Author Archives: Admin

Real Time Rehab Wins Entrepreneur Award

Staff Reports

Jeremy Green with Real Time Rehab won the grand prize in the Mayor’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award competition.

He received a $30,000 check from SpiritBank and free space in the Tulsa Collaboratorium from Kandar Properties as the winner. The announcement was made by Mayor Kath Taylor and SpiritBank President Ted Cundiff.

Real Time Rehab provides physical therapists and clinicians with personalized rehabilitation programs for their patients. The programs are burned onto DVDs, providing patients with clear, step-by-step demonstrations of the exercises they need to perform to ensure a speedy and complete recovery.

 Part-Time Pros, who connects degreed, experienced professionals with part-time and contract employment took  2nd place and Cog Togs Inc., came in 3rd place with a social site that lets kids trade personalized beads with their friends then connect online to a social. Part-Time Pros received a check of $5,000 and Cog Togs Inc. received a check of $2,500, both provided by Spirit Bank.

“In the Spirit Award’s third year we are continuing to see entrepreneurs bring their best ideas forward,” Mayor Kathy Taylor said. “Our winners from the past two years have exemplified entrepreneurial spirit, and we are excited for the 2009 winners to build and expand their businesses in Tulsa.”

In its third year, the Mayor’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award is designed to promote small business growth in Tulsa by providing networking and other business opportunities to area small businesses.

 “Over the past few years, we have had the opportunity to watch many of the entrepreneurs that have participated in this competition grow, expand, receive national recognition for their ideas and, most importantly, make an impact on our community,” stated Albert C. “Kell” Kelly, CEO of SpiritBank. “It is through this passion and spirit that other businesses will be inspired, which will in turn strengthen our economy and encourage small business growth in our city.”

“Wise” Ready For Infrared Survey

NASA

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or Wise, is chilled out, sporting a sunshade and getting ready to roll.

NASA’s newest spacecraft is scheduled to roll to the pad on Friday, Nov. 20, its last stop before launching into space to survey the entire sky in infrared light.

Wise is scheduled to launch no earlier than 6:09 a.m. PST (9:09 a.m. EST) on Dec. 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will circle Earth over the poles, scanning the entire sky one-and-a-half times in nine months. The mission will uncover hidden cosmic objects, including the coolest stars, dark asteroids and the most luminous galaxies.

"The eyes of Wise are a vast improvement over those of past infrared surveys," said Edward "Ned" Wright, the principal investigator for the mission at UCLA. "We will find millions of objects that have never been seen before."

 The mission will map the entire sky at four infrared wavelengths with sensitivity hundreds to hundreds of thousands of times greater than its predecessors, cataloging hundreds of millions of objects. The data will serve as navigation charts for other missions, pointing them to the most interesting targets. NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory, and NASA’s upcoming Sofia and James Webb Space Telescope will follow up on Wise finds.

"This is an exciting time for space telescopes," said Jon Morse, NASA’s Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Many of the telescopes will work together, each contributing different pieces to some of the most intriguing puzzles in our universe."

Visible light is just one slice of the universe’s electromagnetic rainbow. Infrared light, which humans can’t see, has longer wavelengths and is good for seeing objects that are cold, dusty or far away. In our solar system, Wise is expected to find hundreds of thousands of cool asteroids, including hundreds that pass relatively close to Earth’s path. Wise’s infrared measurements will provide better estimates of asteroid sizes and compositions — important information for understanding more about potentially hazardous impacts on Earth.

"With infrared, we can find the dark asteroids other surveys have missed and learn about the whole population. Are they mostly big, small, fluffy or hard?" said Peter Eisenhardt, the Wise project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Wise also will find the coolest of the "failed" stars, or brown dwarfs. Scientists speculate it is possible that a cool star lurks right under our noses, closer to us than our nearest known star, Proxima Centauri, which is four light-years away. If so, Wise will easily pick up its glow. The mission also will spot dusty nests of stars and swirling planet-forming disks, and may find the most luminous galaxy in the universe.

To sense the infrared glow of stars and galaxies, the Wise spacecraft cannot give off any detectable infrared light of its own. This is accomplished by chilling the telescope and detectors to ultra-cold temperatures. The coldest of Wise’s detectors will operate at below 8 Kelvin, or minus 445 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Wise is chilled out," said William Irace, the project manager at JPL. "We’ve finished freezing the hydrogen that fills two tanks surrounding the science instrument. We’re ready to explore the universe in infrared." 

“Wise” Ready For Infrared Survey

NASA

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or Wise, is chilled out, sporting a sunshade and getting ready to roll. NASA’s newest spacecraft is scheduled to roll to the pad on Friday, Nov. 20, its last stop before launching into space to survey the entire sky in infrared light.

Wise is scheduled to launch no earlier than 6:09 a.m. PST (9:09 a.m. EST) on Dec. 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will circle Earth over the poles, scanning the entire sky one-and-a-half times in nine months. The mission will uncover hidden cosmic objects, including the coolest stars, dark asteroids and the most luminous galaxies.

"The eyes of Wise are a vast improvement over those of past infrared surveys," said Edward "Ned" Wright, the principal investigator for the mission at UCLA. "We will find millions of objects that have never been seen before."

 The mission will map the entire sky at four infrared wavelengths with sensitivity hundreds to hundreds of thousands of times greater than its predecessors, cataloging hundreds of millions of objects. The data will serve as navigation charts for other missions, pointing them to the most interesting targets. NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory, and NASA’s upcoming Sofia and James Webb Space Telescope will follow up on Wise finds.

"This is an exciting time for space telescopes," said Jon Morse, NASA’s Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Many of the telescopes will work together, each contributing different pieces to some of the most intriguing puzzles in our universe."

Visible light is just one slice of the universe’s electromagnetic rainbow. Infrared light, which humans can’t see, has longer wavelengths and is good for seeing objects that are cold, dusty or far away. In our solar system, Wise is expected to find hundreds of thousands of cool asteroids, including hundreds that pass relatively close to Earth’s path. Wise’s infrared measurements will provide better estimates of asteroid sizes and compositions — important information for understanding more about potentially hazardous impacts on Earth.

"With infrared, we can find the dark asteroids other surveys have missed and learn about the whole population. Are they mostly big, small, fluffy or hard?" said Peter Eisenhardt, the Wise project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Wise also will find the coolest of the "failed" stars, or brown dwarfs. Scientists speculate it is possible that a cool star lurks right under our noses, closer to us than our nearest known star, Proxima Centauri, which is four light-years away. If so, Wise will easily pick up its glow. The mission also will spot dusty nests of stars and swirling planet-forming disks, and may find the most luminous galaxy in the universe.

To sense the infrared glow of stars and galaxies, the Wise spacecraft cannot give off any detectable infrared light of its own. This is accomplished by chilling the telescope and detectors to ultra-cold temperatures. The coldest of Wise’s detectors will operate at below 8 Kelvin, or minus 445 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Wise is chilled out," said William Irace, the project manager at JPL. "We’ve finished freezing the hydrogen that fills two tanks surrounding the science instrument. We’re ready to explore the universe in infrared." 

AG Opinion: All Rainy Day Funds Can Be Spent

Pat McGuigan, Capitol Editor

An opinion from the office of Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has concluded all legal conditions have aligned to allow appropriation of the entire balance in the Constitutional Reserve Fund, better known as the Rainy Day Fund. The fund presently has a balance of a little less than $600 million.
 
In a November 2 letter, First Attorney General Tom Gruber told state Treasurer Scott Meacham “the first two” of three “triggering events” have occurred, permitting up to three-fourths of the fund to be spent. The remaining one-fourth could be spent upon a gubernatorial declaration of emergency and a super-majority concurrence from the Legislature, Gruber wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by this reporter.
 
Public school leaders and directors of some agencies which have sustained across-the-board cuts in recent months due to the revenue crunch have asked for an immediate special session. Gov. Henry and legislative leaders have said they preferred to wait for the regular session to begin in February, but Henry indicated in recent days he is considering a January special session to address the issues. Further, the governor has also said he is now willing to consider spending much or all of the rainy day balance.

While many organizations dependent upon government revenue have clamored for a special session as soon as possible, a spending watchdog group, Oklahomans for Responsible State Government (OFRG), warns the revenue crunch could extend beyond the coming year. Some fiscal analysts believe government revenues will not recover to 2008 levels until 2012. OFRG has supported the concerns of legislative leaders who argue it is better to make further spending cuts now to avoid even deeper cuts next year.
 
Gruber told Meacham that updated “Rainy Day” language adopted by voters in 2003 as state Question 708 allows three-eighths of the fund to be appropriated when the state Board of Equalization certifies less money is available for the coming fiscal year than in the current year. Another three-eighths comes into play if the Board determines “a revenue failure has occurred with respect to the General Revenue Fund,” Gruber wrote.
 
The final one-quarter “may be appropriated, upon a declaration by the Governor that emergency conditions exist, with concurrence” by two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate. Another means for appropriation of the final one-fourth is a declaration of emergency by the House Speaker and the President Pro Temp, with concurrence of three-fourths majorities in each chamber.
 
The Board of Equalization is scheduled to meet on Dec. 21, at which time revenue estimates for the next fiscal year will be reviewed.

About the author: Pat McGuigan is Capitol Editor for Tulsa Today, and Managing Editor at The City Sentinel, a weekly newspaper in Oklahoma City. 

Op-Ed: Putting Party Over Country

Move America Forward

Move America Forward, the nation’s largest grassroots pro-troop organization , said members of the U.S. Senate are putting politics over their country by changing positions to support President Obama’s desire to close Guantanamo Bay and bring terrorists onto U.S. soil.

“This is exactly what sickens the American people with politics.  Members of the Senate have been making it clear they opposed funding the transfer of terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States.  But, now at the drop of a hat from the Obama Administration, they cave in and expose their true feelings – diametrically opposed by American citizens,” said Shawn Callahan, Executive Director of Move America Forward.

As the Obama Administration has been reviewing possible locations to relocate GITMO here to America, Congress has refused to give funding or authorization to enact such a move.  Now, the Senate has given the authority and the funding to bring terrorists to the United States.

 “Bringing GITMO terrorists to the U.S. is dangerous. Not only will it give the terrorists a platform to recruit more terrorists from around the world, but the constitutional protections that will not be afforded to these enemy combatants will allow them to expose some of America’s intelligence secrets through trial discovery,” asserted Callahan.

The Senate previously voted 90 to 6 with 3 abstaining against allowing Obama to bring terrorist from Guantanamo Bay into the United States. At that time even Senator Harry Reid said, “This is neither the time nor the bill to deal with this. Democrats under no circumstances will move forward without a comprehensive, responsible plan from the president.”  Yet in today’s vote, all but one Democrat who previously had voted against GITMO in the U.S. changed positions.

“The Democrats in the U.S. Senate had the right idea in the first place and they knew that it was absolutely irresponsible to give President Obama the freedom to move GITMO detainees to the U.S. without a rational and detailed plan as to how it could be done while guaranteeing the safety of the American people.

“We have not seen that plan, most likely because there is no way to do it without putting innocent Americans in danger. These Democrats have gone back on their word by voting to allow President Obama to have this power without a plan for how to implement it. Obviously these Senators care more about the politics of appeasing the left-wing than protecting Americans from terror and being responsible with our homeland security,” concluded Callahan.