Adding Understanding

The Appleton Post-Crescent reports state fire officials are concerned about lax fire drill practices at schools. It seems Wisconsin recently amended its laws and officials estimate compliance with the required monthly fire drill rules at about 40 percent.

This is an area of particular interest to me. When I was in grade school I fought the establishment over the lack of fire drills - which we had roughly annually - and the emergency exit gates that were padlocked shut. Eventually things changed but not until our group of crusaders had been to the state fire marshal and the school board meeting.

We had lunch yesterday with Ro and Anne. One topic of discussion was wearing helmets while bicycling. As we were leaving, headed to Rocky Mountain National Park to watch Elk, we encountered an accident that drove the message home so clearly. A young person had been riding down the shoulder of US 36 headed northbound. Apparently something caused the person to go off the side of the road on a downhill section and be thrown over the handlebars. The rider ended up in the center of the highway with severe trauma including an apparent closed head wound. A helmet would likely not have prevented all injury, but it may have helped prevent the most damaging of brain injuries. From witness accounts there was nobody else involved in the accident. A quick look at the bicycle and equipment being used indicates this was not a novice cyclist. Our thoughts are with the family of the young person.

Update: According to the Boulder Daily Camera, University of Colorado instructor of science writing Harrison Carpenter, 34, was riding downhill and hit a truck that was in the acceleration lane merging into traffic. Carpenter remains in critical condition.

USA TODAY: NASA found a weakened wing panel on another shuttle almost a year ago. According to the article NASA said the Shuttle Discovery's safety "was not comprimised" when they found a 2-inch tear in a leading edge surface where four-hundredths of one inch is considered the maximum. This is EXACTLY the same type of things that Feynman writes about in his appendix to the Rogers Commission Report on the Challenger accident. How a surface can tear fifty times more than it was designed to withstand and be considered uncompromising of the safety of the craft and its crew. The situation should have been seen as the potentially near catastrophic situation it really was and treated with the seriousness it deserved.

Starting tomorrow I'll publish Sarah's account of participating in the recovery efforts for the Columbia.