NewsScan Daily, 9 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")

NewsScan Daily, 9 July 2004 ("Above The Fold")
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"ABOVE THE FOLD"
        FCC Orders Nextel to Pay $3.2 Billion for Airwaves
        Congressional Reps. Back Telework Opportunities
        Americans Flock to Graphic War Images Online
        Energy Department Touts Science Careers
        China Backs Down on Chip Dispute
        Pitch Your Tent and Power Up

FEATURES
        Flash Card
        Honorary Subscriber: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

FCC ORDERS NEXTEL TO PAY $3.2 BILLION FOR AIRWAVES
      The Federal Communications Commission has ordered Nextel to pay at 
least $3.2 billion and give up its current portion of radio spectrum in 
order to receive other, more valuable spectrum. Nextel will also have to 
pay for moving communications systems for thousands of police, fire and 
other emergency workers to new frequencies. Commenting on the arrangement, 
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell said: "An enormous amount of time and 
commitment has been spent on valuations, the nickel-and-diming of what 
things are worth. But you cannot put a dollar value on the life of the men 
and women who wear the shield." (Washington Post 8 Jul 2004)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37692-2004Jul8.html

CONGRESSIONAL REPS. BACK TELEWORK OPPORTUNITIES
      U.S. congressional representatives from both parties have introduced 
several pieces of legislation aimed at encouraging businesses and federal 
agencies to implement telecommuting opportunities for workers. Rep. Frank 
Wolf (R-Va.) has attached an amendment to an Appropriations Subcommittee on 
Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary bill that would deny funding to 
federal agencies that don't allow telework, and Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) says 
he'd like to craft similar language that would apply to all government 
agencies. That move has raised objections from Office of Personnel 
Management Director Kay Coles James, who says that agencies must have the 
flexibility to determine eligibility on a case by case basis. Meanwhile, 
Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) plans to introduce legislation that would create 
a demonstration project to evaluate teleworking's effectiveness under fixed 
conditions. He says he's primarily focused on the continuity of operation 
aspect, but that the favorable economic impact that would result from 
reduced traffic, gasoline consumption, building leasing and other resources 
should also be taken into consideration. (Federal Computer Worker 9 Jul 2004)
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0705/web-telework-07-08-04.asp

AMERICANS FLOCK TO GRAPHIC WAR IMAGES ONLINE
      About one in four American Internet users sought out graphic war 
images that were deemed too gruesome to display in conventional media such 
as newspapers and television, according to new research by the Pew Internet 
Project. The results were drawn from a telephone survey conducted between 
May 14 and June 17 -- a period that encompassed such disturbing events as 
the murder and dismemberment of American contract workers in Fallujah, the 
exposure of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, and the capture and beheading of 
U.S. civilian Nicholas Berg. Survey respondents reported mixed feelings 
after viewing the images -- 51% said they felt they'd made a good decision 
to access the images, but a third said they wished they hadn't seen them. 
"Millions of Internet users want to be able to view the graphic war images 
and they see the Internet as an alternative source of news and information 
from traditional media. But many who do venture outside the traditional and 
familiar standards of the mainstream news organizations to look at the 
images online end up feeling very uncomfortable," says report co-author 
Deborah Fallows. Women in particular seemed more troubled over the entire 
issue of graphic online images, while younger adult Internet users tended 
to approve their availability. (Pew Internet Project News Release 8 Jul 2004)
http://www.pewinternet.org

ENERGY DEPARTMENT TOUTS SCIENCE CAREERS
      The Department of Energy has launched a campaign to increase the 
number of American students interested in pursuing careers in science and 
engineering. The program will award scholarships at national labs for math 
and science teachers, and will require Energy Department's Los Alamos, 
Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories to host a total of 
2,000 fifth and eighth graders for at least one day a year. Announcing the 
new initiative, Secretary of Energy Spenser Abrams said, "The risks of a 
scientifically illiterate nation in the 21st century are too great for 
business as usual. Right now it appears that despite our grand national lab 
structure, despite the lasers, accelerators, electron microscopes, 
experimental fusion reactors and billions of dollars in research funds, we 
could fail to maximize our potential... Young people are inspired to take 
up things like sports, music and acting. I believe it's time we start 
putting our science leaders on the same footing as other celebrities." He 
warned: "It is a simple fact that work will migrate to the nation with the 
most skilled work force. Our national security depends on having access to 
a work force that has highly advanced technical skills." (AP/San Jose 
Mercury News 8 Jul 2004)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9112372.htm

CHINA BACKS DOWN ON CHIP DISPUTE
      China has agreed to end a tax break that the U.S. charged unfairly 
favored computer chips produced or designed in China. The settlement of 
high-profile dispute, which played out under the auspices of the World 
Trade Organization, could pave the way for better relations between the 
U.S. and China and may encourage China to refrain from using similar 
preferences to favor other industries. "The line had to be drawn here," 
says Frank Vargo, VP for international economic affairs for the National 
Association of Manufacturers. "If China had been allowed to continue this 
patently unfair treatment of imported semiconductors, it could well have 
sought to expand this practice to a growing range of manufacturing 
industries. This isn't just about semiconductors -- even as important as 
that industry is." Currently, China imports 80% of its chips because its 
domestic semiconductor industry is still small, although rapidly expanding. 
The repeal of the tax break will be especially helpful to smaller U.S. 
semiconductor companies, which compete against Chinese chipmakers to 
provide chips for consumer electronics and other lower-tech industries, 
says industry analyst David Wu. "It's not really going to help Intel, 
because they make parts that China would have to buy anyway." (Los Angeles 
Times 9 Jul 2004)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-chips9jul09,1,6795079.story?coll=la-headlines-technology

PITCH YOUR TENT AND POWER UP
      Iowa Thin Film Technologies has come up with a lightweight, durable 
fabric that incorporates a tissue-paper thin layer of specialized solar 
film, enabling it to double as a solar power generator. The fabric, which 
is suitable for making Army tents, can be used to run lighting or 
ventilation systems, field communications, GPS systems or laptop computers. 
Iowa Thin Film completed three tent prototypes for the Army last months and 
says the orders are already pouring in. But beyond the military 
applications, experts say the introduction of such lightweight, portable 
fabric to developing countries could have a far-reaching impact. 
"Application of these (solar) technologies in the long term is clearly more 
cost-effective than bringing power lines dozens and dozens of kilometers," 
says American Energy Society spokesman Brad Collins. (AP/USA Today 9 Jul 2004)
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2004-07-09-solarfabric_x.htm

*****

FLASH CARD
      "Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It 
is the symbol of his liberty - his excessive freedom. He accepts his 
boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with 
pleasure." (Aldous Huxley)

HONORARY SUBSCRIBER: VIJAYA LAKSHMI PANDIT
      Today's Honorary Subscriber is the Indian diplomat Vijaya Lakshmi 
Pandit (1900-90), who was one of India's most famous women, known worldwide 
for her work in government and for her interest in the women's movement.
      Pandit was the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime 
minister after the nation gained its independence from the British. During 
the years 1921 to 1947 she worked alongside her brother in the Indian 
independence movement, both of them suffering several jail terms under the 
British. At the close of World War II she was made chief of the Indian 
delegations to the UN. She was appointed ambassador to the Soviet Union in 
1947, and ambassador to the  United States in 1949. In 1953 she became the 
first woman president of the UN General Assembly. After that she served a 
long term (1954-61) as the Indian high commissioner in the United Kingdom, 
simultaneously holding  ambassadorships to Ireland and Spain. From 1962 to 
1964 she was governor of the Indian state of Maharashtra, after which she 
served in India's Parliament from 1964 to 1967, retiring from public life 
in 1968.
      Pandit was born in Allahabad, Western India, the daughter of Motilal 
Nehru, a wealthy and aristocratic nationalist leader. She was educated at 
private schools in India and abroad. In 1921 she married a fellow Congress 
party worker, Ranjit Sitaram Pandit. He died in 1944 and did not live to 
witness his wife's distinguished diplomatic career.
     After her retirement from the political scene, Pandit remained out of 
the public eye except for one occasion in 1977, when she felt compelled to 
come out in opposition to the Congress party which at the time was headed 
by her niece, Indira P. Gandhi, the daughter of her brother, Jawaharlal 
Nehru. In Pandit's view, her niece's political party had overly restricted 
freedom in India. In protest Pandit left the Congress Party and joined the 
opposition party, the Congress for  Democracy. This led to her being 
appointed a year later as the Indian representative to the UN Human Rights 
Commission. In 1979 Pandit published her personal memoir, "The Scope of 
Happiness."

[See 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/8172233981/newsscancom/ref=nosim 
for Pandit's memoir "The Scope of Happiness" -- or look for it in your 
favorite library. Note: We donate all revenue from our book recommendations 
to adult literacy programs.]

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