Crashing China
Aviation disasters are media magnets. When planes go down, the world wants answers. In the same spirit, the Chinese people are demanding an honest investigation into how two of its new, gleaming white, high-speed trains collided. Regardless of who or what is to blame, bet big on the Chinese making sweeping safety improvements to its trophy high-speed trains. China has been here before. In the 1990s, the Central Nation radically altered its airline safety from gruesome to great. Between 1998 and 2008, China's performance in commercial airline safety improved 800 percent – this while more than tripling air traffic. According to a 2008 study by research firm Ascend, China performed 3.25 million flights per fatal accident, which was close to North America's average of 3.8 million flights per fatal accident. In some areas, China outperformed its Western rivals.

The Chinese government's goal is to create the world's greatest high-speed network. Already they've built the world's largest. Having "flown" out of Shanghai's international airport to the Pudong at 250 mph on the only magnetically levitating train in commercial use, I'm ready to re-book passage on China's spectacular high-speed trains. Why? I am betting that the world's fastest trains can be the world's safest.
Dan McNichol

Online degrees
Readers Greg Luttrull, P.E., and Herman R. Durazno provided information on the following schools that offer online graduate degrees in civil engineering or construction management:

University of Idaho's Engineering Outreach program (http://eo.uidaho.edu) – Master of Engineering, Civil Engineering; Master of Science, Geological Engineering

North Dakota State University (www.ndsu.edu/dce/degrees/graduate/ms_consmgmt) – Master of Science, Construction Management

Florida International University (www.cm.fiu.edu/mscmonline) – Master of Science, Construction Management

University of Alabama Birmingham School of Engineering (www.uab.edu/engineering/professional-programs/cem) – Master of Engineering, Construction Engineering Management

Check out the June 2011 CE News article, "Master's degree: For here or to go?" at http://tinyurl.com/Online-Civil-Masters for an updated list of online graduate programs.
– Bob Drake