Antarctica detour leads to dramatic discovery

Antarctica is a long way to travel under any circumstances. But when you're a group of scientists heading there to unearth a rare dinosaur skeleton and can't reach the destination because of ice, it can be a real fiasco. That's what happened last December to AFT member Allen Kihm, a geoscience professor at Minot State University in North Dakota.

Kihm and his nine colleagues nevertheless ended up making an exciting discovery on another island, even as they could see their intended destination in the distance. On James Ross Island, chosen as a last-minute destination when shifting ice prevented the group from exploring Vega Island, the scientists found jaw fragments and parts of the hind feet of some kind of meat-eating dinosaur.

"Nobody has ever found a meat eater from this age in Antarctica," Kihm says, adding that fewer than 10 dinosaurs have ever been found there. "Just the fact that we found another one made it worthwhile." The newly discovered dinosaur, which lived 70 to 75 million years ago, was a marine reptile that looked something like the common image of the Loch Ness monster.

Not being able to reach Vega Island was especially frustrating, Kihm says, because a 1999 exploration he was part of found skeletons there but they didn't have the equipment to remove them at the time. "No one has ever gotten a skull, so that was our goal," he says.

Not only did the crew have to start from scratch in exploring their new destination, but they had a daily round-trip trek of almost 10 miles to reach the closest rocks with possible fossils. Then, when they were ready to leave, it took the boat coming to pick them up 40 hours to travel just eight miles because of the ice. Even though December is summer at the South Pole, wind and ice are constant factors. "You get to do what Antarctica lets you do," says Kihm, a former vice president of the North Dakota Public Employees Association. "You make the best plans and preparations, but if Mother Nature says no, you just have to adapt."

Ideally, the scientists hope to return in January 2005, when the weather will be slightly warmer, to get another chance to recover the fossils on Vega Island. They are still negotiating with the National Science Foundation, which funded the trip. "If we can go back in January, recovering the skull would be our No. 1 priority," Kihm says.

AFT member achieves landslide victory in run for Wisconsin Legislature

The final results make it look like an easy campaign: 81 percent of the vote for Democrat Barbara Toles vs. just 19 percent for independent Wendell Harris in a January special election for the 17th district seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly. But for Toles - a former executive board member of AFT Local 212, which represents faculty at the Milwaukee Area Technical College - that impressive victory was the result of lots of hard work knocking on doors in the middle of a brutal Wisconsin winter.

"I never took it for granted," says Toles, a community outreach coordinator and adjunct faculty member making her first run for office. Her many house visits "let the voters know what I stood for and why I wanted to be their representative. That was the fun part of it." Toles admits that when she has to run again this fall, she'll enjoy being outside in warmer weather.

While active in her local union and in politics for many years, especially through the League of Women Voters, Toles was a bit reluctant to seek office. When a long-serving incumbent left office to run for the state Senate, several people approached Toles about running. "I was very flattered," she recalls, "but initially I thought I didn't want to do it." She realized those doubts had been put behind her when she started waking up in the middle of the night thinking about the possibilities. "Then I knew it was something I wanted to do."

Toles' campaign focused on three issues: high-quality education, affordable healthcare and jobs to support families. "These are major issues not just in Milwaukee but in the whole country," she adds.

In addition to being a newcomer, Toles joins an assembly in which Republicans hold a strong majority. "That does make it tough," she says. Initially, she plans to learn more about the issues and keep up with her constituents' concerns. Assuming she wins re-election to a full term in the fall, she'll be ready to move forward with more of her own legislative initiatives.

"I feel good about the election, and I think the people in my district feel good about me," she says. "I'm really looking forward to serving them."