New Mars Forums

They really have a Space Camp in Turkey?

B

At least you be assured that you're not alone...my parents have said the same thing...at least until they've started reading my book...lol (they still wouldn't dream of going to that 'horrible' place though...   )  If only people could understand....if only, if only....

Anyhow, I've been checking the left-hand column of the M.S. website, it seems the past conferences have been held in: (in order of appearance) Boulder, Boulder, Toronto, Stanford, Boulder, Eugene.   The 3rd European M.S. conference is being held next month in Bremen. 

If anyone in the decision-making body of the M.S. is reading this, here's a proposed list of places that I think would be ideal for future conferences:  Orlando / Cocoa Beach, FL (near NASA / Space Center), In or near Pasadena Calif., (JPL Labs), Boston, Mass. (major locus of universities), Chapel Hill, NC (open-minded setting, adjacent to many universities), Madison, Wisconsin (b/c it's a danged cool town), and of course, Washington, D.C., so the pols will take notice of us, and my sister lives there too, so I don't have to get a hotel...    

B

If the aliens landed today in the middle of Iraq and said "Hi," what do you think will happen?

B

That's too bad, Cindy, to hear that you may never make it to a M.S. conference.  Would you be able to go if it was, let's say, a half-day's drive of your location (somewhere in NM, right?)  Does your husband's condition prohibit him going on long trips, or he just doesn't want to be in the same room with other Mars nuts? lol...

As for me, I'll go to the one next year if they choose to have it in the Southeast (which they really need to do, as it's been heavily biased towards the western states ever since the founding conference.)  It'd make great sense to have it in Orlando or near the Space Center (!)...but I'm not getting my hopes up.  Hopefully they'll decide soon, just so we'll know.

The website says it will return to Boulder for 2005...I might end up going back there if I don't go in '04...I have to admit that was a spectacular place to visit... :;):

B

Yes, although it didn't make a big splash on the news, the rocket Brazil was about to launch exploded last Friday, killing over 20 technicians and support personnel.

Truely a sad time for Brazil and their effort to develop a space infrastructure....

B

Very interesting, Shaun.  Exactly what kind of "public" school that you had the fortune to attend?  Are there still these types of "merit" schools left in the U.K.?  Here in the U.S. we have "magnet" schools for gifted students, where they take advanced classes, etc, but these schools are usually open to regular students as well. 

The main problem with U.S. schools really has to do with race and poverty, although few people will openly admit it as such. (PC-ness and all of that.)  In many areas of the country, there are schools where African-American students are the majority, while other schools are lily-white.  This is not because of any deliberate attempt to re-segregate the public schools; rather it's because people with means (usu. the white ones, although this includes a lot of immigrants as well) move to areas with "white" schools, while the black families are stuck in poorer areas with predominately "black" schools.  Guess which schools have higher performing students?  For the most part, money is not the issue, as public officials like to make sure all public schools in their respective districts have more or less equal funding (although you have rich and poor school districts, with vast differences in per-pupil spending.)  When it comes down to the brass tacks, however, the differences in our educational system is a cultural one.  Families with a strong work/educational ethic strive very hard to live in neighborhoods with like-minded families, who all go to the same schools, which help promote a "pro-learning" culture; where learning is "cool."  These are the schools that send very high percentages of their students to colleges, have consistently high test scores, etc.

Sadly, when you look at the traditional African-American neighborhoods, many of which are mired in proverty, a huge proportion of students in these schools come from dysfunctional families, often strung-out single mothers (who might have to work 2 jobs just to pay the bills) or worse.  And because you have so many of these kids together in one place, there is a general lack of a "learning ethic," and the students that do show promise are often shuttled off to the "magnet" schools I mentioned earlier, as officials are desperate to keep the "numbers" up in these higher-level schools.  So you have this constant brain-drain out of the "crummy" schools (call your local Realtor to find out what they are in your city), and furthermore, novice and under-performing teachers are often sent to these least-desirable schools, which only makes things even more difficult.

Here in the state of Florida, we have a thing called the "no Child Left Behind Act," which effectively ends "social promotion," with benchmark exams every student must pass to advance to the next grade level.  This coming year, 13% percent of 3rd graders will have to repeat the 3rd grade, and it's plainly evident what schools the vast majority of these students came from.  Now the parents of many of these children claim they're being unfairly treated because of their race, etc.  I guess the point is that state officials still haven't found a way to actually keep children from "being left behind."

I guess that sums up the great educational dilemma in this country - how to implement equal education in a land of "unequal learners" (and teachers) and vast cultural differences.  My own personal educational situation was quite fortunate, I should say, as I went to excellent public schools in a city that operated under a mandated federal integration scheme, which stipulated that every school in the entire county-wide district have the exact racial proportion as the county overall (something like 66% white, 32% black, 2% other.)  This was pretty cool, except many of the black children had to endure long bus rides out to the "country" schools, and vice-versa.  The particular school I went to (b/c of my district) was a magent school, with excellent teachers and curricula, but even here, there was this thing called "in-school segregation," a term that was never spoken, only whispered.  The brighter, college-bound kids were put in higher level classes, while the others were placed in lower level classes.  Except for homeroom and P.E., almost all of my classmates were white, while the lower level classes had huge proportions of African-Americans and poorer whites. 

Weird, huh?  How to rectify this problem?  For one thing, I think you would have to eliminate proverty....as this has proven to be one of the largest impediments to getting a good education, as well as promoting a good learning ethic in traditionally underperforming schools (believe me, the pols are trying hard, but not hard enough, imho.)  Another idea I support is school choice - allowing kids to pick whatever schools they would like to attend, which would help even things out (the problem you would have then is that the "good" schools would be busting at the seams, while the poor ones would be sitting empty...oh well, what can you do?)

O.K., O.K., I'll step off the soapbox for now..lol   

B

  I'm back....  Sorry I haven't kept up with the board lately, as I've been busy with my novel. (Getting close now, I'm delighted to say.) I miss you guys too...and it's cool to see some new faces around here too :;):

With Mars now almost right on top of us, those of you with telescopes - what details have you been able to pick out in recent days?  I have a old, beat-up Astroscan (the funny bulb-looking thing) and I was able to discern Syrtis Major the night before last (or maybe I was just imagining it...lol).  Can any of you pick out the southern ice cap?  I'm going to a public viewing at the local observatory on the 27th, so hopefully I'll be able to catch a glimpse of Mars through a "real" telescope.  If I do, I'll report back to let you know what I was able see.

For me, it's pretty dang cool to see Mars glowing bright in the night sky as I draw closer to completing my SF novel set on Mars. Pretty amazing coincidence, as I had no idea that I'd actually be writing a novel until fairly recently.

It's been a pretty intense experience lately - but it's nice to come back to Earth to check out the view every now and then...

Cindy, Shaun, et al - I'll probably be around on here a lot more once my ms. has been boxed up and mailed to certain addresses in NYC...     

B

Cindy, I agree with this statement in its entirity.  That's why it's imperative that we distribute the national wealth of this country throughout the population, instead of concentrating it among a few super-rich.  It is the middle class that has brought this country to where it is today....and this middle class was created due to the progressive policies spawned during the Great Depression, a time when the government was forced to tax the rich in order to get the country back on its feet again. 

If we allow the rich class to have their way...i.e., pay an ever-decreasing share of taxes, allow them to pay workers sub-par wages, etc, then we will be going the way of countries such as Mexico and Brazil, where you have a few super-rich, and most of the rest being quite poor.  Any respectable economist will tell you the best way to generate economic growth is to put as much money in the hands as many people as possible.  Rich people simply cannot spend enough of their wealth to make any appreciable difference in the economy, as there is only so much to what people can buy and do with their money...once you reach a certain point of personal wealth, you basically hit a wall as far as personal consumption goes.  Sure, you can invest that money, but who is the most likely recipient of that money?  Other wealthy people, most likely.

Bill, you couldn't have said this better...thank you...

B

Thank you, thank you so much.  I've also never met a rich person who is truly happy either..they're too busy worrying about to make more money! 

There's way more poor and middle class people then the rich.  I say it's time that WE start running the show...   

B

Good question....the person that is able to figure this one out deserves a Nobel Prize, imo...

You've got a point there...one only has to look at such things as the harsh sentencing guidelines for things such as mere possession of small amounts of marijuana.  In any democratic society, it is the responsibility of the populace (which means apathy is most certainly NOT a good thing) to determine what laws are just and which ones are not...and adjust them accordingly.  The jaywalker deserves nothing more than a ticket, if even that.  People who kill in cold blood need to be put away, preferably for life.  There should also be some sort of national, universal standard of justice and a clear defination of what is acceptable behavior and what is not (i.e. consensual sex between two adults is O.K., but forced sex or incest is not.)

Glad you think that humanity is capable of a moderate, rational approach, because we live in an era in which we really can extinct ourselves without too much difficulty.  That's why I think it's imperative that we indentify the next Hilter or Stalin before they assume a position of power - and do something about them. (Don't ask me how, but it needs to be done nonetheless.) The world was almost destroyed in WWII.  We probably won't be so lucky next time. 

In short, I think it's more imperative than ever that we, as a race, figure out a way to mitigate those who are predisposed to carry out acts of violence against others, and to do it in a democratic, fair manner.  For example, imagine if the doctor in the story that Cindy mentioned earlier was a top-level researcher in a Class IV bio-lab.  Imagine the harm she would be capable of in a stituation like that...

If it can be proved that the actions of these hoodlums really did result in the death of that man, then they should be charged - and punished for murder (following whatever sentencing guidelines currently in place).

B

O.K., I can agree with you there...I would hope that the medical community would adhere to this premise as well.  As long as people are taking these type of drugs under the supervision of a physician who has a stake in the patient's well-being, this should greatly limit the potential abuse by the user...the same thing would apply to weight-control drugs...no sane doctor would prescribe a powerful metabolism booster to someone who only has 1% body fat...at least I hope not!  Like everything else in life, we have to be reasonable about these things....

Boy, I certainly agree with you on that one.  I have some great solutions for ya too....take the 10 ten secondary schools in the country, analyse them as far as the level of education, money spent per pupil, the quality of the teachers goes,...and then immediately implement a program to ensure that every single public school in the country matches the quality of the "top 10"...money being no object whatsoever.  That will give us a good start right there.  The next thing we need to do is to overhaul our labor laws so that they greatly favor employees, rather than the employers...this means a high minimum wage, mandated training opportunities, a min of a month's vacation, strict enforcement to ensure ideal workplace environments, and so on and so forth...  Lastly, to ensure that everyone truly has the same opportunity as everyone else, place a maximum limit on personal and corporate wealth, so that everyone pretty much enjoys the same standard of living as everyone else.  Perhaps then, we would see the end of many of the social problems we experience today.  What's that, again?...you're calling this socialism??  Oh, shucks, I thought I was doing good here...lol...

Another excellent point, clark, couldn't agree with you more.  If we truly care about the health of our children, then we need to pack the halls of every school board in the country to remove soda machines in the schools and fast food outlets in the school cafeteria, as well as making sure that every student gets a minimum of one half hour of actual physical activity a day.  As they say, good habits developed as a child often last a lifetime...

But when it comes to the school bully, all of us really need to draw the line in the sand...as these are the people that turn out to be the true baddies in our society (as well as making life difficult for the rest of us).  Socially maladjusted people have no place in the schools, or anywhere else for that matter....if giving them drugs is the only way to cure people of this problem (after other reasonable measures have been tried), so be it...if we have the tools to solve this sort of thing, we need to use them.

As for the part of removing parts of the brain...that's a LONG ways from merely giving various forms of medicine...we, as a society, really should know where to draw the line with this sort of thing...if we don't, then we've got some major problems...

Cindy, interesting post about the mentally ill...I'd have to admit I didn't think too much about those who have an illness but think nothing's wrong with them.  From this standpoint, the problem lies with the people that are close to the ones that are suffering mental illness....surely they know that something's up, after all, these conditions don't develop overnight...my thing is, why don't they seek help??  This Debra Green was obviously crazy as a loon, and yet her husband just let it ride, as if it was no big deal?  <shakes head>  Dr. Green really should've had his head examined too...that's all I can say.... ???   We, as a society, need to do way, way more to help those that really need help...

B

Well, I've known people that have done everything possible to change their enviroment, such as moving to another location, getting another job, etc...and guess what...no matter where you go, there you are...  What I HAVE seen, when they have undertaken treatment for their condition, their lives have improved by 100%.  Now they can enjoy what they do, enjoy each day as it comes, and not have to be running here and there in a desperate attempt to flee the demons that reside inside their brain.  Their lives are *better* now with their treatment...is that so wrong? 

Besides, most people really don't have the option of changing their enviroment...new jobs are hard to come by, uprooting one's family to move to Florida is really not an option for the majority of folks (believe me...there are way too many people down here already!!), and one-on-one counseling is out of financial reach for many people.

Haven't we practically reached this point already?  Ever heard of bulimia and other eating disorders?   People who are overweight and have tried everything possible to lose weight clearly deserve a method to prevent them from over-eating, as well as a way to artificially increase their too-low metabolism.  What's so bad about having a drug that makes one feel full after eating a lean, healthy meal?  Perhaps then we wouldn't see so many people scarfing down one Big Mac after another.

Face it, we humans are the most dependent animals on this planet. If it wasn't for modern technology, the vast majority of us wouldn't even be around.  I, for one, would have been long dead had I been born in the 19th Century, rather than the 20th (asthma).  Just look at the case of Steven Hawking...an example of man wedded to technology if there ever was one...but because he was fortunate to live in THIS age, it has been possible for him not only to live, but to become one of the greatest thinkers of all time. 

Like it or not, we will *always* be dependent on our own technology...especially if we go to Mars...lol..  :;):

As for self-control...yes, that is one of the most admirable traits...and also one of the most elusive.  A great number of criminal acts are committed precisely due to this lack of self-control.  With drugs that would give those who lack this important social quality the self-control most of us have, I think the people that have been raped, or have lost loved ones to homicide, would give a huge "thanks" for this technology.

B