mapage.noos.fr Luis DE LION Sábado, 22 de Febrero 2003

La manera sorpresiva y aplastante, en que culminó la guerra fría no solamente tomó fuera de base a los Estados Unidos y Europa; sino que las piezas de lo que parecía un nuevo orden mundial, no terminan de encajar en virtud - entre otras - de la inconclusa construcción de la Europa política y militar y la asimetría heredada de dicha guerra fría. A partir de 1989, la conformación de ese nuevo orden, dispuso del bulldozer que encarna la superpotencia americana en la apoteosis de su hegemonía no solo militar, sino económica; hasta que los atentados del 11 de septiembre 2001, obligan al bulldozer a convertirse en un gigantesco tanque de guerra; en virtud de la entrada en escena de ese flagelo del terrorismo multinacional que representa Ben Laden.

La campaña antiterrorista que llevan adelante los EE.UU. los presenta como unos romanos improvisados, cual imperio sin doctrina que domina el mundo sin ejercer la diplomacia. El estilo fanfarrón de Bush, junto a Donald Rumsfeld, provocan la ira mundial. El inmaduro ataque de Rumsfeld contra la "vieja Europa", ayudó a llevar a millones de personas a las calles. Esa antigua Europa, es hoy un territorio económica y políticamente blindado, representa 1/3 del comercio mundial, es poseedora de 1/3 de la riqueza mundial y gracias al Euro es hoy una potencia monetaria, es decir un actor de talla mundial; que hasta ahora ha carecido de una visión de mundo que le permita trazar estrategias y prioridades que conformen una política exterior propia; motivado por la contradicción que representa superar los intereses nacionales de sus miembros en pro de objetivos comunes. La potencia civil que es Europa debe - hoy mas que nunca - revisar su manera de tomar decisiones, para que se coloque en posición de intervenir en la gestión de crisis mundiales.

Francia fiel a su visión Gaulliste del mundo; busca ante la coyuntura actual utilizar nuevamente la disuasión, pero diplomática, a través del veto en el seno del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, lo cual tendría los mismos efectos devastadores - políticamente hablando - de una bomba atómica, en pocas palabras seria la muerte de la ONU. Paradójicamente, la decisión del veto está en las manos de Jacques Chirac, sobre quien se concentran seis expedientes judiciales - todos por corrupción - el mismo que invoca dentro de su país, las reglas constitucionales de separación de poderes, como excusa para negarse a comparecer ante los jueces, al estilo del líder de una potencia bananera.

En consecuencia, y dejando de lado la vital lucha antiterrorista, la opinión publica internacional cede terreno ante el antiamericanismo; sin querer ver que los EE.UU. no son un bloque homogéneo, ni cultural, ni político; ¿cómo odiar a una nación compuesta por lo básico de los pobres de Europa y más recientemente por los de América latina?. El antiamericanismo fatuo es pasional, no es producto de un razonamiento estratégico, no se trata de una ideología, sino de un discurso. El cual dio sus primeros pasos en el siglo XVIII, de la mano de personajes como Voltaire y de Baudelaire en el siglo XIX.

Hoy, el nada original movimiento altermundialización logra movilizar a unos 10 millones de manifestantes alrededor del mundo, sin que muchos se pregunten de la futilidad del discurso antiglobalización. Contrariamente a la demagogia terrorista, los ataques del 11-S no son la consecuencia de la miseria y el subdesarrollo; en los últimos 50 años el nivel de vida en América Latina y en Asia, ha subido a pesar de las crisis y bancarrotas, motivadas por la mala gestión interior y no a causa del libre juego de la economía mundial. Un continente realmente siniestrado hoy en día es Africa, pero la miseria de los africanos se debe mucho más a razones políticas que económicas y los países árabe-musulmanes, si bien padecen enormes diferencias, muchos de ellos están entre las naciones más ricas del planeta.

El antiamericanismo bajo la forma actual, no es otra cosa que una mezcla de viejos sueños aplastados por la caída del muro de Berlín y que sin querer estaría encontrando un paralelo con ese fascismo musulmán que propagan los islamistas; la aparición en escena de Ben Laden, compromete al movimiento altermundialización; en una carrera para ver quien arma mejor y más rápido con sus ideas al islamismo más fanático.

Convencido que los argumentos de los tiempos de Vietnam, hoy no se aplican para nada al enemigo de la multinacional terrorista, dado que los terroristas jamas negocian; considero que la protesta debe exigirle y hasta obligar; tanto aEuropa como los Estados Unidos, para que den a conocer la evolución de sus posiciones y su problemática, y en consecuencia el combate antiterrorista será dinámico, interactivo y efectivo.

www.uticaod.com Sat, Mar 8, 2003 By KRISTA SEYMOUR Observer-Dispatch

When Paula Skibdon arrived in Deansboro last September, her reaction was one familiar to natives of Upstate New York.

"They told me that I was going to New York, and I said, yeah, New York City!" Skibdon said. "My host parents sent a post card with a picture on it of this town, but I still thought it would be close to the city, with lots of places to walk. I didn't really know how small it was until I got here."

Having grown up in San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, the small-town lifestyle isn't the only adjustment Skibdon, 18, who attends Waterville High School, has endured as one of around 150 AFS Intercultural Program exchange students in New York state.

"It's so cold!" she said, fingering a postcard of a sun-drenched Costa Rican beach. "But I love being here because the experience is totally different than in my country."

Terrorist threats aimed at the United States didn't discourage Skibdon from spending the year away from home.

When deciding between New Zealand, Australia and the United States, her parents encouraged her to choose the United States.

"Even when I was applying, in the United States they were going through problems with Osama bin Laden and the bomb threat for the L.A. airport, but my parents still thought it would be safest here," Skibdon said.

This is a busy time of year for exchange programs.

AFS Intercultural Program is currently looking for host families for students like Skibdon and is also accepting applications from prospective students from around the world.

The Rotary Club organizes an exchange program that begins with a rigorous application program resulting in a scholarship for accepted students.

The Utica Rotary Club, the largest in the district for exchange partnership, is beginning the application process for students eyeing the 2004-05 school year.

For Vanessa Castillo, a Rotary exchange student from Venezuela, being placed in Utica was a welcome surprise.

"I was born in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and it was very dangerous there," said Castillo, age 18, who attends Whitesboro High School. "You couldn't go out at night. My mom went to school with me, and she even stayed with me in the classes because they steal kids from the schools there."

When she was 8, the family moved to Valenzia, a smaller city, after the family walked in on a robbery being carried out in their house.

"Nobody was hurt, but things like that happen all the time there," Castillo said.

The family feels safer in the smaller city, but, like other Venezeulans, still feel the dangers of kidnapping and violence.

"This was the dream of my life, to come to America," said Castillo, whose original trip to the U.S. was canceled after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. When another opportunity came to travel with Rotary, she gladly accepted, even though it meant leaving her college studies for a year.

"In the embassy, there are maybe 200 people every day trying to get a visa to come to America," she said. "You pay so much money and they give you an interview for maybe three minutes. Some people get it, some people don't. It's luck. So now my friends tell me that I'm lucky. I feel lucky."

While Skibdon and Castillo were surprised by small-town life, Benjamin Hoff, a Rotary exchange student from Bocholt, Germany, was prepared for it.

"People in Europe sometimes think that America is all like Hollywood, but I knew what to expect," said Hoff, who agreed to come to the U.S. after his other options, Canada, India and South Africa, were ruled out. "At first I didn't want to come to America because I know that it's such a big place, and it's easy to end up in some really small town in the middle of nowhere. Clinton is bigger than a lot of places I could have been sent, so I'm enjoying it here."

Hoff, 18, attends Clinton High School.

Both Castillo and Hoff are living with their second host families. Rotary exchange students transition between three host families during the school year to ensure that they experience different lifestyles practiced in the United States.

"Ben has been with our family since Nov. 23," said Barbara Beigel, Hoff's current host mother. "It's been great. Having him here for Christmas was fabulous."

AFS students stay with one family for the year, and Skibdon is more than happy with the arrangement.

"I've found a second family here," she said, gesturing toward the many photos of her host family that fill her bedroom. "They ask my opinion in family decisions, and they say that I'm part of the family. I even call them mom and dad."

Recent terrorist activity and continued diplomatic tensions throughout the world have limited exchange programs based in the United States.

"The exchanges usually go both ways, but that is changing," said Nicole Ollman, Northeast manager for AFS. "We do get a small number of students from Egypt, but we don't send students there. We are considering exchanging with Tunisia, but are holding off for now."

Groups help students visit foreign countries

Groups that place students around the world have different criteria, but they all try to make the best matches possible.

AFS is an exchange organization that is allowed to send students to a country without accepting a student in return. Scholarship-based organizations, such as the Rotary program, send students to countries and are expected to accept one in their place.

Scholarships and financial aid are available for AFS and groups like it, said Nicole Ollman, Northeast manager for AFS, but students willing to travel to countries not usually picked are more likely to receive financial aid.

Otherwise, they are expected to provide for their personal expenses, while the host family offers free room and board.

Ollman said that many host families opt to accept a tax deduction for this service.

Shawki Elgarhi, chairman of the Youth Exchange Committee for Utica Rotary, said they only exchange with countries that maintain positive diplomatic relations with the United States.

Benjamin Hoff and Vanessa Castillo are the only Rotary students currently living in the Utica area, but there are five American students from the area studying abroad.

The exchange is one to one, but because other countries hold academic years at varied times, the number of outbound students is not always equal to the number of inbound students.

In addition to receiving a stipend, Hoff and Castillo will join other Rotary students from all over the U.S. for a tour of the country upon completion of the academic year. Until then, they are enjoying winter in Utica.

Hoff, who snowboards in Germany, is happy with the continued snowfall that provides him with plenty of chances to practice his sport. Castillo has discovered skiing.

"In Venezeula, we don't have seasons, but the two parts of the year are hot and humid, or hot and dry," Castillo said. "I'd never seen snow before, but I really like it. I like the shape. Skiing was really hard, but then I took lessons, and I like it. You can fall down and it's still OK."

www.co2science.org Reference Freeland, H.J., Gatien, G., Huyer, A. and Smith, R.L.  2002.  Cold halocline in the northern California Current: An invasion of subarctic water.  Geophysical Research Letters 30: 10.1029/2002GL016663

What was done The authors analyzed water temperature and salinity measurements that were made at a number of depths over a period of several years along two lines emanating from central Oregon and Vancouver Island westward into the Pacific Ocean.

What was learned Subsurface waters in an approximate 100-meter-thick layer located between 30 and 150 meters depth off central Oregon were, in the words of the authors, "unexpectedly cool in July 2002."  Specifically, mid-depth temperatures over the outer continental shelf and upper slope were more than 0.5°C colder than the historical summer average calculated by Smith et al. (2001) for the period 1961-2000, which the authors say "might be cooler than a longer-term mean because the 1961-71 decade coincided with a cool phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (Mantua et al., 1997)."  At the most offshore station, in fact, the authors report "the upper halocline is >1°C colder than normal and about 0.5°C colder than any prior observation [our italics]."  In addition to being substantially cooler, the anomalous water was also considerably fresher; and the combined effects of these two phenomena made the water less spicy, as the authors describe it, so much so, in fact, that they refer to the intensity of the "spiciness anomaly" as "remarkable."

Along the line that runs from the mouth of Juan de Fuca Strait to Station Papa at 50°N, 145°W in the Gulf of Alaska -- which was sampled regularly between 1959 and 1981, but irregularly thereafter -- similar low spiciness was observed, and the authors say there is little doubt it is the same feature as that detected off the coast of central Oregon.  In this case, they report that "conditions in June 2002 [were] well outside the bounds of all previous experience [our italics]," and that "in summer 2001 the spiciness of this layer was already at the lower bound of previous experience."

What it means The authors say their data imply that "the waters off Vancouver Island and Oregon in July 2002 were displaced about 500 km south of their normal summer position."  Is this observation an indication the Pacific Ocean is beginning to experience a shift from what Chavez et al. (2003) call a "warm, sardine regime" to a "cool, anchovy regime"?  It is tempting to suggest that it is.  However, Freeland et al. caution against jumping to such a conclusion too quickly, saying there are no obvious signals of such a regime shift in several standard climate indices and that without evidence of a large-scale climate perturbation, the spiciness anomaly may simply be, well, anomalous.  Hence, although the pattern of Pacific Ocean regime shifts documented by Chavez et al. suggests that a change from warmer to cooler conditions is imminent, there is not yet sufficient climatic evidence to claim that it is indeed in process of occurring.

On the other hand, in reference to the 1976-77 regime shift in the Pacific, Chavez et al. note that "it took well over a decade to determine that a regime shift had occurred in the mid-1970s" and, hence, that "a regime or climate shift may even be best determined by monitoring marine organisms rather than climate," as suggested by Hare and Mantua (2000).  Enlarging on this concept, they cite several recent studies that appear to provide such evidence, including "a dramatic increase in ocean chlorophyll off California," which would appear to be a logical response to what the authors of the article we are reviewing describe as "an invasion of nutrient-rich Subarctic waters."

Other pertinent evidence cited by Chavez et al. includes "dramatic increases in baitfish (including northern anchovy) and salmon abundance off Oregon and Washington," as well as "increases in zooplankton abundance and changes in community structure from California to Oregon and British Columbia, with dramatic increases in northern or cooler species [our italics]."

Clearly, something dramatic is in the works; and it could well be a return to cooler conditions in the Pacific.  Biological and climatic studies over the next few years should enlighten us considerably on this point, as well as what such a regime shift would portend for the global warming debate.

References Chavez, F.P., Ryan, J., Lluch-Cota, S.E. and Niquen C., M.  2003.  From anchovies to sardines and back: multidecadal change in the Pacific Ocean.  Science 299: 217-221.

Hare, S.R. and Mantua, N.J.  2000.  Empirical evidence for North Pacific regime shifts in 1977 and 1989.  Progress in Oceanography 47: 103-145.

Mantua, N.J., Hare, S.R., Zhang, Y., Wallace, J.M. and Francis, R.C.  1997.  A Pacific interdecadal climate oscillation with impacts on salmon production.  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 78: 1069-1079.

Smith, R.L., Huyer, A. and Fleischbein, J.  2001.  The coastal ocean off Oregon from 1961 to 2000: Is there evidence of climate change or only of Los Niños?  Progress in Oceanography 49: 63-93.

www.avionnewspaper.com Crystal Schneider Staff Reporter

The name of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University echoed in the Halls of Harvard University as delegates from the ERAU Model UN team received awards among over 2,500 of the best Political Science, Pre-Law and International Relations majors in the world.

Last weekend, the Model United Nations team led by Dr. Glenn Dorn, participated and excelled in one of the world’s largest, most difficult and prestigious academic competitions, the Model United Nations conferences at Harvard University.

ERAU Students represented the nation of Armenia and were among the strongest delegates in they eyes of judges. Most of ERAU’s delegates held positions within the General Assembly.

Thomas Tanner III and Mark Smalley, debating arms reduction of tactical nuclear weapons in the Disarmament and International Security council, a very difficult committee and controversial issue, were active in drafting several resolutions and critiquing weaker ones.

Denny Henry and Kevin Feather discussed globalization and cultural imperialism in the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural committee. Kevin worked hard to bring consensus on one of the most controversial issues being debated in the world community today. He was a key player in the drafting of a resolution and brought the entire committee to consensus and success in resolving the issue.

Stephanie Phelps, examining state sponsored terrorism in the Special Political and Decolonization committee, showed outstanding leadership, not only in her committee but while working with newer members in their committees as well. Andrew Wittstrom also participated and excelled in this committee.

Judy Nash, in the Legal Committee debated the topic of illicit global financial activity. She was active and contributed significantly in the nuanced language of a resolution in a committee that demands precision.

First time member Brian Smith performed well on the topic of infectious disease within the World Health Organization. With only two weeks to prepare for this conference, it was immediately evident that he would be an asset to the team after only a short time.

In the specialized agencies, Head Delegate Jessica Johnson dealt with the crisis of corruption of Asia in the Economic and Social commission for Asia and the Pacific. Jessica is one of the strongest delegates from ERAU and at only her second conference was delivering excellent speeches and providing leadership and guidance to her committee.

Crystal Schneider aided in bridging the digital divide in the World Summit on the Information Society.

“Dominating her committee,” Dorn said, “Crystal had an all around exceptional performance, creating a strong resolution and exposing the flaws in others. Every speech was strong and well delivered.”

Her winning of an Outstanding Delegate award at Harvard National Model United Nations, after only having participated in one other college level conference was proof that this was one of the strongest delegations the school has ever sent to competition.

“I can’t underestimate the significance of an Embry-Riddle student winning an award in this conference. Two people that won this award when I was in college are now 3rd and 4th level state department officials at the age of 35. The best at this competition are the best in the country and among the finest in the world,” said Dr. Dorn in response to the team winning this award.

Preparation for this event includes months and in some cases even years of an intensive study regime of in-depth research on the policy, current events and history of every nation in the world. The participants go through rigorous training on political debate and parliamentary procedure.

All of this paid off however, as students from Embry-Riddle did as well as, and in many cases outperformed some of the top schools in the field. Among these were schools such as Yale University, West Point Military Academy, University of Pennsylvania, Pace University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the United States Coast Guard Academy, and George Washington University. Schools participating from outside the United States included universities from countries such as China, Venezuela, England, Canada, Mexico and Denmark.

This group of motivated and driven students gave up five days out of busy engineering, pilot and ROTC schedules to compete in the arena of experts in a field opposite to their own. They spent 20 plus hours in committee sessions and countless more during lunch and late nights drafting resolutions and working papers or doing last minute research.

Dr. Dorn said, “Model United Nations is the training ground for future leaders of the world, students who will one day be running nations. Most of these students train for years and this conference is the proving ground for their careers.”

“It is a tribute to the students at Embry-Riddle that pilots and engineers can compete, let alone take home awards,” says Secretary General Jessica Johnson. Many of the delegates reported that almost everyone at the conference was surprised to see them there, let alone doing well at something they spend their college careers training for.

The attendance and performance would not have been possible but for the support and efforts of many. The ERAU Model U.N. thanks Chancellor Price, the Campus Council, and the Annual Fund for their financial support, which made it possible for ERAUMUN to represent Embry-Riddle at such a prestigious and internationally recognized event.

The team would also like to extend their appreciation for the efforts of Suzanne Spurgeon, Roderick Clark, and Dr. Glenn Dorn, without which the success of the delegation would not have been possible.

Finally, the hard work and countless hours of preparation put in by the delegates must be recognized.

“They truly performed above and beyond all hopes or expectations considering illness and injury.” Says Stephanie Phelps who single handedly organized and coordinated almost every stage of this trip.

In the words of the Under-Secretary General, Judy Nash: “We went, we learned a lot, and we kicked Yale’s butt (at least in Crystal’s committee).” And let no one forget, as Brian Smith pointed out: “We’re engineers!”

© 2002 The Avion Terms and Conditions

www.caller.com By Janell Ross Caller-Times February 25, 2003

Enyely C. Pachas receives reading help Monday from Carolina Guerrero. Pachas and two other Venezuelans received scholarships from the Pan American Round Tables of Texas.

When Enyely Pachas, a second-year hotel-motel management major at Del Mar College, sits down to work at one of the school's computer stations she looks a lot like the 15 other students in the room.

But until a Monday afternoon scholarship ceremony, Pachas was one of a small group of Del Mar College students caught in the middle of a political and economic crisis in Venezuela, her home country.

"I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am for this help," Pachas said. "If I didn't have some kind of support soon, I could not be here."

A general strike in Venezuela, which officially began Dec. 2 and ended Feb. 4, aimed at forcing the country's president to call for new elections, thrust the country into economic turmoil. Despite the end of the strike, many bank accounts are frozen to prevent bank runs and many Venezuelans have lost their jobs. And there is no gasoline to get people to the few remaining jobs.

Pachas, along with fellow Venezuelans Ingrid Merrick and Natasha De Campos, were granted emergency scholarships, totaling $4,800, from the local membership of the Pan American Round Tables of Texas. The scholarships will cover the cost of each woman's tuition this semester.

Pan American Round Tables is a non-profit organization founded in 1944 by women wanting to encourage people living in every part of the American continent to better understand one another.

"With this help, I fell like I can breathe again," De Campos said Monday at a press conference at Del Mar. "Like I can think again."

The three women, in their 20s, had been able to finance their studies at Del Mar with campus work-study jobs, savings and family assistance until late last year.

"The people in my country, they want to work," said Pachas. "But, we are also a democratic people who want to live under a democratic government. So people are willing to make incredible sacrifices."

For Pachas' family, the strike has meant that her mother's Venezuelan school uniform and decoration company has no new orders to fill, no workers and no income.

For Merrick, Venezuela's woes have meant that her mother, who teaches Spanish literature, and father, who is a contractor, have been utterly unable to send her any money since December. In fact, when Merrick tried to return to Venezuela to look for work, her older sister called and asked her not to come home.

The family could not scrape together enough money to buy enough gas to get the family's car from their Caracas home to the airport in the same city.

De Campos' situation is similar. Her mother's Caracas boutique has sold almost no merchandise for months and has been closed since early December.

Del Mar Development Office staff approached the Pan American Round Tables of Texas with the three women's stories.

While the group provides scholarships to Del Mar students each semester, the scholarships granted to the three Venezuelan women are the first round of emergency aid group members at Monday's ceremony can recall granting.

Contact Janell Ross at 886-3758 or rossj@caller.com