Face to Face: Stories from the Aftermath of Infamy [Macromedia Flash Reader]
http://www.itvs.org/facetoface/intro.html
In the wake of 9/11, many Muslims around the United States faced a backlash of resentment and anger. This groundswell of emotion was not without parallel, as Japanese and Japanese-Americans faced a similar reaction after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Independent Television Service has developed this Web site to bring a human face to the experiences of Muslims and Japanese people in the United States by collecting these powerful interviews from members of both groups. On the site, visitors can listen to stories from older Japanese-Americans talk about their experiences on the West Coast after Pearl Harbor, and the experiences of Muslims, both young and old. The interviews are divided into thematic sections, such as "Fear," "Internment," "Identity," and "Being American." At another section of the site, visitors can respond to the stories, and a glossary of terms is also provided as background material. Overall, this site serves as a fine educational tool, and for those looking for a number of perspectives on the experience of living in America. [KMG]
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Who is Leading our Schools?: An Overview of School Administrators and Their Careers [pdf]
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1679/
Over the past few years, there have been a number of concerns over whether or not school districts will be able to attract and retain enough qualified school administrators. This 258-page report, authored by Susan M. Gates, Jeanne S. Ringel, and Lucrecia Santibanez, takes a critical look at trends in the field, and also addresses several primary areas of concern for the future of attracting and retaining effective administrators. In the report, the authors find there is no immediate national crisis, but that there is a great deal of state and local variation in financial rewards along with significant barriers to entry into the field, and that a large percentage of current administrators are approaching retirement. Divided into seven substantial chapters (along with appendices and a bibliography), the report deals with movement within the school administrative career field, an overview of current school administrators, and mobility within the position of principal. For readers that may not have time to read the entire report, a six-page summary of findings is also provided. Thorough in its scope and directed in its focus, this report will be of great use to those in the field of educational administration and policy. [KMG]
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Explore Cornell: Beetle Science [Macromedia Flash Reader, QuickTime]
http://explore.cornell.edu/scene.cfm?scene=Beetle%20Science
As this Web site proclaims, "We live in the age of beetles," and given that one out of five species of all living things is a beetle, this seems like a fairly accurate claim. This engaging site, developed at Cornell University, highlights material related to bugs and beetles in an informative and well-designed fashion. Visitors will want to start by clicking on the "Species-Scape" illustration, which symbolically portrays the relative abundances of various life forms on earth. Clicking on each image (such as an elephant or an earthworm) will bring up a text box that gives a brief overview of the species. The "Virtual Beetles" section offers visitors the ability to manipulate three different beetles, including the Japanese rhinoceros beetle. Finally, visitors also have the ability to explore the research laboratories of Professor Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist at Cornell. [KMG]
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Nation Master
http://www.nationmaster.com/
If you have ever wanted to look up any number of national statistics, the Nation Master Web site is an excellent resource for finding out any number of current details about just about any country in the world. Currently, Nation Master has 335 statistical data sets, ranging from library books, forested land, Internet users, and airports. For easy reference, the main Web page features the most frequently requested stats, such as televisions and military expenditures per capita. Nation Master also allows visitors the option of creating their own graphs in order to effectively compare different nations. The site also has links to national profiles, which include the available statistics for each country, and images of the country's flag and a political map. Additionally, the site has a search engine, and a place where visitors can read short facts on the different countries. Apart from being interesting to browse through, the site will be helpful for students looking for basic statistics on the world's different countries. [KMG]
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100 Years of Flight
http://www.time.com/time/2003/flight/
This overview of the past one-hundred years of flight was developed by the Time.com organization, and pays tribute to the men, women, and planes that have contributed to the technological innovation that has transformed transportation -- and, to a larger extent, how humans experience the world. Visitors will want to start by browsing the section devoted to telling the stories of the influential individuals involved in the enterprise of flight, such as Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, and William Boeing. Another section highlights twenty memorable moments in aviation, such as the first crossing of the English Channel and the arrival of Charles Lindbergh in Paris after making his way across the Atlantic. Interspersed amidst these sections are the many distinctive Time magazine covers that have served as tributes to the accomplishments of those flying pioneers, including the 1949 cover with Chuck Yeager. [KMG]
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Genome News Network
http://gnn.tigr.org/main.shtml
While there is a great deal of information about genes and genomes available in the mainstream media, it may be difficult for many to obtain more objective and scientifically-informed material about these complex subjects. To that end, the Genome News Network provides this bi-weekly publication that features stories about human medicine, microbes, biotechnology, and agriculture. Visitors who may be less familiar about genes and genomes will want to start with the "Quick Guide to Sequenced Genomes," or the basic overview provided in the "What's a Genome" area. The site also features news updates on topics ranging from the African-American Biobank, the first cloned mule, and how geneticists recognize cancer cells. Additionally, visitors can browse through the archives of the News Network (back to the year 2000), and elect to receive the bi-weekly report via email. [KMG]
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KiRo: The Table Soccer Robot [pdf, postscript, Windows Media Player]
http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~kiro/english/index.html
The RoboCup Competition was founded with the goal of creating a robot soccer team that can beat the human world champion team by 2050. While it still has a long way to go, progress has been made on another front: table soccer. More commonly known as foosball, the game now has a robotic system that can beat inexperienced players. The system is called KiRo. By "using a camera it perceives the playing field and, (depending) upon the current game situation, it decides how the rods under its control should be moved." KiRo's homepage has pictures and video of the system, as well as a research paper that was presented at the International RoboCup Symposium in 2002. This site is also reviewed in the June 6, 2003 NSDL MET Report. [CL]
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