Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 3, 2015

15

THE WORLD AROUND US

 Mountain Views News Saturday, October 3, 2015 


LIQUID WATER FLOWS ON TODAY’S MARS


New findings from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance 
Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet 
that liquid water flows intermittently on present-
day Mars.

 Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, 
researchers detected signatures of hydrated 
minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are 
seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear 
to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear 
to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, 
and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in 
several locations on Mars when temperatures are 
above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 
Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

 “Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ 
in our search for life in the universe, and now we 
have convincing science that validates what we’ve 
long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut 
and associate administrator of NASA’s Science 
Mission Directorate in Washington. “This is a 
significant development, as it appears to confirm 
that water—albeit briny—is flowing today on the 
surface of Mars.”

 These downhill flows, known as recurring 
slope lineae (RSL), often have been described as 
possibly related to liquid water. The new findings 
of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that 
relationship may be to these dark features. The 
hydrated salts would lower the freezing point 
of a liquid brine, just as salt on roads here on 
Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. 
Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, 
with enough water wicking to the surface to 
explain the darkening.

 “We found the hydrated salts only when the 
seasonal features were widest, which suggests that 
either the dark streaks themselves or a process that 
forms them is the source of the hydration. In either 
case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes 
means that water plays a vital role in the formation 
of these streaks,” said Lujendra Ojha of the Georgia 
Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, 
lead author of a report on these findings published 
Sept. 28 by Nature Geoscience.

 Ojha first noticed these puzzling features as 
a University of Arizona undergraduate student 
in 2010, using images from the MRO’s High 
Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). 
HiRISE observations now have documented RSL 
at dozens of sites on Mars. The new study pairs 
HiRISE observations with mineral mapping 
by MRO’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging 
Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).

 The spectrometer observations show signatures 
of hydrated salts at multiple RSL locations, but only 
when the dark features were relatively wide. When 
the researchers looked at the same locations and 
RSL weren’t as extensive, they detected no hydrated 
salt.

 Ojha and his co-authors interpret the spectral 
signatures as caused by hydrated minerals called 
perchlorates. The hydrated salts most consistent 
with the chemical signatures are likely a mixture 
of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate 
and sodium perchlorate. Some perchlorates have 
been shown to keep liquids from freezing even 
when conditions are as cold as minus 94 degrees 
Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius). On Earth, naturally 
produced perchlorates are concentrated in deserts, 
and some types of perchlorates can be used as 
rocket propellant.

 For Ojha, the new findings are more proof that 
the mysterious lines he first saw darkening Martian 
slopes five years ago are, indeed, present-day water.

 “When most people talk about water on Mars, 
they’re usually talking about ancient water or 
frozen water,” he said. “Now we know there’s more 
to the story.”

 “Liquid water is a key requirement for life on 
Earth,” Ojha added. “The presence of liquid water 
on Mars’ present-day surface therefore points 
to environments that are more habitable than 
previously thought.”

*******

 EARLY RESPONDERS to the news from Mars 
included poet Eido Boru, who sends this piquant 
commentary in verse from Brisbane, Australia:

KEEP LOOKING AROUND

Red planet Mars

The fourth big rock

From our bright star

What a shock

Just discovered water

Mars isn’t dead

And made out of mortar

Like lots have said.

Found a summer sea

An astronomer’s wish

Said to be briney

Are there any fish?

Keep looking around

Is what I recommend

To find a town

Of little green men.

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com.


WHAT HAPPENS TO 
FORMER FOSTER YOUTH? 

Highlights from an Interview with Donjaleigh

by La Quetta M. Shamblee

There was plenty to celebrate on May 15, 2015 when 23-
year old Donjaleigh heard her name as she strolled across 
the stage at California State University Dominguez Hills 
to receive her B.A. in Sociology. She had completed the 
first major educational step toward her career goal of 
becoming a Licensed Clinical 
Social Worker. An amazing 
accomplishment considering 
this former foster youth has 
basically had to figure out how 
to navigate life on her own 
since she exited the foster care 
system at age 18 and moved in 
the dorms. Donjaleigh was 15 
when her mother died, and with 
a father who was in and out 
of prison, she was placed into 
foster care. 

 Like so many foster youth 
with aspirations for success, 
Donjaleigh’s interest in going 
to college was two-fold. She 
expressed the sentiment of 
many in her situation, “When 
I learned there were dorms for 
students, I was relieved that I 
wouldn’t have to worry about 
where I was going to live.” Also, 
she understood the long-term career benefits of getting 
a college education. She quickly learned that the cost 
of living in the dorms was more expensive than tuition. 
Her financial aid package covered tuition and books, but 
left nothing for living expenses. Her part-time job was 
definitely not enough to keep a roof over her head. As 
a former foster youth Donjaleigh was eligible to receive 
assistance through the government funded Transitional 
Housing Program (THP), so she applied and the prospect 
of being homeless was diverted. Finally, she was able 
to focus on her studies while working her way through 
school.

 By September 2015, no one was more eager or 
motivated than Donjaleigh to find a full-time job 
after she’s graduated several months before her 24th 
birthday. Every former foster youth understands 24 as 
the milestone of being forever and unceremoniously 
cut off from further financial assistance or support. 
She swung into action, combed through employment 
leads, submitted resumes, prayed for interviews 
and kept her fingers crossed that something would 
materialize.

 Earlier this year in March she used her THP housing 
benefits to move into another residential program 
operated by a large nonprofit, which fulfilled its legal 
requirement to assist with an “exit plan” by providing 
her with a brochure filled with a list of homeless shelters. 
She could almost hear the clock steadily ticking toward 
her final “graduation” from the foster care system. Her 
part-time job barely covered expenses for her to have a 
reliable car, and with no solid job offers, she was getting 
more nervous by the day. “Are you kidding me, I just 
graduated with my B.A. and I’m about to be homeless?” 
she thought. Her desperation translated into action and 
she started surfing the internet to see if there were any 
resources for former foster youth in her predicament. 
That’s when she found Journey House, and on August 
26th she called the Pasadena-based agency. Staff sprang 
into action to determine how best to help, and it couldn’t 
have been soon enough.

 On September 13th, the day Donjaleigh turned 24, a 
staff member knocked on her door, asked for her keys 
and told her that she had five minutes to gather her 
belongings. She was experiencing what it was like to 
be evicted. However, she was informed that they would 
store her other personal belonging until she could come 
back and get them. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have 
anywhere to go, nor that the agency hadn’t assisted with 
facilitating any viable exit plan. They were aware that she 
had recently graduated, was working part-time and that 
she had been actively looking for full-time employment. 
She was provided with a one-day reprieve since this all 
happened on Sunday and they knew that she would not 
be able to seek help from any other agencies until that 
start of business on Monday. 

 This is a typical example of how the foster care 
system funds programs that perpetuate unintended 
consequences like homelessness. Once a former foster 
youth reaches the age where there are no further 
financial benefits for the agency, the youth is literally 
kicked out. The current foster care system bears no 
moral or ethical obligations in instances when it seems 
that common sense and practicality should prevail.

 “I am so grateful that I found Journey House,” says 
Donjaleigh. Within a week of enrolling for services 
under the agency’s Beyond Foster Care program that 
targets former foster youth 
in college (or those who have 
recently completed college) 
things began to fall into place. 
She called Journey House to 
share the good news. She had 
just been offered a full-time 
position at a group home in 
El Monte for foster youth on 
probation and several days 
later received a phone call that 
her application for a single 
apartment in Los Angeles had 
been approved. With financial 
assistance from Journey House, 
she was able to come up with 
the balance of funds needed to 
sign her rental agreement. She 
was confident that she would 
be able to crash on a couch or 
floor at a friend’s house until 
she moved into her new place. 
Again, homelessness was 
diverted and she was relieved that she was not going to 
have to live in her car. 

 When she find out Journey House would be able to 
provide her with a bed, mattress, microwave, dishes, lamps 
and other furnishings, she was elated. The agency receives 
and maintains an inventory of donated items for two, multi-
day fundraising yard sales that are very popular with local 
residents. It got even better when she learned that a Journey 
House staff member and volunteer would actually help her to 
move into her new place. They would also be able to drop by 
her prior THP residence to pick up her remaining personal 
belongings. All she needed to do was to go to the agency 
to select her furnishings on moving day, September 26th. 
When she arrived at Journey House the staff transformed 
into a moving crew and helped load the items into the 
agency’s panel truck that was purchased with a grant from 
the Margie & Robert E. Petersen Foundation.

 This response to a request for help from a former foster 
youth is indicative of the Journey House commitment to 
assisting beyond the limitations of government-funded 
programs. Donjaleigh is now a part of the Journey 
House family, just one of the agency’s adult “kids” who 
needed a helping hand, beyond foster care. She has 
plans to apply to graduate school at CSULB to pursue 
a Masters in Social Work and states, “I want to be a 
social worker so that I can be sure that young people in 
the system have someone who really cares about what 
happens to them.”

 As the only known agency of its kind in California, 
Journey House is solely focused on what happens to 
former foster youth once they begin to “age out” of 
the system at age 18. The agency’s Beyond Foster 
Care campaign is focused on assisting former foster 
youth to complete their college studies and to make 
a successful transition into living independently 
as adults. For more information about this special 
campaign and other 
programs, please visit: 
www.journeyhouseyouth.
org or call (626) 798-9478.


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges

HOW TO SURVIVE ANYWHERE

[Nyerges is the author of 
“How to Survive Anywhere” 
and has led wilderness 
trips since 1974. He can be 
reached at Box 41834, Eagle 
Rock, CA 90041, or www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.] 

 A friend and I were talking, and he said, “I’d 
really like to see a book that tells you how to survive 
with next to nothing, as if you had just survived a 
hurricane or a tsunami.” 

 “Really?” I responded. “Well, 
I wrote that book, and it’s called 
‘How to Survive Anywhere’.” 

 “Oh, that’s right,” my friend 
responded. “I forgot that it tells 
you how to start again if you’ve 
lost just about everything. 
And I’d also like to see a book 
that just tells you how to live 
more reliantly, and be more 
self-sufficient.” 

 “Really?” I said. “Well, I 
wrote that book too. It’s ‘How 
to Survive Anywhere’.” My 
friend laughed, and told me 
that he had my book on his 
shelf for 6 months but hadn’t 
actually read it. 

 “Yeah, George,” I told him, 
“the book is worthless if you 
don’t read it. You want the 
information in your head, not 
in the pages.” 

 So the reason that “How to Survive Anywhere” can 
be useful in the city when you’re trying to be more 
self-reliant, and in the wilderness where you have 
nothing, and in a rural environment, is because I 
grouped the book by major categories, not specific 
scenarios. 

 I address the major concerns with water and how 
to store it and purify it. I address wild food in nature, 
how to grow food and what to grow, and how to store 
food. I deal with shelters, clothing, electricity, fire, 
weapons, tools, and more, always focusing both on 
high-tech as well as primitive. 

 I began to quiz my friend with some of the material 
in my book. Here are some of the questions I asked 
him: 

Q: What is the Water Purification “Rule of Three”? 

Q: What is the universal method of water purification? 

Q: What is the most widely ignored “water source” 
for urban dwellers? 

Q: If your car breaks down in a remote area, what are 
four EASY ways to make a fire? 

Q: Aside from a butane lighter, what is the best single 
device you can carry for making fire? 

Q: What are the two simple 
ways to make a fire from a 
flashlight? 

Q: How do you make a fire 
from reading glasses? 

Q: How can you sterilize water 
in the sun? 

Q: If you have no water and no 
soap, what is the best way to 
“stay clean”? 

Q: What are the two items 
everyone should ALWAYS 
carry? 

Q: What is the single worst 
item of “men’s clothing”? 

Q: What is the single worst 
item of “women’s clothing?” 

Q: What is a simple ways to 
make a pack for carrying 
things? 

Q: What are the 3 common 
kitchen foods that are fantastic 
first aid medicines? 

 We had a great discussion with these and several 
more questions, and it’s really the same material that 
I teach in my college course. 

 Yes, I hope you get the book and read the answers, 
but here they are in a nutshell: 

 Filter, settle, and boil. Boil. Rain. Use the battery 
with jumper cables, the cigarette lighter, the flare, and 
the reflector around the headlamp. A magnesium fire 
starter. Use them like a magnifying glass. Put a quart of 
water in a glass jar for four hours in the sun. Do a dry 
wash with a soft brush. Knife and fire-starter. The tie. 
High heels. Tie up a pair of long pants so that the legs 
become the straps. Lemon, garlic, and vinegar. OK? 

 If you have questions or comments, please write.


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