Room 613 Student Blogs - 2005/2006

Just recently a young woman of only 28 years old at the time of her death was killed in Iraq. People say she was far better known in iraq because of her establishment in being fearless and to succeed on her task to draw attention to civilians who have been killed or wounded in Afghanastan and Iraq. about two years ago she set up a organization called the campaign for ” victims of conflict”. Patrick leahy a D-VT as a result of her lobbying pursuaded congress to approve a $20 million compensation to help wounded civilians of this conflict. it was very painful for many people in both countries to think back to the tragic road bomb that took her out of their lives. the us military refuses to tally any deaths and most go unnamed. Yet almost everyday there are one or more people killed assassinated, or kidnaped . these are rarley reported yet they affect the lives of the victims families.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0405/223107.html

Two stars were surprisingly kicked out of the Milky Way! These stars are of a new type of object astromoners have said to be “exiles”. These are stars that were once part of a binary system that moved too close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The pair was torn apart, and the star was triggered off on a tragectory that will take it out of our galaxy. These events happen every 100,000 years (we were pretty lucky).

President Mwai Kibaki’s government had spent $12.2 million on brand new SUV’s. Nearly half of this amount was used to buy fifty-seven Mercedes Benz and the rest of the government had gotten four-wheel-drive SUV’s. Even when this happened, about 32 million could not afford a good meal. What happened was that after three years of horrible rains, Kenyans were almost at the point of starvation. “The part that’s annoying is that they’ve come in on a platform of change, but they have shown the same extravagance, the same disrespect of the people as the previous regime,” Maina Kiai, the chairman of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, said.

My resource was www.cnn.com quote from cnn too

The horse olympics are very fun to enjoy watching and going to them! I have only watched the olympics on tv I have never really have gone to the olympics but I really want to some time. They are really cool. The riders need to have a lot of stength to ride in the olympic games. A lot of the olympics are in greece and that is where I saw them. the only olympics I have really known about were the jumping olympics. But there are dressage olympics and enderance and lots more. The next olympics will be held in august this year. THe offical Name for the riding olympics is the equestrian events.The pictures below is of jumping olympics! This is the cource for the olympics last year!!

It sure take a lot of effort to jump all thoughs tramendisly high jumps!! Picture Below

But sometimes you fall off!! Picture below

So stay up and running and do your best. And jump like you have never jumped before!!! Picture below

By: ~Ali R.~

Bob Woodruff and James Vogt are newsmen for World News Tonight and they were both injured by a bomb that went off on a roadside in Iraq. They were both there to cover the news of the war and they were riding in an armored vehicle when the bomb went off. The men were in the hospital in Iraq, then moved to a military hospital in Germany and now they are in the United States but still in a hospital and still seriously injured.

The two newsmen had been traveling in a United States Military Humvee but then they saw Iraqi soldiers in armored vehicles and the men asked the U.S. soldiers if they could travel with the Iraqi soldiers. The American soldiers hesitated but then they agreed and only 10 minutes later, the men were blown up in the bomb.

This is an example of the dangers that are killing soldiers and civilians in Iraq. The military reports that the roadside bombs in some areas are numerous because there were lots of them made in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was in power. The bombs are left over and are still active. No one knows where the bombs are and they blow up unexpectedly. there is no time to react because these are sudden and powerful explosions.

Over the past year, a group of astronomers (who are scientists that major in the study of space) called “planet hunters” have found numerous Earthlike planets outside the Milky Way Galaxy.

One of which was discovered around June 15, 2005 and it is similar to Earth in several ways. It is referred to as “Super-Earth” because it is 7.5 times larger than Earth and it doesn’t have an official name at the present time. This planet has a star about one-third the size of our sun it revolves around called Gliese 876. According to National Geographic, it is the “smallest known star to host orbiting planets”. “Super-Earth is most likely never going to have any tourists of any species due to it’s rocky and arid climate that can reach temperatures that are well over 500 degrees Fahrenheit! This newly discoverd planet has a 48 hour long year because it is very close to Gliese 876, so it can orbit the star faster. In addition to being called “Super-Earth”, it has also been called “Earth’s bigger cousin” by Paul Butler,who is an astronomer at Carnegie Institution of Washington D.C.

Well, for now we live on the only inhabited “Earth” that we know of. Who knows,maybe Earth doesn’t just have a “cousin” , maybe it has a whole “family” of planets that are just waiting to be discovered in our continues, infinite universe. If you want to learn more about “Super-Earth” then check out the site below..

 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0615_050615_planet.html   

With a smile on her face Michelle Kwan stepped onto the ice at her home rink in front of a panel of judges. These judges would decide if she would go to the 2006 Olympics or not. Michelle Kwan performed, the judges would take a 45 minute break to make their decision. The decision was yes, Bob Horen chairman of U.S. Figure Skating said “It is truly the opinion of the monitoring team that Michelle could win the Olympics!” Michelle will skate with recent national event winner Sasha Cohen, and 16 year old Kimme Meissner on the U.S. Team.

In London, England, the threat of climate change might be a lot worse than everyone first thought. Scientists have recently reported changes in global warming, and it is advancing to melt ice caps.

The UK government- commission report found evidence that says scientists now have “greater clarity and reduced uncertainty” about the problematic impacts of a change in climate. This evidence was presented at a Meteorological Office conference on climate change last year. Tony Blair, in the meeting, stated that it was clear that “risks of climate change may be greater than we thought”. He went on to write: “It is now plain that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialization and economic growth from a world population that has increased six-fold in 200 years, is causing global warming at a rate that is unsustainable”.

“Temperatures rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the 20th century. Computer modeling predicts increases of between 2.5 degrees and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees Celsius) by the year 2100, depending on how much is done to limit greenhouse gas emissions” the U.N. backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claimed. These scientists expected that global warming will intensify storms, raise ocean levels, shift climate zones, and spread disease. Scientists are also concerned about the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melting and the Gulf Stream shutting down. These are known to the scientists as climatic “tipping points”.

Other problems have also occurred, one British report warned that the huge west Antarctic ice sheet may be starting to disintegrate, an event that could raise sea levels by 16 feet! Clearly, there is a real concern amongst a growing number of scientists worldwide!

For more World News go to cnn.com. Just Click here.

A deadly strain of bird flu was detected in Northern Cyprus. The deadly H5N1 strain of Avain flu has been confirmed in a dead bird. Cyprus began killing free roaming poultry and disinfecting vehicles coming in from the Turkish areas. Hong Kong has also found birds that tested positive for the H5N1 strain. The bird flu has killed 81 people since 2003. The world health organization estimates this virus, or one similiar, could target humans. If this happens it could spread around the world in 3 months killing 2 to 7.4 million humans. It’s like the last flu pandemic called the Spanish flu. It occured at the end of World War 1 killing 50 million people around the world. Some doctors and scientists believe this is why the government should be making a vaccine to combat this virus when it becomes necessary. This info is from google news [bird flu]

Imagine this, you’re in an exhibition hall in Poland and there is snow on the roof. Suddenly, because of the weight of 1 foot of snow, the roof collapses and you’re buried under metal and snow. Well, that is exactly what happened to about 500 people on Saturday in Katowice, Poland. Somewhere around 160 people are injured and 62 are confirmed dead. Of the 59 corpses that have been identified, 7 were foreigners. A search for bodies using dogs trained to find corpses failed and officials have basically given up hope for finding more survivors. A new law is being discussed that will compel large building owners to remove ice and snow from their roofs. Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewica states that “The changes in the law will be based on raising penalties, including the closure of buildings whose roofs are not cleared of ice or snow.” I think that the new law should go thorough in order to keep people safe. Don’t you?

For more information, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5581549,00.html

The Bird Flu is a deadly disease to all birds and the bird population. Right now the disease is in Asia and Europe. It’s interesting but in 2003 Asia had the Bird Flu as well, sweeping out the poultry and wild bird population. Now the Bird Flu is back and the United States is doing reserch to help our people and birds in need. Ron DeHaven of Animal and Plant Health Inspection service says “We’re going to increase surveillance of migratory birds because we know that is a potential pathway”. Animal and Plant Health Inspection think that migrating birds are spreading the Flu and they’re going to be studing and testing them to see if it’s true. They will also be testing commercial poultry so that they might be able to find a cure.The testing cost a good amount of money; wild birds cost between $35 to $80 and commercial poultry cost between $30 to $35. Testing can cost a lot of money especialy with a lot of birds. Well the the Bush fondation asked congress for $91 million to put towards monitoring wild birds, vaccines for poultry, and to come together with other countries to help our birds survive this awful desease. By Maya K.

On February 10^th the Olympics will officially start in Turin, Italy. In just 17 days 84 medals will be given out to many athletes. Whether its biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, luge, ice skating, or snow boarding, only one will receive the gold. These games are not in only one spot. They occur in eight others, Bardonecchia, Pinerolo, Pragelato, Cesana-Pariol, Cesana-San Sicario, Sauze d’Oulx, Sestriere, and Torino followed by Claviere and Torre Pellice, the two training centers. Now that you know where it will take place and what you will see, lets move on to the judges. There will be 650 judges and referee’s. 10,000 journalists and media operators will be there to ketch every game. Back then the Olympics were nothing what you thought they were. They were only one day until 684 B.C. That’s when it extended to three days. But as the 5^th Century B.C. came along, the Olympics moved its way to five days. What you would watch was, running, long jump, shot put, javelin, boxing, pankration and equestrian events. Men could participate and watch the games. But not all women could go see these games. Some of the women did not like this segregation and would dress up as men to watch the games. If they were ever to be found they would be thrown off the Mountain of Typaion. As listed in the rules. There were also regulations. 14 articles in the regulations had an article on corruption. If a judge or opponent made a corruption, they would serve their punishment by being whipped.

Well there you have it. All you need to know about the Winter Olympics is taken care of. Now all you have to do is watch them for yourself!

For more information on the 2006 Winter Olympics,

go to: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/winter-olympics-turino-preview.html or http://www.sportsline.com/olympics/winter/

Credit to ‘Columbia Crossroads’

Well not exactly; But the skull of a 135 million year old sea monster was found. Scientists discovered this large fossil in southern Argentina in an area that was once part of the Pacific Ocean. The creature’s name is Dakosaurus Andiniensi (its nickname is Godzilla) and is a whole new species of ancient crocodilians, but unlike today’s crocodiles “Godzilla” lived entirely in water. The creature was measured 13 feet from nose to tail. “Godzilla” does not have feet but four flippers and a fish like tail to move threw the water. Something that makes this mighty beast stand out is it’s snout. Most crocodiles have a long snout with sharp, identical teeth, but “Godzilla” has a short high snout with jagged teeth. These traits lead scientists to what it ate. “Godzilla” ate large marine reptiles and other sea creatures. But don’t worry Tokyo this ones in South America.

Ref:Photo and story from National Geographic for Kids

Can you believe that on January 28 an earthquake stuck Eastern Indonesia? Well at 1:58 a.m it hit the Banda sea in Eastern Indonesia. The earthquake had a 7.7 magnitude,but a depth of 212 miles which made the impact less on the Earth’s surface. Even though you may think that this earthquake caused lots of damage it didn’t and there is no chance that a tsunami would occure.”Although it was quite strong, it was deep, so the possibility of casualties and damage is relatively small,” Yusuf, an official at the national earthquake center in Jakarta, told Reuters on Saturday. Earthquakes are common in Indonesia and its 17,000 thousand islands are located around the Pacific ring of fire,so that is why there are so many earthquakes! Now you know about the earthquake in Eastern Indonesia.

Ref:http://www.metronews.ca/reuters_international.asp?id=125629

A penguin named Toga has been stolen from the Amazon World Zoo.The Mother and Father of Toga are Kyala and Oscar, had laid an egg, It had hatched and then they were living happily togther, that is untill Toga the offspring was stolen from the zoo. The police figure that someone stole the penguin for a “present” for someone. After that Kyala and Oscar missed Toga alot and It showed but eventually they moved on and suprisingly they started to build a new nest and the staff of the zoo, were hoping that Kyala would lay another egg. She did lay an egg and It is supposed to hatch somewhere around 40 days. Even though everyone wishes that Toga will return, It’s still wonderful news that a new offspring is on the way. Kath Bright, the zoo manager, said yesterday: “This is fantastic. Kyala and Oscar seem a happy pair of penguins and we are keeping our fingers crossed”. Please hope the best for Toga and the new baby penguin coming!-SaraH.