Daily Archives: November 18, 2023

Ivan Valerio 26 passed away last Tuesday. Evelyn Mae Sorensen 25 passed away in mid-September. Yan Zhou 23 passed away of apparent suicide on Oct. 20, 2021.

After three deaths in two years, student death on campus is beginning to feel like a normal part of life at Middlebury.

While the causes of Ivans and Evelyns deaths apart from the fact that there was no foul play involved have not been shared, it is clear that the deaths themselves have affected the mental health and well-being of the larger student body. We call on the administration to make a more concerted effort to support students and faculty following a tragedy, but not only in the days immediately following such a tragedy. The college must commit resources, funding and attention to mental health on campus through expanding access to a variety of counseling services.

Similar to their responses following Evelyns and Yans deaths, the administration said in their initial email notifying the student body of the student's death on Tuesday morning that they plan to continue classes and other activities as usual so that the community can remain connected. We understand that this approach is grounded in community and public health best practices, but such an attitude inevitably contributes to moving on from the tragedy before processing its weight and normalizing student deaths as a routine part of life at Middlebury.

When students were in the midst of the vibrant and lively student activities fair in September, the college released Evelyns name as the student who had passed away in Forest Hall. This experience encapsulates how normalized these events have become. The college has begun to act as though student death is an acceptable topic for a mid-afternoon email, rather than a tragedy. The initial email announcing a student death last Tuesday came at 11:13 a.m., and students were expected to begin their 11:15 am. lectures a mere two minutes later.

Professors with classes scheduled for late Tuesday morning or afternoon had to act on their feet to comfort their students in the wake of the tragic news, and they did so in varying ways. Board members noted everything from professors breaking down and crying in front of their students to professors telling personal stories about dealing with loss to some not acknowledging the news at all.

There is no good way to announce a student has died on campus. But there are far better ways to support a community. We need more than a bulleted list of the same six resources over and over again: TimelyCare, College Counseling, Scott Center Chaplains, the Abernathy Room gathering space, Care Management and the Department of Public Safety. These are merely the standard mental health resources on campus, but student deaths should not be treated as standard occurrences. Tragedies like these call for more intensive support.

We all feel the pain of these deaths in different ways. We do not know exactly what the student body needs at this time of mourning, and we are not really sure how we would benefit as a community from temporary dean drop-in hours or one-time offers to write notes to our loved ones. Many professors have opened their doors to students, but they were not trained in graduate school to support their students through a death on campus. The administration must provide professors with more guidance and support in dealing with tragedy in the community.

Middlebury is prepared to support students who need to drop in to de-stress for 20 minutes, but it is not prepared for students who are in crisis, or undergoing serious challenges. We call for specialized professionals to be available for students in need of intensive support, such as external grief counselors and a more diverse staff of long-term therapists. Middlebury must raise the entry-level salary for college counselors from the listed starting salary of $60,000. Doing so would attract and retain more high quality counselors at the college. It is appalling that mental health resources were not even mentioned in the colleges recently launched For Every Future campaign. Funding assistant coach positions and building renovations are a higher priority than mental health resources to the administration, and we have clearly seen the results this semester.

We need to consider how our long-term community can be unified and built on campus. The Commons System once provided students with an assigned Dean who was on campus and available to meet with students in a comfortable, unforced environment. It also established defined communities outside of individual friend groups, classes and clubs, which benefited students who otherwise may have felt isolated. We now struggle to name a specific person or resource where students are supposed to turn when experiencing a mental health crisis or personal struggle. Likewise, Deans no longer remain with one group of students throughout their time here, weakening connections and relationships. This is especially true for junior and senior students, who belong to some of the largest classes in Middlebury history yet share only one dean among the two class years. We call for the intentional creation of such communities with ties to specific people as designated available resources to fill this gap in Middlebury life.

In a time of grief where the college has proven unable to support us, it falls on students to support one another. It can be uncomfortable to talk about mental illness, but we must foster an environment that is genuinely dedicated to supporting one another. While it is devastating that we have to support each other through such horrific events, students have shown remarkable strength and care so far. Keep your hearts open, and keep your friends close. Though Middleburys insularity can be frustrating at times, its closeness is an important strength of our community when faced with tragedy.

The aforementioned For Every Future campaign was launched by the college in between two student deaths, brushing past the obvious deficit in mental health resources on campus with glossy, full-page spreads of Middlebury students thriving at the college. Millions of dollars will go to professional development and sabbaticals; new residence halls and architectural classrooms; and student internships and experiential learning but nothing for mental health. If the colleges allocation of money reflects its priorities, we are forced to consider the underlying question: for whose future?

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Student death is now part of the routine at Middlebury - The Middlebury Campus

In early October, I went outside the house to check on an outbuilding shed door. The Kansas wind had been howling and the door had blown open.

Something that looked like a white sheet of plastic had blown up against the fence by our gate. I walked out to the gate and about 10 feet from it, a large dog head popped up.

The look on his face said, Where you been?

I opened the gate and moved outside gingerly. This dog didnt know me, and I didnt know he/she/it. The dog was large, at least 90 pounds. White all over. Tail wagging. About a year old, the vet told us later, so he was just an overgrown pup. He was an intact male and originally, we thought he was a Great Pyrenees. Weve had other Pyrs, but the new dogs head was different.

The dog came over, sniffed me once, and without me saying a word, sat down, looked me in the eye, and lifted one big front paw to be shaken.

Lord. Have you ever had a strange dog youve never seen before who doesnt know you from Adam raise a paw to be shaken at your first meeting?

The craziest thing about that Sunday was the dog was chained to our fence. Someone in broad daylight had parked behind our shop where we cant see the road, brought the dog over, clipped him to the gate, and drove away. Weve had large white dogs in our place. Perhaps someone had driven by, seen our bigger white dogs, and decided to unload him with us.

The more I think about it, the dog was abandoned and dumped on us, but Im hoping it was an abandonment of love. This dog is hard not to love.

My wife is an expert. Shes had lots of different breeds of dogs. My dog experience was limited to my early youth with mutts who chased trucks on a two-lane highway in Jewell County. We buried most of them. When my wife and I married, I wasnt used to domestic animals. And those we had were fenced into my wifes one-and-a-half-acre curtilage, so they have plenty of room to ward off coyotes and track the nightly deer herd movement from behind a six-foot fence.

I named him Ollie. My wife prefers Oliver. He acts like an Ollie, not an Oliver. When I brought him inside the fence for the first time, he did some zoomies in the yard and crouched playfully in front of me, a tongue-hanging dog smile on his face, waiting on my next move.

Someone has trained him. And loved him. I wish I knew Ollies backstory.

Folks dont realize dog dumping or a host of other unpleasantries to animals is a misdemeanor. Even abandoning an animal is a crime, the knowing abandoning of any animal in any place without making provisions for its proper care. Fines and possible jail time for intentional conduct doesnt seem to deter dumping. A lot of dumping happens at night or in rural areas, with few witnesses. But it is certainly not a victimless crime.

The victim is the animal.

All sorts of reasons exist why Ollie might have been dumped. He might have been an elderly couples dog and the primary caregiver died. Or someone lost a job and couldnt afford him anymore. COVID-19 is over, and perhaps someone didnt need the companionship anymore. Or someone had to move to a place where bigger dogs were not allowed.

Humane societies noticed an initial increase in dumping in 2008, during the mortgage crisis. People lost their homes and couldnt keep their pets. Some were abandoned and left in the homes that were angrily trashed as the previous owners moved out, leaving the dogs or cats to starve.

The pandemic also saw dog dumping. People lost jobs and couldnt support animals any more. But the pandemic is not a factor now, and jobs are out there. Millennials are the largest generation of pet owners in America and the UK, and they abandon a lot of dog breeds. Certain stylish breeds (i.e. French bulldogs) are touted by the Hollywood types on Instagram. But millennials dont like the medical costs and problems presented by certain breeds.

Dumping is becoming a worldwide problem. And those of you who think you love cats more than dogs and thus cat people would never do cat dumping, think again. In Australia, cats get abandoned quickly if the female has unwanted kittens. One litter of cats was found locked inside a suitcase with a note requesting they be cared for. They were dead, and there were scratches on the inside showing they were desperately trying to get out.

Dumping is becoming a worldwide problem. And those of you who think you love cats more than dogs and thus cat people would never do cat dumping, think again.

They were treated like garbage with a total absence of compassion, said South Australias chief RSPCA inspector, Andrea Lewis.

In rural Texas outside Houston, the city folks bring their pets to the country to dump them, assuming the dogs will be invited to live on a farm. Thats the cowards way of saying they dump their dogs, writes Lisa Seger.

In Texas, a dumped dog is often shot. In rural communities with no animal control office, the sheriff is also the dogcatcher. With few alternatives for the dogs, the sheriff often gets the inglorious job of executioner. Its called SSS. Shoot, shovel and shut up.

A dog brought up in the city with regular meals abandoned in the rural countryside endures hunger and turns predator to survive. Chickens, domestic cats, goats, sheep, calves virtually anything that moves are at risk. Then the predator dog has to be SSSd, just like a wolf or coyote.

The most likely outcome for any dumped dog is death, sometimes in gruesome ways. Food laced with antifreeze or rat poison. Guard dogs protecting the farms livestock will attack a stray dog, doing what training and instinct tells them to do. Others are killed by coyotes or mountain lions. In Texas, wild boars can attack humans in their homes let alone a dumped city dog in the thickets.

The chances of city dogs finding a home on a farm in Texas or Kansas or anywhere else is slim to none.

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Some folks have reasons why they can no longer care for a dog. Humane societies then try to rehome a dog. Friends or family are the best options. Facebook discussions and pictures can excite local folks about pets. If the dog is injured or severely malnourished, sometimes the best thing that can be done is euthanize them, but they need not be dumped and abandoned.

The worst thing about pet dumping is the impact on the family who abandons the animal. I can only imagine that impact on me if I took Ollie some place and dumped him. Children especially cannot understand when a pet is suddenly taken out of the house. The most common feeling among owners is betrayal, especially those families who didnt want to lose the dog but had no choice.

No animal deserves to be hauled miles from home, pushed out of a car in an unfriendly place and left to find food and avoid the labyrinth of lethal varmints that do not appreciate dogs or cats being in their neighborhood. Thankfully, Ollie did not suffer abandonment. But our priorities are screwed up.

Obviously, our tiny farm is not a private humane society. But there is one great thing about Ollie. He recognizes a good deal when he smells it. Someone gave up a healthy, excellent super dog. He was dumped and pinned to my gate.

For the time he has been with us, a growl has not been in his vocabulary. Ollie scarfs down chow to indicate he is not interested in being returned like a carton of empty milk bottles.

Thats fine with us.

Ron Smith is a fifth-generation Kansan, a native of Manhattan, an attorney practicing in Larned, a grandfather several times over, a Vietnam veteran and a civil war historian.Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary,here.

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We welcomed an abandoned dog into our family. But dog dumping ... - Kansas Reflector

By Willy Blackmore

Originally appeared in Word in Black

Whenthe first National Climate Assessmentcame out 23 years ago, global warming was, in so many ways, still a very far-off notion. While there was mounting scientific evidence that average global temperatures were on the rise, and a consensus that the increases were the result of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, it was not yet an era of what can feel like back-to-back-to-back historic natural disasters like the one we live in now. As such, there was less of a deep sense of who would be affected by climate change.

The prosperity and structure of the economy, the technologies available and in use, and the settlement patterns and demographic structure of the population, are all very likely to contribute to how and how much climate change will matter to Americans, the assessment from 2000 reads, and what they can and might wish to do about it.

But racial demographics didnt get any kind of in-depth exploration in the document. For example, when discussing how climate change could increase urban heat in the Midwest, the report referencesthe 1994 Chicago heatwave that killed at least 500 people but does not delve at all into how disproportionately it affected Black people.

Contrast that with theFifth National Climate Assessment, published this Tuesday, which includes an entire chapter on climate justice.

Instead of some vague gestures about socioeconomic factors, the new assessment is, at times, quite radical on the questions of what brought us to this moment and who is being most affected.

If climate change is understood as an outcome of socioeconomic and ethical arrangements that resulted in exploitation and discrimination, then reexamining those arrangements also becomes necessary, the fifth assessment reads.

In other words, its not just a matter of acknowledging that Black and Brown people are on the frontlines of the climate crisis we need to both understand and actually do something about the systems that put them there in the first place.

Twenty-three years is a long time, of course, but the report marks a huge shift from how more recent administrations have talked about climate change too. According toInside Climate News, the last two assessments released by the Obama and Trump administrations often approached the inequitable outcomes of the climate crisis as an afterthought, mentioning social justice, climate justice or environmental justice just a little over a dozen times total in documents that were hundreds of pages long.

The new tact for the National Climate Assessment joinsa growing list of climate measures from the Biden Administration that center climate justice but when huge natural gas export projects are still in play too, the shifts in language can seem more like platitudes than anything else. Because while the National Climate Assessment can guide political debates about climate change, its not policy.

There is a certain pleasure in seeing the federal government say things like social systems inequitably distribute harm to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), low-income, and rural communities; women and gender minorities; and other racialized or overburdened peoples, or, in part, beliefs and concerns about climate change have been shaped by well-documented, intentional efforts by industry groups supportive of the continued use and promotion of fossil fuels to misrepresent the uncertainty and knowledge about climate change and downplay the risks to society. But so much more still needs to actually be done.

The Biden Administration did announce$6 billion worth of new climate programsalongside the release of the new assessment, including $2 billion from the Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants for community-driven projects that deploy clean energy, strengthen climate resilience, and build community capacity to respond to environmental and climate justice challenges.

The funding for the grants comes from Bidens signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, while most of the other $4 billion comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (which is to say, it was all allocations of existing funds).

The electric grid certainly needs updating, but it feels a little mismatched with a report that highlights how individuals and communities that have lived at the margins of, or have been purposely excluded from the benefits of, industrialization have a greater probability of exposure to pollution and negative environmental impacts.

But its at least moving in the right direction.

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The National Climate Assessment Goes Woke - Dallasweekly

Editors Note: Philanthropy Roundtables True Diversity initiative offers an equality-based, holistic framework for embracing diversity. We support efforts that value every person as a unique individual and empower charitable organizations with the freedom and flexibility to advance their missions. Learn more at TrueDiversity.org.

Cleveland, Ohio native JaRon Smith and Washington, D.C.-raised Chris Pilkerton are two men of different races and backgrounds united by their faith and purpose to help the underserved. They both rose to become policy advisors to President Trump, where they advanced solutions for economic mobility of Black, white and all Americans. In a new book titled Underserved: Harnessing the Principles of Lincolns Vision for Reconstruction for Todays Forgotten Communities, they offer a prescription for rebuilding underserved communities by drawing upon President Abraham Lincolns vision for reconstructing the nation after the Civil War.

I spoke with Smith, a policy expert on regulatory affairs, economic mobility, social justice, finance, banking and housing and urban development about his personal experience, new book and how he views true diversity.

The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Tell us about your background and how it shaped your approach to work and life.

Smith: I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in a lower middle-class community. My early years were similar to that of many people: parents struggling with drug addiction and alcoholism. My parents were both blue-collar workers and their parents were poor. They did what they needed to do to survive.

My dad sent me to a Catholic high school. That education gave me my first experience with religion and created an environment to help me. I wasnt a good student until age 14 or 15. Despite their addiction, I was anchored with two parents that loved me and a grandparent that loved me, which made me a resilient person and gave me the courage to be curious. As I set out to be my best self, I had to do service projects to graduate and thats where the passion developed for helping people.

My generation was the first generation to start going to college.

My background planted the seed of wanting to help change our community and empower people. From that experience you learn that people go into drugs and self-destructive behavior based off trauma or traumatic experiences. It can be hard to try to figure out how to become your best self and put food on the table.

I attended Howard University and during college interned in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill, which got me interested in politics and policy as a way to positively impact people.

Q. Coming out of your background and work at the highest levels of government, why did you decide to write this book?

Smith: I wrote this book along with my colleague, Chris Pilkerton, because working together in the White House, we realized there were so many challenges in underserved communities. Because of the pandemic, we werent able to finish some of the work we had begun on issues ranging from criminal justice reforms to workforce development. It became apparent that the work we were trying to accomplish was more important than ever. Some communities will be set back even further because of COVID.

My north star and mission has been figuring out solutions for underserved communities. When I came back to D.C. in 2008, I gave my life to God and He has positioned me through relationships to accomplish this mission. We talk about our faith journeys in this book, but this book provides a blueprint to complete our unfinished work.

Q. Underserved focuses on the post-reconstruction era in the United States. There was so much opportunity for Black folks: in politics by becoming legislators, starting businesses and creating economic centers, creating a new middle class and creating greater Black wealth. What didnt happen following Reconstruction that led to issues were still dealing with today?

Smith: Abraham Lincoln grew up on a prairie, he grew up poor, was self-educated and he learned the importance of earning a living for yourself and being able to leverage that to empower oneself through economic empowerment.

Lincolns vision for Reconstruction highlights that economic empowerment is a core part of America. America is a capitalist country; the whole notion of capitalism is based on the concept of mutuality and mutual benefit. It has lifted so many underserved communities around the world in ways that other systems havent. The challenge is that slavery raised the question of whether capitalism was exploitative. Capitalism doesnt have to be.

Unfortunately, Andrew Johnson worked with the privileged class of the South (former plantation owners) and the creation of Black Codes created a dual system that Black Americans lived in for about 60 years until the Civil Rights Movement. Despite all of that, Black Americans in segregated communities were still able to foster economic empowerment and build robust communities. But the government and racist factions tore that apart. That has happened several times. In our book, we mention the Freedmans Bureau, race riots and Black Wall Street.

Ultimately, you still did not have a breakthrough with those communities. Laws from the 30s created redlining and concentrated poverty and race. Then the presence of Great Society programs at the same time as the post-Integration movement led to Black flight. Upper class and middle-class Blacks left those communities. When affluent peopledoctors and lawyersleft the community, those left behind were left with no real role models or high earners which led to concentrated impoverished communities. Its similar in some white communities too. The reason we called the book Underserved is because we talk about poverty in white communities as well.

Lincoln saw the importance of investing in poor white communities as well as Black communities. His assassination cut short this work which could have helped in the Jim Crow South where poor whites were pitted against poor Blacks. A century later, the race and class warfare was something Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about during the Civil Rights era.

Q: Can you talk about the role of the church, particularly of the Black church, then and also today in driving outcomes that go toward economic opportunities?

Smith: First of all, the movement to free the slaves was undergirded by the Great Awakening, which created the abolitionist movement. The emergence of the Republican Party was anchored in religion. When we went into Reconstruction, many of the HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) that were launched were financed by religious organizations and invested in training preachers. The early leaders who went to Congress, like Hiram Revels, were ministers and the church became a safe place for individuals in the Black community to mobilize, organize and educate themselves.

New Black churches emerged out of that. Different denominations undergirded the Civil Rights Movement. The church has historically for the Black community been an anchor for change in our communities. However, over the last 40 yearsand not just in the Black communityinstitutions overall including the church have lost the trust of the community.

Throughout America, people are less religious. Some people on the right blame taking prayer out of public schools, but it goes back to the methodology of trust. Some churchesnot all of themhavent been the anchor that they used to be because trust is not there in the community. You might have a number of different churches in any underserved community. They are not all places that people go to or frequent. After being in seminary, I learned that in many cases churches have become more of a social club rather than an anchoring or change agent for society.

We need that anchoring because the church and faith communitys help in figuring out who you are as a person is extremely important in behavioral health. So many communities have dealt with the trauma of the pandemic and historic trauma. Being able to navigate the nuances of life is hard when you come from broken families. Thats a mission I have been on. We need the church and civil society more than ever.

Aside from the Black households, in which you see 70% are single-parent households, 50% of white households are single parent or divorced households.

Q: How can True Diversity or other equality-based, holistic frameworks for embracing diversity contribute to economic mobility?

Smith: Different perspectives help you to be competitive. Many other countries dont necessarily have the model of diversity that America has and if were in a global competition of ideas, we are far ahead of people by celebrating our shared diversity. Celebrating that we are a melting pot is in the American DNA. We became a place where people came from all different walks of life to be able to participate in the American experience, which is based on individuality, ideas, freedom and liberty. That undergirds everything.

Companies and organizations that decide not to be intentional about thought diversity are losing the opportunity to benefit from that market share. But it has to be genuine, it has to be intentional. It cannot be virtue signaling. What the workplace is trying to do is to harness our best asset which is the diversity of opinions and backgrounds. No one has the same experience. We celebrate that uniqueness that you can bring to the table and that uniqueness drives different ideas that an organization would never have thought about.

Im not sure that designating a role for Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is right. If you have a C-suite, a better approach is having more COOs from different perspectives, more CFOs and CEOs. If you lean into being intentional about bringing in the best talent from diverse perspectives, you will get individuals in leadership roles who will commit to bringing other individuals with diverse perspectives along. For me working at the White House (and every organization Ive been in), Ive been able to identify individuals with different backgrounds that other leaders may have overlooked and theyve ended up adding value.

It hasnt been based on race but comparative advantage. Everyone brings different skills to a situation and its figuring out what comparative advantages individuals have that can make us more competitive. You want businesses or organizations to be intentional about what their talent needs are and to lean into those, not just check demographic boxes.

In the current landscape, DEI has become a talking point instead of looking at the most unique capabilities people bring to the table and what we can learn from them. We put blanket approaches in place that are not effective, when the unique qualities that people have because of their backgrounds is what we should focus on.

Click here to learn more about True Diversity.

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A Conversation about History, Race and the Meaning of True ... - Philanthropy Roundtable

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, November 15th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. Im Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And Im Nick Eicher.

Today on Concurrently: The News Coach Podcast, News Coach Kelsey Reed talks with WJI Europe graduate Chiara Lamberti about todays changing attitudes toward children and family. Heres a preview.

KELSEY REED: Within the Italian culture, how would they define that raising children and having children? How would they define its value? There's something that you and I spoke about in our correspondence.

CHIARA LAMBERTI: Yeah, people say that they don't, they desire to don't have child because we actually have a weak economic situation. But we also observe that in wealthier neighborhoods of our city, people with a strong position in their career, they decide to don't have child, and it's not about the career but it's about sacrifice and the idea to take a responsibility and to sacrifice your free time. Having a child it's about to not be the king of your life anymore, or the queen. Being the king of your life or the queen of your life, it's the most valuable thing in our society, now.

EICHER: You can hear the entire episode of Concurrently today wherever you get your podcasts. And find out more at concurrentlypodcast.com.

REICHARD: Coming next on The World And Everything in It: Things that divide us.

Sometimes theyre physical: a brick wall, a highway, or a railroad track. But often, the things that separate us are unseen. WORLDs Myrna Brown takes us to one community where people are trying to be honest and intentional about their barriers.

SOUND: [PEOPLE CHATTING, LAUGHING, MUSIC PLAYING]

MYRNA BROWN, REPORTER: Standing underneath pitched tents, volunteers keep the food lines moving.

VOLUNTEER: Grab you a bag what you want, a hamburger or hot dog? All the condiments down there.

Children speed down inflatable water slides and teens turn corners of the lawn into dance floors.

DJ: I want everyone to come up on stage and were going do this

This outdoor gathering has all the sights, sounds and smells of a traditional fall festival. But families gathered in this local park are celebrating much more than the change of seasons.

ANNOUNCER: So, were going to do what we came out here to do which is meet neighbors and meet someone you never met before. Weve got two volunteers that are going to introduce each other.

Two women, sitting at different picnic tables, underneath a huge tent, walk towards the blue announcers tent. The brunette in the baseball cap grabs the mic first.

KRISTEN CAPPIN: Hi, my name is Kristen Cappin, but Id like to introduce my new friend, Kim Young

Young is a few inches taller than Cappin and sports a cropped afro. She smiles as Cappin mentions her pride and joy.

CAPPIN: She also wins the how many grandchildren you have prize. She has 14! Kim

KIM YOUNG: Thank you very much Kristen. And I want to introduce my new friend. Her name is Kristen Cappin. She only has nine grandchildren. She asked me to mention that as well.

As the two walk back to their tables, they say theyre glad they stepped out of their comfort zones.

YOUNG AND CAPPIN: Actually, it was awesome. It was kind of fun. And I made a new friend.

YOUNG: Yes, thats the biggest part. You get to meet people and you make new friends and connections in ways that you normally would not make them.

Thats the spirit behind Community Spirit Day: bringing people who think they have very little in common, together. It was an idea hatched around a kitchen table in a part of the country where differences once fueled division.

SOUND: [CHIT CHAT AND POURING LEMONADE]

Denise DOliveira is pouring a glass of lemonade for her friend, Jewel Lawson. Theyre both retired educators. But 60 plus years ago, a get-together like this between a white and black woman would have been unheard of. Both DOliveira and Lawson live in Daphne, Alabama, a mid-size city about three hours from the state capital of Montgomery.

Alabama was a deeply segregated state in the 1950s and sixties. At times, the center of the civil rights movement. Federal legislation eventually brought an end to legal segregation. But DOliveira and Lawson say certain customs and practices continued.

DENISE DOLIVEIRA: Connie was the first person to ever explain to me about redlining.

Connie was DOliveiras neighbor in the 1990s. She was a black woman trying to build a home in a predominantly white neighborhood. It was DOliveiras neighborhood. DOliveira says instead of being treated like any other potential homebuilder, Connie was the victim of redlining, a discriminatory practice of systematically denying services to potential homeowners based on ethnicity. DOliveira says she had heard of redlining.

DOLIVEIRA: But to hear her talk about that being so very much present, it really shocked me and made me ashamed.

Connie and her family eventually built their home in DOliveiras neighborhood. Still, DOliveira says that initial conversation haunted her for decades. She finally decided to do something about it: Community spirit day.

DOLIVEIRA: An event of some kind that would bring the black and white communities together.

But she knew she couldnt pull it off alone. Thats when she invited her old friend Jewel Lawson and a few others over for lemonade. Together, around her kitchen table, they planned the first community spirit day.

JEWEL LAWSON: And I just jumped on it. I shopped and I put all the food in my den. But, I couldnt serve it all. We needed somebody to cook. We needed somebody to do several different things. And people stepped up? Oh they stepped up, yes.

PASTOR: Father God we just thank you for both communities. For all of Daphne. For all those volunteers..

That first year they raised about two thousand dollars and 300 people showed up. They got support from the city government. In 2022 fundraising and attendance also increased, along with their share of typical event planning challenges: everything from choosing the genre of music to creating a rain-day plan. This year, theyre focusing on deeper outcomes.

DOLIVEIRA: I just didnt want for everyone to come and plop down with their family or their friends and there be no interaction.

ANNOUNCER: And we have two more volunteers

As two more perfect strangers step up to the mic to introduce each other, a local mom and her baby girl listen intently from underneath their tent.

TIFFANY BROWN: Where were from, how much money we have, our color, our educational background. None of that matters. Were just all out here to have a good time and be a family.

The day ends abruptly with an unforecast gust of wind, heavy rain, and lightning. Everyone packs up and heads out quickly.

So what happens when the tents come down, community spirit day is over and everyone goes home? Maybe not deep lasting friendship . But Jewel Lawson says people are committed to recognizing the new people theyve met and remembering their names and stories.

LAWSON: And they wanted to know when the next one is going to be.

Reporting for WORLD, Im Myrna Brown in Daphne, Alabama.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.

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The color of community | WORLD - WORLD News Group

Kindness. The world could use a good supply right now. How does it feel when someone does something for you that you needed? How do you feel when you do something to help someone else? Kindness is a gift you give that gives back to you. Its a lifestyle you cultivate.

The benefits? you ask.

There is a chemical, oxytocin, a hormone in your body. It contributes a number of good things to your well-being, things like reducing blood pressure and good heart health. It helps us to have a better attitude, a good and positive outlook. We see ourselves in a better light. We have more energy, and who cant use a little more of that?

You should know that when you help someone else, the benefits include a longer lifespan. Think about the people you know who are involved in some form of volunteer work. You know them. They are always moving, wear smiles on their faces because they feel good, and they are happy to give of their time to help others.

There is another brain chemical, serotonin, known as the feel good chemical. It helps the body to heal itself and has calming effects. You feel happy. Kindness releases endorphins that ease pain levels, lowers stress and anxiety, lifts depression and lowers blood pressure, explains the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. And kindness is contagious.

Have you heard of The Rabbit Effect?

There was a study done in the late 1970s, the goal of which was to look at the relationship between high cholesterol and heart health in rabbits. All of the rabbits were fed the same high-fat diet. But there was a difference. One group of rabbits showed 60 percent less fatty deposits than other groups. Researchers went looking to find the reason for this.

The group that had significantly better outcomes was under the care of an unusually affectionate researcher who talked to them, cuddled and petted them, while the other group was simply fed. In other words, she was kind, said Kelli Harding MD, MPH, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. She wrote the book, The Rabbit Effect: Live Longer, Happier, and Healthier with the Groundbreaking Science of Kindness.

Dr. Harding said medical care, which is critical to have, accounts for only 10-20 percent of our overall health status. Instead, much of good health depends on creating supportive relationships in our homes, schools, workplaces, and communities. This means every persons kind or unkind choices in their daily lives makes a difference in the health of others, she said. And this inspired her to write her book.

Last weekend World Kindness Day was celebrated around the globe. People were encouraged to learn more about kindness. While random acts of kindness are good, there is a good deal more involved with kindness. It isnt just about manners. Or being nice. Its about our actions, compassion, intentional inclusions and empowering solutions, say the experts. Learn about the science of kindness.

Family Recovery Center has professional staff who are ready to listen when you have no one else to talk to. The goal is for the health and well-being of all. Contact the agency at 964 N. Market St., Lisbon; phone, 330-424-1468; or email info@familyrecovery.org. Visit the website at familyrecovery.org. You can find Family Recovery Center at Facebook. FRC is funded in part by United Way of Northern Columbiana County.

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Home > Press Releases > Georgia Power Foundation awards grant for BIG Edge Entrepreneurship Program

November 17, 2023

Georgia Southern Universitys Business Innovation Group (BIG) has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Georgia Power Foundation, Inc., to empower diversity in early-stage entrepreneurship. In turn, BIG has created the BIG Edge Entrepreneurship Program for six entrepreneurs to have offices and participate in entrepreneurship programs at the Georgia Grown Innovation Center (GGIC) in Metter, Georgia, for one year.

For more than a decade, the Business Innovation Group has been aiding area small businessowners to getthesupport theyneed to start or expand their business, said Dominique Halaby, DPA, associate provost for Innovation and Commercialization at Georgia Southern University. Now, thanks to Georgia Powers support,we can be more intentional in driving inclusive economic excellence in our region by delivering programming, facilitating access to resources and reducing some ofthefinancialbarriers that new entrepreneurs, especially those from underrepresented groups, oftenexperience when starting abusiness.

The BIG Edge Entrepreneurship Program is targeted at minorities and women who have an agtech, agribusiness, food or farming interest that they would like to launch as a business or service. The BIG Edge Entrepreneurship program will include a one-year scholarship at the GGIC with a private office, one-on-one mentoring and entrepreneurship training. Participants will be encouraged to create social media postings about their journey to inspire others.

At Georgia Power, we acknowledge the importance of access to resources and skills training in fostering entrepreneurial potential in rural and underserved communities, said Mickey Daniell, community development manager for Georgia Power. It is firmly believed that Georgia Southern Universitys Business Innovation Group can play a vital and indispensable role in assisting individuals in finding a viable pathway towards achieving success.

Georgia Southern Universitys Business Innovation Group invites individuals, who particularly meet the criteria of minorities and women, to apply for the BIG Edge Entrepreneurship Program by Dec. 8. Scholarship recipients will be announced by Dec. 31.

For more information, contact Catherine Blake by emailing cblake@georgiasouthern.edu orcalling 770-883-1117. Visit Visit: https://research.georgiasouthern.edu/big/

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Georgia Power Foundation awards grant for BIG Edge ... - Georgia Southern University Newsroom

More than 50 organizations and Jewish activists have banded together to express solidarity with an immigrant rights group after nine Democratic state senators in Maryland threatened to withdraw state funding due to the groups calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

CASA, the Maryland-based immigrants rights organization, issued a statement earlier this month saying that they stand in resolute and steadfast solidarity with the people of Palestine in their relentless fight for freedom. The organization condemned the utilization of US tax dollars to promote the ongoing violence and called for an immediate ceasefire to stop the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

"Their message is clear we support immigrants and refugees, as long as you agree with our Israel politics."

But after their statement was released, nine lawmakers who represent Montgomery County, issued a response saying they were deeply disappointed by CASAs statement and its lack of acknowledging the long and painful history of antisemitism in its myriad forms. As a result, the Montgomery County Senate Delegation proposed the potential of withdrawing state support for the organization.

This might be an appropriate time to reevaluate the states mechanism for providing financial aid and support to our immigrant community, the senators wrote. More specifically, we must ensure that public funds are not being used to promote antisemitism and Jewish hate.

Dozens of organizations signed a letter demanding that the senators retract their public letter which explicitly threatens the immigration rights non-profit by stating that they intend to re-evaluate their legislative funding.

While your threat targets CASA directly, it also threatens thousands of immigrants and low-income communities that rely on CASAs safety net and advocacy services, the letter said. And your statement further sends a chilling effect to the growing (and now even majority) number of Americans who want the genocidal attacks on Gaza to stop and have been expressing sentiments similar to those in CASAs tweet.

About two-thirds of the groups funding comes from local, state and federal governments. CASA received $4.89 million in government grants and another $11.3 million in government contracts, out of its total $25.7 million in revenue according to its 2021 tax filings, The Intercept reported.

CASA has served Maryland with critical programs and services for more than 35 years, Gustavo Torres, the executive director of CASA de Maryland, told Salon

When they first arrive to the area, many immigrants first stop at a CASA office, Torres said. They can find community and they seek English classes, legal services, health services and a job.

Torres has had discussions with many of the senators who signed the letter and described them as being positive.

I called these legislators, whom we have worked alongside with for so long, so I can personally apologize to them and tell them that I am learning a lot, he added.

The Arab American Institute was one of the groups that signed the letter in support of CASA. The two organizations have been allies on immigration issues and have worked together for several years, James Zogby, the institutes president, told Salon.

I was troubled by the fact that the statement they issued caused someone to attack them and not only attack them, but threatening to suspend their funding would put thousands of people at risk of not having the services that they provide, Zogby said.

This is part of a growing sense of intolerance and impunity where some groups supportive of Israel feel that they can be punitive to those who are not as supportive as them and that is disturbing, he added. It creates a type of intolerance that silences discussion, which is dangerous.

There was nothing antisemitic in it, Zogby said about CASAs statement. It was critical of what Israel is doing, and if we get to a point where the very real problem of antisemitism which is a serious issue that has to be addressed is conflated with criticism of Israel, we do damage to the real fight against antisemitism and we create a situation where Israel becomes beyond reproach.

The ACLU of Maryland also put out a statement firmly supporting CASA and their right to issue statements of public concern.

It would be both wrong and unconstitutional for the Montgomery County Senate Delegation, or any government officials, to act on threats to punish CASA based on their protected political speech, the ACLU wrote.

At the end of their statement, they said that if any retaliatory action is taken to defund the essential services that CASA provides to the immigrant community, the ACLU will respond accordingly.

Jewish organizers and activists who have worked closely with CASA for years supporting Marylands immigrant communities also put out a letter calling out elected officials.

We are outraged that elected officials are weaponizing Jewish pain in the wake of the recent atrocities by Hamas to attack and undermine CASA in response to its tweets criticizing Israel and calling for a ceasefire, their letter said. To be clear: As Jews, there was nothing in CASAs statements that we found to be antisemitic or hateful.

Rabbi Ariana Katz, who signed the letter, told Salon she was horrified at the way Jewish organizations and elected officials are punishing CASA for their statement in solidarity with Palestinians impacted by this heinous war.

These individuals, organizations, and elected officials are not only punishing CASA for their statement which was, in our view, not antisemitic or the other accusations, they are threatening any other organization that receives foundational or governmental support with speaking out against the actions of the Israeli government, Katz said.

Criticism of the Israeli government is not antisemitic and anti-Zionism is not antisemitic, Katz added. However, in the last several years there have been growing efforts to silence voices'' that are speaking out against Israel's actions.

I grieve with CASA and my Jewish community [about] the horrific violence in Israel on October 7 and share deepest prayers for all hostages to be returned home, Katz said. I am humiliated by this institutional Jewish response to an organization that has done incredible work for immigrants and refugees. Their message is clear we support immigrants and refugees, as long as you agree with our Israel politics. The weaponizing of antisemitism weakens the actual fight against antisemitism.

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CASA has since pulled its original social media postings and acknowledged that their words have caused hurt through a public apology they issued on Thursday.

We wholeheartedly regret not reaching out to allies and communities grieving the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel when it occurred, the letter said. In the weeks since then, we should have done deeper work to understand the crisis and the ways in which language is understood by people much closer to the situation. We grieve for all innocent lives lost in this latest conflict, no matter their faith or ethnic identity.

But one of their private donors, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, which helped build two major CASA offices the Multicultural Center and Baltimore Center announced that it was pulling $150,000 in promised donations.

The foundation has provided CASA with more than $5 million in grant funding and supported them for more than 15 years. However, they said they were deeply disturbed by the offensive and antisemitic statement that CASA released and had additional concerns leading them to make the decision to direct funds to another nonprofit committed to serving refugees and asylum seekers in Maryland.

Weinberg stated that future grant requests from the immigrants' rights organization would not be considered "unless and until the organization demonstrates a genuine understanding of the harm that it has caused.

On Tuesday, 19 Jewish members of the General Assembly reiterated a similar sentiment in a statement they sent to CASA, saying they believe more intentional actions are needed.

But at least five senators that Torres has spoken with have told him that they accept his apology and that it is time to move forward.

I shared with them all the internal work we need to do, including receiving the necessary training, so that these messaging mistakes dont happen again, Torres said. They heard my apology.

The fact that CASA is willing to take the extra step in the direction of reconciliation is commendable, but if it is not enough of a submission then that is dangerous, Zogby said.

When the senators label CASAs statement as divisive, what truly seems divisive is the threat posed to a group like CASA, which actively engages in important work and expresses solidarity with the struggles of Black and Brown communities, he added.

If these attacks on young people and progressives persist, exemplified by cases like CASA's where governance power was wielded to threaten funding cuts and similar efforts to defeat progressive members for expressing mild support for justice for Palestinians continue, the rupture, it's going to cause within the Democratic coalition will be irreparable, Zogby said.

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"Chilling": Maryland lawmakers threaten to cut aid to immigrants ... - Salon

OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Fredonia Department of Public Works Director Scott Marsh looks on as LaBellas Matt Higgins, at center and on the TV, talks about his firms study of the village water system. Marsh was one of several people who sat in the hall with the meeting room filled to capacity for the high-interest topic.

The LaBella engineering firms report on Fredonias water system laid out three options: Keep the reservoir-and-dam infrastructure but make major repairs, decommission it and get water from the city of Dunkirk and possibly wells, or draw down the reservoir and get water from Dunkirk and possibly wells.

The latter option was apparently LaBellas preference, but heres a look at all three, going off the firms presentation to the village Board of Trustees.

Officials promised the report will go on the villages website with security-related redactions after attorneys from Fredonias firm, Webster Szanyi, go over it. As of Friday morning, the report wasnt posted.

The three options:

OPTION 1: Keep the current infrastructure but make significant upgrades across all facets of the system.

Don Lucas of LaBella noted the dam is considered a high hazard dam and does not meet state requirements for drawdown volume. The current intake structure would reach the reservoirs low outlet in 36 days, far short of the state-required 90% drawdown in 14 days.

Spillway capacity would not handle a potential maximum flood, he added. The dam itself also fails on several stability calculations, he said.

To keep the dam, construction of a new dam that meets these requirements, meets the expectations of a modern safe water retaining structure would be necessary, he said.

The treatment plant needs work, too, according to LaBellas presentation. It needs a third clarifier, chemical storage and feed improvements, piping and process control revamping, and site improvements (including a shore-up of a steep bank nearby).

The reservoir would be a large-scale construction effort, Lucas said. The spillway would be removed and replaced and the dam crest could be raised slightly.

It would remove the liability that is a dam in, quote, unsound condition with the DEC and get you back in good terms with the DEC in terms of the dam, Lucas said.

LaBellas Matt Higgins said later the big pro for this option is that Fredonia would retain complete control of its water system. However, there would be a high cost and regulatory burden.

The total project cost for this option: $34.3 million.

OPTION 2: Decommission the dam.

Lucas said decommissioning the dam would be a lengthy process involving numerous engineers and government agencies.

The dam would be removed and the reservoir would be (restored) to a more natural state a very intentional restoration of natural habitats for local fish and wildlife, he said.

The big note there is Fredonia would relinquish that water as a water source, Lucas added. Realistically, its not likely youd ever be able to build a dam there ever again.

This option would be even more costly than the first one: $38.1 million.

OPTION 3: Draw down the dam.

Lucas called this kind of a middle ground, a little bit. He said, A lot of the areas where the dam fails in terms of stability and capacity are related to the amount of water volume upstream of the dam, and how it would handle additional water flow in a flood event.

it could be engineered and looked at as to how far would you have to draw down that water level to make the calculations come out favorable.

There would still need to be significant improvements on the reservoir. However, theres a very large cost savings compared to decommissioning or replacing the plant.

The village would be left without a water source. However, Higgins said that when LaBella employees were speaking with village officials about starting the study, There was an observation made that several communities nearby have very viable groundwater supplies that are then treated and pumped into their distribution system.

This led to a LaBella hydrogeologist studying regional geology and identifying sites where wells could be feasible for Fredonia water supply.

Three sites were found south of the reservoir, in a deep, confined, sand and gravel aquifer. Another is in a 1 to 2 square mile area east of the village in a glacial deposit.

Everything points to the very viable possibility that average day demand, 1.32 million gallons, could be available by drilling a groundwater supply. Higgins said. However, he noted, zero field investigations have been done.

He said wells were not presented as a true equal alternative until such studies were done. Those would take about six months to get results, he said.

The water could be run to a new storage tank on Spoden Road. The troubled Webster Road pump station could be decommissioned. The Spoden Road tank could be gravity-fed whereas the Webster Road tank must pump water uphill.

If the village chose to get water from Dunkirk, it would need another line between the municipalities. The village currently has a direct connection with Dunkirk along Main Street Extension to a Vineyard Drive pump station. There are also two indirect connections, with the Dunkirk-supplied North County Water District at both ends of the village on Route 20.

However, the Vineyard Drive pump station shared by the two municipalities is tied in not to a main trunk line to the city, but a branch line, a smaller diameter pipe. Its as if the pumps were trying to suck through a straw, so to speak, Higgins said.

In addition, the station must be started manually and it takes half an hour to get online.

In this scenario, LaBella suggests a new 12-inch line from Dunkirks tank on Willowbrook Avenue to the village, on the SUNY Fredonia campus. A new Fredonia pumping station perhaps adjacent to Dunkirks on Willowbrook Avenue is envisioned.

Another alternative would require storage tanks at the water treatment plant and on Billie Boulevard.

The third option is the least costly of the trio: $26 million. An envisioned annual cost of $2.96 million for getting water from Dunkirk would be made up by lower capital costs than the other options.

That $2.96 million could be halved if the village established its own groundwater wells.

This would keep some village supply over its public water system and also reduce the cost of buying water from Dunkirk, Higgins said.

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