Culture vultures: 'When in Rome' applies to monkey's too

Apr. 25, 2013 ? The human tendency to adopt the behaviour of others when on their home territory has been found in non-human primates.

Researchers at the University of St Andrews observed 'striking' fickleness in male monkeys, when it comes to copying the behaviour of others in new groups. The findings could help explain the evolution of our human desire to seek out 'local knowledge' when visiting a new place or culture.

The new discovery was made by Dr Erica van de Waal and Professor Andrew Whiten of the University of St Andrews, along with Christ?le Borgeaud of the University of Neuch?tel.

Professor Whiten commented, "As the saying goes, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'. Our findings suggest that a willingness to conform to what all those around you are doing when you visit a different culture is a disposition shared with other primates."

The research was carried out by observing wild vervet monkeys in South Africa. The researchers originally set out to test how strongly wild vervet monkey infants are influenced by their mothers' habits.

But more interestingly, they found that adult males migrating to new groups conformed quickly to the social norms of their new neighbours, whether it made sense to them or not.

Professor Whiten commented, "The males' fickleness is certainly a striking discovery. At first sight their willingness to conform to local norms may seem a rather mindless response -- but after all, it's how we humans often behave when we visit different cultures.

"It may make sense in nature, where the knowledge of the locals is often the best guide to what are the optimal behaviours in their environment, so copying them may actually make a lot of sense."

In the initial study, the researchers provided each of two groups of wild monkeys with a box of maize corn dyed pink and another dyed blue. The blue corn was made to taste repulsive and the monkeys soon learned to eat only pink corn. Two other groups were trained in this way to eat only blue corn.

A new generation of infants were later offered both colours of food -- neither tasting badly -- and the adult monkeys present appeared to remember which colour they had previously preferred.

Almost every infant copied the rest of the group, eating only the one preferred colour of corn.

The crucial discovery came when males began to migrate between groups during the mating season.

The researchers found that of the ten males who moved to groups eating a different coloured corn to the one they were used to, all but one switched to the new local norm immediately.

The one monkey who did not switch, was the top ranking in his new group who appeared unconcerned about adopting local behavior.

Dr van de Waal conducted the field experiments at the Inkawu Vervet Project in the Mawana private game reserve in South Africa. She became familiar with all 109 monkeys, making it possible for her to document the behaviour of the males who migrated to new groups.

She said, "The willingness of the immigrant males to adopt the local preference of their new groups surprised us all. The copying behaviour of both the new, na?ve infants and the migrating males reveals the potency and importance of social learning in these wild primates, extending even to the conformity we know so well in humans."

Commenting on the research, leading primatologist Professor Frans de Waal, of the Yerkes Primate Center of Emory University, said that the study "is one of the few successful field experiments on cultural transmission to date, and a remarkably elegant one at that."

The study has been hailed by leading primate experts as rare experimental proof of 'cultural transmission' in wild primates to date. The research is published April 25 by the journal Science.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of St. Andrews, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. E. van de Waal, C. Borgeaud, A. Whiten. Potent Social Learning and Conformity Shape a Wild Primate's Foraging Decisions. Science, 2013; 340 (6131): 483 DOI: 10.1126/science.1232769

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/3VvzwGJAXCM/130425142351.htm

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Virginia State student deaths renew debate over hazing abuse

The apparent drowning deaths of two Virginia State University freshmen are refocusing attention on the role of college and university officials in curbing a culture of hazing and abuse on campus.

By Cricket Fuller,?Staff writer / April 25, 2013

Former FAMU percussionist Caleb Jackson (l.) looks toward his family in court last week in Orlando, Fla. Mr. Jackson pleaded 'no contest' in the 2011 fatal hazing of drum major Robert Champion. Eleven other former Florida A&M band members are still facing manslaughter and felony hazing charges. Now, another hazing case at a university ? this one in Virginia ? is drawing attention.

Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/AP

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The apparent hazing death of two Virginia State University (VSU) students has renewed the debate over universities? responsibility to combat hazing abuse.

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In Virginia's Chesterfield County, police have charged four men, including two VSU students, with hazing after two students drowned in the Appomattox River on April 20 as part of an initiation rite for the social club Men of Honor, which is not a school-sanctioned group. One suspect is still at large.

Seven VSU students reportedly tried to use a ?human chain? to cross the rushing rapids of the rain-swollen Appomattox River around midnight Sunday. A witness told local NBC affiliate WAVY that the water level rose to their chests, and the current swept away freshmen Marvell Edmondson and Jauwan Holmes. The evening was reportedly the culmination of a week-long pledging and hazing process for the group. Police recovered Mr. Edmondson's body on Monday and are still looking for Mr. Holmes.

Historically black colleges and universities like VSU have struggled with a long tradition of hazing centered on physical abuse. But recent tragedies, including the November 2011 death of Robert Champion, a drum major in Florida A&M University?s celebrated marching band, have brought national attention to the issue, ratcheting up pressure for schools to take stronger action to discourage the practice.

?We?re going to see an increasing number of administrators losing jobs" over hazing issues, says Ricky Jones, professor of pan-African studies at the University of Louisville in Kentucky and author of the book ?Black Haze: Violence, Sacrifice, and Manhood in Black Greek-Letter Fraternities.? "When these people start to lose their jobs, there?s going to be greater professional and institutional attention paid to" the problem.

At FAMU, Mr. Champion was beaten as part of a hazing ritual and died soon after. His death was ruled a homicide. In the wake of his death, the band?s director retired, university President James Ammons resigned, and the marching band was suspended indefinitely.

In a statement released Monday, VSU officials say they ?are confident that no sanctioned VSU student organizations were involved in this tragic incident.? But university spokesman Thomas Reed says the school was aware of Men of Honor. It seems likely that this group was ?mimicking black Greek-letter fraternities? in its hazing practices, Professor Jones says.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/BepvSPWuOwc/Virginia-State-student-deaths-renew-debate-over-hazing-abuse

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Israeli military shoots down drone

An Israeli military naval ship and an Israeli air force helicopter operate off the coast of Haifa , northern Israel, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Israel shot down a drone Thursday as it approached the country's northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The incident was likely to raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An Israeli military naval ship and an Israeli air force helicopter operate off the coast of Haifa , northern Israel, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Israel shot down a drone Thursday as it approached the country's northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The incident was likely to raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An Israeli military naval ship and an Israeli air force helicopter operate next to a cruise ship off the coast of Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Israel shot down a drone Thursday as it approached the country's northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The incident was likely to raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An Israeli military naval ship and an Israeli air force helicopter operate off the coast of Haifa, northern Israel, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Israel shot down a drone Thursday as it approached the country's northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The incident was likely to raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, attends the holiday of Nabi Shoaib, the Prophet Jethro, during a cultural event with members of the country's Druse minority in the Druse village of Julis, northern Israel, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Israel shot down a drone Thursday as it approached the country's northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The incident was likely to raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006. Netanyahu, who was in northern Israel at the time of the incident, said he viewed the infiltration attempt with "utmost gravity." (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, is welcomed by Druse leaders for the holiday of Nabi Shoaib, the Prophet Jethro, during a cultural event with members of the country's Druse minority in the Druse village of Julis, northern Israel, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Israel shot down a drone Thursday as it approached the country's northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The incident was likely to raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in northern Israel at the time of the incident, said he viewed the infiltration attempt with "utmost gravity." (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel shot down a drone Thursday as it approached the country's northern coast, the military said. Suspicion immediately fell on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

The incident was likely to raise already heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he was in a helicopter in northern Israel at the time of the incident, said he viewed the infiltration attempt with "utmost gravity."

Officials said Netanyahu was informed of the unfolding incident as he was flying north for a cultural event with members of the country's Druse minority. They said his helicopter briefly landed while the drone was intercepted before Netanyahu continued on his way.

"On my way here in the helicopter, I was told that there is an infiltration attempt of a drone inside the skies of Israel," he said in the northern Arab-Israeli town of Daliyat al-Karmel. "We will continue to do everything necessary to safeguard the security of Israel's citizens."

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes flew over the Christian town of Jezzine and the highlands of the Iqlim al-Tuffah province, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, Thursday morning.

The Lebanese army also reported Israeli jets violated Lebanese air space on Tuesday and Wednesday. Israel has stepped up its flights over Lebanon amid fears that Hezbollah is taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Syrian civil war.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the unmanned aircraft was detected as it was flying over Lebanon and tracked as it approached Israeli airspace.

Lerner said the military waited for the aircraft to enter Israeli airspace, confirmed it was "enemy," and then an F-16 warplane shot it down.

The drone was flying at an altitude of about 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) and was downed roughly five miles (eight kilometers) off the Israeli coast near the northern city of Haifa. Lerner said Israeli naval forces were searching for the remains of the aircraft.

He declined to say who sent the drone.

Other military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to talk to the media, said they believed it was an Iranian-manufactured aircraft sent by Hezbollah. The Lebanese group sent a drone into Israeli airspace last October that Israel also shot down.

Netanyahu repeatedly has warned that Hezbollah might try to take advantage of the instability in neighboring Syria, a key Hezbollah ally, to obtain what he calls game-changing weapons.

Israel has all but confirmed that it carried out an airstrike in Syria early this year that destroyed a shipment of sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles bound for Hezbollah.

A senior Lebanese security official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Lebanon had no information on Thursday's incident.

Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi also said he had no information, adding the group would put out a statement if it had something to say on the issue.

When Israeli military shot down a Hezbollah drone on Oct. 6, it took days for Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah to confirm it in a speech. He warned at the time that it would not be the last such operation by the group. He said the sophisticated aircraft was made in Iran and assembled by Hezbollah.

___

Associated Press writers Zeina Karam in Beirut and Diaa Hadid in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-25-Israel-Hezbollah/id-b438d8b4d0374eeeb98b70c4f4cfab0c

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Ghana is rising, but so are its dump-yards of cast-off appliances

As Ghana's economy booms,?its consumers no longer want used appliances shipped in from the West. Now that 'e-waste' is filling dumps and causing environmental woes.

By Yepoka Yeebo,?Correspondent / April 25, 2013

What was once a park in Ghana?s capital of Accra is now a blackened expanse, issuing acrid smoke from burning piles of plastic and metal. Industrial junk ?heaps of old car doors and appliances ? is scattered everywhere. ?A man walks past, carrying the carcass of a full-sized refrigerator on his head.

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This is Agbogbloshie, an illegal dump where junked, cast-off appliances from around the world get turned into scrap metal.

Hundreds of shipping containers packed with used refrigerators, old computers, washing machines, and other appliances arrive in Ghana every month. Until recently, many of those appliances sold at a premium. But changing habits of consumers at a time when West Africa is experiencing growth means that more and more secondhand imports are being discarded from the retail market.

Instead, they are finding their way directly to the dump, exacerbating a waste problem that Ghana can?t afford to fix right now.

Ghana once welcomed secondhand imports of everything from TVs to clothing because even locally-produced products were too expensive for average buyers. But that?s rapidly changing: Ghana?s economy grew by 8 percent in 2012, and manufacturers have taken notice of the country?s growing base of consumers. Many are stepping up production on the continent.

Yet shipments of used appliances keep arriving because old appliances are considered hazardous waste, and are expensive to dispose of. Overseas firms seeking to rid themselves of old computers or car parts often donate or sell them, tossing them into a shadowy international supply chain that?s hard to follow. In 2010, environmental activists at Agbogbloshie discovered in old computers several hard drives that appeared to belong to US defense contractors?and school districts.

?There have been a lot of quotes [in the world press] about the West dumping its e-waste into Africa,? says Tatiana Terekhova, an electronics waste expert at the United Nations. She suggests that shipments can be both legal and illegal. While some of the arriving goods are simply junk, she says, most have been working appliances that have fed a demand for consumer electronics from Ghana's rising middle class.

Now, soaring scrap metal prices have turned Agbogbloshie into an ad-hoc outdoor factory. A workforce of children and teenagers root, smash, and burn through the world?s electronic junk to rip out valuable components. Often, a cocktail of toxic chemicals is released in the process.

Children like 11-year-old Al-Hassan who ? wearing pink flip-flops and a look of tired determination ? drags an old stereo speaker along the ground through charred plastic and metal. The magnet inside the speaker attracts a small price, and the boy earns about a dollar a day selling to scrap dealers.

In turn, these dealers illegally export scrap metal, disguised as legal goods like timber or cashew nuts, and in 2010, Ghana's port authority estimated those exports at around $40 million in value.?

Ghanaian legislators recently passed a?ban on imports of used refrigerators. But the government is a long way from ending the destructive trade, says Accra city council spokesman Numo Blafo III, who claims that toxic waste from the dump is harming a lagoon that abuts the park-turned-dump.?

?The scrap dealers pouring their e-waste into the lagoon have actually polluted it ? all marine life is dead,? he says. "But even the government is finding it difficult to remove them. It seems nobody can stop them.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/3VRjHKJ6tcU/Ghana-is-rising-but-so-are-its-dump-yards-of-cast-off-appliances

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U.N. rights chief urges Angola to cut "huge" rich-poor gap

(Reuters) - The United Nations' top human rights official urged Angola's government on Wednesday to reduce the huge disparities between rich and poor that have developed in the oil-rich country despite considerable progress since the end of a 27-year civil war in 2002.

Angola, which is Africa's No. 2 oil producer, has posted rapid growth since the end of the war, but opposition parties and rights groups have long accused President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of doing too little to combat widespread poverty.

Speaking in the capital, Luanda, after a three-day visit, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay praised the government for progress in rebuilding the country's infrastructure and clearing thousands of landmines.

"This development has not been without controversy," she said. "Two issues that have consistently been brought to my attention are the huge disparities that have developed between the richest and the poorest, and the sometimes harsh methods used to evict people from land earmarked for development, especially in and around Luanda."

Dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979, was easily re-elected last year for a new five-year term during which he has pledged to improve the distribution of Angola's vast oil wealth.

His government says it cut poverty levels to about 39 percent of the population in 2009 from 68 percent in 2002, and increased public spending in this year's budget by over a quarter to help improve social conditions.

Pillay said she stressed in a meeting with Dos Santos on Wednesday the importance of cutting the wealth disparities over the next four or five years.

The U.N. official said the president and Cabinet ministers accepted that problems remained and seemed genuinely committed to improving human rights.

She said, however, that the government must tackle alleged abuse - especially sexual abuse - of migrants by security forces and border officials that has persisted for the past decade, especially on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"During my visit to a remote border crossing in Lunda Norte, I received indications that sexual abuse of female migrants is continuing, as well as theft of property," Pillay said.

Recognizing that the irregular entry of tens of thousands of migrants every year, many seeking to dig illegally for diamonds, causes major problems and that the government has the right to deport them, she said it must do so humanely.

Pillay said other problems included implementation of laws on freedom of expression and assembly, including the "heavy-handed" suppression of protests, and the fact that millions of Angolans, including 68 percent of children under age 5, had not been listed in the national identification registry.

(Reporting by Shrikesh Laxmidas in Lisbon; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-rights-chief-urges-angola-cut-huge-225405459.html

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Former first lady Laura Bush shares tour of new Bush Center (cbsnews)

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Republicans slam U.S. bet on electric carmaker Fisker

By Ayesha Rascoe and Deepa Seetharaman

(Reuters) - Republican lawmakers said the U.S. government missed early warning signs that its loans to electric carmaker Fisker Automotive could be in trouble, and kept money flowing even after the startup missed a key 2011 production deadline.

Members of the House Oversight Committee cited Department of Energy documents at a hearing on Wednesday as showing Fisker got $32 million in payments, even after it failed to launch the Karma vehicle in February of 2011 as planned.

They spent hours quizzing current and former Fisker executives and an Energy Department official, over what the lawmakers termed the government's "bad bet," and questioned whether the unproven company received special treatment that put taxpayer dollars at risk.

The sporty Karma's $100,000-plus price tag and trappings of Hollywood glamor also drew barbs.

"Taxpayers effectively subsidized luxury, novelty vehicles for the likes of Justin Bieber, Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Gore," said Jim Jordan, the Republican from Ohio who chairs the subcommittee which held the hearing.

Under fire is the DOE's decision in 2009 to grant the company a $529 million loan only to see it veer toward failure - a chain of events that echoed Solyndra, the U.S. government-backed solar manufacturer that went out of business in 2011.

"The government is a very poor venture capitalist," said Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina.

Nicholas Whitcombe, the former acting director of the car loan program, defended the government's actions.

"We make our calls based on the merits of the transactions," Whitcombe said.

Energy Department officials have defended the auto loan program, saying it helped to bring the industry from the brink of collapse during a severe economic downturn. Mainstream carmakers like General Motors were key beneficiaries, and their revival has been widely acclaimed.

But Fisker's troubles are the latest in a string of green automotive technology flops, including last year's bankruptcy of its lithium-ion battery supplier, A123 Systems .

Forecasts in 2009 for sales of hybrid and electric vehicles far outstripped subsequent demand. Only about 2,000 Karmas have been sold.

Documents cited at the hearing pointed to signs Fisker was headed for trouble even before 2011. An email in June 2010 from an outside consultant to the Department of Energy said a Fisker disbursement request may be in "limbo due to lack of compliance with financial covenants."

FOUNDER TESTIFIES

Henrik Fisker, founder and former CEO, said the Anaheim, California-based company, which has not built a vehicle since July last year, can still bounce back and repay nearly $200 million in government loans if is able to find the right "financial and strategic resources."

"I do not believe that any taxpayer dollars have been lost," Fisker told lawmakers.

Testifying about his eponymous company, the Danish-born Fisker, 49, who was forced to resign as chairman in March, blamed problems with its parts suppliers, delays in regulatory approval and recalls of its flagship Karma plug-in hybrid sports car for the company's struggles.

"After resolving initial launch challenges, the cars perform well and customers love them," Fisker asserted.

Republicans spent hours criticizing the loan at the hearing. But Henrik Fisker told lawmakers that the company was encouraged to apply for money in 2008 by the Republican administration of President George W. Bush. The loan was then approved by Barack Obama's administration.

Fisker's failure to make a payment on the DOE loan on Monday was the latest of its troubles. In recent weeks, Fisker has fired 75 percent of its workforce and hired bankruptcy advisers.

Republicans said Fisker received the DOE loan despite its junk bond rating and unproven track record.

"The Obama administration owes the American taxpayer an explanation as to why this bad loan was made in the first place, and what they are going to do to minimize the loss that taxpayers face," said Jordan, the hearing chairman.

DOE BACKING BOOSTED FISKER

The DOE's backing helped put Fisker, which was founded in 2007, on the map. With government guarantees in hand, Fisker has gone on to raise $1.2 billion in private funds to date, according to SEC filings.

The 2009 loan signaled that the DOE had done a rigorous review of the project, said Salo Zelermyer, a senior counsel at the DOE under the Bush administration, who also helped create the auto loan program.

"It's fair to say the projects the DOE chose to proceed with were clearly given an added credibility with folks on the outside," said Zelermyer, now a senior counsel at Bracewell and Giuliani in Washington.

Fisker tapped $192 million of its $529 million before the DOE quietly decided to freeze Fisker's credit line in June 2011.

Neither the DOE nor Fisker publicly disclosed that decision until early 2012. Lawyers and a DOE official said the department was not obligated to divulge the decision.

In the confidential "information statement" sent to shareholders in December 2011 and obtained by Reuters, Fisker said it "will not meet certain financial covenants and project milestones" required in the DOE agreement, including earnings, net worth and certain financial ratio targets.

The terms of Fisker's loan pact with the DOE were enough to put off potential suitors, including Chinese automaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd . The conditions included an obligation to restore capacity and jobs at the company's Delaware plant according to a schedule imposed by the U.S. government.

Since the high profile failure of Solyndra, a topic brought up regularly by Republicans during President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, the Obama administration has become far more risk averse when doling out loan payments.

Solyndra, the first loan recipient and first major failure for the department's portfolio, received more than $527 million of its $535 million loan before filing for bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman and Paul Lienert in Detroit, Ayesha Rascoe in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Ros Krasny, Matthew Lewis, Leslie Gevirtz and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-slam-u-bet-electric-carmaker-fisker-005843871--finance.html

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