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Y2K Briefing
Admiral Quigley: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We have planned two specific times for updates or briefings to you-all on how DOD is being affected by the Y2K rollover as we move around the world. One of them is now. The second is at noon tomorrow, after the entire world has had an opportunity to experience rollover, and we've had a little bit of time to assess how we've been affected.
We will keep open the option to have additional briefings kind of on a pop-up basis as the hours progress, if there is news to be had. So we will put the word out through DefenseLINK. We will put the word out in posted notices here. I would welcome you to call in to the news desk, if you wish to find out the next scheduled briefing, or some combination of the above, just to keep abreast. And we'll try to get the word out as best we can. But those are the two that we are planning for sure: this one and noon tomorrow.
Dr. Hamre will be the lead briefer tomorrow, and I would like to introduce the lead briefer today, Rear Admiral Bob Willard from the Joint Staff. He has been in charge of the Y2K preparations for the Joint Staff.
Admiral Willard?
Admiral Willard: Thank you. Good afternoon.
I'd like to begin the briefing today, if I may, by reading an announcement. It states that the first Department of Defense baby was born at 0014 hours local time at Naval Hospital on Marine Corps Base Camp Butler in Okinawa to Air Force parents. It is a joint baby.
Baby Lauren, born to Airman First Class Lisa Matthews and Senior Airman Joshua Matthews, arrived 21 inches long, seven pounds 12 ounces. Mother and baby are doing fine. We can't be sure, but we believe Lauren will join the Army when of age.
We have had a year 2000 augmentation cell operating in our National Military Command Center here in the Pentagon, as well as other bodies to help monitor the year 2000 transition, on a 24-hour basis for the past several days.
It's been an unprecedented look at the world, frankly, for us, and today's briefing will be very consistent, I think, with what you've seen in the international picture to date. If I may --
This is a very simple chart, but the red line helps to denote about where we are currently in terms of time zone. And what you see in the green dots are countries in which we have large concentrations of Department of Defense installations that have undergone the century rollover and are reporting themselves fine.
To date, we have no installations from Department of Defense that have indicated any disruptions, either in their own systems or in the host nation systems that are being provided to them, and that is very encouraging news.
I think, as a caution, though, that I should mention that year 2000, in our experience, does not always manifest itself within the first minutes or hours following a rollover event, but rather could be hours or days or weeks from now in terms of manifesting itself. And we'll be diligent over not only this weekend but the coming weeks, as well, in attempting to determine whether we are seeing problems develop.
With that, I'd like to open myself to your questions.
Yes, sir?
Q: Admiral, I think the first -- wasn't the first rollover at Kwajalein?
Admiral Willard: It was.
Q: And then it moved to Guam and to Korea, on and --
Admiral Willard: That's correct. Kwajalein -- and we have actually an Army air station located at Kwajalein that reported to us first from the Department of Defense and reported that it was having no problem with the rollover.
Q: Have you had any requests from governments, municipalities in any of these places, for help?
Admiral Willard: We have not. Not today.
Yes, ma'am?
Q: Any unusual, like, hacker activity?
Admiral Willard: The answer is no, to date, although we'll confine ourselves primarily to the technical dimension of year 2000.
Although I think it has been stated already that the Internet is experiencing a good amount of activity, we're not seeing anything untoward as yet.
Q: Have you taken any of the DOD systems down in the last 24 hours to adjust, fiddle with them?
Admiral Willard: To adjust, fiddle, not to my knowledge. There is no stated policy currently that establishes that we'll take any Defense systems down. That doesn't preclude agencies or local commanders from taking unnecessary systems off line if they deem necessary. And I would suspect that some agencies and some local commands have perhaps taken web sites or other things off line to prevent intrusion over the weekend.
Q: One area of concern has been nuclear power plants. I realize that the United States military doesn't have any nuclear power plants in this area, but are you aware of any problems with nuclear power plants as the rollover passed through this region?
Admiral Willard: None.
Q: And do you continue to have good eyes on the Russian nuclear power plant that was out in the eastern part of Russia?
Admiral Willard: Within the context of what the Information Coordination Center is providing in our interactions with them, yes. We're observing the power grids and the power suppliers as we move around the world.
Q: You see no dimming anywhere as a result of the rolling?
Admiral Willard: Thus far, no.
Q: Is there any indication that any of the Russian early warning radars have lost power?
Admiral Willard: No. In fact, I asked that we contact Space Command and determine what the current state of play is with the Center for Year 2000 Strategic Stability, where we sit alongside the Russians at Peterson Air Force Base. And within minutes of coming down here, they had no events whatsoever and were happily monitoring for ballistic missile launch and other year 2000-related issues.
Q: Of the 2,100 mission-critical systems that the Pentagon has, what percentage are actually up and running today, over the next couple of days, versus what will string out over the next three or four days?
Admiral Willard: Without being able to give you an absolute answer, the majority of our mission-critical systems are up and operating at any time. And the reason is that we have long-haul systems that reach out around the world. Currently we list more than 100 key installations around the world that are all reliant as they maintain the watch around the world on those mission-critical systems. So very few of them are not in operation today.
That is not to say that when work resumes next week, that there's not added interest in observing the status of our systems across the board, whether they be mission-critical or non-mission-critical, because, as we would expect for the systems throughout the world, the beginning of the work week and the level of play on those systems next week have the potential for a spike in terms of level of risk. So we'll be watching them closely throughout the week, and particularly on Monday morning.
Q: Are these systems that have computers or computer chips that have sort of tied to the time or calendar? And are they set to local time, wherever it is, or are they all set to Greenwich mean time, or is it a mix, or how does that work?
Admiral Willard: That's a good question, and the answer is that it's a mix. We have systems -- in fact, to kind of categorize them, the long-haul systems, whether they be intelligence-related or communications-related, that range around the world by and large use a universal time constant, like Greenwich mean time. The localized systems are a mix. And the majority of them use local time, but we have a variety of systems that are reliant on a universal time constant, and Greenwich mean time is the one that we use the most.
We interact with a lot of civilian infrastructure, frankly, that is Greenwich mean time-dependent. A good example is the FAA, where our aviators that fly the airways are utilizing similar procedures to civilian pilots when they ready for their flights. And they're on Greenwich mean time, by and large.
We have lots of date stamps, on messaging systems and so forth, that are Greenwich mean time-peculiar.
Greenwich mean time rolls over about 1900 tonight. That will be a time that we'll be interested in observing, and we'll be monitoring the status of those systems that are reliant on Greenwich mean time then.
Q: The SSN Topeka was the first weapons program -- weapons system that underwent the transition. Have you talked to the commander? And feedback did you get?
Admiral Willard: I have not talked to the commander personally. The services are represented here. They, through their command centers, are monitoring all of their forces, both deployed and non- deployed, as well as all of their installations around the world, and are to be in receipt of any incidents that occur related to year 2000.
To date, none have, so without having been in contact with the commander myself, only having witnessed, as you have on the news, a few of our Navy representatives, for example, and Air Force representatives around the world commenting on their status, we know of no systems that are currently deployed that are problematic.
Q: What time did Kwajalein and Guam check in, Eastern Standard?
Admiral Willard: I think Kwajalein was at 0700 this morning; I'll verify it for you.
Staff: (Off mike.)
Admiral Willard: Zero seven-seventeen is when they actually checked in, and Guam checked in right at 0900. In fact, almost concurrently we were observing the interviews that were happening in Guam by our Naval commander and Air Force commander there.
Q: May I ask another --
Admiral Willard: Sure.
Q: How many people do you have in the building today, actually monitoring the situation ongoing?
Admiral Willard: We have a normal -- speaking for the uniformed side, within the National Military Command Center, we have a normal operations team that is monitoring the situation. They number about 30. In addition to that, we have a Y2K augmentation cell that numbers as many as 10 but generally around a half a dozen, up to about 10 folks, that are screening very particular information; specific websites. They're in communication with a number of Department of Defense agencies, and they are helping augment that operations team.
As well, we have a considerable number of watch-standers, additionally, that are on call, should we require them, and thus far we have not.
Q: When will you return to normal operations in the National Military Command Center? Is this augmentation going to continue for a day or two, or week or two, or -- when does it stop?
Admiral Willard: We intend to operate it on a 24-hour basis through about the 4th of January, realizing that I'm referring just to the augmentation part of this. The National Military Command Center works 24-hour operations all the time.
Q: And then you'd go back to normal operations?
Admiral Willard: So we would then, barring any reason to maintain ourselves in this 24-by setup with our augmentation cell, we would revert back to normal. There are actually a variance of dates. Some commands have elected to maintain themselves until about the 7th of January, but by and large, once we're through next week, most of our organizations will revert back to a normal schedule.
Q: One of the chief concerns going into this were all the microprocessing chips, estimated in the millions -- I think? -- or billions, was it? -- throughout DOD.
Admiral Willard: Millions.
Q: Any sense that these things are having any trouble?
Admiral Willard: No. We're very encouraged, again, by the work that has been done and the results that we're seeing. We have focused on microprocessors for years, literally, attempting to remediate our systems that were at risk. And I think the preliminary reports that we're seeing thus far are encouraging that our confidence in our remediation process should be very high right now. But again, the caution that some of the year 2000 problems don't necessarily manifest themselves in just the few short hours that we've had to observe them.
Q: Have you seen even any insignificant evidence of any sort of Y2K -- (inaudible)? Okay, so obviously you haven't had any problems, but has there been any evidence at all, maybe just a date showing up in a quirky format, or has there been any evidence that there's been any effect of Y2K?
Admiral Willard: I actually saw a little subheading on one of the Service Times articles that established that the date was 1900. So, you know, the issues are out there. But again, from the standpoint of our mission-critical systems or non-mission-critical systems that we're using for our war-fighting forces today, we have seen none, and that's good, though we'll be able to answer that, obviously, with a great deal more confidence next week.
Q: Is that good, or is that astounding to you, after seeing the level to which you have had to go to get down into the weeds on this?
Admiral Willard: If you refer to -- take a look at where we are today, we have a ways to go. We have to roll over a couple of fairly key time zones before our level of confidence is built. And it's been only a few hours. We actually established some predictive listings for our watch standers so that they could observe what we expected that they would observe around the world. And up to this point in time, by and large we have seen what we have predicted we would see.
So we're not astounded by what we've seen; we're encouraged that the hard remediation work, the preparedness in terms of contingency plans and continuity of operations plans, not only by the United States, but by our foreign partners, who in many ways and means we've been working with for the past year or so, are in fact working.
I mean, a lot of people's effort went into making this as much a non- event as we possibly could.
Q: You still have about 90 percent or more of DOD systems to clear, right? I mean, this is just a drop in the bucket that we're seeing.
Admiral Willard: I think we're at the preliminary stages of indicating complete victory.
Q: What was the final tally on DOD Y2K remediation costs?
Staff: Three --
Admiral Willard: Three-point-five -- $3.6 billion.
Q: I must have missed something when Jack said you still have 90 percent of the systems that have to roll over --
Admiral Willard: Well, he's suggesting -- individual systems -- see if we can characterize this. We have 2,100 or so systems, prolific, around the world. Most of those systems are resident in the units and commands and installations that have already undergone the rollover. However, we have lots of individual systems to confirm that remediation efforts on those systems across the Department of Defense are successful to go. So we've got, you know, collectively a lot of the Department of Defense yet to cover over time, and we'll be observing all of our installations and all of our systems that have been distributed during that time. So I think -- you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's what we meant when we said 90 percent.
Q: What are the -- oh, go ahead.
Q: Now that you're sort of into Y2K, would you say that, looking back on the last six months or so of media coverage of this, has it been overblown? Is the Y2K bug more hype than anything else?
Admiral Willard: No. We believe very strongly that the year 2000 is a tremendous technological risk and that the remediation efforts thus far that have been, again, not only national, but international, were absolutely necessary and are hopefully going to be characterized by the type of results that you see today for the coming weeks.
Q: You didn't flush $3.6 billion down the toilet is --
Admiral Willard: No. And -- absolutely not. Moreover, there are a lot of residual benefits, we think, from the level of effort that we've gone into.
I think we know ourselves, technologically, better than we ever have before.
Q: What level of coordination do you have with DISA's computer emergency response team that's responsible for monitoring actual cyberattacks on U.S. systems?
Admiral Willard: The year 2000 augmentation cell in the National Military Command Center is monitoring the output from the organization. And so we're in receipt, near real time, of any issues that arise.
Q: Have any major issues arisen, or even minor ones, at this point?
Admiral Willard: The answer is no. There -- as have been characterized in the past, there is still the issue of viruses and other hacker issues that may become apparent at the rollover locally, and so I think the watchword currently is "caution." We're observing very hard to determine whether or not any of the information operations issues come to pass, come our local rollover. So, it's being observed and at midnight tonight, you know, I think we'll be extra vigilant.
Q: There has been concern about viruses, as you mentioned. Did you have anybody in the places where midnight has already passed fire up systems that normally they would not be running at that hour to see if viruses were planted, so that you could do something about them before midnight got to us?
Admiral Willard: Without knowledge of all of the local actions that were taken, we did, across the services, in fact, fire up systems in locales that would ordinarily over the weekend not be operating, not necessarily to check for viruses, but to check for system operability. So there have been a goodly number of systems checked out over the past hours to ensure that they operate. And were a virus present, then our operators would know that.
Q: Have you found any cases where the Y2K fix has unintentionally caused -- broken other things, caused other problems?
I was reading some expert saying that you go in and you fix 100 things and you unintentionally break five or six.
Admiral Willard: I would characterize it this way, particularly as it pertains to software.
Any time we develop a software patch to remediate a system, whether it's year 2000-related or not, we generally then take that system and all related subsystems through very intricate testing to determine whether or not that software addition in any way adversely impacts the program or the subprograms associated with it. And we did that with year 2000.
Did some patches over the past several years that were applied to software programs cause problems that had to then further be remediated? Sure. I think that anyone that's familiar with computer systems and software would say that that is always the case and always worth paying attention to.
Q: None of those problems have shown up lately is what you're saying.
Admiral Willard: No.
Q: Have U.S. government folks been in touch with officials in some of these governments like Pakistan, India, and China, to know that everything's copacetic there, or is there a chance that there's some disarray regarding their military equipment that we don't yet know about?
Admiral Willard: I suppose there's a possibility that there are things occurring in some countries that we know little about presently, though where we have ambassadors, we know that the State Department is in constant contact with their ambassadors, and they are receiving feedback from their embassies and from their country teams to note the condition, at least in and around the location of the embassy. Where we have Americans, by and large, whether it's in industry or government, there are lines of communication that are contributing to, I think, the results that you're seeing internationally. So the answer is yes.
But you know, again, are there some countries that we have less information on? Yes.
Q: You said earlier that -- I think you said that you were on the verge of declaring complete victory. Are you saying that you believe, based on what you know so far, that the rest of the day and tomorrow is going to go the same way and there won't be any problems?
Admiral Willard: No, and I think I said almost the opposite. I said it's too soon to declare victory.
Q: Oh, yes --
Admiral Willard: And frankly, we have not only today and the remainder of the weekend to observe closely what's happening around the world, but in the coming week and particularly at the beginning of our business week we'll be observing very closely.
Q: I'm sorry. I misunderstood.
One other question: If it turns out that other countries that didn't spend nearly the effort to fix the Y2K problem don't have any major problems either, will that show that in fact the problem was overstated to begin with?
Admiral Willard: I don't think so. And that's because we're very confident that the failures that we've seen on our technology systems that can result from year 2000 are real. We've tested systems to failure and then gone back and remediated the system, so we know year 2000 is a problem and we know that the remediation pinpointed those problems to allow the operability of our systems. I believe that some countries will weather this storm through the use of contingency plans and other practical means of working around technological problems -- again, something that I think every country in the world and every industry in the world is somewhat practiced in, to include the Department of Defense. So I think the real focus in the past six months with year 2000, frankly, has been on contingency planning and preparing to work around problem areas that could be the result of a year 2000 failure.
Q: What are the critical time zones yet to come? You said there are a couple of important ones. Where are they, and at what time will they occur?
Admiral Willard: Well, we actually have -- from a DOD perspective, this map is divided up by area of responsibility of our unified commanders. And what you can see is that CINCPAC, or Pacific Command, has rolled over first, and that's what by and large we've been observing up to this point. We are presently beginning to roll over in Central Command, where we'll obviously be very interested in seeing how the Gulf states do, and then we'll roll over in European Command, and we have a great many interests and DOD personnel and dependents in Europe, and obviously, that's a focus of our interest. And then lastly, Southern Command will roll over at about the same time that the rest of us in the United States do, and we've got, obviously, interests down there. So from a DOD perspective, we're focused on our unified commands where our installations and personnel are located throughout the world, as well as the locations of large concentrations of U.S. civilians or areas of interest for our unified commanders, as well as the areas that we consider to be high risk around the world that they need to keep an eye on.
Q: Did Kwajalein and Guam have a more stringent checklist to go through in terms of Y2K compliance than the other 637 bases around the world because they were going to be the first rollover locations?
Admiral Willard: Not at all. What they did, however, do, was be on watch in a fashion realizing that they weren't going to have the benefit of seeing the world before them roll over. So if it makes sense, the degree of alertment by those forces should, obviously, be a bit higher simply because they won't have the forewarning that the rest of us have.
So those forces were prone to check in and provide their status quickly. They were all on the watch to ensure that no problems occurred.
Q: Could you give a sense of, from the mundane to the significant, some of the systems they looked at, ranging from sewers and water to early warning radar?
Admiral Willard: Well, our focus overseas, which is where we've been focused, obviously, up to this point, with our installations, has been twofold. It's been on the installations themselves and the success of our remediation efforts. So it's on their own systems, and those include their communication systems, the systems that internally, inside the fence of the installation, would provide power and command-and-control and, in fact, all of our forces and associated equipment with our forces.
So what's inside the fence has been important to us, but we've had a great deal of confidence, frankly, in its condition. The other thing that we've been focused on is the host nations' support that are provided to our installations. There were actually 15 areas that we were focused on, seven major areas, and they range from things like power and telecommunications to the various forms of transportation that the host nation provides to the base, to the more mundane things like sewer and water and medical support and so forth. So, installation commanders, for many months now, have been grading, you know, if you will, the host nation on the reliance on those support activities.
And as I mentioned, most of what we've seen turn over in the green was predicted, frankly, to turn over in the green. We've had assessment teams from the secretary of Defense's office that have gone into the field and worked very closely with not only country teams, but the host nation vendors themselves, to determine the status of those support activities. So we're looking at a lot of things, both internally and external to DOD.
Q: As you've gotten your grades in, what area or what countries seem to be the least prepared for it, which one gives you the most headache? I've heard Italy.
Admiral Willard: You've heard some of the countries that started into year 2000 a little bit late, and by and large it's those countries. So the countries that we have had the concerns over were the countries that entered into the year 2000 remediation process much later than the United States did. And they're scattered about the world, frankly. In those areas, the installation commanders spent more time working on continuity of operations plans to work around potential host-nation failures than perhaps some more highly confident installation commanders have.
Q: Can you give us a couple examples of those countries?
Admiral Willard: Actually, I'd prefer to stay away from the specifics, but we continue to monitor those countries and our installations throughout this period. I would add that the installation commanders in every DOD installation ultimately wound up very confident in their ability to either work around their own systemic problems or work around any of the host nation problems. And they took great pains to examine themselves. They not only developed the continuity of operations plan, some of which had been long since developed for the loss of power, for example, for an installation, but they trained personnel, they augmented teams in trained personnel, and they actually examined themselves and their ability to execute it. So they were ready going into this, and very ready in the areas that we considered to be particularly vulnerable.
Q: Do you have any information on what, if anything, happened in North Korea?
Admiral Willard: From the input that we've received from South Korea thus far, without specifics, it appears right now that South Korea is in good shape, as I mentioned earlier, not only our forces there but the Republic of Korea forces there, who we've been working with fairly closely for a goodly amount of time. And we have not heard of any particularly adverse conditions in the North. The North is somewhat less dependent on technology than the South, so perhaps that's not a particular surprise.
Q: Thank you.
Q: This isn't a rollover question, but I know you're in touch with the people at the National Command Center.
Has there been any sign of any activity today by Russian forces, given the turnover in the political climate in Russia?
Admiral Willard: A little beyond my scope, obviously, but to my knowledge, within the National Command Center, none. In fact, I, as you probably did, heard the president's acknowledgement of President Yeltsin's election to step down. And we've been working very, very closely with the Russians on this particular issue now for many, many months. As you know, we're sitting side by side at Peterson Air Force Base, and we continue to dialogue with the Russians with regard to year 2000 today. So we're very confident that we'll continue that dialogue.
Q: If you don't feel comfortable, can Admiral Quigley address -- where did he go? He ran away.
Can you address the Russian issue with any more specificity -- alerts, anything else, troops on the street?
Admiral Willard: Thanks very much.
Admiral Quigley: Thank you.
I could put it very simply; we have seen nothing in the way of an increased level of activity in the Russian military that would give us the slightest concern, having anything to do with President Yeltsin's election to resign.
Q: What about control of Russia's nuclear arsenal?
Admiral Quigley: Again, through Colorado Springs, it is apparent that that has remained stable through the period of time that President Yeltsin announced his resignation and up till now.
Q: Well, Craig, has -- because of Yeltsin's resignation, did that resonate at the Y2K Stability Center in terms of even more rigorous alert than they would have normally had?
Admiral Quigley: Not that we have seen, Tony. It has been a very level keel, a very level of -- even level of effort. And we've seen no increased level of activity amongst the Russian military.
Q: Thanks.
Q: Are you familiar with or could you explain what happened with the Department of Defense's DefenseLINK website today? Apparently, it was --
Admiral Quigley: We did that to ourself.
Q: -- it was inaccessible to some, but not all, members of the public. Do you know what happened? Or can you explain that, or --
Admiral Quigley: It was -- I cannot explain completely, but it was in preparations for trying to improve the accessibility and ensure the continued accessibility. We did something wrong in those preparations. We think we've got it fixed to, I believe, all of the ways in, whether you're on AOL or Erol's or what have you as an Internet service provider. We'll keep watching it closely. But it's something that we did to ourself.
Q: This was not -- so this was not a Y2K issue?
Admiral Quigley: No.
Q: It was human error, not Y2K?
Admiral Quigley: I'm sorry?
Q: Human error --
Admiral Quigley: Human error, and not Y2K.
Q: How long was it inaccessible to some people?
Admiral Quigley: Well, it wasn't 100 percent inaccessible. That was what was kind of driving everybody nuts. It was accessible continuously by some Internet service providers and not by others. And we had to sort out whether or not it was the Internet service provider's problem or if it was DefenseLink's problem. We figured out it was ours, and we think we've got it fixed --
Q: How long did it take from when you first noticed the problem?
Admiral Quigley: A few hours. I want to say from early morning until around midday, Pam, I believe.
Staff: Thank you.
This transcript was prepared by the Federal News Service, Inc., Washington, DC. Federal News Service is a private company. For other defense related transcripts not available through this site, contact Federal News Service at (202) 347-1400.


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Favorite Office Time Wasters
Richard Marini finds the best and the brightest distractions.
Monthly Archive for April, 2006
An NC-17 blog … or is it?
Belle de Jour has long been one of my favorite blogs, but not for the reason you'll soon think is obvious. Belle is apparently the pseudonym for, apparently, a high-end London call girl who wrote for a good while and then disappeared for a good while. She's apparently back, apparently retired and apparently with boyfriend. […] [Read More]
A Man A Plan A Canal Panama > amanaP lanaC A nalP A naM A
iniraM .A drahciR– .WTOF tcefrep a ti sekam hcihW .ees nac ew taht enoN ?ssenlufesu eht s'tahW .mottob ot pot ,kcab ot tnorf spilf xob eht ni s'revetahw dna nottub !trevnoC eht tih ,koob a ,ylbaviecnoc ,ot hpargarap a ot ecnetnes a morf gnihtyna ni epyt ylpmiS .reverse otni segassap nettirw etalsnart lliw taht nees […] [Read More]
Too soon or too sensitive?
Here's a link to a movie trailer for the soon-to-be released film "United 93," which tells the story of the ill-fated flight that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9-11. It was hijacked by terrorists and is believed to have crashed when passengers and crew attempted to re-take the plane. According to Newsweek magazine, the trailer for […] [Read More]
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subset: commoncrawl


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DENVER (AP) Danilo Gallinari scored 26 points and the Denver Nuggets rebounded from a rare home loss to beat the Utah Jazz 110-91 on Saturday night.
NEW YORK (AP) Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points, J.R. Smith added 20 and the New York Knicks snapped the San Antonio Spurs' seven-game winning streak with a 100-83 victory Thursday night.
DENVER (AP) Timberwolves forward Kevin Love has left Minnesota's game against the Denver Nuggets after spraining a finger on his right hand in the third quarter.
DENVER (AP) Andre Miller scored the 15,000th point of his NBA career on a mid-range jumper in the first quarter against Minnesota, becoming the eighth player to score that many and dish out at le


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A wheel-mounted tire pressure sensor employs a Bourdon tube which deforms in relation to tire pressure to drive a pivotal arm. Opposite ends of the arm support magnets which can close reed switches arrayed around the path of travel of the magnets. The reed switches are connected to passive resonators in such a way that for each of a number of regions of travel of the arm, a unique combination of resonators is activated. The resonators are connected to a wheel-mounted antenna which faces a stationary antenna. Frequency signal matching the frequencies of the resonator are sequentially broadcast by the stationary antenna to the resonators, which are excited to oscillate if activated by the corresponding switch or switches. The excited resonator broadcast their frequencies back to the stationary antenna and to a display unit which decodes the combination of resonator frequencies to display the corresponding tire pressure. An optional alarm unit includes a memory unit which holds maximum safe speed values for each of the detectable ranges of tire pressure. The sensed tire pressure is converted to the corresponding speed limit value which is then compared to the sensed vehicle speed. If actual vehicle speed exceeds the preset safe value, an alarm is generated.
1. A tire pressure sensor comprising:
an actuator responsive to a known range of tire pressure to move through a known range of travel with a one-to-one correspondence between tire pressure and actuator position,
circuit means including
a plurality of switches actuable magnetically by the actuator and arranged so as to divide said range of travel of the actuator into a plurality of detection fields, each of which fields is characterized by a unique combination of actuated and unactuated switches, and further including
a plurality of resonators, each of which has a different resonant frequency and is connected to at least one of said switches, and
means for inputting to the circuit means a first signal comprising the different resonant frequencies and for outputting a second signal generated by the resonators whereby, for each of said detection fields, the resonators output a unique combination of frequencies.
2. The tire pressure sensor of claim 1 wherein the sensor is mounted on the wheel of the tire to be monitored and wherein the inputting and outputting means includes an antenna mounted on the wheel in order to be able to transmit the current combination of frequencies to a portion of a vehicle on which the wheel is mounted and which does not rotate with the wheel.
3. The tire pressure sensor of claim 1 wherein the actuator comprises an elongated arm which pivots about its center in accordance with tire pressure and which has magnets attached to each of its ends, and wherein the switches are arranged concentrically about the center of the arm in approximate angular alignment with the pivotal range of travel of each of the magnets so that two approximately opposing groups of switches are formed, the switches of each of said groups being equi-angularly spaced by an amount just sufficient to ensure that only one switch of each group will be actuated by the corresponding magnet at a time, the switches of one group being offset by half of said angular spacing from the switch or switches of the other group most nearly diametrically opposed thereto, the resonators being connected to exactly one switch of each of said groups, the switches of the two groups being connected in different sequences, whereby half of said angular spacing corresponds to a detection field.
4. The tire pressure sensor of claim 3 wherein ferromagnetic switch dummies are provided angularly outside of each group of switches to facilitate smooth pivotal movement of the arm.
5. The tire pressure sensor of claim 1 wherein the actuator comprises a drive section exposed to the air within the tire, which drive section translates changes in pressure within the tire to changes in the angular position of a pivotable shaft, and an actuating arm fixed at its center for rotation with the shaft, the arm serving to amplify the pivotal movement of the shaft.
6. The sensor of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of switches comprises a reed switch.
7. A tire pressure sensing system for a vehicle comprising:
a tire pressure sensor disposed on the wheel of the tire to be monitored and responsive to the air pressure within said tire to broadcast a wireless electromagnetic signal encoded to indicate which of a plurality of ranges the air pressure within said tire falls, said sensor including an actuator responsive to a known range of tire pressure to move through a known range of travel with a one-to-one correspondence between tire pressure and actuator position; circuit means including a plurality of switches actuable magnetically by the actuator and arranged so as to divide said range of travel of the actuator into a plurality of detection fields, each of which fields is characterized by a unique combination of actuated and unactuated switches, and further including a plurality of resonators, each of which has a different resonant frequency and is connected to at least one of said switches; and means for supplying to the circuit means a first signal comprising the different resonant frequencies and braodcasting a second signal generated by the resonators whereby, for each of said detection fields, the resonators output a unique combination of frequencies; and
a reception and display unit responsive to said broadcast signal to display the sensed tire pressure.
8. The system of claim 7, further comprising an alarm unit which receives signals indicative of the tire pressure to be displayed and of the speed of the vehicle, compares said received signals and generates an alarm when the results of the comparison indicate that the tire pressure is lower than a safe level predetermined in accordance with vehicle speed.
9. The system of claim 7 wherein the tire pressure sensor comprises an actuator exposed to tire air pressure and driven by tire pressure through a fixed range of travel in a one-to-one correspondence between actuator position and tire pressure, said plurality of electromagnetic resonators activated to broadcast a sequence of unique combinations of frequencies as the actuator is driven through its range of travel.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein each of the resonators of the tire pressure sensor responds to frequency signals matching its resonant frequency to be excited to broadcast its resonant frequency if activated by the actuator, and further comprising an electromagnetic wave generator operating periodically to broadcast sequentially the resonant frequencies of each of the resonators to the tire pressure sensor and to cease broadcasting for a predetermined time, whereby during said predetermined time, the resonators activated by the actuator broadcast their resonant frequencies to the reception and display unit solely by the force of excitation of the frequency signals from the electromagnetic wave generator.
11. The system of claim 7, wherein each of said plurality of switches comprises a reed switch.
12. The tire pressure sensor of claim 3 wherein the actuator comprises a drive section including a Bourdon tube which is exposed to the air within the tire for translating changes in pressure within the tire to corresponding positional changes, said drive section further including a sector gear rotated in accordance with the displacement of the Bourdon tube, said sector gear having a weight at one end of the sector, a pinion firmly connected to the center of said arm and associated with the gear of said sector gear for being rotated in accordance with the rotational angle of said sector gear, and a second sector gear associated with said pinion in opposing relationship to the first mentioned sector gear for being rotated in accordance with the rotational angle of said pinion, said second sector gear having a weight at one end of the sector for symmetrically opposing said first mentioned weight so that centrifugal forces acting on the two weights balance a centrifugal force acting on the Bourdon tube.
The present invention relates to a tire air pressure sensor used for vehicles such as automotive vehicles, and a tire air pressure measuring apparatus incorporating the sensor.
Japanese unexamined patent application No. Sho. 55-31975 published Mar. 6, 1980 teaches an extraordinary-pressure sensor which includes a pressure-responsive switch which is opened and closed when the tire air pressure is normal and abnormal, respectively. When the tire pressure is to be sensed, a signal transceiver is operated, thereby producing an electromagnetic signal having a predetermined frequency which is then transmitted via an antenna to a coil antenna. The coil receives the transmitted signal and outputs it to a crystal resonator which has a resonant frequency equal to the frequency of the received signal thereby causing the resonator to resonate when the pressure-responsive switch is open. Then the transceiver stops transmitting the electromagnetic signal. For some interval after the end of transmission of the electromagnetic signal, the crystal resonator continues to resonate, thereby producing an electromagnetic signal having the same frequency as the resonant frequency and transmitting the signal via the coil toward the antenna. The signal recieved by the antenna is supplied to the receiver unit of the transceiver system, thereby displaying that the tire air pressure is normal. On the other hand, when the switch is closed, which implies that the tire pressure is abnormal, the resonator does not resonate because the resonator is short-circuited and therefore not energized. A plurality of such resonators having different resonant frequencies can be provided together with a transceiver system which can produce corresponding frequencies in order to sense different air pressures.
It is an object of the invention to provide a wheel-mounted tire pressure sensor capable of monitoring tire pressure through a plurality of pressure ranges. Another object is to minimize the cost of materials used in the manufacture of the tire pressure sensor.
Additional objects include providing a tire pressure sensing system suitable for use with the above tire pressure sensor and enhancing the accuracy of such a tire pressure sensor by means of contactless electrical actuation. Another important object is provision of an alarm system by which a vehicle operator can be informed of dangerously low tire pressure with respect to vehicle speed.
The invention employs a plurality of passive electromagnetic resonators which are activated in unique combinations to produce unique combinations of electromagnetic frequencies in accordance with different ranges of tire air pressure. The resonators are activated by a contactless electrical actuator comprising a magnet-tipped arm pivotting smoothly in accordance with air pressure within the tire. The magnets on either end of the arm trip reed switches connected to the resonators and advantageously arranged to resolve the range of travel of the arm into six or seven detection ranges in a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, each represented by a unique combination of only 3 resonators.
The resonators are excited in sequence by signals of corresponding frequency transmitted by a stationary antenna and received by a wheel-mounted antenna connected to each of the resonators in parallel. When the stationary antenna stops transmitting, the resonators activated via the corresponding reed switches continue to oscillate at least briefly, thus transmitting their characteristic frequencies back from the wheel antenna to the stationary antenna.
A tire pressure sensing system receives the signals received by the stationary antenna and displays digitally the tire pressure indicated by the received combination of resonant frequencies. The sensing system includes an actuator having the same structure as the actuator mentioned above and may include an alarm unit which checks the tire pressure and vehicle speed and generates an alarm or warning when the sensed vehicle speed is higher than a predetermined safe level for the given tire pressure.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a tire air pressure sensor according to the present invention as mounted in the hub cap of a vehicle wheel;
FIG. 2 is an example of a Bourdon and its driving mechanism which can be used for the drive section of the sensor of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged diagrammatic elevation of part of the sensor;
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of the sensor;
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of a tire air pressure measuring system incorporating the sensor.
FIGS. 1-3 illustrate the overall structure of the tire pressure sensor 30 of the present invention. A drive section (FIG. 2) and a sensing section (FIG. 3) are spatially separated by a base plate 9 and are functionally connected by a common pivotable axle 19 extending through the base plate 9. The pressure sensor 30 is wholly housed within the hubcap 4 of the tire to be monitored and is exposed to the air pressure within the tire via a hose or tube 13.
Specifically, tire pressure is transmitted to a Bourdon tube 10 which actually drives the rest of the sensor. One end of Bourdon tube 10 is fixed to the hubcap via a support base 3. The other end of Bourdon tube 10 is attached pivotably to the untoothed end of a sector gear 12, which is pivoted at 5, via a link 16. The toothed end of the gear 12 engages a pinion gear 14 fixed to one end of the drive axle 19. Another sector gear 6, pivoted at 1, has a toothed end which also engages pinion gear 14 in opposing relationship to sector gear 12. Another weight 8 fixed to gear 6 symmetrically opposes weight 11 to balance their net moment of inertia. This arrangement ensures that the rotation of drive axle 19 will be essentially independent of wheel angular velocity.
The radius of curvature of Bourdon tube 10 changes in proportion to changes in its internal air pressure, as is well-known. Thus, as tire pressure increases, the free end of Bourdon tube 10 moves outward, causing sector gear 12 to pivot about its axis 5. Thus, changes in tire air pressure are transmitted to the sensing section by rotation of drive axle 19.
The sensing section is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. A pivotal arm 20 is fixed to the free end of axle 19 by means of a collar 18 centered along the arm 20. Flanges 20a, 20b at opposite ends of arm 20 support permanent magnets 25a, 25b. The dimensions of arm 20 and masses of magnets 25a, 25b are matched as nearly as possible to balance the ends of the arm 20 about the drive axle 19.
The electrical circuitry of the sensing section is for the most part arranged on the base plate 9. In this embodiment of the invention, two sets 26, 27 of three reed switches each (a, b, c) lie on essentially opposite sides of the axle 19 with all of the reed switches 26a-27c being equidistant from axle 19. The reed switches a, b, c, of each set 26, 27 are spaced equiangularly and ferromagnetic switch dummies 28 may be provided angularly outside of each set of switches to enhance and balance the magnetic forces acting on the magnets 25a, 25b due to their proximity to the switches and dummies. One terminal of each of the reed switches is connected to one terminal of an antenna 29. Three resonators 24a, 24b, 24c operating at distinct frequencies 1, 2 and 3 are connected in parallel to the other terminal of the antenna 29 and each is connected to the other terminals of the corresponding reed switches 26a and 27a, 26b and 27b, 26c and 27 c, respectively. The reed switches are so spaced relative to each other and to the travel of the magnets 25a, 25b that throughout the range of travel of the arm 20 only one switch a, b or c of each set at a time can be closed by the force of the opposing magnet 25a or 25b. In the illustrated embodiment, one switch from each set (i.e., two switches) will be closed through most of the travel of arm 20, but at either extreme, a total of only one switch will be closed. When closed, each reed switch connects the corresponding resonator to the antenna 29.
The angular spacing of the reed switches defines a plurality of detection sectors centered over each of the switches 26a-27c. For convenience, these sectors will be labelled Q, R, or T, corresponding to switches a, b, or c, and with subscripts 1 or 2, corresponding to sets 26 and 27. Further description of the positions and shapes of the sectors, for example sector Q1, will imply corresponding information about the switch, for example reed switch 26a, over which the sector is centered.
The two sets of sectors do not precisely oppose one another; rather, they are angularly offset by half the width of a sector, so that a diametric line bisecting a sector of one set passes between two sectors of the other set. In addition, the two sets of switches are arranged out of sequence so that sector Q1 opposes (approximately) sector R2, R1 opposes T2, and T1 opposes Q2. These two provisions result in a kind of encoding by which six different regions of travel of arm 20 are each represented by a unique combination of resonator frequencies 1, 2 and 3, as indicated in FIG. 4. For example, in the position shown in FIG. 4, magnet 25b closes switch 27b to complete a circuit including resonator 24b (frequency 2). As the arm 20 moves clockwise, switch 26b is tripped by magnet 25a, so that only resonator 24b is enabled. However, if the arm 20 pivots counter-clockwise from the shown position, both switches 27b and 26a will be closed so that resonators 24a and 24b will both be connected to the antenna 29. Furthermore, a seventh region of travel can be detected by the absence of any resonator signals transmitted over the antenna (the area labelled "0" in FIG. 4).
Those skilled in the art will recognize that provision of a second set of reed switches offset from the first set effectively doubles the resolution of the tire pressure sensor 30 without requiring an excessively long and unwieldly pivot arm 20. In addition, by arranging the reed switches to enable unique combinations of resonators, the total number of resonators, which are rather expensive and occupy space, can be minimized.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an air pressure measuring apparatus incorporating the tire air pressure sensor 30 described above. The apparatus includes the sensor 30, an electromagnetic wave generator 31, a detection and pressure display unit 32 and a speed alarm unit 33. Generator 31 includes a low-frequency oscillator 34 which produces a rectangular timing pulse signal, a high-frequency oscillator 35, which produces a sinusoidal waveform signal, connected to the output of oscillator 34, three crystal resonators 36a, 36b, 36c having the same frequencies as resonators 24a, 24b, 24c, respectively and constituting part of high-frequency oscillator 35, a scanner 37 and an antenna 38. Low-frequency oscillator 34 controls the timing of generation and termination of the high-frequency signal produced by oscillator 35. Oscillator 34 also provides a pulse signal to scanner 37 which divides the low-frequency signal from low-frequency oscillator 34 to sequentially switch and activate resonators 36a, 36b, 36c. Scanner 37 also sends a hold signal to a latch 46 of detection and pressure display 32 to hold the signal value of latch 46 for one cycle of activation of the resonators 36a, 36b, 36c. The output signals of resonators 36a, 36b, 36c each are amplified by high-frequency oscillator 35 when connected by scanner 37. When the oscillator 35 stops oscillating, antenna 38 receives a signal from antenna 29, whereby an attenuating return signal is inputted to a detector 40. To facilitate reception, the antennae 29, 38 are disposed as close to one another as possible. For example, antenna 29 may be mounted along the inboard surface of the wheel rim with the antenna 38 mounted on the chassis directly opposite antenna 29.
Detection and pressure display 32 includes detector 40, a comparator 41, a reference voltage generator 42, a gate 43, a serial to parallel conversion register 44, a decoder 45, a latch 46 and a display 47. Detector 40 filters the incoming signals returned from antenna 38 to derive their envelope and then outputs the result to comparator 41 which compares the output of detector 40 with the reference signal from generator 42 and sends an output signal to gate 43 when the magnitude of the signal from detector 40 is greater than that of the reference signal. Gate 43 is opened during the absence of pulses of the pulse signal from low-frequency oscillator 34 in order to pass the return signal. A delay element may be provided between low-frequency oscillator 34 and gate 43 in order to improve the timing of opening gate 43.
The output pulses from gate 43 are stored in series-parallel conversion register 44 whereupon the total number of pulses received during the three-phase scanning cycle is converted into a 3-bit parallel signal which is supplied to a decoder 45. Decoder 45 converts the 3-bit parallel signal to a corresponding BCD signal, performs 7-segment encoding or the like on the BCD signal and outputs the resulting signals to latch 46. Latch 46 holds digital data from decoder 45 for one cycle of scanning and causes digital display 47 to display the decoded digital value. In the described embodiment, the tire air pressure is displayed digitally whereas an apparatus may be provided which displays the tire air pressure as an analog value.
A speed alarm 33 includes a counter 48, a memory 49, a comparator 50 and an alarm 51. Counter 48 counts speed pulses from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown) for a fixed period and outputs the counted contents to a comparator 50. A memory 49 stores a plurality of preset values representing maximum safe speed values at each of the sensible tire pressure ranges. Memory 49 holds the preset values in an order according to the range of output signals from decoder 45 and outputs a signal corresponding to the preset value in response to the corresponding decoder output. Comparator 50 compares the signal from counter 48 with the signal from memory 49 and produces an output to an alarm 51 when the sensed vehicle speed is higher than the indicated safe speed at the sensed tire air pressure, whereby alarm 51 alerts the driver to the fact.
The tire air sensor 30 is the only element of the tire air pressure measuring apparatus mounted on the side of the road wheel and the other remaining components of the apparatus, such as electromagnetic wave generator 31, detection and pressure display 32 and speed alarm 33, are installed within the vehicle body.
In operation, the tire air pressure acts on the inside of Bourdon tube 10 to resiliently deform same. This deformation is transmitted as an angular displacement via link 16, sector gear 12, pinion 14 and pivot 19 to rotary arm 20. Magnets 25a, 25b are accordingly shifted to a new position where the magnetic action of magnets 25a, 25b may be exerted on no reed switches, or on one or two of reed switches 26a, 26b, 26c, 27a, 27b, 27c. Arm 20 rotates without coming into contact with anything, so that arm 20 can pivot smoothly in proportion to the tire air pressure. This arrangement causes no hysterisis between the two directions of rotation of arm 20. Since the spacing of two adjoining reed switches is chosen to be relatively wide in order to enable the tire air pressure to be measured throughout a relatively wide range, the magnitude of force of magnetic attraction between the reed switches and the magnets would vary with their relative positions if switch dummies 28 were not disposed angularly outside of the reed switches, so that arm 20 would rotate stepwise in response to the tire air pressure and not smoothly in proportion to the pressure. In the illustrated embodiment, however, switch dummies 28 are disposed circumferentially outside of each set of reed switches in order that magnets 25a, 25b exert a constant magnetic force on adjacent reed switches through their range of travel. Consequently, this ensures a smooth and continuous pivotal movement of arm 20 in response to the tire air pressure.
Now assume that arm 20 in response to the tire air pressure is in the position shown in FIG. 4. The magnetic force of right-hand magnet 25b closes reed switch 27b connected to crystal resonator 24b, thereby forming a closed resonance circuit. Left-hand magnet 25a, as shown, is in a position in which it exerts a magnetic force on both reed switches 26a and 26b which are connected to crystal resonators 24a and 24b, but exert enough force only to close reed switch 26a to activate resonator 24a. Thus at this time, the tire has an air pressure in the pressure range labelled (1, 2). However, if arm 20 rotates even slightly clockwise from the shown position, the corresponding tire pressure would be represented by pressure range (2).
In the particular embodiment, the contactless switch mechanism consists of reed switches and magnets. Alternatively, the contactless switch mechanism may consist of Hall-effect elements. However, when the Hall-effect elements are employed for this purpose, they are expensive and require a power supply for operation as well. Additionally, since the tire air sensor is installed in a limited space in the road wheel and rotates at high speeds, it is difficult and undesirable to install the power supply in the limited space as well. In contrast, the present invention employs reed switches and permanent magnets, but no power supply. The present invention uses reed switches which are inexpensive, thereby providing an inexpensive tire-air pressure sensor and improving the accuracy of measurement.
The overall operation of the tire-air pressure measuring apparatus of FIG. 5 will now be described. The signals radiated from antenna 38 of electromagnetic wave generator 31 are recieved by antenna 29. The energy of the recieved signal sequentially excites for example crystal resonators 24a and 24b when reed switches 26a and 27b are actuated by the action of the permanent magnets 25a and 25b. The resonance signals from crystal resonators 24a and 24b are in turn transmitted sequentially from antenna 29 to antenna 38 during the quiescent period determined by low-frequency oscillator 34. The energy received by antenna 38 is conducted to detector 40 which filters the recieved signal to eliminate all frequency components other than the resonator frequencies. Comparator 41 and gate 43 sense attenuating oscillations in the detected signal. The signal reflecting the combination of frequencies of the return signals from resonators 24a and 24b is subjected to a conversion process by series-to-parallel conversion register 44 and decoder 45, sent to latch 46 and then displayed as tire air pressure by display segments 47.
The advantage of the electromagnetic wave generator 31 lies in the space and weight requirements of the sensor 30. That is, the sensor per se must be as light as possible to avoid fuel waste and tire wear, and must be small enough to fit within a hubcap. Since the wave generator 31 provides the energy needed for the resonators 24a, b, c to oscillate, the sensor 30 does not require a separate power supply. Thus, the sensor can be assembled solely with small, light, relatively inexpensive components.
While the present invention has been described and illustrated in terms of a preferred embodiment thereof, the present invention should not be limited to this embodiment. Various changes and modifications could be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the attached claims.
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Graduate Course Descriptions
|CC 500: Organization Theory and Management:
This course examines the nature and major trends of public administration, specifically in the nonprofit, criminal justice, and governmental sectors, as these sectors are understood within the context of a broad shift in governance, both in the US and internationally. The course aims to deepen student understanding of the nature of public administration and its organizations, using both theoretical and practical lenses to do so. Understanding the legitimacy and authority of these sectors to address collective problems requires inviting both management and policy practitioners to see the intersection between managerial practices and policy decisions and to connect the macro and micro dynamics of governance.
The course focuses heavily on the broad trends shaping the sector, predominantly in the United States, but making connections to international trends. The goal is for students- whether they are interested in policy, finance or management- to develop their own "cognitive map" of their respective sector, so that they can identify and interpret key issues and challenges of sustainability experienced by stakeholders in their field, and consider their implication for practice. Classes will involve a mix of brief lectures; discussion based on readings and written assignments; and guest speakers.
|CC 505: Introduction to Graduate Statistics:
|Correlation and regression analysis, probability and sampling theory, estimating population parameters, testing hypotheses. Familiarity with descriptive statistics assumed.
|CC 510: Program Planning and Evaluation:
|Program and policy evaluation is an important means for policy makers, managers, and other stakeholders to learn about program and policy effectiveness and make judgments and decisions regarding those programs and policies. While evaluation evolved from the social sciences and uses many of the same research methodologies to inform users, the different purposes of evaluation mean that the planning and implementation of evaluations require perspectives and techniques different from those used in traditional research.
|CC 515: Finance and Budgeting:
|At a broad level, the budget is the tool governments, not-for-profits, and public sectors use to transform policies and goals into outcomes, and it determines the extent to which these goals are achieved. At a more basic level, the budget specifies the allocation of resources among competing services and operations. Politically and financially the budget also manifests governance more than any other activity organizations engage in.
|The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the intricacies of budgeting and related areas of fiscal administration, including performance budgeting, budget development, budget implementation, internal controls, and cost analysis. The course will give students a basic understanding of the concepts and skills needed to perform these tasks and to evaluate both budget processes and documents. Budgeting is, in large part, a technical task that requires determining factors such as the cost of items, proper charges for services, and programmatic net effects.
CC 520: Policy and Political Analysis:
|The goal of this course is to provide a greater understanding of (1) the process by which public policies are formulated, decided on, implemented, and evaluated, (2) techniques of analysis appropriate for various policy issues, and (3) substantive policy issues facing us today.
|Public policies will be examined, developed, and analyzed from three perspectives: the critic, the client, the consultant. Students will learn how to act as critics who identify strengths, weaknesses and logical inconsistencies in policy ideas and analyses. As clients, students will learn to manage policy studies that yield high quality and politically relevant information related to policy issues. As consultants, students will learn concrete tools to efficiently conduct and explain policy studies.
CC 599 Internship Experience:
|The course will make available to students in both in the MCJA and MPA programs an experiential learning opportunity combined with a research project in an appropriate agency setting. It is intended only for the students who have not yet achieved full time employment in their field. Unlike internships available at the undergraduate level, this course will require students to engage in critical evaluation of the workplace setting and to refine and enhance their own professional development skills. In the Criminal Justice Administration program, students may choose to complete this course in lieu of one of the specialized area courses- CJ 650, CJ 660, or CJ 670. Students seeking a master's degree in Public Administration must receive permission from their faculty advisor.
|MPA 625 Introduction to Public Administration:
|The purpose of this course is to introduce students, entering the Masters of Public Administration Program (MPA), to the discipline and profession of public service and administration. Graduate study in public service seeks to combine the insights from classics in the field with the best of contemporary experience, literature and research. It challenges each of us to examine and make a lasting commitment to the public service, to the solution of complex, exciting, and at times very perplexing problems that face our society today. It also challenges us to continue to learn, to participate on a continuing basis with colleagues in professional societies, and in doing so, to share our knowledge and experience with others.
This course begins, or for some students, builds on, these ideas; it provides an overview of the development, structure and sub-areas of specialization in public affairs. Major theories will be considered in areas such as budgeting, human resources management, public and non-profit management, policy analysis and ethics.
|We will discuss current issues and the political environment in which public servants function.
|MPA 627 Human Resources Management:
|Designed for public and non-profit managers rather than human resource professionals, this course gives a broad overview of HR dynamics and responsiblilities. We'll begin by considering different approaches to HR and placing them within the overall context of the public sector and non-profit organizations. Then we'll cover basic personnel functions including recruitment, career development, performance appraisal, providing feedback and job design. Finally, we will explore current issues within personnel management, including diversity and identity at work and the role of unions. The course focuses on-developing human resources rather than the traditional notion of managing personnel. Its central theme is how HR policies and practices can enhance the learning and growth of individual employees, work teams and the whole organization, thereby ensuring high-level performance. We will emphasize practical application through case discussions and reflection on students' experiences at work and in school. While the course will focus on values-based organizations, it will draw on ideas and materials from the public, non-profit sectors.
|MPA 630 Health Care Administration:
This course brings together students with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences as consumers, providers within healthcare organizations and policy makers to critically examine the organizational and management concepts that influence planning and decision-making. The emphasis is on studying the various forms of health organizations as well as administrative behaviors used in adaptation and policy development.
|MPA 631 Values and Ethics in Public Policy:
|The course is designed and delivered as an introduction to the concepts of values and ethics for professionals working in public service within the public sector. It introduces the basic ethical values of virtue, truth and justice and explores how these values translate into public/not-for-profit corporate values, ethical principles and ethical behaviors in the areas of public policy, politics and administration. The ethical responsiblities of leadership within the public sector are also emphasized.
|MPA 632 Financial Resource Development:
Students will have an opportunity to deepen their knowledge regarding the trends and outside forces which impact the not-for-profit world, especially in these difficult economic times. The course will focus on the "nuts & bolts" of grant writing, technology choices, and the ethical issues which may be encountered. Included in this course will be a class on how to start a non-profit organization.
MPA 635 Managerial Epidemiology and Statistics:
The course will provide students with an overview of epidemiologic principles and how these principles can be applied to healthcare administration/management functions. As public administration becomes evidence- and population-based, it becomes critical to understand the impact of disease on populations of people in a service area.
MPA 636 Culture of Helath Care:
This course explores the impact of culture on health, and in development of culturally appropriate interventions for communities. It will build on epidemiological concepts and apply anthropological methodologies to understanding the impact of culture on health status, service utilization, and cultural conflicts between health care providers and members of ethnic communities.
|MPA 637 Marketing and Public Relations
This course is designed to provide a broad based understanding of the principles and practices of strategic marketing and public relations as well as their applicability to public and nonprofit organizations. It emphasizes the need for strategic planning in the marketing, not only of products, but also of programs and services. It is intended to enable public and nonprofit managers to manage their marketing efforts strategically.
The course is designed to provide practical "hands on" experience as well as a base in marketing and public relations theory. Class participants will be required to develop and submit a strategic marketing/public relations plan for a particular service program.
|MPA 640 Research Methods in Public Administration:
|This course focuses on techniques most prevalent in the public and not-for-profit sectors and/or the public administration literature. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodology approaches are highlighted. Topics include how to write a research question, how to review existing literature, how to conceptualize variables and operationalize research, how to gather and analyze data, and how to report interpret and make recommendations from findings. This course requires active participation and interaction with public and/or not-for-profit organizations.
|MPA 642 Health Care Law and Ethics:
This course addresses legal and ethical issues frequently encountered by health care managers. Topics include the constitutional basis for government support of health care services and constraints that the law and regulatory structures impose on the health care industry. Bioethical theory, policy formulation, and decision making in the professional setting are also included. Specific issues discussed are the right to health care, allocation of scarce resources, choices regarding death, liability of health care providers, and governing board and medical and health care staff responsibilities.
MPA 644 Capstone Seminar:
|Students begin preparing for this capstone course starting with their first course in the program. Beginning with that course and continuing through all their ensuing courses, students lay the foundation through reading, skills development and research for two culminating capstone projects related to their job or professional field-one individual and the other collaborative.
|The primary objective of the capstone course is to apply and intergrate classroom learning achieved thus far to actual and/or otherwise relevant work situations.
|CJA 601 Proseminar:
The purpose of this course is to introduce students entering the Master's program in Criminal Justice Administration to what is happening in both the professional field and in the academic discipline associated with this area of study, and to provide background which is essential for advanced study in this area. Topics will include the history, structure and functioning of the criminal justice system in the United States and selected other countries, and the ways in which mass media and politcal fluctuations influence the system. Attention will also be paid to the evolving managerial approach most often used by administrators in this field, and to the ethical dilemmas posed by social control efforts and research methodologoies.
|CJA 640 Research Methods in Criminal Justice:
This seminar will provide an intermediate level of study to the scientific method and to research designs as applied to problems of crime and criminal justice, and will provide an overview of tools available to those working and studying the field. It will survey such topics as problem conceptualization and formulation, sampling, measurement, experimental and quasi-experimental designs, survey research, interviewing, participant observation, unobtrusive measures, methods of data management and analysis, ethical concerns of research in criminal justice, and research planning. Consideration will also be paid to the research techniques emerging from the field of forensic psychology. Particular attention will be paid to the problems of interpreting research findings in a practical manner.
|CJA 645 Nature and Causes of Crime:
|This course will examine patterns and trends in crime and victimization within the United States, as well as diverse theoretical perspectives and individual theories that attempt to explain crime and delinquency. A multidisciplinary approach will be used that examines the underlying causes and consequences of crime. Biological, psychological, sociological, cultural, and political/radical theories will be critically examined, and recent developments in criminological approaches will be considered. Victimology will also be explored, as a field in its own right and as a significant and contributing source of deviant behavior. The extent to which both science and ideology help to shape the fields of criminology and victimology will be evaluated.
|A basic knowledge of criminological theories is expected, along with a rudimentary understanding of statistics and the scientific nature of research methodology. Students lacking this background should prepare themselves by reading one of the many excellent undergraduate textbooks available.
|CJA 650 Criminal Law and Courts:
|Many are of the opinion that the criminal courts fail to properly punish and deter offenders. This view has been a popular topic among politicians, the electorate and critics of the American Justice System. This course will provide students with an understanding of what goes wrong and what is accomplished well. The course begins with an examination of the nature of criminal law, tracing its development within the U.S. legal system and exploring strengths and weaknesses. Legal procedures are then considered, along with the structure and functioning of the criminal court system and the roles of particular elements such as prosecution and defense. Particular attention will be paid to the decision making processes of those involved in the system, and to the jury system.
|CJA 660 Policing in Contemporary Society:
|This course will provide a close examination of the status and role of police and police institutions in contemporary American society, with the intent of critiquing the strengths and weaknesses of our present system and preparing students for the future. The historical evolution of these police organizations will be considered, along with the social forces and events which have been influential in shaping interaction between police and diverse communities. The legal status of police officers will be considered, along with the problems most frequently suffered by this group. Strategies of policing and police management will also be examined.
|CJA 670 Penology:
|The purpose of this course is to examine the history and practice of social control, and the theories which are associated with various approaches. The changes and development of correctional philosophy will be examined, including incarceration, diversion, and community based corrections. Public attitudes toward the treatment of offenders will be considered, along with the problems associated with reentry of this group into the community. Some attention will be paid to the problems associated with special populations, and the larger social, economic and political environment which shape policy decisions. While this is essentially a course in corrections, it must be emphasized that theory and reseach methodology will be emphaized.
|CJA 680 Capstone Seminar:
|The primary objective of this seminar is to integrate the concepts and knowledge presented throughout the curriculum of the CJA program. Students will have the opportunity to sharpen and test their analytic and critical thinking skills, and strengthen their research abilities by completing a major project. The course will also serve as a forum for debate on some of the most critical issues facing criminal justice administrators today, and as a means of preparing students to become better leaders within their professions and in their communities.
Upcoming Events
- First Year Student Orientation
- Aug 14, 2015
- Summer Session A2 Ends
- Aug 21, 2015
- First Year Student Orientation
- Aug 28, 2015


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Feb 25 - Goodbye Halley
Date: Sunday 25th February 2007
Position @ 1200 Local (GMT): 60°38.9 South, 042°05.0 . At sea. Next destination: Signy Base, South Orkney Islands. ETA: 26th February 2007. Distance to go: 127.0 nmiles. Distance Since Montevideo: 15642.0 nmiles. Plus lots for our Ice Navigation this Season and more for Moorings and Buoys.
Current weather: Overcast, Fine and Clear. Sea State: Moderate Seas, Slight Swell Wind: NorWesterly, 4 Knots. Barometric pressure: 981.2 Hpa Air temperature: +1.9°C Sea temperature: +1.0°C
Current position of the Shackleton
Up to date position information is available courtesy of 'sailwx/info' taken from our Metrological Observations.
This week the RRS Ernest Shackleton left Halley behind and has headed back to the 'Happy Hunting Grounds' off Signy. 'Hunting ?'. Yes, I should say we are hunting. We are firing the 'release codes' to the release mechanisms 4000 meters below the sea surface and then waiting for the attached buoys to come bobbing back to the surface. Recovering deployed instruments is 'harvest time' for the scientists. Buoys that have been recording data for years are now giving up their secrets to Keith and his team... once we are able to locate them.
You may think it is easy to see a bright yellow buoy (or series of buoys ) on the surface of the ocean, .. but it's a BIG ocean. It requires much scanning all around the horizon with high power binoculars in order to locate the surfaced array. And that has been keeping the scientists busy this weekend, but before that, they were captive on passage along with the 22 other FIDs extracted out of Halley.
GOODBYE HALLEY. It was about 5pm last Sunday evening when the ship finally said farewell to the remaining Halley Team and departed Creek N9 for the last time this season. We leave behind 18 winterers who - I am sure - are looking forward to the departure of the ship as their signal to 'get stuck in' to the business of being Antarctic Heroes. The sailing of the ship marks the last remnants of civilization before being left behind to their own metal and Winter Base Commander, Pete and the Team, will not be seeing anybody else until the season starts again next December.
We wish them well and a good Winter 2007.
But evidence of winter was far away as we departed N9 last week. I couldn't help but take a series of photographs to show how splendid was the weather as we set sail. Sailing away also marks the 'start of the end' for the JH Team as we now head back to Stanley and our crew-change, but on a day like this day, it is hard to think of leaving. This is a day to stay behind and make snowmen and attempt to make snowballs from the fluffy (and dry and powdery ) snow ! The fluffy stuff doesn't make good snowballs actually as they tend to disintegrate no sooner are they thrown from your hand !
Click on the Individual Images to Enlarge the Panorama.
What I like about this shot is the evidence - and only evidence - that is left behind after we depart the Creek N9. Hitherforeto, the Shelf Ice is pristine and deplete of anything except blowing snow. After our presence by the Ice Edge, we leave a spider's network of vehicle tracks and footprints that look like some very busy railway terminus. You can see the tracks heading off to the horizon where they all converge on the 'drumline' and eventually arrive at Halley Base. Within a week of blowing snow, the landscape will be returned to the virgin snow-scape that we found when we arrived. But just look at that sky ? It's what makes coming to Antarctica worth-while.
Burjor Langdana, is a Dentist. Coming from Mumbai, (Bombay) India, he has since worked all over the world from New Zealand and Africa to Leeds in the UK. A very varied career to date and now we can add to that 'Antarctica'.
Burjor the Dentist in his 'pyjamas' ... (Dental Scrubs)
Burjor has always had an interest in getting to the 6th Continent, but as far a back as 8 years ago he was making application to get a Dental Job down South.
His main connection with British Antarctic was his friendship with ex-Shackleton Dentist Penny G. Last year he was having a vacation in Edinburgh and met up with Penny.
'Any chance of a Locum Job in Antarctic' asked Burjor in his ever-optimistic way. 'No Way' said Penny. She was aware that the Dental duties this year would be split between two Dentists who had already been selected. She knew this to be true because Penny is one of the two. Penny was due to attend Rothera and the Antarctic Peninsula whilst colleague David was due to join in Montevideo and do the Halley-run.
So the next day, Burjor returned to his Dentistry in Leeds, and was surprised indeed when that very day he received a text from Penny saying 'Guess what ?' The chance in a lifetime posed itself when Dentist David had to return home from the Falklands due to compassionate grounds, which left a Dentists post available for anyone who could take it at short notice. In Burjor's own words, he was prepared to 'drop everything and be there by hook or by crook' !
And so it was that when the Shackleton returned from the first call at Halley, Burjor was able to join ship in Stanley in time for the next call to Halley and the sub-Antarctic bases. And what a trip it has been.
Burjor performing Dentistry on a Seal or just practicing his bedside manner???
Burjor says, 'Photographs just don't do justice to working on an Antarctic Ship surrounded by Ice Bergs, which definitely provides a better view from that of his window of the Clinic in Leeds. Outings on the Sea Ice to assist the Scientist with Seals and dropping in on Penguin Colonies. Seals and Penguins are not so plentiful in the Lake District .
Apart from the thrill of discovering Antarctica, Burjor has being doing some great work in the Dental Surgery too. Every Base Member is given a thorough check-up to ensure they have the very best chance of getting through the winter with no dental problems at all. So every call at every Base see's Burjor dressed up in his 'pyjamas'( Dental scrub suit) and ably assisted by his dental nurse, Dr.Vicki, doing the good-stuff with probes, mirrors, dental floss and .... the drill !
Click to See Burjor and Assistant Vicki at work in the Surgery.
Actually, speaking from personal experience, Burjor's 'bedside manner' is kind and informative, it is never painful and fun to be attended on by a friend and crewmate. As always, Burjor like those before him, likes to remind us all of the Dentist's mantra... ... REMEMBER TO FLOSS !
That's a big THUMBS UP from the Patient
...and all's well. That's a big THUMBS UP from the Patient !
Wavey Davey's Weekly Wit Spot.
Wavey is getting tired... Awwwww. I would say that you can tell by the quality of his jokes, but the quality of his jokes were never very much to write home about ? I think like the rest of us, Davey's humour can benefit from a spell of shore leave and then he can come back with a whole host of terrible offerings. Meanwhile, this is the level of joke we are having to endure in the last weeks of his days (and nights) on watch ...
Topically, Davey has had to visit the Dentist. The teeth keep falling out of his comb ?!!!
He tells me that there was a break-in at the local wig factory back home. Yes, police are still combing the area !
A waiter was delivering a really poorly cooked egg to a dinner guest. The Yoke was runny and hardly cooked. It was cold and unappetizing.
'Hey, what kind of egg do you call this ?' complained the diner.
'Don't blame me', said the Waiter, ' I only lay the table '.
As you can see... it's time for Davey to get off !
Back off the South Orkneys, and the Scientists are involved in the last of the Science cruise ES031. We were unfortunate enough to fail to collect the South Orkney moorings in January when we passed by on the way to Halley. But this weekend we are back and having infinitely more success in recovering the moorings that have been down there for up to 3 years. Povl sends a portable transducer over the ship's side and the Captain puts us into 'Silent running'. By selecting Diesel Electric mode (ie. running on the ship's Azimuth thruster and not the main propulsion), we create a much less noisy acoustic signature in the water. At 4000 metres depth or more, the sound signal returns from the deployed moorings are difficult to hear in anything but the quietest acoustic environments. It's like listening for a whisper in a crowded Football stadium !
However, once in quiet mode ( we are forbidden from singing raucous Soviet Union anthems during this period ??? ) Povl can faintly hear the return calls of the transponder he is pinging. Once contact is established - or in some cases even before contact is established - the 'release codes are activated and we wait to see if the remote releases will fire and allow the positively buoyant array to come bobbing to the surface.
It takes up to 30 minutes for the buoys to break the surface and during that time, Povl is listening to determine the range to the transponder. With luck he hears a decreasing range as the buoy ascends, but in some instances, he was unable to hear it, if we just sent the release command 'blind'. During the 30 minutes of waiting, it was questionable as to whether the release mechanism below was responsive or not, and if the buoy would ever break the surface at all. It was all very exciting.
The best way to determine if these unresponsive transponders had been released was to scan the surface and look for them. Many pairs of eyes eagerly scanned 360 degrees around the vessel looking for some sign of the floating array. It became a bit of a competition actually, and I think the final score for those members scanning the surface ended with a win for Germany. Lars, our German scientist was the first to spot 2 of them. The results were as follows :-
Germany = 2, Sweden = 1, England = 1, USA = Nil Point ( pronounced Nil Pwoin !!!).
Sorry Phil. Our American Phil wasn't even in the running. However it is not as bad as it sounds when you consider he was two pair of eyes compared to the 10 plus pairs of British eyes that equally failed to home in on the target. Congratulations to Lars on having a very sharp pair of eyes and an equally expensive pair of binoculars !!
This weekend, however, signals the end of the Science Cruise of the Shackleton and we return to our Logistics role. There are two old Base Huts to be extracted from the Islands of the South Orkneys and a transfer of personnel at Signy to accomplish. So once we finish with the final deployment of the final instruments and taken a last CTD, the Shackleton will head once more for Jordan Cove at Signy Island.
Forthcoming Events: Complete the Science and Head for our Base at Signy Island.
Contributions This Week : Thanks to Dentist Burjor Langdana for the information, and all the Dental Floss we can use onboard.
Diary No.14 will be prepared on Sunday 04th March 2007 for publication on Monday 05th March, operations permitting.
Stevie B
Radio Officer


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Dan Farber: In his last year as governor, Romney refused to provide state assistance when major floods hit western Massachusetts., even though the state government had ample funds.
Obama Names Local WWII Vet Stephen Sherman a Champion of Change
Black Gays Invited to White House
Rev. Irene Monroe: Just as my enslaved ancestors could have never imagined an African American family residing in the White House, nor could my African American LGBTQ brothers and sisters who fought in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 in New York's Greenwich Village imagine that one day a special invitation from the White House would openly welcome us in.
A New Day In Health Access: Tom Daschle, Secretary of Health & Human Services
Though he's not yet confirmed, it looks like former Senator Tom Daschle will be joining President Obama (I so like saying that) in his Cabinet, heading up all the agencies that provide resources and oversight for America's health and healthcare dollars. In addition, he will wear another, related, hat: heading up the new White House […]


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Castlewood Eating Disorder Clinic: Sue Gibson Denied Treatment Because of HIV Status
It says in part:
There is one simple way to prevent the spread of blood-borne infections, and that is through the use of Universal Precautions, which is a practice mandated by the CDC that simply means you do not come into contact with someone else's blood-based body fluids. Saliva is safe. A condom and common sense are generally all that are needed to prevent the spread of HIV. All the fright is over; it has been over for more than a quarter of a century (since the virus was identified and its mode of transmission understood) and there is no excuse for the ignorance and hysteria to continue.
In the settlement, Castlewood denied that it had discriminated against Gibson and the executive director said "she believed that Ms. Gibson would receive more appropriate care in an in-patient facility due to her HIV." Here's the statement they've issued through their attorneys at Sitrick and Company, a firm based in Los Angeles:
Castlewood's sole intent in this matter was to assure optimal patient care. After evaluating all pertinent factors Castlewood's professional staff concluded that the prospective patient would receive more appropriate care at an in-patient facility. Castlewood has always and continues to put the interests of those seeking treatment above everything else and does not discriminate in patient care.
Castlewood's been in trouble before. At last count, three former patients are suing the clinic for implanting false memories of Satanic abuse during therapy and keeping them in treatment far longer than necessary in order to continue charging fees. Castlewood has maintained all along that these allegations are lies and "the stuff of Hollywood." This new case seems to prove at the very least that there is something amiss at the center.
Follow Jessica Lussenhop on Twitter at @Lussenpop. E-mail the author at email@example.com.
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A section of the US Department of Homeland Security known as the "Privacy Office" recently approved a DHS initiative designed to monitor social media sites for "emerging threats,"according a new report by the Center for Investigative Reporting — a move that will add to fears that the US government may be 'friending' and 'following' an increasing number of citizens for surveillance purposes.
Congress created the Privacy Office in 2003 to monitor DHS initiatives and databases to ensure citizens' rights are protected.
However, social media monitoring, an increasingly common practice used by Homeland Security and other US departments, has now been given the official stamp of approval.
"As Americans turn to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to communicate with one another, intelligence officials are looking for ways to harness that ocean of data and convert it into actionable information," CIR reports.
For example, in 2010, The Electronic Frontier Foundation discovered that federal Immigration Services investigators were "friending" people on Facebook who were applying to become citizens in order to monitor their lives and "snoop for marriage details." Such activities are now acceptable forms of surveillance according to the Privacy Office.
The Homeland Security Department is currently on Twitter under the handle @DHSNOCMMC1 in a bid to conduct vast hashtag and keyword searches in hopes mining potential "threats."
"Program employees… hunt for dozens of keywords in the social media landscape using relatively simple and widely available tools like TweetDeck. For that reason, it's unclear how words like 'burn,' 'cocaine' or 'collapse' can be analyzed effectively enough to reveal truly useful information among the hundreds of millions of tweets that course across the Web every day," G.W. Schulz of CIR writes.
The Department of Homeland Security is not alone in these projects. According to CIR reporting, the FBI is now developing a tool to "alert agents of developing threats on social media, scrape historical data from the Web that can be searched later and display messages coming from a defined geographical area."
The Department of Defense is exploring how to "forecast dynamic group behavior in social media" in a bid to "simultaneously scan more than 1,000 groups, more than 100,000 postings per day and more than 1 million people."
An entire industry has developed to satisfy these surveillance fantasies, soon to be reality, as a growing number of private tech firms are now marketing tools that are "capable of automatically analyzing vast segments of the Internet and make simple keyword searches elementary by comparison," and pitching them to US departments and law enforcement agencies.
Given the recent approval by the Privacy Office, "there are no assurances that down the road, homeland security officials won't seek much more sophisticated tools that can automatically mine the [entire] Web for what they determine to be a threat or use secret tactics that alarm privacy rights advocates."
Social Media Surveillance OK'd by DHS 'Privacy Office' | Common Dreams.