The World in Brief (1/5/06)

Word of rescue proves wrong; 11 of 12 reported safe are dead

Charles Sheehan,… Word of rescue proves wrong; 11 of 12 reported safe are dead

Charles Sheehan, Chicago Tribune

SAGO, W.Va. – Jubilation turned to anger early Wednesday when relatives of 12 coal miners believed alive in a West Virginia coal mine blast were told that 11 of their loved ones were dead. One survivor was in critical condition at an area hospital.

People were storming out of Sago Baptist Church, where relatives had kept vigil. Mayhem had erupted as at least one fight broke out, and calls for paramedics were heard.

Three hours before, their mournful vigil had ended when they were told that the 12 miners had been found alive. Church bells pealed and family members had broken out into hymns.

Families learned of the deaths from mine officials, who told reporters later that Randal McCloy was the only survivor of the accident, and was in critical condition.

International Coal Group Chief Executive Officer Ben told the families gathered at the church that “there had been a lack of communication, that what we were told was wrong and that only one survived,” John Groves, whose brother Jerry Groves was one of the trapped miners, told The Associated Press.

U. California awarded Los Alamos management

Mike Steinwand, The California Aggie (UC-Davis)

DAVIS, Calif. – U.S. Department of Energy officials announced Dec. 21 from Washington that the University of California was selected for the contract to continue management of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, despite criticism regarding several past security and safety lapses at the research facility while under the UC’s watch.

The facility, located in New Mexico, is the birthplace of the atomic bomb and serves today as one of three National Nuclear Security Administration nuclear weapons laboratories.

The UC teamed up with a trio of corporations – Bechtel Corp., BWX Technologies Inc. and Washington Group International – to form Los Alamos National Security Limited Liability Corporation, and overcame a bid on the contract from a University of Texas-Lockheed Martin team.

“I am very pleased with the DOE’s decision to award the future management and operations contract for Los Alamos National Laboratory to our team,” UC President Robert Dynes said in a press statement. “I believe this was an excellent decision and one that is right for both Los Alamos and the country.”

Statistics says few Americans keep New Year’s resolutions

Heather Taylor, The Lantern (Ohio State U.)

(U-WIRE) COLUMBUS, Ohio – Perhaps it involved a toast made to another prosperous spin around the sun, or welcomed in with a midnight kiss. However it was celebrated, 2006 came in on time midnight of Dec. 31, beginning the start of a new year. For many across the country, the night also included making New Year’s resolutions.

New Year’s Eve resolutions began around 4,000 B.C. when Babylonians began the new year by paying off debts and bringing back borrowed goods, according to an excerpt from “Psychological Foundations of Success: A Harvard-Trained Scientist Separates the Science of Success from Self-Help Snake Oil,” by Stephen Kraus, Ph.D.

According to the book, about 2,000 years later, the Romans started the new year by assessing the old year and vowing to accomplish more in the coming year.

About 50 percent of Americans make New Year’s Eve resolutions, but only 15 percent manage to keep them, according to www.realscienceofsuccess.com.

One of the solutions Kraus proposes is to set smaller goals and to create new month resolutions instead of New Year’s resolutions.

This prevents you from forgetting your objectives and getting diverted from everyday hassles,” he said.

International organizations release study abroad guidelines

Kelly Moynihan, The Eagle (American U.)

(U-WIRE) WASHINGTON – Two international organizations released guidelines for study abroad programs that have students questioning their use in making study abroad experiences better, according to insidehighered.com.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization collaborated to release the Guidelines on Quality Provisions in Cross-Border Higher Education. The guidelines serve as a safeguard against low-quality programs and services when students go abroad, according to OECD and UNESCO.

“The guidelines are designed to help students get easy access to reliable information on higher education offered outside their home country or by foreign providers in their home country,” according to an OCED press release.

The guidelines called for greater cooperation among countries concerning university study abroad programs. They also asked countries to recognize the importance of diversity in international higher-education programs and suggested that when students go abroad they attend a school or program that is comparable to their home institution.

A large part of the guidelines is directed at developing countries such as those in Africa that do not have an established system of quality assurance in higher education, according to the OECD Web site.