Monday, September 16, 2013
From the Village of Brockport board meeting minutes of 08/05/13:
Susan & Pete Smith – Mayor Blackman shared that Susan and Pete Smith have generously purchased the video camera now being used to film Village Board meetings. The camera is the property of Pro Brockport.
Editor's note: The video tapes of the Village Board meetings are available on the Pro Brockport web site at www.probrockport.org. Susan and Pete Smith have done a lot for the Village from watering hanging plants to being the webmaster of the Pro Brockport web site to various other things too numerous to mention.
ProBrockport born out of the campaign to dissolve the Village has done, and continues to do, many wonderful things for the Village. A primary part of ProBrockport's mission is to open up the operation of Village government for participation by the citizens its serves. Visit the Probrockport Web Site at www.probrockport.org
Susan & Pete Smith – Mayor Blackman shared that Susan and Pete Smith have generously purchased the video camera now being used to film Village Board meetings. The camera is the property of Pro Brockport.
ProBrockport born out of the campaign to dissolve the Village has done, and continues to do, many wonderful things for the Village. A primary part of ProBrockport's mission is to open up the operation of Village government for participation by the citizens its serves. Visit the Probrockport Web Site at www.probrockport.org
From Science Daily on 09/13/13:
Sep. 12, 2013 — A new study from the American Journal of Public Heath shows that U.S. states with higher estimated rates of gun ownership experience a higher number of firearms-related homicides.
For more click here.
Editor's note: I have mentioned before on the Brockporter than the likelihood of being killed by a gun is increased with gun ownership not decreased. Owning guns paradoxically does not make a person safer but at more risk. New York State under Governor Cuomo's leadership has moved in the right direction with its SAFE laws in improving public health when it comes to accessibility and ownership of guns.
Sep. 12, 2013 — A new study from the American Journal of Public Heath shows that U.S. states with higher estimated rates of gun ownership experience a higher number of firearms-related homicides.
For more click here.
Editor's note: I have mentioned before on the Brockporter than the likelihood of being killed by a gun is increased with gun ownership not decreased. Owning guns paradoxically does not make a person safer but at more risk. New York State under Governor Cuomo's leadership has moved in the right direction with its SAFE laws in improving public health when it comes to accessibility and ownership of guns.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
In 2011, about 47 percent of high school students reported ever having had sexual intercourse. The proportion of students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse declined significantly from 1991 (54 percent) to 2001 (46 percent) and remained relatively stable from 2001 to 2011.
The percentage of students who reported ever having had sexual intercourse differed by grade. In 2011, about 33 percent of 9th-grade students reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared with 44 percent of 10th-grade students, 53 percent of 11th-grade students, and 63 percent of 12th-grade students.
Overall, the rates of sexual intercourse were higher among males (49 percent) than females (46 percent), and also differed by gender within some racial and ethnic groups.
In 2011, approximately 67 percent of Black, non-Hispanic male students reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared with 54 percent of Black, non-Hispanic female students;
53 percent of Hispanic male students reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared with 44 percent of Hispanic female students.
In 2011, about 18 percent of students who had sexual intercourse in the past 3 months reported that they or their partner had used birth control pills before their last sexual intercourse, and 60 percent reported condom use. Condom use increased from 46 percent in 1991 to 63 percent in 2003, then remained relatively stable through 2011.
For more information click here.
From NIH report in September, 2013, "Let Baby Set the Delivery Date: Wait Until 39 Weeks If You Can":
We tend to think of pregnancy as lasting for 9 months. But ideally it should last for nearly 10 months. Research shows that babies are born healthier if they have at least 39 weeks to grow in the womb.
In recent years, there’s been a trend toward earlier deliveries, as more women are choosing the date they’ll give birth. This is known as an elective delivery. Studies suggest that the number of elective deliveries rose dramatically from 1990 to the mid-2000s.
If there’s a particular medical reason to deliver early, then it’s best not to wait, says Dr. Catherine Spong, a pregnancy expert at NIH. “But if the mother and baby are healthy, there’s no benefit to delivering the baby early,” she says. In fact, delivering early can create lasting health problems. Even women of advanced maternal age, older than 35, should wait until at least 39 weeks unless there are medical reasons to deliver early.
“We’ve gotten to the point where people feel they can choose the timing of their delivery,” says Spong. “But in reality, that baby, in the last 4 weeks of pregnancy, is doing a huge amount of developing.”
Those last few weeks can make a big difference. At 39 to 40 weeks of pregnancy, a baby’s brain weighs one-third more than it does at 35 weeks. The lungs and liver also continue to develop up to 39 weeks. And those last few weeks allow time for layers of fat to grow under the baby’s skin, which helps keep the infant warm after birth.
For more click here.
Editor's note: The Brockporter, Brockport's online news magazine, publishes articles on health topics on most Sundays.
Angela and I had nine children the last four of whom were born at home at 348 Main Street in Brockport, NY. Angela delivered big babies, 2 at 9lbs. 8oz, 1 at 10lbs. 4oz. and Ryan at 11 lbs. 6 oz. The first three were born at Lakeside and the next 2 were born at The Genesee Hospital in Rochester, NY.
One of the best documentaries on the birthing industry in the United States is Ricki Lake's documentary released on 2008 entitled The Business Of Being Born.
In recent years, there’s been a trend toward earlier deliveries, as more women are choosing the date they’ll give birth. This is known as an elective delivery. Studies suggest that the number of elective deliveries rose dramatically from 1990 to the mid-2000s.
If there’s a particular medical reason to deliver early, then it’s best not to wait, says Dr. Catherine Spong, a pregnancy expert at NIH. “But if the mother and baby are healthy, there’s no benefit to delivering the baby early,” she says. In fact, delivering early can create lasting health problems. Even women of advanced maternal age, older than 35, should wait until at least 39 weeks unless there are medical reasons to deliver early.
“We’ve gotten to the point where people feel they can choose the timing of their delivery,” says Spong. “But in reality, that baby, in the last 4 weeks of pregnancy, is doing a huge amount of developing.”
Those last few weeks can make a big difference. At 39 to 40 weeks of pregnancy, a baby’s brain weighs one-third more than it does at 35 weeks. The lungs and liver also continue to develop up to 39 weeks. And those last few weeks allow time for layers of fat to grow under the baby’s skin, which helps keep the infant warm after birth.
For more click here.
Editor's note: The Brockporter, Brockport's online news magazine, publishes articles on health topics on most Sundays.
Angela and I had nine children the last four of whom were born at home at 348 Main Street in Brockport, NY. Angela delivered big babies, 2 at 9lbs. 8oz, 1 at 10lbs. 4oz. and Ryan at 11 lbs. 6 oz. The first three were born at Lakeside and the next 2 were born at The Genesee Hospital in Rochester, NY.
One of the best documentaries on the birthing industry in the United States is Ricki Lake's documentary released on 2008 entitled The Business Of Being Born.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
This is the question asked by the New York Times of New York City kids this week.
The Brockporter is asking this same question of Brockport kids. Maybe their parents could help them.
I'll bet there isn't a kid in Brockport who knows who his/her mayor is, let alone what problem(s) he/she would like to see the mayor work on.
But let's pretend that kids in Brockport were more involved in the politics of the Village and ask them what concerns and ideas they have.
Let's not pretend though, let's really ask them.
If you are a parent or a teacher will you ask them and leave the answer in the comments or send the question and answer to davidgmarkham@gmail.com
Who is your mayor? What has he or she done that you admire? What local problems plague your community or city? What might your mayor do to help solve them?
I'll bet there isn't a kid in Brockport who knows who his/her mayor is, let alone what problem(s) he/she would like to see the mayor work on.
But let's pretend that kids in Brockport were more involved in the politics of the Village and ask them what concerns and ideas they have.
Let's not pretend though, let's really ask them.
If you are a parent or a teacher will you ask them and leave the answer in the comments or send the question and answer to davidgmarkham@gmail.com
Who is your mayor? What has he or she done that you admire? What local problems plague your community or city? What might your mayor do to help solve them?
Friday, September 13, 2013
From Village of Brockport board minutes of 08/05/13:
Update on delinquent parking tickets –
Mayor Blackman said per FBS, parking ticket monies for July were $18,800 which compares with the recent normal take for July of $2,000. The Sweden Court was backlogged and June’s take was $6,000, but they have now caught up.
Editor's note: The problem of unpaid parking tickets has plagued the Village of Brockport and the Town of Sweden for a decade until then Trustee and now Mayor Blackman worked out an arrangement with a private firm to help the Town of Sweden in the collection of these tickets. Blackman's management plan is a great example of what competent governmental management can achieve. Kudos to Mayor Blackman and other Village of Brockport and Town of Sweden staff who have implemented this plan with such good results.
Mayor Blackman said per FBS, parking ticket monies for July were $18,800 which compares with the recent normal take for July of $2,000. The Sweden Court was backlogged and June’s take was $6,000, but they have now caught up.
Editor's note: The problem of unpaid parking tickets has plagued the Village of Brockport and the Town of Sweden for a decade until then Trustee and now Mayor Blackman worked out an arrangement with a private firm to help the Town of Sweden in the collection of these tickets. Blackman's management plan is a great example of what competent governmental management can achieve. Kudos to Mayor Blackman and other Village of Brockport and Town of Sweden staff who have implemented this plan with such good results.
Written for readers 12 and up, and with a foreword by Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core and a member of the President's Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships, this beautiful book will educate and inspire youth and adults of all faiths.
by Monica Beck
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Lee Daniels’ The Butler starring Forest Whitaker is an historical drama about the life of Cecil His tenure began in Eisenhower’s term as the country began to challenge the Jim Crow segregation laws of the south. Cecil played the innocent bystander, and did not involve himself in politics. His wife, played by Oprah Winfrey, stood by him and struggled with her own demons.
They had two sons, one who attended Fisk University and participated actively in the Civil Rights movement, which carried him to lunch counters in the south, on ‘freedom rides’ to Alabama, and eventually to jails across the south, while his father worked away in a state of worried silence as the fight for civil rights erupted. He was witness to many private debates that helped create the 1964 Civil Rights Act which was initiated by the Kennedy administration, and enacted by the Johnson administration. Johnson also expanded our presence in South East Asia, where Cecil’s other son chose a different fight—as a soldier in Vietnam where he was free to die for the country that denied him the same rights as his white counterparts.
Cecil’s employment at the White House helped him to provide a middle class lifestyle and standard of living for his family, but at a cost—just like the nameless porters who worked for luxury sleeper-car magnate George Pullman, and who were all referred to as “George”. Cecil, too, was treated as though he were invisible, as the presidential staff conducted conversations which included derogatory comments related to the ‘race question’ and our national policies. Early on he was instructed to “avoid politics”, and never voiced his opinions, even when asked.
As a microcosm of American society, White House employment practices mirrored the same rampant racism and economic disparity that was characteristic of the rest of the country. Several scenes depict Cecil attempting to stand up for his own equal rights, observing that the black staff made 40% of the wages that white staff earned for the same labor, but for many years his observations were met by deaf ears. Surprisingly enough, it was not until the Reagan presidency, that blacks received the same wages, and only because Cecil got the president’s support beforehand. Remember, Ronnie had been a good ‘union man’ in Hollywood.
Throughout the film Cecil interacts with four presidents and their families played by an ensemble cast, including Robin Williams, Jane Fonda (as Nancy Reagan), and John Cusack.
Likewise, Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey (who returned to the cinema for Daniels’ film), give Oscar worthy performances that shouldn’t be missed. It can’t hurt the American psyche to take a personal look at the private battles that some Americans had to fight during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights movement. I say we owe it too them.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
From the TED web site:
Aicha el-Wafi and Phyllis Rodriguez met around a shared tragedy -- and their friendship has become a powerful symbol for forgiveness and dialogue.
Presentation was filmed in December 2010.
Phyllis Rodriguez and Aicha el-Wafi have a powerful friendship born of unthinkable loss.
Rodriguez' son was killed in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001; el-Wafi's son Zacarias Moussaoui was convicted of a role in those attacks and is serving a life sentence.
In hoping to find peace, these two moms have come to understand and respect one another.
Aicha el-Wafi and Phyllis Rodriguez met around a shared tragedy -- and their friendship has become a powerful symbol for forgiveness and dialogue.
Presentation was filmed in December 2010.
From Story Corps:
John Vigiano Sr. is a retired New York City firefighter whose two sons followed him into service—John Jr. was a firefighter, too, and Joe was a police detective. On September 11, 2001, both Vigiano brothers responded to the call from the World Trade Center, and both were killed while saving others. Here, John Sr. remembers his sons and reflects on coping with his tremendous loss.
As I mentioned last Tuesday, in my first article in the column on reentry ("The politicians like to tout 3 strikes policies and “get tough on crime” which overlooks the fact that the people we incarcerate come from families, and communities, and unless they die in prison, they all come back. Currently, they come back at the rate of 630,000 per year in the United States, that’s about 1,700 per day. In New York State there are 36,500 formerly incarcerated people on parole and several thousand more on probation. How are they treated when they return home? How do you treat them?") most of the millions of people we have incarcerated in the United States come back home, unless they die in prison, at the rate of about 630,000 per year. Jeremy Travis in his book "But They All Come Back" raises a fundamental question which is, "Does the state have a responsibility to minimize the harmful effects of the transition from prison to community? One answer might be no - the risks of failure are borne entirely by the prisoner, his family, his social network, and the public at large."
Currently a huge number of offenders are returned to prison while on parole for technical violations swelling our prison populations which makes one wonder how good a job we are doing as a society in helping formerly incarcerated people with community adjustment. It has been my experience as a mentor for formerly incarcerated people coming out of prison that our society places tremendous barriers and obstacles in the path of formerly incarcerated people in their attempt at community re-integration. Rather than help, many of our parole regulations, social welfare regulations, stigma against hiring, housing, and providing opportunities for a "normal" community life, increase the likelihood or re-incarceration, not decrease it.
Most Americans, New Yorkers, and Brockporters have no idea what formerly incarcerated people face because we have closed our eyes to the realities out of our fears. Travis writes:
"In short, our legislators, acting in our name through a series of reforms large and small, have dramatically transformed our justice system over the last quarter-century. Unfortunately, this transformation has largely ocurred out of public sight, as we have constructed a hidden world of punishment. Accordingly, the first step in reclaiming our justice system is to foster a public discussion about the current realities of punishment in America, particularly as experienced by millions of prisoners, their families, and the communities to which they return." p.5
The Brockporter will be publishing an article on reentry and our criminal justice system almost every Thursday. If you ask "what does this topic have to do with me" you might consider that New York States Department of Corrections and Criminal Supervision budget is over 3 billion dollars a year. It costs over $60,000.00 per year to keep a person in prison in New York State and over $70.00 per day in Monroe County Jail or about $30,000.00 per year. Is this a good use of our tax dollars? Is the system humane and morally right? It is the firm belief of myself and many experts that there are much better ways of dealing with the criminal problems in our society. I hope you will read along, reflect, and add your own thoughts, ideas, and recommendations to the discussion in the comments, and if you have an article you would like to submit for this feature send it to davidgmarkham@gmail.com
Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.
College achieves its highest-ever ranking in the publication
“It is an honor that our students, faculty, staff, and alumni have again been recognized for their achievements by US News & World Report,” says Brockport President John R. Halstead. “This type of recognition tells the nation what we already know—that the entire Brockport community is completely committed to ensuring the success of our students and our graduates.”
For more click here.
For another view of the U.S. News and World Reports college rankings see John Tierney'a article on the Atlantic.com blog on 09/10/13 by clicking here
You also might want to see the article in the Democract and Chronicle on 09/11/13 by James Goodman that describes the rankings of many local colleges and the indicators which contributed to their rankings by clicking here.
Editor's note: I graduated from SUNY Brockport in 1968. My mother graduated in 1942. 3 of my daughters have graduated from Brockport: Katie, Colleen, and Mary. My 4 siblings and I as well as 4 of my children attended the Campus school back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s before it was closed.
It is very edifying to see the college continue to flourish and provide high quality educations at a very affordable price. Having this resource in the Brockport community in New York State is another reason why I appreciatively and enthusiastically pay my taxes not only without complaint but with much gratitude in my heart for all that my community and State has done for me and my family.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
From the United States Department of Justice web site posted on 09/04/13:
In a settlement agreement with the United States, Safeway, the nation’s second largest grocery store chain, has agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty and implement a corporate-wide plan to significantly reduce its emissions of ozone-depleting substances from refrigeration equipment at 659 of its stores nationwide, estimated to cost approximately $4.1 million, announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice today.
The settlement involves the largest number of facilities ever under the Clean Air Act (CAA)’s regulations governing refrigeration equipment.
The settlement resolves allegations that Safeway violated the federal CAA by failing to promptly repair leaks of HCFC-22, a hydro-chlorofluorocarbon that is a greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance used as a coolant in refrigerators, and failed to keep adequate records of the servicing of its refrigeration equipment. Safeway will now implement a corporate refrigerant compliance management system to comply with stratospheric ozone regulations. In addition, Safeway will reduce its corporate-wide average leak rate from 25 percent in 2012 to 18 percent or below in 2015. The company will also reduce the aggregate refrigerant emissions at its highest-emission stores by 10 percent each year for three years.
“Safeway’s new corporate commitment to reduce air pollution and help protect the ozone layer is vital and significant,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Fixing leaks, improving compliance and reducing emissions will make a real difference in protecting us from the dangers of ozone depletion, while reducing the impact on climate change.”
“This first-of-its-kind settlement will benefit all Americans by cutting emissions of ozone-depleting substances across Safeway’s national supermarket chain,” said Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “It can serve as a model for comprehensive solutions that improve industry compliance with the nation’s Clean Air Act.”
HCFC-22 is up to 1,800 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of global warming emissions. The measures that Safeway has committed to are expected to prevent over 100,000 pounds of future releases of ozone-depleting refrigerants that destroy the ozone layer.
EPA regulations issued under Title VI of the CAA require that owner or operators of commercial refrigeration equipment that contains over 50 pounds of ozone-depleting refrigerants, and that has an annual leak rate greater than 35 percent repair such leaks within 30 days.
HCFCs deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, which allows dangerous amounts of cancer-causing ultraviolet rays from the sun to strike the earth, leading to adverse health effects that include skin cancers, cataracts, and suppressed immune systems. Pursuant to the Montreal Protocol, the United States is implementing strict reductions of ozone-depleting refrigerants, including a production and importation ban by 2020 of HCFC-22, a common refrigerant used by supermarkets.
The settlement is part of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to control harmful air pollution from the largest sources of emissions, including large grocery stores.
Corporate commitments to reduce emissions from refrigeration systems have been increasing in recent years. EPA’s GreenChill Partnership Program works with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change by transitioning to environmentally friendlier refrigerants, using less refrigerant and eliminating leaks, and adopting green refrigeration technologies and best environmental practices.
Safeway, headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., is the second largest grocery chain in North America with 1,412 stores in the United States and 2012 revenues of $44.2 billion. Safeway operates companies under the banner of Vons in southern California and Nevada, Randalls in Texas, and Carrs in Alaska. The settlement covers 659 Safeway stores – all Safeway stores in the United States that have commercial refrigeration equipment regulated by the CAA except for those stores in Safeway’s Dominick’s Division, which was the subject of a 2004 settlement with the United States.
The settlement was lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. It will be available for viewing at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.
For more information: http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/safeway-inc-clean-air-act-settlement.
Editor's note:
The Brockporter, Brockports's online news magazine, features articles on environmental concerns every Wednesday. If you have an idea, topic, or article you would like featured please send it to davidgmarkham@gmail.com.
The settlement involves the largest number of facilities ever under the Clean Air Act (CAA)’s regulations governing refrigeration equipment.
The settlement resolves allegations that Safeway violated the federal CAA by failing to promptly repair leaks of HCFC-22, a hydro-chlorofluorocarbon that is a greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance used as a coolant in refrigerators, and failed to keep adequate records of the servicing of its refrigeration equipment. Safeway will now implement a corporate refrigerant compliance management system to comply with stratospheric ozone regulations. In addition, Safeway will reduce its corporate-wide average leak rate from 25 percent in 2012 to 18 percent or below in 2015. The company will also reduce the aggregate refrigerant emissions at its highest-emission stores by 10 percent each year for three years.
“Safeway’s new corporate commitment to reduce air pollution and help protect the ozone layer is vital and significant,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Fixing leaks, improving compliance and reducing emissions will make a real difference in protecting us from the dangers of ozone depletion, while reducing the impact on climate change.”
“This first-of-its-kind settlement will benefit all Americans by cutting emissions of ozone-depleting substances across Safeway’s national supermarket chain,” said Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “It can serve as a model for comprehensive solutions that improve industry compliance with the nation’s Clean Air Act.”
HCFC-22 is up to 1,800 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of global warming emissions. The measures that Safeway has committed to are expected to prevent over 100,000 pounds of future releases of ozone-depleting refrigerants that destroy the ozone layer.
EPA regulations issued under Title VI of the CAA require that owner or operators of commercial refrigeration equipment that contains over 50 pounds of ozone-depleting refrigerants, and that has an annual leak rate greater than 35 percent repair such leaks within 30 days.
HCFCs deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, which allows dangerous amounts of cancer-causing ultraviolet rays from the sun to strike the earth, leading to adverse health effects that include skin cancers, cataracts, and suppressed immune systems. Pursuant to the Montreal Protocol, the United States is implementing strict reductions of ozone-depleting refrigerants, including a production and importation ban by 2020 of HCFC-22, a common refrigerant used by supermarkets.
The settlement is part of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to control harmful air pollution from the largest sources of emissions, including large grocery stores.
Corporate commitments to reduce emissions from refrigeration systems have been increasing in recent years. EPA’s GreenChill Partnership Program works with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change by transitioning to environmentally friendlier refrigerants, using less refrigerant and eliminating leaks, and adopting green refrigeration technologies and best environmental practices.
Safeway, headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., is the second largest grocery chain in North America with 1,412 stores in the United States and 2012 revenues of $44.2 billion. Safeway operates companies under the banner of Vons in southern California and Nevada, Randalls in Texas, and Carrs in Alaska. The settlement covers 659 Safeway stores – all Safeway stores in the United States that have commercial refrigeration equipment regulated by the CAA except for those stores in Safeway’s Dominick’s Division, which was the subject of a 2004 settlement with the United States.
The settlement was lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. It will be available for viewing at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.
For more information: http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/safeway-inc-clean-air-act-settlement.
Editor's note:
The Brockporter, Brockports's online news magazine, features articles on environmental concerns every Wednesday. If you have an idea, topic, or article you would like featured please send it to davidgmarkham@gmail.com.
From Village of Brockport board meeting minutes of 08/05/13:
Canals New York – Mayor Blackman said the Village of Brockport once belonged to and is re-joining this alliance of municipalities and canal focused businesses which include Lockport, Medina, Albion, Spencerport, Pittsford, Fairport, Palmyra.
This alliance is putting pressure on NYS CC regarding the short staffing of lift bridges and closures on the eastern section of canal. Because of this, boat traffic is noticeably down. We are down 43% from last year. Some communities are down more than 50%. This has an impact on local businesses.
For more information click here.
This alliance is putting pressure on NYS CC regarding the short staffing of lift bridges and closures on the eastern section of canal. Because of this, boat traffic is noticeably down. We are down 43% from last year. Some communities are down more than 50%. This has an impact on local businesses.
For more information click here.
On this 12th anniversary I would like to think that we, as nation, have learned from these mistaken wars of vengeance and attack. We have to admit to ourselves and the world that we are no safer now than before, and not only have done little to relieve the suffering on our planet but increased it.
As the old folk song says, "When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?"
While may cultural Christians profess that America is a Christian nation they seem to have forgotten, overlooked, or misunderstood Jesus' statement that we are to "Love your enemies". Jesus tells us that loving our enemies is the way to the Kingdom. We, as Americans, took a wrong turn. It's never too late to give up our bellicose tendency to attack anything we feel threatened by. To get ourselves on a better track, it will take a level of spiritual maturity that might be called miraculous.We can still learn our lessons when we recognize that we have had enough and there must be a better way.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Brockport to Host Afro-Cuban Drum and Dance Workshop
Workshop will take place Saturday, September 14 between 9:30 am and 5 pm in Hartwell Hall
BROCKPORT, NY- The College at Brockport, State University of New York, will host its first Afro-Cuban Drum and Dance Workshop from 9:30 am to 5 pm on Saturday, September 14 in Hartwell Hall. All classes are free and open to the public with financial support from The College at Brockport Promoting Excellence in Diversity Grant. Registration is required; all levels of musicians and dancers are welcome to attend.
The workshops will focus on Afro-Cuban percussion and dance. Participants will learn about many of the rich Afro-Cuban traditions ranging from Yoruba, Arara, Carabali and Rumba - the national music and dance of Cuba. Percussion classes will be led by Kalid Saleem, faculty member in the Department of Dance, as well as Bata Con Pies African Caribbean Drum Ensemble (Rochester, NY). The Afro-Cuban dance classes will be taught Melissa Noventa, artistic director of Ilédè Afo-Cuban Drumming and Dance (Toronto, CA). Dance classes will be accompanied by live music and participants will have the opportunity to play the drums along with the musicians.
The workshop was made possible through the College's Promoting Excellence in Diversity Grant. The event also is sponsored by the Diversity Committee, the Sankofa African Dance and Drum Ensemble as well as the Departments of African and African-American Studies, Anthropology, Dance, Modern Languages and Cultures, and Theater and Music Studies.
Registration is open. Visit www.brockport.edu/diversity/afrocubanworkshop to register and learn more.
For additional information, contact Oluyinka Akinjiola, workshop coordinator, at oakin1@brockport.edu.
Mr. Charles Cowling a librarian at the SUNY Brockport Drake Library submitted a brief article to the SUNY Brockport Daily Eagle announcing that a letter has been discovered from a faculty member of the newly formed Brockport Collegiate Institute dated 1842. Here is part of that article:
Thanks to Gary Musante in the Department of Theatre and Music Studies for sharing this discovery with the archives! In doing some research of his own, Gary ran across a letter that is from a young faculty member, David Black, to a friend describing his new position. It is a fascinating and very rare glimpse of the life of a beginning professor of that time. The letter is scanned and available via the link included.
contact: Charlie Cowling, ccowling@brockport.edu.
My mother, Margaret "Peg" Markham, was a proud graduate of Brockport State Teacher's College in 1942 the first year that the Brockport Normal School which gave three year degree teaching credentials had become a 4 year Teacher's College, which required a four year Bachelor's degree to obtain a teaching certificate in New York State.
As a proud graduate of Brockport State Teacher's College my mother sent all her children to the BSTC Campus school. My siblings and I received a very progressive education in a school on the cutting edge of teaching student teacher's the latest techniques in teaching and classroom management.
Later in life my wife and I had 9 children all of whom we also sent to the Campus School until in closed in the early 80s. In 1985, Angela and I started homeschooling our children after the oldest three went all the way though Brockport High School. Prior to making the decision to homeschool I spent a year reading and studying everything I could find on educational psychology, child development and education. Having received a Master's Degree In Social Work and working in the mental health field I was already very familiar with various theories and research on child, adolescent, and adult development. I became convinced that my wife and I could provide a better education for our children than what they could receive in government run public schools.
I have shared some of my personal history and life experience to provide a context for the new column which is being started on the Brockporter which will deal with the philosophy, psychology, and practice of education and schooling and will appear almost every Tuesday. For someone to question the viability of government run public education is almost to be accused of being unpatriotic and unamerican. Back when we started homeschooling in Brockport in 1985, we were one of the first three families in the district. Now over 2 million Americans homeschool their children for various reasons and it is legal and recognized in all 50 states. Mark Twain said one time "Don't let schooling interfere with your education."
The whole discourse of government operated public schooling is rarely called into question. There are many controversies and recommendations about how to tweak the model, but rarely is the model itself questioned. Schooling developed in the United States as the country was moving from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy and government run central school systems were developed on assembly line manufacturing models which became increasingly bureaucratized into what we have today. This assembly line bureaucratized institutional model doesn't work very well and manifests myriad problems which are endemic to the model. As Albert Einstein, a government run public school drop out and homeschooler, said "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." The Brockporter column on education intends to move the discussion of education to a whole new level of consciousness. There are millions of people who have already made this move to a new level of consciousness, but the dominant educational discourse in the United States is heavily invested in conserving the assembly line manufacturing based model.
Almost, every Tuesday, the Brockporter will feature an article on education. Some of the ideas will be controversial and signed comments are always welcome. If any one would like to share an article or essay of their own, please forward it to davidgmarkham@gmail.com
This week, the idea to be considered is the one mentioned by Alfie Kohn in his book "Feel-Bad Education" in which he writes "Most of the material that students are required to memorize is soon forgotten." As Simon and Garfunkle sang in their great song, Kodachrome, "When I think of all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can still thing at all."
The United States is in serious trouble if it thinks that regurgitating facts is what makes people smart or will prepare our society for the future especially in the age of computers. What is much more important than memorizing and regurgitating facts is to be able to connect the dots in some sort of meaningful way that is significant for the learner, and to be able to apply this contextualized understanding in real life.
Communicating information that is to be memorized and regurgitated as some later time is not education. It may be schooling, training human animals for performance in manifesting short term memory skills, but it begs the main questions about whether it is education because we fail to question who chooses what information is to be memorized, how it will be communicated and memorized, and why it is significant to whom for what purpose? Until the learner knows the answers to these questions, the activity of memorization and regurgitation is a banal exercise that has no meaning and significance other than for immediate performance on a test after which it is usually mostly forgotten. The process is tedious and boring. Rather than life giving and exciting, schooling is stressful, enervating, competitive in the negative sense of there being "winners" and "losers" and not conducive to good mental health and spiritual well being.
When I started homeschooling my children I started examining curriculum materials (textbooks, workbooks, worksheets, etc.) I was shocked and horrified at most of these "adopted" curriculum materials. Frankly, a lot of them were garbage. I remember asking the curriculum teacher in the Barclay school at the time in the mid 80s why they were using the Scott Foresman books that they were in the fourth grade and was told, "We know they're not the best, but the district got a break on the cost at the time they were purchased." It was the last time we used the curriculum materials from the school. After that I would take the kids to the library or shopping and we would decide together what materials they found most appealing in studying the topics at hand. When was the last time anyone in your child's school asked him or her what curriculum materials they would like to use in their study, and what it is that they are interested in that they would like to study?
Education comes from the latin word educere which means "to lead from" and when it comes to the meaning of the word being used in education I prefer to translate it "to call forth". To educate means to help the person grow from the inside out not from the outside in. Education is to "bring out the best in the person" and to help him/her actualize his/her potential capabilities. Modern schooling has become a coercive means of subjugation and domination with the goal of conditioning primarily cognitive performance to achieve externally developed standard academic goals. While there may be some overlap, schooling and education are basically two different things which are often confused and muddled in our modern conversation about schooling.
Most educated people in the United States are well aware that the modern drive of "No child left behind" and conditioning students to pass core curriculum exams is not education. "Teaching to the test" is a counterfeit proxy for what real education should be about. Schooling has become increasingly politicized as law makers and regulators attempt to improve schooling by insisting on performance standards for teachers and their students. While this political insanity ensues our children are still not getting an education they deserve because true education is self directed not imposed by oppressive, misguided government standards. Homeschooling parents already know this as they have made the shift to the new level of consciousness with their children. Would that other parents would begin to make this shift as well by educating themselves about education, and then advocating with State governments and local school districts to develop programs and services that are truly educational and not just more of the same relying on the memorization and regurgitation of trivia.
Editor's note: The Brockporter, Brockport's online news magazine, will feature an article on education almost every Tuesday. If you have ideas, a topic, and/or an article you would like to share with readers of the Brockporter, please leave them in the comments or forward them to davidgmarkham@gmail.com
The International Coastal Cleanup will take place at Hamlin Beach State Park on Saturday, September 14th from 9:30am until 12:30.
Volunteers are encouraged to come out in support of our Great Lake!
International Coastal Cleanup
Hamlin Beach State Park (15mi away!)
Saturday, September 14th, 2013
9:30am-12:30pm
Meet at the snack bar between areas 3 and 4
Wear weather-appropriate clothes and boots
Bring work gloves and a water bottle, if you have them!
Come ready to help save our natural resource from litter!
contact: Hilary Mosher hmosher@brockport.edu
From the Democrat and Chronicle on 09/08/13:
A 23-year veteran of the New York
Army National Guard is taking over command of a military police battalion based in central New York. Maj. Michael Fowler took over the 102nd Military Police Battalion during a change-of-command ceremony Sunday at the state armory in Auburn in Cayuga County.
The Brockport native is a 19-year veteran of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, where he’s a road patrol captain working out of the Rochester suburb of Henrietta. He led the New York National Guard’s 105 Military Police Co. in Iraq in 2003-2004.
For more click here.
Army National Guard is taking over command of a military police battalion based in central New York. Maj. Michael Fowler took over the 102nd Military Police Battalion during a change-of-command ceremony Sunday at the state armory in Auburn in Cayuga County.The Brockport native is a 19-year veteran of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
, where he’s a road patrol captain working out of the Rochester suburb of Henrietta. He led the New York National Guard’s 105 Military Police Co. in Iraq in 2003-2004.For more click here.
Monday, September 9, 2013
From Village of Brockport Village Board meeting minutes 08/05/13;
Petition to support Brockport Volunteer Ambulance – encourage Sweden & Clarkson Town Boards –
Mayor Blackman said Brockport Ambulance is the first responder for the Village and for the College. They have met a bar the Towns of Sweden and Clarkson set – 24 hour
paramedic, call coverage up to 90%.
The advantages of Brockport Ambulance over Monroe Ambulance:
1. Brockport Ambulances does standby coverage for free – events for schools, non-profits. They
covered the recent youth soccer tournament and will be covering the Brockport Arts Festival.
Every time Monroe does something, they bill for it.
2. Brockport Ambulance is non-profit. Monroe Ambulance is not.
3. Brockport Ambulance is community oriented. Their members are people we know and they
know the community.
4. Brockport Ambulance has 3 ambulances and the fly car staged at the Brockport Fire Hall.
Monroe Ambulance is staged at Sweden Town Hall and Clarkson Court House, but those
ambulances serve Clarendon, Holley, Murray, Kendall, Hamlin and parts of Parma in addition to
Sweden and Clarkson.
5. Brockport Ambulance response time from the time of the call to arrival on scene is only 2 and
a half minutes.
Mayor Blackman said on behalf of the Village Board, they urge the Sweden and Clarkson Town Boards
to sign a contract with Brockport Ambulance as their first responder. She said she has meetings
scheduled with the Supervisors of both towns before their decision deadline.
Mayor Blackman said Brockport Ambulance is the first responder for the Village and for the College. They have met a bar the Towns of Sweden and Clarkson set – 24 hour
paramedic, call coverage up to 90%.
The advantages of Brockport Ambulance over Monroe Ambulance:
1. Brockport Ambulances does standby coverage for free – events for schools, non-profits. They
covered the recent youth soccer tournament and will be covering the Brockport Arts Festival.
Every time Monroe does something, they bill for it.
2. Brockport Ambulance is non-profit. Monroe Ambulance is not.
3. Brockport Ambulance is community oriented. Their members are people we know and they
know the community.
4. Brockport Ambulance has 3 ambulances and the fly car staged at the Brockport Fire Hall.
Monroe Ambulance is staged at Sweden Town Hall and Clarkson Court House, but those
ambulances serve Clarendon, Holley, Murray, Kendall, Hamlin and parts of Parma in addition to
Sweden and Clarkson.
5. Brockport Ambulance response time from the time of the call to arrival on scene is only 2 and
a half minutes.
Mayor Blackman said on behalf of the Village Board, they urge the Sweden and Clarkson Town Boards
to sign a contract with Brockport Ambulance as their first responder. She said she has meetings
scheduled with the Supervisors of both towns before their decision deadline.
To access the Kaleidoscope, click here.
Who knew that Brockport, NY is a travel destination for Canadians on the Niagara Frontier? Canadian travel writer, George Baily, has written a wonderful travel article about his trip to Brockport which appeared on the Wellandtribune.ca web site:
NIAGARA REGION - Only a 2-1/2-hour drive from the Niagara border is one of the prettiest towns in the United States.
I had no idea this town even existed until I met an old friend, Corine-Coulis Brown. Often the inspirations for my other trips come about this way. She told me and my wife Ellen, “A visit to Brockport is a great way to slow the world down. It’s such a pretty little town, and the drive there is very pleasant.”
To read the rest of Mr. Bailey's very complimentary story click here.
NIAGARA REGION - Only a 2-1/2-hour drive from the Niagara border is one of the prettiest towns in the United States.
I had no idea this town even existed until I met an old friend, Corine-Coulis Brown. Often the inspirations for my other trips come about this way. She told me and my wife Ellen, “A visit to Brockport is a great way to slow the world down. It’s such a pretty little town, and the drive there is very pleasant.”
To read the rest of Mr. Bailey's very complimentary story click here.
Editor's note:
Texting is illegal now in New York State while driving a car. It also should be made illegal while riding a bicycle and crossing a street both of which I saw last week in Brockport, NY.
Today, Saturday, 09/07/13, I went to see The Butler at the Strand Theater at the 1:00 PM matinee and a young woman sitting two rows in front of me to the right with her boyfriend held her smart phone up to her face to read text messages at 4 different times during the movie. Should I have complained to her or to the management or is it something that my 67 year old ego just has to get used to and accommodate in this upcoming generation?
There are days when I am glad I am getting to the end of the my life because I don't think I really want to live too much longer with all the electronic gadgetry which has taken over people's lives in the most disrespectful and obnoxious ways. It is world that is being taken over by robots and in closely observing the developing relationships which humans have with their gadgets in many cases it is very clear that the gadgets are controlling the human behavior and not the other way around.
Having been a psychotherapist now for almost 45 years, problems with the cell phones come up continually in our psychotherapy sessions. The impact these devices have on human behavior and human relationships is extremely significant in both positive and negative ways, but once a person allows the electronic gadgets to take over his/her life and interfere with his/her relationships, trouble arrives which can be quite destructive on individual and interpersonal functioning in some cases resulting in "accidental" deaths which aren't really accidental because the operator allowed the robot to steal his/her attention.
Will a call to be more mindful be heard above the seductive vibration or ring tone of the robot? The most precious gift we have to give to another is our attention. To be there for another is precious. Don't get distracted by a seductive robot that cares nothing about you or your relationships with your loved ones.
From New York Times on May 22, 2013:
A singing astronaut sounds almost too good to be true, but during his five-month stint aboard the International Space Station, the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield produced a constellation of videos about the day-to-day experiences of his life in space. He also demonstrated the power of social media to reignite interest in space missions that are often overlooked.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Press release from the Center For Disease Control on 09/05/13:
The findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey, in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, show that the percentage of high school students who reported ever using an e-cigarette rose from 4.7 percent in 2011 to 10.0 percent in 2012. In the same time period, high school students using e-cigarettes within the past 30 days rose from 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent. Use also doubled among middle school students. Altogether, in 2012 more than 1.78 million middle and high school students nationwide had tried e-cigarettes. More than 75 percent of youth users smoke conventional cigarettes too.
Editor's note:
Whether this increased in school age kids using e-cigarettes is good or bad is hard to tell. E-cigarettes can be a form of nicotine replacement for kids trying to quit cigarettes in which case the use of e-cigarettes is a good think for tobacco cessation. On the other hand, if non smoking kids are using e-cigarettes for the nicotine (which I doubt) and they graduate to tobacco, then the use of e-cigarettes is a bad thing. Here in Brockport e-cigarettes are readily available in specialty stores, the drug stores, and Walmart. I do believe you have to be 18 though to purchase them as you do any tobacco products. How strictly the sale of cigarettes is enforced is questionable.
The percentage of U.S. middle and high school students who use electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, more than doubled from 2011 to 2012, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey, in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, show that the percentage of high school students who reported ever using an e-cigarette rose from 4.7 percent in 2011 to 10.0 percent in 2012. In the same time period, high school students using e-cigarettes within the past 30 days rose from 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent. Use also doubled among middle school students. Altogether, in 2012 more than 1.78 million middle and high school students nationwide had tried e-cigarettes. More than 75 percent of youth users smoke conventional cigarettes too.
Editor's note:
There are times in life when we feel bereft, in despair, overwhelmed, doomed. We are filled with fear that we are losing, have lost, or about to lose things that are extremely important to us even essential to our continued existence. At first we panic, then perhaps grow furious, and then we implode, surrender, give up and wonder if we can continue living. I have felt this way several times in my life. The biggest times were when my kids were killed and when my marriage ended. I have lived through it with many clients who have lost people, and things very important to them and broke down in the face of terrible existential devastation.
And when one's life is falling apart or has fallen apart where does one turn? How does one cope, if one does and not kill themselves as I have known people to do, with this kind of devastating loss?
We cry.
We drink and drug.
We turned to trusted ones we love for solace.
We turn to faith.
Faith is both a noun and a verb, a process. Faith can be a creed or set of beliefs, and it can also be a way of proceeding in the face of pain and fear. One of my favorite hymns is an old spiritual, "We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, Trusting in His holy word. He's never failed me yet."
God will not only walk with us if we ask Him, He will carry us even if we can't walk ourselves if we ask for a break. Mary Stevenson's great poem, Footprints, says in part, "Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me? The Lord replied, 'The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.'"
In Alcoholic Anonymous, the first step of the twelve step program, is to admit that life sometimes is too much, it is too unmanageable and we have to turn our life over to our Higher Power whatever we conceive our Higher Power to be. Paradoxically, it is in this surrender, that we find our greatest strength and peace.
And when one's life is falling apart or has fallen apart where does one turn? How does one cope, if one does and not kill themselves as I have known people to do, with this kind of devastating loss?
We cry.
We drink and drug.
We turned to trusted ones we love for solace.
We turn to faith.
Faith is both a noun and a verb, a process. Faith can be a creed or set of beliefs, and it can also be a way of proceeding in the face of pain and fear. One of my favorite hymns is an old spiritual, "We've come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, Trusting in His holy word. He's never failed me yet."
God will not only walk with us if we ask Him, He will carry us even if we can't walk ourselves if we ask for a break. Mary Stevenson's great poem, Footprints, says in part, "Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me? The Lord replied, 'The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.'"
In Alcoholic Anonymous, the first step of the twelve step program, is to admit that life sometimes is too much, it is too unmanageable and we have to turn our life over to our Higher Power whatever we conceive our Higher Power to be. Paradoxically, it is in this surrender, that we find our greatest strength and peace.
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