Original photograph was unceremoniously ganked from Marianne's blog: Art is the Handmaid of Human Good. I just randomly came across this blog, but it seems pretty cool! Marianne is a 30-something woman living in my neck of the woods. Check her out!
24 December 2006
Happy Holidays!
Original photograph was unceremoniously ganked from Marianne's blog: Art is the Handmaid of Human Good. I just randomly came across this blog, but it seems pretty cool! Marianne is a 30-something woman living in my neck of the woods. Check her out!
23 December 2006
Lowell Immigration Study [article]
[source]
A three-year, $100,000 grant from the Lowell National Historic Park has set into motion an ambitious, historic study.
Using archival materials, hundreds of hours of oral histories, extensive interviews and participant observation, a team of researchers intends to illuminate Lowell’s global history and its contemporary cultural geography.
The Lowell National Park was founded more than 30 years ago, building on the ethnic experience of immigrant groups at that time. The exhibits and archives don’t reflect the newest waves of immigration from Southeast Asia, parts of Africa and Brazil, so an ethnographic study was proposed.
“It’s great that the researchers (who won the grant) are local folks who already know where Merrimack meets Central,” says Mehmed Ali, director of the Mogan Cultural Center, who will advise and review the project along with Park Superintendent Michael Creasey. “Although one outcome of the study will be updated park exhibits, the larger goal is to inform the park on how better to interact with the community.”
Tracking and describing current patterns of immigrant populations in Lowell is just one part of the picture the study will portray. The history of the place dates to Native Americans and the research will place Lowell’s history within the context of globalization — with the understanding that globalization is nothing new.
“We tend to have a short-sighted view of globalization,” says Asst. Prof. Christoph Strobel of the History Department, a co-principal investigator on the project. “Global forces in the past have had an impact on trade, immigration, colonization and the movement of disease. It’s a ‘current-centric’ view of the world to think globalization is only happening now.
“Lowell is a great microcosm of these forces. Immigration has always shaped the city and tensions have erupted between ‘natives’ and ‘newcomers.’ Even the very early manufacturing history around the falls reflects global influences — German glassmakers worked there, the British bought beads from Venice and sold them to Native Americans — and understanding this enriches our cultural perspective on the present, adds to our own sense of place.”
Prof. Robert Forrant of the Regional Economic and Social Development (RESD) Department is principal investigator of the study, which will fund two graduate students for two years. RESD Prof. Linda Silka is a co-PI and collaborators are drawn from the departments of Political Science and Art, the Mogan Cultural History Center, Middlesex Community College, the “One Lowell” cultural association, the Registry of Deeds and Lowell High School.
Forrant is particularly excited about working with UMass Lowell students who share an immigrant story. He will teach an undergraduate and graduate seminar in the spring on globalization and immigration.
“We are fortunate in having a rich diversity on campus,” says Forrant. “Brazilian, Portuguese, Cambodian students have contemporary stories to tell; it will be very interesting for the students to compare their experiences with the histories and recollected stories we have dating from the late 1800s.”
With so much material to work with, the team will pick four long streets in Lowell to study. Archival records, census data, material from the Registry of Deeds, the National Folklife Center and the Center for Lowell History will help in creating a series of overlay maps to show the changing populations over the long sweep of history.
Involving current students in the research is also interesting to Dr. Susan Thomson of Middlesex Community College, cultural anthropologist for the study.
“I’m personally excited because a lot of my students are from these newer immigrant groups,” says Thomson. “We also are looking to the community to be involved in an integral way with the research, to participate in discovering what is meaningful.”
Neighborhood history-writing projects and engagement of high school classes will help to round out the project over the three years. But, the hope is that National Park programs and outreach will be changed and enriched for years to come.
22 December 2006
Global Warming [article]
Some politicians came to UMass Lowell last week to discuss global warming. Here is a Lowell Sun article about it.
Meehan, Patrick call for curb to global warming
From the Lowell Sun
By JENNIFER AMY MYERS, Sun Staff
LOWELL -- If Massachusetts were a country, its greenhouse gas emissions would rank 15th among industrialized nations worldwide, U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan told a stunned crowd of 1,000 yesterday morning.
The standing-room only crowd packed UMass Lowell's Durgin Hall as the mercury soared to an unseasonably high 54 degrees outside, to learn more about the threat of global warming and what can be done to curb its dangerous consequences.
And to get a look at Gov.-elect Deval Patrick.
Meehan sponsored the panel discussion, titled "Climate Change: Local Solutions to a Global Crisis," which he said was inspired by former Vice President Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
The audience was welcomed by a video message from Gore, calling global warming, "the most serious crisis we have ever faced."
Patrick, who inspired three standing ovations from the crowd, expressed his support for the proposed Cape Wind wind farm off of Nantucket and vowed to make the creation and implementation of renewable energy technology and products in Massachusetts a priority of his administration.
He also said he supports RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative), a regional pact aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions that Gov. Mitt Romney withdrew the state from in September.
"I used to work for Texaco," he said, wincing and giving the crowd a chance to groan. "What I learned there is that oil and gas reserves all over the world are diminishing."
"I see this as an economy opportunity," Patrick added. "If we get this right, the whole world will be our customer. We can be green and wealthy too."
He said that Ian Bowles, who was tapped as the Patrick administration's secretary of energy and environmental affairs on Friday, will be included in all discussions of economic development.
Paul Epstein, associate director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School said that the most noticeable effects of the rising global temperatures are in our own backyards.
He said that as carbon dioxide levels rise in the atmosphere, poison ivy grows faster and its toxins become more powerful. The same conditions have contributed to a 60 percent increase in pollen distribution, causing more cases of asthma and allergies.
The increase in climate has also led to additional cases of mosquito-borne illness such as West Nile Virus.
"We are in a crisis of climate," Epstein said.
Unfortunately, said Lee Ketelsen, New England director of Clean Water Action, the typical American is not motivated to make a change.
"You are sitting here on a Saturday morning with nine shopping days until Christmas, you are considered the nuts," she told the crowd. "The oil lobby is strong, we are going to need massive citizen pressure. Instead of a chicken in every pot, how about a solar hot water heater on every roof?"
Meehan has proposed legislation to give business and homeowners a financial incentive for "green" practices.
The Climate Change Investment Act would repeal the tax breaks given to oil companies in the Energy Bill passed by the last Congress, and replace them with a 50 percent tax credit for any investment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions or conserves energy.
"I will fight for even more incentives for investment in innovative new technologies." Meehan said. "Things like green chemistry, solar and wind technology and fuel cells, pro-environmental technologies where Massachusetts companies and universities are already on the cutting edge."
He is also co-sponsoring California Rep. Henry Waxman's Safe Climate Act that would cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and continue to cut levels an additional 80 percent by 2050.
From the Lowell Sun
By JENNIFER AMY MYERS, Sun Staff
LOWELL -- If Massachusetts were a country, its greenhouse gas emissions would rank 15th among industrialized nations worldwide, U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan told a stunned crowd of 1,000 yesterday morning.
The standing-room only crowd packed UMass Lowell's Durgin Hall as the mercury soared to an unseasonably high 54 degrees outside, to learn more about the threat of global warming and what can be done to curb its dangerous consequences.
And to get a look at Gov.-elect Deval Patrick.
Meehan sponsored the panel discussion, titled "Climate Change: Local Solutions to a Global Crisis," which he said was inspired by former Vice President Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
The audience was welcomed by a video message from Gore, calling global warming, "the most serious crisis we have ever faced."
Patrick, who inspired three standing ovations from the crowd, expressed his support for the proposed Cape Wind wind farm off of Nantucket and vowed to make the creation and implementation of renewable energy technology and products in Massachusetts a priority of his administration.
He also said he supports RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative), a regional pact aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions that Gov. Mitt Romney withdrew the state from in September.
"I used to work for Texaco," he said, wincing and giving the crowd a chance to groan. "What I learned there is that oil and gas reserves all over the world are diminishing."
"I see this as an economy opportunity," Patrick added. "If we get this right, the whole world will be our customer. We can be green and wealthy too."
He said that Ian Bowles, who was tapped as the Patrick administration's secretary of energy and environmental affairs on Friday, will be included in all discussions of economic development.
Paul Epstein, associate director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School said that the most noticeable effects of the rising global temperatures are in our own backyards.
He said that as carbon dioxide levels rise in the atmosphere, poison ivy grows faster and its toxins become more powerful. The same conditions have contributed to a 60 percent increase in pollen distribution, causing more cases of asthma and allergies.
The increase in climate has also led to additional cases of mosquito-borne illness such as West Nile Virus.
"We are in a crisis of climate," Epstein said.
Unfortunately, said Lee Ketelsen, New England director of Clean Water Action, the typical American is not motivated to make a change.
"You are sitting here on a Saturday morning with nine shopping days until Christmas, you are considered the nuts," she told the crowd. "The oil lobby is strong, we are going to need massive citizen pressure. Instead of a chicken in every pot, how about a solar hot water heater on every roof?"
Meehan has proposed legislation to give business and homeowners a financial incentive for "green" practices.
The Climate Change Investment Act would repeal the tax breaks given to oil companies in the Energy Bill passed by the last Congress, and replace them with a 50 percent tax credit for any investment that reduces greenhouse gas emissions or conserves energy.
"I will fight for even more incentives for investment in innovative new technologies." Meehan said. "Things like green chemistry, solar and wind technology and fuel cells, pro-environmental technologies where Massachusetts companies and universities are already on the cutting edge."
He is also co-sponsoring California Rep. Henry Waxman's Safe Climate Act that would cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and continue to cut levels an additional 80 percent by 2050.
17 December 2006
Snow Update
Wow, my last post was ages ago. Sorry to leave everyone (all 2 of you!) hanging with such a boring entry about my rental woes. (The problem still hasn't been fixed, by the way; I am putting a complaint in writing... right before I skip town for the holidays.) Anyway, since I only have a couple of minutes today, I'll just touch upon winter 2006.
Winter?
It has been a very warm winter, with high temperatures ranging from mid-30s to mid-60s. We had our first dusting of snow late December 7 into the morning, but by noon it had all but melted away. It's strange to see photographs of places like Montana that are having a real winter, while we here in the greater Lowell area are still basking in comfortably cool temperatures.
Do I mind? Yes and no. I think this weather is perfect, and if I didn't have a sneaking suspicion that the warmth was due to a massive environmental problem, I would be especially pleased. But it is the middle of December, and having heard so much about this "white Christmas" hoopla, I want to have a bloody white Christmas, damn it! If I wanted a temperate, snowless Christmas, I'd have moved to Georgia.
Don't get me wrong; I'm glad that I can still wear skirts (as I have been since about March), and I never enjoyed excavating my car from the heaps of snow, but there should be snow on the ground. According to the 10-Day Forecast on Weather.com, we're looking at rain, not snow, for Christmas.
Advice
As mentioned in a previous post, winter brings heaps of unexpected, unwanted advice from people. Don't be fooled into thinking that unseasonably warm weather will hold back those comments.
My Sagely Advice
At this time of year, the sun sets a little after 4:00pm. This means that you begin to lose sunlight at about 2:00pm. If you enjoy that big mass of incandescent gas in the sky, plan your day between the hours of 7:00am and 4:00pm. Include a trip to your local hardware store to pick up those nifty lightbulbs that are supposed to imitate sunlight. I can't say they make me feel any better about living in so much darkness, but hey, it might help.
Another thing to keep in mind is that 30 degrees in the sun is not the same as 30 degrees in the shade or at night. Keep that in mind if it's going to be cloudy or if you have to be somewhere beyond 4pm in winter.
Now I'm off to a holiday party that I'm not entirely excited about, but hey... Free food and possible alcohol. How can I say no?
Winter?
It has been a very warm winter, with high temperatures ranging from mid-30s to mid-60s. We had our first dusting of snow late December 7 into the morning, but by noon it had all but melted away. It's strange to see photographs of places like Montana that are having a real winter, while we here in the greater Lowell area are still basking in comfortably cool temperatures.
Do I mind? Yes and no. I think this weather is perfect, and if I didn't have a sneaking suspicion that the warmth was due to a massive environmental problem, I would be especially pleased. But it is the middle of December, and having heard so much about this "white Christmas" hoopla, I want to have a bloody white Christmas, damn it! If I wanted a temperate, snowless Christmas, I'd have moved to Georgia.
Don't get me wrong; I'm glad that I can still wear skirts (as I have been since about March), and I never enjoyed excavating my car from the heaps of snow, but there should be snow on the ground. According to the 10-Day Forecast on Weather.com, we're looking at rain, not snow, for Christmas.
Advice
As mentioned in a previous post, winter brings heaps of unexpected, unwanted advice from people. Don't be fooled into thinking that unseasonably warm weather will hold back those comments.
At this time of year, the sun sets a little after 4:00pm. This means that you begin to lose sunlight at about 2:00pm. If you enjoy that big mass of incandescent gas in the sky, plan your day between the hours of 7:00am and 4:00pm. Include a trip to your local hardware store to pick up those nifty lightbulbs that are supposed to imitate sunlight. I can't say they make me feel any better about living in so much darkness, but hey, it might help.
Another thing to keep in mind is that 30 degrees in the sun is not the same as 30 degrees in the shade or at night. Keep that in mind if it's going to be cloudy or if you have to be somewhere beyond 4pm in winter.
Now I'm off to a holiday party that I'm not entirely excited about, but hey... Free food and possible alcohol. How can I say no?
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