Construction Update

Construction is still in full swing at the high school. Now that the roof has been placed over the new science addition, most of the work here for the past week seems to have involved the installation of plumbing and electrical lines. It looks like they'll soon be ready to start putting up the interior and exterior walls...at that point the new science wing will really take shape.

This wing will consist of three new classrooms. One will be a traditional science classroom/lab that will allow the four science teachers in our building to each have their own space. The second room will be the new home of our Pathways Program (investigating technologies classes), and the third will be the eventual house the EDTEC biotechnology program.
The other two areas of construction are also progressing quickly. The footprint of the new EDTEC center is now apparent since crews poured the concrete foundation and floors of those buildings:And work is also well underway on the new auditorium:

"The Bel Aire Collapsed"

Thanks to Mr. Bova for passing along this surprisingly fascinating video and blog post from the New York Times:

It was no way to treat a senior citizen: sending a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air hurtling into a collision with a 2009 Malibu at 40 miles per hour. As the video produced by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows, the outcome wasn’t pretty, either. [...]

“The Bel Air collapsed,” said David Zuby, the senior vice president for the institute’s vehicle research center in Virginia. “The area in which the driver was sitting collapsed completely around him.”

The test was to mark the 50th anniversary of the I.I.H.S., a group funded by the insurance industry. The idea was to show how much automotive safety has progressed in five decades.

While some people still think that the big steel bodies and sturdy frames of old cars meant stronger vehicles and good crash protection, the institute’s crash test shows that that just isn’t the case, Mr. Zuby said. Sophisticated engineering and high-strength steel give modern vehicles a huge advantage. [...]

The institute rates vehicles as Good, Acceptable, Marginal or Poor. The group looks at how well the structure of the vehicle held up and the likelihood of injuries to the head, chest and legs. The Bel Air got a Poor rating in every category.

The 2009 Malibu got Good in every category but the one for the left leg and foot, which was rated Marginal.

And what does this mean to owners of 1959 Bel Airs? Mr. Zuby said driving in a parade was probably safe because the speeds were slow and it was a controlled environment.

“I wouldn’t recommend that anybody use an antique car like this for their daily driving around,” he said.

Another part of the post admits that the crash-test-dummy in the Bel Aire "flies around like Peter Pan." I'm not sure why I find this so fascinatin...

KU bus crashes into science building

Thanks to Mr. Peltzman for pointing out this little tidbit from our local newspaper:

The comments to the story are worth reading...especially Fooboy's: "Yet another senseless attack on science in Kansas"!

Ohio delays execution due to "vein troubles"

This from the Associated Press:

LUCASVILLE, Ohio — Gov. Ted Strickland ordered a weeklong reprieve for a condemned inmate Tuesday after the Ohio execution team had problems finding usable veins for the lethal injection even after the inmate tried to help.

Executioners were unable for more than two hours to find veins that would accept fluid from an IV without collapsing for 53-year-old Romell Broom, who was sentenced to die for the rape and slaying of a 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in 1984. At one point, Broom covered his face with both hands and appeared to be crying.

This news just broke this evening, so I haven't had the opportunity to study Broom's case. It sounds like he is guilty of a truly horrendous crime. But to have a man prepare for death, be escorted to the execution chamber and strapped to the table, and then to try to kill him for TWO HOURS only to lead him back to his cell and tell him "Sorry for the inconvenience...what do you say we try again in a week?" If this isn't cruel and unusual punishment, I don't know what is.

My thoughts and prayers tonight are with Broom and his family, as well as with the friends and family of Tryna Middleton. May they all find peace without vengence.

"Flipping" through the 'Net

I get most of my news and information from the internet. I love being able to quickly click through a diversity of pages from politics to news to sports to religion to science....you get the picture. But there's just something about setting down with a newspaper, magazine, or even a book and physically flipping through the pages. I miss that.* Once in awhile I would like to have back that physical relationship with the media I'm consuming.

And, as always, the Google Overlords** have heard my plight and are there for me. Googlelabs is testdriving a new feature called "Google Fast Flip". The idea is simple...use your mouse and cursor to "flip" through the front pages of popular websites, much like you would browse through the pages of a magazine. It's an uber-quick way to peruse top headlines and stories, and it's just a lot more fun than clicking buttons and embedded links. Try it. You'll like it.

*Full disclosure: I've been known to carry magazines around in my courier bag for weeks without ever reading them. I just like the feeling of knowing I can pull one out and leaf through it whenever I feel like it.

**Just to repeat what I've said here previously. I, for one, will welcome the rule of the Overlords when it comes.

(via, as is often the case, A. Sullivan)

This just isn't fair: