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World Solar Challenge Set To Begin
Mdog writes: "The world championship of solar car racing is about (Nov. 18...ok so I can't wait :) ) to begin Down Under.
World Solar Challenge pits high school, university, and corporate teams against each other in a race across Australia's Outback, from Darwin to Adelaide." Mdog supplies some more (ahem) non-partisan information about the race below.
"My Alma Mater's
team (which took second in the
American Solar Challenge...go UMR!) is looking to take sweet
revenge on the evil (*g*) that is the U-Michigan Solar
Car team (which won
ASC.) Some other North American heavyweights will be
Queen's University
and U-Waterloo from the frigid north. I'll defer to Ozzies post links to their favoUrite college teams, which, along with the Japanese teams,
are often
very good. Lastly, watch out for team Solar Motions;
out for blood after
major technical problems two years ago. Their array is worth...how should I put this...a lot :)
I went two years ago, and this year I'll just be looking forward to this article getting posted on /. *sigh* Good luck and good sun to all the teams. No worries!"
I win!
word?
The fiscal party was lovely while it lasted: fat revenue surpluses for the state, rebate checks and tax cuts for taxpayers, and for workers, rising wages -- a byproduct of record low unemployment. For eight years, the state's biggest problem was how much extra money to hand out and to whom. Now comes the hangover. The 2002-03 budget, just four months old, has a hole that may be between $600 million and $1 billion deep. The state has taken in $152 million less than projected since July, and revenues are expected to fall short by an additional $50 million in November. The problem is not Minnesota's alone. About 44 states now project budget shortfalls. Of those, 28 either have ordered emergency budget cuts, such as spending and hiring freezes, or are crafting such measures. Special legislative sessions have been called by the governors of Iowa, Nebraska, Connecticut, Alabama, Arizona, Florida and Hawaii. Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura hasn't ordered any emergency budget actions, nor is he said to be considering a special session. And that, former Gov. Arne Carlson said, may be a mistake. "I'm surprised we haven't taken even those elementary budget measures," said Carlson, a veteran of the last recession that hit the state, in 1991, just as he was taking office. "I would do it right now. They've already lost nearly six months -- one-fourth of the budget cycle. The longer you wait, the worse it will be. The governor has got to show some leadership. This is where you start to earn your pay." Others not waiting "Most states are doing this on their own -- they're not waiting for their legislatures to go into session," said Robin Prunty, a director in the public finance department of Standard and Poor's who has researched financial trends in the 50 states. Prunty said that Minnesota, with $1 billion in budget reserves, is in a relatively strong fiscal position compared with other states. However, Minnesota can't rely on its reserves alone. "If you spend down your reserves to solve what might be ongoing budget problems, the implication is you're just sending the bill to the next governor and Legislature," Carlson said. . "And it sends a signal of instability to bond houses." Action taken in some states has been dramatic, even among those with sizable budget reserves. Georgia's governor has asked agencies to trim 2002 budgets by 2.5 percent and 2003 budgets by 5 percent, despite the state's $1.8 billion reserve. Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia have delayed or canceled capital projects. California, Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina and Virginia all have instituted hiring freezes or other budgetary restrictions, according to a budget report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. To deal with a $600 million shortfall, Ohio's governor has ordered across-the-board cutbacks and said the state may have to close at least one prison. Iowa's governor has proposed a 4.3 percent across-the-board cut. Minnesota Finance Commissioner Pam Wheelock said the administration is considering a range of options, but hasn't directed agencies to take any action. She said that, "at some point," Ventura may want to order agencies to limit purchases and freeze hiring. The problem, she said, is that the bulk of the state's expenditures -- such as K-12 expenses -- are mandated by law and cannot be altered at the discretion of the governor alone. Measures that are within Ventura's discretion -- hiring freezes, agency spending freezes, travel restrictions -- wouldn't be enough to solve the state's projected shortfall, Wheelock said, although they continue to be evaluated. "The easy solutions are gone," she said. "We need permanent adjustments to the budget, and that requires legislative action." Ventura spokesman John Wodele said discussions on emergency budget measures are "very, very preliminary. It would be prudent on the part of [department] managers to look at what could be trimmed, but we have not gone into any detail yet." State Planning Director Dean Barkley said Minnesota is better prepared than other states. "We don't think we need to do [budget cuts] yet. We're trying to be thoughtful rather than just react," he said. Pressures mounting The fiscal pressures are real and mounting almost by the day. The October revenue report showed a $53 million drop in tax revenues below what had been forecast. Most troubling, State Economist Tom Stinson said, is that income tax revenues had dropped in October. That, coupled with a national unemployment rate of 5.4 percent, he said, paints a picture that is "absolutely depressing." State unemployment figures won't be out until midweek, he said, but Minnesota has lost 19,000 jobs since May -- 8,000 of those in August alone. He said he wouldn't be surprised if the figure for September were even higher. If such trends continue, "we're facing a lot more serious change to the forecast and a deeper recession than most people were thinking even at the first of October," Stinson said. Art Rolnick, research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and a member of the governor's Council of Economic Advisors, said the economy probably will remain sluggish until the nation's war against terrorism is resolved. While several fundamental indicators look good -- worker productivity was up nationally in the third quarter and the banking industry remains strong -- business investment might lag until terrorism fears are eased, he said. In the meantime, "what to do now becomes a political question more than an economic one," Rolnick said. The state's leaders must make value judgments about where to cut, how much to tap state reserve funds and even what taxes to increase to cover any shortfalls. Prunty said that as far as bond houses are concerned, "one path is not more desirable than another. We are indifferent to whether it's spending cuts or revenue enhancers. What we want is some sense that there is attention to the forecast. The longer you wait to implement fiscal restrictions, the less effective they are." Keeping bond raters happy is a major concern for states like Minnesota, which doesn't want to jeopardize the triple-A rating that allows it to borrow at the lowest rates. Those states that rely on a combination of cuts, possible tax increases and a prudent use of cash reserves will weather the economic storm best, Prunty said. Carlson said Ventura should try to put a package together soon -- but not on his own. "We made a lot of mistakes in '91," Carlson said, referring to early budget cuts he attempted that legislators resisted. Instead, he recommended bringing legislative leaders together as soon as the state's November budget forecast is in and the size of the projected shortfall known. "I would tell them, 'You approved this budget as well as I did, so we're all in this soup together.' Get a pre-agreement on spending cuts, tax increases and some judicious use of the reserve -- maybe a couple of hundred million -- and call a special session for next month." The regular legislative session doesn't start until Jan. 29 and can run into May -- too long, Carlson contends, to wait for budgetary action and too close to next year's elections. By then, nearly half of the two-year budget cycle will have elapsed, he said, necessitating even more painful cuts for the second half. "Ultimately, the responsibility rests with the governor," Carlson said. "He's got the staff, the resources and the ability to marshall public opinion. He's got to lead." earl / nexabit says hi
Last night I dreamt of Natalie Portman. She was eating hot grits.
Thank you.