| Aquarium old, small ... just right
The little kids only want to see Nemo. They race past the clams, anemones, nautilus and octopus, and press their sticky fingers to the tank searching for the orange-and-white celebrity look-alike. When it darts from the coral, they shriek, "NEEEEEEEMO!" in ear-splitting unison, and their trip to the Waikiki Aquarium is, to them, a rousing success. So why do we need a Kaka'ako aquarium, again? The Waikiki Aquarium is small and old and just about perfect. Its brochures remind visitors that it is the third-oldest public aquarium in the United States, founded in 1904 which makes it old in a venerable, historic way, not old in a crusty tank, stinky hallway sort of way. Sure, some of the ulua orbiting the shark tank look a bit threadbare, but the grampas in their hanapa'a jackpot shirts gaze through pterygium-filled eyes and imagine hooking that big old bugga' with the help of the mo'opuna clinging to their legs.
Suspense At Woman's Sentencing
Mary Kuskey worked her way up from teller at Liberty Bank to regional manager. Along the way, she cared for a mentally handicapped sister, her aging parents and a son. She drew strength from her faith and siblings until several deaths and a painful breakup pushed her into depression.
Outwardly, she was still dependable Mary. But behind the small kindnesses, she was taking out fraudulent loans and stealing from her longtime employer. By the time Liberty Bank confronted her, the losses had reached $500,000. Last spring, Kuskey, 52, pleaded guilty to bank embezzlement in federal court, lifting the curtain on a double-life she'd led for eight years. On Tuesday, she was back before U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney for sentencing.
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Ivins' column brought laughter
Jan. 31 was a fairly nice day in the morning. It was cold, but not windy, and the sun was shining. It was the day I deliver Meals on Wheels to mostly older, handicapped people. Before driving into Camden to pick up my route meals, I had breakfast, perused the newspaper briefly and checked the TV for news and the weather report. The news, when it's local, is usually interesting because it relates to me in a general way. The national and world news has been sullen, scary and infuriating for the past six years, coincidentally the time that President Bush moved into the White House with his Svengalian sidekick, Vice President Dick Cheney. Arrogant They, along with the third member of their triumverate, former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, have been assiduously dismantling the old nostalgic image of America as friendly stalwart Uncle Sam and replacing him with the pin-striped, pot-bellied, arrogant Wall Street icon, the robber baron.
A Wheelchair That Reads Your Mind
Spanish scientists have begun work on a new brain-computer interface, or BCI, capable of converting thought into commands that a wheelchair can execute... The Spanish researchers hope to develop a small, mobile interface that works with electroencephalogram electrodes, or EEG, placed on the scalp. "We are planning to use non-invasive devices to record the rhythms from the surface of the skull," says Javier Minguez, a researcher at the University of Zaragoza in Spain. "We also plan to use this system with a school for disabled children that we collaborate with and (we) prefer to use non-invasive techniques with these children." ...While EEGs have a reputation for providing very crude signals, advances in decoding algorithms yield patterns that are precise enough to control the movements of a wheelchair.
Race, income to be considered in UW admissions
University of Wisconsin System regents voted Friday to adopt a new freshman admissions policy that requires officials to consider nonacademic factors such as race and income to increase diversity. The regents voted 16-0 during a meeting in Madison to adopt the policy, which has already prompted a backlash from some conservatives in the Legislature and is expected to be challenged in court. The policy says the system's 13 four-year universities and 13 two-year colleges will first consider academic factors - from the quality of high school courses to grades and test scores. But admissions counselors also will consider applicants' life experiences, special talents and whether they come from low-income families or are members of historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups.
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