Memories in Orbit: Loss in Sergio Chejfec’s Los planetas

The protagonist of Sergio Chejfec\u27s 1999 novel Los Planetas (known only by the initial S.), claims to have made the decision to become a writer only because of the disappearance of his friend from adolescence (known by the initial M.) who he declares was much more apt than he at telling stories. The stories, says S., took on ample and diffuse subjects … that came to him from who knows where, acquiring a new dimension through his voice (104). S. the writer, by contrast, is uncomfortable with his own voice, and with [his] inclination towards the replacement, the substitute. In other words, S. is torn between the desire for conserving and the fear of converting, and of symbolizing..

Online Degree Programs And The Development Of The Virtual University

Over the last 20 years properly developed, managed, and administered online distance learning courses and programs have slowly established their credibility and their ability to deliver learning at comparable levels to traditional face to face courses to both the academic and business communities. As the number of students seeking this form of education has risen, most universities and colleges have started offering these programs, and many start up for profit schools have been created that also offer these degrees. The number of students enrolling in these programs is growing more rapidly than the traditional programs, and several authors feel that given the environmental changes, technological changes, and expectation changes of incoming students, universities need to take a holistic approach and integrate these programs into all of the systems at the university. One method suggested to achieve this integration is the virtual university. This paper looks at the state of online distance learning programs, where they have come from, and their current capabilities. It then reports on a study which indicates, that little has actually been accomplished in integrating these programs across the university, and that there seems to be a disconnect between administration views and those of the faculty

Replacing natural wetlands with stormwater management facilities: biophysical and perceived social values

Urban expansion replaces wetlands of natural origin with artificial stormwater management facilities. The literature suggests that efforts to mimic natural wetlands in the design of stormwater facilities can expand the provision of ecosystem services. Policy developments seek to capitalize on these improvements, encouraging developers to build stormwater wetlands in place of stormwater ponds; however, few have compared the biophysical values and social perceptions of these created wetlands to those of the natural wetlands they are replacing. We compared four types of wetlands: natural references sites, natural wetlands impacted by agriculture, created stormwater wetlands, and created stormwater ponds. We anticipated that they would exhibit a gradient in biodiversity, ecological integrity, chemical and hydrologic stress. We further anticipated that perceived values would mirror measured biophysical values. We found higher biophysical values associated with wetlands of natural origin (both reference and agriculturally impacted). The biophysical values of stormwater wetlands and stormwater ponds were lower and indistinguishable from one another. The perceived wetland values assessed by the public differed from the observed biophysical values. This has important policy implications, as the public are not likely to perceive the loss of values associated with the replacement of natural wetlands with created stormwater management facilities. We conclude that 1) agriculturally impacted wetlands provide biophysical values equivalent to those of natural wetlands, meaning that land use alone is not a great predictor of wetland value; 2) stormwater wetlands are not a substantive improvement over stormwater ponds, relative to wetlands of natural origin; 3) stormwater wetlands are poor mimics of natural wetlands, likely due to fundamental distinctions in terms of basin morphology, temporal variation in hydrology, ground water connectivity, and landscape position; 4) these drivers are relatively fixed, thus, once constructed, it may not be possible to modify them to improve provision of biophysical values; 5) these fixed drivers are not well perceived by the public and thus public perception may not capture the true value of natural wetlands, including those impacted by agriculture