Log in to manage your products and services from The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune.
Don't have an account yet? Create an account
E-Mail or Member ID
Password
Remember Me Log In
See the original post here:
Russia to attempt space-station re-docking
The unmanned Russian supply ship Progress 47 failed to re-dock at the International Space Station during a docking system test on July 23, 2012. Credit: NASA
MOSCOW, July 25 (UPI) -- After an initial failure, another attempt to re-dock a Russian space freighter to the International Space Station will be made Sunday, officials said.
The unmanned Progress M-15M space freighter that arrived at the ISS in April undocked from the station Monday to perform a series of engineering tests during a re-docking designed to verify an upgraded automated rendezvous system.
After separation, the freighter moved about 100 miles from the station and held position for 24 hours before attempting a re-docking Tuesday that was unsuccessful due to an apparent failure in the new Kurs-NA rendezvous system, RIA Novosti reported.
The failure of the system triggered a passive abort, a standard procedure that took Progress to a safe distance of about 1.8 miles below the space station.
"Another attempt to dock Progress with the space station is scheduled for 5 a.m. Moscow time (01:00 GMT) on July 29," a spokesman for the Russian Mission Control Center said.
Should another attempt to re-dock the freighter using the modernized Kurs-NA system fail, the ISS crew can revert to using its time-proven predecessor, the Kurs system, a space industry source told RIA Novosti.
Continue reading here:
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV Statement at Hearing Highlighting Research, Discovery aboard the International Space …
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Assembly of the International Space Station was completed last year. It took 5 space agencies from around the world to build it. While this by itself is quite an achievement, our attention has shifted from the construction phase to maximizing the scientific return on this investment. At its core, the space station is a laboratory and a classroom - a scientific and educational asset available not only to NASA, but to all Americans and the international community for research, discovery, and education. We have already seen important discoveries and progress from research conducted on the space station - such as studies of treatments for debilitating diseases like osteoporosis, creation of new materials that the automotive and aerospace industries are interested in using, development of vaccines that may one day prevent deadly infections, and fundamental studies of the nature of our universe.
The availability of half of the U.S. portion of the station for national lab managed research opens up the microgravity environment to private companies to test and develop new products and services for use on Earth. A constant American presence on the space station also presents a unique opportunity to inspire our children's interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics - the so-called STEM fields. We know how critically important STEM skills are for jobs of the twenty-first century, whether it is in advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals development, new computing technologies, or designing the next generation of spacecraft.
Astronauts on the space station reach students around the world. Elementary school children can talk to and interact with astronauts via communication links through NASA, asking questions and watching the astronauts conduct experiments live 220 miles above the Earth. Just a few months ago here in Washington, D.C., I met with the student finalists from the YouTube Space Lab Challenge, an international contest for high school students to design an in-space science experiment. More than 2000 project ideas were submitted from students in more than 80 countries. Experiments from the two winning teams - one from Michigan and one from Egypt - lifted off for the space station just last Friday on board a Japanese robotic cargo spacecraft that is scheduled to berth with the space station this Friday. The students' experiments will be conducted by a NASA astronaut onboard the station. This is an unparalleled opportunity for these aspiring young scientists that I hope will encourage them and their peers to continue to pursue degrees and careers in science and engineering.
Our time with the International Space Station is limited and I want to see this nation look back on our investment as both a great achievement and a stepping stone toward our continued scientific leadership, both here on Earth and in space. I look forward to the testimony from our witnesses today and to their perspectives on how we make the most of this unique national asset.
Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Link:
Astronauts Ring In Antimatter-Hunting Space Experiment's 1st Birthday
A team of astronauts, including retired spaceman Mark Kelly and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, toured a European physics lab today (July 25) to mark the first birthday of the International Space Station's most expensive, ambitious science experiment.
More here:
Astronauts Ring In Antimatter-Hunting Space Experiment's 1st Birthday
Antimatter-Hunting AMS Experiment in Space (Photos)
AMS in the Clean Room
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a $2 billion experiment to hunt for cosmic rays in space, stands in the clean room at the European physics lab CERN before it is shipped to NASA to be launched on a space shuttle.
An artist's concept shows the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle physics detector that is installed on the starboard truss of the International Space Station.
Technicians examine the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer instrument in a work stand ahead of its planned launch on NASA's space shuttle Endeavour. The AMS instrument will search for cosmic rays from the International Space Station.
Back on August 25, 2010, workers loaded the AMS (inside the metal box at right) aboard a giant U.S. Air Force Galaxy jet for a flight from Geneva International Airport to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Endeavour shuttle commander Mark Kelly, left, and Nobel laureate Sam Ting (principal investigator for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) look over the instrument as it sits in a work stand at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before its launch. Kelly commanded the STS-134 mission to take the AMS to the International Space Station in May 2011. The cutting edge instrument is the brainchild of Ting.
NASA's space shuttle Endeavour heads to the launch pad for its final mission, STS-134, to transport AMS to the space station. Here Endeavour is shown bathed in bright xenon spotlights on March 10, 2011 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Space shuttle Endeavour lifts off at 8:56 a.m. EDT on May 16 on its final flight - STS-134 - carrying AMS.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) is seen in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay after the shuttle reached orbit. Shortly after this image was taken, the AMS was moved from the payload bay to the station's starboard truss on May 19, 2011 (Flight Day 4).
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is transferred out of the space shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay by the shuttle's robotic arm on May 19.
Read this article:
NASA's Curiosity rover to explore bizarre Martian mountain (+video)
The three-mile-tall Mount Sharp is an inviting target for investigation by NASA's one-ton Mars rover, which is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet on Aug. 5.
The towering mountain that NASA's next Mars rover will explore after landing on the Red Planet next month remains mysterious to scientists, who say there's nothing quite like it here on Earth.
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
Mount Sharp rises 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the center of Mars' huge Gale Crater, where the car-sizeCuriosity roverwill touch down on the night of Aug. 5. Curiosity scientists are eager to study the mountain, whose many layers preserve a record of the Red Planet's changing environmental conditions going back perhaps a billion years or more.
Curiosity's rovings could also help the team understand howMount Sharpformed, because they're not entirely sure.
"In one go, you have flat-lying strata that are 5 kilometers thick. There's nothing like that on Earth," said Curiosity lead scientist John Grotzinger, of Caltech in Pasadena. "We don't really know what's going on there." [Curiosity - The SUV of Mars Rovers]
The 1-ton Curiosity rover is the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, which launched in late November. MSL's main goal is to determine if theGale Craterarea is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life.
To get at this question, Curiosity will investigate the different layers of Mount Sharp, which is taller than any peak in the continental United States.
Life as we know it depends on liquid water. So the rover will probably spend a lot of time poking around Mount Sharp's lower reaches, whereMars-orbiting spacecraft have spotted signs of minerals that form in the presence of water, such as clays and sulfates.
More:
NASA's Curiosity rover to explore bizarre Martian mountain (+video)
NASA's Curiosity rover to explore bizarre Martian mountain
The three-mile-tall Mount Sharp is an inviting target for investigation by NASA's one-ton Mars rover, which is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet on Aug. 5.
The towering mountain that NASA's next Mars rover will explore after landing on the Red Planet next month remains mysterious to scientists, who say there's nothing quite like it here on Earth.
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
Mount Sharp rises 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the center of Mars' huge Gale Crater, where the car-sizeCuriosity roverwill touch down on the night of Aug. 5. Curiosity scientists are eager to study the mountain, whose many layers preserve a record of the Red Planet's changing environmental conditions going back perhaps a billion years or more.
Curiosity's rovings could also help the team understand howMount Sharpformed, because they're not entirely sure.
"In one go, you have flat-lying strata that are 5 kilometers thick. There's nothing like that on Earth," said Curiosity lead scientist John Grotzinger, of Caltech in Pasadena. "We don't really know what's going on there." [Curiosity - The SUV of Mars Rovers]
The 1-ton Curiosity rover is the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, which launched in late November. MSL's main goal is to determine if theGale Craterarea is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life.
To get at this question, Curiosity will investigate the different layers of Mount Sharp, which is taller than any peak in the continental United States.
Life as we know it depends on liquid water. So the rover will probably spend a lot of time poking around Mount Sharp's lower reaches, whereMars-orbiting spacecraft have spotted signs of minerals that form in the presence of water, such as clays and sulfates.
Read more:
NASA makes Mars landing preparations
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. Credit: NASA
PASADENA, Calif., July 25 (UPI) -- NASA says it has adjusted the orbit of its Mars Odyssey spacecraft to provide a more prompt confirmation of the August landing of the Curiosity rover.
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft carrying Curiosity can send limited information directly to Earth, but before the landing, Earth will set below the martian horizon from the descending spacecraft's perspective, ending that direct route of communication, the space agency reported Wednesday.
Re-positioning Odyssey will help to speed up the indirect communication process, scientists said, noting that without the orbital adjustment Odyssey would have arrived over the landing area about 2 minutes after Curiosity's scheduled landing.
"Information we are receiving indicates the maneuver has completed as planned," said Mars Odyssey Project Manager Gaylon McSmith of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Odyssey has been working at Mars longer than any other spacecraft, so it is appropriate that it has a special role in supporting the newest arrival."
Two other Mars orbiters, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency's Mars Express, will also receive radio transmissions from the Mars Science Laboratory during its descent but will be recording information for later playback, NASA said.
Only Odyssey can relay the information immediately, the agency said.
See original here:
NASA'S Space Launch System Passes Major Agency Review, Moves to Preliminary Design
WASHINGTON -- The rocket that will launch humans farther into space than ever before passed a major NASA review Wednesday. The Space Launch System (SLS) Program completed a combined System Requirements Review and System Definition Review, which set requirements of the overall launch vehicle system. SLS now moves ahead to its preliminary design phase.
The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads, and provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
These NASA reviews set technical, performance, cost and schedule requirements to provide on-time development of the heavy-lift rocket. As part of the process, an independent review board comprised of technical experts from across NASA evaluated SLS Program documents describing vehicle specifications, budget and schedule. The board confirmed SLS is ready to move from concept development to preliminary design.
"This new heavy-lift launch vehicle will make it possible for explorers to reach beyond our current limits, to nearby asteroids, Mars and its moons, and to destinations even farther across our solar system," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The in-depth assessment confirmed the basic vehicle concepts of the SLS, allowing the team to move forward and start more detailed engineering design."
The reviews also confirmed the SLS system architecture and integration with the Orion spacecraft, managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, which manage the operations and launch facilities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"This is a pivotal moment for this program and for NASA," said SLS Program Manager Todd May. "This has been a whirlwind experience from a design standpoint. Reaching this key development point in such a short period of time, while following the strict protocol and design standards set by NASA for human spaceflight is a testament to the team's commitment to delivering the nation's next heavy-lift launch vehicle."
SLS reached this major milestone less than 10 months after the program's inception. The combination of the two assessments represents a fundamentally different way of conducting NASA program reviews. The SLS team is streamlining processes to provide the nation with a safe, affordable and sustainable heavy-lift launch vehicle capability. The next major program milestone is the preliminary design review, targeted for late next year.
The first test flight of NASA's Space Launch System, which will feature a configuration for a 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity, is scheduled for 2017. As SLS evolves, a three-stage launch vehicle configuration will provide a lift capability of 130 metric tons (143 tons) to enable missions beyond low Earth orbit and support deep space exploration.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the SLS program. Across the country NASA and its industry partners continue to make progress on SLS hardware that will be integrated into the final design. The RS-25 core stage and J-2X upper-stage rocket engine in development by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., for the future two-stage SLS, will be tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The prime contractor for the five-segment solid rocket boosters, ATK of Brigham City, Utah, has begun processing its first SLS boosters in preparation for an initial qualification test next year, ahead of their use for the first two exploration missions. The Boeing Co. in Huntsville is designing the SLS core stage, to be built at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and tested at Stennis before being shipped to Kennedy.
For more information about the Space Launch System, including the newest proposed rocket configurations, visit:
Go here to read the rest:
NASA'S Space Launch System Passes Major Agency Review, Moves to Preliminary Design
Mars rover's crazy-looking landing plan is technically sound, says NASA (+video)
NASA scientists say that the Mars Curiosity rover's audacious August 5landing plan, which involves a hypersonic parachute, retrorockets, and a hovering 'sky crane' system is exactly what is needed for the $2.5 billion rover.
Many have been fretting about the seemingly implausible, risky landing strategy of the new Mars rover Curiosity set to arrive on the Red Planet next month, but engineers say the worry is overblown.
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
Curiosity, the Mini Cooper-size centerpiece of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, is due to be lowered onto the Martian surface by a hovering Sky Crane holding it up via tethers. Despite the audacity of the concept, many aerospace engineers say the plan is solid.
"I agree it looks scary, it looks risky, but it's technically sound," said Georgia Institute of Technology professor Bobby Braun, who served as NASA chief technologist from 2010-2011. Braun was not part of the engineering team, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., that designed the Curiosity landing system. "In my view, it's not risky, it's actually the right way to land the system they're trying to land."
The new $2.5 billion rover is designed to analyze samples of Mars rock for signs that our planetary neighbor is, or ever was, habitable to life. Weighing in at 1 ton, Curiosity is too heavy to land with the assistance of cushioning airbags, like NASA's previous two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.
Instead, parachutes will slow the MSL descent stage toward Mars at first. Then, the descent stage will use rocket engines to dampen its speed further. Finally, at about 115 feet (35 meters) above the surface, the Sky Crane system will lower Curiosity, wheels-down, toward the ground, attached to nylon tethers. The rover is designed to be gently settled on the surface, after which the Sky Crane will detach and fly off to land a distance away. [How Curiosity's Nail-Biting Landing Works (Pictures)]
The plan requires a large number of sophisticated parts to work impeccably, and is utterly different than any previous mechanism used to land a machine on another planet, prompting some to charge that it's a scheme Rube Goldberg would have approved.
"A lot of people seem skeptical of it. I'm not," said Stephen Gorevan, chairman of New York City robotics firm Honeybee Robotics, which built Curiosity's internal Sample Manipulation System, but wasn't involved with the landing strategy. "I just think, the thing has been so tested. I see the electromechanical elements, I'm an engineer, I see at least each individual element of the scheme seems very reliable to me. It's new, it's daring, but I see it working."
Read more from the original source:
Mars rover's crazy-looking landing plan is technically sound, says NASA (+video)
NASA preps spacecraft for risky Mars landing attempt
Separately, NASA officials declined to estimate the odds for a successful landing next month.
Just before the attempt to land the Mars Science Laboratory carrying Curiosity on Aug. 6, mission managers said Earth will be positioned below the Martian horizon as the spacecraft descends toward its landing site near Gale Crater. While the spacecraft can send limited data as it approaches the thin Martian atmosphere, the repositioned Odyssey spacecraft that has been orbiting Mars since 2001 is now in a better position to relay confirmation of a landing back to NASA controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, Calif.).
Without the repositioning maneuver on Tuesday (July 24), NASA officials said Odyssey would have arrived over Curiositys landing site about two minutes after a sky crane tries to lower it to the surface. A six second thruster burn moved Odyssey about six minutes ahead to align its orbital pass with the planned landing site.
Mission managers previously reported that Odyssey had unexpectedly entered a safe mode on July 11, raising concerns about how long it would take to receive confirmation of a landing. The issue has since been resolved, and NASA said Odyssey is now operating normally.
Confirmation of Curiositys scheduled landing on Mars is expected to reach Earth at 1:31 a.m. eastern time on Aug. 6. Two other spacecraft NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agencys Mars Express will record radio transmission for later playback. Only Odyssey will be in a position to relay information in near real time, NASA said.
In preparation for the risky landing attempt that marks the first time a sky crane will be used to lower the SUV-sized rover to the surface, mission managers also said they had completed a week-long process of rebooting and configuring the spacecrafts two redundant main computers. The uplink included spacecraft configuration parameters for entering the Martian atmosphere, descent, landing and surface operations.
Earlier this week, engineers began configuring Curiositys navigation system in advance of the landing attempt. That step involved configuration of two inertial measurement units on the spacecrafts descent stage.
Given the unprecedented size and weight of the Curiosity rover, NASA engineers were forced to come up with a risky sky crane technique to land on Mars. Onboard computers will be required to automatically execute a series of complex commands during the approximately seven minutes it will take for the spacecraft carrying Curiosity to descend through the atmosphere to the Martian surface.
Ask if mission planners had calculated the chances for success, JPL spokesman Guy Webster replied: No. Important risks are the unknowns, which resist calculating. Related story:
Video: '7 minutes of terror' for next Mars probe
See original here:
Odyssey successfully positioned for new Mars Rover's landing, NASA says
NASA announced the 11-year-old Mars Odyssey, which recently suffered a malfunction, has been successfully positioned to provide confirmation of Curiosity's August 5landing.
NASA has successfully moved one of its Mars-orbiting spacecraft into a new position to provide prompt confirmation of the upcoming Aug. 5 landing of the new Curiosity rover on the Red Planet.
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
The 11-year-oldMars Odyssey probe performed a six-second thruster burn Tuesday (July 24) that nudged it six minutes ahead in its orbit, NASA officials said. The manuever placed Odyssey in a prime spot to receive signals from the Curiosity rover when it streaks toward the Martian surface, and to relay news of the rover's landing back to Earth.
"Information we are receiving indicates the maneuver has completed as planned," Mars Odyssey project manager Gaylon McSmith, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. "Odyssey has been working at Mars longer than any other spacecraft, so it is appropriate that it has a special role in supporting the newest arrival."
The move marks something of a comeback for Odyssey, which in early June suffered a malfunction on one of its reaction wheels, instruments that help control the probe's orientation in space. The glitch caused Odyssey to go into a precautionary safe mode on July 11, which in turn affected its orbit.
As a result, officials weren't sure whether Odyssey would be in the right spot during the 1-ton Curiosity rover's touchdown. Without the corrective engine burn, Odyssey would have arrived over Curiosity's landing site the enormous Gale Crater about two minutes after the rover touched down, officials said.
Curiosity, the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, will investigate whether the Gale area is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life.
Its landing is inspiring perhaps more nervousness than most other planetary touchdowns. Because Curiosity is so big, MSL engineers had to devise a new landing method for the rover. They settled on a rocket-powered sky crane, which will lower Curiosity to the Martian surface on cables before flying off and intentionally crash-landing a short distance away. [How Curiosity's Nail-Biting Landing Works (Pictures)]
Visit link:
Odyssey successfully positioned for new Mars Rover's landing, NASA says
NASA Moves Old Spacecraft to Track New Mars Rover's Landing
NASA has successfully moved one of its Mars-orbiting spacecraft into a new position to provide prompt confirmation of the upcoming Aug. 5 landing of the new Curiosity rover on the Red Planet.
Visit link:
Coast To Coast AM (C2C) July 02 Mars, Energy,
25-07-2012 16:16 Date: 07-02-12 Host: George Noory Guests: Charles Shults III, Howard Bloom Aerospace and defense systems developer Sir Charles Shults discussed his work with alternative energy sources, the discovery of new extrasolar planets, the new rover which will land soon on Mars, and the concept of mind uploading into virtual worlds which could lead to a form of immortality. The Curiosity rover is scheduled to arrive on Mars on August 5th-- it's a larger vehicle than the previous rovers, and has advanced testing and photographic equipment. It's due to land in Gale Crater-- an area where water would have been present over a great period of time, and Shults believes there is a high probability that fossils of primitive life may be found there. (Check out our Insta-Poll on whether you believe there's current or past life on Mars.) There may be some simple ways to develop interstellar travel, Shults declared. One possibility is a reactionless thruster, which could be thought of as a quantum mechanics device "that could produce thrust in one direction without throwing exhaust out the other side," he explained. Regarding energy, he'd like to see the end of burning petroleum for fuel, and one development he expressed enthusiasm for is a new type of fuel cell that can also act as a kind of battery. By 2025, Shults foresees the ability for people to upload the contents of their brain, or back-up their memories to a computer. This capability could prove highly useful if someone suffered a ...
Read more here:
Watchung doctor charged with practicing medicine with suspended license
SOMERVILLE A Watchung doctor was charged in connection continuing to practice medicine in although his license had been suspended.
Charges filed against Demesvar Jean-Baptiste, 39, were announced today, July 25, by Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano.
The prosecutor gave the following account:
In November 2011, the Somerset County Prosecutors Office Special Investigations Unit received information from the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Enforcement Bureau alleging that Dr. Demesvar Jean-Baptiste was continuing to practice medicine in Watchung New Jersey although his license had been suspended on Sept. 23, 2011.
The license suspension was in response to the doctors failure to comply with a consent order he entered into with the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners on April 1, 2011.
The consent order included, among other things, for the monitoring of the doctor. Dr. Jean-Baptiste failed to comply with the requirements of the consent order as well as other conditions established by the Professional Assistance Program and agreed to by him.
Prosecutor Soriano also said that Jean-Baptiste's practice, which was known as Somerset Bariatric Associates, was located at 775 Mountain Boulevard, Suite #15, in Watchung.
A search warrant was obtained for these offices and, during a search by police, numerous patient files were obtained, as well as other evidence such as credit card receipts with patient names charged after the Sept. 23, 2011 date.
The investigation ultimately revealed that Jean-Baptiste was practicing medicine with a suspended license from Sept. 23, 2011 until Jan. 26, 2012.
Defendant Jean-Baptiste was charged with practicing medicine with a suspended license, third-degree.
Read more:
Watchung doctor charged with practicing medicine with suspended license
EDITORIAL: W&M Medical School
That certainly has a nice ring to it, if it comes to pass. The news broke Wednesday that the College of William & Mary is in preliminary talks with Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk for some sort of merger that would rename the school.
The undergraduate and graduate science programs compel the college as a logical choice over other universities. For years, W&M has had a famous pre-med program that placed applicants at med schools all over the nation. Indeed, an early-admit program lets sophomores commit to EVMS as they continue toward their undergraduate degree. W&M President Taylor Reveley talked about a productive research collaboration between both institutions.
Wednesdays announcement had a big surprise element, as if to head off objections from Old Dominion University and Hampton University for missing the thrown bouquet. A merger by ODU came up last winter at the General Assembly, to no avail. Merger would seem to make more sense for ODU since the proximity is much greater.
This raises several questions.
What are the local implications? If all they do is rename the place, it would seem greater Williamsburg would miss out on substantial educational and economic benefits. If, however, a remote campus develops, the vacated land in back of Eastern State Hospital would be the obvious choice. The community group Crossroads identified the acreage for mixed use and research, so it would be perfect.
What are the state implications? The General Assembly has famously stripped state funding from William & Mary to a point where it comprises around 12% of the operating budget. If the Commonwealth underwrites a medical school, that percentage would go up, but only artificially so. The upshot is a wash for the rest of the college, except for prestige.
Is that all there is, prestige? ODU was once an extension school of William & Mary, and that worked out well. The prestige of a medical school connection would enhance the already-vaunted reputation of the college.
What are the cost implications? Medical schools are expensive to operate, so much so that they can drain a university. Close to home, Georgetown was lucky to sell its medical school some years ago and get out from under. William & Mary does not need a millstone, especially if it comes with operating deficits of millions or tens of millions.
Who decides? The legislature and the governor will make the call. This could become the next political football in the 2013 session, a major distraction just when Virginias public universities need more state funding for undergraduate schools. If a medical school sucks up all the oxygen (and money!), it will not serve us well.
Is this a done deal? Not hardly, according to official statements. But its fair to say things are pretty far along if the college is going public with the idea. It doesnt seem like the faculty have been consulted as a formal group, but surely the science profs are in the loop.
Go here to read the rest:
No medical school for Brandon: report
Brandon Sun - ONLINE EDITION
By: Staff Writer
25/07/2012 1:58 PM | Comments: 1
Brandon University will not get a stand-alone medical school, although a satellite campus could set up shop here sometime in the future.
That's according to a long-awaited report comissioned last year.
Read the full study online here.
The Brandon Medical Education Study concluded that a separate medical school in Brandon an idea championed by some in the community for the past several years would be "ill-advised," given the region's relatively small population.
However, the study suggests that the government work towards establishing a satellite medical school in Brandon, in partnership with the University of Manitoba.
The province has said that it accepts all of the recommendations made by the study, including the advice to train and hire more doctors in Brandon, rural and northern Manitoba.
"We want to ensure we are training doctors for families in all corners of Manitoba," said education minister Erin Selby.
Follow this link:
Liberty Media Corporation to Hold Annual Meeting of Shareholders
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Liberty Media Corporation (Nasdaq: LMCA, LMCB) will be holding its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 10:45 a.m. Mountain Time at 8900 Liberty Circle, Englewood, CO 80112. At the meeting, Liberty Media may make observations regarding the company's financial performance.
The presentation will be broadcast live via the Internet. All interested persons should visit the Liberty Media Corporation website at http://www.libertymedia.com/events to register for the webcast. An archive of the webcast will also be available on this website for 30 days.
About Liberty Media Corporation
Liberty Media (Nasdaq: LMCA, LMCB) owns interests in a broad range of media, communications and entertainment businesses, including its subsidiaries Atlanta National League Baseball Club, Inc. and TruePosition, Inc., its interests in Starz, LLC, SiriusXM, Live Nation Entertainment and Barnes & Noble, and minority equity investments in Time Warner Inc. and Viacom.
The rest is here:
Liberty Media Corporation to Hold Annual Meeting of Shareholders
Liberty Interactive Corporation to Hold Annual Meeting of Shareholders
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Liberty Interactive Corporation (Nasdaq: LINTA, LINTB) will be holding its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time at 8900 Liberty Circle, Englewood, CO 80112. At the meeting, Liberty Interactive may make observations regarding the company's financial performance.
The presentation will be broadcast live via the Internet. All interested persons should visit the Liberty Interactive Corporation website at http://www.libertyinteractive.com to register for the webcast. An archive of the webcast will also be available on this website for 30 days.
About Liberty Interactive Corporation
Liberty Interactive (Nasdaq: LINTA, LINTB) owns interests in a broad range of digital commerce businesses including QVC, Provide Commerce, Backcountry.com, Celebrate Interactive, Bodybuilding.com, Evite, and Expedia.
Additional Information
Nothing in this press release shall constitute a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell shares of the proposed Liberty Ventures tracking stock or Liberty Interactives existing common stock. The offer and sale of shares of the proposed tracking stock will only be made pursuant to Liberty Interactives effective registration statement. Liberty Interactive stockholders and other investors are urged to read the Form S-4 registration statement filed with the SEC, including the proxy statement/prospectus contained therein, because they contain important information about the issuance of shares of the proposed tracking stock. Copies of Liberty Interactives SEC filings are available free of charge at the SECs website (http://www.sec.gov). Copies of the filings together with the materials incorporated by reference therein will also be available, without charge, by directing a request to Liberty Interactive Corporation, 12300 Liberty Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112, Attention: Investor Relations, Telephone: (720) 875-5408.
Participants in a Solicitation
The directors and executive officers of Liberty Interactive and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of proposals relating to the approval of the issuance of the new tracking stock. Information regarding the directors and executive officers of Liberty Interactive and other participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their respective direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, are available in the proxy statement/prospectus, which forms a part of the Form S-4 registration statement, filed with the SEC.
Link:
Liberty Interactive Corporation to Hold Annual Meeting of Shareholders
Islands in Gilbert seeks art-fest artists
Jul. 25, 2012 02:06 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
The Islands Community Association is organizing an art festival Nov.3 and 4 at its community park in Gilbert and invites fine artists to participate.
The Islands Art in the Park will feature gallery-quality fine art and fine crafts chosen by a jury process. The festival also features a children's area, a food court and a beer and wine garden.
All participants will receive hassle-free parking and setup, a reception by the lake, continental breakfast and other extras. Artists may win prizes, which will be awarded Nov.3 at a reception. The application deadline is Aug.1. The park is at 825 S.Islands Drive West, Gilbert. Apply at zapplication.org.
Details: islandscommunity.org.
See the original post: