COLLABORATION SPURS IMPROVEMENTS

Each year, the American Federation of Teachers recognizes programs that demonstrate exceptional union and management collaboration through the AFT-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award. In 2004, three programs were honored. The winners include a robotics program at Rocco Laurie Middle School, I.S. 72, in the Staten Island School District; a new teacher mentoring program established by the Commack (N.Y.) Teachers Association and Commack School District; and an initiative to contain healthcare costs set up by the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild and the Los Angeles Community College District.

“Winning this award gives a tremendous amount of validity to what we do. It didn’t come with money, but it came with recognition,” says Deric Borrero, project coordinator for the Science and Technology LEGO Robotics Leadership Program at Rocco Laurie. “We are extremely excited to know that people believe in what we’re doing.”

The winners visited Spring Hill, Tenn., home of the Saturn car plant, in November. They shared information about their programs and got a firsthand look at the UAW and Saturn model of labor-management collaboration.

The AFT encourages locals in all of its divisions that have partnered with their school districts or management to create or implement programs providing quality education, improved healthcare or effective public services to apply for the 2005 award. Winners will be honored at the 2005 AFT QuEST conference and will receive a free trip to Spring Hill in November 2005 to visit the Saturn plant. Application deadline is April 1, 2005. For details, visit www.saturnuaw.com or www.aft.org/aftplus/scholarships/saturn-uaw.

BEES CREATE BUZZ OVER LAND MINES

It’s not just the honey that makes bees so attractive. A University of Montana researcher has discovered these ubiquitous buzzing insects have capabilities far sweeter.

After 30 years of study, Jerry Bromenshenk of the University Faculty Association/MEA-MFT/AFT has trained bees to sniff out land mines. With colleagues Steve Rice and Colin Henderson , also of MEA-MFT, and Robert Seccomb, he’s taught bees to associate the scent of explosives with food, set them loose, and watched them swarm over known mine sites. He tracks them with lidar, a radar-like laser, mapping mined areas from a safe distance.

The Red Cross estimates that 80 to 120 million land mines remain unexploded in some 70 countries, killing or maiming thousands of people annually. “If dogs were to sniff out all of the existing land mines known today, it would take 500 years,” says Rice, citing United Nations figures. “If we were to use bees ... we could do it in under 50.” Honeybees can be trained in two days, do not require handlers, are inexpensive, available, and so light they would never trip a mine, even if they landed.

Bromenshenk began his research recording the environmental impact of coal plants on bees. He discovered that bees, which he calls “flying dust mops,” collect pollutants and other particles on their statically charged hairs, bringing them back to the hive where they can be analyzed. The little critters have since been used to sample SuperFund sites, record fallout from Chernobyl, and investigate carcinogens at military landfills. Electronic beehives, wired to measure environmental elements as well as bee activity, allow scientists to gather the information they need without putting themselves at risk.

Bromenshenk, Rice and Henderson formed Bee Alert Technology Inc. to bring their discoveries to market. In September, with Bromenshenk testing the new system in 117-degree Arizona heat, Rice said, “We’re fairly close to turning it loose to a manufacturer.” A Montana law allowing faculty to pursue this kind of potentially profitable research has been vital to their efforts. Mike Kupilik, president of the University Faculty Association, remembers the union backing the legislation. Bromenshenk was pivotal in getting it passed.

Bee Alert already has reached students, who learn about the project in class; some even monitor and maintain the hives. They learn biology, chemistry, engineering and, not incidentally, commerce. “We’ve taken a real-world process,” says Rice, “and put it in an academic setting.”

“I’m excited about this simply from a humanitarian aspect,” he adds. “Whoever is maimed by a mine, that’s a permanent life change.” Montana wranglers may make the difference.

NEW YORK MEMBERS TAKE LEAD IN BREAST CANCER WALK

In October, more than 5,000 members of the New York State United Teachers participated in the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.” For the third consecutive year, the AFT’s New York state affiliate was a major sponsor of the 5K walking event, held in towns and cities statewide. NYSUT and AFT vice president Maria Neira says the union is “proud to put our vast membership and our organizational skills and resources to work with the American Cancer Society to heighten awareness, encourage research, foster camaraderie and raise money to, hopefully, one day find a cure for breast cancer.”