hooray, she got the job! Starts tomorrow!

I just found out - i didnt get the job :( Those grad college finks....guess i'll have to start looking for a plan b....

Center for the Book director runner-up

in prestigious MLA First Book Prize

University of Iowa Center for the Book Director Matthew P. Brown received an honorable mention for the Modern Language Association of America’s First Book Prize. The associate professor of English was honored for “The Pilgrim and the Bee: Reading Rituals and Book Culture in Early New England.”

The first book prize recognizes a first book-length publication of a literary or linguistic study, critical edition of an important work, or a critical biography. Only those in the MLA are allowed to vie for the prize, though competition is in no short supply, as there are 30,000 registered members from around the world.

The judges said Brown’s book, which analyzes several aspects of the colonial American literary world, contributes greatly to the fields of religious and early American studies, while calling for new directions in the study of book history and “advocat[ing] for book studies scholarship as an especially valuable method for pursuing a social history of culture.”

Brown centers his research on the history of readership. He will be on research assignment in the spring to work on his next book at the Library Company of Philadelphia with assistance from a NEH grant. The book, currently titled “The Novel and the Blank,” will be an “investigation of how constraints of the print shop affected the literary culture and reading habits of colonial and early national America,” Brown said.

He is also in the process of helping organize the College Book Art Association conference “Art, Fact, and Artifact” to be held at the Center for the Book Jan. 8-10.

Brown sees “The Pilgrim and the Bee” as a direct outgrowth of his work at the Center for the Book, which is integral to the broader Writing University initiative at the UI. “First-rate faculty and graduate students in the program and from Art, English, Library Sciences, American Studies and History make for an extraordinary learning environment,” Brown said. “As do my colleagues in English, the Center nurtures scholarly research, creative thinking, and literary expression.”

Brown’s honor adds to a growing list of recent literary achievements at the UI. In November the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named Iowa City a City of Literature, an honor held by only two other cities worldwide. Center for the Book faculty crafted the application for the UNESCO designation, designing handmade paper, calligraphy and binding for its presentation. Two poets affiliated with the Writer’s Workshop shared the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, and Orhan Pamuk, an alumnus of the International Writing program, won a Nobel Prize.

The MLA Prize for First Book will be awarded to Dana Luciano, of Georgetown University, for her book “Arranging Grief: Sacred Time and the Body in Nineteenth-Century America.” In addition to Brown, a second honorable mention will be given to Martin K. Foys, of Hood College, for his book “Virtually Anglo-Saxon: Old Media, New Media, and Early Medieval Studies in the Late Age of Print.” The honorable mention category has been granted only four times in the history of the award prior to this year.

The recipients will receive the prize this December at the MLA’s annual meeting in San Francisco in front of approximately 9,500 attendees. Luciano, Brown and Foys will be presented with certificates at the ceremony; Luciano will also receive a prize of $1,000.


Writer: Andrea Parrott

The Spandex Warrior:
I Propose to Ride Bikes

A Master’s Project
Andrea P.
10/16/08

Committee:
Don M., Chair
Dan B.
Connie P.

The Focus

When I was an undergraduate at Butler University in Indianapolis, I played trombone for the school’s marching band. Naturally, the rest of the band and I spent copious amounts of time outdoors practicing on the school’s football field. Every day, rain or shine, we would march.
After a few weeks, we began to notice we were not alone – a large group of Spandex clad bicyclists would congregate every Tuesday and Thursday on a nearby parking lot. The cyclists, perhaps 100 in all, would socialize for a half hour or so, chatting, fixing last minute spare tires, eating power bars and so on. They were a large, colorful group; their Spandex bicycling clothes reminded me of the plumage of a flock of macaws. Thus, (and because of their presence despite often extreme weather conditions), we called them the Spandex Warriors.
In large cities, it is often necessary for bicyclists to group in this way, as strength in numbers allows some protection from deadly traffic while riding. Often, it is difficult or impractical to ride through the suburbs long enough to reach peaceful country roads. So riders take to path systems and frequently ride in packs to alleviate the boredom that comes from pedaling on monotonous trails. This helps path congestion as well – pedestrians need only condense to single file once, as a pack passes them, rather than a hundred times, as single riders pass.
Spandex Warriors in Iowa, as in many predominantly rural places, are different. There is little need to bother with city riding at all; the quiet highways and rural routes of the countryside are perfect for biking. So the Iowa cyclist is by nature an isolated and nomadic beast, often traveling alone or in groups of two or three. The independence to ride whenever and however one likes is appealing — though can prove dangerous in the case of breakdowns, occasional traffic, and unforeseen road hazards. This also makes it difficult to share route information or organize rides of any magnitude.
Thus, I propose the creation of The Spandex Warrior (henceforth, TSW), a magazine prototype and companion weblog. The hyper local journalistic publication will be written for and about all those bicycle fanatics in Johnson County, Iowa (and surrounding counties), who choose to spend their spare time bicycling despite weather conditions, silly appearance of cycling gear and the daunting threat of saddle sores. The goal of TSW is to foster a sense of community and camaraderie among local riders, to improve rider awareness of hazards, and to create a snapshot of local bike culture.


The Form

TSW will take form in two media. Primarily, it is to be an online publication. I will also produce a pilot magazine issue in order to increase public awareness of the site (and show off my design skills).For the purposes of this project, I will design the website, complete with at least a month’s worth of online content (some will overlap with the magazine).
Because of the nature of this project, my reporting style will be a blend of civic/service, citizen (blogging), explanatory, and “traditional” objective journalism. The bias of TSW will be toward bicycles and bicyclists, and (to the extent possible) nothing else.

Magazine
The meat of TSW magazine will consist of four 1,500-2,000 word articles on bicycle design, fashion and culture. I will also complete all text graphics, sidebars, informational descriptions and commentary.

Style and Fashion of the Bike World

The basic uniform of the bicyclist is pure Spandex. Padded shorts are a must. But every rider adds individual touches to his or her clothes – a lucky jersey from ten years ago, brand new Oakley glasses, a specific type of rearview mirror for the helmet and so on. Bike riders in general are determinedly tacky at all times but separate groups of riders are weird in different ways. This story will seek to understand the rationale behind wardrobe choice as well as trends in bike wear specific to Johnson
County.

Review of a local trail.
In this piece, I will ride and critique a local bicycling trail. This might be an expanded version of a shorter trail review posted on the TSW website. Here, I will include reviews of places to find the best food, bathrooms, mechanics et cetera, as well as interviews with riders along the route. This will tease to the photo section of TSW’s website. I stress that this piece is not to be an ephemeral synopsis of events; rather an attempt at sharing what it might be like to experience a bike trail and note which type of rider (mountain, touring) it would serve best.

Bicycle legislation analysis
Currently, there are several major bicycle legislations in the works, especially in regard to rider insurance liability on large tours such as RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). Are these bills in the best interest of riders or large insurance corporations? Who is behind the push for legislation? What can local riders do to ensure their rights to free access to quality trails and roads? This article will answer these questions and more.

Bike fad – Critical Mass bike rides hit Iowa City
In several large cities across the United States, Critical Mass bicycling has been popular for some time. Participants in this event converge (often in the middle of the city, at some important intersection, or other notable location) in order to draw attention to how unfriendly the city is to bicyclists. By definition there are no leaders of a Critical Mass ride, and no rules beyond a set meeting time and place. This last September, Iowa City riders “organized” their first of such events – who (or what group) instigated this protest? Have Iowa City leaders addressed the bicycle friendliness of downtown Iowa City? Why hasn’t Critical Mass reached Iowa City more quickly? And when will they return? Do bicyclists in Iowa City carry enough political heft to change a city ordinance? What drives cyclists to attend these monthly events (and what will happen to these riders come wintertime)?

Website

TSW’s website will take the form of a blog, with weekly (sometimes more frequent) updates. Some web content will be summarized and included in the monthly magazine, as noted below.

The Stories

This is the main content of the blog. I will write 200-400 word articles on a weekly basis and post them on the site. Four separate topics: trail reviews, fashion commentary, the culture of the Spandex Warrior and miscellaneous (how-to repairs, pending legislation, tips for seasonal riding, product reviews, et cetera). Some of these stories will form the basis of the longer printed magazine articles.

Maps
The most adventurous Spandex Warriors need no maps. For those of us who need direction on occasion, I will create three. First, a map of Johnson County with various routes outlined. Small “pins” a la Google Maps will be placed in the graphic at various points, describing difficulty of terrain, commentary on scenery and the like. Readers can write in and make notes of their own, or suggest new routes.
Rider safety is of utmost importance. This map will be geared (pun intended) toward bike commuters, detailing current metro (Iowa City/Coralville/North Liberty/Solon) road construction and road hazards. This data will be culled from government construction updates, my own experiences and reader input.
The final map ties in with the stories described in the previous section. With every story, I will take photos and chart their locations. Readers will be encouraged to submit their own ride pictures and captions.
All maps will be interactive and allow for reader comments and additions (photos, notes, et cetera). Maps of planned construction and one of the month’s featured routes will be published in the magazine edition of TSW.

Bike Photo of the Day
In this way I will gradually build a photo essay of typical bicycling life. Every day (for the purposes of this project, the duration of spring semester 2009) I will ride my bike and take photos. I will select one that I feel particularly captures my bicycling experience – extreme weather, breakdowns, notable scenery, odd objects sighted along trips, et cetera – and write a brief caption (100 or so words) describing the event. The purpose of this photo collection is to promote an awareness of a visible bicycling culture. As the online community develops, I will call for reader submissions in addition to my own contributions. In my mind, the gradual accrual of photos is the most realistic way to paint this picture, as it is similar to the way in which we make memories. An RSS feed of this feature will be available, and one bonus photo each month will be selected to run in the magazine edition of TSW.

Calendar
In short, riders are more likely to participate in group rides when they know the rides exist. TSW’s calendar will be an aggregate of local bicycling events. Readers can submit listings, and I will cull information from local bike organizations and their websites. The calendar will be printed in the magazine edition of TSW for the purposes of this project: April.

Gas Savings Index
For the frugal cyclist. According to a 2005 ABC News Poll, (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Traffic/Story?id=485098&page=1) commuters drive an average of 32 miles each day. Using this information, up-to-date oil prices and average vehicle gas consumption figures, I will estimate weekly how much money one saves by riding to work rather than driving. The last month’s summary, in chart form, will be included in the print edition. Inspired by a novelty shirt given me by my roommate.

Discussion Forum
Here, riders can discuss various bicycling topics. Again, this will help develop a sense of bicycling community.

Resources
Links to helpful bicycling related websites. As with most magazines, ads will be the primary form of revenue generation and will be accepted from locally owned businesses and organizations.

Reflective Essay

The Reflective Essay will be approximately 1,000 words long and focus primarily on the lessons I will learn through the course of preparing the project. I foresee this to include much on the subject of web and print design, as those are the areas in which I have the most to learn. It will also consider any common themes/trends my reportage may yield and speculate on their relevance to Johnson County, IA culture as a whole.

Timeline
A tentative timeline.

October 2008
Complete proposal. Form committee.

November
Committee approval of project by the first week of this month. Work on reading list. Sketch out website. Begin preliminary reporting.

December
Continue reporting. Develop template for print edition, complete basic website.

January 2009
Web updates start immediately upon the start of spring semester. Prepare rough drafts of legislation and trail review articles and submit to Chair for editing. Publish short version on site, draft longer version for magazine.

February
Prepare rough drafts of fashion and critical mass articles and submit to Chair for editing. Revise and supplement legislation and trail review articles as requested by Chair.

March
Revise and supplement fashion and critical mass articles as requested by chair. Final drafts of extended stories. Make necessary arrangements to publish pilot issue.

April
Finishing touches. Finish layout for print publication. Publish magazine. Defend project.





Literature Review
All of the literature I will read for this project can be placed in at least one of three main categories: bicycles, publication design and Johnson County affairs.

Bicycles

Books
Donaldson, Doug. Bicycling Magazine’s Guide to Bike Touring: Everything You Need to Know to Travel Anywhere on a Bike. Rodale, 2005.
An easy to read guide to traveling by bike.

Hurst, Robert. The Art of Cycling: a guide to bicycling in 21st-century America. Guilford, Conn: Falcon Guides, 2007.
To help put my project in context – bicycling in the US vs. bicycling in Iowa.

Lovett, Richard A. The Essential Touring Cyclist: A Complete Guide for the Bicycle Traveler, Second Edition. Ragged Mountain Press, 2001.
A more in-depth approach, with information on longer-distance riding.

McMullan, Rory. Biking to work. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Pub. Co., 2007/2008.
I assume many who bike for recreation on the weekend and evening also ride to work. If they don’t, they should. I want to have as much information as I can as I begin to write about this cause.

Morgan, Bob. Biking Iowa: 50 great road trips and trail rides. Madison, WI: Trails Books, 2006.
This will serve as a great resource as I begin to review nearby trails.

Pirsig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. William Morrow and Company, 1974.

Sidwells, Chris. Bicycle repair manual. New York: DK, 2008.
Just in case.

Blogs
http://askwobg.blogspot.com/ Ask a Wise Old Bike Guy – As the name suggests, lots of information and tips from a seasoned biker.

http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/ - Tips for bike commuters, as compiled by some guy from Sacramento. It appears he does a pretty thorough job keeping his blog up to date on bike legislation, tips etc.

http://www.bikewebsite.com/rprper.html A website about what it’s like to be a bicycle repairperson.

Magazines
Bicycling Magazine. Every Spandex Warrior I know reads this magazine. I will read this monthly publication to track fads, styles and new technology in the popular bike world. One column in specific that I will focus on is the Style Man column – monthly bike fashion critique.

Cycling Plus. Another popular bicycle magazine. Supposedly with more in-depth content than Bicycling. I have yet to receive my first issue, so we’ll see.

Print. A US magazine covering the newest trends in graphic design.

Publication Design
Goodman, Allison. The 7 Essentials of Graphic Design. Cincinnati: How Design Books, 2001.
To enhance my basic understanding of the formalities of graphic design.

Hoekman, Robert. Designing the moment: Web interface design concepts in action. Berkeley: New Riders, 2008.
This will help with various aspects of my web project. I have almost no experience in web design.

Poynor, Rick. No more rules: graphic design and postmodernism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003.
Sometimes it helps me to focus on a particular area of study when attempting to learn about a broad subject or discipline.

White, Jan V. Editing by design: for designers, art directors, and editors: the classic guide to winning readers. New York: Allworth Press, 2003.
I will edit the content I present to my readers, and will need to be prepared to make appropriate choices.

Johnson County Affairs
F.I.R.S.T. pedestrian & bike map. Created and designed by Haberecht & Assoc. Iowa City, IA: distributed by Friends of the Iowa River Scenic Trails (F.I.R.S.T.), 1996.

http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/IA_Johnson.htm
Oftentimes, the savvy journalist’s first stop.

www.Johnson-county.com Provides information about government departments, agendas and minutes, county facts, calendar, forms and office hours and locations.



And of Course, Local Newspapers
Daily Iowan
Des Moines Register
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Iowa City Press-Citizen
I have included these newspapers, though arguably I should be monitoring these sources whether reporting for this project or otherwise….

Hi everyone!
I designed the front page for the Daily Iowan today! It was kind of rushed, since the stories didn't come in until late, but I think it still came out pretty good anyway! I attached a file of an image of the front page so you can see it, or just look at the paper today!
Love
Andrea

Hi!
It turns out I'm doing the layout for the entire Sports section today - so if there are any errors in the Sports page tomorrow you'll know who to blame! Though I don't think there'll be any problems :) nice to start adding lots of pages to my portfolio!
Your favorite daughter,
Andrea

--
Andrea Parrott

External Relations
Graduate College

Graduate Student
School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Here is an updated version of my class/school schedule!

Monday
Publication Design 6:30 - 10:00
Tuesday
TA Meeting 12:00 - 1:00
Writing Assistance Hours in Resource Center 1:00 - 2:00
Lecture: Media & Consumers (the class that I TA for) 2:30 - 3:20
Wednesday
Work at Graduate College 9:00 - 2:00
Page layout at Daily Iowan 5:30 - 11:30
Thursday
Work at Graduate College 9:00 - 2:00
Lecture: Media & Consumers 2:30 - 3:20
Page layout at Daily Iowan 5:30 - 11:30
Friday
Teach Discussion Section for Media & Consumers 12:30 - 1:20

A little better! But still a busy schedule! Hopefully though now I will have a less hectic Tuesday/Thursday and I'll be able to survive!!
Love
Andrea

hi mom!
sorry we didn't get a chance to call back last night - michael needed the internet to do homework and my computer wasn't connecting (german internet is weird!!!). happily, everything else is going smoothly, and i am about to head out the door for the airport! we had a great time on our little road trip, though i think i spent every last penny i had. it was worth it! i guess i'll wait until i'm in iowa to tell you more, but hopefully that should be soon. i'm planning on stopping home after i return to town - gotta get heli belly if nothing else!!!
can't wait to see you!
love
andrea

The Restorer

Everyone knows that plastic, cans, glass, cardboard and paper can be recycled in curbside bins or at recycling centers around town. But what if you want to recycle your house?

Ask Mande Butler, founder of ReStore in Iowa City, which accepts donations of wood, windows, unused cans of paint, light fixtures, cabinets, even kitchen sinks! In general, just about any household fixtures and building materials in good condition are likely to be welcome at the not-for-profit store.

Butler developed the ReStore idea after working for AmeriCorps and Habitat for Humanity, where she noticed that good materials were going unused: A large proportion of perfectly useable donations from contractors and local residents did not meet Habitat’s requirement of all-new materials for its homes. Inspired partly by a ReStore she’d visited in Asheville, NC, she drew up plans for one in Iowa City in 2004, when she was 25, and opened it a year later.

“Iowa City residents are very thoughtful and considerate when it comes to how their community functions,” Butler said, “and I wanted to help that consideration by providing an easy and fun way of helping the environment and consumers be a little more responsible in their actions.”

Butler said she is often impressed by the items local residents donate: an “adorable retired farmer,” she said, “took down his barn piece by piece so we could get good barn wood, which sells really well.” Even the scrap came in handy for a youth group – they made bird houses.

Her estimation of the locals seems to have proven correct: In 2007 alone, ReStore diverted 80 tons of material from the Johnson County Landfill and served 5,000 customers, with any proceeds going to the Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity.

And Butler earns not only a living as manager of the operation, but also immense gratification from the venture. “I get to watch the whole journey of that stuff coming from a good place and going to a good place,” she said. “Pretty cool.”

— Andrea P

The Bird


Duchess the Great Horned Owl could teach your child his or her next important lesson about the environment.

Each year, Duchess travels with staff from the Iowa Raptor Project to make about 50 of the 380 presentations (to schools, businesses and other organizations) to educate the public on raptors in their environment.

Though she doesn’t say much, Duchess always attracts attention. “The kids always love Duchess,” said Jodeane Cancilla, “when they see the owl, they sort of go ‘oooo!’ I think it’s the eyes.”

Duchess does have striking eyes – one bright yellow and one a little more opaque – in her old age she has developed a cataract. She also has one lame wing, due to a fractured right wrist she received fifteen years ago after an unfortunate tangle with a power line. Thus, Duchess cannot return to the wild, as some of her fellow birds at the Raptor Center will someday be able to do.

So, rather than be cooped up in a cage for the remainder of her life (some owls in captivity can live more than twenty years), Duchess became a part of the presentation circuit. Since she is such an iconic figure in the program, students pay close notice to her and her human companion, thus making their message more effective.

— Andrea P

Raise your own tree-hugger
By Andrea P

Global warming, extinction, water pollution, smog .... Environmental issues can at times be threatening or overwhelming, especially to children. So how should an enterprising guardian teach kids about the Earth without scaring the bejeezus out of them?
Simply put: get outside. Create a garden in your backyard. Or plant a butterfly garden and check out an insect identification book from the library.
Some hardy plants that will do well in the heat of the Iowa summer: Marigolds, tomatoes, daisies, tiger lillys, pumpkins, green beans, sweet corn, four o'clocks and raspberries.
Sometimes, the simple mantra Reduce Reuse Recycle is enough to engross kids in the cause. Recycling bins can be obtained at City Hall free of charge for curbside recycling. Or take a trip to a recycling center. Those around Iowa City include: Iowa City Landfill & Recycling Center, 3900 Hebl Ave.; Hy-Vee, 1201 North Dodge St.; Drug Town, 301 N. First Ave.; Eastdale Plaza, First Avenue and Lower Muscatine; City Carton Co., 3 East Benton St.
For those who wish to venture farther from home, there are many parks and recreational areas in and around Iowa City. Guardians with a busy summer schedule might want to consider enrolling children in outdoor day camps, such as those sponsored by the Raptor Project.

A little bird told me
By Andrea P

Zorro the American Kestrel is way out of his element. Were he a normal raptor, he would be soaring over Iowa's fields and prairies.
Instead, he is in front of the fifth grade classes of Hoover Elementary School in West Branch, Iowa.
Yet Zorro is in control of the situation. Every child's eyes follow the 8-inch-tall bird as he flicks his tail and hops jauntily onto the arm of Jodeane Cancilla, executive director of the Iowa Raptor Project. Save for one drooping wing, the result of an accident in the wild about 15 years ago, the pearled brown bird is the picture of health. And the center of attention — every child is sitting silent and still as Cancilla begins to speak.
This is one of the 380 lectures the Raptor Project, funded jointly by Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids and the Recreation Services Department at The University of Iowa, puts on each year. The project, and those like it, are part of a movement that is changing the way Iowa's educators approach environmental learning. If successful, the method, called Place-Based Education, will transform the way a whole generation of Iowans views the environment.
In the past, the most popular way to instruct children about the outdoors was to teach indoors, according to Dr. Christy Moroye, assistant professor and specialist in environmental education. Chemistry experiments, memorization of textbooks, the collection of data on weather patterns, and other pursuits based on the scientific method, were (and in many cases, still are) standard.
Teach the children
But as the sustainable development and conservation movements find their footing in the mainstream, merely telling children they should love the environment is not enough. A result is Place-Based Education, which focuses on teaching kids about sustainability and conservation through encounters with the creatures with which they share their world. The theory states that through interactions with their habitat, children will develop a love for the environment, and thus a desire to help sustain and nurture it in whatever ways possible.
"With the birds the kids can relate the lessons to real life," said Cancilla. "They can see it and put the pieces together and care about their surroundings instead of just driving down the road."
These children care about what Cancilla has to say. They are riveted on her words, motionless until she asks for questions, whereupon almost every hand is raised. The sudden movement does not ruffle Zorro, though he immediately appears more alert, and emits a soft screech. The kids ask relevant, concerned questions. His wing looks hurt, what do you have to do to make it better? How long until it heals? What should I do if I find a hurt raptor on the ground? Many children know the names and injuries of several other raptors at the center, and ask after their health.
Later, Cancilla introduces the class to Duchess, the Great Horned Owl. She is much more imposing than Zorro, standing about 20 inches tall, with binocular yellow eyes and powerful talons. Her left wing is held akimbo, the result of flying into a power line many years ago.
This is Place- Based Education at its best. The children can learn to love the world outdoors by interacting with Zorro and Duchess, and at the same time they must come face-to-face with issues of the health and well being of these birds. When Cancilla explains how humans can minimize their impact on raptors' habitat, they listen. If the theory holds true, these fifth graders will be more likely to want to make environmentally sound choices in the future.
Take A Hike
It is worth noting that Place-Based Education is not limited to animals — habitats can also be an effective teaching tool.
At Soaring Eagles Nature Center in Clinton County, Naturalist Chuck Jacobsen teaches children about the environment at the center's 40 acres of forest and restored tall grass prairie.
To get messages across to younger generations, Jacobsen said, one must avoid sounding preachy or threatening.
"Our approach to education about pollution is directed at the students’ ability to effect some change," he said. "We don't harp on the troubles the planet faces but rather first those of the students' backyard, then neighborhood, town, county, state, country and finally world."
At Soaring Eagles Nature Center, the children catch insects on the prairie, fish in the pond and go hiking through the forest. During these excursions, Jacobsen leads them in simple activities for improving the quality of their natural surroundings, hoping to shape a mindset of action. In this way, children come to realize that, although they are but a small part of the earth, their efforts can contribute to large-scale change.
Still, not every child gets the opportunity to experience Place-Based Education through the public school system. Though environmental education is required by the state of Iowa, there are no set regulations for what specifically must be taught. Each school district determines what is to be included and how. Because of No Child Left Behind laws, districts often have focused instead on subjects sure to be on the states' standardized tests, relegating environmental education to one science class period on Earth Day or Arbor Day.
"Many of the concepts that can be taught to large groups of students to meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act do not develop the creative skills or the problem- solving skills as well as studies that have integrated environmental education," said Bradley Freidhof, naturalist with the Johnson County Conservation Board.
If education about the environment is taught on only a few days of the year, or confined to a sterile biology lecture, it is unlikely to produce young environmentalists. Place-Based learning theorists seek to foster children's sense of the importance of sustaining their surroundings and preserving the world around them. If this teaching method is correct, environmental lessons must be woven into every part the curriculum in order to translate into greater overall academic success.
A plan in action
Such a shift is already under way in many Iowa schools. In the Iowa City Community School District, two high-performance schools have been built to rigorous environmental design standards: James Van Allen Elementary School, completed in 2005, and North Central Junior High School, completed in 2006. These standards — meeting Silver LEED certification — require maximum quality of space while minimizing costs, maintenance and environmental impact. Geothermic systems heat and cool the building and the urinals in the boys' bathrooms require no water. Natural sunlight illuminates almost every room through skylights, giving the structure a glowing ambiance.
On Feb. 29, Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, toured Van Allen Elementary, peppering Principal Brad Laures and two members of student government with questions: How does this work? Do you mind not having paper towels in the bathroom? How much water do these measures save?
A teacher asks her class: "Our building is special, do you know why?"
And they all respond, "The lights! Recycled furniture! The heater!" In this building, sometimes the students educate the adults.
Though the lights pulse on and off, depending on the levels of brightness coming through the skylights, students take no notice. To them, environmentally sound architecture is becoming a way of life.
Loebsack is learning the environmental lesson as well: on March 27, he introduced the Green Schools Improvement Act in the House of Representatives, which would provide $2 billion to states for environmentally friendly improvements to old schools and toward building new green schools.
As with all legislation, the act must pass its way through the governmental pipeline before even preliminary steps can be taken, but its introduction is a start.
A call to action
A half hour after opening up discussion, Jodeane Cancilla is still answering questions from Hoover Elementary fifth-graders. She has placed Zorro back in his small wooden box, and has Duchess on her arm.
"OK, time for one last question," she says, selecting a boy from the back row.
"How good is Duchess' hearing? If I tap my foot on the floor from all the way back here, *tap tap tap* could she hear it?" Tap tap tap tap tap! Before Cancilla can answer the room is filled with the soft patter of three-dozen sneakers.
"Before I can answer your question," says Cancilla, "I'm going to wait until everyone is comfortable and quiet." The room falls silent. "Thank you. Both Duchess and Zorro can hear your tapping shoes, and almost every move you make. Sometimes lots of movement makes them nervous, so it's best to be very still."
No one squirms for the rest of the session, including the teachers. The only sounds are Cancilla's voice and the occasional hoot from Duchess.

HAARP Live from Wembley Stadium

**** out of *****

It is a good thing Muse band members Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard are such conspiracy buffs; the only way their excellent new live concert recording CD/DVD, HAARP, will ever become popular in the United States is through grassroots methods popular among Bigfoot followers, UFO sighters and Ron Paul supporters. Without these campaigns not only will this CD never become commercially profitable, but it may have even doomed the band's chances at increased or continued success in the United States.

Please, do not get the wrong impression. For aficionados of the British band, HAARP is an excellent album. Many of Muse's most popular songs are included, but "Falling Away With You," notoriously never played in concert is still absent from the live lineup. The songs, taken from the band's four studio CDs (Showbiz, Origins of Symmetry, Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations), are played if not with energy and enthusiasm, then at least at a slightly up-tempo pace.

In many cases, the pieces are so precisely played as to sound spot on to the studio recordings. And herein lies the problem - they are almost too good. One of the greatest values of a live show is to hear the artists' slight interpretations and spontaneous variances. HAARP's case is no different. Bassist Wolstenhome's improvisations on "Supermassive Black Hole" and Bellamy's extended keyboard arpeggios on "Butterflies and Hurricanes" are what add this quality to the album and make it valuable. However, the original albums were themselves so intricate and grandiose that the uninitiated might not notice or appreciate the extra adornments. This type of listener might get more for her or his dollar by downloading the original cuts from the various albums on iTunes.

There are also no new songs on HAARP. This means Muse is not planning to tour any time soon. Most likely not until after their next CD is planned to be released (sometime in late 2008 or early 2009), since it is unlikely that most would want to pay for a reenactment of a CD of that same live performance. Tours are one of the best ways for bands to gain fans and also one of a band's most profitable outlets.

Especially in recent months, Muse hasn't had much radio airtime - their most recent spot on the Billboard top 200 was in 2006, at ninth place. Without new songs, HAARP won't change that and stations will be wary of playing songs similar to those that had just dropped off the charts. Without tours or airplay casual fans of Muse may succumb to the notorious American short attention span. It is almost silly even for a talented band on the rise such as Muse to stay out of the airwaves and touring circuit for so long.

Shame on Muse for putting out such an excellent album and then putting so little effort into grassroots marketing. Bellamy's talents have been compared frequently to Radiohead vocalist Thom Yorke. It is unfortunate that the comparison cannot be drawn into the realm of music distribution. Especially in a time when counter intuition in the music industry is so popular (see: Madonna, Trent Reznor, et cetera), and when they really have no innovative information to give the consumer.

In ancient Greek mythology, the Muses were a group of goddesses who personify the arts and give artistic inspiration through their own music, acting and dance. It is time for Muse to step into the role of its namesake and set an example for the artistic community worldwide. The band members should be on the cutting edge to inspire new ways of marketing and promoting their product.

- by Andrea P, special to The Daily Iowan

i left the apartment for one minute, and this is what happened - heli pooped on the floor and tried to hide it under my camera case.... dirty dog!
-andrea

Reaction to Machiavelli’s “The Prince”

Andrea
14 September 2007
19:140

Upon completion of “The Prince,” I was immediately struck by how little faith Machiavelli held in the human race. He himself called men “ungrateful, voluble, dissemblers, anxious to avoid danger and covetous of gain (p. 83).” Later in the same paragraph he encourages Princes to kill a subject’s family member rather than steal since “men forget more easily the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.” This makes humans seem so despicable that it makes one wonder why it would be desirable in any way to rule them.
However, I changed my mind after reading the excerpt for a second time. It seems to me that he cannot believe that the human race is as stupid and base as he makes it out to be. He obviously wants his Prince to care about his public image – the ruler should be feared but not hated, miserly with his own goods yet generous with the spoils of battle, et cetera. Machiavelli himself says the Prince must “seem to be all mercy, faith, integrity, humanity and religion (p. 85).” There is no reason for a ruler to make such an effort to appear so good if his subjects are pitiful, stupid and horrible.
So if he does indeed value the opinions of the people, why such a tough demeanor? Machiavelli lived in Italy during a time of great political turmoil. Kings were ousted and reinstated quite frequently, and he himself was exiled for a period. Perhaps he felt that the only way for a ruler to survive in such a cutthroat political environment was to be cutthroat himself. As they say, when in Rome….