NEWS CLIPS University Vermont The

The University of Vermont
September - November 2006
NEWS CLIPS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Selected Appearances in Local and National Broadcast Media
As Theory Turns into Fact……………………………………………………....Chicago Tribune
Cow Power, Part 2: Organic Dairying is on Upswing……………………….Science News Online
Herbal Remedies………………………………………………………..………….Cooking Light
Fitness Flash………………………………………………………………………………….SELF
Nonstop Robot…………………………………………………….………Science News for Kids
Laurie David Goes Global…………………………………………………Burlington Free Press
High-Tech Company Set to Break Away from Incubator………………....Burlington Free Press
Scientists Work to Protect a Little-Known Tree from an Insidious Disease…….New York Times
Heat Rave: Laurie David on Global Warming…………………………………….…Seven Days
UGA Near Bottom in Minority, Poor Access………………………Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Financial Aid Falls Short for Minority, Low-income College Students……………..USA Today
Robot, Repair Thyself……………………………………………………………..Boston Globe
Saudis Again Seek U.S. Schooling; Demand Now at Record Pace……………..Arizona Republic
Museums that Praise and Preserve the Rare and the Odd……………………………Boston Globe
Cow Power, Part 1…………………………..……………………………..Science News Online
Unstoppable Bot…………………………………………..………………………..Science News
New Robot Can Sense Damage and Compensate…………………………….………The Hindu
Robot Can Detect Damage to Itself, and Then Compensate……….……….Philadelphia Inquirer
A Passage to India Song……………………………………………………………..Seven Days
Students Learn about Cultures in Kitchen………………………………….Burlington Free Press
Vermont Takes the Lead on Alternative Energy…………………………….The Baltimore Sun
Likely 1st Socialist Senator from Vermont…………………………….San Francisco Chronicle
Vermont Tech Firms to Pitch Biz Plans………………………………….……..Mass High Tech
An Added Push for Environmental Agenda……………………………….Burlington Free Press
Preschool Setbacks…………………………………………………….…………………Parents
Cherries For Sore Muscles……………………………………….....Weight Watchers Magazine
UVM Professor Shares the Proverbial Wealth……………………..……..Burlington Free Press
UVM is Among Top Ag Schools in the Nation……………………………………..Farmshine
History Layered in Rock………………………………………………..The Washington Times
Professor President………………………………………………………..Burlington Free Press
Parke: Reporting More Vital Now Than Before…………………………..……TelevisionWeek
In VT, a Glimpse into the past, set in Stone……………….……………..Staten Island Advance
Whose Woods These Are………………………………………………….Burlington Free Press
UVM, Fletcher Allen Appoint New Top Surgeon……………………….. Burlington Free Press
UVM, S. Burlington Join Forces to Rein in Water Woes…………………………....Seven Days
UVM TREK Group Helps Nonprofits………………………….…………Burlington Free Press
Vermont to Honor its Outstanding Teachers…………………………….….Caledonian-Record
UVM Students Help People in Darfur…………………………………….Burlington Free Press
What Was He Thinking?...................................................................................Houston Chronicle
Growing Trend: Mental Health Treatment by Video….……Miami Herald-International Edition
Germany Honors Holocaust Scholar: Raul Hilberg…………………….…Burlington Free Press
Health Care Careers: Marie Wood, M.D., Oncologist……………………..Burlington Free Press
A Spirit of Belonging, Inside and Out…………………………………………..New York Times
Cousteau Appeals For Action….…………………………………………..Burlington Free Press
Stowe Teacher Earns Award………………………………………………………Stowe Reporter
The Earth is the Finishing Touch………………………………………….……..New York Times
Men’s Fitness Ranks Fittest Campuses…………………………………San Diego Union-Tribune
UVM in Step With Dance………….………………………………………..Burlington Free Press
Students to Help Find Climate Cure…………………………………….…….The Keene Sentinel
Nutrition Sense, Downsizing America……………………………………………..…EatingWell
Pennsylvania College is Focused on Fitness………………………………………….USA Today
Medical Students Protest Perks from Drug Companies………………………….Nature Medicine
“Your Child has…..” …………………………………………………………………….Parents
Time To Save Your Knees……………………………………………………………...Prevention
UVM Musicians Partial to Partita….……………………………………….Burlington Free Press
Is Hysteria Real? Brain Images Say Yes…………………………………………New York Times
A Lake Full of Mysteries…………………………………………….……..Burlington Free Press
Say Cheese: Artisanals offer Popular 2nd Career…………………………………..Press-Telegram
UVM Student Create Cemetery Tour…………………………………….…Burlington Free Press
Reichelt, UVM Mentor, Named Coach of the Year……………………………….Stowe Reporter
UVM Teams with Stowe to Promote Math, Science Studies………………Burlington Free Press
Say Cheese: Artisanals Offer Popular 2nd Career………………………….…Register-Pajaronian
Cheese as a New Career………………………………………….………………Washington Post
Playing Sick……………………………………………………………………………....Mainebiz
Algae-bloom Warning…………………………………………………………...Press-Republican
Nursing Shortage Will Become a Crisis by 2020…………………………………..Rutland Herald
The Moderate’s Revenge……………………………………………………..…….New York Sun
Vermont Races Could Shape House’s Future………………………………….Los Angeles Times
UVM Project Offers Alternative Clean-up Methods………………………..Burlington Free Press
Earlier Treatment Urged for Type 2 Diabetes…………………………...American Medical News
Trina Magi Wins Futas Memorial Award………………………………….….American Libraries
High-Tech Incubator ‘Graduates’ First Class…………………………….....Burlington Free Press
Vermont Food Venture Center Receives Grant…………………...…Champlain Business Journal
Which Fruit Might give you a Boost after Body-conditioning?......................Philadelphia Inquirer
America’s Fittest Colleges………………………………….………………………Men’s Fitness
New Computer Models Give a Sophisticated Portrait of Ecosystem Dynamics…...…..TechNews
Selected Appearances in Local and National Broadcast Media
On Sept. 27, WPTZ-TV reported on the opening of the second phase of the new
University Heights Residential Learning Complex, UVM’s “green” residence halls, the
largest complex on campus.
New England Cable News featured a story on Sept. 29 on GreenHouse, the residential
learning community for students interested in ecological literacy.
On Oct. 3, Cynthia Forehand, professor of anatomy and neurobiology, was interviewed
on Vermont Public Radio about her work on mapping the brain and the differences
between the male and female brain.
WPTZ-TV reported on Oct. 3 that UVM has been named one of the fittest schools in the
nation by Men's Health magazine. The story also appeared on KOTV-TV, KTRK-TV,
WHDH-TV, WNBC-TV, among others.
On Oct. 9, Eric Lipton, UVM alumnus and reporter for The New York Times, was
interviewed on Vermont Public Radio about his most difficult assignments at the Times.
Lipton spoke at UVM later that day.
On Oct. 10, WCAX-TV reported on the award that Raul Hilberg, professor emeritus of
Holocaust studies, was given by the German government for his research on the
Holocaust.
During the week of Oct. 23, WPTZ-TV televised the Vermont congressional and
gubernatorial debates hosted at UVM at which political science students and Student
Government Association members asked questions of the candidates.
Charlotte Mehrtens, chair of geology, was quoted in stories appearing on Oct. 24 on
KTHV-TV on the Chazy Reef on Isle La Motte, the oldest coral reef, which Mertens has
studied for decades. The story also appeared on New England Cable News.
Glen Elder, associate professor of geography, was quoted in Oct. 28 stories on civil
unions on WCAX-TV, WCBS-TV, WBZ-TV, KYW-TV, and WHDH-TV.
Garrison Nelson, professor of political science, was interviewed on Nov. 8 on Vermont
Public Radio about election results, which he said showed no real surprises.
A Nov. 16 story on WPTZ-TV reported on a UVM student endeavor to raise awareness
of homelessness by sleeping outside in boxes for a night.
James Loewen, professor emeritus of sociology, was interviewed for a Nov. 21 story
about the first Thanksgiving that appeared on many broadcast media outlets, including
WFOR-TV, KPIX-TV, WKRN-TV, and KPIX-TV among others.
New England Cable News covered the self-healing robot, a cutting edge technology
Joshua Bongard, assistant professor of computer science, helped create, in a story on
Nov. 28.
A Nov. 29 story on Vermont Public Radio covered the visit of Zhou Wenzhong, China's
Ambassador to the United States, which was, in part, supported by UVM.
Laurie David, producer of An Inconvenient Truth, was interviewed on Vermont Public
Radio on Nov. 29 before she delivered a talk at UVM on global warming.
Chicago Tribune news: As theory turns into fact
Page 1 of 4
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0612030318dec03,0,6240614.story?
page=2&coll=chi-newsopinionperspective-hed
GLOBAL WARMING
As theory turns into fact
Remember the debate over acid rain? We're at it again with
greenhouse gas emissions
By Michael Hawthorne, a Tribune staff reporter who writes about
environmental issues
Advertisement
December 3, 2006
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Snow fell early this fall on Camel's Hump, the
third-highest peak in Vermont's Green Mountains and a galvanizing
symbol of America's troubles with acid rain.
It was here almost three decades ago that botanists discovered the rapid
decline of spruce, birch and maple trees that once grew so dense the
canopy blotted out the sun. Gone were 30 percent of the trees that had
been standing when researchers first surveyed the mountain in the mid1960s, including half of the red spruce.
The alarming discovery led many scientists to conclude that the culprits
were vehicles and coal-fired power plants. When mixed with water vapor
in the clouds, pollution from tailpipes and smokestacks fell back in a
caustic mist that slowly killed great forests and turned once-pristine lakes
into dead seas.
"It was staggering what was happening," Hubert Vogelmann, the
University of Vermont researcher who drew the nation's attention to
Camel's Hump, said during a recent hike up the storied peak. "The
evidence pointing to acid rain kept getting stronger and stronger. But it
took some time before something was done about it."
Years from now, people might say the same thing about global warming.
The details are different. But there are similarities between the current
debate about whether greenhouse gas emissions should be regulated and
the scientific and political battles that eventually led Congress to adopt
tougher limits on the pollution that causes acid rain.
The chief sources are the same. Coal-fired power plants and cars are the
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0612030318dec03,0,823227,print.story... 12/13/2006
Chicago Tribune news: As theory turns into fact
Page 2 of 4
leading producers of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas
that prevents the sun's heat from radiating back into space.
Nearly all the experts who delve into the arcane history of Earth's climate agree that human activities -mainly the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels -- are driving up global temperatures. The planet's
average surface temperature has increased more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1990, and the rate of
warming is rapidly increasing.
Many climate scientists think that if action isn't taken soon to reduce greenhouse gases, or at least slow
their growth, weather shifts, coastal flooding, prolonged droughts and deadly heat waves could occur.
But there is still some uncertainty, just as there was about acid rain during the 1970s and '80s. And like
that earlier debate, the scientific consensus about global warming doesn't amount to an airtight case for
action, especially when there are still dissenters and vested economic interests are at stake.
A decade later, action
By the early 1980s, the science about acid rain was good enough that federal officials could pinpoint the
sources of pollution. Yet nothing was done for almost another decade.
Utilities and other industries spent millions on lobbying and advertising campaigns to block tougher
clean-air laws. One full-page ad in The New York Times envisioned a world covered in sludge from
scrubbers--equipment that removes sulfur dioxide from power plant emissions. Business-friendly allies
in the Reagan administration and Congress bottled up legislation to address acid rain, insisting that more
study was needed.
Vogelmann and others figured one of the best ways to convert skeptics was to bring them to Camel's
Hump. Politicians and bureaucrats hiked up the mountain, stopping occasionally along a rocky trail to
take note of the dead and dying trees.
The field trips always included a demonstration. Vogelmann used a hand crank to pull samples from the
trunk of a red spruce, showing how the tree's growth had suddenly been stunted by the acidic pollution.
"We kept coming back to the same tree," Vogelmann joked during the more recent hike. "So many
people came to see what was happening that it was full of holes by the time Congress took action."
When President George H.W. Bush was elected in 1988, images of dying forests and lakes had become
so potent that he vowed acid rain would top his agenda.
"The science got better, various states and other institutions started taking action, and suddenly there
were political reasons to take on this issue," said David Hawkins, director of the Natural Resources
Defense Council's Climate Center and a former top official at the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
Some continued to resist. One top utility executive ominously predicted that tougher clean-air laws
would lead to "the potential destruction of the Midwest economy."
But two years after Bush took office, Congress and the EPA set up a system that put a nationwide limit
on sulfur dioxide emissions while letting utilities trade the right to pollute.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0612030318dec03,0,823227,print.story... 12/13/2006
Food for Thought: Organic Dairying Is on Upswing, But No Panacea, Science News Online, Dec. 2, 2006
Week of Dec. 2, 2006; Vol. 170, No. 23
Organic Dairying Is on Upswing, But No Panacea
Janet Raloff
Science News
This is part two of a two-part series on the economics of dairy farming. Part I:
"Cow Power," is available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061118/
food.asp.
Web
Search
For 20 years, Steve Getz worked in the computer industry. Because he
traveled a lot, "I came to hate airports and sitting on planes," he says. To
ground himself on days off, Steve and his wife, Karen Getz, began dabbling in
farming.
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MOSEYING ALONG. At Dancing Cow Farm, cows saunter to and from
barns and pasture as they please.
© 2006 J. Raloff
That all changed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The British
software firm that Steve worked for lost significant business and promptly
began laying off its U.S. staff. When Steve's turn came, he and Karen
reevaluated their priorities—and decided to chuck the urban rat race for a fulltime bucolic livelihood.
Acknowledging that they were a bit naïve about what becoming full-time
farmers might entail, Steve recalls that there was one thing they intended to
try to avoid: the 24-7 responsibility of caring for livestock. That's why they still
marvel that 3 years ago they bought a small dairy spread in upstate Vermont.
The Getzes say that the farm won their hearts and seduced them to cash in
all of their savings to buy it. Since then, they've revamped the fields and
facilities into a small, thriving dairy.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061202/food.asp (1 of 7)12/14/2006 1:38:47 PM
Food for Thought: Organic Dairying Is on Upswing, But No Panacea, Science News Online, Dec. 2, 2006
It's been hard, unrelenting work. Physically, Steve runs the dairying
operations single-handedly. He milks the cows once a day, tends to the farm's
facilities, and grows and mows hay for feed.
Karen has taught herself cheese making and is experimenting with various
methods. Indeed, most of the farm's milk is pumped from the milking barn into
a vat where it becomes the basis of Karen's creations. Her artisan cheeses
are now available in shops throughout New England, where they sell for $16
to $22 a pound. Of that amount, the Getzes typically garner half.
The couple has named their spread Dancing Cow Farm and expect to turn a
profit next year for the first time since they started full-time dairy farming.
None of this would have been possible, Steve says, if he and Karen hadn't
committed early on to becoming an organic dairy farm. If they were producing
"commodity milk"—the type sold in most supermarkets—they would have no
hope of being profitable in the foreseeable future. Commodity milk "is selling
at below the cost of production," says Steve (see Cow Power).
The Dancing Cow Farm is currently awaiting certification from the Northeast
Organic Farming Association of Vermont that its products are "organic." Karen
Getz notes that the livestock will be eligible for certification in March. The
family has already fulfilled prescriptions for fenced-in fields set apart from
neighboring tracts that might have received chemical treatment. The farm's
pastures have been pesticide-free for at least 3 years.
Robert Parsons, an agricultural economist at the University of Vermont, has
studied the burgeoning organic-dairy industry. Over the past 13 years, the
number of certified organic dairy farms in Vermont has grown from two to 105.
Organic dairying has become "the fastest growing agricultural sector in New
England," Parson's team reports in a new analysis of the financial state of
these ventures.
Driving this growth has been recognition that consumers are willing to pay
more for organic milk and cheese. Wholesale organic milk can command as
much as twice the price of commodity milk. That premium is among factors
enabling small start-up operations, such as Dancing Cow Farm, to enter
commercial dairying.
Earthy product
Steve Getz could increase the productivity of his cows by milking them more
frequently or investing in breeds—such as Holsteins—that yield more per
milking than his Jerseys and Guernseys do. "But I don't really care about
pounds of milk produced," he says, "I care about pounds of cheese." And the
higher fat content of his herd's milk contributes to more-flavorful cheese. This
year the farm expects to produce 4,500 pounds of such cheese, and next
year, the Getzes aim to double that amount.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061202/food.asp (2 of 7)12/14/2006 1:38:47 PM
Food for Thought: Organic Dairying Is on Upswing, But No Panacea, Science News Online, Dec. 2, 2006
NOT JUST BLACK AND WHITE. The farm's herd includes a few spotted
Holsteins, but the Getzes have increasingly turned to cream- and goldcolored Jerseys and Guernseys because, says Steve Getz, they don't get
sick, have good dispositions, and produce "a wonderful milk."
© 2006 J. Raloff
All of the farm's animals are pasture fed. Because the taste of milk reflects an
animal's diet, the Dancing Cow Farm's particular mix of pasture plants gives
the farm's milk a unique flavor and helps shape the personality of its cheeses.
In October, I and a few dozen other reporters attending the Society of
Environmental Journalists' annual meeting in Burlington, Vt., took a field trip to
the Dancing Cow Farm. We got a chance to taste a cheese that Karen Getz
has named Menuet. Our consensus was that the cheese indeed had an
unusual earthy flavor with nut-and-mushroom overtones and, as one
agricultural reporter put it, a "subtle herbal character."
Steve Getz explained that
the combination of soil
minerals, species of
forage plants, and milk fat
typical to the breed of
cows on his farm all work
together to make milk and
cheese with flavors that
"nobody can duplicate."
Parsons says that a
young enterprise such as
Dancing Cow Farm is
fortunate to have a
distinctive product that's
becoming well-enough
known for customers to
seek out and buy. "Most
dairy farmers tend to be
introverts," he notes.
"They're good at
producing and working
with their cows in the
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061202/food.asp (3 of 7)12/14/2006 1:38:47 PM
Food for Thought: Organic Dairying Is on Upswing, But No Panacea, Science News Online, Dec. 2, 2006
barn," but they're not
good marketers of their
milk or other products.
The reason Karen Getz
was able to get her
cheeses into stores as far
south as New York City,
Parsons maintains, is that
she and her husband
have done cheese
demonstrations at every
opportunity. These demos
let people see the family
behind the products, view
photos of grazing cows,
and sample the cheeses.
Marketing these products
takes showmanship,
Parsons says, and the
Getzes have the knack.
The Getzes' Bridport, Vt.,
farm is one of eight in
Addison County that
produce cheese. Steve
Getz says that if a few
more spring up, the
SAY CHEESE. Karen Getz shows touring reporters some
farmers might be able to
of the artisanal cheese she makes. She names each type
offer weekend cheese
tours to the area. Tourists for a dance (inset: label for "Menuet").
© 2006 J. Raloff
might stay at local inns
and then take home something from Vermont other than maple syrup.
Parsons says that even such aggressive marketing doesn't typically earn
organic dairy farmers much income. His team's new analysis finds that in the
last half of 2005, milk buyers in New England agreed to increase their
payments to producers to $26 per 100 pounds of milk. That's no more than
"roughly the level needed to break even," the researchers said. They found
that organic dairy farmers keep going with support from nondairy farming,
income made off the farm, loans, and proceeds from selling land and
equipment.
But Steve Getz says, "It's worth working like a dog every day if you enjoy it.
And I do. I like watching the sun rise over the mountains every morning. I like
working outside setting fences. I love the exercise. I'm one of those farmers
that doesn't even mind walking out in the fields in the muck or snow. This is
hard work—but I love it."
This is part two of a two-part series on the economics of dairy farming. Part I:
"Cow Power," is available at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061118/
food.asp.
If you would like to comment on this article, go to the Food for Thought blog.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061202/food.asp (4 of 7)12/14/2006 1:38:47 PM
Science News for Kids: Snapshot: Nonstop Robot
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Nonstop Robot
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Nov. 29, 2006
In some of the scariest science fiction scenarios, evil robots refuse to
die, no matter how fiercely people fight back.
Now, science fiction has edged into science fact. For the first time,
researchers have created a robotic machine that can take a beating
and keep on trucking. Developed by scientists from Cornell
University and the University of Vermont, the new robot looks like a
spider with four legs.
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In this illustration, a newly developed robot stands
over water in which the machine's reflection is a
colorful block figure. By picturing and using this block
figure as a simple model of itself, the gizmo can adapt
to damage more easily than ordinary robots do.
© Science
Until now, even the most advanced robot was almost certain to
break down when damaged. That's because its internal computer
simply doesn't know how to operate the machine after its shape has
changed.
To get around this problem, the spidery robot's developers equipped
their invention with eight motors and two sensors that read how the
machine is tilting. The motors and sensors all provide electrical
signals to the machine's software.
This four-legged robot can teach itself to walk,
even changing how it walks after it has suffered
damage.
© Science
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20061129/Note2.asp (1 of 3)12/15/2006 11:02:34 AM
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Talk Back
Science News for Kids: Snapshot: Nonstop Robot
Using this information, the system follows a new procedure to figure
out the machine's shape at any given moment. The program
chooses from among 100,000 possible arrangements of parts.
From there, the computer considers a wide variety of possible next
steps, and it calculates how best to move the robot forward the
longest possible distance, before trying to move again.
This robot can sense and recover from damage to
its own body.
© Science
The new strategy is a major advance in robotics, scientists say, and
it's far from scary. The technology may someday help researchers
create better artificial limbs that give new freedom to people who
lack arms and legs. The new knowledge might also help scientists
understand how people and animals figure out their own sense of
place in space.
"Designing robots that can adapt to changing environments and can
compensate for damage has been a difficult problem," says
neuroscientist Olaf Sporns of Indiana University in Bloomington.
"This work provides a new way toward solving this important
problem."—E. Sohn
Going Deeper:
Weiss, Peter. 2006. Unstoppable bot: Armed with selfscrutiny, a mangled robot moves on. Science News
170(Nov. 18):324-325. Available at http://www.
sciencenews.org/articles/20061118/fob3.asp .
Sohn, Emily. 2006. Shape shifting. Science News for
Kids (May 17). Available at http://www.
sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20060517/Feature1.
asp .
______. 2005. Machine copy. Science News for Kids
(May 18). Available at http://www.sciencenewsforkids.
org/articles/20050518/Note3.asp .
Webb, Sarah. 2006. Dancing with robots. Science
News for Kids (May 10). Available at http://www.
sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20060510/Feature1.
asp .
______. 2005. Roboroach and company. Science
News for Kids (Sept. 7). Available at http://www.
sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20050907/Feature1.
asp .
Back to top
Talk Back: Do you have any comments about this article? Send
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20061129/Note2.asp (2 of 3)12/15/2006 11:02:34 AM
Seven Days: Heat Rave
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[ISSUES]
“Stop Global Warming,”
an evening with activist/
filmmaker Laurie David.
Ira Allen Chapel, UVM,
Burlington. November 29,
6:30 p.m. Free. In
advance of David’s talk
there will be a free
screening of her
documentary An
Inconvenient Truth at
Billings Student Center,
UVM, November 27 at
8:05 p.m.
Heat Rave
Deconstructing Dovetail
Is a Burlington school program
helping, or hurting, socio-economic
integration?
by Cathy Resmer (12/13/06)...
Getting In
Giving the grade to the
Naturalization Exam
by Mike Martin (12/13/06)...
Viral Adventure
Book review: The End of Polio? by
Tim Brookes
by Kevin J. Kelley (12/13/06)...
Map Quest
The great-great-grandson of a
Vermont governor gives antique
cartography a new twist
by Cathy Resmer (12/13/06)...
A Kinder Court
Chittenden County rethinks its
approach to mentally ill offenders
by Ken Picard (12/06/06)...
Of Mummies and Men
Book review: Still as Death by
Sarah Stewart Taylor
by Margot Harrison (12/06/06)...
In the meantime,
Poem
by Nadell Fishman (12/06/06)...
Lords of the Strings
Vermont guitar makers Dan
DeMars and Creston Lea are in
tune with the times
by Casey Rea (12/06/06)...
Reading Between the Lines
From “I Spy” to stage: A local
theater troupe gets personal
by Erik Esckilsen (12/06/06)...
Going Homeless
How one Vermont mother lost and
learned everything
by Kevin O'Connor (11/29/06)...
Net Gains
Hoop dreams come true as the
Frost Heaves hold court in Barre
by Ken Picard (11/29/06)...
Plop Swap
A fledgling Vermont company
strikes a deal between ag and the
environment
by Kevin J. Kelley (11/29/06)...
Laurie David gets the public hot and bothered about global warming
by Ken Picard (11/22/06).
Laurie David’s daily reality is all about record heat waves, melting glaciers,
rising sea levels, migrating deadly viruses and catastrophic storms. It’s
lucky for her she married a professional comedian, she says, or her life
might become a major downer.
David, 48, is the wife of writer/actor/producer Larry David, of “Seinfeld” and
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame. But pegging her identity solely to the guy
who produced a “show about nothing” doesn’t do justice to her own
considerable work, notably as producer of the hit documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Riding a successful career in the entertainment industry —
for years she was David Letterman’s talent coordinator — Laurie David
became a leading champion of the fight against global warming. Last year
she launched the “Stop Global Warming Virtual March,” an online petition
that’s already enlisted more than a half-million members worldwide. She
also produced the 2005 comedy special “Earth to America!” and this year’s
HBO documentary, “Too Hot Not to Handle,” both of which address the
issue of global climate change.
LAURIE DAVID
PHOTO: MATTHEW THORSEN
These days, David has a book out entitled The Solution Is You: Stop
Global Warming — An Activist’s Guide, which is the focus of her upcoming talk this week at the University of
Vermont. Seven Days spoke to her by phone from Los Angeles, where she asked the first question: “What’s the
weather like in Vermont?”
Told that it was rainy and unseasonably warm, David took the opportunity to launch into her sales pitch. “Hello?
It’s warm for L.A. in November, too,” she griped, with an inflection that bespoke her Long Island roots. “It’s, like,
85 degrees here. It’s insane! Something’s going on, people!” She proceeded to hammer the issue home by
talking about how global warming will affect Vermont’s ski industry, maple syrup production and tourism.
That’s part of David’s strategy — bringing the problem and its solutions home to everyday people, making
global warming a personal responsibility for each of us. Unlike some activists, who bury their audiences in
dizzying statistics, David doesn’t dwell on the scientific minutiae of climate destabilization. Instead, she says,
her goal is to “permeate popular culture” with the fundamentals of global warming until the information is
ubiquitous and can no longer be ignored.
David recently founded the Detroit Project, whose aim is to encourage U.S. automakers to increase the fuel
efficiency of their cars. She occasionally takes her message to the streets, literally, by confronting drivers of gasguzzling Hummers, much to the chagrin of her husband.
“Larry supports me fully in everything I do,” David says. “But he’s had problems along the way whenever he
feels his own personal safety is at risk.”
SEVEN DAYS: Is it safe to assume you’re pleased with the results of the recent election?
LAURIE DAVID: That is very safe to assume. It’s so critical that this happened. We’re going from having
someone who I think is an insane politician, Jim Inhofe (R-OK), who says global warming is a hoax, despite the
fact that thousands of world experts tell him otherwise . . . and now we’ve got Barbara Boxer (D-CA). One of the
first things she’s going to do is hold global warming hearings. I am thrilled.
Heaven Can’t Wait
Theater preview: 27 Heaven
by Casey Rea (11/29/06)...
Believe It or Not
Inside the wild and wacky world of
Wikipedia
by Cathy Resmer (11/29/06)...
An I For an Eye
SD: Tell me how your own personal epiphany on global warming came about. Was it a single incident?
LD: It was a moment in time, actually. I became a mom. I had a child and the child was colicky. She was in a
stroller and I was walking around my neighborhood, and it happened to coincide with the explosion in SUVs.
Every single person I knew was buying an SUV. And I understood that these were very low-mileage vehicles,
which meant double the global warming pollution. And it terrified me. So I started to read everything I could
about it . . . and decided I had to get active.
SD: An Inconvenient Truth must have generated a lot of response. Any surprisses?
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2006/heat-rave.html (1 of 3)12/15/2006 11:09:22 AM
Seven Days: Heat Rave
Encouraging victims and offenders
to talk about crime – with each
other
by Cathy Resmer (11/22/06)...
Heat Rave
Laurie David gets the public hot
and bothered about global warming
by Ken Picard (11/22/06)...
Barn Again
A Williston furniture company gives
new purpose to old boards
by Kevin J. Kelley (11/22/06)...
Dinner Decorum
Turkey-table talk with etiquette
master Peter Post
by Suzanne Podhaizer (11/22/06)...
Disengaged
A prospective bride ponders the
modern wedding
by Brooke Hunter (11/22/06)...
Bringing in the Firewood
Poem
by Stanford Pritchard (11/22/06)...
Little Feet
It’s a dwarf hamster — what’s not
to love?
by Casey Rea (11/15/06)...
Fetching for Fido
For Vermont’s pampered pets,
good grooming is just the start
by Cathy Resmer (11/15/06)...
Mush Motives
Teaching the family hound to tow
the line
by Ken Picard (11/15/06)...
Sure Footing
A country farrier keeps horses on
the right track
by Ken Picard (11/15/06)...
Thinking Inside the Box
Theater review: The Next State
by Erik Esckilsen (11/15/06)...
LD: Actually, there were conservative Republicans and evangelicals who responded in a really positive way to
this film. There were conservative reporters who said, “You have to see this film.” There were conservatives
who said, “OK, I get it now. This is real.” That was the goal of this film. I’m not interested in preaching to the
converted.
SD: Do you know if President Bush has seen it?
LD: He hasn’t seen it. He had a very ungracious response when asked by reporters if he would see it. He said,
“I doubt it,” which is so disturbing to me. One of my goals is to try to get his daughters to see it, because if they
watch it, they’ll tell him to watch it. I’ve even offered — and the offer is still good — to bring the film to D.C.
myself and pop the popcorn and run the projector . . . The inconvenient truth about this film is that you do leave
[it] a different person than when you arrived.
SD: Your talk at UVM is entitled “Stop Global Warming: The Solution Is You.” Does that mean you’re
shifting some of the attention away from change at the national and international level and bringing it to
the local level?
LD: I think you have to do both, grass tops and grassroots. The truth is, individuals have to change. And then
they’re going to want change in their government. There are things we have to do as individuals, as families, as
businesses, as a country. They all go hand in hand. This is going to require a monumental shift in attitude with
what we accept and what we reject. Stopping global warming is a movement, and it’s got to be as big a
movement as we saw in the 1960s, or bigger. How do you build a movement? Person to person.
SD: When I read your suggestions about how each of us can stop global warming — taking shorter
showers, using fewer plastic bags, installing fluorescent bulbs — it feels like we’re polishing the deck
chairs on the Titanic. Am I wrong?
LD: You are wrong. The truth is, small actions by millions of people are as powerful as it gets. And that’s what
we’re shooting for. If we could just corral what we waste and move towards a serious conservation program,
we’d be on our way to solving this problem. We’re not going to get there until we look at our own footprint. The
truth is, we’re all guilty and we all have to be part of the solution.
SD: Isn’t it a big part of the problem that we live in a culture that’s obsessed with consumption and
spreading that way of life around the globe?
LD: Yes, and that has to change. But there doesn’t have to be a sacrifice. The only sacrifice is if we do nothing.
I’m not saying you can’t drive a car or be a consumer. But there are ways to do it that aren’t going to destroy the
planet. Detroit could make a 50-mile-per-gallon car. They could make a 500-mile-per-gallon car tomorrow. I’m
not saying that you shouldn’t have an SUV. I’m saying that your SUV should get 50 miles to the gallon.
SD: When you speak about global warming publicly, do you also discuss it as a human rights and
foreign policy issue?
LD: It’s the ultimate civil rights issue. It’s the ultimate national security issue. It’s a public health issue. It’s an
economic issue. How freaking exciting is it that we could be entering the first clean industrial revolution in 150
years? This is where all the jobs are going to be. This is going to be a mind-blowing opportunity for wealth for
this country and the world if we get on board with this. By the way, you’ve got big corporations saying they’re
addressing this now, and that’s a huge change in the last two years. Wal-Mart and the head of GE said, “Green
is green. This is where the money is.”
SD: How much of that is greenwashing?
LD: It’s not greenwashing. Wal-Mart is so far out on a limb on this stuff. Wal-Mart . . . did go to their 600,000
suppliers and say, “You’ve got to reduce your packaging.” They have a commitment to sell 100 million compact
fluorescent light bulbs next year. That’s real change.
SD: How do you not become cynical and pessimistic in the face of such depressing evidence about
global warming?
LD: Here’s why. I know hundreds of scientists and environmentalists and authors who have studied this issue. I
know the people who have been deep into this for 30 years. And all of them believe we can solve this. All of
them believe it’s not too late. Now, there’s going to come a time when it will be too late, and that’s the moment I
don’t want to see.
SD: How close are we to the point of no return?
LD: The most cautious people on the planet say 10 years, so I say five . . . James Hansen, the scientist at
NASA who’s one of my personal heroes, says we’re already guaranteed two degrees of warming for what we’ve
already done. But we dare not go above that.
SD: Is there any good news to report?
LD: The good news is how far we’ve come in the last year in terms of the consciousness of the American
people. That’s number one. Number two is this change in Congress . . . The optimist in me believes that some
change is going to come while this administration is still in office. They’re going to have to. The fact that the
media is covering this issue like they never did before is a huge change. I feel like the American people are at
the point where they acknowledge that global warming exists and that humans are causing it. What we really
need is everyone demanding solutions.
SD: On a lighter note, is Larry David’s wife on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” based on you?
LD: Yes, but she’s nothing like me. That’s his dream wife. If you’re going to have a TV wife, you should make it
your dream wife.
SD: Now that you walk the walk, are there changes you’ve made at home that Larry bitches about?
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/features/2006/heat-rave.html (2 of 3)12/15/2006 11:09:22 AM
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Food for Thought: Cow Power, Science News Online, Nov. 18, 2006
Week of Nov. 18, 2006; Vol. 170, No. 21
Cow Power
Janet Raloff
Science News
This is part one of a two-part series on the economics of dairy farming. Part II:
"Organic Dairying Is on Upswing, But No Panacea," is available at http://www.
sciencenews.org/articles/20061202/food.asp.
Web
Search
While at the Society of Environmental Journalists' annual meeting last month,
I and several other writers toured northwest Vermont's dairy land, home to
many family-owned and -operated farms. Some enterprises milk as few as a
dozen cows. Others handle more than 50 times that many. A number of the
farms specialize in organic milk and specialty cheeses. Others deliver large
quantities of typical supermarket milk.
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Published by
UDDERS AT THE READY. With about 1,000 cows to milk twice a day, the
Blue Spruce Farm is a mechanized operation.
© 2006 J. Raloff
All of these dairying operations have at least one thing in common: a
challenge making ends meet. The reason, according to several farmers and
an agriculture economist we spoke with, is that dairy products are just too
cheap. The stagnant commodity price for milk in the United States makes it
hard for dairy farmers to earn a living wage.
The Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport is a prime example. It has 2,000 Holsteins
and Jerseys and milks about half that number at any given time (the rest are
calves, a few bulls, and cows that aren't lactating).
Eugene and Marie Audet, Eugene's parents, his two younger brothers and
their wives, and all of their children pitch in to work a 2,200-acre farm every
day, year-in and year-out. They send 8,000 gallons of milk daily to nearby
Montpelier, where Cabot Creamery makes it into cheddar cheese. How much
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061118/food.asp (1 of 6)12/14/2006 1:39:42 PM
Food for Thought: Cow Power, Science News Online, Nov. 18, 2006
the Audets receive for their milk varies according to vagaries of the
marketplace.
SAY CHEESE. The 8,000 gallons of milk produced each day on this farm
goes to make a nationally marketed cheddar cheese.
© 2006 J. Raloff
Unfortunately, observes Marie Audet, Eugene's wife, the wholesale price of
milk hasn't changed in 25 years. Traded in 100-pound units known as
hundredweights, milk has sold since 1980 in the narrow range of $11 to $14.
Farmers receive only 28 percent of the product's retail price; most of the
money goes to wholesalers and retailers (see Milk Money).
You don't have to take the Audets' word that they're pinched by prices. The
Washington, D.C.–based National Family Farm Coalition confirms that New
England farmers are suffering from the lowest inflation-adjusted milk prices
since 1980. However, feed costs have climbed steadily since then, as have
the prices of building supplies, diesel fuel, veterinary bills, electricity, and
living expenses.
Currently, Marie Audet says, Blue Spruce Farm is operating at a deficit.
Producing milk costs her family $15 per hundredweight, yet the market is
paying only $12 for that milk right now.
The dismal economy of dairy farming spurred the Audets to diversify their
agricultural portfolio. Since January of last year, the farm has become a
commercial electricity producer. The fuel: manure. Harnessing the energy in
farm wastes illustrates one path that some milk producers are exploring to
keep dairying alive as a sustainable enterprise.
Mining manure
Each adult cow produces some 30 gallons of manure per day, which the
Audets' collect and channel into a microbial digester, an underground
concrete container. The temperature there is kept at 101°F, the same as a
cow's stomach. As bacteria nosh on nutrients in the manure, they generate
methane.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061118/food.asp (2 of 6)12/14/2006 1:39:42 PM
The Hindu News Update Service
News Update Service
Saturday, November 18, 2006 : 0300 Hrs
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Sci. & Tech.
New robot can sense damage and compensate
Washington, Nov 18. (AP): When people hurt a leg, they often can make do by
limping or using a crutch until they feel better. Now, there is a robot that similarly
can cope with injury.
The ability to compensate can be vital in new or dangerous situations where
unexpected damage or injury can occur.
Researchers at Cornell University in New York, built a four-legged robot that can
sense damage to its body and determine how to adjust and keep going. They
report the development in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
The Hindu
Print
Edition
Most robots are used in industrial applications where their environment never
changes, explained Hod Lipson, a co-author of the paper. If they are to become
useful outdoors or at home, they need to be able to cope with changes, he said.
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Folio
The robot has tilt sensors and angle sensors in each of its joints and uses the
readings from these devices to create a computer model of its own structure and
movement. When the sensors indicate a change, it can then alter the model to
compensate.
While most robots operate using a computer model they have been programmed
with, this one develops its own model by analyzing how its parts respond to
commands to move.
That allows it to change its own program if something occurs that it did not expect.
For example, Lipson said, the robot could have one of its motors jam as it moved
about. Its self-model might predict forward movement when that motor is started,
and if that does not happen it could adjust its self-image to the new situation.
In one example, the researchers shortened one of the robot's legs, and it
responded by changing its gait.
``We never officially named it, but we usually refer to it as the Starfish robot, even
though a real starfish has five rather than four legs,'' said lead researcher Josh
Bongard, now at the University of Vermont. ``Also, a real starfish is much better
than our robot at recovering from injury, because it can actually regrow its legs.''
In effect, suggests Christoph Adami of the Keck Graduate School of Applied Life
Sciences in California, the internal computer model enables the robot to develop a
sense of self or self image.
The next step, according to Adami, who was not part of the research team, could
be a robot that could also develop an idea of its environment. It could explore an
area and, if stymied by an obstacle, it might pause and try to ``think'' of a way to
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/008200611180310.htm (1 of 2)12/14/2006 1:26:26 PM
Seven Days: A Passage to India Song
Page 1 of 3
print
- Choose -
other info
Greens with That!
(published 11.22.06)
Republican Vermont
(published 11.15.06)
The Times They Are aChangin’
(published 11.08.06)
Finally, the End Is Near!
(published 11.01.06)
Investigators Nab
Nurses for Nicking
Patients’ Narcotics
DRUG ABUSE (11.22.06)
Old North End
Residents Decry
“Historic” Designation
URBAN DESIGN (11.22.06)
Red Cross Revises Tips
for Helping Choking
Victims
FIRST AID (11.22.06)
A New Owner for an
Old North End Eyesore
URBAN BLIGHT (11.15.06)
Now What?
(published 11.15.06)
“Weather” Report
(published 11.01.06)
Stalking Points
(published 10.18.06)
Red-and-Yellow Fever
(published 10.04.06)
Pup Art
(published 11.15.06)
Signs of the Times
(published 11.01.06)
Cinematic Submersion
(published 10.18.06)
Picking and Praising
(published 10.04.06)
India Song by Marguerite
Duras, staged by Rachel
Perlmeter. Mann Hall,
Trinity Campus,
University of Vermont,
Burlington. December 13 at 7:30 p.m. $15.
learn.uvm.edu/duras
A Passage to India Song
(published 11.15.06)
One of the screens in Burlington’s Roxy
Theater frames an image as carefully
composed as a painting. A woman and
two young men recline side by side on a
worn Persian rug, their eyes closed. The
woman’s robe is pulled back to expose
her breast, but the scene is not overtly
erotic. The actors don’t speak. Two
unseen women narrate in voiceover. In
French, translated by subtitles, they
speak of the unendurable heat of
Calcutta, where the film takes place; of
the smells and sounds of the streets; of
the characters’ longing for a cleansing
storm.
As the film progresses, we learn that the
beautiful woman is Anne-Marie Stretter;
that the men are her lovers; that the
scene is the French embassy; that she
will die the very next day, on an island in
the delta of the Ganges. Meanwhile, the
camera floats slowly around the room.
We see Anne-Marie dance in her
glamorous 1930s gown, circling to a
wrenchingly pretty waltz. We see her talk
privately with the ex-vice consul of
Lahore, a tense, bearded man. We learn
that he was relieved of his office after he
began shooting from his embassy
window at dogs and lepers. We watch a
communion of sorts form between this
unstable, traumatized man and the
woman who has been wandering from
lover to lover since she was married at
17. The story is conveyed through
painterly tableaux, music and ghostly
voices — not a word of dialogue is
spoken on-screen.
MARGUERITE DURAS
A SCENE FROM INDIA SONG
The movie is India Song (1975), written and directed by French literary
celebrity Marguerite Duras. In her 50-year career, Duras published more
than 20 novels and plays, directed nearly as many films, and won the
prestigious Goncourt Prize. Her short works are a staple of French-lit
courses in U.S. colleges. Still, India Song is a rarity even in American arthouse theaters, and there’s no subtitled DVD. The free screening at the
Roxy, which took place on November 5, is part of a semester-long “Duras’
India Song Project” at the University of Vermont, honoring the 10th
anniversary of the author’s death. The screening was preceded by a two-
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/nc/columns/underlines-book/2006/a-passage-to-india-song.... 11/27/2006
Seven Days: A Passage to India Song
Page 2 of 3
day symposium featuring scholars from as far away as the U.K.; it will be
followed in December by a theatrical production of India Song.
Torkey Day
(published 11.22.06)
Gay Manqué
(published 11.08.06)
Before Judgment Day
(published 10.25.06)
Comely Limey
(published 10.11.06)
Ellen Willis, 1942-2006
(published 11.22.06)
Standing Member
(published 10.25.06)
Family Trade Center
(published 09.27.06)
Newborn Tragedies
(published 08.30.06)
Trail Mix
(published 11.22.06)
Slim Gym
(published 10.25.06)
Sole Patrol
(published 09.27.06)
Pedal Pusher
(published 08.30.06)
Portraiture of the Artist
(published 10.11.06)
Another Year in the
Hopper
(published 09.20.06)
Digital Delight
(published 08.23.06)
China Syndrome
(published 07.19.06)
Political Party Pooper
(published 11.15.06)
Sketchy Details
(published 10.18.06)
Elimination Nation
(published 09.20.06)
Star Treatment
(published 08.16.06)
A Passage to India
Song
(published 11.15.06)
Critical Conditions
(published 10.18.06)
On the Same Page
(published 09.20.06)
Sympathetic Verses
(published 08.23.06)
Puzzle Pro
(published 11.08.06)
Face Time
The whole project was conceived and coordinated by Rachel Perlmeter, a
guest artist and curator working with the departments of theater, film and
television studies, history, and women and gender studies. She’s coteaching a course on the Duras work along with history professor Abigail
McGowan and film professor Hilary Neroni. The project grew out of
Perlmeter’s conversations with the head of the theater department about
offering more courses that combine different fields of study and give
students a taste of practice as well as theory. The continuing-ed course is
open to community members as well as UVM students.
In the U.S., Duras is best known as the screenwriter of Hiroshima Mon
Amour and as the author of the best-selling novel The Lover (1984). The
semi-autobiographical tale of a French teenager in Indochina who has an
affair with an older man was the source of a 1991 art-house hit directed by
Jean-Jacques Annaud.
Jane Winston, a Northwestern University professor who spoke on campus
before the screening, said the association is unfortunate. Duras despised
Annaud’s film, which views colonialism in Southeast Asia through a misty,
nostalgic lens. Duras’ own view of cinema was more aggressive, as she
believed that “spectacles” of any kind lull the viewer into political
disengagement. What she sought to create on-screen was something
“formless.” Winston quoted Duras as saying, “I have certainly been a killer
of cinema.”
New Yorker critic Pauline Kael agreed — in a 1977 review, she described
Duras’ relationship with her audience as “sadomasochistic.” When Duras’
glacially paced film The Truck was booed at Cannes, she stared down the
viewers. Since her death, her uncompromising personality has passed into
the realm of cinematic myth: In the 2001 movie Cet Amour-là, Jeanne
Moreau portrayed Duras as a self-absorbed genius with a doting lover 38
years her junior.
Winston’s lecture helped elucidate the woman behind the icon. Born in
1914, Duras was deeply influenced by World War II. In the wake of the Nazi
occupation, Winston explained, French intellectuals felt as if “rational
thought had failed them.” Believing that modernity and capitalism “led
inevitably to fascism,” they sought to return to something more basic. Many,
including Duras, explored “irrational modes of discourse” and practiced a
“politics of negativity or refusal,” Winston said. Like the homicidal vice
consul in India Song, they didn’t know what they wanted, only what they
didn’t.
“The politics of the play are complex,” Perlmeter says, discussing her
upcoming production. “There is this almost utopian vision of something
beyond, something that is possible. But I think that there is also a deep
despair that is about articulating the human toll of colonialism, imperialism
and cultural collision more broadly. On some level [Duras] believed that that
structure was not endurable.” Still, she doesn’t think India Song is “deathaffirming.”
Perlmeter, 31, a recent transplant from Brooklyn, first read India Song in
graduate school. She admits that she felt “trepidation about doing this play
of all places in Vermont.” As it turns out, Perlmeter says, India Song “has
been part of my transition” to the North Country. “We’re kind of cultural
hybrids, and it’s been a challenge acclimating to Vermont on that level,” she
explains. Her UVM-professor husband is originally from Ecuador. “So this is
very deeply meaningful to me, this work.” Perlmeter doesn’t want to suggest
that she’s the first to bring experimental theater to Vermont, but hopes the
play will open “a kind of space” for challenging projects.
The production of India Song will take place in former gymnasium Mann
Hall, on the Trinity campus — a first for the university, Perlmeter says. She
continues, “We’ve created a total environment. The audience will be to
some extent surrounded by the play and taking a miniature journey to reach
the performance site itself.”
The play is set in the French ambassador’s residence, which Perlmeter
describes as a “gated community,” designed to segregate white Westerners
from the city with its myriad sounds and smells. In the film India Song,
Indians remain almost invisible, though we hear the haunting voice of a
Laotian beggar woman.
This isn’t true of the stage version. Perlmeter worked with UVM’s Center for
http://www.sevendaysvt.com/nc/columns/underlines-book/2006/a-passage-to-india-song.... 11/27/2006
Seven Days: A Passage to India Song
(published 10.11.06)
Ashes to Ashes
(published 09.13.06)
Sand Dollars
(published 08.16.06)
Don't Fence Me Out
(published 11.08.06)
Talking Points
(published 10.11.06)
Head Heifer
(published 09.06.06)
Shooting History
(published 11.22.06)
Won in Translation?
(published 11.15.06)
Jay’s Excellent
Adventure?
Page 3 of 3
Cultural Pluralism to get the word out about the production to students of
South Asian background. One of the students who responded contributed
her expertise in classical Indian dance; another, from Sri Lanka, is helping
create the linguistic “cacophony” of the city.
As a film, India Song is unique — beautiful, static, frustrating, yet oddly
absorbing. It’s a little like the Marie Antoinette Sofia Coppola might have
made if she had focused on just one day of the queen’s dead-end life and
given us a sense of the misery outside the privileged enclave of Versailles.
(In Duras’ film, even the beggar woman’s disembodied voice conveys a
world of loss.)
Perlmeter says India Song requires an “active spectatorship” — not
something people are used to providing in today’s “totally mediated culture,”
where “everything’s edited for us.”
“I have to think very carefully about how to create the conditions for the kind
of spectatorship that the play demands,” she explains. “Their process of
sorting out where the story is, what the ethics are, what the politics are . . .
that is the viewers’ agency. I don’t like to go to the theater and be told what
to think. I want to be asked to think — hard.” The production of India Song
should do just that.
EMAIL THE AUTHOR // LETTER TO THE EDITOR
(published 11.08.06)
| next article >
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(published 11.01.06)
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(published 11.22.06)
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Crude Cartoon Comedy
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Seven Days: UVM, S. Burlington Join Forces to Rein in Water Woes
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UVM, S. Burlington Join Forces to Rein in Water Woes
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT (10.18.06)
SOUTH BURLINGTON — Hundreds, if not
thousands, of South Burlington homes are out
of compliance with Vermont’s stormwatermanagement laws, and city officials and
residents have teamed up with experts from
the University of Vermont to find innovative
solutions to clean up their creeks, dry out their
basements and ease their legal headaches.
South Burlington is considered “ground zero”
for stormwater problems in Vermont,
according to Juli Beth Hinds, director of the
city’s Department of Planning and Zoning.
More than 3000 South Burlington homes lie in
the five impaired watersheds running through
the city, Hinds points out. Some residents also
face problems with seasonal flooding in their
basements.
These problems don’t just affect residents.
The state is under pressure from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to comply with the federal Clean Water Act.
About two-thirds of the pollution that ends up in Vermont’s lakes, rivers and
streams is the result of untreated runoff, which carries sediment, lawn chemicals,
pesticides, oil and grease from vehicles, animal waste and other contaminants.
Currently, Hinds says, the most acute stormwater problems can be found in the
Butler Farms and Oak Creek Village subdivisions, where 253 households are
facing a September 2007 deadline to renew their long-expired stormwater permits.
If the permits aren’t renewed, homeowners could have trouble selling their houses
— or at least face complications that could drive down real-estate values.
Though experts say it’s unlikely the legislature would allow all transfers of property
in South Burlington to grind to a halt, some of the proposed solutions to the
stormwater woes won’t come cheaply. One proposal, which calls for the
construction of a large stormwater retention pond at the end of the neighborhood,
or several medium-sized ponds, could cost residents at least $5000 per
household. This solution would likely address the problems of poor water quality in
the watershed, though it wouldn’t necessarily fix the problems of leaky basements.
To address the problem, South Burlington has partnered with Breck Bowden, a
UVM professor of watershed science and planning, who runs a federally funded
project known as RAN, or “Redesigning the American Neighborhood.” The goal of
RAN, Bowden explains, is to both assess the water quality in the Potash Brook
Watershed and to help South Burlington residents identify all their stormwater-
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Seven Days: UVM, S. Burlington Join Forces to Rein in Water Woes
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For example, Bowden has suggested managing the water closer to its source
using low-impact methods such as rain barrels, rain gardens and specially
designed wetlands. These methods capture stormwater and sediment runoff at the
household level, reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need for larger and
costlier infrastructure improvements.
It’s still unknown how effective these lower-impact methods would be at cleaning
up South Burlington’s watersheds, Bowden admits. And, there’s no guarantee that
the state will sign off on these solutions. However, similar methods to deal with
localized flooding have been adopted in Chicago, where residents there can
purchase rain barrels from the city for as little as $20.
It’s also unclear which solution, or combination of solutions, the residents of Butler
Farms and Oak Creek Village would prefer. While other neighborhoods in South
Burlington have embraced the concept of low-impact stormwater management,
others may balk at the idea of altering the traditional suburban landscape. “We’ve
got a lot of people who really like their big, green lawns,” Hinds says. “And, when
you get into individual aesthetics, you’re really getting people where they live.”
Ultimately, the decision will be left to the residents themselves — and that presents
problems of its own. Unlike other subdivisions and condo communities in South
Burlington, Butler Farms and Oak Creek have no neighborhood associations.
UVM, the city and residents have formed a Stormwater Study Group to evaluate all
the options and conduct a neighborhood survey to gauge neighbors’ preferences.
In the next few weeks the residents will be presented with various options and
asked to choose which ones they think best hold water.
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UVM Project offers alternative clean-up methods
September 10, 2006
Butler Farms and Oak Creek Village, two neighboring South Burlington subdivisions, have become
a case study, literally, in coping with stormwater runoff.
A team of University of Vermont researchers is helping residents explore solutions to controlling
storm runoff as part of a $1million, five-year project called Redesigning the American
Neighborhood.
UVM chose Butler Farms because it is “representative of so-called ‘cookie cutter’ neighborhoods
that typify urban sprawl,” the project’s Web site says.
With UVM’s help, a neighborhood study group is considering several alternative approaches to
stormwater control that would more closely mimic rainwater’s natural course. Those alternatives
might be less expensive than the traditional solution, pipes that carry all the stormwater to a single,
huge pond.
Alternative approaches include:
Changing personal habits. Residents can keep phosphorus out of stormwater by picking up after
their dogs, reducing or eliminating use of lawn fertilizer and washing their cars on the lawn, where
the ground can soak up detergents.
-- Helping stormwater sink into the soil on each person’s property. That could mean changing rain
gutters to divert roof runoff away from driveways and onto lawns, or installing rain barrels to catch
runoff.
-- Installation of rain gardens, shallow excavations filled with a homeowner’s choice of water-loving
plants. The basins catch and retain rainwater.
-- Neighborhood-scale swales, small stormwater ponds and constructed wetlands to catch the
remaining stormwater, trap the sediment it carries and remove pollutants.
Residents have shown little enthusiasm for these so-called dispersed solutions.
“I don’t want the mosquitoes. I don’t want caverns of ponds covered with green algae in front of
Butler Farms,” said Butler Drive resident Al Frank. “It’s the cost and the aesthetics of it.”
“Some people’s property would be more affected than others. I’d be screwed and my neighbor
wouldn’t,” one woman complained at a public meeting.
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Residents appear to like the “super-pond” proposal best because it is a straightforward approach
that drains all stormwater away from the neighborhood, parts of which have been prone to flooding,
and handles it in a place that is out of everyone’s sight.
W. Breck Bowden, a professor of watershed science and a project leader, said residents’ hesitation
about alternative ideas isn’t surprising. He believes they might become more open to new
approaches as they learn more.
“It’s absolutely pure human nature,” he said. “We like what we are most familiar with.”
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New Computer Models to give a sophisticated portrait of the ecosystem dynamics | Technology News Daily
Technology News Daily
New Computer Models
to give a sophisticated
portrait of the
ecosystem dynamics
Submitted by Technology News... on Wed, 200608-09 14:47.
Breathe in. The air is
free. But we’d all agree
it’s not worthless. So,
what’s the price tag on
benefits provided by
nature?
In 1997, the University
of Vermont’s Robert
Costanza and his co-authors put the answer at $33
trillion in a now-famous paper in the journal
Nature. In the decade following, the science of
"ecosystem services" has bloomed. This young
discipline studies how nature—through climate
regulation, soil formation, crop pollination, flood
protection, and so on—supports human welfare,
and estimates its value in economic terms.
Now, Costanza and his colleagues at UVM’s Gund
Institute for Ecological Economics have launched a
project to solve a central problem that this young
science faces: creating a fast way for policymakers to understand the specific ecosystem
services in their area—and the impacts of different
land use decisions—whether looking at a local
watershed or whole continent.
Software
Software
●
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Similar entries
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Coral Reef Ecosystem Database
Sustainable Biofuel, Biodiversity
Ocean Food Supply Reduced
Hurricane Relief Mapping FSU
"Land use planners, county commissioners,
investment bankers, anyone who is interested,"
Cosntanza said, "will be able to go on the Web, use
http://www.technologynewsdaily.com/node/4026 (1 of 3)12/14/2006 4:08:20 PM
vConsolidate, IBM and Intel
Free Enterprise Search Software,
IBM and Yahoo!
●
Microsoft Robotics Studio
●
Terracotta Goes Open Source
●
PostgreSQL 8.2 Released
●
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●
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Over the next year, with an $813,000 grant from
the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Costanza
and his team will create a set of computer models
and tools that will give a sophisticated portrait of
the ecosystem dynamics and value for any spot on
earth.
Universities and IBM Continue
Software Intellectual Property
Reform
●
Adobe® Reader® 8 and Adobe
Acrobat® Connect™
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Files Re-Examination Request
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Patent
Internet
New Computer Models to give a sophisticated portrait of the ecosystem dynamics | Technology News Daily
●
●
SimCity Model Of The UK
Supercomputer to Unravel
Environmental Mysteries
Information
* Internet
* Software
* Linux
* Computers/Servers
* Memory
* RFID
* Video Cards
* NanoTechnology
* Mobile
* CPU
* Embedded
our new models, and be able to identify a territory
and start getting answers."
●
●
For example, if a town council is trying decide the
value of a wetland—compared to, say, building a
shopping mall there—these models will help them
put a dollar value on it. If a country wants to
emulate Costa Rica’s program of payments to
landowners to maintain their land as a forest,
they’ll better be able to figure the ecosystem value
of various land parcels to establish fair payments.
To build the new models, Costanza’s team will
gather experts on a range of ecosystems to two
extended meetings in Burlington, one this fall and
another next spring. In small teams, they’ll link
together the latest understandings of how forests,
grasslands, wetlands, open ocean, and other
ecosystem types function with detailed maps of
where these natural communities occur and other
geographic information.
●
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* Automotive Tech
Syndicate
Next, these models will be informed by new
methods of estimating the value of ecosystems.
Conventional economics has relied on the rather
clunky notion of “willingness to pay” to determine
how much a product is worth. This approach
doesn’t apply well to many ecosystem services that
are either indispensable—like air to breathe—or
exceedingly subtle—like global climate regulation.
●
●
Coral Reef Ecosystem Database
Free Enterprise Search Software,
IBM and Yahoo!
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Charged
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Distrubution Of Academy
Awards Screeners
IST Project MobileIN
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Acrobat® Connect™
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by Researchers
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Files Re-Examination Request
"Instead, we’re looking for effects of ecosystems Mobile
of human welfare, whether people perceive them or
not—rather than just asking them how much they’d
pay for this service," Costanza said.
● Key Wireless Legislation Passed
And finally, next year, the project will put out its
results through an interactive website—perhaps a
bit like Google Earth for ecosystems services—
journal articles, and other reports.
●
●
"This grant and project are particularly timely,"
said Donald DeHayes, dean of the Rubenstein
School of Environment and Natural Resources that
houses the Gund Institute. "As climate change
becomes more visible, the need for functioning
ecosystems is hitting people right between the
eyes. On the national agenda, ecosystem services is
a major theme for research and UVM continues to
lead in this field."
Recent studies have made it clear that not only do
ecosystem services provide a majority of income
for poor people in developing countries, but, more
startling, that the economic value of the world’s
http://www.technologynewsdaily.com/node/4026 (2 of 3)12/14/2006 4:08:20 PM
●
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Architecture
Nokia Siemens Networks, First
Quarter 2007
300 GB 2.5" SATA Hard Disk
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Access Business
New Computer Models to give a sophisticated portrait of the ecosystem dynamics | Technology News Daily
ecosystems is much larger than the value of all the
products and services usually put under the
umbrella of "the global economy."
Ultimately, Costanza hopes the project will help
policymakers realize that conservation is not a
luxury; it must be a key economic goal. If his
project succeeds, "it will allow us to move beyond
the counterproductive conservation vs.
development debate to thinking about conservation
as a form of development," he writes.
Author: Joshua E. Brown
Email: [email protected]
add new comment
Technology News ISSN 1911-1711
http://www.technologynewsdaily.com/node/4026 (3 of 3)12/14/2006 4:08:20 PM
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Hong Kong Market, Toshiba
Ericsson and Intel to Collaborate