The Scout Report - June 29, 2001

June 29, 2001

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators. However, everyone is welcome to subscribe to one of the mailing lists (plain text or HTML). Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.


In This Issue:

Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

In The News


Research and Education

UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS [MS Word, RealPlayer]
http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/
Conference Site [MS Word, .pdf]
http://www.un.org/ga/aids/conference.html
Earlier this week, the United Nation's General Assembly held a special session on AIDS, the first devoted to a public health issue. While the session featured over 70 speeches, its primary purpose was to raise money for a global fund which would supply $7 billion to $10 billion annually to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases. At the official site of the special session, visitors will find daily calendars of events, documents, press releases, archived Webcasts, official statements, and multimedia offerings. The conference site offers background information, a bulletin, documents, and other information. [MD]
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"A Call to Action: Reconnecting College Sports and Higher Education" [.pdf]
http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp?story=news_at_knight/special_reports/special_report.html#
Press Release
http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp?story=news_at_knight/releases/split_files/06_26_01.html
On June 26, the Knight Foundation's Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics issued a report that calls for a number of sweeping reforms in collegiate athletics. Among other things, the report calls on college presidents to form a new coalition to reassert control of college sport and recommends banning corporate logos on school uniforms, barring teams that do not graduate at least 50 percent of their players from conference championships and postseason play, and banning legal gambling on collegiate athletics. The full text of the report and the accompanying press release may be read at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Website. [MD]
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The Pentagon Papers: Secrets, Lies, and Audiotapes -- NSA [RealPlayer, .pdf]
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB48/
This new electronic briefing book by the National Security Archive offers, for the first time together, an amazing collection of material related to the Pentagon Papers, "arguably the most important Supreme Court case ever on freedom of the press." These include audio and transcripts of Nixon's first recorded conversations on June 13, 14, and 15 after publication of the Pentagon Papers began; the Supreme Court's decision(s) from June 30, 1971; briefs for the government, the New York Times, and the Washington Post; and audio and transcripts of the oral arguments. In addition, the briefing book also offers short excerpts from the memoirs of Nixon, Kissinger, and Haldeman. This is a terrific resource, useful to researchers, teachers, and students. [MD]
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Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN)
http://www.eren.doe.gov/
Provided by the US Department of Energy (DOE), this site serves as a gateway to energy efficiency and renewable energy information. With over 600 links and access to 80,000 documents, the site is fairly comprehensive. The bulk of the content is accessed via the Technologies section, which is browseable by topic. each topic page offers links to related sites and numerous subtopic pages, which in turn link to numerous full-text articles located off-site. Also included on the main page are more links, some specialized resources (Ask an Expert, Financing, News, etc.), and information on DOE public meetings and renewable energy programs. [MD]
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Two New Charter School Reports from the Department of Education
Challenge and Opportunity: The Impact of Charter Schools on Districts [.pdf, MS Word]
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/chartimpact/
A Study of Charter School Accountability [.pdf, MS Word]
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/chartacct/
The US Department of Education recently released two reports which find that charter schools "are helping public schools and districts to improve." The first report is the largest review to date of the impact of charter schools on school systems and is based on interviews and visits to 49 school districts in five states. It finds that districts are changing their services and operations in response to the creation of charter schools, suggesting that competition can play a positive role in improving all schools. The second report is the "first extensive, nationwide study of charter school accountability," based on a two-year study of 150 charter schools. In brief, it finds that external accountability promotes internal accountability and better working relationships and coordination between staff and students. Readers may download both reports from the Department of Education site. [MD]
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US Intelligence and the Polish Crisis 1980-1981
http://www.odci.gov/csi/books/poland/index.htm
The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Center for the Study of Intelligence (CSI) has recently placed online the full text of US Intelligence and the Polish Crisis 1980-1981. Written by former Deputy Director of Intelligence Douglas J. MacEachin, this book tells the story of the 1980-81 Polish invasion crisis. The study details the actual events on the ground and assesses the reaction of US policymakers and intelligence analysts. The book may be read by chapter in HTML format at the CSI site. [MD]
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New Additions to ERIC Digests Database
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/2001-6-19.html
ERIC Digests Index Page
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/
The latest update to the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Digest database (last described in the February 16, 2001 Scout Report) features 85 full-text, short reports aimed at education professionals and the broader education community. Each report includes an overview of an education topic of current interest and offers references for further information. Sample titles include "Ethics and Regulations of Cybercounseling," "Graduate Student Unionization in Higher Education," "What Elementary Teachers Need To Know about Language," and "Out-of-Field Teaching." Users can search the entire ERIC Digests database from the index page. ERIC, part of the National Library of Education (NLE), is a nationwide education information system sponsored by the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). [MD]
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Museum Professionals Mailing List
http://hclist.de/museum/index1.html
This new bilingual (German and English), moderated mailing list is designed for professionals in "museums, universities and other academic institutions, as well as ... students of the arts, cultural sciences, museology and history." The list will focus primarily on questions related to museums, especially museums and the Internet, but it is also intended to be interdisciplinary and will include archaeological, historical, cultural, and artistic information. Users may read archived messages and join the list at the above URL. [MD]
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General Interest

Labor Arts
http://www.laborarts.org/
Jointly sponsored by the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, Bread and Roses, and the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, Labor Arts features a wonderful collection of art devoted to labor issues and particularly the trade union movement. The site opens with a splash page that calls into question definitions of art, suggesting that "we eliminate the word 'art' and replace it with 'work.'" And true to that intention, Labor Arts showcases a range of materials from photographs and paintings to pamphlets, pins, banners, and assorted ephemera. The site is divided into several sections, with Collections holding the bulk of the material. Users can browse via categories such as Parades and Demonstrations or Buttons, Badges, and Ribbons or search with a large number of limiting parameters, such as state, occupation/industry, ethnicity, item type, and so on. The Exhibits section currently features three exhibits -- a Labor Arts Sampler, which displays the type of material the site hopes to collect; Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, representations of the "culture of solidarity" in 20th-century New York City; and Images of Labor, works from contemporary artists showing the relationship of working people to American History. The collection at Labor Arts is small, but the site is new and still soliciting material. In the future, visitors can look forward to a moderated forum, which is currently under construction. A select list of resources rounds out the site. [TK]
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African & Asian Visual Artists Archive
http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/search.html
Close to 2,000 images of the work of twelve contemporary Asian and African artists working in the UK, selected from the African & Asian Visual Artists Archive (AAVAA), is the latest addition to VADS, the UK's Visual Arts Data Service. AAVAA, founded in 1989, which has an impressive collection that includes over 6,000 slides, publications, and videos by and about artists; biographical files; and other archival material, is open to the public only on Wednesdays, so the increased access provided by VADS is very welcome. AAVAA at VADS can be cross-searched along with other VADS collections. To browse larger portions of the AAVAA collection, search on artists' names such as Shanti Thomas, Keith Piper, or David A. Bailey, or enter the phrase "african and asian" to retrieve almost all of the images in the collection. [DS]
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Research Matters at Harvard University
http://www.researchmatters.harvard.edu/
Aimed at non-specialists, this site offers insight and news on the latest discoveries and advances by Harvard researchers. The site is divided into six sections, covering broad categories: Mind, Body, Society, Earth, Space, and Technology. Each contains several short abstracts which link to the full story in the Harvard University Gazette, as well as some related links. The site may also be keyword-searched and browsed by research topic, program, and researcher. [MD]
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Written in Stone: Inscriptions from the National Museum of Saudi Arabia
http://www.mnh.si.edu/epigraphy/
Hosted by the National Museum of Natural History, this exhibit highlights some ancient stone inscriptions from the collection of the National Museum of Saudi Arabia. The site features 54 museum objects that bear examples of ancient epigraphy, a small sample from the museum's 9,000 cataloged epigraphic objects. These are organized in two chronological sections: pre-Islamic and Islamic. The objects are presented as thumbnails which link to larger images as well as transcriptions and translations. [MD]
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Corante
http://www.corante.com/
This technology Weblog should prove useful to both professionals and interested users. Updated daily, the site provides abstracts and links to the full text of tech news articles. These are organized in eight sections, including E-Business, Personal Technology, Law & Policy, and Biotechnology. Each subject section includes the abstracts and links, related Websites, and recommended reading. Users may also subscribe to receive Corante daily via email. [MD]
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Local Wine Events.com
http://www.localwineevents.com/
Created and maintained by Eric Orange and Tory Hurst, this site is a good resource for wine enthusiasts. The site allows restaurants, vineyards, wine retailers, and others to post information about tastings and dinners. Interested visitors may browse these listings by location and also register to be notified of new events in their area. Listings include date, event name, time, location, phone, cost, and a brief description. A link to more information is provided when available. [MD]
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Bawarchi - Your Indian Cook
http://www.bawarchi.com/
Here's a handy and fun site for anyone who enjoys Indian cuisine and cooking. Among the site's many offerings are daily dishes (with a large archive of over 1,000 recipes), hints and tips, articles on health and nutrition, non-veggie recipes, reader contributions, a glossary, and a special section devoted to the various festivals of India. [MD]
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Network Tools

Google Image Search
http://images.google.com
Google has unveiled a Beta version of its new image search engine, which claims to be the most comprehensive on the Web, indexing over 150 million images. Keyword searches produce return pages with 20 thumbnails, each of which includes image size information and the URL of the source page. Clicking on a thumbnail produces a framed page with a larger image of the thumbnail above the full page on which the image was found. Users can turn off the frame using a button on the top right. All of the advanced search commands are available with image search, and users can also limit their search to a specific file format. There is an adult content filter option (default is on), but Google warns users that some adult content may potentially slip through. [MD]
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PC Expo 2001 -- CNET [RealPlayer, Windows Media Player]
http://www.cnet.com/techtrends/0-6004029.html?tag=ld
PC Expo 2001 wrapped up yesterday, and CNET offers a recap and its best of show awards at this site. Best of show categories include personal technology, emerging technology, enterprise product, business solution, and best overall. Each listing contains a brief description and a video segment. Also at the site are numerous short articles on various products and trends at the expo. [MD]
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In The News

Milosevic to Stand Trial at The Hague
The Fall of Milosevic
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/europe/2000/yugoslav_elections/default.stm
"Yugoslavia War Crimes" -- Guardian
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/yugo/0,2759,181286,00.html
"Milosevic Is Given to UN for Trial in War-Crime Case" -- New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/29/world/29HAGU.html
"Serb Leaders Hand Over Milosevic for Trial by War Crimes Tribunal" -- Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59234-2001Jun28.html
"Milosevic move prompts aid pledges" -- CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/06/29/milosevic.aid/index.html
"Milosevic is flown to justice" -- Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,649-2001222513,00.html
"Hope and fear in the Balkans" -- Economist
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=681460
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
http://www.un.org/icty/
"Milosevic extradited to The Hague" -- Serbian Information Ministry
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2001-06/28/24187.html
B92
http://www.b92.net/
Free Serbia
http://128.121.251.38/e-index.html
Tiker News Agency
http://www.tiker.co.yu/index1.htm
In an extraordinary and rapid turn of events, former Yugolosav President Slobodan Milosevic has been extradited to the Netherlands, where he will be tried by the UN War Crimes Tribunal, sitting in The Hague. Milosevic was ordered to make his first court appearance next Tuesday. The first head of state to be tried by the Tribunal, the former Yugoslav President will be charged with crimes against humanity for his actions in the decade-long ethnic conflict in the Balkans. The extradition of Milosevic was far from certain until almost the last moment. While the ex-president's power base in Serbia has rapidly dissolved, he still maintains the firm support of some sections of the population. After an extradition bill failed in parliament, the government simply enacted a decree authorizing extradition. Serbia's Constitutional Court then ruled this decree unconstitutional, but the government ignored the court, and at 7:05 pm last evening, Milosevic was taken by helicopter to an American army base in Bosnia. From there he traveled by British plane to the Netherlands. In addition to changing public opinion within Serbia, which has moved decisively against Milosevic especially since the recent discovery of several mass graves within Serbia, the handover was also the result of strong pressure of potential foreign aid donors, foremost among them the United States. Meeting today at a conference in Brussels, donors such as the European Union, World Bank, and the US have responded generously to Yugoslavia's request for $1.25 billion in aid as a reward for their cooperation with the Tribunal.

As always, the best place to begin for more information on international news is the BBC. Their special section on Milosevic includes breaking news, background, analysis, related links, photos, and an interactive guide. Another excellent in-depth feature on Yugoslavia war crimes and Milosevic is available from the Guardian. Additional reports are available from the New York Times,Washington Post, CNN, the Times, and the Economist. The official site of the Tribunal offers a press release and background information. An official press release from the Serbian government is posted at the Information Ministry site. Further news and commentary from the region can be found at B92, Free Serbia, and Tiker News agency. [MD]
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Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2001. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.

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