text:
New MTA public art projects
in train stations along the
Artist's Statements
Park East Station 2 and 5 lines
challenge of public art is what makes it interesting. As an artist
who prefers to paint and draw, I enjoy the opportunity of placing
my work in the world, where it is always available.
Birds share air space with us, and many of us rarely pay attention
to them. But they are here with us and for some they provide wisdom,
insight and song. My birds are ordinary. I wanted to subvert them
and make them invisibly large and regal. By doing that, the birds
in their emptiness give attention to their transparency and how
they hold a space for the trees, the bushes, the snow, the branches,
the wind, the sky and the leaves to exist, like a still-life painting
the space outside of the object really creates the form of the object
My birds are very still. They become templates of the possibility
that wind and air filled them once and they have left a mark...like
a footprint in the snow.
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
This project
presents the notion that structures, although built to outlast their
architects, are fragile entities. Before September 11th we took
our buildings and what they mean to us for granted. We assumed that
they would always be there as a backdrop to our daily dramas. The
vulnerability of our constructions is frightening. Buildings after
all, are only glass, concrete and metal. The effort and creative
thought that went into them, and the use they are put to, is where
their power lies.
This project represents my personal reaction and testament to how
New York City struggled to regain its spirit after the devastating
attack. It also represents the Bronx, continuously renewing itself
and blooming with spirit in many unexpected places as well as the
vibrant spirit of the individual, struggling to find what is beautiful
in what is often ugly, struggling to renew oneself after devastation.
I have chosen flower imagery to represent this spirit of renewal
rebirth, and rebuilding. Flowers return after the bleakness of winter.
They are like a face turned inside out with the spirit showing on
the outside. Flowers help us to embrace the beautiful mystery of
life pulsing through each person in every building in this city.
Flowers can be destroyed and still grow back to bloom another season.
This project may not be permanent or it may outlive its creator.
Hopefully it will become part of the urban landscape and also part
of the mental landscape of the weary traveler who will appreciate
the love its creator put into it. My wish is that in viewing this
art one senses that the spirit that flows through the streets and
buildings of the city is part of them and they are part of it, and
that as long as they are alive their spirit is stronger than any
building man can build or destroy.
Parkway Station 2 and 5 lines
Parkway is a tree-lined boulevard that connects Pelham Bay Park
with the Bronx Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Because both
the White Plains Road line and the Jerome Avenue line are also within
the vicinity of large parks in the Bronx, I have chosen to honor
these sites with a panorama of trees and plant life indigenous to
New York City.
Fall foliage, spring blossoms and summer wildflowers accent glass
inserts of historical photographs from Bronx neighborhoods. Ten
photographs were chosen from the archives of the Bronx County Historical
Society to represent the community surrounding the station. These
images will be screened and fired onto glass. Spanning a period
from 1899 to 1969, they include views of Prospect Parkway, White
Plains Road, Tremont Avenue and specific numbered streets that cross
the path of the elevated tracks of the Number 2 subway line.
The title, Back to the Garden, is taken from the lyrics
of a Joni Mitchell song.
Hill Road Station 2 and 5 line
works titled My Sun (Mi Sol), My Planet (Mi Planeta) and My City
(Mi Ciudad), are inspired by life in New York City where nature,
diversity and the environment harmoniously interact.
In my work, I celebrate nature and humanity while examining the
notions of gender, race and identity. My interest in the human form
derives from my background in dance.
Avenue Station 4 line
Surely whoever invented the wheel must have been looking up. When
we look at the moon, we consider our place in the universe and imagine
destinations beyond our reach. We look to the orbit of the planets
around the sun to understand night and day. We leave in the morning,
we return at night. Motors, industry, and ultimately transportation
itself were no doubt born out of this singular encounter between
man and sphere. My project for the Burnside Avenue Station windows
links the universe with wheels-in-motion through forms and structures
common to both
Windows in an elevated station present a unique opportunity for
the subway riderthat of looking out and up. As I began to
consider the possibilities for these in particular, I thought about
the greatest of windows throughout the history of architecture,
the rose windows, which have dramatically and spiritually embellished
architectural spaces with their symmetry and luminous color. The
sun came to mind immediately. I imagined its circle looming large.
I though about wheels, then arrived at the idea of playing with
the geometries of circles as a way to link planetary orbs and wheels.
Both are geometries, timeless in form, an important consideration
for any permanent work of art.
Influenced by a mosaic floor pattern from the terrace at the Piazza
Campodiglio in Rome designed by Michaelangelo, I included these
round, oculus designs in my paintings and drawings. I remembered
how much the station longed for color and quickly arrived at blues
and yellows for my palette, for their reference to day and night,
and for their uplifting juxtaposition.
I look forward to the possibility that passengers hurrying to a
train or coming home from a long day at work might pause for a moment
or two to look at these windows. I believe that their spirits would
rise and that they would briefly be transported to another place.
Everyone can enjoy the timeless geometries found in the cosmos and
ponder their application here on earth.
Eden Avenue Station 4 line
Amir Bey
original designs submitted to the MTA Arts for Transit program were
etchings on copper foil that are part of an on-going series of mine,
The Procession of Folk. This series is devoted to the notion of
people as waves and streams whose movements can be seen as processes
of social evolution.
The face is the key component for this series because of the simplicity
of the features of the face, and how those features can describe
the most unique characteristics of an individual. Since the vast
vocabulary of expressions of the face is universally understood,
the face is both personal and communal. A train station such as
the Mt. Eden Avenue station is an appropriate venue for The Procession
of Folk.
While I have carved and cast many sculptural designs in stone, bronze,
plaster, and other materials that are devoted to that series, The
Procession of Folk #3 installation is twelve faceted glass windows
and is also two-dimensional. I feel proud and fulfilled, not only
as an artist whose work will be seen and possessed by a community,
but also as an individual who rides the subways frequently and is
permitted to contribute to that environment with its currents of
daily public movement. In this way, the windows will be taking a
life and direction of their own through the use and interpretations
made by others, and will reach beyond my personal dreams in ways
that I would not be able to imagine.
Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
with the layouts for the 2 and 5 red and green lines as they run
from the Bronx through Manhattan to Brooklyn, the four Mandalas
that I created for the Allerton Avenue Station were derived from
layering, twisting and turning the outlines of green and red into
a series of intertwining radiating patterns.
These Mandalas were generated with the desire to coat the train
platform with a central abstract image of color, light and form.
From up close, or afar, each Mandala is meant to at first dazzle
the viewer with color and light, then upon closer inspection, reveal
a central structure inspired by the mark of subway lines themselves.
Their meanings are open to interpretation, and are meant as a form
of meditation for the passing public and subway riders.
Street Station 4 line
Dina Bursztyn
from Above captures the essence of certain poignant moments
I have experienced while riding on the elevated tracks in the Bronx.
The time is sunrise, or most often, sunset.
The sky unfolds in brilliant colorsthe train seems to be riding
among clouds, everything is coated with a glowing halo and the mind
becomes porous.
Reality, memories and dreams overlap.
Farms Square/East Tremont Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
work is an organic response to the interwoven relation between man
and nature. Walking around East Tremont I noticed the train tracks
snaking past the Bronx Zoo. The immense green space of the Zoo with
all its animals is what caught my eye. Coming from a strong background
in art and animal sciences, I considered it as a twist of fate.
I went back to my old sketchbooks filled with a variety of animals
in all kinds of shapes and poses. It is what provided the starting
point for this project.
Since I was a child, whenever I lived within reach of a zoo, I would
always end up there. It was a kind of sanctuary for me in the urban
jungle. I decided to bring this idea of an oasis up onto the station
platform and transform the environment completely.
Gone were the monochrome colors of the surrounding neighborhood,
replaced by a fiesta of animals. Using the animals and abstraction
of shapes, I created a new world for the aboveground platform. Using
the organic qualities of the medium I chose to explore its properties,
pushing them beyond a simple 2-dimensional surface. I am interested
in the rhythmical nature of movement as it shapes colors creating
a kinetic movement that gives emotional depth and sculptural quality
to the otherwise flat medium. The love of form through sculpture
and the sensitivity to textures through printmaking lent sensitivity
to the form that allowed atmosphere to develop. The idea of chipping
away at the medium into facets sought the energy emanating from
what I loved about both primitive art and modern art simultaneously.
The final response is a voice of the natural rhythms found in nature
that reflect a deeper philosophy often bordering on subtle paradoxes.
Clean, simple statements reveal layers of existing thought that
run deep like a pool of poetic imagery. The idea of bridges marks
my work. Here, I am bridging community, global and interpersonal
bridges through a labyrinth of environments formed in glass and
touched by the nature of the sun. Working with glass and mosaic
is very liberating and is another way of working with art that can
be as expressive of the past as is of the future.
Street Station 2
presence of animals (besides humans) means that we share the space
and experience of living in the city. If this is a good experience
in most cases and a bad one in some, these animals are here to stay.
Such is the case with birds. There are numerous species of birds
crossing the skies of New York City. They play in the gardens of
houses, in parks, and on rivers, beaches and lakes. Their amazing
combinations of colors and their singing add beauty to our lives;
their graceful behavior teaches us the art of appreciation and contemplation
of the natural environment that surrounds us.
Permanent Residents and Visitors depicts an aerial view
through the eyes of some of the most common birds living and visiting
the city: gulls, ducks, blue jays, eagles, cardinals, geese, and
crows, amongst many. Observing birdsthe richness of their
colors, their flight, and their songhas always inspired me
to paint. Appreciating the perspective of birds reaffirms that these
creatures are definitely part of our lives. I feel the viewer will
be refreshed by the colors and content of this artwork and will
be reaffirmed like me by the fact that these creatures are a part
of our lives.
Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
Noel Copeland
Neried Avenue Station is located near the famous Bissel Gardens,
founded in 1993. It is a community garden that provides organic
vegetables for organizations such as City Harvest, NYC Charity,
and Senior Centers. The garden serves as an education center for
adults and children as well as a resource center for the Parks Department
and Operation Green Thumb.
I have created nature designs for this station. I think the use
of flowers, trees, and animals are appropriate subjects for this
Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
on the subway is a daily commuter activity that is common but highly
individual. At the same time the Bronx has been the home and inspiration
for many writers. I wanted to celebrate the borough's rich literary
heritage that encompasses the voices of writers as diverse as Edgar
Allan Poe, Mark Twain, Shalom Aleichem, Jack Kerouac, Countee Cullen,
Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, Allen Ginsberg, Chaim Potok, E.L. Doctorow,
and many others. These authors tell the story of the borough from
colonial times to suburban and contemporary community developments.
Their works help us travel through time, into different social classes
and communities making each of us an insider.
In my project Bronx Literature, each glass panel celebrates one
writer and the atmosphere of his/her books. The station will present
the following books: Ulalume, Edgar Allan Poe; Mottel, the Cantor's
Son, Sholem Aleichem; The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin; and El
Bronx Remembered, Nicholasa Mohr. Each writer's stories or poems
are a window on a particular neighborhood at a particular time.
Each of the windows in the image also depicts people reading.
The artwork at the station will make us discover the many aspects
of the borough and enrich the everyday activity of commuting.
Avenue Station 2 and 5 lines
am both an installation artist and an author illustrator of childrens
books. I tapped into my experience as a storyteller for this project.
I designed images representing stories from six different areas
of Latin AmericaThe Condor Prince, from Peru; How the Birds
Brought the Rain, from Mexico; The King That Wanted to Touch the
Moon, from Dominica; How the Sea Began, from The Dominican Republic
and Maria Cenicienta: A Puerto Rican Cinderella. The designs were
painted in oil on vellum paper.
Street Station 2
and 5 lines
I have always found that a simple silhouette can communicate a variety
of emotions and qualities. The basic shape of a person can be used
to express the components of a personality. Sincerity, happiness,
excitement, concern, lovea shape is an amazing tool to an
artist. He uses it to capture an essence. In these panels, I have
chosen silhouette to depict the personality of a populacea
truth we can each find inside ourselves.
Color. Color is the most stimulating component of everything we
see. Here, different colors are treated with equal importance. A
variety of colors represents a mixture of cultures, nationalities
and ethnicities as well as our diverse individualities. Vibrant
colors, vibrant people. Simultaneously, the colors are used as a
complement to a series of tessellationspatterns created by
the repetition of geometric shapes. In the work of M.C. Escher,
rich landscapes are developed by using the negative space that comes
to life when two geometric forms overlap each other. In this case,
I thought it would be an ideal marriage of form and theme to merge
this style with the silhouettes. Using all aspects of colortonality,
hue, placement, contrast, and saturationI wanted to distinguish
foreground from background, positive from negative. I strived to
achieve an overall effect of simple yet complex design. It is the
very quality that I find fascinating about people.
The beauty of imagination, what sparks it?
Theme. The feeling I take with me when I view a piece of art is
a direct result of its theme. The figures Ive used are subjective.
There is flexibility in their style and there is, always room for
further exploration. I serve the people that appreciate small wrinkles
in time. My goal is to achieve a simple reaction.
A smile
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
Del Valle
The Bronx River is an artery that flows from the South Bronx up
to Westchester County. It crosses through many neighborhoods, parks,
and passageways. For the last several years the Environmental Protection
Agency has been making efforts to restore the rivercleaning
and preserving the landscape for the community to enjoy.
My work is a representation of a group of people taking a canoe
ride up the river, visiting famous sites like the Bronx Zoo and
the Botanical Gardens, and passing through Bronx neighborhoods.
It also represents events that have become traditions in the Bronx
such as the Golden Ball Festival. In my representation people take
a canoe ride up the Bronx River, make masks, draw outdoors, plant
new trees, and clean up the environment.
Not everyone can take a magical trip on the river to see these sites
but the 2 and 5 trains allow people to travel to these locations.
I have designed graphic floral motifs for the niches that are situated
on the outside of the train platform. They represent the simple
reflections of nature that surround us.
Park Boulevard Station 4 line
Lehman College Station
The idea
of a Community Garden came to me during one of my walks around the
Bedford Park Boulevard station in the Bronx. I did not see such
gardens in that neighborhood, and started playing with the idea
of creating an imaginary one to decorate the walls of this stop
on the 4 line. People leaving the neighborhood or coming back to
it will see colors and shapes that are different from the ones predominantly
found on their streets. Children will find critters and bugs hidden
at their eye level among the leaves which they may never otherwise
see in the city: a grasshopper, a ladybug, blue and green beetles.
Lehman College has a beautiful campus with grass, trees and squirrels,
but most of the neighborhood residents dont see much nature
on their streets. The red-brown-tan of the many-storied buildings
and the gray of the pavement are the dominant colors on the streets.
The extremely wide avenues, the bridges, train tracks, overpasses,
garages, tire shops, a Laundromat with a beautiful broken neon sign
from the thirties, an old bakery, a couple of modern high-rises
in the distance, a few small convenience stores and the occasional
small family house give the neighborhood its urban industrial visual
What if there were more colors, more playful shapes? What if there
were more plants? The community gardens I know are lush, rich, unique
little islands in the middle of the urban bustle where the planting
and decorating reflect the vision of several people. What usually
results is a unique composition of plants, colors, and shapes. Neighborhood
residents cherish these gardens as places of creativity, nature
and beauty.
I approached
my subject in a playful way, by combining real creatures with imaginary
ones and by working with scale: having monumental size plants and
bugs next to a cat of more or less regular size. I hope that my
garden will delight commuters and inspire them with its playfulness
and intense colors.
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
of my work is inspired by the colors, energy, and motion of the
universe. I have been creating fragmented views of the universe
that play with notions of space and direction.
For this project I chose to create artwork that would evoke a calm
New York City under an energetic sky. Inspired by the subway, I
set out to make a reversible design that shows movement in many
directions. I created cityscapes where the skies evoke constellations,
shooting stars, orbiting planets and moons, and brilliant sunsets.
They also suggest motion, interaction, and freedom. These colliding
worlds, in their striking diversity, co-exist and are unified by
the silhouette of the city.
Aesthetically, the curved forms I created provide a welcome contrast
to the angularity of the subway system. The pieces are bright and
colorful and meant to be appreciated from a distance, as well as
from an intimate perspective. The works offer recognizable city
architecture under vibrant skies. In order to honor the people of
New York, I painted residential buildings rather than the cliché
NYC skyline.
My design is a tribute to New York. Through my art, I hope to encourage
commuters to view the city from an unusual perspective, one where
the enormity of the city is dwarfed by something much larger. Ultimately,
I hope commuters will forget their day-to-day lives for a moment
and conjure thoughts about the mysterious universe and our place
in it.
Avenue Station 4 line
Gonzalez Albright
initial submission for this project was a sketchy idea showing children
playing in a park or playground against a swirling background. I
sketched and photographed children over a six-month period in various
stages of play in parks, playgrounds, outside, and inside. Soon
this evolved into a study of how children move into and through
space, stopping to observe, spinning, crouching, sliding, and running.
My young son Billy was a readily available model, and can be seen
in my sketches running after the birds and pointing at the kite.
Other models were Liam and Madeline Galvin who were inspirations
for the swing and bench designs. My visits to the Woodlawn area,
with its extensive park surroundings, provided much visual inspiration
as well.
During this time I also met with Willet Fabricators in Philadelphia
to understand how to design work for fabricated glass. Experimenting
with these images, I created collages with silhouette-like figures
and marbleized and handmade colored papers. I increased the scale
of the children to fill each window frame. For fabrication in the
faceted glass, I wanted a lot of clear glass to be used that would
capture the transparent quality of the childrens figures.
Warm shadows were created by using fritte glass crystals
that were fused over the glass allowing for more flexibility and
detail with the material and adding a bubbly, raised texture to
the figures. Lots of clear glass also allows for light from adjacent
colored glass pieces to spill over and create exciting, new color
combinations as the sunlight moves through the station each day.
I worked with the architects measurements from the beginning,
visualizing how these images would fit into the 15 designated window
spaces for this project. Later, as measurements were corrected,
the intended five window designs at the center were changed to four
instead to allow for a wider window width that would better complement
the look of the fabricated glass. What you see here on view are
13 of the 14 window designs.
In November 2005, nine of the fourteen windows were installed at
the Woodlawn Avenue Station, with the remaining five scheduled for
installation in the spring of 2006.
Parkway Station 4 line
work at its core deals with changemetamorphosis.
I got several inspirations from the site as well as the Algonquin
meaning of Mosholusmooth stones. Smooth
stones brings to mind the expression, diamond in the
rough, the impact of pressure and time on raw material. In
fact, the metaphor, river water flowing over rocks speaks of the
flow of humanity through the station as well as the process of matter
in transition.
I have always loved the expression; A man never steps in the
same river twice. A river is a live moving force of nature
and not a stagnant pool. The time of day, the light or someones
moodall these factors will make the impression of this installation
change on a daily basis.
The panels themselves speak of movement and transition. They stretch
beyond the parameters of the framing in all directions. The fact
that you are able to see through the panels integrates the inside
with the outside. Rather than a place to disembark from, it becomes
a destination. Metromorphosis alludes to the vascular
system of the heart and arteries, which is how I view the transit
system, essentially the lifeblood of the city. The side panels represent
the arteries and the middle panel, Mosholu Parkway station.
My work has always been about re-appropriating materials. I view
recycling as materials in fluxin the process of becoming.
Birth of a Station reflects this transformation.
The properties of glass are singularly suited for my work. Molten
material in suspended animation fully realizes my concept for this
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
I moved from Bangkok to the Bronx in 1973, the New York Botanical
Gardens has been a place where I can rejuvenate my spirit when Im
feeling homesick. During my high school years I often walked on
Bedford Avenue to the Garden; I volunteered in the Herbarium when
my sister was renovating the Enid Haupt greenhouse. It is my sanctuary
when I am yearning for Thailand. In its tropical room, I imagine
myself back home in my old backyard. Looking at flowers and fruits
I can recall their Thai names.
This project is my homage to the Botanical Gardens.
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
installation at the Freeman Street station consists of faceted glass
panels depicting Bronx street scenes. Faceted glass is similar to
stained glass, except that the glass pieces are an inch thick and
cemented together with epoxy. This makes them very strong, and able
to withstand the onslaught of wind and weather that it will encounter
as a piece of outdoor public art on the train platform.
There will be four large panels (four feet by eight feet), with
two each installed on the uptown and downtown sides of the train
platforms. The panels will be able to be seen from the street below
as well. In addition, each indoor area will feature a three-panel
alcove window, which will also be a faceted glass version of my
original work.
Road Station
4 line
M. Muller
aim is to create work that transcends the contexts of chronology.
I believe my images would look as good and relevant in 1934 as they
do in 2004. And thus will have consequences in 2094.
The four, 3-part compositions act as single cohesive scenes. However,
each panel can act individually as well as in diptychs. In environs
of demographic diversity, I believe public art should be inclusive
and provide relevance. Images need to reflect the cold (coats/hats)
and the hot (shorts/skirts) characteristics of New York City. The
length of shadows indicates different times of the year. The silhouettes
and shadows of my urban motif iconography evoke the fluid and mercurial
magic of this urban crossroads. Identity is established through
body language and gait rather than the shape of a nose or the logo
on a t-shirt.
Images need
to be able to be read from near and far. Interaction with the glass
windscreen panels will be activated close up from the platform where
commuters stand and wait for their trains as well as from across
the tracks. When engaging core principles of working in glass, metaphors
of windows to other worlds are all but inevitable. I wish to embrace
this potential by creating fictional windows to the sidewalk vitality
Street Station 4 line
Using architecture and landmarks, the work that I am presenting
is a depiction of the cultural and historical perspective of the
area, which is known as the University Heights section of The Bronx.
The Bronx takes its name from Bronck's Farms, an early settler in
the area. Swedish immigrant, Jonas Broncks 500-acre farm lay
between the Harlem River and the Aquahung Rivernow the Bronx
The theme of "Many Trails" symbolizes the multiculturalism
of this area from the time when Native Americans inhabited the land
through today's immigrant population. "Many Trails" also
symbolizes travel and finding one's way through the use of visual
history. The first panels show the area in which the Siwanoy Nation,
a branch of the Mohicans, resided before 1693. In this panel, I
have incorporated the "Many Trails" symbol used by the
Mohicans to symbolize the many moves they had to endure throughout
their history. Panel #3 is a representation of the first settlement
of Europeans in the area.
Although there is no actual founding date for University Heights,
the creation of this community included the Aqueduct, St. Nicholas
of Tolentine Church, and the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, which
is housed at Bronx Community College. Through the use of architecture
and landmarks several panels represent this area and the era of
its founding.
Panel #11represents the continuity to the story-in order to
understand where you are going, you must first know where you are
coming from. The "Many Trails" symbol appears again as
way to connect the historical perspective of people from all walks
of life and varied cultures who have found their way to this small
lay of the land.
Road Station 4 line
Patriasana, Wholesomeland, figures dance in a joyful
frieze across the Fordham Road station on the IRT line, their brilliant
colors and undulating forms evoking the vibrant nature of Fordham
Road, a shopping mecca for the Bronx. The figures shaped background
panels represent basic wholesome items sold in the shops lining
Fordham Road, such as an umbrella, a hat, a coat, boots, pants,
and gloves. The border between the panels and the rectangular window
edge is made of translucent glass, allowing the background colors
of Fordham Road to provide a muted backdrop.
These original images were created as paintings on canvas and carved
wood, translated into fused and faceted glass windows. The style
of the paintings is inspired by the printmaking processthe
wood, for example, has a curved background, like the block plates
used in printmaking. Abstracted figures on rectilinear canvas attached
to the curved freeform wood create a finished, assembled work of
176th Street
4 line
challenge was to create art that is attractive, beautiful and stimulating
for an urban train station. I wanted to visually convey a spirit
reaching and striving. Human hands reaching out toward each other
became the symbolic vehicle.
Hands are visually beautiful with corporal, theatrical and expressive
possibilities. With faceted color glass as an ideal medium, I wanted
to create images of certain transcendence; something universal and
experiential. I photographed hands and digitally converted them
into colorful silhouettes against contrasting color backgrounds.
From digital laser prints, I cut and tore them to create a series
of mixed media collages using watercolor, Color Aid paper and color
pencil. You can see hands from all directions reaching out for life,
meaning and fulfillment.
From these collages, multicolored faceted glass structures were
fabricated. The transition from photography, digital processing,
collage, and cartoon drawings to the final faceted glass windows
and windshields was an extremely stimulating creative process. There
were pleasant surprises along the way and the end results for the
artist was pure joy.
I hope that these colorful and dynamic faceted glass works will
transmit that same pleasure and joy to people waiting for their
next trains to arrive. I want them to feel their humanity commuting;
reaching out everyday.
Street Station 4 line
living in the Bronx, one appreciates its many virtues and expresses
gratitude that it is what it is and not what others say it should
Despues de haber vivido en el condado del Bronx, uno aprécia
sus muchas virtudes, y al mismo tiempo expresas gratitudes, que
es lo que es y no lo que otros dicen lo que el condado debe de ser.
Home is where the heart lives.
El hogar es donde el Corazon vive.
This proposed artwork represents my metaphorical reflection of the
Bronx within a heroic time-scape comprised of the past, present,
and future.
Using a caterpillars metamorphosis, I want to show, simply
and directly, the idea that the Bronx is a place whose changes are
a part of its history, and whose families can look back and forward
in time with pride, knowing that they are responsible for many positive
changes and beautiful transformations to come.
In my panels I combine radiant outdoor urban life with the calm,
simple pleasures that are experienced in the home and community.
The day is just beginning and a warm cup of coffee sits on the kitchen
table. Outside in the breeze, ubiquitous sparrows playfully flutter
and build their nests while the school bus waits for students. Next
to the apartment building the quiet basketball court promises afternoon
games. These are not just bustling experiences of the inner city,
but the equally valuable notes struck by the more tranquil family
life that defines much of the Bronx.
This image of the Bronx is based on my personal experiences from
living there as a child as well as relationships I have with the
community as a mature artist. Like many families, we had few luxuriesour
lives revolved around my fathers job and our education. I
fondly recall the small daily treasureseating candy from the
penny candy store, exploring the many parks, riding my bicycle through
the streets, marveling at vast sunrises and sunsets, summers at
Orchard Beach, walking through the New York Botanical Gardens with
my father, indulging in sweet ice cream sundaes on Fordham Road,
and the excitement of school trips to the Bronx Zoo.
I have witnessed the challenges faced by the boroughthe problems
of urban decay, white flight, and racial and geographic prejudice.
I have seen the environment and population go through dramatic and
trying cycles of change. But looking at the Bronx, I continue to
see the positive influences prevail as neighborhoods find new ways
to thrive. These images express my belief that we can gather strength
and inspiration from daily life as it is modestly lived in the vibrant
*The first quote
is by Sidney Sun, the artists brother
Street Station 2 and 5 lines
have created several panels representing stylized city views of
the Bronx that can be seen from the Prospect Street station. The
panels represent the seasons: springtime where you see blooming
flowers and budding trees in front of buildings; summera landscape
full of green trees and flowers; fall, with falling leaves and darker
skies; and winter, with snow, and trees without leaves.
A series of four panels contain the same ironwork ornament design
that was used in the Prospect Street station, as well as many other
Bronx train stations when they were originally constructed. These
panels depict stylized buildings along with irises, connecting the
built environment with nature. It is intended for installation on
the east side of the station so that the sunlight can be seen through
the glass. The series include images of the Bronx by night along
with orange lilies, known to remain in bloom at night. These panels
are intended for the west side of the station.
I have chosen these images because they represent timeless views
of the Bronx, the four seasons that change constantly, flowers that
represent the boroughs connection to nature, and the historical
ironwork ornament that connects all of these images with todays
Bronx train stations.


text:
Funding supports an Irrigation Specialist to develop guidance and provide education on irrigation and nitrogen best management practices (BMPs). In this position, Dr. Vasu Sharma provides direct support to irrigators on issues of irrigation scheduling and soil water monitoring. She is collaborating on the development of new irrigation scheduling tools that help irrigators manage water and nitrogen resources more precisely. These tools help reduce nitrogen leaching losses in irrigated cropping systems.
The Metropolitan Council, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota, is evaluating outdoor water use in the Twin Cities metro region - a subject which has come under the spotlight recently due to concerns related to water quality and quantity issues. In the Twin Cities, 20% of all treated drinking water is used outdoors, with a majority of this being used on lawns and landscapes. The goal of this proposal is to reduce water use in the home landscape by conducting assessments, research, and demonstration around the smart use of irrigation.

subset: commoncrawl


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2012 Holiday Gift Guide: Vitamix Professional Series 750
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Cloud computing has widened the already pronounced rift between business executives and stereotypical IT throwbacks who think data is safer on internal Windows 2008 servers that get patched every quarter, whether or not they need it. There are a few members of the latter camp among the 446 business technology professionals from companies with at least 50 employees responding to our InformationWeek 2013 State of Cloud Computing Survey. They made comments such as "I won't trust my checkbook to the cloud, why should I trust anything else?" and "Another IT fad filled [with] flaws and glitches."
The cloud's core benefit is that it lets us selectively outsource tasks we used to have to do ourselves. Tech organizations that use the cloud can focus on their core competencies and may need fewer IT resources, so it's no wonder that large IT departments are hostile to it. But as long as their answer to the cloud is like those survey comments -- idiosyncratic, irrational and irrelevant objections -- IT will gradually become less and less involved with the adoption, use and support of information technologies across their companies, as business units make their own "shadow" IT purchases.
Sadly, many respondents don't seem to get that. We saw only an 11% increase in infrastructure-as-a-service adoption compared with 2012, from 27% to 30% among companies using public cloud services, and don't anticipate significantly faster growth in the next 12 months.
Why the negativity? Our survey comprises primarily IT professionals -- executives, managers and staff -- at larger organizations; 62% have at least 1,000 employees, and companies with fewer than 50 employees were removed from the results. Given that, it's likely larger companies that are moving slowly. While this may seem prudent from a risk management (and job-keeping) perspective, it exposes these companies to significant competitive threats that may not be adequately captured in risk and opportunity evaluations.
There is some movement, however. We saw a 29% increase (14% to 18%) in the percentage of respondents who have replaced or fired a cloud provider. This speaks to one of the core advantages of outsourcing IT services: These shops are much less likely to have dedicated staff and hardware that can create inertia around the operational aspects of change. Instead, business needs are a larger part of the decision, and IT can implement changes faster.
We're not saying respondents don't have some valid concerns about the cloud. Let's look at a few.
>> Maturity: One striking survey result is a drop in use of software-as-a-service (57% to 49%) and platform-as-a-service (42% to 36%) from 2012 to 2013. However, we saw overall increases in cloud usage (33% to 40%), which showed up in virtualization for private and hybrid clouds (56% to 64%) and IaaS (27% to 30%). This suggests that companies are retreating from early adoption of services that may be too "beta" (like PaaS) or that cede too much control to cloud vendors (like SaaS).
>> Risk of security or performance problems: Most respondents now see using a cloud vendor as carrying equal or less risk than engaging a noncloud vendor (51% in 2013 vs. 45% in 2012), although very few see cloud vendors as being less risky (7%). Similarly, cloud vendors are seen as providing equal or better performance compared with on-premises applications, although the percentage saying so has dropped since 2012 (77% in 2013 vs. 81% in 2012), and fewer respondents say that cloud application performance is improving (34% in 2013 vs. 44% in 2012).
>> Loss of control: It makes sense that companies want to adopt new technologies slowly. Moreover, the cloud ultimately is about handing over control; in the case of SaaS, business units can (theoretically) own the relationships with vendors, cutting IT out entirely. If CIOs want to retain influence, we would expect to see greater adoption of IaaS as well as virtualization and private cloud, which are arguably less disruptive to the control structure than SaaS and PaaS. And this is exactly what we find in the 12-month planning question, where planned IaaS adoption among those using or expecting to use cloud services has jumped 42% compared with 2012.
Gartner has been so bold as to predict the "end of the traditional sourcing model" in favor of cloud-based services, with SaaS, PaaS and IaaS taking more market share than traditional sourcing by 2015. Trending data from our State of the Cloud Survey since 2010 shows companies that adopt cloud computing generally aren't going back to on-premises deployments. In other words, the cloud isn't all hype; it does deliver, otherwise services would be rolling back to internal IT. Startups, non-IT business units, consumers and the media all recognize the value. It's painfully ironic that the biggest source of griping and inertia is the department that could benefit the most.


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Featured Keynote Speakers Already Confirmed Include Rep. John Barrow and FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai
PITTSBURGH, January 3, 2013 – Independent cable operators from communities all across the great American heartland will gather in Washington, D.C., in March to celebrate their two decades of achievement at the American Cable Association's historic 20th Anniversary Summit.
"This ACA Summit promises to be a spectacular event that will honor our success in the past as well as map our goals for the future. With deep pride and conviction, ACA Members set out 20 years ago to become the authentic and respected voice of an independent cable community determined to influence communications policy in Washington, D.C. Though much works lies ahead, ACA has changed the tone and substance of the public policy debate for the better because media giants now know they cannot escape the strong and committed voice of our Members, and government regulators understand the importance of taking into account the disproportionate impact that regulations have on small video, broadband, and phone providers," ACA President and CEO Matthew M. Polka said.
ACA is pleased to announce that two leaders in the field of communications policymaking – Rep. John Barrow of Georgia and Commissioner Ajit Pai of the Federal Communications Commission – have already committed to address individually the ACA Summit during the March 12-14 event. ACA expects to announce more speakers in the future.
"ACA is delighted that two respected and thoughtful policymakers like Rep. Barrow and FCC Commissioner Pai have already agreed to join us at the 20th ACA Summit, a truly special occasion for ACA Members who have been dedicated advocates for fair rules and positive outcomes in the public policy arena for independent cable operators and their customers," Polka said.
Pai is scheduled to have a one-on-one discussion with ACA's Polka on Wednesday, March 13, while Rep. Barrow will speak the following day, delivering that morning's Congressional Address moments before hundreds of ACA Members head to Capitol Hill to discuss a range of issues important to voice, video and broadband providers and consumers, such as the proliferation of TV station blackouts due to retransmission consent impasses and the skyrocketing cost of sports programming.
The ACA Summit – cable's premier event for smaller, independent and competitive cable operators – will take place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. The Summit is widely considered the best opportunity for small business owners serving hometown America with advanced communications services to advocate for change in face-to-face exchanges with Obama Administration officials, Capitol Hill lawmakers and senior FCC personnel.
Rep. Barrow, a Democrat, is currently serving his fifth term representing Georgia's 12th Congressional District. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has oversight authority over the FCC and the communications industry at large, including independent cable operators. Rep. Barrow is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and currently serves as the group's Policy Co-Chair.
Pai, nominated to the FCC by President Barack Obama, was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on May 7, 2012. One week later, he was sworn in for a term that concludes on June 30, 2016. From 2007 to 2011, Pai held several positions in the FCC's Office of General Counsel, including Deputy General Counsel. Pai has also worked on Capitol Hill, first as Deputy Chief Counsel to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, and later as Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights.
The 20th ACA Summit will extend its tradition as the most important forum nationally to honor the critical role played by independent cable operators that serve rural and remote regions of the country that are typically much more costly to build out with advanced technology.
The year's ACA Summit will once again underscore the trade group's firm commitment to finding consensus and highlight progress made on many critical issues, especially retransmission consent, broadband deployment and access to content on fair and reasonable terms.
ACA is currently seeking exhibitors and sponsors for the event. Interested parties should contact Stacey Leech at firstname.lastname@example.com or (412)-922-8300, ext. 15.
Further information about the ACA Summit 2013 agenda and the exciting lineup of speakers will be made available on the ACA Summit 2013 website closer to the time of the event.
Meanwhile, to register and learn more about ACA Summit 2013, please visit: http://acasummit.org/
About the American Cable Association: Based in Pittsburgh, the American Cable Association is a trade organization representing about 850 smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies who provide broadband services for more than 7.4 million cable subscribers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA's members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their business. For more information, visit https://acaconnects.org/


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Google offered WhatsApp $10 billion to sell, but was turned down for Facebook's $19 billion offer, according to a report.
The surprisingly brief report appeared today and said that two unnamed sources had confirmed that Google had offered the makers of WhatsApp $10 billion to buy the startup, according to Forbes.
Google chief Larry Page met with Jan Koum, WhatsApp's chief executive to prevent the sale to Facebook, according to The Information. While Page made a plea for independence rather than joining Facebook and its board of directors, Koum apparently decided to take the heftier deal.
U.S. & World
Both reports cite sources with knowledge of the deal, which makes use think Koum or someone from WhatsApp is spilling secrets. (The Information reporter/founder Jessica Lessin is also married to Facebook executive Samuel Lessin, too.)
It seems Facebook didn't want a repeat of Waze and was willing to make an offer that had to hurt rather than let WhatsApp slip away. With its efforts at acquiring Snapchat thwarted, it seems WhatsApp might be the only other viable option -- and Facebook was willing to pay the $19 billion price.


text: Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Happy 28th of July! Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today! Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Happy 28th of July! Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Peru View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message NickImpyJoined: 28 Dec 2007Posts: 56Location: NJ/PA Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 4:19 am Post subject: Happy 28th of July! Please see thread title. Back to top naturegirl321Joined: 04 May 2003Posts: 9041Location: home sweet home Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:57 pm Post subject: Yea! only a three day work week. Back to top dmacdougallJoined: 22 Apr 2005Posts: 21Location: Canada to Chile Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:50 am Post subject: I was in Arequipa for the 28th; it was suprising, there was nothing going on. And I was all excited to be around for it. I hope you guys in other parts of the country had a better time. In a few days, I am headed to Lima. Hopefully, next year I will spend it there. Speaking of which, how is the teaching market looking? Anybody looking for roomates? D. Back to top naturegirl321Joined: 04 May 2003Posts: 9041Location: home sweet home Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 5:15 pm Post subject: Market's pretty good, what are you interetsed in? Businessmen, kids, general English? I'll be glad to help you out in Lima. See my PM. Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Peru All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Where to Begin----------------General DiscussionNewbie ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumOnline Teaching Forum Africa Forums----------------General Africa Forum Asia Forums----------------CambodiaChina (Job-related Posts Only)China (Off-Topic)Hong KongIndiaIndonesiaJapanMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeTaiwanThailandGeneral Asia ForumVietnam Caribbean Forums----------------General Caribbean Forum Europe Forums----------------Czech RepublicFranceGermanyGreeceItalyMacedonia and the BalkansPolandRomaniaRussia & C.I.S.SpainTurkeyUkraineUnited KingdomGeneral Europe Forum Latin America Forums----------------ArgentinaBrazilChileColombiaCosta RicaMexicoMexico (off-topic)PeruGeneral Latin America Forum The Middle East Forums----------------BahrainEgyptIsraelKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesGeneral Middle East Forum North America Forums----------------General North America Forum Oceania----------------Australia/New Zealand You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group Teaching Jobs in China


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How does a fledgling, technology-oriented school just north of Acapulco get a leg up in this competitive world? I honestly have no idea, but at least one person seems to think that naming it after Steve Jobs will do the trick. Will this entice southern Mexico's best and brightest to switch to the school? Maybe. Did Steve Jobs have anything to do with this idea? Almost certainly, no.
Steve Jobs Technological High School Center (Steve would NEVER have used that name!) is currently open, and apparently seeking applicants. Be mindful that there is a one in five chance that this is actually a horrible con, and that you'll immediately be shunted into an underground sweatshop where you'll sew exact replicas of out-of-production black turtle necks and Levi 501s. [Macenstein]


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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
And Again
Sometimes I wonder about the repetitiveness about the experience of living with a disability. Of dealing with, not the disability, but the issues it brings with it. Little did I know when I sat down in a wheelchair that my world had changed so dramatically. I imagined that I'd have difficulty adapting to rolling, to curbs and to barriers. That, surprisingly, was dealt with within days of being disabled. I became used to adapting, planning, looking for alternatives. I became used to back doors, back alley entrances and hidden passageways. I became used to marking both places where I was physically welcomed and places which simply were no longer part of my world. I became adept at living that life, learning how move anew in this world. These frustrations are part and parcel of what it is to move differently. I want change. I see change happening. I knew that I'd need new skills, both of mobility and of flexibility. I've written often of this. I fear boring you.
What seems to be so incredibly repetitive, and remarkably frustrating, is the million ways that people and systems create barriers. That planning, even meticulous planning, is meaningless when people don't listen, or rather when they pretend to listen and then just don't do what they promise to do. Hotel rooms booked as accessible turn out to be completely impossible to navigate. Restaurants who claim accessibility but the toilet is down a flight of stairs. Stores with an accessible till that is rarely open. Even phone calls and chats with real live people don't guarantee anything. I have learned to mistrust. Completely mistrust the word of non-disabled people who talk to me of accessibility.
The incident behind this is what happened this weekend at Roy Thomson Hall. We went to see the Messiah and I carefully called, as instructed to do on their website, and booked an accessible seat. Everything should have been OK. We pulled up in front of the building and a Hall staffer was there as I got off the bus. She said she was there to ensure that we got to our seats OK. When she realized we had to pick up our tickets, she directed us to the Box Office and said she would meet us inside. We got our tickets, impressed at the seeming willingness to be of assistence.
That ended soon.
I handed her my ticket and she said that we weren't on the 'wheelchair list' - God how I hate being referred to as a 'Wheelchair'. I told her that I had booked accessible seating and she said, 'Oh, really?' I was immediately miffed. I didn't become disabled yesterday. I've been booking accessibility for years, I know how to do this. Well, we weren't on the list so the seat hadn't been removed. She knew I was upset and she pointed us to the elevator and told us the seat would be removed by the time we got there.
It wasn't.
The woman overseeing that area went off in search of someone to take the seat out so I could get in. She hadn't been told of me either. The fellow came and I actually apologized to him for bothering him. He wasn't rude but he wasn't nice about it either. Clearly he was disturbed at having to do this for us. OK, I don't know how to make this better.
It got worse.
I asked where the accessible washroom was on my level. There wasn't one. To get to the washroom, I'd have to go all the way back to the elevator and go down to the main floor. It had been made very clear that people who were late would not be allowed in. I asked if it were possible to make it to the elevator and washroom and get back during the fifteen minute intermission. The woman thought for a second and said, 'Probably not.' I then asked if I was delayed because the bathroom was so far away (versus the washrooms for the non disabled which were just outside the door entering into our section), would I be allowed in. She said without hesitation, 'No.'
So I went to the washroom just before it was time to take our seats. Then through the whole first session I worried about having to go pee at intermission. I worried that I'd make it so Joe would miss the second half. I worried myself into having to pee. As soon as the first half ended, I turned to the door, I usually wait for people to leave so I can get out without an audience, but I was at the door and Joe opened it for me. We raced to the washroom, waited for one to come free, then raced back upstairs. We made it with a few minutes to spare. I realized then, I just wasn't having fun.
It took a strength of will to focus on the music and the surroundings and simply forget about the first half and the worries that came with it. Forget having booked seats carefully and then arrived to find the promised seats not made ready. Forget the fact that people treated me like I ... was a liar ... was upsetting their routine ... was more bother than I was worth. Forget the fact that I was being held responsible for their poor planning, why would you put wheelchair seats and accessible washrooms so far apart? Forget that I'd worried all through the first act. Forget that I'd become unpleasant and difficult with the staff. Forget all that. It took an effort of will and sheer bloody-mindedness to focus simply on the music and the message within the music. But I did. Joe did.
This. This is what I'm having trouble getting used to ... having to rely on others to do what they say they will do. To expect simple, decent treatment as a customer and get something much different instead. To deal with people who have the power to make decisions over things as basic as my bladder, who seem to love wielding that power. To lose my anonymity when I arrive and have to have a fuss made about what should have simply been there.
That's the difficulty.
Those are the barriers that upset me.
And I get tired telling the same story over and over again.
But I have to.
And I thank you, deeply, for listening.
31 comments:
- Glee said...
I had a similar experience where the space was not ready. The whole huge crowd of people who were behind me at the door just had to stand there while the useless bastards sorted it out. My friend said "why don't you make a complaint?" I said "why don't you make a complaint?" She "but it is not about me". Me: so you are not waiting as well? you are not annoyed about this? you are not being made to wait and be embarrassed in front of all these people? She thought and said: weeell yes.
As an "Associate" under the Australian Disability Discrimination Act she was covered too. I explained to her that actually she was being discriminated against too. She did get that.
Did she make a complaint? NUP!
Is she my friend anymore? NUP! but mainly cos she ran off with my husband! totally useless woman!
- 20 December 2011 at 00:32
- Glee said...
You keep writing Dave cos I share your posts on Facebook all the time to spread your words. Remember there are still millions of ableoids to educate!
- 20 December 2011 at 00:33
I'm sorry that you were treated so poorly. I had a similar experience with the rule that you can't go back into a theater if you get up to use the restroom -- in my case, I was on medication that meant I needed frequent trips to the restroom. I had to get up during the first act, and I missed it. I spent the entire second act worrying that I would have to get up again. It completely ruined the performance for me.
I understand that people getting up can be disruptive, but I think that needs to be weighed against accessibility for people who may need frequent or unexpected breaks.
- 20 December 2011 at 00:50
please go on writing!
You are the one often showing me, that I am not the only one worrying or being frustrated.
Even if there are people out there who love me as I am I often experience that I am the only one in charge of myself, my body, my disability.
Thats why I have those controll issues.
In the end it is nearly impossible for me to rely on others to make me feel comfortable.
Thats sad, I know.
It take diuretics (water pills) and sometimes have to weigh the risk of my health against taking part in an public event.
Sometimes I just skipt those medication.
But that is not something that might help you.
Just go on enjoying as much of your leisure time with Joe as possible. Hopefully the experinces will get better one day.
- 20 December 2011 at 03:27
What a nightmare. I'm amazed you were able to focus at all on the performance. I'm stunned by the response of the staff. They should have been the ones apologizing and then speedily making it right and ending with another apology for the "misunderstanding".
For the record, I don't find your blog repetative. You may riff on the same themes sometimes but the stories are never dull.
You share when places get it wrong and when they get it right. You share your wonderful family with us. You've told us about funny things that have happened and magical moments in your day to day as well as the frustrations that accompany your journey on wheels. Write on, I say!
- 20 December 2011 at 06:28
I hate it that you have the same kinds of stories to share repeatedly. It shouldn't be like that. The sad truth is that justice and fairness to not come about in this world just because they are the right thing to do. You shouldn't have to experience and tell of the same situations again and again but that is what it seems to take to bring about awareness and change in this world. It has been true of all the important social shifts that have happened regarding race, gender and so many other things. This work makes us angry and weary and it isn't fair and shouldn't be necessary - but it is. We will keep listening and joining our voices with yours in our own communities so that one of these days, accessibility will be no more of an issue or problem than the right of a woman to walk into a bank and open her own account without a father or husband present.
- 20 December 2011 at 07:07
- Andrea S. said...
So very often, when I arrive at a hotel, the accommodations I have requested have not been put in place. Sometimes the deaf accessibility kit has not even been put in the room. Sometimes it is there but has not been set up--they leave it to me to set up! These days (unlike the first few years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed) the accessibility equipment they use at hotels works very differently from the equivalent equipment I use at home, which means I have trouble figuring out how to set it up, so I ask someone at the hotel to set it up. They do, but often the ONE employee who has supposedly be trained in how to set it up is not there, so the person who comes in to fix it doesn't have a clue, figures something out, but sets it up wrong. For example, I have had equipment that picks up every single cough, clap, or other silly little noise I make and flash the light for all of them, which gets very annoying and distracting. But it will still fail to flash for an actual knock at the door that it is SUPPOSED to flash for. So I often end up turning off the equipment and just not using any of it -- meaning I don't know if someone is knocking at the door to get my attention, or if the fire alarm is blaring meaning I should evacuate. Even the accessible (vibrating) alarm clock is often so impossible to figure out that I have simply given up counting on the hotel to provide me with a clock I can actually use. I now have my own portable vibrating alarm clock that I bring with me on all trips, even when I have bothered to ask for ADA accommodations in the hotel room.
Television is usually easier because these days (since a US law was passed and implemented from July 1, 1993, onwards) all TV sets 13 inches and larger now have a built in caption decoder--it's no longer separate from the TV like it usually was in the 1980s. So at least I can count on the TV having the caption decoder. EXCEPT THAT, some TV models make it basically impossible to figure out how to turn on the caption decoder: I have sometimes spent as long as 15 minutes experimenting with different options in the menu before finally figuring out how to turn on the caption decoder. It shouldn't be like this--every remote should have a button on it that turns the caption decoder on or off, they should not bury such an essential device under 15 layers of menu options.
And EVEN THEN ... sometimes in hotels, the caption decoder STILL does not actually work because occasionally a hotel will have its own internal cable TV system that for some reason strips the captions off all incoming TV programs.
My situation is different from yours in that I can still get by without the accessibility equipment if I must, which gives me the option to just put up with not being able to actually use any of the equipment they give me for their intended purpose. But when I do this, I still end up with a sub-standard experience. And as you say, all of these things should just be there when I have specifically requested for them to be.
- 20 December 2011 at 07:14
It's really important that you keep writing your blog because it helps people like me who are ignorant about these issues to understand better and I hope it will bring about change.
No one can really understand what it is like to be disabled until they are put in that position so posts like yours do wonderful things.
I'm heavily pregnant at the moment and I struggle to walk far these days. It's been like entering a different world even though I'm walking about in the exact same world. I realise now how tiny little accommodations can make a huge difference to my day.
For example when I walk into a large shop I want clear signing of where items/collections/themes of things are so I can take the most direct and easiest route to them. Frustratingly there are often no signs at all and I'm left with two choices (as there are never members of staff by the door), give up and leave the shop or wonder around aimlessly until I find what I'm looking for - ultimately tiring myself out and putting myself in pain.
To other people it probably sounds petty (and I'm not for a moment trying to suggest that it compares to having to navigate the world in a wheelchair) but it really impacts my life. I used to love going into town by myself, doing a little shopping and sitting down for a coffee somewhere. I haven't done that in months because the world just isn't as accessible to me as it used to be. I've stayed in for the last few months because I can't guarantee a seat on the bus and I can't guarantee the shops will be accessible. The pleasure I used to take in this activity is now totally overwhelmed by the potential stresses and strains it puts on me.
What's sad is it needn't be like this if just a little thought and planning was put into the little things.
- 20 December 2011 at 08:09
You've never bored me, thanks. Any repetitiveness in your blog -- which is actually less than you think, even though the 'barrier' incidents are altogether too repetitious on their own -- just serves to keep getting my attention.
Speaking as a 65-year-old TAB, I need t have these issues brought to my attention. First, because I have been appallingly indifferent to my privilege as a member of the 'exclusive able-bodied club'. And then, because one day I may need to deal with the same barriers myself, and forewarned would be good.
Reading your blog for the past 3 years has me speaking up in all sorts of situations:
* No, we can't hold a conference in a second floor room with no elevator
* No, we can't require conference calling for every online class -- some of our folks don't do audio and we've never stipulated they should
And so on.
Keep wriing, keep venting. Maybe someday we can all celebrate Universal Design occurring universally!
- 20 December 2011 at 08:16
- Molly said...
It's posts like these that really make me MAD Dave. How hard is it to show kindness to another human being? I get mad at all the people who treat you like an inconvenience. The response would have been "Well I'm very sorry about this sir. I understand that the fact that the bathroom is far far away is unacceptable. Here's what we'll do. You go, and regardless of when you get back, I promise you that I will guide you back to your seat because YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING WHO DESERVES TO HAVE FUN AND BE ABLE TO PEE WITHOUT BEING STRESSED."
Oy vey. is that so hard?
I'm glad you share these stories. You've really opened my eyes. I remember one time, I hit the handicapped/automatic doors button on a school building and they didn't open. I thought "this would make things harder for Dave" and I called maintenance and asked them to fix it, so that the next person who needed to get through those doors didn't have to be inconvenienced.
It irks me to no end that people act like you are an inconvenience. YOU ARE DAVE. plain and simple.
- 20 December 2011 at 08:47
Dave it may be repetitive to you, but that is why it matters. Because none of us get upset about a single incident, it could happen to anyone. What is draining is that it happens so often, and despite all the effort it takes to avoid it happening and the only thing that will change it is an understanding of the toll it takes. To be excluded constantly is overwhelming and soul destroying. Keep writing. Nobody will change unless they begin to understand. Thanks for being brave enough to tell it.
- 20 December 2011 at 08:50
- Belinda said...
Not just listening but feeling sad and ashamed (I don't know why--but I would be proud if they had got it right) that such an event was spoiled.
- 20 December 2011 at 09:09
I guess I've just gotten used to it, as I was born with what I've got. I've never expected to be properly accomodated because I so rarely have been. It doesn't even take much for me, but even that little bit is too-often nonexistent. Wanted to be, yes, but never ever expected. That sounds sad but I've always just assumed deep down I had to be the one to do all the adapting unless somebody went above and beyond.
Keep writing, you've gotten me thinking differently about these things! Really. Your experiences come from a huge change in perspective I never had, which is very valuable to me.
- 20 December 2011 at 10:34
To me, your blog has a nice balance of uplifting, entertaining and, yes, sometimes, infuriating snippets of real life. It's usually the first thing I read each morning when I get to work and there are days when it may be the one thing that keeps me form turning around and going back home!
I have worked in the field of services to people with disabilities for over 20 years and, in addition, my partner is disabled due to liver failure. I see our lives and daily struggles reflected in your blog over and again. It's not easy, but it's much harder when I feel like I am doing it alone.
Your blog helps me feel like I am not alone in my expectation that people deserve dignity, compassion and equitable treatment. Thank you, Tom
- 20 December 2011 at 10:50
- Liz Miller said...
I feel such gratitude for your telling your story. Because of you, every day I actually notice what I didn't notice before. I notice steps, and missing ramps, and missing curb-cutouts.
I notice displays blocking aisles, and I notice broken doors.
And, because of you, I speak up.
- 20 December 2011 at 11:03
What a shame. I mean, it is not acceptable that small places with little budgets have difficulty adapting their environments into ones that are accessible for all. For a huge place like Roy Thompson hall this is utterly unacceptable.
In some ways though it is the human component - one of the most transcendant musical experiences possible was ruined by human inaction, incompetence and thoughtlessness.
As a person who has been in choral performances at a high level a number of times in my life - you are so busy focusing on the music that you would never notice someone getting up to pee. This is a ridiculous rule.
- 20 December 2011 at 11:27
Please keep writing it helps us all keep righting...
- 20 December 2011 at 12:47
- Jazz said...
Oh, Dave. Keep on blogging and sharing your experience. It helps all of us who share your frustration feel like it's not just us who feel these things, that things actually are broken (we aren't broken, the systems and thinking/non-thinking of organizations and such are).
I have spent all of my professional career being frustrated by organizations that do not treat me as a human being with needs. I changed jobs every year or two for the past 15 years, never building my career or advancing because of it. While I excelled in all of my positions and had nothing but glowing performance reviews and the esteem of my colleagues, simple requests of the organization to accommodate my physical needs are treated as huge issues, and I become a "problem staff".
Because I could no longer endure the frustration without opening my mouth (I lost my filter after years of feeling shat upon), I retired 20 years earlier than I had planned.
From HEALTHCARE. That speaks volumes.
I gave up. Which is not OK, but I just couldn't do it anymore. After years of coming home daily in tears, and being treated as a second class citizen because of my medical needs I could no longer fight.
But I know that all of us have to. That the fight isn't over, that the only way that systems, organizations, and people will become more considerate and understanding is with education.
Some day I may have it in me again to go back into the fray. For now, I capitulate. I give.
Please don't do the same. You have the connections, clear voice, and power of your organization behind you. Your everyday experiences and stories mean something, and teach us all what it means to live in this world with disability.
Because my disability is invisible, I have different challenges than you do. But, the challenges are there nonetheless. Inconsiderate people are there no matter the disability.
We all root for you, Dear Dave.
Don't quit.
- 20 December 2011 at 12:57
I love that you write this blog, there are posts that makes me sad, angry, happy, hopefull.
I like reading about things that I am totally ignorant of, like acessibility for people with physical disabilities, it makes me really angry to read that you and others have so many problems but I wish people learn and improve, today I notice things I never noticed before because I learned reading here.
I do understand part of your frustration since in today's world I can't go to many places because my type of autism doesn't let me tolerate things like background music (placed everywhere) and sounds, smells, etc, but that is not classified as acessibility and nobody would understand why I can't go to most places.
- 20 December 2011 at 13:42
Please keep writing. You speak for so many of us.
There are times I tell my husband I don't want to go out for the evening because I don't want to have to fight for the right to be in a restaurant with my service dog. I just want a date night dinner with my beloved, not another argument. So instead we stay home because I have no more energy in me to fight. I get so tired of fighting for things that are my legal right! I get so tired of being told I expect too much or that I see discrimination too easily.
Keep writing Dave, please.
- 20 December 2011 at 15:03
Dave, I also have problems in theatres. I am able to walk without support or aid. However I suffer a severe phobia with a fear of heights (steepness of theatres within a closed in area)and whenever I ask for help I get treated like a problem rather than a customer / human being.
Sometimes when flush with money, I can offer to pay to get over my problem. But this rarely solves the issue. Dave, UK Devon
- 20 December 2011 at 15:57
. . . interesting that they consulted with Yitzak Pearlman when they built RTH back in the 70's - to be sure that it was fully accessible!! How much further could they have strayed from their current status!!!!
Sorry that your performance was so hard to enjoy!!! You pay full price for your tickets - you should be able to get full benefit!!
- 20 December 2011 at 17:10
- Louise said...
My theatre problem (or more precisely, my foster son's) is that removing one seat does not make for accessible for all. He sits in a shell in a wheelchair, and is tall. I ring ahead, I explain his situation (he doesn't speak easily). I say he won't fit into a one-seat space and needs either to be in a front row or to have a seat removed in front of him as well. They assure us they have the facilities. We arrive, invariably, to find he needs to sit sideways and watch the performance out of the corner of his eye. Note he is not in an especially inclined chair, or a bed on wheels, or anything particularly unusual. Just tall, and not able to tuck his legs under his seat.
I guess the battle just keeps on going - each time, maybe, one more person understands...... and it's certainly so much easier than it was 35 years ago when he and I first started hanging out together!
- 20 December 2011 at 17:11
- Ashley's Mom said...
You were writing my story (as well as your own) and the story of my two children who use wheelchairs. After 16 years of dealing with this same cr*p, I too am really tired of it all.
- 20 December 2011 at 19:27
Hope you also let Roy Thomson Hall know, I think that some places have the idea that it wouldn't occur at their location and they need to know it can. A big hurdle seems to be people's attitude and that takes repeating and focusing on them. Maybe you should offer to do a workshop for them.
Hope you and Joe have a great Holiday Season with lots of good music and friends and laughter. And a gift I get abd love is your blog each day even when it pulls me up short or saddens me. Best wishes.
- 20 December 2011 at 19:36
- wheeliecrone said...
Dave, sometimes I feel like the only wheelchair-user who has these things happen. Just as you describe.
I book tickets carefully and make a point of making suitable arrangements and arrive to find that nobody has any idea about the wheelchair booking and no the seats haven't been taken out and yes we will do it but it's really an imposition. I am treated as if my being a wheelchair user is just something I am doing to annoy others. I am treated as if I am less than.
It's wrong, Dave. It's wrong when it happens to you and it's wrong when it happens to me. And thanks to your blog, I know that I am not alone in the world. I am not the only person who is being discriminated against in this way.
Thank you and please keep on writing.
- 20 December 2011 at 19:56
- nycivan said...
Dave, I just wanted to chime in and add to the chorus about your blog. It is the first thing I look for when I check my very buys inbox. I truly enjoy reading about all your adventures and even the down times like this one because I admire the way you conduct yourself.
Please dismiss the idea of not writing.
- 21 December 2011 at 07:41
- nycivan said...
i meant very BUSY inbox
- 21 December 2011 at 07:43
Love reading your posts, they are NEVER boring!!
Sorry you were treated so badly and that it spoilt the first half, at least you have enough will power that the second half was enjoyable!
- 21 December 2011 at 07:51
- Crow Jane said...
Accessibility is a myth.
Yesterday I was dropping a client off at school after his yoga class. While the handicapped parking spots are located in front of the school, they are also, as I discovered, located behind the drop off lane which resulted in all the parking spaces being completely blocked off that day (most of the high school had a half day.
After driving around for about 30min hoping traffic would clear up I gave up and ended up using a space near the field (I figured that it was at least big enough to fit the van). I would have driven longer but unfortunately I had a doctor's appointment that day.
All the while I kept on thinking. "What if I was in a wheelchair, was by myself, and was visiting the school?"
I thought about this as an impatient parent honked at us as we walked across the crosswalk.
I continued to think about this as I searched for a path to accommodate his wheelchair, and wouldn't result in us having to walk along the rather crowded parking lot.
And when the receptionist shrugged my concerns off, I really thought about it.
People who use wheelchairs, have seven options as to where they can safely park. Seven.
It is a big deal.
- 21 December 2011 at 14:16
- Lene Andersen said...
I know. Boy, do I know.
Send a copy to this with a letter to the CEO (or whatever). They take action when you let them know you've told the public about it. And it can make a real difference so next time, you (or someone else) won't experience this.
It's exhausting and demoralizing and sad-making, but we who have a voice have to.
- 21 December 2011 at 23:50


text:
World Amateur Team Championships
What are the World Amateur Team Championships?
Conducted by the International Golf Federation (formerly the World Amateur Golf Council), which comprises the national governing bodies of golf in more than 125 countries, the World Amateur Team Championships are a biennial international amateur golf competition rotated among three geographic zones of the world: Asia-Pacific, American and European-African.
Each team has two or three players and plays 18-holes of stroke play for four days. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team's score for the championship.
IGF National Members may enter one women's team and one men's team. Players must be amateur golfers under the Rules of Amateur Status of the R&A and the United States Golf Association and a National of the country which the competitor is representing as defined in the IGF's Nationality Policy.
The winning team in the women's competition receives custody of the Espirito Santo Trophy for the ensuing two years. The winning team in the men's competition receives custody of the Eisenhower Trophy for the ensuing two years. Members of the winning teams receive gold medals, members of the second-place teams receive silver medals and members of the third-place teams receive bronze medals. The lowest individual score in each championship is recognized at the respective closing ceremony, but no prize is awarded.


text:
The Red Hot Stamper Sketch Challenge #135 really came in handy for me when my daughter asked me for a birthday card for a one year old little girl. This is the sketch we had to work with...
Thanks for stopping by!
Pin It Now!
Red Hot Sketch Challenge #135
Monday, August 4, 2014
Posted by Christi at 2:00 AM
Labels: Button Bear, Sketch Challenge
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text:
Edgar Cayce's Community
By June Bro
My memory of the way in which Edgar and Gertrude Cayce, and Gladys Davis conceived their work and went about their business of giving helpful, sometimes life-saving counsel to thousands of people was simply this: they felt called by God to a peculiar but wondrous vocation. It wasn't approved by the churches or academia or society in general, but though it hurt sometimes, they were never daunted by the snub.
I remember the time that Miriam Bright, a woman from the Methodist Church, came over with a pie for the Cayces. Harmon and I had been invited to her home several times and her family was full of questions about Cayce and his work. We had plenty of stories to tell them. Tears streamed down Gertrude's face as she thanked our friend Miriam for the friendly gesture. No one in the city of Virginia Beach had ever come over with a neighborly "glad you're here" kind of gift for them.
But they had a devoted community. Edgar was a charming extrovert. He loved people: loved being around them, loved telling his stories. He loved hearing from people who had gotten readings, and answered many of the letters himself. He loved talking with people on the phone, too. I remember one night Harmon had forgotten something in the office. As we walked in, we saw Edgar pacing up and down in his study, saying over and over again, "Thank you God, thank you God, thank you God." He told us that he had just hung up the phone after a woman had called to tell him the good news that his reading had saved her son's life.
Edgar felt a close kinship with the people for whom he had given readings, especially those who followed up and let him know what worked and what didn't. He loved it when Study Group #1 came to visit. They had worked together for years and knew each other intimately. There was a huge potluck dinner each time they came and Hannah Miller brought her famous home-baked bread—according to reading 404-1, she had baked unleavened bread for temples and altars in a past life in Egypt. Some of this bread was also buried with the dead, and could still be found intact. For Edgar's birthday in 1944, I baked a cake and the Study Group members brought the rest of the goodies, all fixed according to the Cayce readings. Edgar beamed the whole time they were together. This was Edgar's community: his family; Gladys who was as close as any immediate family member; the members of the first Study Group; the people who were grateful for their readings and kept in touch; those who attended the A.R.E. Congress; his adult Sunday school class at the Presbyterian Church; and the Board and staff of the A.R.E.
Edgar knew community was important. Certainly his life as RaTa in Egypt where he taught people the concept of oneness—the oneness of God, the oneness of God's children, the oneness of all creation, added to his love of community. It was an exciting culture with leaders from all over the world, coming to visit and learn. And in his lifetime as Lucius, Bishop of the church at Laodicea, he was concerned with building a disparate group of believers into communities trying to live Jesus' teachings. They must have grown very close as they forged one new church community after another.
It all fits with Edgar's emphasis that we are our brothers' and sisters' keepers. Locking arms with others and blessing them on their way is our command from the Creative Forces.
Dr. June Bro - June Avis Bro found her life deeply affected by working daily with Edgar Cayce. She has set about sharing her resultant interests with others as a pastoral counselor and as a minister, as well as by using her skills in the performing arts. She has a graduate ministerial degree from Andover-Newton Theological School in the Boston area, and a doctorate from Chicago Theological Seminary. In addition to teaching on six campuses while raising five children, she has been a research assistant at Harvard, lectured and held workshops in many cities, led overseas tours to the Near East and China, and served as pastor. A concert pianist, she has served on the music staff in churches of most of the major Protestant denominations and draws on her background in the arts to illuminate myths, symbols, and dreams.


text:
A Message from the President/Chair
In recent weeks, a number of opinions have appeared on the Internet about USATF's Coaches Registry, which we announced on May 18. (To read the complete press release with details about the Coaches Registry, click here.) Some people love it, some do not. I wanted to take an opportunity to explain the genesis behind the program and how it will help make our sport and service to athletes more effective.
The Coaches Registry is part of our commitment to implementing "best practices" that are on a par with the best-run sports in America. It was designed for very simple and important purposes:
The two key elements of the Coaches registry are having coaches undergo a criminal background check and agreeing to abide by a Code of Conduct that states, among other basic points, that a coach shall not advocate the use of performance-enhancing drugs, have inappropriate contact with athletes, or exploit a conflict of interest to financially benefit from an athlete.
USA Track & Field's Coaches Registry is a directive of USATF's Board of Directors and has been in the works for more than three years. The first call came at the 2006 USATF Annual Meeting when the Coaches Advisory Committee called on USATF to come up with a system that would keep coaches in good standing from being lumped in with the "bad actors". Specifically, the role of coaches in the lives of athletes had become a national focus in the wake of Justin Gatlin's positive drug test, and the sanctioning of coaches such as Remy Korchemny and Trevor Graham by USADA was another blow.
One of the reasons for hiring a Director of Coaching was to give American coaches the voice in the organization that they often felt they lacked. With proper staffing in place, our Board of Directors issued a directive to the National Office to devise a "certification" plan for coaches.
In recent months, USATF has engaged the leaders of the coaching community via email, phone and in person, asking for their opinion on the Code of Conduct and the Registry as a whole.
Coaches must Register in order to be eligible for USATF benefits, including obtaining credentials for the 2010 USA Outdoor Championships next week in Des Moines. Having more than five weeks to register would have been ideal, but recent events have provided a Call to Action. One NGB, whose vetting system had previously been more substantive than ours, has come under intense media scrutiny and faces litigation for not doing more to keep pedophiles from their athletes. As a result, the U.S. Olympic Committee has made clear it will be instituting minimal standards to NGBs for "athlete protection." Rather than playing defense, USATF sought to do the right thing proactively by developing a system our coaches have asked for since 2006.
Of course there are those who don't like the system, but we have received feedback from scores of prominent coaches saying this is long overdue.
In the end, this is everybody doing what is best for athletes, coaches and our sport. It is our intent to work together with coaches in a positive and productive way to make sure we are serving them as well as our athletes.
I am interested in hearing your thoughts about the Coaches Registry. Please
contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com or
Terry Crawford, USATF Director of Coaching, at


text:
Witness an ongoing culture war raging in Texas — a tempest in a textbook. The state's Board of Education has been engaged in a pitched, years-long battle over what belongs (and doesn't) in public school textbooks. Legislators, educators, parents and students debate the facts and the theories — including what constitutes a fact versus a theory. The chair of the Board of Education fights tirelessly to include intelligent design in science books, while a board member argues to exclude mention of the slave trade and the Enlightenment in history books. The result is a chaotic scene, with the next generation's education held hostage.
- Monday 1/28 @ 9:00p.m.


text:
Friday 25 January
|Rucervus (1)
Eld's deer is known for the impressive bow or lyre shaped antlers of the stags, which sweep back in a single, long curve, with a smaller branch growing towards the front of the head (5). The antlers are replaced every year, and reach their largest size during the breeding season (3). This majestic species possesses the usual elegant stature of Cervus deer with its long, thin legs, slender body, short tail and large ears (2). The coarse coat is reddish-brown to grey (3), with paler underparts, redder in summer, and darker brown in winter (2) (3). Stags are larger and heavier than females, tend to be darker in colour, and possess a thick mane of long hair around the neck (2). Young Eld's deer have white spots that eventually fade and disappear (3).
Throughout most of the year, female Eld's deer are solitary, or occur in pairs with their young, (10), except during the mating season when females and their young congregate in herds of up to 50 individuals (2). Males are also generally solitary, except during spring when mating begins (6). The breeding season in China is from February to June, with a single fawn (occasionally twins) born from September to January, after a gestation of around 34 weeks; in India, calving occurs from mid-October to the end of December (6). The Thailand brow-antlered deer (R. e. siamensis) and the Burmese brow-antlered deer (R. e. thamin) breed from February to April and give birth between October and November (10). Like most cervids, mothers hide their young immediately after birth, concealing them in the long grass. Young are weaned at around five months and become sexually mature at one and a half to two years of age (2).
Eld's deer are active most of the time, but tend to seek shelter from the midday sun (10). This deer species undergo short migrations in order to find water during the dry season and food during the growing season (9). Eld's deer are closely associated with areas that are seasonally burned, eating the new grasses that emerge after the burn (9). The diet includes a variety of grasses, fruit, herbaceous and wetland plants and this species is known to graze and browse opportunistically on cultivated crops from nearby fields, such as rice, lentils, maize, peas and rape (2) (9).
Eld's deer is indigenous to South and Southeast Asia, with three, geographically isolated subspecies recognised today (1) (9). The Manipur brow-antlered deer (R. e. eldii) is confined to a small population in Manipur, India; the Thailand brow-antlered deer (R. e. siamensis) is found in Cambodia, Hainan Island (China), Lao People's Democratic Republic and was also recorded in Thailand and Viet Nam, where it is now believed to be regionally extinct; the Burmese brow-antlered deer (R. e. thamin) occurs in central Myanmar and is now believed to be extinct in western Thailand (1) (10).
The Manipur brow-antlered deer (R. e. eldii) inhabits areas of floating vegetation known as "phumdi", while the Thailand brow-antlered deer (R. e. siamensis) and the Burmese brow-antlered deer (R. e. thamin) are found in dry dipterocarp forest (11) (12), lowland valleys and plains, (avoiding dense forest and coastal areas), and occasionally seasonally flooded forest (2) (6) (11).
Eld's deer are widely hunted as food and for their antlers (6). In particular, Eld's deer are thought to have been hunted to feed the armies during many Asian wars (10). They are a prized game animal because of their impressive antlers and hides, which are sold in the local markets (6). Habitat destruction due to expanding agriculture has also had a major impact on this rare species. In Manipur, the Manipur brow-antlered deer (R. e. eldii) population has declined primarily due to wetland reclamation for grazing, cultivation and fish farming (6). Very little suitable habitat is protected; only one percent of the protected forests in Southeast Asia are suitable for Eld's deer (11). Even within protected areas, these threats continue. The Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar, is one of the last strongholds of the species, yet the dipterocarp forest within it continues to be degraded under great pressure from local communities for cropland and timber (7). Sadly, there is often a lack of funding and political will for protection (12). Due to their highly fragmented distribution this species is also at risk from inbreeding and loss of genetic variation (12).
Eld's deer occur in a number of protected areas throughout its range. The entire Manipur brow-antlered deer (R. e. eldii) population now resides within Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur (1), created in 1977 specifically to protect this subspecies (6). Additionally, local projects have helped raise public awareness and support for conserving the deer (6). Hainan Datian Nature Reserve on Hainan Island, China, was established in 1976 specifically to help the Thailand brow-antlered deer (R. e. siamensis) subspecies recover, with the population now growing an average of 15 percent annually (8). This population has become so large, in fact, that large numbers have been translocated to other parts of the island (8). Kyatthin and Shwesettaw Wildlife Sanctuaries were established in Myanmar to protect the Burmese brow-antlered deer (R. e. thamin) subspecies, and a community education project was initiated in 1995 to raise local awareness about the plight of the deer and the protected status of the Kyatthin Wildlife Sanctuary (6). Captive populations exist around the world, but inbreeding is common and cooperative cross-breeding is required if captive populations are to be genetically varied enough for any future reintroduction programmes into the wild (12).
For more information on Eld's deer see:
Authenticated (07/04/08) by Dr Bill McShea, Research Biologist, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institute.
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