by Caroline Adenberger

Remember your mathematics lessons in school? Well, most grown-ups probably can’t – or even won’t – remember, glad that this experience is now part of their past. The rest still get an uneasy feeling in their stomachs remembering all those numbers and placeholders, not knowing what they’re good for or how they should be used in “real” life. Very few look back on school mathematics with smiles on their faces. Those who do are the few who were lucky enough to not just to follow their math teachers’ comments, but also to understand the “beauty and magic of mathematics,” in the words of Rudolf Taschner, one of the initiators of the “math.space” project.

by Günter Bischof

The University of New Orleans (UNO) International Summer School opened its 30th session with a spectacular gala event at the Innsbruck Congress House on July 3, 2005. The European Foundation for Culture (based in Basel, Switzerland) conferred the prestigious Euro-Atlantic Culture Award on both Chancellor Timothy Ryan of the University of New Orleans and President Manfried Gantner of the University of Innsbruck for their leadership in the model university partnership in trans-Atlantic education, which has existed since 1982. Ambassador Emil Brix from the Austrian Foreign Ministry in Vienna heaped glowing praise on the program which has conducted sessions in Innsbruck since 1976, bringing more than 7,000 American students and some 700 faculty members to the lovely Alpine capital of the Tyrol. The Summer School has spawned numerous other exchanges and activities between the two universities, and also led to the 1998 establishment of CenterAustria at UNO. Innsbruck’s Mayor Hilde Zach warmly welcomed the American guests to the Inn River metropolis. Gordon “Nick” Mueller, founder of the Summer School and currently Director of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, was present and took great pleasure in the Summer School’s long-term accomplishments.

by Louis Grenier

The Unveiling of the Canadian Space Strategy - Future Direction in Space Science and Exploration

In February 2005, the Government of Canada approved the Canadian Space Strategy as the framework for the Canadian Space Agency to lead in the implementation of our national Space Program.