QUES: Fossils can be used to match up rock layers. As organisms change over time, they look different. Older fossils will look different than younger fossils. Some organisms only survived for a short time before going extinct. Knowing what organisms looked like at certain times also helps date rock layers. Some fossils are better than others for this use. The fossils that are very distinct at certain times of Earths history are called index fossils. Index fossils are commonly used to match rock layers. You can see how this works in Figure 2.30. If two rock layers have the same index fossils, then they're probably about the same age.
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MY QUESTION: How are index fossils useful?

QUES: After more than a year of effort, attorneys with Northwest Justice Project earlier this week told 25 families in a mobile home park here that they can keep their homes and no longer need to fear eviction. The East Wenatchee City Council has entered into an Interlocal Agreement with the Wenatchee Housing Authority authorizing the Authority to purchase and maintain the Mobile Park Plaza mobile home park. Located just north of the Wenatchee Valley Mall, the park had been threatened with closure for more than a year. "We cannot say enough about how relieved we are that this is over," said Manuel Luna, one of the residents of Mobile Park Plaza. "We were afraid that no solution would be found, and that our families would have no place to go. We are very grateful for the help of our attorneys. Without them, we would not have saved our homes. We are also thankful for the help of the Housing Authority, the City Council and Mayor Steve Lacy." Formerly owned by local businessman Dan Jennings, Mobile Park Plaza had been home to 45 low-income families, many of them Latino farm workers. In October 2000 Jennings gave the park residents notice of his intent to close the park effective November 30, 2001. While some park residents decided to move, others, including 25 families, organized an informal association to relocate or save their homes. Unable to afford private legal counsel, the families asked for help from legal services attorneys at the Northwest Justice Project and Columbia Legal Services. In the succeeding months, these attorneys worked with representatives of the Greater Wenatchee Housing Authority, the state Office of Community Development, Chelan County, the City of East Wenatchee, state legislators, Jennings and others to secure funding and find a solution. "There seemed to be a never-ending set of obstacles," said Patrick Pleas, an attorney with Northwest Justice Project. "Mr. Jennings had financial considerations, the City had growth and economic development considerations, and the State and Housing Authority had their own concerns. Thankfully, hard work and good will from all parties allowed us to find a solution that works for everyone." Northwest Justice Project and Columbia Legal Services are non-profit organizations that provide civil legal assistance to low-income individuals and families throughout Washington state. Members of the state's Access to Justice Network, these organizations work with thousands of volunteer attorneys to ensure that justice is available to those who face critical legal problems and can't afford private legal counsel.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Who was grateful for the help of their attorneys?

QUES: Backers of Legal Aid services for the poor are pushing a measure that would increase court filing fees in Kentucky to raise money for the program, which faces steep funding cuts. The proposed bill, sponsored by Rep. Charles Geveden, D-Wickliffe, would double the portion of the fee that goes to Legal Aid -- in district court to $10 from $5 and in circuit court to $20 from $10. Kentucky's current fee for filing a case in district court is $50.50, and in circuit court $108. The increase still would leave Kentucky's filing fee costs below those of surrounding states and would raise about $1.3 million a year -- almost enough to replace what Legal Aid is losing from federal and other sources, said Jamie Hamon, executive director of the Access to Justice Foundation, a state poverty law resource center in Lexington. Geveden said his measure appears to be the only potential source of money for the program, which is being forced to lay off workers and close offices around the state. Geveden said he's concerned because federal funding hasn't increased in recent years, and states with increased poverty are taking a greater share of the money. ''If you don't come up with the money somewhere, legal services to people in need will diminish or go away,'' he said. Hamon said the proposed bill has attracted a number of co-sponsors, and Legal Aid backers are hoping to get it passed in the upcoming legislative session. Hamon said she knows fee increases aren't popular with lawmakers but hopes they realize the crisis Legal Aid is facing. ''A lot of poor people are not going to get served,'' she said. The measure has the endorsement of the Kentucky Bar Association. The association's board of governors voted unanimously last month to back the bill, said KBA President Stephen Catron, a Bowling Green lawyer. Legal Aid ''has been a godsend to a great number of people in this state,'' Catron said. ''We simply must find a way to provide those services to the public.'' Larry York, executive director of Appalachian Regional Defense Fund, which provides Legal Aid services in 37 Eastern Kentucky counties and is a KBA board member, said he hopes the measure is approved. ''It would really offset the current cuts,'' he said.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Under the new measure, how much would the portion that goes to legal aid increase?

QUES: On Monday, departing Gov. Roy Barnes will spend his first day as a private citizen by starting his new job as a full-time, pro-bono (unpaid) lawyer at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. The decision by Barnes, the most improbable casualty of Election Day 2002, to go to work for legal aid was almost as unexpected as his November defeat. As a legal services attorney, Barnes will help women escape domestic violence, Mauricio Vivero is vice president seniors fight predatory lending scams and parents obtain child support for their kids. of Legal In doing so, he will take his place on the front line of the U.S. legal community's Services Corporation, the uphill and underpublicized struggle to achieve equal access to justice for millions of Washington-Americans too poor to afford legal representation. based nonprofit corporation chartered by The inaccessibility of the U.S. civil justice system is hardly a new development, but it Congress in took Barnes' decision to put the national media spotlight on our country's ongoing 1974 to promote equal access to access-to-justice crisis. civil justice. The 2000 U.S. census reports that more than 43 million Americans qualify for free federally funded legal assistance, yet fewer than 20 percent of eligible clients (annual income: $11,075 or less) are able to obtain legal help when they need it, according to the American Bar Association. In Georgia, there is just one legal aid lawyer for every 10,500 eligible poor people. Barnes understood this problem long before he became governor. While in private practice, he handled many pro-bono cases and was a frequent volunteer in the Cobb County office of the federally funded Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Most memorably, he secured a $115 million judgment in 1993 against Fleet Finance for victimizing 18,000 homeowners -- many of them senior citizens -- with its widespread predatory lending mortgage practices. His long-standing commitment to the underserved is certainly admirable, but it should not be viewed as a rare and laudable act of civic virtue. To be admitted to practice law, every attorney must take a professional oath to promote justice -- and every state's ethical rules include language indicating lawyers' responsibility to be guardians of fair play for those living in poverty. In Georgia, many law firms, corporations and private attorneys are working pro bono to serve the neediest clients. Yet only 23 percent of the state's 23,598 active lawyers reported meeting the Georgia State Bar's goal of 50 hours of pro-bono service in 2002. The need for volunteers is most severe outside the five-county Atlanta metropolitan area, where 70 percent of the state's poor people are served by only 24 percent of the state's lawyers. National pro-bono participation is even worse. Only 23 percent of the roughly 1 million attorneys in America volunteer even one hour of pro-bono service annually, according to the ABA.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
National pro-bono participation levels are worse than which state?