be above society. they seek to protect themselves from the rise of the global economy and agreements, such as the trips agreement, that will affect their lives for days to come. the problem with the farmers view is that due to the logic of patenting, they cannot keep resisting, instead they are going to have to join in. ( http : / / www. thirdworldtraveler. com / globalization / war _ against _ nature _ vfts. html. ). the issue of nationalism, in the wake of colonialism plays a vital role in the case of the neem


/ / www. thirdworldtraveler. com / globalization / war _ against _ nature _ vfts. html. ). the issue of nationalism, in the wake of colonialism plays a vital role in the case of the neem tree. indians do not want to lose their rights to their own indigenous resources to a western power. they will do everything to protect their rights. they are now an independent nation, or are they? in the new global village, it is hard to say. they see american companies and the wto dictating what they can and cannot do with the neem tree. the trips agreement is essentially the globalization of western patent laws as instruments to conquest. it can be seen as a different form of colonialism. an interesting story is that the word " patents " is derived from " letter patents. " according to vandana shiva, one of india ' s leading activists and founder of the research foundation for science, technology and ecology, letter patents were the open letter granted by the european sovereigns to conquer lands or to obtain monopolies on imports. for example, christopher columbus used a letter patent issued by queen isabel and king ferdinand, for his right to conquest the america ' s ( vandana shiva : war against nature and the people of the south ). 26. trans - boundary issues : no 27. rights : yes 28. relevant literature mander, jerry, and edward goldsmith eds., the case against the global economy : a turn towards the local, san francisco : sierra club books, 1996. national research council, neem : a tree for solving global problems : report of an ad hoc panel of the board of science and technology for international devlopment, washington d. c. : national academy press, 1992. shiva, vandana, biodiversity : social and ecological perspectives, london : zed books, 1991. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -, biopiracy : the plunder of nature and knolwedge, massacusetts : south end press, 1997. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -, ecology and the politics of survival : conflicts over natural resources in india, in association with j. bandyopadhyay, japan : united nations university press, 1991. graphics : from www. neemfoundation. org


incidents and offenses the uniform crime reporting program collects data about both single - bias and multiple - bias hate crimes. for each offense type reported, law enforcement must indicate at least one bias motivation. a single - bias incident is defined as an incident in which one or more offense types are motivated by the same bias. a multiple - bias incident is defined as an incident in which more than one offense type occurs and at least two offense types are motivated by different biases. - in 2007, 2, 025 law enforcement agencies reported 7, 624 hate crime incidents involving 9, 006 offenses. - there were 7, 621 single - bias incidents that involved 8, 999 offenses, 9, 527 victims, and 6, 962 offenders. - the 3 multiple - bias incidents reported in 2007 involved 7 offenses, 8 victims, and 3 known offenders. ( see tables 1 and 12. ) an analysis of the 7, 621 single - bias incidents reported in 2007 revealed the following : - 50. 8 percent were racially motivated. - 18. 4 percent were motivated by religious bias. - 16. 6 percent resulted from sexual - orientation bias. - 13. 2 percent stemmed from ethnicity / national origin bias. - 1. 0 percent were prompted by disability bias. ( based on table 1. ) offenses by bias motivation within incidents of the 8, 999 single - bias hate crime offenses reported in the above incidents : - 52. 5 percent stemmed from racial bias. - 16. 4 percent resulted from religious bias. - 16. 2 percent were motivated by sexual - orientation bias. - 14. 0 percent were prompted by ethnicity / national origin bias. - 0. 9 percent resulted from biases against disabilities. ( based on table 1. ) in 2007, law enforcement agencies reported that 4, 724 single - bias hate crime offenses were racially motivated. of these offenses : - 69. 3 percent were motivated by anti - black bias. - 18. 4 percent stemmed from anti - white bias. - 6. 0 percent were a result of bias against groups of individuals consisting of more than one race ( anti - multiple races, group ). - 4. 6 percent resulted from anti - asian / pacific islander bias. - 1. 6 percent were motivated by anti - american indian / alaskan native bias. ( based on table 1. ) hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1, 477 offenses reported by law enforcement. a breakdown of the bias motivation of religious - biased offenses showed : - 68. 4 percent were anti -


were crimes against society. ( based on table 2. ) ( see data collection in methodology. ) crimes against persons law enforcement reported 5, 408 hate crime offenses as crimes against persons. by offense type : - 47. 4 percent were intimidation. - 31. 1 percent were simple assault. - 20. 6 percent were aggravated assault. - 0. 2 percent consisted of 9 murders and 2 forcible rapes. - 0. 6 percent involved the offense category other, which is collected only in the national incident - based reporting system. ( based on table 2. ) crimes against property - the majority of the 3, 579 hate crime offenses that were crimes against property ( 81. 4 percent ) were acts of destruction / damage / vandalism. - the remaining 18. 6 percent of crimes against property consisted of robbery, burglary, larceny - theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other crimes. ( based on table 2. ) crimes against society nineteen offenses were crimes against society ( e. g., drug or narcotic offenses or prostitution ). by victim type when considering the type of victims among property crimes : - 53. 7 percent were directed at individuals. - 11. 5 percent were against businesses or financial institutions. - 7. 4 percent were against government. - 6. 8 percent were against religious organizations. - the remaining 20. 6 percent were directed at other, multiple, or unknown victim types. ( based on table 6. ) if you have questions about this information contact the fbi ’ s criminal justice information services division via e - mail at firstname. lastname @ example. org or by telephone at ( 304 ) 625 - 4995.


in accordance with the mps administrative policy 2. 16, district accountability system, the administration presents the board and the community with its annual report card for the 2010 - 2011 school year. requirements of the elementary and secondary education act, otherwise known as no child left behind ( nclb ), stipulate that school districts report two year performance trends of students on statewide assessments in reading and mathematics, disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, migrant status, disability status, and english proficiency status. according to nclb, the graduation rate must be reported for high schools, and another indicator ( attendance ) must be reported for elementary and middle schools. additionally, each school ’ s performance is to be compared with the state ’ s adequate yearly progress target, and professional qualifications of teachers must be reported. the 2010 - 2011 report card presents three to five year trends in performance for state and district assessments, disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, english proficiency status, and disability status. graduation, promotion, and attendance rates are reported for applicable grades. recent guidance from the department of education requires districts to present state results from the national assessment of educational progress ( naep ). naep results for the state of wisconsin ( 2010 - 2011 ) are also presented. other data of interest to the community, including gpa, mobility and stability rates, suspension rates, and enrollment information is reported. results are reported in terms of all students enrolled ( instead of only those enrolled for a full academic year ) and for all schools serving mps students. the report card also presents the tenth year of value - added analyses of student achievement information to complement the attainment results required under nclb. these measures level the playing field between schools serving diverse populations of students and help to improve our understanding of schools ’ achievement gains over time. as noted above, nclb requires that report cards also contain information regarding the percent of classes taught by “ highly qualified ” teachers. the district relies on the department of public instruction ’ s annual reports to provide this information to the community. please go to http : / / www. dpi. state. wi. us for these data. the milwaukee public schools is in the third year of working together, achieving more, an action plan to improve milwaukee public schools, 2007 - 2012. a brief explanation of the strategic plan as well as three pages detailing the key measurable statistics as to progress, are included.


while all curriculum areas share some of the same issues and concerns, individual curriculum areas seem to also have concerns specific to them and their courses. this list looks at the top ten concerns for social studies teachers. 1. breadth vs. depth social studies standards are often written so that it is virtually impossible to cover all the required material in the school year. for example, in world history, the national standards require such breadth of material that it is impossible to do more than just touch on each topic. 2. dealing with controversial topics many social studies courses deal with sensitive and at times controversial issues. for example, in world history teachers are required to teach about religion. in american government, topics like abortion and the death penalty can sometimes lead to heated debates. in these instances, it is important for the teacher to maintain control of the situation. 3. making connections to students ' lives while some social studies courses like economics and american government lend themselves well to making connections to students and their lives, others do not. it can be tough to connect what was going on in ancient china to a 14 year old ' s daily life. social studies teachers have to work very hard to make these topics interesting. 4. need to vary instruction it can be very easy for social studies teachers to stick to one method of instruction. there is a tendency to give a great deal of lectures. it can be very tough to cover the depth of material without relying on lectures and whole group discussions. of course, there are some teachers who go to the other extreme and have mainly projects and role playing experiences. the key is to balance the activities. 5. staying at the lower level of bloom ' s taxonomy because much of teaching social studies revolves around names, places, and dates, it is very easy to create assignments and tests that do not move beyond the recall level of bloom ' s taxonomy 6. history is interpretationthere is no such thing as " history " because it is truly in the eye of the beholder. social studies texts were written by humans and therefore are biased. a perfect example is two american government texts that my school was considering adopting. it was obvious throughout that one was written by a conservative and the other by a liberal political scientist. further, history texts might describe the same event in a different way based on who wrote them. this can be a tough one for teachers to deal with at times. 7. multiple prepssocial studies teachers are often faced with having to teach multiple preps. this can be especially tough for the newer teachers who have to prepare so


previous | session 117 | next | author index | block schedule s. j. edberg ( jpl / caltech ) this poster serves to introduce a series of posters discussing space interferometry mission planetquest ( sim planetquest ) science prospects and plans across a wide range of astrophysics. sim is being designed and built for nasa ' s navigator program, an element of the astronomical search for origins and planetary systems theme in the science mission directorate. it will be the first optical interferometer in space dedicated to precision astrometry. even though sim planetquest has undergone a significant redesign since last year, the principle parameters of the instrument and anticipated results from its flight have changed little. with astrometric modes yielding 1 microarcsecond and 4 microarcsecond measurements, sim offers the opportunity to investigate a wide variety of phenomena. from effects due to planetary gravitation within the solar system to investigating the emission phenomena of quasars and agns, sim will provide breakthrough science. sim astrometry will provide positions, parallaxes ( distances ), and proper motions with unprecedented accuracies for thousands of stars. searches for earth - like planets will be made. investigations of other planetary systems are possible, including the masses and orbits of their planets. characterizations of stellar masses, from brown dwarfs to stellar - mass black holes and across the h - r diagram are planned. combined with ground - based observations, sim observations of machos should yield the masses of the microlensing objects for the first time. the ages of globular clusters will be determined and the milky way ' s mass and its distribution will benefit from the study of halo and tidal tail stars. sim measurements of the motions of local group galaxies will enable tests of models of this system. quasar jets will be investigated and quasars themselves can be used to tie down a significantly improved celestial reference frame. this work was performed for the jet propulsion laboratory, california institute of technology, sponsored by the national aeronautics and space administration. if you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http : / / planetquest. jpl. nasa. gov / sim / sim \ _ index. cfm. this link was provided by the author. when you follow it, you will leave the web site for this meeting ; to return, you should use the back comand on your browser. previous | session 117 | next bulletin of the american astronomical society, 37 # 4 © 2005. the american astronomical soceity.


— although they were established just 40 years ago, presidential debates are now a major feature of the election season. take a look back at the highlights ( and lowlights ) of every presidential and vice - presidential debate since 1960. democratic candidate john f. kennedy challenged republican vice president richard nixon, who was leading the polls, to a series of debates. the four, one - hour debates were the first ever presidential debates. the famed 1858 debates between abraham lincoln and stephen a. douglas occurred during the illinois senatorial campaign. in an echo of this year ’ s rhetoric, in one of the debates against kennedy, nixon said he was “ very proud that president eisenhower restored dignity and decency and frankly good language to the conduct of the presidency of the united states. ” september 26, 1960 who : sen. john f. kennedy, democrat and vice president richard m. nixon, republican where : chicago, ill. moderator : howard smith as moderator, plus a panel including sander vanocur, charles warren, stuart novins and bob fleming. format : 8 - minute opening statements ; 2 ½ - minute responses ; optional rebuttal ; 3 - minute closing statements. broadcaster : networks rating : 77 million viewers ( 60 percent of all households ) in the first debate, nixon learned the hard way about the importance of how one looks on television. his haggard appearance, compared to the telegenic kennedy ’ s, caused some callers — including his own mother — to inquire about his health. however, the oft - cited “ fact ” that those who listened to the debate over radio rated nixon the winner, while tv viewers rated kennedy the winner, is based on “ thin ” evidence that ’ s still debated by scholars. october 7, 1960 who : kennedy and nixon where : washington, d. c. moderator : frank mcgee as moderator, plus a panel including paul niven, edward morgan, alvin spivak and harold levy. format : no opening statements ; each candidate questioned ; optional rebuttal broadcaster : networks rating : 61. 9 million viewers october 13, 1960 who : kennedy and nixon where : nixon in hollywood, calif., and kennedy in new york city moderator : bill shadel as moderator, plus a panel including frank mcgee, charles van fremd, douglass carter and roscoe drummond. format : no opening statements ; 2 ½ - minute responses ; 1 ½ - minute rebuttals ; no closing statements. broadcaster : networks ratings : 63. 7 million viewers october 21, 1960 who : kennedy and nixon


science fair project encyclopedia madame de pompadour she was born jeanne - antoinette poisson in 1721. it is suspected that her biological father was the rich financier le normant de tournehem, who became her legal guardian when her official father was forced to leave the country in 1725 after a scandal and she lived with her mother and sister. she was intelligent and educated ; she also learned to dance, engrave and to play guitar. she was married in 1741 ( at the age of 19 ) to charles - guilaume le normant d ' etiolles, nephew of her guardian. contemporary opinion considered her quite beautiful, with her small mouth and oval face enlivened by her wit. her young husband was soon mad about her and she reigned in the fashionable world of paris. she caught the eye of the monarch in 1745. a group of courtiers, including her father - in - law, endorsed her to louis xv, who was still mourning the death of his second mistress, the duchess of chateauroux. jeanne - antoinette was invited to a royal masquerade ball in february 1745 that celebrated the marriage of the king ' s son. by march she had become a regular visitor, and the king installed her at versailles. he also bought her pompadour, the first of six residences. in july, louis made her a marquise, had her legally separated from her husband, and on september 14 she was formally presented at court. she kept to louis ' bed only a few years, but she was such a level - headed courtier that she was able to find him younger, prettier girls while she also retained a cordial relationship with the queen, marie leszczynska. louis was lazy, and mme de pompadour prepared all business for the king ' s eye beforehand with the ministers, who met in her rooms at versailles madame de pompadour was an accomplished woman, with a good eye for rococo interiors. she had a keen interest in literature. she had known voltaire before her ascendancy, and the playwright apparently advised her in her courtly role. contrary to popular belief - and contemporary opinion - she never had much direct political influence, but she supported belle - isle and endorsed the duke of choiseul to the king. choiseul, it should be noted, encouraged the basic shift in french foreign policy away from prussia and towards france ' s hereditary rival, the austrian habsburgs. this alliance eventually brought on the seven years war, with


##seul to the king. choiseul, it should be noted, encouraged the basic shift in french foreign policy away from prussia and towards france ' s hereditary rival, the austrian habsburgs. this alliance eventually brought on the seven years war, with all its disasters, the battle of rosbach and the loss of canada ; but mme de pompadour persisted in her support of these policies, and, when bernis failed her, brought choiseul into office and supported him in all his great plans, the pacte de famille, the suppression of the jesuits, and the peace of versailles that lost canada. she also discreetly endorsed diderot ' s encyclopedie project. pompadour was a woman of verve and intelligence. she planned buildings like the place de la concorde and the petit trianon with her brother, the marquis de marigny. she employed the stylish marchands - merciers who were turning chinese vases into ewers with gilt - bronze rococo handles and were mounting writing tables with the new sevres porcelain plaques. numerous other artisans, sculptors and portrait painters were employed, the court artist jean - marc nattier, in the 1750s francois boucher, and later francois - hubert drouais ( illustration, left ). drouais has rendered her demurely at traditional lady ' s work with her tambour and embroidery silks, among luxurious fittings that include a sevres - mounted table with a goat ' s mask in the latest gout grec. she is not young, but there is freshness and sparkle to everything about her. there is no sign that she is sick and about to die. pompadour suffered two miscarriages in the 1740s and later in life arranged lesser mistresses for the king ' s pleasure. although they did not sleep together after 1750, louis xv remained devoted to her until her death in 1764 at the age of 43. at the time she was publicly blamed for the seven years ' war. the classic pink of sevres porcelain is rose de pompadour. the pompadour haircut is also named after her. the contents of this article is licensed from www. wikipedia. org under the gnu free documentation license. click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details


contents - previous - next this is the old united nations university website. visit the new site at http : / / unu. edu letters to the editor vitamin a nutrition status in costa rica : was fortification necessary? a national survey in costa rica in 1966 by the institute of nutrition of central america and panama ( incap ) in costa rica showed a high prevalence of low and deficient levels of serum vitamin a in 32 per cent of preschool children in rural areas. only 12 per cent of the families in the same communities had an intake equal to or higher than that recommended for this vitamin. clinical signs, however, were virtually absent, with not one case showing xerophthalmia or keratomalacia, and bitot spots were present in only two children in urban areas, levels of serum retinol were higher, with low and deficient levels accounting for only 3 per cent of all cases. in general, the intake of vitamin a was much higher in the urban comunities studied than in the rural ones 11 ). after that survey, vitamin a deficiency was considered to be a major nutritional problem in costa rica, together with protein - energy malnutrition, iron deficiency anaemia, and endemic goitre ( 1 ). afterwards, and following the technical recommendation of incap, the government issued a decree in 1974 making mandatory the fortification of white table sugar ( 2 ). fortification of this supposedly widely consumed food began with the sugar refined in 1975 - 1976. the process was followed through four consecutive years. however, supervision and control of the programme was practically non - existent, and basal information just prior to the beginning of this intervention was not obtained. a national dietary survey made by the ministry of health two years later showed a striking improvement in the intake of vitamin a from food sources by preschool children, being well above the recommendations for their age group. clinicians insisted that vitamin a deficiency was no longer a problem. a retrospective study was done on children admitted from 1964 to 1975 to the national children ' s hospital in san jose with ocular manifestations suspected to have been caused by vitamin a deficiency. this study showed that only 17 cases among 909 had ocular signs compatible with vitamin a deficiency, 10 of them with unilateral or bilateral blindness. most were found before 1970, all in children from rural areas 13 ). at the end of 1978 and the beginning of 1979, in a joint effort undertaken by the ministry of health and the recently founded inciensa, with the advice of incap, serum


found before 1970, all in children from rural areas 13 ). at the end of 1978 and the beginning of 1979, in a joint effort undertaken by the ministry of health and the recently founded inciensa, with the advice of incap, serum retinol was measured in a representative sample of preschool children from the same rural and urban areas in which adequate intake had been found in the national survey. only 2. 5 per cent of 396 children studied showed low or deficient levels. in fact, only one child had a serum level below 10 mg / dl, and in all those with low levels, serum retinol was higher than 15mg / dl ( 4 ). in a limited study done by inciensa on 123 pregnant women in a semi - urban area in the outskirts of san jose, all had serum retinol levels higher than 50, m g / dl. a random sample of 50 lactating women contributing to a breast milk bank showed levels higher than 20 m g / dl in all individual samples. although these data on the women are incomplete, the findings in preschool children allow us to conclude reasonably that hypovitaminosis - a is no longer a public health problem in costa rica. the obvious, immediate question is whether sugar fortification per se was largely responsible for the improvement. to answer that question, the minister of health suspended the program of fortification in the second semester of 1980. during the second semester of 1981, a new survey for serum retinol levels was done by the ministry of health in the same population of preschool children, showing that of 561 children, none had deficient levels, and only 1. 8 per cent had low levels in spite of about one year without vitamin a fortification of sugar ( minister of health, personal communication, 1981 ). a new evaulation is to take place in two years. it is important to note that the improvement in vitamin a nutritional status was not an isolated finding. other positive changes in nutritional and health indicators in costa rica appeared in the 1970s, changing the disease profile from one classical for underdeveloped countries to one similar to that in the developed nations ( 5 ). by that time, vigorous health programmes, such as community and rural medical care based mainly on auxiliary health care personnel, had gone into effect. these programmes facilitated not only health care but also massive programmes of vaccination and health education. installation of facilities for proper disposal of excrete was another important undertaking, together with the development of an extended network of lines to supply pot


into effect. these programmes facilitated not only health care but also massive programmes of vaccination and health education. installation of facilities for proper disposal of excrete was another important undertaking, together with the development of an extended network of lines to supply potable water to most of the country ' s population. complementary nutrition programmes for children and pregnant women were reinforced through the so - called centres of education and nutrition and through meals at schools ( 5 ). we tend to believe that the improvement in vitamin a nutrition status in costa rica was largely the result of a combination of indirect strategies aimed at improving public health, socio - economic, and educational levels. at the time of the survey in 1966, it was reasonable to recommend fortification. the problem was important, and in fact nobody would have predicted any significant improvement in health problems at that time. however, fortification of sugar was started about nine years after the problem had been identified, at a time when a general improvement in health was beginning to be apparent. perhaps fortification came too late, and the expense and troubles inherent in the programme could have been avoided. in principle, a fertile country like costa rica should not have to buy premixes of vitamin a at disproportionately high prices, especially at this time of severe economic problems. in spite of the well - known paradox of a higher prevalence of vitamin a deficiency in " ever green countries " ( 6 ), in costa rica the long - run public health strategy has apparently already succeeded in eradicating vitamin a deficiency ( 7 ). by maintaining the programmes that led to this overall improvement, we believe that our population will be protected from vitamin a deficiency, and perhaps fortification will no longer be necessary. 1. institute of nutrition of central america and panama and the inter departmental committee on nutrition for national development, nutritional evaluation of the population of central / america and panama. regional summary 19651967, dhew publication no. ( hsm ) 72 - 8120 ( department of health, education and welfare, washington. d. c., usa, 19721. 2. g. arroyave, j. r. aguilar, m. flores, and m. a. guzman, evaluation of sugar fortification with vitamin a at the national level, paho scientific publication no. 38411979 ). 3. c. fuscaldo, e. mohs, and l. mata, " lesiones oculares por hipovitaminosis - a y otras causes en ninos hospitalizados


some two years later by a new dietary and blood serum survey in order to determine whether the higher vitamin a nutritional status attained could be maintained without fortified sugar. for this purpose a special meeting was called by the minister of health, requesting incap to act as specific adviser. it is evident from the follow - up surveys that the vitamin a nutritional level in preschool children, and possibly pregnant women, is still adequate. what is risky is to accept this as evidence that sugar fortification did not have any benefit, and that it probably was implemented " too late, " resulting in " expense and troubles inherent in the programme " that " could have been avoided. " as a scientist, i would consider it just as reasonable, on the basis of the circumstantial evidence available, to suggest that, even in the light of the long - run integrated nutritional programme in costa rica, the sugar fortification programme implemented in 1975 - 1976 served as the determining critical booster to bring the population rapidly to a new, adequate vitamin a status, a status that can now more easily be maintained with diet alone. strengthening this probability is the fact that in guatemala, where the vitamin a sugar fortification programme also began in 1975 - 1976, but where the dietary and health status of the population at large had not changed for the better, a dramatic improvement in vitamin a nutritional status was shown after only six months to a year of the effective national sugar fortification programme. this was demonstrated by highly significant increases in serum retinol levels in preschool children, retinol in breast - milk, and liver retinol reserves. in my opinion, the cost of the fortification programme at that time in costa rica of about us $ 300, 000 per year was not a disproportionately large expense, and the operation of the programme was so simple that it could hardly have been considered troublesome. to me, both the expenditure and the " trouble " were well justified because : ( a } the vitamin a that the population consumed during the years of fortification unquestionably contributed to the adequate vitamin a status now evident ; ( b ) the vitamin a in the sugar went to essentially all of the population regardless of sex or age, while the integrated nutrition plan for dietary improvement in costa rica had small children as its principal target. the same dietary survey cited by dr. de cespedes showed, in fact, that the children had attained adequate vitamin a dietary status, but the adults within the same families still had clearly inadequate intakes in many instances ; ( c ) if the above were not


" clearly, that would be a very logical assumption that someone is out there protecting us, somebody is making sure the chemicals that would harm our bodies or our environment wouldn ' t be in common products, " says debbie raphael, director of california ' s department of toxic substances control. as a result, about 83, 000 chemicals are not routinely tested for safety. raphael says california ' s new law affects every consumer product that may have any of more than 12 - hundred " chemicals of concern. " " these are chemicals widely understood throughout the world to cause problems like cancer, like reproductive harm, polluting our waters, polluting our air, those kinds of chemicals becomes our list of chemicals of concern, " says raphael. the prospect of regulating so many chemicals is daunting, so the department will target five chemicals in five products to begin with. the list could include could formaldehyde in carpet, cadmium in jewelry, ammonia in cleaning products ; the department hasn ' t decided. " basically the department is in a position to choose any product that it wants, at any time, and in the first year, two years, three years, five years, ten years down the road, " says gene livingston, an attorney for the green chemistry alliance. it ' s a coalition that represents automobile, toy, plastics, paint, and detergent manufacturers among others. he says the new law may sound reasonable … but its results are totally unpredictable. " and that ' s how business is looking at this … what ' s going to happen in the future, " says livingston. " the way they ' ve organized the regulation could cause very serious economic impacts, " says loren kaye is with the california chamber of commerce. " initially it ' s going to affect manufacturers, but then manufacturers make products that get incorporated into further products, and then eventually it gets into distribution and retail, so it affects the whole stream of commerce. " ultimately, he says the new chemical regulations will force consumers to pay more for products, or make some products unavailable. phillips says she thinks the regulations could have gone even further to include more chemicals that degrade water quality. but she says the pending regulations are designed to protect consumers. " it won ' t reduce the availability of household cleaners for instance it will just make sure that household cleaners are safer, children aren ' t exposed to toxic chemicals, mothers aren ' t exposed to toxic chemicals, " says phillips. manufacturers contend product reformulation can cost millions of dollars and they say alternatives to some chemicals can be more expensive or


archaeologists have recovered six cannons from the ships of welsh privateer henry morgan, the first artifacts found in panama to be linked to the man who remains a legend there, the team said monday. in the late 1600s, morgan sent three ships and a crew of 470 men to capture the castillo de san lorenzo el real de chagres, a fort that guarded the approach to panama city, the capital. morgan and his men were sailing up the chagres river to join them when his flagship, the satisfaction, and at least three other vessels crashed on lajas reef, sinking in shallow water. members of morgan ' s force paddled upriver and traveled overland to reach panama city, which they successfully sacked. but their wrecked ships were abandoned and left to amateur archaeologists and looters. " every school kid learns about morgan ' s activities, but we have never seen any of his materials, " said archaeologist tomas mendizibal, a research associate at patronato panama viejo, a government agency that is overseeing excavation of the original site of panama city. " if these are indeed his cannons, it would be a first. " mendizibal was not involved in the discovery. morgan is generally thought of as a pirate, but he was commissioned as a privateer by the english crown to attack enemy vessels and protect the british colonies of barbados and jamaica because the royal navy was unable to do so. he became the scourge of the spanish in the caribbean and was eventually knighted and made governor of jamaica. an american - panamanian team has been exploring the mouth of the chagres river since 2008, documenting its rich history. christopher columbus came across it in 1502 on his fourth voyage to the new world and it became the gateway to panama city, spain ' s main port in the pacific. after the decline of the spanish empire in the late 18th century, the city became a backwater port and an entree for smuggling and illicit trade. with the california gold rush, the chagres river again saw a flurry of activity, but the construction of the panama railroad shifted transit traffic to the port of colon and by 1855 the river was again a backwater. at the edge of the lajas reef, the team found what appeared to be a field of six cannons, all covered with layers of sedimentary rock that had built up over the centuries, said archaeologist james p. delgado, director of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration ' s maritime heritage program in silver spring, md., and a co - leader of the team. the


with layers of sedimentary rock that had built up over the centuries, said archaeologist james p. delgado, director of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration ' s maritime heritage program in silver spring, md., and a co - leader of the team. the cannons seem to be from the 17th century and five are probably french. morgan ' s flagship " was a captured french vessel, and the mix [ of cannons ] is the type of thing one would expect for a privateer, " delgado said. " these guys grabbed whatever they could get a hold of. " at least two more guns are buried in the sand, along with an anchor, ceramics, bottles and other artifacts, he said. magnetometers indicate that other metal objects are buried more deeply. " the only wrecks that we know of that happened on that reef are his, " said delgado, who worked with colleagues from texas state university - san marcos, the waitt institute in la jolla and panama ' s national institute of culture. moreover, an old map found in local archives indicates the site of the wreck is the location where the team found the cannons. the archaeologists had not intended to bring the cannons to the surface, but treasure hunters have apparently been working at the site. " there is evidence of explosions, heavy gouging and digging and massive scooped - out areas, " delgado said. " the reef has really been hit hard, " forcing their hand.


it is said that “ binoculars are halfway to a telescope ” for observing the night sky. not only this, but they are easier to use than a telescope and far less than half the cost. so, binoculars make the ideal “ first scope ” for someone newly interested in amateur so, which binoculars should you buy? first of all, if you already have a pair, go ahead and use them! very few pairs of binoculars are so bad as to be useless, and this way you can start tonight ( if it ’ s clear ). if you have a starmap ( you can see one online at sky and telescope or download a 55 - page. pdf of a full sky atlas for free at guide to backyard astronomy ) take it outside and start finding things. depending on the time of year, good objects to look at are m42 ( the great orion nebula ) in orion, the double cluster in perseus, the coathanger cluster in vulpecula ( between altair and vega ), m13 ( the great hercules cluster ) in hercules, m31 ( the andromeda galaxy ) in andromeda, m44 ( the beehive cluster ) in cancer ( between leo and gemini ), mel 111 ( the coma star cluster ) in coma berenices at leo ’ s tail, or if you can see the milky way, just scan that for lots of good if you wish to purchase a pair of binoculars, there are several things to consider. holding them steady can be a challenge, particularly if they are heavy. high magnification amplifies the shaking, so that is a consideration. to start with ( especially a child ) one would want to limit himself to about 10x magnification and about 50mm for lens diameter ( written 10×50 in a binocular ’ s specs ). in fact, 7×45 or 10×50 is an ideal place to start for most people. if you can handle it, 11×70 is a good size that lets you see a bit more. ( i most often observe with my oberwerk 11×70 binoculars ). if possible, borrow a pair of binoculars and try them to see what you can handle. if you wear eyeglasses, you need at least 10mm, and preferably 15mm, of eye relief ( sometimes called “ exit pupil distance ” ). this is how far you hold your eye from the eyepiece lens to see the best image. if you wear glasses, you need that extra distance. many


and preferably 15mm, of eye relief ( sometimes called “ exit pupil distance ” ). this is how far you hold your eye from the eyepiece lens to see the best image. if you wear glasses, you need that extra distance. many binoculars have foldable eyecups – leave them unfolded if you do not wear glasses, or fold them in if you do, to properly place your eyes. any type prism would work, but bak4 is the best for astronomy. there are differences of opinion on whether porro prisms is better than roof prisms, but the difference seems slight to me. roof prisms mean more compact binoculars, while porro prisms cost less. you will want a pair with a focusing control. fixed - focus or focus - free binoculars are usually a little out of focus for either separate focusing knobs for each eyepiece, or a single focusing knob and a diopter adjustment knob are helpful if one eye focuses differently from the other. also, “ zoom binoculars ” often leave something to be desired in performance, and add to the price. now, you generally want bright, high - contrast images, subject to constraints above and to what you are willing to pay. higher magnification for a given lens size means better contrast for stars ( but not for extended objects like galaxies or nebulae – they get larger but dimmer with higher magnification ). larger lens size for a given magnification means brighter images. you can get a feel for the brightness of an image through “ exit pupil diameter ”. if not printed in the specs, you can compute this by dividing the lens diameter, in millimeters, by the magnifcation. so for 10×50 binoculars, the exit pupil diameter is 5mm. a child ’ s pupils dilate to about 9mm, and an adults to 7mm, or maybe only 5mm with old age. generally, larger exit pupil means brighter images … until the exit pupil is the size of your pupils. after that, more exit pupil diameter doesn ’ t help. if you do get big binoculars, you may want a tripod. many find they need a tripod for 11×70 binoculars. most people would want one for 20×80 binoculars, and everybody would want one for 25×100 binoculars. make sure the tripod is sturdy enough for the weight of the binoculars. a tripod made for a tiny video camera would probably be insufficient. also, check that the binoculars have a standard mounting thread. you might have


portrait of juana ines de la cruz at age 15 juana ines de la cruz de asuaje y ramirez was born in san miguel nepantla, near mexico city. she was the illegitimate child of a spanish captain, pedro manuel de asuaje, and a criollo woman, isabel ramirez. her illegitimacy was due to her mother ’ s refusal to marry. she learned how to read and write at the age of three. by age five, she could do accounts, and at age eight she composed a poem on the eucharist. by adolescence, she had mastered greek logic, and at age thirteen she was teaching latin to young children. she also learned the aztec language of nahuatl, and wrote some short poems in that language. in 1664, at age sixteen, juana was sent to live in mexico city. she asked her mother ’ s permission to disguise herself as a male student so that she could enter the university. not being allowed to do this, she continued her studies privately. she came under the tutelage of the vicereine leonor carreto, wife of viceroy antonio sebastian de toledo. the viceroy, wishing to test her learning and intelligence ( she being then seventeen years old ), invited several theologians, jurists, philosophers, and poets to a meeting, during which she had to answer, unprepared, many questions, and explain several difficult points on various scientific and literary subjects. the manner in which she acquitted herself astonished all present, and greatly increased her reputation. her literary accomplishments soon made her famous throughout new spain. she was much admired in the vice - royal court, and declined several proposals of marriage, for in the spirit of her mother, she refused to marry. in 1667, she entered the convent of the discalced carmelites of st. joseph as a postulant. in 1669, she entered the convent of the order of st. jerome. in juana ’ s time, the convent was often seen as the only refuge in which a female could properly attend to the education of her mind, spirit, body and soul. it was juana ’ s only refuge from marriage. nonetheless, she wrote literature centered on freedom. in her poem redondillas, she defends a woman ’ s right to be respected as a human being. therein, she also criticizes the sexism of the society of her time, poking fun at and revealing the hypocrisy of men who publicly condemn prostitutes,


defends a woman ’ s right to be respected as a human being. therein, she also criticizes the sexism of the society of her time, poking fun at and revealing the hypocrisy of men who publicly condemn prostitutes, yet privately pay women to perform on them what they have just said is an abomination to god. sor juana asks the sharp question in this age - old matter of the purity / whoredom split found in base male mentality : “ who sins more, she who sins for pay? or he who pays for sin? ” for these works, she is regarded as one of the first feminists. foolish men who wrongly accuse women, without seeing that you are the cause of what you fault them for ; you want with unthinking presumption to find in the woman you seek … either love women for what you force them to be, or fashion them according to what you want them to be. marvellous portrait and person. - spanishskulduggery likes this - jabba - da - butt reblogged this from little - hiding - owl - sabbatine reblogged this from anthrocentric and added : - othersidhe likes this - be - diff3rent likes this - jenninova likes this - jenninova reblogged this from angie - laughing - alone - with - salad - angie - laughing - alone - with - salad reblogged this from anthrocentric - josiegem likes this - kinvoya reblogged this from anthrocentric and added : - kinvoya likes this - kiranirvanna reblogged this from anthrocentric - kiranirvanna likes this - balancingknives likes this - tooprettyforthis - shit reblogged this from learn - to - leave - well - iamgbtm reblogged this from anthrocentric - iamgbtm likes this - learn - to - leave - well reblogged this from anthrocentric and added : - annearachne reblogged this from anthrocentric - angie - laughing - alone - with - salad likes this - xchelsemilyy likes this - anthrocentric reblogged this from elgin - marbles - portmanteauverload reblogged this from filipino - burrito - dudevstheworld likes this -


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fact check : uk report criticizing wind is off base a recent report being circulated in the united kingdom casts some doubt on wind ' s ability to serve as a reliable source of electricity generation. not surprisingly, its assertions seem largely questionable or off the mark. stated in general terms, they are as follows : allegation : wind turbines will generate on average 30 % of their rated capacity over a year. fact : first, a conventional utility power plant uses fuel, so it will normally run much of the time unless it is idled by equipment problems or for maintenance. an average capacity of 40 % to 80 % is typical for conventional plants. a wind plant is " fueled " by the wind, which blows steadily at times and not at all at other times. although modern utility - scale wind turbines typically operate 65 % to 90 % of the time, they often run at less than full capacity. therefore, an average capacity of 25 % to 40 % is common, although they may achieve higher average capacities during windy weeks or months. while average capacity is almost entirely a matter of equipment reliability for a fueled power plant, it is not for a wind plant — for a wind plant, it is a matter of economical turbine design. with a very large rotor and a very small generator, a wind turbine would run at full capacity whenever the wind blew and would have a 60 - 80 % average capacity — but it would produce very little electricity. the most electricity per dollar of investment is gained by using a larger generator and accepting the fact that the average capacity will be lower as a result. wind turbines are fundamentally different from fueled power plants in this respect. second, the average capacity for wind turbines in the u. s. has improved consistently ( 15 % every two years on average ) and is in the 30 % + range - - see analysis by utility consulting firm black & veatch here ( see specifically figures 5 - 4 and 5 - 5 ). allegation : while wind proponents say " the wind is always blowing somewhere, " sometimes it is calm throughout the united kingdom. fact : first, the statement " the wind is always blowing somewhere " applies to geographic areas quite a bit larger than the united kingdom. the area covered by the midwest independent system operator, which runs the utility system throughout several states in the upper midwest, for example, is five times the size of the u. k. a number of studies by the government, system operators, and utilities in the united states indicate that when wind resources are aggregated over a large geographic area,


in the upper midwest, for example, is five times the size of the u. k. a number of studies by the government, system operators, and utilities in the united states indicate that when wind resources are aggregated over a large geographic area, nearly the entire energy output of the wind plants can be counted on for meeting power system capacity needs. second, no individual power plant operates 100 % of the time. predictability is what is needed for the utility system as a whole to deliver electricity reliably, and wind farms are generally quite predictable, because their output can be forecast and because that output changes slowly over time compared with conventional power plants that can suffer instantaneous outages. a noteworthy example of this advantage of wind ' s predictability occurred in february 2011, when millions of electricity consumers in the state of texas experienced rolling blackouts because of the sudden loss of over 50 fossil - fired power plants totaling over 7, 000 megawatts ( mw ). at the same time, wind plants continued to produce the approximately 3, 500 mw they had been forecast and scheduled to produce, enough to power millions of typical homes. large coal and nuclear power plants frequently break down with no warning, taking 1, 000 mw or more offline instantaneously. that is very difficult for grid operators to deal with - - they must maintain expensive, fast - acting reserves 24 / 7 / 365, as such an outage can occur at any time. in contrast, changes in wind output occur gradually and are usually predictable, allowing grid operators to use slow - acting, non - spinning reserves that typically cost 40 times less than the fast - acting reserves needed for other power plants. additionally, because the variability of wind energy is smaller than other sources of variability on the power system, particularly the large variability of electric demand, most of wind ’ s variability is canceled out so that adding wind to the grid only slightly increases aggregate power system variability. allegation : periods of low wind are frequent in the united kingdom, occurring on average every six days and lasting for an average of five hours at a time. fact : that data indicates that low winds occur about 3 % of the time. that ’ s amazingly low – certainly not worth complaints! the 3 % low wind time is considerably less than expected from a wind plant in a high - performing project in a great wind resource area, which is estimated to be at least 10 % of the time. allegation : during periods of peak demand in the u. k., wind farms were producing only 6 %


plant in a high - performing project in a great wind resource area, which is estimated to be at least 10 % of the time. allegation : during periods of peak demand in the u. k., wind farms were producing only 6 % of their rated capacity ( due to low winds ). fact : this may be true - - in the u. s., wind farms normally generate somewhere between 10 % and 40 % of their rated capacity during periods of peak electricity demand. as mentioned earlier, though, the power system is designed to draw on a variety of different types of power plants, and no power plant operates 100 % of the time. allegation : the u. k. ' s pumped hydro storage capacity is not enough to rely on during periods when the winds are low. fact : this is essentially irrelevant. european countries like denmark, spain, ireland, and germany have successfully integrated very large amounts of wind energy without having to install new energy storage resources. in the u. s., numerous peer - reviewed studies have concluded that wind energy can provide 20 % or more of our electricity without any need for energy storage. how is this possible? the secret lies in using the sources of flexibility that are already present on the electric grid. every day, grid operators constantly accommodate variability in electricity demand and supply by increasing and decreasing the output of flexible generators – power plants like hydroelectric dams or natural gas plants that can rapidly change their level of generation. thus, the water kept behind a dam or the natural gas held in a pipeline may be thought of as a form of energy storage, with operators using this energy when it is needed and " storing " it when it is not. grid operators use these same flexible resources to accommodate any variability introduced by wind energy. a tremendous amount of flexibility is already built into the power system. demand for electricity can vary by a factor of three or more depending on the time of day and year, which nationwide translates into hundreds of thousands of megawatts of flexibility that are already built into the power system. because these power plants and other sources of flexibility have already been built, it is almost always much cheaper to use this flexibility than to build new sources of flexibility like energy storage facilities. while continuing advances in energy storage technology can make it more economically competitive as a provider of utility system flexibility, it is important to remember that resources like wind energy can already be cost - effectively and reliably integrated with the electric utility system without energy storage. fact sheet : wind energy and energy storage fact sheet : wind power


henry gray ( 18251861 ). anatomy of the human body. 1918. cone - fibers of which are almost horizontal in direction ; ( 3 ) an exceedingly thin inner plexiform layer. the pigmented layer is thicker and its pigment more pronounced than elsewhere. the color of the macula seems to imbue all the layers except that of the rods and cones ; it is of a rich yellow, deepest toward the center of the macula, and does not appear to be due to pigment cells, but simply to a staining of the constituent parts. at the ora serrata the nervous layers of the retina end abruptly, and the retina is continued onward as a single layer of columnar cells covered by the pigmented layer. this double layer is known as the pars ciliaris retinæ, and can be traced forward from the ciliary processes on to the back of the iris, where it is termed the pars iridica retinæ or uvea. the arteria centralis retinæ ( fig. 879 ) and its accompanying vein pierce the optic nerve, and enter the bulb of the eye through the porus opticus. the artery immediately bifurcates into an upper and a lower branch, and each of these again divides into a medial or nasal and a lateral or temporal branch, which at first run between the hyaloid membrane and the nervous layer ; but they soon enter the latter, and pass forward, dividing dichotomously. from these branches a minute capillary plexus is given off, which does not extend beyond the inner nuclear layer. the macula receives two small branches ( superior and inferior macular arteries ) from the temporal branches and small twigs directly from the central artery ; these do not, however, reach as far as the fovea centralis, which has no bloodvessels. the branches of the arteria centralis retinæ do not anastomose with each otherin other words they are terminal arteries. in the fetus, a small vessel, the arteria hyaloidea, passes forward as a continuation of the arteria centralis retinæ through the vitreous humor to the posterior surface of the capsule of the lens. 1c. 2. the refracting media the refracting media are three, viz. : the aqueous humor ( humor aqueus ). the aqueous humor fills the anterior and posterior chambers of the eyeball. it is


now, with the release of the south carolina non - population census records on ancestry. com, i can get an even more in - depth look at the war ' s impact. i found john peter quattlebaum on the 1860 and 1870 non - population census records. i don ' t know if john fought in the war, but i do know that his sons did. the first thing i notice is that the family is not in the same location - edgefield distrist in 1860 and hibler in 1870. in 1860, edgefield county was organized into only three townships. by 1870, edgefield county was organized into twenty different townships. on the populations census records, he neighbors are the same, so i assume that he did not move, but that county organization became more sophisticated. i see that in 1860 and 1870 he had 308 acres of land, which helps to confirm that he is on the same property. in 1860, the cash value of his land is $ 2, 250, but in 1870 his land is worth only $ 930. the value of his farming equipment has also plummeted. it would seem that physical equipment might be worth more and harder to find after the war, so perhaps he lost some of his equipment during the war. the non - population census also records livestock holdings. from 1860 to 1870 john lost : two horses, a mule, four milk cows, two cattle, three sheep, and 37 swine. he gained two oxen. the total value of his livestock plummeted by $ 363. his farming production has changed a lot ( on second page not shown ). in 1860, john made most of his money potato farming, producing over 100 bushels. by 1870 he ' s produced less than 20 bushels. he ' s made up for the difference with a slight increase in dairy production. the family has also lost all production of honey and homemade merchandise and their value of slaughtered animals has decreased dramatically. overall, it seems that john and his family suffered during the war. the value of their land decreased and they lost the means to earn money. without the non - population census records, we wouldn ' t be able to see the detail of the changes in this family ' s life.


moses ' father - in - law, jethro, sheik of midian, heard about all that god had done for moses and his people israel when he brought israel out of egypt. vayishma yitro chohen midyan choten moshe et kol - asher asah elohim le - moshe ule - yisra ' el amo ki - hotsi adonay et - yisra ' el mimitsrayim. | | jethro brought along moses ' wife, tzipporah, who had been sent home earlier, vayikach yitro choten moshe et - tsiporah eshet moshe achar shilucheyha. see notes on exodus 2 : 18, 3 : 1. according to some authorities, jethro was moses ' brother - in - law ( ibn ezra on numbers 10 : 29 ). there is a question as to whether or not the torah is in chronological order here. according to some, jethro came before the giving of the ten commandments, while according to others, he came afterward ( zevachim 116a ; ramban ). actually, ' jethro, father - in - law of moses. ' the same is true in exodus 18 : 5 and 18 : 12, but for the sake of simplicity, it is abbreviated. see exodus 2 : 21. | sent home earlier | at aaron ' s advice ( mekhilta ; rashi ), soon after the episode of the circumcision ( exodus 4 : 25 ).


in the aftermath of the civil war, americans of union and confederate persuasions had to effect reconciliation. they did so by seeking out that which they had in common rather than dwelling on their differences. families on both sides shared the same revolutionary war heritage, and that heritage became a subject which could reunite the country. former union army general u. s. grant occupied the white house after the war, and he presided over the centenary of the nation in 1876. by the end of the civil war, the revolutionary war generation had become extinct. there were few americans left alive who had personally looked upon such figures as george washington and nathaniel greene. there was no one who could describe how they spoke. americans had to face the fact that the united states had a history, and it was incumbent upon them to record it or lose it. as the nation approached 1876, each county was urged to write its history. because most counties lacked someone with the skills of preparing their histories, private companies such as goodspeed ’ s of boston and lewis publishing company of chicago assembled staffs to write the county histories of the nation for a fee. they were meeting a need, providing a service, and hoping to earn a profit. they took as their motto the great historian macaulay ’ s quotation, “ the history of a country is best told in a record of the lives of its people. ” the publishers prepared mini - biographical sketches of the inhabitants of counties. if a prospective biographee agreed to purchase a copy, he would be included. if he were an avid supporter of the venture, the publishers would also include a copper plate engraving of his likeness for an additional fee. for even more money, his wife could be likewise featured. these images caused the publications to be dubbed “ mug ” books. the remainder of this article is for plus edition subscribers only. if you have a plus edition user id and password, you can read the article right now at no additional charge in this web site ' s plus edition at http : / / plus. eogn. com. this article will remain online for several weeks. if you do not remember your plus edition user id or password, you can retrieve them at the same place : http : / / plus. eogn. com. if you decide to subscribe to the plus edition right now, you will be able to immediately read this article online. for more information about subscribing to the plus edition of eastman ' s online genealogy newsletter, visit http : / / blog. eogn. com


the bickersons battle over alpha meet betty and bart bickerson, husband and wife quality analysts who work at different companies. betty and bart argue about everything. they argue whether grey is a color. they argue whether tomato is a fruit. they argue whether the chicken came before the egg, and whether the egg tastes better fried, scrambled, or poached. but their relationship didn ’ t get really rocky until they started to argue about what alpha level, also called the significance level, to use for a hypothesis test. note : the alpha level is the criterion against which you compare the p - value to determine whether a difference is statistically significant. the alpha level option for the 2 - sample t test in the minitab assistant is shown below : the alpha level : how low do you go? listen in as betty and bart squabble over what alpha level to use when comparing the mean before and after a process change. bart : " well, betty, i think i ’ m going to raise the alpha level for the test. kick it up a notch from 0. 05 to 0. 10. " betty : " that ’ s funny, bart. if anything, i was going to lower it a notch - - down to 0. 01. why would you ever want to raise the level of risk? " bart : " i want to boost the power of the test to detect a difference. if i use a higher alpha, i can be more certain i ’ m going to find a significant difference between the process means, if it ’ s really there. " betty : " but if you raise alpha, you ’ re also going to be less certain that any significant shift in the process mean that you find is really true — and not just a statistical fluke — a random error. you ' ll increase the risk of ' false - positives. ' " bart : " but betty, by lowering alpha, you ’ ll increase the risk of ' false - negatives. ' the last thing i want is to miss a possible effect on the process mean. even after i raise alpha to 0. 1, the risk of falsely finding a significant result will only be 10 %. " betty : “ well, bart, i don ’ t want to mistakenly conclude there ’ s a significant process change when there ’ s really not. that ’ s worse in my book. " betty straightened her posture and adjusted the “ quality counts ” button on her lapel. betty : “ and if i find a significant difference, i ’


a significant process change when there ’ s really not. that ’ s worse in my book. " betty straightened her posture and adjusted the “ quality counts ” button on her lapel. betty : “ and if i find a significant difference, i ’ ll be 99 % confident in my results — you ’ ll only be 90 % confident. ” bart : “ you don ’ t need to be sooo worried about reporting a significant effect that ’ s not there. ” betty : “ and you don ’ t need to be sooooooo paranoid about missing a significant effect. ” bart : “ i ’ m not paranoid, you ’ re paranoid. ” betty : “ well at least i don ’ t snore like a leaf blower stuck in full throttle. ” bart : “ and at least i don ’ t crack my toes in bed. ” can statistical therapy save this relationship? it was time for betty and bart to see a statistical therapist. after years of data analysis, dr. sigma freud fully understood what constituted normality - - and what didn ' t. dr. freud listened patiently to betty and bart spar over the alpha level. after they had temporarily run out of lung capacity, she turned to betty. dr. freud : " your fear of incorrectly concluding that a result is significant, when it ’ s really not, is completely justified. in fact, we have a special name for that faux pas in statistics, it ’ s called a type 1 error. " betty smiled and tried not to look too smug. dr. freud : " and just as you say, betty, you can reduce the chance of making a type i error by lowering the alpha level for a hypothesis test. " dr. freud turned to bart. dr. freud : " and bart, your concern is completely valid as well. if a hypothesis test does not reveal a significant difference, but a difference does indeed exist, we call that a type ii error. and one way to help guard against it is to raise the alpha level. " was it betty ’ s imagination, or was bart ’ s normally concave chest starting to puff up a bit? dr. freud : " so both of your concerns are valid. this push - pull dynamic of risk is a natural part of any healthy statistical relationship. what we need do is to find a way to balance those competing risks. " betty : " how can do we do that? " dr. freud : “ you know, what about just going with the default alpha level of 0. 05?


. what we need do is to find a way to balance those competing risks. " betty : " how can do we do that? " dr. freud : “ you know, what about just going with the default alpha level of 0. 05? that ’ s what most couples would do. you ' d be 95 % confident that any shift in the process mean that you find is real. ” betty : “ hmmm. sometimes i do wish we ’ d never clicked the arrow to see the options for alpha. life was simpler. ” bart shook his head. bart : “ too many things have been said. we can ’ t go back now. ” why two rights don ' t make a wrong dr. freud : “ ok. let ’ s take a step back and delve a little deeper. why don ’ t you both tell me more about the projects you ’ re working on. betty, let ' s start with you. ” betty : " i work for a medical device company. we ' ve developed a new implant device for patients. we ' re excited because it might really improve patient outcomes. but it ' s more costly than the current device. before we put it into production, we want to be doubly sure that the difference in patient outcomes is really there. " dr. freud : " so if you find a difference in outcomes - - specifically, an improved outcome with the new device - - and that difference really doesn ' t exist, the consequences could be very severe. " betty : " absolutely. if the new device doesn ' t improve outcomes, and we don ' t realize it, we ' d waste a lot of money producing it. patients would also have to pay more for something that didn ' t really offer a real improvement over the current implant device. " dr. freud : " well betty, in your case, the consequences of a type i error are more severe than a type ii error. so you ' re doing exactly what you should be by lowering the alpha level. now, bart, what about you? " bart : " i work in an automotive plant. one of our parts suppliers has been raising prices. we want to switch to another supplier that offers the same part at a lower price. but before we do that we need to compare key dimensions of the part to make sure there ' s no difference. we don ' t want to sacrifice quality for reduced cost. " dr. freud : " so if you don ' t find a difference in the dimensions in the part between the


compare key dimensions of the part to make sure there ' s no difference. we don ' t want to sacrifice quality for reduced cost. " dr. freud : " so if you don ' t find a difference in the dimensions in the part between the two suppliers, and a difference really does exist, the consequences could be very severe. " bart : " absolutely. if the dimensions are off, and we don ' t realize it, we could lose a lot of money with increased scrap rates. overall product quality could also drop, and we might lose customers. " dr. freud : " well bart, in your case, the consequences of a type ii error seem to be more severe than a type i error. so you ' re doing exactly what you should be by raising the alpha level. " betty / bart ( together ) : " you mean we ' re both right?! " dr. freud : " absolutely! now how about a little hug? " the bickersons embraced, overjoyed at finally understanding the alpha level. betty : “ i ’ m so glad i suggested coming here! ” bart : “ me, too! but, actually, didn ' t i suggest coming here? ” betty : “ no, bart, i ’ m sure it was my idea. ” bart : “ au contraire, betty... " moral of the story most of the time, you can leave the default alpha level ( 0. 05 ) alone. unless you ’ re in a situation like betty or bart. if you need statistical therapy, check out the minitab assistant ( open minitab and choose assistant ). it ’ s like having a statistical therapist built right into the analysis itself. if you ' d prefer a real, live statistical therapist to personally help you design or analyze your quality improvement project, check out mentoring by minitab trainers. kangaroo photo by pascal vuylskeker and dedicated to greg fox, our blogger at - large in sydney.