SPAN: September/October 2006

Remembrance Remarks by

Ambassador David C. Mulford in Mumbai on September 11, 2006 ive years ago today, on September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 innocent people, including many citizens of India, were killed in a brutal terrorist attack on the United States. Two months ago, India was viciously attacked when terrorists planted explosives to kill and maim unsuspecting passengers on five separate trains and two stations here in Mumbai.

On this sad anniversary, as Americans pause to remember our losses, we understand all too well the pain and loss caused by terrorists in this great country.

The victims of September 11, 2001, were citizens of more than 90 different countries and adherents of many different faiths The attacks brought tragedy and grief to innocent people in America and to families across the world. The people of India have suffered repeated terror attacks-in Mumbai, New Delhi, Sri nagar and India's northeastern states.

Our two great countries, as members of the international community, regularly reaffirm our shared commitment to confront and to defeat the terrorists who sow only hatred and destruction. We know that terrorism is not just an attack against one nation or one community. Terrorism is a direct assault on free societies everywhere. There can be no conceivable explanation or justification for these despicable acts, whether in New York, Mumbai or Malegaon last Friday The principles and freedoms that unite free nations like India and the United States will prevail over the militant few who seek to impose their nihilistic creed on the world.

In defense of our country, the United States is taking action with our partners across the globe against terrorists. The US and India are rapidly expanding our anti-terror cooperation. We will do all we can to help India bring to justice those who commit acts of terror like those on 7/11 here in Mumbai. We are sharing sensitive information and police and investigative best practices in forensics, threat protection and the disruption of terrorist financing. This will save lives.

Despite the tragedy and violence inflicted on our cities, people in the U.S. and India will move forward with renewed commitment to the preservation of diverse, tolerant, democratic societies-societies founded on the rule of law, respect for human rights and freedom for all of our people.

The American people and our Indian friends resolve, today and all days, to remain determined and unafraid, and to honor the memory of our fellow citizens caught in the vortex of terror. We stand by our belief that all people everywhere are equally deserving of justice, respect, opportunity and dignity India and the United States will keep faith with our founding principles as we answer history's call to protect our freedoms and to bring justice to our enemies.

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A LETTER FROM

THE

PUBLISHER am honored to serve as the new publisher of SPAN, a publication that has helped connectlndia and the United States for a generation. Although I have been a frequent visitor to India over the years-particularly in recent years as Director for Press and Public Diplomacy in the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs-I sense that this is a particularly auspicious time in which to have arrived in New Delhi. Clearly there is a sense of optimism and opportunity in the U.S.-India relationship, a sense that the partnership established by the leaders of our two great democracies will be a defining one for both our countries well into this century.

We have much to celebrate and much to do together, because it is in the people-to-people relationships that the grand statements of politicians and diplomats become meaningful Looking to the future, we at SPAN hope to share with you some of the joy of our new relationship and some of the challenges we face.

As SPAN goes to print, Americans have been marking the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on our country. At the same time, we remember those killed on July 11, 2006, in Mumbai and in so many other attacks in this country. There can be no excuse or explanation for such atrocities. We resolve to work together to protect our people from terrorism.

In this issue's cover package, devoted to energy, we follow up on some of the activity aimed at fulfilling India's and America's energy needs through the use of new technologies and practices And we explore the potential of expanded use of clean energy sources such as nuclear, solar, wind and biomass. Growing energy demand is an important element of our growing economies. We are learning that there is no single solution for meeting our countries' needs, but energy security can be strengthened using a variety of resources. Research and experience is showing that the use of clean energy technologies can help protect our environment and bring more prosperity.

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Front cover: The Brazos Wind Ranch in Texas provides enough energy per year. (Photograph

by DA for about 56,000 households Black/National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

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Renewables Get New Steam

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6

You Can Save Energy

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7 9

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15

*18 *23

28 30

By Dinesh C Sharma

Energy Solutions Can Lead to More Prosperity

By Mark Ginsberg

Nuclear Now

By Peter Schwartz and Spencer Reiss

Homebuilders Go Green Advanced Energy Initiative Coming of Age for the Indian American Community

By Lisette B. Poole

Museums: Glass of the Maharajahs New York's Carriage Horses

By Laurinda Keys Long

By Lauren Collins

Travel Ghost Ranch Where O'Keeffe Bloomed

By Jay Tolson

33 *34

*38 *42 *47

48

Franklin's Forgotten Triumph: Scientific Testing

By Stephan A. Schwartz

53 *54 *56 *58

Muslim Sorority Opens New Doors for American University Women

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t first glance, Kirugavalu may look like a typical village in southern Karnataka-narrow but tarred and semi-pukka roads, small shops selling tea and bananas, vast fields of rice and sugarcane, children playing with old tires in the streets, and a primary school. But a closer look reveals something unusual-a shop selling fluorescent bulbs, tube lights, fancy switches and electrical wires. The village bazaar remains open well after sunset without kerosene lanterns and candles.

Roadside kiosks and homes light up as soon as it is dark. The village is dotted with rice and oil mills that work all through the day without

any interruption in power supply. Jbe village was "electrified" several years ago, but the changes described here are recent. Electrification earlier meant supply of power to a few homes and farms for four to five hours a day. The voltage was so low that one needed to light a laritem, in addition to an electric bulb, even to do household chores.

The transformation at Kirugavalu, about 40 kilometers off the BangaloreMysore highway, is not a result of any government program or efforts by any voluntary group. It is the initiative of an innovative private firm that has set up a power plant in the village, using agricultural waste such as sugarcane refuse and coconut fronds that are plentiful in the area. Villagers sell such

waste to the plan an quality power at commercial tates.

The waste that was bUI'Jied in ~. fields has now become a source of income and jobs. The power unit set up by Malavalli Power Plant Private Limited (MPPL) supplies electricity to 48 villages inhabited by 120,000 people in Mandya district. The power plant is not a demonstration unit: its capacity is 4.5 megawatts and is among the largest biomass-based power installations in India.

"We have established a supply chain to procure agricultural waste from villages in a radius of 10 kilometers and transport it to the plant.

This is very essential to keep the plant generating power year-round, without

Left: Solar panels bring electricity to a village home in West Bengal.

With an average of 250 clear, sunny days a year, such systems have provencost-effective in India.

Below: Solar panels and a wind turbine provide power to a home in Colorado.

any disruption in the supply of fuel," says Purushottam Nayak, the plant manager.

Nearly 400 people are engaged in this exercise, while the unit has provided direct employment to 60 villagers. The plant needs about 170 tons of waste every day.

The waste is chopped up and conveyed to the boiler for combustion. The heat that is generated makes steam, which then drives the turbine to produce electricity, explained M.A. Sharief, an engineer at the power station.

The power is then fed into the grid under a power purchase agreement the company has signed with the state-run transmission firm Chamundeswari Electricity Supply Company. MPPL also manages all transmission lines for the government utility and collects bills on its behalf. If the grid fails for some reason, the plant can switch to "island mode," continuing to operate and supply electricity to 48 villages. So, the chances of a blackout in these villages are remote.

The Kirugavalu plant is an example of how renewables-traditionally dubbed non-conventional or alternative sources of energy--ean generate and supply commercial, grid-connected power. It signals the growing importance of renewable technologies in the Indian power mix. The country has a total installed capacity of about 126,000 megawatts, of which 66 percent comes from thermal power plants based on coal, gas and oil. Nuclear power accounts for 3.1 percent and the share of grid-connected power from renewable sources is about 6 percent. It is significant that renewable sources have overtaken nuclear power generation and are growing steadily. The overall renewable energy potential in India is pegged at 122,000 megawatts by 2032, as against the present 8,800 megawatts,

according to the Ministry of NonConventional Energy Sources.

India began promoting alternative sources of energy more than two decades ago. In 1981, a commission for additional sources of energy was set up and after a series of policy measures and administrative changes, a full-fledged ministry devoted to alternative energy sources was born in 1992. In this period, several research projects and demonstration plants using alternative sources of energy were set up across the country, but renewables were never integrated into overall energy planning. Their economic viability could not be established as they were showered with direct and indirect subsidies. In addition, budgetary support for renewable sources has been low compared to thermal and nuclear energy. As a result, thousands of biogas plants, solar lighting systems and biomass gasifiers set up in villages became dysfunctional and eventually earned a bad name for the sector.

The scenario changed in the mid-l990s with economic liberalization, when subsidy-based promotion was replaced with a market-oriented, commercial approach.

Instead of direct financial subsidies, a slew of indirect fiscal incentives such as lowinterest rates for manufacturers were introduced. A separate financing agency, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, was set up to finance commercially viable windpower and other projects.

Meanwhile, the new ministry's policies and programs were restructured based on end-use such as rural energy, urban and industrial energy; and power generation.

Earlier the focus was to push biogas, solar and wind technologies without reference to their end-use viability. The shift moved

the share of non-conventional sources way ahead of the nuclear sector.

"Renewables have to be brought into the mainstream," says K. Krishan, chairman of Malavalli Power Plant Private Limited. "For too long, they have been on the developmental platform. So far, research laboratories, non-governmental organizations and development funding institutions like the World Bank have been involved in this sector. We need to mainstream renewable energy. The message should be clear-it is serious business."

In the popular perception, solar energy has been synonymous with alternative energy. People think it is cheap, abundantly available in poor countries; yet it is not widely used. The reason is not hard to find.

It is not technically and economically feasible to construct large-scale solar power plants and connect them to the grid at the present stage of scientific knowledge.

When sunlight strikes a photovoltaic cell, chemical reactions release electrons, generating small electrical currents. Since these currents are direct, the type used in batteries, they must pass through an inverter where they are converted into alternating current, the type that comes over power lines. All this makes solar power costly and less efficient. But solar energy can be used profitably for specific tasks such as water heating, air heating, drying of agricultural produce, cooking, desalination, refrigeration and water pumping. Many of these systems are commercially available and widely used in India. In a country with an average of 250 clear, sunny days a year, such systems have proven viable and cost-effective.

The efficiency of conversion of sunlight into electrical energy is up to 15 percent at

USAlOP roj ect Cow Manure and Microturbines he mooing of cows and the humming of a small turbine: Together, these sounds mean electricity for villagers in Purulia, West Bengal, and perhaps in other parts of rural India.

The first example of the use of a microturbine to generate electricity in India began in July by adding 25 kilowatts to the local grid. Tiny turbines may be a new idea but the source of energy to

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run them is as old as India. It's biogas: In this case, the methane gas emitted from the manure that is emitted from the cows at the Mohan Dairy in Purulia, 300 kilometers west of Calcutta.

This $265,000 model electricity plant was primarily funded by the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency, with support from USAID, and expertise from the California-

the current level of knowledge of photosensitive materials and technologies. New advances in nanotechnology and molecular biology hold the promise of a breakthrough in the future. "Powerful new methods of nanoscale fabrication, characterization and simulation-using tools that were not available as little as five years ago-create new opportunities for understanding and manipulating the molecular and electronic pathways of solar energy conversion," notes a U.S. Department of Energy report from September 2005, Basic Research Needsfor Solar Energy Utilization. "Additional optimism arises from impressive strides in genetic sequencing, protein production and structural biology that will soon bring the secrets of photosynthesis and natural bio-catalysis into sharp focus.

Understanding these highly effective natural processes in detail will allow us to modify and extend them to molecular reactions that directly produce sunlight-derived

Far left: A photovoltaic system being installed at a wind farm near Coimbatore Left and above: The powdery residue of sugarcane is burned to generate electricity.

Such biomass projects are emerging as a viable source of power for rural electrification in India.

Mean Power for Village

based Capstone Turbine Corporation. The company supplies the microturbines that capture methane and generate electricity at landfill sites in the United States, Europe and East Asia. USAID conceived the project, brought the partners together, and provided $73,000 to train people to maintain the equipment. Capstone helped modify the American gas conditioning system

fuels that fit seamlessly into our existing energy networks."

In wind energy generation, India has made rapid strides. Wind accounts for more than half of the 8,000 megawatts produced through renewable sources. This makes India the fourth largest wind power producer in the world, after Germany, Spain and the United States. However, wind power depends on the weather.

That's why installed capacities may look large but the number of electricity units generated may be low. As it is capital intensive and location specific, wind is not considered suitable for meeting power needs in rural areas.

While solar and wind may face technical and flllancial obstacles in producing gridconnected power, biomass is emerging as a viable source of power for rural electrification in India. Biomass such as firewood, agricultural residue, bagasse, crop stalks, rice husks, coconut shells, animal dung and waste from agro-based ~ industries can be used to proÂŤ ~ duce power. Direct burning ~ of such waste is inefficient ~ and leads to pollution. When !j! combusted in a gasifier at low oxygen and high temperature, biomass can be converted into a gaseous fuel known as producer gas. This gas has a lower calorific value compared to natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, but can be burned with high efficiency and without emitting smoke.

India produces an estimated 600 million tons of agricultural residue every year. If all of this waste is gasified, it can produce 79,000 megawatts of power-about 63

for local conditions.

The ultimate benefit of microturbines will be realized when they are able to operate in a stand-alone mode and provide electricity to village dwellers. In rural India only 20 percent of households have access to electricity. Decentralized energy projects such as biogas-based power generation are options that can help such areas.

-L.K.L.

percent of the total power available in the country from all sources, according to Anil K. Rajvanshi. He earned a doctorate in solar energy from the University of Florida and runs the non-profit Nimbkar Agriculture Research Institute in Phaltan, Maharashtra. "It is feasible to set up a biomass-based power plant of 10 to 20 megawatts capacity in every taluka (a block of about 100 villages). This can meet energy needs of villages and employ thousands of people," says Rajvanshi. He suggests a separate utility company in each taluka to produce and supply power. This utility can lease existing transmission and distribution networks of state electricity boards, instead of developing its own.

Also, micro-utilities covering a few villages could be connected to the taluka level utility. Local electric cooperatives could function like cable television operators in rural areas. Krishan estimates that India can produce 30,000 megawatts of power from biomass. As a first step, he intends putting up showcase 100-megawatt projects over the next three to four years. The plant at Kirugavalu is the first.

However, like wind and solar, power availability from biomass is dependent on consistent access to the quantity and quality required to run a plant. Due to harvesting cycles this may not be possible throughout the year. Since availability of power from each of the major renewable sources-solar, wind and biomass-is dependent on several factors, scientists are exploring possibilities of using them in combination. The U.S based company General Electric (GE) is working on an integrated hybrid technology model, which combines various forms of renewable energy and provides customized power solutions based on the availability of

You Can Save Energy Housing • In hot climates, plant shade trees to cool roofs, walls and windows. Close blinds or shades in south- and west-facing windows.

In cooler climates, allow sun to reach south-facing windows.

• Seal air leaks around doors and windows.

• Use ceiling fans in summer and winter. By reversing the direction of the blades, warm air is pushed down, helping to keep rooms warm in winter.

• Lower house thermostats in winter. Just a one-degreeCelsius reduction can reduce heating costs by about 4 percent Regularly clean or replace filters in air conditioners and furnaces.

• Switch to fluorescent lightbulbs, which last six to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs; add more natural lighting with additional windows.

• Put reflective tiles on roofs and adequate insulation in attics.

• Use low-flow aerating shower-

fuel quality and availability.

Third, we want the power to be available in grid-connected mode as well as island mode, with smooth transitions between the two. For this, we need energy storage technologies to maintain the load during transition. And lastly, we need to have energy management and control systems that can handle different kinds of loads such as ilTigation pumps

in the city • Maintain your car. Clean air filters can improve gasoline mileage by as much as 10 percent. Properly inflated and aligned tires will increase mileage by as much as 3 percent. But using the wrong grade of oiI can reduce mileage by 1 to 2 percent.

• Observe the speed limit. In general, every 8.05 kilometers per hour over 96.6 kilometers per hour increases the cost of gas by 2.3 to 8.28 rupees per liter at mid-2006 gas prices • Avoid carrying extra weight.

Every 45 kilograms decreases fuel efficiency by 2 percent.

• Consider buying a hybrid car.

The increased gasoline mileage relative to gasoline-only cars can reduce fuel use by 50 percent or more.

D Sources: Smithsonian Institution, US. Department of Energy, American Society of Interior Designers, Alliance to Save

and other motors in rural areas that are energy intensive and require large amounts of power at startup."

GE began addressing the chaJJenges of introducing intermittent power sources into the grid with a series of acquisitionsEnron's wind business in 2001, Austrian gas engine manufacturer Jenbacher in 2003 and AstroPower, a maker of solar electric power in 2004. GE's technology fuel base now encompasses hydro, wind, solar, aJtemative fuels like biogas, crop residue, municipal solid waste, coal mine methane and industrial waste gases, besides traditionaJ fuels like naturaJ gas, coal and nuclear.

The company is aJso participating in a

equipment,

new initiative to promote renewable technologies in India-launched in April 2006 b= rii by the U.S. Agency for International ~ Development.

USAID plans to contIibute :r:

~ $600,000 to this progranl, while GE and its ~ technology centers will invest up to $2.7 ~ million in direct and indirect funding. 'The challenge in promoting renewable technologies is not in the science or engineering part of it, but in their implementation and integration in overall energy policies," says Glenn Whaley, director of the Office of Environment, Energy and Enterprise at USAID in New Delhi.

At present, 56 percent ofIndia's 700 million IUral residents lack an adequate or reliable power supply. More than 100,000 villages have no power. The government has set an ambitious target of "power for all by 2009." Renewable sources of energyeither connected to a grid or in stand-alone mode-can help achieve this goal. A major A 2,045 square meter garden atop the 12story Chicago City Hall demonstrates that green roofs help to reduce air temperature in urban areas.

10caJ fuel resources. "You may not have all the resources available in aJl the villages.

So, depending on fuel availability in a particular area, we can combine different sources of power," says Kannan Tinnium,

manager of electric power technologies at GE's John F Welch Technology Centre, near Bangalore.

Developing a hybrid system poses technical challenges ranging from cost to control. As Tinnium puts it: "First, we need to select the right combination of technologies that will give the lowest cost power.

Second, we need to address the potential for "intermittent power" caused by variable

challenge, however, is to make renewables competitive with fossil fuels and nuclear plants, because consumers are not willing to pay a higher price for electricity produced from biomass, wind or sunlight, however green it may be.

D Dinesh C. Sharma is a New Delhi-based columnist on science, technology and environment issues. His Web site is www.dinesh.net.in

Energy Solutions Can Lead to More ProsperiW

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or almost three decades, the U.S. Department of Energy has been exploring advanced technologies and producing the research and development that has led to many of the exciting products that help reduce energy waste and create the efficiency needed for prolonged economic growth. From more efficient solar cells and low energy windows to high efficiency motors and wind turbines, the department has been a proud contributor to the energy solution. In fact, the National Academy of Sciences cited just five of these Department of Energy technologies (costing some $30 million) as responsible for saving American energy consumers $30 billion.

There are wonderful opportunities in India to apply these technologies. For example, WIND is already producing electricity in many parts of India and there is substantial wind potential throughout the country.

Over the past 20 years, the cost of wind power in the United States has dropped from 38 cents a kilowatt hour to roughly four cents a kilowatt hour on prime wind sites. Advances in wind turbine design and lighter, stronger materials allow them to operate at lower wind speeds, to harness more wind energy and at greater heights, dramatically expanding the available resources, Last fall, the Texas Land Commission leased a swath of the Gulf of Mexico

By MARK GINSBERG

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ark Ginsberg has been one of the US, government's "ambassadors" for energy efficiency and renewable energy for four years, since he was appointed senior executive member of a Department of Energy board dedicated to promoting these policies, These ideas are of abiding interest to India and the United States, as they assure reliable and abundant energy to provide prosperity and economic growth while protecting the environment. "I see zero energy buildings, even zero energy communities, and a new generation of energy efficient product manufacturers," Ginsberg said during interactions in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Bhubaneshwar and New Delhi in early September.

He met with energy companies and consultants, engineering students and teachers, energy managers and auditors, architects and builders. Earlier in his career, Ginsberg oversaw government programs to make buildings, equipment and appliances more energy efficient and to support local government low-energy programs through building codes and consumption standards for household and business appliances. He helped U,S. agencies reduce energy consumption by $1 billion in 500,000 government buildings and was one of the first to make the connection between energy efficiency and prosperity.

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~ for gigantic wind turbines that could power 40,000 homes. ~ They are looking at using deserted oil rigs as turbine platforms The United ~ States' goal is to get 20 percent of its ~ electricity from wind power. o Although SOLAR energy may still be more expensive on a large scale, there are some high-value possibilities, for example, 24-hour buildings like hospitals or call centers or banks, where you can't afford to have power outages. In addition, solar is very cost effective for villages that don't have access to power lines. How important it is for countries like India to be able to provide solar powered lighting so children can read at night and to have solar powered water pumps and water purification systems.

Solar power use is growing rapidly as the cost of photovoltaic (PV) cells continues to decline. PV installations in the United States rose 30 to

6 eventually

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Photovoltaic system at the Art Institute of Chicago

40 percent last year to reach 275 megawatts. Economics is driving demand. The U.S. government and many states offer tax rebates and other incentives for using solar power. When combined with high energy prices, the payback period for investment in solar power can be as little as four years, and consumers are less vulnerable to power outages.

Photovoltaic cells can be integrated into roofs, walls and windows, There are about 1,245 square kilometers of useable roof space on single-story buildings in the United States that could support 50 gigawatts of solar electric generating capacity, 5 percent of the total US installed electric generating capacity.

India imports 75 percent of its oil for transportation uses. In the United States, we import more than 50 percent of our oil. President George W. Bush, in his most important speech of the year, the State of the Union address, said in January that the United States "is addicted

to oil." When you recognize you are addicted, you want to find ways to overcome it. So we're looking at a new generation of small, local bio-refineries that depend on municipal solid waste, tree cuttings, agricultural waste and other non-food growing products called BIOMASS that can produce ethanol or bio-diesel as a substitute for gasoline. These local bio-refineries will produce jobs and retain money in the local economy Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years With the enormous growth that India is facing, there will be a huge number of new buildings and India has a chance to construct them efficiently from the start, which is much more cost-effective than trying to make a building energy efficient after it is built. You can achieve these savings by installing better quality windows, lighting and insulation, which cuts electricity consumption and saves money. In fact, there are Energy Service Companies which are willing to invest their money in energy efficiency improvements with Energy Savings Performance Contracts. They pay for the efficient lighting or new heating and cooling equipment and share the lower energy cost savings. Thus the building owner doesn't have to invest its own money, but gets a better, more energy efficient building.

New technologies typically are not understood and can be expensive when they are introduced. So we are doing research to help bring the costs down. Another concern is the lack of a trained workforce to service and maintain new equipment. So the colleges, universities and companies need to form that trained workforce to keep these new products operating effectively. That will create more jobs and a whole new industry. India can be a leader in providing not only for itself but for other parts of the world.

Since electricity is so important to India's future, we must continue to find ways to use it most efficiently and REDUCE WASTE. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California has an international program with several scientists from India who have conducted a study and discovered that just four products consume 22 percent of all the electricity in India. These products are: refrigerators, window air conditioners, motors and distribution transformers. There are new, cost-effective versions of each of these products already on the market in India, which could reduce India's total electricity use by 2.5 percent by 2020. That would save Indian consumers $5.5 billion from 2010 to 2020, as well as reduce power outages. It would also create more economic productivity, because it would make outages less common, giving businesses a reliable source of electricity. Savings from reduced subsidies could be used for other public purposes. This won't happen overnight. But as people buy new products, they can buy more efficient ones, knowing that the money they save on electricity will help pay for the new units.

These issues are so important that six countries-India, China, the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea-have formed a new Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

Our vision is to apply this new generation of renewable and clean energy technologies to reduce pollution, attain energy security, address climate change concerns, reduce poverty and promote economic development. We hope to combine the intellectual genius of these countries to overcome technical and market barriers to greater use of advanced technologies As we look to the future and work together, I see growing prosperity from increased efficiency and productivity, less energy disruption and less dependence on oil from volatile parts of the world.

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n a cool spring morning a Quarter century ago, a place in Pennsylvania called Three Mile Island exploded into the headlines and stopped the U.S. nuclear power industry in its tracks. What had been billed as the clean, cheap, limitless energy source for a shining future was suddenly too hot to handle.

In the years since, we've searched for alternatives, pouring billions of dollars into windmills, solar panels and biofuels.

We've designed fantastically efficient lightbulbs, air conditioners and refrigerators. We've built enough gas-fired generators to bankrupt California. But mainly, each year we hack 400 million more tons of coal out of Earth's crust than we did a quarter century before, light it on fire, and shoot the proceeds into the atmosphere.

The consequences aren't pretty.

Burning coal and other fossil fuels is driving climate change, which is blamed for everything from western forest fires and Florida hurricanes to melting polar ice sheets and flooded Himalayan hamlets.

On top of that, coal-burning electric power plants have fouled the air with enough heavy metals and other noxious pollutants to cause 15,000 premature deaths annually in the United States alone, according to a Harvard School of Public Health study. Believe it or not, a coal-fired plant releases 100 times more radioactive material than an equivalent nuclear reactor-right into the air, too, not into some carefully guarded storage site.

Burning hydrocarbons is a luxury that a planet with 6 billion energy-hungry souls can't afford. There's only one sane, practical alternative: nuclear power.

We now know that the risks of splitting atoms pale beside the dreadful toll exacted by fossil fuels. Radiation containment, waste disposal and nuclear weapons proliferation are manageable problems in a way that global warming is not. Unlike the usual green alternatives-water, wind, solar and biomass-nuclear energy is here, now, in industrial quantities. Sure, nuke plants are expensive to buildupward of $2 billion apiece-but they start to look cheap when you factor in the true cost to people and the planet of burning fossil fuels. And nuclear is our best hope for cleanly and efficiently generating hydrogen, which would end our other ugly hydrocarbon addiction-dependence on gasoline and diesel for transport.

Some of the world's most thoughtful environmental advocates have discovered the logic of nuclear power, including Gaia theorist James Lovelock, Greenpeace cofounder Patrick Moore, and Britain's Bishop Hugh Montefiore, a longtime board member of Friends of the Earth.

Western Europe is quietly backing away from planned nuclear phaseouts. Finland has ordered a big reactor specifically to meet the terms of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. China's new nuke plants-26 by 2025-are part of a desperate effort at smog control.

Even the shell-shocked U.S. nuclear industry is coming out of its stupor. The 2001 report of Vice President Richard B. Cheney's energy task force was only the most high profile in a series of pro-nuke developments. Nuke boosters are especially buoyed by more efficient plant designs, streamlined licensing procedures and the prospect of federal subsidies.

In fact, new plants are on the way, however tentatively. Three groups of generating companies have entered a bureaucratic maze expected to lead to formal applications for plants by 2008. If everything breaks right, the first new reactors in decades will be online by 2014. If this seems ambitious, it's not; the industry hopes merely to hold on to nuclear's current 20 percent of the rapidly growing U.S. electric power market.

That's not nearly enough. The United States should be shooting to match France, which gets 77 percent of its electricity from nukes. It's past time for a decisive leap out of the hydrocarbon era, time to send King Coal and, soon after, Big Oil shambling off to their welldeserved final resting places-maybe on a nostalgic old steam locomotive.

Besides, wouldn't it be a blast to barrel down the freeway in a hydrogen Hummer with a clean conscience as your copilot?

Or not to feel like a planet killer every time you flick on the AlC? That's how the future could be, if only we would get over our fear of the nuclear bogeyman and

forge ahead-for real this time-into the atomic age.

Surely substantial gains can be made in conservation and efficiency. But energy is not a luxury people can do without, like a gym membership or hair gel. The developed world built its wealth on cheap power-burning firewood, coal, petroleum and natural gas, with carbon emissions the inevitable byproduct.

Indeed, material progress can be tracked in what gets pumped out of smokestacks. An hour of coal-generated 100-watt electric light creates a halfpound of atmospheric carbon, a bucket of ice makes a third of a pound, an hour's car ride 5 pounds. The average American sends nearly half a ton of carbon spewing into the atmosphere every month. Europe and Japan are a little more economical, but even the most remote forest-burning peasants happily do their part.

And the worst-by far-is yet to come.

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study forecasts that worldwide energy demand could triple by 2050. China could build a Three Gorges Dam every year forever and still not meet its growing demand for electricity. Even the carbon reductions required by the Kyoto Protocol-which pointedly exempts developing countries like China-will be a drop in the atmospheric sewer.

What is a rapidly carbonizing world to do? The high-minded answer, of course, is renewables. But the notion that wind, water, solar or biomass will save the day is at least as fanciful as the once-popular idea that nuclear energy would be too cheap to meter. Jesse Ausubel, director of the human environment program at New York's Rockefeller University, calls renewable energy sources "false gods"attractive but powerless. They're capital and land intensive, and solar is not yet remotely cost competitive. Despite all the hype, tax breaks and incentives, the proportion of U.S. electricity production from renewables has actually fallen in the past 15 years, from 11 percent to 9.1 percent.

The decline would be even worse without hydropower, which accounts for 92 percent of the world's renewable electricity. While dams in the United States are under attack from environmentalists trying to protect wild fish populations, the Chinese are building them on an ever

grander scale. But, stung by criticism of the monumental Three Gorges projectwhich required the forcible relocation of 1 million people-officials have suspended an even bigger project on the Nu Jiang River in the country's remote southwest.

Or maybe someone in Beijing questioned

the wisdom of reacting to climate change with a multibillion-dollar bet on rainfall.

Solar power doesn't look much better.

Its number-one problem is cost: While the price of photovoltaic cells has been slowly dropping, solar-generated electricity is still four times more expensive than nuclear (and more than five times the cost of coal). Maybe someday we'll all live in houses with photovoltaic roof tiles, but in the real world, a run-of-the-mill 1,000megawatt photo voltaic plant will require about 155 square kilometers of panes alone. In other words, the largest industrial structure ever built.

Wind is more promising, which is one reason it's the lone renewable attracting serious interest from big-time equipment manufacturers like General Electric. But even though price and performance are expected to improve, wind, like solar, is inherently fickle, hard to capture and widely dispersed. And wind turbines take up a lot of space; Ausubel points out that the wind equivalent of a typical utility plant would require 774 square kilometers of turbines plus costly transmission lines from the wind-scoured fields of, say, North Dakota. Alternatively, there's California's Altamont Pass, where 5,400 windmills slice and dice some 1,300 birds of prey annually.

What about biomass? Ethanol is clean, but growing the amount of cellulose required to shift U.S. electricity production to biomass would require farming an area 10 times the size of the state oflowa.

Among fossil fuels, natural gas holds some allure; it emits a third as much carbon as coal. That's an improvement but not enough if you're serious about rolling back carbon levels. Washington's favorite solution is so-called clean coal, ballyhooed in [2004 campaign] speeches by both President George W. Bush (who offered a $2 billion research program) and challenger John Kerry (who upped the ante to $10 billion). But most of the work so far has been aimed at reducing acid rain by cutting sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, and more recently gasifying coal to make it bum cleaner. Actual zero-emissions coal is still a lab experiment that even fans say could double or triple generating costs. It would also leave the question of what to do with 1 million tons of extracted carbon each year.

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By contrast, nuclear power is thriving around the world despite decades of obituaries. Belgium derives 58 percent of its electricity from nukes, Sweden 45, South Korea 40, Switzerland 37, Japan 31, Spain 27 and the U.K. 23. Turkey plans to build three plants over the next several years. South Korea has eight more reactors coming, Japan 13, China at least 20. France, where nukes generate more than three-quarters of the country's electricity, is privatizing a third of its stateowned nuclear energy group, Areva, to deal with the rush of new business.

The last U.S. nuke plant to be built was ordered in 1973, yet nuclear power is growing in America as well. With clever engineering and smart management, nukes have steadily increased their share of generating capacity in the United States. The 103 reactors operating in the United States pump out electricity at more than 90 percent of capacity, up from 60 percent when Three Mile Island made headlines. That increase is the equivalent of adding 40 new reactors, without bothering anyone's backyard or spewing any more carbon into the air.

So atomic power is less expensive than it used to be-but could it possibly be cost-effective? Even before Three Mile Island sank, the U.S. nuclear industry was foundering on the shoals of economics.

Regulatory delays and billion-dollar construction-cost overruns turned the business into a financial nightmare. But increasing experience and efficiency gains have changed all that. Current operating costs are the lowest ever-1.82 cents per kilowatt-hour versus 2.13 cents for coalfired plants and 3.69 cents for natural gas.

The ultimate vindication of nuclear economics is playing out in the stock market: Over the past five years, the stocks of leading nuclear generating companies such as Exelon and Entergy have more than doubled. Indeed, Exelon bought New Jersey's Public Service Enterprise Group in December 2004, adding four reactors to its former roster of 17.

This remarkable success suggests that nuclear energy realistically could replace coal in the United States without a cost increase and ultimately lead the way to a clean, green future. The trick is to start building nuke plants and keep building them at a furious pace. Anything less

leaves carbon in the climatic driver's seat.

A decade ago, anyone thinking about constructing nuclear plants in the United States would have been dismissed as out of touch with reality. But today, for the first time since the building of Three Mile Island, new nukes in the United States seem possible. Thanks to improvements in reactor design and increasing encouragement from Washington, D.C., the nuclear industry is posed for unlikely revival. "All the planets seem to be coming into alignment," says David Brown, vice president for congressional affairs at Exelon.

The original U.S. nuclear plants, built during the 1950s and '60s, were descended from propulsion units in 1950s-vintage nuclear submarines, now known as generation I. During the 1980s and 1990s, when new construction halted in the United States, the major reactor makers-GE Power Systems, British-owned Westinghouse, France's Framatome (part of Areva) and Canada's AECL-went after customers in Europe. This new round of business led to system improvements that could eventually, after some prototyping, be deployed back in the United States.

By all accounts, the latest reactors, generation 111+, are a big improvement.

They're fuel efficient. They employ passive safety technologies, such as gravity fed emergency cooling rather than pumps.

Thanks to standardized construction, they may even be cost-competitive to build$1,200 per kilowatt-hour of generating capacity versus more than $1,300 for the latest low emission (which is not to say low carbon) coal plants. But there's no way to know for sure until someone actually builds one. And even then, the first few will almost certainly cost more.

Prodded by the Cheney report, the U.S .

Department of Energy agreed in 2002 to pick up the tab of the first hurdle-getting from engineering design to working blueprints. Three groups of utility companies and reactor makers have stepped up for the program, optimistically dubbed Nuclear Power 2010. The government's bill to taxpayers for this stage of development could top $500 million, but at least we'll get working reactors rather than "promising technologies."

But newer, better designs don't free the industry from the intense public oversight that has been nuclear power's special bur-

====-~---~-====-----=-----==-----H 0 m e b u iI de r s Go

Green

More Americans are incorporating energy-efficient technologies in their homes. y incorporating off-the-shelf, energy-efficient technologies, homeowners and building managers could cut up to 80 percent of the cost of heating, cooling and lighting their buildings, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The potential benefits of using these technologies in the roughly 2 million houses constructed in the United States each year is huge: Nearly 25 percent of U.S. energy consumption is used to power homes.

In 2007, two-thirds of U.S. homebuilders will "build green" in 15 percent of their projects, according to a June study by McGraw-Hili Construction. The study defines building green as going beyond accepted building codes to increase energy efficiency, conserve water, develop building lots in a way that preserves trees and uses the sun, incorporate earth-friendly materials and reduce job-site waste.

Not long ago, green houses were the province of custom builders. But no more. Pardee Homes, a largescale builder putting up hundreds of houses in the American Southwest, conforms to high environmental standards in one-third of its projects.

Homebuilders say the biggest reason for building green is customer concern about energy costs.

Gasoline prices have increased 86 percent in the last three years in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Joyce Mason of Pardeesays her customers live in suburbs, far from their jobs, and drive a lot. As gas prices rose and they could not easily change

B

Above: A prefabricated home featuring green design elements.

Right: The tubular skylight's glazing lets in sunlight while deflecting harmful UV rays. The house's reinforced concrete central core stores the sun's warmth.

their commutes, they looked to save on home energy bills. Mason says her company offers photovoltaic solar systems that might cost as much as $18,000 but will reduce bills by about 70 percent.

The McGraw-Hili study emphasizes builders' use of passive solar heating-situating a home to maximize use of the sun's energy and planting trees to provide shade.

Deciduous trees offer shade during summer and lose leaves in winter to allow sun to enter windows.

Builders also are increasingly using low-emissivity windows.

According to Donald Albrecht, the lead curator of a year-long National Building Museum exhibit on green houses that opened in May 2006,

there are several types of new windows on the market that lock heat or sunscreens between layers of glass.

Yet houses featured in the exhibit apply ancient principles in addition to the new technologies. For exampie, some have bamboo flooring because, unlike wood from hardwood forests, bamboo is a renewable, fast-growing grass.

Thermal mass, another tried-andtrue construct, is evident in the thick, rammed earth walls of architect Rick Joy's Tucson Mountain House featured in the exhibit. The walls-like heat sponges-absorb heat during the day and release it at night.

A recently built green apartment building in Washington, D.C., requires no advertising, according to

designer Russell Katz, because tenants are aware of its financial benefits. "Some people think of living in a green home as being a 'do-gooder,''' says Katz. "In fact, it is business savvy: you really save money."

Katz's tenants pay less than most do for hot or cool air. During construction, Katz cut out such luxury features as marble in bathrooms and stainless steel kitchen appliances in favor of a geothermal system that pipes water from below ground (where the temperature remains a constant 18 degrees Celsius) and blows air over the pipes to heat or cool apartments. "The temperature underground doesn't cost anything," Katz says. The building also has a roof garden that insulates it and manages storm water. .~ Retailer Home Depot reports that individual U.S. consumers are also ~ renovatinghomes to conserve. Some ~ of the store's popular items are tank~ less water heaters, which save ener~ gy and space by heating water as it is used; compact fluorescent light~ bulbs, which last 10 times longer and ~ use 66 percent less energythan stan~ dard bulbs; programmable thermo~::; stats, which save $100 a year on ~ energy costs when used correctly; g and additional insulation, an inexpensive way to reduce energy bills.

Some office-tower builders are ~ using the same energy-saving features that homebuilders have ~ recently gravitated toward. "In ~ Germany and Austria, there has ~ been legislation to go more sustain~ able; as a result they are more advanced and spur innovation," ~ says Albrecht. But citing green high~ rises going up in New York City, he ~ notes that "little by little ...Americans ~ are coming on" 0

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f all our nation's energy sources, only nuclear power plants can generatemassive amounts of electricity without emitting an ounce of air pollution or greenhouse gases. And thanks to the advances in science and technology, nuclear plants are far safer than ever before. Yet, America has not ordered a nuclear plant since the 1970s," said President George W. Bush as he signed the Energy Policy Act on August 8, 2005.

The first law in more than a decade to comprehensively layout energy policy, the act provided a boost to the nuclear energy industry, incentives to conservation and more efficient energy use, tax credits for development and use of alternative energy sources, and encouragement

Energy Policy Act =

of new oil and gas exploration in environmentally friendly ways to reduce America's reliance on foreign sources.

To coordinate the ordering of new nuclear plants, the new law continued the Nuclear Power 2010 Partnership between the government and industry and offered a new form of federal risk insurance for the first six builders of new nuclear power plants.

"We will start building nuclear power plants again by the end of this decade," the President said.

"This bill will allow America to make cleaner and more productive use of our domestic energy resources, including coal, and nuclear power, and oil and natural gas," he said. The law authorized new funding for clean

den from the start. Believe it or not, Three Mile Island wasn't the ultimate nightmare; that would be Shoreham, the Long Island power plant shuttered in 1994 after a nineyear legal battle, without ever having sold a single electron. Construction was already complete when opponents challenged the plant's application for an operating license. Wall Street won't invest billions in new plants ($5.5 billion in Shoreham's case) without a clear path through the maze of judges and regulators.

Safer plants, more sensible regulation, and even a helping hand from Congressall are on the way. What's still missing is a place to put radioactive waste. By law, U.S. companies that generate nuclear power pay the [federal government] a tenth of a cent per kilowatt-hour to dispose of their spent fuel. The fund-currently $24 billion and counting-is supposed to finance a permanent waste repository, the ill-fated Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Two decades ago when the payments started, opening day was scheduled for January 31,

coal technology, so America can move closer to its goal of building the world's first zero emission coal-fired power plant The law also extended, or began, tax credits and other incentives for solar power, wind, biomass, landfill gas and other renewable electricity sources.

As the United States works to solve its energy dependency problems, it is aware that the market for energy is global and America is not the only large consumer of hydrocarbons' President Bush said.

"As the economies of nations like India and China grow rapidly, their demand for energy is growing rapidly, as well.

It's in our interest to help these expanding energy users become more efficient, less dependent on hydrocarbons."

1998. But the Nevada facility remains embroiled in hearings, debates and studies, and waste is piling up at 30-odd sites around the country. Nobody will build a nuke plant until Washington offers a better answer than "keep piling."

At Yucca Mountain, perfection has been the enemy of adequacy. It's fun to discuss what the design life of an underground nuclear waste facility ought to be.

One hundred years? Two hundred years?

How about 100,000? A quarter of a million? Science fiction meets the U.S. government budgeting process. In court!

But throwing waste into a black hole at Yucca Mountain isn't such a great idea anyway. For one thing, in coming decades we might devise better disposal methods, such as corrosion-proof containers that can withstand millennia of heat and moisture.

For another, used nuclear fuel can be recycled as a source for the production of more energy. Either way, it's clear that the whole waste disposal problem has been misconstrued. We don't need a million-year solu-

tion. A hundred years will do just finelong enough to let the stuff cool down and allow us to decide what to do with it.

The name for this approach is interim storage: Find a few patches of isolated real estate-we're not talking about taking it over for eternity-and pour nice big concrete pads; add floodlights, motion detectors and razor wire; truck in nuclear waste in bombproof seven-meter-high concrete casks. Voila: safe storage while you wait for either Yucca Mountain or plan B. Two dozen reactor sites around the United States already have their own interim facilities; a private company has applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to open one on the Goshute Indian reservation in Skull Valley, Utah.

Establishing a half-dozen federally managed sites is closer to the right idea.

A handful of new U.S. plants will be a fine staJt, but the real goal has to be dethroning King Coal and-until something better comes along-pushing nuclear power out front as the world's default energy source. Kicking carbon cold turkey won't be easy, but it can be done. Four crucial steps can help increase the momentum: Regulate carbon emissions, revamp the fuel cycle, rekindle innovation in nuclear technology and, finally, replace gasoline with hydrogen.

Regulate carbon emissions Nuclear plants have to account for every radioactive atom of waste. Meanwhile, coal-fired plants dump tons of deadly refuse into the atmosphere at zero cost. It's time for that free ride to end, but only the government can make it happen.

The industry seems ready to pay up.

Andy White, CEO of GE Energy's nuclear division, asked a roomful of U.S. utility executives what they thought about the possibility of regulating carbon emissions.

The idea didn't faze them. "The only question any of them had," he says, "was when and how much."

A flat-out carbon tax is almost certainly a nonstaJter in Washington. But an arrangement in which all energy producers are allowed a limited number of carbon pollution credits to use or sell could pass muster; after all, this kind of cap-and-trade scheme is already a fact of life for U.S. utilities with a variety of other pollutants. This would send

dvanced Energy Initiative ~

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he United States consumes nearly 20.7 million barrels of oil every day, of which only 35 percent is produced domestically. To take the United States beyond a petroleum-based economy, foster economic growth and protect the environment, President George W. Bush launched the Advanced Energy Initiative in February.

"For the sake of our economic and national security, we must reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy-including on the natural gas that is a source of electricity for many American homes and the crude oil that supplies gasoline for our cars," the President said. The initiative provides for a 22 percent increase in funding for clean energy technology research at the U.S. Department of Energy.

"To change how we power our homes and offices, we will invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy. To change how we power our automobiles, we will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen," he added. "We will also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn, but from

President George W. Bush, at the Limerick Generating Station in Pennsylvania, urges the advancement of nuclear energy as part of a diversified U.S. energy policy that will make America more dependent on renewable sources of energy.

wood chips, stalks or switch grass."

Since 2001 the United States has spent nearly $10 billion to develop cleaner, cheaper and more reliable alternative energy sources.

The Advanced Energy Initiative provides for an increase in funding in two key areas: Changing the way Americans fuel their vehicles and changing the way they power their homes and businesses.

The transportation sector receives nearly all of its energy from petroleum products and

accounts for two-thirds of petroleum use in the United States. Crude oil prices, which hovered in the $15-$25 per barrel range from the mid-1980s until 2002, remained above $40 since February 2005 and currently are at more than $70 a barrel. To reduce America's vulnerability to disruptions in oil supply it is important to increase domestic production. There is also a need to speed up deployment of efficient diesel vehicles and come up with renewable alternatives to

gasoline and diesel fuels. Several steps have been taken in this direction and tax incentives led to the sale of more than 200,000 hybrid vehicles (automobiles with more than one power source) in 2005.

To further improve the United States' energy security, the initiative proposes significant new investments and policies in three areas: advanced batteries, cellulosic ethanol and hydrogen vehicles.

The consumption of natural gas in the United States is projected to grow to 2.1 billion cubic meters per day by 2025. Compared to coal-fired power plants, natural gas power plants emit less air pollution and cost less to build. As a result, demand for natural gas in the power sector has increased steadily over the past 15 years.

The initiative aims to complete the President's commitment to $2 billion in clean coal technology research funding and ensure the resulting innovations reach the marketplace. The initiative has set a goal of reducing the cost of solar photovoltaic technologies so that they are cost-effective by 2015. It also aims to develop a new Global Nuclear Energy Partnership to address the issue of spent nuclear fuel, eliminate proliferation risks and expand the promise of clean and affordable nuclear energy.

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Nuclear Reactor, Coal-Fired and Fossil Steam Plants

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Here's a fun fact: Spent nuclear fuelthe stuff intended for permanent disposal at Yucca Mountain-retains 95 percent of its energy content. Imagine what Toyota could do for fuel efficiency if 95 percent of the average car's gasoline passed through the engine and out the tailpipe. In France, Japan and Britain, nuclear engineers do the sensible thing: recycle. Alone among the nuclear powers, the United States doesn't, for reasons that have nothing to do with nuclear power.

Recycling spent fuel-the technical word is reprocessing-is one way to make the key ingredient of a nuclear bomb, enriched uranium. In 1977, Jimmy Carter, the only nuclear engineer ever to occupy the White House, banned reprocessing in the United States in favor of a so-called once-through fuel cycle. Four decades later, more than a dozen countries reprocess or enrich uranium, including North Korea and Iran.

At this point, hanging onto spent fuel from U.S. reactors does little good abroad and real mischief at home.

The Bush administration has reopened the door with modest funding to resume research into the nuclear fuel cycle. The President himself has floated a proposal to provide all comers with a guaranteed supply of reactor fuel in exchange for a promise not to reprocess spent fuel themselves.

Other proposals would create a global nuclear fuel company, possibly under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency. This company would collect, reprocess and distribute fuel to every nation in the world, thus keeping potential bomb fIxings out of circulation.

In the short term, reprocessing would maximize resources and minimize the problem of how to dispose of radioactive waste. In fact, it would eliminate most of the waste from nuclear power Above: The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California. The United States has no permanent radioactive waste repository.

Right: Biodegradation tests being performed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The lab is trying out innovative methods to address problems of storing and managing radioactive waste.

production. Over decades, it could also ease pressure on uranium supplies. The world's existing reserves are generally reckoned sufficient to withstand 50 years of rapid nuclear expansion without a significant price increase. In a pinch, there's always the ocean, whose 4.5 billion tons of dissolved uranium can be extracted today at five to 10 times the cost of conventional mining.

Uranium is so cheap today that reprocessing is more about reducing waste than stretching the fuel supply. But advanced breeder reactors, which create more fuel as they generate power, could well be the economically competitive choice-and renewable as well.

Rekindle innovation Although nuclear technology has come a long way since Three Mile Island, the fIeld is hardly a hotbed of innovation. Govern-

~ shot. But zero-carbon reactors ment-funded research-such as ~ are here and now. We know we the U.S. Department of z ~ can build them. Their price tag Energy's Next Generation ~ is no mystery. They fit into the Nuclear Plant program-is existing electric grid without a aimed at designing advanced hitch. Flannel-shirted environreactors, including high tempermentalists who fight these realature, gas-cooled plants of the ities run the risk of ending up kind being built in China and with as much soot on their South Africa and fast-breeder hands as the slickest coal-minreactors that will use uranium ing CEO. 60 times more efficiently than America's voracious energy today's reactors.

Still, the appetite doesn't have to be a nuclear industry suffers from its bug-it can be a feature. Shanlegacy of having been born ghai, Seoul and Sao Paolo are under a mushroom cloud and more likely to look to Los raised by the local electric comAngeles or Houston as a model pany. A tight leash on nuclear than to some solar-powered research and development may idyll. Energy technology is no be good, even necessary. But different than any other; innothere's nothing like a little comvation can change all the rules. petition to spur creativity. That's But if the best we can offer the reason enough to want to see developing world is bromides U.S. companies squarely back about energy independence, on the nuclear power fieldwe'll deserve the carbonresearch is great, but more and choked nightmare of a planet smarter buyers ultimately drive we get. quality up and prices down.

Nuclear energy is the big In fact, the possibility of a bang still reverberating. It's the nuclear gold rush-not just a A display on biomass at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's power to light a city in a lump modest rebirth-depends on visitors center in Golden, Colorado. Growing the amount of cellulose the size of a soda can. Peter economics as much as technol- required to shift U.S. electricity production to biomass would require Huber and Mark Mills have ogy. The generation IV pebble- farming an area 10 times the size of the state of Iowa. written an iconoclastic book on bed reactors being developed energy, The Bottomless Well. They see source for producing hydrogen is natural in China and South Africa get attention gas, followed by oil. It's conceivable that nuclear power as merely the latest in a for their meltdown-proof designs. But it's series of technologies that will gradually their low capital cost and potential for renew abies could do it in limited quantifast, modular construction that could ties. By the luck of physics, though, two eliminate our need to carve up huge swaths of the planet. "Energy isn't the blow the game open, as surely as the PC things nuclear reactors do best-generate problem. Energy is the solution," they both electricity and very high temperadid for computing. As long as investwrite. "Energy begets more energy ... The tures-are exactly what it takes to proments come in $2 billion increments, purduce hydrogen most efficiently.

In more of it we capture and put to use, the chase orders will be few and far between.

November 2004, the Department of more readily we will capture still more."

At $300 million a pop for safe, clean The best way to avoid running out of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and energy, watch the floodgates open around the world.

Environmental Laboratory showed how a fossil fuels is to switch to something betsingle next-gen nuke could produce the ter. The Stone Age famously did not end Replace gasoline with hydrogen for lack of stones, and neither should we hydrogen equivalent of 1.5 million liters of gasoline every day. Nuclear energy's wait for the last chunk of anthracite to If a single change could truly ignite flicker out before we kiss hydrocarbons nuclear power, it's the grab bag of techpotential for freeing us not only from coal good-bye. Especially not when somenologies and wishful schemes traveling but also oil holds the promise of a bright under the rubric of the hydrogen econogreen future for the United States and the thing cleaner, safer, more efficient and more abundant is ready to roll. It's time my. Leaving behind petroleum is as world at large.

0 important to the planet's future as elimiThe more seriously you take the idea of to get real. nating coal. The hitch is that it takes global warming, the more seriously you Peter Schwartz is chair of Global Business have to take nuclear power. Clean coal, energy to extract hydrogen from substances like methane and water. Where solar-powered roof tiles, wind farms in Network, a scenario-planning firm. Spencer North Dakota-they're all pie in the Reiss is a contributing editor with Wired. will it come from? emissions-free sky. Sure, give them a Additional research by Chris Coldewey.

Today, the most common energy

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ffluent and confident, the Indian American community in the San Francisco Bay Area is coming of age.

From computer industry entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, physicians in major hospitals, and professors in colleges and universities, to owners of grocery stores and community newspapers, they are working to leave a tangible legacy.

Meanwhile, their children are blazing new trails as magazine publishers, filmmakers, singers and clothing designers, expressing the vibrant mix of their Indian heritage and American experience in songs, movies, stories and fashion shows.

The northern California community, more than 200,000 strong and said to be the largest in North America, will soon break ground for a new multimillion dollar, 3,700square-meter India Community Center-double the size of the present one, which itself is the largest Indian

American community center in North America, says center Chairwoman Talat Hasan. This is a testimony not only to the affluence of its members but a response to the needs of an expanding population that wants to share and preserve its cultural heritage, social and spiritual values.

The center, estimated to cost upwards of $15 million, will be located next to the existing center, in Milpitas, in one of the eight Bay Area counties. It will be furnished with the first free, inter-community, walk-in medical clinic staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses.

Signs of integration and social influence are evident on the local and state levels. This recognition brings pride to many of the older generation who put down roots here in the early 1960s and struggled to study, work, become accepted and forge an identity for themselves in this region.

Many say they chose to settle here to draw strength from a well established community of Sikhs who had ventured to California in the early1900s and settled in Yuba City, some i;; 250 kilometers north of the Bay Area. While ~ that group set roots as farmers in a small .~ countryside community, newer immigrants ~ were involved in medicine, technology and ~ business in more metropolitan areas. ~ "Being Indian is cool now," says maga~ zine publisher Deepak Srivastava. "The U generation of25- to 40-year-olds has established family roots, is well-grounded in education with at least master's degrees in their professions, good jobs and lots of disposable income. They don't have survival Right: Designer Swati Kapoor helps a client tryon a custom-made evening coat.

Left: Yoga master Mahendra Lohmoor has a loyal following of yoga students from around the Bay Area.

The new generation of Indian Americans wants to share its heritage in

business, social and cultural endeavors.

issues. They are a long way from where their parents started."

Srivastava recognized these signs early on and understood that this group, as comfortable in silk saris as in hip-hugging jeans, needed to identify with a medium they could call their own.

Compelled by this vision, he sold his home in order to raise money for the birth of Nirvana. In two years it has become a glossy, quarterly magazine catering to a well-heeled clientele. The blend of stories, travel and health advice, fashion tips and personal testimonies target a holistic image aimed at young Indian professionals but also appealing to their peers in other Asian minorities.

"The 30-something women of my generation actually have the best of two worlds," exclaims Farah Ahmed in a telephone interview from her office in New York City. "We travel on business or pleasure anywhere in North America, Europe and Asia.

Our perspective is global. Community and family matter to us.

We appreciate and promote our heritage and culture while at the same time we value our achievements and personal independence." The magazine reflects those tastes.

With a bachelor's degree in physiology and a law degree from the University of Virginia, Ahmed is the executive editor and attorney handling print and Internet advertising for Nirvana

Jayashree Patil, president and CEO of Nirvana Media Group.

"We want to promote not only the fun things in life-travel, vacation and such-but also address the brains, educate and encourage philanthropy. These are values that bring inner beauty and peace. They help connect the two worlds in which we live."

The ability to straddle both worlds is an asset many in the community reflect in fields including media, music, entertainment, fashion design, education and health.

Some, who were once California teenagers, have even become household names: For example, Raj Mathai, sports director for NBC 11, anchors the nightly TV sports broadcasts; M. Night Shyamalan just released his latest movie Lady in the Water; Anoushka Shankar, daughter of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar,

Woman. She splits her time between New York and California.

The magazine is headquartered in Mountain View in the heart of Silicon Valley near the offices of Inman-born Sabeer Bhatia who spearheaded Hotrnail. So almost by default the editors of Nirvana Woman use cutting-edge technology for photography and graphics layouts as they assemble the magazine bye-mail, online folders, fax and voice conferences with contributors from allover the United States and abroad. Editors say it has a circulation of 40,000.

Its online version is preparing to launch a Ms. Nirvana contest, allowing readers to nominate and vote for supermodel canmdates.

"This will take us to the next level, a global level," says

graduated from high school in the southern California beach town of Encinitas and is a U.S. permanent resident, according to the Ravi Shankar Foundation. She released her fourth solo album Rise last year.

Trivandrum-born Mathai has twice won an Emmy, America's premier television award. He hosts the top rated "Sports Sunday" program that attracts high profile sports figures. He shows up at community events and his infectious grin and impeccable attire endear him to many local charities and businesses. He is invited to be master of ceremonies at galas and fundraising banquets.

Another familiar face in the mainstream media is Dr. Sanjay

Below, left: Charu Prakash shares food decorating tips with her sons, Atil (left) and Rohan. Below: Nirvana Woman Publisher Deepak Srivastava (left), Salma Haque, managing and beauty editor, and Jayashree Patil, president and CEO of Nirvana Media Group with their latest issue. Right: Anoushka Shankar, sitarist, pianist and composer of Indian classical music, has popularized it at sold-out performances in the United States.

"I feel almost as much at home here in Fremont and the Bay

Gupta, CNN's senior medical correspondent. He is an assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia and is chief of neurosurgery at the University Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital. He also hosts the half-hour weekend show "House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta." Last year, he reported on medical-related stories in Iraq and hot spots in the United States following Hurricane Katrina. Some in the community credit Gupta for drawing many South Asians into medicine and journalism.

"Music, like most forms of art, brings some sort of cohesion for the South Asian community in North America," singer Kiran Ahluwalia says. "I lump together Canada and America because in both countries the communities are just coming of age and for the first time you have millionaires who are South Asian," she said in a National Public Radio interview. "Their parents were born in Pakistan, Bangladesh or India but they were born here.

So we need definition for ourselves; we are hybrids.

There are two cultures in us; trying to balance the two cultures in us is the larger thing."

Ahluwalia left India as a girl. She was a successful bond trader in Canada but came home one day, saying her MBA and her job were just not rewarding enough.

She enjoyed music more. In her recently released, self-titled CD, Ahluwalia celebrates the emotional, slow, melancholic ghazals. She sings contemporary songs with traditional lyrics that are very popular in South Asia.

On a parallel track, Anoushka Shankar, a sitarist, pianist, conductor and composer, is passionate about Indian classical music and admits she is on a mission to show that it can be as fashionable as Bollywood pop. In May 2005, before she released Rise, she and her father played a sold-out performance at the San Francisco Opera House.

"I've been trying to tap into a younger culture," she was quoted as saying in a Time magazine Asia edition. "My father did that for many decades, but people closer to my own age [23] don't necessarily know as much about music as his young fans did."

The desire to share and expand values led Swati Kapoor, a native of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, to fuse Indian fashion into a cross-cultural couture.

"Every garment has an Indian signature-Mogul motif, embroidery, beads, sequins-a thread work that brings a sparkle to life," she says as she spreads an ornate black-on-silver georgette evening dress, and moves on to show a collection of soft, glittering, silk saris, embroidered tunics and pants, beaded corsets and skirts, matching scarves, earrings and bracelets.

Her clientele is varied: Americans, Middle Easterners, South Asians from India and Pakistan, young debutantes, established political figures like Liz Figueroa (former Democratic state senator from Fremont) and San Francisco socialites. Kapoor explains that she consults with a client, offers a broad picture design, works

with garment industry designers in New Delhi and Mumbai and voila! each dress is unique and a la mode.

"Our lives are global. Fashion too is global. I just try to adapt the garment to the personality and need of the client. The right dress helps my clients stand out, stand strong," she says with enthusiasm. "It is a personal touch."

Three years ago when the dotcom industry went bust, Kapoor says her master's degree in graphic design, passion for art and the attraction of the mainstream population to the cultures of the growing ethnic immigrant communities converged. "I decided I would be my own boss. I worked 20 hours out of 24 preparing a line of clothes." She now has a thriving business. Her fashion shows are packed. Her husband is her greatest fan, she says as she cuddles their six-month-old son, Shan.

According to the U.S. Census 2000, Asians make up 11 percent of California's population. But in the nine Bay Area counties, Asians make up 19 percent, about 40,000 shy of the Bay Area's Latino community. Including people who are part Asian, the group constitutes 12.3 percent of the population statewide and 21 percent of the Bay Area.

"I feel almost as much at home here in Fremont and the Bay Area as I would in India," says Charu Prakash. "We have come a long way from when we first arrived in the area." She brings the flavor of India to the table and teaches others, including her sons, to experience it.

Prakash's cooking classes, through the India Community Center in Milpitas, fill up quickly. She invites students to taste

Area as I would in India. We have come a long way from when we first arrived."

-CHARU

PRAKASH

At the India Community Center in Milpitas, California, members perform Indian classical dance with an American pop spin.

different foods, from Hawaii, China, Italy, Lebanon, Egypt and offers dishes from various regions of India and Pakistan.

"Diwali is the peak of the gourmet season," she says. Prakash likes to underline tradition at special gatherings of friends and family with playful center table decorations-like hollowed squash boats for chutney and edible flowers made of radish faces. Her desserts include gulab jamuns, burfis made of coconut, dates, carrots and figs, and rasmalai.

Her most popular dishes are chicken tikka masala, fusion dishes of paneer and vegetables, samosa roll-ups, desi-style artichoke dip and petite tortilla warm-ups. She included these in a 2005 Calendar of Indian Cuisine.

"We are witnessing a thirst to pass down and share knowledge.

We have an obligation to leave something very tangible that is not just money," says Hasan of the India Community Center.

"Generations of kids now and those who will follow them would not be well-served if we do not leave a legacy of culture, traditions and values, and give back to the larger American community around us."

Today some 2,500 regular members form the core of the center in a 1,850-square-meter facility in Milpitas and a smaller satellite center in neighboring Sunnyvale. It provides social, cultural, recreational and community programs that unite the Indian community, and raises awareness about their culture in the local community. Patrons include Caucasians, Mexicans and Chinese from the neighborhood.

Seniors, children and teens are engaged in the events. Yoga and the karaoke-Friday club are popular. On special occasionslike Tamil Day, Diwali and other festivals-there are as many as 6,000 visitors a week, according to organizers. The center is supported through membership fees ($50 per family) and donations from businesses and the government.

To end the year 2005, the community celebrated its second Annual Banquet and raised approximately $300,000 for children and seniors programs. The gala was also the debut of the "Jollywood Dancers," a troupe of senior citizens who received a standing ovation from some 680 guests attending the dinner. In elegant jewelry and Bengal blue and gold lehengas they swayed to the notes of traditional music laced with American pop.

"Jaws dropped in amazement as we watched our seniors, who had been complaining of stiff limbs, get up there and dance for us. They were an instant hit," says Tanuja Bahal, director of marketing and membership services.

The center is the brainchild of the Godhwani brothers, Anil and Gautam, first generation Americans and successful entrepreneurs in the computer industry. It opened its doors in July 2003 to promote Indian culture and values.

The center of tomorrow will provide even more services. It will offer a 1,000-square-meter workout facility, an auditorium for concerts and shows, a library, media center, conference halls and classrooms. Organizers plan to offer a comprehensive cultural program for kids and teens-language, dancing, singing, art and history classes-and a forum where seniors can enjoy coming together for yoga, reading groups and classical dances.

Catering for weddings and banquets will also be offered.

Services for children will be expanded to include fully-licensed pre-school and after-school programs. Plans are underway to offer transportation to the Milpitas site for stay-at-home seniors.

0 Additional satellite facilities are in the works.

Lisette B. Poole, a freelance journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, lectures at California State University in Hayward.

F. & C. Osler of Birmingham, England, is one of two companies that set up showrooms in India and provided most of the glass furniture to royal palaces. This armchair, made by Osler around 1895, is now owned by Ann and Gordon Getty of San Francisco, California, who loaned it for the exhibition.

Left: Three shades of green glass were used in this chandelier, made by F & C. Osler between 1860 and 1880. It is in the permanent collection of the Corning Museum of Glass. Osler made two of the largest chandeliers in existence, weighing three tons each. They can be seen in the fai Vilas Palace in Gwalior.

Above right: This oblong whatnot with three mirrored shelves was a popular F & C. Osler design in the 1880s. Several are in the Gwalior and Udaipur palaces. The piece shown is in the collection of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallen;.

Below right: This blue glass table, shown from the side and the top, was made by F & C. Osler between 1880 and 1885 and is in the permanent collection of the Corning Museum of Glass. The table is 75 centimeters tall and the diameter of the top is 43.6 centimeters.

himmering glass chandeliers, cabinets, wall shelves and tables reflecting the light will catch the eye, but will seldom astound, when they are encountered in a home nowadays. But there was a time when such glass furnishings did not exist: first, because no one knew how to make them in large scale, and second, because no one had commissioned them to be made.

That changed, however, in the last half of the 19th century, a unique and little-known era in the history of furniture design, when European artisans custom-designed glass household objects such as sofas, chairs, cabinets and huge chandeliers to suit the tastes of the Indian elite. It was a reversal of a longtime marketing pattern in which the craftsmen of the East had designed their products to suit rich Europeans.

This unique era of furniture design is being celebrated through an exhibit, "Glass of the Maharajahs: European Cut Glass Furnishings for Indian Royalty," on display through November 30 at a unique American museum, the Corning Museum of Glass in northwestern New York, 210 kilometers east of Niagara Falls. The 56-year-old nonprofit, educational museum-which claims to have the world's best collection of art and historical glass-is not only drawing visitors to its showrooms through the exhibit, but has organized a 15-day trip to India for its contributing members. From October 20 to November 4, they will see the Indian palaces which became home to the dazzling new designs in glass furniture: Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior, which has two of the world's largest chandeliers; the City Palace in Udaipur with its Crystal Gallery and glass bed; and the Moti Bagh Palace at Patiala, which displays a spectacular glass fountain. And the itinerary includes a visit to factories in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, where Indian artisans use the techniques of annealing, etching, blowing, modeling and painting to produce chandeliers, perfume bottles, bangles, bowls and jars, as they have for centuries.

Glass has been used either for windows, decorations, table utensils or lighting for some 3,500 years. This history is told through the museum's 45,000 objects, drawings and records. There are also seminars,

S

~mostenerOf lfIe 20IfI century, had Museum of Art in Ohio, where â&#x20AC;˘ fofmerty an art teacher and ceramist, historic glassblowing workshops in March and June of 1962. As studio ceramics and other crafts gained popularity in the United States, artists interested in glass were looking for new paths and outlets, exploring sculptural forms and functionality. Littleton worked with glass research scientist Dominick Labino, who devised a small, inexpensive furnace in which glass could be melted and worked. This made it affordable and possible for artists to blow glass in independent studios.

Littleton later started a glass program in the ceramics department at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where the piece shown below, "Vessel," was made by him in 1965. Edris Eckhardt's "Archangel Uriel," at far right, is kiln-formed glass, produced in Cleveland, Ohio in 1968. Both pieces are part of the Corning Museum of Glass' permanent collection and are on display in New York City through January 6, 2007 as part of the "Decades in Glass: The '60s" exhibition at The Corning Gallery at Steuben on Madison Avenue.

An older American glass tradition is represented above by the four wineglasses crafted by 1G. Hawkes & Co. in Corning, New York, in the 1850s. The glass is blown, cut and cased, that is, made in two or more layers of different colors. This difficult process makes such objects rare finds. The Corning Museum of Glass is displaying some of the most beautiful examples from the last two centuries as part of its "Splitting the Rainbow" exhibition through November 1.

D Adapted from material provided by the Corning Museum of Glass. http://www cmog. org

Above: On display in Paris during the 1900 World's Fair was a sculpture of a boat, designed by Charles Vital Cornu and created in glass and bronze by Compagnie des Verreries et Cristalleries de Baccarat, one of the two firms that specialized in providing glass furnishings to India's palaces. The sculpture was purchased in 1930 by Ganga Singhji BahadU1~ the maharajah of Bikaner, and is still at the Lallgarh Palace in Bikaner. Another boat remained at the factory for years before being sold to an unknown customer. It turned up, along with a glass and marble table designed by Baccarat in 1889, at a Parisian auction in 1979. Both pieces are in the collection of the Corning Museum of Glass.

Right: The 56-year-old Corning Museum of Glass was redesigned in 1978 and in 2001 to provide a flowing series of glass-walled galleries and light-filled, windowed ramps to convey the beauty and elegance of the art form within. The museum is in the Fingerlakes Wine Country of New York state, where there is a long tradition of glass making. The city of Corning, midway between New York City and Niagara Falls, is the home of CorningWare Inc., which makes baking, cooking and tableware, and founded the museum.

glass-blowing demonstrations, mockups of old glass furnaces and factories, and fun, walk-in workshops for visitors to make their own glass objects. At hands-on exhibits one can learn about the technological discoveries that enabled new ways to use glass. One of these new technologies was annealing, which allowed manufacturers to fashion large

sheets of glass into the furnishings that are part of the "Glass of the Maharajahs" exhibition.

"The very idea that a chair could glitter like a diamond, catch light like a colored gemstone, and still function as seating must have astounded those who fIrst encountered glass furniture in the mid to late 19th century. The Coming Museum of Glass aims to recapture that sense of bedazzlement," says Jane Shadel Spillman, a curator for the museum.

A highlight of the exhibit is a 3.3-meter tall mirrored and intricately faceted glass wall cabinet on public view in the United States for the fIrst time, she says. The exhibit also includes a seemingly mundane fly whisk, except that its handle is made of crystal. Also, there is a glass table designed by Cristalleries de Baccarat of France. Its clear crystal legs are shaped to resemble the carved, turned legs of an antique wooden table. Only three were made, and two of them are held by the Coming Museum of Glass. Sitting atop the table is a cut glass and bronze sculpture of a boat, created by Baccarat for the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. There is only one other like it, in the Lallgarh Palace in Bikaner, says Spillman.

Even now, the sight of a glass chair or sofa is remarkable. At the time these pieces were made for the Indian maharajahs, and samples were displayed at expositions in Paris and London, commentators were flabbergasted. One suggested the glass furniture was intended for the dweller in the proverbial "glass house."

0

Carriage Horses W hat's black, brown or white and guaranteed, by local law, an accommodation with a three-meter-high ceiling, along with free access to a bucket of water and mineralized red salt? A New York City carriage horse, of course, anyone of the 204 that are licensed to work (if the temperature is between minus 6 and 32 degrees Celsius).

This wasn't always so. In the late 1800s, when the town counted some 200,000 steeds on its streets, it was common to encounter manure mixed with snow, or carcasses rotting in public view. And so the news, early this year, of a grisly animal-car collision on Ninth Avenue, near the site of the old American Horse Exchange, felt strangely out of time, as if the neat and virtual New York of the Mayor Michael

Bloomberg era had reverted, for a moment, to the brutish, bricks-and-mortar one of Boss Tweed.

In order to drive a horse-drawn carriage, one must complete a home-study course given by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. When an aspiring coachwoman scoured the city's official Web site she found no sign of equine driver's education classes. So she called the Health Department's veterinary division to ask about registering for a course. The world of the urban horse-drawn carriage, it turns out, is an almost completely seamless anachronism. "You just come here in person, and we take care of it," the person who answered said. "You'll need a money order in the amount of $25."

The applicant set out for Room 1522 of 220 Church Street, where she was handed two booklets: "Rules of the Road" and "Horse Drawn Carriage Operator's Course Training Manual," which featured the silhouette of a buggy and top-hatted driver on its cover and a quaint Old Farmer's Almanac-ish font. Applicants were to come back a few days later to watch an educational video. The morning after, there would be a written test, and later that day, for those who had passed, the "practical." Another registrant, a Nigerian physician who had never been on a horse, was alarmed to discover that the afternoon exam involved actual horsedriving. He tried to reassure himself. "It is easy-all you do is direct the animal," he said. "Plus, there is money in it."

Prospective drivers had two weeks to acquaint themselves with the full-page A horse-drawn carriage makes its way along Times Square. Drivers must complete a home-study course before they are allowed to take to the streets.

diagram "Parts of a Horse," not to mention .more advanced topics: "Deworming and Parasite Control," "Nasal Discharge" and "What to do if your horse is lame."

There were Norfolk harnesses and modem-shaft harnesses to master, horse fevers, sole abscesses, hitching techniques and review questions-"List four steps to take if your horse bites a person"-at the end of each unit. A glance at the index attested to the manual's scope: "teeth, temperature, tetanus, Theater District, thrush."

On a key issue, however, the curriculum seemed skimpy. "The following is an incomplete list of things that alarm horses," one section warned. (Steer clear of

wooden plank bridges, hay balers and marching bands.) A call was made to Cornelius Byrne, who, along with his brother Patrick, owns Central Park Carriages, the current incarnation of the horse company that his forebears founded in 1848, upon arriving from County Mayo, Ireland. (Their business was funeral processions. Back then, it took three days to get from Far Rockaway to the cemeteries in Woodside.)

Byrne offered some veteran's wisdom, won over four decades of driving a horse in the city. "One of the things horses are most afraid of is garbage trucks," he .said.

"They have an odor to them and a noise to them and a size to them." He went on,

Horse-pulled carriages roll through New York's Central Park on a clear December day. There are 204 carriage horses licensed to work in the city.

"Many years ago, there was a slaughterhouse on Eleventh Avenue. Horses didn't like that, either." He mentioned that novice drivers are usually paired with especially docile horses. "We call them bombproof."

The official operator's manual has a section called "Dealing with Hostile People," which asserts that "in New York City, it is common for strangers to approach drivers and begin loud and/or hostile criticism of the carriage horse

industry." Here was a subject any New Yorker could ace. "Smile and ignore them," the answer goes.

Byrne said that the people he carts around are the best part of the job.

"People who ride in carriages are pretty happy," he said. "People who ride in cars are never that joyous." But he did have one thought about how to burnish the trade's image. "There's a lot of credit to be taken for doing things nice. We're not allowed to have advertisers, but a corporate sponsor would be really welcome to this business." And, just like that, it was back to the year 2006.

0

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>••••

U

E TINATI The austere beauty of the Abiquiu area helped Georgia O'Keeffe reconnect with her earliest artistic inclinations. Recalling her maiden journey to the area in 1931, O'Keeffe talked about the shapes of the hills and said she had "never had a better time painting."

A

rt can die of overfamiliarity.

Think of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, or Pachelbel's Canon, works seen or heard so often that their vital strangeness and originality seem all but lost. Or more on native ground, think of Georgia O'Keeffe's flowers and cattle skulls, images that have been "posterized" to the point of near invisibility.

Among the rewards of traveling to one of the more austerely enchanting places in the United States-a stretch of land in northern New Mexico state extending up the Chama River Valley from the bluff-perched hamlet of Abiquiu to the nearby 8,5oo-hectare Ghost Ranch-is to recover a sense of the flinty originality of an artist whose deepest creative instincts resonated with this high-desert landscape. That rediscovery can even provide a light thematic backdrop to the traveler's own quest for renewal and re-creation, opportunities for which abound in this valley whose wide basin the Spanish dubbed Piedra Lumbre, or Shining Stone.

Many years after her first visit to the state of New Mexico in 1917, O'Keeffe wrote that she was "always on my way back." And recalling her maiden journey to the Abiquiu area in 1931, she talked about the shapes of the hills and said that she had "never had a better time painting."

During the 1930s and '4os, as O'Keeffe's marriage with photographer and New York art impresario Alfred Stieglitz teetered precariously, she began spending longer stretches in New Mexico, often using her car as her studio. Renting and then buying a house on the Ghost Ranch from publisher Arthur Pack, she went on to purchase and remodel a sprawling 18th-century adobe hacienda in Abiquiu. In 1949, three years after Stieglitz's death, the 62-yearold O'Keeffe moved permanently to her Chama Valley homes, spending the warmer months on the ranch, the colder ones in the village.

Abstract Tongue Whether painting distant mountains (particularly her beloved Pedernal), red and yellow sandstone cliffs, dead juniper trees or the patio door of her Abiquiu house, O'Keeffe reconnected with her earliest artistic inclinations. She moved slowly from realism toward what one of her finest critics, Barbara Buhler Lynes, curator of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, describes as a reacquaintance "with the issues of abstraction-the language that had always appealed to her." Increasing Iy, says biographer Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, O'Keeffe chose subjects for their "private symbolism and inherently reductive form-a door in a wall, a curved road against a white field ... " A visitor entering O'Keeffe territory might well begin in the village of Abiquiu, a small cluster of adobe houses and a mission church arrayed around a dusty dirt plaza.

Just off the square sits the artist's walled two-hectare estate. A guided tour of the property, offered from spring through late autumn, must be booked-and paid for one month in advance-through the O'Keeffe Foundation. The house and other assets of the foundation were transferred to the O'Keeffe museum in March 2006.

The tour is richly rewarding. Each meticulously planned detail of the sprawling 465-square-meter house and studio shows how seamless art and life were for O'Keeffe and how little a distinction she drew between fine art and the more practical arts of architecture, interior and furniture design, and even horticulture. Everythingfrom the delicate flour-paste-covered mud floors of the living room to the monastic simplicity of her bedroom perched almost on the edge of the bluff-is as carefully thought out as anything O'Keeffe ever put on canvas.

Bountv Hunting To engage more actively with O'Keeffe's beloved valley, the visitor should plan for a stay at the nearby

Georgia O'Keeffe, photographed in Abiquiu, New Mexico, by Carl Van Vechten on August 16, 1950.

Ghost Ranch, a retreat and conference center run by the Presbyterian Church (USA), which received the property as a gift from Pack in 1955.

(Information on the ranch and its Santa Fe branch is available at www. ghostranch.org) Courses in everything from photography to paleontology to opera, as well as guided hikes, archaeological digs, and even a desert pilgrimage to many of the local sacred sites, enable one to explore the visible and hidden bounties of this place. An aspiring photographer might spend free hours hiking up to the mesa next to Chimney Rock to watch the lateevening shadows extend across the valley, the red rocks of what O'Keeffe called the "badlands" turning a deep purple as they do. You might explore the on-site paleontol-

ogy museum housing the oldest remains of a North American dinosaur, a Coelophysis (unearthed on the property), or visit the nearby Monastery of Christ in the Desert or the breathtakingly serene white mosque of Oar al Islam. You can even sign up for a bus tour of O'Keeffe's favorite painting sites and subjects on the ranch.

Back in 1955, O'Keeffe had been a bit huffy when she learned that Pack had given the ranch to the Presbyterians. But she softened with time, perhaps realizing that the church was offering other seekers a glimpse of what had nourished her own sou I for so long-and so well.

D Jay Tolson is a senior writer with U.S. News & World Report.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

"Money comes and goes ....

Our problem is that it doesn't return. " Copyright

Reprinted

© Tribune Media Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

from The Sawrday

Evening Post magazine,

© 2005 Saturday Evening Post Society

"1find that 1tend to smoke less if 1 light them with road flares. " Copyright © The New Yorker Collection 2004 Peter Mueller from cartoonbank.com.

All rights reserved.

Copyright © Tribune Media Services, All rights reserved.

Inc.

izza, as we know it, was invented in 1889 in Naples, Italy,

by Don Raffaele Esposito as a dish for his queen. The Peshawari Chana Paneer Pizza, a more recent innovation, was developed by Pizza Hut India's marketing and research team, headed by Sanjiv Mediratta. The intended consumer? Anyone craving 'The Great Indian Treat."

According to Smithsonian magazine, Esposito used buffalo mozzarella on his groundbreaking pizza, a new ingredient to be melted atop flat bread. Mediratta also added a significant innovation to the pizza art form-chickpeas.

As with most new ideas, people scoffed at first. "When I was doing this pizza, everyone put me down and said, 'We can't put chickpeas on it; there is no value.' I said, if you look at an Indian consumer, he eats bhatum, which is a bread, and he eats it with

P

chana. My crust is also a bread. So I just need to put some chana and onion on top of it," says Mediratta, a former Taj Hotel chef who prefers to eat at roadside dhabas instead of five-star hotels.

He chucked the basil topping of the original "Margherita" pizza in favor of onions, paneer, soft chickpeas, fresh coriander and a sprinkling of masala. The result: Peshawari Chana Paneer Pizza is now one of the best selling items in Pizza Hut's vegetarian range. "It's the consumer who decides what he wants, not us," says Mediratta.

And that has been one of the greatest lessons for U.S.-based restaurant chains as they entered the Indian market: Indian consumers crave Indian flavors. Give them a chicken burger, but make it with mint sauce. Or a submarine sandwich with spicy potato patties. Keep the international standard of service, clean-

liness and food quality. Keep the food's form and function the same. But a little masala never hurt anyone.

From unsure and sometimes rough beginnings, American food chains are growing fast in India now. Papa John's just entered and KFC is resurgent. McDonald's now has 91 restaurants in India and feeds 350,000 people a day. Pizza Hut had 126 restaurants in July and is expanding fast into small towns, as is Subway, with 79 restaurants.

In fact, Indian menu options have become standard for American chains here. Says Robby Gulri, a Subway representative in India, "When we fIrst introduced Subway in India, we only had our international selection of subs. In line with customer feedback and popular demand we gradually introduced a variety of Indian subs. These were developed in collaboration with our

From top: A staffer explains the menu to a customer at McDonald's; the KFC outlet at Rajouri Garden, New Delhi; customers at Pizza Hut. local vendors and the R&D department at Subway headquarters, in Milford, Connecticut."

Newcomer Papa John's didn't have to suffer the learning curve of early entrants like Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza (which, like Subway, both started out with only standard offerings). Papa John's launched its restaurants with a host of Indianstyle pizzas already on the menu.

The success of the shift speaks for itself. In India, the top selling McDonald's product is the McAloo Tikki, a Rs. 20 potato burger with spices, tomato slices and a tangy sauce. But making a bestseller isn't just about whipping up wonders in the kitchen:

It's a long, complicated process llvolving marketing, supply chains, kitchen staff and countless tests of taste and pricing.

That new, delicious looking dish advertised in the newspaper often takes more than a year to develop from concept to reality.

Fast-food and chain restaurants like McDonald's and Pizza Hut are all about volumes; therefore, every new offering actually starts in marketing. That department collects customer feedback, runs focus groups, watches sales trends and does its best to find out what customers are craving.

Once a trend is established, marketing consults chefs and other food developers to come up with offerings to reflect it.

Samples are then taken to consumers in focus groups, who are not allowed to eat the offerings-yet.

They're simply told about the product, and asked if they would want to buy it.

Fresh iceberg lettuce from Trikaya Agriculture, Talegaon, Maharashtra; Ooty Farms, Tamil Nadu; and Meena Agritech, New Delhi

Batter and breading from Cremica EBI, Ludhiana, Punjab

Vegetable patty from Kitran Foods, Taloja, Maharashtra

After narrowing the choices from the feedback, an in-house team rates the selections on taste, presentation and feasibility.

After this, products are again sent to the focus groups, but this time, they get a taste. If the consumers like the taste, then it's off to the biggest test of all: suppliers. Can the meat suppliers mass produce a kebab that tastes just right and doesn't cost a fortune?

Will the breadsticks crumble before they are delivered?

If the suppliers can produce the ingredients, then it's on to a restaurant test where a branch is chosen to sell and serve the product. Can the kitchen workers prepare it properly? Is the price too high? Can the waiters explain what goes into the item? And, of course, the bottom line: does it sell? Only after all these questions are answered does that hot bite end up on your lunch tray.

Some bright ideas from India have even gone international. In Pizza Hut's case, the U.S.-based parent introduced a stuffed crust pizza with strips of mozzarella cheese baked into the edges. However, Indians aren't fans of cheese as much as Americans are, and the pizza didn't sell well here. Instead, Indian consumers wanted more meat. After playing around with

crust stuffing technology, Mediratta and his team found a way to stuff sausages into the crust instead of cheese. It was a hit. After that, it was just a matter of time before other countries picked up the same feature, and sausage crust pizza went worldwide.

Innovations aren't limited to the food either. When McDonald's started its delivery service, a feature of many of its branches in Asian countries, it came upon a problem for its Chandni Chowk branch in New Delhi. "As a model, we use specially modified and branded scooters for delivery," says Pawanjit Singh, who heads the delivery division for McDonald's India.

"But looking at the traffic congestion in Chandni Chowk, we felt that scooters would not allow us to deliver the orders in time. We finally decided upon bicycles."

Men on bikes take up less space and can zip through the crowded streets much faster. This is important, considering the walled city is said to hold an estimated one million people. And if it's terribly crowded-say, at {;5:30 p.m. on a weekday-the ยง delivery men have even been o ii known to walk to nearby destin a~ tions. It's the only branch of ~ McDonald's worldwide to have ~ this unique form of delivery. " But how much Indian flavor is too much? When do you stop catering to local tastes and start diluting your core product? It's a delicate balance that marketers and chefs have to handle every time they work on a new menu offering.

Says Mediratta, "Our consumer research shows that people say they want an international concept but with an Indian heart.

They don't want butter chicken; for that they can go to other places. When they come here they still want an international pizza, so we have to be very careful when we do the balancing on our menu." For that reason, he's decided not to tamper with his core ingredients: crust, cheese and sauce.

In addition to finding the right food elements, the other assets of chain restaurants playa huge role in keeping the brand international. The staff speak English and are trained in customer service; the ambience is clean and well-lit with a modern feel; and the ingredients are all prepared in hygienic conditions identical to the requirements in the United States. Surprise visits are made at least once a month to each franchise by an undercover customer, and if standards are not met, the restaurant will be penalized or even shut down.

One integral feature of all the Indian branches of American brands is vegetarian offerings. Workers in different parts of the kitchen keep the meat-based products strictly separated. This scrupulous behavior was learned the hard way. KFC was plagued by allegations of animal rights abuses in its chicken sourcing, and McDonald's received a lot of flak over an allegation of small amounts of beef in the oil used to cook vegetarian

:rasty Bite India Coming adras lentils made in Pune, Maharashtra, are finding their way onto American dinner tables thanks to food packaging technology invented for the Apollo space program, and a growing company, Tasty Bite. Its motto is "Taking Indian food to the mainstream," and company President Ashok Vasudevan has done just that.

Tasty Bite now sells nationally in U.S. grocery stores like Safeway, Costco and Trader Joe's. Vasudevan also estimates that 98 percent of his consumers are non-Indian.

Started in India during the 1990s, Tasty Bite made ready-to-eat meals in specially sealed packs like those used for army rations. It was a new technology that India

M

to American Table

wasn't ready for. However, America was.

Seeing the trends of food experimentation and ready-made meals in the U.S. market, Tasty Bite launched in 1995, billing its products as natural, ethnic food. The Indian meals sold in health food stores

products, which the company denied.

Arvind Mediratta, marketing director of Yum Foods India, spoke of the trouble first experienced by the company's brands.

"When KFC came in, the political environment was not very conducive to the entry of multinationals. There was a lot of hue and cry raised by politicians saying that KFC is junk food. They said, 'We don't need multinationals to serve us chicken. We have our own tandoori chicken.' While there was so much heat on KFC, we moved the focus to Pizza Hut." Much has happened since 1995 when KFC fIrst launched.

Foreign direct investment rules have been liberalized, the average salary has risen and the Indian government is now wooing multinational companies, not shunning them. All these factors were motivations to relaunch KFC in metros like New Delhi and Calcutta.

And KFC has re-Iaunched with a new menu that's pretty radical for a restaurant known for its chicken. Its vegetarian range includes a chana burger and Indian thalis. Says Arvind Mediratta, "When we talk about the KFC brand, we're not talking about chicken; our positioning is around taste."

Though it's too early to gauge the success of the vegetarian menu, price will obviously playa part in KFC's sales. Ten years ago, it sold two pieces of chicken for Rs. 60 and saw customers balk at the amount. Today KFC is selling two pieces for Rs. 5 more, and catering to a whole new income bracket.

American restaurant chains have all been getting aggressive in pricing in recent years. Many began with prices that reflected those in the West and their products were regarded as a luxury.

Now McDonald's has a Rs. 20 menu, Subway has Rs. 50 sandwiches and Pizza Hut has a meal package of ice cream, pizza and soup for Rs. 75. All reported a significant boost in sales since introducing lower pricing.

And as they make their food affordable to a whole new section of customers, they are also helping Indian farmers and suppliers become more efficient and knowledgeable. Processed food is still quite new and underdeveloped here, and it's not uncommon for Indian vendors for American chains to be sent on exchange programs to the United States or Europe to learn new

because they had no preservatives and no added flavors.

At first, sales were sluggish. One problem was the product names. "The words on the pack were a mouthful," says Vasudevan, "so Navratan Korma became Jaipur Vegetables." They also had to wait a little ~ while for American tastes to evolve. "We ~ were surprised at the reaction to our Kashmir Spinach. The spinach in the U.S. is 8 very fibrous .... Our spinach was often looked at as baby food because it was very gooey."

Now Kashmir Spinach is a top seller.

Tasty Bite is expanding, and its 120strong staff is now making Thai, Italian, Chinese and Mediterranean meals at the production center in Pune.

-E.W.

i

processes and recipes.

Neerja Bharat of McDonald's recalls the company's Indian launch in the early 1990s and the extensive search for good suppliers. "India had no technical know-how and expertise on how to grow lettuce," she says. "We needed lettuce that would crunch when you bite it." It took McDonald's six years to get the lettuce right, along with other key food components. The company finally settled on farming it in Goty, Tamil Nadu, and taught the vendors advanced drip irrigation methods. The vendors now plan on exporting lettuce to McDonald's in other countries as well.

Pizza Hut had similar problems with pepperoni when the Indian government banned its import. Sanjiv Mediratta knew he had to arrange something, as customers were clamoring for the Italian sausage. After interviewing many vendors, he settled on a small pork slaughterhouse called Farm Suzanne, in Chennai.

The owners were already catering to other packaged food makers, but were still not up to international standards. Plus, they had no idea how to make pepperoni.

So Yum Foods brought one of its vendors from Australia to teach pepperoni processes and seasoning. Every window in the plant had to be shut, the building had to be kept at 10 degrees Celsius at all times, and lots of new equipment was needed.

These were all expensive for a small vendor to handle, but Farm Suzanne did it. It now produces authentic Indian-made pepperoni in perfectly uniform slices that taste just like the international stuff. Pepperoni lovers can now breathe easy; Pizza Hut will be reintroducing the signature dish soon.

And what of customers from America or Europe who are searching for a familiar taste from home? Vijay Kadian, manager of a Pizza Hut in Gurgaon, outside New Delhi, says that Western customers in the business hub regularly order the local pizzas. "They are visiting a brand like Pizza Hut but they are in India, and want a taste of Indian food as well. They order the Indian pizzas." But, he admits, "without the green chilies."

D

nother 350 employees of the restaurant-waiters, cooks, busboys and dishwashers struggling to earn a living and support their families-were left without jobs. They were among 13,000 restaurant workers in New York67 percent of whom are immigrants- who were unemployed because of the attacks, according to the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees local union chapter.

Jean Pierre, Memon Ahmed and Patricio Valencia-from Haiti, Bangladesh and Ecuador-were among the survivors.

Despite the shock, the fear and grief for their lost colleagues, they had to fmd work in a city where restaurants were shutting down

A

because of the sudden drop in tourist and business traffic. After several years of struggling through odd jobs, including occasional low-paying restaurant work, Pierre, Ahmed and Valencia are now employees of a new eatery--Colors-that opened in January 2006 in New York's eastern Greenwich Village. But more importantly, the three men, along with 55 other workers, are co-owners of the restaurant that operates like a cooperative. About two dozen of the Colors employees had worked at Windows on the World, which was one of the most popular restaurants in the United States.

On September 11, 2001, Pierre's regular 6 a.m. shift had been delayed because

of construction work at the restaurant. He was asked to report to work a few hours later. And so Pierre was in New Jersey buying formula milk for his six-month-old son when the first plane hit the twin towers. The full extent of the disaster didn't strike him until he returned home where his father sat holding his baby boy and staring at the television.

"And then they showed the buildings come down and that's when I started crying," says Pierre, 34, a Haitian immigrant who worked as a sous chef at Windows.

"My reaction was that I was upset on Sunday when my boss told me that I would have to come at a later time and on

Top: The main dining room at Colors, one of the few cooperative restaurants in New York City.

Above: Awal Ahmed (from left), Fekkak Mamdouh and Patricio Valencia on a busy day at the bar.

Above, right: Saru Jayaraman, lawyer and activist, who helped set up Colors.

Tuesday, God saved my life. Due to the construction I ended up alive."

Ahmed, who came to the United States from Bangladesh 19 years ago, was working at Windows on February 26, 1993the date of the first terrorist attack on the twin towers. On September 11, 2001, he was asleep at his home in Queens, New York, when the planes hit the landmark

buildings in Manhattan. His shift as a waiter at Windows didn't start until 2 p.m. An Indonesian colleague woke him up and told him to turn on his television.

"It's hard to imagine," says Ahmed, 39, about the devastation and deaths.

"Sometimes I think I am luckier than the others, because I skipped death two times from the same place."

Colors, with its eclectic international flavor and menu, is a tribute to the 79 Windows workers who died on September 11. The restaurant was developed by Fekkak Mamdouh, a Moroccan immigrant who worked as a Windows waiter, and Sam Jayaraman, a feisty Indian American

immigration lawyer and labor activist, who had been approached initially by the union that represented the Windows workers to establish a permanent restaurant workers center.

For the first 90 days after the terrorist attacks, the Rockefeller Foundation had funded a union-run relief center, with multilingual caseworkers who offered fmancial help, counseling and other services.

The continuing need, however, was jobs.

The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union encouraged Jayaraman and Mamdouh to launch the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York, or ROC-NY, as a permanent workers' center,

offering job-search assistance, classes and legal advocacy, to attract low-paid and often unorganized restaurant workers into collective action.

When Jayaraman was initially approached, she was hesitant to join their cause because she feels unions in the United States "tend to be fairly mainstream" and she favors a more activist approach. But then she met the workers of Windows and she was impressed by their diversity and commitment to good working conditions.

"Their immediate concerns were jobs, money, relief, just basic concerns of survival and living," she says.

Jayaraman grew up in the working class neighborhood of East Los Angeles in California. She attended Yale Law School and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, then chose to become an activist and an organizer fighting for workers' rights.

"ROC's vision is to organize," she says,

from her office in downtown Manhattana space given to the organization by Brooklyn College. In addition to her work as a co-director of ROC, Jayaraman teaches courses on immigrant rights, labor economics, political science, sociology and community organizing at Brooklyn College and New York University.

"The vast majority of New York workers aren't union members. Working conditions are awful. Seventy percent of all restaurant workers are immigrants; 90 percent don't

have health insurance; 60 percent don't get proper overtime. The median annual income is $19,000," says Jayaraman.

Some Windows on the World workers found jobs at Noche, a Latin-themed restaurant that was opened in Times Square in June 2002 by David Emil, who had owned Windows. But other workers were angry that Emil did not hire more of them.

With ROC's help they approached the news media and held demonstrations. They alleged that Emil was trying to hire only

Some of the worker-owners at Colors are (from left) Awal Ahmed from Bangladesh; Rosario Cera from Mexico; Sonali Mitra from India; Memon Ahmed, Mohammad Quddus and Mohamed Ali from Bangladesh.

On the Menu_=-==--==--==--==--==--==--==--= olors' menu includes an array of international dishes representing the staff from 24 countries.

Entrees include Organic Chicken, Bangladeshi pot pie, Congolese Seafood Bowl, Goat Curry with Peruvian lentil-rice cake. Entrees range in price from $18 to $33.

Appetizers, priced at $11 to $17, include Lambi Salad, with Haitian-style stewed conch; and Tuna Tartar, served with capers and American sturgeon caviar.

C

Jean Pierre, executive sous chef cuts pineapples at Colors' ergonomically designed kitchen.

==-===----====-=--~ =--=~:~=

ecipe from

COLORS

money into the restaurant. Instead, as non-union workers in his new restaurant. worker-owners they volunteered their time.

Emil said that many jobs at Windows, Serves 6 to 8 ROC, of which Jayaraman and Mamdouh such as banquet waiters, captains and food are directors, owns 40 percent of the restaurunners, did not require English language Thai Salad and other skills, and those jobs did not rant. The rest of the ownership is divided v 1 piece (about 1 kilogram) green papaya Italian exist at the much smaller Noche. An between an Italian coop-Good (julienne on a mandolin) Food-and the Nonprofit Finance Fund. accord was reached, however. Emil hired v 225 grams chive buds "We are not in the business of restaurant more ex-Windows workers and promised v 225 grams long beans ownership," Jayaraman says about ROC. others the first chance whenever Noche v 1 large carrot (julienne on a mandolin) "We are still organizers." But she adds that opened banquet facilities. v 115 grams bean sprouts "It was a really big victory and the when Colors starts to make profits, ROC will v 30 pieces spicy cashews use its share to launch similar coops. workers realized that even though we were v 1 pack of tamarind candy (without seeds) Until then, Colors remains a model in this relief mode, there was so much we v 10 sprigs cilantro experiment-one of a small number of coop could do if we got together," Jayaraman v 10 sprigs Thai basil restaurants in New York City. Colors' staff says. However, Noche closed down. Many v 10 sprigs mint of the workers found themselves out of a eams at least $13.50 an hour. That is double Prepare all above, Keep refrigerated Just the New York State legal minimum wage of job again and approached ROC for help. before you saute chicken mix all of the above in a $6.75. And they divide the tips evenly.

Forming a coop restaurant was Mambowl with vinaigrette (recipe below), Let sit for douh's idea, Jayaraman says. It took fourColors' interior is designed by Jim five minutes_ and-a-half years and $2 million in funds, Walrod, whose other restaurant credits When chicken is done sauteing, place on Jayaraman says. In January 2003, she had include Pace and the Park. The light fixtures serving plate and top with Thai salad_ and the globe lamps are inspired by the spent time learning about the Indian Coffee New York pavilion House chain while Chili Vinaigrene at the 1939 World's on a personal visit v 1 bottle of sweet chili Fair. to India. In 1957, v 1 cup diced ginger "It is very when coffee was a â&#x20AC;˘ 5th anniversary memorial for Windows on v 2 cups fresh lime juice the World workers, September 11, 8-11 a,m_ exciting. It will be restricted item in v Vz cup Thai fish sauce my business with India and quite â&#x20AC;˘ 2nd anniversary celebration of The Fruits of v 10 lime leaves chopped fine Our Labor. September 12, 6 p_m my co-workers. expensive, employCombine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

But for now, it is ees of the state-run Coffee Board set up a cooperative society, another job," says Valencia, 41, the Boiled Chicken which established the chain of restaurants Ecuadorian bartender who starts work in v 1 whole chicken (1,5-2 kilograms) to sell coffee at a reasonable price. It the afternoon because Colors, for now, is v 2 tablespoons peeled ginger, diced only open for dinner. "This wasn't easy. became popular with students, intellectuv 2 tablespoons lemongrass, chopped fine als, traveling salesmen, politicians and sev- In fact it was very hard," he adds. v 2 tablespoons oil eral prime ministers.

On September 11, 2001, Valencia was v 1 lime about to leave his home in Queens for the Colors, with its international cuisine v Thai fish sauce and 1930s art deco style, contrasts with the 10 a.m. shift at Windows. His wife had Place chicken in 20-liter stock pot. Cover with worked late into the previous night in the Indian Coffee House's homey atmosphere. water, Add one tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil and coat check section. Valencia had a SpanishBut in either case, cooperative ownership cook it for 45 minutes on medium heat. Let cool. doesn't mean that the employees allow the language radio station on when he heard Pick meat off bones and shred (not too fine), In a the breaking news about a plane hitting the restaurants to operate in a chaotic manner, 30-centimeter saute pan, heat two tablespoons oil Jayaraman says. "They own the place and World Trade Center. The Spanish cable teland add chicken, Let sit for two minutes on medithere is the sense of pride, but there is still evision channel he normally watched had um heat then add ginger, lemongrass and a gone black. The channel's antenna, located the hierarchy," she says. "The general squeeze of lime, Add a dash of fish sauce and mix manager (Stefan Mailvaganam) runs the on top of the north tower of the World all ingredients, Cook for one minute_ Place cooked show and the kitchen is managed by the Trade Center, had been destroyed. chicken on plate topped with Thai salad_ "I cried for days," Valencia says. "Never executive chef (Raymond Mohan).

"And it's not just about money," she in my life had I cried like that. Every time tive and everybody gets treated equally," we would talk, someone would mention continues. "It's really about governance. another person who died. It was painful."

Pierre says. "And in the end you will benefit The workers have input in a lot of things.

For Pierre, the mission of Colors is as from it because we are giving a great prodThey chose the chef; the general manager uct and everybody cares for what they are important as having a job. He strongly and they just selected an assistant manag0 believes that he is part of a movement that doing." er. They helped design the menu from is trying to change the restaurant industry. their family dishes."

Aseem Chhabra is a New York-based free"We want to show that people can come lance writer, Laurinda Keys Long conColors' employees own 20 percent of the business, but did not put their own together and do something good and posi- tributed to this article.

Pam Thai

showed no emotion at all, no bewilderment at the crowd gathered outside or any curiosity about the strangers who had come to meet her. Her face looked much older than her years-as if it had seen too much and was tired of telling its tale over and over again.

And then Tarana's sister, Tabassum, slowly pulled away the dirty, white dupatta wound around her. What unfolded before us was a grotesque, unseemly sight. Stunned, we stared at what seemed like the nude portrait of a frail young girl. Both her arms had been severed up to her shoulders. Instead of rising round breasts-the sign of young womanhood-there were two large round black marks. The flesh down to her waist hung loose. Her toes stuck together in an unshapely manner. However, the face had been deliberately left untouched and absolutely clear of any mark. On our insistence, Tabassum retied the dupatta around her sister's limp figure. "It would have been better if the acid had

soaked in blood and she was being electrically shocked. Tarana lost consciousness again as all limits of barbarism were crossed in that grimy room.

Four days later, as Shakira stood on her veranda, a car stopped in front of her house. Tarana was tossed out, barely alive, before the car sped away. Doctors had to amputate both her arms and then her shoulders in a desperate effort to save her life. Tarana survived, but only to exist as a shell of her former self, condemned to live with a mutilated body and soul.

As I walked away on leaden feet, the priest of the temple nearby, Devi Prasad Tiwari, approached me. "Have you seen how cruel and oppressi ve the man of modem times is?" he harangued.

The summer sun was beating down mercilessly as I got into my car and instructed the driver, "Shelter home, Sakhi Kendra."

The shelter was set up 30 years ago by Neelam Chaturvedi to Tarana survived four days of being burned with acid, electrically shocked and hacked with knives by male relatives and neighbors. Only her face was spared.

Sakhi Kendra helped pay for the medical care that saved her life, but she still lives in the same neighborhood.

Right: Gudiya, betrayed and abused repeatedly by people she trusted, became a mother at 16. Now in her early twenties she has resumed her studies with help from Sakhi Kendra.

percolated to her heart and wiped out her life. This is no way to live," mutters Tabassum, tears streaming down her face. Shaken to the core I had to pull myself together to ask Tarana my first question: "How did it all happen?"

"I was fortunate to survive being burnt by the pitiless acid," says Tarana in a tone of hopelessness, frustration and anger. As her eyes started to fill with tears Subhashini Chaturvedi, a social worker with Sakhi Kendra, a welfare organization working with victimized women and girls, stepped in to give us the details.

Her story, later corroborated by the girl's neighbors, begins when a group of neighbors forcibly occupied the house of Tarana's mother, Shakira. When Shakira complained to her landlord, he sent a notice to those people, also his tenants, to vacate the premises. Barely a week passed before Tarana was suddenly abducted. She was taken away in a jeep by her neighbor, Najo, and three of her male relatives. Najo gave her something to eat and she became unconscious. When she came to, her salwar was

help the widows of workers who were killed by police gunfire during a strike at the Swadeshi Cotton Mills in Kanpur. The home now houses two dozen women who have faced the darker side of life. They are given medical care, education, skills training, food, shelter, sympathy and safety. With the help of Rs. I million from the U.S. Embassy Alumni Grants Program, Sakhi Kendra has established centers in Lucknow and Jhansi as well. Chaturvedi, an alumna of the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program, had asked for the aid to further the work of Sakhi Kendra. "If something is done with sincerity and commitment, funds are not a problem. You have to let your work do the talking and people would of course come forward on their own with whatever they can offer."

Chaturvedi says Tarana spent about three months in the hospital. The expenses amounted to hundreds of thousands of rupees. However, there was no problem getting money to pay for her treatment. Her attackers also were arrested and jailed. At

Sakhi Kendra women and girls who have been through tough times are counseling others. "Who better than they to help other victimized women? The girls staying here are devoting each minute of their lives to enriching their own life as well as that of others," says Chaturvedi.

As I sat engrossed in discussions with her I caught a glimpse of Archana, a counselor, sitting nearby. There were tears in her eyes, anger and grief on her face. A few minutes later she burst out: "Women give birth to men but men don't lose a single chance to abuse them and treat them like commodities. Incidents of rape, molestation and acid attacks are increasing. You are shocked by Tarana's case but there have been more than a dozen acid attacks on girls in the past year in Kanpur alone." Everyone from Gudiya, Zahida and Megha to Mridula and Sapna, all residents of Sakhi Kendra's shelter home, has her own story of barbarism to narrate.

Each one's tale is more heart-rending than the other's.

On the second floor of the shelter home is a large hall where the girls learn to read and write or rehearse for street plays during the day. At night this hall is used as a dormitory. On one bed is a girl in her early twenties, engrossed in a book. Her long, flowing hair is a little disorderly but what arrested me was her face. It was absolutely blank, though her eyes seemed to relate another gruesome tale like Tarana's. "This is Gudiya," said Chaturvedi as she lovingly ran her fingers through the girl's hair.

"She is a very good girl. This year she passed her intermediate examination." Gudiya, however, seemed to be lost in her own world, oblivious to all around her.

After passing the eighth standard, Gudiya had quit her studies on the insistence of her mother and began assisting in household chores. Around that time her aunt and a male cousin moved to

Gudiya's neighborhood. One day, her aunt asked Gudiya to accompany her to the marketplace. Gudiya remembers that they all ate something at one of the shops. The next thing she remembers is being in an unfamiliar city miles from Kanpur. "How or when I was taken there is still a mystery. When I started weeping, I was told that I would have to marry my aunt's son and spend the rest of my life with him. I don't know whether I was married to him or not, but I do remember that I was prepared each night to sleep with a stranger," says Gudiya.

Barely 16, Gudiya gave birth to a baby who died within a few days. "I don't remember whether it was killed or it died on its own," she says. After the death of her child, Gudiya mustered enough courage to escape. But instead of going to her parents, she sought shelter at the house of her father's friend. Gudiya's father came to know that his friend was sheltering his daughter; but he did not bring her back home as he believed he would be embarrassed in the community because of her long absence.

Meanwhile, the man harboring Gudiya tried to take advantage of her. She lost all faith in human relations and tried to commit suicide. Gudiya does not remember how she arrived at Sakhi Kendra, though Chaturvedi says she was brought by her mother.

Another girl, Zahida, told us how her father got her married three times for money. It was as if I was watching a series of images flashing past on a giant screen, each one more painful than the previous. If one was a victim of domestic violence the other had been raped and left to die on the streets. There were even women who were sold and bought in open markets like cattle.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, more than 15,000 cases of heinous crimes against women are registered

every year in India. However, this is only a small part of the picture as 60 to 70 percent of cases of sexual exploitation are not reported.

Zahida brought me a cup of tea and spread a local newspaper in front of me, opened on page three. There were two pictures of women holding their children. It was a report on a police raid at a hotel in Allahabad where they had arrested more than two dozen women involved in prostitution. A number of them were from Madhya Pradesh and had been lured to Uttar Pradesh with the promise of jobs, only to end up in red light areas.

The look on Zahida's face was telling.

Subhashini Chaturvedi (right, in blue), a social worker with Sakhi Kendra, counsels women The problem is not confined to India. in the Gadaria Purva locality of Kanpur. The home is a refuge for girls and women and has According to the U.S. Department of established centers in Lucknow and Jhansi.

Labor, close to 50,000 women and children are trafficked into America every Below: Soni, who received help from Sakhi Kendra, has her own story of barbarism to tell. year. "Some are trafficked for sweatshop labor, some for domestic servitude, some for agricultural work, but the greatest number are trafficked The United States has also given a grant of Rs. 9 million for into the sex industry," said U.S. Ambassador David C. Mulford 24 projects in India during the past few years. The Indian govat a Conference on CorporatelNGO Partnerships to Combat ernment started a program in 1998 called "Plan of Action to Trafficking held in Calcutta in 2004. Once in this business, not Combat Trafficking and Commercial and Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children" under the aegis of the Department of only do they face rape, beatings and humiliation but also many Women and Child Development. It works with NGOs. end up with HIV/AIDS. Over the past few years the United However, Chaturvedi of Sakhi Kendra feels such efforts cannot States has committed more than $400 million to anti-trafficking be completely successful unless the common man raises his voice efforts around the world. Last year, the United States spent $95 and takes action. During her visit to the United States in 1999 million for projects in 101 countries, in addition to the $25 milChaturvedi interacted with organizations and shelter homes worklion spent on programs to fight human trafficking in America. ing for women's welfare.

She noticed that many regular people took time from their busy schedules to involve themselves in welfare work. The temporary and semi-permanent workers of any welfare organization worked as sincerely as the permanent employees. "I strongly feel that no government or non-government effort can produce the desired results without the involvement of each one of us," she says.

As 1 prepared to return to Delhi, the image of Sapna, a frail 14-year-old girl, kept flashing in my mind. When 1 met her she was holding a baby in her arms. "Is this your brother?" I asked. "You can call him my brother or my son. If he manages to survive, 1 would have to be his mother," she replied. What she meant could be grasped easily. The horror of such a betrayal of a child's basic trust could not be hidden by her casual tone. Tears rolled down her bony cheeks. And as 1 carried my belongings out to the waiting car, her sobs sliced through the abominable ordinariness of the day.

0

hile other girls her age were mixing flour, butter, eggs and sugar to make cookies, pretending to be pioneers of the American West, astronaut Shannon Lucid was thrilled in the fourth grade when she discovered that one could mix gases and make water. Lucid, too, dreamed of being a pioneerjust not in the kitchen.

Undaunted by obstacles facing girls and women prior to the 1960s in America, Lucid set her sights on space exploration.

NASA, the American space agency, invited women to qualify for space travel in 1978, and Lucid was among the first six women to join NASA's astronaut program. The others were Rhea Seddon, Kathryn Sullivan, Judith Resnik, Sally Ride and Anna Fisher. In 1983, Ride became the first American woman in space; Sullivan was the first woman to walk in space.

Lucid says she was usually the only female student in her chemistry classes in college and graduate school. In eighth grade, when space exploration was in its infancy, she wrote about her future career as a rocket scientist. Her teacher felt she had not fulfilled the assignment because the essay was not supposed to be science fiction.

Today, 33 percent of all NASA employees-and 19 percent of the agency's scientists and engineersare women. In 1998, for the first time in the history of spaceflight, the launch commentator (Lisa Malone), the ascent commentator (Eileen Hawley), the flight director (Linda Hamm) and

W

Eileen Collins enters log notes at the commander's station on Columbia's flight deck in 1999.

the communicator between Mission Control and the crew, known as the CapCom (Susan Still), were all female. Nearly two-thirds of the flight control team for NASA's space shuttle launch that year was female.

A veteran of five space flights, logging 223 days in space, Lucid holds the international record for the most flight hours in orbit by any American, and any woman in the world. During her 188 days on the Russian space station Mir in 1996, Lucid said she "never got tired of looking out the window and looking at our Earth. It was just so beautiful."

In 1998 she wrote in Scientific American that she viewed the Mir mission as the perfect opportunity to combine two of her passions: flying airplanes and working in laboratories.

Lucid received her pilot's license when she was 20. Before she became an astronaut she was a biochemist at the University of Oklahoma. Lucid's three children were grown by the time she worked on Mir. Lucid was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1996.

In 1992, Mae C. Jemison, a physician, was the first black woman to fly in space when she joined the space shuttle Endeavor as science mission

specialist, conducting experiments in life sciences, material sciences and bone cell research.

Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins, who was the first woman to pilot a space shuttle in 1995, entered the NASA space program from the U.S. Air Force.

Thirty years after astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the moon, Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle in 1999.

Then-NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin, who initiated changes to transform America's aeronautics and space program to include training and education of women, said of Collins' mission, "This is great, but it is not enough."

"I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to be part of bringing those barriers down," Collins was quoted as saying. "I'm honored to be the

Shannon Lucid works out on the treadmill during her sixmonth stay on the Russian space station Mir in 1996. first woman to have an opportunity to command the shuttle."

Since then, women have assumed prominent roles in the space program For example, NASA's Countdown Status Briefing in June featured Debbie Hahn, payload manager, and Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer.

Sunita L. Williams, NASA's second Indian American astronaut, has been assigned as flight engineer aboard the International Space Station this December.

In addition to the achievements and successes of women in the U.S. space program, there have been tragedies Two women died when space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off on January 28, 1986-mission specialist Judith Resnik and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

Two women-mission specialists Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Blair Salton Clark-were aboard space shuttle Columbia when it broke up on reentering the Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003.

0 Carolee Walker is a staff writer for Washington File, a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State (http://usinfo.state. gov).

Franklin's Forgonen Triumph •

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cion IIC os In One of American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin's least-known contributions to modern life is also one of his most important.

illions of asthmatics and hay fever sufferers could be spared the misery of severe attacks by a new vaccine," a newspaper story begins. "Clinical trials suggest new cancer drug may save thousands of lives," a television news anchor intones.

"Children who received the medication developed long-lasting resistance to measles compared with those who received a placebo," reads a brochure in a pediatrician's office.

What is known as "the blind protocol" influences our lives in a thousand ways.

Its basic elements are simple to understand. Take a group of people. Randomly assign them to one of two groups. One receives the real medicine; the other gets a placebo, and the researchers and the patients alike are blind to which is which.

Every pill we take, every nasal spray or medical patch we use, has been subjected to the judgment of the blind protocol. It is the price demanded by the Food and Drug Administration before the gates to the American drug market will open.

Doing science this way is important because what researchers want or expect can influence what they observe, or how they interpret what their data says. If no one knows what he's observing until the data collection and analysis are completed, then the potential for bias is eliminated. That is why the blind protocol has become the gold standard of the life sciences. But where did the idea come from?

Even scientists are surprised to learn that

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it was created by Benjamin Franklin.

We don't often think of Franklin's scientific research except in terms of his work on electricity. But beyond his electrical work, diplomacy and statesmanship, he's also historically significant for his contributions to a half-dozen other disciplines.

He was the first meteorologist in America, the first geographer, the first oceanographer, an inventor of medical apparatus and, least known of all, the first parapsychologist-a student of extraordinary and anomalous human functioning. It was in this last capacity that he created the blind protocol.

In 1778 Franklin was in Paris, as America's ambassador to the court of King Louis XVI, when the 18th century's greatest medical rogue, Franz Anton Mesmer, arrived from Vienna, in a cloud of celebrity and controversy. Mesmer had left Vienna in a hurry. He had been asked to treat Marie Paradies, a pianist who appears to have suffered from hysterical blindness.

After she received his treatment, her eyesight was temporarily restored, but the change was so overwhelming that it shattered her nerves and she lost the ability to play her instrument.

Unhappily for Mesmer, Marie Paradies was the goddaughter of the Austro-Hungarian empress, Maria Theresa, and the empress took umbrage at what had happened.

Mesmer prudently decamped to Paris, which was where he encountered Franklin.

Well-trained in both medicine and theology, Mesmer was a charming, rational, cultivated man; he commissioned several

works composed by Mozart. But he also had a flamboyantly theatrical style and more than a whiff of the con; he had startling theories of illness and disturbing and erotically tinged methods of treatment.

His patients, known as somnambules, were described by one observer as mostly "hysterical bourgeois women," and he treated them in group "magnetic seances."

Like many 18th-century intellectuals, Mesmer was interested in alchemy and astrology, and he cloaked his treatments in the symbols of these already contested fields. The somnambules sat holding hands around a large wooden tub filled with powdered glass and magnetized iron filings. They were relaxed and brought into rapport by the sweet haunting tones of the glass harmonica, an instrument invented, coincidentally, by Franklin. The glass harmonica was played behind a curtain covered with astrological symbols, and it produced ethereal sounds that were the 18th century's equivalent of modem electronic consciousness music. After a while Mesmer, cloaked in a long purple robe, would sweep into the room. The effect was dramatic. In a performance that was a cross between that of a modem entertainment hypnotist and a psychotherapist, he would talk the somnambules into a deep trance and give them healing suggestions. Then he would touch them with a white metal wand, sometimes rubbing them. And finally he would command them to awaken, rested and cured. It often worked, and Mesmer's success made him

~ storms; electricity; magnetism; and even § a variant on Newton's understanding of ~ gravity. He later named the resulting 8 model gravitas animalis, or magnetismus animalis-animal magnetism. j It gave the effects he achieved a certain ~ gloss, electricity, magnetism and gravity 8 being the high-prestige research areas of ~ the day. We now know that he plagiarized ~ much of this from one of the most promi.~ nent and well-regarded English physicians a ~ of the previous generation, Richard Meade ~ (1673-1754). He also mixed in some alche§ my, proposing that there existed a universal ~ "fluid" in all living forms that could flow ~ from one organism to another and affect a ~ patient's health. It wasn't the fIrst time ~ observable phenomena were linked to ; absurd explanation, and as time went on, ~ Mesmer became more and more invested ~ in it, even as it caused him to be increasing:; Iy shunned by more conventional healers. ~ When he arrived in Paris, the French ~ medical establishment, alarmed as much ~ by his entrepreneurial success as by his un.~ founded theories, denied him a license to ~ practice medicine in the city. He got around ~ it by partnering with a disciple, the already -a licensed Charles d'Eslon. Mesmer was soon ~ at the height of Paris society, collecting followers who included the young French aris~ tocrat and American Revolutionary War .~ hero the Marquis de Lafayette, as well as no less a patron than the queen, Marie Antoinette. He was lionized by the glamorous, and Mozart made references to him and his magnets in his comic opera COSt Fan Tutte. So great was his popularity that his name quickly entered the language, in the form of the verb mesmerize.

By 1784, six years later, Mesmer felt secure enough to propose building a hospital for animal magnetism treatments, and he quickly raised 340,000 livres, a prodigious sum. This development, his ever-greater fame, his sway over the queen, and the constant lobbying against him by established physicians finally prompted King Louis to establish a commission to investigate his claims.

In March 1784 four doctors were selected, among them Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, for whom the guillotine was named. The four physicians asked the Academy of Sciences to add some scientists to their number, and fIve were chosen, including Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier,

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Benjamin Franklin was a statesman, diplomat, writer, printer, meteorologist, geographer, oceanographer and inventor. His practical approach led to discoveries about the nature of electricity and development of the "blind protocol, " which is widely used for scientific and medical testing.

popular with lay people and feared by the medical establishment.

How Mesmer discovered the fundamentals of hypnotism and stumbled onto the rudiments of the psychophysical selfregulation that lies at the core of such modern treatments as psychotherapy, hypnotism and biofeedback is unknown.

It may be that he just observed that a

relaxed trance state produced a kind of anesthesia that gave subjects physiological control over their bodies and minds.

However it happened, he seems to have sincerely believed he had discovered a cure for all illnesses.

It is clear, though, that he had no real insight into why the trances worked. Still, he seems to have understood from the beginning that he needed an explanatory model, and his doctoral dissertation, De Planetarium Injluxu ("On the Influence of the Planets"), which he published in 1766, attempted to provide one. In its 48 pages he connected hypnotism with a kind of primitive description of cyclical activity in the biosphere, such as heat waves or

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the discoverer of oxygen, and Franklin, known throughout the world as the man who had discovered electricity. The king asked Franklin to head the commission.

Franklin was by now arguably the most famous man in the Western world. When Thomas Jefferson went to Paris to replace him, he wrote that "more respect and veneration [was] attached to the character of Dr. Franklin than to that of any other person, foreign or native." He was also a man who lived in considerable pain. He suffered from gout, boils, and decades of

March 19, before the commission formally began its work, he wrote that "delusion may .. .in some cases be of use while it lasts. There are in every great rich city a number of persons who are never in health because they are fond of medicines and always taking them whereby they derange the natural functions and hurt their constitutions. If these people can be persuaded to forbear their drugs in expectation of being cured by only a physician's finger or an iron rod pointing at them, they may possibly find good effects though they

tub; they could be touched to any part of a patient's body. D'Eslon explained to the commissioners that the tub was the condenser and conductor of the animal magnetism. As they watched, he walked among the patients, touching one or another with a short iron rod and rubbing his hands over their bodies, particularly their lower abdomens.

The treatment went on for hours, and the tension in the room grew. Nervous coughs, hiccups, hysterical cries, sobs and even convulsions were observed, and d'Eslon explained that they were ~ signs that healing was taking place. Nothing was :i controlled, and the com~ missioners left with no ~ sense of what might have ~ taken place medically. ~ After attending a number of such sessions, the commis~ sioners, little more enlight~ ened than when they'd ~ begun, passed on their findings to Franklin.

8 He saw none of this as very useful. He might believe in reincarnation and practice meditation, but he never confused interest with evidence. What was called for, he realized, was some kind of impartial test, and since he could not go to them, he arranged for the other commissioners and d'Eslon to come to him. In late April and early May and at least once in June, they carne out from Paris to gather at his residence in Passy.

Among his other accomplishments, Franklin seems to have been the first scientist to consider demographics. On the theory that class and culture might help explain what was happening, and to allow comparisons between populations, the first session at Passy involved only lowerclass patients, whose presence Franklin seems to have arranged. They included an asthmatic widow, a woman with a swollen thigh, a tubercular six-year-old boy, a nine-year-old girl who suffered from St. Vitus's Dance, a man blind in one eye from a tumor, a woman who had been thrown by a cow and never fully

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Above: A disciple of Franz Anton Mesmer practices animal magnetism without props.

Right: Mesmer works his magic on Parisian women seated around his wooden tub filled with iron filings and pulverized glass.

hard living and was mostly confined to his house in Passy, a kilometer from Paris and 10 kilometers from the king's seat at Versailles. Why he took the assignment is not clear. It may be he felt obligated to the king. He had just talked Louis, the most autocratic and traditional monarch in Europe, into funding a war of liberation fought by the most revolutionary democracy in the world. Or it may be that whatever the condition of his body, his mind and his curiosity were as vigorous as ever.

As was usually the case, Franklin saw deeper into the matter than anyone else, and at the outset he wrote what may be the first recorded commentary on hypochondria and psychosomatic medicine. On

mistake the cause."

Franklin was not up to traveling when the commission began its work, so the first meetings were held without him and without his thoughts about how such an evaluation should be undertaken. Since Mesmer himself could not practice medicine, the commissioners went to d'Eslon's clinic, where they found a handsome, dimly lit room, in the center of which stood the wooden tub with its pulverized glass and iron filings. In place of Mesmer's glass harmonica, a piano in the comer provided music. The patients were seated on chairs around the tub, linked together by cords and each holding the next person's thumb.

Long jointed iron rods projected from the

What was called for, he realized, was some sort of impartial test. The patients were literally blindfolded. recovered, and a man whose reason for being included is not recorded. After several hours, four of the seven were not affected at all by d'Eslon's treatments; the remaining three mainly experienced discomfort from having their sore spots pressed. No cures were achieved.

A few days later the commissioners arranged for four upper-class people to be treated: a Madame de Bory and a Monsieur Romagni, neither of whom had symptoms, or none listed, anyway; a Monsieur Moret, who had a tumor on his knee; and a Madame de v., who had some kind of nervous disorder. To this group were added Franklin, his grandsons, his secretary, an American officer and a group of patients of d'Eslon.

De Bory and Romagni felt nothing, nor did Franklin, the grandchildren, or the American officer. Madame de V. almost fell asleep, although whether from hypnotism or treatment is unclear. D'Eslon's patients were more responsive, which was not surprising. Franklin then suggested what became the first use of blindness and sham treatments in a scientific test.

The d'Eslon patients were literally blindfolded-which is why the protocol came to be known as "blind"-and the treatments continued. As Franklin had hoped, this was very revealing. The patients could not tell when they were being "magnetized" and often thought they were when they weren't or vice versa.

During another session at Franklin's house they went out into the garden.

Mesmer maintained, and d'Eslon agreed, that any living thing could be magnetized, and d'Eslon offered (or more like Franklin asked for) a demonstration.

D'Eslon touched an apricot tree in the garden with his wand, supposedly magnetizing it, and said that afterward anyone who touched the tree would be affected.

Franklin, once again, saw the matter not as a question of belief but of getting unbiased evidence.

D'Eslon was asked to stand several meters away from the tree. Then a 12year-old boy was blindfolded and led out into the garden. He was taken to stand in

front of four trees, three controls and the treated one. At the first tree the boy began to perspire and cough. At the second he said he felt pain in his head and tiredness in his body. At the third he said his headache was much worse and volunteered that he felt he was getting close to the magnetized tree. In fact he was moving away from it. At the fourth tree he fainted, requiring d'Eslon to revive him.

Franklin and the other members of the commission in attendance were satisfied that the experiments conducted at his house, under the conditions of blindness he had devised, had settled the question of whether animal magnetism was real. It was not.

On August 11, 1784, they issued their unanimous report to the king. Franklin's signature stood first, and such was his preeminence that throughout Europe and America scientists and lay people alike felt that it had been he who had settled the issue. Ever after, history has known this study as the Franklin Commission. MesQueen Marie Antoinette places a crown of laurel on the head of Benjamin Franklin at the court of France. Franklin developed the blind protocol while he was America's envoy to France from 1776 to 1785.

merism was dead, and Mesmer soon left Paris. He was lucky. Ten years later Lavoisier would lose his head to the guillotine, and Dr. Guillotin just barely missed going under its blade too. Mesmer ended up in Switzerland, largely forgotten, and years later he died there in poverty.

Although Mesmerism itself died out, the importance of Franklin's blind protocol was not lost. In 1799 the English physician John Haygarth took the next step with the development of true placebo treatments. The Franklin protocol had compared treatment and no treatment, under blind conditions. Haygarth refined the idea when he was asked to evaluate a medical device invented by a Connecticut doctor, Elisha Perkins. Like Mesmer's treatments, Perkins' were based on the manipulation of a mysterious energy.

Perkins' apparatus consisted of two rods, one iron, the other brass, about eight centimeters long. The rods were stroked over the body at the site of the affliction.

Perkins theorized that they removed a harmful magnetic field. In considering how to go about testing them, Haygarth quite consciously followed Franklin's lead. He created a second set of rods that looked exactly like the metal ones but were made of wood, which is of course non-magnetic, and he gave treatments to subjects who were blind to which rods were being used. As Haygarth explained it, what he did was "prepare a pair of

This 1876 Currier and Ives print depicts Benjamin Franklin performing the famous experiment in 1752 in which he flew a kite during a thunderstorm and demonstrated that lightning and electricity are identical.

Franklin's work on electricity is the most well-known aspect of his scientific research.

false, exactly to resemble the true, tractors." He added: "Let the secret be kept inviolate. Let the efficiency of both be impartially tried."

In another set of experiments, Haygarth coated rods with wax, also making them nonconductors. As the result of using Franklin's blind protocol and adding his contribution of a deliberately sham treatment, he could report a conclusion much like Franklin's two decades earlier: "The whole effect undoubtedly depends upon the impression which can be made upon the patient's Imagination."

Stuart Green, a surgeon and medical professor on the faculty of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, Irvine, has traced Franklin's

influence through the history of medicine.

He describes what happened next: In a few decades "came numerous placebo-controlled inquiries, in Europe and America, into the professed benefits of [Samuel] Hahnemann's homeopathic remedies, which cited the Franklin Commission's strategies. Other blind assessments followed, scrutinizing everything from rheumatic fever and psychologic illnesses to testicular extract injections and cocaine."

Franklin began the idea of the blind protocol in science, and Haygarth added the concept of the identical sham treatment. However, the statistical understanding of their day had not evolved enough to supply the final piece necessary for modem medical research, and it would not come for more than a century. It was finally provided by the English mathematician and statistician Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher.

Beginning in 1919, Fisher began a several-year effort that would redefine the field of statistics. Franklin and Haygarth had made observations about differences between real and sham or no treatment but

could provide no statistical assessment of the power of their conclusions. Fisher figured out how to do that, augmenting Franklin's blind protocol with the idea of randomization, calculations of probability, and what he called "likelihood."

As Dr. Green explains, "The final step in creating a thoroughly modem method of verifying the benefit of a particular treatment followed statistician R.A. Fisher's insistence that randomly assigning subjects to a treatment group or a control [placebo] group permits valid statistical comparisons between the two groups to some definable level of confidence."

With that addition, the trail blazed by Franklin and his commission has grown to become the roadway in science that largely determines what medicines we take, what chemicals can be used in our environment and whether we can trust an experiment's results.

0 Stephan Virginia

A. Schwartz is a writer based in Beach, Virginia. His Web site is

www.stephanaschwartz.com

A Bear-Handed Grab

By ANNE BROACHE

How a stranded cub became the living symbol for one of America's best-known advertising campaigns

W. Chapman plucked America's most famous bear from a forest fire near Capitan, in the state of New Mexico. It was May 1950, .and Chapman was a 20-year-old U.S. Forest Service rookie fighting the biggest blaze he'd ever seen. Dry winds whipped a flfestorm toward him and his crew, and they lay flat on a rockslide while flames crowned in the treetops. "When it was all over, we heard this little strange noise," Chapman recalls. "And here was this bear cub up in a burned tree." They called the cinnamon-colored creature-badly singed, but still breathing-Hotfoot Teddy.

Chapman wrapped the 3-month-old cub in his Army field jacket and carried him to base camp, along the way glimpsing corpses of deer and bears "that weren't so lucky making it out," he says. A game warden flew Hotfoot to Santa Fe for treatment and cared for him at home. Within weeks, the growing bear was bullying the family dog and overturning furniture. Eventually, the director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish offered the animal to the U.S. Forest Service, which promptly adopted the cub and outfitted him with a

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stage name: Smokey.

Actually, the agency had debuted a cartoon black bear named Smokey in 1944.

Sporting a forester's hat and blue jeans, the bear cautioned, "Only you can prevent forest fires." (In 2001, forestry officials changed the slogan to "Only you can prevent wildfires," while underscoring the growing awareness that some natural fires benefit forests.)

The safety campaign's first living symbol took up residence at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in June 1950. When he arrived, "children screamed with delight and photographers flashed scores of bulbs," the Washington Post reported. The press couldn't get enough of the ursine celebrity. In 1962 the Zoo brought him a "wife," as the Post persisted in calling her, named Goldie, who was "a blond from New Mexico," the Los Angeles Times

rememberonly'iou can PREVENT FOREST FIRES!

Above: A 1960s Smokey Bear poster on preventing forest fires.

Below: (from left) Ashley Gomez, Noah Linier, Roger Luther and Mark Evan help Smokey blowout the candles on his 60th birthday cake at Universal City, California.

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noted. Over the next decade, Smokey, in "monklike abstinence," hadn't "so much as given his bride a second look, except when she tries to take too much fish," Kenneth Turan wrote in the Post, and the pair never mated.

Smokey received more than four million visitors a year. He got so much fan mail that the Postal Service gave him a separate ZIP code. Smokey died, heirless, in 1976 to a chorus of obituaries.

As for Chapman, he used the $300 bonus he'd earned working the 1950 Capitan blaze to get married. He later launched a civil service Air Force career. He is now retired in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

A small yellow sign emblazoned with a black bear's head hangs on the front of Chapman's Ford pickup. People ask him about it. Sometimes he spills the whole story. Sometimes he just says, "Oh, I like bears."

0 Anne Broache was an intern with Smithsonian magazine when she wrote this article.

PHilANTHROPY

oeso'l usl Guidelines, supports and the profession of nonprofit management he scope of philanthropic activities performed by people in the United States is impressive in its diversity. Certainly, informal and spontaneous volunteer service and philanthropy continue to happen at a heartening rate. Nevertheless, philanthropyas a field of endeavor has developed to the point that many charities and foundations are managed by professional staff members trained in the special disciplines related to this work. â&#x20AC;˘ Attracting, managing, training and thanking volunteers are tasks handled by administrators of volunteer services who may be members of special professional organizations or have specialized certifications or college degrees to support this work. According to Nonprofit Management Education-Current Offerings in UniversityBased Programs, in 2002 some

255 colleges and universities offered courses in nonprofit management, as well as graduate or undergraduate degree programs . â&#x20AC;˘ The art and science of transferring money to charitable causes through grants has also become quite sophisticated for both the applicant organization that prepares grant proposals, receives funding, and prepares reports on its activities, and for the foundation that receives and judges the applicant proposals, monitors grants, and

ultimately reports back to its board of directors, donors, or other interested parties. â&#x20AC;˘ Donors and charities alike have become very interested in the way that charities handle their funds and programs, and especially in the results they produce and the care with which they manage resources.

Oversight groups rate charities based on their results and the percentage of funds that actually reach the groups being served, compared to the percentage used to pay for administrative overhead expenses. Donors choose the charities they support in part based on these ratings.

Naturally, methods of reporting are also very important to all the above audiences.

In many ways, the field of nonprofit management has become self-policing. Foundations and charities prepare financial and other reports on their results and administrative practices. Organizations such as the Council on Foundations and the Center for Foundations then use this information to prepare comprehensive reports. And other groups rate charities according to their performance.

The U.S. government, principally through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-the

government's tax collectoralso plays a part in nonprofit management.

Tax-exempt status: A nonprofit group or individual can take steps to qualify for a special government designation known as 501(c)(3). This designation means that the charity has undergone a government screening process and been granted tax-exempt status. A Salvation Army Lt. Colonel Don Mowery accepts a credit card donation in Phoenix, Arizona.

The U.S. system of income tax credits for gifts to bona fide charities encourages donations.

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primary benefit of being tax exempt under 501(c)(3) is that the organization may accept contributions and donations that are tax deductible to the donor. Further, the organization is exempt from federal and state corporate taxes, and it may apply for grants and other public or private allocations open only to IRS-recognized organizations.

This designation also increases the organization's legitimacy in the eyes of possible donors and others.

Referring to the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) organization, the head of a new nonprofit describes the experience as "painful but valuable." In completing the extensive application packet, her group had to include its by-laws and the names of the organization's officers. They had to very specifically describe the charitable work in which they were engaged. Finally, they had to submit a tax report on the money they had received. The application process involved extensive work by an attorney and an accountant.

A handbook designed to guide applicants through this process explains the benefit of the process this way: Many charities fail; they do not attract the funds needed to support the causes they have identified. Going through the extensive application process forces a charity to plan, prioritize, define and weigh options. In so doing, the resultant decisions not only help them qualify for a charitable designation, they also help ensure long-term success.

The head of the new charity agrees. She says that because of the designation process, she and her colleagues had to decide whether or not to incorporate, which city or state jurisdiction to register in, whether or not they would be a member organization, and what the scope and limitations of their work would be. A year later, the group finds this homework has paid off.

It makes promoting the group's cause easier. Potential donors are relieved to learn the group is a 501(c)(3) charity, and the definitions help donors understand the group's mission and know it is something that they support.

Tax credits for donors: The IRS has an extensive system of allowances that permits taxpayers, whether individuals or corporations, to report the amount of gifts they have given to bona fide charities (for instance, those with a 501(c)(3) designation), and to be given a full or partial credit on this amount when figuring their annual income tax. This system encourages donations. It also helps track transfers of funds. Volunteers can even deduct amounts spent on transportation to a volunteer site, as well as some other servicerelated costs. As intended, the tax credits do encourage philanthropy, but most experts agree that, generally, other factors are more important in a donor's or volunteer's decision to support a cause. 0 From the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.

Organizations that Support Charitable Groups he Council on Foundations is a membership organization of more than 2,000 grant-making foundations and giving programs worldwide. The council provides leadership expertise, legal services and networking opportunitiesamong other services-to its members and to the general public. For further information: http://www.cof.org/index.htm The mission of the Foundation Center is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about US philanthropy. To achieve this mission, the center collects, organizes and communicates information on US philanthropy, conducts and facilitates research on trends in the field, provides education and training on the grant-seeking process, and ensures public access to information and services through its Web site, print and electronic publications, five library/learning centers, and a national network of "cooperating collections." Founded in 1956, the center is dedicated to serving grant-seekers, grant-makers, researchers, policymakers, the media and the general public. Find out more at http://www.fdncenter.org/ The United States is home to 60,000 smaller foundations, those led entirely by volunteer boards or operated by just a few staff. These foundations account for half of the country's total foundation grant dollars, providing essential financial support in thousands of communities across the country. The Association of Small Foundations was started 10 years ago and has grown rapidly to become a key membership association of philanthropists in the country. Through the association, members find commonsense advice to support their philanthropic activities.

For further information http://www.smallfoundations.org/ The National Council of Nonprofit Associations is a network of state and regional nonprofit associations serving more than 22,000 members in 45 U.S statesand the District of Columbia. The council links local organizations to a national audience through state associations and helps small and mid-sized nonprofits manageand lead more effectively, collaborate and exchange solutions, engage in critical policy issues affecting the sector, and achieve greater impact in their communities. Find out more at http://www.ncna.org/ Indiana University Center on Philanthropy (located on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis) offers master's degree programs in nonprofit management and philanthropy studies, as well as a doctoral program in philanthropy studies. The center also publishes the journal Philanthropy Matters. In 2005, the center joined forces with the California-based The Foundation Incubator to create the Philanthropy Incubator. They provide support for new foundations and for new philanthropists moving into the nonprofit world. The Philanthropy Center, with offices in California and Indiana, provides a wide range of training and education services in support of the field of philanthropy. Further information is available at http://www.phiianthropy.iupuLedu/index.html Milano New School for Management and Urban Policy is part of The New School-a university in New York City Milano offers a nonprofit management degree program with a focus on five critical areas of study: the nonprofit sector (history, roles and current contexts); analytical thinking skills; management and leadership in the nonprofit sector; funding of nonprofit organizations and management of resources in the nonprofit sector. For 0 further information: http://www.newschool.edulmilano/

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Indian Students Go

Ethnic Indian university students in the United States have taken to the all-American tradition of fraternities and sororities.

heir names are Greek, their rituals are closely guarded secrets, entry is by invitation only and members are solemnly bound to uphold principles such as unity, culture, discipline and community service. Student Greek organizations-fraternities for men and sororities for women living together in off-campus houses-have long been a part of university and college life for some students in the United States. The fraternities and sororities are called Greek because they use the Greek alphabet to form their names. They are known for developing a close-knit, exclusive community of friends and contacts that provides an instant social network during

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university years and continues past graduation into the career and business world.

There are more than 12 South Asian "Greek" organizations in the United States and more than 90 percent of their members are of Indian origin. With chapters and colonies at different universities, these organizations take their social responsibilities quite seriously. "We always tell people that not every fraternity is like the ones you see on television" or in movies like Animal House, says Kevan Desai, president of the Delta Sigma Iota fraternity at Pennsylvania State University.

While there are still nights on the town, the South Asian Greeks also focus on community service. They support Salvation Army clothing drives, participate in Adopt-

From left: Delta Sigma Iota member Chetan Shah works in the garden of a home for the elderly near Pennsylvania State University; members of Delta Phi Beta, a co-ed fraternity, gather at the University of California, Los Angeles, for the Indian Student Union culture show; members of the Delta Kappa Delta sorority volunteer at a local mental hospital in Austin, Texas; brothers of Delta Sigma Iota joined other student organizations to help out the elderly at a care facility in Pennsylvania.

a-Highway programs and book drives, spread awareness about cancer, volunteer at hospitals, raise funds for victims of natural disasters in India and for charities.

"Many people view a fraternity as an outlet to party. We strive to show that our

primary focus is the community and betterment of South Asians," says Anil Nair, a vice president of the Delta Epsilon Psi fraternity at the University of Texas in Austin. There are Indian student organizations on most campuses, so why have some chosen to join the Greek system?

"In a regular student organization everyone is not on the same page, whereas in our fraternity everyone has the same focus and goals," says Nair. He adds that there are professionally rewarding opportunities for new students through the extensi ve fraternity and sorority alumni network.

The first South Asian brotherhood was formed in 1994 by eight students of Binghamton University in New York. Four years later Kappa Phi Gamma, formed at

University of Texas in Austin. One of the challenges faced by new recruits, says Arthi Kodur, a vice president of the Delta Kappa Delta sorority, involves time management: how to handle schoolwork while participating in sorority activities.

At the start of the school year many students line up to tryout for the organizations of their choice in a season traditionally called "rushing." "Students gain a great deal by joining these organizations. They develop their leadership skills, perform community service and increase their knowledge of Asian American communities," says Ajay T. Nair, associate director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Mainstream American fraternities and sororities are

The South Asian organizations have tried to forge their own identity within the Greek system. "They focus less on the social aspects of college life. Most minority fraternities/sororities have an interest in increasing political and social awareness of key issues impacting minority communjties," says Ajay Nair.

Some channel their philanthropy into special causes. The Chi Psi Beta fraternity at Texas A&M Uillversity provides money to pay for the education and other needs of an 8-year-old orphaned boy in India. To raise money for the Juveillie Diabetes Research Foundation, the Delta Epsilon Psi fraternity brings together 30 student organizations to compete in a football tournament called the Sugar-Free Bowl.

Every year the fraternity also hosts a car-

the University of Texas in Austin, became the first South Asian interest sorority.

The history of Greek orgaillzations in the Uillted States goes back to the 18th century, when the Phi Beta Kappa Society was fonned in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virgiilla. Kappa Alpha Theta (1870) and Kappa Kappa Gamma (1870) were the fIrst women's societies to use Greek letters.

In Greek organizations, new members are interviewed, tested and have to prove their dedication before they are inducted.

"One of our policies is to restrict students from joining who have a grade point average below a certain level," says Summit Walia, national board president of the Beta Kappa Gamma fraternity at the

beginning to see the value in Greek organizations that focus on issues impacting specific ethnic groups, he adds. "Many institutions have developed multicultural Greek councils to accommodate these diverse interest groups."

Besides, these organizations help new students adapt to an unfamiliar environment, get to know more people of their community and work as a team. Shivani Seth, national executive president of the Sigma Sigma Rho sorority, feels it gives students of her generation a chance to combine their heritage and American culture. Delta Phi Beta, the first South Asian co-ed fraternity, helps members by hosting resume-building seminars and quarterly workshops aimed at specific careers.

nival, called Project Come Together, with concerts, games and rides "to reward Austin's youth for their hard work in the classroom." The sixth carnival this year attracted 2,500 children. In Aprildeclared National Child Abuse Prevention Month by President George W. Bush-all chapters of the Delta Kappa Delta sorority organized activities to create awareness about the issue. Proceeds from fundraisers were sent to CRY, UNICEF and other organizations in South Asia.

Cultural events are also important. This year Delta Epsilon Psi's Festival of Inilia featured Karmacy, an Indian American rap band from California, and Rasika Mathur, an Indian American comedienne. In 2003 Sigma Sigma Rho started an annual Greek

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Muslim So r0 nty Opens New Doors for American

By STEVE HOLGATE

I

...In

some people's minds, the "Greek system" of American university sororities and fraternities is synonymous with partying.

But the system includes a huge variety of organizations, many of which encourage academic excellence and promote community service. A new national sorority founded on the principles of Islam seeks to build itself on that model.

Founded little more than a year ago, the Gamma Gamma Chi sorority has dedicated itself to giving young women the positive aspects of a sorority experience while maintaining Islamic traditions. While the group's core principles are Islamic, it opens its membership to all women, Muslim and non-Muslim, who support its mission.

though, Abdul-Haqq decided to form her own sorority based on Islamic values. Abdul-Haqq's mother, Althia F. Collins, a former college president and sorority member, threw herself into the dual role of president and executive director.

Since then she has spent more than $50,000 of her own money and time to launch the sorority.

One of the most challenging tasks for Gamma Gamma Chi has been raising awareness of its mission on American campuses Collins and other supporters have visited many universities, hosting informal information sessions.

Students dressed in everything from chadors to jeans and T-shirts have attended and taken an interest.

A student at the University of _ ~ E ~ E ~ ~

From left: Kimberly Harper, Imani AbdulHaqq, Althia F. Collins and Kesha AbdulMateen of Gamma Gamma Chi.

Gamma Gamma Chi is the inspiration of Imani Abdul-Haqq, a young ÂŤ Muslim woman who was dissatis~ fied with the sorority scene at her :0 ~ university in North Carolina. Instead @w of dismissing the entire system,

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Kentucky, where a chapter of the sorority is being founded, told National Public Radio, "This is exactly what Islam is about."

Christine Ortiz, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-

University Women:=----

no logy and Gamma Gamma Chi board member, noting the important status of sororities at American universities, told USA Today, "It will give Muslim women a face and a voice on campus."

Collins told NPR, "This sorority, I thought, is an opportunity to help Muslim women to be able to develop leadership skills and to help each other through networking."

Gamma Gamma Chi makes its commitment to Islam clear in its motto: "Striving for the pleasure of Allah through sisterhood, scholarship, leadership and community service."

Its six goals, or Golden Pillars, include Islamic awareness, education, support for the indigent, as well as health, social and environmental awareness.

Chapters will follow Muslim practices and observe Islam's holy days.

Collins says no alcohol will be served at sorority events and while members may work together with men on specific projects, there will be no men at their social gatherings Other students apparently agree with the leaders of Gamma Gamma Chi that this sorority fills a void among diverse student organizations on campus. Young Muslim women in 20 states have expressed interest in forming chapters of an organization where they can enjoy the company of women like themselves and show the best face of Islam.

Members of other sororities have also welcomed the new organization.

Some have noted that a number of

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Christian-based sororities have succeeded using similar models. Susan West, an administrator with the University of Kentucky, has championed the establishment of a Gamma Gamma Chi chapter at her campus, saying that the university welcomes women of all faiths. She told the Voice of America, "I think that GGC will give women a new opportunity. I have talked with women who are in sororities now, and they are excited to have a new group on campus that will bring something different to their sorority community" The sorority has already passed an important milestone, establishing its first chapter in Atlanta, Georgia, where it serves women from a number of local universities and colleges. Chapters are forming in other American cities. The sorority's goal is to establish chapters in every region of the United States.

Collins speaks with confidence about the prospects for the work she and her daughter have started. "I can say how pleased I am with the interest and enthusiasm we've received," she says, adding, "Imani, my daughter, and I are honored that we could be the ones to give shape and life to an idea whose time has 0 clearly come."

Steve Holgate is a special correspondent lor Washington File, a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State (http://usinfo. state. gov).

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god and goddess pageant-Qayamatwhich brings together six South Asian fraternities and sororities. For the past two years proceeds from this event have gone to the HELP Foundation (Health and Education for the Less Privileged) in India.

Last year Delta Phi Beta held a cultural conference with all South Asian organizations at the University of California, Los Angeles. This was part of its effort to be "a culturally unifying force in the South Asian

community since our diverse membership allows us to do so," says Preethy Kolachalam, co-chair of the UCLA chapter.

Twelve years down the line some South Asians feel they have been accepted into the Greek system. Vishad Pathak, vice president of the Delta Sigma Iota fraternity, says the Greek community at Pennsylvania State University has taken their organization more seriously each year and Summit Walia of the Beta Kappa

Gamma fraternity feels people have realized that they are "interested in making the Greek as well as the surrounding community stronger."

Others feel there is more work to do.

"We are still making a name for ourselves and we are not as prominent as other ethnic-based organizations. The opportunity is there and we are progressing every year," says Shivani Seth of Sigma Sigma Rho sorority.

0

Anirucfft Suri

A Bright Future

inForeign Anairs nirudh Suri, of New Delhi, has won the Carnegie Endowment Junior Fellowship for 2006 and during the next year wi/I work at the Washington think tank with Ashley Tellis,a senior associate in the institute's South Asia program and former adviser to Undersecretaryof StateR. Nicholas Bums and to Ambassador Robert Blackwi/Iin New Delhi.

Suri, 22, graduated in May with bachelor's degrees in economics and political science from Haverford College, where he was captain of the debate and cricket teams. His academic excellence and leadership achievements have brought several honors, including from the New Yorkbased Goldman Sachs Foundation, which named him one of the 100 Global Leaders in 2004.

Suri is founder-president of the International Students' Association and aims to join the Indian Foreign Service, he told SPANin an interview What got you interested in the Indian Foreign Service?

At Haverford College, I pursued a couple of summer internships that cemented my interest in foreign policy related careers. In my freshman year, I spent the summer in Kashmir, studying the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan. The next summer, I interned at the Carnegie

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Endowment for International Peace, and worked on Pakistanrelated issues, as well as IndiaChina military balance issues.

Last summer, I traveled to China, where I conducted research at a foreign policy think tank in Beijing to better understand the direction in which India-China and U.SChina relations were headed.

All these experiences were incredibly exciting to me, and helped me realizethat it was indeed foreign policy issues that I was really passionate about. I developed a knack for understanding foreign policy decisions and developments around the world, and had a vision for where Indian foreign policy should be headed as well.

What subjects will you handle at the Carnegie Endowment?

A study of the military balance between India, Pakistan and China; the role of missile defense in Asia; democratization and demilitarization in Pakistan; the Iran issue; India-U.S. strategic relations; India-China as well as India-Pakistan relations. I will be working with Ashley Tellis, a key figure in the recent India-U.S. nuclear deal, on India-U.S. strategic relations and will be writing reports on the same.

What are some key areas in which the U.S.-India relationship has grown?

Besides the nuclear deal, the

US-India relationship is growing ment in other areas of mutual significantly in terms of bilateral bilateral interest.

At the same time,lndia contintrade of goods and services.

Trade between the two countries ues to seek further recognition of is continuing to flourish, and its own war against terror that it companies from both countries alleges is being fueled from are taking this opportunity to set across the border. The U.S., howup or enhance their operations in ever, is hesitant to take any strong the other country. India, with its action against Pakistan, which is growing middle class, is a great serving it as an ally against terroremerging market for U.S.-based ism. However, the U.S. has conMNCs to target, while the devel- tinued to strongly urge President oped market in the U.S. is a great [Pervez] Musharraf to take the venue for up and coming Indian necessary actions against any giants like Infosys, Reliance, Tata, terrorist groups based in Pakistan.

TCS, Wipro, etc. India is also What must India do to catch up serving as a great platform for the with China as a foreign investestablishment of R&D centers for ment destination?

It has been abundantly clear that many companies. I believe that the nuclear deal will be followed the single most important thing by further collaboration between that India needs to do is to improve the two countries on various its infrastructure. In addition, India issues of international impor- needs to make its decision-making tance, such as UN reform, the war process smoother, and also learn to prevent any major hurdles in against terrorism, etc.

What are some problem areas? implementation once a policy The U.S. and India still do not decision has been made. I comsee eye-to-eye on certain trade pletely agree with Amartya Sen, issues. India continues to press who believes that there is no way for more concessions on the agri- India can catch up on the economculture front, whereas the U.S. is ic front with China if it doesn't urging India to pursue a more make the right decisions as far as rapid path of liberalization and to primary education and health care 0 further reduce tariffs and open up are concerned. its markets fully. This, I believe, is one of the biggest problem areas, Ashish Kumar Sen is a Washingtonthough leaders on both sides based journalist working with The have realized that this issue WashingtonTimes, The Tribuneand should not prevent forward move- Outlook

ii/age of Painters, a book

by Frank J. Korom, tells the story of itinerant folk artists from Naya, a village in West Bengal. The book is companion to an exhibition from October through April 2007 at the ~ Museum of International Folk Art, .~ Santa Fe, in the U.S. state of New ~ Mexico. Called patuas, these craftsmen create vivid scroll paintings and perform songs to accompany the unrolling of their art. The book features photographs by Paul Smutko and over 100 paintings on contemporary themes like terrorism, HIV/AIDS prevention, interaction between people from different communities and globalization. Engaging and rich in ethnographic detail, Village of Painters celebrates the diverse and constantly evolving art form.

n a five-day visit to India in August, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher visited the Salaam Baalak Trust's outreach center and shelter for boys near the New Delhi railway station.

Supported by USAID, through Family Health International, the project provides street children with food, medical aid and education. He also went into the station to understand the lives of street children living on railway platforms. Boucher met 150 young people at the American Center and answered their questions on topics ranging from the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative to world trade talks. He also addressed business leaders in New Delhi and Calcutta.

ndra K. Nooyi, 50, was named to take over as CEO of PepsiCo, one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, on October 1. She replaces Steve Reinemund, shown with her in this 2000 photo. Chennai-born Nooyi, named as the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine in September, joined PepsiCo in 1994 and has been president and chief financial officer since 2001. Nooyi has degrees from Yale University, the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and Madras Christian College. Her career includes work at the Boston Consulting Group and Motorola.

alf a million people in 32 Indian cities participated in marches on July 29 to raise awareness about largescale childhood deaths from diarrhea. The events, like the one shown in the photo from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, were organized by USAID and ICICI Bank Ltd. to mark National ORS (oral rehydration salts) Day. Anyone suffering from diarrhea can replace lost fluids by drinking this mixture of glucose, sodium chloride, potassium chloride and trisodium citrate with water. Students and their parents, doctors and NGOs came together in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan for the event. Over 500,000 children die in India each year due to dehydration caused by diarrhea.

U.S Chief Justice Earl Warren (left) laid the cornerstone of the new American Embassy in New Delhi on September 1, 1956, expressing the hope that it would be a "temple of peace." The photograph above was taken by Pawan C. Jaidka of the U.S. Embassy's Information Management Systems office on March 22, 2006, just before 6 a.m. "when the light is very soft." The Embassy was designed by architect Edward Durell Stone, who also designed the U.S. ambassador's. residence, Roosevelt House, and the Uptown Campus of the University at Albany, State University of New York, where an exhibit on his work opens in November.