Flying the Friendly Skies May Not be so Friendly in Outer Space: International and Domestic Law Leaves United States’ Citizen Space Tourists without a Remedy for Injury Caused by Government Space Debris

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we would like to welcome you to the moon. Please keep your seat belt fastened until the pilot completely stops at the gate. If this is your final destination, please collect your bags at baggage claim D. If you are headed on to Mars, your bags will be checked through to your final destination.”\ud \ud These words may sound funny now, but the possibility of them becoming a reality is not as far-fetched as it might seem. On September 18, 2006, Anousheh Ansari, a United States citizen of Iranian origin, became the fourth space tourist and the first female civilian to enter outer space.\ud \ud 1 She also became the first astronaut to keep a space blog of her experiences to which readers could post a response.2 Shortly before Ms. Ansari’s adventure, on October 1, 2005, Gregory Olsen, scientist and entrepreneur, was the third paying civilian space tourist, and took flight on a Russian shuttle.3 Although his trip cost $20 million,4 it is not unforeseeable that ordinary citizens will soon be able to take a short trip around the moon or visit a space resort. It has been estimated that space tourism has the potential to generate$10 billion to $20 billion in income in the next few decades.5 Counting on that projection, Virgin Galactic, founded by Richard Branson (the well-known billionaire adventurer6), recently reached an agreement with the State of New Mexico to build a space port on state land.7 Moreover, recent batches of space vehicle competitions and exhibits have piqued greater interest in space tourism for adventurers, scientists, travel agents and government officials alike

Kinship Foster Care: A Relatively Permanent Solution

Kinship foster care is intended to provide substantially the same standard of care as children receive in placement with unrelated foster parents. In practice, however, the two differ enormously in New York City. Frequently, agencies place foster children in the homes of relatives with little regard for the adequacy of those homes. This Note evaluates the existing kinship foster care system, and examines the possibility of addressing the program\u27s problems by creating a new legislative category for kinship guardians

Fulfilling the Promise of Preschool for All: Insights Into Issues Affecting Access for Selected Immigrant Groups in Chicago

Presents findings on access to quality early education among small immigrant groups. Outlines policy implications of programs used, knowledge of "Preschool for All," value of preschool education, transportation and enrollment barriers, and other factors

UnderDeveloped: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising

For years now, there has been widespread concern in the nonprofit sector about premature turnover of development directors, lengthy vacancies in the role, and the seemingly thin pool of qualified candidates from which organizations can choose. The development director is commonly labeled a "revolving door" position, and "the hardest to fill and retain" by executives, board members, funders, and capacity builders alike. Moreover, the challenge of assessing development director performance when so many factors influence an organization's fundraising success can leave executives and board members suspecting -- but uncertain -- that they could raise more money with someone else in the role. At the same time, development directors frequently lament the lack of consistent attention to fund development from executives, staff, and board members, rendering their job a frustrating set-up.To better understand these dynamics and to uncover potential solutions to the fundraising challenges nonprofits face, CompassPoint surveyed more than 2,700 executive directors and development directors across the country. Our sample includes a great diversity of organizations -- a wide range of budget and staff sizes, a multitude of mission types, and diverse geographic representation -- but the organizations have a critical commonality: a senior-level development staff person on their organizational chart, whether in place or currently vacant. We included both development directors and executive directors in this research because of their potentially distinct perceptions of the "revolving door" and its causes.Our bottom-line finding: Yes, there are considerable problems in the development director role across the sector, but there are also deeper challenges that undermine the ability of nonprofits to raise the money they need to succeed.In the following pages, this report illuminates what we learned about the specific dimensions of the staffing and organizational challenges, concluding with a set of recommendations to jumpstart a national conversation about what we all can do to help nonprofit organizations take their fund development to the next level

Study of the polyoxymethylene and its sputtered fragments: Implications for comets

Laboratory mass spectra of sputtered polyoxymethylene (POM) reveals a fragmentation pattern consistent with observed peaks in the PICCA experiment on board the Giotto spacecraft. Both commercially available POM and radiation synthesized POM have been used in the studies. Synthesized POM was identified using infrared absorption spectra after proton irradiation of H2CO ice on silicate grains at 20 K. Laboratory results suggest that similar type sputtering is a possible mechanism for removing species from comet grains