General News

Army loosens weight restrictions to aid recruiting

OhMyGov! — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:05:00 GMT

Faced with dwindling prospects for meeting its recruiting targets, the U.S. Army is reaching out to a bigger set of enlistees, in more than one sense of the word.

Taking a page from "The Biggest Loser," the hit TV show where contestants compete to shed pounds, Army officials have adopted a waiver program that gives overweight enlistees a chance to get in shape after joining.

The Army and other service branches have relied on waiver programs --- essentially, workarounds to the traditional admission standards --- to meet recruiting targets as ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to strain the military. OhMyGov! reported in September on another Army waiver program targeting enlistees who lacked a high school diploma or GED certificate. The Army had previously required a high school equivalency to join; with the waiver, qualifying enlistees joined a training batallion and had one month to earn their GED.

The weight waiver appears to have beefy football-player types in mind, not the flabbiest of couch potatoes. The Army considers recruits' body-mass index (BMI), which estimates body fat based on weight and height. Under the waiver, recruits would have one year in which to meet the Army's physical requirements.

"We support any service who comes up with a scientifically defensible way of expanding the market (of recruits)," Curtis Gilroy, director of accessions policy for the Pentagon, told the Christian Science Monitor, which first reported on the waiver program.

Recruits still have to complete a battery of tests, including push-ups (not the popsicle variety) and a "step test," before being admitted.

The program so far has been effective, with attrition rates of those admitted via the waiver no higher than others, according to the Army Recruiting Command. Most of the enlistees, in other words -- both men and women -- are shaping up before shipping out.

An army of one ... and then some

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Army creates new educational program to combat recruitment challenges

Obese man drops 140 pounds and becomes a Marine

TOP STORY: Tell mom this is no video game; it's the Army

Army accused of promoting Christianity in suicide prevention program

Trains don't run on time? Just change the schedule

Mark Malseed — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:55:00 GMT

The Virginia Railway Express, facing an abysmal record of delays on the commuter rail service it operates in the Washington, D.C., area, has settled on an all-too-typical government solution to its chronic problem: Tweak the numbers to look better.

Beginning today, VRE is allotting extra time for its scheduled runs in an effort to improve on-time performance. The old 7:13 train to Union Station, for example, is now the 7:19 train. Sure, commuters will have to either get up a few minutes earlier, or be content with arriving a few minutes later to the office, but with the new timetable at least they'll have the satisfaction of arriving "on time."

Since losing a share of its regular riders in 2006 because of poor performance, according to a D.C. Examiner story, the Virginia rail has seen improved train times. But more than 10 percent of trains still arrive late, above VRE's goal. One in four trains on the Fredricksburg line arrived late during November 2008. (Late is defined as arriving 5 minutes or more after schedule.)

Tacking on a few extra buffer minutes to the schedule is a feel-good, "cover your ass" measure at best. And recent performance statistics suggest it won't be much help toward reaching the goal. The average November delay on VRE was 16 minutes, so even with some extra padding in the schedule, those trains would still be considered "late."

Not all of the VRE's delays are within its control, as the commuter line must share tracks with freight trains and other services, and reduce speeds during hot weather or for track maintenance. But the flextime that VRE has built into the new schedule really only addresses a symptom, and ignores any of the causes. The service is also seeing boosts in ridership (up more than 9% in the past year) which draws out station stops. As many as 1,300 people ride on a single train.

VRE's quick fix is reminiscent of what the U.S. Postal Service did to address long waits at post offices several years back: removing all the clocks, so customers would not be as focused on how long they'd been in line.

"We want people to focus on postal service and not the clock," a U.S. Postal Service spokesman said at the time.

Fares on the Virginia Railway system also go up by 7% today, on the heels of a 3% increase last July and with the possibility of a further increase this summer. What with the improved on-time performance they'll have demonstrated by then, another fare increase would be totally justified.

On time, but still running late

(Flickr photo by andrew.deci)

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What governments are doing with your old Christmas trees

Andrew B. Einhorn — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:52:00 GMT

As your tanned coworkers return from tropical places, the sparkle of the lights begins to dim, and the Christmas spirit is not-so-gradually replaced with a renewed work fervor, you may find yourself thinking about throwing out your Christmas tree. But the mild onset of depression tied to tossing the symbol of the "most wonderful time of the year" may be cured with some insight into how governments are using disposed of Christmas trees in innovative and useful ways to keep the spirit of giving alive...or at least reincarnated.

Take the Louisiana government for example. Through the Department of Natural Resources, individuals can donate their old Christmas trees to protect the Louisiana shoreline. Old trees are lined up in front of coastal wetlands, like those in the Calcasieu Parish coastal restoration project, to aid in protecting these important marine habitats and nearby human-populated areas from erosion and storm surges. The old trees aid in retaining sediments essential to building up land mass and for defensive barriers against erosion from waves, which in turn allows more plants to grow and serve as additional protections from the elements.

“Every two to four miles of wetlands decreases storm surge by one foot,” said Fred Stouder, marsh restoration coordinator for Southeastern Louisiana University's Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station, which has been helping coordinate such recycling efforts since 1994. The University's work alone has helped place more than 32,000 recycled trees, and transplant more than 3,000 cypress trees and 19,000 other plants.

“People may not realize it, but by restoring and protecting our wetlands, we are also helping preserve a breeding ground for seafood,” said Stouder. “In addition to fighting erosion, the trees also help establish and preserve animal habitats extremely well for wetland animals such as ducks."

Similarly, in Alabama, about 300 Christmas trees were used to help rebuild the dunes along the coast in Alabama following Hurricane Ivan in 2004, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.

And in Northwest Montana, Christmas trees collected are being used as “brush bundles” to prevent bank erosion on the lower Flathead River. "Those trees were stacked in between two rows of vertical posts, protecting about 600 feet of badly eroding riverbank near the head of Flathead Lake," reported DailyInterlake.com. The wall of 3,000 bundled trees helps deflect boat wakes, current erosion and wind-driven waves. Over time, the wall actually strengthens as it collects debris and sediment carried down the river.

Even in states that don't have a flooding or wetland problem, innovative uses of old Christmas trees may be found. In many counties and cities like Farmington, New Mexico, governments collect the retired trees and put them through wood chippers. The resulting mulch is then used to enrich the soils of public parks and wilderness areas, or to provide better walking trails.

Similar efforts are underway in Howard County, MD, where the government is offering a variety of Christmas tree recycling options through its "Merry Mulch" program. The county recycles about 18,000 trees a year. All trees are delivered to the Alpha Ridge Landfill, where they are transformed into compost and mulch.

To help provide an additional incentive to potential tree recyclers, the government of Colorado allows those who drop off their trees for mulching to leave with enough free mulch to landscape their own yards. Colorado Recycles estimates that about 90 percent of the 615,000 natural trees used for Christmas in Colorado will be recycled this year through such programs.

Very often, the recycled mulch leftover is used as a cap for landfills, protecting against fires, blowing litter, unpleasant fumes and scavenging.

Leftover trees also make great habitats for game fish if placed in bodies of water, functioning as a sort of artificial freshwater reef. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department operates the state fisheries habitat restoration program, which uses recycled Christmas trees to make fish-friendly habitats, the National Christmas Tree Association reports.

Topping the list of interesting recycling programs is the all-volunteer run program in Mebane, North Carolina, which provides discarded trees to the Conservators' Center, a refuge for rescued lions and tigers.

"The big cats - 12 tigers and 19 lions weighing up to 500 pounds with three-inch claws - were going to go crazy while tearing the limbs off recycled trees provided by the Cranberry Tree Farm in Alleghany County," reported McClatchy News. Better the trees than their zoo keepers.

Many cities provide free pickups for discarded Christmas trees within the first few weeks after Christmas. Residents in these areas need only remove ornaments and lights from the trees and place them on the curb of the road for pickup. But not every community has the resources within government to run these collection and recycling programs and must depend on volunteers to help organize the efforts, run collection sites, spread the mulch, and get the word to residents the services are available. If you are interested in volunteering, contact your local department of natural resources for information.

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OhMyGov! Salutes: Air traffic controller Peter Nesbitt

seniorexec — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:49:00 GMT

The Federal Aviation Administration last month reached a settlement with air traffic controller Peter Nesbitt, who charged that he was retaliated against for warning that a takeoff and landing procedure in Memphis, Tenn., had led to near midair collisions. Leslie Williamson, spokeswoman for the federal agency that investigates whistleblower complaints, told the Associated Press that Nesbitt will be allowed to return to air traffic control duties and transferred to Austin, Texas, at the same salary. The FAA will also pay his relocation and legal expenses.

Nesbitt's case was one of many instances recently where FAA employees voiced concerns about safety issues. A National Public Radio story from last June reported a huge increase in the number of safety complaints by FAA employees --- 32 in the first few months of 2008 alone, compared to a third of that during all of 2007. While the FAA received some praise for implementing new systems for reporting and responding to safety issues, it is also accused of looking the other way when supervisors retaliated against those who spoke out.

Nesbitt told NPR that he was bothered by the policy of using all four runways for landing when the Memphis International Airport got a big push of inbound traffic. As reporter Wade Goodwyn told the story:

Nesbitt thought this was an invitation to disaster.

"When I saw the operation, I asked some of my peers and supervisors, 'Hey, what's up with this procedure, this looks kinda scary,' " Nesbitt says.

Imagine three parallel runways next to one another like rows of corn. The fourth runway at Memphis International runs across the end. If all the landings go as planned, there is no problem because the plane landing on the fourth runway is already on the ground as the other planes pass overhead on approach. But if the plane landing on the crossing runway has a problem and needs to execute what is called a "go around," then its flight path could take it directly into the flight path of the other planes.

This occasionally happens at Memphis. Last year, in fact, a Northwest Airlines DC-9 aircraft almost collided in midair with a commuter plane while Nesbitt watched from the control tower.

Nesbitt said managers told the controllers that the airport had a special waiver from the FAA to land planes this way. When they asked to see the waiver, they were told it was kept in Atlanta and they didn't need to worry about it. Nesbitt felt otherwise and filed reports with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Federal investigators found that Memphis International did not have a waiver to use that landing procedure and the FAA ordered it stopped immediately. But pressure from airport officials and FedEx, whose operations are based in Memphis, caused managers to continue the practice until Nesbitt again reported them to the FAA.

Retaliation was quick, Nesbitt told NPR. Managers in Memphis decertified him for alleged performance issues -- effectively ending the 17-year veteran's career as an air traffic controller.

"It's been excruciating," Nesbitt said. "It's been disturbing. I've tried to do the right thing and enhance safety, and I've paid the price."

Not alone

Nesbitt is not alone among FAA employees who say they were retaliated against when they became whistle-blowers. In May 2008, The Washington Post reported that another FAA employee, Mike Cole, filed whistleblower complaints with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel over a procedure used at an airport in Juneau, Alaska, that would clear pilots to take off and then close their facility for the night.

Washington Post writer Del Quentin Wilber wrote:

Cole worked in a flight service station that issues weather briefings and files flight plans for pilots, and he was concerned that planes might take off later than scheduled, and their pilots would not know whether other aircraft were heading to the airport. Such an error could result in a collision, he said.

"Juneau Air Traffic Control Tower is playing dodge ball" with the airlines, Cole said.

Several times, Cole said, he stopped pilots from taking off because he learned another plane was about to land. He reported the problems to his bosses but did not get anywhere with it, he said. In December, he filed a complaint with the FAA's safety hot line service.

His manager decertified him for mental health reasons, saying that his concerns were nothing but paranoia and delusion.

Going Forward

These stories provide even more evidence that strong whistleblower protections are needed in order to keep the American public safe. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up and do what is right in the face of retaliation that could end one's career. Very few of us have ever been in the position of choosing between protecting one's own personal welfare or the welfare of countless others. We would all like to believe that we would do the right thing, but even those who did make that choice admit it was extremely difficult.

Anne Whiteman, a controller who first blew the whistle about problems at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport 10 years ago told NPR: "I used to say I would do it again; [now I'm] not so sure... I'll never be the same ole Annie again. They've changed me in many ways. But I do have my pride. I do have a sense that I did the right thing, but I have a whole lot of sadness that I don't think I would have ever had."

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Senate may have no choice in Blagojevich appointment

Jaime L. Hartman — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:16:00 GMT

Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate and Illinois have not been coy about their intentions to reject anyone the embattled Governor Rod Blagojevich named to fill the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama. But legal scholars say their bluster may be just that, and they will likely be overruled by the legal system and forced to seat Roland Burris.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has said that he will not certify the Burris appointment. However, state charter says that it is the “duty” of the Secretary of State to “countersign and affix the seal of state to all commissions required by law to be issued by the Governor” and make a register of all such appointments.

Ken Gross, former associate general counsel of the Federal Election Commission, told the Huffington Post that the charter suggests that certification "is more or less a perfunctory act.” Refusing to do so will be subject to litigation.

If White refuses to certify the appointment, it will likely be overturned in Illinois state court. The focus then shifts to the U.S. Senate where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could refuse to seat Burris. However, since Burris meets all the constitutional qualifications to be appointed as Senator – he is older than 30 years of age, has been a U.S. citizen for more than 9 years, is an Illinois resident, and was appointed by the executive authority of the state to fill a vacancy under Illinois law – the Supreme Court could overrule on the grounds that refusal to seat Burris is unconstitutional.

There is even case precedent. In January 1967, Adam Clayton Powell of New York was re-elected to his House seat despite allegations that he had misused official travel funds and made improper payments to his wife. The House decided that Powell was unqualified, based on a provision of the Constitution that says, “Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members,” and refused to seat him.

Powell sued and the Supreme Court ruled that the House was wrong and that Powell must be seated since he meets the minimal requirements for office set out in the Constitution.

Congress has refused to seat incoming members based on alleged election irregularities, but given that Blagojevich is still legally the governor of Illinois and has the sole power to fill vacancies in the U.S. Senate, the Senate leadership has little legal standing upon which to halt Burris’s appointment.

The Senate does have the option of expelling Burris once he takes the oath of office, but legal experts think that would be difficult since Burris appears to have engaged in no misconduct. Even Senators who have been convicted of criminal activity, such as Idaho Senator Larry Craig and former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, have many legal loopholes to slip through and typically stay in office unless they choose to resign.

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Federal Pay Calendar for 2009

seniorexec — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:09:00 GMT

Do you want to know when you're going to get paid? Well OhMyGov.com has the calendar for you...

Check out the federal pay calendar 2009. The calendar has all those important federal holidays, pay periods and most importantly your payroll date.

Happy New Pay Year(s)!

Army accused of promoting Christianity in suicide prevention program

Jaime L. Hartman — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:23:00 GMT

An amended federal lawsuit filed last week against the Department of Defense charges that the U.S. Army’s suicide prevention manual and associated PowerPoint presentation inappropriately promotes religion, specifically Christianity, as a way to deter distraught soldiers from taking their own lives.

The “Suicide Awareness for Soldiers 2008” presentation includes a number of slides that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), co-plaintiff in the federal lawsuit, deems a violation of the Constitution’s 1st amendment, which specifies that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

One slide says, “Soldiers need to take care of each other and rid any thoughts of survival of the fittest. Almost all religions adhere to some form of Christianity’s Golden Rule, or the Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant.” This slide includes an image of a group of silhouetted soldiers with one soldier up in the clouds looking at a large cross. In a similar 2007 presentation, the same image was used without the cross.

Another slide instructs chaplains and behavioral health providers to “emphasize the importance of spiritual health, connectivity with a faith community, and a relationship with God.”

In one of the final slides, the presenter is instructed to teach the audience the phrase “that you persevere, that you stay alive” and encourage them to repeat the phrase as a motto when in difficult times. The notes go on to explain that “this is derived from the Greek word ‘Hupomeno’ which is used in Christian scriptures, particularly in the Pauline epistles. It is also used by James, the bishop of Jerusalem, as Jerusalem was in devastation and about to be destroyed. He wanted all Christians, despite the persecutions and violent times, to not lose hope, to keep on enduring.”

Advocacy groups say this is just the latest in a long string of religious freedom abuses by the U.S. military. The original MRFF complaint accused the Army of subjecting soldiers to fundamentalist Christian prayer ceremonies against their will during mandatory military events. It also includes examples of the Pentagon’s involvement in the production of “Travel the Road,” a Trinity Broadcasting Network program that features missionaries embedded with an Army unit in Afghanistan trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, and in “God’s Soldier,” a Military Channel program that featured an Army chaplain openly promoting fundamentalist Christianity to active-duty U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Defense Department spokesperson Eileen Lainez told the Associated Press that the agency does not comment on pending lawsuits. But she did say that it has identified fewer than 50 complaints about alleged violations of religious freedoms during the past three years among the 1.4 million personnel in uniform.

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Electronic traffic tickets and gunfire detection; technology in the cop car

Jaime L. Hartman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:18:00 GMT

Technology is quickly changing the way police officers do their job. In 2008, we reported on portable fingerprint scanners and innovative uses of GPS technology. From coast to coast, law enforcement agencies are beginning the new year with new technologies that makes their jobs easier and presumably keeps us safer.

To many a drivers' dismay, the Maryland State Police and several Maryland county police forces are using a new system that allows officers to issue electronic traffic citations more efficiently. The system, called E-TIX, allows officers to scan the driver’s license, select the violation(s) and print a copy of the citation on waterproof, hard-to-rip thermal paper. The process takes about three to five minutes, and the information automatically goes to the state court system.

The technology was developed by the Maryland State Police who have offered it to any law enforcement agency in Maryland for free. The agencies pay only for the hardware installation and technical support. State Police say that about 30 agencies are using the system and more than 1,000 officers are certified to use it statewide.

Lt. Daniel Coon, of the State Police information and technology management section, told the Baltimore Sun that the system is intended to decrease the time officers spend on the side of the road with drivers, reducing the risk of accidents and the time allotted to pleading drivers. The electronic ticket takes about half the amount of time to issue and is eco-friendly, allowing up to four violations on one citation, rather than requiring a separate ticket be written for each violation.

Lead feet beware, officers can also see traffic stops for other jurisdictions that use the same system. If a driver were pulled over in one county and then in another an hour later, the second officer would be able to see the previous traffic stop.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country in East Palo Alto, California, police just released a citywide gunfire detection system. The California-based ShotSpotter Inc. installed between 16 and 20 sensors per square mile, company vice president Gregg Rowland told the Palo Alto Daily News. When shots are fired, acoustic sensors record the shots, pinpoint their location and send that data to the police dispatch center.

The ShotSpotter system is now in use in 32 cities and counties. East Palo Alto is the first city to install the system city wide; other areas have installed it in areas that have a history of gun violence. According to company literature, an average of 131 gunshots per night were detected in November throughout all locations.

Of course, such technologies do not come cheap so agencies are forced to be creative when seeking funding. Both the Maryland and East Palo Alto adoptions were funded in part by grants. In Troy, New York, ShotSpotter technology is being paid for by money collected from drug busts and weapons busts, so the criminals themselves rather than taxpayers are the ones paying for the system.

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Digital TV transition program failing

Andrew B. Einhorn — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:22:00 GMT

If you haven't heard, the Commerce Department and Congress have directed all television stations to switch from analog to digital signals in order to free up air waves for emergency responder calls. $1.5 billion has been allocated to providing $40 coupons towards the purchase of digital converter boxes in order to allow older, analog televisions to receive digital programming. But oddly, like many department stores, the government put expiration on these coupons.

As the February 17, 2009 deadline for converting to digital looms largest, many poor and elderly citizens who applied and received their coupons towards the converter boxes are realizing their coupons have expired. For reasons unknown, the Commerce Department's National Television and Information Agency in charge of the conversion program set a 90-day expiration date for the coupons. What's more, NTIA is not allowing anyone to reapply for newer coupons, and recently, NTIA reported that it will run out of money as early as next week.

The timing is certainly terrible. In the closing weeks before television stations are converted to digital programming, the agency responsible for helping people transition to digital has emptied its bank account, leaving many holding expired coupons for help, or coupons with no money behind them.

The decision to go digital was hardly a shotgun policy. Congress made the decision back in 1996 when it raised $19.6 billion by auctioning off analog airwave space to telecommunication companies, with $1.5 billion of those funds being used for the TV converter box program.

Switching to digital airwaves will increase the amount of space for broadcasting, allowing a greater amount of communication to transpire over the airwaves. Some of the extra space is also going to be reserved for safety.

"Remember how on 9/11 the fire fighters couldn't talk to each other?" said Todd Sedmak, Communications Director for the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), a division of the Department of Commerce. "Now, public safety people will have their own section of the spectrum they can use to all communicate at the same time."

But after a decade of planning, the digital conversion program appears to be a failure. NTIA reports that of the nearly 42 million digital converter coupons mailed, over 13 million or 30 percent have actually expired.

One blog actually showed the response one of its reader's received after attempting to recover his expired coupons.

"Your coupons were mailed on 4/25/08; however your coupons have since expired. By law, we are not able to issue coupon replacements under any circumstances including coupons that were lost during postal delivery. Perhaps a friend or family member who does not need their coupons could pass them along to you. While it is illegal to sell coupons, giving a coupon for free to a family member, friend, or neighbor is not prohibited under Program regulations.

Sincerely,

STEPHANIE GOLDMAN
Consumer Support
TV Converter Box Coupon Program"

Of course, even if they hadn't expired, the cost of paying for the 13 million expired coupons, $520 million, far exceeds the available $68 million left in the NTIA's bank account.

Naturally, NTIA officials have repeatedly blamed the program’s problems on Congress. At the same time, according to Consumers Union, "NTIA officials have repeatedly told Congress and everyone else that the program was adequately funded and administered wisely."

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OhMyGov! Poll results: Presidential transition affects only a select few

seniorexec — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:48:00 GMT

It looks like the presidential transition only affects a select few in the federal workforce, according to the results of our weekly poll.

We asked our readers how the presidential transition was affecting them. While 66 percent stated they are too far down the totem poll to be bothered, 12 percent responded that they are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Some of our readers, said that the transition is moderately affecting them while other readers worked for agencies with leadership with set terms and therefore the transition had little to no effect.

Why look to the top?

Although there are over 1.9 million federal employees (excluding postal workers), the tentacles of the president-elect's transition team tend to skim from the top. While those folks often have to turn to their staffers for answers to specific questions, it really is just a select few within the beltway who are called upon during this transition time.

A President-elect has 11 weeks to become informed in detail about the operations of the federal government before his inauguration on January 20. The "mechanics" of managing a transition - the tasks, deadlines, personnel decisions, budget and administrative procedures - generally occupy the initial phase of the transition process.

However, the President-elect must also begin to focus on making substantive decisions on policy issues. Campaign promises are reviewed to form a policy agenda. Soon after taking office, the new President must prepare a legislative agenda to present to Congress. For this, he needs information from the various departments and agencies.

The importance of the transition process cannot be underestimated in determining the ultimate success of an Administration. If a President-elect has successfully focused on a "short list" of priorities or objectives that he wants to accomplish, he can direct policy making to achieve his goals during the honeymoon period that normally follows a election. By concentrating on a few key issues soon after taking office, many observers believe the President-elect can establish a public perception that he is in command of an aggressive policy agenda.

Since outgoing President George Washington first relinquished his office to incoming President John Adams in 1797, this peaceful transition, symbolizing both continuity and change, has been a mark of American democracy.

The chart below shows the full breakdown of the poll results.

Thanks to all who responded to the survey. If you have ideas about future poll topics, contact our editors and keep the comments, stories, and poll submissions coming!

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