On Risk Perception As It Relates To The 9/11 Casualties

This is a bit heavier subject than the topics I usually pick for a blog post. But I have an intrigue with rationales for modern human behavior and the "human condition" that relate back to our distant "hunter-gatherer" life as nomads and cave dwellers.

For just one example that directly affects me, there is a rationale for the "diabetes epidemic" that our body metabolism is adapted to high protein and fat - thus being used to low carbohydrates including sugars. The primitive diet was mostly game meat, nuts and berries, seeds, etc. The modern diet includes high carbohydrate potatoes, wheat, corn, rice, etc., that are adapted to efficient high-yield agriculture - and with palatability enhanced by techniques such as milling to flour and baking bread, tortillas, rice patties, and so on. As the scenario is painted, our metabolism has not adapted yet in the relatively short time (from an evolution standpoint) to a high-carbohydrate diet. Hence, metabolic regulation of blood glucose (think blood sugar) is inadequate for a large segment of the population. Hence for my own personal regimen as a person with diabetes, I achieve tighter blood glucose control by going on a low-carbohydrate diet.

Without further ado, I include an excerpt from a Skeptical Inquirer article relating to distorted risk perception following 9/11. The excerpt brings out factors related to our primitive past, and even fairly recent past, that are intriguing to me.
----------------------------------------
Skeptical Inquirer magazine : September/October 2002
http://www.csicop.org/si/2002-09/9-11.html
A Skeptical Look at September 11th
How We Can Defeat Terrorism by Reacting to It More Rationally
by Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris
"At the one-year anniversary, we examine reactions to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the context of other causes of premature deaths. An objective of terrorism is to multiply damage by inducing irrational fears in the broad population. One defense is to learn to evaluate such situations more objectively."

[Excerpt - in middle of article]
Death and Statistics
"It is a maxim that one needless or untimely death is one too many. So 20,000 victims should be 20,000 times worse. But our minds don't work that way." .................
[--------]
..........."To researchers in risk perception, this is natural human behavior. We are evolved from primitive nomads and cave dwellers who never knew, personally, more than the few hundred people in their locales. Until just a few generations ago, news from other lands arrived sporadically via sailors; most people lived and died within a few miles of where they were born. Tragedies invariably concerned a known, nearby person. With the globalization of communication, the world-not just our local valley-has entered our consciousness. But our brains haven't evolved to relate, personally, to each of 6 billion people. Only when the media singles out someone-perhaps an "average layperson" or maybe a tragic exception like JonBenet Ramsey-do our hearts and minds connect."

Post Mortem - Will I Ever Get My Files Organized? :-)

One of my blog readers sent me a joshing comment:
"And about the mess of papers building up... tsk, tsk. ;-) "

After a good chuckle, I thought about the "real" basis for my organization dilemma. When I file things they are sometimes harder to find than if I leave them in piles. :-(

Actually, I did have a two-year period my papers were timely filed using a system that made retrieval easy. Those were my two years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. As such, I was in charge of a large supply room and machine shop for a chemical, biological and radiological materials transportation unit. And the Army DOES run on paper, as legend has it. :-) And most important for me, I delegated the filing duties to my Supply Sergeant. And he did a very good job! Also, the Army filing system is very methodical - similar to library cataloging. Hey! Even I figured out the system. :-)

Will I Ever Get My Files Organized? :-)

I notice since starting the Jack in Oklahoma blog that I add "favorites" (a.k.a. "bookmarks") more frequently to my MS Internet Explorer browser - and also I use them more frequently. Fine and good. But, now I have a massively disorganized favorites list file. My Internet files, my work files, my home files - you have it - they are disorganized.

Here is a little background. In my thirty-two year career with FMC Corporation, my improvement objectives almost every year included getting my files more organized. You got it. :-) I never achieved the goal.

My files are always a mess and my desk is 'always' stacked with papers. For awhile the engineering supervisor made every Friday afternoon a "cleanup day" and we had to have clean desk tops. OK - so I just found places to hide the piles. ;-)

At home - the same thing. On my left, I am looking at a pile of paid utility, phone, etc., bills that go back several months. Behind me is a multi-month pile of medical statements, medical records, etc.. There are just plain piles of paper everywhere! 8-]

I've misplaced many things, including at least two books on how to get organized. Ho ho ho!

Back to my web browser favorites list. I looked at my list and I have a tendency to make a new folder for each new link I decide to file. Great! But I end up looking, looking, .... often through most of the files with much frustration to find where I filed that link I need RIGHT NOW> <-8) So today I tried merging folders, creating sub-folders, and so on ... in some sort of logical way.

I repeat. Will I Ever Get My Files Organized? :-)

I Like "One Liners". :-)

Found in The Village Voice (New York) sports column "Jockbeat" concerning a season opening loss by the New York Rangers hockey team:

"Why are the Rangers like the Titanic? They look great until they hit the ice."

Clarification - Jack's Vote For a Beautiful Experiment
- Neil Bartlett's Synthesis of XePtF6 in 1962

In a post I made [9/27/2002 1:37:10 PM | Jack Schwartz] I stated information that needs clarification.

Jack wrote:
Professor Neil Bartlett's synthesis of xenon platinum hexafluoride XePtF6 is beautiful to me for many reasons.
------ [ big snip ] ------
And Jack continues:
"Dr. Erickson described the biggest problem faced by Professor Bartlett for synthesis of XePtF6 was finding a material to make a container for the experiment.

Glass cannot be used. I've seen first hand that fluorine rapidly attacks glass, a sodium silicate, forming gaseous silicon hexafluoride SiF6. I don't recall what material was finally used by Dr. Bartlett for a container - maybe platinum Pt? - but once a suitable container was constructed the experiment to make XePtF6 was done in a straightforward fashion and reported in the literature. And a whole new field of chemistry opened up in "noble gas" compound synthesis that continues to this day."
----------------
OK people - I am human! Either my memory failed me or I heard an apocryphal version of events. Anyhow, a thorough summary of noble-gas chemistry in the 40 years since Dr. Bartlett's synthesis of XePtF6 appears in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/80/i40/print/8040sci1.html?emFrom=emLogin . In the article I find clarification of two misunderstandings on my part.
[From Jack: American Chemical Society Member ID may be needed - in the event access is denied, I am posting a copy of the article to the Jack in Oklahoma list Files section http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JackinOklahoma/files/. An automatic message was sent to the list announcing the article addition to Jack in Oklahoma Files.

Clarification Items:
1) Rather than reacting fluorine gas with xenon, Dr. Bartlett reacted gaseous platinum hexafluoride PtF6 with xenon Xe gas to form XePtF6 - Note: research on composition of multi-product mixture continues.

2) The container was glass (sodium silicate glass) and quartz (pure silica glass) ... "he [Professor Bartlett, at University of British Columbia] had assembled a glass and quartz apparatus in which the two gases were separated by a fragile glass seal. At about 6:45 PM [on March 23, 1962], he broke the seal and observed an immediate reaction as the deep red PtF6 gas mixed with the colorless xenon gas and a yellow-orange solid precipitated."

After reading about this ingenious experimental apparatus and experimental technique, the beauty of the experiment stands out even more for me!

Women don't want to be bombarded with online porn ... do they?

I got a telephone call from Barbara last night and she is home safely. But I am disturbed to hear she is upset by finding on the order of 150 porn e-mail messages in her e-mail inbox - and about 50 additional spam messages of all kinds - after her eight day trip to Oklahoma. :-(

Barbara's spam increased dramatically after her @qwest.com server went out of business and she changed her e-mail address to the @msn.com server. Holy Cow! All of a sudden she is bombarded by spam! As a possible remedy, she looked at SpamKiller software I use - but it is not available for Mac. So she is home pondering her options. Before she went home, we didn't come up with certain possibilities in a quick Web search for Mac spam killing software. Maybe some of the Jack in Oklahoma blog readers have ideas or knowledge that can help?

Meanwhile, Barbara's dilemma makes this article in today's DWWorld.de (Deutsche Welle German radio news website) have interest for me.

No Cyber-Porn Please, We’re Women.
Women don't want to be bombarded with online porn ... do they?
http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1446_A_651693_1_A,00.html

"With its new .frau domain, a German firm is striving to save women from porn and sexual harassment on the Internet.

You know how it is. You log on to your Web-based email account. You must be popular -- 20 new messages!

But there's not a single witty one-liner from your best friend, no reply from your current love interest. No, every email is inviting you to visit a new porn site, offering you cut-price Viagra or claiming to be able to erase your credit card debt.

A two-woman team in southwestern Germany is now attempting to change all that. Susann Ricke und Dagmar Pálsson of Exist@, a private company in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, have joined forces on a project called Fraude, which offers women the chance to get online without feeling sexually harassed or plagued by pornography."
....... [ article continues] .......

Salon Article - The Homeless Blogger

The homeless blogger
"Kevin Barbieux sleeps in abandoned buildings or shelters -- and writes a daily journal that has made him an Internet celebrity."

As a "new kid on the blogger block" :-), I find this article very interesting. I read though several posts by Kevin Barbieux at his blog named "The Homeless Guy" http://thehomelessguy.blogspot.com/ The reading is captivating and I can see why Kevin is an Internet celebrity. So much so that I am now one of Kevin's fans and plan to regularly read posts at his blog. Kevin's writings gives me some ideas for future posts on my blog. Hmmm. We'll see if some of my ideas from Kevin go anywhere. <8-)

Just as an example post of interest from The Homeless Guy (purely a random choice):

Bleeding Hearts
"I've always had a little problem with the cliche, "Bleeding Hearts." I first heard the phrase when I was a kid, and like most kids, I took the phrase literally - and I agreed. Yes, hearts do bleed. They bleed constantly - that's what they're made for. As a matter of fact, hearts bleed so much that blood has to be constantly pumped back into them. And even more importantly, when hearts stop bleeding, they die."

posted by kevin @ Thursday, October 10, 2002 Comment (26)

Digital Media Poem - Vniverse

On reading reviews for the poet Stephanie Strickland, I've discovered a poetry medium called "Digital Media Poetry." It is all new to me, but I am intrigued by sampling Strickland's digital media poem "Vniverse" http://vniverse.com [click on Enter]
Note: An up-to-date version of Shockwave is needed; the download link is given.

[After clicking on Enter, a starry night sky shows. Move cursor around to see constellations]

Now move cursor to a specific star and click; Example: click on a star at far upper left for which Ursa Major and Ursa Minor constellations are on view with verse:
---------------------------
hollow
88

And in its hollow live the bears - a world
tree closes. Major
and Minor they circle
the hole,

[click second time on star, more verse appears]

observed
at the Gr( )ch
meridian
a bee lives 28 days, that vaginal cadence,

nose swollen in honey.
The tree rings itself with another ring each year
and in its hollow
a world tree closes, Major

and Minor, they circle the hole,
dipping honey from the hollow
at the tilted top
of the northern world Polaris, star at the very end

of the Little Bear's tale.
To know
there is a pole, a polar axis to the earth,
---------------------------
Comment by Jack: To fully explore all the possibilities of the digital media poem Vniverse, click on the "How to" page link at the Vniverse home page. I have a "thrilled" feeling to see this means of utilizing computer interactive capabilities for expression of poetry.

Evolving Discussion - Does the Internet Enhance School Cheating?

In a New York Times Magazine article today by William Speed Weed entitled "Phony Science" http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/13/magazine/13QUESTIONS.html, I find an opinion expressed about the Internet and potential fraud in scientific research that, although beyond the arena of school cheating, I think adds a useful viewpoint to the topic.

This comes in an interview of theoretical physicist Paul Ginsparg, recent winner of a MacArthur grant. He is interviewed primarily about the finding of a panel of experts that another physicist, J. Hendrik Schön, had committed fraud at Bell Labs.

In the interview, Ginsparg is asked:

Question: "You won your award for creating arXiv, which distributes scientific papers before publication. If that sort of system had been more pervasive, could it have prevented Schön from publishing his fraud? "

Answer: "Other scientists might have found him out.
The first reaction people have to a system like arXiv is the insinuation that my kind of open system makes scientific misconduct more likely by disintermediating the editorial process. But to the contrary, it makes it less likely because you have so many more people looking over it. If there were a better user interface and you could have brought up all the articles simultaneously, the discovery of the problems might have been expedited, and this poor guy might have been saved from himself. "

My own experience supports Ginsparg's opinion. In the later years of my career as a chemist and chemical engineer, starting roughly in the mid-eighties, the paradigm for publishing technical reports in my engineering group shifted towards quick publication by e-mail (a company Intranet) versus a long process of drafting, typing and supervisor review before publication.

The new e-mail publishing method did bring quick review and questions from a large reading audience that quickly rooted out weaknesses in the experimental work, weaknesses in the discussion and conclusions, etc. And in turn, I felt the need to be extra careful in "having my ducks in a row" in my experimental procedures, my data analysis, my data accuracy, etc., for the experimental work being reported - even more so than the case when my research supervisor was the main person to review my work.

In summary, publishing on the company e-mail Intranet for my case was roughly equivalent to publication using Ginsparg's arXiv on the Internet. And I concur with Ginsparg that fraud, cheating, carelessness, etc., is less likely compared to traditional formal publication with limited supervisor and/or insular peer review.

Brush Up on Your Hebrew, Arabic, or even Ancient Sumerian

I am reading Moment magazine online this morning even though I have the print copy on my shelves. That is a practice I find handy lately. Sometimes I am in the mood to read online - sometimes I am in the mood to read hard copy. Go Figure.

Anyway, this item catches my interest. If you are traveling to Israel or the Arab world, or you are just interested in some language exercise, you can brush up on your Hebrew, Arabic, or even Ancient Sumerian by going to website links found at:

http://www.mideastweb.org/LangLinks.html

For example http://foundationstone.com.au/ is a "Learn Hebrew for Free" website named Foundation Stone. "FoundationStone is a free [downloadable] application and support materials designed to allow the most efficient learning of its Hebrew vocabulary."

Evolving Discussion - Does the Internet Enhance School Cheating?

Doing Web surfing on the topic "Ahab", I came across a site for purchasing term papers, picking term paper topics, etc. http://www.fastpapers.com/

I've always felt I am roaming off my turf interpreting literary classics such as Melville's Moby Dick, so seeing the Fastpapers.com website makes me wonder if temptation would get the best of me if I had a term paper to write about Moby Dick. I don't know. But probably not. For one thing I am cheap. :-) The option I choose just for illustration costs $59.70 for a six-page term paper plus transmittal/shipping costs. And even if I shelled out the money, my sense of propriety makes me feel that putting the paper in my own words is called for. And Gee Whiz! - If I am going to rewrite the paper, isn't it simpler just to research and write my own paper? Also the thought crosses my mind - Who says the paper is any good in the first place? But I guess Fastpapers.com aims for the student that hands in the paper "as is" with no qualms.

As a closing observation, I notice the workings of the website are enticing. One enters the desired topic - [Ahab], sees a list of term paper topics. One is only a few keystrokes and a credit card number away from downloading a term paper. For example:

Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' vs. William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'
[ Click here to purchase this paper ]
[ Click here to see full description] -->
"A 6 page paper in which the writer argues that through mad antics toward ‘the revenge plot,' both Ahab and Hamlet serve to bring the action in the two tragedies to their inevitable conclusions. In all aspects the characters' motivations are different. Ahab's madness is more focused and not within Ahab's control--he is unable to see beyond it. Hamlet's madness is feigned. The characters' decision-making abilities are also in contrast to each other, and their view of God, the Devil and responsibility to same also come from a divergent slant on the moralistic ideals behind their given situations. Bibliography lists 7 sources."
Filename: Mobyham.wps

Same day delivery available!
[ Click here to purchase this paper ] -->

Paper Information
Paper info:
Title: "Herman Melville's 'Moby Dick' vs. William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'"
Filename: Mobyham.wps
Pages: 6
Cost Per Page: $9.95
Subtotal: $59.70

Following this is a form for entering customer information and credit card number. The paper can be received by FAX ($3.98 per page), by E-mail ($3.98 per page) or by Federal Express ($19.98 flat rate). To those so inclined, it's just money. ;-)

Chemists from Three Continents Share
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Deutsche Welle (German Radio News Service)
English Service News
09.10.2002, 16:00 UTC
[In daily E-mail Deutsche Welle Newsletter sent to Jack]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to John Fenn of the United States, Koichi Tanaka of Japan and Kurt Wuethrich of Switzerland. They will share the prize for work on proteins which has led to increased understanding of the processes of life, the academy said in its citation.

Musk Oxen Fossil Finds Near My Hometown, Weatherford, Oklahoma

One of my best friends, Tom Young of Granger, Wyoming, called me two days ago and we discussed many matters. A very satisfying part of the discussion for me concerned a newspaper article I sent "Young Tom" (Tom's nickname - he is 65 years young. :)). Young Tom retired from FMC Corporation in 1994 at about the same time I retired from FMC. He is two years my senior.

Now the good part. The article I sent Young Tom describes finds of musk oxen fossils in Oklahoma Pleistocene deposits. I sent the article because I know that Young Tom participates in paleontological digs in Wyoming sponsored by the University of Wyoming. On the telephone, Young Tom told me the recent Wyoming digs encounter musk oxen fossils. Remembering the article I sent, Young Tom told his professor about musk oxen fossils found in Oklahoma. Whoops! The professor said "No", there are no finds of musk oxen in Oklahoma.

So on a four-day break from the dig, Tom found the article and took it back to show the professor. Of course, the professor had to do some "back peddling." ;-) It made me feel good that I took time to send the article to Tom. My doing so now means that University of Wyoming paleontology students will receive more accurate information.

When I started writing this post, I decided to do a little Web surfing as I usually do for background information. Wow, I found a paper for a dig finding musk oxen fossils only 12 kilometers south of my hometown of Weatherford, Oklahoma. The digging was done by Southwestern Oklahoma State University students, including one student I know - Dustin Devine - who has since gone to veterinary school. The relatively short student research paper is:

Some Late Pleistocene Fossils from Washita Local Fauna
Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science Volume 77, 1997, pg. 113
by Henry Kirkland, Jr., Micheal Davis, Janet Wood, Dustin Devine, and Kyle Giblet
Department of Biology,
Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford, OK 73096
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/OAS/oas_htm_files/v77/p113_115nf.html

Based on radiocarbon dating, samples taken included some that "yielded an average date of 16,350±190 years before present (YBP)."

Toward a Synthesis of the Newtonian and Darwinian Worldviews
by John Harte, Physics Today.org, October 2002

I find this article by John Harte, recipient of the American Physical Society's 2001 Leo Szilard Award, stimulating and timely.If I were starting out again as the young scientist I was 40 years ago :-), I would love to be entering the fields of study described in the article.

I think the article byline speaks for itself concerning the significance of the subject matter.

"Physicists seek simplicity in universal laws. Ecologists revel in complex interdependencies. A sustainable future for our planet will probably require a look at life from both sides."

At the start of the talk are two quotes that stimulate further reading.

"Two quotes aptly frame the discussion. The first is from the 1948 book Sand County Almanac, by the ecologist and conservationist Aldo Leopold:

In terms of conventional physics, the grouse represents only a millionth of either the mass or the energy of an acre. Yet, subtract the grouse and the whole thing is dead.

The other quote is from the 1940 book Wind, Sand and Stars, by the aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.

Leopold speaks for ecologists and their craft, for the intellectual tradition that blossomed with Darwin's remarkable insights into evolution and natural history. Saint-Exupéry, by contrast, eloquently describes the sword that physicists from Galileo and Newton onward have sought to extricate from the stone of Nature."

To read the full article, go to:
http://www.aip.org/pt/vol-55/iss-10/p29.html
-----
John Harte is a professor in the energy and resources group and in the division of ecosystem sciences at the University of California, Berkeley

Periodic Table of the Elephants

Various presentations of the Periodic Table of the Elements have been a topic in previous Jack in Oklahoma blog posts. Now comes "The Periodic Table of the Elephants." This is for real, people! :-)

It seems that Washington, D.C., is promoting tourism by displaying "party animals" http://www.partyanimalsdc.org/index.html throughout the city. The American Chemical Society (ACS) headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. and the ACS is displaying a "party animal" elephant named "The Periodic Table of the Elephants." The elephant is a creation of students at the Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts and is illustrated with pictures of smaller elephants, each representing a different chemical element.

For the complete story and pictures, go to:
http://www.chemcenter.org/portal/Chemistry?PID=elephant.html

Cyber Tour of The Residenz Palace in Munich
The Residenz Palace was home to the Bavarian rulers between 1385 and 1918

A fine cyber tour of a European palace, the Residenz Palace for Bavarian rulers in Munich, is found at:
http://www.myk.mcmail.com/munchen/city_of_munich/altstadt/residenz/

Some parts of the Residenz Palace were virtually destroyed during World War II, so a cyber tour of the palace is the only way left for a thoroughgoing view of the palace in all its splendor.

Oktoberfest - Almost 6 Million Litres of Beer Consumed

Being a German history buff, I am delighted to first learn the background of Oktoberfest - "... first held to celebrate the wedding in 1810 of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princes Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen." - and to learn the quantity of beer consumed during Oktoberfest 2002 - a staggering number to me. 8-)
-----
Deutsche Welle (German Radio News Service)
English Service News
October, 06th, 2002, 16:00 UTC
[Received by Jack in daily e-mail news summary from Deutsche Welle]
-----------------------
Beer lovers gulp last litres as Oktoberfest ends

Revellers at Munich's Oktoberfest, the world's biggest beer festival, geared up for massive hangovers on Sunday as the annual drinking event came to a close. Beer enthusiasts quaffed almost 6 million litres of strong Bavarian beer during the 16-day festival, which is 18 percent more than last year, when the atmosphere was subdued in reaction to the September 11 attacks on the United States.

More than 6 million visitors thronged the 14 tents, some as large as football fields for the festival, a rise of seven percent from last year. The Oktoberfest was first held to celebrate the wedding in 1810 of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princes Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen.

Celebration Time!

Southwestern Bulldogs Homecoming 2002 Football Game
vs. Central Broncos

Bulldogs 24 Broncos 21
Winning field goal kicked with 9 seconds left in regular time!!
Haroooo! Way to Go, Bulldogs! 8-] 8-]

Now I'll Know How a Test Rat Feels :-)

A Weatherford attraction for the second year is a cornfield maze, called the Corn MAiZE.

There is a picture and description of the Corn MAiZE at:
http://www.pbarfarms.com/activities.php

"The MAiZE - intricate networks of twists and turns carved into a 12-acre cornfield.

The 9-foot-high puzzle contains more than 95 decision points, 300,000 corn stalks and 3.5 miles of twists and turns. Most maze-goers will require about one hour to discover the one exit, though the correct pathway can be walked perfectly in only 20 minutes."

To tell the truth, I've been "chicken" to try it myself mostly for fear of embarrassment if I can't find my way out. (:-( I don't want to feel like a "dumb rat" lost in a maze. ( Big Grins :))

But Barbara and I are thinking of going through the maze together next week. So I'll give a report how we do. At least if we can't find our way out, the "dumb rat " feeling can be shared. Ho! Ho! (I think :))

Of some interest, the corn maze idea is popular around the country. Barbara mentioned there are one or more corn mazes in the Denver metropolitan area.

Go Bulldogs!

My sister Barbara arrived safely today and we are immersed in the weekend of Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU)Homecoming activities. Barbara is a SWOSU alumni with bachelor and master of education degrees from Southwestern. Tonight was the bonfire, pep rally and dance - with a burning in effigy of a University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) football player. 8-)

The SWOSU Bulldogs and the UCO Broncos play the Homecoming football game tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Homecoming parade is at 10 a.m. followed by other ceremonies and tailgate parties before the game.

So to repeat - "Go Bulldogs!" "Beat the Broncos!"

Next weekend is the Weatherford High School Classes of 1955 to 1959 Reunion - which includes my Class of 1956 and Barbara's Class of 1958! Hey, are we having fun yet? You bet we are! :-) :-)

I Joined an Internet Weight Loss Group

My weight loss program is getting in high gear! I've started discarding most of the syrup from canned fruit thanks to supportive encouragement from my friends. I'm sticking close to the low carbohydrate diet recommended by my doctor. My exercise is going good with a modest increase in my daily walking.

Then today I receive an invitation to join a newly formed Internet weight loss group - Jewishweightloss@yahoogroups.com. It is a spinoff from the Jewish Diabetes Yahoo list.

So, I joined.

I don't know yet what it entails or how it will work out. But it seems like it is worth a try.

Duels for Resolving Disputes

Today's news has an item that makes me think of a duel that resolved a dispute between the Eastern Shoshone Indians and the Crow Indians in the 19th Century.

----- news item -----
Oct. 3, 2002 | BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- An Iraqi vice president offered a unique solution to the U.S.-Iraq standoff: a duel between George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein.
---------------------------

The great Eastern Shoshone Chief - Chief Washakie - when he was young, settled a dispute with the Crow Indians by dueling a Crow Chief on top of a butte now named Crowheart Butte. The butte is on the present-day Wind River Reservation north of Riverton, Wyoming. The name comes from the fact that Washakie won the duel and cut out the heart of the Crow Chief.

A nice picture of Crowheart Butte taken in February 2002 is at:
http://www.starfleet.com/liem/photos/photography/tn/plateau.jpg.html

The Wind River Reservation, shared by the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapaho is beautiful. It is bordered on the west by the spectacular Continental Divide ridge of the Wind River Mountains. I have a close friend who is Arapaho. We did some of my most memorable backpack trips on Wind River Reservation land. Because I am a "trespasser" :-) on Indian land, I had to pay $25 for a dated permit to hike. I was checked once by an Indian wilderness land ranger. I sure felt assured to have my Arapaho friend with me. ;-)

"You Can Tell The Type of Man by His Truck"
http://www.geocities.com/jackinwestok/Jack_and_His_Pickup_Truck.html

Sharing Territory With a Cat

Since my neighbor's house burned last December, I take care of the large lawn and I share the territory with a stray black and white cat.

The cat lets me do my thing and he does his thing, but never do our paths cross. The closest the cat allows me is about 10 feet even when I am offering sardines, tuna fish, etc. for food. But it seems quite content to sit and watch while I work. I've never given it a name.

Now the real interesting part for me. In early morning the cat is on the prowl and usually catches at least two birds for breakfast. I don't see it during mid-day. Then in the evening it catches grasshoppers for supper. It is fun to watch as it sneaks around and makes short, playful hops to nab grasshoppers.

This evening I did some Web surfing and found a neat picture called "Curious Cat and Grasshopper" at the P.J. Decorative Stencils website.

http://www.pjstencils.com/200_cat_hopper.html

Hey, that's my buddy!

Evolving Discussion - Does the Internet Enhance School Cheating?

Surfing for articles about the chemist Neil Bartlett, I came across a website "A Quick Guide to Internet Research" by the author Neil Bartlett, author of the best-selling eBook, "How To Profit From Internet Research" at: http://www.ebsdiscounts.com/irebook.htm

I see at least a tangential relationship to the topic of using the Internet for cheating in information given at the "A Quick Guide to Internet Research" website: http://www.4hb.com/0111nbinternetresearch.html

Mr. Bartlett presents in outline form what he calls the five steps to a research project. I am showing only the major outline headers in this post. In the header, "2. GATHER" there are links I find interesting for systematically filing items found on an Internet search, etc. The links are included with this post. I decided to try the SurfSaver software http://www.surfsaver.com . I have only briefly looked at it. I need more work to figure out if it is any use to me.

I guess it comes to mind for me if a student follows the Internet research methods proposed by Mr. Bartlett, would this be frowned on or praised by some teachers? Can the Bartlett methodology be used in a fashion construed as cheating?

Five Steps to a Research Project.
1. PRE-GATHER:
-
-
-
2. GATHER:
-
-
- ... [Bartlett:] I would like to point out some excellent research tools to assist in your information gathering:

WebZeer - Capture images and other content from Web pages by dragging and dropping http://www.webzeer.com
Copernic - Query multiple search engines on the Web simultaneously. http://www.copernic.com
SurfSaver - Save the facts, figures, news, and research you find on the Web. http://www.surfsaver.com
Webforia - Helps you organize and report your research efforts. http://www.webforia.com
WebWhacker - Create an archive of Web information, including news, articles, statistics, product reviews, Web sites, and more. http://www.bluesquirrel.com/products/whacker/whacker.html

3. EVALUATE:
-
-
-
4. ORGANIZE:
-
-
-
5. EVALUATE FINAL PRODUCT:
-
-
-

About Old Chemists Like Jack :-)

Old chemists never die... they just stop reacting.

And the blame ;-) for this one goes to www.BadPuns.com
Direct URL:
http://www.badpuns.com/jokes.php?section=oneline&name=old_chemists

Jack's Wyoming Moose Hunting Memories

It's that time of year in Wyoming. The traditional opening of big game hunting season is October 1, and I am filled with pleasant hunting memories in beautiful Rocky Mountain country - especially the hunts for Wyoming Shiras Moose.

During 1973 - 1994, I drew two moose permits in the lottery and hunted moose almost every year with groups of five or more people - usually with one of the people having the permit and allowed to shoot. We shared the meat.

An adult Shiras Moose is a large animal, typically 1600 pounds on the hoof, and when sighted from a distance appears as a "black spot" standing on a mountainside or standing in or near a creek getting a drink of water - usually at dawn or dusk. Alaska Moose and other breeds are even larger than the Shiras Moose - up to 2000 pounds or more on the hoof.

My moose hunting nostalgia led me to search the Web for moose pictures. I found one that is first-rate for bringing back memories.

http://www.saugus.net/Photos/images/moose.jpg
[link comes by way of Saugus, Massachusetts home page <http://www.saugus.net/ > ]

My closing thought from looking at this picture is the attention paid not to down a moose in a creek - or on an opposite creek bank requiring dragging the moose through water to the loading point. Those mountain creeks contain snow melt water near freezing. It is a miserable prospect if one must get wet with the cold creek water while trying to drag the dead weight of a 3/4-ton animal across a rocky creek bottom. Better to shoot with a camera than with a rifle in this case!

Firehole River - Yellowstone Park
Photographed by Larry Friedman

Firehole River, Yellowstone Park.
Thumbnail Picture at:
http://www.wildernessconcepts.com/art/4803/en/
[Click on enlarge]

Larry Friedman is a "Landsman" of mine from my days in Green River, Wyoming. He is Jewish and comes from Chicago. Larry came to Green River about the same time I did - in 1973 - and his first work there was opening a veterinary clinic.

Larry became so good at doing nature photography that he now does it full time. His picture of the Firehole River in Yellowstone Park is one of my favorites. Larry does an excellent business selling copies of his photographs in the Green River region to businesses, libraries, office buildings, restaurants, etc. And his pictures are for sale on the Web.

Jack's Vote For a Beautiful Experiment
- Neil Bartlett's Synthesis of XePtF6 in 1962

Professor Neil Bartlett's synthesis of xenon platinum hexafluoride XePtF6 is beautiful to me for many reasons.

First is the timing for me as a chemist. In high school chemistry in 1954, and in undergraduate chemistry classes in 1956 - 1960, I was taught the Periodic Table Group VIII elements, the so-called "noble gases", were totally unreactive. These elemental gases are helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon. Then in 1962 a young professor at the University of British Columbia startled the chemistry world by making the first "noble gas" compound - XePtF6

So when I began graduate school chemistry classes in 1963, the view of the "noble gases" being unreactive was gone forever. What a fantastic change for me as a young chemist. And in addition I had a wonderful inorganic chemistry professor in graduate school who made a point of the beauty behind Professor Bartlett's experiment. We learned how Dr. Bartlett followed basic chemical principles and did not let past teachings sway him from his belief that making compounds from "noble gases" was possible. This is among the most important lessons I ever learned for success in my carreer as a scientist and engineer.

As told by my professor, Dr. Erickson, knowing the XePtF6 synthesis was possible just took looking at the table of electonegativties of substances by Dr. Barlett (or anyone else!) to see that fluorine was more electronegative than xenon. It follows by the most basic application of chemical principles that fluorine and xenon are thus capable of entering into compound formation.

Dr. Erickson described the biggest problem faced by Professor Bartlett for synthesis of XePtF6 was finding a material to make a container for the experiment.

Glass cannot be used. I've seen first hand that fluorine rapidly attacks glass, a sodium silicate, forming gaseous silicon hexafluoride SiF6. I don't recall what material was finally used by Dr. Bartlett for a container - maybe platinum Pt? - but once a suitable container was constructed the experiment to make XePtF6 was done in a straightforward fashion and reported in the literature. And a whole new field of chemistry opened up in "noble gas" compound synthesis that continues to this day.

Dr. Bartlett went to the University of California Berkeley in 1967 where he continues research that includes ongoing pursuit of "noble gas" compound synthesis. He is now a professor emeritus.

And Dr. Bartlett has just been honored by The United Kingdom’s Royal Society, the world's oldest scientific academy. "Chemistry professor emeritus Neil Bartlett has won the Davy Medal, a prestigious medal given each year for an outstandingly important recent discovery in any branch of chemistry worldwide. Bartlett, who was inducted into the Society in 1973, is being recognized for his research “exploring the highest oxidation limits of the less oxidizable elements, primarily using elemental fluorine.”

See Davy Medal announcement in:
ChemiCal Science and Engineering Newsletter
University of California, Berkeley
Volume 10, Issue 4, August 2002
http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/editor/Publications/newsletter/2002/august2002/royalsociety.html

The Most Beautiful Experiment (Survey)
Physics World, Points of View: September 2002
http://physicsweb.org/article/world/15/9/2

"The most beautiful experiment in physics, according to a poll of Physics World readers, is the interference of single electrons in a Young's double slit. Robert P Crease reports." ... [detailed article continues] ...

Complete results of poll:

Top 10 beautiful experiments
---------------------------------------------------------------
1. Young's double-slit experiment applied to the interference of single electrons
2. Galileo's experiment on falling bodies (1600s)
3. Millikan's oil-drop experiment (1910s)
4. Newton's decomposition of sunlight with a prism (1665-1666)
5. Young's light-interference experiment (1801)
6. Cavendish's torsion-bar experiment (1798)
7. Eratosthenes' measurement of the Earth's circumference (3rd century BC)
8. Galileo's experiments with rolling balls down inclined planes (1600s)
9. Rutherford's discovery of the nucleus (1911)
10. Foucault's pendulum (1851)

Others experiments that were cited included:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Archimedes' experiment on hydrostatics
Roemer's observations of the speed of light
Joule's paddle-wheel heat experiments
Reynolds's pipe flow experiment
Mach & Salcher's acoustic shock wave
Michelson-Morley measurement of the null effect of the ether
Röntgen's detection of Maxwell's displacement current
Oersted's discovery of electromagnetism
The Braggs' X-ray diffraction of salt crystals
Eddington's measurement of the bending of starlight
Stern-Gerlach demonstration of space quantization
Schrödinger's cat thought experiment
Trinity test of nuclear chain reaction
Wu et al.'s measurement of parity violation
Goldhaber's study of neutrino helicity
Feynman dipping an O-ring in water
---------------------------------------------------------------
Author
Robert P Crease is in the Department of Philosophy, State University of New York at Stony Brook, historian at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and in 2002-2003 a senior fellow at the Dibnes Institute for Science and Technology, US, email rcrease@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

This Land is Your Land
by Woody Guthrie (1912 - 1967)
Born in Okemah, Oklahoma

[Jack's note: Showing my "Okie Pride" - A famous song by a famous fellow Oklahoman]
Words and annotations for "This Land is Your Land":
http://angam.ang.univie.ac.at/roadcult/guthrie/Land.htm

(chorus) This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island,
From the redwood forest to the gulf stream water,
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley, I said
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
O'er the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
While all around me a voice was sounding, saying
This land was made for you and me

Was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was posted, said “Private Property”
But on the back side, it didn’t say nothing --
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun was shining, then I was strolling
In the wheat fields waving, and the dust cloud rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me.

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office I saw my people --
As they stood hungry,
I stood there wondering
if this land was made for you and me?

"Gila Monster" Trial Diabetes Drug
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eli Lilly Cuts Deal for the Rights to a New Diabetes Drug from Amylin
Diabetes In Control Newsletter Issue 123, September 25, 2002 http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/issue123/item3.shtml

Eli Lilly & Company will pay up to $325 million to Amylin Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company based in San Diego, for the rights to a potentially promising treatment for diabetes.

This article is exciting for me. About one year ago I participated in a clinical trial of the subject potential drug for treatment of diabetes from Amylin Pharmaceuticals. This is the first report I have seen about the "Gila monster" drug trial status.

I call it "Gila Monster" drug because the test drug is a synthetic version of a compound found in Gila Monster venom. Actually, until now I didn't realize Gila monsters are poisonous and the trial drug is a venom constituent. Wow! - glad I didn't know at the time. :-)

My phase II part of the double-blind trial involved taking steadily increasing dosages over about six weeks until I reported nausea. Based on test results for several hundred trial subjects like me, the practical drug dosage upper limit to minimize nausea was studied.

Well I really did get "big time" nausea with high dosage. That Gila monster venom packs a wallop! :-) And the last sentence of the article is: "Plus it induces nausea in some cases."

Yup - It sure does! But it is evidently a promising new drug for diabetes treatment.

Oh! I should mention - since the drug trial, a rubber Gila monster toy sits on top of my computer and I drink coffee from a cup with a picture of a Gila monster on it.

ASCII Table & Test Your Mouse Abilities

I misplaced the ASCII Table I printed out years ago. So I went surfing and found <http://www.asciitable.com/> to print out a new copy of the Table.

I got a surprise at the ASCII Table website. On the right side of the screen are two boxes with tests for mouse quickness and agility. As luck would have it, the two tests are timely for me because I switched to a trackball a few months ago. So it is interesting to see how I do. Also, doing the tests brings a few grins. :-)

The first test is:
"How Quick are You? - press [start], then press [stop] when the border goes 'red' "
My best time so far is 0.33 seconds.

The second test is:
"How good are you with a mouse? Test yourself here - from the time you start ticking the boxes, you have 20 seconds to tick as many as you can. Click restart to clear the boxes. Good luck!"
My best result so far is ticking 23 boxes in 20 seconds.

If I really want to get scientific about this, I should get out my mouse and do a systematic mouse versus trackball comparison. I don't think I want to get that scientific. 8-]

Fuel Cells - Part III ("Hydrotopia")

Today's Salon.com, September 24, 2002, features an article concerning fuel cells: "Hydrotopia, - Author (*) and environmentalist Jeremy Rifkin explains why hydrogen is the next great power source", by Katharine Mieszkowski
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/09/24/hydrogen/index.html

The catchy "Hydrotopia" title for this article sounds like the over enthusiasm of old for fuel cells using hydrogen as fuel to generate electrical power for running automobiles, for independent power for homes, for batteries for cell phones, etc.

But the article is informative and complementary to articles for the previous posts Fuel Cells - Part I (Micro Fuel Cells) and Fuel Cells Part II (Automobile Fuel Cells). And the interview of Jeremy Rifkin emphasizes some new points for me, some of which were covered in part in the previous references.

Examples include noting that laws are already passed in 30 states requiring utilities to purchase power put on the grid by people using fuel cells and a proposed law in California for strict automobile emissions reduction by 2009. Rifkin sees a groundswell leading to a hydrogen based fuel economy with computer software and the Internet playing important roles to make it possible. According to Rifkin, "A future in which every car driver could also be an energy producer implies a power infrastructure that is fundamentally decentralized. When everyone becomes a buyer and a seller of power, the similarly decentralized Internet will be the medium that matches producers and consumers together."
---------
References for previous posts:
Science News Week of Sept. 21, 2002, "Pocket Sockets, Tiny fuel cells for portable electronics have arrived, almost" , by Peter Weiss
http://www.sciencenews.org/20020907/bob10.asp
---------
Scientific American September 16, 2002, Designing AUTOnomy,One of the designers of a radical new fuel-cell-car concept explains what was done, by Christopher E. Borroni-Bird
http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=00034FE5-BA99-1D80-90FB809EC5880000
---------
(*) The Hydrogen Economy, by Jeremy Rifkin, Tarcher/Putnam, 294 pages, Nonfiction
---------

Flip Virtual Coins

The Web page <http://www.random.org/flip.html> flips a virtual coin for you.

"The outcome is truly random because it is based on true random numbers rather than pseudo random numbers commonly used in computer programs."

I had fun with the website because the "virtual coins" are from around the world. High quality pictures of the coin head or tail appear depending on the result of the coin flip.

The virtual coin selection is:
----------
Colombian 500 pesos (COP)
Danish 10 kr (DKR)
European €1 (EUR) - Portuguese
Dutch Rijksdaaler (2.5 Guilders) (NLG)
East Carribean $1 (XCD)
European €1 (EUR) - Belgian
European €1 (EUR) - German
European €1 (EUR) - Spanish
European €1 (EUR) - Finnish
European €1 (EUR) - French
European €1 (EUR) - Irish
European €1 (EUR) - Italian
European €1 (EUR) - Luxembourgian
European €1 (EUR) - Dutch
European €1 (EUR) - Austrian
European €1 (EUR) - Portuguese
Swiss 1 Franc (CHF)
Swiss 2 Franc (CHF)
US 25¢ (USD) - Connecticut
US 25¢ (USD) - Delaware
US 25¢ (USD) - Georgia
US 25¢ (USD) - Maryland
US 25¢ (USD) - Massachusetts
US 25¢ (USD) - New Jersey
US 25¢ (USD) - Pennsylvania
----------
The home page <http://www.random.org/> is a "True Random Number Service" with many options to check out if interested in lists of "true" random numbers.

OK! So Call Me a Dumb Engineer! :-)

One of my strong points as a chemical plant process engineer was being good natured about kidding from the plant operators that I am a "dumb engineer." The operators often had good reason for the name calling. For example I designed a thickener (a large vessel to settle solids from liquids) and installed a pump that had one-third the required capacity to pump the "thickener underflow" - the concentrated settled solids.

When we started up, I spent days trying to figure out why the "mud level" was always high and spilling into the thickener overflow. It took a sharp operator to catch my error. Fortunately it was a "quick fix" and all was fine afterwards. And all the operators had a field day kidding me which actually is good. It made me more accepted as a "regular guy" and hardly affected the project meeting its target costs.

So why do I write all this. I guess I am still a dumb engineer. About three years ago I bought a 10-ft. trailer for general use including hauling tree limbs to the dump after wind storms, hauling large items I purchase such as lumber purchases, and many other uses including hauling my rider lawn mower to the repair shop. Knowing I would haul the rider mower, I bought a "tilt bed" trailer so the mower can be driven easily onto the trailer. OK so far.

But recently I decided I might haul items on the Interstate such as furniture from Oklahoma City 75 miles away. So I bought a spare tire and a kit for attaching the spare tire to the trailer. Then I mounted the trailer spare tire at the front of the trailer bed near the hitch to the pickup truck.

Way to go, Schwartz! With the spare tire mounted in the forward position, the trailer bed fails to tilt down when I want to load my mower.

Back to the drawing board. I bought a second spare tire bracket and re-mounted the spare tire on the back right side of the trailer. Good Work! Now all works perfect when I want to tilt the trailer bed to load my mower.

So it cost me an extra $30 for a second tire bracket. Which, by the way, I purposely chose to do rather than move the spare tire bracket. It is handy to have the option to mount the tire in the different locations depending on the hauling job. Also, I learned the spare tire bracket at the forward position is handy for using tie-downs to cinch loads extra tight and be confident the load won't slide backwards.

See, I'm not such a dumb engineer after all. You all know I figured my final configuration of spare tire brackets from the very start. Yeah, Right! :-) :-)

A Better Mouse Trap (Maybe :-))

You know the old shibboleth about inventors trying to make a better mouse trap. It seems this goal is alive and well.

First - a little background. This summer I am taking care of a neighbor's lawn where a house burned down. A gopher (or gophers) came along about a month ago and started digging up a section of the lawn. So "Trapper Jack" :-) set out four Victor "EasySet® Gopher Traps (*) to get rid of the little critters.
(*) http://www.victorpest.com/
click on [Mole & Gopher Traps]
click again on [Mole & Gopher Traps]

Finally I trapped a gopher today. It is just a little bigger than a plump mouse. But Hey! .. a month? Ol' Trapper Jack has to do better than that. So this old geezer became prompted to look on the Internet for a "better gopher trap." I surfed and found the RidaBug.com website ... and, Man oh Man, do they have a mouse trap! I can't say I'm immediately ready to place an order to RidaBug at a $49.95 price. I don't know if it IS a "better mouse trap." But get this description. What fun it would be to give it a try! ;-)

http://www.ridabug.com/RCBA0002.asp
[Check out the picture!]

"The Rat Zapper 2000 is a rodent control device that utilizes Advanced Electronic Technology to instantaneously deliver a lethal dose of electricity to rats and mice.

The Electrocution Chamber houses a bait area and kill plate. When the Rat Zapper detects the presence of a rodent on the kill plate, the Power Supply instantly releases stored electrical energy sufficient to kill the rodent.

The Rat Zapper contains no moving parts, so it doesn't wear out."

What is a dollar worth?

To me, this is a cool website. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis gives a detailed explanation for using Consumer Price Index (CPI) to calculate the inflation in dollar value for a given year compared to any earlier year back to 1913.

http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/research/data/us/calc/

The website conveniently does interactive calculations for specific examples. I calculated the inflation based on CPI since I was born in 1939 to present.

So here is the good (or is it bad? :-)) news.
------------------------
If in [1939]
I bought goods or services for [$10.00]
then in [2002]
the same goods or services would cost [$128.99]
------------------------

Online 'Smiley Face' :-) Turns 20
Reuters 9/20/02

The smiley face :-) turning 20 yesterday brings back memories of first going on the Internet in 1994 - the year I retired. When I first saw a smiley face in an e-mail, I couldn't figure out what it was. When I figured it out, I wasn't comfortable for awhile using the smiley face myself. Then I came to like using :-), and I am a frequent user now of smiley face and other "emoticons."

Which reminds me, my use of other emoticons increased since discovering the free software "Smiley Faces ver. 1.2.0" which can be downloaded at "Lalim's Homepage" <http://www.angelfire.com/mb/lalim/> This software lets you scroll through a long list of emoticons, then select one and copy and paste it in your message with user friendly assistance.

Lalim's Homepage is worth checking out in its own right. It is a potpourri of other free software and includes a page of "Good Quotations by Famous People."

Getting back to the smiley face birthday announcement, it is mentioned that smiley face use encounters some frowns by people saying that good use of language shouldn't need gimmicks such as smiley faces to add to the message clarity.

Its creator, Scott Fahlman, responds with a quote I like: "If Shakespeare were tossing off a quick note complaining about the lack of employee parking spaces near the Globe Theater, he might have produced the same kind of sloppy prose that the rest of us do." :-) :-)
----------
Reuters story - Online 'Smiley Face' :-) Turns 20
By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "It was 20 years ago Thursday that Scott Fahlman taught the 'Net how to smile.

Other computer scientists know the IBM researcher for his work with neural networks -- a computer technique designed to mimic the human brain -- and helping to develop Common Lisp, a computer language that uses symbols instead of numbers."

For "the rest of the story" :-), go to:
http://investor.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-20434189-0.html

Comprehending Engineers - Take Four (of Ten)
[Chemical Engineering Magazine January 25, 2002]

With Jerry and I being retired researchers and engineers, I think we should both take note of this "funny" about a retired engineer. Hey! We may need an extra $50,000 sometime! 8-)
------------------
"There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired.

Several years later the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multimillion dollar machines. They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine to work but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past. The engineer reluctantly took the challenge.

He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and stated, "This is where your problem is." The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again.

The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges. The engineer responded briefly: One chalk mark $1 Knowing where to put it $49,999 It was paid in full and the engineer retired again in peace."
------------------
The full ten parts of the Comprehending Engineers funnies are at:
http://www.che.com/funnies/

Evolving Discussion - Does the Internet Enhance School Cheating?

In some Web surfing, I find that both secondary and upper level schools publish Internet use policies. Many of these policies encourage use of the Internet by students for useful purposes and set constraints. This is what I experienced at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

I think such policies minimize Internet misuses such as cheating. When students know that Internet use is expected, the faculty is using the Internet, the course content includes input from the Internet, etc., then the perception for most students is likely that misuse of the Internet will be noticed. Cheating most likely will be exposed.

I appreciate Jerry's observation - "I think that cheating in general is merely facilitated by the Internet. There were always ways to pass others' work off as one's own." I add that I think when faculty make it known they are not only familiar with the Internet, but encourage its use - and the educational institution sets limits on its use - then even a student inclined to cheat feels discomfort in getting too obvious about Web misuse.

On another point, I like Jerry's example of an exam when you either know your subject or not. In my field, physical chemistry exams are like that. If there is an electrochemistry question, knowing the Nernst equation is often important. But, not only memorizing the equation - also knowing how and when to apply it. Additionally, I think a serious student has joy in knowing and using the Nernst equation - for example, to appreciate that the pH scale for acidity-basicity is based on it. And a pioneer chemist Arnold Beckman developed the first pH meters in his garage. For me and most of my fellow students, these things are "exciting" to learn.

These are my thoughts of the moment.

------ example school Internet policy -------
Monash University - Faculty of Science
Student Internet Use Policy

"During your studies you will be expected to make reasonable use of the Internet for academic and research purposes and to facilitate communications with academic staff and other students. The Faculty of Science pays for this access as part of your educational program as is done for other resources you use, in laboratories for example. 'Reasonable use' in this context includes both the type and quantity of material that is downloaded from external sources over the Internet. From time to time, the Faculty will determine a definition of 'reasonable use' for the purposes of this Policy and publish that definition on its web page."

The complete policy is at:
http://www.sci.monash.edu.au/itsupport/policies/Internet_policy.pdf
-------------------------------------------

Free Software Predicts How and When Steel Beams Will Buckle
------
It is impressive to me that Professor Benjamin W. Schafer and Johns Hopkins University make this potentially important software available free. The download website includes a detailed explanation of the computer program and gives related links.
------
Civil Engineering Researcher Creates Computer Tool to Aid Structural Designers

"A free computer program developed by a Johns Hopkins civil engineering researcher allows designers of thin-walled structures, including buildings and bridges, to test their stability and safety before a single beam is put into place. This modeling software, devised by Benjamin W. Schafer [Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering], asks designers to enter their materials, the geometry of their structure and the load it is expected to withstand. The program quickly reports how and under what conditions the structural components will buckle."

See rest of story at:
http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home02/sep02/schafer

Download website is at:
http://www.ce.jhu.edu/bschafer/

Re: Canned Fruit Syrup - No Will Power

I appreciate getting positive feed back from Mary about my having at least fair success with my low carbohydrate diet. Indeed, despite my slippage in will power to spurn fruit syrup, I do have some bragging rights. :-)

And Jose sent some good humor to add levity to the subject. I appreciate that.

The bottom line is I stick close enough to my low carbohydrate diet to achieve good blood glucose control (80 - 140 mg/dL).

Exercise, weight control and medications also contribute to good blood glucose control. The important incentive for good control is to delay or prevent diabetes complications such as blindness, amputations, etc.

Because of my ongoing good blood test results, in July my doctor and I agreed to lessen blood glucose readings from one per day (2 hours after a meal) to about one every three days and to check my 3-month average blood glucose concentration every three months by the so-called HbA1c test.

I am pretty pleased with the blood glucose control I've achieved!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
HbA1c = 5.8 % August 2002 (Target < 6.5%)

----- Blood Glucose Concentration 7/1/02 - 9/17/02 -----
(summary results from glucometer data downloaded to computer)
Average..........................116 mg/dL
Highest Blood Glucose.....261 mg/dL_________High > 140 mg/dL
Lowest Blood Glucose........87 mg/dL_________Low < 80 mg/dL

****** Standard Deviation = 35 mg/dL ******

--------- Readings/Range - mg/dL ------------
Glucose Ranges Number Percent
High (141 - 601)_______2_______ 9%
Target (80 - 140)______20______91%
Low (0 - 79)___________0_______0%

*** Average Readings Per Day = 0.3 ***

Canned Fruit Syrup - No Will Power

My low carbohydrate diet and I get along pretty good. But I have one big failing. I am allowed, even encouraged, to eat fruit

Canned fruit is most handy for me and I am very fond of it. But the diet rules say to pour off the syrup.

Gee whiz! Who can pass up drinking canned fruit syrup? Ever since I was a kid I love fruit syrup. After a year on the low carb diet I still can't make myself throw out the syrup.

Oh! By the way. I just ate some canned peaches, .... and I drank some peach syrup. :-)

Evolving Discussion - Does the Internet Enhance School Cheating?
Response from Jerry in New Jersey:

I think that cheating in general is merely facilitated by the internet. There were always ways to pass others' work off as one's own. The kind of cut-and-paste plagiarism that computers often make easy is also amenable to internet policing. When copying from the internet is suspected, Google can often track it down. I will Google for a phrase that might appear in someone's essay: "These rules are supposed by some to make the program easier to read and understand". Ah! There it is! Try it yourself: there's only one return if you include the quotes, and it's the second one without. If the student's essay is about structured
assembly language, you'll know he's been cribbing from me.

This kind of cheating is only good in BS courses, where opinions take the place of facts. One final exam I had in technician school was this:

Here are the characteristic curves of the tubes you will use.
These are the power supplies.
Design a complete plate-modulated one-kilowat AM transmitter for 2.0 MHz, including the audio amplifier and class-B modulator, specifying the output transformer.
Specify all biases. You have three hours; slide rules are permitted.

With that, either one knows ones trade or not. Opinions don't count.

As an instructor, I could give this same test year after year, changing only the frequency and the tube (now transistor) types. It would still separate the competent from the others.

A teacher who posts her private files on the internet is even more derelict than one who leaves them on his desk with the office vacant and unlocked. I had a course in college (rotating electric machinery) using a text that had the solutions to all the odd-numbered problems in an appendix. The instructor assigned even-numbered ones for homework, and told us at the outset that his tests would consist mostly of odd ones.

Naturally, we did -- and understood -- them all.

When effective policing was rare, common tempting crimes -- cattle rustling and horse theft, for example -- were punishable by hanging. We want no Oxbow Incident* in our schools, but if cheating is firmly established, the cheater should fail the exam or paper in early grades, the course (with a transcript notation why) early in high school, and be expelled for the remainder of the semester at least as a senior, and in college. Parents who complain should have their school taxes doubled. :-)

Jerry
______________________________
* How's this for a cheat:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/monkeynote/oxinbywalvan.html There is use for these summaries of the Classic Comics variety. I have some good ones from Oxford University Press. They amount to cheating only when misused.
___________________________________

Watching the World go by! :-) No post.

Fuel Cells - Part II (Part I was about micro fuel cells)

A couple or more new concepts to me were put forth in a Scientific American article about fuel-cell powered automobile experimentation.

These include:
-- the idea of being able to exchange automobile bodies on a standard, flat-profile chasis with "all the 'running gear'--the fuel-cell stack, drive-by-wire electronics controls and electric motors--inside the chassis."

-- pointing out that pipeline distribution systems for hydrogen already exist in some areas - for example, the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Presently these systems are used for other purposes - namely, for supplying hydrogen and taking up excess hydrogen in petrochemical operations. But the feasibility of hydrogen distribution systems is demonstrated and the technology exists.
_________________________________________
Scientific American September 16, 2002
Designing AUTOnomy
One of the designers of a radical new fuel-cell-car concept explains what was done
By Christopher E. Borroni-Bird

GOODBYE ENGINE, hello "skateboard": the AUTOnomy fuel cell concept car embeds all the "running gear" in the chassis.

It had to have four wheels, but pretty much everything else was open for consideration. When General Motors decided to develop an all-new fuel-cell vehicle with electronic (rather than mechanical), drive-by-wire controls, our team started with a clean sheet.

Washington Post - Does the Internet Enhance School Cheating?

Two headline articles in the Sunday Washington Post Magazine for September 15, 2002 are denouncing of students using Internet resourses for cheating. I think this is a good topic for discussion and I appreciate the information provided in the articles. I think the topic has the makings for an evolving discussion to see where it goes without debating, challenging, etc. alternate opinions - using so-called Socratic discussion.

To start with, I suggest trying a different way of framing the subject than "cheating". I propose that often the students are making good use of information from the Internet. I don't mean I condone all Internet information uses - for example I don't favor outright plagiarism, at least without giving proper credit; i.e. using quotations and source notes. This applies to other information sources such as books, conversations, articles, etc.

I am influenced by an advanced university history course I took in which the professor announces that all students are given an "A" if they attend class and if they speak during class. Most class sessions start with a topic, location, etc., and use Socratic discussion to generate a flow of thinking and learning. There are no tests. Use of Internet is encouraged. In fact, the professor gives "homework" to study certain websites. The value, or lack of value, of information from specific websites is often discussed. Indeed, whether or not to have printed text books with the course is talked over with the students at the class beginning and is not mandatory. Sometimes students are divided into small groups, usually with three students per group, to discuss and report on a topic. At the end of the course, each student spends an hour or so with the professor in his office discussing his or her course experience. This replaces a final examination.

Thus, going from my experience, I think Internet information can be used to enhance the flow of learning - both in quantity and quality. I view not having tests as basically eliminating the issue of "cheating." I think building the classroom learning experience around discussions with professor and classmates - with a variety of source materials used, including those from the Internet - approaches the ideals of a good education.

Like I said in the beginning, this is an evolving discussion. My background in obtaining two degrees in chemistry makes me wonder where the discussion may lead concerning classes in science, mathematics, etc., and associated laboratory classes.
_______________________________________________
Sunday Washington Post Magazine September 15, 2002

Cheatin', Writin' & 'Rithmetic

Nancy Abeshouse teaches advanced literature class at a Montgomery County high school. She has become nearly obsessed with how easy the Internet makes it for students to cheat and get away with it.

Homework Helper

You've put off that homework assignment for days, and it's due tomorrow. The libraries are closed, and morning is fast approaching. You turn to the Internet.

Dot-EU - A New Internet Domain for Europe

Previously I posted the URL for an INC.com article that gives a set of links for anyone who is thinking of registering a domain name.

Now comes the announcement of an .eu suffix.

I think the dot-eu domain will have high impact on the flow of information, commercial dot-eu enterprises, etc. on the Internet.

Indeed, dot-eu helps crystallize my thinking about all aspects of the European Union - I believe I have underestimated its importance.

I guess my new awareness of the European Union is yet one more influence of the Internet on me!

Deutsche Welle DW-World.de September 16, 2002
_________________________________________
European Internet surfers will have their own dot home in the future.

"In the future, European webmasters can register their sites with an .eu suffix. It is the latest move by the EU to promote e-commerce and even e-identity in Europe, as well as to stand up to the .com behemoth."

Computer Fun...
From website of Luciano da Fontoura Costa - Electonic Engineer in Brazil
http://cyvision.if.sc.usp.br/~luciano/
Click on: [Forbidden zone] -- click on: [Fun]
_______________________________________

-- computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. (Popular Mechanics, 1949.)

-- Bradley's bromide: If computers ever get too powerful, we can organize them into committee. That'll do them in.

-- Bug: An elusive creature living in a program that makes it incorrect. The activity of "debugging," or removing bugs from a program, ends when people get tired of doing it, not when the bugs are removed.

-- Hardware: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked.

-- Software: The parts of a computer system that cannot be kicked, not mattering how much you try.

-- If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders. (Hal Abelson)

-- There is nothing in the world that can give man a sense of the infinite like human stupidity, except computer stupidity. (adapted)

-- Performance: A statement of the speed at which a computer system works. Or rather, might work under certain circumstances. Or was rumored to be working over in Jersey about a month ago.

WebElements
http://www.webelements.com/

While on the subject of periodic tables of the elements, I just learned about the "WebElements" periodic table website.

In a quick look, it is impressive to me and it appears complementary to "Periodic Library" software I described in my previous post.

I found out about the "WebElements" Web page because it received a Scientific American 2002 Sci-Tech Web Award in the field of chemistry.

WebElements
"The first ever periodic table on the WWW"
Author: Mark Winter [Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield, England]
Royal Society of Chemistry 1998 HE Teaching Award winner
45 million page views in the last 12 months

"Click on an element in this interactive Periodic Table and a concise description of its properties appears, along with links for more info, such as its crystal structure or other properties. A helpful photograph accompanies most elements (room-temperature gases are not ignored—an image of a beaker of frigid liquid oxygen appears, for instance) and more details are available in RealAudio shorts."

Periodic Library - free download for students or home personal use
An interactive periodic table of the elements.
---- Periodic Library 1.8 - 362KB ----
Download at: http://www.boolean.ca/perlib/

Chemistry is still my first love. I have all kinds of periodic tables around my office and use them often, but the "Periodic Library" is an especially useful periodic table of the elements resource for me. "It takes full advantage of your computer's capabilities ... "

I'm like "a kid in a candy factory" :-) being able to raise or lower temperature and observe changes in the solid, liquid and gaseous states of the elements and trends in the periodic table elemental groups. Trend charts for the periodicity of various elemental physical properties can be displayed. And there are many other neat features.

Historical Maps
Perry-Castañeda Library
Map Collection at The University of Texas online
< http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/ >

Since taking several advanced American and European history classes as a hobby in retirement, I've come to enjoy historical maps. I can look at them for hours.

So the discovery of the University of Texas Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection link is a joy for me. The maps are worldwide.

As an example, I just spent nearly half an hour studying this map.
Europe 1360
Europe about 1360. From The Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1926.

See map at:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/europe_1360.jpg

What would you look like if you were a Lego?

Picture yourself in plastic with the Mini-Mizer (reasonablyclever.com).

Legojack.jpg [8-)] attached to e-mails to JackinOklahoma list.

EU Coins Might be a Mild Irritant

This article from Deutsche Welle [DW-Word.de], September 12, 2002, caught my eye because my parents used to warn me that money is the "dirtiest" item we handle in our daily lives. The issue here is different. It is about an allergic reaction to high nickel content.
-------------------
"Swiss scientists have revealed just how allergenic the euro coins are to those suffering from nickel allergy, a relatively common syndrome. [in up to 30 per cent of the population]"
[Excerpt]
"The euro currency, adopted by most of Europe at the beginning of this year, can release up to 320 times the amount of nickel that European Union regulations say triggers skin reactions in people allergic to the metal."

See full article at:
<http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1446_A_630263_1_A,00.html>

SpamKiller Spam

I am on record saying I like SpamKiller sold by McAfee. In fact I recently downloaded the latest SpamKiller version even though I am barely bothered by spam at this time. I keep SpamKiller idle for the time being.

But get this! I forget where I read it, but there is a report the McAfee folks have found an effective way to market SpamKiller by sending spam messages advertising SpamKiller. I reacted mildly at first but as time passes it makes my hackles bristle for the gall of McAfee to send spam about SpamKiller. Anything to make a buck, I guess.

Anyone familiar with SpamKiller knows it takes just a single keystroke to add a message source to the spam filters. So at least SpamKiller can be used to kill SpamKiller spam. :?)

Micro Fuel Cells

It seems my entire career since 1955 training and practicing as a chemist and chemical engineer, I intermittently hear of the promise of fuel cells as an energy source for running various things, including automobiles. The simplicity of the chemistry is enticing. Hydrogen and oxygen are reacted together to form electrons (to provide electricity) and water. But the devil is in the details. Other than demonstration units periodically put on display, the road to develop technology for commercially feasible fuel cells is a rough one - at least from my vantage point.

Having said this, I have a spark of excitement reading the article about micro fuel cells in Science News online <www.sciencenews.org>. Maybe, maybe ... there is a niche for a successful commercial application of fuel cells in the field of micro fuel cells.

Pocket Sockets
Science News Online Week of Sept. 7, 2002; Vol. 162, No. 10
Tiny fuel cells for portable electronics have arrived, almost
Peter Weiss
[Excerpt]
"Fuel cells as small as a few centimeters across—known as micro fuel cells—could last 10 or more hours and be refueled in seconds, their promoters say. For personal electronics, 'people . . . desperately need the product,' says Robert K. Lifton of New York City–based fuel cell developer Medis Technologies."
The complete article is at:
<http://www.sciencenews.org/20020907/bob10.asp>

Persistence Pays Off

Now I feel embarrassed by my vent yesterday about my "decision of the third kind" to postpone an Antivirus software upgrade.

I was pretty frustrated after hours of "taking one step forward and two steps backward."

Then I remembered a sometimes useful strategy - to uninstall the previous software version before installing an upgrade version of the software.

So I completely uninstalled eTrust EZ Antivirus 5.4. Then I did a clean install of the eTrust EZ Antivirus 6.0 upgrade.

And now the upgrade version is working just great. Although I admit that stripping my computer of Antivirus software even for a brief period was a little spooky. :-)

On Nonconformity

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity."

--Christopher Morley

And The Glaciers Recede

I am intrigued by news of ancient human and animal remains melting out of receding glaciers around the world - described in USNews.com as "a bounty of a warming world."

My intrigue is in large part because I have personal experience traversing glaciers, including observations of their recession.

In late July of 1976 and 1977, I traversed Dinwoody Glacier in Wyoming's Wind River Range. Dinwoody is a large glacier clinging to the side of Gannett Peak, the highest peak in Wyoming and terminating at the bottom moraine - accumulations of rock debris from the valley walls.

My fellow climbers and I noticed recession of Dinwoody Glacier in those two years. Near the moraine there are large rocks sitting on pedestals of ice. The ice melts slower immediately beneath the rocks until the rocks fall off making new moraine. Traversing the moraine is slow and deceivingly dangerous in part because of delicate footing on the "ice pedestal rocks." So more moraine is easy to notice. Also, glacial milk - ice cold water carrying fine silt from glacier grinding action - flows beneath the rock debris. A misstep can mean stepping in the cold water.

Then in the steep part of the glacier using ropes, ice axes and crampons for safety, some of the crevasses were wider and more difficult to cross in the second year, a sign of glacier recession and melting. The glacier changes from 1976 to 1977 cost about two hours in reaching the Gannett Peak summit and we narrowly escaped problems from the usual Rocky Mountain rough weather in the afternoon.

Then in 1995 other friends of mine traversed the same route on Dinwoody glacier. We compared pictures. The glacier recession between 1996-1997 was dramatic. By this time there were many independent reports, including in newspapers, of the dramatic recession of most of the glaciers in the Wind River Range.

The USNews.com article, dated 9/16/02, "Defrosting the past" by Alex Markels is at:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020916/misc/16meltdown.htm
[excerpt]
"Decades of unusual warmth in regions from Peru to Alaska trend some think is linked to emissions from cars and industry–have shrunk or thawed many of the world's 70,000 glaciers. As the ice recedes, a treasure-trove of human and animal artifacts is emerging, extraordinarily well preserved after centuries in the deep freeze. The fabrics, wood, bone, and DNA-rich tissue found on the mucky fringes of the ice are revising scientists' understanding of our predecessors' health, habits, and technology, and the prey they pursued."

Decision of the Third Kind

Computer Associates, the vendor of the antivirus software I use, and am pleased with, announced yesterday an upgrade from eTrust EZ Antivirus 5.4 to eTrust EZ Antivirus 6.0. The new version 6.0 is preconfigured to automatically update virus signature files each time you connect to the Internet (but no more than once per day).

Using eTrust EZ Antivirus 5.4, a virus signature file is available generally each working day with e-mail notice of new virus signature files. The virus signature files are then downloaded on manual command of the user.

The upgrade appears worth a try - it seems to offer "an extra ounce of protection." In the words of Computer Associates, The " #1 reason PC users suffer virus attacks; out of date signature lists."

So yesterday I spent many hours, on and off, testing the upgrade - eTrust EZ Antivirus 6.0. Unfortunately, I keep getting frustrated by apparent glitches and/or "operator error."

So I face a decision to upgrade, a decision not to upgrade, or a decision to postpone the decision ("a decision of the third kind.")

For now I make "a decision of a third kind."

About Camembert Cheese from Normandy - France

Awhile back there was a segment on National Geographic Today [on the National Geographic TV channel] detailing the history including the production methods, current and past, for Camembert Cheese - a soft-ripened cheese made in Normandy in France. Being a non-cosmopolitan "Okie" most likely to be eating an American made cheddar cheese, I had not heard of Camembert Cheese before.

Because of the National Geographic publicity, Camembert cheese and cheeses in general became an e-mail thread between me and Barry and Jose in France. We had a good time going back and forth with messages about cheese for a week or so.

Now to get to the point of this post. On one of my recent trips to the super market in my little town in Oklahoma - By golly, there was some Camembert cheese for sale in the new delicatessen section! I got some - it is "President" brand Camembert in a vacuum-sealed 4.5 ounce tin. And I agree wholeheartedly with the package claim that it has a "rich, delicious flavor."

So I am at least one "Okie" now to be counted as a Camembert "cheese head." :-)

Jack's Recommended Reading for Today

We all know the times when an article, book, etc., is such interesting reading that it can't be put down.

For me, I ran into this in reading the cover story of today's New York Times Magazine on the Web. The article is a history of the World Trade Center Twin Towers from their conception in the early 1960's until their destruction almost one year ago on 9/11/2001.

I can't add any words to tell how captivating the article is. I will just give the reference link and story description as printed in the Times Magazine.

The Height of Ambition
In the epic story of how the World Trade Towers Rose, their fall was foretold.
By James Glanz and Eric Lipton

"James Glanz and Eric Lipton write the biography of the World Trade Center towers — from their dizzying rise to their horrifying, unforgettable fall — and find that some of the same innovations that allowed such ambitious structures to be built became, years later, factors in their demise."
Go to Article at: <http://www.nytimes.com/magazine/>
[Seven chapters, 32 pages]

Also at the same website:
Interactive Graphic: How the Towers Stood and Fell
Timeline: A History of the World Trade Center (with archival Times coverage)
Video: Rebuilding Ground Zero
Slide Show: Alternative Designs for the Original Towers

Many thanks to Mary for sending reference to the splendid Website about the history of Labor Day in Canada, the United States and elsewhere.

<http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Creek/9369/project7/labor.html>

This Website is a historian's delight with its thoroughness, its links to other relevant Websites, its quotes, and its giving the Walt Whitman poem "'O Little Town Of Bethlehem, (Pennsylvania)."

I like the quote:

"The Labor Movement; the folks who brought you the weekend."
-- From a bumper sticker, 1995

Being a retired person for nearly nine years, it is still a mild surprise to me that I continue to look forward to and appreciate weekends.

I worked in Union labor industrial complexes my entire career as a chemist and chemical engineer. I feel this benefited me in many ways, including in financial ways and in esprit de corps, even though I was not a member of the Union. Instead, I was a salaried professional employee my entire career.

And I can tell an amusing story for me (now :)) related to the Union when I worked at FMC Corporation's chemical complex at Green River, Wyoming.

I was new in the plant in 1973 and still finding my way around. I had to go to the first aid dispensary (later a full medical clinic with on site doctor) for some reason, probably for a physical.

I opened the door and walked right in to a confidential Union meeting. I got politely, and promptly (!), escorted out. Come to find out the Union office on the lease was next door to the dispensary! After that I was very careful I did not repeat the error.