THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012
PAGE 3A
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Associated Press
SOUTH AMERICA
Commuter train accident kills 49 and injures more than 500 in Argentina
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BUENOS AIRES. Argentina —
Firemen rescue wounded passengers from a commuter train after a collision in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds of morning commuters as passenger cars crumpled behind the engine.
BUENUS AIRES, Argentina A packed train slammed into the end of the line in Buenos Aires' busy Once station Wednesday, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds of morning commuters as passenger cars crumpled behind the engine. It was Argentina's worst train accident in decades.
Federal Police Commissioner Nestor Rodriguez says the dead include 48 adults and one child.
At least 550 people were injured, and emergency workers were slowly extracting dozens of people who were trapped inside the first car, said Alberto Crescenti, the city's emergency medical director.
The commuter train came in too fast and hit a shock-absorbing barrier at the end of the platform at about 16 mph, smashing the front of the engine and crunching the leading cars behind it; one car penetrated nearly 20 feet into the next, Argentina's transportation secretary, J.P. Schiavi told reporters at the station.
The conductors' union chief, Omar Maturano, told Radio 10 that the train
might have come in as fast as 18 mph.
Images from a security camera show windows exploding as the first two passenger cars crumple into each other like an accordion, with a man on the
adjacent platform scrambling across the tracks to escape the wreck.
Many suffered bruises or lesser injuries, waiting for attention on the station's platforms as helicopters and
dozens of ambulances carried others to nearby hospitals. About 200 people had serious injuries, said city health minister Jorge Lemus.
SOUTH AMERICA
Chavez to have lesion removed
CARACAS, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has raised serious doubts about whether he'll have the stamina for a successful re-election bid, revealing that he needs to return to Cuba to have a lesion removed that is probably malignant.
Chavez was meeting with top aides on Wednesday to plan for his absence while expressions of support poured in from his allies around the region. Venezuela's foreign ministry said Chavez had received messages of concern from Presidents Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Francisco Mujica of Uruguay, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Cristina Fernandez of Argentina.
Chavez told Venezuelans on Tuesday that doctors in Cuba had over the weekend found a two-centimeter lesion is in the same place where they removed a cancerous tumor last year.
The socialist president, who hopes to extend his 13 years in power with another six-year term in the Oct. 7 elections, said he will likely need radiation therapy.
Chavez
That will most likely mean being incapacitated in the coming weeks, though Chavez did not mention who might replace him during a temporary absence.
"I'm not going to be able to continue with the same rhythm," he told state TV in a telephone call Tuesday night, adding he would need to "rethink my personal agenda and take care of myself. confront what must be confronted."
MIDDLE EAST
Afghan president asks for calm after violent protests
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm Wednesday after clashes in several cities between Afghan security forces and protesters furious over the burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. military base left seven people dead.
The Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement that seven people were killed — four in clashes in the eastern province of Parwan, one at a U.S. base outside Kabul, and one each in Jalabat and Logar provinces. It said an investigation was under way to determine what happened.
"The people have the right to protest peacefully, but I appeal to my countrymen not to resort to violence." Karzai said in a statement. He also called on the Afghan security forces to protect the protesters, not battle them.
The U.S. apologized Tuesday for burning the copies of the Quran, which had been pulled from the shelves of the Parwan Detention Facility, adjoining Bagram Air Field, because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions.
U. S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander of American and NATO forces in
Afghanistan, said after the books had been mistakenly given to troops to be burned at a garbage pit without realizing it.
"It was not a decision that was made because they were religious materials," Allen said Tuesday, one day after Afghan workers at the garbage pit found the books. "It was not a decision that was made with respect to the faith of Islam. It was a mistake. It was an error. The moment we found out about it we immediately stopped and we intervened."
EUROPE
Hungary fails to reduce deficit,EU withholds funding
BRUSSELS The European Union's executive arm said Wednesday it plans to withhold 495 million euro ($655 million) in EU development funds from Hungary after the country failed to reduce its deficit.
The proposal to withhold the funds is the latest stage in a protracted dispute over the country's finances and suspected violation of civil rights. Before it can be applied, it has to be endorsed by the EU's other 26 member states.
It is the first time the European
Commission has proposed to suspend development funds from one of its members over an excessive deficit. The so-called cohesion funds, which are targeted in the sanction, support transport and environmental projects in the EU's poorer regions.
The Commission has been pressuring Hungary to cut its budget deficit, which has been breaking the bloc's limit of 3 percent of economic output ever since the country joined the bloc in 2004 when one-off measures are stripped out.
Despite several warnings, the government in Budapest has so far failed to take any more structural actions to reduce its spending.
"This decision today is to be regarded as an incentive to correct a deviation, not as a punishment," said Olii Rehn, the EU's economic affairs commissioner.
LEGAL
Since the funds that the Commission is threatening to withhold are for 2013, Hungary has until January next year to take action and avoid sanctions.
Missouri reclaims spot as nation's top meth producer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS $ \rightarrow $ Methamphetamine lab seizures rose nationally again in 2011, further evidence the powerfully addictive and dangerous drug is maintaining a tight grip on the nation's heartland, according to an Associated Press survey of the nation's top meth-producing states.
Missouri regained the top national spot for lab seizures in 2011 with 2,096, the AP confirmed through the survey that also found Tennessee was second with 1,687, followed by Indiana with 1,437, Kentucky with 1,188 and Oklahoma with 902. Lab seizures in Kansas rose from 149 busts in 2010 to 172 in 2011.
The total for Missouri lines up with preliminary numbers AP obtained this week from the Drug Enforcement Administration, whose data appeared to show meth lab seizures remained about even during the past two years. But the totals for each of the other states surveyed by AP reveal the numbers are higher than the federal data.
Combined, the numbers indicate nationwide meth lab seizures rose at least 8.3 percent in 2011 compared with 2010.
Experts blame the continued increase on the drug's addictiveness and the growing popularity of the meth-making shortcut known as "shake-and-bake", in which the drug is concocted quickly in a soda bottle. The method results in smaller labs, but more of them.
Clandestine meth labs are most common in the Midwest and South. U.S. users who don't make the drug themselves get it from Mexico, but experts say the drug made in homemade labs is more addictive than the often-diluted product that crosses the border.
"When they're manufacturing it locally they're making the purest form and the strongest form they can make," said Sgt. Niki Crawford of the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Team.
behind Tennessee for one year. In 2011, a single Missouri county had more busts than Texas, Florida and California combined. Jefferson County, which is near St. Louis, tallied 253 seizures; the three states had 219.
Missouri had been the nation's No. 1 meth-producing state every year from 2003 to 2009 until falling
Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Tim Hull attributed the state's consistently high seizure rate to law enforcement agencies' focus on addressing the meth problem.
Police in many Missouri counties stake out pharmacies and watch for "pill shoppers" who go from store to store to purchase decongestants containing pseudoephedrine, a vital meth ingredient, now that tighter state restrictions have limited how much of the product they can buy in one place at one time. Many Missouri agencies also have officers focused solely on meth.
"Is Missouri that much worse or does Missouri just take a more aggressive approach? I think Missouri law enforcement just aggressively deals with the issue," Hull said.
TECHNOLOGY
Some mobile applications actually help kids do their homework rather than avoid it. Here are a few that put the "smart" in a smartphone.
Apps help students learn rather than avoid work
Math, from YourTeacher.com, is free for the first five lessons on an iPhone. To keep going, though, it requires a one-time $9.99 payment. The company makes instructional apps for Apple and Android.
From the opening screen in Math, type a keyword, such as "equations," to see a list of lessons that include word problems and real-world uses for the knowledge, such as figuring sales taxes, discounts, and interest. Each lesson has examples, problems, and printable practice and review sheets.
Wolfram Algebra Course, by Wolfram Alpha LLC, is $1.99. Titles for calculus, music theory, and other subjects are also available at various prices for Android and
Apple. The algebra course provides opportunities to view examples or to plug in an equation to examine its parts, calculate a solution, plot the results, and ... do more math stuff than I was ready for.
The Wolfram courses are an extension of the brilliant "computational knowledge engine" at Wolframalpha.com, which handles a lot of the inquiries that iPhone4s users put to the "personal assistant" app. Siri.
Homeworkhelp.com makes dozens of subject-specific apps for learning and review. They include instruction for SAT and ACT preparation. Titles in the App Store, some free, some not, include lessons in
HowStuffWorks, by HowStuffWorks.com, is a free, advertising-supported app version of the popular website, for Apple and Android. It has a search screen, podcasts such as "Stuff You Missed in History Class" and "Car Stuff," and chat and Twitter functions. Share or save your findings.
various levels of math, the state capitals,
grammar, and vocabulary.
Encyclopaedia Britannica is $1.99 a month for iPhone. I grew up in a house with a sagging bookshelf of encyclopedia volumes, including the massive Britannica. It's still authoritative, but now it fits in your pocket, has more features and costs way less.
I looked at Homeworkhelp.com's $2.99 Probability and Statistics app. Lessons begin simply by explaining the practical uses for knowing probability, and progress through frequency tables, exponential distributions, and linear regression. Some reviewers complain about there being no practice problems.
In an article, tap the "link map" icon to see a chart of related topics and articles for easy browsing. You can turn off your subscription renewals in iPhone settings.
McClatchy Tribune
Employers know Baker students are prepared to care for their patients with confidence.
2012 | Friday, April 13
What You'll Do & See
- Meet students, faculty and staff.
SCHOOL OF NURSING Visit Day 3-5 p.m.
- Tour the facilities where you'll take classes and clinicals.
- Ask questions and learn more about nursing school and the nursing profession.
Visit days are held at Baker's School of Nursing campus at Stormont-Vail HealthCare, Pozez Education Center. 1505 SW 8th Ave., Topeka.
Baker offers traditional and degree completion programs. Classes start in the spring and fall.
REGISTER ONLINE
www.bakerU.edu/son_visit
Own Confidence
Questions? Contact Janet Creager jcreager@stormontvail.org 1.888.866.4242