I don't spank our three girls, ages 4, 2 and "on the way in May."
We use timeouts.
Parents who teach "tough love" by disciplining their children with spankings could be making them more likely to have sexual problems as teenagers and adults, a leading researcher said.
Professor Murray Straus, of the University of New Hampshire, found that children who are spanked or experience other corporal punishment have a raised risk as teenagers and adults to verbally or physically coerce a partner into having sex.
Straus, said studies have shown that corporal punishment leads to low self control and self esteem, as well as aggressiveness, antisocial personalities and the understanding that violence is acceptable.
I wonder how other JHub parents of small children feel about this and what methods they use to discipline their children.
I feel proud of Prince Harry for being willing to go fight for his country, as other king's and princes have done throughout history. It must be remarkably difficult to have to live under such a spotlight.
On Friday the British military decided to pull Prince Harry out of Afghanistan after news of his 10-week deployment was leaked by foreign media, the Ministry of Defence said.
In mid-December, the prince, a junior officer in the Household Cavalry, was posted to the dangerous Helmand province of southern Afghanistan where British forces are fighting Taliban extremists.
In these times of cushy handouts among leaders, lobbysits, and others in power, at least this guy is for real.
Last year, the army was forced to cancel plans to send the prince to Iraq because of the security risk. This time, the prince was deployed under a cloak of secrecy following an unusual news blackout deal between the media and the army. The ministry urged the media to maintain a news blackout until the prince, who is third in line to the throne, returns to Britain.
However, the arrangement collapsed Thursday after news was leaked on the US website, the Drudge Report.
Radio personality Matt Drudge originally gained his notoriety by revealing details of then US president Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.
"Following a detailed assessment of the risks by the operational chain of command, the decision has been taken... to withdraw Prince Harry from Afghanistan immediately," said a ministry statement.
While the decision "by elements of the foreign media to report Prince Harry's presence in Afghanistan without any consultation with the Ministry of Defence" was slammed as "regrettable" by the British government -- Drudge had a right to "out" this.
The media has its role.
But "the worldwide media coverage of Prince Harry in Afghanistan could impact on the security of those who are deployed there, as well as the risks to him as an individual soldier," the the Ministry of Defence said.
His deployment made him the first British royal to be sent into combat in more than a quarter of a century. Prince Andrew, harry's uncle, served as a naval helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War.
In one interview, the prince said there had been jokes about his nickname -- "bullet magnet." His tour could make him a "top target" for extremists.
"Every single person that supports them will be trying to slot me," he said.
But the prince said he enjoyed being away from the limelight of the media deluge he faces at home. "I think this is about as normal as I'm ever going to get," he added.
On the optomistic side of things, Harry makes it clear that some megacelebrities can deal with the pressure, rise to the occassion, and be a force for good in the world regardless of their extreme circumstances.
Brittney Spears needs to borrow a page or two from Harry's book.
*Films: Women Behind the Camera screening, followed by a discussion with writer/director/producer Alexis Krasilovsky (3/5); LUNAFEST screening (3/7 & 3/8)
*Workshops: “Feminine [WINDOWS-1252?]Voices” Workshop with Dr. Tania Modleski; “Creating the World of Possibilities: Utilizing your skills and talents in the world of Social and Gender [WINDOWS-1252?]Justice” with Sonya Rosario of the Women of Color Alliance (both 3/6)
*Interactive performances: Drum Circle (3/7)
*Conference sessions on a variety of gender-related topics (3/6 & 3/7)
For additional information, please contact the Anderson Center at 282-2805.
*****
*Tania Modleski “Women’s Voices” Workshop and WHM Keynote, 3/6
Join us for a workshop on "Women's Voices in Film"
Led by Dr. Tania Modleski, Florence R. Scott Professor of English and Professor of English at the University of Southern California
Thursday, March 6
9am - 11am
Salmon River Suite
Participants are encouraged to bring their favorite film clip examples of feminine voices for this interactive workshop.
Dr. Modleski will also give the Women's History Month Keynote
"No More Tears: On the Persistence of Melodrama in Representing Women's Lives"
Thursday, March 6, 7pm
Salmon River Suite
Sponsored by the Idaho Humanities Council and the ISU Women's History Month Committee
For more information, please call 282-2805.
These events are free and open to the public.
*****
*Drum Circle, 3/7
Join us for a DRUM CIRCLE
Friday, March 7
2:30pm
SUB Ballroom
This is an interactive event, so if you have a drum, please bring it!
For more information, please call 282-2805.
This event is free and open to the public.
This event is part of TheArt of Gender in Everyday Life V Conference.For a complete schedule of conference events, go to http://www.isu.edu/anderson...
*****
*ISUPW “PROMOTION OF WOMEN” PANEL DISCUSSION & POTLUCK, 2/26
ISU Professional Women invites female faculty, staff and graduate students to a
Potluck (5pm) and Panel Discussion (6pm)
Tuesday, February 26
Alumni House (554 South 7th)
Guest Panelists:
Linda Hatzenbuehler, Ph.D., Dean
Kasiska College of Health Professions
Marilyn Davis, Ed.D., Dean
College of Technology
Maureen Brandon, Ph.D., Interim Dean
College of Arts & Sciences
Dr. Deborah L. Hedeen, Ph.D., Dean
College of Education
For more information, please call 282-4245.
*****
Rebecca Morrow, Ph.D., Director
Verena Roberts, Programming Graduate Assistant
Anderson Gender Resource Center
Idaho State University
To learn more, visit our website:
www.isu.edu/andersoncenter
Last night I had the privilege of an extended discussion with Scott Syme, who is running for Larry Craig's seat in the United States Senate.
At his real estate office in Caldwell, I also was able to talk extensively about Idaho and national politics with some of his campaign staffers, including Natalie Wallace and Kathleen Pulliam-Jordan.
I reflected on how a record number of people now getting involved in the political process, as we had a chance to break bread with Syme's wife and family.
The first thing that attracted me to this cause is the fact that Syme is running a true grassroots campaign. The people around him don't owe their lives to the government because of political positions.
Syme is not an insider in the Republican Party, and as is consistent with the current national wave, he is committed to bringing new ideas and true leadership to Washington. Syme is working to be an antidote to the entrenched interests that Americans are now disgusted with.
An Iraq war veteran, this candidate has a workable platform on illegal immigration, Iraq, energy independence, the economy, and other issues.
For example, "first and foremost we must secure our borders," Syme says. "Then we must provide employers with the tools to easily verify the status of employees. We must enforce the law, but at the same time stremline the process of legal immigration to welcome law-abiding immigrants."
Sounds like a completely feasible common-sense approach.
While some pundits continually beat the drum of "political experience," logic begs us to ask: How come our current highly paid congressional leaders can't seem to figure such things out?
It's time for a change.
Having a true election, not a coronation, is not only healthy and good for Idaho, it is one of the hallmarks of our democracy.
Take a serious look at this alternative candidate. The campaign's website is www.symeforsenate.com
Red State Rebels reports that as expected, Rep. John Lewis switched allegiances this week from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama.
Lewis, a Georgia congressman and 1960s civil rights leader represents a district that went overwhelmingly for Obama on Super Tuesday.
Lewis indicated that his change reflected the national mood, too.
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Something's happening in America, something some of us did not see coming," Lewis said. "Barack Obama has tapped into something that is extraordinary."
Just a quick reminder of this weeks TLC (True Loyal Connections) Meeting.
Tuesday, March 4th,atThe Continental Bistro, 140 S. Main in Old Town Pocatello.
Time: 11:45 to 1:00 pm
Nancy Goodman with Vocatuswill be presenting for us this week.
If you’re crunched for time there will be a soup and salad bar for $5.50 or you can call your lunch in ahead of time if you like. The phone number for The Bistro is 233-4433.
The sole purpose of this time is to meet with Business Owners, Managers and Leaders to network, pass referrals and have lunch.
There is nothing to join, and no cost other than your lunch and a $1.00 voluntary donation to support our group. Bring a new friend and your lunch could be free!
Remember, everyone who attends is eligible to win a free dinner courtesy of The Continental Bistro.
If you have any questions please call Troy Neu at 234-2679.
If elected to the Senate, I will change the state of Idaho. All Jim Risch will do is change addresses.
The above quote is a close paraphrase of what I heard Senate candidate Rex Rammell say from the podium at the Canyon County Lincoln Day Banquet several days ago.
I will check with Rammell later to get his exact quote.
Rammell has filed a lawsuit against the state and one of his campaign opponents, Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, demanding compensation for dozens of his elk killed after they escaped from Rammell's ranch in 2006, the Idaho Statesman reports.
I shook hands with Rammell in the hallway that night at the Nampa Civic Center. Ironically, he was chatting with longtime Risch ally John Sandy, who I also proceeded to shake hands with.
I can only wonder what those two were discussing. But of course, I can ask.
Risch is no stranger to nasty races. Word has it that his race for Lt. Governor ended up being one of the nastiest in recent memory around Idaho political circles.
"Risch, who was governor at the time, authorized the Department of Fish and Game to kill domestic elk that escaped from Rammell's Chief Joseph ranch in eastern Idaho because of fears they could pollute the wild elk gene pool," the Statesman story says. "The lawsuit, filed in Fremont County, where the elk escaped, claims that order violated Rammell's civil rights and asks for damages."
_____
I remember reading and watching this Elk story play out in the Southern Idaho media, and how Risch didn't blink when the war went down. But I knew that there had to be some further fallout.
I would check in with both candidates in this saga tomorrow night at the Bannock County Lincoln Day Banquet in Pocatello, but my wife's cousin is getting married at the Boise LDS Temple.
Family comes before politics.
However, I will be blogging a lot about this race to replace Larry Craig, as it is clear that emotions are high and that things are going to get very rough, very shortly.
Feed pets organic and sustainably produced food. This good for the earth, and good for pets as it is free of by-products, non-nutritive fillers, chemicals and hormones.
Keep harmful chemicals out of the environment and away from your pet’s skin by using natural methods to combat fleas. Adding garlic and brewer’s yeast to your pet’s food, herbal flea treatments, citrus tea baths, and regular grooming are effective and safe strategies.
While pets may wish to heed the call of the wild, keep them on leashes or indoors to reduce their impact on wildlife and keep them safe.
Use biodegradable waste bags and plant-based cat litters to sustainably dispose of pet waste.
Check out the latest eco-friendly pet products, or even create some of your own! Build a homemade doghouse using untreated wood from certified sustainable forests and natural weatherproofing like beeswax. Or get creative with old scraps of yarn and fabric to make your own cat toys.
For more information, contactthe University of Idaho's Sustainability Centerat uisc@uidaho.edu.
Singer/Songwriter Gary Eller of Nampa, Idaho to give presentation on “Historically Based Songs of Southern Idaho” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 19, in the Idaho State University Pond Student Union Building Salmon River Room.
Eller’s presentation will feature fellow musician and Idaho Falls elementary school principal, Marv Quinton, who has played American roots music in several southern Idaho bands. Eller and Quinton will invite audience members to share songs; so audience members are encouraged to bring their songs and instruments.
Under a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council, Eller has collected about 1000 songs, 200 of which are historically based and 100 predate 1910. The songs are entertaining and provide insight of local culture at the time they were written.
This presentation is sponsored by the Idaho Humanities Council and the ISU American Studies Program, History Department and the Department of English and Philosophy. Admission is free to the public.
For more information regarding Eller’s presentation, contact Jennifer Attebery at 282-2531 or Kevin Marsh at 282-2877.
The Idaho State University Department of Physics will host a regional Science Olympiad on the ISU campus on March 1.
Sixth- through ninth-grade students from throughout eastern Idaho will represent their schools and communities and compete in teams in a variety of science competitions. Students will compete with remote-controlled robots, balloon-launched gliders, catapults, egg scramblers and several other fun science events.
Winning teams will receive award plaques and prizes courtesy of Subway, Jamba Juice, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Arctic Circle and Taco Time. Winning teams will be encouraged to compete in the state competition at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa on April 5. The Idaho champion team will go on to compete in the National Science Olympiad at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., May 30-31.
The Science Olympiad is a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of science education, increasing student interest in science, and providing recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers.
At least a dozen teams from Eagle Rock Junior High School, Franklin Middle School, Irving Middle School and Ririe Middle School will be competing, meeting in Room 140 of the ISU Physical Sciences Building and dispersing from there.
There is still room for more teams. Steve Shropshire, Ph.D., and Valeria Starovoitova, Ph.D., of the ISU Department of Physics, Charles Peterson, Ph.D., of the ISU Department of Biological Sciences and ISU students from the biology and physics departments will serve as judges, along with several scientists and engineers from the Idaho National Laboratory and AMI Semiconductor.
More information on the Science Olympiad program is available at www.soinc.org.
For more information on the ISU Science Olympiad, or how to register a team, contact Shropshire at shropshi@physics.isu.edu, or 282-2212.
The Idaho Foodbank in an efficient and caring manner, provides food, information, and supportive services to hungry people through partnerships with nonprofit agencies, the food industry, government, volunteers, corporations, and individuals by serving as a central clearinghouse for donated and purchased food.
"Hunger is a word that immediately evokes images of listless children with distended bellies and hollow eyes in countries where famine, war or political corruption has led to major food shortages, writes Dr. Laura Vailas in a recent Insight piece. "These children suffer from a range of conditions, such as severe protein-calorie malnutrition and vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which result in a host of debilitating illnesses, including blindness."
"As generous Americans, many of us respond to these powerful visual images by contributing to overseas aid," she adds.
A registered, licensed dietitian who holds both master's and Ph.D. degrees in human nutrition, Vailas goes on to say that what most of us don’t realize is that we have hunger right here in Idaho and throughout the United States that is largely invisible to the untrained eye. Most Americans who are without adequate food do not advertise it. Instead, they develop coping mechanisms to obtain just enough food so the overt symptoms of hunger – such as emaciation – are not apparent. Examples are parents who eat less so their children will have more, send their children to others’ homes for meals when possible, and use public and private feeding programs.
Her article gives futher details :
" ... To confuse matters further, many food-deprived people are actually overweight. Nutritionists offer two explanations for this phenomenon, known as the “hunger-obesity paradox.”
The first explanation is that inexpensive foods that result in satiety are often high in calories and limited in nutrients. When such foods comprise the bulk of the diet, the result is unhealthy weight gain. The second explanation is that when food is hard to come by, we react by overeating when food is available.
According to the just-released study “Household Food Security in the United States” from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, 12.7 percent of Idaho’s population suffers from food insecurity – the condition of not having access to adequate, nutritious food at all times for an active, healthy life."
Critics of Vailas' position immediately excoriated the very victims and disadvantaged people that the Idaho Foodbank does so much to help.
The Idaho State Journal Community Blog saw the following posts:
Posted byC. R. Stucki
on February 15, 2008, 6:07 pm
Two comments. First, one can't help but notice that the vast majority of the mountain of scary (and totally unbelievable) statistics being put out on the subject of hunger in the U.S. in general, and especially hunger in Idaho, are compiled and published by folks whose livelihoods are tied to solving the problem in question.
Second, the level of specious reasoning and sophistry to which those who advocate against this mostly non-existent problem will resort in their attempt to rationalize the laughable fact that all these supposedly starving people are not only fat, but often grotesquely fat, is enough to bring tears to one's eyes.
My wife asked me what I was chuckling about and I read her the paragraph that said, "To confuse matters further, many food-deprived people are actually overweight."
As dumb as it sounds, it's actually almost true. I have some acquaintances who per this article can be considered "food-deprived" but the reasons given don't match them as they are obese but for different reasons.
To wit:
When they get their welfare, food stamps, food bank, etc. they tend to go a bit over board and end up eating foods that are anything but a balanced diet. So for 2-3 weeks they put on fat and then they run out because they didn't budget properly for the month. They then go on this crash diet of not eating at all and according to some dieticians this results in them not losing any weight because the body goes into alarm and signals, starvation, save the fat. Also they tend to eat a lot of foods that just plain make the problem worse. How many times have I told them that a weeks worth of beans and nothing but beans is BAD.
Go out find some emaciated child, they're actually there and it would amaze you why they're that way. Dad wastes the grocery money on lottery tickets, drink, etc. and when food get low, guess who goes without. Not the adults.
Once again and I've said this before, the main problem is called PEOPLE. If you go hungry in the US of A you really have to work at it. People tend to be the main reason for food deprivation and it's common cousin, bad diets.
Now what can you do about it? Publish scarey statistics, they don't read so why should that concern them. How do you get across to them and I'm afraid the answer is you don't.
The power to solve the problem of hunger in Idaho begins when knowledge is shared. Thank you Dr. Vailas for your informative article on hunger and for putting a face on hungry people in our midst. I for one look forward to how our community can contribute to the success of The Idaho Food Bank and it's plans for a larger facility.
_____
"Food-insecure people worry that food will run out before their next check, and they juggle to stretch resources to feed themselves and their families," Vailas said. She added that older adults who find themselves in this situation are often forced to choose between buying their prescriptions or buying food. Some cope by taking less than the prescribed dose to make their medication last longer.
Vailas details further startling facts and statistics:
In addition to this 12.7 percent, 3.5 percent of Idahoans are food insecure with hunger, meaning they actually go hungry. Idaho ranks 13th worst among the states in its prevalence of food insecurity and 34th worst in food insecurity with hunger.
More disturbing is the fact that one Idaho child in five – almost 80,000 children total – has an insecure food supply. These recently published findings ranked Idaho sixth worst in the nation in child food insecurity.
This first-ever study, “Child Food Insecurity in the United States,” by America’s Second Harvest and ConAgra Foods, found that 21 percent of Idaho’s children are food insecure. The national average is 18 percent.
—17,300 different Idahoans receive emergency food assistance on any given week.
—55 percent of food assistance recipients in Idaho report having to choose between paying for food or paying for utilities/heating fuel.
—34 percent of food assistance recipients had to choose between paying for food or paying their rent/mortgage.
—36 percent of food assistance recipients had to choose between paying for food or paying for medicine/medical care.
Vailas said that increasingly, the hungry in Idaho are the working poor, children and the elderly. Because hunger and food insecurity are closely tied to economic status, households with low incomes are very much at risk.
Hunger results in malnutrition, and malnutrition results in ill health and impairs quality of life, often permanently.
Malnourished pregnant women are more likely than well-nourished women to have premature births or babies with birth defects.
Children from families with hunger are twice as likely to need special education as those from non-hungry families.
Hungry children are 60 percent more likely to miss school, 95 percent more likely to be suspended and 44 percent more likely to repeat a grade.
Hungry people have 50 percent more colds and are 30 percent more likely to be hospitalized and to require longer hospital stays.
Hungry people are three times more likely to have activity-limiting health impairments.
And they are five times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and behaviors than are non-hungry people.
All of us pay a price for hunger. When children in our classrooms can’t pay attention or are chronically absent due to the health effects of hunger, the pace and quality of learning for all the children suffers. The costs of providing remedial education and helping special needs children are reflected in our school taxes. The cost of caring for a preemie is reflected in our insurance and Medicaid premiums. When our citizens take longer to recover from illnesses or land in the hospital more frequently because they are malnourished, it increases the cost of health care for all of us.
The cost of hunger to the United States is staggering ... the cost of charity to care for the nation's hungry was $14.4 billion, the cost of illness and psychosocial dysfunction that results from hunger was $66.8 billion, and the cost of less education and lowered productivity was $9.2 billion, for a grand total of $90.4 billion per year. In Idaho the cost of hunger was put at $500 million per year.
The work of the Idaho Foodbank is extremely important for our state. Last year, the Foodbank distributed 4.8 million pounds of food throughout the state, with one-fifth of that going to Southeastern Idaho.
Over the next several weeks, you will be reading more about hunger in Idaho. I encourage you to become better informed about the causes and effects of hunger and malnutrition in our state so that as community members who represent diverse backgrounds, fields of expertise and access to resources, we may work together to find solutions to this problem.
You will also read that the Idaho Foodbank’s work is limited by a shortage of food storage capacity.
As part of the America’s Second Harvest network, the Idaho Foodbank has access to truckloads of food from other parts of the nation. There are times when the Foodbank has to decline this much-needed food simply because there isn’t enough storage space in the Pocatello warehouse at that particular moment. Then, a run on the food the following week from somewhere in Idaho can leave the warehouse nearly empty.
There is a solution for this – a larger warehouse. Plans for a larger building are in the works and we hope that through the generosity of those in our communities, this will become a reality ..".
______
A former university administrator and faculty member, Vailas is the director of education and development for the Hospital Cooperative and the first lady of Idaho State University. Dr. Vailas is also a member of the Idaho Foodbank’s Eastern Idaho Capital Campaign Committee, whose goal it is to purchase a larger warehouse in Pocatello. The Idaho Food Bank, who's website is: www.idahofoodbank.org is fortunate to have someone with her expertise working on this issue.
______
But critics brought further pessimism:
______
Posted byClare Stucki
on February 18, 2008, 11:53 am
Now that I have finally become able to control the convulsions of laughter which overwhelmed me for two days after first reading Dr. Vailas' attempts at rationalizing the "hunger-obesity paradox", I hope I can calm down enough to make a serious comment or two on the subject of her Sunday guest editorial.
Her explanation of the paradox was "inexpensive foods that result in satiety are high in calories and low in nutrients". The food she refers to here is what less-academically oriented people call "junk food", and everything she says about it is correct, with one glaring exception: Junk food is not only not inexpensive, it is actually the most expensive food in the store!
Fresh potatoes cost about $.20 per pound, but potato chips, (possibly the favorite food of the "undernourished" in our society, cost just under $4.00 per lb. Fresh broccoli, (possibly the least- favorite food of America's "undernourished", costs $.49 to $.79/lb depending on the season, but Twinkies are around $9.00/lb.
Most people should see a pattern here. If you live on a "limited income" and you spend your grocery money on junk food, you're probably going to run out of cash before your next welfare check arrives.
I would think that these facts might make the "hunger-obesity" complex a lot easier to understand.
So... what I hear you saying is that education is an important factor in helping the hungry.The Idaho Food Bank supplies high protein food items for those in need in addition to educating it's recipients of healthy dietary needs and choices for their families. Please don't be so judgemental of those who are not as educated or fortunate as yourself about what constitutes proper nutrition habits.
I try not to be judgemental but... everytime I go to my friend who is on welfare and I look in the fridge and in the cupboards, I cringe. I sit down have a talk with him and nothing happens. How many times have I had this talk with him? I've tried every possible permutation I can envision and nothing lands or sinks in.
I take him to the Food Bank here and we get all the good nutritious food and he won't eat it. He grew up with the bad food and he won't change. I try not to talk down to him but try to encourage him but he stays in this mold he's comfortable in and won't budge.
While I admit there is a problem, I sometimes think a good beating might be the only way I'll every get him to change and I'll never go that route.
Reader 2, I agree with you but sometime both of us need to go visit my friend and I'll let you do all the talking this time. I'd be delighted to learn from you. Thanks.
____
Exactly. I hope that "Disgusted Reader" follows through in contacting the Idaho Food Bank. I would be happy to join in and help out myself.
The University of Idaho offers these tips for a sustainable Valentine’s Day:
Buy organic, certified fair trade chocolate to support plantations that do not use child labor or harmful pesticides, and pay a living wage to workers.
Go paperless by sending an e-valentine, or choose cards that use recyclable paper. For that extra personal touch, craft your own valentines out of items you have at home, such as pictures, ribbons, leftover gift wrapping and thread.
To keep carbon emissions low, cook a romantic dinner at home rather than drive to a restaurant.
Sending roses to your beloved? Be careful not to send pesticides as well. Since many of the worst pesticides arrive on imported flowers, look for organic flowers grown as close to home as possible, or give living native shrubs or trees that can be planted in the spring.
Reduce waste by packaging your gifts in reusable containers. Baked goods in an attractive tin make for a personal gift that your loved one can remember for years to come.
For more information, contactthe University of Idaho's Sustainability Centerat uisc@uidaho.edu.
As increasing environmental awareness drives interest in sustainable practices, the University of Idaho continues to seek sustainable initiatives to meet the current and future needs of society and to contribute to the quality of life and the natural resources in Idaho, the nation and the world. For more information about the university’s sustainability efforts, visit www.uisc.uidaho.edu.
Sen. Barack Obama is not just putting an earthquake into the ground that United States politics stands on, he is changing the way I, and many others, talk.
Last night, I was enjoying a personal pizza at a Boise restaurant. I chatted with the waitress a bit.
"Where are you from," I asked.
"Pocatello," she said, adding that she is a senior at Boise State majoring in Political Science.
"Where did you go to high school?"
"Pocatello," she responded.
We chatted a bit more, and she went on to mention that her goal after this year is to study in graduate school, and to eventually get out of Idaho.
My final question, I was able to ask comfortably, out-of-the blue, without any precursors:
"So why do you like Barack Obama so much?"
She smiled and instantly voiced strong support for him.
I used to ask Idahoans who they were voting for. After several experiences with this question, I switched it to: "so what do you think about Barack Obama?"
I have edited my inquiry again.
Now I simply ask people what they like about Barack Obama. It seems to almost be a given, that the person in front of me is for him, when I talk to folks in the general public.
I can't say I'm surprised.
African Americans have succeeded whenever they have come near opportunity.
Muhammed Ali shook the landscape in boxing. Before him were those including Sojourner Truth, Crispus Attucks, Jackie Robinson, Frederick Douglass, and Martin Luther King.
In recent times Black America gave us Bill Cosby, Reggie Jackson, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell, and Condaleeza Rice.
James Brown is the most sampled musical artist in history.
Countless other blacks have defied the odds and changed the way Americans, think, act and talk.
I'm inspired by Michelle Obama, who reminds us not to wait until the time is right to try to move forward.
"The time is never right," she said.
Black Americans survived slavery with their humanity in tact. Thus, this drug thing is not going to take us down, either.
Democratic strategists have been warning us to "sieze the moment," since you don't know when such a trend will come along again.
But while Obama is a phenomenon, it is important to highlight the reality that there have been many Blacks who who beaten all odds throughout U.S. History.
The Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) and the Idaho State University Outdoor Adventure Center will offer a 10-day, 80-hour Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course from March 21 to 30 at the Mink Creek Nordic Ski Area.
The WFR course is designed specifically to provide the tools to make critical medical and evacuation decisions in remote locations. The course will involve completing practical skills, case studies and scenarios designed to challenge decision-making abilities.
WMI, an institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School, provides high quality education and information for the recognition, treatment and prevention of wilderness emergencies.
Cost for the course is $450 for ISU students or $550 for community members. The course also includes CPR training. A complete schedule of the 10-day course can be found at the WMI Web site along with a WFR cheat sheet.
For more information, call WMI at (307) 322-2355, ISU Outdoor Program at 282-3912 or visit the WMI web site, www.nols.edu/wmi/index.shtml.
I received the following email in my box, today, from ISU student organizer Bob Devine:
Hi folks,
Lions for Lambs plays Friday and Saturday at 7 & 9:45 pm in the Bengal Theater. The movie is a dialogue oriented movie which features a discussion between a professor and student, as well as another between a journalist and politician, that focuses on issues of war, peace, terrorism, patriotism, and more. Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise star.
*NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER INSTITUTES MONTHLY WOMEN & HEALTH CONFERENCE CALL SERIES
*INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY
*****
*WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EVENTS THIS WEEK
Women Studies Brown Bag Lunch Presentation:"Providing Gender Responsive Treatment for Incarcerated Women: A Preliminary Analysis of the Effectiveness of Seeking Safety" - Shannon Lynch
February 15, Noon
Heritage Room, Pond Student Union Building
The Vagina Monologues
February 14, 15, & 16, 7:00 pm
Frazier Auditorium
$5 students/ $10 general
*****
*NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER INSTITUTES MONTHLY WOMEN & HEALTH CONFERENCE CALL SERIES
The following is a message that the Anderson Center received:
Announcing the National Women’s Law Center’s
Women and Health Reform Monthly Conference Call Series
2nd Thursday of each Month
1:00pm EST
We hope you join us for our Women and Health Reform Monthly Conference Call Series. The first call will take place on Thursday, Feb. 14, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Calls will then be held on the second Thursday of each month through the summer. To join the calls, to go: http://action.nwlc.org/heal... Additionally, please see the draft agenda as a reference for the first call.
These calls will provide a collaborative forum for women’s advocates to focus on health reform at the state and federal level, to learn from one another, and to share experiences and questions that have arisen regarding various health reform proposals.
We hope that you will find these calls helpful, informative, and interactive. If there are specific topics you would like the calls to address, please contact Dina Morad at dmorad@nwlc.org or 202-588-5180. If you have questions or would like to discuss other ways that the NWLC Women and Health Reform Project can be helpful to you in your efforts, please don’t hesitate to contact Lisa Codispoti, Senior Advisor for NWLC, at lcodispoti@nwlc.org or 202-588-5180.
Our inaugural call:
Thursday, February 14th
1:00pm EST
Tentative standing agenda:
Typically a one hour call -
Introductions & review purpose of calls
“Spotlight.” This monthly feature is designed to spotlight efforts underway at the state or federal level, to answer questions about how a state may have addressed a particular issue in plan design, or to feature an overview of competing proposals.
Question(s) of the month.As the National Women’s Law Center began to provide technical assistance to groups concerning health reform proposals, it seemed that this information exchange presented an opportunity to share more widely.Accordingly, this feature is designed to allow the sharing of knowledge gained as women’s advocates pose questions and seek technical assistance as they deal with health reform in their states.The idea is that we can all learn from each other as we struggle for meaningful health reform.
Updates and announcements.
More detailed agenda will be released in advance of the call.
For more information or to suggest agenda topics, please contact Lisa Codispoti, Senior Advisor, at 202-588-5180 or lcodispoti@nwlc.org
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*INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY
The Anderson Center has received the following survey invitation from Elle Shaaban-Magaña, Director of The University of Alabama Women's Resource Center:
I am writing to request your assistance with my research project on the disclosure of sexual assault to family members. The goal of this study is to gather information which can be used to guide family members during the crucial time of a family member's disclosure of victimization. Ultimately, I would like use this knowledge to aid survivors in their trauma recovery.
My research focuses specifically on the correlation of family dynamics and crisis to the family disclosure of the trauma of sexual assault, including adult rape, attempted rape, and various forms of childhood sexual assault. Much of the information that exists in this area is intuitive and anecdotal. This study will provide research which will explore the survivors' impression of the disclosure experience to family members. The tool examines not only the absence of negative social reactions, but explores the presence of positive support as well.
This study has been approved through The University of Alabama Institutional Review Board.
The survey is an anonymous online survey hosted through Survey Monkey. It takes about 25 minutes to complete. Survivors will not be identified, nor will they be contacted following completion of the survey.
As a token of my appreciation for your assistance, I would be happy to share a summary of the final research results with you. Thank you so much for the important work you do to serve survivors in your community.
Please feel free to contact me directly to discuss any questions you may have about the study.
With much gratitude,
Elle Shaaban-Magaña
Director, The University of Alabama Women's Resource Center
Box 870361
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
205-348-5040
lshaaban@sa.ua.edu
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Rebecca Morrow, Ph.D., Director
Verena Roberts, Programming Graduate Assistant
Anderson Gender Resource Center
Idaho State University
To learn more, visit our website:
www.isu.edu/andersoncenter
on February 15, 2008, 6:07 pm
Second, the level of specious reasoning and sophistry to which those who advocate against this mostly non-existent problem will resort in their attempt to rationalize the laughable fact that all these supposedly starving people are not only fat, but often grotesquely fat, is enough to bring tears to one's eyes.