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April 21. 2013 12:36AM
Volunteer care gets animals back to the woods
By BENJAMIN C. KLEIN
Sunday News Correspondent
Wildlife rehabilitator Maria Colby feeds a rescued baby squirrel at New England College in Henniker on Thursday. (THOMAS ROY/UNION LEADER)
HENNIKER -- When a squirrel or a possum is hit crossing the road but survives, when a deer or fisher is orphaned, when a hawk or songbird has a broken wing, local volunteer animal specialists get them back to the wild where they belong.
Many Granite Staters have encountered a wounded chipmunk or rabbit or raccoon, and many have ended up feeling frustrated or even guilty over the inability to help. But there is something people in such situations can do.
For three decades, the state Fish and Game Department has been training and licensing a dedicated group of volunteers as wildlife rehabilitators.
On a recent afternoon, Patty Furness of Bradford stopped by to visit Maria Colby, founder and operator of Wings of the Dawn Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and Bird Sanctuary in Henniker, to check on a malnourished barred owl she'd brought to Colby a weeks earlier.
"I got a call that the owl couldn't fly, and I went to check it out, and it was too malnourished to fly. So I scooped it up and brought it to Maria," Furness said.
After seeing how the owl was doing, Furness said she was amazed it was the same bird and called Colby one of the best wildlife rehabilitators in the state.
Furness also asked Colby about the status of a great horned owl that was found with more than 150 porcupine quills stuck around its face. Colby told Furness the was doing fine and would be released soon.
Plenty of patients
Wings, according to Colby, is one of the largest volunteer animal rehabilitation sites in New Hampshire.
Even though spring still was in its early stages, with birds just starting to return and hibernating mammals just beginning to wake up, Colby said, the center housed multiple species of owls and hawks, a raven, a turkey, bats, seagulls, geese, a vulture and a baby squirrel.
Unless permanently injured, she said, every animal is rehabilitated in a way that makes reintroduction into the wild possible.
Not including the cost of building new enclosures and upkeep, Colby said, it takes roughly $20,000 annually to keep Wings of the Dawn running. People do donate to support the center, she said, but much of the money spent on Wings of the Dawn over the years has been her own.
Colby's hard work isn't lost on her family and friends. Her granddaughter Sequoia French said her grandmother rarely has any free time.
"I have taken one vacation in my life," Colby said, "and that was enough."
Injuries and abandonment
As Colby walked through her animal enclosures, some as large as barns, she could hear geese flying overhead.
"I swear those are the baby geese I raised coming back for the summer," she smiled.
Colby said that while cars or windows cause many of the injuries to the animals she treats, 80 percent of the orphaned baby birds and mammals brought to her lost their parents to house cats. In addition, she said, many baby animals are abandoned by their parents when humans cut down trees and carelessly leave the babies on the ground.
"Just put them back up in a tree in something safe, their parents usually come back," she said.
To help raise orphaned animals, Colby said, she uses adult animals who are permanently injured and will never go back to the wild. Allowing the young to be raised by adults of their own species, she said, gives the young a better chance of making it in the wild.
Doing what she does, Colby said, requires licensing from both the state Fish and Game and the federal Fish and Wildlife departments. Also, she said, her work wouldn't be possible without veterinarian Michael Dutton of the Weare Animal Hospital working on injured wildlife for free.
"I bring him like $50 worth of M&Ms every time I visit him," Colby joked.
Not a job for DIY-ers
Although her operation is one of the biggest of its kind in the state, Colby is far from being New Hampshire's only animal rehabilitator. Among her best-known colleagues in the field is Benjamin Kilham of Lyme, who runs the state's lone rehabilitation program for black bear cubs.
Kilham currently is getting ready to release 27 bear cubs found last year back into the wild this June. Normally, he said, he has about five bear cubs a year, but a perfect storm of circumstances last year brought him about five times the average amount.
Despite the difficulty and cost of rehabilitating wildlife, Kilham said, "Somebody has to do it."
Colby warns that before attempting a rescue, anyone encountering an injured wild animal should call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or state official, rather than risk personal injury or further injury to the animal.
For a complete list of contact information for New Hampshire's licensed wildlife rehabilitators, visit http://tinyurl.com/cz7uen7.


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The crane operator only survived the Vauxhall helicopter crash because he was running late and had not reached his cabin when the aircraft came down, a lorry driver said.
Paul Robinson, 42, said the man would have been "wiped out" if he had been on time this morning.
Instead, he was still climbing up the crane's shaft when disaster struck.
Site workers said the man, who has not been identified, had never been late before.
He is understood to have been held up while dropping his children at school.
Mr Robinson said: "He was halfway up to his cabin, he was making his way up by ladders when the helicopter hit.
"He would have been wiped out if he had been on time.
"It was a very lucky escape."
The lorry driver and father-of-two, from Dagenham in east London, said he was "100%" sure the man would have been killed if he had already been in position.
The crane operator, who had been harnessed to the structure, is now understood to be recovering from his ordeal.
Mr Robinson said he was waiting in a queue to drive into the site when the crash happened.
As debris fell from the sky and hit the back of his lorry, he leaped out, believing another driver had bumped into him.
But as he looked up, he saw a "ball of fire".
He added: "I just ran. I panicked. My mind went blank and fuzzy.
"There was a ball of fire and someone said the helicopter had come down and hit the crane.
"It was terrifying."
Mr Robinson said he visited the site several times a week to collect waste.
Vauxhall helicopter crash leaves two dead: latest news from London – The Guardian
Top Stories – Google News
Google News

subset: commoncrawl


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Coach Frazier, Christian Ponder and Others Talk About Vikings Win Over the 49ers – Post Game Audio
The Vikings locker room was full of excitement after the 24-13 win over what many analysts called the best team in professional football the San Francisco 49ers. Coach Frazier and the Vikings young QB had some great things to say after the impressive victory, and you can hear it all after the jump.
You can get a complete game wrap-up here and see what social networks are saying about the Vikings game/win here.
Coach Leslie Frazier
Summarizes game and injuries:
Talks about how big this win is for the team:
Is this Christian Ponders best game so far?
How do you take this momentum into next weeks game against the Lions?
QB Christian Ponder
Talks about win:
Talks about going for it on 4th and 1 on the goal line, was there ever a question about doing it?
Talks about the 23 yard TD run:
RB Toby Gerhart
Talks about fumbling 3 times at the end of the game:
TE Kyle Rudolph
Talks about the win:
LB Chad Greenway
Talks about hitting Alex Smith:
Talks about the play of QB Christan Ponder:.
C John Sullivan
Talks about going for it on 4th and 1 on the goal line:


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By Jeff Mason and David Adams
CLEVELAND/MIAMI (Reuters) - From the outside, it looked like an abandoned storefront in a run-down part of Cleveland. But inside, dozens of supporters of President Barack Obama gathered on a recent Sunday for an event that was part political rally, part religious revival.
"Gotta vote" signs hung from the ceiling and smoke from an outside grill wafted through the room. Hot dogs, buns, chips and sugar cookies were laid out on a table for the volunteers, most of whom were African-American.
"God is not going to allow this man to fail, because of people like you," radio host Yolanda Adams told the volunteers who had gathered to make calls and knock on doors, encouraging neighbors to register and then vote for Obama.
"You're making the world a better place by saying, 'Hey, have you registered?' " Adams said to shouts of, "That's right!" and, earlier in her remarks, "Amen!"
If Obama holds off his Republican rival Mitt Romney in the crucial state of Ohio and goes on to win a tight race, it could be thanks to roughly 120 such field offices across the state - and hundreds more nationwide.
They are home to an Obama "ground game" operation that is sophisticated in identifying potential supporters yet basic in relying on personal contact from neighbors to register potential voters and help get them to the polls.
Democrats say the breadth of Obama's organization is unprecedented in national politics - a claim that draws skepticism from Republicans, who have built a large get-out-the-vote operation of their own.
One thing is clear, however: Obama's organization - which his campaign says involves hundreds of thousands of people nationwide - reflects the power of incumbency.
Some of Obama's local offices never closed after the historic 2008 election that made him the nation's first black president. As a result, Obama is viewed even by some Republicans as having an advantage in on-the-ground organization, the trench-warfare part of a national campaign.
That is especially crucial now, with early voting under way and the campaigns blanketing key states such as Ohio, Florida and Virginia with television ads.
Obama needs such edge at a time when the economy, although showing signs of life, continues to struggle. His lackluster performance in his first debate with Romney on October 3, which gave the Republican a lift in the polls, has increased the urgency for results from the operation built by Obama campaign manager Jim Messina.
"We've got a stronger organization on the ground than we did in 2008," said White House adviser David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager four years ago. "What Jim's built here is ... going to break new ground organizationally and technologically."
Messina told the Democratic National Convention five weeks ago that the campaign and its supporters had made 43 million calls and registered more than 1 million voters, more than Democrats registered in 2008.
Republican officials, alarmed by Obama's operation, have made a point of building the party's most extensive ground organization to date. Since Romney clinched the Republican nomination in the spring, nearly 108,000 volunteers nationwide have made close to 40 million "voter contacts" and knocked on about 7.5 million doors, a party official said.
"Our ground game is better than their ground game," said Rick Wiley, political director for the Republican National Committee, who questioned why Romney folks were not crossing paths with Obama's volunteer army.
"When you knock on 4 million doors in battleground states, you would think that our ... volunteers would run into the Obama folks," Wiley said. "But we're just not seeing them."
Wiley's comment could be political gamesmanship, but the voter-targeting tactics used by each side could help explain why many Obama and Romney volunteers do not cross paths.
The campaigns often focus on areas that are solidly Democratic or Republican to try to make sure reliable party supporters go to the polls.
At a phone bank in the Toledo area a day after the Cleveland canvassing event, Obama volunteers worked through long lists of people in surrounding neighborhoods. Signs on the walls encouraged them not to leave messages, not to read scripts mechanically and not to stay on the phone too long.
Volunteer numbers are rising, and a bell rings in the office when a call recipient agrees to become an Obama volunteer. Not all of the calls end well for the campaign, though.
"You're undecided, huh?" Maggie Whitman, 80, said to one person on her call list. She encouraged the voter to tune in to the first presidential debate - the one in which a subdued Obama did not fare so well.
Republicans say their ground game has improved after Romney's debate performance, with new volunteers showing up at campaign offices and more people seeking yard signs and bumper stickers to support the former Massachusetts governor.
No Republican has ever been elected president without winning Ohio, which has 18 of the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch victory in the state-by-state race for the White House. The RealClearPolitics average of recent polls has Obama leading in Ohio by less than 2 percentage points.
The campaigns and their allies have spent millions of dollars this year on research about voters and their tendencies.
Among other things, the campaigns have used demographic reports from companies that track consumers' spending habits and social network activity to help identify "unlikely voters" - those who probably will not cast a ballot in the November 6 election and rarely have in previous elections.
For unlikely voters, personal contact from a campaign staffer can be key to reinforcing the notion that their vote matters and that it is worth their time to vote.
"Sophisticated campaigns know that there are voters who, if they are left to their own devices, they won't turn out," said Christopher Mann, a political scientist at the University of Miami. "Changing that behavior and getting those people to the polls is what it's all about."
At the meeting in Cleveland last month, Obama volunteers got tips on how to bring more people into the Democrats' fold.
"We want to remind you that felons can vote - past felons, current, (and) waiting-to-be-sentenced," said Eletrice Harris, an Obama staff member, referring to Ohio's law that prevents felons from voting only if they are behind bars on Election Day.
"We need to get them registered," Harris said, "because if they are not incarcerated on November the 6th, they can vote."
Felons, of course, make up only a tiny portion of the electorate that the Obama campaign is targeting.
Obama's Chicago-based team is trying to make up for Romney's big lead among white men by making appeals to several other groups, including women, Hispanics and young voters.
Labor unions, a Democratic stronghold, have helped Obama's campaign by registering 68,181 new union voters in Ohio and 450,000 nationwide since March 2011, according to the AFL-CIO.
Obama's campaign has invested heavily in Ohio; its roughly 120 offices there are more than it has in any other state. Romney's team, which has 40 offices, casts the Obama group's focus on office numbers as a public relations ploy.
"I'm not interested in building an organization for the sake of public relations," said Scott Jennings, Ohio state director for Romney's campaign. "I'm interested in building an organization for the sake of voter contact."
But Jennings acknowledges that the Democrats' head start in building a ground network gave them an advantage.
"The advantage of being an incumbent president is that you can start early," Jennings said, calling what the Republican team has built since last spring "incredible."
For both campaigns, a priority of the ground game is to lock in the support of those who vote early or by absentee ballot.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Sunday indicated that Obama held a significant lead among those who have voted early so far.
Such positive signs for Democrats on early and absentee voting might not necessarily lead to victories.
In Florida, another coveted state where both campaigns are battling on the ground and the airwaves, the Obama campaign's ground game is bigger and better organized than it was in 2008.
Democrats in the state point to reports that they have nearly matched Republicans in the number of people voting absentee. In the 2008 election, the Republican advantage among such voters was 16 percentage points.
But recent polls have indicated that Romney could be building a lead in Florida. The RealClearPolitics average of polls gives the Republican a lead of nearly 3 percentage points in Florida, which is worth 29 electoral votes to the winner.
Obama's ground game in Florida has three weeks to try to reverse Romney's momentum before the November 6 election. The battle will be fought by Obama volunteers such as Eric Varsallo, a team leader in the campaign's office in the Midtown section of Miami.
Varsallo said volunteers run into a lot of apathy from people who "don't feel that their votes count."
But he says an in-person conversation with a campaign volunteer can change that.
"When they see our positive energy and how we believe in it, it rubs off," he said. "It's contagious."
(Mason reported from Ohio, Adams from Florida; Editing by David Lindsey and Cynthia Osterman)


text: Student Profiles John S. Connolly '11 John S. Connolly '11 Majors: Government & Legal Studies and History Minor: Spanish Hometown: Arlington, Virginia Why did you choose to come to Bowdoin? Bowdoin's longstanding commitment to the common good was a major selling point, and at admitted students weekend I had gotten a great feeling from everyone I met. Most memorably, I sat in on a psychology class and spoke with a student in the class for half an hour afterwards about various aspects of Bowdoin. She was a senior and not on the admissions staff, so I never saw her again, but her willingness to take time out of her busy schedule said a lot about the community, and I decided I wanted this to be my home for four years. Why did you choose your majors? I attended high school in Washington, D.C., and have been interested in government all my life, so while I matriculated with an open mind, I was fairly positive I was going to be a government major. My early experience in the department confirmed that leaning, as my first year political theory seminar with Professor Jean Yarbrough remains one of the best classes I've taken at Bowdoin. History was a little bit more of a surprise choice. I had always loved history but did not think I would be double majoring in it, but I kept picking up interesting history classes here and there, and before I knew it, I had the makings of a major. What has been a course you especially enjoyed at Bowdoin? I took a course cross-listed in history and environmental studies my first year with Professor Jill Pearlman called City, Anti-City, Utopia. We studied urbanism and anti-urban thought from Thomas Jefferson and his ideal of the yeoman farmer through city zoning, urban renewal, and modern city planning ideals. I loved every lecture of the course, and I savored the in-depth research I completed on the history of a Washington, D.C., neighborhood. What professor or professors have especially inspired you during your time at Bowdoin? Professor Allen Wells, who teaches Latin American history, has been a key part of my time here. I'm currently in my fourth course with Professor Wells; through the lecture classes and seminars I've taken with him, my ability to conduct critical analysis has dramatically improved. In Wells's lecture courses, you end up writing almost 40 pages of concise critiques of the course readings, always looking for bias—his classes have changed the way I read everything. I've also taken two classes with Professor Jeff Selinger and am currently working on an honors project with him. He introduced me to thesis-level writing and has pushed me in a lot of ways that have not necessarily made life easy over the past semester, but that I know will help the finished product be something of which I'm proud. Finally, I've taken two Spanish classes with Professor Enrique Yepes, and his constant enthusiasm is inspiring. He is more aware than any other professor I've had of exactly what is going on in with each person in a room, and he literally sits atop his desk and leans forward toward the class, constantly engaging with his students. John, a member of the Bowdoin Student Government, speaking to first-year students during Orientation. What extracurricular or work experiences have you had at Bowdoin? My primary extracurricular activity has been Bowdoin Student Government (BSG). My first semester at Bowdoin, I was appointed the operations director and was responsible for a lot of the logistical aspects of BSG. At the beginning of the second semester, a vacancy opened up in an officer position, and I was elected vice president for Student Government Affairs, which put me in charge of the budget, communications, and the committee that rewrote the constitution to make the body more responsive to student concerns. I was re-elected to this position my sophomore year, and I worked to increase BSG's transparency, efficiency, and outreach. My junior year I spent time on the Academic Affairs Committee as an at-large representative, and I was lucky enough to be elected BSG president this year, making me responsible for coordinating the actions of BSG, setting the agenda for our meetings, and representing student concerns before the faculty and administration. Through my involvement with BSG, the College's governing committees, and the Board of Trustees, I've gotten great insight into how the College operates, and I've tried to use this knowledge to benefit students. Since sophomore year, I've also worked as a student assistant at the Language Media Center, helping students access Bowdoin's extensive foreign language and film collection. I've also volunteered weekly since sophomore year with the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) in Portland. VLP is Maine's statewide legal aid service, and while I would not call working with clients at VLP "fun"—there are heart-wrenching stories involved in low-income legal aid work—the experience has been eye opening, and has allowed me to give back to the local community. John acting in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia during his first year. Finally, I've served as a tour guide and participant in student information sessions for the admissions office. I also acted in two plays during my first year at Bowdoin, which, though I had to give up acting due to my BSG commitment, remain among my favorite college experiences. Which staff members have you connected with most? Through my involvement with BSG, I've been very fortunate to get to know the staff of the student activities office. Allen Delong, Christine Drasba, Megan Brunmier, and Bonnie Pardue are constantly working for students to make the co-curricular life on campus as vibrant as it can be, and they have been immensely helpful to me personally over the past four years. Did you study abroad during your time at Bowdoin? I studied in Granada, Spain, with IES Abroad in a program that perfectly combined my various interests. I studied Islamic-Spanish history, architectural history, and modern international relations while simultaneously improving my Spanish. Granada is a lively city with 70,000 university students—forming relationships with Spaniards while exploring the city and taking a class at the University of Granada was one of the highlights of the semester. John riding a camel in Morocco while studying abroad. Participants in the IES program took program-sponsored trips all around southern Spain and for five days into Morocco, which was my first visit to Africa, and the first time I've ever been awakened by the call to prayer. I also took advantage of Europe's interconnectedness to travel with friends to Rome, Prague, and Oslo. It was hard to spend a semester away from Bowdoin, but my semester in Spain exposed me to different perspectives and made me appreciate Bowdoin that much more on my return. As it turns out, my improved Spanish also helped me secure a job for next year. What have you done during your summers? After my first year, I had two internships on Capitol Hill: one with my representative, Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) and the other with Senator Jack Reed (D-RI). Both internships provided a close-up view of the legislative process, and I was lucky enough to draft remarks, a statement for the Congressional Record, and numerous letters. After my sophomore year, I applied my experience on the Hill at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a nonprofit that seeks to hold banks to fair lending practices, and I extensively researched congressional voting records in support of an expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act. Following junior year I returned to the Hill to work for Congressman Henry Waxman's (D-CA) Energy and Commerce Committee, where I helped the staff prepare for hearings and markups. This was an especially exciting summer to work for the committee because it was responsible for investigating the BP oil spill. What is your favorite Bowdoin memory? During the Ivies Week spring concert my first year, the opening group Naughty by Nature gave a fantastic performance, and the best part of the show came when they started interacting with the crowd. They chanted, "Let me hear you say BOW-DO-IN!" (pronounced with three syllables instead of BOW-DIN). Without missing a beat, everybody in the crowd chanted back "BOW-DO-IN!" and this carried on for a few minutes. Surrounded as we were by our friends, on an absolutely gorgeous spring day on Quad, listening to great '90s music, nobody got miffed or felt the need to correct the group's pronunciation. I think that says a lot about this place. John standing atop the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. What are your plans for after graduation? I will join Teach For America's D.C. Region where I will teach Spanish at the secondary level. My concentration in history is Latin America, and I'm hoping to include a lot of culture and history in the courses I teach, as the aspect of Spanish I've most enjoyed is the ability to learn about and connect with foreign cultures. I will earn a master's in teaching from American University during my two year commitment while focusing on basic literacy skills (in English and Spanish) with my students. I was attracted to Teach For America for the same reason I was attracted to Bowdoin: a focus on public service and a commitment to the common good. While I know the next two years will be extremely challenging, I look forward to doing my part to fight our country's glaring educational inequalities. What advice would you give to a prospective student or first-year about the Bowdoin experience? It's important to jump into the life of the College and get involved in a meaningful way, but there's no need to compile a laundry list of activities. Participate in a couple of things that energize you, challenge you, and that you're passionate about, and you will find the perfect balance. There is the unparalleled opportunity during your first few semesters of college to explore new subjects and take classes that intrigue you, entice you, or even scare you. What quirky or fun thing do you wish you had known before you came to Bowdoin? Bowdoin is severely and inescapably haunted. Don't believe me? Check out the Haunted Bowdoin Tour compiled by Senior Software Developer David Francis. It's optimized for mobile devices so that you can actually make your way around campus and check out the haunted locales...preferably during daylight! Story posted on April 05, 2011 « Back | More Student Profiles | Go to News Home


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You've heard "Call Me, Maybe" all over the radio and watched the many parodies of it on YouTube (I like the Jimmy Fallon version with The Roots the best). Now is your chance to see the song of the summer performed in person – and for free.
Carly Rae Jepsen, the pop star behind "Call Me, Maybe," will perform a free concert July 19 at Charter One Pavilion. The show is part of the Kellogg's Pop-Tarts "Crazy Good Summer" promotion and will also feature fellow pop acts Boys Like Girls and Austin Mahone.
The first 4,000 fans to go to the Pop-Tarts Facebook page and register will received a code redeemable for two tickets to the concert.
This one's for the children: Latin crooner Marc Anthony will host a cocktail reception fundraiser for the Maestro Cares Foundation, which is raising money to building an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, at the Sofitel Chicago hotel August 20. Anthony will perform with Chayanne and Marco A. Solis August 19 at the Allstate Arena.
Good eye: Robert Irvine, host of Food Network's "Restaurant: Impossible," and Transitions Optical are teaming up to prepare an eye-healthy menu (pan fried salmon cakes, broccoli carrot potato salad…) for fans who watch Sunday's Cubs-Arizona Diamondbacks game from the Wrigley View Rooftop.
Heads up: The documentary, "Lt. Dan Band: For The Common Good," which revolves around Oscar-nominated actor Gary Sinise and the cover band he created to perform for the troops, will air Sunday on the Documentary Channel.
Sightings: Actor Dax Shepard dined at Paris Club Monday while in town promoting "Hit & Run." … "Boss" actress Sanaa Lathan had dinner at Mercadito Thursday and the White Sox's Alex Rios was there Sunday. … The Dallas Mavericks' Shawn Marion dined at Japonais Monday, as he often does while in Chicago.
Watch this: The latest video from rapper/singer/Northwestern student Chet Haze.
Twitter @aboutluisgomez


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Green Job Initiatives
The Employment and Training Administration's recent work around Green Jobs aligns with President Obama's vision to foster a greener economy and a green-educated workforce. ETA is working to leverage its knowledge base to support and expand Green Jobs in our economy. ETA recognizes that multiple internal and external policy drivers shape Green Jobs: economic recovery and job creation; economic competitiveness; energy independence, efficiency, and security; environmental protection; and financial growth. In addition, industrial sectors, and occupations are changing through the development of Green Jobs.
ETA is positioned to provide labor market intelligence and work with core-constituencies of labor, industry, and education to identify relevant Green Jobs skills and develop competency models leading to meaningful career ladders. Through its strategic partnerships, ETA can foster the development of Green Jobs by providing career information and guidance; developing education and training models in concert with apprenticeship programs and community colleges; and by aligning its own programs.
Solicitation for Grant Applications
ARRA GREEN JOBS GRANTSSolicitations for Grant Applications
Grantee Fact Sheets:
- State Labor Market Information Improvement grant fact sheets
- State Energy Sector Partnership grant fact sheets (SGA/DFA PY-08-20)
- Pathways Out of Poverty grant fact sheets (SGA/DFA PY 08-19)
- Energy Training Partnership grant fact sheets (SGA/DFA PY 08-18)
- Green Capacity Building grant fact sheets (SGA/DFA PY 08-21)
COMPETENCY MODELSRecognizing that Green Jobs are playing an important role in multiple industries, ETA included Green Jobs skills in its recently released Residential Construction competency model. To view the model, please visit www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel.
- Green Jobs Community of Practice
- Workforce3One
Job Opportunities for the Green Economy: A State-by-State Picture of
Occupations that Gain from Green Investments
Green Collar Jobs in America's Cities
New Jersey 'Green Energy Academy'
Technical Training for Competitive Advantage in the Hydrogen Economy:
- Other Federal Programs and Initiatives
U.S. Department of Energy
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Brownfields and Land Revitalization
Choice Neighborhoods Initiatives
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Education
Five States Chosen to Receive Technical Assistance in Developing 'Green' Career-Technical Programs of Study


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Online Alcohol Class offers the most comprehensive online alcohol and drug course available in Bolivar Missouri. We offer a Level 1 (8 hour), Level 2 (16 hour), and Level 3 (24 hour) online Drug and Alcohol Awareness and Education Courses.
Our classes have been developed and written by experts. We have designed our course to be both easy to use and educational. They contain the course materials that meets Bolivar Missouri requirements.
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When you sign up for our Bolivar Missouri online alcohol awareness class, you can use any major credit card, including MasterCard, Visa or Amex. All your credit card information is completely encrypted and secure when you type it in our website and when we communicate with our credit card processor.
If you are trying to meet an 8 hour (level 1) requirement, the cost of the alcohol education class is $149. This includes the certificate which will be shipped to you via U.S. mail for free. If you need to take a class which is longer, you can enroll in the 12 hour class which is $199, the 16 hour class which is $249 or the 24 hour class which is $319.
You will be choose a unique user name and password when you enroll in the Bolivar Missouri online alcohol education class. Please use this information to sign in to your account at Online Alcohol Class.
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No. The Online Alcohol Class Bolivar Missouri alcohol awareness quizzes are meant to help prepare you for the Bolivar Missouri final exam, and they do not count against your overall score. You must score 80% on the Bolivar Missouri exam in order to pass. However, you may re-take the Bolivar Missouri exam as many times as necessary in order to pass, at no additional charge.
No special hardware is required. You can take the course from any computer, PC or Mac. Another advantage, there is no downloading required to complete the Online Alcohol Class course.


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12.09.13Bayer MaterialScience has increased it investment in its production sites for polyether polyols in South Charleston, West Virginia, and Channelview, Texas.
Both sites produce polyether polyols - a key component in the development of polyurethanes. The market relies heavily on these sites, which are of significant size, making Bayer's investments vital to supporting growing demand in the NAFTA market for this versatile and essential material. More specifically, investments in the Channelview, Texas, plant further build on Bayer's market-leading IMPACT™ technology, which is based on its proprietary double metal catalyst (DMC), while taking advantage of the plant's economies-of-scale.
These capital investments are increasing plant capacities, providing Bayer with additional volume to support growing demand around the world. The investments are an example of Bayer's longstanding commitment to these facilities and also give Bayer the ability to participate in continued market growth.
"We strive to provide our customers and key markets with consistent high-quality products and technology they've come to expect from Bayer," said Craig Caputo, vice president - Polyurethanes regional product manager, Bayer MaterialScience LLC. "Through investments and expansions, our facilities and operations continue to evolve, enabling us to remain a reliable source of market-leading polyurethane raw materials to the North American market."
Polyurethane raw materials made at the South Charleston, W.Va., plant are utilized in automotive seating, and also serve the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers markets. Increased capacity is now coming on-stream; full capacity is expected in 2014.
The flexible foam market, which includes polyurethanes for furniture and mattresses, is supplied in part by the Channelview, Texas, site. Additionally, expansions at the plant will effectively double original start-up capacity of the world's first IMPACT technology plant. Upgrades to this site will take place in 2014 with full capacity available in 2015.


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Join me as I teach you how to paint like a pro. Bring a small piece of furniture that you can carry in the store easily. (a wooden chair, a side table, a stool a small bench etc.) Make sure it structurally sound as we will not be fixing anything in the class. I will teach you how to mix and use BB Frosch chalk paint powder, paint your piece one color, distress to you liking and wax to protect your new creation. We will be using all BB Frosch Chalk Paint Powder Products in class. Everything is supplied for you except your piece. You will leave the workshop with the confidence to paint on your own. You will also leave with a sample of paint that used in the workshop. Feel free to bring snacks and/or drink of your choice to class. Wine glasses and bottle opener provided.
All BYOP classes are $65 a person.
If you can't find a date that works for you, I will do a private party for you and your friends. You choose the date and time and bring your friends to suit your schedule.
Email Amy @ firstname.lastname@example.com or call 717-618-8682 to reserve a date or if you have any questions.


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JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (AP) — Ben Bernanke is a no-show. No matter. Despite the absence of the Federal Reserve chairman, this year's annual economic conference in Jackson Hole has once again proved a destination of choice for central bankers.
In international banking circles, the Jackson Hole gathering, held each August in a rustic lodge in Grand Teton National Park, is akin to Academy Awards night. If you're invited, the message is clear: You're someone who matters.
This is the first year in more than two decades that a Fed chief hasn't given the keynote speech to open the two-day conference, which ended Saturday. News last spring that Bernanke would skip this year's conference was taken as a signal that he'll leave the Fed when his term ends in January.
With speculation intensifying over his successor, a spotlight has fallen on Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen, one of two leading contenders. Yellen is here. Her chief rival, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, is not.
Yellen is among 10 members of the 19-member Federal Open Market Committee in attendance. The FOMC comprises the Fed board members and regional bank presidents who set the central bank's interest-rate policies.
Central bankers from every major economy, from Germany and Britain to Japan and China, are here. So are those of smaller nations from Albania to Malta.
Among the 130 guests are many scholars of economic policy. They're joined by top economists from financial firms — at least those who managed to score an invite.
Attendees spend hours in a windowless conference room hearing and discussing presentations of academic research. They do get afternoons off — to hike, go rafting or take bus tours. But even against the backdrop of majestic mountain grandeur, many of the Ph.D. scholars have been known to go right on debating economics through the day.
One issue not on the agenda but a hot topic at the edges of the conference: The campaigns waged by supporters of Yellen and Summers to secure the nomination of their candidate. From the use of Twitter and opinion columns to behind-the-scenes lobbying and letters signed by Senate Democrats, the battle to influence the president's mind has been raging.
Fed officials here have been careful not to take sides in the contest, at least not publicly. They do agree on this: They've not seen anything quite like this summer's public jousting.
Dennis Lockhart, head of the Atlanta regional Fed bank, called it unprecedented. But he said the jockeying over the chairman's job is having no effect on the Fed's policymaking.
"The chairman's leadership is as strong as it has ever been," Lockhart said in an interview on CNBC.
He was addressing concerns that the prolonged contest to succeed Bernanke might weaken his influence as chairman by solidifying the perception that he's a lame duck.
James Bullard, head of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, noted that a change in the Fed chairmanship has been fairly unusual since World War II. Bernanke has served for nearly eight years. Two of his predecessors — William McChesney Martin (1951-1970) and Alan Greenspan (1987-2006) — served for a combined nearly four decades.
As for whom he would prefer as chairman, Yellen or Summers, Bullard, also interviewed on CNBC, struck a diplomatic note.
They're both "great economists," he said.
Yellen did have a modest role to play at this year's conference, serving as the moderator for Saturday's session. It was a job she performed with fair minded diligence.
"My job today is to be a ruthless time keeper," she told the crowd in her opening comments. And she kept to her word, turning over numbered cards signaling to the presenters how much time they had left to present papers on such esoteric topics as global liquidity and cross-border capital flows.
She then had the job of picking the lucky participants in the audience who got to ask questions. At one point, she called on Donald Kohn, her predecessor as vice chairman at the Federal Reserve and one of three names President Barack Obama has provided as the leading candidates for the Fed chairman's job. Yellen and Summers are the other two.
Yellen didn't offer any substantive comments during her moderating stint, but there was one brief moment she had to have enjoyed.
Acknowledging her introduction, Princeton economics professor Jean-Pierre Landau said, "Thank you very much, Madam Chairman."
Ah. Music to her ears.
At the opening dinner Thursday night, Esther George, who as head of the Kansas City regional Fed bank is the conference host, had some fun with the topic of Bernanke's absence.
"Sometimes," George said in her welcoming remarks, "those who regularly attend are not able to make it. We make it a practice never to talk about those who turn us down."
"Despite my personal disappointment," she went on, she'd be happy to welcome back Ken Rogoff for future conferences.
Her mention of Rogoff, a well-known Harvard economist, rather than Bernanke, drew laughter from the audience.
Call it economists' humor.


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The Addiction Performance Project presents dramatic readings of Act Three of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night as a catalyst for town hall discussions about the disease of addiction as it touches patients, families, and health professionals who work in the fields of primary care, nursing, and clinical bioethics.
Each reading is followed by a panel discussion, led by a diverse panel of community experts, culminating in a facilitated town hall discussion about the complex ethical and professional challenges posed by screening for, and treating, patients who are abusing drugs and/or struggling with addiction.
This unique participatory event raises awareness of addiction as a chronic disease, as well as the importance of screening for and addressing substance abuse in advance of the emergence of addiction. The reading/discussion format is intended to break down the stigma associated with addiction and promote healthy dialogue among diverse communities–public and professional–fostering compassion, cooperation, and understanding about patients who are living with the disease of addiction.
The town hall discussion also creates an opportunity for medical providers to examine their own biases toward patients struggling with addiction by empowering these professionals to share their responses to the dramatic portrayal of addiction in O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-wining play, as well as to the remarks of community panelists. The event also provides a forum for the dissemination of tools, best practices, and information, including communication and practice management strategies that are useful when dealing with patients struggling with addiction disorders.
Under a contract award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Outside the Wire is presenting several readings by professional actors of Act Three of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night at prominent medical conferences, hospitals, and medical schools throughout the United States for audiences comprised of primary care physicians and other medical professionals.
Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night depicts the struggles of Mary Tyrone, a woman who abuses prescription painkillers and relapses into full-blown morphine addiction. It is also the story of how Mary's addiction rips her family apart, as her morphine use slowly becomes apparent to her husband and two sons. It is widely believed that Long Day's Journey into Night is an autobiographical play, and that the troubled characters in it are based on members O'Neill's own family, including his mother, Ella, who struggled with morphine addiction for most of her life. In his preface to the play, O'Neill talks about how it is a "play of old sorrow, written in tears and blood," and that he wrote it "with deep pity and understanding and forgiveness for all the four haunted Tyrones." O'Neill wrote the play for deep personal reasons, and the Addiction Performance Project will present the play to audiences of primary care physicians, physicians in training and other health care professionals to elicit deep personal responses to the disease of addiction.
Featured Video
Actress Blythe Danner Helps Raise Awareness About Addiction Stigma
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September – October 2017
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California fresh fruit and vegetable shippers, chafed by massive retail consolidation, are making some technology-intensive alliances of their own as food distribution turns global.
Roberta Cook, an Extension marketing economist at the University of California, Davis, says although shippers have been slow to merge, the process is moving forward with new agreements practically on a weekly basis.
"These are not generally firms merging their production and postharvest cooling operations but those who are developing alliances in marketing," she told the Spring Outlook Forum of the California Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers in Sacramento.
Giant retail chains are giving intense scrutiny to adding value and reducing costs by streamlining distribution and to understanding consumer needs and drive the global marketplace.
As fresh produce sales take on multi-billion dollar scope around the world, the U.S. is but one example of growth. U.S. sales of fresh-cut produce sprang from $3.3 billion in 1994 to $11 billion in 2000 and are projected to reach $15 billion in 2005.
Traditional, daily sales-oriented operations are being replaced by supply-chain management focused on year-end, net results. Along the way, retail power and consumers are even calling the tune for production methods and other inputs.
According to Cook, all around the world supermarket chains are capturing a growing share of the consumer food dollar and competing successfully with the traditional fresh produce marketing channels.
"Over the next decade, the rapid evolution of supermarkets should induce more direct linkages between suppliers and customers, gradually eroding the dominant role of traditional wholesalers and wet markets."
As fewer, larger firms handle international trade in fruit and vegetable products, both opportunities and challenges will emerge, she said.
"On the one hand, large foodservice and retail buying firms, and international traders, may offer easy access to consumer markets.
"On the other hand, if a supplier does not meet the increasing requirements of major buyers, distribution obstacles could become insurmountable."
Wal-Mart is not only the sole U.S. firm whose stores in 10 countries give it global presence, it is also the largest grocery retailer in the world.
"Wal-Mart's approach," said Cook, "concentrates on driving non-value-adding costs out of the food system, imposing a new competitive benchmark and downward pressure on margins for players at all levels of the food system."
The practices of new mass-merchandisers, in particular Wal-Mart as it opens 200 new stores across the U.S. each year and holds a 72 percent share of U.S. supercenter sales, are contracting with preferred suppliers for managed automatic inventory replenishment.
State grows half
In sketching the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry structure, Cook said 16,500 growers in California make up about half the total production.
But, she reminded, it is not the farms that market (with the exception of those who are both growers and shippers) but the some 5,800 shippers who sell to the large buyers, 20 of whom account for 59 percent of retail sales in the U.S. Buyers of various sizes total about 1,100, including many not in the chain-store category.
Although shippers can sell to any of the retailers, Cook said, "If you are not a large shipper, you do need to be thinking about your strategy. Medium and small sized shippers, unless they have very special products, oftentimes have difficulty selling to the big chains, and must focus on regional and local operators."
She said the U.S. big-volume sales players in fresh fruit and vegetables are Dole ($3.5 billion), Chiquita ($2.2 billion), and Del Monte ($1.9 billion) who deal in the banana trade. Of those, she added, only Dole has diversified with many other produce categories.
Another example of a major outlet is Sunkist ($82 million), with its slightly more than half the citrus volume. Others include Fresh Express ($63 million), which offers value-added (pre-cut and packaged) products; Duda ($37 million), which sells various fresh and processed lines; and Tanamura & Antle ($35 million), which has both fresh-cut and commodity products. Another prominent and unique California grower-shipper is Pandol Brothers ($13 million), strong because of its imports during the off-season for California produce items.
"Why," Cook asked, "would these shippers want to get bigger? Because in California we still have a lot of shippers operating in the under $20 million sales category."
Loath to merge
Shippers, she continued, still may be loath to merge, even though economics suggest they should have done so already. They may not have merged with other nearby shippers because of nothing more than decades-old disputes between their grandfathers.
"I do notice more and more that firms are merging for the benefits of category management. They are being asked by retailers like Wal-Mart to analyze data and help them grow store-to-store sales on a year-to-year, double-digit basis. That's a challenge, and other conventional chains are also beginning to get into it," Cook said.


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New eBay scam has emerged targeting sellers of valuable merchandise
A new eBay scam has emerged targeting consumers who sell high-end electronics and other valuable merchandise on the online auction site.
The warning comes from Scambook, an online complaint resolution platform.
Utilizing eBay's Buy-It-Now feature along with a fake PayPal email, fraudsters are telling sellers that they have received full payment for the item, thus causing sellers to ship the item before realizing the payment is a fake.
Although Buy-It-Now is a convenient …


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The leader of Nigeria's 80 million Christians travelled to Washington this week and called on the United States to intervene on behalf of persecuted believers in his embattled country.
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday morning before holding a midday press conference to decry the largely unchecked violence in Africa's most populous country.
"America has a strong history of civil rights and my hope is that our brothers here can awaken the conscience of humanity to stop this genocide," Oritsejafor said at the National Press Club.
The Islamic group Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful," is primarily responsible for the violence. Its leader, Abubakar Shekau, has said the group will not stop its attacks until Shariah law is instituted across the entire country, instead of only in the northern states.
According to a conservative Associated Press estimate, last year Boko Haram killed about 800 people in hundreds of attacks. The U.S. State Department named it the second-most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world (the Taliban was first) and last month issued a $7 million bounty for the capture of Shekau. But so far, the U.S. has refused to name Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), even though it has issued five such designations since the beginning of 2012 to lesser groups.
"If [Shekau] is a terrorist, what about his organisation?" Oritsejafor asked. "You cannot separate a leader from his organisation."
On Thursday, Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, the American Centre for Law and Justice and eight other organisations submitted a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to designate Boko Haram an FTO.
Earlier this year, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, filed a bill that would designate Boko Haram an FTO—which Great Britain did this month. FTO designation would freeze any U.S. assets, institute a travel ban for group leaders, and allow authorities to trace financing and weapons trails. The Nigerian military seized a cache of Hezbollah weapons in May. Risch said in a statement that it is clear Boko Haram meets the criteria of an FTO and is putting U.S. citizens in danger.
The Risch bill has seven cosponsors, all Republicans, but the effort has yet to gain traction with the State Department, which seems to think the problem is an economic one, rather than theological. Emmanuel Ogebe, a human rights attorney based in Washington, said the State Department has declined to give "any clear and compelling reasons" for refusing the designation.
"[State officials] seem to indicate there are good parts of Boko Haram and bad parts of Boko Haram, so they don't want to alienate the good parts," he said. "It's hard to see the good in a group going to schools and killing kids."
Oritsejafor noted that once all the churches in some areas were destroyed, the terrorists turned their deadly attacks toward schools. He said 50 of the 175 schools in Borno State have now been destroyed.
The country's president, Goodluck Jonathan, declared a state of emergency in late May for Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, and Oritsejafor said the declaration improved the situation in those areas. Still, he noted—pausing to brush back tears—the attacks continue and his organisation has lost two officials in the last two months, including a personal friend of his, Faye Musa Pama, Secretary of CAN's Borno chapter and coordinator of outreach for widows and orphans.
In March, the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN)—CAN's American counterpart—announced a $50,000 donation to the victims of Boko Haram. Oritsejafor said financial help is critical because "CAN has no money" (he is unpaid and financed his own trip to the U.S.) and is unable to help victims and churches with medical bills and rebuilding efforts. He said the Nigerian government has promised but not delivered assistance to victims—and the U.S. has not offered any humanitarian assistance.
Oritsejafor said about 70 percent of Christian deaths in 2012 were in Northern Nigeria and the church is suffering because of it: "Church attendance in the north is down drastically, [and] it's beginning to creep into the south." He said some churches that once had 500 members now may have 30 on a good day, and some pastors will leave their wives and children at home to risk their lives and sit at a church site alone. Some churches have started using metal detectors at entrances, but seeing them scares some people away.
Oritsejafor criticised President Barack Obama for slighting the country by not visiting on his trip to Africa earlier this month. Nigeria is the largest U.S. trade partner in the region, but Obama instead went to Tanzania, South Africa, and Senegal, where he unsuccessfully advocated for the legalisation of homosexuality. "America's ambivalence on Nigeria is a stunning betrayal," Oritsejafor said.
Source: World Magazine


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|Beta Security - Automatic Gates in London
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|Welcome to Elegant Gardens the Supplier of Fencing, garden fencing & Garden Fencing Designs. Elegant Gardens Ltd are importers of Stylish Luxury Pine Panels made in Europe, which are FSC to ensure the wood is from a managed forest. Elegant Gardens is a London Based Company, which can provide the DIY man of the house with all the posts, panels, spikes, and screw clips required for the job plus advice. We deliver as far as the S coast (Brighton, Sussex, South) and provide the fencing industry in theelegantgardens.net
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London › TW5 0LD Heston Industrial Mall, Church Road 19.99 miles
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Big anti-Chevron banner under Richmond Bridge gets environmental activists into trouble(video)
A big banner with the words Chevron Guilty: Clean Up Amazon fluttering under Richmond-San Rafael bridge on Monday morning, hung by 5 environmentalists who have accused the energy giant of causing rainforest pollution in Amazon, have got them into trouble.
The environmental activists including Amazon Watch finance manager Thomas Cavanagh were all arrested by Marin California Highway Patrol officers.
It happened two days before a scheduled Chevron shareholder meeting at San Ramon Chevron corporate headquarters.
Ginger Cassady, who is the director for the Rainforest Action Network's Change Chevron campaign said: This was to send a loud and clear message to the Chevron CEO and other executives in San Ramon.
An Ecuadorean court in February had held Chevron liable for polluting the Amazon rainforest, ordering it to pay $18 billion in damages.
More actions are expected to be taken by environmentalists during Wednesday's meeting.


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By ZACK ROGOW, senior editor at CIIS. His writings include a recent book of poems, "My Mother and the Ceiling Dancers," from Kattywompus Press.
Many know about haiku, that ultra-short form of poetry from Japan that captures a flash of consciousness in only three lines. But a thousand years before haiku came along, Japanese poets developed the tanka form. Tanka is slightly longer—five lines—but it's significantly different from haiku in the type of moment that sparks it.
Here's one of my favorite tanka poems, by the great Japanese woman poet Yosano Akiko, who lived from 1878 to 1942 and wrote over 40,000 poems:
if not for women
writhing like vengeful demons
screaming like wild boars
no child of man
would ever be born
(adapted from the translation of Makoto Ueda)
Like haiku, which crystallizes one specific moment in time or consciousness, tanka is about a particular observation of the poet. But unlike haiku, tanka can reach both backwards and forwards in time to include a broader observation, or even a story. How can just five short lines of poetry tell a story? It's not easy, but with the conciseness of tanka, a poet finds the fulcrum of a story, the moment of truth in that encounter. Here's another poem by Yosano Akiko from her groundbreaking series of tanka called Tangled Hair about a love affair:
Early evening moon
Over the flowering field,
I felt somehow
He was waiting for me
And I came.
(translated by Sanford Goldstein and Seishi Shinoda)
Here the poet describes the moment when she made her choice to embark on a difficult relationship. The image of the evening moon suggests the expectant lover, wishing for her. The flowering field makes me think of the fullness of her love.
I haven't said anything yet about the rigorous form of the tanka. Each of the five lines must have a specific number of syllables. The order is: 5-7-5-7-7. I haven't mentioned this because it works beautifully in Japanese, but when English-language translators or poets attempt to duplicate the form exactly, it often takes away from the freshness and the gentle punch of the tanka. Personally, I prefer poems that just follow the spirit of the tanka and don't count syllables like coins.
Another fascinating side of the tanka is that the poet often sharply splits the five lines between two seemingly unrelated images. The writer does not directly link these two worlds, but leaves it entirely up to the reader to make the connection. Yosano Akiko does this in the poem just mentioned about the evening field and the lover's impulse. Here's another example, a thousand-year-old tanka by the 10th century poet Fujiwara no Toshiyuki:
in the Bay of Sumi
waves crowd the shore
even at night
by the corridors of dreams
I come to you secretly
(adapted from the translation of Kenneth Rexroth)
The poet never says that the waves are like him, the lover. He never directly mentions that the shore is a metaphor for his beloved. It's all just understood. That's what I love about it! And the fact that the waves are not simply approaching the shore, they are crowding it. It is a little invasive to tell your beloved that you can visit her at night, even when she's dreaming. The poem acknowledges that, in the midst of a wonderfully romantic moment.
Here are some of my favorite collections of tanka poetry if you'd like to read more:
Kenneth Rexroth, One Hundred Poems from the Japanese
Makoto Ueda, Modern Japanese Tanka
Yosano Akiko, Tangled Hair: Selected Poems from Midaregami


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NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes are little changed in early trading on Wall Street but the market is still on track to post solid gains for the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down six points at 15,076 shortly after the opening bell Friday. The Dow is still up 0.7 percent for the week, and 15 percent so far this year.
The Standard & Poor's 500 was down a fraction of a point at 1,626.
The Nasdaq was up seven points at 3,416.
Priceline.com and chip maker Nvidia both rose after reporting higher earnings. Clothing store chain Gap rose after reporting higher sales in April and predicting first-quarter earnings that were higher than analyst expected.
Japanese stocks surged after the dollar rose above 100 yen for the first time in four years.


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Amy Mascott Reveals The Secret to Teach MamaAmy Mascott is the creator of teachmama.com, a site that empowers parents to take a stronger role in supporting their children's learning.
A Conversation With Susan Meddaugh and Tolon BrownCarol Greenwald, WGBH's Senior Executive Producer for Children's Programming, speaks with Martha Speaks author Susan Meddaugh Arthur producers Tolon Brown.
Introducing Loop Scoops!
Meet Annie Leonard, environmentalist, sustainability expert, and founder and writer of The Story of Stuff Project. Annie is advising WGBH on a new project called Loop Scoops.
What are Loop Scoops?
LOOP SCOOPS are short, funny videos to get kids thinking about the stuff in their lives and what this stuff can do to the environment. Each SCOOP tells the story of something kids use or see everyday — a juice box, a magazine, an electronic gadget, a glass of juice, a pile of garbage. Our goal is to get kids thinking in new ways and asking new questions, like: What is this made of? Where did it come from? Who made it? What happens when I throw it away?
LOOP SCOOPS were inspired by the Story of Stuff, the award-winning video about the lifecycle of material goods, written and hosted by sustainability expert Annie Leonard (storyofstuff.org). We were SO inspired, in fact, that we invited Annie Leonard to be our Content Director and help us develop shorter videos specifically for kids, to get them thinking critically about their stuff.
How Annie thinks about stuff
Hi Annie, tell us a little about yourself and how you got interested in studying people and their 'stuff.'
I am just obsessed with stuff— where did it come from, how did it get to me, and where does it go. It started when I was in college in New York City. I went to college on the Upper West Side, and when I would walk that 10 blocks up Broadway from my dormitory to my college every morning, there were shoulder-high piles of garbage on the sidewalk every morning. And I would come home in the afternoon, and they would be gone! And I would wonder, what is in that stuff? So then I took a field trip to the Fresh Kills Landfill, where New York City's garbage went, and it was like a bolt of lightning hitting me. I stood there looking where as far as you could see in every direction were shoes and couches and refrigerators and pizza boxes, and I thought, "My God, we have a problem in this society, that we have made an entire economy that is converting natural resources into trash and so hidden." So I thought, it's so critical to share this information and get other people thinking about where their stuff comes from and where it's going.
Why did you decide to do a children's project with WGBH?
When WGBH's Childrens Production Unit approached me and told me about this project, I was thrilled. I am just so excited about it. There is nothing that I can think of that is more important than encouraging young people to think critically, now, about all the stuff in their lives—where all this stuff comes from, where it goes, what's the impact, not just overseas on producers that are making or disposing of this stuff, but on us. What is the impact of our obsession with stuff? Is it really serving either the planet or ourselves?
These are really important questions. We should be asking these as second nature just as we go through the day, before we think about buying or acquiring anything. If we can get people to start critically thinking about the stuff in their lives, we can really chart a different path towards more sustainability.
I definitely believe that younger kids can handle thinking about this, and not only "can handle" it, they want to—they're curious, they want to know how the world works. I think it's important that we don't make them feel guilty. It's not our children's fault that their products contain neurotoxins and carcinogens. There's a broader systemic problem here. And so if we can talk to kids about the problems with the way we're currently making and using and throwing away stuff, without making them feel guilty, which is just what this WGBH project is going to do, then that will be a huge contribution to the discourse.
You're a mother Annie. How does your daughter think about these issues?
Yes, I have a ten-year-old daughter. It's a little different, probably good and bad, to grow up with a mom like me. But my daughter has traveled with me to a lot of factories and a lot of dumps, in Asia and Africa. She definitely has a heightened sense of where stuff comes from and where it goes. She still likes stuff, as much as the next person for sure, but the big difference I see is she really believes in sharing. She realizes that instead of each one of her friends having to get the same exact thing, they can each get a different one and then rotate them and share them, and that only reduces the amount of stuff you have to get, but it also builds community, because you got to talk to each other if you're sharing.
What can parents do with their kids?
I think it's important for parents and teachers to get kids thinking more critically in a couple of different ways. One is about the quality of the stuff that we're consuming. Is it toxic? Is it loaded with pesticides? Where did it come from? Was it made with child labor? The quality, so we can get people to buy less toxic, organic, the safer, least exploitative products. But it's also important to get kids thinking about the quantity. Even if we all bought green organic, we are still using too much stuff, so if we can get kids to critically develop that lens, about what is this material, is it something I want in my household, is it something that I want to hold in my hands, and …. Am I using too much? Do I really need this? Could I get this from the library instead? Could I borrow this from a friend?
There are a lot of things you can do in your own home to reduce your impact. Some are cheap and simple, like, I have a clothes line. I love my clothesline, I don't have a dryer. I have an inside clothesline for the summer, I have an outside clothesline for the summer. The thing I love about it is not just the reduced electricity bills and environmental impact, but having a clothesline makes me stand still in my garden for just 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening, just breathing and putting up and taking down my clothes, and that is often my most reflective, cherished moment in the day. And that is cheap and easy, and anyone can do it.
Also, making intelligent choices about the products we buy has a lot of potential to reduce our impacts, and one of the biggest areas is packaging. Our products have too much packaging, and often too toxic packaging, if it has PVC plastic. So my daughter and I have really developed this critical thinking lens that before we buy anything, first we check to see if it has PVC. PVC is the single most toxic plastic out there. A lot of people are concerned about plastics, but not all plastics are created equally. The number one plastic we need to stop using is PVC. Luckily, it's easy to identify because it often has a little 3 on the bottom of it inside the recycling logo, and it stinks, it smells like a shower curtain or a new car.
But the number one thing that I do to lower my impact is I live in community. I know my neighbors. We share things. If I need a down coat for my kid, or a bicycle, or a turkey roasting pan that I don't have, anything I need I can borrow it from my neighbors. By living in community, we can turn to each other rather than the market to meet our needs, and that is definitely the single biggest thing I do to lower my impact.
We're developing some materials for teachers to use these SCOOPS in their classrooms. What do you think the opportunities are for teachers and schools to help their kids think in new ways?
Schools, and elementary schools in particular, are critical partners in cultivating a new culture of sustainability, which we're going to need for this planet to survive. There's a bunch of ways that schools can get involved. They can get involved in their curriculum, by incorporating scientific information, sustainability information, into their classes. They can get involved in their values, in their organizational cultures. It's really important for kids to sort of hear an echo chamber, that if they're talking to their parents, or if they're online on PBSkids.org, or if they're in school, everywhere they're going, they're hearing the same thing, that we can and we will and we must convert our society to be more sustainable.
Schools can also be involved in walking the talk and actually demonstrating a different way of living. In my daughter's school, for example, they weigh the lunch after they're done, and they chart it, and they see the waste going down-down-down, and they're aiming for zero. Actually, they have a zero-lunch-waste policy at their school, so when you join the school you sign a policy that you will do your best to reduce waste. Every class has composting bins, has recycling bins. In the playground there's a bench that actually opens up, and it's a big worm bin, and so there are thousands of worms that are actually composting the food waste from lunch. And then there's an entire second grade science curriculum that's built around the composting of the waste, so not only are kids learning about biological systems, but then they're going home and saying, "Mom, Dad, let's compost!"
Learn More About Loop Scoops >
What matters to...
Ms. Wolsky is the Executive Producer of Design Squad, for which she oversees all aspects of the production, translating engineering content into entertaining media. She is also Senior Producer for PEEP and the Big Wide World, responsible for managing its production and overseeing the implementation of PEEP's educationally rich science curriculum across multiplatforms. Prior to this, she worked on the development and production of many children's series, including Long Ago & Far Away, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, Arthur, and ZOOM.
What has inspired your career choice?
As far as I can remember, I've always been interested in children's television. In college, I wrote my senior thesis on how Sesame Street came out of the political, intellectual, and social climate of the 1960's. I was also fortunate to have two great internships at WGBH and Sesame Workshop (which at that time was the Children's Television Workshop). I'm lucky in my career that I've been given the opportunity to translate academic subjects, including science and engineering, into a variety of entertaining television series. Every day I'm inspired by the impact these TV shows have on kids, parents, and educators.
What are mandatory characteristics of your program(s)?
The three Es: entertaining, educational, and enlightening.
What has been a standout achievement of yours?
The biggest achievement of my career was conceiving, getting funded, and then launching Design Squad. Equally gratifying was when the series won a George Foster Peabody Award, a rare achievement in the world of children's television.
Any advice to today's parents of young kids?
All television is educational, meaning kids learn both the good and the bad from television. It is our job as parents to choose wisely for them. This is not just in terms of TV shows based on a curriculum, but also in terms of choosing shows that are sophisticated in their language, visual style, and storytelling.
Browse our list of great summer titles
What matters to...
Kevin has been nominated for an Emmy and has renovated his own Victorian house, but his greatest challenge and accomplishment is being a father. In the new Kids Media Matters feature, Kevin talks about raising young children in a crowded media world.
What inspired your career choice to get into public television?
For me it was just good luck. I was working in finance at a bank when PBS came calling. As an avid fan of This Old House it was the first place my wife and I turned to when we started working on our own house. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was on two PBS television shows. You never know where life will take you.
How have you had the opportunity to get involved in kids media/projects in your current role?
We try to make at least one show a season dedicated to projects kids can build with their parents. As a father of three I know very well how much kids love building and how much they love working with their parents so the kids episode of Ask This Old House is always fun. I especially like when the kids get to come to our workshop and see that amazing space.
As a father, what do you look out for in entertainment for your child?
I look for something that is entertaining and educational. It has to be entertaining or the kids won't watch it. It has to be educational or I won't allow it. PBS is full of great shows, like Curious George, that I know my son loves and are safe for him to watch.
What was your favorite show as a kid?
There was a show called the Big Blue Marble, and it had stories from all over the world. I can remember watching it on Saturday mornings with my brothers and sister and being enthralled by all the stories from far away exotic places. It seems like the world is smaller these days but when I was a kid it seemed so huge.
Any advice to today's parents of young kids?
Get involved. TV can be educational but it can't replace a parent's involvement. Even great TV tends to be passive and kids were meant to be active, physically and mentally. Get down on the floor and play with them, challenge them, love them unequivocally..
Read Kevin O'Connor's full bio >
When to give kids media-playing devices?
A unique new study on kids' and families' media consumption habits from New York-based researcher Ipsos has pinpointed the demographic sweet spot when parents begin to yield to their kids' desire for any number of media-playing devices.
Are your children safe online?
Worried whether your kids are being safe when they're on the internet? So, apparently, are Facebook and the PTA. The national education group and the social-media giant announced a long-term partnership Thursday aimed at teaching children, parents, and teachers about responsible Internet use. Find out more about the collaboration and comprehensive program being planned. Learn more >
What matters to...
What has inspired your career choice?
I enjoy working with other creative people on projects that make a difference and that give me the opportunity to learn something new or expand my thinking.
What are mandatory characteristics of your program?
They should have a clear educational goal and appeal to kids, parents, and teachers. They should be fun to produce and even more fun to watch.
What has been a standout achievement of yours?
Contributing to an Emmy award-winning TV series and related educational initiatives that have actually increased kids' reading skills. As someone who loves to read, it's very satisfying to create something that inspires young children to love reading too.
Any advice to today's parents of young kids?
Even when you're rushing around, try to find opportunities to talk with your kids, sing with them, play silly rhyming games, and share a book or story. Every new word they learn helps them become better readers.
Design Squad cast member speaks at Smith College
Smith College senior and Design Squad season three alum Lindsey Nguyen was selected as the sole graduating senior to address students and alumnae at Smith's Ivy Day ceremony on May 15. A native of Brockton, Mass., Lindsey is graduating with a degree in engineering and ready to begin a position at Apple headquarters in California.
Lindsey cited her Design Squad experience as she spoke about the importance of teamwork and her role in encouraging future students to consider engineering. "I am grateful for the opportunity to define myself as an engineer, an athlete, a leader, and, most importantly, as a Smithie," she said.
Pictured top to bottom: Jennifer Barnhart with Cleo, Peter Linz with Theo, Noel MacNeal with Lionel, and Pam Arciero with Leona
What matters to...
What has inspired your involvement in children's media?
Jennifer Barnhart: These days, kids are bombarded with so much information at such an early age. I feel it's important to provide parents with choices for quality programming that really help kids, either by teaching them how to read, how to sing a song, how to be creative problem solvers, how to understand and get along with someone who's different from you, or how to celebrate the qualities that make each of us wonderful and unique.
I am so fortunate to work on shows like Between the Lions and Sesame Street, as they both have such strong curricula and are backed by evidence-based research and proven results... and they have characters that kids love and situations they can relate to.
Some of my favorite moments from the ten years I've worked on Between The Lions are from the educational outreach that we do, where we go into communities and schools and get to interact directly with kids and teachers and parents. When we shoot the series in a television, we feel like we're doing it in a bit of a vacuum — but when we're out in schools and libraries and children's hospitals, we get that immediate connection and remember why we do this in the first place.
What inspired you to become a puppeteer?
Peter Linz: It's all I ever wanted to be! Some of my earliest memories are of me entertaining my fellow preschoolers with this little squirrel puppet. I loved making the other kids laugh — something I discovered came naturally to me through puppetry. Also, growing up in the 70's, I was just the right age for the genesis of Sesame Street. After watching the premier episode of The Muppet Show, I knew beyond a doubt that I wanted to be a television puppeteer when I grew up. Of course, Jim Henson and Frank Oz were, and continue to be, hugely influential to me. I am awed by the genius and the deceptive "simplicity" of their work.
Any advice to today's parents of young kids?
Pam Arciero: I think you have to watch any media with them, at least at first. A lot of shows look great on paper, or in a preview, but you have to sit with them through one show to know what is going on. And it is great to talk with them about what you have just seen. If it's not good for you, it's not good for them. Both shows I work on, Between The Lions and Sesame Street, have always considered the adults in the audience, and have strived to make the shows appealing to both kids and grown ups. It makes it a pleasure to watch and a pleasure to work on.
Noel MacNeal: Not every single moment has to be steered to "learning." Kids learn so much just from playing. And sometimes, it can just be fun because it's fun.
As a parent, what do you look out for in entertainment for your child?
Noel MacNeal: It has to respect the fact that my child has a mind and an imagination that is open to new experiences and won't "dumb it down" for him to understand. Too many shows have the philosophy "kids won't get it" in their curriculum.
Peter Linz: First and foremost, I look out for something that doesn't require a screen. All three of my children have fantastic imaginations... My wife is an artist and keeps the playroom
well-stocked with art supplies; clay, beads, paper, paints, string, etc. We've always read to our kids and all three are now avid readers.
What was your favorite show as a kid and why?
Jennifer Barnhart: As a kid, I was all about The Muppet Show — I was a member of the Official Fan Club and everything! I was drawn to the family of the characters and their life in the theatre — not knowing that it would be a field in which I would ultimately find myself.
Peter Linz: I flippin' love the Muppets! Their irreverence and insanity was like oxygen to my brain. I loved the way they moved, how they were alive – even though they weren't. It's magical.
Pam Arciero: It would have to be a tie between Astroboy and Flipper. Flipper was the ultimate friend, and able to talk back, do tricks, and figure out mysteries. Astroboy was always saving people from bad guys and looking for his heart, which he had in spite of his mechanical background. Love is not limited to people. Inspiring.
Noel MacNeal: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was the earliest one with puppets I remember seeing and I loved that feeling that Mr. Rogers was talking just to me and not "at" me; that's the difference. I felt I was visiting him and his friends and loved that the story and topics lasted for a whole week.
When Families Grieve
Premieres Wednesday, April 14, at 8pm | WGBH 2
The death of a parent is one of the most difficult — and all too common — ordeals a child can face. But children are not the only ones who feel overwhelmed; grieving is a family event.
In When Families Grieve, Katie Couric offers a supportive shoulder and advice to Elmo, who lost his beloved Uncle Jack. The touching new special illustrates ways to help the whole family cope with the death of a loved one, and features real-life stories of growing families who've lost a parent.
Watch a preview >
What matters to...
What inspired your career choice to get into public broadcasting?
Public television at the time, and still to this day, is the only station that hosts and airs true cooking shows. I'm a chef at heart; it's about the food, ingredients, and techniques, and teaching people how to use them to create healthy, delicious food.
How have you had the opportunity to get involved in kids media and projects in your current role?
I actually got to be an animated character for the first time when I appeared on Arthur. It was a show focused on allergies: Binky had a peanut allergy. I was on the show as a judge in a cooking contest. I also had the opportunity to appear on Zoom for an episode on allergies, and during the show we cooked lettuce cups with a bunch of kids.
As a father, what do you look out for in entertainment for your child?
My kids can watch any educational TV, public television, History channel, National Geographic channel, and sporting events. We do monitor their situation comedy. Only an hour a day, the same as my parents did for me.
What was your favorite show as a kid?
Hogan's Heroes was the show I watched with my brother, we loved it. We somehow convinced my parents that it was historically significant and shouldn't count towards our one free hour of TV time — and it worked!
Any advice to today's parents of young kids?
Monitor what your kids watch. Make sure that they are selecting appropriate shows. There are many great educational shows out there for them to watch and learn from. Take time to watch a show as a family, Whether it's a comedy for you to laugh together or an educational show for you to learn together, it's time together.
What are kids learning from Lady Gaga?
By now, you've likely seen or heard about pop superstar Lady GaGa's envelope-pushing antics. What do you think of her risqué videos and provocative lyrics? Is it high art — or highly inappropriate for kids?
Watch how kids of all ages have responded to Gaga's "Disco Stick," and find out what you should know about music and your kids.
Learn more >
What matters to...
What has inspired your career choice?
I've always been interested in how we can use television to get kids to read. I love children's books and was inspired by a study done at Action for Children's Television in the 1970s (Peggy Charren, former WGBH trustee, was president of ACT) that showed that if kids saw books on television they were more likely to read them, even more likely to go to the library to get those books. That led us to create such series as Long Ago & Far Away in the 1980s, then Arthur, which went on the air in 1996, and since then, Time Warp Trio, Curious George, and Martha Speaks. And with these recent series, Curious George and Martha Speaks, we've also figured out how to layer in more substantive curriculum like science, math, and engineering (George) and vocabulary (Martha).
What are mandatory characteristics of your programs?
I think it's crucial that programs for kids have the same high production values and standards that our adult programs do. That means we have to pay attention to everything, from the music (we love to use real and varied musical styles such as Ziggy Marley's reggae rendition of the Arthur theme song or the opera spoof on Martha Speaks), to the quality of the animation and design and especially the stories themselves. We work with the best writers in the business and they do a great job combining strong stories, interesting and relatable characters, and lots of jokes that appeal to parents and kids alike.
What has been a standout achievement of yours?
Though all of our shows are award-winning, the most meaningful stuff is when you can see that you've really had an impact on kids' lives. We were so thrilled to learn that a story on Arthur about our blind character Marina reading a Braille book helped make kids feel better about their own use of Braille. We've seen similar impacts when we did an outreach campaign around asthma using Buster Baxter, where research was done that showed that it helped kids do a better job managing their own asthma. And this fall, I was very thrilled to read in a blog about a mom who was amazed one day when she was on a hike with her three-year-old daughter who flung herself down and said "I'm so fatigued!" and it turned out she'd been watching Martha Speaks. Those are the moments you know you've done your job!
Any advice to today's parents of young kids?
There are so many things you have to juggle when kids are little, so I remember being very happy knowing that some of the simplest acts are the ones that can really support your child's learning. Like reading to your kids every day. It's so simple, but it's one of the most important things you can do to help them gain early literacy skills. Another example is playing board games. That really helps them get the early math skills they need before entering school. And encouraging their curiosity and exploration; it's really what childhood is all about and it's also a way to help turn your child into a mini-scientist who just might grow up to love science!
Read Carol Greenwald's full bio >
Empowering Parents and Protecting Children
Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society has released the Youth and Media Policy Working Group Initiative's response to the FCC's Notice of Inquiry (09-94) on "Empowering Parents and Protecting Children in an Evolving Media Landscape." The response synthesizes current research and data on the media practices of youth, focusing on three main areas — 1) Risky Behaviors and Online Safety, 2) Privacy, Publicity, and Reputation, and 3) Information Dissemination, Youth-Created Content, and Quality of Information — to highlight issues of genuine concern and to discuss the positive and creative opportunities that electronic media provide for young people.
Read the full response >
How much media is too much for kids?
In a typical day, the average young person (age 8–18) spends 7 hours and 38 minutes either online, watching TV, or otherwise consuming media, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. PBS NewsHour correspondent Hari Sreenivasan speaks with Vicky Rideout, a lead researcher in the study, about what these numbers say about young people, media use, and the impact of the Web on daily life.
What matters to...
What has inspired your career choice?
Television is an ideal career for people interested in the marriage of creative expression and issues of social justice. Both as a journalist and producer of a children's series, I have found enormous satisfaction in television and its ability to reach and influence a wide audience.
What are mandatory characteristics of your program(s)?
The children's series I produce must be educational (following established practices for helping young children learn to read), entertaining, and of provable benefit to young children.
What has been a standout achievement of yours?
Over the years, we created a preschool literacy curriculum based on Between the Lions that has proved quite effective in high-poverty communities. Moreover, it's useful and effective for children of any economic group.
Any advice to today's parents of young kids?
The most important things parents can do to help their children become lifelong readers is to talk to them (which builds vocabulary and awareness of the world around them) and read to them. It's also fun!
Read Judith Stoia's full bio >
You can make a differenceEvery time children watch TV or surf the Web, they are learning something. But what are they learning? Grown-ups need to shepherd children through the maze of images that may shape their minds, for better or worse.
>> See how you can make a difference
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Children and media
Discover how TV, movies, advertising, computers, and video games can shape your child's development and what you can do to create a media-literate household.
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