Tumblred April 26, May 2, May 9

environmental change] New WWF Report Available – Arctic Climate Impact Science

Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400 To: “ArcticInfo” Subject: New WWF Report Available – “Arctic Climate Impact Science – an Update since ACIA” The full report can be downloaded at: http://www.panda.org/arctic The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s International Arctic Programme announces the publication of an update report on the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). The report, “Arctic Climate Impact Science – an Update since ACIA,” reviews related science publications and impacts that have…

[superlative thinking] Platypus odder than scientists thought

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/08/genetics.wildlife?gusrc=rss Platypus proves even odder than scientists thought

[superlative thinking] Driving While Distracted More Dangerous Than Supposed

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/10/1625210 Driving While Distracted More Dangerous Than Supposed>

[environment, food] risk of lead poisoning in condors, game animals

http://newsminer.com/news/2008/may/10/idaho-conference-explore-risk-lead-poisoning-condo/ >Idaho conference to explore risk of lead poisoning in condors, game animals BOISE, Idaho — The potential risk of lead poisoning from high-velocity bullets, whether to carrion-eating condors in the Grand Canyon or to food bank patrons in the Midwest, is the subject of a scientific conference next week. 5/10/2008 11:47 AM

[toilets, water, hygiene] Philippines: San Fernando’s Dry Alternative

http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/philippines-san-fernandoâ??s-dry-alternative/ >Philippines: San Fernando’s Dry Alternative Three years ago, residents of coastal and upland villages in San Fernando City polluted their drinking water with their own excreta. Today, they take pains to practice safe hygiene and sanitation. An innocent looking dry toilet (UDDT – urine-diverting dehydration toilet) and an untiring city mayor propelled this shift through a 2-town ecological sanitation pilot…

[toilets, water, housing] China: Rising Eco-Town Boasts No-Flush Toilets

http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/china-rising-eco-town-boasts-no-flush-toilets/ >China: Rising Eco-Town Boasts “No-Flush Toilets” A big housing development project is bringing ecological sanitation toilets that do not require water, to a water-scarce municipality in the northern region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The largest urban project of its kind in the PRC, the project also boasts of an onsite eco-station complete with greywater treatment and thermal composting of…

[toilets, hygiene] Sulabh International plans to open branches in 50 countries

http://sanitationupdates.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/sulabh-international-plans-to-open-branches-in-50-countries/ >Sulabh International plans to open branches in 50 countries Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of >Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, India, revealed in an interview published in April 2008 in the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) “Water Champion” series, that his organisation plans to open branches in 50 countries. Sulabh has already constructed and is maintaining public…

[birds, health] Biologists to keep closer eye on northern eider ducks in face of die-offs

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/05/09/eider-ducks.html?ref=rss Biologists to keep closer eye on northern eider ducks in face of die-offs Federal government biologists say they will expand their monitoring of common eider ducks in Canada’s North, as concerns escalate over avian cholera in northern bird colonies. 5/9/2008 12:18 PM |

[organizational culture, health] Wages last thing on departing doctors’ minds

Same is true for YKHC and LANL (duh!)

Wages last thing on departing doctors’ minds – study A study of junior doctors leaving Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) has found career development, training opportunities and travel were the main motivators, with wages a factor in just 5 per cent of cases. – http://www.stuff.co.nz/4516475a11.html

[solid waste, health] utensils made from compostable corn, Nunatsiaq News 2008-05-02

[solid waste, health] utensils made from compostable corn, Nunatsiaq News 2008-05-02 : May 2, 2008 Turn old spuds and corn stalks into dinner ware Businessman dreams of plastic-free future JANE GEORGE Kuujjuaq resident Bruce Turner has a dream – that all businesses, government offices and municipalities in the North will one day use biodegradable products instead of plastic. Turner wants to see mining camps, restaurants, airlines and the Cruise North travel firm use totally reuseable and recyclable…

[hygiene, pandemic] Some keyboards ‘dirtier than a toilet’

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/uk_news/7377002.stm Some keyboards ‘dirtier than a toilet’ Some computer keyboards harbour more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, research suggests. 5/1/2008 01:26 AM | … “If you look at what grows on computer keyboards, and hospitals are worse, believe it or not, it’s more or less a reflection of what’s in your nose and in your gut,” he said. “Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you’re very likely to pick it up…

“By Heather Blumer (Submitted: 05/06/2008 2:47 pm) I have been working on several…”

“By Heather Blumer (Submitted: 05/06/2008 2:47 pm) I have been working on several alternatives to the the of gravity. After all, among the other forces in physics, electromagnetic, strong interactions and the weak interactions, gravity is arguably the least understood. One of my alternative theories is the theory of “malicious falling.” When a body (be it a person, a rock, an asteroid or the moon – as in orbital motion) falls, it is not because of gravity, but rather it is due to a universal…

[aging, emergency response] Liz Taylor + aging

Aging Deliberately: Inquiries About Emergency Response Systems Kitsap Sun (Subscription) – WA, United States By Liz Taylor Q: What can you tell me about emergency response systems? My mom lives alone, and I’d like to get one for her but don’t know the right … http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/may/04/aging-deliberately-inquiries-about-emergency/

[aging] AK: Elders

http://aprn.org/2008/05/03/ak-elders/ >AK: Elders May is Older Americans Month, so this week we salute our Elders. We’ll speak with a woman who, in 1960, became Alaska’s first African-American teacher and meet seniors who say your golden years are when your life begins. Plus, “Where to Retire” magazine recently called Anchorage a retirement “tax heaven,” but is it really an all-around paradise? All that and more this week on >AK, heard statewide on local APRN stations statewide. …

[aging, heritage] Liz Taylor, Aging Deliberately

Just in time for MayDay heritage Preservation day— Aging Deliberately How to handle the legacy of family photos What becomes of family photos when you die? Readers weigh in. (Mon, 4/28)

[aging, legal] Power of attorney Cashing out an elderly parent’s IRA

Cashing out an elderly parent’s IRA — in just 9 visits to the bank By Molly Selvin A son runs into red tape as he seeks to tap funds for his 92-year old father’s care. Over three months last winter, David made nine trips to the bank. Sometimes I accompanied him. He spoke with several “customer solutions representatives.” He produced his dad’s durable power of attorney and living trust for inspection multiple times. Those documents were repeatedly faxed to the bank’s central legal department…

“Old age is expensive in Alaska. A report at U.S. News & World Report details the rising cost of…”

“Old age is expensive in Alaska. A report at U.S. News & World Report details the rising cost of housing for the old. Citing an interactive map prepared by Genworth Financial, staff reporter and blogger Emily Brandon says a day in an Alaska nursing home averages $515, while in Louisiana those services can be had for $125. Be nice to your kids, Brandon advises.” – [Aging] Alaska Newsreader: Alaska Newsreader | adn.com

[health] International Clean Hands Week 2008

Announced by the Clean Hands Coalition, http://www.cleanhandscoalition.org/members.htm the week of September 21st-27th is this year’s official International Clean Hands Week.

[aging] Liz Taylor love-hate relationship with my computer

Aging Deliberately Make sure you don’t get tangled in the Web I have a love-hate relationship with my computer. My first was a so-called “portable. ” Weighing 35 pounds (or was it 35 tons?), it stretched my arm… (Mon, 4/21)

[aging] Son hires drinking mates for elderly father

[aging] Son hires drinking mates for elderly father : Son hires drinking mates for elderly father Reuters | Friday, 25 April 2008 Found: drinking companions to join elderly gentleman for a friendly beer at his village pub in Southern England. … for someone to accompany his 88-year-old father Jack on visits to his local pub from a nursing home. He offered the lucky winner $NZ17 an hour plus expenses and… decided on a job-share… duties are to be divided between a retired doctor and a former military…

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Anthropology in a climate of change, war, and internecine environments 1

[In process]

Background*
Part 1**
Part 2*** [separate post]

* Background

I think there is a need for anthropological perspective in any issue of human existence.

It is a sad irony that the discipline (science) which is most comprehensive and fundamental (science is a human activity and the basic science of human activity is anthropology) has often seemed through its profession association to be narrowly focussed and consequently irrelevant.

Last month, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) accompanied the chairwoman of the Disaster Recovery subcommittee, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) to another hearing, in Anchorage, about the few places in Alaska designated for US Army Corps of Engineers environmental management [sic].

The anthropologists are about to have their annual conference in Washington DC and will be exercised about the U.S. Army recruiting anthropologists (Human Terrain Systems). On the other hand, Barack Obama is hip to Margaret Mead “Obama demonstrated that he understood the reasons why America for decades (think of the Bay of Pigs invasion) has made gravely serious national security decisions based on laughably inaccurate intelligence.”

Meanwhile, none of our western Alaska or Mississippi deltas is taken seriously. “Rush Limbaugh adds Alaskan to polarizing efforts.”

The best the state of Alaska has done so far is issue an official pass to a non-existent mass disease shelter in the region’s pandemic preparedness exercise this year (flu shot clinic).

I think if Governor Palin actually had a scientific advisor to her environmental sub-cabinet especially from rural Alaska or if Landrieu and Stevens could earmark enough funding out of the millions for the Corps mission in Alaska to pay for scientific support for the Unorganized Borough [over half of Alaska's area, 970,500 km² (374,712 square miles), an area larger than France and Germany combined], this actually would be more effective than the endless photo-op and news stories about polar bears without ice.

How do we bring attention to the need for comprehensive analysis, assessment, and action on environmental change? No one would think of building a levee without an engineer, why are we doing relocation and reconstruction of communities — in Alaska and Louisiana / Mississippi — without a human scientist / human ecologist (anthropologist)?

[This analogy would work better if I didn't already know that someone in DC thought of managing emergencies with a horse show announcer.] At the very least we need to aggregate the existing knowledge that we know full well must be included, whether for a northern or a southern delta.

It may not be a direct plus for NOLA– my records precede Katrina and I read Voices of New Orleans. If all the people and power and money there can’t get trailers that the Feds are allowed to inspect — but I think the imaginative scale in Alaska would be easier to actually test many of these concepts and approaches.

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E Holomoana Käkou I Mua” – Nutes tai dathl ~ To Journey Forward Together

This looks to be a very interesting opportunity in Alaska to find out more about civic groups in Hawai’i and their work on grassroots organization and governance, tradition, sustainability and development, education, and fun. The convention is for registered participants. However, there is a public open house on the evening of the 16th. I put a listing of the workshops and speakers at the bottom in order to give you an idea of the interests of the organization.

ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS

• http://www.aohcc.org/docs/ahcc.htm

48th ANNUAL CONVENTION
October 14 – 19, 2007
Hilton Anchorage – Alaska Ballroom
“E Holomoana Käkou I Mua” – Nutes tai dathl ~ To Journey Forward Together

The Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs is a confederation of fifty-two (52) Hawaiian Civic Clubs located throughout the State of Hawai`i and in the States of Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and Washington State.

We are the oldest community based grass roots Hawaiian organization in Hawai`i, having been formed in 1918 by the then non-voting Delegate to the United States Congress Prince Jonah Kühiö Kalaniana`ole. We are the only Hawaiian organization to have branch clubs outside the State of Hawai`i.

Our objectives are to take an active interest in the civic, economic, health and social welfare of our community; to support programs of benefit to the people of Hawaiian ancestry; to provide a forum for full discussion of all matters of public interest; to honor, fulfill, protect, preserve and cherish all sources, customs, rights and records of the Native Hawaiian ancient traditions, nä `oli a me nä mele, cemetery areas and the historic sites of Native Hawaiians.

Open to the Public– October 16, 2007 (Tuesday)
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Hilton Anchorage
FREE ADMITTANCE

Hoike Lima Hana Noeau featuring Native Hawaiian Arts & Crafts

• Hawaiian Games
• Lauhala Weaving
• Flower and Ti-Leaf Lei
• Ipu/Gourd Craft
• Hawaiian Ulu`uli and Hula
• Ti Leaf Uses

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Speakers and sessions scheduled
Mayor Mark Begich
Ms. Julie E. Kitka, President, Alaska Federation of Natives
Dr. Verlie Ann Malina-Wright, President, National Indian Education Association
Mr. Byron Mallott, Senior Fellow, Alaska Native Policy Center, First Alaskans
Ms. Dee Jay Mailer, Chief Executive Officer, Kamehameha Schools
Mr. Ben Henderson, Deputy to the Chairman, Hawaiian Homes Commission
Mr. Carl Nahua Rose, Executive Director, Association of Alaska School Boards
Mr. Puakea Nogelmeier, Education and Hawaiian Cultural Specialist
Mr. Clyde Namuo, Administrator, Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Ms. Katherine Gottlieb, President & CEO, Southcentral Foundation
Ms. Malia Nobrega, Educator, Media and Technology Specialist, Advocate for Indigenous Peoples Rights
Workshop: Genealogy
Workshop: A Native Warrior Speaks
Workshop: He Inoa No E Kalaniana‘ole Hula Workshop
Workshop: Government 101
Workshop: Alaska Native Healer
Workshop: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Workshop: Business Development for Civic Clubs
Workshop: Nohona Hawaii: Cultural Vibrancy in a Contemporary World
Workshop: 21st Century Challenges: Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability
Workshop: Nana I Hawai‘i Ko‘u Mau Maka
Workshop: Culture in the Boardroom: A Huaka‘i
Workshop: Kahili: Standards of Royalty
Workshop: Ho‘ike Lima Hana No‘eau Sponsored by the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association
Workshop: Na Mele Hawaii Ho‘oheno, Favorite Hawaiian Songs
Government Relations Committee Presenter: The Native Hawaiian Reorganization Act
Benefits & Trusts Committee Presenter: Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan
Workshop: Ka Mo‘olelo O Hi‘iakaikapoliopele
Workshop: Native Hawaiian Assets
Workshop: Native Hawaiian Assets
Workshop: Owning a Native Health Care System
Workshop: Nationhood: Ho‘opaepae: Building The Nation From the Ground Up
Workshop: Hawai‘i Maoli: Helping Hawaiians to Build Strong and Healthy Communities

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50 reasons not to change

It’s amazing just how many languages (and dichos) would fit this. I first ran across this in New Mexico in 1991 very apropos at that time RE: women in the highway and environment departments. The specific source is in deep storage (still) but I’m hoping the creator will recognize it and let me know.

In Alaska I’ve heard, “you’re too thoughtful” and “you can’t expect them to understand…”

View the comments for other suggestions or to add your own. Also, the comments contain trackbacks to interesting sites.

Please note that this image has a copyright, for non-commercial distribution with attribution.

Click the title below to enlarge. It should print well on 8.5 by 11 paper for handouts.
50ReasonsNot2

If you’d like to display a thumbnail, copy the thumbnail below to your site and code it like this

<a href="http://13c4.wordpress.com/2007/02/24/50-reasons-not-to-change/" title="50 reasons not to change source"><img src="http://yoursite.com/50-reason-notto2.thumbnail.jpg/> click to see original</a>

<p><a href="http://13c4.wordpress.com/2007/02/24/50-reasons-not-to-change/">http://13c4.wordpress.com/2007/02/24/50-reasons-not-to-change/</a>from MP Bumsted, Biocultural Science & Management</p>

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Pay for performance

What is supposed to work in schools, similarly with alcohol control and Wall Street, seems to operate on belief rather than an examination of what is and then formulating testable ideas on what, if anything, needs doing. Belief is an important factor in “what works”. However, critical thinking and careful use of statistics, among other attributes of sciencing such as multiple working hypotheses, are important to keep us all honest. In the situation of pandemic fatal or crippling disease, wishful thinking or “denial” won’t keep us, at all.

Schools

• http://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2007/ 01/26/teacher-incentives-demotivate-houston-teachers/

Advocates of using pay to improve teacher performance grow excited over the addition of federal money to supplement local district pay incentives. But maybe they shouldn’t. Contrary to other provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), there is little research to demonstrate that paying a few teachers more will improve student performance. [...]

Alaska perspective

Understanding what is right and wrong with the current institutional environment would seem, therefore, to be the key to understanding why spending and performance are not positively correlated.

• Additional spending is no fix for school -
  http://www.adn.com/money/story/8614922p-8507446c.html

Binge drinking, not alcoholism

* Many people assume that most people who drink to excess are probably alcoholics.
* A recent survey of 4,761 New Mexico adults found that while 16.5 percent drank alcohol in excess of national guidelines, only 1.8 percent met criteria for alcohol dependence.
* This suggests that a majority of persons at risk for alcohol-related problems are not alcohol dependent.

Most people realize that too much alcohol can lead to multiple health problems, injuries and violence. Numerous statistics support the accuracy of this perception. Many people also assume that a substantial proportion of people who drink to excess are probably alcoholics. This may not be accurate. A recent study of the general population in New Mexico reveals that, in fact, most alcohol-related problems may be due to excessive drinking – especially binge drinking – among persons who are not alcoholics.

• http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-01/ace-edn011807.php

The irresistible power of magical thinking

New research demonstrates that habits of so-called magical thinking — the belief, for instance, that wishing harm on a loathed colleague or relative might make him sick — are far more common than people acknowledge.

• http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/24/healthscience/snmag.php
• http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/23/psychology_of_magica.html

even at Los Alamos National Laboratory (UC-LANS UC-LANL) and Congress

• http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/56133.html

The representatives love to lash out at Los Alamos without ever addressing the really important problems facing the lab.

They call for more security, more bureaucracy, more procedures, more manuals and more oversight. This was a tradition started by former director Pete Nanos who shutdown the lab for six months to “fix it”. Somehow this culture of “more” is meant to lead an efficient, lean lab.

• http://www.theregister.com/2007/02/02/lanl_2007_bash/

• http://13c4.wordpress.com/2006/01/11/science-is-a-human-activity/

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Technorati Tags: NCLB, performance, schools, statistics, magic, H5N1, alcohol+control, binge

Male Scientist Writes of Life as Female Scientist

By Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, July 13, 2006

http://tinyurl.com/ep89y or

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/ 2006/07/12/AR2006071201883.html

I hope this article gets widely noticed (I also need to find the original). Two primary points–

Barres said he has realized from personal experience that many men are unconscious of the privileges that come with being male, which leaves them unable to countenance talk of glass ceilings and discrimination.

This is a very difficult concept to express to others (especially to men who honestly believe they don’t discriminate against women). I have tried to use the example of colleagues, or mentors and proteges, who discuss their project animatedly and enthusiastically, while on the way to the restroom….

Barres said the switch had given him access to conversations that would have excluded him previously.

If one wants to know what majority institutions and governments think of ethnic minorities (i.e., Native and non-Native or Hispano and non-Hispano) ask an Anglo / Gussack / Pakeha trained in participant / observation who’s been in “both worlds”.

“Science is a human activity”

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Public involvement references

I put together a set of references on the technical field of public involvement, risk communication, etc.
Getting Results from Your Experts –
http://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2006/04/29/getting-results-from-your-experts/

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Developing Minority Community Capacity in Environmental Health & Hazardous Substances

M. Pamela Bumsted, Julia T. Abeyta, and Karen S. Young

Beyond Boundaries—Developing Minority Community Capacity in Environmental Health & Hazardous Substances.

Minority communities need to develop a capacity in all aspects of environmental health, including administrative, scientific, educational, and governmental. Minority communities are nearly always viewed as supplicants or targets by outside agencies, individuals, or institutions. Heretofore, communities have not participated as autonomous institutions in collaborative studies nor been the ones to develop or run the agency’s public involvement. Our programs are designed to provide permanent information and expertise within the communities related to environmental health and hazardous substances, to enable them to make informed decisions about their future.

Principal— M. Pamela Bumsted, Ph.D.

Affiliations 1 & 3—Northern Pueblos Institute,
Northern New Mexico Community College 2—American Indian Affairs,
Northern New Mexico Community College

Paper given 30 March 1995
Society for Applied Anthropology, March–April 1995 Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Abstract published in annual meeting program, page 52.

Session—Chemicals, Culture, & Health (Lynette Benson, organizer, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

“Management Style”

The philosophy which directs my interactions with co-workers and employees is non-hierarchical, collaborative, consistent, and adaptive—problem oriented, not rule oriented. I integrate viewpoints, skills, and expertise of those I work with and for. I am able to create new combinations of old ways to apply to a problem. And, from all that I learn, I am able to come up with new ideas for old and new problems (and for those problems yet to be visible). Yet, I accept my responsibility as leader, whether that responsibility is personal, professional, legal, or ethical.

“Teamwork” is the trendy slogan. Teamwork for me doesn’t mean “I crack the whip and you all jump.” The problems I work with are complex and require collaboration with others—whether they be janitors, retirees, government officials, or program managers. The idea is to involve people as needed, including myself, but not to burden them with the minutiae which keeps them from more important responsibilities.

Science is a human activity

Victor Weisskopf, the Nobel laureate, used this expression in a retrospective of the 40th anniversary of the founding of Los Alamos National Laboratory. C.P. Snow has elegantly discussed the void between “Two Cultures”, sciences and the humanities.

But the UC-LANL entity is of multicultural, not biocultural origin; it is really communities of diverse peoples, often conflicting in values, language, goals, etiquette, even dress.

The University of California/Los Alamos National Laboratory is multicultural in that a greater divide exists between the University and the Laboratory than that between disciplines, such that it interferes with cross-institutional collaboration of people within the same academic cultural origin.

There are two further senses of multicultural which are overlooked in discussions of “science” and “society”, even explicitly so in the University’s own rhetoric, such as the 1989 Science advertisement for a “Coordinator [to] promote… research between Laboratory staff and campus faculty and students…” [emphasis added]. Above all else, Los Alamos National Laboratory is a community of people: who are “technical” and “support” employees, “staff” with a status enhancing “S” on the badge and “nonexempt”, paid by the University of California and by Johnson Controls and PTLA.

But essential to its very establishment and to the continuing of a fundamental, generative (life-enhancing) core of its existence, Los Alamos National Laboratory is a community of diverse peoples who themselves have lived among los alamos for thousands of years, made the pilgrimage of Holy Week for hundreds of years, took over the Boys Ranch five decades ago, and graduated from our universities this spring.

It is only because of the Pueblo way of life, its successful adaptation to the upper Rio Grande and its consequent influence on later arriving cultures, that the world has seen in the past 50 years—

• nuclear weapons used only twice for mass destruction and
• up to now, such irresponsible and criminal acts of betrayal to the environment, employee safety, and community health on the scale of Rocky Flats and Hanford occurred there, and not in New Mexico.

But, the Laboratory’s core being can be overwhelmed or disintegrated through even small ignorant changes in institutional management, compounding those of the past. It can be demonstrated scientifically that the basic support for those who challenge assumptions and directions, who push for quality and meaning of research and policy at Laboratory and national levels, has come from the essential human ecology of the Pajarito Plateau, Rio Grande Valley, and Jemez Mountains.

In 1986, the Laboratory director argued that he would not add a cultural scientist to the Laboratory staff because “I already have four political scientists” to tell him what was going on in Washington, DC. Less than three years later, the Secretary of Energy in his nomination testimony said there had to be a cultural revolution in the national nuclear weapons complex. To date, the UC-LANL director, and the Laboratory, still has difficulty using this elementary science term correctly in a sentence, equating something as one-dimensional as “safety” or “open” to all the richness and complexity of Pueblo or Hispano culture. The Laboratory’s new environmental ethic is demonstrated by the new water tank blocking one’s first view of the magnificent Jemez-someone did think to decorate it with the 50th anniversary logo.

In 1985, the Laboratory director, in a colloquium on creativity in science, Management’s Challenge: Nurturing Creativity At Work, responded unfavorably to the suggestion that freedom of choice in research or even when to do research tasks, such as that enjoyed by postdoctoral fellows and Laboratory Fellows, might be extended for a short period to a larger segment of the staff as a reward for creativity, in addition to the traditional salary and certificates. The Director would not consider this for fear that at a mission-oriented Laboratory, members might wish to do “irrelevant studies such as poetry”.

In 1986, the Laboratory director said the only reason there was a life sciences division at the Laboratory was because there was a Nobel prize in the field, and the Laboratory needed someone who could keep up with the news from that area. In 1989, UC looked for a liaison between LANL and the University in order to enhance UC-LANL interactions. In responding to the question of whether the very few women who had applied were from the life sciences, the Office of the University of California President answered yes, “but, of course [those sciences] are irrelevant” to UC-LANL.

In 1986, a senior Laboratory scientist wrote to the head of the UC-LANL Center for National Security Studies of the need to overcome barriers between scientists (and their institutions) and the general public, “this hostility to science as the enemy….” He went on to say “To call the problem educational is to underestimate it…. It has not always been thus, and it may be possible for science to rejoin the human family…. [A program such as human ecology] could make a contribution to this problem, which is one of the most serious problems that the Laboratory or science itself faces for its own survival”.

Northern New Mexico people do value the statement “Los Alamos National Laboratory operated by the University of California”.

But the relationship must be revitalized to become more relevant than a letterhead graphic, an exchange between senior management, and a news item every five years about faculty discussions. From a single mission at its origin, the collaboration must realize its multidimensional responsibilities for the future. The current interaction of laboratory, university, and community is not successful.

It is a University’s responsibility to remind all of us that “beauty”, “charm”, and “elegance” are also attributes of sub-atomic particles and theoretical physics; that the sensitive dependence on initial conditions of non-linear dynamic systems is a “butterfly effect”; that the behavior of coherent light (LASER) is described by the language of mathematics and within Diné view of nature; that some of the finest contemporary art is done at home in Santa Clara by those Lab employees that separate our transuranic waste. It is time UC-LANL turned to its cultural roots.

(c) M. Pamela Bumsted 1989, 1993

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Cooperative Extension Work in Indian Country

This is an excellent brief intro (Indian Country 101–A Primer) to the other major form of government in the US (the one most are unaware of, much less familiar with). The analysis is spot on. But the problems don’t just affect the poor showing of Extension. Natural Resources Conservation Service, especially its Resource Conservation & Development Councils, sadly, are also afflicted. There are additional factors involved, as well [to be continued. But see also this paper] It is significant that this paper was published

Is 10% Good Enough? Cooperative Extension Work in Indian Country
Joseph G. Hiller Assistant Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona jghillerATcalsDOT arizona DOT edu

Abstract: The Cooperative Extension system delivers local programs in virtually all of America’s counties. Extension’s intergovernmental model capitalizes on resources of counties, states, and the federal government and provides an institutional framework for county Extension work. The Extension system and model is not as applicable, however, for members of America’s 562 Indian tribes, particularly those living on 314 major Indian reservations. This 90 year-old template is woefully inadequate for Indian Country Extension work. This article presents background on how this situation evolved and suggests that national-scale dialogue to develop program equity for this underserved and place-bound audience is needed.

Introduction
Extension is not reaching Indian Country. This article presents a brief background of life in Indian Country, a historical snapshot of Extension work on Indian reservations as related to conventional non-Indian Extension work and reveals a number of institutional obstacles blocking progress towards equity. As a starting point, it is recommended that national dialogue with tribes and tribal organizations is needed. The extensive background section in this article is intended to familiarize the reader with key historic and contemporary features of American Indian life on reservations. Brief comments are made on frequently asked questions related to Indian Country. Finally, this article concludes with a sketch of who is doing what and suggests we reevaluate the local Extension model and refine it to operate more effectively in Indian Country….

Indian Country Extension Model
With the brief background provided, one can see the conventional American model for Extension work in Indian Country is challenged with political, financial, historical, and institutional situations much different from those in a conventional Extension relationship. There is no political counterpart to county-level government within most tribal governments, although most tribes have political subdivisions of central government–often called “agencies,” “districts”, “villages,” or “chapters.” There is generally no tax or revenue flow from the subordinate levels to the higher central government on a reservation unless commercial (i.e., gaming) or natural resources produce the income. The legal government-to-government relationship between tribes and states may differ between states, particularly with respect to taxes. Tribes enjoy sovereignty and special relationships with other governments in America that are typically described in treaties, legislation, or court decrees. They are not subordinate to counties or states. The propensity in CSREES for competitive funding for Extension work makes the matter worse. Tribes do not generally have resources to provide for in-kind or cash match on grant proposals. They do have, however, significant familiarity with short-term federal programs that tend to have marginal impact and are not sustained over time. Ninety years of formula funding made the U.S. Extension organization the model for worldwide adoption, yet Indian Country Extension /EIRP operates exclusively on year-to-year funds. In view of this, tribes pose tough questions about long-term commitment to EIRP personnel that are difficult to answer….

Many tribes, nations, and communities have appealed for Extension programs, but without adequate political advocacy and lukewarm federal support, the program is unlikely to grow as needed….

This article is online at Journal of Extension http://www.joe.org/joe/2005december/a2.shtml

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