Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Medical Care in Ghanna
Ghana gets tough on 'brain drain' . From the BBC
To coincide with the 60th anniversary of Britain's National Health Service, the BBC looks at healthcare around the world. The BBC's Will Ross reports from Ghana where the "brain drain" has left hospitals struggling.
The exodus of health professionals has affected many African countries
If you want to train in Ghana as a nurse and then disappear in search of greener pastures abroad, you better have deep pockets.
That is the message from the government as it attempts to stem the so called "brain drain" of health workers.
Nurses face a fine if they want to work abroad before serving in a Ghanaian hospital for five years.
"We have looked at the cost of training a nurse and if you default for the whole five years then you will be paying around 12,000 Ghanaian cedis, ($11,000, £5,500)," says James Antwi, the Health Ministry's deputy director of human resources.
In theory a nurse wishing to work abroad would have to produce a certificate as proof of qualification and so until any fine has been paid, the Health Ministry can withhold the certificate.
The Ghanaian government says the threat of a fine has helped although the accountants have not exactly been inundated. Since the scheme was implemented three years ago just four people have paid fines of between $2,000 (£1,000) and $6,000 (£3,000).
I can see why nobody wants to stay here
Nurse Joanna Poku
In 2004, 700 nurses notified the ministry before going to work in Britain. But that has dropped massively to just six nurses leaving to work in the UK last year, according to the government.
This is, however, partly due to the fact that nowadays doctors and nurses from other parts of the European Union would be in front of Ghanaians in the queue for jobs in the British health system. It is also not clear how many have slipped under the government's radar.
There is no practical way of preventing a nurse from quitting the profession altogether and with low morale amongst health workers, retaining staff is a major challenge for the government.
Back-to-back shifts
In the psychiatric hospital in the capital, Accra, young listless patients are watching music videos on television. A health worker is asleep, her head on a table. It is early afternoon. Other staff who have stayed awake are frustrated.
Nurses in Africa often face tough working conditions for little pay
"I started in February and I still haven't been paid. And when you complain it is like it is the norm. You are told, 'It will come it will come,'" says nurse Joanna Poku who trained in the UK before returning home.
"But at the end of the day there are bills to be paid. So I can see why nobody wants to stay here – it is very frustrating."
A nurse in Ghana earns between $300 (£150) and $400 (£200) a month after tax but with rising transport and food costs, many are forced to take on a second job in private health and then to work back-to-back shifts.
So when the Health Ministry states amongst its visions and goals a desire to retain and increase productivity of health workers, why can it not pay all its workers on time?
We no longer have a situation at the end of the month where people are uncertain whether they are to be paid
Dr Sodzi Sodzi-TetteyGhana's Medical Association"This problem has been with us for years and until we get decentralised human resource management and payroll management this problem may have to stay. But we are working hard to get a decentralised system sorted out," says Mr Antwi.
The salary problem seems to be worst for newly enrolled health workers, as testified by the fact that junior doctors went on strike in Accra earlier this week. They were fed up waiting for their first salaries. They had started work back in October.
Apart from salary delays for new recruits, things are apparently improving for doctors (once they are on the payroll) and the exodus is slowing down.
"There are more opportunities for further training and we no longer have a situation at the end of the month where people are uncertain whether they are to be paid or not," says Dr Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, the general secretary of Ghana's Medical Association, before adding that there are still a few concerns about the conditions under which people are working.
Ambitious
He believes that instead of focusing on stopping the brain drain, Ghana should consider training more health workers than it needs and then, under agreement with other countries, exporting the surplus whilst reinvesting some of the money earned.
"If it is really the case that Ghanaian doctors and nurses are that professional and well qualified, is there something to be gained by training say 5,000 a year and sending out 3,000?" Dr Sodzi-Tettey asks, pointing to Cuba for comparison.
Cuba has around 70,000 doctors. Ghana's population is twice the size of Cuba's but has just 2,300 doctors.
This plan, at least for now, seems a little ambitious when there is a morale problem amongst many Ghanaian health workers.
Living in her parent's home in Accra's Asylum Down suburb, 24-year-old nurse Francisca says she had to wait a whole year for her first salary.
"I will still stay in the medical profession, but I doubt I will stay working as a nurse because I believe nurses are being looked down upon in Ghana."
Ms Poku who came back home from the UK just four years ago is already thinking of calling the travel agent.
"If circumstances were good in our own country who would want to leave? Home is home. It is peaceful. Why would you want to go to another country and stress out?
"It's because we are not comfortable," she says after crossing town for the second shift of the day.
Under Fire for Religion? From the BBC
Pro-Chavez Catholics under fire
By James Ingham BBC News, Caracas
Mr Chavez has clashed with the Catholic Church in the past
Religious leaders in Venezuela have criticised a recently formed church that openly backs President Hugo Chavez's socialist politics.
The Reformed Catholic Church was set up by a group of Anglicans and Catholics who wanted to put more emphasis on helping the poor.
But the ruling body of the Catholic Church says its members are criminals who are trying to divide the Church.
The Church and the government have been in frequent conflict in Venezuela.
Catholicism is practised widely in Venezuela, but the new group's open support for President Chavez's socialist policies is deepening those divisions.
Feathers ruffled
The Reformed Catholic Church was set up by a group of priests from a mixed background.
It has a small following - several thousand people in the west the country.
But despite its size, its philosophy has ruffled a few feathers.
The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, the ruling council of the Catholic Church, has described the founders as delinquents.
Its vice president, Archbishop Roberto Luckert, has accused the new organisation of taking government money and mixing politics with religion.
But Enrique Albornoz, who was appointed as the Reformed Church's first bishop last week, denies the allegations.
"We support the work the government is doing for the poor," he told the BBC, "but we don't take any political line."
The breakaway organisation is unusual in supporting Mr Chavez.
The Catholic Church has often clashed with the president, accusing him in the past of taking Venezuela down a path to dictatorship.
He in return has criticised the Church for being elitist and ignoring the country's poor.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
A respector of Persons with repect to persecution AND prosecution
Just a tidbit why we do not have a major bust in Houston. It is political and against good business of drug sales in Houston.
841100, Florida, The Nation, May 7 1988, p634. In November 1984FBI agents in Florida intercepted a shipment of 760 pounds ofcocaine from Honduras and arrested a top-ranking Honduran officer, Jose Bueso Rosa, for his role in a plot to overthrow andmurder the President of Honduras, to be financed by $10 million from the drug deal. And from 1982 to 1986 a drugs-and-armsnetwork which supplied the contras operated out of Honduran airstrips, according to Jose Blandon, former aide to Manuel Noriega, and ABC News. After Bueso was convicted, Oliver North and six other Administration officials pleaded for leniency in sentencing him. They were willing to overlook Bueso'sassociation with drug smugglers because of his valuable, unspecified services to U. S. policy makers. The DEA denies that it showed similar leniency toward the contras' patrons whenit closed its office in Tegucigalpa, Honduras between 1983 and 1988.
841100, Florida, The Nation, May 7 1988, p634. In November 1984FBI agents in Florida intercepted a shipment of 760 pounds ofcocaine from Honduras and arrested a top-ranking Honduran officer, Jose Bueso Rosa, for his role in a plot to overthrow andmurder the President of Honduras, to be financed by $10 million from the drug deal. And from 1982 to 1986 a drugs-and-armsnetwork which supplied the contras operated out of Honduran airstrips, according to Jose Blandon, former aide to Manuel Noriega, and ABC News. After Bueso was convicted, Oliver North and six other Administration officials pleaded for leniency in sentencing him. They were willing to overlook Bueso'sassociation with drug smugglers because of his valuable, unspecified services to U. S. policy makers. The DEA denies that it showed similar leniency toward the contras' patrons whenit closed its office in Tegucigalpa, Honduras between 1983 and 1988.
Evidence of Drug importation on purpose
Information Sources for Allegations Regarding Mena andOther CIA-related Narcotics Trafficking Covert Operations
by lar-jen@interaccess.com (Larry-Jennie)
BOOKS
Castillo, Celerino III and Harmon, Dave, POWDERBURNS, Oakville, Ont., Mosaic Press, 1994 Head of DEA in El Salvador discovered that the Contras were smuggling cocaine into the United States. Castillo's superiors reacted to his reports by burying them. This book is too controversial for an American publisher to print.
Cockburn, Leslie, OUT OF CONTROL, New York, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987 Early account of the of the Reagan Administration's secret war in Nicaragua, the illegal arms pipeline and the Contra drug connection.
Johnson, Haynes, SLEEPWALKING THROUGH HISTORY, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 1991. Pg. 261-274, 292-293 History of the Reagan years traces the relationships of William Casey, Manuel Noriega and the Medellin cocaine cartel.
Gugliotta, Guy and Leen, Jeff, KINGS OF COCAINE, New York, Harper Paperbacks, 1989 Miami drug investigation runs into powerful smugglers.
Levine, Michael, THE BIG WHITE LIE, New York, Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993 DEA undercover investigator learns that the biggest deterrent to stopping the drug epidemic is the Central Intelligence Agency.
Levine, Michael, DEEP COVER, New York, Dell Publishing, 1990 DEA undercover operative penetrates the leadership of the Bolivian cocaine cartel, Panamanian money-launderers and Mexican military middle-men. But it is all for nought, as interference from the CIA and Attorney General Meese, along with DEA infighting, sabotage the investigation.
McCoy, Alfred, THE POLITICS OF HEROIN, Brooklyn, NY, Lawrence Hill Books, 1991 Excellent history about CIA complicity in the global drug trade, from the French Connection, to Southeast Asia and onward into the Afghanistan and Latin America. A must read.
Morris, Roger, PARTNERS IN POWER, New York, Henry Holt and Company, 1996 Traces rise of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Sections on Bill's recruitment by the CIA and his involvement in Mena.
Parry, Robert, FOOLING AMERICA, New York, William Morrow and Company, 1992 Several sections discuss Contra cocaine smuggling in this book which describes how Washington insiders twist the truth and manufacture the Conventional Wisdom.
Persico, Joseph E., CASEY, New York, Viking Penguin, 1990, pg..478-481 Biography on former CIA director William Casey briefly explores the relationships between the CIA and drug traffickers, as well as the protection of narco-CIA assets.
Reed, Terry and Cummings, John, COMPROMISED, New York, S.P.I. Books, 1994 The definitive book on Mena, Reed's first-person account of his CIA service on behalf of the Contras opens eyes as to the relationships between the CIA, drug trafficking and recent occupants of the White House. A second edition is in bookstores, however not from bankrupt S.P.I. Books.
Tyrrell, R. Emmett Jr., BOY CLINTON, Washington, DC, Regnery Press, 1996 Traces rise of Bill Clinton.
NEWSPAPERS
Adams, Lorraine, "North Didn't Relay Drug Tips; DEA Says It Finds No Evidence Reagan Aide Talked to Agency," WASHINGTON POST, October 22, 1994, pg A1 Oliver North knew his Contra network was smuggling cocaine, but he did not inform the DEA as required by law.
Anderson, Jack and Van Atta, Dale, "Drug Runner's Legacy," February 28, 1989 Federal authorities stonewall investigations into Barry Seal's drug-trafficking.
Anderson, Jack and Van Atta, Dale, "Small Town for Smuggling," March 1, 1989 Suspects say they worked for the CIA to turn back investigations into the cocaine of Mena.
Arbanas, Michael, "Hutchinson knew in 83 of Seal probe, ex-IRS agent says," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 19, 1990 IRS agent William Duncan claimed Asa Hutchinson knew about allegations of drug trafficking at Mena when he was U.S. Attorney.
Arbanas, Michael, "Truth on Mena, Seal shrouded in shady allegations; Drug smuggling rumors just won't die," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, December 22, 1990 Long overview of Mena evidence.
Arbanas, Michael, "FBI apparently investigating Mena, Seal," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, May 24, 1991
Bowers, Rodney, "Slain smuggler used airport," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, December 14, 1987 Evidence showing drug smuggler Barry Seal used Mena airport, and that federal Justice officials interfered in local law enforcement investigating the narcotics.
Bowers, Rodney, "House investigators opens Mena probe," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, December 17, 1987 Aide to Congressman William Hughes (D-NJ) visited Mena to gather evidence and testimony.
Brown, Chip, "Former DEA agent: North knew of cocaine shipments to U.S.," ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 17, 1994 DEA agent Celerino Castillo tells of his knowledge regarding drug smuggling through the Contra resupply network.
"Co-pilot held answers sought in investigation; But he died in plane crash in 1985," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 27, 1988, pg 6A
Cockburn, Alexander, "Chapters in the Recent History of Arkansas," THE NATION, February 24, 1992 Describes what was revealed in court papers filed by Terry Reed in his case against Clinton aide Buddy Young regarding CIA Contra cocaine smuggling out of Mena.
Crudele, John, "Drugs and the CIA -- A Scandal Unravels in Arkansas," NEW YORK POST, April 21, 1995 Report that special prosecutor Kenneth Starr is investigating the CIA guns-for-drugs operations at Mena.
Crudele, John, "Bombshell in Arkansas Investigations Brings Both Parties the Jitters," NEW YORK POST, August 14, 1995 Congressman Jim Leach's Banking Committee and the House Judiciciary Committee investigate allegations of cocaine trafficking at Mena that point responsibility at the Clinton, Bush and Reagan administrations.
"Demo Says IRS Blocked Probe Of Drugs, Arms," SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (ASSOCIATED PRESS), July 28, 1989 Rep. Alexander (D-Ark.) Charges the IRS with blocking investigations into cocaine of Mena.
"Deposition summarizes rumors about Seal," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 26, 1988, pg. 18A Former military investigator Gary Wheaton gave a sworn deposition claiming that Barry Seal engaged in gun-running and drug smuggling with the consent of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Central Intelligence Agency.
editorial, "Investigate Mena," WALL STREET JOURNAL, July 10, 1995, pg A12
Epstein, Edward Jay, "On the Mena Trail," WALL STREET JOURNAL, April 20, 1994 The Journal warns that beneath Clinton's crimes, lie the crimes of Reagan and Bush.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "Cocaine and Toga Parties," SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, July 17, 1994 Describes evidence that Bill Clinton enjoyed drugs and young women.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "International Smugglers linked to Contra arms deals," SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, October 9, 1994 Links Contra cocaine smuggling with Bill Clinton associate, Dan Lasater.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "Airport scandal set to crash into White House," DAILY TELEGRAPH, March 27, 1995 Recounts evidence provided by Terry Reed and William Duncan regarding cocaine trafficking through Arkansas.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "Clinton Involved in CIA Arms and Drugs Racket," SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, July 9, 1995 Reveals that AMERICAN SPECTATOR was about to publish an interview with former Clinton bodyguard, L.D. Brown. Conservative editor R. Emmett Tyrrell remarked how shocked he was to uncover CIA skullduggery involving the secret was against the Sandinistas.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "Embattled Clinton falls back on Nixon's Watergate defence," ELECTRONIC TELEGRAPH, December 18, 1995
Haddigan, Michael, "'Fat Man' key to mystery," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 26, 1988, pg. A1 Overview of the investigations and obstructions to uncovering the truth behind the cocaine of Mena.
Haddigan, Michael, "The Kingpin and his many connections," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 27, 1988, pg. 1A Explores the career of Barry Seal.
Haddigan, Michael, "Mena tires of rumors," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 28, 1988, pg. 1A Remote Mena airport does special refittings for planes from around the world.
Hanchette, John, "House Banking Committee Probing Tangled Tale of Mena, Ark.," GANNETT NEWS SERVICE, January 25, 1996 House Banking Chairman Jim Leach is investigating Mena.
Harmon, Dave, "Ex-agent: Drug sales aided contras; Retired DEA man says smuggling, North venture linked," CHICAGO TRIBUNE, January 26, 1993 Celerino Castillo describes the frustration in prosecuting cocaine smugglers involved with the Contra resupply network.
Henson, Maria, "Testimony reveals leak in drug probe: Cost Seal his life, witness says," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, July 29, 1988 House Judiciary subcommittee on crime hears DEA officials tell how a White House leak revealing Barry Seal's undercover work ruined a major drug investigation.
Henson, Maria, "Alexander threatens budget ax to get agency's cooperation; He pledges to continue investigation into drug trafficking," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, October 5, 1988 Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.) tries to force the Reagan administration to allow a General Accounting Office investigation into drug-trafficking around Mena.
"IRS says smuggler owes $29 million, seizes his property," BATON ROUGE STATE TIMES, February 5, 1986, pg. 1-A Some of Barry Seal's assets are listed.
"Judge set to rule in dispute over Seal's tax assessment," BATON ROUGE STATE TIMES, March 28, 1986
Kwitny, Jonathan, "Dope Story: Doubts Rise on Report Reagan Cited in Tying Sandinistas to Cocaine," WALL STREET JOURNAL, April 22, 1987 Account of Barry Seal's activities in Mena and his attempt as a DEA informant to connect the Sandinistas with cocaine trafficking.
Lemons, Terry and Fullerton, Jane, "Perot Called Clinton About Mena Inquiry," ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, April 19, 1992 In 1988, Ross Perot called Gov. Bill Clinton to discuss the allegations of cocaine trafficking on behalf of the Contras in Mena.
Lemons, Terry and Fullerton, Jane, "Perot Vows Mena Airport Won't Be Issue If He Runs," ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, April 26, 1992. Perot confirms that he discussed Mena with Gov. Bill Clinton in 1988.
Morris, Scott, "Clinton: State did all it could in Mena case," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 11, 1991 Gov. Bill Clinton claims the Arkansas State Police conducted a "very vigorous" investigation into allegations of drugs and money-laundering around Mena.
Morrison, Micah, "Mena Coverup? Razorback Columbo to Retire," WALL STREET JOURNAL May 10, 1995, pg. A18 Recounts the efforts of Arkansas State Policeman Russell Welch to investigate Mena, and the career troubles which ensued.
Morrison, Micah, "Mysterious Mena," WALL STREET JOURNAL, June 29, 1994 Recounts the stories about allegations of U.S. government-protected drug-running in Arkansas.
Morrison, Micah, "The Mena Coverup" WALL STREET JOURNAL, October 18, 1994 IRS investigator William Duncan developed documentation proving the money-laundering of cocaine profits through Arkansas.
Nabbefeld, Joe, "Evidence on Mena-CIA ties to go to Walsh; Airport's inclusion in Contra probe urged," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 10, 1991 Iran-contra Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh is given evidence on drug money-laundering involving CIA-Contra activities at Mena.
Norman, Jane, "Arkansas Airstrip Under Investigation," DES MOINES REGISTER, January 26, 1996, pg. 3 House Banking Chairman Jim Leach is investigating Mena.
"Panel investigating slain informant's activities," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, April 11, 1988 House investigators continue probing allegations of Contra cocaine smuggling.
Rafinski, Karen, "North gets boosters, protesters; Controversial Iran-Contra figure campaigns for Hayes," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 23, 1990 Oliver North visits Arkansas to support Republican Terry Hayes running against Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.).
Scarborough, Rowan, "House Panel Takes a Long Look at Mena," WASHINGTON TIMES, January 18, 1996 House Banking Committee is investigating the cocaine trafficking at Mena.
Semien, John, "Agent says Seal trafficked drugs while an informant," BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATE, March 28, 1986 Louisiana state police describe their evidence that Barry Seal was a drug trafficker.
Semien, John, "Plane downed in Nicaragua once owned by Adler Barry Seal," BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATE, March 10, 1986 The plane shot down over Nicaragua, revealing the Iran-contra affair, was owned by drug smuggler Barry Seal.
Semien, John, "Congress investigating Barry Seal's activities," BATON ROUGE SUNDAY ADVOCATE, April 10, 1988 Investigators for the House Subcommittee on Crime visited Louisiana to develop evidence regarding cocaine smuggling and the Contra resupply network.
Stewart, Julie, "Contras, Drug Smuggling Questions Remain About Arkansas Airport, ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 24, 1991
Stinson, Jeffrey, "Alexander vows to find answers to Seal story," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, December 22, 1990 Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.) Renews his efforts for a federal investigation of Mena.
Stinson, Jeffrey, "House panel hears tales of illegal activities at Mena airport," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, July 25, 1991 IRS investigator William Duncan describes the evidence he collected on drug trafficking at Mena and how the Justice Department asked him to perjure himself before a grand jury.
Tyrrell, R. Emmett Jr., "Furtive Drug Flights," August 25, 1995 Former Clinton bodyguard L.D. Brown reveals that apparently both Bill Clinton and George Bush knew about the Contra cocaine flights into Mena.
Walker, Martin, "Conspiracy theorists let imagination run riot over Whitewater scandal; Murder, arson, burglary, drug trafficking . . . they're all part of he plot, if the Clintons' accusers in the press are to be believed," THE GUARDIAN, March 24, 1994 Recounts the darkest allegations against Bill Clinton.
Weiner, Tim, "Suit by Drug Agent Says U.S. Subverted His Burmese Efforts," NEW YORK TIMES, October 27, 1994 Top DEA official in Burma describes how the State Department and CIA jeopardized his heroin investigations and put his life in danger.
MAGAZINES
Chua-Eoan, Howard G. and Shannon, Elaine, "Confidence Games," TIME, November 29, 1993, pg.35 CIA facilities in Venezuela are used to store 1,000 kilos of cocaine that is shipped to Miami.
Corn, David, "The C.I.A. and the Cocaine Coup," THE NATION, October 7, 1991, pg.404 Tells of CIA assistance in 1980 Bolivian coup that put cocaine cartel leaders into power.
COVERT ACTION INFORMATION BULLETIN, "The CIA and Drugs" edition, Number 28 (Summer 1987) Eight articles on the history of CIA drug trafficking and money laundering. Ordering information at http://www.worldmedia.com/caq
Denton, Sally and Morris, Roger, "The Crimes of Mena," PENTHOUSE, July, 1995 This was the story that the WASHINGTON POST spiked. Based on 2,000 documents from the late Barry Seal, Denton and Morris describe the evidence that no one in American political leadership will touch. The story is filthier than any of the pictures.
Dettmer, Jamie and Rodriguez, Paul M., "Starr Investigation Targets Law-Enforcement Complicity," INSIGHT, May 29, 1995 Report that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr was investigating the shredding by Arkansas law enforcement of documents related to Iran-contra drug smuggling.
"Ghosts of carelessness past," ECONOMIST, May 7, 1994, pg. 30 Summary of allegations regarding cocaine smuggling at Mena.
Robinson, Deborah, "Unsolved mysteries in Clinton country," IN THESE TIMES, February 12-18, 1992 As Bill Clinton moved to gain the Democratic nomination for President, allegations surfaced that he ignored local law enforcement officials' pleas for assistance to investigate Mena.
Robinson, Linda and Duffy, Brian, "At play in the field of the spies; A primer: How not to fight the war on drugs," U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, November 29, 1993 CIA operatives in Venezuela were involved in or had known about drug shipments in the United States, but did nothing to stop them.
Tyrrell, R. Emmett Jr., "The Arkansas Drug Shuttle," THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR, August, 1995, pg.16 Story of former Clinton bodyguard, L.D. Brown, and his experiences in the Contra resupply operation
Wheeler, Scott L., "Dateline Mena: New Evidence, Rumored Congressional Inquiry Redirect Attention Toward Lingering Scandal," MEDIA BYPASS, January, 1996, pg. 60 More allegations rise to surface regarding cocaine trafficking at Mena, including evidence that the drug smuggling continues unabated.
"Whitewater Ad Nauseam?" BUSINESSWEEK, February 26, 1996, pg.45 House Banking Chairman James Leach is investigating Mena.
by lar-jen@interaccess.com (Larry-Jennie)
BOOKS
Castillo, Celerino III and Harmon, Dave, POWDERBURNS, Oakville, Ont., Mosaic Press, 1994 Head of DEA in El Salvador discovered that the Contras were smuggling cocaine into the United States. Castillo's superiors reacted to his reports by burying them. This book is too controversial for an American publisher to print.
Cockburn, Leslie, OUT OF CONTROL, New York, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987 Early account of the of the Reagan Administration's secret war in Nicaragua, the illegal arms pipeline and the Contra drug connection.
Johnson, Haynes, SLEEPWALKING THROUGH HISTORY, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 1991. Pg. 261-274, 292-293 History of the Reagan years traces the relationships of William Casey, Manuel Noriega and the Medellin cocaine cartel.
Gugliotta, Guy and Leen, Jeff, KINGS OF COCAINE, New York, Harper Paperbacks, 1989 Miami drug investigation runs into powerful smugglers.
Levine, Michael, THE BIG WHITE LIE, New York, Thunder's Mouth Press, 1993 DEA undercover investigator learns that the biggest deterrent to stopping the drug epidemic is the Central Intelligence Agency.
Levine, Michael, DEEP COVER, New York, Dell Publishing, 1990 DEA undercover operative penetrates the leadership of the Bolivian cocaine cartel, Panamanian money-launderers and Mexican military middle-men. But it is all for nought, as interference from the CIA and Attorney General Meese, along with DEA infighting, sabotage the investigation.
McCoy, Alfred, THE POLITICS OF HEROIN, Brooklyn, NY, Lawrence Hill Books, 1991 Excellent history about CIA complicity in the global drug trade, from the French Connection, to Southeast Asia and onward into the Afghanistan and Latin America. A must read.
Morris, Roger, PARTNERS IN POWER, New York, Henry Holt and Company, 1996 Traces rise of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Sections on Bill's recruitment by the CIA and his involvement in Mena.
Parry, Robert, FOOLING AMERICA, New York, William Morrow and Company, 1992 Several sections discuss Contra cocaine smuggling in this book which describes how Washington insiders twist the truth and manufacture the Conventional Wisdom.
Persico, Joseph E., CASEY, New York, Viking Penguin, 1990, pg..478-481 Biography on former CIA director William Casey briefly explores the relationships between the CIA and drug traffickers, as well as the protection of narco-CIA assets.
Reed, Terry and Cummings, John, COMPROMISED, New York, S.P.I. Books, 1994 The definitive book on Mena, Reed's first-person account of his CIA service on behalf of the Contras opens eyes as to the relationships between the CIA, drug trafficking and recent occupants of the White House. A second edition is in bookstores, however not from bankrupt S.P.I. Books.
Tyrrell, R. Emmett Jr., BOY CLINTON, Washington, DC, Regnery Press, 1996 Traces rise of Bill Clinton.
NEWSPAPERS
Adams, Lorraine, "North Didn't Relay Drug Tips; DEA Says It Finds No Evidence Reagan Aide Talked to Agency," WASHINGTON POST, October 22, 1994, pg A1 Oliver North knew his Contra network was smuggling cocaine, but he did not inform the DEA as required by law.
Anderson, Jack and Van Atta, Dale, "Drug Runner's Legacy," February 28, 1989 Federal authorities stonewall investigations into Barry Seal's drug-trafficking.
Anderson, Jack and Van Atta, Dale, "Small Town for Smuggling," March 1, 1989 Suspects say they worked for the CIA to turn back investigations into the cocaine of Mena.
Arbanas, Michael, "Hutchinson knew in 83 of Seal probe, ex-IRS agent says," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 19, 1990 IRS agent William Duncan claimed Asa Hutchinson knew about allegations of drug trafficking at Mena when he was U.S. Attorney.
Arbanas, Michael, "Truth on Mena, Seal shrouded in shady allegations; Drug smuggling rumors just won't die," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, December 22, 1990 Long overview of Mena evidence.
Arbanas, Michael, "FBI apparently investigating Mena, Seal," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, May 24, 1991
Bowers, Rodney, "Slain smuggler used airport," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, December 14, 1987 Evidence showing drug smuggler Barry Seal used Mena airport, and that federal Justice officials interfered in local law enforcement investigating the narcotics.
Bowers, Rodney, "House investigators opens Mena probe," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, December 17, 1987 Aide to Congressman William Hughes (D-NJ) visited Mena to gather evidence and testimony.
Brown, Chip, "Former DEA agent: North knew of cocaine shipments to U.S.," ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 17, 1994 DEA agent Celerino Castillo tells of his knowledge regarding drug smuggling through the Contra resupply network.
"Co-pilot held answers sought in investigation; But he died in plane crash in 1985," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 27, 1988, pg 6A
Cockburn, Alexander, "Chapters in the Recent History of Arkansas," THE NATION, February 24, 1992 Describes what was revealed in court papers filed by Terry Reed in his case against Clinton aide Buddy Young regarding CIA Contra cocaine smuggling out of Mena.
Crudele, John, "Drugs and the CIA -- A Scandal Unravels in Arkansas," NEW YORK POST, April 21, 1995 Report that special prosecutor Kenneth Starr is investigating the CIA guns-for-drugs operations at Mena.
Crudele, John, "Bombshell in Arkansas Investigations Brings Both Parties the Jitters," NEW YORK POST, August 14, 1995 Congressman Jim Leach's Banking Committee and the House Judiciciary Committee investigate allegations of cocaine trafficking at Mena that point responsibility at the Clinton, Bush and Reagan administrations.
"Demo Says IRS Blocked Probe Of Drugs, Arms," SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (ASSOCIATED PRESS), July 28, 1989 Rep. Alexander (D-Ark.) Charges the IRS with blocking investigations into cocaine of Mena.
"Deposition summarizes rumors about Seal," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 26, 1988, pg. 18A Former military investigator Gary Wheaton gave a sworn deposition claiming that Barry Seal engaged in gun-running and drug smuggling with the consent of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Central Intelligence Agency.
editorial, "Investigate Mena," WALL STREET JOURNAL, July 10, 1995, pg A12
Epstein, Edward Jay, "On the Mena Trail," WALL STREET JOURNAL, April 20, 1994 The Journal warns that beneath Clinton's crimes, lie the crimes of Reagan and Bush.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "Cocaine and Toga Parties," SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, July 17, 1994 Describes evidence that Bill Clinton enjoyed drugs and young women.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "International Smugglers linked to Contra arms deals," SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, October 9, 1994 Links Contra cocaine smuggling with Bill Clinton associate, Dan Lasater.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "Airport scandal set to crash into White House," DAILY TELEGRAPH, March 27, 1995 Recounts evidence provided by Terry Reed and William Duncan regarding cocaine trafficking through Arkansas.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "Clinton Involved in CIA Arms and Drugs Racket," SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, July 9, 1995 Reveals that AMERICAN SPECTATOR was about to publish an interview with former Clinton bodyguard, L.D. Brown. Conservative editor R. Emmett Tyrrell remarked how shocked he was to uncover CIA skullduggery involving the secret was against the Sandinistas.
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose, "Embattled Clinton falls back on Nixon's Watergate defence," ELECTRONIC TELEGRAPH, December 18, 1995
Haddigan, Michael, "'Fat Man' key to mystery," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 26, 1988, pg. A1 Overview of the investigations and obstructions to uncovering the truth behind the cocaine of Mena.
Haddigan, Michael, "The Kingpin and his many connections," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 27, 1988, pg. 1A Explores the career of Barry Seal.
Haddigan, Michael, "Mena tires of rumors," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, June 28, 1988, pg. 1A Remote Mena airport does special refittings for planes from around the world.
Hanchette, John, "House Banking Committee Probing Tangled Tale of Mena, Ark.," GANNETT NEWS SERVICE, January 25, 1996 House Banking Chairman Jim Leach is investigating Mena.
Harmon, Dave, "Ex-agent: Drug sales aided contras; Retired DEA man says smuggling, North venture linked," CHICAGO TRIBUNE, January 26, 1993 Celerino Castillo describes the frustration in prosecuting cocaine smugglers involved with the Contra resupply network.
Henson, Maria, "Testimony reveals leak in drug probe: Cost Seal his life, witness says," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, July 29, 1988 House Judiciary subcommittee on crime hears DEA officials tell how a White House leak revealing Barry Seal's undercover work ruined a major drug investigation.
Henson, Maria, "Alexander threatens budget ax to get agency's cooperation; He pledges to continue investigation into drug trafficking," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, October 5, 1988 Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.) tries to force the Reagan administration to allow a General Accounting Office investigation into drug-trafficking around Mena.
"IRS says smuggler owes $29 million, seizes his property," BATON ROUGE STATE TIMES, February 5, 1986, pg. 1-A Some of Barry Seal's assets are listed.
"Judge set to rule in dispute over Seal's tax assessment," BATON ROUGE STATE TIMES, March 28, 1986
Kwitny, Jonathan, "Dope Story: Doubts Rise on Report Reagan Cited in Tying Sandinistas to Cocaine," WALL STREET JOURNAL, April 22, 1987 Account of Barry Seal's activities in Mena and his attempt as a DEA informant to connect the Sandinistas with cocaine trafficking.
Lemons, Terry and Fullerton, Jane, "Perot Called Clinton About Mena Inquiry," ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, April 19, 1992 In 1988, Ross Perot called Gov. Bill Clinton to discuss the allegations of cocaine trafficking on behalf of the Contras in Mena.
Lemons, Terry and Fullerton, Jane, "Perot Vows Mena Airport Won't Be Issue If He Runs," ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, April 26, 1992. Perot confirms that he discussed Mena with Gov. Bill Clinton in 1988.
Morris, Scott, "Clinton: State did all it could in Mena case," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 11, 1991 Gov. Bill Clinton claims the Arkansas State Police conducted a "very vigorous" investigation into allegations of drugs and money-laundering around Mena.
Morrison, Micah, "Mena Coverup? Razorback Columbo to Retire," WALL STREET JOURNAL May 10, 1995, pg. A18 Recounts the efforts of Arkansas State Policeman Russell Welch to investigate Mena, and the career troubles which ensued.
Morrison, Micah, "Mysterious Mena," WALL STREET JOURNAL, June 29, 1994 Recounts the stories about allegations of U.S. government-protected drug-running in Arkansas.
Morrison, Micah, "The Mena Coverup" WALL STREET JOURNAL, October 18, 1994 IRS investigator William Duncan developed documentation proving the money-laundering of cocaine profits through Arkansas.
Nabbefeld, Joe, "Evidence on Mena-CIA ties to go to Walsh; Airport's inclusion in Contra probe urged," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 10, 1991 Iran-contra Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh is given evidence on drug money-laundering involving CIA-Contra activities at Mena.
Norman, Jane, "Arkansas Airstrip Under Investigation," DES MOINES REGISTER, January 26, 1996, pg. 3 House Banking Chairman Jim Leach is investigating Mena.
"Panel investigating slain informant's activities," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, April 11, 1988 House investigators continue probing allegations of Contra cocaine smuggling.
Rafinski, Karen, "North gets boosters, protesters; Controversial Iran-Contra figure campaigns for Hayes," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, September 23, 1990 Oliver North visits Arkansas to support Republican Terry Hayes running against Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.).
Scarborough, Rowan, "House Panel Takes a Long Look at Mena," WASHINGTON TIMES, January 18, 1996 House Banking Committee is investigating the cocaine trafficking at Mena.
Semien, John, "Agent says Seal trafficked drugs while an informant," BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATE, March 28, 1986 Louisiana state police describe their evidence that Barry Seal was a drug trafficker.
Semien, John, "Plane downed in Nicaragua once owned by Adler Barry Seal," BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATE, March 10, 1986 The plane shot down over Nicaragua, revealing the Iran-contra affair, was owned by drug smuggler Barry Seal.
Semien, John, "Congress investigating Barry Seal's activities," BATON ROUGE SUNDAY ADVOCATE, April 10, 1988 Investigators for the House Subcommittee on Crime visited Louisiana to develop evidence regarding cocaine smuggling and the Contra resupply network.
Stewart, Julie, "Contras, Drug Smuggling Questions Remain About Arkansas Airport, ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 24, 1991
Stinson, Jeffrey, "Alexander vows to find answers to Seal story," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, December 22, 1990 Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.) Renews his efforts for a federal investigation of Mena.
Stinson, Jeffrey, "House panel hears tales of illegal activities at Mena airport," ARKANSAS GAZETTE, July 25, 1991 IRS investigator William Duncan describes the evidence he collected on drug trafficking at Mena and how the Justice Department asked him to perjure himself before a grand jury.
Tyrrell, R. Emmett Jr., "Furtive Drug Flights," August 25, 1995 Former Clinton bodyguard L.D. Brown reveals that apparently both Bill Clinton and George Bush knew about the Contra cocaine flights into Mena.
Walker, Martin, "Conspiracy theorists let imagination run riot over Whitewater scandal; Murder, arson, burglary, drug trafficking . . . they're all part of he plot, if the Clintons' accusers in the press are to be believed," THE GUARDIAN, March 24, 1994 Recounts the darkest allegations against Bill Clinton.
Weiner, Tim, "Suit by Drug Agent Says U.S. Subverted His Burmese Efforts," NEW YORK TIMES, October 27, 1994 Top DEA official in Burma describes how the State Department and CIA jeopardized his heroin investigations and put his life in danger.
MAGAZINES
Chua-Eoan, Howard G. and Shannon, Elaine, "Confidence Games," TIME, November 29, 1993, pg.35 CIA facilities in Venezuela are used to store 1,000 kilos of cocaine that is shipped to Miami.
Corn, David, "The C.I.A. and the Cocaine Coup," THE NATION, October 7, 1991, pg.404 Tells of CIA assistance in 1980 Bolivian coup that put cocaine cartel leaders into power.
COVERT ACTION INFORMATION BULLETIN, "The CIA and Drugs" edition, Number 28 (Summer 1987) Eight articles on the history of CIA drug trafficking and money laundering. Ordering information at http://www.worldmedia.com/caq
Denton, Sally and Morris, Roger, "The Crimes of Mena," PENTHOUSE, July, 1995 This was the story that the WASHINGTON POST spiked. Based on 2,000 documents from the late Barry Seal, Denton and Morris describe the evidence that no one in American political leadership will touch. The story is filthier than any of the pictures.
Dettmer, Jamie and Rodriguez, Paul M., "Starr Investigation Targets Law-Enforcement Complicity," INSIGHT, May 29, 1995 Report that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr was investigating the shredding by Arkansas law enforcement of documents related to Iran-contra drug smuggling.
"Ghosts of carelessness past," ECONOMIST, May 7, 1994, pg. 30 Summary of allegations regarding cocaine smuggling at Mena.
Robinson, Deborah, "Unsolved mysteries in Clinton country," IN THESE TIMES, February 12-18, 1992 As Bill Clinton moved to gain the Democratic nomination for President, allegations surfaced that he ignored local law enforcement officials' pleas for assistance to investigate Mena.
Robinson, Linda and Duffy, Brian, "At play in the field of the spies; A primer: How not to fight the war on drugs," U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, November 29, 1993 CIA operatives in Venezuela were involved in or had known about drug shipments in the United States, but did nothing to stop them.
Tyrrell, R. Emmett Jr., "The Arkansas Drug Shuttle," THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR, August, 1995, pg.16 Story of former Clinton bodyguard, L.D. Brown, and his experiences in the Contra resupply operation
Wheeler, Scott L., "Dateline Mena: New Evidence, Rumored Congressional Inquiry Redirect Attention Toward Lingering Scandal," MEDIA BYPASS, January, 1996, pg. 60 More allegations rise to surface regarding cocaine trafficking at Mena, including evidence that the drug smuggling continues unabated.
"Whitewater Ad Nauseam?" BUSINESSWEEK, February 26, 1996, pg.45 House Banking Chairman James Leach is investigating Mena.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A worthy candidate for support. To Obama, and Bradford
We will get him up to snuff on the " war" on drugs, and how victims are "made"
Elect a state ATTORNEY GENERAL AND LOCAL COUNTY PROSECUTOR WHO WILL KNOW ABOUT THE SO CALLED WAR
There was much activity today in the life of this Democrat by birth. Yes that is right, in the blood. I pull no punches. I attended the C.O Bradford fundraiser.
The fact of the matter is that it is contingent upon the health of democracy in these United States to not chose by color of the skin but by content of the issues being addressed. Yet he is the best candidate. He is for justice.
One of the largest things to confront, an albatros of sorts is the issue of the "War "on drugs. It is quite simply not a war on drugs but a war on the people who are victims of the drugs. Why not get serious about confronting the people who pay for the major shipments to be brought in? Why not put a mandatory life sentence on the people who finance large quantities into the US or give the death penalty?
We need to re-think the "war" at the regional state and Federal levels in a coordinated fashion in order to allow for a maximization of result in prevention as opposed to at the end in incarderation.
My vote, should I have one, will be to offer the candidates a test first on their knowledge of the book " The Strength of the Wolf". This will be our on the job manual.
The fact of the matter is that it is contingent upon the health of democracy in these United States to not chose by color of the skin but by content of the issues being addressed. Yet he is the best candidate. He is for justice.
One of the largest things to confront, an albatros of sorts is the issue of the "War "on drugs. It is quite simply not a war on drugs but a war on the people who are victims of the drugs. Why not get serious about confronting the people who pay for the major shipments to be brought in? Why not put a mandatory life sentence on the people who finance large quantities into the US or give the death penalty?
We need to re-think the "war" at the regional state and Federal levels in a coordinated fashion in order to allow for a maximization of result in prevention as opposed to at the end in incarderation.
My vote, should I have one, will be to offer the candidates a test first on their knowledge of the book " The Strength of the Wolf". This will be our on the job manual.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Getty + Hitler ( well documented)
A BILLION BUCKS ... 1ST film in GETTY/HITLER TRILOGY ... GETTYMOVIE directed by Grant MacDonald ucla.Yahoo MOVIES .... GETTYMOVIE. This intriguing 40-minute documentary from writer/director Grant MacDonald explores the shady dealings of Wall Street in the months leading up to American involvement in World War II, as J.P. Getty continues shipping oil to Hitler's Germany well into 1941.A BILLION BUCKS+ ... #4 FARMCLUB/USA Networks/MTV/MuchMusic.Music Director's favorite ... KSPC 88.7 FM ... CLAREMONT CALIFORNIA. It was a joyous moment, finding this record. Proof, somehow, that there are people of brilliance out there.It’s the soundtrack to MacDonald’s film about how the Getty Oil Company sold oil to the Nazis during WW2. JP GETTY FBI FILE 100.1202 JUNE 26, 1940 ESPIONAGEThe UK & FBI reported that JP GETTY was filling his Hotel Pierre in New York City with Nazi spies who were sabotaging Allied forces weaponry plants. JP Getty's mother was German. 43,000 people were killed in UK between Aug/Oct 1940. The FBI reported that JP Getty was still shipping oil to Hitler nine months after London was being bombed; several years into the Holocaust; five months before Pearl Harbor ... December 7, 1941.I just happened to be in a class when the instructor ran across this information. It came from my request to find where Germany got their oil prior to their invasion of Austria and Romania. Both Austria and romania were rich with underground reserves. The Germans were land-locked but had money raised in constant campaining and confiscation of assests of the Jewish people of Germany who were told to get out leave their assets and keeep their life.
It gets deeper when we look at who performed the geologic surveys, and the geographic ones from above.
I admire Grant and especially his technique when we consider the necessity of a planned reparation program to aid poor whites and blacks who have a business plan.
Grant MacDonald, DBA, LL.D.
Chairman of the Board
chairman@macdonaldbank.com
GETTY WAR CRIMES LAWSUIT GOES FORWARD
Grant MacDonald is filing a $22 billion war crimes lawsuit in Washington against the Getty Oil Company benefactors based on Getty's support for Hitler & the Nazis in WWII. 43,000 people were killed in the UK while Getty was in Berlin shipping oil to Hitler five months before Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1941 when Getty assiduously added to his art collection; with the Nazi leaders. Death - does not rule out - one going forward with civil forfeiture proceedings. Explained further .... Getty benefactors -- at the end of the day -- cannot sit on the spoils of Jean Paul Getty’s crimes.
Chairman of the Board
chairman@macdonaldbank.com
GETTY WAR CRIMES LAWSUIT GOES FORWARD
Grant MacDonald is filing a $22 billion war crimes lawsuit in Washington against the Getty Oil Company benefactors based on Getty's support for Hitler & the Nazis in WWII. 43,000 people were killed in the UK while Getty was in Berlin shipping oil to Hitler five months before Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1941 when Getty assiduously added to his art collection; with the Nazi leaders. Death - does not rule out - one going forward with civil forfeiture proceedings. Explained further .... Getty benefactors -- at the end of the day -- cannot sit on the spoils of Jean Paul Getty’s crimes.
The Price of Oil. To Obama only not to you or yo momma
Why the Price of Oil Is Surging*
ByGeorge Reisman**
Over the last year, the price of oil has once again been surging. The most prominent immediate cause has been cutbacks in the production of oil on the part of the member countries of OPEC, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. But there are other and deeper causes at work, just as there were in the 1970s, when the price of oil dramatically increased.
First, the government of the United States was and is bent on a reckless expansion of the money supply. This acts to raise the demand for everything and thus the price of everything. Until recently, the main effect of the current rapid expansion in the quantity of money was to drive up stock prices and then real estate prices. But now it is spreading to commodity prices, oil in particular. It is only an expansion in the quantity of money and the corresponding increase in the overall ability to spend money that enables people to make sharply increased expenditures for oil and oil products without having to equivalently reduce their expenditures for other things and thereby reduce the prices of a wide range of other things.
And second, it is the U. S. government, no less than the governments that are members of the international oil cartel, that was and is responsible for the reduction in the supply of oil.
The U.S. government, acting largely under the influence of the ecology movement, has restricted the supply of oil in the following ways: (1) It has prevented exploration for and development of oil reserves in vast areas of territory arbitrarily set aside as “wildlife preserves” or “wilderness areas.” It has even consistently sought to prevent the development of the vital North Slope Alaskan oil fields, on the grounds of alleged concerns over harmful “environmental” effects, such as disturbance of the feeding habits of caribou herds and deterioration in the appearance of frozen waste lands. (2) It has joined in an international agreement to close Antarctica and its potentially vast oil deposits to all mining operations for the next fifty years. (3) It has prevented the development of offshore oil wells on the continental shelf. (4) It has prevented the construction of oil and gas pipelines, of new refineries, oil storage facilities, and facilities for handling supertankers. (5) Over the years, the U.S. government has imposed price controls on oil and has acted further to restrict oil company profits, and thus oil industry investment, by punitively increasing their rate of taxation through first reducing and then totally abolishing the old depletion allowance on crude oil.
In addition, the U.S. government has been responsible for an enormous artificial increase in the demand for oil, over and above the increase caused by its policy of inflation. It has caused this artificial increase in demand mainly by holding down the supply of substitutes for oil, such as atomic power and coal. In these ways, it forced, and continues to force, the demand for fuel to rely more heavily than necessary on oil supplies. Like reductions in the supply of oil, these measures also increase the scarcity of oil.
In sum, the government and the ecology movement have done everything in their power to raise the demand for and restrict the supply of oil.
It should be realized that it was only these actions of the U.S. government that has made possible the dramatic rise in the price of oil—in the 1970s and again today. The U.S. government bears a far greater responsibility than the Arab cartel. It is the party that has made it possible for the cartel to succeed. All that the cartel did in the 1970s, and is once again doing now, is to take advantage of the artificial increase in demand and reduction of supply brought about by the U.S. government.
Had the U.S. government not restricted the expansion of the domestic petroleum industry and forced up the demand for oil, the supply reductions carried out by the cartel would not have had such a significant effect on the price. Because in that case, such supply reductions would have been at the expense of far less important wants than actually turned out to be the case. With the larger domestic supply of oil and competing fuels that a free market would have produced, the importance of any given amount of oil would have been far less. The loss of any given amount of oil by virtue of the supply reductions carried out by the cartel would therefore have been much less serious. (An analogy would be the difference between someone having to give up a scoop of ice cream when he has three or four scoops compared with when he has only two scoops.) As a result, the cartel would not have been able to raise the price nearly as much by virtue of any given amount of supply reduction.
In such circumstances, in order to establish a price of crude oil as high as existed back in the 1970s, or as high as exists today, the cartel members would have had to reduce their production far more than they actually did reduce it. They would have had to reduce their production by an additional amount equal to the sum of the reduced supply and increased demand for oil caused by the policies of the U.S. government. This would have been too great a loss of volume for the cartel to be able to benefit from the high price.
Furthermore, in the absence both of environmental restrictions on the supply of domestically produced oil and of controls on the price of such oil, any rise in the price of oil achieved by the cartel would work to the advantage of the American oil industry at the expense of the oil industry in the countries belonging to the cartel. This alone would be enough to frustrate the plans of the cartel. For in this case, the effect of the cartel's reduction of supply would be to hand the American oil industry the profits and the capital required for an expansion of supply. The cartel would then either have to allow the price of oil to fall or else it would have to restrict its own production still further, which would mean that the American oil companies would earn the high price of oil on a larger volume of production and have still greater profits available for expansion, thereby creating still worse problems for the cartel in the future.
It should be obvious that it is impossible for any cartel to succeed that is confronted with a major competitor able to profit from its policies and expand his production. The Arab cartel was and is able to succeed only because the U.S. government did, and continues to do, its utmost to prevent the cartel's competition—the U.S. oil industry—from earning high profits and expanding. Although it was and is certainly not their intent, those elected officials who have been setting the U.S. government’s energy policy for much of the last thirty years have behaved as though they owed their election to voters in the member countries of the Arab cartel, rather than to voters in the United States. For it has certainly not been an American constituency that their actions have served, but the interests of the Arab cartel.
In the absence of the U.S. government's misguided policies, the Arab cartel would probably never even have been formed in the first place, because the conditions required for its success would have been totally lacking. If, today, the United States were to abolish its restrictions on the production of energy and abstain from enacting price controls and any other punitive measures against the American oil and other energy-producing industries, the OPEC cartel would be broken once and for all, and the real price of energy would resume the descent it enjoyed from the start of the Industrial Revolution until the 1970s.
Such a policy, of course, would entail removing the prohibitions on the construction of atomic power plants and the restrictions on the strip mining of coal. It would also entail the privatization of the vast landholdings of the federal and state governments in Alaska and the other Western states and of the continental shelf, and then fully respecting the right of the new private property owners to use their property as they saw fit, so that oil, coal, and gas reserves and atomic power could all be freely developed. That would be a policy of abundant and cheap energy in all of its forms. It would be a policy that would operate in favor of the American consumer, not the Arab governments that control substantial oil reserves.
This article appeared in the Commentary Section of The Orange County Register, Sunday, April 2, 2000.
*Copyright © 2000 by George Reisman. All rights reserved.
**George Reisman, Ph.D., is professor of Economics at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management and is the author of Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics (Ottawa, Illinois: James
ByGeorge Reisman**
Over the last year, the price of oil has once again been surging. The most prominent immediate cause has been cutbacks in the production of oil on the part of the member countries of OPEC, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. But there are other and deeper causes at work, just as there were in the 1970s, when the price of oil dramatically increased.
First, the government of the United States was and is bent on a reckless expansion of the money supply. This acts to raise the demand for everything and thus the price of everything. Until recently, the main effect of the current rapid expansion in the quantity of money was to drive up stock prices and then real estate prices. But now it is spreading to commodity prices, oil in particular. It is only an expansion in the quantity of money and the corresponding increase in the overall ability to spend money that enables people to make sharply increased expenditures for oil and oil products without having to equivalently reduce their expenditures for other things and thereby reduce the prices of a wide range of other things.
And second, it is the U. S. government, no less than the governments that are members of the international oil cartel, that was and is responsible for the reduction in the supply of oil.
The U.S. government, acting largely under the influence of the ecology movement, has restricted the supply of oil in the following ways: (1) It has prevented exploration for and development of oil reserves in vast areas of territory arbitrarily set aside as “wildlife preserves” or “wilderness areas.” It has even consistently sought to prevent the development of the vital North Slope Alaskan oil fields, on the grounds of alleged concerns over harmful “environmental” effects, such as disturbance of the feeding habits of caribou herds and deterioration in the appearance of frozen waste lands. (2) It has joined in an international agreement to close Antarctica and its potentially vast oil deposits to all mining operations for the next fifty years. (3) It has prevented the development of offshore oil wells on the continental shelf. (4) It has prevented the construction of oil and gas pipelines, of new refineries, oil storage facilities, and facilities for handling supertankers. (5) Over the years, the U.S. government has imposed price controls on oil and has acted further to restrict oil company profits, and thus oil industry investment, by punitively increasing their rate of taxation through first reducing and then totally abolishing the old depletion allowance on crude oil.
In addition, the U.S. government has been responsible for an enormous artificial increase in the demand for oil, over and above the increase caused by its policy of inflation. It has caused this artificial increase in demand mainly by holding down the supply of substitutes for oil, such as atomic power and coal. In these ways, it forced, and continues to force, the demand for fuel to rely more heavily than necessary on oil supplies. Like reductions in the supply of oil, these measures also increase the scarcity of oil.
In sum, the government and the ecology movement have done everything in their power to raise the demand for and restrict the supply of oil.
It should be realized that it was only these actions of the U.S. government that has made possible the dramatic rise in the price of oil—in the 1970s and again today. The U.S. government bears a far greater responsibility than the Arab cartel. It is the party that has made it possible for the cartel to succeed. All that the cartel did in the 1970s, and is once again doing now, is to take advantage of the artificial increase in demand and reduction of supply brought about by the U.S. government.
Had the U.S. government not restricted the expansion of the domestic petroleum industry and forced up the demand for oil, the supply reductions carried out by the cartel would not have had such a significant effect on the price. Because in that case, such supply reductions would have been at the expense of far less important wants than actually turned out to be the case. With the larger domestic supply of oil and competing fuels that a free market would have produced, the importance of any given amount of oil would have been far less. The loss of any given amount of oil by virtue of the supply reductions carried out by the cartel would therefore have been much less serious. (An analogy would be the difference between someone having to give up a scoop of ice cream when he has three or four scoops compared with when he has only two scoops.) As a result, the cartel would not have been able to raise the price nearly as much by virtue of any given amount of supply reduction.
In such circumstances, in order to establish a price of crude oil as high as existed back in the 1970s, or as high as exists today, the cartel members would have had to reduce their production far more than they actually did reduce it. They would have had to reduce their production by an additional amount equal to the sum of the reduced supply and increased demand for oil caused by the policies of the U.S. government. This would have been too great a loss of volume for the cartel to be able to benefit from the high price.
Furthermore, in the absence both of environmental restrictions on the supply of domestically produced oil and of controls on the price of such oil, any rise in the price of oil achieved by the cartel would work to the advantage of the American oil industry at the expense of the oil industry in the countries belonging to the cartel. This alone would be enough to frustrate the plans of the cartel. For in this case, the effect of the cartel's reduction of supply would be to hand the American oil industry the profits and the capital required for an expansion of supply. The cartel would then either have to allow the price of oil to fall or else it would have to restrict its own production still further, which would mean that the American oil companies would earn the high price of oil on a larger volume of production and have still greater profits available for expansion, thereby creating still worse problems for the cartel in the future.
It should be obvious that it is impossible for any cartel to succeed that is confronted with a major competitor able to profit from its policies and expand his production. The Arab cartel was and is able to succeed only because the U.S. government did, and continues to do, its utmost to prevent the cartel's competition—the U.S. oil industry—from earning high profits and expanding. Although it was and is certainly not their intent, those elected officials who have been setting the U.S. government’s energy policy for much of the last thirty years have behaved as though they owed their election to voters in the member countries of the Arab cartel, rather than to voters in the United States. For it has certainly not been an American constituency that their actions have served, but the interests of the Arab cartel.
In the absence of the U.S. government's misguided policies, the Arab cartel would probably never even have been formed in the first place, because the conditions required for its success would have been totally lacking. If, today, the United States were to abolish its restrictions on the production of energy and abstain from enacting price controls and any other punitive measures against the American oil and other energy-producing industries, the OPEC cartel would be broken once and for all, and the real price of energy would resume the descent it enjoyed from the start of the Industrial Revolution until the 1970s.
Such a policy, of course, would entail removing the prohibitions on the construction of atomic power plants and the restrictions on the strip mining of coal. It would also entail the privatization of the vast landholdings of the federal and state governments in Alaska and the other Western states and of the continental shelf, and then fully respecting the right of the new private property owners to use their property as they saw fit, so that oil, coal, and gas reserves and atomic power could all be freely developed. That would be a policy of abundant and cheap energy in all of its forms. It would be a policy that would operate in favor of the American consumer, not the Arab governments that control substantial oil reserves.
This article appeared in the Commentary Section of The Orange County Register, Sunday, April 2, 2000.
*Copyright © 2000 by George Reisman. All rights reserved.
**George Reisman, Ph.D., is professor of Economics at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management and is the author of Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics (Ottawa, Illinois: James
Friday, June 20, 2008
I said for OBAMA only, not for your momma
Flexible learning in an information societyby Badrul Huda Khan - Distance education - 2007 - 354 pages
"This book uses a flexible learning framework to explain the best ways of creating a meaningful learning environment.
Limited preview - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
Managing E-learning: Design, Delivery, Implementation, and Evaluationby Badrul Huda Khan - Distance education - 2005 - 424 pages
"This book provides readers with a broad understanding of the emerging field of e-learning and also advises readers on the issues that are critical to the...
Limited preview - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
Web-Based Trainingby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 2001 - 599 pages
No preview available - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
E-learning QUICK Checklistby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 2005 - 213 pages
Walks readers through developing, evaluating and implementing an open, flexible and distributed learning environment.
Limited preview - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
Web-Based Instructionby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 1997
No preview available - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
"This book uses a flexible learning framework to explain the best ways of creating a meaningful learning environment.
Limited preview - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
Managing E-learning: Design, Delivery, Implementation, and Evaluationby Badrul Huda Khan - Distance education - 2005 - 424 pages
"This book provides readers with a broad understanding of the emerging field of e-learning and also advises readers on the issues that are critical to the...
Limited preview - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
Web-Based Trainingby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 2001 - 599 pages
No preview available - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
E-learning QUICK Checklistby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 2005 - 213 pages
Walks readers through developing, evaluating and implementing an open, flexible and distributed learning environment.
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Web-Based Instructionby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 1997
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I said for OBAMA only, not for your momma
Flexible learning in an information societyby Badrul Huda Khan - Distance education - 2007 - 354 pages
"This book uses a flexible learning framework to explain the best ways of creating a meaningful learning environment.
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Managing E-learning: Design, Delivery, Implementation, and Evaluationby Badrul Huda Khan - Distance education - 2005 - 424 pages
"This book provides readers with a broad understanding of the emerging field of e-learning and also advises readers on the issues that are critical to the...
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Web-Based Trainingby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 2001 - 599 pages
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E-learning QUICK Checklistby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 2005 - 213 pages
Walks readers through developing, evaluating and implementing an open, flexible and distributed learning environment.
Limited preview - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
Web-Based Instructionby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 1997
No preview available - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
"This book uses a flexible learning framework to explain the best ways of creating a meaningful learning environment.
Limited preview - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
Managing E-learning: Design, Delivery, Implementation, and Evaluationby Badrul Huda Khan - Distance education - 2005 - 424 pages
"This book provides readers with a broad understanding of the emerging field of e-learning and also advises readers on the issues that are critical to the...
Limited preview - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
Web-Based Trainingby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 2001 - 599 pages
No preview available - About this book - Add to my library - More editions
E-learning QUICK Checklistby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 2005 - 213 pages
Walks readers through developing, evaluating and implementing an open, flexible and distributed learning environment.
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Web-Based Instructionby Badrul Huda Khan - Education - 1997
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Tell yo Momma not to look. This is for OBAMA's eyes only
Curriculum Overlay Model for Embedding DigitalResourcesHuda Khan, Keith Maull, Tamara SumnerInstitute of Cognitive ScienceDepartment of Computer ScienceUniversity of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309huda.khan, keith.maull, tamara.sumner@colorado.eduABSTRACTThis paper describes the design and implementation of a curriculumoverlay model for the representation of adaptable curriculum usingeducational digital library resources. We focus on representingcurriculum to enable the incorporation of digital resources intocurriculum and curriculum sharing and customization by educators.We defined this model as a result of longitudinal studies oneducators’ development and customization of curriculum and userinterface design studies of prototypes representing curriculum. Likeoverlay journals or the information network overlay model, ourcurriculum overlay model defines curriculum as a compound objectwith internal semantic relationships and relationships to digitallibrary metadata describing resources. We validated this model byinstantiating the model using science curriculum which uses digitallibrary resources and using this instantiation within an applicationthat, built on FEDORA, supports curriculum customization.Findings from this work can support the design of digital libraryservices for customizing curriculum which embeds digital resources.Categories and Subject DescriptorsH.1.2 [Models and Principles]: User/Machine Systems; H3.7[Information Storage and Retrieval]: Digital Libraries – Userissues; K.3.1. [Computers and Education]: Computer Users inEducation – Computer-assisted instruction.General Terms: Design, Human Factors.KeywordsPersonalization, digital libraries, curriculum, FEDORA, contentmodels, lessons, Teaching Boxes.1. INTRODUCTIONEducational digital libraries and the World Wide Web have madeinteractive educational resources available to educators at anunprecedented scale. The Effective Access project [10], whichsurveyed high school educators’ attitudes towards and use of webbasededucational resources, reports significant enthusiasm for usingweb-based resources in science and mathematics instruction.Respondents to this national survey repeatedly stressed the potentialof interactive resources for creating engaging learning experiences,for incorporating real-world scientific data into classroominstruction, and for generally increasing the relevance of science to“play station nation” [ibid]. However, despite the reportedenthusiasm, interactive educational resources are largely not beingintegrated into mainstream teaching practices. Barriers to useinclude a lack of technical infrastructure in schools, lack ofprofessional development to help educators teach with technology,and lack of alignment with core curricula that have been adopted bytheir school or school district [ibid]. This issue of curricularalignment, which is the focus of our work, transcends nationalborders, as many countries have mandated national curricula, whileothers have recommended educational standards.These findings align with other research on middle and high schooleducators’ interactions with curriculum [4, 9, 20]. Educators do notteach individual resources isolated from curriculum, rather they (a)integrate resources into curriculum aligned with specific standardsand intended learning goals and (b) use resources to customize corecurriculum to fit their specific classroom teaching contexts. Thecontext affecting classroom teaching includes grade level, classroompace, student background in the topic, student misconceptions, andstudent interest. Whereas previous efforts such as the InstructionalArchitect [19] focus on individual educators’ construction of webbasedcontent employing digital resources, we focus on modelingcurriculum which employs educational digital resources. Our workis motivated by the need for a representation of curriculum whichallows the systematic and scalable embedding of web-basededucational resources, which may be created by many differentinstitutions, into middle and high school science curriculum.In this article, we discuss the design and instantiation of acurriculum overlay model that incorporates individual educationalresources into a coherent curriculum context, and supports digitallibrary services for the customization, sharing, and maintenance ofcurricula incorporating interactive resources. This model definescurricular components (such as learning goals, lessons, activities,and resources), related components (such as notes describing thepotential use of resource to teach a particular science concept), therelationships between components, and associated behaviors. Thiscurriculum overlay model offers a general framework for digitallibrary services supporting incorporation of educational resourcesinto curriculum. This framework has been informed by multiplestudies with science educators. These studies, which span threeyears of research, include longitudinal observations of mastereducators engaged in curriculum design and adaptation, analyses ofexisting exemplary science curriculum, and interviews and usabilitystudies on evolving prototypes.In the remainder of this article, we first review related work inlearning objects, digital libraries, and curriculum design. We thendescribe the studies that informed the design of the curriculumoverlay model. An abstract representation of the resultingcurriculum overlay model is then presented, followed by a detailedPermission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work forpersonal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies arenot made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copiesbear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, orrepublish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specificpermission and/or a fee.JCDL ’08, June 16–20, 2008, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.Copyright 2008 ACM 978-1-59593-998-2/08/06…$5.00.74discussion of its implementation in the Federated Digital ObjectRepository Architecture (FEDORA) [8]. Finally, we describe howwe validated this model by using it to instantiate existing sciencecurriculum and discuss future work to further demonstrate themodel’s robustness and generalizability.2. RELATED WORKOne prominent area in the design of computational representationsof educational content is the learning objects paradigm. Wileydefines a learning object as “any digital resource that can be reusedto support learning” [22] and describes learning objects as analogsto computational objects in the object-oriented paradigm. A learningobject can thus include educational content in the form of lessons,modules, tutorials, or activities. A “learning content managementsystem” is a course management system which supports theadministration and use of learning objects in online courses.Designing learning objects entails using one of multiplespecification and packaging standards in order to deploy thoselearning objects in different learning content management systems(LCMSs). Examples of learning object specifications and standardsinclude the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM),developed by the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL)to support self-study modules, and the Learning ObjectManagement (LOM) standard, which includes 76 different metadatamarkup fields for the specification of information about learningobjects [2, 7].Learning object research has explored the packaging andspecification of learning objects with an emphasis on how theseobjects can be included in learning content management systems tosupport self-directed learning. Here, in contrast, we focus supportingK-12 educators’ review and customization of curriculumincorporating educational resources for use in formal classroomteaching. We focus not on the packaging of individual resources buton the representation of a coherent yet extensible curriculum ‘layer’which embeds educational resources.Table 1 provides an overview of the terms we use in this paper andtheir associated meaning. In the context of this work, the term‘resource’ refers to a more general term than learning object,encapsulating websites and data-sets with associated metadatadescriptions without requiring a particular specification format.Table 1. Overview of terms.Resource A web-site (e.g. lesson plans, activities, etc.) orweb-based data (e.g. images, data sets, etc.) whichhas associated metadata describing itscharacteristics (e.g. author, title, URL, etc.) Aresource refers to an entity which is more generalthan a ‘learning object’.Curriculum The definitions of this term vary from lessonsactually taught in class to a year-long or multigradelevel description of learning goals andsubject matter to be taught to students [1]. Here,we use the term to refer to educators’ plans forclassroom teaching, including lessons andactivities.FlexiblyAdaptiveCurriculumCurriculum that is designed to provide multiplemodules of instruction or multiple exemplars,promoting adaptation of the curriculum in differentlocal contexts [9, 20].Our research focuses on the representation of ‘sustainable’curriculum [9] overlaid on educational resources. One approachtowards the design of sustainable curriculum is the incorporation ofthe capacity for extension and adaptation in the curriculum,allowing the curriculum to be used and customized long after itsinitial design and in different classroom contexts [4, 9, 20].Educators’ teaching of curriculum is affected by multiple classroomcontextual factors such as student learning styles, studentcomprehension of pre-requisite concepts, and student interest.Furthermore, factors such as location may affect what kinds ofexamples or activities connect with students’ experiences with theirsurroundings and environment. Localized examples, instead ofbeing a hindrance to use of educational resources, provide thecontextual information which supports educators’ understanding ofhow to use resources to achieve particular learning objectives withtheir students [4, 9, 20]. Thus, our research work explores the designof ‘flexibly adaptive’ curriculum to support use of educationalresources by teachers in their individual classroom settings.The conception of curriculum as a layer of contextualizationoverlaid on educational resources relates to research on overlayjournals [21], information network overlay [14, 15], and OpenArchives Initiative – Object Reuse and Exchange (OAI-ORE) [16].Research on overlay journals explores the repurposing of scholarlyjournal articles originally published in different journals andresiding in heterogeneous repositories. Services which allow editorsto integrate these different articles into a new context of citation,while maintaining references to the ‘lineage’ of these articles or theoriginal publication and repository location, support disseminationand scholarly communication. Similarly, our research explores therepurposing of individual resources in new curricular contexts whilemaintaining the links to the digital library origins of these resources(including access to metadata). The information network overlaymodel explores a similar overlay of relationships to externalontologies, such as those for educational standards, onto a networkof digital objects describing National Science Digital Library(NSDL) [18] resources and their associated metadata.Research on OAI-ORE seeks to define an interoperability layerwhich enables the machine-readable sharing and transfer of theinternal structure and relationships within ‘compound objects’.Compound objects refer to objects that have constituentcomponents, such as an object representing an overlay journal(which consists of objects representing articles). As this researchshows, curriculum can be modeled in the form of a complexcompound object consisting of multiple lessons and othercomponents. The curriculum overlay model thus provides aninteresting use case for OAI-ORE. In turn, OAI-ORE could beuseful for sharing curriculum across digital libraries.3. TEACHING BOX AND DESIGN STUDIESThe motivation driving our exploration of curriculum overlay modeldesign is the representation of flexibly adaptive and sustainablescience curriculum which aligns with learning objectives andeducational standards and which incorporates educational resources.Specifically, we explore the design of a curriculum overlay modelwhich can achieve these goals:(a) Supporting middle and high school science educators inaccessing and contributing to contextual information (such asrelated educational standards, learning objectives, lessons andactivities incorporating educational resources, and notes by75educators describing the pedagogical relevance of a resource)that facilitates classroom teaching using educational resources.(b) Supporting curriculum customization services which enableeducators’ (i) integration of educational resources into existingcurriculum and (ii) adaptation of curriculum using educationalresources to fit their classroom teaching constraints.To meet these goals and to ensure that the design of the curriculumoverlay model was based on best practices of designing adaptivescience curriculum, we embarked on human-centered design studiesexploring the development and structure of science curriculum withembedded digital resources. These studies included two longitudinalstudies of educators’ curriculum development in the 2004 and 2005DLESE Teaching Box workshops [6] and our interface designstudies [11, 12, 13].The DLESE Teaching Boxes workshops [6], employing educatorsas primary participant designers of curriculum, sought to alignlearning objectives, educational standards, and lessons witheducational resources. Because of the alignment of these curriculardesign goals with the motivation for our work, we selected the studyof these workshops as part of the empirical basis for our curriculumoverlay model. We refined the pilot curriculum overlay model basedon the results of the Teaching Boxes workshops in our interfacedesign studies.3.1 2004 Pilot Teaching Box Workshops‘Teaching Boxes’ are so named as an analogy to the binders orboxes of lessons and teaching materials which educators accumulatethroughout their teaching careers. Educators reuse and customizethese materials in their teaching. The DLESE Teaching Boxworkshop series thus was exploring the design of collections oflessons and activities which can support educators’ use and reuse ofeducational digital resources. This series consisted of two 2-daylong sessions and one 5-day long session where educators,scientists, and digital library staff collaborated to create TeachingBoxes.7 middle and high school educators participated in the 2004Teaching Box workshop series. These educators were tasked withidentifying the curricular information which should be included inthe Teaching Boxes to enable their use and customization by othereducators. Educators also had to teach the Teaching Boxes theydeveloped in their own classrooms. Through a process ofbrainstorming and providing feedback on mockups of Teaching Boxcontent, these educators identified three main categories ofcurricular content: (a) a concept map or list showing the intendedconceptual progression for the students and the educationalstandards supported by teaching these concepts, (b) a set ofsuggested lessons targeting one or more of these concepts, and (c) aset of the educational resources included in the lessons. Figure 1shows excerpts of screenshots of this content in the Plate TectonicsTeaching Box.This workshop series also resulted in the definition of templateswhich described the structure of Teaching Box content. The contentof the two Teaching Boxes resulting from this workshop series wasorganized using these templates. For example, the lesson templatedefined a lesson as consisting of fields describing title, relatedconcepts, and one or more activities. These templates and ourobservations of educators’ organization of Teaching Box contentinformed the pilot version of the curriculum overlay model.Figure 1. Excerpts of (a) concept map, (b) list of lessons, and (c)resources from Plate Tectonics Teaching Box.This pilot model provided a decomposition of this content intocurricular components (lessons, activities, concepts, and resources).Although the templates described activities as a set of fieldsencapsulated within a lesson, we identified the need to representactivities as separate components which embed digital resources. Inaddition, our analysis of the conceptual dependencies between themain categories of content helped us to define the relationshipsbetween these components. For example, understanding that a givenlesson addresses a set of concepts, we defined the need to model arelationship between lessons and concepts.3.2 2005 Teaching Box WorkshopsIn this workshop series, 8 middle and high school educatorsdeveloped four additional Teaching Boxes using a refined version oftemplates resulting from the 2004 workshops. These educators didnot request any modifications to the categories of content or fieldsincluded in the templates, showing the effectiveness of the templatesfor defining the main categories of content to be included inTeaching Boxes. At the same time, the educators employed theirown documents to organize content before committing this contentto the templates. Furthermore, educators, providing feedback on aprototype we designed to represent Teaching Box content, indicateda need for additional technological support for development andcustomization of Teaching Box content. These findings thusrevealed that (a) the pilot curriculum overlay model’s definition ofcomponents based on content categorization did not need to beupdated and that (b) additional support for curriculum customizationwas required on the levels of the overlay model and services built onthis model. Educators’ feedback on the prototype, and other relatedinterface design studies, are discussed in the next section.3.3 User Interface Design StudiesWe conducted multiple studies evaluating design features forrepresenting and customizing Teaching Box content. As part ofthese studies, we analyzed observations from the Teaching Boxworkshops in addition to obtaining evaluation and feedback fromother educators and participants. For our 2004 design study, werecruited middle and high school science or Earth Science educatorswho were unaffiliated with the Teaching Boxes project. As part ofthis design study, we interviewed 6 educators regarding their lessonplanning practices. Using Think Alouds [17], we obtained feedbackfrom 4 educators on the design of a prototype representing the maincomponents of our pilot curriculum overlay model. We alsoobtained feedback on different versions of the prototype from76participants in a critique lab as well as from the educators in the2005 Teaching Box workshop series (see [11, 12, 13] for moredetails). These studies:(a) Revealed the need to model relationships between curricularcomponents to allow the display and modification of andflexible query across these relationships. For example, insteadof views of concepts isolated from lessons and activities,understanding the relationships between concepts, educationalstandards, and lessons could support educators’ navigation andcustomization of the conceptual progression of Teaching Boxcontent.(b) Confirmed the need to include a personal collection ofresources and notes in the curriculum overlay model.Supporting a collection and notes can enable educators torevise their selection of resources and record suggested uses ofresources in activities. For example, educators in the TeachingBox workshops changed which resources they included inactivities as they refined Teaching Box content.These requirements for the curriculum overlay model intersect withrequirements for the curriculum customization services whichoperate on this model. These service requirements, also based on theresults of these studies, include (a) support for modification ofcomponents in the curriculum overlay model, including integrationof search results or resources from the personal collection intocurricular content, and (b) the display and modification ofrelationships between components in the curriculum overlay model.The sections below discuss the curriculum overlay model whichresulted from this research and the validation of this model throughits instantiation within an application which incorporates curriculumcustomization services.4. CURRICULUM OVERLAY MODELThe design requirements for the curriculum overlay model, asdescribed in the previous section, include support for modeling (a)the main curricular components, such as lessons, activities, learningobjectives or target concepts, and resources, and (b) therelationships between these components. Furthermore, therequirements include the need to support educators’ collection ofresources of potential relevance and association of notes withresources describing the relevance of those resources for use in aparticular activity4.1 OverviewFigure 2 provides a high level overview of the curriculum overlaymodel, displaying the main components and their relationships inthe model. Based on the main categories of curricular content whichwe defined as a result of the studies described in Section 3, weidentified five types of components representing curricular content:module, lesson, activity, resource, and concept. Componentscorresponding to these types encapsulate associated curricularcontent. For example, a component modeling a lesson may containcontent describing the lesson title, suggested grade level, suggestednumber of classroom periods to teach the lesson, vocabulary termsfor students, and an overview of the lesson. Similarly, an activitymay contain content describing procedures for students andrationale for how this activity helps to address particular concepts.In addition to the five component types representing curricularcontent, the model also includes the collection and note componenttypes. A personal collection component serves as an aggregationobject that allows for the storing of resources which educators findof potential relevance. This component can include resources whichinitially may not be incorporated into the curriculum but which canlater be embedded into activities. Educators can use notes to recordwhy they consider an educational resource potentially useful in thecontext of a particular activity, suggestions for use of the resource,or insight from their own use of the resource in their teaching.Analyzing the hierarchical and conceptual dependencies betweencurricular content in the studies described in Section 3, we definedthe different types of relationships between components in thecurriculum overlay model. Module, lesson, activity, and resourceare all related to each other as part of a hierarchy of components. Amodule represents an aggregation of lessons targeting a particularoverarching set of concepts or learning objectives. We use the term‘module’ to refer to any such collection of lessons and aninstantiation of this curriculum overlay model may use a differentterm (such as unit or Teaching Box)depending on the curriculum being modeled.Modules themselves can be combined into alarger set which could span multiple topicsrelated to high level concepts. Each modulecan have one or more lessons. Each lessoncan have one or more activities and eachactivity can further incorporate multipleeducational resources. The model alsodescribes the association between lessonsand concepts they address and therelationship between different concepts. Alesson addresses a set of concepts and is thusrelated to one or more concepts describinglearning objectives. The set of lessons in amodule address the intended studentprogression through the target concepts forthat module. Understanding a given conceptmay be a prerequisite for understandinganother concept. We thus modeledrelationships between concepts which definehow certain concepts can be consideredb prerequisites for other concepts.Figure 2. Overview of Curriculum Overlay Model77One of the goals of the design of the curriculum overlay model wasto support the integration of national and state science educationalstandards with curriculum which embeds digital resources. Inaddition, our aim was to maintain the connection between resourcesembedded in curriculum and the digital library metadata describingthose resources. Concept components encapsulate content whichdescribes related national and state science standards, thus providinga link between the target concepts which teachers address in formalclassroom teaching and standards related to these concepts. Themodel can support the association of a resource component withrelated metadata records from one or more digital libraries. In thisway, the model facilitates linking components with external contentand information which provides additional pedagogical anddescriptive context for these components.This curriculum overlay model, breaking curricular content intoseparate yet related components, supports educators in reviewingand customizing a particular component while understanding theinterdependencies between a component and the remaining content.Integrating educational objects into this framework allows us tobenefit from opportunities to make these educator-developed,‘reused’, and adapted educational curricular objects available tocollections spanning multiple digital libraries. Services operating onthis curriculum overlay model can allow educators to get a quickglimpse of the structure of the content and how the differentcomponents are related. FEDORA’s approach of focusing ondigital components or objects thus fits well with the focus of thisresearch on balancing content and context. The next sectiondescribes the implementation of this curriculum overlay model inFEDORA.4.2 FEDORA implementationEducational digital resources span multiple types (e.g. lesson plans,tutorials, etc.) and media formats (text, images, animations, realtimedata, etc.). FEDORA [8], an architecture being adopted bymultiple digital libraries and repositories such as NSDL [18],provides a solution for representing such educational resources andthe curriculum overlaid onto these resources. FEDORA’s supportfor sharing of resources between different repositories and the use ofmultiple metadata formats makes this technology a prime candidatefor representing and sharing curricula to engage educators as bothusers of educational resource and creators of annotations andcurricular context around educational resources.FEDORA provides a basic generic framework for representingcontent in the form of digital objects called ‘data objects’ which actas containers for content. We represented each of the componentsin Figure 2 as a FEDORA data object which contains the curricularcontent associated with that component. We used FEDORA’scapabilities for representing relationships between data objects toimplement the relationships between the components in thecurriculum overlay model. We specified the different types ofcomponents (e.g. lesson, activity, etc.) using FEDORA ‘contentmodels’, which are conceptual descriptions of ‘types’ of dataobjects. Before describing the content models, we first brieflyreview the generic structure of FEDORA data objects.FEDORA data objects store content in ‘datastreams’ which cancontain any XML content or a reference to externally hosted XML.In addition, FEDORA allows repository developers to associateparticular behaviors with a data object. This form of behaviorlinking is accomplished through the use of ‘disseminators’ whichassociate web-services with a data object.Akin to the definition of an interface for abstract data types,FEDORA ‘content models’ allow the specification of ‘types’ of dataobjects. A content model describes the structure of a data object of aparticular type in terms of the object’s constituent datastreams andassociated disseminators. We utilized FEDORA content models todescribe the different component types in the curriculum overlaymodel, the content included within those components, and thequeries and behaviors associated with those component types. Table2 provides an overview of the content models we have definedcorresponding to the five component types representing curricularcontent: Module, Lesson, Concept, Activity and Resource. We alsoused a similar content model for the Note object which containsannotation content.Table 2. Overview of main elements of content models forModule, Lesson, Activity, Resource, Concept, Note.Reserved FEDORA Data StreamsDublinCore (DC)Title (title of object as accessed for display),Description (short summary or overview text to bedisplayed with object, e.g. lesson overview, mainconcept text, activity summary, etc.)ExternalRelationships(RELSEXT)Defines relationships with other objects.Relationships include “isMemberOf” which definedirect hierarchical relationships between objects,e.g. Resource is a member of an Activity. Nonhierarchicalrelationships include links to relatedconcepts (e.g. the “Has Description” relationshiplinks a Lesson to a Concept object) and annotationrelationships (e.g. the ‘IsAnnotationOf’relationship links Note to a Resource object) .Custom Data StreamsContent(Content-Desc)This datastream contains the main XML contentthat correlates with the Module XML model thatdefines the component represented by the Fedoraobject.QueryResults(e.g.Activities-XML)Different objects may have different sets ofdatastreams that refer to the results of querydisseminators. For example, a lesson object maycontain results of a query that specifies thedifferent included activities and of another querythat specifies related concepts.Stylesheet These XSL datastreams provide the stylesheetinformation for a default display transformingXML results for the web. An application utilizingthis content model does not necessarily need toemploy the default display.Resource:MetadataFor the resource object, a datastream is reservedwhich references the metadata for that resource inthe digital library.DisseminatorsDisplay Utilizing the default stylesheet, displaydisseminators allow FEDORA’s SAXON or XSLtransformation service to provide a default displayof the component.Query An object can have multiple relationship querydisseminators (depending on the object-type).These disseminators execute queries that explorerelationships between the object and other objects.78To represent the curricular content associated with a componenttype, we created a custom datastream called ‘ContentDesc’. Thisdatastream is used to store an XML description of curricularcontent. We included this custom datastream in the content modelsfor all the object types except for that of Collection (which serves asan aggregation object without internal curricular content). Forexample, the ‘ContentDesc’ datastream in the Lesson objectincludes XML defining the title, grade level, overview, and otherrelated information. We also used this custom datastream for theNote object to include annotation content directly in the object. Inaddition, we employed this datastream in the Concept object to bothprovide the main text of that concept (e.g. ‘Volcanoes provideevidence for plate tectonics’) and to list the state science educationstandards related to that concept.Datastreams supported our implementation of relationships betweendata objects as well as an object’s reference to external data. Usingthe RELS-EXT datastream reserved by FEDORA to describerelationships between objects, we defined aggregation andconceptual relationships between data objects using ResourceDescription Framework (RDF) triples [15]. For example, theinclusion of a Lesson object within a particular Module is describedusing the ‘isMemberOf’ relationship between the Lesson and itsparent Module object. In order to relate a Resource object tometadata describing that resource in a digital library, we defined acustom datastream in the Resource object to include an externalreference to digital library metadata. In this manner, we utilize bothFEDORA’s built-in datastreams and our own custom datastreams tocapture curricular content as well as relationships between objects ofdifferent content models.Supporting the integration of different repository services (such assearch) with the underlying content in a data object, FEDORAallows repository developers to associate particular behaviors with agiven object. This form of behavior linking is accomplishedthrough the use of ‘disseminators’ which associate web-serviceswith each of the objects. We designed two main classes ofdisseminators to support the design requirements for the curriculumoverlay model that resulted from the studies described in Section 3.These requirements included supporting educators’ navigation ofrelationships between curriculum components and educators’querying across these relationships. Table 2 provides an overview ofthe disseminator classes: display and query. Supporting a defaultmechanism of displaying the content of an object, the ‘display’disseminators provide an overview of the content in the displayedobject and the relationships between this object and other objects.This default display facilitates an at-a-glance review of theassociated curricular content as well as hierarchical or conceptualrelationships between the displayed object and other objects. Forexample, the default display for a Lesson object shows the title,overview, and related information for that lesson as well as theActivities included within the lesson. We included a customdatastream to store a stylesheet used in generating this defaultdisplay.The query disseminators enable querying across relationshipsbetween objects representing components in the curriculum overlaymodel. The content models reviewed in Table 2 include customdatastreams which refer to the results of these disseminators. Thequeries for these disseminators can be characterized as including:queries about direct membership relationships (e.g. find all activitieswhich are a member of this lesson or find all activities of which thisresource is a member, find all resources which are part of thispersonal collection), queries traversing the aggregation hierarchy(e.g. provide the hierarchy for all the activities which utilize thisresource, returning activity, lesson, and module information), andqueries returning associated objects (e.g. find all concepts related tothis lesson, find all lessons which relate to this concept, find allnotes for this resource).For example, the disseminator GetModules for a Resource objectruns a query to select all modules that include lessons which haveactivities that employ this resource. The result of this disseminator isa list of Resource object identifiers and this list is accessible throughthe RelatedModules datastream.Figure 3 displays the relationships between data objects representingcomponents in the curriculum overlay model. For example, thefigure shows the Resource object is a member of two aggregationobjects: the Activity which embeds the resource and the personalCollection object. In addition, the Resource object is annotated by aNote object. This figure also shows the content models for theModule and the Resource objects which respectively constitute thehighest and lowest level in the aggregation hierarchy of objectswithin the Module. The fields marked ‘R’ represent the Dublin Coreand relationship datastreams that are automatically reserved in everyFEDORA object.Figure 3. Module and Resource Content Models.79The fields marked ‘C’ represent the custom datastreams which arespecific to the curriculum overlay model while the fields marked‘D’ represent the query and display disseminators. The customdatastream fields include the content or ‘ContentDesc’ datastreamand the datastreams which reference the results of the querydisseminators. For example, the three datastreams in the Moduleobject, ConceptsXML, LessonsXML, and ResourcesXML, includeresults of the GetConcepts, GetLessons, and GetResourcesdisseminators. These three disseminators execute queries identifyingrelated concepts, included lessons, and embedded resourcesrespectively. The DisplayOverview disseminator provides a defaultdisplay of the Module object using the Stylesheet datastream.Content models thus can capture the relationships between lessons,activities, educational resources, and science concepts, integratingdigital library metadata descriptions of educational resources andeducators’ own annotations of those resources. These contentmodels can provide a framework for the description of curriculum inorder to allow educators interacting with digital libraries to addexamples of curriculum using digital resources, include their ownextensions, and be able to search not just for resources but alsoexplore different pedagogical contexts of use of those resources.Furthermore, basic services and behaviors associated with thesecurricular components can provide default displays of thesecomponents. In the next section, we discuss the instantiation of thiscurriculum overlay model in the Teaching Box Builder application.5. TEACHING BOX BUILDERIn order to assess the validity of this curriculum overlay model, weinstantiated this model using a specific curriculum within aparticular application, called Teaching Box Builder, designed tosupport customization of curriculum using educational digitalresources. We explored whether the curriculum overlay model wassufficiently expressive to represent a section of the 2004 PlateTectonics Teaching Box curriculum and to support curriculumdevelopment and customization tasks identified as part of the studiesdescribed in the Teaching Box studies section. We implemented thecurriculum overlay model using content from the Plate TectonicsTeaching Box.As discussed in Section 3, our interface design studies and studieson the Teaching Box workshops yielded requirements for thecurriculum customization service operating on the curriculumoverlay model. These requirements, and our review of the literatureon educators’ curriculum planning and adaptation processes,informed the design of the Teaching Box Builder [11, 12, 13]. Therequirements for the Teaching Box Builder include support for: (a)the iterative elaboration and modification of Teaching Box contentincluding integration of search results into content, (b) the displayand modification of relationships between components of theTeaching Box curriculum, and (c) a personal collection of resourcesof potential interest.We designed the Teaching Box Builder architecture to be a threetieredarchitecture (see Figure 4) to provide separation between thecurriculum overlay model and other layers, providing the ability touse different interface layers interacting with the same underlyingcurriculum overlay model. The three layers are: Curriculum OverlayModel, Web Services, and Interface. This architecture employs aclient server model where the presentation layer (Interface) isseparated from the application logic (Web Services and API) andthe application model (the instantiation of the curriculum overlaymodel using Teaching Box content in FEDORA). This separationenables flexible configuration of the multiple layers.Figure 4. Teaching Box Builder Architecture OverviewThe Teaching Box content is modeled as separate yet relatedcomponents in the curriculum overlay model layer. Each of theTeaching Box components contains within it information thatdescribes the content and the pedagogical context for thatcomponent. For example, the Teaching Box component, which is aninstantiation of the Module component in the general curriculumoverlay model, includes information about teacher backgroundneeded to use this Teaching Box and the suggested grade level. Anactivity includes information about rationale for use of that activityas well as suggested procedures. Components can be associated witheach other and queries can then extract which components arerelated through specific relationships. For example, a Teaching Boxcan ‘know’ what lessons are included within it, what activities areincluded within those lessons, and which resources are employed inthe activities in those lessons. Components can also provideinformation about their relationships with other components throughthe use of disseminators. Finding annotations for a particularresource requires running a query which will return all annotationsfor a particular resource.Figures 5 shows an example of a Lesson object representing Lesson2 of the Volcanoes section of the Plate Tectonics Teaching Box.The figure shows the content model for this object and excerpts ofthe ConceptsXML and ContentDesc datastreams. ConceptsXML isan example of a datastream which refers to results of a querydisseminator which returns a SPARQL list of the concepts whichare related to this lesson. The excerpt shows the URIs of the conceptobjects within the repository. The excerpt of the ContentDescdatastream shows the XML description of the lesson content,including title, classroom time, and vocabulary.80Figure 5. Overview of Lesson Object.The Web Services layer provides access to the underlyingcurriculum overlay model and its implementation in FEDORA. Thislayer allows the execution of commands to store, retrieve, andmodify Teaching Box components and their relationships. WebServices enable the use of digital library services (such as DLESEsearch) and support the execution of remote procedures over theinternet. The Interface layer employs Web 2.0 technologies tosupport the streamlined delivery of the results of multiple queriesand tasks. For example, these technologies enable educators tosimultaneously view within the same page the results of a real-timesearch of a digital library and of a query returning the resourcesembedded within an activity. Traditional web pages would haveforced educators to reload the page for each these tasks, whereasWeb 2.0’s support for asynchronous transactions enables thesemultiple tasks to be carried out within the same page withoutreloading. In addition, Web 2.0 does not require the installation ofadditional plug-ins and thus allows easier deployment of TeachingBox Builder over the web for use by educators in schools.Figure 6 illustrates some of the design features which support therequirements for modifying component content, viewing andmodifying relationships between Teaching Box components, andmaintaining a personal collection. As an example illustrating howactivity customization can involve modifications to relationshipsand objects in the curriculum overlay model, imagine Susan is a 7thGrade Earth Science teacher who is in the process of reviewing andcustomizing an activity. The ‘Click to Edit’ link toggles betweenedit and ‘Click to Save’, allowing Susan to make in-line edits toactivity content and then commit these modifications. While she isediting the content, she can select the 'Search/Browse' action whichexpands the search/browse pane in the right side of the window.This pane consists of a search section in the top right which allowsFigure 6. Screenshot of Activity Customization page from Teaching Box Builder.81Susan to make real-time search queries to DLESE and a browsesection in the bottom right which displays Susan’s personalcollection of resources. Displaying resources from the personalcollection entails querying the repository for which Resources arepart of the Collection and then parsing the returned XML results todisplay title, url, and content from associated Note objects. If aresource from the search results or the personal collection appearsrelevant, this resource can be added to the activity. On the display,the title and url of the resource are automatically inserted into theactivity text. On the component model side, adding this resourceresults in the editing of the relationship between the Resource objectrepresenting the resource and the Activity object. If the resourcedoes not already exist in the repository, a new Resource object iscreated with a metadata datastream referring to the correct DLESEmetadata record. In addition, if the resource is not already in thepersonal collection, the Resource is added to the personal Collectionobject. The content model supports the creation of a Note objectdescribing educators’ reasoning or impressions about the usefulnessor relevance of a resource for a particular activity [11].This instantiation of the curriculum overlay model using DLESETeaching Box content successfully represented Teaching Boxcontent as separate yet related components where each componentcarries with it information about its suggested pedagogical context.The example above shows the model represents content andexpresses relationships in a manner facilitating the curriculumdevelopment and customization tasks supported by the TeachingBox Builder. Modeling the dependencies and relationships betweencomponents supports searching across these relationships as well asnotifying users whether a particular dependency is affected byadaptations of a particular component. For example, if a user adds anew concept to the list of concepts, this change may affect howlessons cover these concepts and subsequently which activities andresources they should employ to teach those concepts.6. CONCLUSIONSTackling questions of the design of sustainable inquiry-orientedcurriculum using educational digital resources, our researchexplored the use of curriculum overlay models to support digitallibrary contextualization services for educators. We used a humancentereddesign approach to design the curriculum overlay model,reviewing the results of longitudinal studies of educators’ TeachingBox development and of usability studies on prototypesrepresenting curricular content. We developed a curriculum overlaymodel that represents curriculum in the form of separate yet relatedcomponents and that supports a personal collection of resources andresource annotations describing the relevance of these resourceswith respect to a particular activity. In this paper, we described theimplementation of this curriculum overlay model using FEDORAcontent models.The Teaching Box Builder application, implemented usingFEDORA, modeled Teaching Box content using the curriculumoverlay model. In FEDORA versions prior to version 3.0 betarelease, content models were not supported programmatically butwere abstractions that allowed FEDORA developers to describe thetypes of content represented in the repository. Future work thusincludes utilizing FEDORA’s beta or future release’s content modelarchitecture to implement the curriculum overlay model using thedifferent object types and content models described above.Furthermore, our work with FEDORA utilized pre-existingrelationship types to define the relationships between components.By supporting simplicity, this research’ preliminary exploration intocontent model design for curriculum sought to build a basicrepresentation. Future work thus can focus on using the latestFEDORA release to create and implement a custom ontology thatcan be used to capture additional pedagogical relationships betweencomponents.We have demonstrated the validity of the curriculum overlay modelby instantiating this model using Teaching Box content. We haveyet to assess the utility of this model in the context of educators’customization of curriculum using services based on this model andthe generalizability of this model across different curricula. We planto assess the utility of the content model by conducting anevaluation study of the Teaching Box Builder application witheducators. Having the educators complete curriculum customizationtasks with the application and debriefing them after the completingof these tasks, we will examine the effectiveness of the curriculumoverlay model in capturing the content of curricular components andthe relationships between these components. To assess thegeneralizability of the curriculum overlay model, we will use thismodel to represent other inquiry-oriented science or math curricula.Modeling other curriculum using the content models for ourcurriculum overlay may lead to further extensions or refinement ofthe overlay model. Examining the utility and generalizability of thecurriculum overlay model may thus lead to new insights andopportunities for refining the model.Contextualization services, such as those we envision will employcurriculum overlay models, provide added value to digital librariesand educators in two ways: in enabling educators to find curriculumusing rich multi-media educational resources and to customize thiscurriculum to fit their local contexts, and in enabling educators toadd to the context describing pedagogical use of resources bysharing their annotations and their customizations of thiscurriculum. A possible avenue for future research is support forversioning of curriculum overlaid on educational resources,supporting provenance and information about the lineage ofparticular curriculum. Aligning with current work in OAI-ORE, thisresearch provides a basis for the exploration of the sharing andcustomization of compound objects representing curriculum acrossheterogeneous repositories. We hope that this research will lead tofurther exploration of contextualization services targeting educators’use of educational resources, benefiting not only educators butdigital libraries.7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThis work is funded in part by the National Science Foundationthrough NSF Awards 0622010 and 0428469.8. REFERENCES[1] American Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS), Project 2061 (2000). 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