UC Merced research project examines South Dos Palos

No jobs, a lack of infrastructure, a delay in fire and law enforcement response and many loose dogs roaming the streets.

Those are among the findings from a research project aimed at gathering information on one of the poorest communities in Merced County.

The needs and challenges of the small unincorporated rural town of South Dos Palos mirror those of other small rural communities in the Central Valley.

South Dos Palos is a community with one of the widest disparities of poverty, said Robin DeLugan, a professor at UC Merced, who led the research, which will be a part of a bigger project. DeLugan said the project confirmed what she and others already knew.

However, there wasn't concrete information using statistics and percentages about the community's specific needs to really represent what's going on, she said.

This project intended to do just that.

"We were waiting for an opportunity to show where research can make a difference," she said.

Talking with residents

Last spring, a group of 30 undergraduate students went door-to-door to try to get information from residents about local conditions. DeLugan said they were able to get information from about 215 households, which represents about 70 percent of the occupied homes in South Dos Palos.

Some of the information was about public safety, how long residents have to travel for groceries and medical services and what they like or dislike about their community. "We are hoping the information becomes useful in shedding light on the community," DeLugan said.

The data can be used for grant writing to help improve the community. "Those are our goals with the data that we collected," DeLugan said.

Some of the problems indicated by residents aren't so hard to solve. For example, one safety issue was an excess of loose dogs, which can be addressed, she said.

Students spent last fall analyzing the data. On Sunday, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., there will be an exhibit of their work at the UC Merced Kolligian Library, Room 355.

The next step will be to disseminate information to the residents and get them involved in making changes.

A portion of the survey used for South Dos Palos residents will be used in other rural unincorporated communities in the Central Valley, which will bring opportunities for comparison, DeLugan said.

DeLugan and her team, along with such other organizations as the Community University Research and Action for Justice, California Rural Legal Assistance and PolicyLink, began to work with the George Washington Carver Center board members to collect the data. The Carver Center is a community center in Dos Palos.

Reporter Yesenia Amaro can be reached at (209) 385-2482 or yamaro@mercedsunstar.com.

Source: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/01/26/2207369/uc-merced-research-project-examines.html

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Will Sunscreen Protect You From the Solar Flares? (SPACE.com)

An explosion in the sun's atmosphere called a "solar flare" sent a huge burst of matter and energy hurtling into space Monday (Jan. 23), and some of the material is now raining down upon Earth. Solar flares are difficult to predict, but they often come in clusters, so more floods of solar radiation are likely to hit Earth soon.

During another recent period of extreme solar activity, Kobus Olckers, a forecaster at the South African Space Weather Office in Cape Town, advised members of the public to avoid going outside and to wear high-SPF sunscreen if they do. But will some SPF 45 really protect you from the extra radiation?

Yes ? sunscreen will block the radiation. But there isn't actually that much extra to worry about.

"Ultraviolet radiation from the sun briefly goes up by factors of thousands during solar flares," said Todd Hoeksema, a solar astronomer at Stanford University. "That's outside the Earth's atmosphere, though. The amount of UV radiation that gets to the ground is about the same as normal," Hoeksema told Life's Little Mysteries.

Most of the high-energy radiation coming from the sun during a solar flare gets absorbed by our atmosphere. "UV light is very energetic so it interacts with the atmosphere , breaking molecules apart and ionizing atoms. As it goes though the air, more and more gets absorbed. Most of it gets absorbed 80 or 100 miles above us," he said.

The extra UV light that does make it through the atmosphere ? and onto your skin ? isn't enough to worry about, Hoeksema said.? "The increase in the amount of UV on the ground is minimal."

These radiation showers are actually fairly common, happening a few times a year during the active part of the sun's 11-year cycle. And while they pose no real risk to Earth-bound humans, the high-velocity protons , gamma rays,? X-rays and other types of ionizing radiation they eject can be hazardous to astronauts in orbit. (In case you're wondering, sunscreen won't block high-velocity protons or the like.)

The normal daily influx of UV light is the real concern. "What matters is the cumulative dose of UV radiation you get, not a small increase here and there," Hoeksema said. Regular exposure to UV radiation causes genetic mutations to occur in skin cells that can lead to skin cancer. "Since the effect is cumulative,? he said, ?I think that people should wear sunscreen all the time."

This story was provided by Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to SPACE.com. Got a question? nattyover.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120125/sc_space/willsunscreenprotectyoufromthesolarflares

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?What Can We Get Away With?? (Theagitator)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/191871187?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Stock index futures signal mixed Wall Street open (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, the Dow Jones futures down 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.6 percent.

The U.S. Federal Reserve looks set to keep monetary policy on hold on Wednesday, even as it releases forecasts expected to show interest rates will be near zero for at least two more years.

Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) is offering $5.7 billion in cash to buy U.S. gene sequencing company Illumina Inc (ILMN.O) in a hostile takeover bid that marks a major play by the Swiss drugmaker into the gene technology field.

Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) quarterly results blew past Wall Street's expectations after U.S. consumers snapped up near-unprecedented numbers of iPhones and iPads, sending its shares up 8 percent into record territory. Apple shares listed in Frankfurt (AAPL.F) rose 6.6 percent.

U.S. President Barack Obama used his last State of the Union speech before the November election to paint himself as the champion of the middle class, by demanding higher taxes for millionaires and tight reins on Wall Street.

The Mortgage Bankers Association releases at 7 a.m. ET Weekly Mortgage Market Index for the week ended January 20, versus the prior week. The mortgage market index read 816.1 and the refinancing index was 4,500.6 in the previous week.

National Association of Realtors issues at 10 a.m. ET Pending Home Sales for December. Economists expect a 1.0 percent fall compared with a 7.3 percent rise in the previous month.

Nordic budget carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle (NWC.OL) ordered 222 narrow-body aircraft worth a total of $21.5 billion at list prices on Wednesday. It split its order between Boeing Corp (BA.N) and Airbus, part of EADS (EAD.PA).

U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) resumed work on Wednesday at its $15.7 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea, a spokeswoman said, a day after a landslide swept through two nearby villages killing at least four people.

United Technologies (UTX.N) announces results, which Wall Street expects will show profit rose to $1.46 per share from $1.31 per share. Textron (TXT.L) , the world's top maker of corporate aircraft, is expected to post a 3 percent rise in earnings, factoring out one-time items.

Boeing (BA.N), the world's largest aerospace and defense company, is set to report a sharp decline in fourth-quarter profit. Other companies announcing results include Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N), Automatic Data Processing (ADP.O) and Xerox (XRX.N).

European shares (.FTEU3) fell 0.6 percent on Wednesday, weighed by the tech sector after a sharp post-results decline for mobile telecoms network gear maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST).

U.S. stocks edged lower on Tuesday, ending a five-day rally for the S&P 500 (.SPX), as talks to resolve Greece's debt crisis hit a snag and earnings from a number of blue-chips disappointed investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) finished down 33.07 points, or 0.26 percent, at 12,675.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1.37 points, or 0.10 percent, at 1,314.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) rose 2.47 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,786.64.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Erica Billingham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Ind. House Dems return in right-to-work battle (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? Indiana Democrats planned to end their off-and-on boycott of the state House Wednesday in a move that could open the way for Republicans to call a final vote on the divisive right-to-work legislation that prompted the walkout.

Democrats will attend the House's 1:30 p.m. session, but have not yet decided if they will stick around if Republicans call for a final vote on the right-to-work bill, said Democratic Rep. Linda Lawson, a member of Democratic House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer's leadership team.

Most House Democrats have been staying away since the start of the 2012 session, denying Republicans a quorum to vote on plans to make Indiana the 23rd state that bans unions from collecting mandatory representation fees.

Republicans have levied $4,000 in fines against each of the boycotting Democrats thus far, although an ongoing legal challenge has blocked them from collecting those penalties.

By boycotting eight out of the 14 days the House has met this year, Democrats have also created a backlog of other priorities, such as a proposed statewide smoking ban and a plan to crack down on human sex-trafficking before the Super Bowl kicks off in Indianapolis Feb. 5.

Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma has said he plans to work on other measures that have been backlogged in the House before taking a final vote on right-to-work. Sticking to that schedule could give the returning Democrats another chance to block the measure.

Bosma spokeswoman Tory Flynn said Wednesday he plans to stick to that schedule.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_us/us_indiana_right_to_work

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Are Some Science Stories Inevitably Political?

RALEIGH, N.C.?Does writing about climate change or childhood vaccinations necessarily mean you?ve got an agenda? That?s one of the questions tackled at last week?s ScienceOnline 2012 meeting, a gathering of some 450 scientists, bloggers, scientist-bloggers, journalists and other communicators on the campus of North Carolina State University.

In this particular session, ?You Got Your Politics in My Science,? attendees related their experiences and their approaches to dealing with perceived advocacy and reactive attacks. Everyone realizes that both scientists and journalists strive for impartiality. Yet certain hot-button topics invite scrutiny. Heather Goldstone, who reports for a public-radio affiliate and hosts Climatetide.org, mentioned that whenever she wrote about climate change or evolution, she was asked if she?s advocating for something, even by her editors.

Science communicators often feel that the facts should speak for themselves. But public-relations firms practice ?strategic communications? for a reason: framing and spin work. David Wescott, who writes the It?s Not a Lecture blog, cited the name change of the private military contractor Blackwater to Academi and the reference to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as ?Obamacare? by opponents. Indeed, business history is full of such moves?how many people recognize that the Altria Group was formerly known as Philip Morris?

But even a nicely framed story would do little to change minds if the message isn?t properly targeted. People who have found their way to the fringe are unlikely to respond to persuasion going the other way. Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus (Simon & Shuster, 2011), which explored the autism fear of childhood vaccines, mentioned he wouldn?t bother writing about celebrity anti-vaccinationist Jenny McCarthy as it wouldn?t advance the story anymore. Of course, if McCarthy gets her own talk show, the vaccine-autism controversy could reenter the public discourse in a big way, demanding responses from more knowledgeable sources.

Instead, the attendees talked about reaching the unconvinced and finding the ?bridge? audience. Mommy bloggers, for instance, are a good group to reach out to for dispelling myths about vaccines. One attendee mentioned trips to pharmaceutical labs as a means of demystifying the industry. The question then came up about who the ?mommy bloggers? are for climate change, evolution and science literacy.

In terms of the climate change issue, the group discussed how contrarians have adopted some of the strategies of the tobacco industry. Big tobacco tried to cast doubt on the science showing the dangers of nicotine use as one way to preserve its hegemony.

Such attacks are not surprising. After all, science is all about change, but change inevitably threatens entrenched interests. (For counterpoints to climate change skeptics, see ?Seven Answers to Climate Contrarian Nonsense.?) In the end, divorcing science from politics may simply be an unrealistic goal.? As moderator John Timmer neatly summed up, if you communicate science at all, you?re an advocate.

See a video of the hour-long session here (very little action?think of it as a podcast):

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=a4a9aa1f13b61fbbe0edab638fc16c06

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Bachelor Ben Flajnik Picks Up Swag at Sundance Film Festival (omg!)

-- Bachelor Ben Flajnik picking up items from Vice Merchants and Sean John at the Talent Resources Suites while listening to Silver Medallion and Mick Boogie deejay during the Sundance Film Festival.

-- Octavia Spencer hanging at Goodnight Gansevoort sponsored by Voli Light Vodka in Park City, Utah.

-- Shailene Woodley listening to live performances at Bing Bar in Park City, Utah.

-- Jordin Sparks celebrating fashion designer Indashio?s birthday at STASH in NYC.?

-- Common performing for an intimate crowd at the official "Luv" After Party hosted by Express at Sugar Lounge in Park City, Utah.

-- Zach Booth sporting his new Superdry USA Regiment Coat on the streets of Park City, Utah.

-- Eliza Dushku checking out the Monster Booth during CES in Las Vegas.

-- Nick Lachey and Rashida Jones stopping by to celebrate the birthday of Chris Masterson and the one year anniversary of Table Manners at Gen Art's Bertolli Meal Soup Chalet in Park City, Utah.

VIDEO: Why Nick and Vanessa wrote their own vows

-- Jason Mraz and Ryan Kwanten getting pampered at the Paul Mitchell MITCH Grooming Bar at the RE:Treat lounge at Sundance.

-- Ashley Greene having her hair styled by Ted Gibson at The Residences at W Fort Lauderdale for the opening of his new salon, then joining her for dinner at Steak 954.

-- Elizabeth Banks talking with friends at a special Blackberry-sponsored Cinema Society party for Haywire at Sons of Essex.

PHOTOS: Get a sneak peek of Elizabeth in The Hunger Games

-- Henry Cavill enjoying a night out with friends hitting up dinner at Katana before throwing back some drinks at Station Hollywood in L.A.

-- Julia Stiles and boyfriend David Harbour reading some books poolside in a cabana at St. Regis Punta Mita Resort in Mexico.

-- Lil' Jon taking shots of Don Julio tequila at his 40th birthday celebration at SL in NYC.

-- Kathy Griffin enjoying a night in with friends while staying at The James Hotel Chicago.

VIDEO: Kathy sets her sights on Justin Bieber

-- Ingrid Michaelson celebrating the release of her new CD, Human Again, with a sold-out performance at Joe's Pub in NYC.

-- Christina Hendricks and her hubby Geoffrey Arend challenging each other in a video game fan at the Nintendo 3DS Experience at Sundance in Park City, Utah.

-- Hugh Jackman enjoying a family night out with pork belly lettuce wraps and samba rolls at SUSHISAMBA 7 in NYC.

-- Elizabeth Olsen picking out a stunning turquoise IceLink six time zone watches -- she also scored a pair of Ryka sneakers at the Element House in Park City, Utah.

-- Kate Bosworth visiting the PUMA Social Lounge at The T-Mobile Google Music Village at the Lift and signing a ping pong table which will be auctioned off to benefit The Boys and Girls Club in Park City, Utah.

-- Meg Ryan and John Mellencamp enjoying a date night at the Palm Steakhouse in Atlanta.

-- Ice-T watching his wife Coco try on Carlo Pazolini shoes and snack on Udi's gluten free cookies at Miami Oasis in Park City, Utah.

VIDEO: Ice-T and Coco keep things hot with "jungle sex"

-- Nick Jonas grabbing a berries and cream shake at Energy Kitchen in NYC.

-- Gilles Marini and wife Carole getting a DNA facial at the Four Seasons Westlake Village in California.

-- AnnaLynne McCord getting her hair styled with UNITE hair products at the 901 Salon in Park City, Utah.

-- Ariel Winter getting her makeup done at Blushington Makeup & Beauty Lounge in West Hollywood.

-- Rufus Wainwright introducing excerpts from his new opera Prima Donna for the New York City Opera at Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum.

-- Emma Roberts and Elijah Wood partying at The Acura Studio for the premiere of Celeste and Jesse at the Sundance Film Festival.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_bachelor_ben_flajnik_picks_swag_sundance_film_festival211512850/44305645/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/bachelor-ben-flajnik-picks-swag-sundance-film-festival-211512850.html

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