theindependent.com Published Sunday, June 8, 2003 Last modified at 1:01 a.m. on Sunday, June 8, 2003 By Gretchen Fowler gfowler@theindependent.com

ST. PAUL -- Retired St. Paul doctor Maurice Mathews returned from his first humanitarian mission overseas with a bundle of photos and stories to last a lifetime.

Mathews left for Sucre, Bolivia May 13.

He was gone for two weeks and spent 10 days volunteering his services with Rotaplast International, a nonprofit organization established in 1992.

According to www.rotaplast.org, the mission of Rotaplast International is to provide free reconstructive surgery and treatment for underprivileged children worldwide, to provide education, and to advance research in the prevention of cleft lip and palate.

While in Bolivia, Mathews' job was to sterilize equipment used in a series of surgical procedures to correct deformities in underprivileged children and adults.

The hospital where the procedures took place was a teaching hospital, so when medical students weren't available, Mathews scrubbed in.

The majority of the procedures done were to fix cleft lips and palates in children.

However, because of age restrictions and the medical conditions of some patients, not all children were able to be helped during the trip.

"Some of the little ones, it would just break your heart to see them (have to wait another year)," Mathews said.

Going through the pictures from his trip, Mathews showed the photograph of an older man who had gone all his life with a cleft lip. In the next photo, he stood smiling beside the man whose appearance had been drastically improved.

Mathews also assisted in procedures that involved working on patients' arms and ears. While he doesn't have experience in plastic surgery, Mathews said he performed numerous surgical procedures during his 38-year career in St. Paul. He retired in 1998.

The plastic surgeons Mathews worked with in Bolivia came from the United States, Bolivia and Guatemala. Rotaplast groups have completed missions in Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Mathews said part of the missions is to conduct research and perform case studies to help doctors learn more about the high occurrence of cleft lip and cleft palate in certain countries. That way, he said, more can be done to prevent similar cases in the future.

Mathews spends most of his time working on his tree farm northeast of St. Paul but said he felt volunteering his time to this cause would be a good thing to do.

"I've been a life student of both Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa. I wanted to have the experience, even if it was only for a week or two, doing what they did their whole life," Mathews said, " -- helping the poorest of the poor."

Equipment for such missions is purchased with donations made to Rotary International. Rotaplast International was founded by a Rotary Club president and is an ongoing project of the Rotary Club. Mathews became a charter member of the St. Paul Rotary Club 19 years ago and has been a member ever since.

For more information on Rotaplast, log on to www.rotaplast.org.

InsideToronto.ca TAMARA SHEPHARD Jun. 8, 2003

Four peregrine falcon chicks recently hatched atop a tower of The Clarica Centre are the last to be banded locally as part of a five-year program to track the endangered birds' migratory patterns.

The Ontario population of the birds -- presently fewer than 100 -- is considered in recovery, reflecting a "steady, but small" increase since the program's inception in 1998, according to The Canadian Peregrine Foundation.

In Etobicoke alone, the initial pair of peregrines produced 23 offspring, four of which are reported to have nested in other provinces and propagated. The Etobicoke-based banding takes place Monday at 1 p.m.

Falcon population recovery has encouraged provincial officials to consider de-listing the bird to a threatened species in its next survey year, 2004-2005.

But foundation officials' charge the move is premature, especially given several suspected and probable cases of West Nile Virus detected last year in dead peregrines. The foundation is lobbying to continue the banding and accompanying satellite monitoring program beyond its initial five-year mandate.

"We'd like nothing better than to have the (Anatum) species of peregrines removed from the endangered species list. But we want to ensure it's a biological decision, not a political one," said Mark Nash, foundation founder and executive director.

While peregrine falcon recovery is occurring, Nash said many threats remain: the birds' own natural mortality (90 per cent die in their first year of life); encroachment and destruction of habitat by hikers, photographers, lumber, timber and mining operations, as well as urban sprawl.

However, West Nile threatens to decimate the Ontario population, 40 per cent of which are concentrated north of Lake Superior, Nash said.

Guarding against that possibility, last year the foundation partnered with Dr. Bruce Hunter, an avian specialist with the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph in a West Nile research program.

Hunter obtains blood samples from peregrines at a number of foundation hacks and urban nest sites across southern Ontario to determine if the fledglings have blood antibodies against the deadly virus. He also inoculates the birds against the virus, using a serum first introduced for use in horses.

Preliminary program findings indicate the serum appears to have no adverse effects on the falcons, Nash said.

Meanwhile, the foundation's satellite telemetry peregrine falcon tracking program indicates birds' migration to central and south America, as well as Mexico with many also nesting in the northern United States. In its fourth year, the charitable foundation has funded the five-year PhD research program to the tune of $500,000.

"The great news is that through tracking of Ontario birds, we've seen their migration to Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina in the birds' first year of life. Some returned to Ontario the following spring," Nash said.

"The not-great news is the vast majority of countries in Central America, Mexico and South America still have widespread use of DDT. The peregrine falcon could have been found on every continent, except Antarctica, prior to the use of DDT."

The Canadian Peregrine Foundation, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the University of Guelph launched the banding program in 1998 to assist Canadian and American researchers and biologists in tracking the birds' movement.

Introduced as a pilot project in 1999, the satellite tracking/banding followed four juvenile falcons from the foundation's Richmond Hill hack site. Three of the four migrated to Colombia in their first year, returning to Ontario that spring, Nash said.

Other foundation hack sites are found in Hamilton, Kitchener and Brockville. Hack releases involve the deposit of fledgling peregrines in large boxes placed atop buildings or cliffs. Chicks are fed until their release at 40 days, and up to 120 days after to supplement their diet located in the wild.

Urban breeding sites are also located in downtown Toronto at King and Victoria streets, St. Lawrence Cement and the Mississauga Executive Centre in Mississauga, Hamilton and Ottawa. Video cameras capture the nest activity at the Etobicoke, Toronto and Hamilton sites.

Later this year, the foundation is expanding its mandate to include protection of bald eagles and barn owls and will be renamed North American Birds of Prey Foundation.

"The peregrine falcon is the only bird where positive human intervention is responsible for literally saving the bird from extinction," Nash said.

Taipei Times-REUTERS Sunday, Jun 08, 2003,Page 10

Oil prices hit 11-week highs above US$31 a barrel on Friday as OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and Venez-uela sought assurances that non-member Mexico would follow the cartel in any move to tighten supply.

Renewed signs that looting and sabotage will disrupt the resumption of Iraq's oil exports further bolstered prices, which have gained 20 percent in the last month.

US crude futures jumped US$0.46 to US$31.20 a barrel, hitting its highest price since March 19. In London, benchmark Brent crude was US$0.36 higher at US$27.80 a barrel.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and his Venezuelan counterpart Rafael Ramirez met in Madrid with Mexico's Energy Minister Ernesto Martens ahead of next week's OPEC conference on third-quarter production policy.

"We are coming here before the OPEC meeting to discuss the world oil market. We are also in contact with Russia and Norway and I think we will get good results," Ramirez said.

Saudi Arabia and Venezuela want to lay the groundwork for contributions from non-OPEC producers should the return of Iraq push prices down later this year, officials at the talks said.

"That's the key, because it indicates non-OPEC producers may be willing to cooperate, if nothing else by giving lip service to jawbone the prices higher," said a New York trader.

With oil prices near the top end of OPEC's US$22 to US$28 a barrel band, some ministers have said they see no need for OPEC to cut production limits when it meets next Wednesday in Qatar.

Iraq announced on Thursday it would this month resume oil exports, which have been halted since mid-March. But a full recovery of its pre-war exports -- some 4 percent of globally traded oil -- appears distant.

Baghdad's top US adviser on oil said on Friday that well-organized saboteurs are targeting Iraqi oil facilities in a campaign designed to hamper efforts to revive crude exports as the country recovers from war.

"It is very difficult for me to identify who they are and what their motives are. I can only say their techniques appear to be very professional and aim at causing harm to significant and important installations," Phillip Carroll told reporters in an interview.

Oil markets have now more than reversed losses following US government data on Wednesday showing an unexpected rise in crude and gasoline supplies.

June 7, 2003, 4:06PM Bloomberg Business News

ConocoPhillips bought 40 percent of a Venezuelan natural gas tract from ChevronTexaco, according to a prepared statement by ChevronTexaco last week.

ChevronTexaco, the second-largest U.S. oil company, retained 60 percent of Block 2 in Venezuela's offshore Deltana Platform tract, South America's largest natural gas reserve. The tract is between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

ChevronTexaco spokeswoman Monica Davila in Caracas would not disclose the terms of the purchase.

ChevronTexaco, which won development rights to Block 2 in February, said in April it planned to spend as much as $1 billion to develop the tract. Venezuela's state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, retained the right to acquire as much as 35 percent of the project, the statement said.

Venezuela is counting on natural gas from Deltana to reduce its dependence on revenues from oil exports. The Deltana Platform is divided into five blocks and comprises 27,000 square kilometers. Venezuela estimates the area holds up to 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Natural gas produced at Block 2 will be processed into liquefied natural gas and exported to the United States, the release said.

<a href=www.arabnews.com>ArabNews Staff Writer   RIYADH, 8 June 2003 — Oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela have pledged to cooperate with other producers in ensuring a fair price for the crude to stabilize the world market.

The pledge came in a joint statement issued after a meeting in Madrid on Friday between Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi, Venezuela’s Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez and Mexican Energy Secretary Ernesto Martens, the Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday.

The statement said the three countries would continue to cooperate to achieve “stability in the international oil market in a way serving the interests of producers and consumers, the oil industry and world economic growth.” They stressed the need to “continue monitoring developments in the market during the coming few months in a bid to avoid factors that may destabilize it,” the statement added.

The meeting of the two OPEC members, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, and non-OPEC Mexico came ahead of a ministerial meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on June 11 in Qatar’s capital Doha. The OPEC meeting will assess the state of the oil market, especially in light of the expected resumption of Iraqi production and the return of Venezuela and Nigeria to their normal production.

OPEC President Abdullah ibn Hamad Al-Attiyah said late last month that the group would probably agree to reduce output at the Doha meeting.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Ramirez said on Friday that his country was holding talks with Saudi Arabia and Mexico seeking an agreement to cut production.

“We have come to Madrid before the OPEC meeting to discuss world oil market situation. We are getting in touch with Russia and Norway and hopefully we would reach good results,” the Reuters news agency quoted Ramirez as saying.