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Astronaut finds some pains in returning to Earth

November 30, 2007 By

Clay Anderson The first Iowa State University graduate to reach orbit is back on Earth after a five-month assignment aboard the International Space Station.

Astronaut Clay Anderson says he was surprised by one thing in particular — coming back from a lengthy stay in a weightless environment can literally be a pain in the butt.

Well, the biggest surprise is that my bottom really hurts. I didn’t use my rear end for about five months," Anderson says,"and when I first came back to Earth and people made me stand up and sit down on hard chairs, I figured out that my tailbone and my posterior were not doing all that well. But that’s getting better every day."

Anderson is an Ashland, Nebraska, native. If asked what he’s up to, Anderson says he’s down to about six-feet tall again. With no gravity to compress his spine, he grew an inch-and-a-half during his stay on the space station. Anderson says he shot some great pictures from space, and not just of the Great Wall of China.

Anderson says: "That one’s been captured in film, but I captured the Pyramids of Egypt. Yeah, that was a pretty cool day. I also captured Memorial Stadium when it was full of Huskers wearing red when they played the Aggies A & M." During his five-month stay in orbit, Anderson performed a host of science experiments, including growing the herb basil. Turns out, if you over-water in zero gravity, the water doesn’t drain down from the roots and they rot. But Anderson says the job had its up moments, as well.

Anderson says: "I go outside the vehicle in outer space and I’m only hanging on by a braided wire and a couple of extra tethers, and I can turn around and flip around and look at earth at any time, and one of the first things I saw was the moon rise over the horizon, and it’s just a spectacular feeling to be floating so unencumbered in Outer Space in such a dangerous yet such a beautiful environment."

Anderson’s back home in Texas, undergoing rehabilitation for the loss of bone and muscle that happens when you spend time in space. He says he never realized how much he’d miss standing in the backyard, smelling things in the breeze. He’s glad to get back to that, and plans to visit his native Nebraska either over Christmas or next February.

Filed Under: Human Interest

Soldier from "Blackhawk Down" says situation in Iraq is looking better

November 30, 2007 By

The former soldier who was the inspiration for the book "Blackhawk Down" visited Des Moines Friday to talk about leadership at the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives annual meeting. Durant’s helicopter was shot down in Somalia in 1983 and he was taken hostage. The story of that event was told in the book and later a movie.

Durant now tours the country talking about leadership and the dramatic events he went through in the military. Durant says when you first compare what happened in the military to business, it seems like there isn’t much that’s the same. But he says all the basic parts and process are basically the same, as you need good people and good leadership to accomplish your goals.

As for the country’s current military situation, Durant told Radio Iowa he believes things are turning around in Iraq. Durant says he truly believes "that we have turned the corner" and the U.S. is close to saying this is a win and there will be a positive outcome, even though it has been more costly than people might have thought going in. Durant says the surge of troops seems to have help quell some of the problems in Iraq.

Durant says he hasn’t been to Iraq, but based on reports he’s seen in the media, the violence has slowed, and hundreds if not thousands of Sunis have signed up to help with security in some of the more dangerous areas, "So all those things to me are a clear indication that this strategy is working and we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."

Iowa is one of the first states to kick off the selection of a new leader for the country, and Durant was asked what he would look for in the person to handle the job. Durant says he looks for "the ability to take people where they wouldn’t go otherwise." He says leaders don’t follow the polls, leaders have a vision and execute that vision and over time get people to understand where they tried to take us was the right path. Durant says it’s very difficult because you can take a lot of abuse as a leader, and sometimes you’re wrong. Durant retired from the military in 2001. 

Filed Under: Business, Military

UNI enters round two of football playoffs against Delaware

November 30, 2007 By

The Northern Iowa Panthers try to take another step on a road they hope leads to a national title when they host Delaware in the quarterfinal round of the FCS national playoffs in the UNI-Dome. The Panthers are 12-0 after rallying late to down New Hampshire in last week’s opening round.

Panther coach Mark Farley says the team is very focused, very experienced and they know what they are trying to achieve, and to achieve it is going to take four quarters of football. "And I don’t think there’s any secret to what this team’s goal is, and anything short of that would be disappointing."

UNI’s defense has been solid all season and will need another good effort against a Delaware offense that combines the passing of quarterback Joe Flacco with the running of Omar Cuff who averages 138 yards per game. Farley says the defensive line and linebacker’s speed has been very good, and they have staid healthy through much of the season, which he says has really helped.

Farley says while Delaware’s passing game gets much of the attention you cannot afford to forget about the ground game. He says Cuff is one of the best backs in the country, and he thinks Cuff is what really makes the offense go. Farley says the combination of the good quarterback and a good runningback, makes the quarterback more dangerous.

The UNI-Dome has provided the Panthers with a big home field advantage and Farley hopes it continues. He says you can tell people about it, but until you’ve been in there, it’s a different experience. Farley says players have to adjust to being in the dome.

Delaware coach K.C. Keeler says the Panthers will be tough to stop as they have a good tailback, quarterback and wide recievers, but it all starts with the offensive line. The Blue Hens are one of five teams to make the playoffs from the Colonial Athletic Association and Keeler says the competition prepares them for the playoffs.

Keeler says the year they won the national championship, five of their last 7 games were won in the last drive or snap of the game. He says that’s the difficulty of the conference. Kickoff in the UNI-Dome is one o’clock.

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Central looks to advance against Bethel

November 30, 2007 By

Central is at home against Bethel of Minnesota in the quarterfinal round of the division three playoffs. These teams have played in recent years. Central coach Jeff McMartin says the seniors will have played them twice and know they have a good defense and a good running attack. They also beat St. Johns this year and are the champions of their league.

The key will be slowing down a Bethel ground game that attacks in a number of different ways. McMartin says they do a lot of shotgun with a lot of different formations that include a lot of options with the quarterback and running back. He says they will try to run it right at you, but can take it outside if they have to.

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More gold dropped in Salvation Army kettle

November 30, 2007 By

The Salvation Army chapter in Omaha/Council Bluffs has been twice-blessed this week. For the second time in four days, someone’s dropped a valuable gold coin in one of the red kettles. In the latest case, the coin is worth more than $800.

Brandon Braithwaite was manning the kettle outside an Omaha grocery store on Wednesday when someone dropped a gold Krugerrand into the pot. Braithwaite says: "When I was bell ringing, it happened. It got dropped in my kettle and I was told it was a solid ounce of gold. I don’t know exactly when because whoever did it was pretty slick."

Braithwaite says the gold coin was inside an envelope wrapped in a dollar bill. On the envelope was written "This makes two. I hope it brings still more to you." Written on the other side, "A Copycat Donor."

He says, "They hid it in a dollar bill wrapped up like a little present so I have no idea who did it." Braithwaite is pleased the coin was dropped into his kettle. The 26-year-old suffers from multiple sclerosis and mans the kettle from a wheelchair.

Braithwaite says, "I have a lot of kids who like to come up and say ‘hi’ to me and drop a couple pennies or whatever in the kettle." The coin is worth about $840. Another Kruggerand worth about $250 was dropped in a kettle in Omaha earlier in the week.

 

Filed Under: Human Interest

Group plans "environmental caucuses"

November 30, 2007 By

Activists are planning town hall meetings across Iowa during December that will focus on the environment.  The group Plains Justice calls them environmental caucuses and wants them to act as a springboard to hear people’s concerns about Iowa’s water, land and air.

Organizer Jane Duax  of Davenport says these caucuses aren’t just for Democrats or Republicans: "This is very much a bipartisan issue and people of all backgrounds, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, everyone, rural, urban. We really want people of diverse backgrounds to come together around the environmental issues that affect our daily life."

Duax expects a host of topics to be covered. She says, "We’re really hoping to get people together to talk about their concerns about clean water, clean air, conservation, lead contamination, coal plant building and renewable energies." Duax says the goal is to compile Iowans’ concerns from the environmental caucuses in one report that’ll be forwarded to all presidential candidates and to the state legislature. She explains her motivations behind organizing the series of statewide meetings.

"I’ve always cared about the earth and what we’re doing to it." Duax says, "As a Girl Scout, growing up way back when, I was taught to leave the land cleaner than I found it. I’m worried about the future, for the kids growing up and what they’re going to have left to deal with if we don’t start taking care of things now."

The first environmental caucus is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Waterloo, with more meetings to follow in: Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Davenport, Dubuque, Eldridge, Fairfield, Jesup, Mapleton and Sioux City. For more information, contact Duax at (563) 349-1417 or visit " plainsjustice.org ".

 

Audio: Radio Iowa’s Matt Kelley reports. :45 MP3

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Pending storm not good news to Electric co-ops

November 30, 2007 By

The forecast for snow and freezing rain is the last thing members of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives want to hear as they hold their annual meeting in Des Moines. Harry Ruth of the East-Central Iowa Electric Coop in Urbana, is attending the meeting, and says they’re still trying to recover from last year’s storm.

Ruth says, “This last February and March was the worst storm my people can remember, going back to 1975 or before, so we really don’t want to go through that again if we can help it.” Ruth says they’re still in the process of recovering from that storm. “The last storm was a wake up call, we realized we need to be more aggressive in updating our system,” Ruth says,”the problem is of course, that being rural we don’t have the money, that would be generated by a more urban system with high densities.”

Ruth says they have to invest a lot of money for the money they get out of it. For example, he says urban systems can have 30 electric meters per mile, while rural systems will have three-and-a-half. Ruth says the storm last March left them with a massive rebuilding effort. After the storm he says they conservatively estimated they needed to rebuild 10% of their 2,000 miles of line. Ruth says they could have doubled the amount they rebuilt if they had the time.

Ruth says they made progress in getting the lines going again, as they did get everything back up in the air, and totally rebuilt 65 miles of line and are scheduled to rebuild 165 miles in 2008. He says they still have some lines that are not totally back and it could be into next spring before everything is back the way it should be.

Ruth says the co-op’s have to determine how much they can do to improve lines, while keeping things financially viable. He says improvements cost money, and it’s going to impact rates, and they are trying to assess how aggressive they can be without raising the rates too much to members. “We like to keep the lights on, we like to keep the rates reasonable, and sometimes that’s a hard balance, Ruth says. ruth says the co-op have gotten some money from FEMA to help repair the power lines, and that has helped. 

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:
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