THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WENDESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2012
PAGE 3
NEWS OF THE WORLD
CARRIBEAN
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A supporter of Alejandro Garcia Padilla, candidate for governor of the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party, cheers during his closing campaign rally in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sunday.
Puerto Rico decides its fate
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Ricans were facing a fundamental question on Election Day: Should they change their ties with the United States?
Citizens in the U.S. island territory cannot vote in the U.S. presidential election, but many were excited to participate in a referendum that could push the territory toward statehood, greater autonomy or independence.
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Car horns blared and party flags waved as voters headed to polling stations, many carrying umbrellas against the blistering tropical sun as temperatures neared 90 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees centigrade).
Puerto Rico's 114-year relationship with the United States. A second question gives voters three alternatives if they do want a change: become the 51st U.S. state, independence, or "sovereign free association," a designation that would give more autonomy for the territory of 4 million people.
"Puerto Rico has to be a state. There is no other option," said 25-year-old Jerome Lefebre, who picked up his grandfather before driving to the polls. "We're doing OK, but we could do better. We would receive more benefits, a lot more financial help."
But 42-year old Ramon Lopez de Azua said he favors the current system, which grants U.S. citizenship but prevents Puerto Ricans from voting for president unless they live
in the United States, and gives those on the island only limited representation in Congress.
"Puerto Rico's problem is not its political status," he said. "I think that the United States is the best country in the world, but I am Puerto Rican first."
Both President Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney have said they supported the referendum, with Obama pledging to respect the will of the people if there is a clear majority. Any change would require approval by the U.S. Congress.
Pro-statehooders say Puerto Rico would benefit from becoming a state because it would receive an additional $20 billion a year in federal funds to boost the local economy and combat crime.
AUSTRALIA
AFRICA
A rare female spade-toothed beaked whale lies dead on Opape Beach, in New Zealand. The spade-toothed beaked whale is so rare, nobody has seen one alive. But scientists are sure it exists.
Spade-toothed whale exists
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New banknotes for South Africa
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JOHANNESBURG — New South African banknotes featuring the image of former president and antiapartheid icon Nelson Mandela are going into circulation.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand
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Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus made the first purchase using the new rand notes at a small shop in Pretoria on Tuesday. She says the country tries to upgrade its notes every seven years for security reasons as technologies change.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
— The spade-toothed beaked whale is so rare that nobody has seen one alive, but scientists have proof the species still exists.
It was almost a missed opportunity, however, since conservation workers misidentified the carcasses as a much more common type of whale and buried them.
Two skeletons were identified as belonging to the species after a 17-foot whale and her calf beached themselves in New Zealand in 2010. Scientists hope the discovery will provide insights into the species and into ocean ecosystems.
The new 10,20,50,100 and 200 rand banknotes feature Mandela's image on one side and the other side maintains the Big Five animals already on the bills.
Further tests confirmed the discovery. Constantine said they then retested about 160 samples taken from other stranded Gray's whales but didn't find any more that had been misidentified.
"Kirsten and I went quiet. We were pretty stunned," she said.
This year, researchers returned to the beach to exhume the skeletons.
In a paper published Tuesday in the journal "Current Biology," researchers from New Zealand and the United States say of their discovery: "For the first time we have a description of the world's rarest and perhaps most enigmatic marine mammal."
the beached whales, an adult and her 11-foot male calf, were discovered on Opape Beach on the
Previously only three skull fragments of the species had been found: in New Zealand in 1872 and in the 1950s and the last one 26 years ago on an island off the coast of Chile. The males have broad blade-like tusk teeth that give the species its name. Both males and females have beaks which make them resemble dolphins.
Anton van Helden, who manages the marine mammals collection for New Zealand's national museum Te Papa, said it wasn't a straightforward task to find the
"This is pretty fantastic," said Ewan Fordyce, a geology professor at the University of Otago who specializes in the evolution of whales but who was not involved in the research. "There would be few, if any, mammalian species in the world that would be rarer. And we know much more about panda bears and other iconic, rare animals."
Those samples ended up at the University of Auckland where scientists did routine tests about six months later. Rochelle Constantine, a co-author of the paper, said she and her colleague Kirsten Thompson couldn't believe it when the results showed the pair to be the rarest of whales.
Marcus said Mandela was shown the new banknotes and that he was delighted.
A poster showing safety features of a bank note bearing the image of former president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela at a press launch in Pretoria, South Africa, on Tuesday.
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remains after so long and that the mother's skull, which was buried shallower than the rest of the remains, washed out to sea. But they were able to recover the rest of the skeletons.
Fordyce said it may be possible to use the skeletons of the rare whales to reconstruct their muscles and tissues and to find out more about how they live and die and why they are so reclusive.
He said it's impossible to know why the whales came ashore although whales often beach themselves when they become ill. He said almost nothing is known about the species except they live in the South Pacific Ocean and eat primarily squid.
North Island on New Year's Eve in 2010. Conservation workers thought they were Gray's beaked whales and took tissue samples before burying them about nine feet under the sand.
"It's a hugely significant find," said van Helden, a co-author of the paper.
The scientists say the discovery could also provide broader insights into the ocean's complex ecosystems.
"This is good reminder," said Constantine, "of how large the oceans are, and of how little we know about them."
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