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Rutan's construction techniques gained the attention of NASA, and he partnered with them and other aircraft corporations to design high-speed, low cost, delta-wing aircraft, like the AD-1 in 1980. Rutan formed Scaled Composites about this time, and spent much of this time working on very creative and innovative aircraft designs. His brother, Richard Rutan also joined the company during this time. Rutan's next challenge was to design an aircraft that could circle the globe without refueling. Rutan succeeded in this goal when he designed the Voyager, a masterpiece of engineering that indeed circled the globe with his brother Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager on board in December 1986. They covered the entire globe in just about nine days, with eighteen gallons of fuel remaining in the tanks (Heppenheimer 402-404). For their efforts, they all received a Presidential Citizens Medal from President Reagan, and gained notoriety around the world.
Rutan has continued to innovate in his quest for aviation immortality. Today, his company is working on several different prototypes for NASA and commercial enterprises, including the DCX, a single-stage to orbit rocket that could replace the Space Shuttle in space travel and the Roton, another single-stage vehicle that can transport up to 7,000 pounds into space. He is also partnering with Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson to create SpaceShipOne, and SpaceShipTwo, sub-orbital spacecraft that can reach 328,000 feet or more. SpaceShipOne made history when it reached 328,000 feet during several test runs. All of these designs could...
To add to the list of innovations, the SpaceShip Company formed by Branson and Rutan is also working on creating a viable spaceport, as well. There are also many other small, private jets and aircraft under design at Scaled at this time.
Unfortunately, Scaled recently made the news again in August of this year, when a devastating explosion at the plant killed three workers, Glen May, Eric Blackwell, and Todd Ivens, and severely injured several others. Rutan was not injured in the blast. An investigation into what caused the blast continues.
In conclusion, Burt Rutan is responsible for some of the most innovative and practical aircraft designs available today. At Scaled Composites, he continues to push the envelope of aircraft design, refusing to see problems, but creating opportunities instead. We owe much of the innovation in modern aircraft design (such as the inclusion of canards on modern airliners) to Burt Rutan. Someday, we may even travel practically and safely in space due to his design and vision.
References
Editors. "About Rutan Aircraft Factory, Inc." RutanAircraft.com. 2003. 18 Sept. 2007. http://www.rutanaircraft.com/htmlpages/rutancompany.html
Editors. "Scaled Composites." Scaled.com. 2007. 18 Sept. 2007. http://www.scaled.com/
Heppenheimer, T.A. A Brief History of Flight: From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond. New York: Wiley, 2001.
This creates a problem in education, as there is already a disproportionate demand for Special Education teachers, while there are not enough to meet the demand of the increasing numbers of students needing their services. Specifically, Whitaker also mentions the following factors in contributing to the isolation problem and the lack of teacher retention: 1) a lack of preparation for the realities of the profession; 2) a reluctance in teachers
(Fondacaro, 2001) Reported is a convenience sample of 12 students, 10 boys and 2 girls in the age range from 8-13 which was taken from nine public school and three private elementary schools in south New Jersey. The twelve students in this study were diagnosed as having Asperger's syndrome. Data was collected through semi-structured field interviews with special education and regular education teachers. Data was coded by the researcher
Each of these are defined by these authors as follows: General curriculum alignment: "A team might decide that the student can benefit from placement in general education and participate in some or all of the curriculum. Although the child may receive extra help and remediation, he or she would essentially be evaluated with the same instruments and processes as other children in the class." (Price, Mayfield, McFadden and Marsh, 2001) Adapted
special education has changed dramatically. Gone are the days of the special classroom down the hall where special education students were hidden away and kept from the general student population. Gone are the days when special education students were given comic books to read and passed because they were there. Civil rights mandates of the 1960's turned the world of special education inside out and today, four decades later,
It is also worth noting that the evolving nature of special education can be attributed to the cultural changes, family values, and civilizations taking place. Research attitudes towards people with special educational needs exhibit considerable variation as one move from one culture to the other. Findings show that people of different culture may perceive the similar conditions differently. For instance, Yoruba perceived that albinism as a punishment from God (Wilson,
"By the 1980s, the field had moved to a functional skills model. As the evidence for this approach mounted, the field refocused on age appropriate skills and knowledge performed in authentic settings and the functional life skills curriculum became best practice. The functional, age-appropriate curricular focus resulted in these students demonstrating skills and knowledge not thought possible earlier" (Quenemoen, 2008). In the 1990s, added significant new practices were acknowledged as