The House budget is much worse...

for higher education in Washington state. Key bit:

The House plan would strip $683 million from colleges, even while raising tuition at four-year schools 10 percent a year.

“We are asking them to take the biggest cut” despite the schools being engines of innovation and worker retraining, said Rep. Kathy Haigh, D-Shelton. “They will have to do the hardest work to figure out how to get through these tough times. But I know they can do it.”

The Senate plan, which would cut $513 million, is estimated to mean 2,500 fewer higher education jobs. House officials wouldn’t put a number on their proposal, saying they would leave it to the individual colleges to meet budget targets.

Ouch.

Link to related post.

The surest sign of spring...

in eastern Washington is the appearance of the buttercup flower (genus Ranunculus.) I photographed this quarter-sized flower on my wooded property today (click image to enlarge), but I was beaten by a little girl to the $5.00 annual prize offered by the local newspaper for locating the first bloomer of the season. Dang.

Win32/Conficker worm to strike tomorrow...

according to news reports. I frankly don't know how severe this problem is: it may be an April Fools' joke, or it may result in some significant disruption, or it may go the way of the Y2K bug (big yawn.) Nevertheless, it pays to be cautious: link to Microsoft malware protection center.

What? You're not running an antivirus program?! Here's a very good free one: AVG. You're welcome.

An image of Earth...

from space, showing the western U.S. with late season snow cover in mid-March 2009 (click to enlarge.) I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to figure out the geography of this vast, diverse and interesting terrain.

Image credit: MODIS on the Aqua satellite on March 12, 2009.

EWU student rally...

to protest budget cuts to higher education will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, the 1st of April. No foolin'. Here's an e-mail I just received:

Dear Faculty,

On Monday, the Washington State Senate released their tentative budget for the 2009-11 biennium. That budget cut funding to higher education by $500 million and cut around 10,000 student slots state-wide. The students are holding a rally on Wednesday, April 1, to protest these cuts - we want the legislature to understand how these cuts will hurt our institutions.

The rally will be in the campus mall, weather permitted (PUB multi-purpose room if not), and will run for several hours during the day, with booths open for people to write letters and sign petitions between classes. The main event (speeches, etc.) will be at noon, and will last for about ten minutes.

You are all encouraged to attend. We hope to show a united front of faculty and students against these budget cuts. Also, we would be grateful if you would make an announcement about the rally to your classes. There will be press coverage, so we need as big of a turnout as possible.

Thank you very much for your help and support.

Sincerely,

Matthew Holmes
Legislative Liaison

Associated Students of EWU

(360) 631-4723

asewulegliaison@eagles.ewu.edu

The geology of Mars...

and the Scablands connection will be discussed at my lecture next week sponsored by the Ice Age Floods Institute. Here's their announcement:

Join us for an evening of learning more about the Ice Age Floods story sponsored by the Cheney-Spokane Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute.

WHO: Dr. John P. Buchanan, Professor of Geology, Eastern Washington University

WHAT: Free Public Lecture on “The Geology of Mars and the Scablands Connection”

WHEN: Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Spokane Community College, Lair Auditorium. 1810 North Greene, Spokane

DESCRIPTION: Dr. Buchanan will provide an illustrated presentation examining the geology of Mars and how it relates to the Channeled Scablands in eastern Washington. A comparison of Martian and terrestrial landforms will be made, and the history of Mars exploration and recent scientific findings will be highlighted.

/end self promotion.

UPDATE: I understand that this talk conflicts with the meeting time for ENVS 488. I'd be happy to make another presentation during the noon hour on campus. Hello Geology Club? Are you there? Would you like to organize such an event?

Smuggling is occurring in Spokane...

in a quest for more sudsy dishwashing detergent. The nation's strictest phosphate ban has driven many local residents to crime, crossing the state border to purchase more soapy soap in Idaho. Once you go green you'll never get clean, I guess.

Gasp. Environmental scofflaws in our midst!

UPDATE: There's one in the department, but I'm not namin' any names.

Wise words...

When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.

— Albert Einstein

Signs along the trail...

reminding one not to bust the crust in Arches National Park (click to enlarge.)

Action video games...

improve vision, research shows.

I'm delighted to learn that all those hours weren't entirely wasted.

Higher education in Washington...

takes a big hit in the state Senate budget. Relevant parts:

• no state cost of living increases over the next two years for state workers, college staffers or teachers, and no additional money for home-care and child care workers

• $485 million less for the state’s colleges

• tuition increases of 7 percent a year at four-year colleges and 5 percent at community and technical colleges

• cutting room for more than 3,000 expected students from the state’s colleges

We'll have to see what EWU's share of the reduction will be, and how the EWU administration will apportion those cuts internally. We already know the athletics program will be spared.

Mars rover update...

from NASA.

They keep going, and going, and going...

Spokane breaks snowfall record...

with 93.6 inches of snow. This record snowfall, and last years' third most snowiest year, coincide with an unusually quiet sun cycle (see post below.)

I don't believe in coincidences.

New spacecraft to monitor the Sun...

and its fluctuating energy output in an attempt to better understand climate change.

Hmm. Finally an attempt to quantify solar energy and its important impact on climate.

Previous post: The Sun- Earth connection.

Drought condition...

assessment for the western U.S. This is not surprising given the manner in which the winter snowstorms suddenly diminished after the first of the year.

Signs along the road...

in Arches National Park, taken during my recent field trip, on the last evening near sunset (click to enlarge.)

Pop quiz: what's the name of the lowermost member of the Entrada Sandstone, seen in the lower half of the illuminated outcrop?

Something to consider...

when recycling an old computer: how to wipe the data on your hard drive.

Me? I remove the drive and beat it to death with a rock hammer. Seriously.

And cathartic.

Recent impact craters on Mars...

reveal ice beneath a dusty regolith in mid-northern latitudes, as seen in HiRISE images. Link to extended abstract.

Water ice on Mars may be more abundant than ever thought.

The International Space Station...

in high-resolution (click image to view hi-res version.) You gotta look at this. Amazing.

Mount Redoubt has erupted...

and continues to rumble and belch ash. Catch up on all the continuing activity of this eruption at the Alaska Volcano Observatory web site.

Wouldn't you know it - you leave for a few days on a geology field trip and this happens.

Cryovolcanism discovered...

on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn? Recent Cassini spacecraft imagery shows an area called Hotei Arcus that may be constructed by ice volcanoes.

If true, these would be the second set of cryovolcanoes in the solar system: Cassini also imaged active ice eruptions on Enceladus, another Saturnian moon.

Wise words...

It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.

— Yogi Berra

We already miss the desert...

after returning to unseasonable cold and sleeting conditions in the Spokane area. Here's a pic of my merry band of sedimentologists in Arches National Park earlier this week (click to enlarge.)

Great students. Great place. Great time.

White-nose syndrome...

visible on this little brown bat is killing large numbers of bats in eastern states. Here's the latest on this devastating disease at Bat Conservation International.

Bats need friends.

Happy Vernal Equinox!

Hooray, hooray. It's the first day of spring.

On the road today...

and the next nine with my Colorado Plateau geology field class, 14 fledgling geologists in all. After spending tonight at Willard Bay State Park on the northern shore of the Great Salt Lake, we will arrive in the Moab area by mid-afternoon on Saturday.

First stop will be at the Fisher Towers area (shown in the pic above) looming over the Colorado River in the foreground, with the snow-capped La Sal Mountains as a backdrop. There we will examine the arkosic sandstones and conglomerates of the Cutler and Moenkopi Formations that comprise the bulk of these peculiar eroded spires.

Underwater volcano erupts...

in the South Pacific near Tonga. Link to recent news article with super spectacular pictures and video.

Hat tip: the Bu bro.

MAJOR UPDATE: A M7.9 earthquake has just occurred at this site or somewhere very close. We picked up the event on our departmental seismometer just moments ago, at approximately 11:20 PDT. Link to USGS earthquake information. A tsunami warning has been issued though I doubt any significant damage or loss of life will occur.

Wise words...

My formula for success is rise early, work late, and strike oil.

— J. Paul Getty

The energy footprint...

of bottled water. You're much better off economically, and more responsible environmentally, buying a filter attachment to your faucet and filling your own bottles.

Ever notice that the name of major water bottler Evian spelled backwards is "naive"?

Mount Redoubt's status downgraded...

again, at 10:33 am AKDT today:

"The Alaska Volcano Observatory has lowered the Aviation Color Code to YELLOW and the Alert Level to Advisory for Mount Redoubt"

This volcano doesn't know what it wants to do. Be aware that Mount Saint Helens rumbled for nearly three months prior to its eruption in 1980. I'll leave the AVO update links in the right column for a while so one can occasionally check the current activity.

Breaking News!

Domino's scientists test limits of what humans will eat.

Three new species of bacteria...

which are not found on Earth, and which are highly resistant to ultra-violet radiation, have been discovered in the upper stratosphere by Indian scientists. I think this discovery opens the possibility for similar life to exist in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, perhaps.

Isn't science cool?

The tamarisk leaf-eating beetle,...

Diorhabda elongata, is my hero. This diminutive beetle is being tested as a biocontrol method for the invasive salt cedar (tamarisk) along select reaches of the Colorado River in Utah. The non-native tamarisk is a phreatophyte, and it has choked the riparian zone along many western rivers. Bad stuff.

Here's a recent article about monitoring the project. I can personally vouch that the voracious bug has made a significant impact on the tamarisk in the Moab area, while leaving all other native plant species thriving.

Arriving in the mail...

today is this Oregon Scientific ATC2K Waterproof Action Cam, a gift from the Bu bro. Seems pretty well made, but I'll have to wait to fiddle with it until after I return from my field trip next week.

Thanks, bro.

UPDATE: I've given this some further thought. I could strap this thing to my head as I give a lecture next quarter in my geohazards class. It would be my POV as I engage in the lecture: the professor-cam is born. I may very well do this.

Schematic diagram...

of the International Space Station (click to enlarge.) This is a handy graphic to have and print, especially if you follow the spacewalks during the STS-119 mission to the ISS, where the S6 Truss Segment and solar arrays (leftmost in diagram) will be installed.

UPDATE: Discovery is scheduled to dock with the ISS today at 2:12 pm PST using the Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 in the lower right part of the diagram.

It's not over...

yet: Spokane's winter now third snowiest on record. Last year was the second snowiest since 1881.

Hmm. I thought it was supposed to be getting warmer.

This will ruin it...

for sure: Moab, Utah declared one of the West's "best small towns."

Dang. I was hoping to keep it a secret.

Wise words...

Give me a firm place to stand and I will move the earth.

- Archimedes

Signs along the road...

in Uncle Billy's Hilo Bay Hotel in Hilo, Hawaii. I've stayed there - highly recommended. Sadly, tsunamis are part of the tragic history of this place in paradise: 61 people lost their lives in a 10.7 m (35 ft) tsunami generated by an earthquake near Chile in 1960.

Hematite crystals...

in Australian rocks hint that photosynthesizing life may have existed earlier than previously thought: pushing back the development of an oxygen-rich atmosphere.

My two favorite cellular substances? Chloroplasts and hemoglobin, of course.