Most Americans don't think it's OK to cheat on taxes.
By Allison Linn, TODAY
Americans may make plenty of jokes about cheating on their taxes, but a new survey finds that in reality most don?t think it?s OK to rob the tax man. Or at least, that?s what they?re telling the IRS Oversight Board.
The?2012 Taxpayer Attitude Survey, released Tuesday by the independent oversight board, finds that 87 percent of Americans don?t think it?s OK to cheat on your taxes. That?s a 3 percentage point increase from last year.
Only 11 percent think it?s OK to cheat, either a little or as much as possible.
Perhaps more surprising, 95 percent of Americans said their personal integrity influences them to report their taxes honestly, an 8 percentage point increase from five years earlier.
About 63 percent said they are influenced by fear of an audit, while 70 percent are motivated by third-party information that could show them to be a tax cheat.
The IRS Oversight Board, an independent body created by Congress in 1998 to oversee the Internal Revenue Service?s actions, completed its annual survey of 1,500 Americans last August and September. The survey has a 3.1 percent margin of error.
If they?re going to pay their taxes honestly, most Americans seem to think everyone else should, too.
The survey found that more than 90 percent of Americans think it?s important that the IRS ensures that low- and high-income taxpayers, small businesses and corporations honestly pay their taxes, too.
Those results appear to show that Americans have come to feel more strongly in recent years that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes, and the IRS should vigorously enforce tax laws.
The results come as many Americans are either getting ready to file their 2012 income tax returns, or already have done so.
They also follow a bruising battle in Washington over the so-called fiscal cliff, a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that were scheduled to take effect until Congress reached a last-minute deal.
The fiscal cliff agreement raised taxes for wealthy Americans earning $400,000 or more and allowed taxes on capital gains and dividends to go up. It also ended a payroll tax holiday, meaning that most Americans are seeing more of their paycheck going to the tax man for Social Security and other entitlements this year.
Third radiation belt discovered with UNH-led instrument suitePublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Sims david.sims@unh.edu 603-862-5369 University of New Hampshire
DURHAM, N.H. Although scientists involved in NASA's Van Allen Probes mission were confident they would eventually be able to rewrite the textbook on Earth's twin radiation belts, getting material for the new edition just two days after launch was surprising, momentous, and gratifying.
The Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission, subsequently renamed in honor of the belts' discoverer, astrophysicist James Van Allen, was launched in the pre-dawn hours of August 30, 2012. Shortly thereafter, and well ahead of schedule in normal operational protocol, mission scientists turned on the Relativistic Electron-Proton Telescope (REPT) to gather data in parallel with another, aging satellite that was poised to fall from orbit and reenter Earth's atmosphere. It was a fortuitous decision.
The telescope, which is part of the Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma (ECT) instrument suite led by the Space Science Center at the University of New Hampshire, immediately sent back data that at first confounded scientists but then provided a eureka moment: seen for the first time was a transient third radiation belt of high-energy particles formed in the wake of a powerful solar event that happened shortly after REPT began taking data.
"We watched in amazement as the outer radiation belt disappeared rapidly, but not completely; a small sliver of very energetic electrons remained at its inner edge, which we dubbed the 'storage ring,'" notes UNH astrophysicist Harlan Spence, principal investigator for the ECT suite and a co-author of a paper detailing the discovery published online today in the journal Science. "When the main outer electron belt reformed over subsequent days, it did so at a greater distance than where the storage ring was located, thus creating the transient, three-belt structure. The textbook was being rewritten right before our eyes."
Spence, director of the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, adds, "After decades of studying the radiation belts, this was a completely new phenomenon. With the Van Allen Probes' instruments we now have the 'eyes' capable of seeing such remarkable phenomena. We look forward eagerly to the rest of the mission in order to establish how often such extreme radiation belt structures and dynamics may occur."
The Van Allen belts are two donut-shaped regions of high-energy particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field. At the time of their discovery in 1958, they were thought to be relatively stable structures, but subsequent observations have shown they are dynamic and mysterious. However, this type of dynamic three-belt structure was never seen, or even considered, theoretically.
The identical twin satellites chase each other in a common orbit to achieve simultaneous spatial and temporal measurements of the radiation belt environment. The measurement of charged particles is key to the mission, with the ECT suite at the very heart of energetic electron measurements. The instrument suite has the capability to differentiate and precisely measure radiation belt particles on the flyan extremely complex technical achievement, and necessary to push the science forward.
The suite's science goals address the top-level mission objective to provide understandingideally to the point of predictabilityof how populations of electrons moving at nearly the speed of light and penetrating ions in space form or change in response to variable inputs of energy from the sun.
Says Spence, "These events we've recorded are extraordinary and are already allowing us to refine and confirm our theories of belt dynamics in a way that will lead to predictability of their behavior, which is important for understanding space weather and ultimately for the safety of astronauts and spacecraft that operate within such a hazardous region of geospace."
Notes Nicky Fox, Van Allen Probes deputy project scientist at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., "Even 55 years after their discovery, the Earth's radiation belts are still capable of surprising us, and still have mysteries to discover and explain. What the Van Allen Probes have shown is that the advances in technology and detection made by NASA have already had an almost immediate impact on basic science."
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The Van Allen Probes project is the second mission in NASA's Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the connected sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. APL built the probes and manages the mission. The program is managed by NASA Goddard. For more about the Van Allen Probes, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/vanallenprobes and http://vanallenprobes.jhuapl.edu/
For more on the Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma instrument suite visit: http://rbsp-ect.sr.unh.edu/team.shtml.
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.
Photograph to download: http://www.eos.unh.edu/newsimage/304Whip_lg.jpg
Caption: On Aug. 31, 2012, a giant prominence on the sun erupted, sending out particles and a shock wave that traveled near Earth. This event may have been one of the causes of a third radiation belt that appeared around Earth a few days later, a phenomenon that was observed for the very first time by the newly-launched Van Allen Probes. This image of the prominence before it erupted was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
UNH principal investigator Harlan Spence can be reached at 781-439-7262 and Harlan.spence@unh.edu.
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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.
Third radiation belt discovered with UNH-led instrument suitePublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Sims david.sims@unh.edu 603-862-5369 University of New Hampshire
DURHAM, N.H. Although scientists involved in NASA's Van Allen Probes mission were confident they would eventually be able to rewrite the textbook on Earth's twin radiation belts, getting material for the new edition just two days after launch was surprising, momentous, and gratifying.
The Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission, subsequently renamed in honor of the belts' discoverer, astrophysicist James Van Allen, was launched in the pre-dawn hours of August 30, 2012. Shortly thereafter, and well ahead of schedule in normal operational protocol, mission scientists turned on the Relativistic Electron-Proton Telescope (REPT) to gather data in parallel with another, aging satellite that was poised to fall from orbit and reenter Earth's atmosphere. It was a fortuitous decision.
The telescope, which is part of the Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma (ECT) instrument suite led by the Space Science Center at the University of New Hampshire, immediately sent back data that at first confounded scientists but then provided a eureka moment: seen for the first time was a transient third radiation belt of high-energy particles formed in the wake of a powerful solar event that happened shortly after REPT began taking data.
"We watched in amazement as the outer radiation belt disappeared rapidly, but not completely; a small sliver of very energetic electrons remained at its inner edge, which we dubbed the 'storage ring,'" notes UNH astrophysicist Harlan Spence, principal investigator for the ECT suite and a co-author of a paper detailing the discovery published online today in the journal Science. "When the main outer electron belt reformed over subsequent days, it did so at a greater distance than where the storage ring was located, thus creating the transient, three-belt structure. The textbook was being rewritten right before our eyes."
Spence, director of the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, adds, "After decades of studying the radiation belts, this was a completely new phenomenon. With the Van Allen Probes' instruments we now have the 'eyes' capable of seeing such remarkable phenomena. We look forward eagerly to the rest of the mission in order to establish how often such extreme radiation belt structures and dynamics may occur."
The Van Allen belts are two donut-shaped regions of high-energy particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field. At the time of their discovery in 1958, they were thought to be relatively stable structures, but subsequent observations have shown they are dynamic and mysterious. However, this type of dynamic three-belt structure was never seen, or even considered, theoretically.
The identical twin satellites chase each other in a common orbit to achieve simultaneous spatial and temporal measurements of the radiation belt environment. The measurement of charged particles is key to the mission, with the ECT suite at the very heart of energetic electron measurements. The instrument suite has the capability to differentiate and precisely measure radiation belt particles on the flyan extremely complex technical achievement, and necessary to push the science forward.
The suite's science goals address the top-level mission objective to provide understandingideally to the point of predictabilityof how populations of electrons moving at nearly the speed of light and penetrating ions in space form or change in response to variable inputs of energy from the sun.
Says Spence, "These events we've recorded are extraordinary and are already allowing us to refine and confirm our theories of belt dynamics in a way that will lead to predictability of their behavior, which is important for understanding space weather and ultimately for the safety of astronauts and spacecraft that operate within such a hazardous region of geospace."
Notes Nicky Fox, Van Allen Probes deputy project scientist at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., "Even 55 years after their discovery, the Earth's radiation belts are still capable of surprising us, and still have mysteries to discover and explain. What the Van Allen Probes have shown is that the advances in technology and detection made by NASA have already had an almost immediate impact on basic science."
###
The Van Allen Probes project is the second mission in NASA's Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the connected sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. APL built the probes and manages the mission. The program is managed by NASA Goddard. For more about the Van Allen Probes, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/vanallenprobes and http://vanallenprobes.jhuapl.edu/
For more on the Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma instrument suite visit: http://rbsp-ect.sr.unh.edu/team.shtml.
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.
Photograph to download: http://www.eos.unh.edu/newsimage/304Whip_lg.jpg
Caption: On Aug. 31, 2012, a giant prominence on the sun erupted, sending out particles and a shock wave that traveled near Earth. This event may have been one of the causes of a third radiation belt that appeared around Earth a few days later, a phenomenon that was observed for the very first time by the newly-launched Van Allen Probes. This image of the prominence before it erupted was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
UNH principal investigator Harlan Spence can be reached at 781-439-7262 and Harlan.spence@unh.edu.
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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.
PARIS (AP) ? Franco-Belgian utility GDF Suez says its earnings fell more than 60 percent in 2012 compared to the year earlier because the company booked a ?2 billion ($2.6 billion) impairment on its European assets in anticipation of the region's continued economic malaise.
The company said Thursday that its net income fell to ?1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) last year, down from ?4 billion in 2011. Without the charge and only counting recurring operations, net income would have been ?3.8 billion.
Revenues increased 7 percent to ?97 billion ($127 billion). Much of that growth happened in Asia and the Middle East, where the company is expanding. Its French business also saw a jump as it recoups money from customers after a state body struck down a government-imposed freeze on natural gas prices.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Federal employee labor unions are trying to soften the blow for more than 1 million government workers who may be forced to take unpaid time off if mandatory budget cuts kick in this week.
Union leaders have been working furiously to persuade agency managers to make other cuts that won't affect employee paychecks. But if agencies do insist on furloughs, unions say they can bargain over when they take place and other terms that could help workers in financial trouble.
"We plan to exercise those rights," said Jacqueline Simon, public policy director at the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents over 650,000 workers.
More than half of the nation's 2.1 million government workers may be required to take furloughs if automatic budget cuts, known as the sequester, take effect and agencies are forced to trim budgets. Agencies also may impose hiring freezes, release temporary employees or decline to renew contract workers.
The Defense Department has said it expects to furlough 800,000 civilian workers for 22 days each, spread across more than five months, which would mean a 20 percent pay cut over that period. The Pentagon also plans to lay off as many as 46,000 temporary and contract employees.
Other federal agencies are likely to furlough several hundred thousand more workers, according to a memo last month from the Office of Management and Budget.
Unions can't stop furloughs, but they can ask to examine the agency's budget documents and make managers show there is no other way to make the cuts without furloughs.
"Our position is that the Department of Defense and every other agency actually has a lot more discretion than they're letting on and that furloughs are entirely unnecessary," Simon said. "There's certainly plenty of low-paid federal employees for whom a 20 percent pay cut means they will not be able to pay their bills."
Besides receiving no pay, a worker on furlough would not accumulate vacation time and would receive a smaller match for their government retirement account. The worker's annual salary also would be lower when calculating pension benefits.
"The impact is going to be devastating, not just on the employees who are serving unpaid furlough days, but on the American public, who depend on the services these employees provide," said Colleen Kelly, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 150,000 workers at 31 federal agencies.
So far, Kelly's union has received only one official notice of intent to furlough workers. That came from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which plans to furlough all 60,000 employees for up to 14 days if the sequestration goes into effect. Kelly said other agencies are looking at furloughs but have not yet specified the cuts.
"We've reached out to agencies in an effort to work with them to find ways to cut spending so that the cuts don't come on the backs of employees on furlough days," she said.
The general expectation is that employees would serve one furlough day per two-week pay period. But the union can bargain on behalf of employees who may want to serve all the days together or delay them until later in the year for personal or financial reasons.
Negotiations can also resolve whether workers can swap furlough days with other employees, or whether some workers can volunteer to serve more furlough days so others don't have to. There also may be work deadlines to consider, since some workers remain accountable to complete projects even if they cannot be at work.
The federal Office of Personnel Management, which issues guidance on how agencies carry out furloughs, declined a request for comment. But in a memo to agencies, OPM states that government officials have duty to bargain "over any negotiable impact and implementation proposals" the union may submit regarding furloughs.
In a memo to Environmental Protection Agency employees on Tuesday, acting administrator Bob Perciasepe said the agency has been taking "aggressive action" to control costs over the past few months, such as reducing contract, grant and administrative spending. But even with those savings, he said, the EPA would still have to furlough workers.
"We are working to minimize the burden on employees and their families while still enabling the agency to meet its obligations and fulfill its mission," Perciasepe said. "We are also meeting with EPA's national unions to prepare a plan for implementation."
Every agency must provide notice at least 30 days before any furlough process begins. The earliest furloughs could begin is April 1.
A few agencies have said they expect to avoid furloughs, including the Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration and Smithsonian Institution. The Veterans Affairs Department has been excluded from sequestration cuts.
"Agencies can be creative and agencies can be uncreative," Simon said. "Our position is, don't come to us because we're the easy target."
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Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP
Feb. 27, 2013 ? Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have achieved a major advance in understanding how genetic information is transcribed from DNA to RNA by providing the first step-by-step look at the biomolecular machinery that reads the human genome.
"We've provided a series of snapshots that shows how the genome is read one gene at a time," says biophysicist Eva Nogales who led this research. "For the genetic code to be transcribed into messenger RNA, the DNA double helix has to be opened and the strand of gene sequences has to be properly positioned so that RNA polymerase, the enzyme that catalyzes transcription, knows where the gene starts. The electron microscopy images we produced show how this is done."
Says Paula Flicker of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which partly funded the research, "The process of transcription is essential to all living things so understanding how it initiates is enormously important. This work is a beautiful example of integrating multiple approaches to reveal the structure of a large molecular complex and provide insight into the molecular basis of a fundamental cellular process."
Nogales, who holds joint appointments with Berkeley Lab, the University of California (UC) at Berkeley, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), is the corresponding author of a paper describing this study in the journal Nature. The paper is titled "Structural visualization of key steps in human transcription initiation." Co-authors are Yuan He, Jie Fang and Dylan Taatjes.
The fundamental process of life by which information in the genome of a living cell is used to generate biomolecules that carry out cellular activities is the so-called "central dogma of molecular biology." It states that genetic information flows from DNA to RNA to proteins. This straightforward flow of information is initiated by an elaborate system of proteins that operate in a highly choreographed fashion with machine-like precision. Understanding how this protein machinery works in the context of passing genetic information from DNA to RNA (transcription) is a must for identifying malfunctions that can turn cells cancerous or lead to a host of other problems.
Berkeley Lab researchers have produced the first step-by-step snapshots of the assembly of transcription factors and RNA polymerase into a transcription pre-initiation complex. (Image courtesy of Nogales group)
Nogales and members of her research group used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), where protein samples are flash-frozen at liquid nitrogen temperatures to preserve their structure, to carry out in vitro studies of reconstituted and purified versions of the "transcription pre-initiation complex." This complex is a large assemblage of proteins composed of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) plus a class of proteins known as general transcription factors that includes the TATA-binding protein (TBP), TFIIA, TFIIB, TFIIF, TFIIE and TFIIH. All of the components in this complex work together to ensure the accurate loading of DNA into Pol II at the start of a gene sequence.
"There's been a lack of structural information on how the transcription pre-initiation complex complex is assembled, but with cryo-EM and our in vitro reconstituted system we've been able to provide pseudo-atomic models at various stages of transcription initiation that illuminate critical molecular interactions during this step-by-step process," Nogales says.
The in vitro reconstituted transcription pre-initiation complex was developed by Yuan He, lead author on the Nature paper and a post-doctoral student in Nogales's research group.
"This reconstituted system provided a model for the sequential assembly pathway of transcription initiation and was essential for us to get the most biochemically homogenous samples," Nogales says. "Also essential was our ability to use automated data collection and processing so that we could generate all our structures in a robust manner."
Among the new details revealed in the step-by-step cryo-EM images was how the transcription factor protein TFIIF engages Pol II and promoter DNA to stabilize both a closed DNA pre-initiation complex and an open DNA-promoter complex, and also how it regulates the selection of a transcription start-site.
"Comparing the closed versus open DNA states led us to propose a model that describes how DNA is moved during the process of promoter opening," says He. "Our studies provide insight into how THIIH uses ATP hydrolysis as a source of energy to actually open and push the DNA to the active site of Pol II."
Nogales and her colleagues plan to further investigate the process of DNA loading into Pol II, as well as to include additional transcription factors into the assembly that are required for regulation of gene expression.
"Our goal is to actually build a structural model of the entire -- more than two million daltons -- protein machinery that recognizes and regulates all human DNA promoters," Nogales says. "For now we have the structural framework that's been needed to integrate biochemical and structural data into a unified mechanistic understanding of transcription initiation."
This research was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Cancer Institute under NIH grant numbers GM063072 and CA127364.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Yuan He, Jie Fang, Dylan J. Taatjes, Eva Nogales. Structural visualization of key steps in human transcription initiation. Nature, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nature11991
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Curious what Max Levchin's been up to ever since he left Google in 2011? Well, wonder no more. Today, PayPal's co-founder revealed his return to the payment world with a new company called Affirm. Like many startups, Affirm is looking to make online payments quicker and easier, but the real question is whether you'll be willing to come along for the ride. AllThingsD managed to catch Levchin for an interview, in which he revealed that Affirm will issue credit to consumers and guarantee payment to merchants for all online transactions. Curiously, Affirm will use Facebook to verify a user's identity, and it'll also use a wide range of social and location-based data to determine an individual's credit worthiness. The payment startup will launch in beta with 1-800-Flowers as its partner, and it's said that consumers will be given 30 days to settle the resulting bill with Affirm. There's no word of what fees or interest rates will be assessed for late payments, but we imagine you'll find strong incentive to pay for that flower arrangement.
Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer wipes a tear as she stands with athletic director Tim Pernetti and her team to celebrate Stringer's 900th career win in an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Piscataway, N.J., Rutgers defeated South Florida 68-56. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer wipes a tear as she stands with athletic director Tim Pernetti and her team to celebrate Stringer's 900th career win in an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Piscataway, N.J., Rutgers defeated South Florida 68-56. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Fans celebrate as Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer wins her 900th NCAA college basketball game on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers defeated South Florida 68-56. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer celebrates her 900th win after defeating South Florida 68-56 in an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Piscataway, N.J., . (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer celebrates with her players on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in Piscataway, N.J., after defeating South Florida 68-56 in an NCAA college basketball game for Stringer's 900th win. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Not much has come easily for C. Vivian Stringer during her Hall of Fame coaching career.
So it was fitting that it took her five tries to become the fourth women's basketball coach to have 900 victories. She finally reached the milestone Tuesday night with Rutgers' 68-56 win over South Florida.
"When I look back on my life, this team, probably this year, best reflects what 900 has been," she said. "It helped me to remember that it was never easy. But unless you really have a passion, unless you really know how fortunate you are not to have had a lot of major injuries to a lot of players, which is what happened to this team, and unless you remember how fortunate you are to be able to get to those special places."
Stringer joined Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt and Sylvia Hatchell in the exclusive club. Maybe a half dozen more women's coaches might gain entrance over the next few years. Only three Division I men's coaches have reached 900 victories: Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight and Jim Boeheim.
"I am fortunate to call Vivian my friend and could not be happier that she has reached the 900-win milestone in her career. I have great respect and admiration for Vivian and consider her one of the great pioneers of our game," Summitt said in a statement. "She has had an incredible journey, and I hope she adds many more to her 'W' column!"
Stringer, who was the first coach in men's or women's basketball to take three different schools to the Final Four ? including Rutgers in 2000 and '07 ? fought back tears as her team celebrated their coach's achievement.
"I think it's beyond words," said Stringer, whose record stands at 900-330 in 42 seasons. "I'm happy that it's over. I can hardly breathe. It's over and now I can just coach and smile, and get back to what I love to do because it's never been about numbers."
During the four-game losing streak, Stringer admitted she was tired of talking about when she'd get No. 900. She was getting worn out by it, even snapping at reporters during a media session.
Her demeanor changed after a loss to St. John's on Saturday, the game before Tuesday's landmark victory. Stringer said she received a call from Hatchell, who reached 900 wins on Feb. 7.
The longtime friends talked about the pressures their players faced while trying to get that 900th win. It took Hatchell's team two tries to get her that victory.
"She is probably one of the few people I would talk to about it," Stringer said, "and she was just saying it was highly stressful for her, too. Finally when they were over it, (the players) were much better because they were really uptight."
With the weight of the milestone lifted, Stringer can only hope her team will use it as a springboard for the rest of the season. Stringer, in her 18th season at Rutgers, has been focused on making an 11th-straight trip to the NCAA tournament. Beating a surging South Florida team will definitely help the Scarlet Knights' resume.
"Everything will take care of itself," Stringer said, dismissing a question related to her team's postseason fate. "This was a major win, and it's important to win down the (stretch) as it is right now."
The Scarlet Knights (15-12, 6-8 Big East), who are 10th in the conference, finish off the regular season against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh ? two of the bottom teams in the league.
As the game ended, a crowd of 1,304 at the Rutgers Athletic Center saluted Stringer with chants of "900" and "C-V-S" and Scarlet Knights athletic director Tim Pernetti was among the first to greet her with a framed No. 900 jersey. Rutgers' cheerleaders unfurled a banner that read "Congratulations Coach Stringer - 900 wins," and her players took turns hugging their emotional coach at midcourt.
"If it's something special for all the generations of players and coaches that I've been a part of, then, yeah, I'm happy," she said. "But I'm looking forward to more."
Rutgers had lost four straight games since beating Cincinnati for Stringer's 899th career victory.
"It's more than a game, it's about a preparation for life," said Stringer, who is in her 18th season at Rutgers. "It's about understanding that when things are rough you may get knocked down and there may be doubters but you'll still rise."
Senior guard Erica Wheeler scored 24 points to lead Rutgers.
"It's almost a little heartbreaking because she gives her heart out when she coaches," Wheeler said. "So to not get her that 900th win as soon as we needed to, I cried a couple times at night. It was important tonight to definitely get her that win."
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Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg
At the LG booth today the manufacturer didn't just launch the Optimus G Pro and L II series, there was also a new mid-range series of 4G LTE smartphones on display -- the Optimus F5 and F7, members of the LG Optimus F series. The devices we saw were aimed at the European and Korean markets, and the F7 on display at the LG booth bore SKT's 4G LTE logo.
Report: 'Water and Agriculture in Canada: Towards Sustainable Management of Water Resources'Public release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Cate Meechan cathleen.meechan@scienceadvice.ca 613-567-5000 x228 Council of Canadian Academies
Expert panel report on sustainable management of water in the agricultural landscapes of Canada
Ottawa (February 26th, 2013) Canadian agriculture is faced with great opportunities, but also challenged by water-related risks and uncertainties. An expert panel convened by the Council of Canadian Academies has found that water and land resources in Canada can be more sustainably managed by developing forward-thinking policies and effective land and water management strategies, adopting effective governance mechanisms, and harnessing technological advancements.
The agricultural sector is an important contributor to Canada's prosperity and well-being. In 2011, primary agriculture alone produced $51.1 billion in gross farm receipts. It also plays a vital role in the food sector which is linked to nearly $100 billion per year in economic activity and approximately 1 in 7.5 Canadian jobs. As the world's population grows, so does the demand for food. Rising incomes are causing a shift in global patterns of food consumption towards higher-value forms of agricultural production. There is also increased demand for non-food agricultural products such as biofuels and natural fibres.
Dr. Howard Wheater, chair of the Council's expert panel noted, "Agriculture and water provide us with our most basic needs, and are intimately connected. While most farmers are their own water managers, using rain and snow for crop production, irrigation and livestock farming are major water consumers and face increasing competition from other water uses. Agriculture has changed much of our land area and can affect the water environment in many ways. It also faces major challenges due to the uncertain impact of climate variability, including floods and droughts, and climate change." He added, "Our expert panel explored these issues in great detail and our report lays out five practical areas where additional science and action can contribute to better sustainable management of water in agriculture."
Additional science is needed regarding:
the risks and uncertainties of market conditions, competition for land and water resources, and climate change
improved monitoring, modelling and forecasting to facilitate adaptive management
the interaction between land management and water resources including assessment of beneficial management practices (BMPs), conservation agriculture, and ecosystem services approaches
promising farm-scale technologies that could contribute to efficient water use, reduced environmental impacts, and sound investment decisions
governance structures, valuation techniques, economic incentives, and knowledge transfer strategies that would help to facilitate better management decisions and uptake of sustainable practices
"Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada asked the Council to conduct this in-depth assessment and I am confident that the Panel's work has been comprehensive and the evidence provided within this report will be of significant value and insight for policy- and decision-makers, stakeholders and the wider research community," said Elizabeth Dowdeswell, President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies.
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For more information, or to download a free copy of the report, please visit www.scienceadvice.ca after the embargo lifts.
About the Council of Canadian Academies
The Council of Canadian Academies is an independent, not-for-profit organization that began operation in 2005. The Council supports evidence-based, expert assessments to inform public policy development in Canada. Assessments are conducted by independent, multidisciplinary panels of experts from across Canada and abroad. The Council's blue-ribbon panels serve free of charge and many are Fellows of the Council's Member Academies: the Royal Society of Canada; the Canadian Academy of Engineering; and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. The Council's vision is to be Canada's trusted voice for science in the public interest. For more information visit www.scienceadvice.ca.
For more information please contact:
Cate Meechan
Director, Communications
Council of Canadian Academies
Cell: 613-302-6174
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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.
Report: 'Water and Agriculture in Canada: Towards Sustainable Management of Water Resources'Public release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Cate Meechan cathleen.meechan@scienceadvice.ca 613-567-5000 x228 Council of Canadian Academies
Expert panel report on sustainable management of water in the agricultural landscapes of Canada
Ottawa (February 26th, 2013) Canadian agriculture is faced with great opportunities, but also challenged by water-related risks and uncertainties. An expert panel convened by the Council of Canadian Academies has found that water and land resources in Canada can be more sustainably managed by developing forward-thinking policies and effective land and water management strategies, adopting effective governance mechanisms, and harnessing technological advancements.
The agricultural sector is an important contributor to Canada's prosperity and well-being. In 2011, primary agriculture alone produced $51.1 billion in gross farm receipts. It also plays a vital role in the food sector which is linked to nearly $100 billion per year in economic activity and approximately 1 in 7.5 Canadian jobs. As the world's population grows, so does the demand for food. Rising incomes are causing a shift in global patterns of food consumption towards higher-value forms of agricultural production. There is also increased demand for non-food agricultural products such as biofuels and natural fibres.
Dr. Howard Wheater, chair of the Council's expert panel noted, "Agriculture and water provide us with our most basic needs, and are intimately connected. While most farmers are their own water managers, using rain and snow for crop production, irrigation and livestock farming are major water consumers and face increasing competition from other water uses. Agriculture has changed much of our land area and can affect the water environment in many ways. It also faces major challenges due to the uncertain impact of climate variability, including floods and droughts, and climate change." He added, "Our expert panel explored these issues in great detail and our report lays out five practical areas where additional science and action can contribute to better sustainable management of water in agriculture."
Additional science is needed regarding:
the risks and uncertainties of market conditions, competition for land and water resources, and climate change
improved monitoring, modelling and forecasting to facilitate adaptive management
the interaction between land management and water resources including assessment of beneficial management practices (BMPs), conservation agriculture, and ecosystem services approaches
promising farm-scale technologies that could contribute to efficient water use, reduced environmental impacts, and sound investment decisions
governance structures, valuation techniques, economic incentives, and knowledge transfer strategies that would help to facilitate better management decisions and uptake of sustainable practices
"Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada asked the Council to conduct this in-depth assessment and I am confident that the Panel's work has been comprehensive and the evidence provided within this report will be of significant value and insight for policy- and decision-makers, stakeholders and the wider research community," said Elizabeth Dowdeswell, President and CEO of the Council of Canadian Academies.
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For more information, or to download a free copy of the report, please visit www.scienceadvice.ca after the embargo lifts.
About the Council of Canadian Academies
The Council of Canadian Academies is an independent, not-for-profit organization that began operation in 2005. The Council supports evidence-based, expert assessments to inform public policy development in Canada. Assessments are conducted by independent, multidisciplinary panels of experts from across Canada and abroad. The Council's blue-ribbon panels serve free of charge and many are Fellows of the Council's Member Academies: the Royal Society of Canada; the Canadian Academy of Engineering; and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. The Council's vision is to be Canada's trusted voice for science in the public interest. For more information visit www.scienceadvice.ca.
For more information please contact:
Cate Meechan
Director, Communications
Council of Canadian Academies
Cell: 613-302-6174
[ | 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.
Indiana is No. 1 in The Associated Press' Top 25 for the fourth straight week, while Gonzaga moved to No. 2 for the first time in school history.
While the West Coast Bulldogs made some news at the top of the poll Monday, Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs from Down South, moved into the rankings for the first time since a 13-week run in 1984-85, their only appearance in the poll.
Louisiana Tech, which is 25th this week, was led back then to a ranking as high as No. 7 by a forward named Karl Malone. Gonzaga at that time had a point guard named John Stockton. They went on to become one of the greatest combinations in NBA history with the Utah Jazz, were members of the Dream Team and both were inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Hoosiers, who have been ranked No. 1 for a total of 10 weeks this season, received all but one first-place vote from the 65-member national media panel.
Gonzaga, which got the other No. 1 vote, was ranked third last week. The Bulldogs were also that high in the poll for the final two weeks of 2003-04.
Duke moved up three spots to third and is followed by Michigan and Miami, which dropped from second after falling to Wake Forest, the Hurricanes' first Atlantic Coast Conference loss this season.
Kansas is sixth, followed by Georgetown, Florida, Michigan State and Louisville.
Saint Louis, which beat Butler and VCU last week, moved into 18th in the poll, the Billikens' first ranking since being in for one week last season.
Colorado State, which was 22nd and lost twice last week, and VCU, which was 24th, dropped out.
Sony is announcing today at MWC that its latest flagship Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z will both be available globally starting March 1st. The Xperia Z, which we've had extensive hands-on time with, has already been up for pre-order and sale in varying capacities around the world. The Tablet Z, on the other hand, was announced in late January in conjunction with a Japanese carrier launch, but without any launch specifics until now. If you need a little refresher on the specs, we've got a 1920x1200 display, powered by a Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. It will be launching with Android 4.1, but Sony has specifically named an Android 4.2 update as being in the works. Sony is still touting the device as the thinnest tablet available, and is still both water and dustproof like its phone counterpart.
The Tablet Z will also have a few first party accessories out of the gate, such as a charging dock and leather carrying case. Both the Xperia Z and Tablet Z will launch globally on March 1st, with obviously varying prices within each region. We'll be sure to bring you specifics as they come available for each market.
FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2011 file photo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett makes remarks during a news conference after a Penn State Board of Trustees meeting in State College, Pa. Corbett argued in a court document filed late Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 that the NCAA has been trying to use his antitrust lawsuit against it over the Penn State penalties in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal to combat what he describes as a groundswell of public criticism. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2011 file photo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett makes remarks during a news conference after a Penn State Board of Trustees meeting in State College, Pa. Corbett argued in a court document filed late Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 that the NCAA has been trying to use his antitrust lawsuit against it over the Penn State penalties in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal to combat what he describes as a groundswell of public criticism. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ? Gov. Tom Corbett argued in a court document filed late Monday that the NCAA has been trying to use his pending antitrust lawsuit against it over the Penn State penalties in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal to combat what he describes as a groundswell of public criticism.
Corbett said the judge should not grant the NCAA's request to dismiss the case, saying college sports' governing body made a factual error when it said the penalties were voted on by the university's trustees.
Corbett, who as governor is a trustee, said the NCAA's motion to dismiss the lawsuit he filed in January "appears to have been written more to advance the NCAA's broader agenda, and to combat the recent groundswell of public criticism against the embattled organization, than to raise legal issues appropriate to a motion to dismiss."
The NCAA, in a court filing three weeks ago, said antitrust law did not apply and a consent agreement between it and Penn State was "exceptionally unlikely" to cause other schools to raise tuition, cut scholarships or charge more for branded jerseys. It said Corbett lacked standing to sue and called his action an attempt to drag the federal courts into an intra-state political dispute.
NCAA spokeswoman Emily Potter said Monday the NCAA stood by its previous statements.
The Republican governor's lawsuit asks the judge to throw out all the penalties, including a massive fine, a four-year bowl ban and the loss of football scholarships.
"It is laughable to claim that a $60 million fine, coupled with the gutting of one of the most lucrative programs at one of the nation's largest universities, is 'noncommercial activity,'" Corbett argued.
He claims that the consent agreement has harmed students, business owners and others and that the NCAA penalties are likely to result in higher tuition and make it more difficult for football players to find scholarships.
"The NCAA wrongly claims that its arbitrary decimation of the PSU football program is no different than its enforcement of rules regulating player eligibility or uniforms ? which do enhance collegiate competition ? although PSU was not found to have violated a single NCAA rule and the NCAA's own president insisted that the consent decree was not an enforcement action," Corbett's lawyers wrote.
Corbett said the Penn State case is the first time the NCAA has injected itself into criminal conduct already in the justice system, "let alone into offenses that did not involve cheating, academic fraud, recruiting violations or other conduct designed to give athletic programs an unfair competitive advantage."
He also took a swipe at the NCAA regarding recent revelations in a booster scandal at the University of Miami.
"It is ironic that the NCAA attempts to maintain a pious tone throughout its brief ... in light of its recent revelations about its own misconduct while investigating the University of Miami," the Corbett filing said.
Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator at Penn State, a college football powerhouse, was convicted last summer of sexually abusing several boys, some on campus. He is serving a 30- to 60-year state prison sentence. He is appealing and maintains his innocence.
The consent agreement between the NCAA and Penn State was signed a few weeks after Sandusky was found guilty of 45 criminal counts. Penn State is not a party to Corbett's antitrust lawsuit or to the NCAA's lawsuit filed last week against Corbett and three state officials over a newly enacted state law that is designed to keep the $60 million within the state.
After his melancholic and dreamy Where Are We Now, David Bowie's second single after more than ten years of silence is out to wake you up with a blast of electric guitars. It's pure Bowie—and it's great. Watch the video, starring the always incredible Tilda Swinton and David Bowie himself—who I wish went back to star in another movie too (Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence caliber, not Labyrinth). More »
We've received a few reports that emails are going out to invite Motorola Feedback Network members to try a new release of Jelly Bean for the Droid RAZR and the Droid RAZR MAXX.
Thanks for joining the Motorola Feedback Network. We are inviting owners of the Droid RAZR or Droid RAZR Maxx on Verizon to participate in an early preview of a new Jelly Bean software release, and provide feedback. If you are not currently using a Droid RAZR or Droid RAZR Maxx on Verizon, please excuse and ignore this email.
Plenty of folks using these phones are anxious to get Jelly Bean on their devices. Hopefully this soak test is successful, and we see a software update roll out shortly after. Keep your eyes on Android Central, and jump into the forums to discuss!
London is celebrating 150 years of its underground system, and pulling out all the stops. First, was the announcement of permanent artwork by Mark Wallinger to be displayed in stations, and now comes an exhibition by the London Transport Museum showing 150 posters that have been created for the transportation service over the years.
London tube posters have always been notable for using a commercial platform to display unique and interesting works of art. These are not mere advertisements and PSAs, they are a history of graphic design and artistic style.
Trawling through 3,300 posters, experts chose 150 pieces that most vividly expressed the cultural vibrancy of the city. The exhibition include designs by famous artists such as Man Ray (above) and?L?szl? Moholy-Nagy and is shown thematically including ?Brightest London? (nights out and sporting events), ?Finding your way? (maps, etiquette and reassuring messages), ?Love your city? (the best of the capital?s landmarks? and ?Keeps London going? (developments, technology, improvements etc).
Although Londoners may grumble about it, the tube is the heart of the city, carrying two million people a day through its tunnels. An exhibition highlighting the artistic commissions of the underground is a fitting anniversary present to its city-dwellers.
If you are in London, pop by:?Poster Art 150 ? London Underground?s Greatest Designs?is at the London Transport Museum until October 27.
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Public release date: 28-Feb-2013
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