Water supply requires a new solution

In an August 30th press release, the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change promised to address the relationship between climate change and water supply in more detail.
The IPCC says that the sustainability of water resources is a serious issue.
Dr. Pachauri says that a major challenge for scientists is whether catastrophic droughts and floods are changing.
On a global scale, pollution from certain regions - in particular soot from local sources - could affect local, regional, and larger scale weather according to the IPCC.
Global warming, increasing populations, and urbal sprawl are some of the reasons for water shortages.
Some regions have already felt the 'draught' of this problem such as sub-Saharan Africa. But water shortages will not only affect poorer areas according to a 2006 BBC News story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4796909.stm). A report released that year by the WWF (a global environmental conservative organization) wealthier countries continue to waste water while using the water of developing countries. The report also said that it is up to wealthier countries to use their money and resources to preserve fresh water supplies.
Check out the blog "A New Green Earth" for more information.
http://anewgreenearth.com/

Clarify! Clarify! Clarify!

Having spent two years looking at material and following developments in the single-sex education debate, I would like to discuss this issue further. Fatima Goss Graves, Senior Counsel at National Women's Law Center, addresses my blog on womenstake.com. http://nwlc.blogs.com/womenstake/2007/10/heroes-villains.html Here are some of my responses to Ms. Graves' comments.
First, on an earlier blog, I made a comment that I felt that women were on both sides of this issue. I meant to point out that those that support and those that oppose the movement feel that they are doing what is best for young girls. I did not intend for it to sound as if the NWLC or the AAUW were against all single-sex classes.
Second, yes, I agree that the evidence in favor of single-sex education is not strong. There are many studies in schools at the elementary and middle school level. But there are very few studies that are school-wide or state-wide. That is why I feel that Chadwell's work is so important. Check out this Associated Press article on Chadwell http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071001/ap_on_re_us/single_gender_classes This program would be the first statewide initiative of single-sex classes. I appreciate Ms. Graves' comments about the stereotyped instruction referred to in the AP article. I do think that this could be the first program of serious significance in single-sex education.
Third, thank you Ms. Graves for responding to my blog, which I started for an assignment in a journalism class. No matter which side of the fence anyone is on, a female president would take the country in an interesting direction.

Great news for New York!

Check out these articles for more information(http://www.nyfb.org/nyfbnews/2007/pr071207.htm), (http://www.dec.ny.gov/environmentdec/36566.html).
It seems that the government is starting to recognize the importance of sustainable agriculture in our changing world. Recently Governor Spitzer signed a bill to increase revenue to the state's Environmental Protection Fund from $225 million to $250 million in the 2008-09 fiscal year, and to $300 million in fiscal year 2009-10. The bill was first passed by the legislation and sent to the governor. But how will this affect the farm industry?
Jeff Williams, Deputy Director of Public Policy for the New York Farm Bureau, says this effort is the first step in government legislation that will allow more resources and opportunities for farmers. Hopefully the government will begin to recognize the importance of preserving farmland and the relationship between farmland and tourism will improve. Some of this money will go towards farm education and research says Williams.
Williams says that farmers need more help to preserve the nation's lakes, streams and rivers.
The Farmland Protection Program, which helps keep farmland in agriculture for future generations. That program allows for local municipalities to purchase the development rights on farms.
The legislature also approved increased funding for Agricultural Non-Point Source Abatement programs, which helps protect waterways from manure runoff.
Farmers access this funding to help pay for facilities that store manure over winter months, eliminating the need to spread nutrients on frozen farmland which could then runoff into waterways.
This has been an important effort for the farming community, especially in the New York City Watershed area, where clean water efforts are critical says Williams. Farmers access this funding to help pay for facilities that store manure over winter months, eliminating the need to spread nutrients on frozen farmland which could then runoff into waterways according to the New York Farm Bureau.
This bill will also influence the EPF's pollution prevention efforts which is another important topic in today's world says Williams.
Spitzer will continue to be a green advocate! This is great news for New Yorkers!

With a female president, what will the election bring for single sex schools?

I find myself wondering what this new Presidential election will bring for single-sex public schools. With a strong female candidate with the party lead, the debate over single sex schools is becoming heated.
On the state level, individual states are getting involved. There are pockets of single-sex schools across the country. Most are in the highly populated northeast and west coast. As well as large midwest cities and several in the south. Check out last week's blog for more details about individual state legislation. Nationally, the new regulations added to No Child Left Behind in 2006 have made it easier for schools to transiton into single-sex programs. Almost all solely single-sex public schools are girls schools at the middle school and high school level. There are a few all-boys public schools in Philadelphia, a city with a long tradition of single-sex education.
Interestingly, studies have consistently shown that girls do significantly better in single-sex classes while boys do somewhat better. No matter the grade level, girls excell in these classrooms. Check out the National Association for Single Sex Public Education website for some statistics (http://www.singlesexschools.org/home.php). Many women in power have gotten behind this education revolution. The very liberal Hillary Clinton is behind this new movement. She along with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland have been called the three advocates for the movement in Congress. So why are some women not getting on the single-sex bandwagon?
On the other side of the coin, the biggest oponents of the debate are women's interest groups such as the American Association of University Women and the National Women's Law Center. Both groups are shouting the 'segregation card' trying to get others behind their cause. They feel that the gender seperation is just another form of discrimination. They are of a generation of women that grew up with the changes of Title IX. They fought long and hard to have the same opportunities as boys. And they don't want to fight another segregation battle.
So it seems that women are the heroes and villians of this cause.

New pioneers in single-sex ed

A new update in single-sex public education. The article touches upon some interesting observations made by Chadwell, the 'new pioneer' in the field. I found them interesting, but I am not sure I really agree with them. After teaching for 3 years in an all-girls school I find that girls respond mostly to the variety of activities. For example, completing a quiet activity one day and the next getting out of their desks, and working in groups. But regardless of the specific learning styles of each sex, Chadwell pinpoints the vital point of this debate. If schools implement a single-sex program in classrooms, teachers need to be aware of the learning styles of each sex. Training is key as Chadwell comments. The article also makes a good point, single sex classrooms have been proven sucessful at the middle school level. There is no significant evidence at other levels. With a very balanced perspective, Seanna Adcox, an Associate Press writer, gives the other perspective on this topic. The article also touches upon the current regulations for single-sex classes in the No Child Left Behind legislation. This article is definitely worth checking out if you are interetsed in the topic: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071001/ap_on_re_us/single_gender_classes

Am I really paying $5/pound for fruit from my own backyard?

So after a few weeks of team-tagging the local farmers market, my husband I have it down to a tee. As the summer season winds down, the lines are getting shorter. This past weekend, we made a trip to good old Red Hook to visit the folks. As I was standing in the kitchen and looking out at the backyard and the orchard beyond, my mother commented on the local farms. They had stopped selling their produce locally, she said, and she wondered why. We had just discussed my latest trip to the farmers market. (My parents love to laugh about the crazy stories we tell them of living in Westchester: trips to the $10 movies, spending $100 a week on groceries. Having left New Jersey and Long Island behind 25 years ago, the high prices and crazy traffic seem like another world to my parents.) So back to the convo in the kitchen. I nonchalantly asked about the orchard that touches our backyard, since my mind has been on this topic for class. Putting two and two together, the four of us figured out that Mead farms, the one in our backyard, was the same farm that packed up their produce and trucked over to the Westchester farmers markets. To my amazement, I was paying pretty extravagant prices (according to my parents) for fruit coming from, literally, my own backyard! Another angle for my final project perhaps? The redistribution of produce according to population.

Farmer's Markets: future investment or economic guffaw?

I felt like a linebacker running back and forth between the hundreds of people while my husband waited on the thirty-person line, sheepishly wondering why I always talk him into venturing to the Pleasantville farmers market. But I was off, grabbing for that piece of organic bread, this strawberry pie, or that cup of homemade lobster bisque. My usual friendly bravado was gone. It was almost 11 and they were selling out fast. This is serious. Do I really feel healthier eating a hamburger born, raised, and grazed in upstate New York? How high is too high of a price? Somehow I feel that by going the extra mile, or 5 in my case, and spending the extra dollar, I help out local farmers and eat healthier. I think that many Americans feel the same way.