THIS WEEK in Colorado Springs is graduation time for high school students finishing the spring term. What is remarkable here is the availability of many college scholarships, financial aids and grants that graduates can avail if they qualify.

As early as six months before graduation, half of the high school graduating students are in a frenzy applying with various financial aids offered both by private and public sector and almost a third of them can avail of such aids. There is a Chinese (as usual it is the Chinese who excel) brother and sister who both will graduate today from Colorado Springs Wasson High School and qualified for a Daniel scholarship.

The older sister heads for the University of Denver to pursue computer science while the brother goes to Colorado School of Mines for a medical course. How I wish that in the Philippines we can accommodate ten percent of all high school graduates for a college scholarship.

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Global warming isn’t to blame for the recent jump in hurricanes in the Atlantic, concluded a study by a prominent federal scientist whose position has shifted on the subject. Not only that, warmer temperatures will actually reduce the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic, according to research meteorologist Tom Knutson. The new study based on a computer model argues “against the notion that we’ve already seen a really dramatic increase in Atlantic hurricane activity resulting from greenhouse warming.”

This news item should serve as a sober reminder to the RISE “environmentalist” not to use global warming as their bottomless well of excuses in stopping the construction of the coal-fired power plant in Iloilo. The science on global warming is still very fluid and there are no established facts and evidence yet. Meanwhile, shall we stop the progress of Iloilo and endure frequent brownouts in the name of global warming?

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It is an irony that the reward of the Colorado Springs residents’ successful water conservation effort is an INCREASE in their water bill! That’s because the city-owned Colorado Springs Utilities faces a $33-million revenue shortfall largely because of lower water usage and the slump in housing construction. The Americans are very responsive when it comes to conserving water but NOT on fuels for their cars because of their inherent nomadic trait to travel and move around.

I am staying in a place called Cherry Crossing Subdivision which is also classified as a watershed, repeat, watershed area. It is an 80 percent grass-covered rolling hill terrain and has gullies and shallow ravines crisscrossing the entire area. The area is designed to accommodate only 300 houses, with each house limited to a maximum of 1.5- to 2-hectare land area. The concept of watershed management here is entirely different from that in Iloilo. Here, 90% of underground water comes melting snow so there is NO NEED for trees to cushion falling rain in order to penetrate the ground.

The grass-covered open space is so fertile and loose (not compacted because of the absence of people walking around) that it is perfect for water infiltration into the underground as the snow melts slowly.

The subdivision management is therefore very strict in keeping grass-covered open space AS IS, even limiting the planting of trees. We are getting our water supply from a well drilled 160 ft deep and yielding tremendous amounts of very clean and pristine water which I suspect comes from a sandstone aquifer.

One Response to “Dateline USA [Part 4]”

• 1
  Dr. Antonio Gestosani
  May 28th, 2008 08:12

  I hope you have a nice vacation here in the States. I have been following your articles and I am happy to know from your writings that your experience during your stay here gives you a good perspective of the American way of life. Bring that experience back home, and inspire your Filipino counterpart. It’s election here now and campaign here is done through money donations and debates. American people give money to the candidates they support, and not the other way around to sell their votes. I hope Mr. Manaay you make this political change through your influence in the media circle. Corruption only flourish when Filipino people allow themselves to be used by greedy and selfish politicians.

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