U.S. Department of the InteriorDOI News Header
Office of the Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2007
Contacts:
Contact: Kathy Kupper, (202) 208-4990
or Frank Quimby, (202) 208-7291

MEDIA ADVISORY
Secretary Kempthorne to Join D.C. Students for an Electronic Field Trip to a National Park

WASHINGTON -- Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne will participate in an Electronic Field Trip to Manzanar National Historic Site with students at Murch Elementary School in the District of Columbia on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007.

The broadcast, entitled “Desert Diamonds Behind Barbed Wire; Baseball in the Japanese American Internment Camps”, will use interactive activities to tell the story of Japanese Americans detained in internment camps during World War II and the role of baseball as America’s Pastime in these camps. World War II veterans and Japanese Americans held at Manzanar will be with Secretary Kempthorne at Murch Elementary School.

The Electronic Field Trip, featuring online and interactive activities from classrooms across the country, will reach an estimated 20 million community members and elementary school students in the 5th - 9th grades around the nation. It will also be carried live on select PBS/cable networks across the country and on the internet via www.bsu.edu/eft.

Electronic Field Trips are a program of Ball State University. “Desert Diamonds” is made possible by funding and support from The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. This is the 5th National Park Electronic Field Trip created through a partnership between Ball State University and the National Park Foundation with assistance from the National Park Service and the Best Buy Children’s Foundation.

The 60-minute broadcast will take place from 1 to 2 p.m. EST. Media may interview participants after the program but not during the live broadcast. Video taping and photographs are permitted during the broadcast.

WHO:

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, World War II Veterans, and school children.
WHAT: Electronic Fieldtrip to a national park reaching 20 million students and community members.
WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 1 to 2 pm. The event will take place regardless of weather conditions - even if D.C. schools are closed.
WHERE: Murch Elementary School Library, 4810 36th Street NW, Washington, D.C.
MEDIA: All credentialed media are invited. Media parking on the playground will be available after 12:30 p.m. Entrance via Davenport Street.
WEB URL: The program can be viewed online at www.bsu.edu/eft or http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=9721
SATELLITE DOWNLINK: There are opportunities for members of the media to participate in local schools across the country or to access the satellite feed of the broadcast airing at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (EDT). A 30-minute test period precedes the broadcast. The satellite coordinates are Ku-Band: AMC 03 DIG, Transponder 18-Chan 807, Orbital Slot 87° WL, Bandwidth 9 MHz, Downlink Frequency 12064 (V). Also for C-Band: Intelsat A-6, Transponder 17, Orbital Slot 93° WL, Bandwidth 36MHz, Downlink Frequency 4040 (V).

 
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