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U.S.DOT/NHTSA - Information on Replaceable Light Source ECT type H3 and Letters from W. Van Dam of Phillips Lighting
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Memorandum of the Associate Administrator for Rulemaking submiting informatoinn on the Replaceable Light source ECE Type H3.
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U.S.DOT/NHTSA - Information on Replaceable Light Source ECT type H3 and Letters from W. Van Dam of Phillips Lighting
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What are gravitational waves?
- Why do we want to detect them?
- Were we confident that gravitational waves existed, even before we detected them directly?
- What is LIGO?
- How does LIGO work?
- If a gravitational wave stretches the distance between the LIGO mirrors, doesn't it also stretch the wavelength of the laser light?
- What types of gravitational wave source is LIGO looking for?
- Was it surprising that Initial LIGO didn't detect any gravitational waves?
- Did we expect LIGO's advanced detectors to make a discovery, then?
- What's so different about LIGO's advanced detectors?
- What spinoff technologies or other direct benefits have come from LIGO instrument research?
- Is anything opaque to gravitational waves?
- Could gravitational waves tell us anything about the early universe?
- Could gravitational waves tell us anything about dark matter or dark energy?
- What is data analysis and why is it important for LIGO?
- Why does the LSC need powerful computer clusters to find gravitational waves?
- How do you know what the signals look like?
What are gravitational waves?
Gravitational waves are 'ripples' in the fabric of space-time caused by some of the most powerful processes in the universe - colliding black holes, exploding stars, and even the birth of the universe itself. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916, derived from his general theory of relativity. Einstein's mathematics showed that massive accelerating objects (such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other) would disrupt space-time in such a way that waves of distorted space would radiate from the source. These ripples travel at the speed of light through the universe, carrying information about their origins, as well as clues to the nature of gravity itself.
Why do we want to detect them?
Detecting and analyzing the information carried by gravitational waves will allow us to observe universe in a way never before possible. This will open up a new window on the universe.
Historically, scientists have relied primarily on observations with electromagnetic radiation (visible light, x-rays, radio waves, microwaves, etc.) to learn about and understand phenomena in the universe. (In recent years, subatomic particles called neutrinos have also been used to study aspects of the heavens.) Each of these kinds of sources of information gives scientists a different and complementary view of the universe, with each new window bringing exciting new discoveries.
Were we confident that gravitational waves existed, even before we detected them directly?
Although gravitational waves were predicted to exist by Albert Einstein in 1916, observational evidence for their existence didn't come until 1974 when two astronomers, Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor, discovered a binary pulsar system (two neutron stars orbiting each other). When the astronomers measured how the orbits of the two stars were changing over time, they found that the changes agreed so well with the predictions of General Relativity, it left no doubt that the system was radiating energy in the form of gravitational waves. Since then, more astronomers have studied the timing of pulsar radio emissions and found similar effects consistent with the existence of gravitational waves.
But these confirmations were indirect, from observing the effects of 'unseen' gravitational waves on remote astrophysical objects and not through actual physical effects here at the Earth. In that sense, the observation of gravitational waves from GW150914 was the first direct detection of gravitational waves - finally confirming Einstein's prediction.
What is LIGO?
LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) is the world's largest gravitational wave observatory and one of the world's most sophisticated physics experiments. LIGO consists of two laser interferometers located thousands of kilometers apart, one in Livingston Louisiana and the other in Hanford Washington State. LIGO uses the physical properties of light and of space itself to detect gravitational waves. It was funded by the US National Science Foundation, and it is managed by Caltech and MIT. Hundreds of scientists in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, in many countries, contribute to the astrophysical and instrument science of LIGO.
How does LIGO work?
An interferometer like LIGO consists of two perpendicular "arms" (in LIGO's case each one is 4km long!) along which a laser beam is shone and reflected by mirrors at each end.
When a gravitational wave passes by, the stretching and squashing of space causes the arms of the interferometer alternately to lengthen and shorten, one getting longer while the other gets shorter and then vice-versa.
Stretching and squeezing of the interferometer arms. Image: Wikimedia Commons.
As the interferometers' arms change lengths, the laser beams traveling through the arms travel different distances - which means that the two beams are no longer "in step" and what we call an interference pattern is produced. (This is why we call the LIGO instruments "interferometers".)
Now the effect of this change in arm length is very small -- for a typical passing gravitational wave we expect it to be about 1/10,000th the width of a proton! But LIGO's interferometers are so sensitive that they can measure even such tiny amounts. LIGO scientists can look for the pattern of arm length changes that we expect from different types of gravitational wave source: if they see the pattern, they'll know a gravitational wave has passed by!
If a gravitational wave stretches the distance between the LIGO mirrors, doesn't it also stretch the wavelength of the laser light?
A gravitational wave does stretch and squeeze the wavelength of the light in the arms. But the interference pattern doesn't come about because of the difference between the length of the arm and the wavelength of the light. Instead it's caused by the different arrival time of the light wave's "crests and troughs" from one arm with the arrival time of the light that traveled in the other arm. So the laser light is acting not so much as a ruler, but as a stopwatch. Read more about this interesting question.
What types of gravitational wave source is LIGO looking for?
LIGO scientists have identified four categories of gravitational waves, each with a unique pattern that the interferometers can sense.
Continuous gravitational waves are thought to be produced by a single spinning massive object, like an extremely dense star called a neutron star. Any bumps or imperfections in the spherical shape of this star will continuously generate gravitational waves as the star spins.
Continuous gravitational waves from an asymmetric neutron star. Image: Centre for Gravitational Physics/Australian National University.
Compact binary coalescence gravitational waves are produced by two massive stars, like neutron stars or black holes, orbiting each other. As the two stars revolve around each other emitting gravitational waves, they lose orbital energy. Over time, this causes the stars to move closer together and revolve around each other faster and faster until they eventually merge together, or coalesce, in one of the universe's most violent events.
Gravitational waves produced by 2 orbiting black holes. Image: Henze, NASA.
Astronomers predict that there are so few significant sources of Continuous or Compact Binary Coalescence gravitational waves in the universe that we don't worry about more than one passing by Earth at exactly the same time. But there could be a background signal, like the background hum of voices in a crowded room, coming from all over the universe that all combine together into what we call the stochastic background of gravitational waves. It's possible that at least part of this stochastic signal may originate from the Big Bang, and detecting those relic gravitational waves would let us see farther back into the history of the universe than ever before.
Crab Nebula supernova remnant. Such a core-collapse supernova could produce a burst of gravitational waves. Image: Hester, Loll, NASA, ESA.
The fourth category is known as burst gravitational waves. Here's where we are searching for the truly unexpected. Of course if you don't know what you're looking for, it's really hard to find it, but looking for burst signals may offer the best prospects for discovering completely new things about our universe.
Was it surprising that Initial LIGO didn't detect any gravitational waves?
Not really. We study the behavior of our detectors intensely and, when we are taking data, we perform what we call "blind injections". This is when a few people in our collaboration secretly add a fake signal into the data coming out of the detector, to test whether we can find the signal and that we understand the instrument properly. During a science run of the initial LIGO experiment, a signal was seen that looked like a binary merger at a distance of about 60 - 180 million light years, coming from the direction of the constellation Canis Major (the signal was later called the "Big Dog"). The collaboration proceeded to do the full analysis and check everything over and over, then wrote a paper claiming the first detection. Only then was it revealed that the signal was a blind injection! While that might be a little disappointing, it shows that we were prepared and understand the instruments enough to be confident that they work as expected.
Strength of the 'Big Dog' blind injection. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency (known as a "chirp") as the stars spiral into one another, approaching merger. Image: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab.
So, blind injections aside, should we have expected a detection during one of the initial LIGO science runs? After taking into account that we don't know precisely where, when and how often the major source events happen in the universe, our best guess is "no". So the fact that Initial LIGO didn't detect any sources wasn't surprising. But it's important to realise that Advanced LIGO would have been impossible without LIGO. If you think of LIGO as a proof of concept and technology (that may have gotten lucky) then the project was a great success.
Did we expect LIGO's advanced detectors to make a discovery, then?
Good question! The expected event rates for different kinds of gravitational wave source can be worked out, but these calculations involve a lot of complicated physics so the predictions are very uncertain. Even so, we have tried to carefully take account of all of that by calculating "realistic", "optimistic" and "pessimistic" rates -- based on different assumptions. (The results of those calculations can be found in a paper published in 2010 that is freely downloadable from http://arxiv.org/abs/1003.2480).
Take binary neutron star mergers, for example. Initial LIGO was able to look for these within about 15 megaparsecs (Mpc -- a parsec is about 3.25 light years, so 15 Mpc is about 50 million light years). Initial LIGO didn't see any, but that was in line with our best guess of the expected rate for these events. On the other hand, once it reaches its full design sensitivity Advanced LIGO should be able to see binary neutron star mergers out to about 200 Mpc. This factor of more than 10 increase in the distance reach corresponds to a factor of over 1000 times more volume of space. For full-sensitivity Advanced LIGO, therefore, binary neutron star mergers should be detected with event rates between 0.4 to 400 times a year -- with about 40 per year believed most likely.
Of course, the first event that the Advanced LIGO detectors discovered - on September 14th 2015 - was a binary black hole merger. This remarkable discovery was announced to the world on February 11th 2016 and you can read all about it at https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/detection. What other events might be present in the data collected during our first science run? We are still analyzing that data, and will share results in a few months. Everything in the analysis we've done so far confirms the results we presented for the first month of data analyzed. Watch this spacetime!
Schematic showing the much greater volume of the universe to which the Advanced LIGO detectors will be sensitive. Image: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab.
What's so different about LIGO's advanced detectors?
As we said above, once they have reached their full design sensitivity within the next few years, the Advanced LIGO detectors should be about 10 times more sensitive than Initial LIGO, capable of measuring gravitational wave strains as small as one part in ten to the power 23. This astounding sensitivity should be a real game changer for gravitational-wave astronomy.
Installing the Advanced LIGO upgrades. Image: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab.
Although the Advanced detectors are geographically situated in the same locations as their Initial LIGO predecessors, to achieve their much greater sensitivity required the upgrading of almost every aspect of the Initial LIGO design. These upgrades include:
- Increasing the laser power from the initial LIGO value of 10 W to about 200 W
- Using larger and heavier fused-silica test mass optics, designed to reduce the impact of thermal noise and "radiation pressure" noise, both of which cause very small, random motions of the mirror
- Suspending the test mass optics using fused silica fibers, as opposed to the steel wire sling suspensions used in Initial LIGO, in order to reduce the suspension thermal noise
- Using a four-stage pendulum in the complete suspension system, to improve the seismic isolation of the test mass optics
- Using a measure-and-cancel strategy for reducing the motion of the masses due to the motion of the ground -- this is called "active" seismic isolation
LIGO's advanced detectors bring to fruition years of global research and development in key areas of LIGO technology. A number of U.S. and international institutions have played lead roles in all of this work, and Caltech and MIT (the institutions that operate LIGO on behalf of the NSF and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration) continue to provide critical R&D, testing and integration along with these international partners.
The completion of the advanced detectors, and the beginning of their science operations, in autumn 2015 represents a phenomenal scientific and engineering achievement -- and the dawn of an exciting new era for gravitational-wave astronomy! Read more about the design and construction of LIGO's advanced detectors in Issue 1 and Issue 7 of the LIGO Magazine.
What spinoff technologies or other indirect benefits have come from LIGO instrument research?
The development of the technology necessary to measure the tiny position changes that are necessary for LIGO to detect gravitational waves can have other applications too. Below is a short list of examples of "spinoff" technologies.
- The need for very low loss of light in the LIGO optics lead to the development of a technique to measure such low loss and the company "Stanford Photo-Thermal Solutions" who markets the device developed for LIGO. It sells primarily to the basic optics and homeland security markets.
- The company Lightwave Electronics built the initial laser that LIGO used. It now sells the same laser (and an improved version) for use in materials processing for making light emitting diodes, computer chips, and smart phone circuit boards.
- A typical gravitational wave signal has what is called a "chirp" in amplitude and phase. LIGO developed computer algorithms that are very effective at finding these chirps even when hidden in noise. Similar chirp signals appear in radar, sonar, laser pulses and other situations, and LIGO's algorithm is being used in these applications.
- The heating of LIGO optics can deform the laser beam, making it less effective at measuring position changes. This problem is called thermal lensing, and is shared by other precision optics measurements. LIGO found a solution to this problem by adding additional optics to the system whose temperature can be controlled with heaters. This same technology is now being used on high-power laser systems used for laser radar, welding, cutting and drilling, and other applications.
More information on these and other spinoffs.
Is anything opaque to gravitational waves?
Opaqueness to light occurs because the energy of the light is absorbed by the opaque material. This is essentially because the material has charges in it that are free to move under the influence of the electromagnetic fields that the light is composed of, and their movement absorbs the energy of the light. There have to be enough charges in the material so that almost all of the 'packets' of light energy, called photons, find one and get absorbed.
So, how does this compare to gravitational waves? Are they carrying energy that can be absorbed? Yes, they are. What can gravity impart energy into? The answer is mass. If the mass is freely floating, it will not absorb the energy of the wave, so we need the mass to have a dissipative force applied to it as well. So, if there are masses with dissipative forces that can absorb energy, we can in principle create something opaque to gravitational waves. Can we put enough of these masses together to absorb almost all the gravitons? It would be extremely difficult: the gravitational waves interact so weakly that the chance that any particular graviton passing any particular absorbing mass would be absorbed is minuscule. So, at the end of the day, answer is "in principle, yes, but in practice, not really."
Could gravitational waves tell us anything about the early universe?
Gravitational waves offer a unique view into the very early universe because they can allow us to see "behind" the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR). You may have seen images of the CMBR which give us an image of the universe about 380,000 years after the beginning of the universe, the 'Big Bang'. This is because before that time, the universe was filled with hot ionized gas (meaning the electrons and nuclei were separate, just free electrons flying around), so photons of light would be scattered wildly by these free electrons, rather like what happens on a foggy day, so they don't carry much information about their original source. Because the universe had been expanding since the beginning, it was cooling, and at around the 380,000 year mark, the universe became cool enough that the gas stopped being ionized: the free electrons combined with protons to form neutral hydrogen (we call this recombination), which is much less effective at scattering photons -- in other words the fog clears! For us, this marks the beginning of the period when photons actually can free-stream directly towards us from the early universe, with minimal scattering, so they can carry information about their origins.
The wider gravitational wave spectrum. Image: Institute for Gravitational Research/University of Glasgow.
On the other hand, gravitational radiation does not care about this epoch of recombination, because atoms and molecules of gas -- whether ionized or not -- have minimal effect on gravitational waves. This means that gravitational waves created before recombination can still stream right towards us without being disturbed along the way, and so could in principle tell us something about that very early phase in the history of the cosmos. The LIGO detectors may not be sensitive to these 'primordial' gravitational waves, but there are other ways we can search for their signature -- e.g. by looking for polarized light in the CMBR.
Could gravitational waves tell us anything about dark matter or dark energy?
Dark matter and dark energy have had a big role in the history of the universe expanding (in fact we think dark energy is now causing that expansion to speed up!) and in the formation of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. But we don't expect dark matter to exist in nearly dense enough 'clumps' to produce gravitational waves that could be detected by LIGO.
In the future, however, astronomers hope to use gravitational wave sources such as compact binary coalescence to map out the cosmos, completely independently of the methods available right now -- using e.g. the CMBR or distant supernovae. So it's possible that future gravitational wave observations could help us to better understand the effects of dark matter and dark energy on the expansion of the universe.
What is data analysis and why is it important for LIGO?
For a scientist, collecting data is just the first step. It's then by examining and studying that data, and comparing it with what we were expecting, that we can learn new things and improve our understanding. This is especially important in gravitational wave astronomy, where we expect the signals we are searching for to be relatively faint and buried in the detector noise, so without data analysis we cannot discover gravitational waves. Dedicated, highly efficient computer algorithms are required to find these signals in the first place and to characterize them afterwards. To discover and characterize all the different signal types, the data are analyzed by several complementary methods. Some use pre-calculated waveforms as 'templates' to search for very specific signals. Others use an "eyes wide open" approach and assume much less about what the waveforms should look like.
Why does the LSC need powerful computer clusters to find gravitational waves?
The different data analysis algorithms must search through very large amounts of data. In order not to miss any possible hidden signal, the data have to be searched extensively with many different templates - in some cases millions of them. Searches like these would take several years on a single desktop computer. These searches can however be 'parallelized', which means running thousands of similar analyses at the same time on many computers. These computers are typically organized in large computer clusters, operated at several sites within the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. On these clusters, the computations can be done within days or weeks, rather than many years.
The high-throughput data analysis computer cluster Atlas at the AEI in Hannover, Germany. Image: M. Fiorito/AEI.
How do you know what the signals look like?
The exact form of the gravitational wave signal is predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity. However, solving Einstein's equations is very complicated and not always possible to do exactly. In some cases we can solve approximate versions of these equations very fast; in other cases, we can run programs on large supercomputers to calculate the expected waveforms for the complete (i.e. non-approximated) equations. This approach gives us more realistic waveforms but will also take much longer. Sometimes it is possible to cleverly combine these two approaches and get the best of both worlds.


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Christa Levko '12 Attends Presidential Debate at Hofstra University
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Hofstra University notified its students via email on Oct. 14 of their selection by lottery to attend the presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on Oct. 16. Though Christa Levko '12 had put her name in to attend, she didn't get that email invitation.
"I was really bummed," she said. "I knew the chances were slim, but I was hoping to get picked."
But at 3:15 p.m. on the afternoon of the debate – while she was at home in her pajamas – Levko received an exciting email from the school.
"It said to be on campus between 4 and 4:30 p.m. because I had been selected as an alternate! I dropped everything, put on my suit, and rushed to campus. I actually got a little lost on the way there, because I only know where my academic buildings are. I hadn't been to the debate site before but somehow I made it in time."
Levko and 300 other students, community members, and politicos waited while security screened and admitted ticketed attendees into the hall. Levko was informed that she was "Alternate #5," meaning that if five others did not show up in time, she would have a last-minute seat to the debate. After waiting anxiously for nearly three hours, at 6:55 p.m. – just two hours before the debate – the commission finally confirmed that Levko would get a ticket.
"Waiting for the debate to start was really exciting, almost surreal," she said. "I sat between an Obama campaign worker and a Romney campaign worker in the seats behind the moderator Candy Crawley, and there was definitely tension in the room. But everyone was excited."
Levko had already decided who she is going to vote for in this election, but she listened to both candidates with an open mind.
"I think Obama did a good job. Both candidates avoided answering the questions, and after a while I had to stop thinking about that and just focus on what they had to say. Romney's response on the middle class and taxes was good, and I appreciated what he had to say, but some of his other responses really turned me off."
Levko was hoping the candidates would address women's and LGBT issues, and the candidates did address women's issues when a town hall member asked about pay equality for women.
"Obama addressed and maintained his support for the Lilly Ledbetter Act, but Romney wouldn't even acknowledge it." In fact, it was during this exchange that Romney made the now famous remark that he had "binders full of women" when he was appointing members to his cabinet as Massachusetts governor.
Women's issues were a hot-button topic for Levko while she was studying political science at LVC from 2008-2012. She participated in "The Vagina Monologues" performance at LVC every year, including serving as director during her senior year.
"Overall it was a great experience and I'm glad I had the opportunity to see the candidates speak in person," she said.
Levko is a first-year law student with a full academic scholarship at Hofstra University and will pursue a career in public interest law. She hopes to work on social issues or with a non-profit organization after graduation in 2015.
For information about the election, please visit
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Hear Sebastian Bach Sing Ozzy Osbourne's 'S.A.T.O.' Off 'Randy Rhoads Remembered Vol. I'
Listen to Sebastian Bach singing Ozzy Osbourne's 'S.A.T.O.' off the 'Randy Rhoads Remembered, Vol. 1' disc.
Listen to Sebastian Bach singing Ozzy Osbourne's 'S.A.T.O.' off the 'Randy Rhoads Remembered, Vol. 1' disc.
Testament's Chuck Billy and Children of Bodom's Alexi Laiho lead an all-star cover of 'Mr. Crowley' on the upcoming 'Immortal Randy Rhoads' tribute disc.
The legendary's guitarist's family lost a court case over a Randy Rhoads coffee table book which emanated from a scrapped documentary.
Sebastian Bach, David Ellefson, Rudy Sarzo, Alex Skolnick and a lot more musicians gathered to remember the late great Randy Rhoads over the weekend in Santa Ana, Calif.
A cover of 'Crazy Train' by Serj Tankian, Tom Morello, Rudy Sarzo and Vinny Appice has been revealed by Rolling Stone.
'Immortal Randy Rhoads: The Ultimate Tribute' will see a March 3 release via UDR Music.
Sebastian Bach, David Ellefson and members of Machine Head, Guns N' Roses, Testament and more turn up on a new 'Randy Rhoads Remembered' disc.
Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel is a modern-day guitar hero, but the guitarist recently got inked with the likeness of Demmel's own guitar god, Randy Rhoads.
Today (March 19) marks the 32nd anniversary of the death of Ozzy Osbourne guitar great Randy Rhoads and his onetime bandmate, Bob Daisley, has offered up his own special tribute online. Daisley has posted a Q&A about the seven hours of audio tapes that he recorded during the writing and recording sessions for the 'Blizzard of Ozz' and 'Diary of a Madman' albums. On top of that, he's also shared some previously unheard studio snippets from those recordings.
Since releasing 'Resolution' in 2012, Lamb of God have experienced an incredibly eventful chapter of their career. After performing in nearly every corner of the globe and suffering a setback that left vocalist Randy Blythe in Czech court, Blythe has revealed he needs a break from Lamb of God and that he "will not be thinking about Lamb of God, touring, playing heavy metal writing new Lamb of God material" for a long time.


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2012 Audi A6 Repair and Maintenance
A guide to problems, costs, maintenance and repair for your 2012 Audi A6
Never overpay. Check prices with our estimator
2012 Audi A6 ProblemsMulti-Link Suspension Components May Wear Prematurely
Premature wear in various multi-link suspension components can cause noises that are difficult to diagnose. Worn suspension parts can also cause uneven tire wear and create steering alignment problems.
The digital display portion of the instrument cluster may fail. Our technicians tell us the entire instrument cluster will need to be replaced to correct this concern.
2012 Audi A6 RecallsPassenger Air Bags Do Not Deploy In An Accident
For vehicles that are equipped with heated and cooled seats, the passenger occupant detection system may malfunction and prevent the passenger side air bags from deploying as necessary during an accident. Dealers will install a passenger occupant detection system repair kit free of charge to resolve the concern.
The fuel rail is a tube that carries fuel to the fuel injectors. The fuel rail may leak, increasing the risk of a fire. Dealers will replace the affected fuel rail and corresponding seals to correct this concern.
317 vehicles are being recalled because the seam in the side curtain air bag may not have been stitched correctly. As a result, the side curtain air bag may not deploy as expected. Failure of the air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash. Dealers will replace the left and/or right curtain air bag to correct this concern.


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Moderate Advancement
In 2014, Ukraine made a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. During the year, Ukraine experienced the election of a new government, armed conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the south and east of the country, and the illegal attempted annexation of Crimea by Russia, which may impact the Government's ability to address the worst forms of child labor. The Government partnered with the IOM, the OSCE, and the anti-trafficking NGO La Strada to carry out several awareness-raising campaigns to combat human trafficking. These campaigns were targeted at youth displaced by the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea, who are at increased risk of becoming human trafficking victims. The Government also published a report on the efforts made in 2013 to implement the National Program for Combating Human Trafficking Until 2015. However, children in Ukraine are engaged in child labor, including in street work and in the worst forms of child labor, including in pornography. There are no laws or regulations that prohibit possessing child pornography or benefitting from its proceeds, and the age of consent for sexual relationships is not clearly defined. The National Action Plan for Child Protection and the National Program for Combating Human Trafficking remained underfunded in 2014. Furthermore, shelter and rehabilitation centers for children, including street children and victims of human trafficking, are insufficient to fully address the extent of the problem.
Children in Ukraine are engaged in child labor, including in street work. Children are also engaged in the worst forms of child labor in commercial sexual exploitation, including pornography.(1) Table 1 provides key indicators on children's work and education in Ukraine.
Table 1. Statistics on Children's Work and Education
Working children, ages 5 to 14 (% and population):
4.4 (182,714)
School attendance, ages 5 to 14 (%):
Children combining work and school, ages 7 to 14 (%):
Primary completion rate (%):
Source for primary completion rate: Data from 2012, published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2015.(2)
Source for all other data: Understanding Children's Work Project's analysis of statistics from Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 4, 2012.(3)
Based on a review of available information, Table 2 provides an overview of children's work by sector and activity.
Table 2. Overview of Children's Work by Sector and Activity
Mining,† including loading, transporting, and sorting of coal (6, 7)
Street work,* including distributing advertising leaflets,* washing cars,* sales activities in kiosks,* and begging* (1, 4)
Categorical Worst Forms of Child Labor‡
Commercial sexual exploitation sometimes as a result of human trafficking (4, 5, 9, 10)
Forced begging sometimes as a result of human trafficking* (4, 5, 8-10)
* Evidence of this activity is limited and/or the extent of the problem is unknown.
† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3 (d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C.182.
In 2014, Ukraine experienced the election of a new government, armed conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the south and east of the country, and the occupation and attempted illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia, which may impact the Government's ability to address the worst forms of child labor.
Children from Ukraine are trafficked transnationally as well as domestically.(9, 10) Homeless, orphaned, and poor children are at high risk of being trafficked and are targeted by recruiters for child pornography.(9, 10) Commercial sexual exploitation of children, including for pornography, remains a serious problem in Ukraine.(4, 13)
During the reporting period, the conflict in eastern Ukraine created over 460,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), over a third of whom are children.(14, 15) The inability of many IDP families to access adequate shelter and available social benefits puts children at increased risk of exploitation in the worst forms of child labor, including human trafficking.(16) The Ministry of Social Policy (MSP) has noted an increased vulnerability to both domestic and international human trafficking among the IDP community, and there have been reports of kidnapping of girls from conflict-affected areas for commercial sexual exploitation and labor exploitation.(5, 16) In addition, authorities have in some cases refused to grant Roma IDPs the same level of assistance as other IDPs, putting Roma children at an even greater risk of exploitation.(17)
There are media reports, to date unconfirmed by UN Personnel, of over a dozen cases of the use of children in conflict by combined Russian-separatist forces in the contested regions of Ukraine.(11, 12) An independent fact-finding mission by civil society organizations and staff of the Ukrainian Parliament's Human Rights Commissioner's Office reported evidence of children being used by separatists as guards at checkpoints and detention facilities. In addition, separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko has allegedly stated that children as young as 14 are fighting in his rebel unit.(18) In addition, although the Government of Ukraine has proactively enforced prohibitions against the use of children under 18 in the conflict, credible media sources have reported 1-2 isolated incidents of children as young as 16 fighting with Ukrainian forces not under direct control of the Government.(12)
Although Ukraine's Constitution and Law on General Secondary Education guarantee free universal education, a reduction of educational facilities associated with the decreasing population of school-age children is limiting education access for children living in rural areas, Roma children, and children with disabilities.(13) Roma children are also sometimes denied access to education due to discrimination.(4)
Ukraine has ratified all key international conventions concerning child labor (Table 3).
Table 3. Ratification of International Conventions on Child Labor
ILO C. 138, Minimum Age
ILO C. 182, Worst Forms of Child Labor
UN CRC Optional Protocol on Armed Conflict
UN CRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
Palermo Protocol on Trafficking in Persons
The Government has established laws and regulations related to child labor, including its worst forms (Table 4).
Table 4. Laws and Regulations Related to Child Labor
Related Legislation
Minimum Age for Work
Article 188 of the Labor Code; Article 150 of the Criminal Code; Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Childhood (1, 19-21)
Minimum Age for Hazardous Work
Article 190 of the Labor Code; Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Childhood (20, 21)
Prohibition of Hazardous Occupations or Activities for Children
Order No. 46 on the approval of the list of heavy work and work with dangerous and harmful working conditions, in which the employment of minors is prohibited; Article 150-1 of the Criminal Code (5, 7, 19)
Prohibition of Forced Labor
Article 43 of the Constitution of Ukraine; Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine on Employment; Articles 172 and 173 of the Criminal Code (19, 22, 23)
Prohibition of Child Trafficking
Article 149 of the Criminal Code (19)
Prohibition of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
Articles 301 303 of the Criminal Code; Articles 10 and 21 of the Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Childhood; the Law of Ukraine on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Combating the Distribution of Child Pornography; Articles 1 and 6 7 of the Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Public Morality (19, 21, 24, 25)
Prohibition of Using Children in Illicit Activities
Article 304 of the Criminal Code; Articles 10 and 21 of the Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Childhood (19, 21)
Minimum Age for Compulsory Military Recruitment
Article 15 of the Law of Ukraine on Military Duty and Military Service; Decree No. 447 On Measures to Improve the Defense Capabilities of the State (26, 27)
Minimum Age for Voluntary Military Service
Article 15 of The Law of Ukraine on Military Duty and Military Service (27)
Compulsory Education Age
Articles 12 and 20 of the Law on General Secondary Education (28)
Free Public Education
Article 53 of the Constitution of Ukraine; Article 2 of the Law on General Secondary Education (22, 28)
In Ukraine, the minimum age for work is 16. However the Labor Code allows children to be employed at age 15 with parental consent.(20) Additionally, in secondary or vocational schools, students may perform light work at age 14 with parental consent, provided that the work does not interfere with their education and is not harmful to their health.(20) Research found that minors in vocational training programs for hazardous occupations are permitted to perform hazardous work for less than 4 hours a day beginning at age 14, as long as occupational health and safety standards are met.(1, 29) Moreover, the CEACR noted that the minimum age for such work is 2 years below the international minimum age of 16 for entering hazardous vocational training.(29)
Existing criminal laws in Ukraine continue to have gaps in fully protecting children from the worst forms of child labor. While the Criminal Code prohibits commercial exploitation of children, it does not specifically define an age of consent for sexual relations, which has contributed to the prosecution of children ages 16 to 17 as offenders rather than as victims of sexual exploitation.(1) In addition, there is no law that prohibits the possession of child pornography or benefitting from its proceeds.(1)
In October 2014, the Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine on Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons, which developed a registration process for IDPs and instituted monthly benefit payments to displaced families.(30) However, many IDPs may be unaware of the resources made available by the new law, or may lack the identification papers required to access these resources.(17)
The Government has established institutional mechanisms for the enforcement of laws and regulations on child labor, including its worst forms (Table 5).
Table 5. Agencies Responsible for Child Labor Law Enforcement
State Labor Inspectorate (SLI) within the Ministry of Social Policy (MSP)
Enforce labor laws, including laws on child labor, by conducting inspections.(1) Inspections related to child labor laws are coordinated by the Child Labor Division of the SLI, but are carried out by regular SLI inspectors.(1, 4, 31)
Department on Adoption and Children's Rights Protection within the MSP
Identify children involved in the worst forms of child labor, most of whom are in the informal sector.(1, 4)
Criminal Police for Children's Affairs (CPCA) within the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOI)
Identify and investigate the involvement of children in the worst forms of child labor.(1, 4) Refer children determined to be in need of assistance during criminal investigations to social services offered by the MSP.(32)
Criminal Juvenile Police within the MOI
Address crimes committed by minors and against minors.(1)
Department for Combating Crimes Related to Human Trafficking (CTD) within the MOI
Enforce laws against child trafficking and cybercrimes.(1)
State Migration Service
Assist refugees and migrants in need in the country, including victims of human trafficking.(1, 32)
State Border Guards Services
Protect the country's borders and identify cases of human trafficking.(32)
Office of the Ombudsman for Children's Rights
Monitor the rights of children, including regarding the issue of child labor, and ensure that Ukraine abides by international obligations regarding children's rights. Coordinate the development of laws on child protection.(33) Inform the public of children's rights.(33)
National Referral Mechanism
Identify victims of human trafficking, including children, and refer victims to appropriate government agencies for assistance and the provision of services. Led by the MSP.(5)
Law enforcement agencies in Ukraine took actions to combat child labor, including its worst forms.
Labor Law Enforcement
In 2014, the number of labor inspectors employed by the State Labor Inspectorate (SLI) dropped from 572 to 437.(18) According to the SLI, the number of inspectors is inadequate compared to the number of registered employers in Ukraine.(1)
Funding for inspections is limited; inspectors lack sufficient office space, means of transportation, and travel budgets.(1, 34) Furthermore, a 70 percent cut to the SLI's budget enacted during 2014 resulted in forced furlough days and increased resignations among inspectors, many of whom worked less than one week a month.(18) Article 31 of the August 2014 Law of Ukraine On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine on the State Budget of Ukraine for 2014 stipulates that labor inspections can only occur at a company's own request or with the consent of the Cabinet of Ministers, unless there is a criminal investigation against the company. Because the Cabinet of Ministers publishes its decisions, including on whether to allow labor inspections, it is effectively impossible to conduct an unannounced inspection.(18) Due to these substantial bureaucratic barriers, inspections almost ceased in the second half of the year. Given the cutbacks in authorized inspections and resources due to the overall deteriorating budget situation in Ukraine, the SLI has described its ability to inspect for child labor violations as inadequate.(18)
The results of inspections conducted by the SLI are made publicly available on the SLI's website, which is updated quarterly.(1) During the first 10 months of 2014, the SLI conducted 5,038 child labor inspections. The SLI identified 202 employers using child labor.(18) The most common child labor law violations were for overly long working hours, failure to maintain work records, and lack of training. The SLI issued 197 citations, filed 101 administrative cases against employers in courts, and referred 19 cases to law enforcement bodies.(18) The SLI referred children found working in an unsafe work environment to social services, according to the MSP's policy.(1) According to SLI, fines assessed against employers for administrative violations and certain criminal violations are too low to serve as effective deterrents. Fines range from $35-$115.(1, 18)
Criminal Law Enforcement
Under the administrative reform undertaken by the Government over the last few years, the Criminal Police for Children's Affairs (CPCA) was reorganized into a unit under the Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Interior, and the Department for Combating Crimes Related to Human Trafficking (CTD) was reorganized as the Counter Trafficking Division under the Criminal Investigation Department and Cyber-Crime Division.(35) The reform resulted in the departure of specially trained detectives and a reduction in the time spent on trafficking investigations.(32) However, during 2013, the CTD was elevated back to the level of Department, allowing the CTD to increase the number of officers it employs from 270 to over 500. In 2014, the restoration of the Department continued to yield positive developments in the form of active cooperation on human trafficking cases with U.S. law enforcement, including initiating a joint investigation in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.(5)
During 2014, the CPCA employed approximately 3,000 officers throughout the country, while the CTD had more than 500 officers.(1, 18, 32) During the year, the IOM provided training on trafficking in persons to more than 277 judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers.(5) Since the passage of the Criminal Procedure Code of 2012, Ukraine has instituted a system of juvenile judges and police investigators to ensure the protection of children's rights and appropriate prosecution of minor offenders.(1, 35) Despite this, concerns have been raised that the training of judges is more focused on punishing offenders, even if they are under age 18, than on treating children as witnesses or victims.(1)
Children who are discovered to be in dangerous situations during the course of criminal investigations are referred to the MSP system of Shelters and Centers for Socio-Psychological Rehabilitation of Children.(1) In 2014, the Ministry of Interior recorded two victims of child trafficking, seven victims of child prostitution, and six cases related to child pornography.(5, 18) Two child victims of trafficking for labor exploitation in construction received official victim status.(5) Although the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of trafficking continued to be expanded in 2014, the MSP lacked sufficient authority and financial resources to establish and run the NRM efficiently.(5)
Data on child trafficking and other crimes related to labor exploitation of children are not disaggregated from law enforcement statistics.(9) Research did not find information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions, or implemented penalties related to violations of criminal laws on the worst forms of child labor.
The Government has established mechanisms to coordinate its efforts to address child labor, including its worst forms (Table 6).
Table 6. Mechanisms to Coordinate Government Efforts on Child Labor
Coordinating Body
Role & Description
Ministry of Social Policy (MSP)
Lead the Government's efforts to combat child labor and human trafficking, including by drafting legislation and government regulations on these issues.(1, 9)
Interagency Council on Family, Gender Equality, Demographic Development, Prevention of Violence in the Family, and Counter Trafficking Issues
Coordinate efforts to address the worst forms of child labor, including trafficking of children. Chaired by the MSP; members include representatives from the Ministries of Justice, Education, Security, Health, Foreign Affairs, and from international and nongovernmental organizations.(1, 36)
Interagency Working Group to Protect the Rights of Civilians, Including Women and Children, during the Anti-Terrorist Operation in the Eastern Regions of Ukraine*
Protect IDPs and other civilians from negative consequences of the ongoing military operations in Ukraine, including the increased rates of domestic and transnational human trafficking. Established by the MSP; members include representatives from the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the Authorized Representative of the President of Ukraine for Children's Rights, and other government agencies and NGOs.(16) The Interagency Group held its first meeting in June 2014.(16)
* Mechanism to coordinate efforts to address child labor was created during the reporting period.
Although the Interagency Council's requirements call for a meeting every 3 months, research found no evidence that the Council met in 2014. Ukrainian authorities report that a meeting was scheduled for July 2014, but was canceled due to events related to the crisis in Ukraine.(16)
The Government of Ukraine has established policies related to child labor, including its worst forms (Table 7).
Table 7. Policies Related to Child Labor
National Action Plan to Implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child through 2016 (NAP)
Aims to protect children, including from economic exploitation, through awareness raising, rehabilitation of victims found in the worst forms of child labor, access to education, and creation of a child labor monitoring system.(1, 32, 37) In November 2014, Parliament passed a National Action Plan for the implementation of the NAP in 2014. The 2014 National Action Plan specified that the worst forms of child labor must be captured in statistical reporting, beginning in February 2015.(38, 39)
National Program for Combating Human Trafficking (Until 2015)
Guides the work of the National Coordinator on Combating Human Trafficking and contains specific actions and timetables in regard to preventing, protecting, and prosecuting trafficking crimes.(40) Goals for 2014 include establishing a procedure to monitor local and central authorities' treatment of issues related to trafficking in persons; strengthening cooperation between local and central authorities; conducting a public information campaign on risk factors for human trafficking and the dangers of illegal migration; and fulfilling obligations to assist victims, including the provision of financial assistance.(41)
USAID Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) (2012–2016)
Aims to support democratic processes, advance economic growth and prosperity, and achieve greater integration into European structures. Includes a special objective on countering trafficking in persons that involves piloting a NRM for victims of human trafficking and improving methods for rehabilitation and reintegration of victims, including children.(42)
* Child labor elimination and prevention strategies do not appear to have been integrated into this policy.
In March 2014, the MSP published a full-year report on actions taken under the National Program for Combating Human Trafficking Until 2015 in 2013 and included the Program's goals for 2014.(41) Research did not find evidence of any actions taken in 2014 to meet those goals. In addition, research found no evidence of actions under the NAP during the reporting period. A lack of sufficient funding hampers the ability of the Ministries to implement actions called for under the NAP, including implementing the mandated child labor monitoring system, and the National Program for Combatting Human Trafficking.(1, 5)
In 2014, the Government of Ukraine funded and participated in programs that include the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor, including its worst forms (Table 8).
Table 8. Social Programs to Address Child Labor
Global Action Program on Child Labor Issues Project
USDOL-funded project implemented by the ILO in approximately 40 countries to support the priorities of the Roadmap for Achieving the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor by 2016 established by the Hague Global Child Labor Conference in 2010. Aims to improve the evidence base on child labor and forced labor through data collection and research in Ukraine.(43)
Shelters and Centers for Socio-Psychological Rehabilitation of Children‡
MSP-operated program to provide protection in 14 short-term shelters and 76 long-term rehabilitation centers for children in need, including street children. Short-term shelters provide accommodation for up to 90 days, and rehabilitation centers offer accommodation for up to 12 months, and regular social, medical, psychological, and other types of services for non-residents.(1, 5, 9, 16)
Centers for Social Services for Family, Youth, and Children‡
Government-run program to provide services for victims of human trafficking, among other populations in need. As of 2014, 687 shelters were available to assess victims' needs and draft rehabilitation plans.(1, 5)
Anti-Trafficking Awareness-Raising Programs†‡
Joint effort by MSP and the IOM entitled "Safely to Success" that targeted youth through social media, TV, and on-the-ground events in areas of Ukraine with high levels of migration and high levels of IDPs from the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.(5, 9, 44) The MSP also partnered with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine, and the anti-trafficking NGO La Strada to design and print stickers for distribution in the IDP community with rules of safe behavior to avoid becoming a victim of human trafficking.(16) An additional program was initiated by regional governments at the urging of the MSP to distribute leaflets, posters, and other media with information about the risks of human trafficking to IDPs.(5, 16)
Multiplication of the Anti-Trafficking National Referral Mechanism in Ukraine‡
Joint program by MSP and OSCE to train officials in several regions of Ukraine to identify and provide services to trafficking victims. Involves collaborative work between local agencies and nongovernmental partners.(9)
Countering Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Project (2004–2018)
USAID-funded project implemented by the IOM to reduce trafficking in persons by building the capacity of Ukrainian institutions to address the problem by strengthening the NRM and increasing government funding for counter-trafficking efforts.(45)
Free School Lunches*‡
Government-sponsored program that provides free school lunches to certain categories of children including those from families with many children, families of Chernobyl victims, low-income families, and families in some rural areas.(46)
The Decent Work Country Program (2012–2015)
Government and ILO 3-year joint program that includes a social protection component to improve the social status of migrant workers, develop and implement a national occupational safety and health program, and strengthen the labor inspection system.(47)
Strengthening and Protecting Children's Rights in Ukraine (2013–2015)
$670,000 project funded by the Government of Norway and implemented by the Council of Europe in partnership with the Government of Ukraine. Aims to strengthen the protection of human rights in Ukraine through the prevention of violence against children.(48, 49) In 2014, conducted training for government officials on interview and data collection techniques to use with children who are victims of violence, such as human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.(48, 49)
UNICEF Country Program (2012–2016)
Aims to decrease social exclusion and disparities affecting children and ensure that socially excluded children benefit from quality health care and social services.(50)
* The impact of this program on child labor does not appear to have been studied.
† Program was launched during the reporting period.
‡ Program is funded by the Government of Ukraine.
There are a variety of service providers for victims of human trafficking in Ukraine. However, the MSP's delay in conveying the status of "victim of trafficking" to all children who have been trafficked prevents children without this status from accessing free government services. Research found that this delay may often result from the insufficient provision of documentation to the MSP.(5, 9)
Although the MSP provides services for children in shelters and social-psychological rehabilitation centers, the current availability of shelters and trained personnel is insufficient to fully address the extent of the problem.(35) The Centers for Social Services for Family, Youth, and Children have experienced a large turnover of staff due to an excessive workload and low pay.(40) In addition, budget cuts enacted in 2014 due to the overall budget crisis in Ukraine resulted in the layoff of 12,000 social workers.(51) This may restrict the Centers in their ability to efficiently address the main needs of trafficking victims. Likewise, high turnover in the regions, where local agencies are responsible for identifying trafficking victims under the NRM, has hampered the provision of services to victims.(9)
Based on the reporting above, suggested actions are identified that would advance the elimination of child labor, including its worst forms, in Ukraine (Table 9).
Table 9. Suggested Government Actions to Eliminate Child Labor, Including its Worst Forms
Suggested Action
Year(s) Suggested
Legal Framework
Ensure that laws prohibit all children under age 16 from working in hazardous occupations in vocational training.
Ensure that laws treat children ages 16 to 17 as victims of sexual exploitation rather than as offenders.
Ensure that laws prohibit possessing child pornography and benefitting from its proceeds.
Increase the budget of the SLI, in order to increase the number of inspectors, provide labor inspectors with appropriate resources to carry out inspections, and increase the number of inspections.
Address the provisions of the Law on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine on the State Budget of Ukraine for 2014 that created obstacles to conducting labor inspections. Ensure that inspectors have sufficient ability to conduct both complaint-based and targeted inspections as needed, including unannounced inspections.
Ensure that the fines for administrative and criminal violations of child labor laws are sufficient to effectively deter employers from violating child labor laws.
Ensure that judges treat children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation and other worst forms of child labor as victims and not offenders.
Ensure that the MSP has the necessary funding and authority to effectively establish and operate the National Referral Mechanism.
Make data on the number of investigations, convictions, and implemented penalties related to violations of all criminal laws on the worst forms of child labor publicly available.
Ensure that the Interagency Council on Family, Gender Equality, Demographic Development, Prevention of Violence in the Family, and Counter Trafficking Issues carries out its mandate to coordinate the Government's efforts on all child labor issues, through regular meetings and other activities as appropriate.
Government Policies
Provide sufficient funds to implement the National Program for Combatting Trafficking and the NAP, including implementing the mandated child labor monitoring system.
Social Programs
Ensure that all IDPs are aware of the resources available to them and that internally displaced children are able to access adequate shelter and receive available social benefits, regardless of their ethnicity.
Assess children's access to rural schools and develop programs to facilitate access to education for Roma children, disabled children, and children in rural areas.
Assess the impact that existing programs may have on child labor.
Ensure that all children who are victims of human trafficking are able to access government services available for victims. Ensure all reasonable efforts are made to obtain needed documentation when considering whether to grant trafficking victim status to children.
Increase the number of shelters and socio-psychological rehabilitation centers for children and the number of trained personnel staffing these shelters, in order to fully meet demand for their services. Provide sufficient funding to return the number of social workers to the level prior to budget cuts.
Take steps to reduce turnover in both the Centers for Social Services for Family, Youth, and Children and in local agencies that are part of the National Referral Mechanism to ensure that victims of human trafficking are provided the services they require.
1.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. reporting, January 17, 2014.
2.UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Gross intake ratio to the last grade of primary. Total. [accessed January 16, 2015]; . Data provided is the gross intake ratio to the last grade of primary school. This measure is a proxy measure for primary completion. For more information, please see the "Children's Work and Education Statistics: Sources and Definitions" section of this report.
3.UCW. Analysis of Child Economic Activity and School Attendance Statistics from National Household or Child Labor Surveys. Original data from Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 4, 2012. Analysis received January 16, 2014. Reliable statistical data on the worst forms of child labor are especially difficult to collect given the often hidden or illegal nature of the worst forms. As a result, statistics on children's work in general are reported in this chart, which may or may not include the worst forms of child labor. For more information on sources used, the definition of working children and other indicators used in this report, please see the "Children's Work and Education Statistics: Sources and Definitions" section of this report.
4.U.S. Department of State. "Ukraine," in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices- 2013. Washington, DC; February 27, 2014; .
5.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. reporting, February 24, 2015.
6.ILO. Ukraine: Child Labour in Mining [Video Clip]; 2005, July 22, 2014; .
7.Government of Ukraine. Approval of the list of heavy work and work with dangerous and harmful working conditions, in which the employment of minors is prohibited, 46, enacted March 31, 1994.
8.ILO Committee of Experts. Individual Observation concerning Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) Ukraine (ratification: 2000) Published: 2012; accessed June 23, 2014;
9.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. reporting, March 12, 2014.
10.U.S. Department of State. "Ukraine," in Trafficking in Persons Report- 2014. Washington, DC; June 20, 2014; http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2013/?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=35f27bd04c-Trafficking_Bulletin_Issue_9_July_20137_22_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1002a3b355-35f27bd04c-92744149.
11.U.S. Department of State. E-mail communication to USDOL official. March 27, 2015.
12.Vitaly Shevchenko. "Ukraine conflict: Child soldiers join the fight." [online] 2014 [cited .
13.UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 44 of the Convention: Concluding Observations: Ukraine. Geneva; April 21, 2011. Report No. CRC/C/UKR/CO/3-4.
14.The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Ukraine IDP Figures Analysis. Geneva; October 2014.
15.The UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Internal Displacement Map. [accessed November 17, 2014] .
16.Group of Experts on Action Against Trafficking in Persons. GRETA Report concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe convention on Action against Trafficing in Human Beings by Ukraine. Strasbourg, Secretariat of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings; September 19, 2014.
17.The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Time to act: Internal displacement on the rise in Ukraine. Geneva; October 22, 2014.
18.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. reporting, January 14, 2015.
19.Government of Ukraine. Criminal Code of Ukraine, enacted 2001.
20.Government of Ukraine. Labor Code of Ukraine, enacted December 10, 1971.
21.Government of Ukraine. Law of Ukraine on the Protection of Childhood, enacted April 26, 2001.
22.Government of Ukraine. Constitution of Ukraine, enacted June 28, 1996. http://www.president.gov.ua/en/content/constitution.html.
23.Government of Ukraine. Law of Ukraine on Employment, No. 803-XII, enacted March 1, 1991.
24.Government of Ukraine. Law of Ukraine on the Protection of the Public Morality, enacted November 20, 2003.
25.Law of Ukraine on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Combating the Distribution of Child Pornography, No. 105, enacted January 20, 2010.
26.Government of Ukraine. Decree on Measures to Enhance the Defense Capacity of the State, No. 447, enacted May 1, 2014.
27.Government of Ukraine. Law of Ukraine on Military Duty and Military Service, enacted March 25, 1992.
28.Government of Ukraine. Law of Ukraine on General Secondary Education, No. 651-XIV, enacted May 13, 1999.
29.ILO Committee of Experts. Observation concerning Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) Ukraine (ratification: 1979) Published: 2014; accessed October 24, 2014; .
30.Rada approves law on internally displaced persons, Interfax - Ukraine, [online] October 20, 2014 [cited November 17, 2014]; .
31.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. E-mail communication to USDOL official. June 3, 2014.
32.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. E-mail communication to USDOL official. May 13, 2014.
33.Government of Ukraine. Decree on Regulations on the Ombudsman for Children under the President of Ukraine, No. 811, enacted August 11, 2011. http://www.president.gov.ua/en/content/up_pr_dyt.html?PrintVersion.
34.ILO Committee of Experts. Individual Direct Request concerning Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) Ukraine (ratification: 2004) Submitted: 2012; accessed April 24, 2014; .
35.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. reporting, January 30, 2013.
36.Government of Ukraine. Resolution on the Interagency Council on Family, Gender Equality, Economic Development, Domestiv Violence Prevention, and Combating Human Trafficking, No. 1087, enacted September 5, 2007.
37.Government of Ukraine. Law of Ukraine on the National Program "National Action Plan to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child" until 2016. March 5, 2009.
38.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. E-mail communication to USDOL official. February 2, 2015.
39.Government of Ukraine. Law of Ukraine on the Action Plan to implement the 2014 National Program "National Action Plan to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child" until 2016, No. 1140-r, enacted November 19, 2014.
40.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. reporting, February 21, 2013.
41.Ministry of Social Policy. 2013 Report on the Results of the Tasks and Activities of the National Programme on Combating Human Trafficking Until 2015. Kyiv; March 6, 2014.
42.USAID. Ukraine Country Development Cooperation Strategy 2012-2016. Washington, DC.
43.ILO-IPEC. Global Action Program on Child Labor Issues. Technical Progress Report. Geneva; October 2014.
44.IOM Mission in Ukraine. 'Safely to Success': IOM and the Swiss Confederation Raise Awareness of Young Ukrainians about Migration and Human Trafficking, International Organization for Migration, [online] July 21, 2014 [cited November 14, 2011]; .
45.USAID. Countering Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Project: International Organization for Migration (July 20, 2004 January 1, 2018), USAID, [online] April 28, 2014 [cited April 28, 2014];
46.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. reporting, January 12, 2011.
47.ILO Budapest. ILO Budapest Newsletter Budapest; June 12, 2012.
48.Strengthening and Protecting Children's Rights in Ukraine, Council of Europe, [online] [cited March 17, 2015]; .
49.Council of Europe project "Strengthening and protecting children rights in Ukraine" Calendar of Activities (2014), Council of Europe, [online] September 1, 2014 [cited March 17, 2015]; .
50.UNICEF. Country programme document 2012-2016; 2011. .
51.U.S. Embassy- Kyiv. E-mail communication to USDOL official. February 20, 2015.


text:
Mr. and Mrs. Lester Kirkland of Vega announce the engagement of their daughter, Heather Marie, to Brent Newell King.
King is the son of Georgia Newell King of Louisville, Ky.
The couple plan to be wed Oct. 7 at Vega United Methodist Church.
The bride-elect attended Amarillo College and West Texas A&M University in Canyon. She is employed at Broome Optical.
The prospective groom attended Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla. He is employed at Alstead Custom Cabinets.
Amarillo Daily News, Aug. 29, 2000
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text:
on January 23, 2014 - 12:01 AM
It's no secret that testing gives some people anxiety. There are many questions surrounding the technique behind today's testing. How is it that a person's knowledge on a topic is based off of a piece of paper with some questions on it? Isn't it true that "test anxiety" has been proven to make people score lower? If so, then it would just seem absurd that one's intelligence is automatically downgraded because of anxiety.
Teachers every year complain that New York State continues to change its format for final exams, which forces them to change their style of teaching. So many teachers are teaching students for the state exams in June. Why is it that students are not necessarily being taught, but trained, for tests? It's a definite disadvantage for the students that aren't perceived as "honor students," because maybe it's their anxiety that continues to hold them back from success. Maybe it is that there is so much pressure and competition that there's no longer a lust for learning but just getting a high number at the top of the paper.
Why is it that a number dictates whether students get into a good college or get that certain diploma? Numbers define students. Some students take grades so seriously that it will ruin them if they do not get a 95 or above. Wanting success is easily understood, but do people want a high number or an education? If people want a high number at the top of a piece of paper, then education would seem to be on the right track, but if they want an education, something should change because students are just being taught to take tests.
Alexandra Zurbrick is a sophomore at Orchard Park High School.


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Police bust Brandon duo, seize nearly 400 bags of heroinFebruary 06,2014By Brent Curtis
Staff Writer
BRANDON - A man and a woman were arrested Wednesday and close to 400 bags of heroin were seized during raid at a home on Carver Street, according to Brandon Police.
At 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, police executed a search warrant at 43 Carver St. where four people, 380 bags of heroin and 32 bags of crack cocaine were found. Police say the street value of the heroin was $7,600 while the crack would have sold for about $1,600.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jamie Trinci, who lives at the address, was arrested along with Duvall W. Fludd, 21, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Fludd, who police say uses the street name "BL" was jailed on $250,000 bail due to his lack of community ties, lack of employment and "substantial" criminal history in New York.
Trinci, who police say has only a minor criminal record, was released on a citation. She will appear in Rutland criminal court on March 17 to answer to a charge of possessing heroin.
Fludd will be arraigned today on a felony cocaine possession charge and heroin trafficking.
The other two people found in the residence were released and not charged, police say. Brandon Police also notified the Department for Children and Families because there was a 7-year-old living at the residence.
Police say they moved quickly to obtain a search warrant at the address after they received information that heroin was being sold from the residence.MORE IN This Just InMONTPELIER After sitting on the Vermont Supreme Court for nearly 30 years, Justice John Dooley... Full StoryBRATTLEBORO Entergy Nuclear says it has found a potential source of water infiltration into... Full StoryMANCHESTER A little more than a week after it was shut down, the website for the town of... Full Story
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Carly Janine Mazur is a Connecticut-based artist who paints portraits of realistic nude figures in metaphorical, emotional settings. One woman surrenders her heart to a monster; another is feverishly overcome by black, smothering roots; and another meditates deeply as shadows slowly arise around her. Each of Mazur's portraits have an almost mythic or esoteric quality; using nudity and abstract forms together to unearth spiritual experiences, Mazur captures scenes of rapture and agony that transcend the limitations of the corporeal body.
Resonating with Mazur's expressive content is the artist's own experience of creating it. Several of the images here are from Mazur's Metamorphosis series, which is currently being exhibited at the Arch Enemy Arts gallery in Philadelphia. Characterized by organic imagery and dark, flowing forms that both embrace and overwhelm the figures, this series teeters on the edge between life and death, ecstasy and despair, chaos and serenity. For Mazur, Metamorphosis involved finding balance in her process, and allowing art and emotion to flow naturally—although the journey was uncertain.
"While working on Metamorphosis, I broke, and I'm not afraid to admit it," Mazur explains in her Artist Spotlight. "I was completely cut down by the challenge of creating a visual theme. My first attempt at pushing through the 'cocoon' left me disheartened and doubting my ability to create. The first piece in the series, then titled 'Limbo,' fell apart emotionally and compositionally, and I felt crushed by looming deadlines, although still a ways away, dominating the horizon." (Source)
After a few days of creative purgatory, Mazur realized that "metamorphosis is an organic process, following a limited set of rules and drawing from a limited set of resources." By setting these boundaries, Mazur was able to let her artwork and energies flow between them. The result is a series of stunning portraits that embody both intensity and clarity, bound seamlessly together by their style, theme, and emotional resonance.
Metamorphosis will be on view until August 30th. Visit Mazur's website and Tumblr to view more. She also has a YouTube channel where she uploads time-lapse videos of her paintings. (Via Hi-Fructose)


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Think of it this way: If all the houses there have failing foundations, what is that going to do to your property value when they are falling down all around you? How many other homeowners there are going to have the bucks to redo their foundations? Not many, nor will they be paying to bulldoze their newly-condemned house that nobody will be living in. It's a ghetto waiting to happen so stay away- in this case location is everything and this is a bad location.
Here in SC, many communities were built by textile mill companies which towns grew around. Materials and methods used to build these "mill houses" were fast and cheap; good workmanship made them last. Now these are all at least 60 years old, and almost all have structural issues of one kind or another. Many which were not maintained well are gone or falling in standing and condemned. Though the geographical locations are often still good, none of these houses has much value because of what stands around them. $45-50K for a fully rehabbed 3 bedroom is top money. "Fixer-uppers" go for half of that or less. Tax auction sales can get you one for under $5K with about $10-15K more putting it into barely liveable shape, to be rehabbed as you go along. Bargains? No way. No matter how nice you make them, the neighborhoods keep the value down and will keep doing that for another 50 years till the rest of the 'mill houses' around them are bulldozed and new ones built. And even then, the old house won't pull what the new one next to it does on a sale, all other things being equal. For cheap living it can't be beat and the right ones make good rental properties but that's about it- nobody wants to live in the 'mill village' anymore if they can afford to do better. And just 25 years ago many of these were considered to be nice neighborhoods and good locations.
You're in a similar fix and the only advice that will save you is to move elsewhere. It's not going to get any better while you're still alive.


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Corkbin Wine App for iPhone and Android
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Julie S.
9 posts
5 months ago
More interesting rose with heavy flavor.
6 months ago
Amazing white.
6 months ago
Sharp citrus flavor. Takes pretty boozey. Seems like a good patio summer wine. Not amazing but not horrible.
6 months ago
Smooth and bright. A hair dry but not bad at all.
one year ago
A very dry sov blanc - kind of has a spicy taste to it. Maybe like a ginger?
2 years ago
A nice aftertaste of plum rounds out this red blend that's soft on the palette. Not bad but not one I would do again.
2 years ago
Spanish wine from 2009. Strong front flavor and eases off after you swallow. Lacking flavor on the back end of the drink
Ménage à Trois
2 years ago
Soft red wine. No sharp notes. Tasting a smooth berry taste. California red wine. More of a summer red wine than a wine.
2 years ago
Really amazing summer white wine. Sweet notes but very smooth and light.


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Incentives to prevent teen pregnancies are the driving force behind a new project in Amarillo called "It's Just Your Future," designed and directed by Claudia Stravato, former director of Planned Parenthood of the Texas Panhandle.
"The goal is to prevent teen pregnancy and at the same time give girls the confidence to make plans for their future," Stravato said.
Incentives used in the project will include items like gift cards, clothes, coupons, spa days and college or trade school scholarships.
During the one-year program, girls ages 14 to 18 will participate in four bimonthly workshops designed to educate them about sexual reproduction, pregnancy prevention, future planning and goal setting, and relational communication.
The reward-based project is recruiting 150 girls to participate.
"Incentives have worked with drug use in teens," Stravato said. "It's basically ... if you do a good job, you get rewarded. (Incentives) have not been really tested in this field ... that's why I chose it."
Last year, Stravato won the Community Health Leader Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which was accompanied by a $95,000 grant.
"When I realized I was going to have some money ... I thought I'd rather do something that hasn't been tried," Stravato said. "We're very lucky that a place like Amarillo has the opportunity to do something like this innovative program."
In preparation of the project, teen and parent focus groups were created this summer.
The results surprised Stravato and project advisory committee member Jenna Hodges, Amarillo YMCA arts and teen director.
"We did not anticipate some of the answers and information that teens shared," Hodges said.
Teen mothers currently in high school are invited to participate in the project.
"We're trying to prevent the second-child trend that Texas has," Stravato said. "And then we're trying to say you don't need any child at all."
An incentive-based program is a new way to try and accomplish that, she explained. Texas ranks first in the nation in second-time teen pregnancies, according to a news release about the new program.
"We're dealing with reality. We're not dealing with what should be, we're dealing with what is," Stravato said.
According to 2005 statistics, the most recent available, from the Texas Department of State Health Services, Potter County is well above the national average of teen pregnancies, Stravato said.
Potter ranges from 42.9 to 64.2 teenage births per 1,000 females.
The national average is 21.4.
"We know that so far things that have been done in our community are not working because the rates are still very high," Hodges said. "This is another way ... for us to approach kids and how they feel."
Evaluations will be conducted throughout the project to determine the effectiveness of an incentives program in preventing teen pregnancies.
The project begins recruiting girls today and ends Nov. 3.
For more information, call or text 806-444-1154.


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The Study: http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/online-colleges/north-carolina/
Rocky Mount, N.C.— North Carolina Wesleyan College ranks fourth in the state for return on investment (ROI) for its students receiving a bachelor's degree, according to a study released by Affordable Colleges Online. Wesleyan's ranking places the four-year Rocky Mount liberal arts college just behind Duke, Wake Forest, and NC State and just ahead of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Wesleyan is the highest ranked institution on undergraduate ROI among all colleges and universities in Eastern North Carolina.
The study compares tuition and fees with graduates' earnings over their lifetimes. Statistics for the study came from the National Center for Education Statistics, the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System, the Carnegie Foundation, and PayScale.com.
"When students select a college, one major concern usually is the cost of tuition compared with the likelihood of financial success after graduation," said Bill Allen, Wesleyan's vice president of enrollment management. "I think Wesleyan's ranking in this study shows the true value of the North Carolina Wesleyan experience, which empowers our students to do great things."
Wesleyan President Jim Gray said, "We are delighted to get this recognition, having worked hard to deliver top-quality teaching while holding down our tuition and fees as much as possible. It is rare that we get ranked on par with or ahead of the larger schools in our state, so we're honored."
N.C. Wesleyan enrolls a total of approximately 1,500 students in its traditional day program in Rocky Mount and its adult student program, ASPIRE (Adult Student Programs: Innovative, Respected, Engaging), available in Rocky Mount and seven other locations in Eastern North Carolina.
For Charlotte Observer coverage of the study: http://bizj.us/shfe7/i/27


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Philly punks Ex Friends have some units to move this spring. Their 2013 debut full-length, Rules For Making Up Words, starts shipping today from Paper + Plastick, while an EP is on the way next month.
That seven-inch on deck, Animal Needs, will be out May 13, 2014 on Coolidge Records, and look no further than AltPress to find an exclusive stream of "Fadeage (City Inspector)."