Dowling College Holding Two Ongoing Cell Phone Drives
April 17, 2008
(Oakdale, N.Y.) The Office of Public Relations & Communications is collecting cell phones to be donated to VIBS, the Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk. VIBS is a non-profit Family Violence and Rape Crisis Center in Suffolk County. VIBS accepts cell phones for distribution to our clients or recycling. All cell phones are accepted. Broken, outdated or phones without chargers will be recycled or disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner. Funds raised will be used to support VIBS’ counseling, advocacy, and preventive education & outreach services.
Phones can be left in VIBS’ drop box between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at:
- The Bookstore at the Brookhaven Campus in Shirley
- Student Services in the Racanelli Center at the Rudolph Campus in Oakdale
The Dowling Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is having an ongoing cell phone drive for the Secure the Call Foundation. This organization distributes cell phones to domestic violence shelters, senior centers, neighborhood watch groups, school crossing guards and other agencies with an immediate need for 911 access. The website is www.donatemycellphone.org.
The phones can be dropped off in the Athletic Office at the Rudolph Campus in Oakdale between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
For additional information on either cell phone drive, please call 631-244-3318.
About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education. www.dowling.edu
Dowling College Roundtable Hosts Congressman Israel, LIPA, Empire State Development Corp., and U.S Green Building Council
April 16, 2008
(Oakdale, N.Y.) In announcing the April 18, 2008 Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute Roundtable, LIESP Director Martin Cantor said, “alternative energy solutions have become more vital than ever to the region’s energy policy, now that Governor Paterson has announced his opposition to Broadwater’s Liquid Natural Gas initiative in Long Island Sound.”
Cantor said that helping to bring reality to the notion of alternative energies will be Congressman Steve Israel (D, Dix Hills), LIPA Vice President for Environmental Affairs Michael Deering, Empire State Development Corporation Business Development Director Eugene Johnson, Dowling Professor Dr. Nicholas Mauro, and Vice Chair of the Long Island Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council Art Desin.
Congressman Steve Israel, one of the first public officials to promote the idea of alternative energies and green technology explained his initiatives and support for the greening of Long Island.
Art Desin, in announcing a series of scholarships to Long Island students interested in green issues said, “alternative and green energy resources has to become second nature and is vital to the sustainability of the region.”
Eugene Johnson of Empire State Development discussed the alternative energy task force that was headed by Governor Paterson while he served as Lt. Governor. Johnson said “New York State is seriously interested in energy conservation and alternative energy policies.”
Michael Deering explained, “the upcoming energy master plan for Long Island and also how LIPA is committed to economically viable alternative energy strategies and energy conservation policies.”
Dowling Professor Dr. Nicholas Mauro noted, “solar power is becoming more cost-effective each year for residential and commercial use, with the investment recovery period of investments in solar technology now under ten years.”
Cantor concluded, “there has to be a serious cost-benefit evaluation of the myths and magic of alternative energies and what green technology means in terms of lower energy costs if Long Island is to truly benefit.”
About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education. http://www.dowling.edu/
LIPA and Town of Hempstead Host Free Solar & Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Seminar
April 9, 2008
(Uniondale, N.Y.) As concerns about global warming increase and the cost of fossil fuels continue to rise, homeowners are looking for ways to make a difference. The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) is providing an opportunity for residential customers to invest in the future and supplement their energy needs with solar power (Photovoltaic-PV) and improve overall home energy efficiency.
To help educate its customers on how to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, LIPA is teaming up with the Town of Hempstead to offer a free Solar Energy and Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® Seminar. The program will be held Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 7:30PM in the Town of Hempstead at Levittown Hall, 201 Levittown Parkway, Hicksville, NY. The seminar will include topics such as: how to lower your electric bill; types of PV systems; details on LIPA rebates and solar incentives; net metering; and how to choose a contractor.
“Replacing just one incandescent bulb with a Compact Fluorescent bulb (CFL) can save the typical electric consumer almost $18 per year while using up to 75% less energy then incandescent bulbs,” said LIPA President and CEO Kevin S. Law. “I commend Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray for her commitment to providing the residents with information enabling them to save on energy costs while reducing environmental damage. With the costs of energy rising, it is important to know what energy efficiency improvements will help keep home energy costs down.”
“We are pleased to partner with the Long Island Power Authority and Renewable Energy Long Island and host this informative program,” Supervisor Murray stated. “This is a great opportunity for homeowners to become solar pioneers and reduce electricity consumption while protecting the environment. This is also the first time we will be combining the solar seminar with a seminar on how to make your home more energy efficient with ENERGY STAR.”
“Supervisor Kate Murray must be commended for hosting these home energy efficiency seminars and RELI looks forward to working with the Town of Hempstead and its residents to help people save energy and money while reducing harmful emissions from our homes,” said Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI), a not-for-profit organization. “We may not realize it, but our homes are often poorly insulated and use antiquated or needlessly wasteful heating and air conditioning systems, appliances and lighting. Thanks to LIPA’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program, homeowners can now get help from specially trained home energy experts and find out how much money they can save by making energy efficiency improvements.”
LIPA offers significant rebates for PV systems up to 10 kilowatts (kW) in size. A 10kW can produce about 12,730 kWh per year, which would be an annual value of $2,291 at the current electric rates. The rebate available now for residential and commercial customers is $3.50 per watt. Investing in solar power enables customers to not only generate clean electricity, but also reduce the amount of electricity purchased from LIPA. And, any excess electricity produced can be sold back to LIPA through net metering.
In addition to the LIPA rebates, New York State offers up to a 25% tax credit with a $5,000 cap. The Federal government offers up to 30% tax credit with a $2,000 cap. Nassau and Suffolk Counties charge no sales tax on the equipment of PV systems, and homeowners can take advantage of New York State’s 15-year property tax exemption for solar energy systems. After all the incentives are applied it is possible to enjoy a 50% reduction on the total cost of a PV system.
To date, under its Solar Pioneer Program, LIPA has rebated over $30.8 million for the installation of approximately 1,208 PV systems Island-wide. That number breaks down to 1,117 residential and 52 commercial systems and 39 systems installed at educational, not-for-profit and government facilities. Additionally, there are 483 rebate applications pending for PV systems that are about to be installed.
In addition to the solar topics, homeowners are invited to learn how they can obtain a Comprehensive Home Assessment by an accredited Building Performance Institute (BPI) contractor, and implement cost effective measures for improving their home’s overall energy efficiency through the LIPA Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program.
The LIPA Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program created a network of independent contractors that are accredited by the Building Performance Institute (BPI). BPI is a national resource for building science technology that sets standards for assessing and improving the energy performance, as well as the health and safety of homes.
Home Performance contractors have been trained in taking a “whole-house” approach when testing homes and identifying necessary energy efficiency improvements. This approach considers the inter-relationship between the various systems within a home (insulation, doors and windows, mechanicals and air leakage) and factors these relationships into a work scope designed to enhance the energy model of your home.
The time has never been better to maximize your home’s performance for greater energy and environmental savings. For more information on LIPA’s Solar Pioneer Program and Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® programs and to sign up for FREE public seminars in your area, please call 1-800-692-2626 or visit www.renewableenergylongisland.org today.
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LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric provider, owns the retail electric Transmission and Distribution System on Long Island and provides electric service to more than 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA is the 2nd largest municipal electric utility in the nation in terms of electric revenues, 3rd largest in terms of customers served and the 7th largest in terms of electricity delivered. In 2006, LIPA outperformed all other overhead electric utilities in New York State in all three major reliability categories. LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-island generating assets. More information about LIPA can be found online at: http://www.lipower.org
Microsoft Sets April 26th Date for Hostile Takeover of Yahoo Inc.
April 5, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) On Saturday Microsoft executives warned board members at Yahoo Inc. that if it did not accept its $41 billion buyout offer by April 26th, a three-week deadline, that it would launch a hostile takeover at a much less attractive price.
According to a press release, the warning was made by Microsoft’s chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, in a letter sent by e-mail. It expressed dismay at Yahoo’s refusal to enter into formal negotiations over Microsoft’s January 31st takeover bid and warned that without an agreement by the deadline, Microsoft would move swiftly to oust Yahoo’s board.
“If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo board,” wrote Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.
“If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal,” he wrote.
Yahoo’s board formally rejected Microsoft Corp.’s bid in February, saying it undervalues the company.
Since the offer was first made, public equity markets and overall economic conditions have weakened, while Yahoo’s search and page view shares have declined by some estimates, Ballmer said.
“By any fair measure, the large premium we offered in January is even more significant today,” adding that he believes the majority of Yahoo shareholders would agree.
Microsoft has said from the start that it would consider all possible ways of getting the deal done, including taking its offer directly to Yahoo’s shareholders, as well as working to elect its own candidates to fill Yahoo’s board at the company’s annual annual shareholder meeting, and thus the deadline for Microsoft to nominate its slate.
Yahoo has not set a new date for the meeting. Before Saturday, it was known that Microsoft had hired a proxy solicitation firm to help with a hostile bid, but the software maker had made no pronouncements as to when that might happen.
If it’s ultimately completed, a Yahoo deal would be the biggest acquisition in Microsoft’s history. Despite its legendary cash reserves, more than $21 billion as of the end of last year, Microsoft would need to borrow money to complete the transaction.
Microsoft executives have called the Yahoo acquisition bid key to their efforts to catch Google in the Internet search and advertising markets.
The online advertising market is expected to increase from over $40 billion in 2007 to nearly $80 billion by 2010.
Microsoft letter to the Yahoo! Inc. Board of Directors
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CLSA50005042008-1.htm
Dowling College Helps Preserve Critical Species on Brink of Extinction
April 3, 2008
(Oakdale, N.Y.) In an effort to protect a species that has survived the mass distinction of dinosaurs, the Long Island Horseshoe Crab Network, headed by Dr. John T. Tanacredi, Chairman of the Department of Earth and Marine Sciences at Dowling College, will conduct the sixth year of an Inventory of Horseshoe Crabs (HSC) at some 60 sites on Long Island, from
the tip of Montauk to the tip of Brooklyn.
Horseshoe crabs around the world face a set of common and growing threats including over fishing, habitat loss and alteration, and pollution. This animal is essential for many reasons. They provide a chemical, LAL, that is used in hospitals to detect bacterial contamination. Also, the eggs of horseshoe crabs feed shore birds, including ones that may also be on the verge of being endangered.
“Over the last dozen years there has been considerable controversy over the extent to which horseshoe crab harvesting has impacted the species’ existence,” explained Dr. Tanacredi. ”It is general knowledge that HSC habitat covers from the coast of Maine to Florida, with Long Island historically having a robust population of HSC. Anecdotal information from ‘coast-wise’ people have recently expressed concerns that once large numbers of HSC observed each year, are today a mere skeletal population.”
The HSC Network invites everyone to join in and help protect a species 350 million years in the making. There are 60 beaches identified to be surveyed over several days in MAY (5th & 20th), JUNE (3rd & 18th) and JULY (3rd & 18th) on full moons and high tides. To see the list of beach sites and register as a volunteer to be a “Beach Captain”, call Dr. Tanacredi at 631-244-3394. Anyone sighting a live horseshoe crab is asked to provide details and photos via an online field report form at www.hscli.org.
About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education. www.dowling.edu
Innovative Bioengineering Research at Dowling College
March 27, 2008
(Oakdale, N.Y.) Dowling College is becoming known as a center for innovative Bioengineering and Biotechnological research on Long Island and a team of Professors has now developed a new way of designing experiments for designing the media for fermentation process. The work, co-authored by Dr. Fred Rispoli of the Department of Mathematics and Dr. Vishal Shah of Biology Department, has been published in the journal Biotechnology Progress and the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology.
The team reports the modification of the method used for the design of experiments that is widely used in pharmaceutical and other industries to suit the biotechnology industry. The modified method increases the reliability of the results and provides more information on the influence of different nutrient component on the production while reducing the number of experiments that one would need to perform. The research focused on finding the right combination of various nutrient ingredients for maximum production of an enzyme from fungi. Earlier last year, team of undergraduate students and Dr. Shah reported the process of making biosurfactants from restaurant waste oil.
These projects provide a unique opportunity to the undergraduate students to gain industrially and academically relevant research experience. Dr. Rispoli, Director of the new B.S. program in Applied Math feels, “The research we are carrying out will give the students who will enroll in the new program a chance to complement their learning with research experience.” Dr. Shah insists, “That by allowing students to be involved in peer-reviewed innovative research, graduates that are well grounded in both the theoretical and research aspect of the subject can be developed.”
The new program of B.S. in Applied Math, Bioengineering track will be offered starting Fall 2008. This new program is intended to train students in the application of the life sciences and mathematics to define and solve problems in biology, medicine, healthcare, and other fields. Upon completion, students may pursue careers in areas such as pharmaceutical research, industrial microbiology, and biotechnology. For further details on the program or research, please contact Dr. Fred Rispoli at rispolif(at)dowling.edu or Dr. Shah at ShahV(at)dowling.edu.
About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education. http://www.dowling.edu
Telcom Industry Gave 50% More to Members of the House Who Voted “NO” to Amend (FISA)
March 21, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) /PR/ - MAPLight.org’s research department reveals that the telecom industry gave, on average, $10,660 to members of the House of Representatives who voted “no” as opposed to $7,085 to those who voted “yes” on the House amendment (to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3773), to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).
The amendment, which passed on March 14, rejects retroactive immunity for phone carriers who helped the National Security Agency carryout their wiretapping program without proper warrants. It does, however, give federal courts special authority to decide whether lawsuits against the phone companies should proceed. According to the Washington Post, “about 40 lawsuits have accused AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and Sprint Nextel Corp. of violating the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans swept up in the electronic surveillance of phone calls and email. Damages could total in the billions of dollars.”
“Like many issues in Congress, money closely correlates with votes,” said Daniel Newman, Executive Director of MAPLight.org. “This finding raises the question… What is the link between the thousands of dollars in Telecom PAC contributions and members of Congress who voted to give Telecom companies immunity?”
213 members of the House voted Yes (all Democrats), 197 voted No (185 Republicans and 12 Democrats), 20 Not Voting (13 Republicans and 7 Democrats) and 1 present (Democrat). The amendment imposes tougher restrictions on National Security Agency eavesdropping than the Senate version, and states that court approval would be required for wiretapping procedures to take place prior to action. It also enhances oversight over the Administration’s surveillance activities. For more on HR 3773 visit, Whip Pack.
“Our findings are based on the aggregation of contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics and voting data from THOMAS via GovTrack.us,” said Sean Tanner, MAPLight.org’s Research Manager. “We looked at PAC donations associated with three major players in the Telcom industry–Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint–from January 2005 through September 2007 to determine our results.”
MAPLight.org reveals how contributions correlate with legislation so that citizens have key information needed to draw their own conclusions about how campaign contributions affect policy. Campaign contributions are only one factor affecting legislator behavior. The correlations we highlight between industry and union giving and legislative outcomes do not show that one caused the other, and we do not make this claim. We do make the claim, however, that campaign contributions bias our legislative system. Simply put, candidates who take positions contrary to industry interests are unlikely to receive industry funds and thus have fewer resources for their election campaigns than those whose votes favor industry interests.
Who We Are:
MAPLight.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides unprecedented government transparency, shining a light on our broken system of money-dominated politics. We track all campaign contributions given to members of Congress, and how every member of Congress votes on every bill, revealing connections between money and politics never before possible to see. Our concise graphs show correlations between money and votes, and timelines of contributions and votes, showing specifics about when legislators received large donations before and after a vote.
Our Research Data:
MAPLight.org’s research department uses Web 2.0 data mashup technology to combine three data sets: campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org), special interest support and opposition for each bill in Congress (MAPLight.org research team), and legislative voting records and bill information (THOMAS/GovTrack.us).
About MAPLight.org:
MAPLight.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, California. Its search engine at MAPLight.org illuminates the connection between Money And Politics (MAP) via an unprecedented database of campaign contributions and legislative outcomes. Data sources include: GovTrack.us; Center for Responsive Politics (OpenSecrets.org); Federal Election Commission (FEC); and National Institute on Money in State Politics. Support and opposition data is obtained through testimony at public hearings, proprietary news databases and public statements on the Web sites of trade associations and other groups. To learn more visit www.MAPLight.org.
Security Breach Rendered 4.2 Million Credit, Debit Cards
March 19, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) In one of the biggest credit card database breaches ever maneuvered in the US, unidentified cyber thieves where able to secure over 4.2 million credit and debit card account numbers from a national grocery chain’s account information database.
Hannaford Bros., formerly known as Shop ‘N’ Save which is an American supermarket chain that has its headquarters in Maine and operates with more than 150 outlets in New York and New England reported on Monday that over 4.2 million credit card numbers where stolen during card authorization process since December of last year. The company noted that they became aware of the situation only after Feb. 27 when another breach was detected by their system and immediately notified authorities afterwards. Currently, over 1,800 known cases of credit card fraud has been reported due to the incident.
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“We have taken aggressive steps to augment our network security capabilities,” Hannaford president and CEO Ronald C. Hodge said in a statement released Monday. “Hannaford doesn’t collect, know or keep any personally identifiable customer information from transactions.”
Hannaford Bros. also contacted the US secret service agency and urged their participation in the investigation. “The company did contact us, and we are investigating,” said agency spokesman Malcolm Wiley deferring to give further comment on their separate inquiry.
In a statement released last Monday, Hannaford bros. intimated that over 35 percent of the accounts stolen comes from leading credit card association Visa while the remaining percentage are portioned off by MasterCard , AMEX and JCB. MasterCard released a written statement last Monday which read. “Because this incident is the subject of an ongoing law enforcement investigation, we cannot disclose additional details regarding the incident or otherwise comment at this time.”
Industry experts criticize the delay in which local banks and credit card companies were notified of the breach. Bruce Spitzer, a spokesman for Massachusetts Bankers Association said, Visa and MasterCard have stipulated in their contracts with retailers that they will not divulge who the source is when a data breach occurs,” Spitzer said. “We’ve been engaged in a dialogue for a couple years now about changing this rule…. Without knowing who the retailer is that caused the breach, it’s hard for banks to conduct a good investigation on behalf of their consumers. And it’s a problem for consumers as well, because if they know which retailer is responsible, they can rule themselves out for being at risk if they don’t shop at that retailer.”
Yahoo Execs Meet With Microsoft Counterparts
March 17, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) Rivaling companies Yahoo Inc and Microsoft sent company representatives to meet near Yahoo’s Sunnyvale head office in California to discuss possible amendments to Microsoft’s takeover bid which could lead to a breakthrough for merger plans.
A month ago, Microsoft sent an unsolicited $44.6 Billion or roughly $31 per shares of stocks offer to Yahoo Inc. to takeover their operations for the company but was summarily denied by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and its board of trustees noting that Yahoo Inc. is worth much more than the initial offer.
“We have great respect for Yahoo, and together, we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers, and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online-services market, Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player, who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition, together Microsoft and Yahoo can offer a credible alternative ” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement.
According to sources close to the negotiations and speaking on terms of anonymity, the meeting occurred last Monday near Yahoo’s headquarters and both companies sent top executives to discuss a possible solution to their current stand-off. Microsoft re-iterated that it would not increase its offer to accommodate Yahoo’s wishes but industry experts surmise that it is a necessity for Microsoft to do so if it pursues its intentions of buying the troubled search-engine company.
Yahoo Inc. generated dismal sales report from the last three months of last year up to the early parts of this year in its quarterly reports which prompted the company to incorporate cost cutting measures such as the closures of multiple company owned retail outlets nationwide and the reduction of its total manpower by 10 percent on January. An estimated 800 employees of Yahoo lost their jobs when the company announced that it would implement these economic maneuvers in an effort to save the company.
After rejecting Microsoft’s bid a month ago, Yahoo Inc. through its CEO Jerry Yang explored multiple avenues to increase company outputs such as possible allegiance to giant Google Inc., AOL Time Warner and News Corp. “Yahoo is better off inside a larger company with (a) strong balance sheet and technology, a combination of Yahoo’s relationships (with DSL providers), and Microsoft’s applications and devices, could create a very well positioned potential competitor,” Imran Khan of JP Morgan wrote.
The online advertising market is expected to increase from over $40 billion in 2007 to nearly $80 billion by 2010.
Space Shuttle Endeavor Blasts To The Sky
March 11, 2008
(Long Island, N.Y.) A crew of seven headed by Commander Dominic Gorie of Lake Charles, Louisiana, was successfully launched into orbit on their way to the Space Station on board Space Shuttle Endeavor on a 16-day mission which is the longest of its kind to enlarge and add innovations to the Space Station.
The crew’s mission is to deliver a newly innovative Canadian designed robot to the Space Station which would help in maintaining the exterior of the facility while attaching a Japanese-made compartment designed to serve as a future laboratory in space. The mission will increase the total numbers of international participants to the Space Station project adding both Japan and Canada to existing members in the US, Europe and Russia.
“It’s really exciting to see the international aspect of the International Space Station come to fruition on this flight,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations. “This is really the international year.”
The Shuttle was launched at exactly 2.28 AM at Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida which is a rare occurrence since majority of space voyages are initiated in broad daylight. “Good luck and Godspeed, and we’ll see you back here in 16 days,” launch director Mike Leinbach radioed to the astronaut’s right before liftoff.
Commander Gorie quickly replied, “Banzai,” Dominic Gorie said, a Japanese exclamation of Joy. “God truly has blessed us with a beautiful night here, Mike, to launch, so let’s light them up and give Him a show.”
On board Endeavor is a $200 million two-armed Canadian robot named “Dextre” which is designed to decrease spacewalking activities among astronauts as it performs outdoor cleaning and maintenance for the Space Station while the first installment of three parts for a $6.7 Billion Japanese Space station laboratory called “Kibo” which means “hope” tags along as it prepares installation by the crew. The second part could be installed later this year on a separate mission while the third and final piece is projected to be completed next year.
