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Question for theists: What would make you change your faith?
28-01-2013, 04:33 AM (This post was last modified: 28-01-2013 07:04 AM by EvolutionKills.)
RE: Question for theists: What would make you change your faith?
(27-01-2013 03:04 PM)ideasonscribe Wrote:(27-01-2013 08:01 AM)Free Thought Wrote: What would depend on what you are asking evidence for.I'm asking for the particular evidence that PersephoneK referred to when he said "it was a relatively short path to total unbelief. The evidence was just too strong".
While I can't speak for PersephoneK, I can tell you what 'evidence' I found compelling.
There is none.
Let me explain that a bit. We have plenty of evidence to explain the world around us, between biology, paleontology, geology, physics, and cosmology; we are coming ever closer to understanding not only our origins, but the universe's as well. None of these explanations, theories, equations, or hypothesis have or require god or miracles in them to work. Simply put, we don't need the super-natural to explain the natural. And conversely, the natural is not evidence for the super-natural.
I've studied ancient mythology, and when I got around to reading the holy books of the Abrahamic religions; I was literally unable to see any difference between the two. To me the Bible is as factually accurate as Beowulf, the Illiad, or the stories of Sinbad or Heracles; which is to say, not at all factually accurate. None of these are histories of things that actually happened to real people, they're all stories told to pass on ideas. With Beowulf and the Illiad it was the concept of manhood, bravery, and honour, as respective to their cultures. Holy books are just fables that people start to take way too seriously.
There is just as much evidence for the existence of Yahweh as there is for the existence of Zeus. I don't go to church and pray for salvation on Sundays for the same reason that I don't make animal sacrifices to Mt. Olympus to protect myself from lightning strikes.
Once a believer truly understand why they don't believe in other religions, and applies those same standards to their own religion, they will be left with some very hard to answer questions (this is John Loftus' Outsider's Test of Faith). I had it easy, I was never a believer, I didn't 'have a dog in this fight' so to speak. I didn't have to wrestle with cognitive dissonance, the trail of reason and logic was easy to follow to it's conclusion. Believers don't have it that easy. Most deal with the dissonance simply by ignoring it, you never have to answer question you don't ask; ignorance is bliss I've been told. Others can and do work through it, such as Dan Barker, Seth Andrews, and many of the regulars on this forum.
Take the motion of our solar system. The Bible gets this incorrect, just like it does everything else in the stories contained within Genesis. The book essentially says that we are the center of everything, that the universe revolves around us, and was made for our benefit. In keeping with this idea and trying to make it mesh with our growing understanding of the cosmos, it took Ptolemy 13 volumes in his Mathematike Syntaxis to try and make sense of epicycles to explain the planet's positions around an Earth centered model. All of this to keep in line with the religiously held 'truth', one that was not to be questioned; the evidence would be made to fit the conclusion (much like modern day ID proponents). With heliocentrism and enough calculus to fit into a few chapters of a current math textbook, NASA launched the Voyager II probe to the edge of our solar system and had it arrive at Neptune's orbit over a decade later, and it's arrival time was calculated to within 1 second of accuracy. This is the power of logic, reason, free thought and inquiry, when unchained from the dogma of religiosity.
So I'm left here standing in an open market of ideas, and I can see all of the vendors shouting and trying to sell their wares. But I've yet to have a compelling reason to believe in any god or gods. Faith and special pleading isn't good enough, neither are calls to authority or argumentum ad populum. I have no reason to buy what the faithful are selling, and until I am presented with compelling evidence, I don't have a good reason to change my position. I get by just fine without attributing anything to god, and when I come across something I don't know, it is simply that 'I don't know'. Not that 'I can't know' or 'will never know' or 'God did it, so I don't need to know'. It is simply 'I don't know', and it is an incredibly liberating statement. I don't have to be afraid to ask question and think for myself, ideas alone won't banish me to an eternity in a lake of fire. I've studied the physics of fire enough to know how it works, and it no longer frightens me.
There is no reason to think that 'god' is anything more than a concept. Concepts can't hurt you, judge you, hate you, love you, banish you to eternal torment, or reward you with everlasting peace. Concepts are thoughts and ideas, given form by human consciousness and imaginations. Concepts can hold power, but only insofar as expressed by the will of men. If humans were to go extinct from a nearby star going supernova and blowing away our atmosphere and bathing Earth in lethal doses of cosmic rays and radiation, there are two things I am sure of. One, that the universe would not take any notice of our passing; and two, gods would cease to exists without humans to create them.
:edited for grammar and to add image:
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RE: Question for theists: What would make you change your faith?
fuck fuck fuck fuck.
That felt good.
Anyway what the fuck where we talking about... oh yeah what would it take to make a theist change his faith? it's not evidence that's for sure. Because evidence had nothing to do with their faith in the first place. I think since their faith is based on old transcripts we need some transcripts of similar vintage to say something different. So Egor's approach might be the most effective at changing faith. It worked for Joseph Smith.
Knowledge can be given, Understanding must be earned
RE: Question for theists: What would make you change your faith?
(27-01-2013 07:50 AM)ideasonscribe Wrote:That would take a long time. I'll have to respond when not typing with my thumbs. But in a nutshell its plainly obvious and not a secret that the bible was written by ancient shepherds who didnt understand how the world worked. If the bible cannot be trusted as the inerrant word of god, the house of cards falls apart.(25-01-2013 07:03 PM)PersephoneK Wrote: From then on, it was a relatively short path to total unbelief. The evidence was just too strong.
"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things." ~Rene Descartes.
RE: Question for theists: What would make you change your faith?
And not that it matters greatly but persephonek is a girl.
"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things." ~Rene Descartes.
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EvolutionKills (28-01-2013)
RE: Question for theists: What would make you change your faith?
(28-01-2013 06:45 AM)Andrew_Njonjo Wrote: fuck fuck fuck fuck.Many people do a lot to avoid cognitive dissonance and surround themselves with people who will not give them different points of view or challenge their faith, and it's easier and usually more socially acceptable to keep believing. I don't think it's just a matter of evidence, I think you have to also consider the social factors.
If everyone you know is a Christian, they're gonna think you're nuts and maybe stop talking to you, and you might want to avoid that, even if another religion or no religion sounds good to you. I think it's a big factor in why many people remain in the same religion they were born into. Peer pressure.
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EvolutionKills (28-01-2013)
RE: Question for theists: What would make you change your faith?
A liitle dissonance, a sprinkle of egocentrism and voilà! Kudos to Miller.
January 29, 2013Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller
The theist, having his boat stuck at low tide, will pray long enough for the tide to come in, praise God for His help, and declare this an example of devine intervention. The atheist would have checked the charts in the first place and acted accordingly.
"I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man's reasoning powers are not above the monkey's."~Mark Twain
"Ocean: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills."~ Ambrose Bierce
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Woman's trip to buy toilet paper turns into pursuit, arrest
Amanda Warren regrets getting into car for errand, police say
A New Hampshire woman's trip to the store to buy toilet paper turned into a police chase.
Amanda Warren of Derry was arrested Tuesday night following the chase through Salem, Windham and Derry. She was arraigned Wednesday on aggravated driving while intoxicated and other charges.
The Eagle Tribune reports Warren told the judge she regretted getting into her car for the errand.
A police affidavit says the incident started when an officer saw Warren change lanes without signaling. He activated his lights and siren, but she sped off. Warren came to a stop behind another vehicle and the officer approached, but she drove away.
Police said Warren nearly hit a cruiser and drove toward two officers.
Bail was set at $50,000 for Warren, who did not have a lawyer.

subset: commoncrawl


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The North Plains Groundwater Conservation District is facing some critical decisions regarding potential water conservation policies and has asked the Texas AgriLife Extension Service to study the situation, according to Steven Walthour, the district's general manager.
Dr. Steve Amosson, AgriLife Extension economist in Amarillo, will lead a study to evaluate the short-term and long-term economic implications of alternative water conservation strategies being considered by the water district, Walthour said.
The study is sponsored by the water district, Texas Corn Producers, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Cattle Feeders Association and the Texas Association of Dairymen.
Regional water planning projections show the four western counties of the water district will fall well short of having 50 percent of the groundwater remaining in 50 years, Walthour said.
The goal of the study will be to develop and update economic optimization and socio-economic models for each of the eight counties in the district, Amosson said. Economic optimization models on the individual counties will estimate changes in the aquifer and farm net income over a 60-year planning period.
Data for each county will include the number of acres planted in each major crop, the number of irrigated acres, and the percentage of the county overlying the Ogallala Aquifer, he said.
The aquifer characteristics for each county include the average saturated thickness, depth to water, specific yield and recharge, Amosson said. The parameters for each crop will include price, cost of production and yield. Production functions will be developed for each major crop which estimates yield as a response to applied water.
The change in gross receipts for each crop will be input into socio-economic models to evaluate impacts on the county and regional economy, Amosson said. These input-output models utilize a methodology that estimates the linkage between elements of an economy.
These models will be developed, refined or updated to accurately portray the counties in the water district, Walthour said.
Three or four different water conservation strategies will be evaluated using the economic models, and the impacts of each conservation strategy will be estimated for both the next 10 years and 60 years, Walthour said.
Results of the study will provide insight into the changes in producer income and saturated thickness of the aquifer, as well as impacts on regional economic activity, income and employment from each conservation strategy evaluated, he said.
The information gleaned from the study will aid the district's board of directors as they manage the groundwater within the district in the future, Walthour said.
For more information about the study, contact Walthour at [email protected] or Rhonda Artho at [email protected] or call the water district office at 806-935-6401.


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21 Jun 2014 10:19:10 AM
And Now He's Suspended: Louis Gaudinot Suspended Six Months After Failed Drug Test
(Can you not see the hydrochlorothiazide COURSING THROUGH HIS VEINS??? / Photo via Getty)
Louis Gaudinot's 73-second submission win over Phil Harris at UFC Fight Night 37 has been overturned into a no contest. This comes off the back of Gaudinot's drug test failure; he tested positive for the banned diuretic hydrochlorothiazide. As the event took place in the UK, it was the UFC that handed him a six month suspension rather than an athletic commission.
Gaudinot issued a statement not long after the news of his drug test failure and suspension broke…Read More DIGG THIS


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Tonight, as part of the "Meet the Experts" podcasts presented exclusively by the Meso Foundation, Dr. Julie Brahmer, Associate Professor of Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital, sat down with Mary Hesdorffer, Nurse Practitioner and Medical Liaison for the Meso Foundation, to discuss her new trial targeting pleural mesothelioma. In her talk "NGR-hTTNF: A New Multi-Center Drug Trial for Pleural Mesothelioma", Dr. Brahmer discussed a new chemotherapy treatment, designed specifically for pleural mesothelioma patients.
To participate in the trial, one prior treatment regimen is required (for example Alimta and Cisplatin) which usually consists of 4 to 6 treatments. The NGR-hTTNF trial can then be offered in the second line setting. Patients will receive an active chemotherapy agent, and plus or minus the experimental drug NGR-hTTNF. This trial is available worldwide. In the United States, it can be obtained at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as a few others sites in Texas, California, and New York. According to Dr. Brahmer, it consists of a weekly treatment, with the most common side effects resulting in fatigue, nausea, headaches, and generalized weakness. The enrollment process into the NGR-hTTNF trial begins with an appointment with an investigator in trial.
The investigator reviews whether or not the patient is eligible based on treatments already received, the patient's stage of mesothelioma, and his or her general physical well-being. Following this appointment, the patient must sign the consent form, after which eligibility is finalized through a few additional tests. If patients have responded positively or remain stable, chemotherapy will be discontinued after six cycles and patients will be extended an opportunity to receive NGR-hTTNF as a maintenance therapy. The primary end point of this trial will be to extend survival rates with secondary endpoints of improving quality of life and diminished symptoms of mesothelioma.
Having just returned from the annual Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago, IL, where another expert from our "Meet the Experts" series — Dr. Lee M. Krug — gave his own summary of the event, Dr. Brahmer feels optimistic and excited about possibilities ahead. "I think a lot of the things we're learning in lung cancer research may affect patients with mesothelioma," she states. "There are some therapies being developed that stimulate the immune system, and I hope those types of drugs will have some type of role in combatting mesothelioma, as well."
Dr. Brahmer's research and clinical practice focuses on the development of new therapies for the treatment and prevention of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Dr. Brahmer has published several papers in this area of research and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Thoracic Committee and Cancer Prevention Steering Committee. She is one of the founding Board members for the National Lung Cancer Partnership (formerly Women Against Lung Cancer). Within the National Lung Cancer Partnership she currently serves as a member and the Chairman of the Scientific Executive Committee. She serves on the medical advisory board of the Lung Cancer Research Fund and is a former member of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation's Science Advisory Board.
More information about this trial is available at the Meso Foundation by emailing email@example.com or by calling (703) 879-3820. If you missed tonight's "Meet the Experts" presentation, you can replay Dr. Brahmer's talk and find out more about our other mesothelioma research resources at curemeso.org.


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window to the soulWednesday, March 05, 2008
Funny how the brain works. I seem to be seeing green everywhere.
The only green eyes in the family belong to Charlie. And actually they are hazel. I think it is the most interesting eye color of all.
(green week, day 3)
30 comments
Hazel is my favorite eye color as well! Charlie's eyes are lovely...ReplyDelete
That is such a great photograph!ReplyDelete
Lovely! Your reflection is great. We have 3 hazel eyed folk in our home, one very blue and one blue-green. His are just gorgeous.ReplyDelete
what an awesome shot! that inner golden ring looks so cool.ReplyDelete
i have a lot of green around me, but i am still seeing it in unexpected places. the brain is a wonderful mystery.ReplyDelete
wow, that is one great photo! I love the reflection in his eye. amazing!!!ReplyDelete
Wow, nice shot! I love the reflection of you too!ReplyDelete


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For Immediate Release: Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013
SIJHL revokes Duluth Clydesdales franchise
THUNDER BAY, Ont. — The Superior International Junior Hockey League announced Tuesday that the SIJHL board of governors has voted to revoke the Duluth Clydesdales member franchise, effective immediately.
The SIJHL Board made the decision based on a number of determining factors, including Duluth not being able to ice enough players on a consistent basis for the remainder of the season.
"It's extremely unfortunate that this step has been taken, but we must take into account that with the Clydesdales having postponed or forfeited a number of games already and an uncertainty of whether they would be able to have enough players on a consistent basis moving forward, it is in the best interest of player safety and the league as a whole that this decision has been made," stated SIJHL President/Commissioner Ron Whitehead.
"Duluth is a great hockey market and the success of our two other Minnesota-based organizations this season bodes well for the league," added Whitehead. "We certainly look forward to working with the people in Duluth in an effort to reestablish a franchise there in the not too distant future."
Despite this decision the league is looking forward to the remainder of the regular season and upcoming playoffs.
"Certainly we've had a couple setbacks this season, but we've also had some major positives as well," offered Whitehead.
"The Minnesota Wilderness is currently the No. 2 team overall in the entire CJHL; the Minnesota Iron Rangers have done a great job getting things turned around there while Dryden, Fort Frances and Thunder Bay remain ultra-competitive with each member group having solid ownership, management and coaching staffs in place."
An announcement on the remaining games in the regular season that were to have involved Duluth will be made once that is finalized.


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A community open house will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, July 29, at Newton Medical Center's new clinic, the Medical Plaza of Sedgwick.
Located at 520 N. Commercial Ave., the Sedgwick clinic officially opens Monday, Aug. 5. The clinic will provide primary care to a community that currently does not have medical facilities within its city limits, and Spencer Duncan, DO, will be the clinic's primary physician.
"I chose to pursue family practice because of the broad scope of problems that you see on a daily basis, as well as the long-term relationships that develop with patients you care for over many years," said Duncan.
Born and raised in Kansas, Duncan earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Southwestern College in Winfield, and his DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. He conducted his internship in family medicine at Minnesota State University — Mankato and completed his residency at Travis Air Force Base in California.
Duncan is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The Sedgwick clinic is now taking appointments. To make an appointment with Duncan, call 975-4000.
Newton Medical Center is a comprehensive 103-bed hospital in Newton, offering full-service medical care in Harvey, Butler and northern Sedgwick counties. For more information about Newton Medical Center, call 283-2700 or visit www.newtonmedicalcenter.com.


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The Spirit team has seen the end coming since communications were lost with the rover in March 2010. Mission engineers made heroic efforts to reestablish contact, going through a huge list of potential "fault scenarios" and communications strategies. In the end, though, Spirit was conquered by the extremely cold Martian winter and its two broken wheels, which prevented its dusty solar panels from pointing toward the Sun.
But what a mission! Designed to last 90 days, Spirit kept going for more than six years, with the team driving the rover almost 5 miles (8 km) across rocky volcanic plains, climbing rugged ancient hills, and scurrying past giant sand-dune fields. It eventually spent most of the mission near the region known as Home Plate, which is full of layered, hydrated minerals. Data from the rover enabled dozens of scientific discoveries, but three stand out to me as most important:
Hydrated sulfate and high-silica soils in the Columbia Hills and around Home Plate. These minerals, and the environment in which they occur (Home Plate is a circular-shaped, finely layered plateau that may be the eroded remains of a volcanic cone or other hydrothermal deposit), tell us that at some point in the past history of Gusev there was liquid water and there were heat sources — two key ingredients needed to consider the area habitable for life as we know it.
Carbonate minerals in some of the rocks within the Columbia Hills. Carbonates were expected on Mars, if indeed the climate was warmer and wetter in the past. However, their detection has been elusive so far, with only relatively minor occurrences found in the available mission data. Indeed, the Spirit team had to work hard to uncover the signature of carbonates years after the rover made the measurements. But the signal is there, and as the analysis continues the results for Mars in general could be profound.
An incredible diversity of rock types, from all over Mars, that Spirit was able to sample in Gusev crater. Some of the rocks appear to be from local volcanic lava flows or ash deposits. But others have likely been flung in to the area over time by distant impacts or volcanoes, and a few even appear to be meteorites, flung in from outer space. Spirit's instruments provided the team with the ability to recognize this amazing diversity, and thus to learn much more about Mars in general, not just Gusev in particular.
I have been incredibly proud of the role that Pancam has played in these discoveries. And there have also been numerous engineering "discoveries" made possible by Spirit's instruments — for example, teaching us how to drive a remote-controlled vehicle up loose, rubbly slopes from 150,000,000 miles away. By all accounts it was surely a rover's life well lived.
Spirit also helped us test an experiment: If we put all the rover's images out on the Web for everyone in the world to see, in near real-time, would people follow along? They did! Would our colleagues outside the team "scoop" us scientifically? Didn't happen. I believe that the experiment has been a great success, and a model for future planetary missions. I wonder if, maybe 10 or 15 years from now, I'll meet some young colleagues who were turned on to space exploration by being able to check out the latest Spirit images from Mars from their classroom, or living room, every day when they were a kid. That would be extremely satisfying — and a great testament to the power of openly sharing data from space exploration missions like Spirit's.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, Opportunity continues to rove on, now just 2 miles from the edge of giant, city-size Endeavour crater, where orbital measurements have identified, for the first time in either rover's mission, the signatures of clay minerals in the crater's rim. Clays are also formed in water, but in less acidic, perhaps more life-friendly water than the sulfates that Opportunity has been mapping thus far. What will those clays look like on the ground? What will they help us learn about the ancient watery past and habitability of Mars? I can't wait to find out.
Spirit is now permanently at rest in a soft, salty sand trap next to the plateau of Home Plate. We don't know exactly how the rover died — maybe some solder joint cracked, or some frayed power wire finally broke free. Some think we may never learn what happened, but I think they're wrong. Some day, when people visit Mars and walk across Home Plate to take a look at our dusty piece of sweetly styled, late-20th-century space technology, they'll figure it out. And then I hope that Spirit's resting place will be protected and join the growing number of Interplanetary Historic Landing Sites scattered around our solar system — on Mars, the Moon, Venus, Eros, and Titan (and some day, Phobos, Deimos, other asteroids, and maybe even Europa and Enceladus) — as part of a fitting tribute to our species' never-ending Spirit of exploration.
Jim Bell is a planetary scientist and professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. The lead scientist for the Spirit and Opportunity Pancam color cameras, he has written two books highlighting the rovers' photographic adventures: Postcards from Mars (Dutton, 2006), and Mars 3-D (Sterling, 2008). Click here to access a huge collection of high-resolution color images and panoramas from both rovers.


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RENO, NV - Reno police have arrested a man they think shot a homeless man to death in September.
September 26th about 6:30PM, police responded to the report of a man with a medical issue in the 100 Block of W. 4th Street. He died on scene, and the autopsy the next day revealed he had been shot with a .22-caliber gun.
Police determined 57-year-old Michael Andersen had been shot where he was found, and they launched a homicide investigation.
Based on evidence, they have now arrested 25-year-old Michael Albrecht on an open murder charge. But they would still like to talk to any possible witnesses. Anyone having information relating to this crime should contact the Reno Police Department at 334-2115, or Secret Witness at 322-4900 or www.secretwitness.com, or text the tip to 847411 (TIP 411) keyword - SW.


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It opened in the late 19th century as the Bluefield Colored Institute, created to educate the children of black coal miners in segregated West Virginia. Although it still receives the federal funding that comes with its designation as a historically black institution, today Bluefield State College is 90 percent white. The road that separates those realities is as rocky as any story of racial transition in post-World War II America.
We went to the campus of Bluefield State to see what campus life was like at this unusual college.
The very first student we met, Antonio Bolden, or Tony as he introduced himself, looked like any other student you might see at a historically black college or university (HBCU). He's a laid-back 19-year-old, stocky with shoulder-length dreadlocks and green eyes. But at Bluefield State, Tony is an outlier for several reasons. He's a teenager; the average age of his classmates is 27. He started college right after high school; many of his classmates are working full-time jobs, raising children, or both. And of course, he's black, whereas the student body is only historically so.
Tony came to Bluefield State to play baseball, hoping to win the starting spot on third base. But he was surprised by what he found when he got to campus. "My first thought was: There are a lot of white people," he said.
"Where all the black people at?"
Where The Black People Went
The story of Bluefield State's racial transformation is wrapped up in many of the big political and economic upheavals of the late 20th century, although you might not guess it from the serene setting.
The college is tucked into the side of a hill, and folks at the school joke about having to climb up and down the campus. A lot of the folks we spoke to apologized for the campus's humble surroundings, which seemed odd to us. It was gorgeous.
When we arrived, the trees in the mountains that ring the city were just starting to change color. From the stairs of Conley Hall, the building at the top of the hill, you can survey the entire campus, train tracks cutting across the valley below.
This part of West Virginia was coal country and still is — trains still haul coal along those tracks hugging the college's southern edge. Many of the black folks who migrated to West Virginia to work that coal sent their children to the Bluefield Colored Institute. By the 1920s, the school was a football power among black colleges and a stepping stone for much of the region's black middle class.
In 1954, just a few years after Bluefield State earned full accreditation, the Supreme Court declared segregation illegal in Brown v. Board of Education, reshaping the landscape of America's schooling. Suddenly black students had more educational options to choose from, in theory anyway. And black colleges and universities like Bluefield State began having to compete with better-funded predominantly white schools for top black students.
At the same time, new technology was making mining jobs obsolete, and many black folks started leaving the state, heading North to go work in the factories. White veterans started coming back to West Virginia after fighting in Korea. And with the government footing their tuition costs through the G.I. Bill, the state's inexpensive black schools — the other was West Virginia State University — started looking more and more attractive to white students.
"We had an out-migration of students of color because of Brown v. Board of Ed," said Jim Nelson, a spokesman for the school, "at roughly the same time that we had an in-migration of largely Caucasian students wanting to use their G.I. Bill benefits. So that's what, as much as anything, that's what flipped the complexion of the school."
By the mid-1960s, Bluefield State was only about half-black. But the college, founded and run by black folks to serve black students, was about to undertake a big, ugly fight over its future identity.
In 1966, the state picked Wendell G. Hardway to lead the college — the school's first white president. Deirdre Guyton, who runs the college's alumni affairs department, said that Hardway was the first president to live off campus rather than at Hatter Hall, the house in the center of campus named for the school's black founder. By 1968, according to the book Bluefield State College Centennial History, Hardway had hired 23 new faculty members — all of whom were white. The book goes on to say that the college's dedicated faculty, which had been all-black as recently as 1954, was only 30 percent black by 1967. If there was a tug of war over what the college was going to be, many of the black alumni and students felt they were losing. Bluefield State was quickly becoming unrecognizable.
That tug of war looked a lot like battles being waged across the country, like the growing divide between black folks who believed in nonviolence as an avenue to black progress and those who felt that method was taking too long and yielding too little. During halftime at homecoming in 1967, black students staged a demonstration on the football field to protest what they saw as Hardway's discrimination against black faculty and students. Things got rowdy. The police were called. Students were suspended.
Things got rowdier. In 1968, the year that Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were killed, tensions on the campus were boiling over. Administrators started receiving death threats. Students met with Hardway in a dorm, but that, too, went sour. Edgar James, a black student and Army vet, tried to hand Hardway a list of 35 demands, one of which called for his resignation. That didn't go over well.
A group of the more radical black students, including James, held a meeting in November in the student union building. They wore matchbooks with the letters "EOW" written on them. Hardway translated the reference for an AP reporter: "The rumor on campus is that it means they intend to burn down the campus by the 'end of the week.' "
James, speaking to the same reporter on behalf of the radical students, laid out what they saw as the stakes: "They are carrying out mental genocide here, trying for the educational extermination of the black student," he said. "There is a systematic weeding out of the black student. This is an imperialistic and oppressive system at Bluefield."
And then on Nov. 21, 1968, while most of the campus was away for Thanksgiving, a bomb tore through the campus gym.
Although there were several campus employees nearby, no one was injured. Newspaper accounts said that the explosion left a gaping hole in the side of the building. Court papers said that lots of people on campus knew of the plot to dynamite the gymnasium, especially students living in the dorms, which those documents describe as "virtually all black." ("You could forget about finding an apartment if you were a black student at Bluefield State," according to Tara Tuckwiller of the Charleston Gazette. "White landlords in the area wouldn't exactly welcome you with open arms.")
In response to the bombing, Hardway shut down the dorms.
Hardway said the bombing was the work of Northern agitators who lived in those dorms. James was indicted for the bombing, but the charges against him were eventually dropped. According to alumni we spoke to, however, many black students felt that it was the pretext Hardway needed to turn the school all white.
"The National Guard killed people at Kent State; they didn't close a single dorm," said Lois Manns, an alumna from the Class of 1969. "So why did you close dorms at Bluefield State for a bombing that didn't injure anybody? And basically it was just a form of protest when militancy and protest was the order of the times. It was the '60s! So I think the reaction that the Legislature and other people took shows their own racist agenda. Now that may not be a popular thing, but if somebody thinks differently, then man up. Speak it to my face."
The bombing and the closing of the dorms led to a dramatic shift in Bluefield State's makeup. The black students who'd come to the college from far away suddenly had no place to live. And with black folks migrating away from the region, the Bluefield State campus began to look increasingly like the rest of West Virginia, one of the whitest states in the country. (West Virginia State, the state's other black college and the second-whitest HBCU in the country, underwent a similar transformation.)
In the span of about two decades, Bluefield State had gone from an all-black college to a mostly white commuter school. By 1987, according to Bluefield State College Centennial History, the dedicated faculty was 6 percent black. The school wouldn't have another black president until 2002.
Bluefield State remains an HBCU because of a quirk of federal law: To qualify as an HBCU and receive federal funding, an institution must have served a predominantly black student population before 1964. There are several institutions today that serve a predominantly black student body, but aren't designated or funded as "HBCUs" because they didn't exist or weren't predominantly black before 1964. But there's no mechanism in federal law for removing that "historically black" designation. In other words, as Shereen puts it: Once an HBCU, always an HBCU.
But there is one group at Bluefield State College that to this day remains resolutely black.
Bluefield's Past Meets Bluefield's Present
Back in the day, Bluefield State's alumni came from all over to descend on campus for homecoming. They partied and rooted for the football team as it squared off against West Virginia State, their traditional rival.
"We had football, baseball, track, tennis, the whole thing," said alumnus Russell Manns. "We had the whole deal. You couldn't move on this campus from Wednesday through Saturday ... with people coming back to be here for all the festivities. The fraternities and sororities and things, they had things going on."
But Bluefield State scuttled its football program in the 1970s, which meant homecoming without the big game. Nevertheless, members of the shrinking Bluefield State Alumni Association still make the sojourn back to southern West Virginia every year, football be damned.
And every single member of that alumni association is black.
In fact, there's never been a white member, Guyton told us.
One of the few homecoming events every year is a luncheon to honor the college's founders. This year's honored speaker was E. Ray Williams, a black nonagenarian World War II vet who went to Bluefield State on the G.I. Bill. He was speaking to an audience made up mostly of fellow alumni.
There were about seven or so current students in attendance, mostly from the homecoming court. They were hard to miss. It was the table with the white kids.
It looked like the intervening decades since their college days at Bluefield State had treated the alumni well. Williams, the first of his family to go to college, eventually had seven children, all of whom went on to graduate college as well. Even though he was in his 90s, Williams sat on all sorts of community boards and was still active in his fraternity. And he credited Bluefield State for the big life that he'd lived. People nodded in assent.
His fellow alumni in the audience were retired principals and social workers and educators, with college-educated children and grandchildren of their own. They were people like Gloria P. Brown, whom everyone just called Go-Go.
If you've ever seen an Alpha Kappa Alpha sister, you'd know Go-Go was a member from across the room: She was resplendent in a pink skirt suit, heels and pearls. Her nickname isn't a coincidence: She speaks like someone who's been talking at the top of her lungs for most of her life, comfortably in control. She's in her 80s and her current husband is in his 70s; Go-Go likes to joke that she's a cougar.
Go-Go graduated from Bluefield State in 1951 and moved to California to raise her family. Although she's missed a few homecomings here and there, she makes it back almost every year. She's a retired social worker, although she said that really just means she works for free now. There's a brick on campus at the University of Southern California with her name on it, a symbol of her monetary contributions to the school where she received her graduate degree. But she said she doesn't allocate the energy to the deep-pocketed U.S.C. that she gives to Bluefield State.
The reverence that Go-Go and her fellow alumni expressed for the Bluefield State of the past is matched only by their concern about the college today. Many of the people at the Founder's Day luncheon went to the school before the 1968 bombing, and they were vocal about the ways they feel the school has changed for the worse.
They had no delusions that Bluefield State was ever going to be a majority-black college again, although they wanted the school to do a better job recruiting black faculty members. Instead, they worried that the school's history was going to fade away quietly, and that the campus was no longer the kind of place that inspired much loyalty or pride. No football team. No meal plan. No dorms. They reckoned that it didn't look or feel much like a college at all, just a place where people stopped to take classes on their way to other things.
Despite all the love that she feels for Bluefield State, Go-Go didn't send her own children there. Her daughter, a Ph.D., went to college at Stanford on a full-ride. Go-Go asks, "Why would I send my daughter all the way across the country to a place where she wouldn't have anywhere to live?"
Even though the alumni saw themselves as protectors of the college's legacy, one got the sense that they didn't think the school's current student body cared too much about it. When it was time to sing the alma mater at the end of the Founder's Day event, none of the young people knew any of the words, a fact that did not escape the notice of the alumni in attendance.
Most of the current students we spoke to knew about the school's status as a historically black college, but treated it like a bit of trivia. The players on the women's basketball team, who were planting seeds for a homecoming event, joked casually about there not being step shows or marching bands or black fraternities and sororities.
And that absence of a vibrant campus life was something that the Bluefieldians, both young and old, seemed to agree on. All the stuff that makes college so memorable — the late-night bull sessions and parties and the big games and the deep friendships with people who aren't like you — are all harder to come by when most of students' lives take place off campus. Both the older alumni and the current students, whether they were prompted or not, wondered why the college couldn't bring back the dorms.
In the early aughts, the college announced that it was opening new buildings. But nothing came of it. And Jim Nelson, Bluefield State's spokesman, told us that in the state's current economic climate, an investment in on-campus housing would be impossible.
If there was much anxiety about race and history among Bluefield State's current students, though, it was pretty hard to tell. At the homecoming dance the night before the Founder's Day luncheon, black students and white students were all together doing the "Cha Cha Slide" and the "Cupid Shuffle." The hundred or so folks getting it in on the dance floor looked to be traditionally college-aged kids. And these kids were, essentially, the student life of the campus. The all-white homecoming court did the "Wobble" next to a clique of black women's basketball players, who somehow managed to be even taller in heels. Jerry Perdue, a gregarious white guy and the college's student government president, gushed over last year's Miss Bluefield State, Danielle Haynes, a black science and pharmaceutical major who had since graduated. Her mother had been Miss Bluefield State back in the day, too.
"I get it, we love the history here and it's so amazing to hear about it," Haynes told us later. "But my generation — we're not so much hardened by the fact that we don't look like an HBCU. We just love our school for what it is. [The alumni] said they found comfort here and found family here, and I did too. And it doesn't look exactly the same. But I did too."
What Does Bluefield Owe Its History?
Less than 60 years after the Supreme Court sent black students to formerly all-white institutions and vice versa, it's still striking to find these vestiges of that moment, like this mostly white, historically black college with its all-black alumni association. For generations of black students, institutions like Bluefield State were the only option for a higher education.
Today, of course, black students have many more choices. But HBCUs still play an outsized role in black education — they make up only 3 percent of all the nation's colleges, but produce half of all black teachers and they award a disproportionate amount of bachelor's degrees in fields like biology, math and computer science, according to Marybeth Gasman, a University of Pennsylvania education professor who researches HBCUs.
This record is part of the reason HBCUs receive federal and state funding to carry out their mission of educating underserved students. And while the students might look different than they used to, said Bluefield State president Marsha Krotseng, educating underserved students is still the college's primary mission. Its HBCU designation means that Bluefield State receives millions in federal dollars each year, about a 10th of its total $20 million budget. It's money that the school would be hard-pressed to replace.
It's easy to look at the parade of headlines about the challenges HBCUs face as one, squirming mass of problems. Howard University's president recently stepped down amid administrative rancor and serious fiscal troubles. Stricter lending rules for PLUS loans have hampered students' abilities to pay for college, and has led to lower enrollment at some black colleges. A recent study found that several states were not matching federal funding for their HBCUs at the same level as their traditionally white institutions, a disparity amounting to tens of millions of dollars in under-funding.
But Bluefield State's history demonstrates just how unique so many of these dilemmas are, given that these institutions have histories inextricably wrapped up in the politics and demographics of their cities and states. In fact, the situation facing some HBCUs in Maryland is like a funhouse mirror of what's happened at Bluefield State, according to the recent finding of a federal judge. The institutions there are struggling, the judge ruled, because their student bodies are too black. While they were diversely integrated in the '70s, these institutions have re-segregated into predominantly black places. Today, they're forced to compete with Maryland's traditionally white institutions (that is, colleges and universities that were white-only before Brown v. Board) that have deeper pockets and can offer far more courses, advantages that stretch back to the days of segregation.
As we thought about the Founder's Day luncheon, in which the current students couldn't sing the alma mater, we wondered: what do these students owe to their forebears? What does this institution, whose funding stems in part from a historical detail, owe to that history? And when the slowly shrinking Bluefield State alumni association is no longer, who will be there to tell all the kids like Tony Bolden where all the black people went?
If you've made it to the bottom of this story, you're clearly interested in the story of Bluefield State. Listen to the story of Bluefield State as it aired on Morning Edition, by clicking on the embedded player at the top of the page.
It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning, I'm Renee Montagne.
And I'm David Greene. It is college homecoming season; and that means football, dances and alumni flocking back to their alma maters. At a small, historically black college in Bluefield, W. Va., alumni have returned for homecoming but to a campus that barely resembles the one they remember. It's now 90 percent white, the whitest historically black college in America.
NPR's Shereen Marisol Meraji has the story.
SHEREEN MARISOL MERAJI, BYLINE: I'd like to introduce you to a few proud members of Bluefield State College's all-black alumni association.
MILDRED WASHINGTON: I am Mildred Washington. I was Mildred Harriston on campus, from 1951 until '55.
LOIS MANNS: OK. Its Lois Manns, graduated 1969.
GLORIA BROWN: People from Bluefield, you there in the '40s and '50s, this is Go-Go.
MERAJI: Eighty-three-year-old Gloria Brown - or Go-Go - class of '51, can't believe how few black students there are.
BROWN: You could shoot one of them AK-47s and not touch anything that look like us.
LOIS MANNS: My room was right through those trees, the last grate - in the basement.
MERAJI: Lois Manns, class of '69, points to the School of Business, which used to be the girls' dorms.
LOIS MANNS: Every time I come over, somebody says: Oh, you need to come over and see it. I say no, absolutely not. It is just too painful. When I think about what was and what is now, I don't want to revisit.
MERAJI: The dorms are gone, closed down decades ago; same with the football program. Homecoming is just not the same, says Lois's brother, Russell Manns, class of '64.
RUSSELL MANNS: You couldn't move on this campus from Wednesday through Saturday - on this campus - with people coming back, to be here for all the festivities. So it was - it was just enjoyable.
MERAJI: The Bluefield State the Manns remember had a lively homecoming, dorms, a football team. But what they miss most is a campus full of students who looked like them.
RUSSELL MANNS: It was created, basically, for black population of Southern West Virginia, to give them the opportunity to get an education.
MERAJI: The campus is carved into a hilltop overlooking train tracks that separate the white part of Bluefield from the black part. But by the '50s, the college was attracting African-American students from all over the country because it was well-known for training excellent teachers. Over the course of a half a century, all that changed.
JIM NELSON: To someone who's not familiar with the region and the area, it does look suspect to see a school that goes from being almost exclusively black, to largely white.
MERAJI: That's Jim Nelson. He's white and a Bluefield, W.Va., native. Nelson's been this school's media relations guy since the early '90s, and he's pretty used to explaining how Bluefield State became the whitest historically black college in America. He says, one: West Virginia is white.
NELSON: You're sitting in a small, Southern West Virginia city, in a state with a 3 percent African-American population.
MERAJI: Two: Desegregation gave African-Americans more school choice, at the same time the GI Bill brought whites from Southern West Virginia onto campus. And then there's number three.
NELSON: The bombing that took place at the student union building right at the Thanksgiving break.
MERAJI: Wait - what?
NELSON: The bombing that took place at the student union building right at the Thanksgiving break.
MERAJI: It was 1968, and students bombed the gym with dynamite - black students. It happened not long after Dr. King was assassinated and two years after, Bluefield State got its first white president. So things were tense. The dorms were closed as a result, and never reopened. And that's where all of the out-of-state black students lived.
LOIS MANNS: The National Guard killed people at Kent State - they didn't close a single dorm. So why did you close dorms at Bluefield State because of a bombing that didn't injure anybody?
MERAJI: That's Lois Manns again, class of '69. Manns, like almost all of the members of the alumni association I spoke to, blames the loss of a strong black presence to the shutdown of those dorms.
LOIS MANNS: So I think the reaction basically showed their own racist agenda. Now, that may not be a popular thing. But, you know, if somebody thinks differently, then man up; speak it to my face.
MERAJI: Without the dorms, Bluefield State's a mostly white commuter school. The students skew older; and are often trying to balance work, school and family - like Heather Hall; she helps run a farm and has two kids.
HEATHER HALL: Their homecoming is tomorrow as well. So I'm picking theirs over college. Sorry.
MERAJI: I asked Hall if she knew she was attending a historically black college, and what that means to her.
HALL: Honestly, I don't know a whole lot about the history. I know that this campus feels like home to me. I am perfectly comfortable being here - and not being of an African race. I just like it here.
MERAJI: Now, while a majority of students at Bluefield State look like Heather Hall, 10 percent of its budget comes from the federal grants for being an historically black college. Once an HBCU, always an HBCU. It doesn't matter how many black students go to the school, and that won't change unless the law is changed.
DANIELLE HAYNES: It's tough. It's kind of, you know, bittersweet. You have mixed emotions about it.
MERAJI: Danielle Haynes, class of 2013 and last year's homecoming queen. Haynes is black and comes from a line of Bluefield State college graduates. Her mom, aunts and uncles remember when the school had more black students, dorms, a football team; and homecoming was a big to-do.
HAYNES: I get it. We love the history here, and it's so amazing to hear about it. But my generation, we're not so much hardened by the fact that we don't look like an HBCU. We just love our school for what it is. You know, they said they found comfort here, they found family here. And I did, too, and it doesn't look exactly the same. But I did, too.
MERAJI: In the spirit of homecoming, student government organized a dinner and dance. It was sparsely attended. But the hundred or so students who showed up line-danced to the cupid shuffle and munched on mini pulled-pork sandwiches. The homecoming king and queen were both white this year, and nobody seemed fazed.
Shereen Marisol Meraji, NPR News.
GREENE: And Shereen is part of NPR's Code Switch team, reporting on race, ethnicity and culture. To learn more about Bluefield State, America's whitest historically black college, check out the Code Switch blog, at npr.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Ruppia maritima
|Scope: Global
Language: English
|Scientific Name:
|Ruppia maritima L.
|Regional Assessments:
Common Name(s):
Ruppia aragonensis Loscos
Ruppia brachypus J. Gay
Ruppia maritma L. ssp. rostellata (Koch) Asch.
Ruppia maritma ssp. rostrata C.
Ruppia rostellata Koch in Rchb.
Ruppia rostellata Koch in Rchb.
Ruppia zosteroides (Lojac.) Gillett
|Taxonomic Notes:
|The taxonomy of the Ruppia genus is unclear. Ruppia maritima is a catch-all species name for many forms in this genus. It is likely to be conspecific with other putative species in this genus. This species can be extremely morphologically variable and respond to differing environmental conditions and therefore species identifications often link to differences in environmental conditions. Potential synonyms for this species are R. cirrhosa, R. megacarpa, R. tuberosa and R. rostellata. Flower morphology and genetic studies are needed to evaluate the taxonomy of this species (Larkum et al. 2006).
|Red List Category & Criteria:
|Least Concern ver 3.1
|Year Published:
|Date Assessed:
Needs updating
|Short, F.T., Carruthers, T.J.R., Waycott, M., Kendrick, G.A., Fourqurean, J.W., Callabine, A., Kenworthy, W.J. & Dennison, W.C.
|Livingstone, S., Harwell, H. & Carpenter, K.E.
Ruppia maritima is a circum-global species, present throughout arctic, temperate and tropical regions. The species is extremely widespread although only locally abundant in some regions. The overall global population trend is unknown, but thought to be stable. Ruppia maritima has a wide salinity tolerance and occurs in fresh water, brackish water and marine environments. It is tolerant of a wide range of environmental conditions, including disturbance. Ruppia maritima is threatened locally by habitat loss from industrialization and agriculture. This species is listed as Least Concern.
However, the taxonomy of this species is confused and it is highly recommended that morphological and genetic studies be carried to determine the distribution limits of this species. Once the taxonomy is sorted out, field studies are needed to determine its actual range.
|Range Description:
|Ruppia maritima is a circumglobal species, widespread in temperate and tropical regions.
|Countries occurrence:
Native:Angola; Argentina; Australia; Bangladesh; Belize; Brazil; Canada; Cape Verde; China; Denmark; El Salvador; Finland; Ghana; Guatemala; Honduras; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Italy; Japan; Malaysia; Mexico; Mozambique; Nicaragua; Norway; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Russian Federation; South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Thailand; Turkey; Ukraine; United States; Uruguay
|FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
Atlantic – eastern central; Atlantic – western central; Atlantic – northeast; Atlantic – northwest; Atlantic – southeast; Atlantic – southwest; Indian Ocean – eastern; Mediterranean and Black Sea; Pacific – eastern central; Pacific – western central; Pacific – northwest
|Additional data:
|Range Map:
|Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.
|Ruppia maritima is extremely widespread although only locally abundant in some regions. For example, it forms massive seagrass beds in Argentina and Atlantic Chile. It is highly tolerant of disturbance, including eutrophication, turbidity, and high and low salinity. It is easily dispersed by waterfowl. It is sometimes present in high altitude lakes. Localized increases and decreases of this species have been observed, but overall global population trend is unknown, but is most likely stable.
Historically, this species was not recognized as a seagrass, but rather as a freshwater or brackish water plant.
|Current Population Trend:
|Additional data:
|Habitat and Ecology:
|Ruppia maritima has a wide salinity tolerance and occurs in fresh water, brackish water, marine environments and it can also be abundant in hypo- and hypersaline conditions. Ruppia maritima is known to survive in salinities ranging from 0 to 70 ppt (Kantrud 1991) but can be negatively impacted by repeated salinity changes (La Peyre and Rowe 2003). It can be found in canals, aquaculture ponds (traditional fish ponds), estuaries, tidal flats, and salt pans. It can even be found in coastal paddy fields (Burkhill 1936). In some cases, this species can become a pest by blocking aqua-ducts and canals. It only occurs in areas of low hydrodynamic regimes. This species can occur is a very wide variety of habitats (low-salinity ponds, coastal lagoons, mangroves, estuaries, marsh pools, tidal rivers, fishponds, mangrove salt marshes).
Ruppia maritima is both annual and perennial.
|Freshwater; Marine
|Generation Length (years):
|Use and Trade:
|Also used as fertilizer
|Major Threat(s):
Ruppia maritima is threatened locally by habitat loss from industrialization and agriculture. Coastal land reclamation is also a threat as this species grows in transitional environments between land and sea.
This species is grazed by geese, ducks and swans (waterfowl) throughout its range.
|Conservation Actions:
There are no conservation measures for Ruppia maritima. This species is listed as pest in some areas of its range.
The taxonomy of this species is confused and it is highly recommended that morphological and genetic studies be carried to determine the distribution limits of this species.
|Short, F.T., Carruthers, T.J.R., Waycott, M., Kendrick, G.A., Fourqurean, J.W., Callabine, A., Kenworthy, W.J. & Dennison, W.C. 2010. Ruppia maritima. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T164508A5897605. . Downloaded on 19 September 2018.
|To make use of this information, please check the <Terms of Use>.
|If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided


text:
Are you using hashtags in your social media campaigns?
Do you want to find tools to help manage your hashtags?
The right tools can help you launch, track and analyze hashtags across social networks.
In this article, you'll discover five tools that make it easy to track hashtags and their related conversations.
Why Use a Hashtag?
Hashtags make it easier for people to find and follow discussions about brands, events and promotions. They also let brands track the performance of promotions across social media.
Hashtags can determine how easily you can target and track a campaign. You've probably seen many businesses use generic hashtags like #food or #chocolate. While these will get your update into a large conversation, using such broad hashtags is wasting your time.
Can you imagine how many posts (tweets or otherwise) contain #chocolate every minute? Managing the hashtag would be a nightmare. You'd spend weeks sorting through every instance of the hashtag to determine which mentions apply to you.
It's worth the effort (and your sanity) to come up with a unique hashtag that fits with your particular campaign.
A good example is Subway's #januANY campaign. Their hashtag has two key components: it's distinctive enough to track easily and it's simple for fans to remember.


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Oilmen hope to make new history at Spindletop
The name evokes an oil discovery that made history. When a well piercing the salt dome near Beaumont first gushed in 1901, it introduced a cheap supply of commercial energy that transformed the oil industry and American life.
More than 100 years later, the oilmen are back at Spindletop, calculating how to extract even more oil from deeper levels at the hallowed site, which they believe may contain millions more barrels of crude.
Two exploration companies are working together to finance and build a well at Spindletop, based on new data that allows them to better predict where profitable pockets of oil and gas may be buried.
The team is motivated by the adage that the best place to look for oil is where it has already been found.
"Spindletop gave rise to some of the largest oil and gas companies that are still around today," said Mark Wixom, vice president of Salt Lake City-based International Petroleum, a 50 percent investor in the project, along with Bakersfield, Calif.-based E&B Natural Resources. "We could be the people to finish the next chapter of Spindletop. We think the book's not done yet."
Spindletop was named for the shape of a hill that rose on the coastal plain, pushed up over eons by an underground salt dome.
In 1901, self-trained geologist Patillo Higgins successfully proved his theory that oil lay under that hill. Since then geologists have learned that salt domes often have large pools of oil trapped along their edges.
But the Spindletop pioneers didn't know the full depth of the oil-rich formation called reservoir rock, and the technology for finding out didn't exist for decades after oil gushed there in 1901.
In the 1990s, however, aided by new methods of collecting data, geologists found oil north of Spindletop at a deeper level, called the Yegua Formation. The formation, a layer of rock and sand that stretches along the Gulf Coast about 11,000 feet to 17,000 feet beneath the earth's surface, has become one of the most active conventional drilling areas in the United States.
But anecdotal wisdom held that the oil-rich sand didn't extend to Spindletop.
In 2000, a team of independent geologists - Bill Whaling, Craig Gentry, Leo Newport and Alan Balser - decided to revisit a question people still asked in Beaumont: Is there more oil at Spindletop?
Previous production there peaked in 1927 at 21 million barrels, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
The four spent more than $5 million on relatively new 3-D seismic data depicting the geology beneath a seven square mile region around Spindletop, and found evidence of the Yegua reservoir rock.
The ongoing venture, which bought out the original geologists, has spent a decade analyzing and interpreting the data, trying to understand what the map of subterranean geography reveals.
"It is straightforward to make a map," said Chet Pohle, a geophysicist for E&B Natural Resources. "What isn't straightforward is where your sand or hydrocarbon reservoirs will be. The data is like a giant three dimensional puzzle that you have to figure out. You have to make predictions, and that's what takes the time."
Based on initial interpretations of the seismic data, an earlier investor drilled a well next to the salt dome in 2003 and found indications of Yegua sand. But the well hit the salt dome itself, making it unusable.
E&B joined the project in 2007 and drilled a second well.
The drilling resulted in three discoveries, proving that reservoir sands containing oil and gas are present at the Yegua level.
But the well was less productive than investors hoped because it encountered faults near Spindletop's salt dome.
Faults are disruptions in reservoir rock that essentially divide it into small, uneconomical reservoirs. Identifying possible fault lines is a key part of the site selection process.
E&B and International Petroleum hope to benefit from the additional data gathered from that well, proposing to drill a little farther from the salt dome to avoid the faults that can sap production.
"You need to have a big enough area to produce, to ever hope to make your money back," said Brian Kalinec, a consulting geophysicist for International Petroleum. "I thought because of the complexity of the salt dome, you would have a better chance of identifying opportunities a little bit farther away."
The team believes that the combination of the seismic data and the experience with the two earlier wells have enabled them to identify a location close enough to the salt dome for resource rock to exist, but far enough away to avoid the faults.
The team will present its strategy Thursday at the NAPE convention in Houston - an annual swapmeet, formerly called the North American Prospect Expo, for buying and selling oil properties and attracting investors. They're seeking additional participants to help finance a Spindletop well that could cost as much as $8 million.
"We have been able to figure out a story that makes good geologic sense," Kalinec said. "All the geological and geophysical pieces fit together and support the story. That is a real key thing in any prospect - and it makes it easier to present, because it presents itself."
They also presented the proposal last year at the annual NAPE event, but investors raised concerns about faults. Since then the team has fine-tuned its analysis and interpretation of the data.
"We have addressed the issue of where we believe the potential pay sands are, so we have turned our efforts into better highlighting where we think the faulting will occur," Kalinec said.
But the team also has to persuade investors that the well will be able to make money.
"Entrepreneurs haven't always thought through well enough the actual economics of how to make a well profitable," said Carl Tricoli, a managing partner at Denham Capital, who is attending the Houston conference in search of potential investments. "You may be producing all this oil, but are you producing it profitably? The No. 1 reason people don't get financing is because the economics don't justify it."
The team is watching the economics closely as well. If successful, the well could generate enough revenue to become profitable within months, and could produce for several years.
But each partner has invested millions of dollars already. And while their hunches are based on decades of experience, all are mindful of the complexity of the salt dome, and the risk the project won't be profitable.
"It took Patillo Higgins seven tries to get it in the shallower region," said Bud Tippens, director of land for E&B Natural Resources, recalling the Spindletop pioneer. "You have to pay your dues and have your failures, then have the perseverance to make sure you don't quit. We know the sand's there - we found it. We've just got to find it in a bigger tank."


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In 2009, the Rockefeller Foundation convened a unique global network of forward-looking organizations on four continents to scan the horizon of poverty and development. Their assignment: to identify new policies, technologies, and strategies for meaningful exchange emerging in communities of poor and vulnerable people. Read more »


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text: Utah News Utah News and UPR Newsline are productions of Utah Public Radio. New Collection at Zion Museum Chronicles the CCC By Chris Holmes • May 10, 2012 Photo courtesy of nps.gov A new museum collection at Zion National Park chronicles the contributions of the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Pictures, writings, and special objects in the collection provide opportunities for visitors to gain first-hand knowledge of the work and lives of the men of the CCC. During their 9 years working in Zion, they built and improved many of the park's trails, created parking areas, fought fires, eradicated invasive plants, help build campgrounds, built park buildings, and reduced flooding on the Virgin River. Salazar Signs on Major Gas Drilling Project With Conservation Compromise Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance: suwa.org Natural gas development is about to increase significantly in Utah. On Tuesday, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved a major drilling project the Obama Administration says will create thousands of jobs while protecting the environment. "The world today should simply stand back and say 'Wow, how did they do this?'" May is the Season for Celebrating Utah's Pre-History By Ashley Tolman • May 9, 2012 utah.history.gov May 5 - 12 is Archeology Week in Utah. Lori Hunsaker, Deputy State Preservation Officer, explains why archeology is something to celebrate here in Utah: "In Utah we enjoy some of the best archeology in the world and it isn't all limited to Salt Lake. It's all over the state...We want people to embrace and appreciate the rich and diverse pre-history and history that we have in Utah." Huntsaker says it's easy to find a personal connection to the ancient people of Utah. Utah's New Poet Laureate poetryfoundation.org A Brigham Young University Professor is taking on a new role. Last week, Governor Gary Herbert appointed Lance Larsen to serve as Utah's new Poet Laureate. Larsen will act as the leading public advocate for the literary arts in Utah. Larsen didn't develop a love for poetry and the arts until later in life when he took a creative writing class. It was then Lance Larsen began writing poetry, and is now awaiting the publication of his fourth collection of poems. University of Utah Selected to Develop New Batteries for Soldiers The U.S Army is looking to improve some of their materials and they're asking scientists at the University of Utah to help. A little over a year ago, the United States Army put out a request for proposals. They have a "weight" problem and need some help in fixing it. "A soldier carries say something like 30 pounds of batteries in the field ..that's a lot. If we can reduce that, that would make a big difference to how the soldier can move around for example." State Studies Mule Deer - Coyote Relationship By Chris Holmes • May 8, 2012 Photo by Mike Keller on 1-15-09, courtesy Utah Division of Wildlife Resources A new study employing the cooperation of BYU and Utah State University researchers and state biologists proposes to answer the question just how many mule deer fawns each year are lost to coyotes. Meet USU's 98-Year-Old Graduate By Ashley Tolman • May 7, 2012 Saturday afternoon marked the 125th graduation ceremony and a milestone for nearly 4,500 students at Utah State University. Among students receiving bachelor's degrees is 98-year-old American Studies student, Twila Boston. Twila grew up on a farm in Fremont and Loa, Utah, and left for nursing school in 1932 on her 19th birthday. She worked for many years as a nurse. When she returned to higher education recently, she joked it seemed the right thing to do: "What else is there to do at my age except eat and read and sleep?" Utah Prairie Dog Problem Makes National News By Chris Holmes • May 7, 2012 http://www.nps.gov/brca/naturescience/upd.htm A Wall Street Journal article published today introduces an issue Southern Utahns have dealt with for 40 years to a national audience. The article documents the trouble some Utahns have experienced ever since the Utah prairie dog landed on the endangered species list. Engineering Students Show Off Manpower in Human-Powered Vehicle Challenge By Whittney Evans • May 7, 2012 Engineering students from colleges and universities throughout the West gathered in Tooele over the weekend to compete in the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge, using models they've designed and built themselves. These races are probably the quietest ever to take place at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, but the crowd is no less enthusiastic. Jonathan Sanders from Missouri University of Science and Technology won Saturday's drag race. His ride, Chronos, looks a bit like a black kidney bean with a bicycle wheel: SUU's Most Impressive Graduate By Chris Holmes • May 4, 2012 Friday May 4, Southern Utah University conducts its 113th annual commencement. Every graduating class, of course, has its valedictorian, the SUU class of 2012 is no exception, but its valedictorian is… exceptional in every sense of the word. Gwen Knight graduates with a degree in psychology, having maintained a 4.0 grade point average throughout her academic career at SUU. And that while working fulltime as directing case coordinator with the Utah court-appointed special advocate program and juggling her duties as a mother of 11 and grandmother of 22. New Energy Advisor Has Big Oil and Gas Background By Whittney Evans • May 4, 2012 Utah Governor Gary Herbert has a new energy advisor and at least one environmental group is already calling foul. Herbert announced today that Cody Stewart, who's currently serving as Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell's Chief of Staff, will help the governor increase energy development in the state. But as Whittney Evans reports, HEAL Utah says his interests are with big oil and gas. Cody Stewart says his number one priority as energy advisor to the governor will be to increase the development of energy in the state of Utah. New Home Constructed for Rizzo the Polar Bear Workers at Hogle Zoo are busy are putting the final touches on Rocky Shores. The three and a half acre exhibit is scheduled to open next month and will house sea lions, seals, river otters, three young grizzly bears, and of course, Rizzo the polar bear. "We hear she's quite the swimmer. We're excited because this water - we have the ability to cool it, so in July and August ...Where she is now they can't cool the water so she doesn't swim much in the summer because it's hot water." Senator Lee on the Future of Hill AFB at Logan Town Hall Meeting By Kerry Bringhurst • May 3, 2012 Utah's U.S. Senator Mike Lee held town meetings throughout Northern Utah this week. UPR's Kerry Bringhurst was at Wednesday night's meeting in Logan and spoke first hand with some of Lee's constituents, who are concerned about the growing federal deficit, federal control of public lands, and the future of Northern Utah's Hill Air Force Base. Former Political Science professor at Utah State University and Nibley resident, James Waite remembers when the Richard Gebaur Military Base closed while he was living in Kansas City, Missouri: Fire near St. George Human Caused, but Almost Under Control By Chris Holmes • May 3, 2012 For the second time in two days a human-caused wildfire has erupted in southern Utah—this time just west of St. George in an area called Anasazi valley. The fire is on mostly public land west of St. George, and south of old Highway 91. The fire started on Wednesday around 3:30 in the afternoon. Like the Toquerville fire there is not threat to structures. The Anasazi valley fire has not yet been mapped for its size. Washington County Joins Suit Against Federal Government By Chris Holmes • May 3, 2012 Utah's Washington County has joined Mohave County, Arizona and other Uranium mining concerns in filing a lawsuit against the Federal Government. The lawsuit is directed against Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the Department of Interior, the BLM and BLM Director Robert Abbey. It calls for the reversal of Salazar's 20-year ban on new mining claims in one-million acres of public land adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park, announced in January. Utah AIDS Foundation Honors Difference Makers "There are so many people who were so instrumental in the early daysof AIDS in particular who really made a difference," said Stan Penfold, Utah AIDS Foundation Director. High School Kidnapping Prank Treated as Serious Crime in St. George By Chris Holmes • May 3, 2012 Three St. George high school students have been arrested and charged with kidnapping. UPR's Chris Holmes tells us that the serious charges in this case are hardly typical for juvenile arrests. The victim, a middle school-aged girl, was jogging on Monday evening when cut off by a pick-up truck. Three masked boys emerged and forced her into the bed of the truck, closing the bed lid and locking her inside. Bill of Rights Celebration Honors Utahns Who Fight for Democracy By Ashley Tolman • May 2, 2012 The Bill of Rights celebration is an annual fundraiser for the ACLU Utah. Anna Brower is the Development Director for the ACLU of Utah. She spoke with UPR's Ashley Tolman about the organization's Bill of Rights Celebration taking place this week in Salt Lake City. Brower explains the choice of this year's theme, "Power of the People": Homelessness Down in Utah, But Still a Problem By Whittney Evans • May 2, 2012 This year, chronic homelessness is down 9%. Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell says this can be directly attributed to low cost housing options that have been made available over the last few years as part of the state's "Housing First" initiative: "Those are not all the same kind of facilities but the real success has been the intermingling, not just of housing and lodging, but creating a spectrum of housing for transitional up to permanent and integrating that with social and human and health services." Championships in SLC Reveal DECA as Premier Business Training Program Thousands of the world's next generation of leaders are spending a few days in Utah. DECA, an organization targeted toward students interested in marketing, finance and management is holding its International Career Development Conference at the Salt Palace. It's 2:00 on Monday and 14-year-old Sherry Ann Morgenstern is preparing for the Principles of Finance competition. Not a Drill: Fire at a Southern Utah High School By Chris Holmes • May 1, 2012 Administrators at Hurricane High School in Washington County initiated the familiar call to evacuate the school and gather outside in the predetermined places for an accounting, but this time it was not a drill. Early Monday morning, a teacher noticed smoke coming from the the school's wood shop room. He alerted authorities and the school was evacuated. The fire occurred in the shop's dust ventilation system, and although some smoke and water damage resulted, the small shop is in a building separate from the rest of the school, so the damage and potential threat was very limited. Utah Senators Vote Against Federal Violence Against Women Act By Kerry Bringhurst • May 1, 2012 Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee joined a minority of senators last week in voting against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. The Alliance for a Better Utah believes that a vote against reauthorizing the Act represents a callous insult not just to the women of Utah but to the entire population of Utah and the United States. Alliance for a Better Utah Executive Director, Maryann Martindale told UPR's Kerry Bringhurst that: Utah Legislators Not Doing Enough About Medicaid Record Breach By Kerry Bringhurst • Apr 30, 2012 Organizations in Utah who serve residents receiving Medicaid and State Child Health Insurance are calling for Utah lawmakers to hold a special session to allocate money that would be used to help those whose personal information was stolen when a state computer system was hacked. Judi Hilman is with the Utah Health Policy Project. She says the state is not doing enough to help the more than 800,000 victims: Vince Rampton to Run Alongside Democratic Candidate Peter Cooke By Whittney Evans • Apr 30, 2012 Vince Rampton officially filed paperwork to run for office alongside Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter Cooke. Rampton, who is the son of former Utah Governor Calvin Rampton, says as Lieutenant Governor he would focus on transparency in campaign financing, more precise requirements for lobbyists and more facilitative rules governing initiatives and referendums He also says allowing electronic signatures to be gathered for petitions is also very important to the process: Gov. Herbert Gathers Rocky Mountain State Governors Around His Table Hoping to muster up a stronger voice to direct towards Washington, Governor Gary Herbert met with the Governors of Wyoming and Idaho on Friday in the first ever "Rocky Mountain Roundtable." "This is really a beginning, the desire to communicate better as governors with each other and learn from each other, our success and our failures, and see if we can become better governors. And unite our voices where we have common concern." Pages« first ‹ previous … 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 … next › last »


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Comfortable and cool from the beginning of the meeting to the end. Meetings become a more appealing pastime when collaborators are sitting comfortably in this executive conference chair. The perforated faux leather outer back shell and belt paired with a fabric seat and back create a cool looking two-tone design. Also available in a fabric belt version.
In 2007, Chuck Saylor, founder of izzy+, created the Audrey modular storage cabinet collection for izzy. Saylor has more than 21 patents and three decades of furniture industry experience, including senior management positions in marketing, design and sales with Haworth, Inc. and Knoll. In 1976, during what he might call a defining moment, Saylor, Dick Haworth and Harold Wilson led the design and development of the first pre-wired steel panel system in the office furniture industry. Saylor's work currently is being shown at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Full Back
Width 25", Depth 27", Height 36.5-39.5"
Seat width 19.5", Seat depth 18", Seat height 17.5-20.5"
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High Back
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Spotted: Rihanna And ASAP Rocky Get Close, Kobe Bryant x Jimmy Kimmel
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have gotten touchy feely before, having toured together for her Diamonds World Tour, so it's not that shocking to see a snapshot of the pair embracing. It's all business, as Rih was on the set of their upcoming music video "Work." Click through for pics of Kobe Bryant, plus Oprah Winfrey and Andy Cohen getting buddy buddy.
Photo Credit: Necole Bitchie


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
University has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence grant to
host a visiting foreign professor for the fall 2012 semester. Assefa
Beyene Bassa, a Ph.D. candidate at Andhra University in India and a
lecturer at Dilla University in Ethiopia, will work closely with
several sectors on Niagara's campus, especially its College of
The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence program brings visiting scholars and professionals from abroad to lecture at U.S. colleges and universities for one semester or one academic year. In addition to teaching courses, scholars give campus-wide and community lectures, help initiate international programs and contribute to curriculum development.
Bassa is Niagara University's first Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence.
"We are thrilled to have the chance to learn from Mr. Bassa, and we are confident that this will lay the groundwork for additional opportunities to internationalize our teaching, scholarship and service," said the Rev. Joseph L. Levesque, C.M., NU president. "This initiative directly relates to Niagara's strategic plan, which identifies the creation of global and international learning opportunities as an important facet of our liberal arts-based education."
Bassa has served as a lecturer in Dilla University's department of educational leadership and management since September 2007. In addition to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, he has participated as a member of the university's strategic planning and faculty level practicum coordinating committees, a faculty level research and publication team member, affirmative action coordinator, and has prepared course modules in the area of educational leadership. Bassa also authored a published research in 2011 titled "Managerial Practices in District Education Offices: The Case of SNNPR, Ethiopia" (ISBN: 978-3-639-35177-4). Most recently, he participated in a committee of four faculty members who developed a document on the restructuring of the academic and related affairs at Dilla University.
Tariku Barasso, president of Dilla University, calls Bassa "a team player (who is) able to work independently and (is) one of our faculty members who (fully) understand their duties and responsibilities."
Bassa is currently a Ph.D. research scholar and candidate at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, India. His dissertation research (in progress) focuses on the management of higher education institutions, and its implications on quality assurance in Ethiopia's public universities.
At Niagara, Bassa will co-teach an undergraduate course in education, co-lead and take part in a standing committee of the College of Education, lecture in selected courses within all four of NU's colleges, and work to enhance NU's Ph.D. program in educational leadership, including the development of a new course titled international leadership and policy issues in education. He will also participate in service learning field experiences at local urban schools, community organizations and nearby universities.


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Indian Dentist: Elephant Tusk Surgery Was an "Elephantine Task"
In late November, Indian dentists set to work filling the largest cavity they have ever seen. Their patient, Devidasan the elephant, had a 20-inch-long crack in his tusk that had caused him pain for over five years, kept him from participating in festivals, and posed an infection risk.
Dentist CV Pradeep performed the unprecedented operation, which took two and a half hours to complete. The dentistry team used 47 times the amount of resin they would have used to fill a human tooth, and they modified their tools for use on the elephant's tusk, Pradeep explained to BBC News:
"It was literally an elephantine task, because we had to find specialist equipment and modify it," Dr Pradeep said. "The main difference between this and a similar operation carried out on humans is that we were not able to use X-ray screening, because none of our mobile X-ray units was large enough to suit the elephant's needs."
Devidasan was kept awake during the procedure, but the dentists report that he was fully cooperative. The dentists used the same procedure they would have for a cracked human tooth–just on a much larger scale. Pradeep told BBC News that Devidasan looked much happier after they were done with the filling. He is now fully healed and is back to participating in Hindu festivals.
This was the first elephant tusk-filling of its kind, so the dentists aren't sure how long it will hold. They estimate it will stick for at least a few years, depending on how quickly the tusk grows.
Related Content:
Discoblog: That Elephant Can Smell You From a Mile Away
Discoblog: Meet the Prehistoric Elephantopotamus
Discoblog: Animal Prosthetics: False Limbs for Elephants, and Silicone Where You'd Least Expect It
Discoblog: Could DNA Tell Us Where Smugglers Get Their Ivory?
80beats: Elephant-Lovers Worry About Controversial Ivory Auctions in Africa
DISCOVER: Tusk Tales
Image: Wikimedia Commons