Over the past few years, the European Union has been inching toward a very large expansion: in 2004, then ten countries will join the Union. This unprecedented enlargement has led to debate over the future of the Union and redefinition of its very structure. In parallel to all the political events leading to the actual EU enlargement, AUD and the Anglo-American University of Prague are working togehter to build a series of educational events titled "Redefining Europe" and aimed at reflecting on the issues arising from the expansion. Events will be held at the Anglo-American University in Prague in 2004-2005 and include a series of conferences on federalism in the EU, the opening of an AUD office in Prague, the launching of a Masters degree in federalism, a series of conferences on the Community of Democracies by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and the opening of a Vaclav Havel Library on Democracy.

The first event to launch the series will be a conference to be held March 26-30, 2004 in Prague and throughout the world via videoconferencing on the topic of Federalism and the EU Constitution. We want to be able to influence the new, bigger democratic Europe as it moves to adopt a new Constitution of Europe. Prestigious scholars, diplomats and other high officials from both the EU and the candidate countries are invited to discuss the incorporation of federalist principles into the document and EU-US relations from the federalist perspective. A parallel youth video conference will address the ever-expanding European Union through plenary sessions, workshops, and discussion sessions. Students will be able to address attendees to the Prague conference from all over the world through video conferencing technology. To learn more about AUD go to:www.iaud.org

Welcome to the Association to Unite the Democracies "FREEDOM COMES FIRST, PEACE FOLLOWS" The Association to Unite the Democracies (AUD) is a nonprofit organization promoting democracy, international peace, and a community where people would consider themselves "part of the world and not a world apart", as described by AUD founder Clarence Streit in 1939. In today's world, it is essential to bridge our community closer and not farther apart and to motivate citizens to encourage their governments to place world peace as their top priority. AUD brings together the people of the world, fosters intercultural exchange, promotes dialogue and mutual understanding, thus opening new paths on the road towards peace.

New Science Program: Students explore Micro-organisms in our World

The tardigrade is a cute microscopic animal that lives in mosses and lichens found everywhere in the world. Little is known and little studied, but offers several characteristics that make it a good subject for middle and high school laboratories. First, because it is available, just go out and scrape a bit of lichen or moss off a tree. It can found on walls and buildings in cities, or suburbia, or in the country. It does not care about seasons adn can be collected in the dead of winter or heat of summer. It is the ability of the animal to dry up with its environment that makes it so interesting. This ability, called cryptobiosis, allows tardigrades to survive many extreme conditions including temperatures above boiling and below freezing to near absolute zero. They have survived vacuums, radiation, and high pressure. It has been speculated that they could survive transport through space in their existing form.

The GEM-Tardigrade project is an initiative to teach students about this unique phylum of animals by first presenting a detailed overview in Power Point. Then sending the students out to find tardigrades locally, students will then explore the moss and lichen samples they bring in. They will see many micro critters, most of which they have never seen before. This is a learning lab, one where they discover. The lab leader answers questions and guides the students in the identification of what they see. Then they are challenged to work on their own and make several slides of tardigrades and send them to the leader. The leader will image and identify the critters and in the third lab will show the students what they caught and explain how it fits into the scheme of life.

Using the GEM interactive video system at several high school sites simultaneously, we hope to pioneer a new standard in interactive science laboratory learning by introducing real discovery. The leader for the project is Dr. William R. Miller, of the Department of Biology at Chestnut Hill College. Dr. Miller has worked with tardigrades for 25 years and published more than 30 professional journal articles on the animals. Dr. Miller, whose interest is the ecology and distribution of the animals has described and named four species new to science and says, "There is a real possibility that a student could discover a new species." Most student collections will be range extensions of known species which is significant in itself.