Soyuz launch escape system
The Soyuz launch escape system has the acronym САС, SAS (Система Аварийного Спасения, Sistema Avariynogo Spaseniya) and is activated should anything go wrong on the launch pad, or on the ride into orbit. It is attached to the shroud covering the Soyuz spaceship during launch. The main events that would trigger the system during launch are loss of control, premature booster stage separation, loss of pressure in the combustion chambers, lack of velocity and loss of thrust.
The system can also be triggered from the ground by remote radio control (КРЛ, Командная Радиолиния, Komandnaya Radioliniya – Command Radio-Line). The command is sent from the Kvant ground control station at Site 23, 30 kilometers away from the Soyuz launch site.
The SAS is activated and ready from 15 minutes before launch to 157 seconds from launch. On activation, three floating struts on the payload fairing fixate to the lower structural ring of the Soyuz Descent Module to transfer loads from the payload fairing. The main escape motors fire for 2-6 seconds, taking with them the top two sections of the Soyuz spaceship (Habitation and Descent Modules; the Instrumentation Module remains with the rest of the rocket). The rockets can lift the SAS to a height of 1-1.5 kilometers from the ground. The Descent Module is then disconnected from the fairing, a separation motor fires and the Descent Module falls out of the bottom of the fairing, deploys its parachute and lands in the normal manner.
This extract from Mir Hardware Heritage describes the only time the SAS has been used, so far:
- Pad Abort September 26, 1983
- Vladimir Titov, Gennadi Strekalov
- Crew code name: Okean
Refer to figure 1-29. Shortly before liftoff, fuel spilled around the base of the Soyuz launch vehicle and caught fire. Launch control activated the escape system, but the control cables had already burned. The crew could not activate or control the escape system, but 20 sec later, ground control was able to activate the escape system by radio command. By this time the booster was engulfed in flames. Explosive bolts fired to separate the descent module from the service module and the upper launch shroud from the lower. Then the escape system motor fired, dragging the orbital module and descent module, encased within the upper shroud, free of the booster at 14 to 17 g’s of acceleration. Acceleration lasted 5 sec. Seconds after the escape system activated, the booster exploded, destroying the launch complex (which was, incidentally, the one used to launch Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1). Four paddle-shaped stabilizers on the outside of the shroud opened. The descent module separated from the orbital module at an altitude of 650 m, and dropped free of the shroud. It discarded its heat shield, exposing the solid-fuelled land landing rockets, and deployed a fast-opening emergency parachute. Landing occurred about 4 km from the launch pad. The aborted mission is often called Soyuz T-10a in the West. This was the last failed attempt to date to reach a space station to date.
An account from Leaving Earth by Robert Zimmerman:
It was not to be. Ninety seconds before blast-off, with Titov and Strekalov waiting at the top of their fully-fueled Soyuz rocket, a fuel valve at the base of the rocket malfunctioned, opening and spilling fuel uncontrollably onto the launchpad. A fire broke out and flames engulfed the rocket with its 180 tons of very flammable fuel. At that moment, the automatic launch-escape system should had kicked in, executing the following steps: First, explosive bolts fire, flinging the Soyuz T capsule free of the three-stage rocket. One second later, solid-fuel engines in a tower attached to the top of the capsule ignite, lifting the Soyuz T orbital module and descent module away and clear. Five seconds after that, more explosive bolts fire to separate the manned descent module from everything else. Its parachutes then release and its retro-rockets fire, slowing the capsule enough for a safe landing.
The automatic launch-escape system did not kick in, however. The fire had burned the system’s wiring, preventing it from being activated automatically. Feeling strange vibrations and seeing black smoke and yellow flames outside their window, Titov and Strekalov tried to fire the launch-escape system manually, only to get no response. To fire the escape system manually from mission control required each of two different operators, located in two separate rooms, to press separate buttons at the same time. With flames rising from the launchpad and the entire rocket already leaning 20 degrees to the side, controllers scrambled madly to get the system to free.
Just 10 seconds after the flames first appeared, controllers miraculously managed to somehow do this, activating the escape system and throwing Titov, Strekalov and the Soyuz T capsule more than 3000 feet into the air. For five seconds the emergency engines fired, subjecting the two men to forces exceeding 15 g’s. Then the engines cut off, the descent module separated, and its parachutes unfolded.
At that moment, the entire rocket and launchpad exploded. The blast was so intense that the capsule, three miles away, was thrown sideways, and launchpad workers in underground bunkers felt the pressure wave.
Strekalov and Titov landed safely, their capsule hitting the ground with a hard bump that shook both men up but did them no damage. Rescuers quickly pulled them from the capsule, then gave them a glass of vodka to calm their nerves as everyone watched the nearby launchpad crumble in flames and clouds of smoke. It took 20 hours to put the fires out.
|Breakout altitude in the event of launch failure||850 meters|
|Breakout distance in the event of launch failure||110 m|
|G-load on humans||
|Initial mass of separating nose section, not more than||7635 kg|
|Total EDS thruster burns||123 TF-S|
|Maximum EDS thruster propulsion unit thrust||76 TF|
SoyCOM: 3.20. Система Аварийного Спасения (САС) (Launch Escape System)
CAC system purpose and composition
The CAC System is designed for bringing the crew modules away from the failed Launch Vehicle and providing conditions for guarantied operation of the landing aids while at the launch site and in the orbit injection phase.
The system is fully automatic. In case of the Launch Vehicle failure the “АВАРИЯ НОСИТЕЛЯ” ( Launch Vehicle Failure) red light illuminates (ТСЭ-3) and also the Central Light goes ON and the intermittent audio signal sounds.
Having received these signals the crew reports to the Launch Control and prepares to withstand the accelerations associated with the launch escape procedures.
General CAC System design is shown in Fig.1.
The CAC System consists of:
- CAC Propulsion System;
- Aerodynamic Cap covering the crew modules;
- CAC Automatic Equipment.
Двигательная Установка САС (ДУ САС) (CAC Propulsion System)
The ДУ САС is an active aid which enables the spacecraft rescued part to escape in case of the Launch Vehicle failure both at the launch site and in the orbit injection phase.
The ДУ САС consists of:
- Центральный Ракетный Двигатель (ЦРД) (Central Rocket Engine);
- Four Управляющие Ракетные Двигатели (УРД) (Attitude Control Rocket Thrusters);
- Ракетные Двигатели Разделения (РДР) (Separation Rocket Thrusters).
The ЦРД engine is designed for the spacecraft crew module (БО-СА) escape from the failed Launch Vehicle and climb up to the altitude necessary for the parachute system operation in case of emergency at the launch site or in launch vicinity conditions.
The УРД thrusters are designed for executing the preset spacecraft crew module escape trajectory in case of emergency at the launch site or in the vicinity of the launch site.
The РДР thrusters are designed for executing the evasive trajectory of the CAC System after its nominal jettison in the spacecraft orbit injection phase. The РДР thrusters are also used to take the Cap+БО cluster away from the CA at the climb portion of the spacecraft rescued part launch escape trajectory.
Apart from the ДУ САС Propulsion System the following thrusters are located on the Aerodynamic Cap:
- Ракетные Двигатели Головного Обтекателя (РДГ) (Cap Thrusters);
- Двигатели Сброса Створок (ДСС) (Section Jettison Thrusters).
The РДГ thrusters are designed for raising the climb altitude of the spacecraft rescued part in case of emergency in launch vicinity conditions and also for taking the rescued part away in the orbit injection phase after the ЦРД nominal jettison and prior to the Cap jettison.
The ДСС thrusters are designed for taking the Cap sections away from the spacecraft during its nominal jettison procedure in the orbit injection phase.
Crew Module Aerodynamic Cap
The Crew Module Aerodynamic Cap is the structural base for the escaping crew modules.
CAC System Automatic Equipment
The CAC Automatic Equipment is designed for joint operation with the spacecraft and the Launch Vehicle systems in generating signals and executing commands for the crew module escape from the failed Launch Vehicle in case of emergency at the launch site or in the orbit injection flight phase.
CAC system operational procedure
The CAC System total operational period is subdivided into six portions:
- From the moment of the “Взведение САС” (CAC arming) command for configuring the CAC System for operation up to the “КП” (контакт подъема – Lift-Off Contact).
- From the “КП” up to 20 seconds of flight elapsed time.
- From the FET 20 s up to the ДУ САС jettison programmed time.
- From the ДУ САС programmed jettison up to the Cap (ГО) jettison.
- From the ГО programmed jettison up to the “ПО” (предварительное отделение – preliminary separation) command.
- From the “ПО” command up to the Launch Vehicle 3rd stage Propulsion System Shut Off command. First Portion Procedure
In this CAC System operational period portion the emergency signal can be issued only by the Launch Director via the КРЛ system from the Launch Control vault.
On receiving the “Авария” (Emergency) signal the following commands are issued:
- for the spacecraft separation at the СА-ПАО interface;
- for the ЦРД engine 1-2 chamber ignition.
In 1.8 s after the “Авария” signal is issued the УРД thrusters are fired under the program control which depends on the wind direction and the location of the launch facilities.
In 4 s after the “Авария” the РДГ thrusters are fired.
At the escape trajectory peak the САС Automatic Equipment issues commands:
- for the ВСК jettison;
- for the СА/БО separation.
After the ВСК jettison the a РДР thruster is fired and carries the Cap+БО cluster away from the СА so as to prevent their collision. At the preset time moment the parachute system is put to operation and follows a reduced time program.
Second Portion Procedure
This portion features low flight altitudes. So the failed Launch Vehicle Propulsion System is not cut off to carry the Launch Vehicle away from the launch facilities as far as possible. The parachute system operates under the control of reduced time programs.
Third Portion Procedure
When the “Авария” signal arrives the following commands are issued:
- The Launch Vehicle Propulsion System emergency ignition;
- Execution of all the commands according to the First portion program of the CAC operation with exceptions:
- only the first ЦРД chamber is ignited (the altitude clearance is sufficient for the КСП complex operation;
- the РДГ is not fired (altitude sufficient for the КСП operation);
- only one УРД thruster is burnt, the one located in plane II.
At the preset moment the КСП Complex is put to operation.
Fourth Portion Procedure
This portion’s peculiar feature consists in using the РДГ thrusters as active aid for the crew module escape. On the “Авария” signal the spacecraft is separated at the СА-ПАО interface and two РДГ thrusters are ignited. In 0,32 s after the “Авария” command the second РДГ thruster group is ignited to take the crew modules away from the failed Launch Vehicle trajectory. According to the preset program the CAC automatic equipment issues commands for the ВСК jettison and for the СА/БО separation.
At the preset moment the КСП Complex is put to operation following the nominal time program.
Fifth Portion Procedure
There are no active aids used in this portion for the crew module evasive maneuver away from the failed Launch Vehicle. So the nominal spacecraft separation aids are employed. On the “Авария” signal the САС automatic equipment issues commands for the Launch Vehicle Propulsion System emergency cut off and for the spacecraft crew module nominal separation. The КСП operation follows the nominal time program.
Sixth Portion Procedure
It is this portion’s peculiarity, that in case of emergency separation the spacecraft injection to off-nominal orbits is possible. So based on the long duration (>30 min) crew life support requirement for the offnominal orbit flight the crew rescue is executed within the integrated spacecraft. On the “Авария” signal the CAC automatic equipment translate command for the spacecraft nominal separation from the Launch Vehicle 3rd stage. The separation is accomplished followed by the spacecraft descent. The integrated spacecraft separation is executed nominally at the atmosphere reentry. The spacecraft landing aids operate on the nominal program.
- I-III, II-IV – Stabilization Planes.
- View A:
- БГ – Balance Weight;
- УРД – Attitude Control Thrusters;
- РДР – Separation Thrusters;
- ДУ САС – CAC Propulsion System;
- ЦРД – Central Rocket Engine;
- ГО – Aerodynamic Cap;
- ДСС – Section Jettison Thrusters;
- ВО – Upper Support;
- РДГ – Cap Thrusters;
- БО – Habitable (Crew Resting) Module;
- СА – Descent Module;
- НО – Lower Support;
- ВСК – Cosmonaut Visual System.
- Sequence of operations diagram for the crew emergency recovery system of the Soyuz T-type spacecraft, Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya (102 KB)
- Soyuz abort sequence (70 KB), MARS Center
- Russian Space Web: Emergency escape system of the Soyuz spacecraft
- Voice of Russia radio site: Spacecraft Rescue System, or a Takeoff Explosion


This is my second year teaching a technology course to our grade 10 Dual Language (studying English and Spanish) students. We spend a large portion of the course learning how to create a digital footprint. Students are often hesitant to jump in. They have been exposed to the dangers and the what not to do discussion for years. The aim of the class is to help students cultivate a positive huella digital that will serve them today as well as in the future. Last week, students brainstormed reasons to create a positive healthy online presence.
- Help others (locally and around the world)
- Employment (now and in the future)
- Earn money (lots of examples of teens making 💰 online)
- Improve communication in Spanish and English
- Amor (a future girlfriend's parents will allow you (or not) to date their daughter💜)
- Connect with others about school, sports, hobbies, jobs, health, college, etc.
- Universities will see a more creative and comprehensive side of you
Last year we created our own weekly Twitter chat. We revitalized #amigoweb which I saw online a few years ago. The idea is that teachers bring their students to a computer lab or use their Chromebooks to participate in a Twitter chat en español during class. Teams of students worked on topics that would be interesting to World Language students such as sports, holidays, food, music, etc. and created six questions to discuss during the 45 minute chat. The rest of the class also participated in the chat and encouraged others (from around the country or just down the hall) with replies and digital resources. Certainly, some chats were more engaging than others. We are learning to produce valuable content rather than just consume it so these chats give us a chance to practice. We will be starting our new #amigoweb chats in January and would love your class to join us. Dates and topics will be shared out in December.
Reflecting upon last year, I realized students needed a bit more guidance to be successful with their online content. So, this year, students created a rubric en español for our first tweets and online communication. We also worked on a profile for our twitter account. It is an awesome start but will take constant modeling and tweaking from me all year. Feel free to make a copy or alter the document to better suite your students needs. We would also appreciate feedback and how to make our rubric more effective if you or your students have suggestions. As always, please share your thoughts on students building their huellas.
Crafting their Twitter profile was their first experience sharing with the world.


This is one of Byron’s longer poems, spanning more than eighty lines. Gothic and dark in nature, it is not broken up into stanzas. The poem is instead arranged as one long piece of text in order to convey its theme of “eternal space” and the darkness of the night. As with many other poems, Byron uses nature to explore the characters of men. He indicates that “Happy were those who dwelt within the eye/Of the volcanos…” and uses light as an attribute that is associated with happiness and hope. On the other hand, the lines “And men forgot their passions in the dread/Of this their desolation,” convey the opposite. At end of the poem, Byron explores the world without nature and without man (“seasonless, herbless, treelss, manless, lifeless”). This world has no highs and lows as the world around us (“And nothing stirred within their silent depths”) but that is what also makes this world dead and empty.
This is another short Byron poem of three stanzas and twelve lines. The poem conveys the concept of “a-roving” by incorporating words that play with the long ‘o’ sound in “roving.” Words and phrases like “no more,” “moon,” “sword,” and “too soon,” depict the actual motion of “a-roving” in order to illustrate the idea to the reader. Other words such as “loving” are rhymed with “roving” and help to further propagate the idea of motion even though they do not have the long ‘o’ sound. Byron rhymes the end syllables of each line but the rhymes alternate and further contribute to conveying the idea of motion. For example, in the second stanza, soft words like “sheath” and “breathe” alternate with arresting words like “breast” and “rest.”
This is a short poem of two stanzas and sixteen lines. It is written in first person with only one mention of the author. What is particularly interesting about this poem is the personification of the concept of beauty. While the metaphor of nature as a woman (Mother Nature) is nothing new, Byron’s interpretation remains fresh because of his way of grounding the metaphor in very specific and concrete details. In particular, the word beauty is capitalized and depicted as as a mother with daughters, starting with the first line (“There be none of Beauty’s daughters”). Byron then elaborates on this idea in the second stanza in the lines “Whose breast is gently heaving/Like an infant’s asleep.” Here words like “breast” and “infant” are used to reinforce the concept of Beauty as not only an abstract mother but also one with specific offspring (daughters).
This short poem consists of three stanzas and a total of fifteen lines. It is written in third person and the author makes no mention of himself as the speaker. The poem begins with the line “she walks in beauty” which also serves as the poem’s title and uses it to create the simile. “She walks in beauty, like the night” is a comparison that permeates and defines the rest of the poem. Images of the “one shade the more,” “one ray the less,” and “raven” reinforce this simile and characteristics like “cloudless,” clear and calm help define the night. By pointing out that clear and calm nights typically follow good and peaceful days, Byron finishes the poem and the comparison between this night and this peaceful, good, and innocent woman (“So soft, so calm,…But tell of days in goodness spent,/A mind at peace with all below…”).
This is a relatively short lyric and song poem, of ten stanzas of four lines each. Byron is the speaker and he refers to himself in the first person. In the second stanza, Byron uses imagery from nature as a metaphor for his age. In particular, he compares his days to “a yellow leaf” and writes that “the flowers and fruits of love are gone.” Yellow leaves are a sign of maturity but not full fledged old age. In the fall, after the fruits and flowers are gone, the leaves turn colors and fall off. Thus, in this poem, Byron conveys that, like the leaves, his age makes him mature and seasoned but not yet old and full of regret.


The mention of funding for additional research in “precision medicine” attracted applause from both sides of the aisle in a State of the Union address that was notably thin in bipartisan appeal. But it was hard for me to bring my hands together over the concept. When I hear about the promise of the “genetic revolution,” I think of Carly (not her real name). I took care of Carly, an 8 year old with sickle cell disease, a few years ago when she came to the emergency department with a massive stroke.
In medical school, in 1983, a professor told us with great authority that within 15 years, sickle cell disease would be an historical relic. Because it was known to be caused by a single mutation coding for a single amino acid in the hemoglobin molecule, it was an obvious target for the emerging field of gene therapy – it would be the simplest genetic disease to cure. If that professor had been correct, Carly wouldn’t have sickle cell disease, much less a crippling stroke. I think everyone knows that sickle cell disease is still very much with us. Carly’s family certainly does.
Now, I know “precision medicine” isn’t about gene therapy. As described by the White House, the initiative is designed to “provide clinicians with new tools, knowledge, and therapies to select which treatments will work best for which patients.” The concept is appealing. Therapies have different effects on people depending on their genetics. Rather than a “one size fits all” approach, drugs can be targeted to people whose genetics suggest they would be more likely to benefit, and dosages can be adjusted according to genetic differences in metabolism.
But as Mayo clinic anesthesiologist and physiologist Michael Joyner points out in a recent New York Times op-ed, it’s never quite as simple as it seems. First, most diseases, and certainly the most common ones, turn out to be genetically very complex. In sickle cell disease, 100% of the risk is associated with a single gene mutation. For most conditions studied so far – diabetes, heart disease, autism – multiple genes account for at most a few percent of the variability. Environment and behavior remain far stronger risk factors. And of course there is an interplay between genes, environment, and behavior that increases the complexity further.
Another “straightforward” example provides further caution. Metabolism of many drugs is affected by a genetic variants in the cytochrome p450 complex. The presence of certain alleles alters drug metabolism in predictable ways. Knowing a patient’s cytochrome p450 alleles should allow a clinician to adjust drug dosages without the need for trial and error – giving more to people known to metabolize more readily, or less to those who are slow metabolizers – potentially maximizing benefit while avoiding toxicity. Warfarin (Coumadin®), an anticoagulant commonly prescribed to prevent blood clots in patients with a variety of heart and other conditions, is one of the drugs metabolized in this way. Moreover, it has a narrow therapeutic index, meaning there is a relatively small zone of appropriate dosages: too little is ineffective, too much is dangerous. The usual way to find the sweet spot is to start with a given dose and monitor blood tests to check clotting, making frequent adjustments until the desired effect if achieved. This can take many weeks, during which time the patient is at risk for either blood clots or excessive bleeding if the dose is too low or too high. And people can vary in the necessary dosage by a factor of almost 20, in large part due to known variants in the p450 genes. So when these variants were identified, it was appealing to think that prescribing based on knowing a patient’s p450 genotype would be safer and more effective. There was a lot of hype about the coming “pharmacogenetic revolution,” and in 2010, the FDA actually changed the labeling on warfarin to recommend that physicians choose the dose based on p450 genotype.
They appear to have jumped the gun. A recent study, a meta-analysis of 9 clinical trials comparing genotype-based dosing of warfarin with standard “trial and error,” found no advantage to the “precision” approach in terms of any laboratory or clinical outcomes.
No doubt as our understanding of disease improves, we will be able to target treatments more effectively. Some things we consider a single condition will turn out to be a cluster of many different conditions, based at least on part on genetic differences, each with a different optimal treatment. Cancer chemotherapy is already a step in this direction. But we shouldn’t get overly distracted by this latest shiny object. The more we learn about the human genome, the more we realize that external factors – environment and behavior – remain the primary determinants of disease and the keys to prevention. The single biggest advance in the 40+ year “war on cancer” has not come from the lab; it was the reduction in smoking.
Diet, exercise, and other behavioral and environmental factors aren’t very sexy, and they are not the stuff on which academic careers are built, but in the end they are what will make us healthier. We can’t let the allure of precision medicine threaten support for these mundane but proven strategies. Gene therapy sounded pretty cool, but it didn’t help Carly.


For the past two years, IBM researchers have been developing technology to help people recall events, names of new acquaintances, and details of a conversation in their context with the use of cell phone and computer. On Tuesday, IBM Research Labs plans to publicize an early version of its personal-assistant software, called "Pensieve," after the fictional memory bank described in Harry Potter books. IBM posted a video on YouTube.
Not available publicly yet, the software could feasibly be used with any mobile smart phone. The technology relies on people keeping track of what's important to them by using the phone to snap photos, create text documents, or record audio. When the phone is synced to a computer via a Pensieve-enabled dock, the software takes over. It collates files by their tagged GPS location and time, among other rules, and creates associations between them.
"As it processes the information, it's building an associative network of people and places and events," said Laura Haas, director of computer science at the IBM Research Center in San Jose, Calif.
For example, if a person takes a photo of an event poster, the software's optical character recognition technology would take down the details of the event and make a calendar entry. Or if a person takes a photo of someone new at a business workshop, followed by a picture of his or her business card, Pensieve might create an address book entry that's linked to the photo and notes taken at the workshop. Later, when the person tries to remember the name of new acquaintance, he or she could use Pensieve's search engine to recall data from the workshop.
"If I'm trying to remember the name of this interesting person, maybe all I remember is that I met them at Google, I would search for 'person at Google' and it would show my contacts from there and start jogging my memory," Haas said.
I have no idea whether or not Olsen is up on her Plato; but, at the very least, it looks like those IBM researchers forgot about what that old Greek wrote in his "Phaedrus" dialogue (as translated into English by R. Hackforth):
The story is that in the region of Naucratis in Egypt there dwelt one of the old gods of the country, the god to whom the bird called Ibis is sacred, his own name being Theuth. He it was that invented number and calculation, geometry and astronomy, not to speak of draughts and dice, and above all writing. Now the kind of the whole country at that time was Thamus, who dwelt in the great city of Upper Egypt which the Greeks call Egyptian Thebes, while Thamus they call Ammon. To him came Theuth, and revealed his arts, saying that they ought to be passed on to the Egyptians in general. Thamus asked what was the use of them all, and when Theuth explained, he condemned what he thought the bad points and praised what he thought the good. On each art, we are told, Thamus had plenty of views both for and against; it would take too long to give them in detail. But when it came to writing Theuth said, ‘Here, O king, is a branch of learning that will make the people of Egypt wiser and improve their memories; my discovery provides a recipe for memory and wisdom.’ But the king answered and said, ‘O man full of arts, to one it is given to create the things of art, and to another to judge what measure of harm and of profit they have for those that shall employ them. And so it is that you, by reason of your tender regard for the writing that is your offspring, have declared the very opposite of its true effect. If me learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks. What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder. And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only its semblance, for by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing, and as men filled, not with wisdom, but with the conceit of wisdom, they will be a burden to their fellows.’
This is not to argue that a technology for "reminder" is entirely a bad thing; but, from the point of view of those of us who draw heavily upon our memories, it may be a displaced priority, whose most dangerous flaw is the extent to which it can escalate our reliance "on that which is written" to a richer body of captured digitized content.
As I have argued in many previous contexts, this is yet another example of what happens when technologists jump with both feet into noun-based thinking when they should be thinking about the verbs. The biological evidence now is pretty strong on the proposition that human memory is not some vast filing cabinet (or, in more modern language, database). Rather, it is an ongoing process; and Gerald Edelman has even tried to make this more specific by concentrating on the process of recategorizing our perceptions. Therein lies the problem: Capture and retrieval have very little to do with any dynamic process of recategorization; and, indeed, almost no work has been done on trying to investigate Edelman's conjecture through digital models. Instead, the digerati jump on their horses and ride off madly in all directions that take them away from any serious thinking based on ongoing processes or, to draw upon a related school of thought, Israel Rosenfield's verb-based concept of "invention" as a process of memory.
Now I have no difficulty owning up to my own problems with "senior moments." I am even willing to confess that, when I am on my own, I often rely on my own mechanisms for "reminder," many of which involve the search engines available through my computer. However, the "senior moments" that matter most tend to be those that take place when I am away from my computer; and, at such times, I have discovered that the best way to deal with them is through conversation. I confess to my loss and start talking about what I am trying to recover; and, more often than not, some Rosenfield-like "invention" emerges from that conversation and comes to my rescue. At the very least I find this far more socially acceptable than excusing myself while I pull out a mobile tether that has been designed to achieve the same effect more efficiently! I would further argue that, because my "old-fashioned" technique keeps me engaged in conversation, it keeps that process of memory (whatever it may be) properly lubricated and frees me from excessive reliance "on that which is written."


THE DAILY GRIND
This category is a catch-all for the labor we’ll put into our class on a daily basis. The goal for this work won’t be to produce writing projects (larger, extended pieces of writing on a single topic). These reading and writing activities, instead, contribute to our scholarly development. These Daily Grind activities give us time to read, to think, to write, to think some more, to change our minds. As collaborators, keeping up with your Daily Grind means more than showing up and putting yourself in a seat. We all have to give ourselves time and set aside some energy to work together. All scholars (and you’re student scholars) give themselves opportunities to practice reading, writing, and asking questions, getting better, self-correcting, and eventually designing processes that work for them. So, this is what we’ll be doing.
The Daily Grind activities required by your class may or may not include all those described below. Each class is different, and as such, each requires a different focus for our work. You should consult your Projects & Points reference sheet (or site) for more details. Generally, the basic Daily Grind work in my classes include, but are not limited to:
At the beginning of class, you can expect a quiz on the reading assigned for that day. On the quiz, I will ask one of the following questions:
1. Describe the most significant idea or concept presented by the reading.
2. Compare this reading to a previous reading assigned in the course.
3. No reading quiz.
4. Write down what you thought was the most important sentence in the reading, including a page number. Explain why you think that sentence is so important.
5. Describe a question or concern you have regarding the reading.
6. Explain your intellectual reaction to the content of the reading.
RECORDING IN MY CLASSROOM
Classroom activities may be recorded by a student for the personal, educational use of that student or for all students presently enrolled in the class only, and may not be further copied, distributed, published or otherwise used for any other purpose without my express written consent. All students are advised that classroom activities may be taped by students for this purpose.


Rumeli and how the Balkans became the Balkans
Mark Mazower is one of the best historians of the Balkans. He has written about Greece especially and we have featured his book on Salonica here. In 2000 he published a short book on the whole region which is divided into four sections: The Land and its Inhabitants, Before the Nation, Eastern Question and Building the Nation. This book is a great short introduction and it is full of facts and ideas that will come as a surprise even to those who think they know the region. For example it was only about one hundred years ago that it really began to be called "The Balkans". Before that it was more popularly known as "Turkey in Europe", a name which, with the Balkan War of 1912, finally became utterly obsolete as the Turks were driven back almost to the gates of Constantinople.
At the end of the twentieth century, people spoke as if the Balkans had existed forever. Two hundred years earlier, they had not yet come into being. It was not the Balkans but "Rumeli" that the Ottoman's ruled, the formerly "Roman lands" that they had conquered from Byzantium. The Sultan's educated Christian Orthodox subjects referred to themselves as "Romans" ("Romaioi"), or more simply as "Christians". To Westerners, familiar with classical regional terms such as Macedonia, Epirus, Dacia and Moesia, the term "Balkan" conveyed little. "My expectations were raised", wrote one traveller in 1854, "by hearing that we were about to cross a Balkan; but I later discovered before long that this high-sounding title denotes only a ridge which divides the waters, or a mountain pass, without it being a necessary consequence that it offer grand or romantic scenery.
"Balkan" was initially a name applied to the mountain range better known to the classically trained Western traveller as "ancient Haemus", passed en route from central Europe to Constantinople. In the early nineteenth century, army officers like the Earl of Albermarle, explored its little-known slopes. "The interior of the Balcan", wrote a Prussian diplomat who crossed it in 1833, "has been little explored, and but a few, accurate measurements of elevation have been undertaken."
Later Mazower notes:
Through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, "Turkey in Europe" was the favoured geographical coin of the day. But by the 1880s, the days of "Turkey in Europe" were evidently numbered. Successor states – Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania and Montenegro had emerged during the nineteenth century as contenders to carve up what remained. Between 1878 and 1908, diplomatic conferences whittled away Ottoman territory, and subjected what remained to Great Power oversight. Western travellers, journalists and propagandists flocked to the region and popularised the new, broader use of the term "Balkans". By the time of the outbreak of the First Balkan War in 1912 – which ended Ottoman rule in Europe (outside the immediate hinterland of Constantinople), it had become common currency. Purists were annoyed. One German geographer talked crossly of "the southeast European – or as people increasingly say – the Balkan peninsula." A Bulgarian expert complained about "this region… [being] wrongly called the Balkan peninsula". But the tide was against such pedantry. In less than half a century, largely as a result of sudden military and diplomatic changes, a new geographical concept rooted itself in everyday parlance. By 1917, a standard history of the Eastern Question talked about the "lands which the geographers of the last generation described as 'Turkey in Europe' but for which political changes have compelled us to seek a new name, The name generally given to that segment is 'The Balkan Peninsula', or simply, "The Balkans".
The Balkans. Mark Mazower. 2000.
[pp. 1-2 & 3-4 / Weidenfeld & Nicolson, an imprint of The Orion Publishing Group, London]


By BETTY BEZZERIDES
On May 11 local birders will count every bird they see or hear in Curry County.
The count has a dual purpose. Results will provide data for the North American Migration Count and also raise money for Brookings Relay for Life, an American Cancer Society event that funds research and local support services.
Last year birders recorded 143 different species in Curry County during the spring migration count, including the unexpected White-faced Ibis and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
Don Munson, who with his wife Karen, organized a birdathon fundraiser two years ago, urged donors to pledge an amount per species or make a flat donation. A friend of mine died from cancer a few years ago, said Munson. Combining the migration count with Relay for Life seemed like a good way to help in two areas.
Munson, an avid birder, coordinates the count for the southern half of the county. His counterpart at the north end is Jim Rogers of Port Orford.
The North American Migration Count takes place on the same day over the whole country, said Rogers. Its called a migration count but you really count every bird you can find. Its a snapshot on that particular day.
Founded in Maryland in 1991, the biannual migration count documents species numbers, distribution and migratory patterns. Data summaries provide information for scientists and land use planners.
Bird counts give us a basis for noticing changes, explained Rogers. A good example is the starlings. We used to count several dozen. Now its several thousand.
Starlings are very adept at using human sources of food, Rogers continued. We see them most in cities and around barns where there are grains and seeds for them to eat. Theyre aggressive. They drive out other birds and take over their niche.
Munson also pointed out it was previous Christmas bird counts that revealed a sharp decline in the numbers of bald eagles and peregrine falcons. Scientists discovered the pesticide DDT was present in the birds food sources, weakening their eggs. Use of DDT is no longer legal in the United States.
Rogers and Munson are looking for birders with some experience to help them on May 11. We need people who have the experience and interest to cover a certain area and at least two hours. Theres a lot of ground to cover, Munson said.
We also need backyard watchers people who can keep track of the birds who visit their feeders for a designated time.
And of course we need donors, he added.
Brookings birder Buzz Stewart has participated in several migration counts. Don gives us a specific area to cover, he said. I start early. The last couple of years Ive gone to the port and the north jetty, then onto Chetco Point, Mill Beach and the mill pond, and then Harris Beach.
Stewart says hell take along his spotting scope, standard equipment for serious birders. Puffins are on Bird Island about that time of year but theyre hard to see. Binoculars just wont tell you. You might think youre counting puffins at that distance and theyll be cormorants.
Rogers has a plan for the northern end of the county. I usually go to a place where Ill see marbled murrelets fly in from the ocean at dawn. I get there early and call for owls and watch for murrelets and hear other birds singing. Then Ill go to the wetland areas.
Rogers acknowledged weather can be a factor. If its raining hard youre not seeing as much probably just as many species but the numbers will be down.
Fog can also be a problem because a big part of the migration is heading by on the ocean.
Munson said weather challenges, time constraints and birder dynamics combine for a challenging day. Its fun, he said. Its birding with a purpose.
Call Munson at (541) 469-1043 or Rogers at (541) 332-2555 for information on participating in the migration count or donating to Relay for Life.


In the work of Owen’s that we are about to consider he has his eye on another strand of what proved to be a cause of the Puritan eclipse, on the rise of theological rationalism on the one hand, and on Biblicism on the other. Theological rationalism, in the form of Quakerism and Socinianism, with its intolerance of revealed mystery, and the Biblicism of the Socinians and of the Cambridge Platonists, which otherwise did not have much in common. The Cambridge Platonists, such as Benjamin Whichcote, the Westminster Divine Anthony Tuckney’s pupil, stressed the fallibility of human reasoning about Scripture and were contemptuous both of those who promoted unity of a confessional kind – for were not confessions mere human products? - and who also promoted doctrinal and practical preaching. For does not preaching go beyond Scripture, the preacher using his own fallible words? So the Cambridge Platonists held that Protestants should unite around the very words of Scripture alone, and the use of ‘right reason’ to establish fundamentals, such as the exisence of God and of moral obligation, and regard any interpretations of Scripture, in the form of confessions or in preaching, as necessarily secondary, inferior and fallible, the mere expression of opinion. This puts a rather different gloss on William Chillingworth’s famous saying that ‘The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible is the religion of Protestants’, though Chillingworth was not himself a Cambridge Platonist.
In this work Owen was, in effect, concerned to deny this Cambridge Platonist position, though he does not mention them by name, but there is except one reference to ‘right reason’, preferring to lambast the Socinians. He sets himself to walk a tight-rope by upholding the place of theological reasoningwhile denying the authority of human reason in religion. But the tide of anti-Puritanism that flowed as the result of the combined pull of Quakerism, Socinianism (or Unitarianism) and of Cambridge Platonism, was irresistible. Puritanism as a theological movement was swept away. Baxter’s church building in Kidderminster is Unitarian to this day, as are several of those that were not completely obliterated, and in the early eighteenth-century the Anglican Establishment became largely Unitarian and deistic, as exemplified for example by the case of William Whiston, the translator of the Works of Josephus.
In what must have been happier days for Owen, he wrote one in defence of the orthodox account of Christ’s atonement, A Dissertation on Divine Justice (1653) and then a major work against Socinianism, Vindiciae Evangelicae, (1655) . The first was written at the command of the Long Parliament, and dedicated to 'His Highness', and the second was also dedicated to the same man, ‘His Illustrious Highness, Oliver Cromwell’. And as we shall see, Owen was a Trinitarian theologian through and through By 1669, a doubtless chastened Owen wrote this short work, as he tells us on its title page, ‘accommodated to the capacity of such as may be in danger to be seduced’. Not a work of scholastic Puritan divinity, but of pastoral counsel. And, as I shall try to show, a work of value for us.
Owen regarded the Trinitarian character of God to be a plainly revealed mystery, and fundamental to the development of true religion. The work of redemption and reconciliation is intrinsically Trinitarian, and appreciation of this enriches our understanding and walk with God. This can be seen, inter alia, in a number of Owen’s works, most elaborately in his Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Each Person Distinctly, in Love, Fellowship and Consolation (1657) The emphasis is the same in this smaller work. Understanding and teaching the doctrine of the Trinity is vital so that ‘faith may be increased, strengthened, and confirmed against temptations and oppositions of Satan, and men of corrupt minds; and that we may be distinctly directed unto, and encouraged in, the obedience unto, and worship of God, that are required of us.’ (378)
The book deals with the Trinity, the Person of Christ, and Christ’s satisfaction. The whole thing comes to about 70 pages, with an Appendix. In this short talk I shall be concerned only with the first half, focussing on what I believe Owen can teach us, or remind us, about our understanding of the revelation of God the Holy Trinity.
Some have said that in the present-day the consciousness of the doctrine of the Trinity is not as great as it should be in evangelical churches; that there is a hesitancy over it in our worship, and in our theologising. It is marginalised, or at least it is not in the front of our minds. If so, this may be because it is thought that the Trinitarian character of God is something of an appendage. God is one, yes, and that is clear and straightforward to grasp, but he is also three persons, and that is more complex. We may even think that the very formulation of the doctrine is a sullying of the pure word of God by the intrusion of ‘Greek thought’. But Owen reminds us that we are called by Scripture to worship ‘the only true God’, God in three persons.
My aim is to draw attention to the two main features of how Owen understands the doctrine of the Trinity in relation to Holy Scripture, and secondly to emphasise one consequence of this.
The Trinity and Scripture
Owen’s main idea is to show that God is one God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each having distinct, mutual relations, is not an imposition on Scripture, or a theory about God, a ‘model’ of God as we are fond of saying these days, but it is found plainly in Scripture. Scripture itself is both clear and sufficient in the matter. The Scriptural portrayal of God's oneness and threeness is not misty, ambiguous, or vague. Its ‘express’ data are our basic datum. So the theological formulation of the Trinity in terms of the divine essence and a trinity of persons is not a clarification, much less an explanation, of the mystery of the Trinity. So what is it?
Before attempting to answer that question, let us see how Owen treats the Scripture. We are to begin with its plain assertions. It is our ultimate source of information about the Godhead, and our last line of defence. It sets forth a Trinitarian God. In our theological thinking ‘We produce divine revelations or testimonies, wherein faith may safely rest and acquiesce, that God is one; that this one God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost; so that the Father is God, so also is the Son, and the Holy Ghost’. (380) We start with the text. We do not first engage ourselves in terms such as ‘Trinity’, ‘substance’, ‘persons’, ‘properties’ and the like. We engage with Scripture. Owen's approach is a clear affirmation of the sufficiency and especially of the clarity of Scripture on the matter. I suspect that our commitment to Scripture is nowadays more cautious.
And so Owen begins to assemble some of the biblical data which (he tells us) ‘he suddenly repeated as they came into his mind’.
First, God is one: ‘Hear, O Israel; the LORD our God is one LORD’, Deut. 6.4., (and Isa. 44, 6, 8 etc.)
Secondly, the Father is God. (Owen does not stay long on this, as this is admitted by his opponents)
Thirdly, that Jesus Christ is God, the eternal Son of God.
Owen quotes texts of two sorts. First, those Old Testament texts which are applied to Christ in the New Testament. So Ps, 45.6 ‘Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever’ is applied to Christ in Hebrews 1.8.; Ps. 110.1. ‘The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand’ which is applied to Christ by himself, Matt.22.44. And so on.
Secondly, New Testament assertions in their own right: ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God’ (Matt. 16.16); John 1.1-3 ‘’And the Word was God’ v.14 ‘And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father’; John 10.30 ‘I and my Father are one’. ‘Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God’. (Phil. 2.6) And so on.
About these and many other such data Owen says ‘For my part, I do not see in any thing, but that the testimonies given to the Godhead of Christ, the eternal Son of God, are every way as clear and unquestionable as those are which testify to the being of God, or that there is any God at all’. (386) And in conclusion of his treatment of the biblical data for the deity of the Son he says, ‘It appeareth, then, that there is a full, sufficient revelation made in the Scripture of the eternal Deity of the Son of God; and that he is so, as is the Father also’. (397)
Finally the deity of the Holy Spirit. Such texts as ‘Baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’ (Matt. 28.19). And Acts. 20.28, ‘over which the holy Ghost hath made you overseers’; ‘As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them' (Acts 13.2), and so on.
Owen goes on (I summarise) to conclude that the Holy Ghost is distinctly called God; he is an intelligent, voluntary, divine agent; he knows, and works, he may be resisted and trusted, so that the Holy Ghost is a distinct divine person, and not merely the power or virtue of God or of any creature. He has divine rank, he is given the names of God and the properties of God are attributed to him, and so on. (401-2)
And these three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are one. Yet they are distinct, each having properties not possessed by the others.
So ‘There is nothing more fully expressed in the Scripture than this sacred truth, that there is one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; which are divine, distincti, intelligent, voluntary omnipotent principles of operation and working: which whosoever thinks himself obliged to believe the Scripture must believe’. (406)
In establishing these conclusions from Scripture there is a process of induction used, gathering the evidence, letting it speak for itself. But this process is not, at the same time, unthinking proof-texting. For example, Owen considers the context of the texts he cites. This is most apparent where, in the case of the data proving the deity of the Son, he notes that certain expressions in the New Testament are applications of Old Testament teaching. He recognises the relationship of the Testaments, and the way in which the language of the Psalms and the prophecies is taken by Christ to apply to himself, and by others to refer to Christ. So there is induction, but it is an inductive process that itself involves interpretation and some prior understanding of the scope of Scripture.
So that is that, quite straightforward. But then what when this plain teaching of Scripture is assaulted? Then the church has employed other expressions to ‘further declare’ what is ‘necessarily included’ in the doctrine of God. God is one. In what respect is he one? Answer: in respect of his nature, being, substance or essence, ‘His eternal power and godhead’, (Rom. 1.20) (407) So this nature or substance of God is the one nature or substance of the three - Father, Son, and Spirit. (407) Each fully possesses it. So the distinctions that Scripture draws between the three cannot be distinctions between gods: otherwise we must conclude that since there are three persons there must also be three gods; and we become committed to a form of polytheism.
What then are these further expressions? We need the term ‘person’ or some equivalent term to denote the threeness. What is their weight, their value? To answer this we shall look in the next posting on what Owen says about Scripture is relation to our reason and to the explication of doctrine. Owen moves from induction to deduction.


Today in History: 1817 The Greatest Social Commentator Passed Away
On this day in 1817, Jane Austen died, at the age of forty-one. She had been increasingly ill over the previous year and a half, probably from a hormonal disorder like Addison’s Disease. Austen’s devoted older sister, Cassandra, inherited all the author’s papers, and she immediately began to edit and polish. Austen’s gravestone referred to “the benevolence of her heart” and “the sweetness of her temper” — though it did not identify her as being the author of her anonymously-published novels — and Cassandra began to expurgate the letters accordingly. It is one of the greatest literary mysteries, what exactly did she change? What were the missing pages? Was Jane Austen a little more Isabella Thorpe than we know?
Parts of this article are copied from: http://www.todayinliterature.com/today.asp?Search_Date=7/18/2013


Israel Joshua Singer was a successful and widely-read writer before his younger brother I. B. Singer became known as the defining writer of the Yiddish world. The older brother was eventually eclipsed by the younger. I. J. Singer worked as correspondent for the Jewish Daily Forward beginning in 1921; he eventually obtained work there for his brother.
I. J. Singer's novel The Brothers Ashkenazi is a painful book to read, at least I found it so, as it stresses the stark realities of life in Poland between the wars. If I remember correctly, The Family Carnovsky – about German Jews -- is even more painful! Like many Yiddish writers, he's important if you are trying to develop an understanding of Jews in Eastern Europe before the War.


Below is a list of diabetes-related terms and their definitions. Use the letter groupings to jump to words beginning with those letters.
Adapted from NIDDK.
a test that measures a person's average blood glucose level over the past 2 to 3 months. Hemoglobin (HEE-mo-glo-bin) is the part of a red blood cell that carries oxygen to the cells and sometimes joins with the glucose in the bloodstream. Also called hemoglobin A1C or glycosylated (gly-KOH-sih-lay-ted) hemoglobin, the test shows the amount of glucose that sticks to the red blood cell, which is proportional to the amount of glucose in the blood.
acanthosis nigricans (uh-kan-THO-sis NIH-grih-kans)
a skin condition characterized by darkened skin patches; common in people whose body is not responding correctly to the insulin that they make in their pancreas (insulin resistance). This skin condition is also seen in people who have pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes.
an oral medicine used to treat Type 2 diabetes. It blocks the enzymes that digest starches in food. The result is a slower and lower rise in blood glucose throughout the day, especially right after meals. Belongs to the class of medicines called alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. (Brand name: Precose)
an oral medicine that lowers blood pressure; ACE stands for angiotensin (an-gee-oh-TEN-sin) converting enzyme. For people with diabetes, especially those who have protein (albumin) in the urine, it also helps slow down kidney damage.
acesulfame potassium (a-see-SUL-fame puh-TAS-ee-um)
a dietary sweetener with no calories and no nutritional value. Also known as acesulfame-K. (Brand name: Sunett)
an oral medicine used to treat Type 2 diabetes. It lowers blood glucose by helping the pancreas make more insulin and by helping the body better use the insulin it makes. Belongs to the class of medicines called sulfonylureas. (Brand name: Dymelor)
describes something that happens suddenly and for a short time. Opposite of chronic.
adhesive capsulitis (ad-HEE-sive cap-soo-LITE-is)
a condition of the shoulder associated with diabetes that results in pain and loss of the ability to move the shoulder in all directions.
former term for Type 2 diabetes.
stands for advanced glycosylation (gly-KOH-sih-LAY-shun) end products. AGEs are produced in the body when glucose links with protein. They play a role in damaging blood vessels, which can lead to diabetes complications.
a condition in which the urine has more than normal amounts of a protein called albumin. Albuminuria may be a sign of nephropathy (kidney disease).
alpha cell (AL-fa)
a type of cell in the pancreas. Alpha cells make and release a hormone called glucagon. The body sends a signal to the alpha cells to make glucagon when blood glucose falls too low. Then glucagon reaches the liver where it tells it to release glucose into the blood for energy.
alpha-glucosidase inhibitor (AL-fa-gloo-KOH-sih-days)
a class of oral medicine for Type 2 diabetes that blocks enzymes that digest starches in food. The result is a slower and lower rise in blood glucose throughout the day, especially right after meals. (Generic names: acarbose and miglitol)
a hormone formed by beta cells in the pancreas. Amylin regulates the timing of glucose release into the bloodstream after eating by slowing the emptying of the stomach.
a Type of neuropathy resulting in pain, weakness and/or wasting in the muscles.
a condition in which the number of red blood cells is less than normal, resulting in less oxygen being carried to the body's cells.
any disease of the blood vessels (veins, arteries, capillaries) or lymphatic vessels.
proteins made by the body to protect itself from "foreign" substances such as bacteria or viruses. People get Type 1 diabetes when their bodies make antibodies that destroy the body's own insulin-making beta cells.
an oral medicine that lowers blood pressure; ARB stands for angiotensin (an-gee-oh-TEN-sin) receptor blocker.
hardening of the arteries.
a large blood vessel that carries blood with oxygen from the heart to all parts of the body.
aspart insulin (ASS-part)
a rapid-acting insulin. On average, aspart insulin starts to lower blood glucose within 10 to 20 minutes after injection. It has its strongest effect 1 to 3 hours after injection but keeps working for 3 to 5 hours after injection.
a dietary sweetener with almost no calories and no nutritional value. (Brand names: Equal, NutraSweet)
clogging, narrowing and hardening of the body's large arteries and medium-sized blood vessels. Atherosclerosis can lead to stroke, heart attack, eye problems and kidney problems.
autoimmune disease (AW-toh-ih-MYOON)
disorder of the body's immune system in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys body tissue that it believes to be foreign.
autonomic neuropathy (aw-toh-NOM-ik ne-ROP-uh-thee)
a type of neuropathy affecting the lungs, heart, stomach, intestines, bladder or genitals.
background retinopathy (REH-tih-NOP-uh-thee)
a type of damage to the retina of the eye marked by bleeding, fluid accumulation and abnormal dilation of the blood vessels. Background retinopathy is an early stage of diabetic retinopathy. Also called simple or nonproliferative (non-pro-LIF-er-uh-tiv) retinopathy.
a steady trickle of low levels of longer-acting insulin, such as that used in insulin pumps.
a cell that makes insulin. Beta cells are located in the islets of the pancreas.
a class of oral medicine used to treat Type 2 diabetes that lowers blood glucose by reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver and by helping the body respond better to insulin. (Generic name: metformin)
the main sugar found in the blood and the body's main source of energy. Also called blood sugar.
blood glucose level
the amount of glucose in a given amount of blood. It is noted in milligrams in a deciliter, or mg/dL.
blood glucose meter
a small, portable machine used by people with diabetes to check their blood glucose levels. After pricking the skin with a lancet, one places a drop of blood on a test strip in the machine. The meter (or monitor) soon displays the blood glucose level as a number on the meter's digital display.
blood glucose monitoring
checking blood glucose level on a regular basis in order to manage diabetes. A blood glucose meter (or blood glucose test strips that change color when touched by a blood sample) is needed for frequent blood glucose monitoring.
the force of blood exerted on the inside walls of blood vessels. Blood pressure is expressed as a ratio (example: 120/80, read as "120 over 80"). The first number is the systolic (sis-TAH-lik) pressure, or the pressure when the heart pushes blood out into the arteries. The second number is the diastolic (DY-uh-STAH-lik) pressure, or the pressure when the heart rests.
blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (yoo-REE-uh NY-truh-jen)
a waste product in the blood from the breakdown of protein. The kidneys filter blood to remove urea. As kidney function decreases, the BUN levels increase.
tubes that carry blood to and from all parts of the body. The three main types of blood vessels are arteries, veins and capillaries.
body mass index (BMI)
a measure used to evaluate body weight relative to a person's height. BMI is used to find out if a person is underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese.
an extra amount of insulin taken to cover an expected rise in blood glucose, often related to a meal or snack.
a former term for Type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance.
a term used when a person's blood glucose level moves often from low to high and from high to low.
a bulge on the first joint of the big toe, caused by the swelling of a fluid sac under the skin. This spot can become red, sore and infected.
"Connecting peptide," a substance the pancreas releases into the bloodstream in equal amounts to insulin. A test of C-peptide levels shows how much insulin the body is making.
a small area of skin, usually on the foot, that has become thick and hard from rubbing or pressure.
a unit representing the energy provided by food. Carbohydrate, protein, fat and alcohol provide calories in the diet. Carbohydrate and protein have 4 calories per gram, fat has 9 calories per gram, and alcohol has 7 calories per gram.
the smallest of the body's blood vessels. Oxygen and glucose pass through capillary walls and enter the cells. Waste products such as carbon dioxide pass back from the cells into the blood through capillaries.
an ingredient in hot peppers that can be found in ointment form for use on the skin to relieve pain from diabetic neuropathy.
one of the three main nutrients in food. Foods that provide carbohydrate are starches, vegetables, fruits, dairy products and sugars.
a method of meal planning for people with diabetes based on counting the number of grams of carbohydrate in food.
a doctor who treats people who have heart problems.
cardiometabolic risk factors (CAR-dee-oh MET-ah-BALL-ick)
a set of conditions that have a big effect on whether or not you develop diabetes or heart disease.
cardiovascular disease (KAR-dee-oh-VASK-yoo-ler)
disease of the heart and blood vessels (arteries, veins and capillaries).
clouding of the lens of the eye.
cerebrovascular disease (seh-REE-broh-VASK-yoo-ler)
damage to blood vessels in the brain. Vessels can burst and bleed or become clogged with fatty deposits. When blood flow is interrupted, brain cells die or are damaged, resulting in a stroke.
certified diabetes educator (CDE)
a health care professional with expertise in diabetes education who has met eligibility requirements and successfully completed a certification exam.
Charcot's foot (shar-KOHZ)
a condition in which the joints and soft tissue in the foot are destroyed; it results from damage to the nerves.
an oral medicine used to treat Type 2 diabetes. It lowers blood glucose levels by helping the pancreas make more insulin and by helping the body better use the insulin it makes. Belongs to the class of medicines called sulfonylureas. (Brand name: Diabinese)
a type of fat produced by the liver and found in the blood; it is also found in some foods. Cholesterol is used by the body to make hormones and build cell walls.
describes something that is long-lasting. Opposite of acute.
the flow of blood through the body's blood vessels and heart.
a sleep-like state in which a person is not conscious. May be caused by hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) or hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) in people with diabetes.
combination oral medicines
a pill that includes two or more different medicines. See Glucovance.
the use of different medicines together (oral hypoglycemic agents or an oral hypoglycemic agent and insulin) to manage the blood glucose levels of people with Type 2 diabetes.
harmful effects of diabetes such as damage to the eyes, heart, blood vessels, nervous system, teeth and gums, feet and skin, or kidneys. Studies show that keeping blood glucose, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels close to normal can help prevent or delay these problems.
congenital defects (kun-JEN-ih-tul)
problems or conditions that are present at birth.
congestive heart failure
loss of the heart's pumping power, which causes fluids to collect in the body, especially in the feet and lungs.
a term used in clinical trials where one group receives treatment for diabetes in which A1C and blood glucose levels are kept at levels based on current practice guidelines. However, the goal is not to keep blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible, as is done in intensive therapy. Conventional therapy includes use of medication, meal planning and exercise, along with regular visits to health care providers.
coronary heart disease (KOR-uh-ner-ee)
heart disease caused by narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. If the blood supply is cut off, the result is a heart attack.
a waste product from protein in the diet and from the muscles of the body. Creatinine is removed from the body by the kidneys; as kidney disease progresses, the level of creatinine in the blood increases.
D-phenylalanine derivative (dee-fen-nel-AL-ah-neen)
a class of oral medicine for Type 2 diabetes that lowers blood glucose levels by helping the pancreas make more insulin right after meals. (Generic name: nateglinide)
dawn phenomenon (feh-NAH-meh-nun)
the early-morning (4 a.m. to 8 a.m.) rise in blood glucose level.
the loss of too much body fluid through frequent urinating, sweating, diarrhea or vomiting.
disease of the skin.
a way to reduce or stop a response such as an allergic reaction to something. For example, if someone has an allergic reaction to something, the doctor gives the person a very small amount of the substance at first to increase one's tolerance. Over a period of time, larger doses are given until the person is taking the full dose. This is one way to help the body get used to the full dose and to prevent the allergic reaction.
Dextrose, also called glucose (DECKS-trohss)
simple sugar found in blood that serves as the body's main source of energy.
Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)
a study by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, conducted from 1983 to 1993 in people with Type 1 diabetes. The study showed that intensive therapy compared to conventional therapy significantly helped prevent or delay diabetes complications. Intensive therapy included multiple daily insulin injections or the use of an insulin pump with multiple blood glucose readings each day. Complications followed in the study included diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy.
a health care professional who teaches people who have diabetes how to manage their diabetes. Some diabetes educators are certified diabetes educators (CDEs). Diabetes educators are found in hospitals, physician offices, managed care organizations, home health care and other settings.
diabetes insipidus (in-SIP-ih-dus)
a condition characterized by frequent and heavy urination, excessive thirst and an overall feeling of weakness. This condition may be caused by a defect in the pituitary gland or in the kidney. In diabetes insipidus, blood glucose levels are normal.
diabetes mellitus (MELL-ih-tus)
a condition characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from the body's inability to use blood glucose for energy. In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin and therefore blood glucose cannot enter the cells to be used for energy. In Type 2 diabetes, either the pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body is unable to use insulin correctly.
Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)
a study by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases conducted from 1998 to 2001 in people at high risk for Type 2 diabetes. All study participants had impaired glucose tolerance, also called pre-diabetes, and were overweight. The study showed that people who lost 5 to 7 percent of their body weight through a low-fat, low-calorie diet and moderate exercise (usually walking for 30 minutes 5 days a week) reduced their risk of getting Type 2 diabetes by 58 percent. Participants who received treatment with the oral diabetes drug metformin reduced their risk of getting Type 2 diabetes by 31 percent.
diabetic diarrhea (dy-uh-REE-uh)
loose stools, fecal incontinence, or both that result from an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine and diabetic neuropathy in the intestines. This nerve damage can also result in constipation.
diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) (KEY-toe-ass-ih-DOH-sis)
an emergency condition in which extremely high blood glucose levels, along with a severe lack of insulin, result in the breakdown of body fat for energy and an accumulation of ketones in the blood and urine. Signs of DKA are nausea and vomiting, stomach pain, fruity breath odor and rapid breathing. Untreated DKA can lead to coma and death.
a rare fibrous breast condition occurring in women, and sometimes men, with long-standing diabetes. The lumps are not malignant and can be surgically removed, although they often recur.
diabetic myelopathy (my-eh-LAH-puh-thee)
damage to the spinal cord found in some people with diabetes.
diabetic retinopathy (REH-tih-NOP-uh-thee)
diabetic eye disease; damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. Loss of vision may result.
causing diabetes. For example, some drugs cause blood glucose levels to rise, resulting in diabetes.
a doctor who specializes in treating people with diabetes.
the determination of a disease from its signs and symptoms.
the process of cleaning wastes from the blood artificially. This job is normally done by the kidneys. If the kidneys fail, the blood must be cleaned artificially with special equipment. The two major forms of dialysis are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
a health care professional who advises people about meal planning, weight control and diabetes management. A registered dietitian (RD) has more training
dilated eye exam (DY-lay-ted)
a test done by an eye care specialist in which the pupil (the black center) of the eye is temporarily enlarged with eyedrops to allow the specialist to see the inside of the eye more easily.
Dupuytren's contracture (doo-PWEE-trenz kon-TRACK-chur)
a condition associated with diabetes in which the fingers and the palm of the hand thicken and shorten, causing the fingers to curve inward.
swelling caused by excess fluid in the body.
electromyography (EMG) (ee-LEK-troh-my-AH-gruh-fee)
a test used to detect nerve function. It measures the electrical activity generated by muscles.
Endocrine gland (EN-doh-krin)
a group of specialized cells that release hormones into the blood. For example, the islets in the pancreas, which secrete insulin, are endocrine glands.
a doctor who treats people who have endocrine gland problems such as diabetes.
protein made by the body that brings about a chemical reaction, for example, the enzymes produced by the gut to aid digestion.
a normal level of glucose in the blood.
one of several approaches for diabetes meal planning. Foods are categorized into three groups based on their nutritional content. Lists provide the serving sizes for carbohydrates, meat and meat alternatives, and fats. These lists allow for substitution for different groups to keep the nutritional content fixed.
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There are mainly three types of Buddhist traditions, even though each has numerous denominations in itself, which is common in every religion. These types are as follows:
- Theravada Buddhism (The Teachings of The Elders)
- Mahayana Buddhism (The Great Vehicle)
- Vajrayana Buddhism (The Way Of The Diamond)
Historically, the primary form of Buddhism could be similar to the Theravada tradition. That is why we call it the teachings of the elders. After enlightenment, the Buddha started his community called Sangha, where people could learn and practice his teachings. And probably, those seniors at that time in Sangha memorized the words of the Buddha for others. Indeed, it was only many years after the Buddha’s death, people decided and agreed to document those teachings for preservation, which became a series of voluminous sutras such as Tipitaka.
During those early days, Buddhist practitioners focused mainly on their individual enlightenment. And, as well-known, the basic tenet was the Noble Eightfold Path. Following these teachings of the elders, it was the key priority in their secluded lives of Sangh. The style of the Theravada tradition reminds me of the following words of the Buddha. He encouraged them to “wander alone like a rhinoceros.”
Renouncing violence for all living beings, harming not even a one, you would not wish for offspring, so how a companion? Wander alone like a rhinoceros.
And, a sort of “great division” took place. A group of practitioners called themselves “Mahayana (the great vehicle)” branched out. In this group, their focus shifted or expanded into the efforts of saving others instead of individual enlightenment. Or even they thought staying with people who suffer could be more important. Indeed, we could see this point from their “new” interpretation of the term, bodhisattva.
The original meaning was any person who is practicing the teachings of the Buddha on the path towards Buddhahood. Disciples in Sangha were, in this sense, all bodhisattvas. Also, one version of the meaning was the role model or ideal figure on the path to the enlightenment. If the Buddha was too high for their role model, then, people imagined the ideal bodhisattva figure who could be near his level.
In the tradition of Mahayana Bddushim, on the other hand, they generated and added the particular message to the term, not only bodhisattvas but rather the Bodhisattva with capital B. They called one symbolic, individual figure, the Compassionate Bodhisattva, or Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit.
Who is the Compassionate Bodhisattva?
It is a sort of archetypal figure who is about to enlighten herself or himself or has enlightened already; nevertheless has intentionally decided to stay with those people who suffer in their earthly lives. If you sacrifice yourself because of your compassionate mind (bodhicitta) for everyone in this world, you are acting like the Compassionate Bodhisattva. It indeed symbolizes the Great Vehicle for solvation.
It even reminds me of the following Bible verse, saying “in the form of a servant, and made in the likeness of men.”
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:Philippians 2:5-7
If there could be the love of agape in Buddhism, perhaps, the act of the Compassionate Bodhisattva should be one such example. It was that the Buddhahood intentionally became “unenlightened” to sacrifice herself or himself to stay with people and understand their sufferings. The Compassionate Bodhisattva is such a paradoxical symbol of embracing completeness and incompleteness.
Avalokiteśvara consists of three words, ava (down), lokit (take care), and eśvara (lord). It means the master who takes care of the world with her or his compassion. The gender was initially not so clear (or perhaps male due to the anecdote such as the Buddha’s flower sermon). Focusing on the mercy of the figure, people started recognizing its image as a female figure called Guanyin in China, and Kanzeon or Kannon in Japan.
And the third tradition is Vajrayana Buddhism, which further branched out from the Mahayana tradition. It seems this type returned to the individual enlightenment with more esoteric practices.
Put it bluntly; the Theravada tradition focused on the pragmatic aspects of skillsets for enlightenment, which is somewhat similar to the Buddha’s attitude to “God” or “Unknown.” And, the Mahayana was more on the salvation of everyone; a typical example is the school of Pure Land Buddhism, which emphasized one’s salvation in heaven through faith, rather than one’s self-effort. And then, the Vajrayana was, if anything, similar to the mysticism – neither self-effort nor faith alone, but more esoteric unison. We could see certain parallelism with Christian traditions.
Going back to the Mahayana tradition, due to its nature of the great vehicle, the teachings also transformed some extent. Aside from the Noble Eightfold Path, people in this school focused more on what is called Six Perfections (Pāramitā in Sanskrit), and even there could be Ten Perfections for the strict practitioners.
- Dāna pāramitā: Giving of oneself
- Śīla pāramitā: Virtue
- Kṣānti pāramitā: Patience
- Vīrya pāramitā: Effort
- Dhyāna pāramitā: Contemplation
- Prajñā pāramitā: Wisdom
- Upāya pāramitā: Skillfulness
- Praṇidhāna pāramitā: Vow
- Bala pāramitā: Spiritual power
- Jñāna pāramitā: Knowledge
The Theravada tradition also knew these teachings. Only in the Mahayana, however, these became the fundamental tenet for practitioners to be more authentically compassionate.
As you notice, the initial teaching is “giving of oneself.” To become compassionate, merciful, altruistic, and selfless, we must give up ourselves first. It is the alpha and omega of all teachings. And of course, it should never mean the narcissistic sacrifice, either.
Whatever we do for others, if it is on a glimpse of self-consciousness, even unconsciously aiming at our enlightenment, we can’t even start the first pāramitā. In this sense, whether Perfectdions or Eightfold Path, the basis of all teachings should be non-self of the Noble Fouth Truths called anattā (Pali) or anātman (Sanskrit).
And it reminds us of the self-denial of the Christian faith.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.Matthew 16:24
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.1 Corinthians 13:1-10
There is no such thing as the self who is supposed to perform well for self-serving and suffering. There has never been, either. Only when we see genuine compassion, charity, love of agape, and emptiness, we see ourselves in the way nobody sees nobody in heaven. In eternity, only God sees Himself. That is why the figure of the Compassionate Bodhisattva is so elusive and esoteric; at the same time, we feel her mercy embraces us all.
Image by falco


Australian South Sea Islanders Today
Photographer Brian Rodgers
More than 1000 contemporary images donated by photographer Brian Rogers to the State Library of Queensland begin to document the people and places that make up the many Australian South Sea Islander communities along Queensland's coast.
In 2000, an exhibition called Refined White was developed by the Australian Sugar Industry Museum in Mourilyan in north Queensland. During its development, a suite of contemporary black and white images was taken to complement a selection of historical images from the John Oxley Library. These images reflected the themes of Work, Family, Food, Religion, and Recreation. This collection of images is the first major contribution of Australian South Sea Islander life to the State Library’s collection since the early historical images dating back to 150 years ago.


Here are some examples of the activities found in Harcourt's Science Up Close. Make sure you check all the grades for activities that may relate to your classroom content:
Grade 1: A Coral Reef- Learn about living things that are sheltered in coral reefs.
Grade 2: What Happens During the Water Cycle- Learn about the movement of water in the water cycle.
Grade 3: Shadows Throughout the Day- Explore the effect of the sun's position on the length of a shadow.
Grade 4: Full Moon to New Moon- Discover why the moon changes phases.
Grade 5: Features of the Ocean Floor- Uncover features of the ocean floor.
Grade 6: World Biomes- Explore forest, grassland, desert, and tundra biomes.


By Melissa Hart
In previous posts, we defined the term “technologist,” a label that applies to people working in companies of all shapes and sizes across the country along a broad spectrum of industries – not just those that write software and make hardware. We explained that, while technologists have diverse interests and multifaceted personalities, most share five traits:
- A technologist thinks strategy first.
- A technologist has a passion for solving problems and a general sense of curiosity.
- A technologist sees technology in a constructive context.
- A technologist believes tech is about humans, not hardware.
- A technologist values respect, cooperation and collaboration.
Seeing computer-generated dinosaurs in the groundbreaking movie “Jurassic Park” inspired young John Bowditch to pursue a degree in filmmaking. But then, in grad school, he delved deep into computer animation and interactive technology, realizing video game design and production was his true calling as a technologist.
Game design is the “perfect intersection of everything” that interests him, Bowditch said, whose passion for solving visual challenges plays out on screen, as his work gives viewers the ability to control and direct a virtual world presented to them. In a literal sense, game design is a constructive context that values human creativity most of all. “Few industries have as much innovation going on as game development does,” he said.
Today, Bowditch teaches video game development at Ohio University as director of the School of Media Arts & Studies’ Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab. His students learn the full spectrum of project management and execution, from creative concepts to technical production. Projects are hands-on and include experience outside the classroom, with as many as 20 classmates collaborating at any given time.
Projects at the GRID Lab align with key traits technologists share: Teaching strategy, collaboration and a constructive approach to technology. A recent project created a virtual reality (VR) experience to help people become more comfortable giving blood. In a separate partnership with a hospital, students developed 360 views of the trauma center to use VR to help train residents.
“What I’ve found is that every young person is at least somewhat interested in technology, but they get discouraged early on and think it’s not for them. If you’re frustrated it means you are learning something,” he said.
The key is not to become hung up on any one type of program or application. “I try to remind students how quickly this stuff is evolving,” he said, pointing to how it was the iPhone’s 10th anniversary this summer. “If you look at the number of disruptions that one device, and smart phones in general, caused in the past decade, it’s astounding. When you look at 10 years from now, it gets people excited, thinking of ways to innovate.”
Have you met an impressive technologist while on-site at an industry event?
Inspiring Success collects stories about technologists, and then shares them with people considering technology careers. Send your story to Contributing Editor R.C. Dirkes at firstname.lastname@example.org and inspire someone.


McLuhan’s approach to media studies is almost always characterized as deterministic. The entry for McLuhan in the Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory states in part: “McLuhan’s version of technological determinism is extreme […] the most striking feature of his studies of the media is their total failure to discuss the ownership and control of means of communication.” McLuhan addresses the issue of determinism early on in The Gutenberg Galaxy, writing: “Far from being deterministic, however, the present study will, it is hoped, elucidate a principal factor in social change which may lead to a genuine increase of human autonomy.” Rather than tackle the issue of whether McLuhan “really was” a technological determinist, I will take McLuhan at his word regarding the stated goal of his media studies: “Study the modes of the media, in order to hoick all assumptions out of the subliminal, non-verbal realm for scrutiny and for prediction and control of human purposes.” So if McLuhan’s goal in The Gutenberg Galaxy is to increase human autonomy in the electronic age, what does that look like in practice and how would it be accomplished?
As noted in one of the introductions to The Gutenberg Galaxy, literature is major touchstone for McLuhan’s work. His frequent use of literary allusions and the stylistic decisions employed in his works have caused some critics to consider his books more literary exercises than scholarship or theory. One such literary reference in Gutenberg Galaxy is the short story “A Descent into the Maelstrom” by Edgar Allan Poe. In Poe’s story, three brothers on a fishing trip are drawn into a whirlpool. As their ship is pulled into the vortex, two of the brothers drown. The fate of the third brother is described in this excerpt from the Wikipedia summary of the story: “At first [he] only saw hideous terror in the spectacle. In a moment of revelation, he saw that the Maelstrom is a beautiful and awesome creation. Observing how objects around him were pulled into it, he deduced that “the larger the bodies, the more rapid their descent” and that spherical-shaped objects were pulled in the fastest. Unlike his brother, he abandoned ship and held on to a cylindrical barrel until he was saved several hours later.”
McLuhan alludes to the vortex in Poe’s story to describe the plight of individuals making sense of a world caught between literary culture and post-literate technology. He writes: “May not it be our job in the new electronic age to study the action of the new vortex on the body of other cultures?” (p. 88). Extending this metaphor, McLuhan is ostensibly equating his approach to media studies with the sailor’s study of the actions of the objects in the vortex. This suggests that by understanding the effects brought on by the interaction of various media in the electronic era we can consciously act and thereby not be drawn under the water, as the sailor in the story survived by acting deliberately and not succumbing to panic and terror as his brothers did.
The notion of conscious acts seems key to McLuhan’s project of increasing human autonomy in the face of wide-sweeping technological determinism. The Gutenberg Galaxy is peppered with references to Finnegan’s Wake, often accompanied by allusions to waking up and regaining consciousness. McLuhan writes about “hypnotic” and “entrancing” effects of media, of the “involuntary and subliminal character” of perspective engendered by print. He says that “the influence of unexamined assumptions derived from technology leads quite unnecessarily to maximal determinism in human life” (p. 280). This returns us to McLuhan’s stated goal in his media studies, of unearthing subliminal assumptions for scrutiny and the basis of conscious decision-making. In essence, the aim of McLuhan’s probes, puns, and provocations could be summed up in a single sentiment: “Wake up!” Returning now to my initial question: how does McLuhan propose that we “wake up” and become more conscious of media effects? The Gutenberg Galaxy ends on a cliffhanger, and with a promise that McLuhan will return in the sequel, but the concluding chapter makes the case that it is the function of art to rouse the sleeping to consciousness, and draw attention from a focus on content to an awareness of form.


Actually the trans fat ban is in a 60 day public comment period, but the good news is that as the public, we all have the opportunity to comment and to have a say in what goes into our food supply. My feeling is that there should be a trans fat ban, but lets talk about it and you can tell me (or tell the FDA) what you think. Here’s a little background:
Trans fats can occur naturally in small amounts in nature, but in processed foods they’re actually manufactured. Liquid unsaturated fats are “catalytically hydrogenated” which means that they are forcibly bombarded by hydrogen, which turns them into a more saturated fat. This makes the fats shelf stable and far easier to use in the food industry. These modified fats form in a different way than they typically would in nature (that’s the trans part) meaning that the hydrogens attach to opposite sides of the carbon chain in the fatty acid, which gives the trans fat a rigid, linear structure. Fats in nature are usually in the cis configuration which is nice and loose and floppy and forms healthy, mobile cell membranes. Trans-fats not so much.
Research has shown that dietary intake of trans fats is strongly implicated in increasing coronary heart disease risk, and trans fats in your diet raise your LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol. But don’t worry – there are plenty of other bad things trans fats do in your diet as well – just think of these as:
Great reasons for the trans fat ban:
- Raise LDL cholesterol, contributing to heart disease
- Lower HDL cholesterol, also contributing to heart disease
- Increase obesity even while taking in the same number of calories
- High dietary intake contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s disease
- May contribute to liver dysfunction
- Increases infertility rates in women
- Contributes strongly to depression and may be implicated in irritability and aggression.
- The jury is still out and studies are mixed on the effect of trans fats on both diabetes and cancer, but many studies have shown links.
Are you with me yet on the trans fat ban? Even if you’re not, there are several countries in the world that have already banned trans fats or limited it to less than 1 g total per day even if citizens eat mostly processed foods. This includes countries like Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Iceland, Switzerland and the UK. Other countries, like Australia, have not yet banned it completely but it has been all but eliminated from the food source anyway. The US took steps in 2006 to add trans fats to nutrition labels, which did cause trans fat use to drop (good thing), but it’s still prevalent in the American food supply and people who are eating fast foods and processed foods are most at risk for negative effects from trans fats. Some places in the US have either banned trans fats or limited their use including New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Boston.
Currently the FDA is in a 60 day public comment period to see how consumers and the industry would feel if they revoked the GRAS certification in a trans fat ban. GRAS stands for “Generally Regarded as Safe” and quite obviously if trans fats are causing heart disease, obesity and Alzheimer’s they aren’t safe at all. Here’s the FDA statement about it, and here’s the link where you can submit your own comments (docket number FDA 2013 -N 1317) PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO COMMENT AND ASK THE FDA TO APPROVE THE TRANS FAT BAN. Just follow the submit your own comments link and click the Comment Now button in the upper right hand corner.
After submitting my own comment calling for a trans fat ban I was a little dismayed by this message:
Your Comment Tracking Number: 1jx-891g-7hs7 Your comment will be viewable on Regulations.gov after the agency has reviewed it, which may be an indefinite amount of time. Use your tracking number to find out the status of your comment.
I added the bold in just for emphasis. Really FDA.gov? Really it may be an indefinite amount of time? The paranoid part of me wonders if the comments that take take an “indefinite” amount of time are the ones that they would rather the public not see, but I truly hope that the government is better than it often seems to be. So I will track the comment and keep you posted. Please take the 30 seconds out of your day to add your comment to the proposed trans fat ban – after all, if you tell the government what you want and they don’t do it then you have every right to complain about the consequences, but if you never speak up then it’s all just a little bit on your shoulders too. Make sure the government knows what you actually want and what’s actually important to you. It matters.


-School Library Journal
Some stay safe by squirting poison at their enemies. Others hunt up a little meat for dinner or steal their food from other plants. This book looks at all the different adaptations plants use to compete for sunshine, get water and nutrients, stay safe, and make their next generation.
- Best Trade Science Book…Children’s Book Council/National Science Teachers’ Association
The format encourages interaction and prediction…The text is clearly and concisely written, and Doolittle’s color photography is outstanding. -Booklist
The inventor of sticky flypaper may have stolen the idea from a sundew plant. A sundew’s leaves are covered with hairs. And those hairs are covered with “sundew glue.” The insect that lands on the sundew may have dropped in for dinner, but will stay there for good. It sticks to the hairs, which fold over and trap it. Now it has become dinner instead!


Making the world’s knowledge computable
Today’s Wolfram|Alpha is the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone. You enter your question or calculation, and Wolfram|Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and growing collection of data to compute the answer.
Wolfram|Alpha was officially launched yesterday, and although many of us having played with it in the past week or so the first news reports I’ve seen tend to regard it with suspicion rather than applaud the leap in knowledge handling that this innovative system represents.
Even on my educational mailing lists I’ve seen teachers begin their usual fear-driven responses – even referring to it as a “homework machine”. As always my answer to this is, that if the technology can do the work for the student then the student hasn’t been engaged in a process of useful learning.