Woman arranges the decorations on a Christmas tree.

A woman arranges the Christmas decorations.

A woman admires Christmas decorations.

Photograph of a man at a restaurant serving fried chicken with a metal tong. The man is wearing a polo t-shirt and a hat with the text "Pollo Campero".

Photograph of a man at a restaurant packing fried chicken into a yellow cardboard box. Three other employees are shown standing behind the man.

Photograph of a man at a restaurant packing fried chicken into a yellow cardboard box. Several other cardboard boxes are visible in front of the man and three other employees are partially shown standing behind him.

Photograph of a man picking up fried chicken with metal tongs to place them into the box on his left hand. The man is wearing a white polo shirt and a hat with the text "Pollo Campero".

An image of Christmas decorations and lights.

A family poses next to the Christmas tree.

A photo of a classroom with several students visible, working individually at their desks. There are computers and a blackboard at the front of the classroom and locks on the side of the room. Three empty desks highlight the absence of multiple students.

Empty desks reveal the number of absences from this class.

Student absenteeism is visible with the number of empty desks in this classroom.

Students study their papers in a class held by Rudy Rodriguez at the University of North Texas.

Students read books in front of a Christmas tree at the Seminary Hills Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas

Students read to each other at Seminary Hills Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Students read to each other at Seminary Hills Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Students read to each other at Seminary Hills Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Children read books in a group at Seminary Hills Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Children and their teacher pose with books at Seminary Hills Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Students sit on the floor and read books at Seminary Hills Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Students and teachers gather to read books in Seminary Hills Elementary.

Deep-sea coral communities have long been recognized by fisherman as areas that support large populations of commercial fish. As a consequence, many deep-sea coral communities are threatened by bottom trawling. Successful management and conservation of this widespread deep-sea habitat requires knowledge of the age and growth rates of deep-sea corals. These organisms also contain important archives of intermediate and deep-water variability, and are thus of interest in the context of decadal to century-scale climate dynamics. Here, we present {Delta}{sup 14}C data that suggest that bamboo corals from the Gulf of Alaska are long-lived (75-126 years) and that they acquire skeletal carbon from two distinct sources. Independent verification of our growth rate estimates and coral ages is obtained by counting seasonal Sr/Ca cycles and probable lunar cycle growth bands.

The Rio Gavilan watershed, located in Mexico 's northern Sierra Madre Occidental , has significance in conservation history. Upon visiting the remote, largely un­developed watershed during two hunting trips in the 1930s, renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold thought it was the best picture of land health he had seen. His main indicators of healthy land were slow water runoff rates regulating erosion and historical predator-prey relationships. The visits confirmed Leopold's concept of land health, inspired many of his essays, and helped shape his land ethic. Leopold proposed the area as a control site to research healthy land throughout North America . The proposal never went forward and the area has since been more intensively logged and grazed. This dissertation research used extensive literature review, archives, oral histories, citizen surveys, and rapid assessment of forest, rangeland, riparian, and socioeconomic health to assess impacts of past cultures and update the area's land health status. Projects that could restore land health, such as linked eco-tourism, forest density reduction, and rotational grazing, were assessed for feasibility. Recent critiques of Leopold's land ethic were also reviewed. Results indicate most pre-1940s impacts were light, current land health status is moderate, and local interest exists in restoring land …

During the latter half of 2004, disputes arose over whether or not to declassify portions of the sensitive content of reports resulting from congressional investigations and national commission inquiries into the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the war in Iraq, and related matters. As a result, some called for Congress to create a special mechanism for the impartial and expeditious resolution of such disputes (S. 2672/H.R. 4855; S. 2845 amendment). This report discusses the culmination of one such effort at balancing legitimate competing needs for secrecy and openness.