Budget offers MU faculty a gloomy outlook,
University of Missouri faculty members are going to need some tough talks about how the system should boost salaries to a level comparable with peer universities.

That was the take-away message of a more than hourlong meeting yesterday between Betsy Rodriguez, vice president of human resources, and about 40 MU faculty members on campus. The presentation was a scaled-down version of the five-hour presentation Rodriguez gave the UM Board of Curators in August.

“I don’t want you to leave depressed, I want you to leave with a lot of questions” and things to discuss, Rodriguez said at the end of the program.

The facts aren’t encouraging. MU ranks at or near the bottom of every salary list when compared to peer universities, even when colleges on the coasts are taken out of the mix.

And a salary gap between new employees entering at market value and their more experienced counterparts creates a systematic salary problem, she said.

In some cases, new hires end up with higher salaries than veteran faculty members.

And that can be awkward, said Greg Alexander, a School of Nursing assistant professor. He said he has noticed when filling out grant forms with co-investigators that he makes more than veteran colleagues. Although no one talks about it, “there’s definitely a morale issue,” he said.

Boosting salaries requires money the system doesn’t have. Rodriguez said it would cost $8 million to increase salaries by 1 percent.

A $32 million increase in state funding would allow the university to give a 4 percent raise, roughly a cost-of-living increase, Rodriguez said. But if current trends continue, the state won’t have that kind of extra money to spend. The Associated Press reported yesterday that Missouri tax revenues plunged 10 percent in the first quarter of this budget year.

Another option to give a 4 percent raise would be to raise tuition 8 percent. That’s also unlikely because state law limits how much a public university can raise tuition in a year without special permission. Plus, that increase would be a hard sale to the public and students, Rodriguez said.

She challenged employees to consider whether they’d want to reduce some benefits — such as a better-than-average early retirement health plan — in exchange for higher take-home pay. She also questioned whether employees would want to look at doing away with systemwide tuition and salary increases and instead base those increases on individual campuses.

“These are tough discussions,” Rodriguez said. “We can no longer afford not to” increase salaries, “so how are we going to pay for it?”

Although there are no current answers, MU Faculty Council Chairwoman Leona Rubin said there are places to consider. For instance, she questioned whether duplicate programs are needed on each of the four UM campuses.

Mainly, she said, faculty needs to have a seat at the discussion table.

“Whatever the solutions are, they need to be coming from the bottom up as well as the top down,” Rubin said. The decisions “are not going to be easy.”

Related Cos restarts west side Manhattan project

Sept 29 (Reuters) - Property developer Related Cos said on Tuesday it had restarted work on a 1.2 million-square-foot development in midtown Manhattan that had been stalled by the economic downturn.

The block-sized project on 440 West 42nd St. between 10th and Dyer avenues, will comprise 163 units of affordable housing, market-rate rental units, for-sale residences, a hotel, non-profit theaters and retail spaces.

Related said it had worked with unions, contractors, trades, architects and engineers to reduce costs. The project will create more than 700 construction jobs, the company said.

The New York State Housing Finance Agency and a lending consortium are providing the financing.

"This development was unique in that the foundation work had been completed and the financing was in place, but it offers valuable lessons that can be applied to future projects on how we can reduce the price of construction here in New York," Bruce Beal Jr., executive vice president of Related Cos, said in a statement.

Cost savings were achieved through a combination of efforts including a project labor agreement and by a thorough review of every aspect of the job including redesign and re-engineering of the development, the company said.

Weak demand and tight financing have stalled several New York projects, such as Boston Properties Inc's planned 1-million-square foot skyscraper on West 55th Street. (Reporting by Ilaina Jonas; Editing by Ted Kerr)

The United States Department of Energy Office of History and Heritage Resources, with the assistance of a graduate fellow, has been developing an interactive web site on the Manhattan Project. When completed, The Manhattan Project: An Interactive History will total some 120,000 words and over 200 pages and 500 images, including photographs, maps, and drawings. The site is being implemented incrementally, with the “Events of the Manhattan Project” and “Resources Relating to the Manhattan Project” sections the first part to go online. Click on the Events or Resources buttons to the left for a listing of currently available pages.

The remaining sections are scheduled to go online in the near future. Click on the buttons to the left for listings of the projected web pages under each heading.

Supreme Court to begin hearings in Mojave Cross case on October 07th

Voices from a battle in the Mojave Desert will be heard in the nation's capital next week when the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in Salazar v. Buono.

The case concerns the Mojave Cross, northwest of Needles in the Mojave National Preserve.

The original cross was erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars as a monument to veterans of World War I. It was designated a national war memorial, one of 49 so-recognized by the U.S. Congress.

The American Civil Liberties Union, representing a National Park Service employee (Buono), brought suit contending, essentially, that the cross is inappropriate as it only recognizes veterans of the Christian faith, and, as it was on federal land, that it violated the First Amendment's separation of church and state clause.

In July of 2002 the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California agreed and ordered the cross removed.

The next year U.S. Congressman Jerry Lewis, whose district includes Needles, inserted a land exchange in the 2004 Defense Appropriations Act which transferred the acre of ground on which the cross stands to private ownership.

In April of 2005, the same court found that transfer was a sham attempt to evade the injunction against display of the cross. Since then, view of the cross has been obstructed, most recently by a plywood box.

In February of 2009 the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the matter. Said Lewis at the time, “I am gratified that the U.S.

Supreme Court has agreed to review the case of the Mojave Cross veterans memorial, and I am confident that the justices will see the simple truth that this is an historic site honoring the sacrifices of those who died defending our nation.

“Frankly, I am disappointed that this case has had to go this far, and I am grateful to the American Legion and other veterans groups who have helped ensure that it has maintained widespread support from the American public.”

Soldiers make pilgrimage to Mojave Cross site

By JIM MANIACI, Laughlin Nevada Times

LAUGHLIN - An enthusiastic audience of at least 100 persons gave a half-dozen American soldiers a standing ovation Sept. 17 when they arrived at American Legion Laughlin Post 60 on their way to the Mojave Cross, dedicated to those killed in action in World War I, that was erected more than a half-century before any of them were born.

The embattled plain white 8-foot tall cross - a duplicate of those which grace military cemeteries - is the subject of a precedent-setting case in which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Oct. 7 about whether it is an allowable military memorial or, as the American Civil Liberties Union contends, is a symbol violating the First Amendment's forbidding the establishment of a state-sponsored church.

Recently returned from war zones overseas, the six made the pilgrimage from Fort Polk, La., to Laughlin as their last night before seeing the cross on an isolated road in the Mojave National Preserve some 91 miles from Laughlin's military veterans post, according to Roger Reimer, who drove the distance. He is the commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 243, which is housed at the American Legion Post where Commander Mitch Roach began the night by saluting the young veterans.

Their leader, Sgt. Weldon J. Kelly of Buna, Texas, told how the crusade got started.

He and Spc. Adam J. Pena of Austin, Texas, read about the case on the Internet and were upset that a veterans memorial was threatened.

The simple desert cross was erected in 1934 by the VFW - 58 years before Kelly was born. He is the oldest of the six; the youngest is age 19.

Rio urges IOC to award Olympics to South America Rio de Janeiro delivered a passionate appeal for South America to be awarded the Olympics for the first time.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told IOC members Friday it was time to address the "imbalance" and give Rio the 2016 Games.

He said Brazil had earned its chance to show the games belonged to people of all continents.

"I honestly believe it is Brazil's time," Silva said through a translator. "It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country."

In a confident presentation, Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman showed his fellow IOC members a map of the world marking cities that have hosted the games. Europe had 30 dots on the map, Asia five, Oceania two and North America 12 _ including eight in the United States, home to expected main rival Chicago. Tokyo and Madrid are also bidding to host the games.

Silva, speaking in Portuguese, addressed IOC members as "dear friends," and invited them to boost Brazil's self-esteem and inspire 400 million South American people.

"Rio is ready," Silva said. "Give us this chance and you will not regret it, be sure."

Nuzman, who cannot vote while Rio is still in the secret balloting, called on his colleagues to "open the door to a new continent, one that stands ready to take the Olympic Movement forward."

Rio's leaders said they would deliver a safe Olympics, and that the Brazilian economy could guarantee financial stability. Rio's spending plans of $14.4 billion (euro9.9 billion) on venues and infrastructure are the highest of the four candidates.

Henrique Meirelles, president of Brazil's Central Bank, said the economy had grown stronger this year.

Brazil's president, known as Lula, was the star attraction of a 45-minute presentation in which bid organizers switched between four languages _ Portuguese, English, French and Spanish.

Brazil was now more confident on the global stage "thanks to President Lula," Nuzman said.

"We have provided guarantees that can give you certainty," Meirelles said. "Our economic strength can give you confidence to bring the games to Rio in 2016."

IOC members were told Brazil is the only one of the world's top 10 economies never to have hosted an Olympics, and is scheduled to rank fifth largest by 2016.

Rio has faced calls to spend the money instead on education and social projects for its six million people, and making the city safer.

The bid team has presented the Olympics as a catalyst to transform the city, chiming with an IOC mission principle.

"We will deliver a safe and secure games," said Rio state governor Sergio Cabral, who has responsibility for tackling urban crime. "All in the name of sport and the long-term needs of our people."

Bid leaders said they were ready to start work immediately to deliver an "exuberant" Olympics.

Rio transformed its prospects in the hosting race after getting low marks for technical aspects of the bid when IOC evaluators first rated candidates in March 2008. But it bounced back into closer contention after the official evaluation team visited the city five months ago.

Rio's momentum picked up speed after the four candidate cities met IOC members in June at the Olympic capital city of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Days before the final vote, Rio's team arrived in Copenhagen carrying the unofficial tag of front-runner alongside Chicago.

The IOC was given a further sentimental reason to back Rio after the presentation was opened by Joao Havelange, its longest-standing member with 46 years of service.

"I dream of seeing history being made in 2016," said Havelange, who would celebrate his 100th birthday weeks before a Rio Olympics opened.

Which will end first 2012 End of the World Prophecy: Are you scared?

There has recently been a lot of hype surrounding the 2012 End of the World Prophecy, mostly due to the fact of a movie due for release on November 13. This has certainly raised a number of question, with many believing that the end of the Mayan calendar will see the end of the earth.

If you visit 2012warning.com, they have a couple of videos that show two suns, these were filmed on June 1, 2008.

Could this actually be the beginning of the end of mankind, the start of what is thought to be string of events that will bring an end to our way of life?

The video of the two suns is a little hard to believe, there have been reports that if there had been two suns, then our oceans would have started to boil away.

Not sure I remember it be extra hot on that day.

There is even a theory on a Planet X, which orbits around our solar system once every 3600 years.

The return of this planet could spell trouble for the other planets in our solar system. Some say that the planet could cross orbits with Jupiter and ignite the gas giant, turning it into a baby sun.

It is assumed that by May 2011, we will all be able to see the two suns.

All of these theories are only speculation, but the end of the Mayan calendar is real. People assume that as the calendar stops counting, that will be the end of the world. Depending on what documentaries you watch, there are those who believe that the Mayan calendar will just roll over much like the speedometer in your car.

Another great theory has to be that the inhabitants of the world, you and me will undergo a “positive physical or spiritual transformation.” This would then mark a new beginning of a new era.

One thing is certain, these End of the World Prophecy will not go away until we wake up on the morning after December 21, 2012.

Harrelson to appear at Woodstock Film Festival tonight; check out our blog

Actor Woody Harrelson will be at the Woodstock Film Festival tonight, to take part in a question-and-answer session after a screening of "The Messenger," in which he appears.

Woodstock Film Festival Executive Director revealed this news to the Journal last night, during a party that followed the screening of "Woodstock: Now and Then," at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock.

Harrelson will also be at the film fest's party at New World Home Cooking. The film is sold out and the party is a ticketed event.

Earlier Wednesday, the Journal reported that actress Uma Thurman will moderate a panel on women in film on Saturday morning. Catch up on all the latest film fest news by clicking on the link to the right, which will take you to music writer John Barry's film fest blog.