Neighbours get together to clean park, clear minefield Community

LISA RAINFORD
Aug. 6, 2003

Thinking globally and acting locally is the philosophy of a group of volunteers from the Canadian Landmine Foundation, an organization whose mission is to eradicate human and economic suffering caused by landmines.

They have organized an event christened 'Clear a Park to Clear a Minefield,' that will see volunteers cleaning up Rennie Park, not far from the Swansea Community Recreation Centre on Aug. 9 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. This is the first event of its kind for the landmine foundation, according to spokesperson Elisabeth King.

"We have a group of volunteers who have decided to create a volunteer fundraising committee. They wanted to do something that would become meaningful not only in our neighbourhood, but in others as well," she said. "They were looking for an area with a supportive community."

Rennie Park is a popular destination place frequented by many residents of the area. It just needs a little tidying up, King indicated. Approximately 10 volunteers associated with the Canadian Landmine Foundation will be taking part along with two friends they each recruited. They are appealing to the local community for help as well. Each person who would like to participate will be given a pledge sheet - the foundation will issue tax receipts for any donation over $10. Pledges can also be made online.

Volunteer Leah Loewith admits that because this is the group's first event, they don't have any monetary expectations. It is more to raise awareness, but at the same time, any funds that are raised will be greatly appreciated and will go to a good cause.

"This is a great thing for a company or school group to participate in," she said.

Landmines are one of the most pervasive problems in the world today. It is estimated that there are between 45 and 50 million in the ground in at least 70 countries including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Cambodia, Mozambique and Vietnam, according to King. Landmines injure or kill 10,000 civilians every year. Those who survive endure a lifetime of physical, psychological and economic suffering. Landmines can be laid anywhere including roads, paths, fields, buildings, waterways, bridges, forests and deserts. They cost as little as $3 to produce and are fairly easy to deploy compared to the $300 to $1,000 to locate and destroy a single mine. Usually it's a complex and time-consuming job. An international treaty to ban landmines - known as the Mine Ban Treaty, went into effect March 1, 1999, faster than any other international treaty in history. Canada has for a long time been at the forefront and has encouraged other nations to join such an important humanitarian cause. The Canadian Landmine Foundation, a registered charity with the mission to raise awareness and funds, was officially launched in June of 1999.

"Now that we've completed the first step by banning them, we're onto the next step, getting rid of existing ones," King said.

For more information, to participate or to sponsor a participant in the 'Clean a Park to Clear a Minefield' event, call the foundation at 416-365-9461 ext. 24. For further details, log onto www.canadianlandmine.org

Source: http://www.insidetoronto.ca/to/etobicoke/story/1242843p-1480311c.html

Croatian shocks top seedFrom correspondents in Espoo, Finland

TENNIS

CROATIA's Silvija Talaja upset top-seeded Patty Schnyder 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 today in the first round of the Nordic Light Open. Talaja, fresh from a doubles victory in Sopot, Poland, beat her first world top-20 player in three years.

Seventh-seeded Clarisa Fernandez also fell, to 20-year-old Hungarian newcomer Melinda Czink, 2-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4).

Another Hungarian, fourth-seeded Petra Mandula, beat Antonella Serra Zanetti of Italy 6-1 6-2 and will next meet Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine.

Barbara Rittner of Germany downed Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 7-5 6-4 for a second-round berth against eighth-seeded Karolina Sprem, and Henrieta Nagyona won 6-0 5-7 6-4 against Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, last weekend's runner-up at Sopot, for a match with Slovak Fed Cup team-mate Ludmila Cervanova.

Source: http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,6873327%255E232

By: Jim Baumann<

Landmines have been a staple in military arsenals around the world for nearly 90 years. They are cheaply produced, difficult to detect, and easily detonated. In many ways, a landmine is the ideal weapon. It is designed to maim, not kill. It slows the advance of an enemy and confuses and demoralizes him. One of the significant characteristics of a landmine is that it works for free and never forgets its duty, standing guard over killing fields well after conflicts have ended and former adversaries have formed new alliances for joint peace and prosperity.

The U.S. State Department estimates that there are more than 100 million unexploded ordnance (UXO) and landmines throughout the world. The vast majority of those affected by landmines are civilians in developing countries that are crippled or maimed while making small attempts to return to a semblance of peacetime normalcy by cultivating fields, gathering firewood, or just walking along a country road.

While landmines are cheaply produced and easily placed, removing them requires a substantial effort and cost. Budget model mines cost as little as 50 cents each to produce, while the price soars to from $300 to $1,000 to remove them.

Dr. Ken Rutherford, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Southwest Missouri State University knows firsthand the pain and suffering inflicted by the indiscriminate laying of land mines. He is a bilateral lower leg amputee as a result of a 1993 landmine accident in Somalia. He went to Somalia with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) as part of an international humanitarian intervention there. Dr. Rutherford details his accident and recovery in "Landmines: A Survivor's Tale," the full text of which can be found on the Web at: www.maic.jmu.edu/journal/6.3/focus/rutherford/rutherford.htm. Describing the accident, he writes, "I slowly looked at Duale, whose face was covered with dust, then down to my feet. I saw a white bone sticking out where my right foot used to be. At first, I wondered if that was my bone or Duale’s. It was mine." Later he observes, "Thus far, my medical care costs are in the neighborhood of a few hundred thousand dollars. What about the Somalis who are hurt by landmines? Who is going to help them? Who is going to pay for their care and therapy? There are thousands of victims around the world in places where having one's legs and arms is key to economic survival." Who indeed is going to help those unfortunates?

The International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF) is now in its fifth year of funding and monitoring the demining activities in South-East Europe, which includes the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Macedonia. Its Web site is located at: www.see-demining.org/main.htm, where a full detailing of their programs can be found.

This region has long suffered land wars and the inevitable resultant laying of landmines. It is estimated that more than 2 million mines and UXO were placed during the Balkan crisis alone. Annually, between 18,000 to 20,000 kilograms of UXO, primarily from World War I are found and neutralized in Slovenia.

Before the ITF began its efforts to monitor and finance the demining activities in South-East Europe in 1999, there was no regional coordination of those activities. Each neighboring country had its own approach towards mine removal and there was a general lack of opportunity to coordinate those activities, as well as exchange information and experience. Upon the formation of the ITF, the European Commission (EC) prepared and proposed a geographic information system (GIS) project called the "Geographical Information System for Mine Action in South-East Europe" (GISMASE), which was jointly funded by European Commission and the U.S. State Department and implemented by the ITF, under the scientific guidance and monitoring of the EC’s Joint Research Centre.

The goal of the project is the creation of high definition maps that will include the identification of mined areas and their socio-economic and security implications, as well as the development of GIS training capabilities so that the project can be locally supported.

Comments Borut Jagarinec of the ITF, "The problem with developing a regional GIS in South-East Europe stems from the fact that there are different organizations operating in the region and there is a need to collect, integrate, and synthesize the information collected by these different sources, which, unfortunately, have frequently used different methods, systems, formats, etc for assembling and structuring their data. One of the major tasks of the GISMASE project is not the unification of the GIS systems currently being used in the region, but the development and improvement of the regional landmine information systems (including GIS) so that information on minefields, surveys, incidents, and background information are all stored in a compatible format and can be exchanged between those organizations participating in the project."

ESRI’s GIS software used in the project includes: ArcGIS, ArcInfo, ArcView, ArcView Spatial Analyst, ArcIMS, and ArcEurope Base Map and Demographics.The ITF has adopted a multi-resolution approach to the mapping of mined areas to satisfy the diverse range of requirements that cover different spatial scales. The requirements range from regional planning (1:100,000 scale maps), to tactical needs (1:25,000 scale maps), and the detailed mapping and monitoring of mine clearance operations in the field (1:5,000 scale). For low-resolution coverage of the entire region, orthorectified Landsat 7 satellite imagery with a land cover classification and change detection for 1990 - 2000 was used.

On top of these coverages, basic vector layers found in ESRI's ArcEurope BaseMap, as well as data from other sources including minefield positions, soil type, slope, land cover, country boundaries, utilities, roads, railways, and rivers are used for analysis. Surveys, incidents, and background information acquired through regular regional information exchanges are also included in the GIS.

The ITF plans to employ the internet to share its data with other participants in the project and will use ESRI’s ArcIMS server to distribute that data. Concludes Jagarinec, "Landmines are one of the last remaining plagues in the world and we aretrying very hard, using a variety of methods, including GIS technology to eliminate them."

Source: http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=374

WTA Tour Nordea Nordic Light Open Results

At Tapiola Tennis Park

Espoo, Finland

Purse: $140,000 (Tier IV)

Surface: Clay-Outdoor

Singles

First Round

Ludmila Cervanova, Slovakia, def. Anca Barna (6), Germany, 6-3, 6-4.

Vera Douchevina, Russia, def. Iveta Benesova, Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

Karolina Sprem (8), Croatia, def. Cristina Torrens Valero, Spain, 6-0, 6-0.

Denisa Chladkova (3), Czech Republic, def. Gala Leon Garcia, Spain, 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles

First Round

Evgenia Koulikovskaya, Russia, and Elena Tatarkova (2), Ukraine, def. Mireille Dittman, Australia, and Helena Ejeson, Sweden, 6-2, 6-4.

Petra Mandula, Hungary, and Patricia Wartusch (1), Austria, def. Clarisa Fernandez, Argentina, and Maria Jose Martinez, Spain, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

Laura Dell'Angelo, Italy, and Vanessa Henke, Germany, def. Alyona and Valeria Bondarenko, Ukraine, 6-1, 6-2.

Tatiana Perebiynis, Ukraine, and Silvija Talaja, Croatia, def. Gulnara Fattakhetdinova, Russia, and Tatiana Poutchek, Belarus, 6-3, 6-4.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/08/04/sports1349EDT0329.DTL

USA Young Women Advance To Gold Medal Game With 58-47 Semifinal Win Over France

Lady Lion Tanisha Wright nabs two steals in victory

SIBENIK, Croatia (August 2, 2003)- the USA Young Women's National Team (6-1) advanced to the medal semifinals of the 2003 FIBA World Championship Young Women after defeating France (5-2) 58-47 on Saturday evening in Sibenik, Croatia.

The United States will meet up with Brazil (6-1) in Sunday night's gold medal game (3:00 p.m. EDT). Brazil edged host Croatia (3-4) 73-65, setting up a Croatia-France bronze medal game. The USA's lone loss at the World Championship For Young Women was to Brazil, 73-60, on July 27.

Lady Lion Tanisha Wright (West Mifflin, Pa.) registered one point and two steals while seeing 18 minutes of action.

"We knew from the outset that it was going to be physical game," said USA and Ohio State University head coach Jim Foster. "I thought that Kendra Wecker (Kansas Statecame in and really gave us a boost. She got a lot of loose balls and played with a lot of energy. Tanisha Wright (Penn State) did some good things. The good thing about this team from the beginning is that we haven't had to depend on one individual. It's been a collective effort and it seems to be different people stepping up every night."

Arizona’s Shawtinince Polk contributed a game high 15 points, 11 coming in a 5:27 span to start the second quarter.

TANISHA WRIGHT, Penn State University

On being in the gold medal game: "Coach Foster has been comparing this to being in the national championship, but better. If that's the way the international world sees it, it gives me a good feeling to be here, being in the gold medal game.

On tonight's game: "It was a fun game. It was a fun game to be in, a fun game to cheer for. All around, with them coming back and then us coming back, them coming back again and then us coming back and trying to hang onto the lead. It was just a real fun to be in and win.

On Shawntinice Polk's game: "Oh she was great. She was getting aggressive, taking it straight to them and getting some easy buckets. She did great."

Source: http://www.gopsusports.com/pressreleases/pressrelease.cfm?anncid=4676&spID=3