mission type : orbiter launch vehicle : titan ivb / centaur launch site : cape canaveral air force station, fla., usa nasa center : jet propulsion laboratory spacecraft mass : 5, 712 kilograms ( 12, 593 pounds ) with fuel, huygens probe, adapter, etc ; 2, 125 kilograms ( 4, 685 pounds ) unfueled orbiter alone spacecraft instruments : 1 ) composite infrared spectrometer ; 2 ) imaging system ; 3 ) ultraviolet imaging spectrograph ; 4 ) visual and infrared mapping spectrometer ; 5 ) imaging radar ; 5 ) radio science ; 6 ) plasma spectrometer ; 7 ) cosmic dust analyzer ; 8 ) ion and neutral mass spectrometer ; 9 ) magnetometer ; 10 ) magnetospheric imaging instrument ; and 11 ) radio and plasma wave science spacecraft dimensions : 6. 7 meters ( 22 feet ) high ; 4 meters ( 13. 1 feet ) wide spacecraft power : three radioisotope thermoelectric generators maximum power : 885 watts ( 633 watts at end of mission ) total cost : about $ 3. 27 billion, of which the u. s. contribution is $ 2. 6 billion and the european partners ' contribution $ 660 million deep space chronicle : a chronology of deep space and planetary probes 1958 - 2000, monographs in aerospace history no. 24, by asif a. siddiqi national space science data center, http : / / nssdc. gsfc. nasa. gov / solar system log by andrew wilson, published 1987 by jane ' s publishing co. ltd. the cassini - huygens project was the result of plans at nasa dating from the early 1980s. the cooperative project involved a nasa - supplied spacecraft, cassini, and a european space agency lander, huygens. the lander was to study titan, saturn ' s largest moon, during a parachute descent. during its four - year primary mission, cassini used a large complement of instruments ( including radar and optical imagers ) to explore both saturn and its many moons. the 3, 132 - kilogram orbiter, with a design life of eleven years, is powered by three rtgs. cassini ' s trip to saturn included four gravity - assists. seven months after launch, the spacecraft passed venus on 26 april 1988 at a range of 284 kilometers, gaining 26, 280 kilometers per hour. cassini performed a second flyby of venus on 24 june 1999 at a range of 600 kilometers


- assists. seven months after launch, the spacecraft passed venus on 26 april 1988 at a range of 284 kilometers, gaining 26, 280 kilometers per hour. cassini performed a second flyby of venus on 24 june 1999 at a range of 600 kilometers and one of earth at 03 : 28 ut on 18 august 1999 at a range of 1, 171 kilometers ; it then headed to jupiter. cassini passed by the asteroid 2685 masursky on 23 january 2000, coming close to a distance of 1. 5 million kilometers at 09 : 58 ut. during the encounter, cassini used its remote - sensing instruments to investigate the asteroid ' s size and dimensions, and albedo. during the jupiter encounter, on 30 december 2000, cassini performed simultaneous observations of the planet with the galileo orbiter. once past jupiter, cassini ' s was set for saturn orbit insertion on 1 july 2004. cassini was the first spacecraft to orbit saturn. pioneer 11 and voyagers 1 and 2 were flyby missions. on 24 december 2004, cassini released the huygens probe and continued its numerous flybys. the huygens probe entered titan ' s atmosphere on 14 january 2005. during its 2. 5 - hour descent, the spacecraft deployed a main parachute for stabilization and relayed data and images back to the orbiter for transmission back to earth. it landed on rocky, muddy terrain and successfully sent back the first images from the surface of a moon beyond earth ' s. the orbiter continued its mission making numerous titan flybys and capturing close looks at other moons, including iapetus, enceladus, dione, rhea and more distant encounters with tethys, mimas and hyperion. enceladus delivered one of the mission ' s greatest surprises - - geysers erupting from a moon previously thought to be frozen and inert. scientists found the geysers create one of saturn ' s rings. the orbiter ' s primary mission ended on 30 june 2008. it is now on the cassini equinox mission, seeking answer to new questions raised in cassini ' s first years at saturn. the mission ' s extension, through september 2010, is named for the saturnian equinox, which occurred in august 2009 when the sun shone directly on the equator and began to illuminate the northern hemisphere and the rings ' northern face. cassini observed seasonal changes brought by the sun ' s changing angle on saturn, the rings and moons, which were illuminated from the south during


anatomy of a busted comet date : 1 feb 2008 nasa ' s spitzer space telescope captured the picture on the left of comet holmes in february 2008, four months after the comet suddenly erupted and brightened a millionfold overnight. the contrast of the picture has been enhanced on the right to show the anatomy of the comet. every six years, comet 17p / holmes speeds away from jupiter and heads inward toward the sun, traveling the same route typically without incident. however, twice in the last 116 years, in november 1892 and october 2007, comet holmes mysteriously exploded as it approached the asteroid belt. astronomers still do not know the cause of these eruptions. spitzer ' s infrared picture at left reveals fine dust particles that make up the outer shell, or coma, of the comet. the nucleus of the comet is within the bright whitish spot in the center, while the yellow area shows solid particles that were blown from the comet in the explosion. the comet is headed away from the sun, which lies beyond the right - hand side of the picture. the contrast - enhanced picture on the right shows the comet ' s outer shell, and strange filaments, or streamers, of dust. the streamers and shell are a yet another mystery surrounding comet holmes. scientists had initially suspected that the streamers were small dust particles ejected from fragments of the nucleus, or from hyerpactive jets on the nucleus, during the october 2007 explosion. if so, both the streamers and the shell should have shifted their orientation as the comet followed its orbit around the sun. radiation pressure from the sun should have swept the material back and away from it. but pictures of comet holmes taken by spitzer over time show the streamers and shell in the same configuration, and not pointing away from the sun. the observations have left astronomers stumped. the horizontal line seen in the contrast - enhanced picture is a trail of debris that travels along with the comet in its orbit. the spitzer picture was taken with the spacecraft ' s multiband imaging photometer at an infrared wavelength of 24 microns. last update : 27 jun 2011 ( amb )


what is in this article? : • farmers in the southeast knew going into the 2011 spring planting season that temik was being taken off the market — gradually up to 2016. • they didn ’ t count on a lawsuit in west virginia stopping production and significantly restricting the amount of temik available for the 2011 cropping season. • the fallout from shortages in temik supply has already been significant in determining what crops farmers do and don ’ t plant. temik has been widely used in crops in the southeast since the early 1980s, and though maligned by both farmers and environmental activists because of its safety liabilities, there is no doubt the product has contributed significantly to the growth in agricultural productivity around the world. farmers in the southeast knew going into the 2011 spring planting season that temik was being taken off the market — gradually up to 2016. they didn ’ t count on a lawsuit in west virginia stopping production and significantly restricting the amount of temik available for the 2011 cropping season. the fallout from shortages in temik supply has already been significant in determining what crops farmers do and don ’ t plant. however, having been on the market and so widely used for so many years, the use of old, lesser used, chemistry to replace temik could have some far - reaching affects. the toughest replacement questions are facing growers who have a cotton and peanut rotation. cotton acreage, for example, is expected to be up significantly in 2011. temik at 5 - 8 pounds per acre, applied at planting, has been a standard for cotton growers for as long as most southeast growers have been growing cotton. the same is even truer for peanuts, another staple crop of the southeast. peanut farmers may have fewer options for temik replacements than cotton growers. long - time virginia tech plant pathologist pat phipps says in some areas of the upper southeast he recommends using existing temik on peanuts rather than on cotton. “ especially in virginia and in some parts of north carolina, peanut growers just don ’ t have many options, especially in fields with a history of high nematode populations and soil - borne diseases, ” phipps says. north carolina state entomologist jack bachelor, who has studied the use of temik for thrips control in cotton for many years, says the options for temik alternatives are relatively few when it comes to managing both early season insects and nematodes. “ for thrips control and cotton yield, in


temik for thrips control in cotton for many years, says the options for temik alternatives are relatively few when it comes to managing both early season insects and nematodes. “ for thrips control and cotton yield, in our replicated tests, temik 15g at the 5. 0 product rate has been a little better from an economic standpoint than any one of the seed treatments ( gaucho grade, cruiser, avicta complete or aeris ) plus a foliar spray ( typically acephate ) at the first true leaf stage, ” he says. “ according to our latest survey of independent consultants, last year temik alone was used on 54 percent of the consulted acreage ; an additional 17. 5 percent of this acreage was planted to temik ( most often 5 pounds ) plus a seed treatment. ” according to north carolina state university plant pathologist, steve koenning, aeris and avicta complete, which contain different nematicides ( thiodicarb and abemectin ) in addition to the thrips - active insecticide, are roughly equivalent to 4 - 5 pounds of temik 15g for nematodes. for higher populations of nematodes, growers have routinely used 7 pounds of temik per acre or inject the soil sterilant telone ii. acceleron seed treatment will be offered to cotton growers buying deltapine seed in 2011. this seed coat should perform comparable to aeris, gaucho grande or avicta complete for thrips control because acceleron shares the same active ingredients and amounts used in gaucho grande ( thrips only ) and in their thrips plus nematode versions similar to aeris ( imidacloprid plus thiodicarb ) and another similar to avicta complete ( thiamethoxam plus abemectin ).


get more help on finding the right kids ' summer camps. read the free summer camp guide. children who prefer to learn during the summer can take part in an academic camp. these camps teach everything from astronomy to veterinary medicine. types of academic camps include : - foreign language - marine science - veterinary science kids can climb rocks, go canoeing or spend time in the wilderness at a general camp but adventure camps are centered around unique expeditions. rock climbing, canoeing and outdoor activities don ' t become a couple of hours of fun, they become an entire camp experience. types of adventure camps include : - marine biology - rock climbing - scuba diving - whitewater rafting the budding artist in your family may be interested in a camp that teaches fine or performing arts. art camps focus on developing a child ' s certain artistic talents. children may attend workshops, practice for a performance or prepare for an exhibit, all to take the child ' s love of that particular art to the next level. types of arts camps include : can ' t imagine spending a week away from the kids? head to family camp. these camps invite your whole family out for traditional wilderness activities or you can expose the family to music and dance camps that teach everyone how to clog, appreciate folk music and square dance. many family camps overlap with other types of summer camps on this list with the exception being that everyone in your family attends instead of kids only. types of family camps include : - special needs most parents who went to summer camp usually think of a general camp when considering programs for their own children. swimming, arts and crafts and spending time in the great outdoors are some of the many activities offered at general camps. most take place in the woods and are budget - friendly kids ' summer camps. children of a certain religious denomination may enjoy religious camp. many churches hold vacation bible school during the summer, which is usually a day camp. for overnight camps, denominations offer sessions by region. children from other counties and states go to a camp that ' s based on their religious beliefs. kids experience traditional camp activities, such as water play, arts and crafts and sports but there is prayer time, bible studies and other religious services throughout the session. military camp may sound like a boot camp where troubled teens go but that ' s not the case. military summer camps teach loyalty, build confidence and give kids the chance to see what life in the military is like. campers also get to participate in typical summer camp activities like arts and crafts, paintball, rappelling and more.


case. military summer camps teach loyalty, build confidence and give kids the chance to see what life in the military is like. campers also get to participate in typical summer camp activities like arts and crafts, paintball, rappelling and more. these camps can be found on military bases as well as other sites. boys and girls have been attending scouts camps for about 100 years. some scouting camps allow children who are not scouts to attend for an extra fee. kids can enjoy horseback riding, swimming, arts and crafts or themed summer sessions such as water fun or wilderness survival. scouts also work toward earning badges while they ' re at camp. service organization camps kids involved in service organizations, such as 4 - h, future farmers of america ( ffa ) and kiwanis kids, can attend camps related to their group. campers may get to swim, play field games, learn new skills and explore nature. since service organization members range from elementary school students all the way up to seniors in high school, many of these camp programs are broken up into age - appropriate sessions. name a sport and there ' s probably a camp for it. cheerleading, baseball, football and basketball camps are the typical sports camps that come to mind. but sports camps also include surfing, lacrosse and bmx, to name a few. a lot of sports camps have a professional athlete or coach associated with them so children learn from some of the most experienced people in their sport. types of sports camps include : - cross country - water polo special needs camps children with special needs often look forward to camp each year so they can be surrounded by their peers and participate in activities geared just for them. many of these camps provide a counselor to tend to each child and her specific needs, giving them the individual attention they deserve. these camps usually have a full medical staff on location to distribute the children ' s medications and treat the kids for any situations that may arise. types of special needs camps include : - celiac disease - crohn ' s and colitis - developmental disabilities - hearing impaired - hiv and aids - learning disabilities - physical disabilities - speech impaired - spina bifida - visually impaired you ' ll find some crossover between art and technology camps. however, technology camps give kids hands - on training in areas such as animation, graphic design and digital photography. types of technology camps include : - computer programming - digital photography - film production - graphic design - video game design - website design do your kids have dreams of becoming an astronaut? crime scene investigator? circus performer


ecology of kerren : the ecology of kerren is in a saurian phase, with megafauna ( big animals ) dominating. saurians are smooth skinned, partially warm blooded ( they are endo thermic, but need help in regulating temp ), reptilike animals. in northern or colder climes, they have proto feathers to create a bizzare fuzzy coat to keep them warm. they come in hundreds of different sizes and types. insectoids and fish are also present. the insects are about 500 % bigger than their terrestial counterparts. fish, like saurians, come in hundreds of different sizes and types. the only mammals and birds on this world come from terra. the terrestrial animals that came with the humans have found some nitches. most of these animals are pet animals : dogs, cats, and raptors. a few of these animals have escaped into the wild, but they really have not made a notable impact upon the environment. the cattle and goats all died off early of either preditors and then disease. the rats never survived out in the wilds because the native rat like dinosarus. the terran insects have not been able to compete with their larger kerran cousins. the saurians still rule the ecology. in short, take a terrestrial environment, instead of mammals, birds, and such, make them saurians and about 50 % bigger than their terran counterparts. sprinkle in a few odd creatures, like a megafauna ( big dinosaur ) and a dragonlike critter ( leapers, swimmers, etc ) and zhan monsters [ the world is almost lost worldish in its critters... the normal ones are bigger and meaner than their terrestrial counterparts, plus we have a few saurians. ] [ dragons hate “ pet ” animals dogs, cats, chirps hawk these creatures are bigger and smarter than their terrestrial equivalents ]


a lot of ‘ performance tests ’ are posted online lately. many times these performance tests are implemented and executed in a way that completely ignores the inner workings of the java vm. in this post you can find some basic knowledge to improve your performance testing. remember, i am not a professional performance tester, so put your tips in the comments! for example, some days ago a ‘ performance test ’ on while loops, iterators and for loops was posted. this test is wrong and inaccurate. i will use this test as an example, but there are many other tests that suffer from the same problems. so, let ’ s execute this test for the first time. it tests the relative performance on some loop constructs on the java vm. the first results : iterator – elapsed time in milliseconds : 78 for – elapsed time in milliseconds : 28 while – elapsed time in milliseconds : 30 allright, looks interesting. let ’ s change the test a bit. when i reshuffle the code, putting the iterator test at the end, i get : for – elapsed time in milliseconds : 37 while – elapsed time in milliseconds : 28 iterator – elapsed time in milliseconds : 30 hey, suddenly the for loop is the slowest! that ’ s weird! so, when i run the test again, the results should be the same, right? for – elapsed time in milliseconds : 37 while – elapsed time in milliseconds : 32 iterator – elapsed time in milliseconds : 33 and now the while loop is a lot slower! why is that? getting valid test results is not that easy! the example above shows that obtaining valid test results can be hard. you have to know something about the java vm to get more accurate numbers, and you have to prepare a good test environment. some tips and tricks - quit all other applications. it is a no - brainer, but many people are testing with their systems loaded with music players, rss - feed readers and word processors still active. background processes can reduce the amount of resources available to your program in an unpredictable way. for example, when you have a limited amount of memory available, your system may start swapping memory content to disk. this will have not only a negative effect on your test results, it also makes these results


to your program in an unpredictable way. for example, when you have a limited amount of memory available, your system may start swapping memory content to disk. this will have not only a negative effect on your test results, it also makes these results non - reproducible. - use a dedicated system. even better than testing on your developer system is to use a dedicated testing system. do a clean install of the operating system and the minimum amount of tools needed. make sure the system stays as clean as possible. if you make an image of the system you can restore it in a previous known state. - repeat your tests. a single test result is worthless without knowing if it is accurate ( as you have seen in the example above ). therefore, to draw any conclusions from a test, repeat it and use the average result. when the numbers of the test vary too much from run to run, your test is wrong. something in your test is not predictable or consistent. try to fix your test first. - investigate memory usage. if your code under test is memory intensive, the amount of available memory will have a large impact on your test results. increase the amount of memory available. buy new memory, fix your program under test. - investigate cpu usage. if your code under test is cpu intensive, try to determine which part of your test uses the most cpu time. if the cpu graphs are fluctuating much, try to determine the root cause. for example garbage collection, thread - locking or dependencies on external systems can have a big impact. - investigate dependencies on external systems. if your application does not seem to be cpu - bound or memory intensive, try looking into thread - locking or dependencies on external systems ( network connections, database servers, etcetera ) - thread - locking can have a big impact, to the extent that running your test on multiple cores will decrease performance. threads that are waiting on each other are really bad for performance. the java hotspot compiler the java hotspot compiler kicks in when it sees a ‘ hot spot ’ in your code. it is therefore quite common that your code will run faster over time! so, you should adapt your testing methods. the hotspot compiler compiles in the background, eating away cpu cycles. so when the compiler is busy, your program is temporarily slower. but after compiling some hot spots, your program will suddenly run faster! when you make a graph of the througput of your application over time, you can see when


we ’ ve seen claims that high fructose corn syrup is unnatural. yet high fructose corn syrup is made from corn, a natural grain product. there are no artificial or synthetic ingredients and no color additives in high fructose corn syrup. it is refined with similar production methods to other sugars, making it no more “ processed ” than any other sweetener. high fructose corn syrup meets the food and drug administration ’ s ( fda ) requirements for use of the term ‘ natural. ’ study : straight talk about high - fructose corn syrup : what it is and what it ain ' t, john s white, american society for clinical nutrition 2008 the super - sized myth surrounding high fructose corn syrup is that it is uniquely responsible for causing obesity. the only problem with that is that there ’ s no actual evidence to support this claim. research does show, however, that obesity results from an imbalance of calories consumed and calories burned. research also does not directly connect obesity to one specific food or ingredient. " after studying current research, the american medical association ( ama ) today concluded that high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners... " - american medical association, june 2008 lack of findings for the association between obesity risk and usual sugar - sweetened beverage consumption in adults - a primary analysis of databases of csfii - 1989 - 1991, csfii - 1994 - 1998, nhanes iii, and combined nhanes 1999 - 2002. similar to misunderstandings around obesity, high fructose corn syrup also has no unique link to causing diabetes. this fact has been supported by the u. s. centers for disease control and the american diabetes association who state that the primary causes of diabetes are obesity, advancing age and heredity. in fact, the u. s. department of agriculture ( usda ) data shows that per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup has been declining in recent years, while the incidence of obesity and diabetes in the united states continues on the rise. the ratio of fructose in the diet is not higher now than it was 30 years ago. fructose is a natural simple sugar found in sugars, vegetables, fruits and honey. significant confusion has stemmed from recent studies that examined pure fructose in excess amounts and linked it to obesity, a precursor to diabetes. the results were then inappropriately connected to high fructose corn syrup, even though the two substances


and honey. significant confusion has stemmed from recent studies that examined pure fructose in excess amounts and linked it to obesity, a precursor to diabetes. the results were then inappropriately connected to high fructose corn syrup, even though the two substances are vastly different. the studies included abnormally high levels of fructose that are never consumed in a normal human diet. high fructose corn syrup and table sugar both have fructose in them but it is combined with glucose which balances the metabolic effects of fructose. yes, there are no safety concerns. the safety of high fructose corn syrup is based on science and expert review accumulated over the past 40 years. in 1983, the fda listed high fructose corn syrup as “ generally recognized as safe ” ( known as gras status ) for use in food and reaffirmed that ruling in 1996. gras recognition by the fda is important because it recognizes a long history of safe use as well as adequate scientific studies proving an ingredient ’ s safety. gras status is maintained indefinitely unless the fda has a new reason to question an ingredient ’ s safety, in which case it will then look into maintaining or revoking the gras status. john white, ph. d. noted, “ its safety was never seriously doubted because expert scientific panels in every decade since the 1960s drew the same conclusion : sucrose, fructose, glucose, and, latterly, hfcs did not pose a significant health risk, with the single exception of promoting dental caries [ tooth decay ]. ” in addition to government - convened expert panels, professional organizations have also confirmed the safety of high fructose corn syrup, including the american medical association ( ama ) and the academy of nutrition and dietetics ( formerly the american dietetic association ). insulin is responsible for the uptake of glucose into cells and the lowering of blood sugar, a vital control process for metabolism. both sugar and high fructose corn syrup have largely the same effect on insulin production. among common sweeteners, pure glucose triggers the greatest insulin release, while pure fructose triggers the least. both table sugar and high fructose corn syrup trigger about the same intermediate insulin release because they contain nearly equal amounts of glucose and fructose. the body metabolizes the sugars in high fructose corn syrup the same way it does table sugar, honey and many fruits. since these sweeteners all have approximately equal ratios of fructose and glucose, these simple


university of toronto : found that sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and 1 : 1 glucose / fructose solutions do not differ significantly in their short - term effects on subjective and physiologic measures of satiety and food intake at a subsequent meal. the glycemic index ( gi ) is a ranking of foods, beverages and ingredients based on their immediate effect on blood glucose levels. the gi measures how much blood sugar increases over a period of two or three hours after a meal. sugar and honey, both have moderate gi values that range from 55 to 60 and an index of up to 100. although it has not yet been specifically measured, high fructose corn syrup is expected to have a moderate gi due to its similar composition to honey and sugar. however, it is important to keep in mind that the body does not respond to the gi of individual ingredients, but rather to the gi of the entire meal. since added sugars like sugar and high fructose corn syrup typically contribute less than 20 percent of calories, they are a minor contributor to the overall gi in a normal diet. 61 fed. reg. 43447 ( august 23, 1996 ), 21 c. f. r. 184. 1866. direct food substances affirmed as generally recognized as safe ; high fructose corn syrup - final rule. u. s. department of agriculture, economic research service. 2009. calories : average daily per capita calories from the u. s. food supply, adjusted for spoilage and other waste. loss - adjusted food availability data. food allergies are caused by your body ’ s response to certain proteins in foods. nearly all of the corn protein is removed during the production of high fructose corn syrup. moreover, the trace protein that remains likely bears little immunological resemblance to allergens in the original kernel. a number of cereal grains, including wheat, rye, barley and corn, can cause allergic reactions in some individuals. although the amount of corn protein found in high fructose corn syrup is extremely low, a person who is allergic or sensitive to corn and corn products should seek and follow the advice of medical professionals about consuming products with hfcs. high fructose corn syrup is made from corn using a process called wet milling. in general, the process includes : 1. steeping corn to soften the hard kernels 2. physically separating the kernel into its separate components ( starch, corn hull, protein and oil ) 3. breakdown of


a process called wet milling. in general, the process includes : 1. steeping corn to soften the hard kernels 2. physically separating the kernel into its separate components ( starch, corn hull, protein and oil ) 3. breakdown of starch into glucose 4. use of enzymes to invert glucose to fructose 5. removal of impurities 6. blending of glucose and fructose to make hfcs - 42 and hfcs - 55 white js. 1992. fructose syrup : production, properties and applications, in fw schenck & re hebeda, eds, starch hydrolysis products – worldwide technology, production, and applications. vch publishers, inc. pp. 177 - 200. according to keith - thomas ayoob, ed. d., rd, fada, a practicing pediatric nutritionist with 25 years of experience, people often assume that sugar causes hyperactivity because of all the nutritional myths and misinformation they ’ ve read or heard about. adhd is a definable medical condition, but it ’ s not caused by sugar, high fructose corn syrup or any other form of sweetener. this is the conclusion of dozens of well - controlled studies. high fructose corn syrup and other sugars may give you a quick burst of energy, but it is short - lived and relatively mild. no mercury or mercury - based technology is used in the production of high fructose corn syrup in north america. high fructose corn syrup is safe and does not contain quantifiable levels of mercury. a study was published claiming the opposite but independent experts have performed their own evaluations and confirmed that hfcs is mercury - free. one of the nation ’ s leading experts in mercury contamination, dr. woodhall stopford, md, msph, of duke university medical center confirmed this assessment. you can view his analysis and conclusion by visiting http : / / duketox. mc. duke. edu / recenttoxissues. htm and clicking on the link under the mercury heading. reports regarding high fructose corn syrup ( hfcs ) and mercury misleading : chemrisk discussing report flaws


the challenges that educators face throughout the world have never been greater. as developing nations work to build their economies and industrialized nations endeavor to maintain their infrastructures, virtually everyone looks to education as the foundation for future economic prosperity. creating and maintaining a highly educated and skilled workforce has become increasingly important at a time when technology is intensifying global competition. technology - rich schools have taken advantage of the internet to expose their students to diverse educational materials that were once difficult to access. as a result, students are now able to investigate and explore topics in greater depth. in this learning environment, educators encourage students to use technology to follow individualized paths of learning, a process that supports the development of life - long learning skills. further, many teachers in technology - rich schools emphasize cooperative learning and project - based activities, thereby taking on greater roles as facilitators in the educational process. they help students navigate through the knowledge that information technology makes available to them. internet technology has become the tool that assists teachers in creating a learning environment that is interactive, collaborative, multidisciplinary, and exploratory. to help k - 12 schools cope with the challenge of this new educational model, carl sandburg college ( csc ) in galesburg, illinois, offers a wide array of products and services at little or no cost to school districts or their teachers. the college ' s mission is to " provide accessible, quality education in a caring environment by keeping the learner ' s needs at the center of decision making and by working in partnership with communities of the college district " ( n. d.,? c¬? 7 ). serving k - 12 schools is an important aspect of csc ' s fulfillment of this mission and its commitment to the surrounding community. the purpose of this article is to describe csc ' s outreach initiatives as an example of how colleges can foster technology - enhanced education in their local communities. carl sandburg college community college district 518 covers 3000 square miles with a population of approximately 117, 000 people. there are 26 k - 12 schools within csc ' s community college district. because of the low income, poor literacy rate, and rural location of the district, most of its k - 12 schools are not well enough equipped to deliver education with the newest technology. since 33 % of the graduates from these schools eventually enroll at csc, we identified a need for the college to reach out to these students while they are still in high school. we decided that exposing teachers to the latest technology and educating them about


. since 33 % of the graduates from these schools eventually enroll at csc, we identified a need for the college to reach out to these students while they are still in high school. we decided that exposing teachers to the latest technology and educating them about its use in the classroom would be the most effective method for raising the technology competence level of prospective students. csc created the sandburg educational network ( sen ) in may 2000 to provide a holistic solution to the technology needs of the k - 12 community unit school districts within our area. most of these school districts did not have a technology infrastructure or educators who knew how to use technology to enhance their teaching. the schools simply could not afford the tools or teacher training. moreover, because most of these school districts have experienced a decline in their enrollment, they receive less funding from the federal and state governments, and, subsequently, a number of these districts face the possibility of consolidation. sandburg teaching / learning initiative initially, sen only offered technology workshops through our teaching / learning initiative. through this initiative, we conduct workshops for k - 12 teachers throughout the district to teach them to use technology effectively in their classrooms. we have created two kinds of workshops : ( a ) web site design and publishing and ( b ) web course management using webct. these workshops last 15 hours each and require two consecutive saturdays or five 3 - hour classes on weekdays. they are typically held on tuesdays and thursdays for three hours each day, over two and a half weeks. we conduct these workshops either in the schools or at a community - based technology center ; they have proven effective and have sparked the interest of teachers of all grade levels and subjects. csc instructors who use these tools in their own classrooms lead the workshops, which have been particularly effective because instructors ( instead of technical staff ) teach them by incorporating hands - on work. the main goal of these workshops is to present technology as a solution to teachers ' classroom needs and to give instructions that are as non - technical and simple as possible. for example, in one of the workshops, a high school journalism teacher brought material that she had designed for her students. by the end of the workshop, she had moved all of her assignments online. the following week, she took her students to a computer lab and asked them to complete the assignments. the response she received from her students was phenomenal. the students wanted to know if they could access the material from home. the surveys that teachers complete at the end of the workshop suggest that they learned new pedagogical


to complete the assignments. the response she received from her students was phenomenal. the students wanted to know if they could access the material from home. the surveys that teachers complete at the end of the workshop suggest that they learned new pedagogical techniques in the workshops ( e. g., involving students in web research in a controlled environment ) and used the web to update and enhance their curriculum. follow - up conversations with the teachers confirmed that students who normally did not participate in class discussions participated in the online discussions and assignments. more than 50 % of the teachers who have attended our workshops ultimately use technology to prepare material for their classrooms. though most of the schools do not have a fully - developed technology infrastructure, their teachers make use of public libraries and community college resources to prepare the material to be presented in their classrooms. after the workshops, teachers have access to the staff at sen ' s web development department for further guidance and technical support. we also offer to host their work on our servers as a free service. the school boards have supported this initiative although school administrators were skeptical in the beginning. since most of the school districts and public libraries already have high speed internet access, accessibility has never been a major issue. the college has made a commitment to sustain funding for this initiative indefinitely. expanding our services while conducting the workshops, sen staff and instructors were able to learn more about the technology needs of k - 12 teachers and their schools. consequently, our staff developed the following services : sandburg hosting services this fee - based service hosts a school ' s administrative software on csc ' s central servers, providing the school with secure access to applications that generate reports for payroll, student demographics, enrollment data, and the like. the fee covers only the expenses that we incur in providing this hosting service. the sandburg connection this service offers distance - learning classes to qualified high school students in their high school distance learning labs. through this program, students can enroll in and complete college - level courses to reduce the time and money that they spend in gaining an undergraduate degree. this might also improve the student ' s chances of getting into institutions of higher learning in addition to building their confidence and helping them decide on a career choice. the sandburg connection offers a wide array of courses in which students can enroll, depending on the career path that they want to pursue. these courses may serve as pre - requisites to a variety of career programs such as teaching, engineering, medicine, and nursing. we provide all of the distance learning equipment on both sides such


depending on the career path that they want to pursue. these courses may serve as pre - requisites to a variety of career programs such as teaching, engineering, medicine, and nursing. we provide all of the distance learning equipment on both sides such as cameras, monitors and audio visual aids to support this technology. the western illinois education consortium funds this initiative. we have developed a proposal for the sandburg e - xpress, which would establish mini - learning centers within k - 12 schools and equip them with state - of - the - art technology that teachers and students could easily learn to use. these centers will include computers, printers, scanners, smart boards, and high - speed internet access. in addition, the learning centers will provide tutors, career guidance, and technology support. the purpose of this initiative is to bring awareness of both the value of education and the uses of technology to enhance teaching and learning to k - 12 schools and the communities that they serve. csc has already established two technology centers, the educational technology center ( etc ) in galesburg, illinois, and the education commons ( edcomms ) in carthage, illinois. we created these technology centers in partnerships with local industry and educational institutions. these technology centers not only serve the needs of students and teachers in their respective communities but also serve the public at large ; members of the public are allowed to use etc and edcomms resources at certain times during the day according to guidelines of the facility. sen is currently writing grants to secure funds to implement the sandburg e - xpress concept. we have overcome two major challenges in implementing our program, and the solutions have been crucial to its success : support from k - 12 administrators. the administrators felt that teachers already overwhelmed by their current work would not be able to attend these workshops and subsequently use web - based supplements in their classroom instruction. on the contrary, though, teachers who have attended the workshops and created web - based assignments and supplements have reported that this mode of instruction has actually saved them time and helped them teach more. moreover, they have observed an increase in students ' participation and interest level when they enhance their classroom teaching with web - based supplements. the administrators have begun to notice the enhanced learning tools that the teachers use in their classrooms and have started to support and encourage their teachers to attend sen workshops. in fact, sen has received phone calls from superintendents and principals to request in - service workshops in their schools. the fact that sen provides this training at no cost to the teachers or the school district


support and encourage their teachers to attend sen workshops. in fact, sen has received phone calls from superintendents and principals to request in - service workshops in their schools. the fact that sen provides this training at no cost to the teachers or the school district at first seemed too good to be true, but after two years of implementation, the integrity and effectiveness of our training has gained wide acceptance even among administrators. schedule conflict. it was difficult to find days and times that were convenient for teachers throughout the district. sen found two ways to address this issue : first, we offer the classroom workshop online, allowing teachers to complete the workshops from the comfort of their home and at their own pace ( samples of which are available here ). second, we have also conducted workshops at different school districts during scheduled workshop days for teachers. to serve the technology needs of the k - 12 schools more effectively, we recently formed an advisory committee comprised of teachers and administrators from the k - 12 school districts. the advisory committee has suggested that sen work with other governmental entities such as regional offices of education, professional development centers, and learning technology centers that provide technology training to k - 12 teachers. the center for the application of information technologies ( cait ) at western illinois university is developing a database of all available courses, through all the above agencies, for the k - 12 teachers within our district. this database will also keep track of the courses that teachers complete, audit their re - certification requirements, and offer suggestions about which courses they still need to fulfill those requirements. there are more than 2, 000 teachers in the 26 school districts that we serve, and, through various partnerships and workshops, our goal is to reach every teacher in these districts in the next 6 years. this initiative effectively supports the state of illinois vision for technology in education and the no child left behind act of 2001 ( nclb ). sandburg educational network is starting to see its impact on the community and school districts in technologically competent students and teachers. [ editor ' s note : this paper is modified from a presentation at the 2001 webct conference in vancouver, bc. ] carl sandburg college. ( n. d. ). about csc : philosophy / mission and history. retrieved february 15, 2002, from http : / / www. sandburg. edu / about _ csc / philosophy _ _ _ mission _ and _ histo / philosophy _ _ _ mission _ and _ histo. htmlsimulation gamesaction gamesdownloadable gamesshooter gamesplatform


national office 681 main street, waltham, ma 02451 888 - 466 - 8233 www. thealliancefordemocracy. org what is gats? the general agreement on trade in services ( gats ) is one of 15 agreements adopted as part of the uruguay round of trade negotiations concluded in 1994 which greatly expanded the 1947 general agreement on tariffs and trade ( gatt ). the uruguay round also created the world trade organization ( wto ) to enforce the agreements. today 139 countries are in the wto. every country in the wto is part of the gats agreement. services cover everything from mcdonalds hamburger flippers to international bankers. health care, education, lawyers, accountants, advertising, media, travel, even municipal services like sewer and water, are all services which today makes up about 70 % of the u. s. economy. the goal of bringing services into the wto is to make sure they are " liberalized. " this means promoting privatization of public services like education. it also means deregulation of services at the local, state and national levels and subjecting them to the wtos global rules for the benefit of transnational the u. s. pushed very hard to have services included in the uruguay round negotiations, but did not succeed in requiring the inclusion of all services. countries resisted the threat to privatization of their public services and would only agree to gats if they could choose which services to include in the agreement. so gats has country - specific schedules of commitments which detail which services are covered. nonetheless, gats creates legally enforceable obligations backed up by trade sanctions. the wto says : gats is the first multilateral agreement to provide legally enforceable rights to trade in all services. it has built - in commitment to continuous liberalization through periodic negotiations. and it is the worlds first multinational agreement on investment, since it covers not just cross - boundary trade but every possible means of supplying a service including the right to set up a commercial presence in the export this sets out rights without responsibilities for corporations, including the right for u. s. corporations to set up operations in other countries immune from u. s. laws. now big changes are being proposed. gats is part of the " built - in agenda. " negotiations are going forward even though the " millennium round " of new wto negotiations came to a screeching halt in seattle. this is because the original gats agreement requires negotiations to recommence at the beginning of 2000 in order


. " negotiations are going forward even though the " millennium round " of new wto negotiations came to a screeching halt in seattle. this is because the original gats agreement requires negotiations to recommence at the beginning of 2000 in order to pursue the service industry corporations see a real opportunity here. to quote j. robert vastine, president of the u. s. coalition of service industries, speaking in tokyo on may 13, 1999 : " the overarching objective of the global business community in the coming negotiations should be both to broaden and deepen countries gats liberalization commitments. a contestable, competitive market in every sector and in every wto member country is the ultimate goal. " the end result of this scenario would be government of the corporations, for the corporations, and by the corporations. what public services remained would be forced into constant competition with the corporations leading to slashing of labor costs and services to the poor. the trade ministers of wto member countries meet in regular and, when negotiating, in special session. countries also appoint representatives to the council on trade in services which meets more frequently to do the legwork for the ministers. the wto provides staffing through its secretariat located in geneva. the u. s. trade representatives office ( ustr ) is the lead u. s. agency, which also maintains staff in geneva. if a member country believes another member country has violated gats and they cannot resolve their disagreement, the aggrieved country can bring its claim to the wto ' s dispute settlement body, which has not been receptive to environmental, health and other public concerns. this panel meets in closed session, acting like a secret tribunal. decisions are enforced by the winning country imposing economic sanctions on the losing country until it comes into compliance. gats impact our lives? privatization of services impacts how our kids get educated, the elderly are cared for, workers are treated, even how we obtain water to drink. gats rules will accelerate a trend toward privatization of human services already underway in the united states. in a democracy, people should be able to decide what human services they want the government to under gats, once a country agrees to put a service into its " schedule of specific commitments, " it is very difficult to change course. a country has a three - year window in which to withdraw a commitment and must agree " on any necessary compensatory adjustment " for the withdrawal. also, at the time the u. s. makes a commitment, it can exempt


course. a country has a three - year window in which to withdraw a commitment and must agree " on any necessary compensatory adjustment " for the withdrawal. also, at the time the u. s. makes a commitment, it can exempt existing state laws, but once the commitment is made no states can pass similar laws without violating gats. education already corporations have made major inroads into our educational system. high schools are contracting with private businesses for guidance counselors ; text books are using corporate logos in their exercises ; zap me! is offering schools free computer equipment in return for displaying a constant stream of advertisements on the screens ; and coke made a deal with colorado springs schools to provide $ 8. 4 million in funding over 10 years in exchange for the schools contracting to sell 70, 000 cases of coke products to students every year. according to david kearns, the u. s. chair of xerox, " business will have to set the agenda... a complete restructure driven by competition and market discipline, unfamiliar grounds for educators. " when knowledge becomes privatized, it is no longer a common heritage to be used for the common good. maude barlow writes in the ecologist : " the intellectual property provisions of nafta and gatt treat knowledge as a commodity and as the exclusive property of the company that takes a patent or holds a copyright on it. " the inclusion of education under gats would accelerate this process and make it harder for citizens to turn health care "... it is not health which makes money but ill health, " states agnes bertrand in the ecologist. the wto staff says countries should reconsider the " depth and breadth of their commitments " on health and social services, which are " trailing behind other sectors. " this means more privatization, deregulation and competition by foreign suppliers. privatization of public health services increases inequity. the wto acknowledges that " private health insurers competing for members may engage in some form of cream skimming... private clinics may well be able to attract qualified staff from public hospitals without... offering the same range of services to the same population groups.... " according to public services international : " the elite will be able to access private tnc - controlled care ; the rest will have to make do with the shrinking public system. " u. s. managed care corporations are doing just this in latin america. as mobility of health care professionals is encouraged, there will be pressure for


private tnc - controlled care ; the rest will have to make do with the shrinking public system. " u. s. managed care corporations are doing just this in latin america. as mobility of health care professionals is encouraged, there will be pressure for a downward leveling of standards for medical training and qualification resulting in a reduction in health quality standards. further, health service providers may encourage rich foreign clients while ignoring poorer clients in their own area as is already happening in northern mexico. finally, " privatization brings with it a view of labour as a cost, rather than an investment in skills, " notes the psi report, leading to use of less skilled labor to replace more skilled labor performing the same tasks. water with water scarcity becoming widespread, partly due to the pollution and misuse of water by corporations, companies like bechtel and enron want to profit from this scarcity by supplying water in bulk to those who can afford it. while water itself is a commodity, the operation of water pipelines and ships to supply bulk water is a service. the local distribution of drinking water is also a service. in the u. s. this is primarily a municipal function. but today, tncs want to privatize these systems, as has already been done in countries such as france and great britain. rebecca mark, speaking as ceo of enrons water subsidiary azurix, said she would not rest until all the worlds water has been privatized. contrast this with the words of vandana shiva : " privatization and commodification of water are a threat to the right to life. " the threat is at our doorstep. in california, the state constitution guarantees that the people have the right of ownership of the water, but tragically the people are losing control of this right to agribusiness, private land companies, and water speculators like azurix. since 1992, some companies, operating as federal contractors, have been given the right to sell some of californias water on the open market. in 1995, the state also gave its contractors the right to sell water. the european gats negotiators want to be sure that drinking water is included in the gats agreement because they have large tncs like suez lyonnaise des eaux and generale des eaux, a division of vivendi sa, which are involved in privatizing municipal water services around the world, including the city of indianapolis. now the u. s. negotiators are figuring out how to respond. they


des eaux, a division of vivendi sa, which are involved in privatizing municipal water services around the world, including the city of indianapolis. now the u. s. negotiators are figuring out how to respond. they know there is controversy in the u. s. about having gats cover water. u. s. corporations would like limited coverage in areas where they are competitive with the european corporations. advocates for environment and justice dont want water covered in gats at all. the u. s. is looking for a compromise position. they are willing to propose that gats " carve out, " i. e., exclude, transportation of bulk water across international borders by private companies. this would be good from the perspective of citizens and organization who believe water is a right not a need to be supplied by the market for but the u. s. is considering a more compromised position on water services within a country such as water treatment, distribution, and sewage treatment. they have suggested limiting the application of gats in the u. s. to commercial applications. unfortunately, this approach does not deal with the fact that other countries might have a harder time resisting the pressure from tncs to put public water systems on their schedule of commitments. if a country does this and later realizes it made a mistake, it could be too late to change course. encouraging the private sector to supply water for commercial uses could lead to less water being available for public uses like public drinking water and wildlife protection. also, if big commercial users get water from private sources, public water supplies will have to carry more of the public infrastructure costs, leading to higher rates. this is another form of cream skimming. finally, gats fits in nicely with the imf and world banks agenda to promote privatization. in bolivia, under pressure from these institutions, the government passed a law which led to the privatization of water in its major city of cochabamba. the city signed a contract with a private consortium in which bechtel had a majority interest. water bills quickly became unaffordable. cooperative distribution systems were dismantled. people first refused to pay, then took to the streets to protest. in the end, after police violence, the people won and the contract was terminated. prisons the trend in the united states toward privatization of prisons has been quite dramatic over the last decade. according to afscme, there are now 193 for - profit prisons in operation or under construction in 30 states with 43 in texas and 24 in california


prisons the trend in the united states toward privatization of prisons has been quite dramatic over the last decade. according to afscme, there are now 193 for - profit prisons in operation or under construction in 30 states with 43 in texas and 24 in california. altogether they account for 7 % of the prison population. profits passed the $ 1 billion mark in 1998. the two largest private prison corporations in the us are wackenhut and corrections corporation of america. these corporations have already become transnationals. cca alone manages 82 prisons with 73, 000 beds in 26 states, puerto rico, great britain, and australia. wackenhut extends its reach to south africa and canada. not only are prisons being privatized, but 36 states allow corporations to set up factory production in prisons where wages are low and workers forced to be compliant. the new york times reports : " private sector programs, which exist in 36 states and employ 3, 500, have doubled in size since 1995 after years of almost no growth. " ( 3 / 19 / 00, p. 22 ) recent studies report that minorities are being targeted by the judicial system : " black men are sent to state prisons on drug charges at 13 times the rate of white men " even though five times as many whites use cocaine ; minorities are given longer sentences and treated more harshly than whites. these three trends - - private prisons, private sector production in prisons, and a judicial system which targets minorities - - are creating a system tantamount to slave labor. workers and unions gats is likely to accelerate the use of cheaper labor abroad facilitated by use of the internet in providing many services. privatization of government services will allow for replacement of public sector unions with non - unionized workers. this loss of worker power will further accelerate the race to the bottom in wages. there cannot be justice at home or abroad when human services are taken out of the public sector and given over to profit - driven corporations. this trend is being promoted by the overall goal of privatization of all services through gats. how much will be achieved in this round of negotiations remains to be seen. the united states trade representatives office and the wto secretariat say not to worry. all government services are excepted under gats article i, section 3 ( b ) and ( c ). but is this really true? it is important to understand just what these sections say. section ( b ) says " ' services includes any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority. " sounds fine, right?


c ). but is this really true? it is important to understand just what these sections say. section ( b ) says " ' services includes any service in any sector except services supplied in the exercise of governmental authority. " sounds fine, right? read on. section ( c ) says " ' a service supplied in the exercise of governmental authority means any service which is supplied neither on a commercial basis, nor in competition with one or more service suppliers. " now it just so happens that " commercial basis " is not defined in gats. the ustr staff say they cannot provide a definition, nor can the wto staff. member countries would have to agree on the definition. meanwhile, if a dispute arises over whether a government service is covered, it would be left up to the dispute settlement procedures to decide the meaning. " competition " is also used without any further explanation. if there is one private school in a community, does that mean there is competition and the public system is not exempted? if one community is totally public, but the next has a private school which will accept students from both communities, is there competition? again, the ustr and wto staff cannot provide the definition. in sum, this exception is so full of holes that it is almost impossible to say with certainty what local, state or federal government services are covered. one thing is for sure, the police and military are exempted from gats under the " public safety " gats article xiii calls for " multilateral negotiations on government procurement in services under this agreement within two years from the date of entry into force of the wto agreement. " six years after gats was signed, these negotiations are still ongoing. there is, however, a government procurement agreement under gatt which only what exactly are the provisions of gats? some of the gats provisions will be familiar to anyone involved in the fight against the multilateral agreement on investment ( mai ). under gats some of these apply to all sectors whether or not they are included in a countrys schedule of commitments. others apply only to those sectors included on the schedule. most favored nation treatment ( article ii ) all wto countries must treat services and service suppliers from any member country no less favorably than service suppliers in any other member country. this applies to all services, whether or not they are on a countrys list of commitments. the only exception is government procurement of services ( see above ). however, at the time the agreement was signed, countries were allowed to take one - time only


applies to all services, whether or not they are on a countrys list of commitments. the only exception is government procurement of services ( see above ). however, at the time the agreement was signed, countries were allowed to take one - time only temporary exceptions which are now up for review. national treatment ( article xvii ) services and service suppliers of member countries must receive treatment no less favorable than that given to domestic services and service suppliers. this provision only applies to the sectors included in a countrys schedule of commitments. as with the mai, a country could treat foreign corporations more favorably than domestic ones. take prisons for example. once the u. s. puts this sector on its schedule, it would be wto illegal for communities to pass an ordinance which restricts the building of private prisons to transparency ( article iii ) all member countries are to publish all " measures " relevant to gats. measures include those by " central, regional or local governments and authorities ; and non - governmental bodies in the exercise of powers delegated by central, regional or local governments or authorities. " the full implementation of this provision is a top priority for the u. s. which wants to go even further and require proposed regulations to be published ( see every law or regulation even in your local community relating to services is subject to scrutiny under gats. however, corporations are protected from the government disclosing confidential information " which would prejudice legitimate commercial interests of domestic regulation ( article vi ) this requires that domestic regulations " do not constitute unnecessary barriers to trade in services. " the disciplines developed under this section can be used to overturn local, state or federal regulations even if there is no discrimination based on national treatment or most favored nation. general obligations. article vi could also become a vehicle for setting " general obligations " which would not be limited to country - specific commitments, a position already taken by the wto secretariat. this could be a major intrusion on national, state and local sovereignty. more transparency. the u. s. negotiators want all member countries and their political subdivisions to publish their proposed regulations to allow for public comment from other member countries. this could be a very significant burden on local communities who would have to consider such comments from around the world before adopting, for instance, a change to their regulations for recycling or water treatment. and who would comment? most likely the tncs who have the resources to keep track of how such proposed regulations would impact their business interests. this unfunded mandate is not really about democracy, it is about


their regulations for recycling or water treatment. and who would comment? most likely the tncs who have the resources to keep track of how such proposed regulations would impact their business interests. this unfunded mandate is not really about democracy, it is about corporate power. necessity. the council for trade in services is given the authority to " develop any necessary disciplines " to ensure that such regulations are " not more burdensome than necessary to ensure the quality of the service " and are " based on objective and transparent criteria, such as competence and the ability to supply the service. " currently countries are interpreting this to mean they have to demonstrate the necessity of their regulations. this potentially gives the council much leeway to create international regulations that can trump domestic regulations. the working party on domestic regulation, established by the council, is looking at legitimate objectives which do not have to meet the necessity test. the european communities ( ec ) has submitted a paper covering " necessity " which lists proposed legitimate objectives which has some appealing entries such as " protection of consumers, " " protection of the environment, " " promotion of welfare, including public policy objectives, " and " ensuring pluralism and a media system based on free and democratic principles and including a public service broadcast the wto secretariat has responded with its own list : economic efficiency, promoting competition, administrative efficiency, and economic development. if these were to be adopted, it would be a major assault on domestic environment, consumer protection and human health regulations. think about how this might impact health care, education, treatment of prisoners, provision of drinking water. fortunately, the u. s. negotiators are opposed to adopting a list of " legitimate objectives, " since there is a significant risk that we would end up with the wtos list. tribunals. to top it all off, article vi has a domestic version of the investor - to - state provision that has caused such folly in nafta and was slated to be part of the mai. gats calls for each country to set up its own tribunals where service suppliers can take their grievances and expect appropriate remedies. it is no surprise that powerful corporate lobbies like the us - based coalition of service industries and the european services forum have put expanding the gats domestic regulation provisions on the top of their agendas. general exceptions ( article xiv ) here at least measures " necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health " are excepted from gats altogether.... except that the preamble has a caveat large


of their agendas. general exceptions ( article xiv ) here at least measures " necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health " are excepted from gats altogether.... except that the preamble has a caveat large enough to drive a truck through. such measures cannot be " a disguised restriction on trade in services. " it is just this language which has led the wto tribunals to come down against environmental regulations in cases brought before them. while article xiv is generally parallel to article xx of the general agreement on tariffs and trade ( gatt ), it omits any mention of natural resources included in the gatt general exceptions. but, as we have seen in the case of water, natural resources can come under gats. if the operation of a pipeline is a service, then is not the operation of a coal train a service or the operation of a lumber truck a service? by not exempting such services, could not gats undercut the exemption contained in gatt? schedules of specific commitments ( article xx ) the member countries schedules of specific commitment were annexed to the gats agreement at the time of its adoption. now the pressure is on countries to further " liberalize " their service sector by increasing their commitments. if a country fails to state a limitation on national treatment or market access when their schedule is committed, they are just out of luck. this includes conditions and qualifications on national treatment for states or provinces and communities as well as for the whole conclusion : its time by promoting the privatization and deregulation of all services, gats represents a major restructuring of the global economy and a loss of sovereignty at the local, state and federal levels. when renato ruggiero boasted " we are writing the constitution of a single global economy " that " we " he was referring to is the trade ministers in bed with the corporations, not us. it is essential that citizens in the u. s. and around the world come together in a massive movement to stop further deregulation and privatization of these services. there is much that can be done locally to build this movement. here are a few ideas. * let the ustr negotiators know that you dont want water included in gats at all. write to u. s. trade representative charlene barshefsky with a copy to chris rosetti, director, multilateral services and investment affairs. send your letter to : ustr, 600 17th street, nw, washington, dc 20508 * get your city /


trade representative charlene barshefsky with a copy to chris rosetti, director, multilateral services and investment affairs. send your letter to : ustr, 600 17th street, nw, washington, dc 20508 * get your city / town council to pass a resolution on gats. a model resolution will be available shortly from the alliance. contact ruth caplan in the dc office 202 - 244 - 0561 firstname. lastname @ example. org * sign the wto " shrink it or sink it " letter which calls for gutting gats, saying " areas such as health, education, energy and other basic human services must not be subject to international free trade rules. " contact margrete strand < email @ example. com > for a copy. * join alliance list serves on gats topics - - water, health, education, prisons - - for information and action alerts. e - mail firstname. lastname @ example. org * read and discuss reports on privatization. for starters, we recommend water blue gold ( from ifg 415 - 229 - 9350 ) ; prisons mother jones may / june 2000 ; education the nation 9 / 27 / 99 ; health " the wto and the gats : what is at stake for public health? " public services international, http : / / www. world - psi. org. the alliance also has action packets available on each of these topics available from the national office. * study the pattern of corporatization of services in your community. what changes have taken place in the ownership and management of water, school, health, and prison facilities? what have been proposed? are any of the corporations headquartered outside the * after you identify the hot issues in your community, hold a community forum to look at the problems from both a local and global perspective, including the added threat which further " liberalization " under gats poses. select materials from the action packets to use as handouts. * join with other organizations in your community to develop a campaign around your local issues, linking them with the expansion of gats. for more information, contact ruth caplan, co - chair, campaign on corporate globalization / positive alternatives, washington dc office, 3407 34th place nw, washington, dc 20016 email @ example. com phone 202 - 244 - 0561 ; fax 202 - 537 - 6045


fish oil and surgery, its connection when it comes to fish oil and surgery, people should realize that fish oil is very important for those who want to get better health. most people believe that fish oil is a perfect choice when added into our diet plans. studies have shown that fish oil can be used to improve our heart health. the fact is there are lots of benefits that we can get when we decide to consume fish oil. however, it is important to put more attention when you decide to eat fish oil while taking other medications. while taking other medications, people should be aware with side effects from fish oil. fish oil can be consumed both for men and women so that you can find fish oil supplements for women and men through some stores available around you. speaking about fish oil and surgery, let ’ s take a look for more information. fish oil and surgery : its usage when discussing about fish oil and surgery, there is some helpful information for surgical candidates. the first thing we should do is to get more details about the use of fish oil during surgery procedures. fish oils contain with epa and dha that are very important for our brain. most doctors and experts recommend the use of fish oil and people should consume fish oil at least two times per week. fish oil is beneficial both for those who are in the diet or those who are not in the diet. omega 3 fatty acids present in fish oil can be used to lower triglyceride levels, reduce the risk of sudden death, slow the process of hardening of the arteries, and it is also very effective to lower blood pressure. fish oil and surgery are associated each other so that people should learn more about the use of fish oil especially for surgical candidates. fish oil and surgery – things to consider when using fish oil aside from learning about fish oil and surgery, most doctors recommend eating fish oil after surgery. those who have undergone kidney transplant or heart surgery should realize the importance of taking supplements such as fish oil. by eating fish oil, it can be used to prevent kidney damage or high blood pressure after doing the surgery. while eating fish oil, it is important to put more attention when using fish with other medications. for example, it is strictly prohibited to eat fish oil while taking medications that slow blood clotting. in fish oil and surgery, people should consult with the doctor first before eating fish oil. fish oil and surgery – benefits and side effects of fish oil as you may already know, people should learn more about fish oil and surgery as well as other side effects that may


throughout history the majority of martial arts have operated within a culture of honor. warrior classes from vikings to medieval knights to modern military personnel have shared this tendency as well. the ideal has always been to combine martial skills with ethical codes of behavior. in japan this ethical code of conduct was called bushido ( “ way of the warrior ) or budo ( way of the spirit. ) bushido was intended to permeate the life of the samurai. specifically, it developed these seven character traits : right action, courage, benevolence, respect, truthfulness, honor, and loyalty. many modern day jiu jitsu practitioners still find the concept of “ bushido ” to be an important component of their practice. why have codes of moral virtue been combined with martial skill? charles darwin suggested an answer – he was puzzled by a phenomenon that seemed to contradict the most basic premise of his theory of evolution, that natural selection should favor the ruthless. people who are kind and generous should therefore die before passing on their genes to the next generation. yet this is clearly not true, and all societies value kindness and generosity among their members. evolutionary biologists say that this seeming contradiction arises from the fact that we pass on our genes as individuals, but we survive as members of groups – and groups can exist only when individuals act not solely for their own advantage but for the sake of the group as a whole. neuroscientists say this dynamic has resulted in two patterns of reaction in our brains, a “ fast track ” and a “ slow track. ” the fast track focuses on the individual. - the fast track focuses on potential danger to us as individuals. - it is characterized by the immediate, instinctive and emotional. the slow track focuses on the group. - the slow track enables us to take a more considered view of the consequences of our actions for us and others. - it is characterized by the reflective, rational and altruistic. the fast track helps us survive, but it can also lead us to acts that are impulsive and destructive. the slow track leads us to more considered behavior – it brings moments of moral beauty into what might otherwise be harsh and lonely lives. the fast track helps us survive, but it is the slow track that enables us to thrive. the importance of bushido. this puts us in a position to understand why bushido was an important component of martial arts in the past — and why we still need it in the future. by encouraging ethical behavior, bushido strengthens and speeds up the slow


of bushido. this puts us in a position to understand why bushido was an important component of martial arts in the past — and why we still need it in the future. by encouraging ethical behavior, bushido strengthens and speeds up the slow track. it reconfigures our neural pathways, turning moral behavior into instinct. bushido is the antidote to reckless behavior. it replaces emotional outbursts with moral choices. by metaphorically carving bushido into their hearts, the ideal samurai aimed to make “ right action ” automatic. this guided them towards the appropriate use of violence. those who fell short of the ideal were more inclined to misuse their power and compromise their honor. a strengthening of the slow track will highlight the honor in restraint. unmitigated violence without the balance of a moral code is self destructive to the individual and the community they reside in. the idea that jiu jitsu can now do without some form of ethical code of behavior, or bushido, not only flies in the face of history, it contradicts evolutionary biology. the emotional strength and psychological fitness that is associated with the slow track will likely have a greater impact on our life than martial arts skill or physical strength. this makes strengthening the slow track of our brains a supremely practical endeavor. philosophies such as bushido are not a useless thing from the past. in fact, when combined with martial skill, they provide a more well rounded knowledge that is the way of the future. what do you think? do these moral codes still have a place in modern day jiu jitsu? can they still be effective in helping us balance physical capabilities with a strong moral character?


the 149th anniversary of the battle of wilson ’ s creek will be observed at 10 a. m. on august 10, 2010. missouri state university historian dr. william piston will be the featured speaker at a program in front of the visitor center at the park. decades of grassroots efforts to preserve the battlefield culminated on august 10, 1961 when the site was dedicated as a unit of the national park service. drury university professor dr. lewis meador and local attorney john k. hulston were instrumental in the park ’ s establishment. information about their work and the early days of the wilson ’ s creek national battlefield foundation can be found in hulston ’ s book an ozarks lawyer ’ s story, 1946 - 1976. " bloody hill " land donated from the springfield ( mo. ) leader & press, july 8, 1961, page 8. " transfer of first land for the wilson ’ s creek battlefield national park was made this morning when the board of the wilson ’ s creek battlefield foundation, inc., voted to give the 37 acres it owned to the federal government. " the meeting was held in the office of john k. hulston, attorney and member of the board, with dr. l. e. meador presiding. also present were louis w. reps, secretary - treasurer ; mrs. fred c. thomson, charles sheppard, dr. benton manley, w. p. keltner and james e. ruffin. " the foundation was organized in 1951 when through subscriptions of around 600 persons, including school children, the 37 acres on bloody hill were bought from mr. and mrs. bob mcclure as a nucleus for the park. “ ' our purpose in acquiring this land, ' said dr. meador, ' was to give it to the government to establish a national park. now that legislation has accomplished that, we are ready to make a deed to the tract. ' " it was recalled that the movement for the purchase of the bloody hill acreage met instant and widespread response, indicating the great interest in the battlefield. total contributed at that time was $ 2, 843. in addition to the $ 1, 600 land purchase, the foundation was able to do considerable work at the site, including fencing an access road and planting considerable grass seed. it also had two printings of 5, 000 copies each of a booklet giving the history of the battle, which was distributed to school children and other interested persons. " reps reported $ 26. 97 still remains in the treasury. the board voted


moore ’ s law has been around for 46 years. it ’ s a descriptor for the trend we ’ ve seen in the development of computer hardware for decades, with no sign of slowing down, where the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. the law is named after gordon moore, who described this pattern in 1965. he would know a thing or two about integrated circuits. he co - founded intel in 1968. moore has said in recent years that there ’ s about 10 or 20 years left in this trend, because “ we ’ re approaching the size of atoms which is a fundamental barrier. ” but then, he said, we ’ ll just make bigger chips. ray kurzweil, who we mentioned in last weekend ’ s piece on transhumanism, is known for his thoughts on another subject even more than he is known for his thoughts on transhumanism. that subject is the technological singularity. the singularity comes after the time when our technological creations exceed the computing power of human brains, and kurzweil predicts that based on moore ’ s law and the general trend of exponential growth in technology, that time will come before the mid - 21st century. we ’ ll see artificial intelligence that exceeds human intelligence around the same time, he says. but there ’ s more to it than just having created smarter intelligences. there are profound ramifications, but we ’ ll get to those soon. technological singularity was a term coined by vernor vinge, the science fiction author, in 1983. “ we will soon create intelligences greater than our own, ” he wrote. “ when this happens, human history will have reached a kind of singularity, an intellectual transition as impenetrable as the knotted space - time at the center of a black hole, and the world will pass far beyond our understanding. ” he was unifying the thoughts of many of his predecessors, alan turing and i. j. good among them. the idea is that when we become capable of creating beings more intelligent than us, it stands to reason that they — or their near - descendants — will be able to create intelligences more intelligent than themselves. this exponential growth of intelligences would work much like moore ’ s law — perhaps we can call it kurzweil ’ s law — but have more profound significance. when there are intelligences capable of creating more intelligent beings in rapid succession, we enter an age where technological advances move at a rate


moore ’ s law — perhaps we can call it kurzweil ’ s law — but have more profound significance. when there are intelligences capable of creating more intelligent beings in rapid succession, we enter an age where technological advances move at a rate we can ’ t even dream of right now. and that ’ s saying something : thanks to the nature of exponential growth, technological advance is already making headway at the fastest pace we ’ ve ever seen. the singularity doesn ’ t refer so much to the development of superhuman artificial intelligence — although that is foundational to the concept — as it does to the point when our ability to predict what happens next in technological advance breaks down. what will the singularity look like? singularitarians say that we simply can ’ t imagine what such a future would be like. it ’ s hard to flaw that logic. imagine, in a world where human intelligence is near the bottom of the ladder, what the world would look like even a short decade later. the short answer is : you can ’ t! the point is that as more intelligent beings they ’ ll be capable of not just imagining, but creating things we can ’ t even dream about. we can speculate as to the changes the singularity would bring that would enable that exponential growth to continue. once we build computers with processing power greater than the human brain and with self - aware software that is more intelligent than a human, we will see improvements to the speed with which these artificial minds can be run. consider that with faster processing speeds, these ais could do the thinking of a human in shorter amounts of time : a year ’ s worth of human processing would become eight months, then eventually weeks, days, minutes and at the far end of the spectrum, even seconds. there is some debate about whether there ’ s a ceiling to the processing speed of intelligence, though scientists agree that there is certainly room for improvement before hitting that limit. as with speculation in general, nobody can really speculate as to where that limit may sit, but it ’ s still fascinating to imagine an intelligence doing the thinking that a human does in one year in one minute. with that superhuman intelligence and incredibly fast, powerful processing power, it ’ s not a stretch to imagine that software re - writing its own source code as it arrives at new conclusions and attempts to progressively improve itself. the age of the posthuman what ’ s interesting is that there is potential for such post - singularity improvements to machine speed and intelligence to crossover to human minds.


own source code as it arrives at new conclusions and attempts to progressively improve itself. the age of the posthuman what ’ s interesting is that there is potential for such post - singularity improvements to machine speed and intelligence to crossover to human minds. futurists speculate that such advanced technology would enable us to improve the processing power, intelligence and accessible memory limits of our own minds through changing the structure of the brain, or ‘ porting ’ our minds on to the same hardware that these intelligences will run on. in last week ’ s piece i asked whether we ’ d be able to tell when we crossed the line from transhuman to posthuman, or whether that line would be ever - moving as we found new ways to augment ourselves. but here ’ s another, contrary question : could the singularity, should it arrive, bring the age of the posthuman? if we are able to create superhuman intelligence and then upgrade our own intelligence by changing the fundamental structure of our minds, is that posthuman enough? augmentation is one thing, and upgrading human blood to vasculoid and allowing us to switch off emotions when we need to avoid an impulse purchase are merely augmentations. increasing our baseline intelligence and processing speed seems to me to be much more significant : an upgrade over an augment. there is, of course, no reason to think that our creations would have any interest in us or improving the hardware on which we currently run. many science fiction authors have postulated that superhuman artificial intelligence would in fact want us extinct, given that our species ’ behavior doesn ’ t lend itself to sustainability. is the singularity near? the real question, of course, is whether such a technological singularity will ever happen. just because it has been predicted by some doesn ’ t mean it will, and there ’ s plenty of debate on both sides of the argument. ever the technological optimist, i ’ m going to avoid the question in this piece — though that ’ s not to say i don ’ t think it ’ s an important one. you can have a look at david brin ’ s fantastic article, singularities and nightmares : extremes of optimism and pessimism about the human future, for more discussion of that question. i ’ m fond of this quote from brin ’ s piece : “ how can models, created within an earlier, cruder system, properly simulate and predict the behavior of a later and vastly more complex system? ” of course, if you accept that quote


m fond of this quote from brin ’ s piece : “ how can models, created within an earlier, cruder system, properly simulate and predict the behavior of a later and vastly more complex system? ” of course, if you accept that quote as the basis for any argument, it ’ s just as hard to map the progress of and towards the singularity as it is to deny that it will happen. according to kurzweil ’ s predictions, we will see computer systems as powerful as the human brain in 2020. we won ’ t have created artificial intelligence until after 2029, the year in which kurzweil predicts we will have reverse - engineered the brain. it ’ s that breakthrough that will allow us to create artificial intelligence, and begin to explore other ideas like that of mind uploading. current trends certainly don ’ t oppose such a timeline, and in 2009, dr anthony berglas wrote in a paper entitled “ artificial intelligence will kill our grandchildren ” that : “ a computer that was ten thousand times faster than a desktop computer would probably be at least as computationally powerful as the human brain. with specialized hardware it would not be difficult to build such a machine in the very near future. ” important to consider is that if kurzweil ’ s predictions come true, in 2029 when we ’ ve reverse engineered the brain we would have already had nine years of improvement on those computer systems with brain - like power and capacity. in this timeline, as soon as we create artificial intelligence it will already be able to think faster and with faster access to more varied input than humans thanks to the hardware it runs on. by 2045, kurzweil says, we will have expanded the capacity for intelligence of our civilization — comprised by that stage of both software and people — one billion fold. one only needs to look at history to see our capacity for rapid improvement in retrospect. one of my favorite metrics is life expectancy. in 1800, the average life expectancy was 30, mostly due to high infant mortality rates — though the kind of old age we see as common today was a rare event then. in 2000, the life expectancy of developed countries was 75. if we can more than double the average life expectancy in our society in the space of a historical blip, there ’ s much more to be excited about ahead.


if you find a nestling bird on the ground and it ' s not injured, if at all possible return it to its nest. a nestling cannot walk, hop or fly, so chances are its nest is very close by, maybe even directly above where you found it. it is not true that parent birds will reject their young because they ' ve been touched by humans. birds in general have no appreciable sense of smell, and parents will readily accept and raise their young when replaced in the nest. altricial birds like robins, grackles and mockingbirds commonly nest in people ' s yards. they build sturdy nests, but often after heavy rain or wind storms, an entire nest and its contents may be found on the ground. if the nestlings are uninjured and the parent birds are still around ( they usually are as birds are very reluctant to abandon their young ), the fallen nest can be replaced. use a piece of wire mesh, like hardware cloth, cup it into the shape of a nest and secure it in the same place as the original nest. if the original nest is usable, place it in the wire mesh and return the nestlings. if the original nest is not intact, a substitute can be made using a small berry box ( with drainage holes ) lined with portions of the original nest and dry grass. after replacing the nestlings, watch from a reasonable distance to make sure that the parents return. some birds, such as woodpeckers, bluebirds, chickadees and screech owls, are cavity nesters. they do not build open nests but use holes, generally in trees, as breeding sites. their nestlings also can be returned to the nest and will be accepted, but it may be more difficult to locate, reach or properly identify the nest site. if you find a nestling that is injured, cannot be returned to the nest or is really orphaned with no parents in attendance, then you have no choice — rescue it. here ' s how. gently pick it up in your hands. if it ' s cold to the touch, warm it in your hands until you can get it into a warm environment. warming the chick is very important. because young nestlings lack insulating feathers, they can quickly die from exposure. if you can ' t get it to a rehabilitator immediately, you can make an adequate temporary home for a nestling by using a small container ( a berry box or bowl ) lined with layers of facial tissues. to keep


from exposure. if you can ' t get it to a rehabilitator immediately, you can make an adequate temporary home for a nestling by using a small container ( a berry box or bowl ) lined with layers of facial tissues. to keep the bird warm and dry, place a heating pad, wrapped in a towel, under the bowl and place a thermometer on the towel. try to maintain a temperature of between 85 and 90 degrees f. an acceptable diet for altricial nestlings for short term use is high protein kibbled ( dry ) dog food soaked in warm water until it ' s soft. this can be fed to the nestling, in bite - sized chunks, using a narrow spoon handle or any small blunt object. a healthy nestling will open its mouth and beg for food when hungry. place the food all the way in the bird ' s mouth and it should swallow normally. three or four mouthfuls are usually enough. most nestlings will stop begging when full. be sure to keep it clean. wipe any excess food from the bird ' s face or feathers with a moistened tissue. feed it at least hourly during the day. the food should be moist ( but not runny ) and that should suffice for the short time you ' ll have it. do not give it water. in the wild, parent birds have no way to bring water to their young. they get all their moisture from their food. water put in a baby bird ' s mouth could go down into the lungs and kill it. and don ' t give birds milk ; they can ' t digest it. keep the nest box clean. replace soiled tissues often. get it to a avian rehabber as soon as possible!


it ’ s all in your ( theory of the ) mind posted by the situationist staff on july 13, 2008 story by anne - marie tobin, from canadian press. * * * can robots and computers take the place of a human being? two new studies involving research on brain activity in humans provide some food for thought in the evolving debate about interactions between man and machine – and in both cases, people seem to prefer people. german scientists used an mri scanner to see how the brain reacted when subjects thought they were playing a game against four different opponents – a laptop computer, a functional robot with no human shape except for artificial hands, a robot with a humanlike shape and another person. the 20 participants were also asked about their enjoyment levels after playing the prisoner ’ s dilemma game, which is similar to the rock paper scissors game. “ we were interested in what ’ s going on in the brain when you play an interaction game when you need to think what your opponent is thinking, ” said soren krach, a psychologist in the department of psychiatry at rwth aachen university. in social cognitive neuroscience, the ability to attribute intentions and desires to others is referred to as having a theory of mind, according to the study. “ we found out that the activity in the cortical network related to theory of mind … was increasingly engaged the more the opponents exhibited humanlike features, ” krach explained. before going into the mri scanner, the subjects played against the laptop, the two robots and the human. once inside the scanner, they played again, using special video glasses, and they were told which opponent they were playing against at any given time. later, they were asked about the interaction. “ they indicated that the more humanlike the opponent was, the more they had perceived fun during the game and they more attributed intelligence to their opponent, ” krach said. the behaviour of the four opponents was randomized. the study was published tuesday in the online open - access journal plos one, along with another study in which neuroscientists looked at the brain ’ s response to piano sonatas played either by a computer or musician. * * * to read the rest of the article and about that second experiment, click here. the article, from which the image above is taken, is : krach s, hegel f, wrede b, sagerer g, binkofski f, et al. ( 2008 ) can machines think? interaction and perspective taking with robots investigated via fmri.