Here's how I'll be celebrating (albeit with kindergartners):
Seed Bombs: Walk-By Guerrilla Gardening : EcoLocalizer
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
obesity and climate change are linked!?
thought this was an interesting press release on a new book that discusses the links between obesity and climate change!
'Globesity: A Planet Out of Control?' is the latest new book from Earthscan.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Billes Architecture Home Design Competition
Billes Architecture Home Design Competition: "Similar to the competition that served as the starting point for Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation, which has now erected six new homes in the Lower Ninth Ward (three designed by Billes Architecture alone), the aim of this competition was not merely to explore ideas, but to make these ideas reality. To that end, the designs of all ten finalists will be considered for development through Billes' newly formed nonprofit organization, New Designs New Orleans."
Born into Brothels
Don't forget, our film screening this Thursday at 7pm in Russel Hall
305.
We'll be showing Born into Brothels, the movie that has swept the
educational community, and the Oscars! with its heartwrenching
portrayal of children in the redlight district of Calcutta.
Born into Brothels, by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski, is the winner of
the 77th annual Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. A tribute
to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, Born
into Brothels is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live
in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as
prostitutes. Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of
the children a camera and teaches them to look at the world with new
eyes. The photographs taken by the children in Born into Brothels are
available for purchase in the Kids' Gallery, and as a signed
limited-edition portfolio, or as a compilation in our companion book.
100% of proceeds from sales of the children's prints go directly to
support their education and well-being.
The film will be served up SAS-style, with a pizza and candy buffet,
and a healthy serving of anthropological analysis and discussion after
the film.
305.
We'll be showing Born into Brothels, the movie that has swept the
educational community, and the Oscars! with its heartwrenching
portrayal of children in the redlight district of Calcutta.
Born into Brothels, by Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski, is the winner of
the 77th annual Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. A tribute
to the resiliency of childhood and the restorative power of art, Born
into Brothels is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live
in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as
prostitutes. Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of
the children a camera and teaches them to look at the world with new
eyes. The photographs taken by the children in Born into Brothels are
available for purchase in the Kids' Gallery, and as a signed
limited-edition portfolio, or as a compilation in our companion book.
100% of proceeds from sales of the children's prints go directly to
support their education and well-being.
The film will be served up SAS-style, with a pizza and candy buffet,
and a healthy serving of anthropological analysis and discussion after
the film.
How the First Earth Day Came About
". . . on April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held, one of the most
remarkable happenings in the history of democracy. . . "
-American Heritage Magazine, October 1993
History Highlights
Information on this page provided by:
The Wilderness Society
How the First Earth Day Came About
By Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day
What was the purpose of Earth Day? How did it start? These are the questions I am most frequently asked.
Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political "limelight" once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.
I continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation's political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not.
After President Kennedy's tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins," had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?
I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try.
At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air - and they did so with spectacular exuberance. For the next four months, two members of my Senate staff, Linda Billings and John Heritage, managed Earth Day affairs out of my Senate office.
Five months before Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the astonishing proliferation of environmental events:
"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...."
It was obvious that we were headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day. It was also obvious that grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc. In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common Cause, provided temporary space for a Washington, D.C. headquarters. I staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes as coordinator of activities.
Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.
remarkable happenings in the history of democracy. . . "
-American Heritage Magazine, October 1993
History Highlights
Information on this page provided by:
The Wilderness Society
How the First Earth Day Came About
By Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day
What was the purpose of Earth Day? How did it start? These are the questions I am most frequently asked.
Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political "limelight" once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.
I continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation's political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not.
After President Kennedy's tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins," had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?
I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try.
At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air - and they did so with spectacular exuberance. For the next four months, two members of my Senate staff, Linda Billings and John Heritage, managed Earth Day affairs out of my Senate office.
Five months before Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the astonishing proliferation of environmental events:
"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...."
It was obvious that we were headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day. It was also obvious that grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc. In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common Cause, provided temporary space for a Washington, D.C. headquarters. I staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes as coordinator of activities.
Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
TC Students in Health & Gottesman Libraries
are pleased to invite you to a
Film Screening & Discussion:
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?(California Newsreel, 2008)
Monday, April 20, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
The Gottesman Libraries, Room 305
Unnatural Causes is an acclaimed documentary series that explores the socio-economic and racial inequities in health. In seven episodes, the film seeks to raise social awareness of health disparities among other important objectives, including the promotion of positive health outcomes and a preventive approach to disease; finer understanding of well-being; and evaluation of current policies. ?In Sickness and in Wealth,? the first of seven episodes in the Unnatural Causes series, will be shown. This introductory piece examines the distribution of power, and how wealth and resources shape opportunities for health. A discussion of the issues will follow the screening. Subsequent screenings will be done on Mondays from 12noon-1pm in the Second Floor Salon.
UNNATURAL CAUSES | About the series . Episode descriptions |��CALIFORNIA NEWSREEL: "The opening 56-minute episode, “In Sickness and In Wealth,” presents the series’ overarching themes. Each supporting half-hour episode, set in a different ethnic/racial community, provides a deeper exploration of how social conditions affect population health and how some communities are extending their lives by improving them."
are pleased to invite you to a
Film Screening & Discussion:
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?(California Newsreel, 2008)
Monday, April 20, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
The Gottesman Libraries, Room 305
Unnatural Causes is an acclaimed documentary series that explores the socio-economic and racial inequities in health. In seven episodes, the film seeks to raise social awareness of health disparities among other important objectives, including the promotion of positive health outcomes and a preventive approach to disease; finer understanding of well-being; and evaluation of current policies. ?In Sickness and in Wealth,? the first of seven episodes in the Unnatural Causes series, will be shown. This introductory piece examines the distribution of power, and how wealth and resources shape opportunities for health. A discussion of the issues will follow the screening. Subsequent screenings will be done on Mondays from 12noon-1pm in the Second Floor Salon.
UNNATURAL CAUSES | About the series . Episode descriptions |��CALIFORNIA NEWSREEL: "The opening 56-minute episode, “In Sickness and In Wealth,” presents the series’ overarching themes. Each supporting half-hour episode, set in a different ethnic/racial community, provides a deeper exploration of how social conditions affect population health and how some communities are extending their lives by improving them."
Systems Science Books Recommended to me by Sara Metcalf, PhD
Meadows DH. Thinking in Systems. Chelsea Green Publishing Co.,White River Junction, VT, 2008.
Senge PM. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday, New York, NY, 2006.
Sterman JD. Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Boston, MA, 2000.
Sara Metcalf, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2007
E-mail: smetcalf@buffalo.edu
Tel. 716 645-0479
Research: Urban social dynamics, agent-based modeling.
Senge PM. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday, New York, NY, 2006.
Sterman JD. Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Boston, MA, 2000.
Sara Metcalf, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2007
E-mail: smetcalf@buffalo.edu
Tel. 716 645-0479
Research: Urban social dynamics, agent-based modeling.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
mobile medicine
TC is offering a class in applications for learning with cell phones this summer. One audience they recommend for the class is those interested in mobile medicine. When I was in Uganda I noticed the absolute omnipresence of cells, even among the very poor. Clearly, this is something that has become an essential item for survival in our world. Maybe we can use its essentialist qualities to the advantage of health outcomes?
The Lancet Student Archive TLS Twitter! Meningitis Vaccines; Diagnostic Hotlines for Rural Medics: "In Ghana, the Millennium Villages Project is piloting a scheme to provide rural medics with advice on diagnosis and treatment through a mobile phone hotline. The scheme, which will be launched later this year, allows healthcare workers to consult specially-trained doctors to obtain advice and support about the cases they see in day-to-day practice, ending the isolation many rural medics have faced as a matter of course. Consultants believe that such hotlines have tremendous potential in reaching the two-thirds of mobile phone users living in developing counties, and hope to add new applications such as text-based prescriptions and remote monitoring for patients suffering from chronic complaints. Similar hotlines – though frequently targeted at patients, not professionals – are already a reality in Bangladesh, Mexico, India and Pakistan. Evidence suggests however that the cost of call charges still puts the service out of reach of the poorest areas."
The Lancet Student Archive TLS Twitter! Meningitis Vaccines; Diagnostic Hotlines for Rural Medics: "In Ghana, the Millennium Villages Project is piloting a scheme to provide rural medics with advice on diagnosis and treatment through a mobile phone hotline. The scheme, which will be launched later this year, allows healthcare workers to consult specially-trained doctors to obtain advice and support about the cases they see in day-to-day practice, ending the isolation many rural medics have faced as a matter of course. Consultants believe that such hotlines have tremendous potential in reaching the two-thirds of mobile phone users living in developing counties, and hope to add new applications such as text-based prescriptions and remote monitoring for patients suffering from chronic complaints. Similar hotlines – though frequently targeted at patients, not professionals – are already a reality in Bangladesh, Mexico, India and Pakistan. Evidence suggests however that the cost of call charges still puts the service out of reach of the poorest areas."
The Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study: Findings and Policy Implications
Colloquium Series on Health, Law and Society
Columbia Law School
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Case Lounge, 7th Floor
Columbia Law School (Jerome Greene Hall)
116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
The Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study:
Findings and Policy Implications
In their talk, The Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study: Findings and Policy Implications, Garfinkel and McLanahan discuss their ongoing study of the health and social outcomes of children and families living in socially and economically disadvantaged communities across the nation.
Columbia Law School
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Case Lounge, 7th Floor
Columbia Law School (Jerome Greene Hall)
116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
The Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study:
Findings and Policy Implications
In their talk, The Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study: Findings and Policy Implications, Garfinkel and McLanahan discuss their ongoing study of the health and social outcomes of children and families living in socially and economically disadvantaged communities across the nation.
Friday, April 17, 2009
article on disparities in overweight prevalence among children
SpringerLink - Journal Article: "Disparities in Obesity and Overweight Prevalence Among US Immigrant Children and Adolescents by Generational Status"
Finding Utility in the Jumble of Tweeted Thoughts - NYTimes.com
Finding Utility in the Jumble of Tweeted Thoughts - NYTimes.com:
"...“Twitter reverses the notion of the group,” said Paul Saffo, the Silicon Valley futurist. “Instead of creating the group you want, you send it and the group self-assembles.” [...]"
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Climate Change Conference May 2nd
We talked about James Hansen last class. By inviting him as a key note speaker, we are organizing the conference on climate change! Join us now!
Top researchers and policy makers will gather at Columbia University on May 2nd at the "350 Climate Conference" in New York to examine the need to and potential solutions for lowering atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to sustainable levels by 2050. In the run-up to negotiations in Copenhagen later this year, this conference will help set the context and framework for technical, political, and individual steps necessary to mitigating climate change far below levels being presently considered by many policy makers.
Dr. James Hansen: director of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies, will examine the need to dramatically lower atmospheric carbon to sustainable levels--possibly to 350 ppm or lower
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/
Dr. Daniel Hillel: world-renowned soil scientist, hydrologist and agronomist, editor of the "Encyclopedia of Soils of the Environment," will discuss the impacts and carbon sequestration potential of terrestrial ecosystems
http://ccsr.columbia.edu/researchers/hillel.html
Prof. Michael Gerrard, JD: director of the Center for Climate Law at Columbia University, will discuss the imperative and legal implications of post-Kyoto negotiations in Copenhagen in December
http://www.law.columbia.edu/fac/Michael_Gerrard
Dr. Johannes Lehmann: leading "biochar" researcher (an exciting proposed means of sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and locking it the soil in an energy-generation process known as pyrolysis); professor of soil science at Cornell University and editor of forthcoming "Biochar for Environmental Management"
http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann.html
Majora Carter: founder of Sustainable South Bronx; named most influential women of New York two years in a row; will discuss the ethical imperative for green jobs and ecojustice in the burgeoning green economy
http://www.majoracartergroup.com/
Seats are limited so please register soon!
www.350conference.org
Top researchers and policy makers will gather at Columbia University on May 2nd at the "350 Climate Conference" in New York to examine the need to and potential solutions for lowering atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to sustainable levels by 2050. In the run-up to negotiations in Copenhagen later this year, this conference will help set the context and framework for technical, political, and individual steps necessary to mitigating climate change far below levels being presently considered by many policy makers.
Dr. James Hansen: director of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies, will examine the need to dramatically lower atmospheric carbon to sustainable levels--possibly to 350 ppm or lower
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/
Dr. Daniel Hillel: world-renowned soil scientist, hydrologist and agronomist, editor of the "Encyclopedia of Soils of the Environment," will discuss the impacts and carbon sequestration potential of terrestrial ecosystems
http://ccsr.columbia.edu/researchers/hillel.html
Prof. Michael Gerrard, JD: director of the Center for Climate Law at Columbia University, will discuss the imperative and legal implications of post-Kyoto negotiations in Copenhagen in December
http://www.law.columbia.edu/fac/Michael_Gerrard
Dr. Johannes Lehmann: leading "biochar" researcher (an exciting proposed means of sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and locking it the soil in an energy-generation process known as pyrolysis); professor of soil science at Cornell University and editor of forthcoming "Biochar for Environmental Management"
http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann.html
Majora Carter: founder of Sustainable South Bronx; named most influential women of New York two years in a row; will discuss the ethical imperative for green jobs and ecojustice in the burgeoning green economy
http://www.majoracartergroup.com/
Seats are limited so please register soon!
www.350conference.org
Wunder Blog : Weather Underground
Wunder Blog : Weather Underground:
"Louisiana State University (LSU) will not renew the contract of controversial hurricane scientist Ivor van Heerden, according to nola.com . Dr. van Heerden has been stripped of his title as deputy director of the LSU Hurricane Center, and will lose his job in May 2010. The Director of the LSU Hurricane Center, engineering professor Marc Levitan, resigned from that post in protest over the firing of van Heerden. LSU has given no reason why it is removing Dr. van Heerden, but said it was not because of his performance. Van Heerden, who holds a Ph.D. degree in marine sciences from LSU, was one of the most outspoken scientists on the vulnerability of New Orleans before Katrina struck in 2005. He worked extensively with FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and political figures at the local, state, and U.S. Congressional levels to try to improve New Orleans' disaster readiness. In the aftermath of the storm, he provided support for the search and rescue efforts and plugging of the levee breaches, then headed one of the teams assigned to figure out what caused the levees to fail. PBS's NOVA did a nice story on him in 2006, featuring interviews before and after Katrina. He was highly critical of the Army Corps of Engineers and politicians at the local, state, and federal level for allowing the Katrina disaster to happen, and for their abysmal response to the storm's aftermath [...]"
By Degrees - Third-World Stove Soot Is Target in Climate Fight - Series - NYTimes.com
"In Kohlua, in central India, with no cars and little electricity, emissions of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming, are near zero. But soot — also known as black carbon — from tens of thousands of villages like this one in developing countries is emerging as a major and previously unappreciated source of global climate change."
Parents See Braces for Their Children as an Investment in the Future
Skin Deep - Parents See Braces for Their Children as an Investment in the Future - NYTimes.com:
"Why are cash-strapped families still considering braces at all? The answer seems to be that giving the next generation a leg up is a priority. “If you go into a job with teeth out of a novelty store, people aren’t supposed to discriminate,” said Dr. Benjamin Burris, an orthodontist with several offices in Arkansas. “But people do.”[...]"
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