VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "emeritus pope" in his retirement and will continue to wear a white cassock, the Vatican announced Tuesday, again fueling concerns about potential conflicts arising from having both a reigning and a retired pope.
The pope's title and what he would wear has been a major source of speculation ever since Benedict stunned the world and announced he would resign on Thursday, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Benedict himself had made the decision in consultation with others, settling on "Your Holiness Benedict XVI" and either emeritus pope or emeritus Roman pontiff.
Lombardi said he didn't know why Benedict had decided to drop his other main title: bishop of Rome.
In the two weeks since Benedict's resignation announcement, Vatican officials had suggested that Benedict would likely resume wearing the traditional black garb of a cleric and would use the title "emeritus bishop of Rome" so as to not create confusion with the future pope.
Benedict's decision to call himself emeritus pope and to keep wearing white is sure to fan concern voiced privately by some cardinals about the awkward reality of having two popes, both living within the Vatican walls.
Adding to the concern is that Benedict's trusted secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, will be serving both pontiffs ? living with Benedict at the monastery inside the Vatican and keeping his day job as prefect of the new pope's household.
Asked about the potential conflicts, Lombardi was defensive, saying the decisions had been clearly reasoned and were likely chosen for the sake of simplicity.
"I believe it was well thought out," he said.
Benedict himself has made clear he is retiring to a lifetime of prayer and meditation "hidden from the world." However, he still will be very present in the tiny Vatican city-state, where his new home is right next door to the Vatican Radio and has a lovely view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.
While he will no longer wear his trademark red shoes, Benedict has taken a liking to a pair of hand-crafted brown loafers made for him by artisans in Leon, Mexico, and given to him during his 2012 visit. He will wear those in retirement, Lombardi said.
Lombardi also elaborated on the College of Cardinals meetings that will take place after the papacy becomes vacant ? crucial gatherings in which cardinals will discuss the problems facing the church and set a date for the start of the conclave to elect Benedict's successor.
The first meeting isn't now expected until Monday, Lombardi said, since the official convocation to cardinals to come to Rome will only go out on Friday ? the first day of what's known as the "sede vacante," or the vacancy between papacies.
In all, 115 cardinals under the age of 80 are expected in Rome for the conclave to vote on who should become the next pope; two other eligible cardinals have already said they are not coming, one from Britain and another from Indonesia. Cardinals who are 80 and older can join the College meetings but won't participate in the conclave or vote.
Benedict on Monday gave the cardinals the go-ahead to move up the start date of the conclave ? tossing out the traditional 15-day waiting period. But the cardinals won't actually set a date for the conclave until they begin meeting officially Monday.
Lombardi also further described Benedict's final 48 hours as pope: On Tuesday, he was packing, arranging for documents to be sent to the various archives at the Vatican and separating out the personal papers he will take with him into retirement.
On Wednesday, Benedict will hold his final public general audience in St. Peter's Square ? an event that has already seen 50,000 ticket requests. He won't greet visiting prelates or VIPs as he normally does at the end but will greet some visiting political leaders ? from San Marino, Andorra and his native Bavaria ? privately afterwards.
On Thursday, the pope meets with his cardinals in the morning and then flies by helicopter at 5 p.m. to Castel Gandolfo, the papal residence south of Rome. He will greet parishioners there from the palazzo's loggia (balcony) ? his final public act as pope.
And at 8 p.m., the exact time at which his retirement becomes official, the Swiss Guards standing outside the doors of the palazzo at Castel Gandolfo will go inside, their service protecting the head of the Catholic Church now finished.
Benedict's personal security will be assured by Vatican police, Lombardi said.
___
Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
Today, FIRE brings you the next installment in our blog series on the state of free speech at America's top 10 liberal arts colleges, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. Up today:?Pomona College, one of the five undergraduate colleges that are part of the Claremont Colleges consortium in California.
Overall, Pomona College's speech codes are not as restrictive as some of the other schools in this blog series. Further, it's important to note that some of the more restrictive policies are not specific to Pomona but rather are applicable to all of the Claremont Colleges, meaning that it may take a bit more legwork to get the necessary changes made.
Although Pomona is private, its students are assured the right to free speech both by the university's own policies?which promise that the college "respects the rights of free speech and peaceable assembly and supports their exercise"?and by California law, which applies the First Amendment to private, secular colleges and universities. California's "Leonard Law" (California Education Code ? 94367, named for its author, former California State Senator Bill Leonard) provides that "[n]o private postsecondary educational institution shall make or enforce any rule subjecting any student to disciplinary sanctions solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside the campus or facility of a private postsecondary institution, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article 1 of the California Constitution."
So now, let's take a look at the ways in which Pomona's policies (or in some cases, the systemwide policies of the Claremont Colleges) infringe upon students' expressive rights.
First, the "Five-College Poster and Banner Approval Policy" provides that "organizations are expected to refrain from using racial, gender or ethnic slurs, stereotypic depiction, or similar references in all advertising material" and also that "No advertising may contain explicit or implicit, written or pictorial references to alcohol beverages or drugs." While the first clause is most likely aimed at preventing the types of offensive party invitations that have gotten so many students in trouble around the country over the years, there are two problems with this. First, even highly offensive material is protected under the First Amendment and should be protected on any campus that claims to protect its students' right to free expression. In Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects even an extraordinarily offensive parody?in that case, a cartoon suggesting that the Reverend Jerry Falwell lost his virginity in a drunken encounter with his mother in an outhouse. The First Amendment protects offensive material, farce, profanity, and exaggeration. After all, these methods of communication are frequently used to make important political points. No campus that claims to take seriously the free speech rights of students can retaliate against a student merely for using offensive words.?
Second, the wording of the policy is broad enough that it could squelch far more than the kind of speech at which it was presumably intended. People could easily argue that a flyer advertising a debate or speaker on a controversial issue contains a "stereotypic depiction" that renders the advertisement impermissible. For example, remember the uproar caused by a flyer at Cal Poly advertising a speech by an African-American social critic who authored a book entitled It's OK to Leave the Plantation. Or look back at Gonzaga University's attempt to discipline a student group for posting a flyer advertising a speech by the author of the book Why the Left Hates America.(In both cases, the challenged flyers contained the titles of the controversial books).
The portion of the posting policy prohibiting any reference to alcohol or drugs is also too broad. The policy, taken literally, prohibits the advertisement of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings, as well as the advertisement of debates on pertinent topics such as marijuana policy reform or the sentencing disparity between offenders in possession of crack cocaine versus powdered cocaine. The fact that the university might claim it does not use the policy to prohibit those types of advertisements is irrelevant; the fact is that the policy, on its face, prohibits an entire category of constitutionally protected speech. It is incumbent upon the university to get the policies right?it should not be left to the students or to FIRE to point out these fairly obvious problems.
Also of concern are two separate policies at Pomona prohibiting the electronic transmission of any "abusive" messages or images. The term "abusive" is so vague that it is impossible for students to know exactly what is prohibited, and this broad ban could potentially encompass protected speech. The term could refer only to the kind of severe and repetitive abuse that rises to the level of actual harassment (which would not be protected regardless), but it could also refer to a harshly worded argument that occurs in the course of a heated debate (which almost certainly would be protected). ?
The Supreme Court held in Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108 (1972), that a law must "give a person of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited, so that he may act accordingly," otherwise the law is unconstitutionally vague. The Court went on to state that "where a vague statute 'abut[s] upon sensitive areas of basic First Amendment freedoms,' it 'operates to inhibit the exercise of [those] freedoms.' Uncertain meanings inevitably lead citizens to 'steer far wider of the unlawful zone ... than if the boundaries of the forbidden areas were clearly marked.'" Grayned, 408 U.S. at 109 (internal citations omitted). This is what is known as an impermissible "chilling effect" on free speech.
Finally, all five undergraduate Claremont Colleges maintain variations on a systemwide "Hate Crimes and Bias-Related Incidents Protocol" that also has the potential to chill protected speech on campus. Pomona's version of this protocol defines "bias related incidents" as "expressions of hostility against another person (or group) because of that person's (or group's) race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation, or because the perpetrator perceives that the other person (or group) has one or more of those characteristics." Although the policy acknowledges (correctly) that some bias incidents "may be protected speech," it does not go far enough in making clear that protected speech will not be subject to punishment. As a result, the policy may have a serious chilling effect on free speech. For an example of how this policy could be changed, take a look at the bias reporting policy at the "green light" University of Virginia, which explicitly states that "[t]his definition is used for reporting and statistical purposes only. It carries no independent sanctioning weight or authority" and that?
Some bias-motivated or otherwise disrespectful acts may be constitutionally protected speech and thus not subject to University disciplinary action or formal investigation. Indeed, as our founder Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "For here we are not afraid . . . to tolerate error so long as reason is free to combat it." However, we should do all that we can to foster a good dialogue on what is appropriate in our community of peers.?
In order to avoid infringing on students' free speech rights, Pomona's policy must make similarly clear that protected speech will never be subject to investigation or discipline.
Pomona College fares quite well compared to many of its peers when it comes to speech codes on campus, but it still has a bit of work to do in order to earn a green light rating from FIRE. As with all colleges and universities, we would be happy to help Pomona improve its policies.
All Critics (53) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (3)
Hoss is fantastic. Barbara is ice cold at the start, understandably so. Yet Hoss makes her sympathetic.
[Leaves] you drained and horrified.
Sometimes, the sun shines and the wind blows fresh and the very elements that make for intense hardship also open a window on intense joy.
Hoss is mesmerizing as a woman who holds it all together to the point of losing herself.
It's one terrific film, as smart, thoughtful and emotionally involving as just about anything that's out there.
It's a quiet film built of careful details.
This well acted political melodrama, set during the Cold War, is Germany's entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
Hoss' outstanding performance is a deep well of subtle yet unmistakable motives and reactions.
A crafty filmmaker, Petzold gives us information in increments. During the first half of his movie, which he co-wrote, we are all but left to our own devices; yet it is fascinating, and appropriate.
Worth seeing ... both for Petzold's singular aesthetic and for Hoss, who as usual is a riveting presence.
A well-observed, compelling, and evocative character piece, haunted by the ghosts of Germany's recent past.
Feels like total immersion into the sights, stresses, and the subtle solidarity among middle-class professionals living in the workers' paradise that Petzold's parents fled.
[R]esides somewhere in an unsatisfying borderland between drama and thriller, never quite catching fire as either...
A superbly crafted low-boil drama that gets its hooks into you the old-fashioned way, through character, and highlights the difficulties and cost of living by principles.
Subtly intriguing and ambiguous, it's filled with suspicion and subterfuge.
Despite the limited scope of its predictable narrative, "Barbara" remains a compelling character study thanks to Nina Hoss's enigmatic performance in the title role.
Christian Petzold's latest thriller threatens to cross over the line from minimalism to nihilism.
Both insightful and poignant, but not mawkish...an intriguing character study set against the backdrop of a dark time in history.
The plotting, the planning and the deepening relationships don't make for kinetic action, but they are the foundation for a smart, engrossing film.
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Paul McIlhenny, the chairman and chief executive of the Louisiana company that makes Tabasco brand pepper sauce, has died at age 68, the McIlhenny Co said on Sunday.
McIlhenny died on Saturday, the family-owned company said in a news release that described him as "a true bon vivant" whose passions included hunting, fishing, wine-tasting and game cooking.
He was a sixth-generation member of the McIlhenny family to live on Avery Island in the southern Louisiana bayou, and a fourth-generation member to produce pepper sauces sold worldwide under the Tabasco brand.
The McIlhenny company was founded in 1868 on Avery Island. It supplies hot sauce to the U.S. presidential plane Air Force One and to Britain's royal family, the Times-Picayune newspaper said on its website.
Paul McIlhenny joined the company in 1967 and directly oversaw the production of its sauces for 13 years, expanding both its line of spicy sauces and the array of aprons, neckties and other merchandise bearing the familiar red-and-green Tabasco logo.
He spent much of his time in New Orleans and in 2006 he reigned as Rex, the first King of Carnival during Mardi Gras celebrations after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
"All of McIlhenny Company and the McIlhenny and Avery families are deeply saddened by this news," said Tony Simmons, president of McIlhenny Co and fifth-generation McIlhenny family member. "We will clearly miss Paul's devoted leadership but will more sorely feel the loss of his acumen, his charm and his irrepressible sense of humor."
Mayor Rob Ford walked away from his conflict of interest case with more than $116,000 plus HST in legal costs and now he wants the man who took him to court to foot the bill.
The mayor won an appeal of the case threatening to throw him out of office last month. Ford was taken to court by Toronto resident Paul Magder, who was represented by high-profile lawyer Clayton Ruby.
Ford lawyer Alan Lenczner submitted the costs to the Divisional Court last week.
According to the factum obtained by the Toronto Sun Friday, Ford?s legal team logged around $107,070 worth of hours plus $8,974 in costs to prepare for the case, including photocopying, telephone charges and courier service.
Lenczner argues the costs requested are ?entirely reasonable? given the fact Ruby submitted a bill on behalf of Magder following the first trial for $125,850 for fees and $7,554.03 for disbursements plus HST.
He goes on to argue the court shouldn?t be concerned that Magder will have to indemnify his legal team because Ruby has made it clear he was working on the case ?pro bono.?
?Paul Magder understood even before the inception of his application that, if he was successful, his lawyers would receive costs from Ford which they would keep in their entirety,? Lenczner states.
?He also understood that, if he was unsuccessful, he would have to indemnify Rob Ford for his costs on a partial indemnity basis but not be required to pay his own lawyers.?
Do you think Paul Magder should foot Rob Ford's lawyer bill?
The Galaxy Note 8.0 -- the newest device in Samsung?s many-sized range of tablets, unveiled today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona -- has just managed to trump Apple?s iPad Mini in the small tablet category with one-tenth of an inch more of screen space (more on the device in our hands-on). At the same time, Samsung is also introducing a few new services and features -- including expanded hovering capabilities and more apps, which it hopes will also help it gain more consumer ground against the world?s biggest tablet maker. The extra features show that Samsung sees improved services and content this as key to improving its market share in the tablet space.
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ? The defense and prosecution both completed their arguments Friday in Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing, with the magistrate soon to rule if the double-amputee athlete can be freed or if he must stay behind bars pending trial in the shooting death of his girlfriend.
The prosecution vehemently opposed bail to Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair in a case that has transfixed South Africans and brought international media attention to the nation's justice system and police capabilities.
Pistorius is charged with one count of premeditated murder in the Feb. 14 killing of Reeva Steenkamp. He says he accidentally shot her, thinking she was a dangerous intruder inside his home, lurking in a toilet stall off his bedroom.
Pistorius' hands trembled as he said "good morning, your worship" as the session began in Magistrate's Court in Pretoria, South Africa's capital. For the first time in the hearing, two representatives of the Steenkamp family were present in court, sitting behind and to the left of Pistorius in the public gallery.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel called Pistorius' version that he shot Steenkamp accidentally improbable and argued that Pistorius did not have to have planned the killing for days in advance for it to be premediated.
"He planned it that night when she (Steenkamp) locked herself in (the toilet)," Nel said in response to a question from the magistrate on why Pistorius hadn't staged a break-in at his home to make his story look more believable. "The fact that we have only one survivor of that tragic night is difficult for the state."
Pistorius' defense lawyer, Barry Roux, brought up culpable homicide as a possible charge for the first time in the case when answering questions from the magistrate.
"He did not want to kill Reeva. He had no intent to kill Reeva," Roux said as Pistorius began weeping again ? like he has done for much of his bail hearing.
Roux said it was impossible for Pistorius, as famous as he is and with his prostheses, to escape South Africa before trial and bail should be granted.
"Let me tell you how difficult it is for this man to disappear from this world," Roux said.
Prosecutor Nel earlier countered that everyone, whether disabled or famous or otherwise different from the majority, should be treated equally under the law. Nel noted that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is famous but is now holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face sex-related charges.
Nair, the magistrate, will decide if Pistorius can be freed with conditions or if he is held until trial. Pistorius faces the sternest bail conditions in South Africa because of the seriousness of the murder charge, meaning his defense lawyers have to prove there is an "exceptional" reason for him to be freed.
Stephen Tuson, an adjunct law professor at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and a practicing attorney, told The Associated Press that poor health, a weak state case or a disability could be reasons to grant bail to a person accused of murder. But the "exceptional" circumstances Pistorius would have to prove to be freed are not established absolutely by law and are applied considering the individual merits of each case.
"(The matter of exceptional reasons) is not defined," Tuson said. "We've had to have this concept expanded by the courts on a case by case basis."
Pistorius' defense has dedicated much of its argument in the bail hearing to questioning the state's case against Pistorius and trying to discredit the police investigation into Steenkamp's shooting. Lead investigator Hilton Botha was removed from the case Thursday following his bungled testimony for the prosecution and replaced by the South African police's top detective, Vinesh Moonoo ? who was in court Friday.
Defense lawyer Roux also stressed Pistorius' disability Friday and said it was one of the reasons why he couldn't easily flee the country.
"He cannot, cannot go unnoticed through airport security. When he goes through the security at the airport, there's every time a commotion because the system would react," Roux said. He added that Pistorius also needs medical treatment for his stumps and has to have his prostheses adjusted on a monthly basis.
In arguing against bail, Nel sought to portray Pistorius as a spoiled celebrity with an inflated sense of self who believed he was above the law. Nel also said selfishness could be driving expressions of remorse by suspects such as Pistorius.
"All that I feel sorry for is myself," Nel said of Pistorius. "I've shot her and my career is done."
Pistorius' longtime coach Ampie Louw had said before proceedings began that he is considering putting his runner back in training if he is granted bail to allow him to "get his mind kind of clear."
Louw said he realizes that the Olympic athlete might not be emotionally ready to give any thought to running.
"The change is that he is heartbroken, that is all," Louw said in the courtroom, surrounded by reporters and television cameras. "For me it is tough to see that. Not to be able to reach out and sit next to him and say 'Sorry, man, it was a terrible accident.' But I cannot do it, I must just sit here in court and that's all.
"The sooner he can start working the better," said Louw, who was the person who convinced the double amputee to take up track as a teenager a decade ago.
He has been held at a police station in Pretoria since last week, but suspects who are denied bail are typically held in a prison.
Roux argued on Thursday that the evidence backs Pistorius' statement that he shot through a toilet door at his home because he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder, killing her by accident.
"I think there will be a level of shock in this country if he is not released (on bail)," Roux said in court.
Opposing bail, Nel argued that Pistorius was too willing to shoot. The prosecution says Pistorius planned to kill his 29-year-old girlfriend, a model and budding reality TV star, after an argument in the early hours of Valentine's Day.
"The reason you fire four shots is to kill," Nel said.
Louw said he might put Pistorius ? who overcame the amputation of his lower legs as a baby to compete at last year's London Olympics ? back on a morning and afternoon training routine if he is freed, believing it might help him to be able to run track again.
"You must give him space," the coach said.
___
AP Sports Writer Gerald Imray contributed to this report from Johannesburg.
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A major winter storm headed northeast into the U.S. Great Lakes on Friday and threatened New England after blanketing states from Minnesota to Ohio with blinding snow, sleet and freezing rain.
The storm dumped more than a foot of snow in Kansas on Thursday, forcing airports to cancel hundreds of flights and stranding motorists on highways.
Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Sly James said that about 60 buses were stuck on snowbound streets on Thursday, and even tow trucks were left immobile by the storm.
"It's still an ongoing process to get people off the roads," he told CNN.
About 570 flights were canceled on Friday, with 127 of them at Chicago's O'Hare airport. Kansas City International Airport reopened after being closed on Thursday while crews cleared runways.
The National Weather Service said the storm would move northeast into the upper Great Lakes over the next several days.
Sleet and freezing rain was possible in the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states, with thunderstorms expected on the storm's southern fringe in the southeastern United States, it said.
The storm is expected to reach the East Coast this weekend, delivering heavy snow to parts of New England for a third straight weekend, from northern Connecticut to southern Maine.
SNOWY KANSAS
Kansas bore the brunt of the bad weather on Thursday, with up to 15 inches of snow in some parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service.
A 200-mile (323-km) stretch of Interstate 70 in central Kansas was closed and strewn with cars stuck in snow.
National Guard troops riding in Humvees were dispatched to look for stranded motorists along the interstate and other highways, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for Kansas emergency management services.
The fierce storm triggered severe thunderstorms from eastern Texas to Georgia.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback declared states of emergency because of hazardous travel and possible power outages. Brownback ordered state offices closed because of the storm.
In Nebraska, a 19-year-old woman was killed in a two-car accident on Wednesday on Interstate 80 near Giltner. The Nebraska State Patrol said weather was a factor.
An 18-year-old man died in Oklahoma when his vehicle slid into a tractor-trailer on a slushy state highway, the state's highway patrol said.
Drought-stricken farmers in the Great Plains, one of the world's largest wheat-growing areas, welcomed the moisture brought by the storm, although experts said more rain or snow would be needed to ensure healthy crops.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 By Sean Peick Cronkite News
Current required competencies:
??Mathematics
? Reading
??Science
? Social Studies
? Writing
PHOENIX ? Twenty years ago, accountant Sharon Lechter decided to devote her career to financial education and literacy after her oldest son graduated from high school and soon fell into credit card debt.
?I realized when my own child had that kind of problem, what about the kids that aren?t getting any financial education?? she said.
Now she and Pay Your Family First, the company she founded in 2007 to promote that education and literacy, are the driving forces behind a bill that would require high school students to display competency in personal finance in order to graduate.
SB 1449, authored by Sen. Kimberly Yee, R-Phoenix, was unanimously endorsed by the Senate Education Committee on Thursday.
Current state law requires high school students to demonstrate competency in reading, writing, math, science and social studies before graduating.
Lechter told the committee that Arizona should help students ?so that they can become a master of their money, not a slave to their money.?
She said Utah, Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia require semester-long personal finance classes for graduation.
Angela Totman, vice president and chief operating officer of Pay Your Family First, said that many students lack an understanding of the connections between the money they bring in and the money they owe.
?Our children are not leaving school with an understanding that as they take on debt and use credit, it will impact their cash flow and increase their expenses,? she said. ?They don?t understand that that will impact their ability to provide for themselves in their future.?
Chandler City Councilwoman Nora Ellen, who brought Lechter and Yee together, said that requiring competency in personal finance would help students succeed in life.
?The purpose of education, bottom line ? I?m a bottom-line person ? is to create quality lives,? Ellen said. ?The greatest life skill we can give our students is personal finance ? managing money, understanding savings and entrepreneurial understanding.?
Chris Kotterman, the Arizona Department of Education?s deputy associate superintendent for policy development and government relations, said his agency doesn?t have an official position on the bill but would want it to specify how schools could meet the requirement.
Yee said that she wanted to give schools flexibility on meeting the requirement but would be open to addressing the issue.
?I will certainly work with those who might have some concerns on the clarity of this,? she said.
Jennifer Loredo, a lobbyist for the Arizona Education Association, the state?s largest teachers union, said that personal finance is already a requirement for high schools in the state?s education standards. She said her organization supports teaching personal finance but not making it state law.
?Our concern is tweaking statute to start to specify little things that are already in the standards that are already being required to be taught,? she said.
Diversity is a key ingredient for a successful development, or at least that?s what George Merrick, Founding Father of Coral Gables, believed in 1925. Along with The American Building Company and former Ohio Governor Myers Cooper, he created the largest home development project in that time?s history: the Village Project. At the time, South Florida had no existing architectural heritage, so Merrick brought in the best architectural traditions from around the world and adapted them to the new climate. However, the devastating Hurricane of 1926, followed by the Great Depression halted this plan.
Only seven of the fourteen villages were actually developed, with less than eighty of the 1,000 residences built. These villages act as far more than a marketing scheme built to attract ?northerners? to South Florida, but are valuable districts:
John & Coulton Skinner and John E. Pierson, architects
Florida Pioneer / Colonial: With white picket fences, grand double-story porches, and highly-symmetrical facades, this village was influenced by the large houses of New England;
Marion Sims Wyeth, architect
Dutch South African Village: Comprising of only five residences, the whitewashed structures, ornately rounded gables, and jonkershuis adapt well with the surrounding Mediterranean Revival;
Henry Killam Murphy, architect
Chinese Village: This colorful block of courtyards, yellow rooftops, and stone-carved pillar-gates (ques) is an exotic sight for visitors;
Phillip Lippincott Goodwin, architect
French Normandy / Provincial Village: These attached residences showcase the Tudor decorative half-timbering, brick-base detailing, and minimal wooden enhancements;
R. F. Ware, architect
Italian Village: ?This spread-out village is characterized with low-pitched and heavily bracketed roofs, asymmetrical informal facades, and towers.
Frank Forster, architect
French Country Village: One of the larger villages, these residences are large, detached structures, with high mansard roofs and rustic details;
Mott B. Schmidt, architect
These villages were once regarded as failed attempts due to the city?s poor economic state, but are now regarded as the city?s most desirable areas. Are we still designing our communities in ways that build lasting value?
Credits: Images by Jennifer Garcia. Data linked to sources.
Jennifer Garcia
Born and raised in the Midwest, Jennifer Garc?a now enjoys the energy and
quality of life that Miami has to offer. Professionally, she uses
traditional architecture and principles of the New Urbanism in her
consulting work at Garcia Design Studio. Based on careful research, she designs each project within the context of the local architectural
language, distinct culture, and regional settlement patterns. She proudly
holds a Master of Architecture from Andrews University in Berrien Springs,
Michigan. Traveling has taught her to immerse herself into each place?s
history, culture, traditions, and how they contribute to the range of
urbanism and local vernacular. She also enjoys blogging as a local transit
advocate for Transit Miami. Her daily bicycle commutes reinforce her belief in nurturing a living urbanism with livable streets.
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An Ohio man arrested after he brought a handgun and knives to a late night showing of the Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises", two weeks after the Colorado theater mass shooting last summer was acquitted on Friday of a felony weapons possession charge.
Prosecutors had accused Scott A. Smith, 38, of being drug addicted and in possession of a weapon, a felony that calls for up to five years in prison in connection with the incident last August at a suburban Cleveland movie theater.
Smith this week pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, but rejected a deal on the more serious felony possession charge that required him to give up his weapons collection and barred him from owning guns in the future.
Prosecutors accused Smith of being addicted to prescription pain and anti-anxiety drugs and using marijuana to help himself sleep, making it illegal for him to possess firearms.
Smith would stockpile his pain medication and take it intermittently or not at all, at times clouding his judgment, Assistant County prosecutor Aaron Brockler told Cuyahoga County Judge Kathleen Ann Sutula in the bench trial.
Sutula found, however, that prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the prescribed drugs adversely affected Smith's judgment, that he was stockpiling pain medication or that he was drug dependent.
Smith was arrested August 4, when he tried to enter a theater carrying a military style bag that is commonly used to carry firearms, about two weeks after the Colorado theater rampage that left 12 people dead and five dozen wounded.
An off-duty officer at the suburban Cleveland theater asked to check the contents of Smith's bag and found a loaded Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol, two extra loaded clips, three knives and medical supplies.
A search of his house turned up a cache of rifles, shotguns and handguns as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition. Ohio law requires the state to return the weapons, ammunition and bullet-resistant vests removed from his house.
Smith told Reuters after the trial on Friday that he planned to sell most of the firearms if they are returned to him. He said the firearms alone were worth $18,000.
When asked why he had such a large collection of rifles and handguns, Smith replied, "It's my Second Amendment right. I also have 15 different fishing poles."
The proposed plea agreement Smith rejected also called for him to serve nine months in jail. Smith could be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison on the weapons charges. His sentencing is scheduled for March 15.
(Editing by David Bailey, Cynthia Johnston and Carol Bishopric)
ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Indian troops shot and killed a Pakistani soldier who crossed the makeshift border separating Indian and Pakistani held Kashmir, officials said Friday, in a development that threatened to upset the delicate ceasefire in a region claimed by both countries.
The incident in Kashmir evoked similar episodes in January, in which three Pakistani soldiers and two Indian soldiers were killed. The deaths have ratcheted up tensions in an area where the two countries have long battled for dominance.
A Pakistani military official initially told reporters in a text message Friday that the soldier was reported killed on Thursday night after he'd accidentally crossed the line of control that separates the Pakistani- and the Indian-held sides of Kashmir, but gave no details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with military protocol.
In a more strident statement later Friday, the Pakistani military accused the Indian troops of killing the soldier after he identified himself and explained why he was accidentally in their territory.
The statement, from the public relations arm of the Pakistani military, said that civilians had seen the Pakistani soldier being questioned by the Indian military and told Pakistani officials. Pakistani officials then approached the Indians, asking them to hand over the soldier. But when generals from both sides spoke this morning, the Indian side reported that the Pakistani soldier had been killed, according to the statement.
"We condemn such an inhuman and brutal act of killing our soldier after he had identified himself and explained his position," the statement read. Inter Services Public Relations said that in previous incidents, when Indian soldiers have strayed into Pakistani territory, they have been returned.
Pakistan's foreign ministry also condemned the killing.
"The killing of our soldier who had lost his way and inadvertently crossed the Line of Control, goes against the understanding reached between Pakistan and India on speedy return of inadvertent line crossers and has the potential to further vitiate the atmosphere," it said in a statement.
Pakistan has asked India to carry out a thorough investigation into the incident and ensure it does not recur. But the Indians blamed the Pakistani soldier, saying he had begun firing when confronted by their troops.
Lt. Col. Rajesh Kalia, a spokesman for the Indian army in Kashmir, said the soldier was killed in a firefight with Indian troops in which an Indian soldier was injured. He said Indian troops had seen "suspicious movement" in the Nowshera sector of the line of control.
"Our troops challenged him. This individual resorted to indiscriminate firing. Our troops retaliated. In the ensuing firefight, he was killed, and one of our soldiers was injured," Kalia said.
Kalia added that Indian forces realized the dead man was a soldier "after the Pakistan army contacted our officers."
"We are returning his body with full respect as a soldier deserves," he said.
Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over the Muslim-dominated region that each claim as their own. Any incident along the line adds to the tensions.
In January, three Pakistani soldiers and two Indian soldiers were killed in a series of attacks along the line of control. India said one of its soldiers was beheaded.
Pakistan and India struck a cease-fire agreement over Kashmir in November 2003. There have been periodic violations of the cease-fire, but the incidents in January were the most serious.
The resulting tensions have disrupted cultural and sporting ties: Performances by a Pakistani theater group were canceled in the western Indian city of Jaipur and in the Indian capital following protests by hard-line Hindu groups, and nine Pakistani hockey players who went to India to participate in a tournament were sent home.
More recently, the Indian-held part of Kashmir has been rocked by violent anti-India protests after a man convicted in the 2001 attack on India's Parliament was hanged in a New Delhi jail.
Many in Kashmir believe Mohammed Guru did not get a fair trial and the secrecy with which the execution was carried out only fuelled the anger in a region where anti-India sentiment runs deep.
A curfew has been in place since the execution, but groups of demonstrators have defied it and clashed with government forces. Three protesters have been killed and more than 100 have been detained, according to police.
Insurgents have been fighting in Kashmir for more than two decades, demanding either a separate state or merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan.
India accuses Pakistan of financing and supporting insurgents agitating in Kashmir.
__
Associated Press writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India contributed to this report.
Vodafone has today started to accept pre-orders for the 4G-ready Sony Xperia Z smartphone, expected to launch in the UK at the end of this month.
The network says that the 5-inch, 1080p handset is equipped to work on its 4G LTE network when the roll-out begins for Vodafone customers sometime later in the year, following the Ofcom spectrum auction.
Vodafone is offering the impressive handset for free on a ?42 a month, 24 month contract, with unlimited texts, minutes and 2GB of mobile data.
Contracts further down the trough offer ?29, ?33 and ?37 a month contracts over two years, but users will have to pay ?149, ?99 and ?49 (respectively) as a one-off fee for the Android Jelly Bean 4.1 handset.
Free headphones
As an added bonus, the first 1,000 customers to order before the February 28 - the expected, but unconfirmed launch date - will get a free pair of Sony MDR-1R headphones.
The Sony Xperia Z was a big hit during its launch at CES and "impressed us hugely" during our hands-on review posted during the event.
With a 5-inch, full HD 1080p Bravia-infused screen, complete with the highest pixel density of any smartphone to date, it looks like Sony is onto a real winner.
Alongside the company's premium design ethic, there's plenty of power, top-notch imaging tech and the addition of waterproof and dustproof casing.
It's an early front-runner to challenge the very best smartphones of 2013. Check back for TechRadar's in-depth review of the device in the next few days.
Publicado: 12.02.2013| Autor: Manuel Bautista|Archivado en: Becas, premios y ofertas de trabajo / Scholarships, prizes and job offers|
Fully funded 3 year PhD Scholarship in Environmental Economic History
Applications are invited for a PhD scholarship funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund on the project entitled: ?Testing the validity and robustness of national wellbeing and sustainability measures?. The analysis will be primarily quantitative (mostly time series), but will involve the collection and collation of NZ historical and various country contemporary data.
The Marsden Fund is the most prestigious source of research funding in New Zealand. The scholarship covers three years of university tuition fees plus a NZ$25,000 p.a. tax-free stipend for three years. The PhD research will consider aspects of the funded research and support the Investigators as required. The PhD student will be formally enrolled at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand (although they would be expected to spend time in Wellington and may be based there, subject to satisfying enrolment rules and regulations) and will be part of the 2013 enrolled cohort within the Department of Economics.
Applicants should have a background and a tertiary qualification from a recognised institution (Honours and/or Masters level) in Economics or Economic History, or a related subject. It is expected that the applicant would have experience in and a willingness to undertake, quantitative analysis using large databases; experience with STATA, EViews or similar software and data collection/collation from primary (often archival) sources.
The PhD research is scheduled to commence mid-2013 and will run for a three year period. Later start dates will be considered. Applicants who are neither New Zealand nor Australian Citizens or Residents will need to obtain a New Zealand Student Visa.
The PhD student will work closely with Principal Investigators (and PhD Supervisors) Professor Les Oxley (Department of Economics, University of Waikato NZ); Dr Arthur Grimes (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Wellington, and University of Auckland) and Associate Investigators Professor Robert MacCulloch (Department of Economics, University of Auckland) and Dr Jamie Ataria (Lincoln University).
Information regarding applications can be requested from Professor Les Oxley (loxley @ waikato.ac.nz) or Dr Arthur Grimes (arthur.grimes @ motu.org.nz).
Institutional www pages:
University of Waikato: http://www.waikato.ac.nz Motu Economic and Public Policy Research: http://www.motu.org.nz University of Auckland: http://www.auckland.ac.nz
This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Seeking leads in a massive manhunt, Los Angeles authorities on Sunday put up a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department)
This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Seeking leads in a massive manhunt, Los Angeles authorities on Sunday put up a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department)
LAPD spokesman Lt. Andrew Newman talks to reporters at a news conference in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. Police are now investigating more than 1,000 tips from the public in the search for Christopher Dorner, suspected of a deadly revenge plot against the Los Angeles Police Department. Neiman said the number of tips has grown from an initial 250 since the city offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Dorner. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Los Angeles police Lt. Andrew Neiman, left, takes questions from the media at news conference about conviction of former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, outside the LAPD headquarters downtown Los Angeles Monday, Feb 11, 2013. Dorner was charged Monday with murdering a police officer and attempting to murder three others in Riverside County. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Los Angeles police Lt. Andrew Neiman, left, takes questions from the media at news conference about conviction of former police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, outside the LAPD headquarters downtown Los Angeles Monday, Feb 11, 2013. Dorner was charged Monday with murdering a police officer and attempting to murder three others in Riverside County. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A prosecutor who filed a murder charge against a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer that could result in the death penalty said he believes the man hasn't finished carrying out his vendetta.
"Just read his manifesto and look at his actions," Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said. "He's trying to send a message, and it would be my belief that his message is not completed yet."
Zellerbach filed charges Monday against Christopher Dorner for the murder of Riverside police Officer Michael Crain and the attempted murder of three other officers.
The manhunt for Dorner, 33, began last Wednesday when he was named the suspect in the Orange County killings of a former Los Angeles police captain's daughter and her fiance the previous weekend. Hours after police announced they were looking for him, Dorner allegedly fired at two LAPD officers then ambushed the Riverside officers.
"By both his words and conduct, he has made very clear to us that every law enforcement officer in Southern California is in danger of being shot and killed," Zellerbach said at a news conference guarded by four officers armed with rifles.
Police said Dorner wrote a lengthy manifesto that was posted to Facebook after the double killing. The manifesto vowed deadly revenge on those in the LAPD responsible for his firing years earlier, and their families. Police now are providing protection for some 50 families thought to be targets.
The search for Dorner remained focused in the mountains near Big Bear Lake about 80 miles east of Los Angeles after his burned-out truck was found there last Thursday. Authorities are searching more than 30 square miles day and night in the ski resort area and checking on roughly 600 cabins.
Police urged area residents with security cameras to review images to see if Dorner was recorded.
Police and other officials believe a $1 million reward, raised from public and private sources, will encourage residents to stay vigilant. More than 1,000 tips had come in since the reward was announced, Lt. Andrew Neiman, an LAPD spokesman, said Tuesday.
"Now it's like the game show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire,'" said Anthony Burke, supervisory inspector for the U.S. Marshals regional fugitive taskforce. "Instead of one contestant, we've got 100,000, and there's only one question you have to answer. All they have to answer is where he's at, and we can take it from there."
Neiman also said investigators obtained new security video from a Sport Chalet sporting goods store in suburban Torrance but had not determined whether it shows Dorner. The video posted earlier on TMZ.com recorded a man resembling Dorner arrive with two small scuba tanks then leave with both those tanks and a larger one.
The wide-ranging search has created unusually heavy traffic backups at California border crossings into Mexico, as agents more closely inspect each car. State police in Mexico's Baja California were given photographs of Dorner and warned to consider him armed and extremely dangerous.
A U.S. Marshals Service affidavit used to obtain a federal arrest warrant on Feb. 7 cited probable cause to believe Dorner went to Mexico, but Neiman said Tuesday that it "in no way indicates one way or the other" whether Dorner is in that country.
Authorities have obtained a no-bail arrest warrant, which allows Dorner to be apprehended anywhere, Zellerbach said.
Dorner was fired from the LAPD five years ago, when a department board determined that he falsely claimed another officer had kicked a suspect. Randal Quan represented him during the proceeding.
Quan's daughter, Monica, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, were found shot dead Feb. 3 in a car in the parking structure of their Irvine condominium. Last Wednesday, after discovery of the manifesto, Irvine police announced they were searching for Dorner.
Early Thursday in the Riverside County city of Corona, Dorner shot at two LAPD officers who had been dispatched to protect a possible target of Dorner, police said. One officer's head was grazed by a bullet; the other was unharmed.
Minutes later, Dorner used a rifle to ambush two Riverside officers, killing one and seriously wounding another, authorities said. The slain officer was identified as the 34-year-old Crain. The other officer's identity was not released to protect his family.
___
Flaccus reported from Riverside; Abdollah reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat contributed to this report from San Diego.
Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LATams
A few months ago, assistant women?s soccer coach Brittany Cameron was cheering for the Big Green from the sidelines as the team won its last seven games in a row, posting the second-best winning percentage in school history. Now, the roles have now reversed, as the women?s team cheers on Cameron when she joins the Sky Blue FC National Women?s Soccer professional team this spring in her fifth year of professional play.
In Thursday?s 2013 National Women?s Soccer League supplemental draft, Cameron was the first of four goalkeepers drafted and the thirteenth overall pick. Her new team, the Sky Blue FC, is one of eight teams in the newly formed National Women?s Soccer League and is based out of New Jersey.
?I?m doing something that I absolutely love,? Cameron said. ?What comes along with doing something you love is working hard and I?ve never stopped working.?
To train for her preseason, which will begin the second week March, Cameron has been working out on her own and playing with the Dartmouth men?s soccer team, training specifically with men?s goalkeeper trainer Emmett Rutkowski.
?I don?t accept mediocrity,? Cameron said. ?Even when I haven?t played in six months, it?s important to keep working and never accepting that you?re good enough.?
Cameron, a California native, has continued to grow and challenge herself throughout her soccer career. She was a team captain at Dublin High School in Dublin, Calif. and was named to the Contra Costa Times and the All-Diablo Foothill Athletic League first teams and was awarded league most valuable defensive player honors. Cameron continued her soccer career as a goalkeeper for the University of San Diego, where she posted nine shutouts during her senior year and earned the West Coast Conference Defender of the Year.
In 2009, she was drafted by the Los Angeles Sol as the 52nd overall pick. After leaving the Sol, Cameron played for two other American professional soccer clubs, the FC Gold Pride and the Western New York Flash.
Cameron joined the Big Green as an assistant coach last fall and plans to return in August once the Sky Blue season ends. Under her coaching, the Big Green accrued an overall record of 13-4 and a league record of 6-1, finishing second in the Ivy League.
?She brings a lot of energy and is a great person to have around the team,? women?s head coach Theresa Romagnolo said. ?She?s also a great motivator and brings a high level of experience to the team.?
Cameron devoted much of her time this season to coaching goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders ?15. They worked together to set season-specific goals, such as allowing less than one goal per game and being named to the All-Ivy team.
?In our end of the year meeting, we were talking about it and we achieved all of those goals,? Saunders said. ?There was not one specific thing we worked on, but just me becoming a better goalkeeper and reaching these goals and becoming a better leader on the team.?
With the help of Cameron, Saunders was named to the All-Ivy first team and the NCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region second team.
Romagnolo said she hopes Cameron?s professional career will help attract recruits to Dartmouth.
?To be able to tell recruits that one of our coaches is playing in a professional league, something that a lot of these young players are aspiring to do, will be really great for our program,? Romagnolo said.
Saunders agreed that the Big Green will benefit from having Cameron continue to play and develop her skills.
?Her playing at such a high level means she will continue to grow as a goalkeeper and she?s going to be able to bring that knowledge back next fall, and hopefully help me and the other goalkeeper develop even more,? Cameron said.
As a coach for the Big Green this season, Cameron said she has learned much from the Big Green women.
?I?ve seen what it?s like to be a good all-around person both on and off the field,? Cameron said. ?The kids here are so smart and so willing to learn and I?ve learned from them just as much as they?ve hopefully learned from me.?
Southwest regional warming likely cause of pinyon pine cone decline, says CU study Public release date: 12-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Miranda Richmond Mirandaredmond@gmail.com 415-300-6901 University of Colorado at Boulder
Creeping climate change in the Southwest appears to be having a negative effect on pinyon pine reproduction, a finding with implications for wildlife species sharing the same woodland ecosystems, says a University of Colorado Boulder-led study.
The new study showed that pinyon pine seed cone production declined by an average of about 40 percent at nine study sites in New Mexico and northwestern Oklahoma over the past four decades, said CU-Boulder doctoral student Miranda Redmond, who led the study. The biggest declines in pinyon pine seed cone reproduction were at the higher elevation research sites experiencing more dramatic warming relative to lower elevations, said Redmond of CU's ecology and evolutionary biology department.
"We are finding significant declines in pinyon pine cone production at many of our study sites," said Redmond. "The biggest declines in cone production we measured were in areas with greater increases in temperatures over the past several decades during the March to October growing season."
Temperature and precipitation were recorded at official long-term weather stations located near each of the nine sites. Overall, average temperatures in the study areas have increased by about 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the past four decades, she said.
A paper on the subject by Redmond, Assistant Professor Nichole Barger of CU-Boulder and Frank Forcella of the United States Department of Agriculture in Morris, Minn., appeared in a recent issue of the journal Ecosphere, published by the Ecological Society of America. The new study was funded primarily by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Redmond.
The cones in which the pinyon seeds are produced are initiated two years prior to seed maturity, and research suggests the environmental stimulus for cone initiation is unseasonably low temperatures during the late summer, said Redmond. Between 1969 and 2009, unseasonably low temperatures in late summer decreased in the study areas, likely inhibiting cone initiation and development.
The study is one of the first to examine the impact of climate change on tree species like pinyon pines that, instead of reproducing annually, shed vast quantities of cones every few years during synchronous, episodic occurrences known as "masting" events. Redmond said such masting in the pinyon pine appears to occur every three to seven years, resulting in massive "bumper crops" of cones covering the ground.
In the new Ecosphere study, the researchers compared two 10-year sequences of time. In addition to showing that total pinyon pine cone production during the 2003-2012 decade had declined from the 1969-1978 decade in the study areas, the team found the production of cones during masting events also declined during that period.
Some scientists believe masting events evolved to produce a big surplus of nut-carrying cones -- far too many for wildlife species to consume in a season -- making it more likely the nuts eventually will sprout into pinyon pine seedlings, she said. Others have suggested masting events occur during favorable climate conditions and/or to increase pollination efficiency. "Right now we really don't know what drives them," Redmond said.
"Across a range of forested ecosystems we are observing widespread mortality events due to stressors such as changing climate, drought, insects and fire," said CU's Barger. "This study provides evidence that increasing air temperatures may be influencing the ability of a common and iconic western U.S. tree, pinyon pine, to reproduce. We would predict that declines in pinyon pine cone production may impact the long-term viability of these tree populations."
Wildlife biologists say pinyon-juniper woodlands are popular with scores of bird and mammal species ranging from black-chinned hummingbirds to black bears. A 2007 study by researchers at the University of Northern Arizona estimated that 150 Clark's Nutcrackers cached roughly 5 million pinyon pine nuts in a single season, benefiting not only the birds themselves but also the pines whose nuts were distributed more widely for possible germination.
For the new study, Redmond revisited nine pinyon pine study sites scattered throughout New Mexico and Oklahoma that had been studied previously in 1978 by Forcella. Both Forcella and Redmond were able to document pinyon pine masting years by counting small, concave blemishes known as "abscission scars" on individual tree branches that appeared after the cones have been dropped, she said.
Since each year in the life of a pinyon pine tree is marked by a "whorl" -- a single circle of branches extending around a tree trunk -- the researchers were able to bracket pinyon pine reproductive activity in the nine study areas for the 1969-1978 decade and 2003-2012 decade, which were then compared.
Pinyon pines take three growing seasons, or about 26 months, to produce mature cones from the time of cone initiation. Low elevation conifers including pinyon pines grow in water-limited environments and have been shown to have higher cone output during cool and/or wet summers, said Redmond. In addition to the climate-warming trend under way in the Southwest, the 2002-03 drought caused significant mortality in pinyon pine forests, Redmond said.
"Miranda's ideas and accompanying results will be of value to ecologists and land managers in the deserts of the Southwest and beyond," said Forcella, now a research agronomist in the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. "The work is evidence that the University of Colorado continues to cultivate a cadre of high-caliber graduate students for which it rightfully can take tremendous pride."
Pinyon nuts, the Southwest's only commercial source of edible pine seeds today, were dietary staples of indigenous Americans going back millennia.
###
Contact:
Miranda Redmond, 415-300-6901
Mirandaredmond@gmail.com
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations, 720-381-9479
Jim.Scott@colorado.edu
For more information on CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department visit http://ebio.colorado.edu.
-CU-
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Southwest regional warming likely cause of pinyon pine cone decline, says CU study Public release date: 12-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Miranda Richmond Mirandaredmond@gmail.com 415-300-6901 University of Colorado at Boulder
Creeping climate change in the Southwest appears to be having a negative effect on pinyon pine reproduction, a finding with implications for wildlife species sharing the same woodland ecosystems, says a University of Colorado Boulder-led study.
The new study showed that pinyon pine seed cone production declined by an average of about 40 percent at nine study sites in New Mexico and northwestern Oklahoma over the past four decades, said CU-Boulder doctoral student Miranda Redmond, who led the study. The biggest declines in pinyon pine seed cone reproduction were at the higher elevation research sites experiencing more dramatic warming relative to lower elevations, said Redmond of CU's ecology and evolutionary biology department.
"We are finding significant declines in pinyon pine cone production at many of our study sites," said Redmond. "The biggest declines in cone production we measured were in areas with greater increases in temperatures over the past several decades during the March to October growing season."
Temperature and precipitation were recorded at official long-term weather stations located near each of the nine sites. Overall, average temperatures in the study areas have increased by about 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the past four decades, she said.
A paper on the subject by Redmond, Assistant Professor Nichole Barger of CU-Boulder and Frank Forcella of the United States Department of Agriculture in Morris, Minn., appeared in a recent issue of the journal Ecosphere, published by the Ecological Society of America. The new study was funded primarily by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Redmond.
The cones in which the pinyon seeds are produced are initiated two years prior to seed maturity, and research suggests the environmental stimulus for cone initiation is unseasonably low temperatures during the late summer, said Redmond. Between 1969 and 2009, unseasonably low temperatures in late summer decreased in the study areas, likely inhibiting cone initiation and development.
The study is one of the first to examine the impact of climate change on tree species like pinyon pines that, instead of reproducing annually, shed vast quantities of cones every few years during synchronous, episodic occurrences known as "masting" events. Redmond said such masting in the pinyon pine appears to occur every three to seven years, resulting in massive "bumper crops" of cones covering the ground.
In the new Ecosphere study, the researchers compared two 10-year sequences of time. In addition to showing that total pinyon pine cone production during the 2003-2012 decade had declined from the 1969-1978 decade in the study areas, the team found the production of cones during masting events also declined during that period.
Some scientists believe masting events evolved to produce a big surplus of nut-carrying cones -- far too many for wildlife species to consume in a season -- making it more likely the nuts eventually will sprout into pinyon pine seedlings, she said. Others have suggested masting events occur during favorable climate conditions and/or to increase pollination efficiency. "Right now we really don't know what drives them," Redmond said.
"Across a range of forested ecosystems we are observing widespread mortality events due to stressors such as changing climate, drought, insects and fire," said CU's Barger. "This study provides evidence that increasing air temperatures may be influencing the ability of a common and iconic western U.S. tree, pinyon pine, to reproduce. We would predict that declines in pinyon pine cone production may impact the long-term viability of these tree populations."
Wildlife biologists say pinyon-juniper woodlands are popular with scores of bird and mammal species ranging from black-chinned hummingbirds to black bears. A 2007 study by researchers at the University of Northern Arizona estimated that 150 Clark's Nutcrackers cached roughly 5 million pinyon pine nuts in a single season, benefiting not only the birds themselves but also the pines whose nuts were distributed more widely for possible germination.
For the new study, Redmond revisited nine pinyon pine study sites scattered throughout New Mexico and Oklahoma that had been studied previously in 1978 by Forcella. Both Forcella and Redmond were able to document pinyon pine masting years by counting small, concave blemishes known as "abscission scars" on individual tree branches that appeared after the cones have been dropped, she said.
Since each year in the life of a pinyon pine tree is marked by a "whorl" -- a single circle of branches extending around a tree trunk -- the researchers were able to bracket pinyon pine reproductive activity in the nine study areas for the 1969-1978 decade and 2003-2012 decade, which were then compared.
Pinyon pines take three growing seasons, or about 26 months, to produce mature cones from the time of cone initiation. Low elevation conifers including pinyon pines grow in water-limited environments and have been shown to have higher cone output during cool and/or wet summers, said Redmond. In addition to the climate-warming trend under way in the Southwest, the 2002-03 drought caused significant mortality in pinyon pine forests, Redmond said.
"Miranda's ideas and accompanying results will be of value to ecologists and land managers in the deserts of the Southwest and beyond," said Forcella, now a research agronomist in the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. "The work is evidence that the University of Colorado continues to cultivate a cadre of high-caliber graduate students for which it rightfully can take tremendous pride."
Pinyon nuts, the Southwest's only commercial source of edible pine seeds today, were dietary staples of indigenous Americans going back millennia.
###
Contact:
Miranda Redmond, 415-300-6901
Mirandaredmond@gmail.com
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations, 720-381-9479
Jim.Scott@colorado.edu
For more information on CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department visit http://ebio.colorado.edu.
-CU-
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The Galaxy Note 8.0 -- the newest device in Samsung?s many-sized range of tablets, unveiled today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona -- has just managed to trump Apple?s iPad Mini in the small tablet category with one-tenth of an inch more of screen space (more on the device in our hands-on). At the same time, Samsung is also introducing a few new services and features -- including expanded hovering capabilities and more apps, which it hopes will also help it gain more consumer ground against the world?s biggest tablet maker. The extra features show that Samsung sees improved services and content this as key to improving its market share in the tablet space.
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Public release date: 12-Feb-2013
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