Daily Archives: June 4, 2023

Its 10 a.m. on a Sunday, but the air is filled with the click of laptop keys in a sunken living room of sorts in San Franciscos Hayes Valley. Fingers race, annotating graphs and charts, filling in spreadsheets and populating Word docs. The low-lit, brick-walled space, decorated with banners of Harry Potters magical houses and macrame wall art, feels like a cross between a college library and an underground cafe.

But this is not a coffeehouse nor a sleek coworking spot. This is the Commons, a community space where dues-paying members can get together daily for a writing marathon or to discuss the finer points of art, spirituality or technology salon-style in a meditative living area. And those in the know can post up in the members-only space on Sundays, when its open to the public.

The Cerebral Valley hub bills itself as a home outside of home thats dedicated to open-ended curiosity, co-created play [and] collective flourishing in the heart of San Francisco.

As San Francisco has emerged from the pandemic, new spaces for building connectionswhat sociologists might call third places or third spacesare sprouting up in response to remote work and the epidemic of loneliness it has fed.

Nearly half of Americans reported losing touch with at least a few friends during the first year of the pandemic, according to 2021 findings from the Survey Center on American Life. In addition to the isolating impacts of Covid, other factorssuch as the delaying of marriage and children, the decline of organized religion and dropping membership in old-school social clubscould also be contributing to a generalized feeling of loneliness in our nation.

But the loss of office life may be a particular factor in the Bay Area. While other parts of the country are getting back to the office, 46% of Bay Area workers are clocking in from home. Is it any wonder many of us are feeling a bit lonely?

While all of these new private San Francisco social clubs and spaces offer some element of coworking, some are focused on niche circles or serving one neighborhood at a time. Others specifically tout themselves as venues for making friends. All of them, however, are geared toward building community.

A friend and I visited the Commons on a recent Sunday. After an hour of concentrated writing, the crowd thinned out, but some stayed behind to talk about their epic weekend on the slopes, aspirations of abandoning their Google money for a more meaningful vocation or dreams of creating a utopic life of communal living.

On the ride-share to our next destination, I asked my friend what she thought of the Commons.

Honestly, I wouldnt go with there with the intention to write, she said. I would go to make friends.

Creating a clubhouse specifically to foster friendship was not the primary intention behind establishing the Commons, said co-founder Patricia Mou. But just as enduring bonds are often forged on a college campus, the Commons offers a chance for interactions that may have long-lasting effects.

The concept for the space, inspired by the European Enlightenment cafes of yore, was born out of a brainstorming session hosted by Mou about a year ago, where people with an interest in shared spaces discussed what they would want their ideal third place to look and feel like. Mou teamed up with Adi Melamed, launched a GoFundMe campaign and, by September 2022, opened the for-profit member space.

Mou was shy about sharing the Commons membership rates but said that dues are based on a sliding scale depending on applicants financial situations and that the organization offers scholarships for people who cant afford the full fees. Mou said the Commons isnt financed by venture capital and uses the funds primarily to pay rent and keep the lights on.

We're just kind of a small-medium business, Mou said.

The aim, Mou said, is to re-create the intellectual openness and curiosity of the college experience through a physical space where members commonalities are shared values rather than shared occupation or industry. Mou is secretive about how members are selected, but applicants must fill out a questionnaire that asks about their creative hobbies or What rabbit holes or curiosities have you been pursuing or would like to go deeper on? She likens the Commons to a public-private living room.

We are trying to build San Francisco's communal living room for people to be able to take a step back from the daily grind of life [...] to explore their curiosities, Mou said. Why does that have to stop post-graduating?

The living room vibe is member Joshua Vounatsos favorite part of the Commons. He moved to San Francisco from Berlin to pursue graduate studies in the South Bay and joined the Commons to have a foothold in the city where he could hang out and study outside his tiny studio apartment. He appreciates being able to stop in for a coffee break, wind down after work, take a class or strike up a casual conversation with a fellow member. He wasnt yearning for friendship when he moved to the city, but, he said, I would say friendship is a side effect.

Teddy Kramer used to oversee the expansion of WeWork office spaces into new markets. But he insists his new venture on Cow Hollows Union Street, Neon, is nothing like a coworking place nor a coffeehousealthough the space, which is replacing a North Face store, will offer unlimited free drip java for patrons.

Kramer describes his space as a neighborhood hub where anyone can hang out. Unlike a traditional coworking space or social club, patrons dont pay a membership fee for the right to use a desk. Neon merely asks visitors for $5 per hour to hook up to the internet or $25 to surf the web all day. Otherwise, its free to take up space as you wish during business hours.

Yes, you could pop open your laptop and work, or sneak into a phone booth to take a call, but you could also sit and read a book, sip on that free coffee or chat with your neighbors. You could say this is Kramers answer to the coffee shop co-opted by headphoned techies or elite coworking spaces, like the Ferry Buildings Shack15.

This is not a Soho House where your stature in this world is what gets you in the door, Kramer said. What gets you in the door is just opening the door and saying 'Hi' and introducing yourself.

When Neon officially opens in June, Kramer plans to host community-building events and activities, like art classes, open mics, charity info sessions and trivia nights. Staff will function like neighborhood concierges offering recommendations for lunch at nearby restaurants.

Kramer also plans to turn Neon into a commission-free gallery and boutique space where local artists and artisans can display their works and wares without having to give the space a cut of sales, and the business will offer event space to local nonprofits for free. The venture plans to make money by renting out its space to commercial businesses for a few thousand dollars per event and by being an ambassador for the neighborhood.

If we bring more people to Union Street, not only do we flourish, but the businesses around us flourish, Kramer said.

Like his self-funded Small Business Boogiea monthly roving shopping crawl that spotlights four to five small businesses on a walking tour and concludes at a neighborhood watering hole with raffle giveaways and a round of free drinksKramer hopes to replicate Neons concept in other neighborhoods throughout the city.

We are believers that the neighborhood is the new downtown, Kramer said. I am completely, completely bullish on Downtown. It will bounce back. It will reinvent itself. But as of today, the neighborhood is where people are.

Jamie Snedden, the CEO and co-founder of the friendship-focused gathering space Groundfloor, is less bullish on the idea that venues like his will save beleaguered centers of commerce like Downtown, but he does think they have their part to play in the revitalization of San Franciscos neighborhoods post-pandemicnamely by getting people out of their pajamas and into the world.

Snedden founded Groundfloor in March 2022 because he missed the social interactions of the office and wanted to fill the socialization void left by the rise of remote work. According to 2021 findings from the Survey Center on American Life, Americans are more likely to make friends at work than any other way.

I think people have got their home [office] set up down, Snedden said. They need a compelling reason to leave the house. For us, it's finding friendship.

The membership-based community, which charges $200 per month and is currently capped out at about 1,000 members across its Mission and Oakland locations, hosts several events each weekmany of them member-ledand even offers fitness classes, health and wellness workshops, movie nights, supper clubs, book discussion groups and game nights.

These social networks bridge into the digital world through Groundfloors app and Discord channels, which host an array of dashboards for members interest-based sub-clubs. Groundfloor even helps facilitate connections between members and tracks whether those setups panned out quantitively or qualitatively.

Groundfloors Mission location offers standard-issue coworking amenities, like phone booths, a few desks, WiFi and an espresso machineeven a library and small gymall in beautifully designed spaces. Part of Groundfloors pitch for membership is that it costs less than a typical coworking space but also rolls in the amenities of a gym membership and other recreational perks like events and classes. But Snedden says the primary purpose of Groundfloor is to build intentional communities at the neighborhood level. And he thinks the concept could scale.

There is this universal need for friendship, Snedden said. And if employers aren't helping, then it falls to others to fill the gaps, and I think that's the opportunity we see.

Groundfloor is currently backed by $2 million in venture capital, according to Crunchbase, and has plans to expand to San Rafael in Marin County and Los Angeles later this year. Snedden says he thinks the model could help revive American cities by setting up community-focused centers in residential neighborhoods rife with retail vacancies and suburbs far removed from urban amenities, like a flagship central library in a citys downtown core.

Many U.S. cities are not geared up for community, Snedden said. There's lots of former retail spaces that don't have an obvious future. [...] Maybe we can make them into these new versions of what a library maybe should be.

He also thinks the Groundfloor model could do for friendship what apps like Bumble, Tinder and Hinge did for online dating.

People are walking around the world looking for romantic relationships with a ton of ammunition in their back pocket, Snedden said. If you think about friendship and platonic relationships, it's not the case.

Michael Kahan, the co-director of Stanfords Program on Urban Studies and a senior lecturer in sociology at the university, is not surprised that venues like Groundfloor have arisen in the last few years.

There's great difficulty in meeting people, Kahan said. And so I think it's understandable that these friendship clubs, or whatever you want to call them, [...] are trying to fill that void.

But could a network of private social clubs actually revive a commercial corridor as consequential as Downtown San Francisco? Kahan thinks that would be a bit of stretch.

I do think downtowns are going to have to be creative, and they're going to have to have probably many different kinds of new purposes, and maybe this will be one of them, Kahan said.

Manny Yekutiel, whos run his eponymous civic events space and cafe in the Mission for nearly five years, thinks that more community-oriented spaces are a great addition to San Franciscos neighborhoods. But he is wary of membership-based coworking spaces calling themselves true third spaces, because they are centered on work and not open to the general public.

While Mannys makes its revenue from food, beverage and event ticket sales, as well as the patronage of sponsors, Yekutiel values that Mannys is open to anyone.

I do think that people are looking for more than just places to tap on their keyboards," Yekutiel said. "They want wine clubs, and they want movie nights, and they want yoga, and they want conversations, and they want to be inspired, and they want to actually make friends.

But, he said, you need spaces that it does not matter if you are a member, you can still go inside.

Groundfloor member Ning Recio, a longtime Mission resident and Bay Area native, was skeptical of the concept at first but decided to give the membership a go as a self-described early adopter. A voice actor, speaking coach and singer-songwriter, Recio was looking for a way to get out of the house, toowhere she works primarilywhen she joined the club as one of its first members.

She says that joining the club has substantially improved her social life since much of her friend circle shifted to phone and Zoom calls during the pandemic. She estimates that shes made eight close friends and dozens of friendly acquaintances since joining.

She feels a closer connection to her community just by walking down the street and running into fellow Groundfloor members in the neighborhood.

You know, when the show Friends was such a popular show, Recio said, we all wanted this feeling of like, Oh, my friends are just across the hall, and our coffee shop is just downstairs. I think Groundfloor is picking locations where people really do live in the city. [...] And so it has that Friends feel of like, Oh, my friends are just over there, and we can grab a coffee.

As for Groundfloors price tag, the membership, she said, is worth its weight in gold.

I can't put a dollar value on it, Recio said. It's been such an amazing sociology experiment for myself.

Read more:

Can 'Friendship Clubs' Cure the Loneliness Created by Remote Work? - The San Francisco Standard

"I believe football in this nation is like one of those towns you read about in Arizona that was just a truck stop 20 years ago," proclaimed Roger Bennett, cohost of the massively popular soccer podcast (and Peacock show) "Men in Blazers." "The town has grown so fast, now the sewage doesn't work properly; the electric grid can't keep up. But we've only just begun, and everything is about to change."

Bennett is something of a proselytizer for "the world's game" here in America. A native of Liverpool, England, Bennett has since become an American citizen, which is fitting as he spent so much of his career covering and speaking on the state of the sport in the U.S. The "Men in Blazers" podcast, which he cofounded with friend and fellow Brit Michael Davies, has grown into the Men in Blazers Media Network, almost parallel to the rise of soccer in America.

"We are blessed to be able to tell stories about football with an audience that are falling head over heels in love with it," Bennett said in a video press conference with Vermont media outlets last week ahead of a live "Men in Blazers" taping atthe Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington on Thursday, June 1. "And I want to use our platform to shine a light on incredible American stories where football has taken root in the most creative, passionate, authentic and joyous ways. When I think about that, the first place I reached out to was Vermont Green FC."

New Soccer Team Vermont Green FC Aims for Social and Environmental Justice

By Chris Farnsworth

Outdoors & Recreation

"When you see how they've built it, the care, the joy, the big dreams and the professionalism ... it's genuinely thrilling," Bennettsaid. "It seems to scream Vermont in the most wonderful way.

"Whenever I see anything [the Green] do, I want to jump through the screen and be there," the podcast host continued. "[The Higher Ground] show will be the first of what I hope will be many of these visits where we travel to a club, spend time in the community, talk about their vision and what they're building."

Bennett said one of his greatest joys in life is watching small communities harness the power of soccer to create connections. He believes the sport is uniquely positioned to operate on the global and local scales simultaneously, serving as both escapism for fans and as a platform for talking about bigger societal issues.

"I've always believed that football is ultimately a mirror that holds up a reflection to the surroundings," Bennett said. "I look at the Green, and it's such an incredibly intentional piece of community building." Bennett hopes that his listeners share his passion for the Green's story, as both an inspiring tale of local-level soccer and as a sign of things to come.

"There's no better place to be a football fan than in the United Staes of America right now," he asserted, pointing to the sense of shared discovery many new fans are reveling in, as well as the potential of World Cup 2026, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

"What I admire about the Green is how authentic it feels," he said. "The songs will come; the traditions and rituals will come. Honestly, what the Green are building, I hope it's the future of football."

Read the original here:

'Men in Blazers' Podcast Comes to Higher Ground to Talk Vermont ... - Seven Days

Zee Clarke helps manage stress and health conditions caused by microaggressions and systematic racism.

In a fast-paced society with so many pressures, Zee Clarke preaches the values of slow living in a frantic world.

Clarke, a Harvard-educated author, has gone from the private sector to become an expert in mindfulness and breathwork for BIPOC communities to reclaim our flow at work and in life according to her website, zeeclarke.com.

She wasnt always into the slow living lifestyle. Clarke worked for Fortune 500 companies and successful Silicon Valley startups, and was always on the go.

You know when the clothes (in the dryer) get spun when theyre wet, theyre just going, Clarke told theGrio. You have no control. Thats what I felt my life was like. I was just getting flung around.

Clarke decided to go to India to learn mindfulness and other healing techniques. She now helps people of color manage stress and health conditions from microaggressions and systemic racism so that we can feel our best despite these challenges,her website says.

Her new book,Black People Breathe: A Mindfulness Guide to Racial Healing, focuses on breathwork and mindfulness for people of color, and in June, shell launch an online course called Breathing Through Microaggressions and Racism.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Clarke talked about what slow living means to her, its advantages for people of color, and the mantra she lives by.

The conversation has been condensed for brevity and clarity.

What is slow living?

It means being intentional about everything we do, especially how we care for ourselves. Slow living is even a thing because our status quo is to move too fast, especially as Black people. We are always hustling. Slow living is the opposite of that. It is slowing down, paying attention to how were feeling, making sure were taking time for self-care, and doing everything we need to be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy.

Story continues

It sounds like a lifestyle paradigm shift.

It is exactly that.

How do you get people to embrace slow living?

I love to share with people what happens if you dont pursue slow living. That means a lot of mental health issues. Stress. A lot of people feel like stress is just a mental health thing and its not that important. Chronic stress affects your physical body. It (causes) high blood pressure and weakens your immune system. It can cause diabetes, gastrointestinal problems, in addition to anxiety, depression, and all sorts of mental health challenges as well. You dont want to get there. Dont wait until you get there. Take care of yourself now.

What was life like before you became a slow living advocate?

I was working in Silicon Valley. I, on paper, looked like I had a successful tech career. I went to Harvard for undergrad. I went to Harvard Business School. I was on leadership teams of companies, and I was working so much harder than everybody else. Why? Because I was the only Black person. So people would question my competence. I would get microaggressions daily. If it were at a new job, somebody would say, Hey, are you the new diversity hire? I have a track record that says Im awesome, yet people would doubt me. They didnt believe that I deserved to be there. I felt like I constantly had to prove to everybody that I deserved to be there. So I worked nights. I worked weekends. I said yes to everything. And ultimately, that led to a decline in my mental health. My self-esteem was in the gutter. I didnt believe, even though I had this rsum; I didnt believe in myself because I started to doubt myself.

How did that affect you?

All of that stress led to anxiety. I wasnt sleeping well at night, and all of that led to a decline in my physical health, and at a certain point, my doctors (said) somethings got to change with your stress levels. So I quit my job. I went to India. I studied mindfulness. I studied breathwork. I studied yoga. Thats what it took, real rock bottom, to get me to pay attention to my health.

What was the transformation to slow living like for you?

Lets talk about the first moments of peace. My mind was blown. What did that feel like? My shoulders relaxed. My whole body relaxed. I wasnt worried about something. I had a sense of peace inside, knowing I would be OK. It was a huge whoa moment. Im usually the only Black person in many of the classes I attend, which is why I knew that my mission was to share these tools with Black people.

Youre now teaching slow living classes. Whats your philosophy?

I create a safe space for folks to learn these tools in the context of problems they understand. Lets say you go to a yoga class. And the yoga teacher tells you to take a deep breath, everybody relax, and youre like, You dont have any problems. You have no idea what my life is like when I leave this yoga studio. My class and my workshops are about the problems that we face.

Whats your mantra?

I want to share one I love that has been very powerful for me: Today I choose me. Especially as Black women. Were just doing everything for everybody, all the time. Kids, parents, the people at work. It just always falls on us. Did you ever see your mother rest? I know so many people who never saw the women in their family rest because they were always doing everything. Today. I choose me, though. I invite folks to have that lens when being intentional about what they do and how they spend their time. I always felt like I automatically had to be the one to do everything for everyone. And Ive learned that that is not the case.

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The post Mindfulness, breathwork expert preaches value of slow living to Black and brown communities appeared first on TheGrio.

More here:

Mindfulness, breathwork expert preaches value of slow living to Black and brown communities - Yahoo News

I love living in Coeur dAlene. I graduated from Lake City High School, and when it came time to start a family, my wife born and raised in Coeur dAlene and I were intentional about doing so where we grew up.

Ive known from a young age I wanted to pursue a career in health care and that passion caught flame within the halls of my hometown hospital, Kootenai Health. I have both received care at Kootenai Health (appendix removal as a teenager) and have provided care in a number of capacities. First, as a nursing assistant in the emergency department while an undergraduate student, then as a fourth-year Idaho WWAMI medical education student, and today as an internal medicine hospitalist and emergency medicine physician.

At Kootenai Health I also carry the title of regional medical director of virtual care and the transfer center. Overseeing the virtual care program means I ensure local and rural populations have access to services they desperately need such as psychiatry, infectious disease, cardiology and rheumatology. As medical director of the transfer center, I help ensure timely transfer of the regions sickest patients and strengthen relationships with our rural partners.

From this vantage point, I see the strain the physician shortage has on Idahos health care system and, more importantly, Idaho residents, including my own friends and family. The physician shortage is not just a rural problem, but a state-wide problem and one we are experiencing in Kootenai County as well. It is complicated to address and requires a multi-prong approach to remedy. Two solutions where I see promise are investing in Idaho WWAMI medical education and a virtual care approach to medicine.

Supported by the state Legislature for 51 years, Idaho WWAMI is an established partnership between the University of Idaho and the University of Washington School of Medicine. It allows Idaho residents to attend a world-class medical school in their home state for in-state tuition.

As an alum, I can attest to receiving superb medical training in a wide variety of medical settings: from small primary care clinics in Lewiston, Moscow and Plummer, to surgery at the Boise VA, to neurology and palliative care here at Kootenai Health. Through immersive training experiences and clerkships, Idaho WWAMI students gain exposure to medical care in rural settings. This is important because medical students who train in rural sites are twice as likely to practice medicine in rural areas. Even if Idaho WWAMI students end up practicing in Coeur dAlene, their medical school education helps shape their sensitivity to patients who live in rural Idaho, as well as their colleagues who practice there.

Kootenai Health has been a clerkship site for Idaho WWAMI since 2005 and is also home to the only family medicine residency in North Idaho, which prepares physicians to work in rural or urban settings. Most of the residency graduates stay in Idaho (20 out of 36 graduates are practicing in-state), just like most Idaho WWAMI alum opt to practice in the Gem State (51%, which is well above the national average of 39%). WWAMI medical students train where they were raised and as a result have a higher rate of practicing here, too. Im proof the Idaho WWAMI physician pathway works.

Despite Idaho WWAMIs decades-long presence in the state, Idaho faces a physician shortage, recently made more acute by factors such as burnout and baby-boomer retirement. Kootenai Health providers have always traveled throughout northern Idaho for patient care, but in recent years the demand has grown exponentially as these communities continue to lose physicians.

When I first started at Kootenai Health in 2020, I regularly worked in Orofino, almost three hours away. Today, some of my colleagues travel on a weekly basis to clinics as far north as Bonners Ferry and as far south as Grangeville. Depending on road conditions, it can be dangerous to make these trips. The time it takes to drive could be better spent seeing more patients, who face hardships themselves when commuting to in-person appointments. An appointment that requires a patient to travel is compounded by factors like requesting time off of work, child care, transport and costs associated with overnight travel expenses.

This year, the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 162, the Virtual Care Access Act, to address the ongoing needs of Idahoans through virtual care. I applaud the Legislature for this decision to ensure the residents of Idaho are able to receive access to needed care. Virtual care covers a wide variety of care delivery modalities, including live video visits between a provider and patient, as well as asynchronous opportunities like paperwork submission and chart reviews. There are stipulations in place to ensure that a doctor-patient relationship is established; where that is not the case, in-person appointments would be encouraged. Ive seen firsthand how virtual care expedites physician-patient communication without sacrificing level of care.

Idaho WWAMI medical education trains students to care for the communities which raised them. Paired with advances in virtual care, our homegrown physicians can help address gaps our health care systems are grappling with. Including more timely diagnosis, specialized treatment, and perhaps most importantly, better outcomes and quality of life for Idahoans.

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Idaho's physician shortage is here. Here's what we can do about it. - Idaho Capital Sun

For the first time since 2019, Caltech's Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CCID) hosted its annual Celebration of Excellence in person. The awards ceremony honors members of the Caltech community who exemplify leadership in advancing inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA).

On Thursday, May 25, community members and awardees gathered in the main lounge of the Athenaeum for an uplifting afternoon. Seven awards were presented, along with recognition for the work of club leadership in affinity groups, four graduating Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows, and CCID campus partners including the Women's Engagement Board, CCID event organizers, and the President's Diversity Council.

Below are the seven community members recognized, along with quotes their nominators shared while presenting the award.

Melissa Li, graduate student in applied physics; co-chair of the Graduate Student Council; mentor in Women Mentoring Women; and Resident Associate in Bechtel Residence

IDEA Ally Award: Melissa Li

An IDEA Ally actively promotes and aspires to advance a culture of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility through intentional efforts that benefit marginalized people or communities. This award is given to individuals who exceed everyday expectations and are dedicated to cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment to help create a campus where everyone has an opportunity to excel.

"[Melissa] led several programs over the years that improved the living and working conditions of every student, but in particular students who face more hardships than others because they come from underprivileged backgrounds or because of their identities." Tobias Kehne, graduate student

Claire Ralph, director of the Career Development Center; lecturer in computing and mathematical sciences; co-organizer of the Dreamers in STEM event in support of undocumented students

IDEA Advocate Award: Claire Ralph

This award is given to individuals who promote the needs and experiences of other students, staff, or faculty to challenge systemic barriers that impede individuals from contributing their skills and talents in the classroom, workplace, or community. Such actions include raising awareness, inspiring action, advocating for an equitable campus climate, and leading efforts to dismantle structural barriers.

"[Claire] always strives to advocate on behalf of our students and to chisel away at the systemic barriers that exist. Claire is a barrier breaker." Alice Liang, career educator and student programming manager, Career Development Center

David Cagan, graduate student in chemistry; former president of Caltech's Diversity in Chemistry Initiative; IDEA coordinator for the Ryan Hadt lab

IDEA Outreach and Education Award: David Cagan

This award is given to individuals who teach and inspire interest in inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility in the community at large through learning experiences and service. This person creates change in the community both within and outside of Caltech through volunteerism, service-learning, and teaching, and the creation of pathway initiatives.

"When [David] is not publishing his research, he is advocating for historically minoritized students. He mentors undergraduates or he spends his time addressing gaps in STEM pathways. His outreach and mentorship have benefited our local community college, Pasadena City College; the WAVE Fellows program; and the GSRI [Graduate Summer Research Institute] program as well." Maria Manzanares, associate director, Student-Faculty Programs Office

Alexander Viloria Winnett, graduate student (MD/PhD) in the UCLA-Caltech Medical Scientist Training Program

The Candace Rypisi Outstanding Mentor Award: Alexander Viloria Winnett

This award is given to individuals who are willing to share knowledge and enhance their mentee's professional and personal development. This person has provided emotional and moral support and encouragement while improving or helping facilitate access to career-related information and exposure to various professional resources. This awardee is someone who actively promotes their mentee's sense of competence, confidence, and belonging.

"Alex has been one of the most amazing mentors I've ever had. Every single time we met, he'd always have super constructive feedback, and he always made me feel really well supported." Jenny Ji, undergraduate student

Jenny Ji, fourth-year undergraduate majoring in bioengineering and biomedical engineering

The Outstanding Mentee Award: Jenny Ji

This award is given to individuals who demonstrate a sincere desire to succeed as researchers and are committed to their personal development. This awardee is open and willing to learn from their mentor and receptive to guidance and counsel while working toward establishing realistic goals and demonstrating a commitment to carrying them out.

"Jenny is not only a dedicated student and a brilliant researcher, but also an inspiration and source of light to those around her." Reid Akana, graduate student

The CCID Activist Scholar Award: Arianne Hunter

This award is given to individuals who demonstrated excellence within their discipline and research while engaging in complex social justice issues. This awardee has led or participated in advocacy campaigns centering on the experiences of minoritized identities and provided vision and leadership in forming affinity spaces and targeted support programs.

"[Ari] is holding the chemistry community accountable for its espoused beliefs of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. This is needed in so many fields from amazing scientists like Ari, who have the integrity and courage to call out things and call people in. Everything that Ari does comes from a place of being unapologetically herself, raising awareness, and celebrating her communities." Meagan Heirwegh, Research University Alliance program coordinator

Maria Manzanares, associate director of the Student-Faculty Programs Office; co-organizer of the Dreamers in STEM event

The CCID Agent of Change Award: Maria Manzanares

This award is given to individuals embodying servant leadership through a demonstrated commitment to steering meaningful and lasting institutional change within the Caltech community. This person takes initiative and has the vision to translate a need into actionable steps or policy, and in the process, creates a legacy and a more inclusive campus climate.

"[Maria] is simply a keystone, an integral part of our community, a vital species in our ecosystem. She's an agent of change, working hard and diligently toward a vital, more accessible, diverse, and inclusive Caltech." Leslie Rico, office administrator, Caltech Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach and Hixon Writing Center

More here:

Awards Ceremony Shines Spotlight on Caltech's Trailblazers in ... - Caltech

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (June 2, 2023) The African American Museum of Iowa (AAMI) is excited to announce its Juneteenth Commemoration will return for a series of programs starting on Saturday, June 10, and culminating on Monday, June 19. Join the AAMI for a series of free programs and activities for the entire family.

Juneteenth is an annual, nation-wide celebration of the freeing of the last slaves in the United States on June 19, 1865, when news of the Emancipation Proclamation at last reached Confederate Galveston, Texas. Although this celebration has been recognized in some communities for many years, it was only designated as a federal holiday within the last few years.

The AAMI will celebrate Juneteenth starting with a childrens storytime at Marion Public Library on Saturday, June 10, 10AM. The story-time will feature Iowan authors, Michelle Edwards, and Brion Martin. On Wednesday, June 14, 6PM, the AAMI will host a screening of Decolonizing Mental Health at the Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL). A moderated discussion will follow.

On Friday, June 16, the AAMI returns to the CRPL for a special performance of dwb (driving while black) with the Des Moines Metro Opera. This performance is the first partnership between the two organizations.

The AAMI is intentional about building unique and meaningful statewide partnerships, and we are extremely proud of this new relationship with the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera (DMMO). We hope our Juneteenth collaboration is one of many future endeavors, says AAMI Executive Director, LaNisha Cassell. Performed by librettist Roberta Gumbel, dwb (driving while black) offers a compelling appeal to feel the emotions of Black mothers. The timely and educational performance, features a montage of poetic and haunting moments examining the trials and triumphs Black mothers experience as their children come of age in a society plagued by racism and inequality. A moderated discussion and reception will follow the performance. This event, like all of the AAMIs Juneteenth programming is free. However, registration for this event is required as space is limited.

The AAMIs Juneteenth Commemoration continues on Saturday, June 17, with the AAMIs annual festival. This free event will be live at NewBo City Market, 11AM3PM, and include stage entertainment, community-organization booths, activities, and offerings from the Market. DJ Commando will join us as we welcome a variety of talented dance, spoken-word, and musical performances. Mayors Tiffany ODonnell and Nick AbouAssaly will deliver proclamations, and MC Anthony Betters Jr will lead the journey, introducing each performance. The program series will conclude on Monday, June 19 (Juneteenth) with the virtual premiere of an interview with the 1619 Freedom School, hosted by Dr Ashley Howard.

The Museums 2023 Juneteenth celebration is presented by Cargill and co-sponsored by AARP and Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust, with community sponsors Alliant Energy, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, City of Cedar Rapids, City of Iowa City, Collins Community Credit Union, Make It Okay Iowa, and Veridian Credit Union, and media support from The Gazette.

ABOUT AAMI: The African American Museum of Iowa is a statewide museum dedicated to preserving, exhibiting, and teaching Iowas African American history. As Iowas leading educational resource on the topic, we educate more than 30,000 people each year through museum tours, traveling exhibits, research services, youth and adult education programs, and community and fundraising events.

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The African American Museum of Iowa Announces Juneteenth ... - River Cities Reader

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 1 that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters must defend itself in court over allegations that a 2017 drivers strike in Washington state damaged a concrete supplier when trucks were left with full loads as the strike was called.

While CalPortland, the concrete supplier, and construction groups applauded the 8-1 ruling, labor unions insist it will change nothing in construction law.

Although were disappointed in todays result, the Courts opinion leaves intact both the federally protected right to strike and the basic framework for determining when labor disputes should be decided by the National Labor Relations Board instead of state courts," said Darin M. Dalmat, senior partner at Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt, the law firm that represented the Teamsters in the case, in a statement.

Glacier Northwest, Inc., a division of CalPortland, employs truck drivers that are members of the Teamsters Local No. 174. After a collective-bargaining agreement between Glacier and the Union expired in 2017, the union called for a work stoppage on a morning it knew the company was in the midst of mixing substantial amounts of concrete, loading batches into ready-mix trucks and making deliveries.<

The union directed drivers to ignore Glaciers instructions to finish deliveries in progress. At least 16 drivers who had already set out for deliveries returned with fully loaded trucks and some even stopped where they were and left their trucks on roadsides. By initiating emergency procedures to offload the concrete into environmentally safe catch basins, Glacier prevented significant damage to its trucks, but all the concrete mixed that day cured andbecame useless.

The union moved to dismiss Glaciers claims, arguingthat the National Labor Relations Act preempted the lawsuit and protected a union's right to strike.

In the Teamsters'view, the NLRA protected the drivers conduct. The trial court agreed with the union, but the appellate court reversed that decision and the Washington Supreme Court reinstated the trial courts decision which set it up for the 8-1 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that sent it back to the trial court.

The Unions actions not only resulted in the destruction of all the concrete Glacier had prepared that day; they also posed a risk of foreseeable, aggravated, and imminent harm to Glaciers trucks." Because the Union took affirmative steps to endanger Glaciers property rather than reasonable precautions to mitigate that risk, the NLRA does not arguably protect its conduct," Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the 8-1 majority, sending the matter back to the trial court. Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only dissenting justice, with all others concurring with the majority.

Construction groups praised the decision, particularly the Associated Builders and Contractors of America, which represents mainly non-union contractors.

Theprecedent is clear that the National Labor Relations Act does not give unions a free pass to intentionally destroy an employers property during a labor dispute, said Ben Brubeck, ABC's vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, in a statement.The Washington Supreme Court decision "left employers without a remedy for the intentional destruction of their private property, causing businesses, workers and communities to suffer."

Brubeck's statement added that intentionally destroying another persons property should not and cannot be the norm in the construction community.

While agreeing with the decision in principle, the Associated General Contractors of America, acknowledged that there were differences between the hastily-called Washington state strike and general labor actions by unions against their contractor employers.

"This decision will have no impact on the National Labor Relations Act and how it governs the relationship between employers and unions, including the protections in place for employees right to organize and engage in legal labor disputes." said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives at the AGC of America. "However, it does reaffirm that union officials cannot knowingly engage in deliberate acts of sabotage as part of a labor dispute, as 8 of the 9 justices rightly concluded."

CalPortland Co., the owner of Glacier Northwest, said that it was only protecting its property rights in what it called an unprecedented labor dispute.

CalPortland is very pleased with todays 8-1 decision by the United States Supreme Court in the case..." said Robert M. Binam, senior vice president and general counsel for CalPortland Company in a statement. "The decision confirms the well-established legal principle that a labor union cannot take affirmative steps to endanger or destroy an employers property in furtherance of a strike, and then claim such tortious acts are somehow protected by the National Labor Relations Act."

Both Justice Jackson in dissent, and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in concurrence, drew attention to a 1959 precedent, San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon. That decision had the effect of giving the National Labor Relations Board a benefit of the doubt that other federal agencies do not usually receive from the high court.

While federal law generally preempts state law when the two conflict, in Garmon the Supreme Court ruled the NLRA preempts state law if the two even arguably conflicta type of deference as to the NLRBs presumed jurisdiction. Jackson wrote that Congress had chosen to entrust broad power to the NLRB given its specialized expertise.

The decision in Glacier denying that special deference could apply to other debates over how much deference courts should accord government agencies.

"Six years ago, this company forced us out on strike by refusing to bargain in good faith, and theyve been coming after us in court ever since," said CalPortland driver Mark Hislop in a statement released by Teamsters Local 174. "As far as Im concerned, todays decision changes nothing for us Teamsters, and it will not stop us from fighting as hard as we can for strong contracts."

For Glacier Northwest and CalPortland drivers, the fight over contracts continues. As recently as August, more than 100 Local 174 drivers walked off the job in another contract dispute with CalPortland and other suppliers.

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US Supreme Court Rules Against Striking Drivers Who Abandoned ... - Engineering News-Record

Jon Eatons recent letter notes the town has followed the old maxim of first, do no harm. Were that only so. For the past 18 years, the advocates for building on the Thomaston Green (i.e. commercial and private development) have failed to find takers.

One major developer who looked closely at private development on the Green walked away telling us what many already knew that the Green really should become a park. It has remained Thomastons only large, open space and informal park since the prison was demolished.

The upcoming votes at the June 14 Town meeting are an attempt to permanently develop the Route 1 frontage on the Green through a series of Warrant Articles (5 in total) that can only be voted on in person.

This is an intentional, underhanded maneuver by the Select Board and Mr. Eatons Economic Development Committee to wrest the fate of the Green away from its own residents. This antiquated and, frankly, undemocratic process purposely excludes many potential votersthose without transportation, parents on a school night, conflicting work schedules, the home-bound, etc. It at the heart of why many people are outraged at this most recent attempt find somethinganythingto build on the Green and open the floodgate to future private development. As one resident recently remarked, its sneaky.

Once parts of the Green are covered by buildings and pavement, the Green as a potential multi-use, multi-generational park space is gone forever. Wording that reserves parts of the Green does not permanently protect it. Reserve contains no legal commitment against future development. Residents no long trust their own government to keep its promises due to exactly this kind of backdoor and disingenuous deception.

If our own Select Board and their puppet masters on the Economic Development Committee were at all forward looking, they would know that parks and open space in communities throughout Maine and the nation are drivers of significant and importantly, long term, economic benefit, along with recreational and health (mental and physical) and environmental benefits.

Look at Rockports proposed park at the intersections of Route 1 and Route 90. Even South Thomaston is looking to create a community park.

Mr. Eaton believes any development on the Route 1 frontage should be required to enhance the public good and public enjoyment of the Green Most folks would agree.No developmenton Route 1 frontage can also be viewed as a way to not only enhance butpreserveand increase the public good and public enjoyment of the Green.

Health care can find another homeeven one more centrally located for the needs of their clients; open space on the historic Green cannot be moved elsewhere.

The future of the Green should be made by democratic choice not arrogant dismissiveness and certainly not by legalistic plays to hide the ball and sweep aside public sentiment and the publics right to vote on measures that will permanently change and affect each of our lives in Thomaston. Forever.

Christopher Crosman lives inThomaston

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The Future of the Thomaston Green is Green (or should be) - PenBayPilot.com

Nancy Pelosi famously said that Congress had to pass the Affordable Care Act so that we could find out whats in it. Perhaps misconstrued, the line still perfectly captures modern legislative practice at the federal level. Congress produces enormous laws filled with broad general directives; government agencies, trade associations, pressure groups, and regulated entities then hash out what the actual rulesthe true substanceof those laws should be. A striking example of this process is playing out at the Federal Communications Commission, where progressives, latching on to an obscure provision in one of Congresss latest mega-bills, seek a government takeover of the broadband industry.

Enacted in late 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act runs more than a thousand pages. The table of contents starts off tolerably enough: early headings include Bridge investment and National highway performance program. Scan down, though, and you can practically watch the legislators lose focus. Before long they drift into Sport fish restoration, Best practices for battery recycling, and Limousine compliance with federal safety standards. But dont nod off. On page 10, youll abruptly stumble on Broadband. (If you hit Indian water rights settlement completion fund or Bioproduct pilot program, youve gone too far.) This rather cryptic caption refers to a segment that begins on page 754. Start reading there, and youll eventually arrive at the last section of Title V of Division FSection 60506, to be precise, on pages 817 and 818which contains about 300 words on digital discrimination.

The relevant provision directs the FCC to adopt rules to prevent digital discrimination of [broadband] access based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin. Note the phrase based on: the Supreme Court has held that similar language, such as on the ground of, refers to intentional discriminationalso known as disparate treatment. Everyone agrees that the FCCs Section 60506 rules should bar deliberately withholding broadband service from an area out of animus for people in one of the protected classes.

But progressive advocacy groups want to go much further, arguing that Section 60506 targets not disparate treatment but disparate impact. Under that standard, a risk of liability arises whenever outcomes among classes differ, even when the gap is entirely unintended. The progressive groups rely on Texas Department of Housing v. The Inclusive Communities Project (2015), in which Justice Anthony Kennedy, joined by the Supreme Courts liberals, found that disparate-impact claims are allowed under the Federal Housing Act. That statute bars discrimination because of a renters or buyers membership in a protected class. The four dissenting justices objected that the phrase because of prompts only disparate treatment liability and laid out the Courts precedents confirming as much.

Inclusive Communities is an outlier. Todays Courtwhere three of that decisions dissenters now form part of a six-justice conservative majoritywould likely decline to extend its holding. But at least the ruling placed reasonable limits on disparate-impact liability. A plaintiff suing under the Fair Housing Act must show that the defendant created the imbalance in question, and that it did so for no economically sensible reason. Imposing liability based solely on a showing of a statistical disparity, the Court observed, would raise serious constitutional questions. All nine justices wanted to avoid reading the statute as a push to perpetuate race-based considerations rather than move beyond them.

The progressive groups seeking to exploit Section 60506 have no such concerns. They believe that existing broadband infrastructure is infused with structural racism. Race-neutral decision making, in this telling, is racist decision making; whats needed instead is race-driven decision making. Broadband providers must make affirmative efforts, as one group puts it, to remediate historic inequities. A finding of unlawful discrimination can stand, the groups contend, on a statistical difference in broadband access between any two communitiesor even between any two census blocks.

The progressive groups comments to the FCC set forth a social-justice wish list that has almost nothing to do with the law Congress wrote. Access means Internet availability and performance. Yet the groups press for the concept to embrace such factors as the caliber of customer service, the timeliness of resolving outages, the amount of notice regarding upcoming or past-due bills, and approaches to advertising. (They also want businesses that offer Wi-Fithink of Starbucksto fall within the rules.) There can be no doubt about which classes are protectedthe statute provides a list. Yet one group urges the FCC to add in disability status, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender and identity expression, familial status, domestic survivor abuse status, homelessness, English language proficiency[,] and citizenship status. (For good measure, this outfit invites the FCC to pitch any additional historically marginalized groups that it can think up.)

Under the Constitution, civil rights laws generally must protect individuals rather than cohorts. If blacks may complain of mistreatment, so may whites. In the same spirit, Section 60506 prohibits discrimination in any direction. It bans discrimination based on income, for example, rather than just poverty. The progressives granular, expansive, trigger-happy system of liability would give everyone grounds for complaint. The upshot is that broadband providersand even, perhaps, stores, restaurants, and hotels that offer Wi-Fiwould have to provide exactly the same products, terms, and services to every person at every place at every time, with every shortfall worthy of government investigation.

Just a few years ago, the FCC repealed its short-lived net neutrality regime for the Internet, which treated broadband providers as common carriers in certain respects. Democrats breathlessly asserted that, without the net neutrality rules in place, people would get the Internet one word at a time. Obviously, they were wrong. Yet activists persist in claiming that the repealwhich simply returned broadband to the light touch form of regulation that prevailed until 2015was a disaster. They seek not just to restore the old net neutrality order but to transform broadband into a utility.

The progressive groups insist that, in enacting Section 60506, Congress reject[ed] the FCCs light touch deregulatory approach and reimposed common carrier rules insofar as necessary to achieve . . . universal service. Dont be fooled: this is not a call for net neutrality. It is not even a bid for common carriage. It is a demand that broadband providers construct new facilities, on government order and without regard to rudimentary business logic, and then provide service subject to price controls. In the words of one group: [Section 60506] require[s] providers to build out to areas where otherwise they would not. In the words of another: consumers ability to pay must be balanced against the providers ability to provide service with less profit, at cost, or even at a loss.

These advocates are not bothered by the fact that (as some candidly acknowledge) Congress has tried and failed to reimpose common-carrier status on broadband providers via legislation. Nor do they have a good explanation for why, if Section 60506 all but nationalizes the broadband market, Congress bothered to set aside tens of billions of dollarsin the same statute of which Section 60506 is a part, no lessfor broadband providers that voluntarily expand into underserved areas. This subsidy program, not an investment-killing command-and-control scheme, is Congresss chosen means for trying to bridge the digital divide.

Can a small provision buried deep in a thousand-page law revolutionize an entire industry? The answer, the Supreme Court has said with increasing clarity, is no. It is by now a clich, among lawyers, that Congress should not be assumed to hide elephants in mouseholes. The line comes from an opinion authored by Justice Antonin Scalia in 2001, and it stands for the proposition that big, bold policy decisions require big, bold legislative statements. The Court recently formalized this principle, known as the major questions rule, in West Virginia v. EPA (2022), which tells Congress that it may not convey extraordinary grants of regulatory authority through modest words, vague terms, or subtle devices.

The FCC has until November to issue its Section 60506 rules. What will the agency do? It can adopt rules that prevent intentional discrimination in future broadband deployment. Or it can let ideologues lead it by the nose to attempt a surprising and dramatic expansion of broadband regulation. Option one is sound. Option two defies the text of the statute, the major-questions rule, and common sense. The right answer is clearno more passing laws so that we can find out whats in them.

Photo: johnason/iStock

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The Elephant in the Ethernet Port - City Journal

Why its important to anyone who cares about student success

Ive heard the word diversity quite a few times, began U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and I dont have a clue what it means. It seems to mean everything for everyone.

That is how the justice responded to an opening statement made last fall by legal counsel defending affirmative action in college and university admissions.

Seemingly casting doubt on the underlying premise of race-conscious policies i.e., that a diverse student population performs better academically Thomas incredulousness runs counter to a robust consensus around the meaning of diversity and the value it has in education and society more broadly. I confirmed this consensus through my work producing a literature review looking into the meaning and value of diversity in public education.

In that review, which the NH Center for Justice and Equity made available at the end of May, I identify three cases in which diversity has been conceptualized.

The legal case is grounded in the origins and intent of the 14th Amendment, which establishes rights to due process and equal protection, and which serves as the bedrock foundation of the courts own decades-old line of precedent.

The business case reflects empirical findings that a diverse workforce is more creative and productive, which is pure gold in a context where efficiency burnishes the bottom line.

The belonging case, as I have termed it, turns the focus of diversity efforts toward the individual, to their needs and rights.

What became clearer to me is that the idea of diversity, like dignity, accommodates many definitions depending on whom you ask, but in a way that reinforces the concept rather than rendering it meaningless. The idea has been discussed and conceptualized widely enough that even a studied skeptic should be able to make an educated guess and hit the bulls eye.

Diversity is important to folks who careabout student success and who believe that measures of educational excellence should consider students holistically and not just as test-takers.

Instead of simply pointing to rises or falls in aggregate test scores as proof of success or failure at the level of the public school or district, educators, parents, students and policymakers should look to the ways schools promote a culture of respect and inclusivity; provide relevant training and education to staff and the wider community; address discrimination and bias; advocate for marginalized students; and more generally create a sense of community that extends beyond the schoolhouse gate.

Reporting test scores doesnt move the needle on DEIJ concerns. Those other activities are, by contrast, time-consuming and can be costly to plan and execute, requiring intentional collaboration, cross-disciplinary expertise, and the understanding that change requires long-term commitment and buy-in from the ground up.

That means bringing in all the relevant stakeholders in each school district and its constituent communities and figuring out what needs exist there and what will work to meet them. As noted by others, this is a question of adequate budgeting and commitment and cannot be answered by one solitary DEIJ hire per district.

Theres been a lot of ink spilledrecently by detractors of diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) efforts who claim that the salaries paid and the money spent on programming and development are wasteful and divisive, serving only to segregate students and sow division.

These claims fly in the face of studies showing that matching students with teachers from the same race or ethnicity can positively impact academic performance, test scores and behavioral outcomes, and others showing the significant educational and social-emotional benefits to students who learn from at least one teacher who shares their race or ethnicity.

Of course, in New Hampshire the overall population is 89 percent white with an educator workforce that is 97 percent white, so it is likely that many students of color never encounter a single teacher of the same racial or ethnic background. Even in states with more diverse populations, educator workforces are, on average, whiter than the student populations they teach.

Demography is destiny, and shifts in New Hampshire show that minority populations, especially among children under the age of 18, have grown considerably as of the last census. This fact underscores the importance of public school systems meeting the needs of a changing population.

To meet the challenge and the opportunity of this change, greater attention must be given to increasing recruitment of teachers of color and providing adequate support and development to them after hire, so as to avoid burnout, demoralization and resignation. Rather than stand back and rest contented with the addition of a few DEIJ officers to the ranks of New Hampshires educator workforce, we should consider their roles mere starting points.

Dr. Jacob A. Bennett is affiliate assistant professor of education at the University of New Hampshire. His research now focuses on issues of agency, autonomy and belonging, in and out of the workplace.

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(Opinion) Nurturing diversity is good for kids, schools and NH - New Hampshire Business Review