may 2015 voices of central pennsylvania
DESCRIPTION
IN THIS ISSUE: Ethics - Always a big decision | Ferguson in historical perspective | Stop adding apartments | Weather Ranger’s wet outlook for Happy Valley | Spring cleaning | Local quality-control startup poised for growth | Herbal spring tonics | Poet: Margie Gaffron | The joy of a baker | The LAGuide | The folks behind folk music, part II | New Leaf Initiative | Whitey Blue | The chickadee | Sustainable farming for healthTRANSCRIPT
VOICESOF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
Thoughtful. Fearless. Free.
IN THIS ISSUE: Ethics - Always a big decision | Ferguson in historical perspective | Stop adding apartments | Weather Ranger’s wet outlook for Happy Valley | Spring cleaning | Local quality-control startup poised for growth | Herbal spring tonics | Poet: Margie Gaffron | The joy of a baker | The LAGuide | The folks behind folk music, part II | New Leaf Initiative
| Whitey Blue | The chickadee | Sustainable farming for health
May2015 Issue #216
Forest bathing - “take two hikes and call me in the morning”
pg. 16
Gemelli Bakers pg. 15
NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT INCREASES RADIATION RISKS
Biking in Pa.pg. 17
A true Mother’s Day gift - nix the flowers and show us the money
pg. 3
Pg. 4
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IN THIS ISSUE
2 — PAGE TWO: Ethics - always a big decision
3 — A Mother’s Day gift: equal and better pay
4 — Natural gas development increases radiation risks
6 — Ferguson in historical perspective
8 — Stop adding apartments
9 — Weather Ranger’s wet outlook for Happy Valley
10 — Spring cleaning
11 — Local quality-control startup poised for growth
12 — Herbal spring tonics
14 — Poet: Margie Gaffron
15 — Restaurant of the month
15 — The joy of a baker
16 — Forest bathing
17 — Biking in Central Pa.
18 — The LAGuide
19 — The folks behind folk music, part II
20 — New Leaf Initiative
20 — Whitey Blue
22 — The chickadee
23 — Sustainable farming for health
EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITOR IN CHIEFMarilyn Jones
LAYOUTLuciano [email protected]
COPY EDITORKatherine Watt
OPERATIONSAdvertising Manager
Linda Meek
Circulation ManagerKevin Handwerk
WebmasterBill Eichman
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PresidentElaine Meder-Wilgus
Vice PresidentArthur Goldschmidt Jr.
SecretaryChip Mefford
TreasurersPeter Morris & Jesse Barlow
2 | PAGE TWO
Thoughtful. Fearless. Free. © 2015 Voices of Central Pennsylvania Inc. May 2015, Issue #216
Christine Dua, one of our interns, interviewed me last week for a class she had on the topic of ethics in journalism. She asked me if I had any big ethical decisions that I had to make over the years. Well, nothing I had done sounded “big” to me, but as I began thinking about it, I realized that journalists and writers make ethical decisions every time they write.
Little words can hold big sway. For example, if I am writing about research Ms. Smith did and I say, “Smith insisted her statistics proved her theory to be correct,” reads a lot different than, “Smith said her statistics proved her theory to be correct,” or Smith implied her statistics prove her theory to be correct.” Just one little word can suggest an entirely different meaning
than was intended by the person being interviewed.
If I interview a gentleman who tells me about his childhood and says many wonderful things about his family and only makes one negative comment about them, I can write it several different ways. I can include everything he tells me. I can leave out the negative comment and make his childhood seem ideal, or I can leave out all the good stuff and only state the one bad thing.
Every time someone does an interview or writes a story, he or she is making many ethical decisions. As an editor, deciding what to print is an ethical decision every time. What stories lend themselves to the mission of this paper? What stories seem relevant to the community? What stories do I pass on? What month do I
print them? What page do I put them on? Do I cut them?
Certainly, when describing a person or event, writers strive to stick to the facts, but as we can see, the facts are sometimes hard to pin down. This ethical conundrum challenges us every time we put pen to paper, and all we can do is try to honestly identify the truth in the clearest way we can see it.
DATELINE STATE COLLEGE: I want to welcome Luciano Sormani to our team as our new layout designer. Sormani is a graphic designer for print and web, and works in branding, advertising design, logo design, and other related fields, and is an instructor and online curator. We are really glad to have him! ■
Page Two: Ethics - always a big decision
MARILYN JONESEditor in Chief
| 3 May 2015
A Mother’s Day gift: equal and better payBy: SHARON BARNEY, Esq.
On May 10, people across the nation will make phone calls, send flowers, and go out for brunch to show appreciation on Mother’s Day. And while consumers will likely spend around $18 billion on the holiday this year to show their mothers they care, supporting equal pay for women and an increase to the minimum wage would have a more positive impact on mothers’ lives - especially for single moms.
“Our current employment policies are built for male workers without family obligations,” explains Justine Andronici, a local attorney who has worked nationally on issues related to equal pay and gender discrimination in the workplace. Today, women make up 47% of the nation’s workforce, and mothers are either the sole breadwinner or primary source of income in 40% of US families, according to the Pew Research Center. However, women make up the majority of the low-wage workforce, which impacts their annual incomes. Low-wage jobs are defined as paying $10.10 per hour or less, and some examples are home healthcare aides, cashiers, maids, fast-food workers, and childcare workers. Nationally, women make up two-thirds of the low-wage workforce, and in Pennsylvania, a working woman is 2.5 times more likely to be in a low-wage job than a working man. To avoid entering into a low-wage job, women would need to obtain a bachelor’s degree, while men would only need to obtain a high school diploma.
Low-wage working women also face a lack of access to paid sick days, difficulty paying and finding childcare, a lack of access to health insurance and reproductive health benefits, and a lack of retirement benefits. Single mothers face the toughest obstacles, with an annual median income of $26,000 per year and a poverty rate five times higher than married couples. The national average for childcare costs is over 40% of the state median income for a single mother, and childcare subsidies often have waitlists. If a child gets sick or an elder parent needs assistance, women are still responsible for caring for them, often taking time off work without pay.
In addition to low wages, gender discrimination in the workforce has a large impact on women’s wallets. In
1963, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act (EPA) into law, making it illegal to pay unequal wages based on gender. When the EPA was passed, women made a mere 59 cents to every dollar a man made. Forty years later, according to the 2013 American Community Survey, white women in full-time, year-round positions still only make 78 cents per dollar that a
white man makes. In Pennsylvania, white women make slightly less: 76.4 cents per dollar made by a man. The numbers are even worse for women of color in Pennsylvania: a black woman makes 69.3 cents per dollar, and Latinas make 54.9 cents per dollar.
Skeptics of the gender pay disparity argue that the statistic is a myth. They argue that men are more likely to work more than 40 hours per week, that staying home to raise children impacts women’s work experience, and that women are less likely to negotiate for higher salaries at the outset to increase their earning potential, which explains the wage discrepancy. They also argue that men take on jobs that are “riskier,” either more dangerous (like logging) or more financially
insecure, like finance jobs, which pay more to counteract the risk. Finally, they argue that women choose college majors that traditionally lead to lower-paying jobs, like sociology, rather than higher-paying ones, like engineering.
However, traditional views on gender roles lead to the cycle of financial insecurity for women. Working women may work fewer hours
each week because they are expected to take time off from work to care for the children and their elders. While more women have become primary breadwinners for their families, they are still saddled with more hours of housework and childcare per week than working men. “Until women are no longer penalized in the workforce for being women and caregivers, equal pay will remain elusive,” concludes Andronici.
Women who “lean-in” and strongly negotiate for a higher salary are often accused of being aggressive, bossy, and can be terminated for failure to fit into the culture of the workplace. Women in highly professional and “risky” jobs like law and finance still make less than their male counterparts in
the same positions and are less likely to be promoted to become CEOs and partners. And women are pressured from the time they are born that certain occupations are “male” while others are “female” through cultural cues, like boys being featured on Lego boxes instead of girls.
To counteract some of the damage of income inequality that exists between men and women, advocates are pushing legislators to pass the federal Paycheck Fairness Act and to increase federal and state minimum wages. The Paycheck Fairness Act would allow workers to share information regarding salaries and wages without retaliation, which would allow women to see if they were being paid less in their jobs than male counterparts. It would also allow workers to seek additional damages, including punitive damages, against employers who have discriminated based on gender. Finally, it would make it easier for workers to bring class action lawsuits to benefit all workers who are being injured by unlawful practices, rather than specific plaintiffs.
The push to increase the minimum wage would allow all workers with full-time positions to earn a living above the federal poverty guidelines. Currently, with the federal minimum wage set at $7.25 an hour, a mother working full-time with two children would have an annual income of only $15,080, well below the federal poverty line of $20,090 for a household of three. Advocates argue that an increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour would allow families to earn a reasonable living, would increase consumer spending and boost the economy, and would reduce taxes paid into subsidy programs that are necessary for people living in poverty.
While flowers, cards, and brunch are nice, working mothers would rather enjoy a paid day off, a higher salary, and financial security for themselves and their families. Appreciate your mother this year by telling your congressperson to support the Paycheck Fairness Act and an increase to the minimum wage.■
Sharon Barney practices immigration law, family law, employment law, and victim rights law in the Centre County region.
Photo by National Women’s Law Center
A state-by-state comparison of the gender pay gap.
4 | May 2015
On January 15, 2015, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released its “comprehensive” TENORM Report. TENORM stands for Technically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material, meaning human activity has changed the character of naturally occurring radiation. The 200-page report can be accessed on DEP’s official website.
For more than a year under the Corbett Administration, DEP was collecting information on radioactiv-ity connected to hydraulic fracturing and its byproducts. This past summer, Delaware Riverkeepers Network filed a Right-to-Know request to obtain the information that DEP had collected so that their expert could analyze the raw data. DEP refused to release the information, insisting that release of the “preliminary unvalidated data, including sample locations, could risk harm to the public’s health, pose a se-curity risk . . .and lead to erroneous and/or misleading characterizations of the levels and effects” of the radio-active risks.
The recent TENORM Report is the result of this collection of data and its analysis by DEP. The report uses carefully chosen words to downplay the risk in its Synopsis section. A full reading of the report, and DEP staff admit, that it demonstrates that the public and workers have an increased risk of radiation exposure from the development of natural gas. Radiation risks are present at almost every stage from well drilling, disposal of the enormous waste steam created by the industry, processing, compressing, distribution, storage and use of the gas.
End users of the gas receive 5.2% to 17.8% of their yearly radiation allow-ance from the use of unvented gas for heating and cooking, according to the report. DEP characterizes this signifi-cantly increased risk as a “small frac-tion” of the allowable yearly dose.
It should be noted that the “allow-able yearly dose” is set by federal agen-cies at the amount that we are likely to receive, not at what is safe. There is no safe level of exposure, accord-ing to Dr. Karl Morgan, the “father of Health Physics”. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledg-es, on its website, that even low doses
of radiation change blood chemistry. Radiation bio-accumulates in eco-systems and has a cumulative effect in the body, according to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
According to the TENORM Report, Marcellus Shale natural gas is laced with Radon-222. The EPA and American Lung Association (ALA) warn that radon causes lung cancer. The EPA & ALA list 21,000 deaths due to radon-caused lung cancer each year in the U.S. and over 221,000 new lung cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2015, accord-ing to the ALA’s fact sheet. Lung can-cer is the leading cancer killer of men and women; deaths due to lung cancer have increased about 3.5% between 1999 and 2012 (ALA fact sheet).
While Radon-222 has a short half-life as a gas, it decays into radioactive particulate “daughters” over 22 years until it reaches stable lead. The rele-vance of this fact is that these radio-active particulates coat the inside of distribution lines, trucks, processing equipment, furnaces and appliances. When opened for maintenance and repair, there are potential exposure
risks to workers and the public, ac-cording to the TENORM Report.
While the report comprehensively covers the processes from drilling to end users, the number of samples col-lected and analyzed are very sparse for a state-wide study. For example, only eight well sites were sampled during the flowback phase and of the eight samples, only four had enough volume to analyze. Of 14 drill mud samples collected, only five were an-alyzed as liquids and alpha & beta analysis was only done on one sample. To be fair, Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) were sampled in three rounds over seven months, but sedi-ment-impacted soil samples were only collected at three POTWs.
Though not exhaustive, here are some additional findings from the report:
1. “There are potential radiolog-ical environmental impacts from oil & gas fluids, if spilled. Radium should be added to the PA Spill Protocol to ensure cleanups are ad-equately characterized.”
2. “There are site specific circum-stances and situations where the use
of personal protective equipment by workers or other controls should be evaluated.”
3. “Filter cake [particulates that accumulate on filters] from facilities treating oil & gas wastes is a po-tential radiological environmental impact, if spilled, and there is also a potential long-term disposal issue. TENORM disposal protocols should be reviewed to ensure the safety of long-term disposal.”
4. A “limited potential” was found for “recreationalists” using roads treated with oil & gas “brine” from conventional natural gas wells. Further study of the radiological en-vironmental impacts from the use of this wastewater for dust control and de-icing should be conducted. The ef-fects on people who live beside these roads and on crops grown along these roads were not considered in the report. Further testing was recommended.
5. There was a significant differ-ence observed in the produced wa-ter from conventional and uncon-ventional oil & gas wells. Average
Natural gas development increasesBy: MELODY FLECK
Photo from the PA DEP TENORM Study ReportNatural Gas Radon Sampling Location.
| 5 May 2015
Radium-226 was approximately 25 times higher in produced water form unconventional wells.
6. For workers, some of the highest exposure rates measured were in the proximity of holding tanks for pro-duced water and wastewater trucks.
7. Without including normal back-ground radiation, a POTW workers could get 36.3% of their yearly al-lowable dose of radiation from their jobs. Individual worker exposure will depend on his/her job and exposure.
8. More testing is needed to identi-fy areas of contamination at waste-water treatment plants and land-fills, and any areas of contamination should be cleaned up.
9. The inside surfaces of gas distri-bution pipe lines and filter housings should be tested to evaluate worker exposure to radioactive accumulated particulates.
Hydraulic fracturing produces an enormous stream of waste by-prod-ucts. Safe disposal practices for the waste has not been devised. From 2007-2011, according to James M. Silva, produced water was being sent to POTWs, at which time DEP asked the production companies to volun-tarily cease this practice. Since 2011,
produced water is supposed to be sent to Class II disposal sites, such as the one in Youngstown, Ohio. Lately, a connection has been made between this type of disposal and earthquakes.
Currently, DEP allows radioactive waste from oil & gas to be deposited in landfills at a 1:50 dilution ration.
About 12 of Pennsylvania’s 50 landfills accept such waste. The dilution the-ory does nothing to render the waste safe, it just requires the radioactive waste to be mixed with other garbage so the radiation in each truckload is not too high. In 2011, 449,573 tons of radioactive waste entered PA landfills. In 2014, 430,317 tons of radioactive waste were deposited in PA landfills in the first 10 months of the year. The TENORM Report recommends “con-sidering” limiting radioactive effluent discharge from landfills and adding Radium-226 and Radium-228 to an-nual sample analysis of leachate from
landfills. According to Dr. Marvin Resnikoff,
an international expert on radiation, drilling companies and geologists lo-cate the Marcellus Shale layer by its higher level of radiation. An article by Kenneth Kemow, PhD, indicates that Marcellus Shale has 20 times higher
emissions than other uranium deposits (from “Geology”, a PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources publication, 2012). US Geological Survey research geologist, Mark Engle, has stated that the concentra-tion of Radium-226 (a decay product of uranium) can exceed 10,000 picocu-ries per liter in the concentrated brine trapped in the shale depths. Twenty-three years ago, DEP’s NORM Survey (1992) also found elevated radioactive Radium-226 and Radium-228 in oil & gas brine samples.
Penn State’s Marcellus Shale Center for Outreach tells us that Marcellus
Shale is 2,000 to 9,000 feet under-ground. It is shielded by dense layers of rock and underground water tables. Most people don’t need a study to log-ically conclude that bringing radioac-tive material to the surface and into contact with people and ecosystems will increase the risk. Now there is a government study to underscore this logic. But more needs to be done.
What can you do? Get involved and educated about hydraulic fracturing, share information with your friends and neighbors, and take an active role in influencing our legislators, DEP and Governor Wolf. There is an opportuni-ty for public comment on Chapter 78 Oil & Gas Regulations until May 19. Please visit DEP’s website to see how to submit your comment.
The next Moshannon Group-Sierra Club member meeting is open to the public. It will be about the 1/15/15 DEP TENORM Report and how nat-ural gas development increases radia-tion risks. The meeting is at 6 p.m. at Schlow Library on Tuesday, April 28. ■
Melody Fleck is the Moshannon Group - Sierra Club Executive Committee & Beyond Gas Committee Chair.
“There are potential radiological environmental impacts from oil & gas fluids, if spilled. Radium should be
added to the PA Spill Protocol to ensure cleanups are adequately characterized.”
radiation risks
LOOKING FOR
We’re looking for writers to produce well-researched, well-written articles of local interest. Contact Marilyn Jones at: [email protected]
6 | May 2015
Ferguson in historical perspectiveAsst. Prof. Anne Marie Mingo and
Prof. Paul Taylor, head of the African-American Studies Department at Penn State, invited us to their class/workshop on the events around Ferguson. Several police chiefs and Penn State officials also attended. The students examined various aspects of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, fo-cusing on: the police, the media, state officials, demonstrators, etc.
Much attention was paid to white police of-ficers killing unarmed African-American men. Relatively little atten-tion has concentrated on the community and national reactions to the incidents. Thousands of people in Ferguson and across the nation par-ticipated in demonstra-tions, die-ins, and other expressions of communi-ty action. Almost all have been peaceful, the people exercising their constitu-tional rights to assemble to petition the govern-ment about their grievances. I believe there is no activity that better exem-plifies the American character and spirit. It is part of our DNA. But, how do the demonstrations in Ferguson and elsewhere measure against simi-lar instances of collective community action?
From the very beginning of our Democracy, the people have assem-bled to make known their positions on taxation without representation, slav-ery, women’s suffrage, prohibition, 40 hour work weeks and decent working conditions, pro and antiwar positions, civil rights, anti-abortion, prochoice, gay rights, and global warming to name a few. Gatherings of the people related to race have been particularly prominent.
In August of 1965, I was a civ-il rights organizer in California. We heard that folks were “rioting” down in Watts. Our first question was; Where is Watts? Watts was a Black ghetto in the South Central area of Los Angeles. It was a depressingly poor and deprived area. During an ordi-nary DUI arrest several police officers had allegedly roughed up a 21-year-old Black man named Marquette Frye.
During the arrest Frye’s brother and mother arrived from their house near-by. A crowd gathered. There was some pushing and shoving. Over a hundred hostile citizens surrounded the police car. Somewhere a fire started, bottles were thrown. Years of pent-up frus-tration began to surface. The uprising was on.The following day helicopter shots showed fires burning in the area, but there was limited coverage from inside Watts. Several of us decided that we should go down to L.A. to see
what was happening for ourselves. It was a war zone. The police had cordoned off and stayed out of the affect-ed areas in an attempt to contain the violence. Though hundreds of fires were burning, the fire department was not going into the area to put them out. In the beginning when a few had tried, they were attacked by folks shout-ing, “Burn, Baby, Burn!” Stores were looted. Most of these stores had absentee owners. The ones owned or leased by people from the neigh-
borhood were generally passed over.Interestingly enough, though evi-
dence of arson and burglary were ev-erywhere, there was very little “one-on-one” crime. There was a feeling of solidarity among the mostly young people on the street. Though there were no police, people did not act afraid. They were jovial. Some be-gan calling it, “liberated territory.” Strangers greeted each other with, “Right on brother. Freedom, sister! “
The Watts Uprising lasted six days. It is estimated that 35,000 people par-ticipated and another 70, 000 were sympathetic. Three thousand four hundred thirty-eight people were ar-rested, 1,132 were injured and at least 34 rioters were killed. It was just two years after The March on Washington. It signaled a dramatic shift in Black people’s public response to racial dis-crimination. It was similar to the re-sponse of the people in Ferguson, except Watts was spontaneous and unorganized. Also the protests in Ferguson and elsewhere rarely be-came violent except when the police exercised what might be considered excessive force.
In April of 1968, I was in
Washington D.C. organizing for the Poor People’s Campaign. It was an-nounced that Martin Luther King had been assassinated in Memphis. People were angry and hurt. The city erupt-ed. Unlike their response in Watts, the police did not withdraw. There was more violence. In the end, 12 peo-ple were killed, over a thousand were injured, and over 6,000 were arrest-ed. One hundred ten other cities also had major riots. Chicago, Detroit and Baltimore were the worst.
Like Ferguson, the riots around
the King assassination were triggered by a single incident and tapped into a wellspring of pent-up frustration and outrage. It was exacerbated by the fact that Dr. King was known to be a man of nonviolence and peace. His killing was clearly considered by most Americans as unjust. The killing of an
unarmed man in Ferguson was also considered by many, both Black and White, as unjust. The failure of the grand jury to indict the police officer involved was seen by many as piling injustice on top of injustice.
In 1992 I was finishing up graduate studies at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles when the Rodney King riots broke out. Ultimately over 53 people died and 2,000 were in-jured. Three thousand five hundred fires were set which destroyed over
a thousand buildings. King had been arrested on a DUI in March of 1991. During the arrest he was kicked and severely beaten by officers as he crawled on the ground. Black folks knew that this kind of behavior was common for the L.A. police, though authorities denied it. This time the incident had been captured on video. The officers involved were not charged at first. After the video was released, the L.A. District Attorney charged four of them with excessive use of force. It was determined that the of-
ficers could not get a fair trial in L.A., so the venue was changed to a nearby predominantly white community. A predominantly white jury acquitted the officers of any wrongdoing. “They were just doing their job.” Black peo-ple who had been watching the trial on TV were outraged. Years later the
Ferguson grand jury said the same thing. Despite the obvious injustice of the outcomes - a defenseless man was brutalized and an unarmed one was killed, the police were just doing their job, protecting life and property.
Finally, a similar, but not identical situation occurred that did not involve race. On November 9, 2011, the Penn State Board of Trustees fired Coach Joe Paterno. Almost immediately thousands of angry students poured out to College and Beaver Avenues,
By CHARLES [email protected]
CHARLES DUMASTheater Professor, PSU
Fifty years ago a group of American citizens in Selma set out to march to their State capital to demand their right to vote.
As they crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge, the Alabama state police, acting in accordance with the law and to protect the
public order, attacked them and beat them mercilessly.
Photo by Janelle Bouie//WIKIPEDIA.ORG
“Hands up!” sign displayed at Ferguson protest.
Photo Creative Commons//WIKIPEDIA.ORG
Fair housing protest, Seattle, Washington, 1964. Confronting racial discrimination in housing sales.
| 7 May 2015
screaming and shouting. Like the people in Ferguson they felt hurt and betrayed. They tore down light poles and damaged other property. In their frustration over the treatment of their beloved coach, the students vented against what they perceived was the available “enemy,” the media. They at-tacked a TV van and shouted obsceni-ties at reporters. My wife and I were out on College Avenue. We often had to intercede between angry students and frightened reporters. The police showed great restraint. There were a few injuries and some property dam-age. Later there were some indict-ments, but no one was killed or griev-ously injured, no houses burned.
I am not arguing that the Ferguson demonstrations, Watts Uprising, King assassination disturbances, Rodney King riots and the riots after Paterno was fired are all the same. They do, however, share the fact that all of them involved 1) people reacting to a per-ceived wrong by public authority, 2) a police reaction with an attempt to restore and protect order, 3) confron-tation between police and protesting
citizens with the use of force, which is sometimes deadly. They are also ex-amples of people seeking ways to make their feelings known. It is not pretty, but it is democracy in action.
What is the role of the police in these circumstances? Certainly to protect life and limb and prevent in-jury, and under most circumstances, to protect property. They are permit-
ted, indeed required, to use necessary force to accomplish the tasks. What is necessary force? Certainly we would all agree that force, even deadly force, should be used to save lives, stop ar-son, prevent great physical harm to others. But, should the use of deadly force be allowed to prevent someone
from shoplifting, fleeing an arrest warrant, singing too loud or shouting obscenities at officers? When neces-sary shouldn’t police action also be used to protect citizens in the free ex-ercise of their constitutional rights to assemble and petition the government about their grievances?
Fifty years ago a group of American citizens in Selma set out to march to
their State capital to demand their right to vote. As they crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge, the Alabama state police, acting in accordance with the law and to protect the public order, attacked them and beat them merci-lessly. Several people were even killed later by persons yet unidentified or
prosecuted. In the hindsight of histo-ry we know that those officers were morally wrong and committed an act of human indecency, but they were following the law and maintaining the order of the time. The illegal action of those marchers changed the immoral law.
A couple of months ago, 50,000 people marched across that same bridge. Led by two United States pres-idents, one Black and one White, they sang and celebrated. They snapped pictures with their children and old civil rights veterans who had been at the bridge before. The police walked in front and behind the crowd to make sure that their fellow citizens would be safe while exercising their constitu-tional right to assemble and commem-orate a sacred day of remembrance. ■
Charles Dumas, a Fulbright Fellow, is a theatre professor at Penn State, a professional actor, director and writer, and the artistic director and co-founder of The Loaves and Fish Traveling Rep Company.
Photo by Janelle Bouie//WIKIPEDIA.ORG
“Hands up!” sign displayed at Ferguson protest.
Thousands of people in Ferguson and across the nation participated in demonstrations, die-ins, and other expressions
of community action. Almost all have been peaceful, the people exercising their constitutional rights to assemble to petition the
government about their grievances. I believe there is no activity that better exemplifies the American character and spirit.
8 | May 2015
Two winters in a row now have been pretty hard on much of the country: drought for the west, cold ice and snow in the east. In fact, February, 2015 was the second coldest February on record for State College. And if not for the “heat island” of the campus buildings, this probably would have eclipsed the coldest February record, set in 1925. There were fewer buildings back then, and the present location of the instru-ments now has more warm buildings around it.
I digress. I’m supposed to be talking about what the coming summer is go-ing to be like.
One of the ways we do that is to look for patterns in the weather, since they tend to re-peat. Historically, two winters in a row of harsh con-ditions are usu-ally followed by warm and fairly dry summers for Pennsylvania.
But last sum-mer was cool and very wet – the second wettest re-corded, and that was with no trop-ical storm left-overs to deal with. There are no previous patterns of two harsh winters with a cool wet summer in between. In that respect, we are on new ground.
Ocean surface temperatures are another situation, especially in the Pacific and Atlantic. The Pacific tem-peratures off the U.S. west coast re-main well above average, and the equatorial Pacific has just kicked up an El-Nino (above average ocean temperatures).
This occurrence puts the kibosh on the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season, because an El-Nino in the summer increases mid-level winds over the Atlantic and Caribbean. This causes “wind shear,” which drastically dis-rupts tropical storm formation. So another year of low hurricanes is ex-pected. Also, much of the Atlantic —from the coast of Africa more than half way across to South America—is way below average for sea surface temperatures. Tropical storms require very warm oceans. Unless something
Until recently, I hadn’t followed the debate about the collegiate overlay spot zoning of the 500 block of West College Avenue, where Kildare’s Irish Pub is located.
Under current zoning, real estate investors can build seven-story buildings on that block – with no commercial space required – for roughly 120 undergraduate student beds in each building.
If the amendment passes, developers can accept some conditions – such as two floors of commercial space and two floors of professional/graduate student apartments – in exchange for permission to exceed height limits, to build 9 to 13-story buildings with roughly 300 beds per building.
At the April 13 State College Borough Council public hearing on the overlay, the developer, Jeff Haas, gave a brief presentation in support of the zoning change, concluding: “Specific to the 538 East College Avenue property, instead of development of an unattractive, non-quality building under the current zoning, the amendment will allow for the development of an eco-friendly, attractive, premium quality-designed building at the main gateway to the downtown.”
To me this sounds like extortion: Council members had better vote to change zoning to maximize developer and investor profit, or else brace themselves for brand-new eyesores.
Like many others, I think there’s been too much private capital mal-investment in student housing over the last decade or so, and that the only constraint on developers creating attractive, well-built buildings – regardless of size – is their self-imposed pressure to make exorbitant profits.
But, with the exception of the Toll Brothers’ threat to public drinking water sources and fertile agricultural land at Whitehall Road and Blue Course Drive, I generally see residential overdevelopment as a financial risk assumed primarily by the real estate investors.
My view is that State College leaders need to help our community prepare to survive an extended global economic depression, with local impacts, including precipitously declining Penn State enrollment, and increased local food production for local consumption and export to regional urban centers like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New York City. Excess housing vacated as
student enrollment drops can just as easily shelter farm workers, although not at the price-gouging rents the current crop of landlords would like to collect.
Helping the community prepare for economic hardship means enacting local laws to prevent further residential, commercial and academic land development; protect clean groundwater sources and productive agricultural soils; and support light industrial and retail uses of existing built infrastructure so local residents can manufacture and supply themselves with essential goods and services using well-managed local resources.
However, other activists with a brighter outlook also want State College leaders to think, speak and act more strategically. Susan Venegoni, Peg Hambrick, David Stone, Janet Engeman and others have been raising questions about the costs and benefits of rapid development of residential housing– and fighting the collegiate overlay proposal – for almost a year.
They’ve hammered their main point repeatedly at Planning Commission and Borough Council meetings. Local elected leaders need to stop reacting to developer threats, articulate a clear vision of the community a majority of residents want to live in, and then prioritize a complete overhaul of the local zoning code so it strongly supports those goals.
As Venegoni, President of the Highlands Civic Association puts it, “What is the vision for the community? Do we have one? Or are we just here to serve Penn State?” For her, the
highest priorities include improving resident safety – especially for women students struggling with sexual assault risks in and around the Highlands neighborhood (which has the highest crime statistics in the Borough) – and creating good jobs that don’t directly depend on Penn State’s unsustainable enrollment growth rates.
Peg Hambrick also spoke at the April
13 hearing. She noted that, when the overlay was first proposed, she asked the Planning Commission to table the request and instead focus on a “long-overdue” comprehensive zoning rewrite that will enable more strategic zoning decisions, replacing the existing case-by-case “patchwork.” After a year following the process, her position hasn’t changed – she wants Council to vote “no” on the overlay zoning proposal.
Hambrick highlighted several relevant facts: the Downtown Master Plan recommends this type of development, but the Neighborhood Plans don’t; developers say they’ll pay large tax bills to the Borough, but routinely ask for and get assessment reductions to lower their bills; overlay supporters express a faith-based belief that new buildings will bring “young
professionals” to live downtown, but there’s no hard evidence for the claim, and without good jobs, they won’t be able to afford rents anyway. Hambrick also noted that, under the proposed terms (and at taxpayer expense and taking time from staff work on other community priorities), borough staff will have to police the property to ensure that incentives to draw young professionals are honored.
Local leaders might be starting to understand that corporate Penn State, Goliath though it is, can’t pick up all its buildings and move somewhere else if public bodies start setting and maintaining healthy boundaries by firmly saying “no” to bad proposals, including proxy measures that continue to externalize the public costs and privatize the benefits of new student housing.
Citizens can encourage that boundary-setting behavior when the State College Borough Council discusses and possibly votes on collegiate overlay zoning at their May 4 meeting at 7:30 p.m. on the third floor at 243 South Allen Street. ■
Katherine Watt is a State College writer and community organizer.
Highlands residents to borough council: stop adding apartmentsBy: KATHERINE WATT
Photo by Luciano Sormani// VOICES
The 500 block of West College Avenue, where Kildare’s Irish Pub is located.
Like many others, I think there’s been too much private capital mal-investment in student housing over the last decade or so, and that the only constraint on developers creating attractive, well-built buildings – regardless of size – is their self-imposed
pressure to make exorbitant profits.
| 9 May 2015
Weather Ranger’s wet outlook for Happy ValleyBy: JAY SEARLES
Two winters in a row now have been pretty hard on much of the country: drought for the west, cold ice and snow in the east. In fact, February, 2015 was the second coldest February on record for State College. And if not for the “heat island” of the campus buildings, this probably would have eclipsed the coldest February record, set in 1925. There were fewer buildings back then, and the present location of the instru-ments now has more warm buildings around it.
I digress. I’m supposed to be talking about what the coming summer is go-ing to be like.
One of the ways we do that is to look for patterns in the weather, since they tend to re-peat. Historically, two winters in a row of harsh con-ditions are usu-ally followed by warm and fairly dry summers for Pennsylvania.
But last sum-mer was cool and very wet – the second wettest re-corded, and that was with no trop-ical storm left-overs to deal with. There are no previous patterns of two harsh winters with a cool wet summer in between. In that respect, we are on new ground.
Ocean surface temperatures are another situation, especially in the Pacific and Atlantic. The Pacific tem-peratures off the U.S. west coast re-main well above average, and the equatorial Pacific has just kicked up an El-Nino (above average ocean temperatures).
This occurrence puts the kibosh on the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season, because an El-Nino in the summer increases mid-level winds over the Atlantic and Caribbean. This causes “wind shear,” which drastically dis-rupts tropical storm formation. So another year of low hurricanes is ex-pected. Also, much of the Atlantic —from the coast of Africa more than half way across to South America—is way below average for sea surface temperatures. Tropical storms require very warm oceans. Unless something
drastic happens, it will be a poor year for Atlantic hurricanes.
Considering all these parameters, it seems highly likely that the up-per-level ridge over the Western U.S. will remain in place and strong. This will cause a continued push of the northern jet stream southward from Canada into the Northeast U.S. (see Figure 1).
As a result, there will be cooler air across eastern Canada, never that far away from Central Pennsylvania. At the same time, a stronger flow of air will come northward from the desert southwest bringing more heat and humidity from the Gulf Coast to the Middle Atlantic States (see Figure 2).
This is pret-ty similar to last year, except the northern stream will be shifted further into Canada. That will allow warmer air into Pen n s y lv a n i a . The regular col-lision of drasti-cally different air masses, though, will likely in-crease the threat of severe weather
such as thunderstorms, and also put the region in the above-average rain-fall regime (See Figure 3).
For the Happy Valley area, I am predicting a wetter-than-average summer (though not as wet as last year) with temperatures right around average.
For further details and an ex-planation of the reasoning be-hind this prediction, visit weather-ranger.com and see the “Summer Outlook” on the main menu. ■
Jay Searles is meteorologist with a master’s degree and 25 years of fore-casting experience. He has worked for the National Weather Service, televi-sion and radio stations in the West and Midwest and Penn State, and now teaches on-line with American Public University. He also provides detailed weather forecasts for State College and the Happy Valley area through weatherranger.com.
Photo submitted by Jay Searles//WEATHERRANGER.COM
Figure 1: The polar jet stream will be pushed north over the western U.S. by the warm Pacific. The subtropical jet will be stronger than usual and push northward over the eastern U.S.
Photo submitted by Jay Searles//WEATHERRANGER.COM
Figure 2: Weather Ranger prediction of summer temperatures: State College will be right in the middle, which translates to an above average year for thunderstorms.
Photo submitted by Jay Searles//WEATHERRANGER.COM
Figure 3: Wetter than usual and some stronger storms than usual for the southern half of Pa., and around average for the rest of the state. The rest of the Northeast will also be around average.
Also, much of the Atlantic – from the coast of Africa more than half way across to South
America is way below average for sea surface temperatures Tropical storms require very
warm oceans. Unless something drastic changes, it will be a poor
year for Atlantic hurricanes.
10 | May 2015
The sun is shining, the dew is dewing and I am spring cleaning.
Yes folks, it’s that time of year again - time to clean out what you have to make room for all the new things you’re going to buy at this year’s garage sales.
I decided to start in the kitchen. I opened the pot and pan cabinet and OWCH! I banged my hand on the cast iron Dutch oven. Oh no, not fair! Bad start. I ran over to the sink and placed my throbbing hand under cold water for 10 minutes to keep it from swelling.
Wrapped in a bandage, I bravely went back to the offending cabinet determined to attack the clutter. I began removing all the pots and pans and baking dishes, and placing them on the kitchen table. Just when they were about to overflow, I heard someone knocking on the back door.
It was Dave. He came into the kitchen and saw the disheveled collection. “Say, how much do you want
for that eight-inch pan?” he asked without blinking. “We could use one of those.”
I looked into the mess. I saw six eight-inch pans. “Ah, listen, just take it.”
“Are you sure? I mean, I thought you were selling them. I mean, you sure do have a lot of pots and pans.”
“Yea, I do. Of course, I didn’t realize that until today. Look, here are four medium sized pots.” I rummaged through the mess. “Too bad - no lids. I was going to give you one.”
“How’d you fit them all in that cabinet?” He asked.I looked around and said, “Maybe that’s why I
banged this hand on the Dutch oven. You know, I’m going to get serious this year. Every spring I eliminate one pot, one pan and a spoon or two. Then I go to the sales and buy seven pots, 14 pans, one lid and a bag of spoons. I’m putting my foot down this minute. I’m not buying any pots that don’t have lids, and I’m only buying spoons with my initial on them.”
“Good prudent thinking, Marilyn. Say, I only stopped over because Judy wants to borrow your
Dustbuster.”“Sure.” I went to the hall closet. I pulled the
Dustbuster out and BASH! A wooden box with about 73 hats, 97 scarves and various other useful sundry items in it hit me on the head. “OHHH! That hurts!”
Dave came running over. Although I was in agony, I couldn’t help notice Dave’s eyes wandering over to the mess on the floor. He looked up.
“Listen Dave, how about a hat and scarf set for next year? You could give it to Judy for Christmas. Most of them have only been worn once or twice. Look. Here’s one with the tag still on it.”
“Gee, this is nice. Good color. How much do you want for it?”
“Nothing, just take it. And take some gloves to go with it, and an extra scarf just in case that one is too short, and how about this hat that’ll mix and match nicely, and the muffler that goes with it?”
“Ah, well....”“I’ll get you a bag.” I stood up
holding my squished head.I opened the pantry door to
get the bag and BOINGGG! My finger got stuck on the wire bag rack. Dave came running, a look of panic in his eyes.
“I motioned for him to grab a bag. I just held my aching finger on top of my squished head with my bandaged hand and looked toward the shelf. It looked like an aisle at the Dollar Store. There were hundreds of canned and concentrated goods piled on top of each other, all within days of their expiration date. I managed to croak a sound out of my mouth.
“Dave, your kids like mac and cheese, don’t they? They like apple juice, too? How about green beans and baked beans and lima beans and tomato juice?”
“Well, I, ah, we only have two kids, ya know.”
“Just take what you want. I’d help you get the stuff down, but my whole body aches at the moment.”
“No, it’s okay. I can do it.”He packed his bag.“I should go now. Judy must be wondering what
happened to me. I sure hope you feel better soon. Thanks a lot for all this stuff, Marilyn. You sure you don’t mind?”
One look at my face, and he knew not to say another word.
“Thanks again. See ya later.”He was out the back door. I was ready to act
with vengeance now. I stood up and walked into the kitchen and opened all the doors and drawers. I pulled out everything and dumped it on the floor. It looked like a flea market at high noon. I counted every single item, and allowed myself three of each. Then I took the extras and placed them in bags.
I had six grocery bags full. I had eight bashed-in aluminum pots from the 1940s, six burnt enameled pans with melted handles, nine rectangular baking pans that were so black they could be mistaken for iron, 27 odd-shaped and pock-marked unmatched spoons and forks, and one lid that didn’t fit anything.
I washed and repapered the cabinet and put the remaining cookware back in. It just fit.
Then I went to the hallway. I put together eight hat, scarf and glove sets, and placed the excess into three bags, which were bursting at the seams. I put the matched sets back in the wooden box and they almost fit. I had to ditch another set.
Then the phone rang.“Hi, Sarah. What? What did you say? When?
Right now? Oh my gosh! Will you wait for me? I’ll be down in a minute – just need to find a pair of shoes….
Bang!…..sorry….shoes tumbling out everywhere…..wait there’s one – I’ll be right over!”
What joy! The first yard sale of the season! I can’t wait. Hope they have some lids. Hope they have some spoons with a J on them. Hope they have some clean looking baking pans.
What a lucky break. I certainly did my spring cleaning just in time. Oh, my aching head! What a great day. I’m off! I better get a band aid. Ah, that’s better. I’m ready to go. Oh boy. Can’t wait. Bye. Slam! OWWWWCH! ■
Marilyn Jones likes to rotate junk through her house.
Spring Cleaning: out with the old, in with the old
I had six grocery bags full. I had eight bashed-in aluminum pots from the
1940s, six burnt enameled pans with melted handles, nine rectangular baking pans that were so black they could be mistaken for iron,
27 odd-shaped and pock-marked unmatched spoons and forks, and
one lid that didn’t fit anything.
By: MARILYN [email protected]
VOICES AD: 5” X 5-1/2”
Home of the 9-to-5No-Repeat Workday
Would you like to be paid to taste coffee, beer and spirits, and act like a movie reviewer while doing so?
Gastrograph is the first commercial project launched by Analytical Flavor Systems, a State College based com-pany founded by Penn State graduate Jason Cohen. Gastrograph software uses data from four human senses: taste, smell, feeling and sight to pro-vide statistically valid quality control systems for craft beverage producers.
Cohen lived in China and India while he was a high school student. During his senior year, he harvested and produced tea on a tea plantation. He was one of the few outsiders, and the youngest person to do so, and the experience strengthened his desire to know all about tea.
As an interdisciplinary undergrad-uate student at Penn State, Cohen founded the Tea Institute about five years ago, dedicated to the study and preservation of tea ceremonies from multiple Asian cultures, and to human sensory research on tea. By 2012, the research had led to the foundational technology of Gastrograph – first used to collect and analyze sensory data about human perceptions of tea, but
| 11 May 2015
VOICES AD: 5” X 5-1/2”
Home of the 9-to-5No-Repeat Workday
Local quality-control start-up poised for growth By: MARK HIGGINS
Would you like to be paid to taste coffee, beer and spirits, and act like a movie reviewer while doing so?
Gastrograph is the first commercial project launched by Analytical Flavor Systems, a State College based com-pany founded by Penn State graduate Jason Cohen. Gastrograph software uses data from four human senses: taste, smell, feeling and sight to pro-vide statistically valid quality control systems for craft beverage producers.
Cohen lived in China and India while he was a high school student. During his senior year, he harvested and produced tea on a tea plantation. He was one of the few outsiders, and the youngest person to do so, and the experience strengthened his desire to know all about tea.
As an interdisciplinary undergrad-uate student at Penn State, Cohen founded the Tea Institute about five years ago, dedicated to the study and preservation of tea ceremonies from multiple Asian cultures, and to human sensory research on tea. By 2012, the research had led to the foundational technology of Gastrograph – first used to collect and analyze sensory data about human perceptions of tea, but
transferable to other taste experiences. As they spoke with various mentors,
a pattern began to emerge: the found-ers realized the most likely market for Gastrograph products and services would be craft beverage producers, who need statistically-valid flavor profiles and af-fordable, fast, quali-ty control services.
Over the past two years, Cohen and his Gastrograph team have burned the midnight oil, working with Otto’s Pub and Brewery and several customers outside of the area to develop the tools their clients want and to prove the Gastrograph system worked.
Once the concept was proven, they worked to turn their idea into an easy-to-use Cloud-based service. To accel-erate development and save money, they rented a large house on the west side of State College which they call the
Hacker House, organized as a commu-nal living and working environment. (The living room is a programming development office. Apart from meal-times, the dining room is a conference room. The basement is the planning
room, where one entire wall is a white board.) The
place is buzzing with energy.
Gastrograph is now using its extensive research and quality con-trol data to predict which
new beers will perform well in
which markets. This is a premium
service that requires substantial effort. For
brewers creating a new craft beverage, the Gastrograph team can tell what type of people, if any, will en-joy it, allowing the producer to market the beverage to the most likely custom-ers. No one else in the field offers this level of predictive ability. The eventual goal of Analytic Flavor Systems is to
be the Nielson of flavor.Now that the Gastrograph software
is stable and proven, the company is about to double in size. In the last couple of months, they’ve added sev-eral new customers. To handle an-ticipated demand, they’re adding a new sales and marketing team. In the meantime, their target markets are ex-panding dramatically. There are now 3,500 commercial craft brewers in the United States and the number is fore-cast to double in the next year and a half. Many of these new craft brewers have their hearts set on growing their brand, and are looking for easy-to-use, affordable Cloud-based quality control systems.
Cohen and the Gastrograph team have big dreams and big goals. Hopefully this rapidly growing compa-ny will decide to stay in Centre County. ■
Mark Higgins is a managed ser-vices specialist and has thirty years of experience in business turnarounds.
Pictured: Jason Cohen - Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Gastrograph
12 | May 2015
Herbal spring tonics: spring herbs that energize, invigorate, stimulateBy: LINDA MEEK
Spring has finally arrived, tepid breezes start to stir, and there is freshness in the air that is unmistakably springtime. There’s a feeling of calm and relief as the sun begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, a feeling of happiness and renewal. Soon an abundance of life will be awakened and the very early spring herbs will begin to crest the still sodden ground. And who shall lead the procession?
The delicate and petite viola will be one of the first. As early as March and into May you will see the tiniest burst of color bundled in a background of deep green heart shaped leaves. The tiny pansy shaped flowers are one of the first spring flowers to bloom and signal the onset of the season. They are wild violets, sweet violets, or viola odonata, and where one grows, so do dozens, covering the ground with a carpet of beautiful purple to white delicate elfin blossoms. There are dozens of species of violet, and
in various colors that include blue, purple, white, and yellow, growing in almost all conditions from sunny to shady and moist to dry areas. Besides being a delight to the senses, the common wild violet is a nutritional and medicinal powerhouse.
Fortunately, all species are edible and have similar medicinal value. The beautiful blossoms tower over a tufted bed of tender green leaves by about two to three inches and are loaded with minerals and vitamins, especially vitamins A and C. The leaves are tasty both raw and cooked as you would cook spinach: steamed lightly. They have a bland mucilaginous flavor very
much like spinach as well. Adding the leaves and flowers to a fresh salad gives a vitamin boost that is definitely needed after a long winter. The flowers are sweet and tangy, and make a gorgeous garnish on salads and desserts. Making a tea from the
leaves is an easy way to absorb the vitamins quickly into your system.
Medicinally, violet is a gentle, but potent, remedy. It is classified as an alternative (or “blood purifier”), which means it helps the body restore optimal functioning by aiding metabolic processes, especially the elimination of waste products. Violet stimulates the lymphatic glands,
helping the body get rid of bacteria and other toxins. It is especially useful for swollen glands. Over time, violet can help clear stubborn problems like eczema, psoriasis, and acne. Eating violet after a long winter is a wonderful way to energize our bodies to make ready for spring activities. It supports the immune system, helping to clear infections of all kinds. Soothing and cooling, it helps reduce fever and inflammation. It can be useful in treating sinus infections, bronchitis, sore throats and coughs. It contains an aspirin-like substance making it useful for headaches and migraines.
The leaves are known to help shrink tumors and cancers. They are most effective when taken both internally and used externally as a poultice. They are also helpful in clearing up other growths and lumps such as cysts, mastitis, and fibrocystic breasts. Some herbalists claim that the heart shaped leaves are a sign of the powerful health benefit of this little plant.
Unfortunately, in some regions the wild violet is endangered, particularly the less common yellow violet, so you should not dig plants from the wild, but instead obtain them for your garden from an ethical nursery. It is said that if you are pure at heart, the violet will one day just arrive in your garden. As an ethical wild crafter, only take what you need and can use for the moment, a leaf or two, a flower or so. Many organic herbal suppliers carry dried violet leaves if you need a larger quantity. So, when the wild violet appears in your garden, make room for it to spread among your ornamentals. You will be adding beauty to your life and getting a dose of a potent cleansing remedy that our native forefathers looked forward to each spring season.
Surely anyone who has gardened has had an encounter with chickweed. Chickweed, Stellaria media, is an extremely common weed that has an extremely powerful spring punch. It starts to come out with the onset of warm weather, usually in April. It loves cooler temperatures, so the best growing season for this plant is in the early spring and the fall. Sometimes it can be found during winter as well. To gardeners it is an obnoxious creeping ground cover with small diamond shaped leaves and white star-like
Photo by Pavlofox//CREATIVE COMMONS
In America, dandelions, Taraxacum officinale, have a bad reputation as being a lawn nuisance.
Oh Mother, awaken from your deep and turbulent sleep, Set forth your bounty to nurture our souls with beauty And provide
our bodies with strength
| 13 May 2015
flowers. However, this tiny “weed” is greatly underestimated. Once it becomes understood better, we will grow it in our vegetable gardens. It is packed with nutrients, including significant amounts of calcium, iron, copper, magnesium, zinc, chlorophyll, protein and vitamin A. Taken as an herbal tea, popular wisdom claims that it is useful against obesity in elderly women, and today it is used in plant-based slimming formulas because it drains excess fat, minerals and proteins from the body. In Asia it is used internally to fight flu and aching joints and externally to treat skin disorders. Long before spinach and lettuce are ready to harvest, chickweed is full-grown and begging to be eaten. It is simple and easy to prepare. Just eat it in a salad mixed with other greens, blanch it for freezing, or steam it with other greens. Its flavor is very appetizing, sweet and mild like lettuce. It also stimulates and refreshes the lymphatic system. And after a sluggish winter, it is energizing, cleansing and invigorating.
Spring wouldn’t be complete without dandelions. Although in America, dandelions, Taraxacum officinale, have a bad reputation as being a lawn nuisance, this is not the case everywhere. In France and Italy, beds of the prized bitter delicacy are planted
and harvested as a garden vegetable. In America we rarely eat bitter foods, although sadly we are missing out on a secret many Europeans still know. Bitter foods tone and stimulate the entire digestive tract. Eating dandelion greens, even just a few with your meal will encourage your stomach to produce hydrochloric acid, your liver to produce enzymes, your gallbladder to produce bile, and your intestines to step up peristalsis. The whole digestive process is assisted, and as a result we are able to assimilate more nutrients from our food, and problems like gas and constipation are decreased. Dandelion is a potent liver tonic and rejuvenator, prized as a spring tonic by many cultures. Several leaves a day will go a long way to help make a healthy transition into the spring.
In Asia, Brazil, Italy, and England dandelion has been used for thousands of years against all kinds of infections: colds, flus, cancer, liver
and kidney ailments. Many believe it to be the ultimate herb for treating harmful disorders of the body. It is rich in vitamins A, C, F, calcium,
potassium, iron, and B-complex. Eating the fresh leaves in salad is the best way to preserve their properties, but can be added to hot dishes and soups. The latex from the stem
of the flower is used to treat skin disorders such as warts, infection, and irritation.
Celebrate the new season by going out to gather some wild foods. By eating what is abundantly offered from the earth you will feel more connected to the place where you live. The deep nourishment in edible weeds will help you feel more alive and energetic. Best of all, you’ll enjoy the delights of being outdoors among the wild plants. ■
Linda is the owner and operator of Stone Pond Farm in Julian, Pa.
Photo by Mathiasberlin//WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Chickweed, Stellaria media, is an extremely common weed that has an extremely powerful spring punch.
Photo by Cindy Cornett Seigle//FLICKR.COM
Wild violets, sweet violets, or Viola odonata.
Long before spinach and lettuce are ready to harvest, chickweed is full-grown and
begging to be eaten.
14 | May 2015
Margie Gaffron’s poetry is eclectic, at times following formal literary patterns – sestinas, sonnets, villanelles – and other times letting the words form patterns of their own in free verse. The different patterns come, she says, from the music she hears in her mind. “For me, poetry has always been music and the sound and vision of water,” she says. “I can’t remember a time it was not with me. Music was first, and as a child I sounded out or tried to sound out what I was hearing in my head on the piano. I never learned to play, so the music became words.”
Gaffron believes writing embodies being both musician and instrument. “When I am extremely lucky, I am the instrument. I am no longer writing the poem, but the poem is writing me.”
For inspiration Gaffron’s draws from neighbor’s stories, her home in Brush Valley, gardening, and her childhood in rural Pennsylvania. She says that early morning, late winter, and early spring seem to feed her creativity, and she does her best work then.
Gaffron believes that poetry is meant to be heard. To that end, in 2012, she initiated a monthly Fourth Friday poetry series at the Green Drake Art
Center and Gallery in Millheim. “Those evenings are a celebration of the written and spoken word,” she says. “So many people remember studying poetry in school and not getting it, but when they come back to poetry, hear it read, and perhaps read poets they had not been exposed to, interesting things begin to happen. People begin to understand how important poetry is in today’s culture and how accessible it is for everyone.”
Poetry at the Green Drake also sometimes reflects her love of the music in the words. At least once a year, an entire evening of “Poem as Song” occurs. “It’s exciting when poetry and music come together,” she says. “Not all song lyrics are poems, but often lyrics can be presented first as a poem and then can be performed by local musicians.”
Gaffron’s work has been published in a variety of journals and anthologies, and her book Holdings, co-authored with Maya Spence, is available at the Green Drake Gallery. ■
If you are interested in becoming a Voices featured poet, contact Sarah Russell at [email protected].
SEARCHING OUT THE COLUMBINE
now the sun draws us outentices us from winter fires doors sealed tight against the windsorrows held inside ourselves like fragile ghosts hopes and plans heaped high as snowjust as easily melted. now fingers begin to breathe in their own sweet breathsthey roamamong the mulch leaves and the strawuncovering a young leaf herea bud, a curling bit of green, of purplish rednot happy till they’ve touchedwelcome old friendwe’ve made it once again.
VOICES CHOICES
Poet of the Month ~ Margie GaffronBy SARAH RUSSELL
| 15 May 2015
Home D Pizzeria is a family-friendly eatery with Italian influenced decor and a large selection of food.
Upon entering, a customer will immediately sense that Home D is very popular with local residents. The dining room and bar area are both expansive rooms that contain a massive number of tables. Almost every table was occupied on the Saturday evening that I dined there.
The atmosphere feels like a cross between a sports bar and an Olive Garden, with several televisions within viewing distance and lots of murals of painted wine bottles adorning the walls.
Home D’s menu is as large as its dining room. Everything from pasta, pizza, and calzones to salads and sandwiches, plus a 19-item appetizer list was included. Perhaps this sounds wonderful for a person who enjoys a large variety while dining, but I found myself nearly overwhelmed by the massive selection of different food.
Also, the menu theme seemed to be as mixed as the décor. At first glance, it seems to be an Italian-themed family restaurant, but
Philly cheesesteaks and Pittsburgh-style deli sandwiches are also featured. What’s more is that you can also order a veal Marsala or chicken saltimbocca, which is even more confusing for a casual family restaurant.
I settled on an Italian Stromboli. Since I am a relatively small person, I made sure to order the smaller option. However, when it came out, I was surprised to see that it was the size of the dinner plate, plus more. Aside from its slightly excessive greasiness, it tasted wonderful, but I simply could not eat even half of it. Again, this may sound great to readers who enjoy large restaurant portions.
Overall, Home D Pizzeria is a viable option for a night of casual dining. I would recommend it to people who enjoy a variety of food options and massive portion sizes, but for me, the décor and menu themes were too erratic and the menu was so expansive that it was overwhelming. This is why I give Home D three stars out of five. ■
Hannah Genovese is a student at Penn State.
Restaurant of the Month ~ Home D PizzeriaBy HANNAH GENOVESE
Photo: facebook.com/homedpizzeria
The joy of a baker ~ Gemelli BakersBy EVA PAULI
Walking into Tony Sapia s bakery my mouth is already watering: shelves of all kinds of different breads, pies and cookies are standing in the small bakery which is located in McAllister Alley in downtown State College. Gemelli Bakers is named after the Italian word for twin: gemelli. Sapia has twin sons, and when he is not in the bakery or serving several farmers markets in the region, he enjoys spending time with his family.
Sapia, the grandson of Italian immigrants, came up with the idea of making and selling his own bread in 2000. During that time he had restaurants and bars and couldn’t find good bread for them. “So I started baking it myself,” he said.
In 2001, Gemelli Bakers began selling bread at the Tait Farm Harvest Shop on South Atherton, and in 2007 the bakery was established. Right now, seven people work at the bakery and Sapia is one of the three bakers.
Sapia writes his own recipes and is inspired by all kinds of breads from around the world. He makes his own concoctions by adding special ingredients like cranberries, walnuts or olives.
The flour they use is from different mills in the United States, from the mid west to Pennsylvania. The cranberries are from the U.S., but some other ingredients are shipped from overseas.
The Farmers Market in Boalsburg is, for Sapia, “a great center of action for the community.” He
thinks it s important for people to know who is making their food and to be able to purchase high quality and fresh products from people they can connect with.
Sapia said that he enjoys the community and is glad to be able to provide food and service.
A typical day for Sapia starts at five in the morning and usually ends between three and four in the afternoon. Getting up early, as it is typical
for a baker, is not hard for him. He gets up and starts “shakin and bakin….. when you love what you do, you do what you love; It s not work.”
This is definitely what you see and taste at Gemelli Bakers: The joy and love of serving the community well-made baked goods. ■
Eva Pauli is an German undergraduate exchange student studying environment and sustainability.
facebook.com/gemellibakers
16 | May 2015
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Did you know that gnomes – six-inch people with tall pointed red hats - live at the base of Oak trees? Did you know they talk?
Well, at least they did when I went hiking with my Dad in Curwensville, Pa. I don’t know how he did it; I guess it’s called throwing your voice, but my father would point out one of those root holes at the base of a tree and then he would say, “listen.” And sure enough the gnomes spoke!
Growing up in Central Pennsylvania certainly had its benefits. I learned that being in the woods made me feel better, no matter what was happening in my life. From the time my father taught me to recognize the three different leaves on a Sassafras to crush-ing the leaves of Sweet Fern purely for the pun-gent sweet smell of it, to squishing my toes on the dampness of a bed of hundred-year-old moss, I knew in my heart of heart and bone of bones that this was home!
In Japan they have a name for the purposeful walking in the woods for therapeutic benefits. It’s called Shinrin-yoku: forest bathing. There are now 44 accredited forests that the citizens of Japan use for the expressed purpose of lowering stress levels.
Studies in Japan are backing up what I learned growing up in Clearfield County. You don’t necessar-ily need a pill for what ails you. “Take two hikes and call me in the morning!”
The term Shinrin-yoku was coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 1982, and can be defined as making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest. In order to clarify the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku, field experiments were done in 24 forests across Japan. Six subjects were sent to a forest area, and the others to a city area. Each group was sent to the other area as a crosscheck.
Salivary cortisol, blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate variability were used as indices. These in-dices were measured in the morning at the accom-modation facility before breakfast and also both before and after the walking. The results confirmed
that forest environments promote lower concen-trations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity than do city environments.
According to the abstract on this study, the results will contribute to the development of a research field dedicated to forest medicine, which may be used as a strategy for preventive medicine.
So, here we are in Happy Valley. No wonder we are so happy: we are surrounded by forests!
According to Cindy Way of State College, who found herself at a crossroads when she turned 50, some people do not even recognize the benefit of our natural geography. They stay like hamsters on a wheel, circling between their jobs and their homes and don’t bother stepping off into the woods.
“I had spiritual ques-tions, and I had dreams that I wanted to pursue. At fifty you begin to real-ly understand that time is limited.”
This is when, after having traveled to exotic
nature locations in the Dominican, she realized that just like the rainforest, the Pennsylvania mountains are “green and blue,” lush with ferns and multi-green understory, and cool refreshing brooks.
“Be where you are!” began to be Way’s mantra and the answer to her longing to have a cabin in the woods.
“I realized that I could live in the woods just by taking hikes there each day,” which she does with her dog Jazzy. “Once I found the Purple Lizard map, I could locate hikes with water to make sure she could have a drink.”
Aside from Jazzy, though, Way would rather be alone than with friends because she goes to the woods for another benefit - peace, and revelations.
I was lucky enough to go on a hike with Way and Jazzy in late April. We hiked up the hill at Musser’s Gap noticing the only yellow on the forest floor - Coltsfoot. I joined in Way’s game of finding “hearts” along the trail. Funny how roots and stones suddenly take on this shape when you are looking for it.
Way explained that revelations come to you when you get quiet. “I play in the woods, build things, splash in the stream. I’ve even been known to hug
a Hemlock tree, and cry” (because of its dismal fate due to the destruction of the woolly adelgid).
“I go to the woods the way some people go to the gym, and I take my hiking boots instead of antidepressants!”
Way would like to see some of our forests desig-nated for Forest Bathing, perhaps through Penn State. She envisions a self-guided nature area that’s safe and friendly. A new occupation, forest therapist, might be on hand to help a person find their way to the silence and solace that Way experiences.
Until then, be where you are and take a hike! ■
Elle Morgan is the director of The Elements of New Life Scripts, a personal development program that uses nature and the arts for making positive change. She operates a retreat center, Halfmoon Hollow, in Curwensville, Pa.
Happy Valley - perfect for Shinrin-yoku, forest bathingBy: ELLE MORGAN
newlifescripts.org
Photo by Elle Morgan// VOICES
Cindy Way enjoying a late April hike with her dog Jazzy.
“I realized that I could live in the woods just by taking hikes there each day,”
| 17 May 2015
a Hemlock tree, and cry” (because of its dismal fate due to the destruction of the woolly adelgid).
“I go to the woods the way some people go to the gym, and I take my hiking boots instead of antidepressants!”
Way would like to see some of our forests desig-nated for Forest Bathing, perhaps through Penn State. She envisions a self-guided nature area that’s safe and friendly. A new occupation, forest therapist, might be on hand to help a person find their way to the silence and solace that Way experiences.
Until then, be where you are and take a hike! ■
Elle Morgan is the director of The Elements of New Life Scripts, a personal development program that uses nature and the arts for making positive change. She operates a retreat center, Halfmoon Hollow, in Curwensville, Pa.
Photo by Elle Morgan// VOICES
Cindy Way enjoying a late April hike with her dog Jazzy.
If you’ve been reading the news lately, you may have noticed articles about the benefits of exercise for people middle-aged and older. Multiple scientific studies show that regular exercise adds many years to your life, yet few people exercise regularly.
The most popular exercise in America is walking. The second most popular exercise is biking, which is good for you and fun. Biking works out most of your body and is also an excellent exercise for weight loss.
How can you get into cycling? For someone just starting out and wanting to ease in slowly, State College Cycling has a “slow and easy” group that rides on Thursdays, June through August. This group is open to mountain and town-style bikes. As you progress, State College Cycling helps train cyclists to safely and courteously share the roads with auto traffic. The group sponsors regular rides on Tuesday nights at four different spots around town.
Once you are comfortable riding on the roads, a fun new activity beckons – the charity ride. Cyclists are community-minded and work with local charitable groups to raise money through charity rides. An easy one is the Rock Hill School “Linden Loop” ride in Linden Hall. This annual charity ride is held the first Sunday in May (May 3 this year) and includes a five-mile ride and a 28-mile ride. (Details at http://bit.ly/lindenloop2015.)
The Bestwick Foundation, whose mission is to help “local families and individuals who are struggling to fight cancer and other hardships,” holds charity rides in the spring and fall with options from about 30 to nearly 70 miles.
“Our mission is to create a charitable event that is fun for both cyclists and non-cyclists alike” said event coordinator Chuck Morrison. “There’s a lot of support for cycling locally. We really want to tap into that and to grab the community’s interest, especially of the youth here in Centre County.”
The Bestwick Foundation spring ride will be held on May 31, and will start from Kelly’s Steak & Seafood in Boalsburg. (Details at facebook.com/events/430695097115180/.)
A charity ride with options for
everyone is the Center Volunteers in Medicine (CVIM) ride. The Seventh Annual Cycling for Care bike ride will be held on Saturday, June 27, and is a non-competitive ride through picturesque Central Pennsylvania. Last year, more than 100 riders came out to raise funds for CVIM. Again this year there will be an 8.3 mile Fun Loop as well as the Metric Century Loop (62 miles) and Half-Metric Century Loop (31 miles). New this year is a Full Century (100 miles). (More information at cvim.net/events/.)
More difficult charity rides are available for the experienced cyclist. The Multiple Sclerosis Keystone Country 150 ride will be held July 18 - 19, covering 150 miles over two days. Along with more than 600 other cyclists, you can follow a stunning course between Hollidaysburg and State College. The first day is usually 78 miles, and the second day is 72 miles. This ride is fully supported with three to four food and comfort stops. (Details at bikepax.nationalmssociety.org) There are many more charity rides in the area, including multiple mountain bike rides.
For competitive racers, this year, the Penn State Cycling Club is proud to announce the first-ever Nittany Stage Race to be held the weekend
of August 1 – 2, with a $12,000 prize purse.
The format of a stage race allows for participants to pay one flat fee for all three races. An “open” category time trial will also be held for cyclists who don’t want to register for all three races, but would still like to test their fitness on the very exciting and spectator friendly course.
This event will include a road race in Black Moshannon State Park on Saturday, a time trial on campus and College Avenue, and a criterium (short race of less than 1 mile) near Memorial Field. A “family fun” ride will also be held during the criterium for families wishing to ride the same closed course as the racers. This ride will be free to any registered person who brings a bicycle and helmet. The money raised from the Nittany Stage race will benefit the Bestwick Foundation. (Registration for the stage race and time trial opened on Monday, March 30 at bikereg.com/the-nittany-stage-race.)
Cycling can open up a whole new world for you. Give it a try.■
Mark Higgins is a managed services specialist and has thirty years of experience in business turnarounds. He is also Vice-President of State College Cycling
(groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ statecollegecycling/info).
Biking in Central PA: good exerciseand a good way to support local charitiesBy: MARK HIGGINS
Photo by Tianle Chen
Penn State alumns Sam Summers and Carren Stika at the Penn State Cyclists Lead Race.
May 22 - 24, 2015
Concerts • Workshops • Master ClassesSinging • Coaching • Jamming • Dancing
For all instruments and levels
PLUS: Joe Mabus • Natalie Haas The Barefoot Movement
Eleanor Ellis • Red Tail RingYann Falquet • AppalAsia Changeling • Laurie Hart Jamie O’Brien • and more
A fun & friendly weekend of Folk Music Held in Huntingdon, PA at Juniata College
Just 30 miles from State College
Huntingdon County Arts Council 814-643-6220
www.folkcollege.com
Concerts: Friday & Saturday, 7pm
Tickets Available at the Door, $15
Hosted by
Simple Gifts
18 | May 2015
Feeling groovy: The LAGuide to celebrating your good intentions
My old friend Murray and his wife, Dorothy, would walk downtown for lunch every day—rain or shine, snow or ice. They were in their early 80’s and it was easily a two to two and a half mile walk for them each way, but they had a love affair with our small college town. Formerly New Yorkers, they marveled at the easy accessibility of the town and its shops. As they’d window shop their way to lunch, they might make an event out of buying a pair of socks at the Appalachian Outdoor House, at that time on West College Avenue. Many days they would lunch at that most traditional of State College eateries—the Corner Room. They al-ways managed to get a table with a windowed street view.
And while Dorothy would watch the world go by outside, Murray would spread out his latest book cata-logue, Edward Hamilton or Daedalus or the like, and with a yellow magic marker, spend an hour or so earnestly choosing the handful of books that he would dearly love to read next. Murray loved books. He loved the smell of a freshly opened volume and the heft and the singular beauty of an art book with tipped in plates from Cezanne or Picasso or Arthur Dove. He loved the way a book of poetry neatly held
dozens of well-formed gems.My friend Murray bought books,
books and more books with the in-tention of reading each and every one of them. At eighty, some part of him must have known that he would have to live longer than Methuselah to read all the volumes that were arriving daily in the mail, but Murray had the intention—a good intention, the best intention, to read them all, and that was quite enough for him to continue
to order more books. Today as I sit in my
library, surrounded more by books that have yet to be read than by those neatly read and placed alphabet-ically on my shelves, I am reminded and comforted by Murray’s firm belief that when it came to buying books, good intentions were quite enough. And to-day, when many peo-ple think that good in-
tentions are somehow the work of the devil, as in the apocryphal say-ing that, “the road to hell is paved with good
intentions,” we, here at Stevieslaw say “oh yeah!” Without those good inten-tions that damned road wouldn’t be paved at all—just a rutted path, gar-bage and glass strewn, with small fires smoldering here and there. And that is the reason, we at Stevieslaw are pleased to publish, “Feeling Groovy:” The Less-Intelligent-than-Average-American Guide to Celebrated Your Good Intentions.” In the guide, you will learn that most Americans do
not aim high enough with their inten-tions. We will convince you that since you only plan on doing these things, albeit with the sincerest and finest good intentions, you can aim as high as you like—as high as you can imag-ine, whether you intend to improve the world or improve yourself. Consider: Plan to Start a Foundation: Research the many diseases and afflictions that a foundation might invest in to make a difference. Learn to speak the lan-guage of a sub-tropical disease so you may converse with researchers about, say, Dengue Fever. Consider the sup-port of young artists or perform-ers through the “your name here” prize that will jump-start their careers. Write to the people in acquisitions at all the major museums across the planet to discuss the procedure for donations.
Intend to adopt an orchestra or a modern dance company.
1. Plan to learn a language: Dozens of people learn to speak French, Italian and German, while Hungarian, Finnish and Tibetan are just as interesting and a hun-dred times more difficult. Take a well-intentioned and serious inter-est in accumulating the tools you will need—books, tapes, and native speakers—to learn Hungarian. Join a Hungarian-American friendship club and listen to hours of poetry recitals. Learn the music. Adopt the native costume.
2. Plan to travel: Get ready for your trip to Callisto, one of the larg-er moons of Jupiter. Put your name on the list of future interplanetary travelers and find a pen pal at NASA or Roscosmos. Or perhaps you pre-fer a six-year trip around our own planet, in the Captain’s Suite on the cruise ship “The Jewel of Jewels,”
with side trips to such widely vary-ing locations as the South Pole and the seven summits of Mt. Everest. Gather thousands of travel bro-chures. Spend a year or two find-ing the best prices on the gear and guides you will need to make your trip the best ever.
3. Plan to become a “Fashionista”: Plan to improve every aspect of your personal appearance. Spend time researching the local gyms, personal trainers and spas. Buy the fitness magazines and all the little pieces of fitness equipment
which grace the shelves of your local pharmacy for some
reason. Plan your entry into the world of macrobi-otic dieting and veganism through the acquisition
of books, dvrs and arcane information on the internet.
Dine at a Tibetan restaurant. Learn how to dress like Heidi Klum or Tim Gunn or both by subscribing to big, glossy fashion magazines. Watch Project Runway with religious fer-vor, with the sincere intention of not only qualifying for the show, but winning it. To that end, learn to knit or sew.
Most of all please plan to buy the guide, with all the sincere and genu-ine good intentions that had you buy that speedo racing swimsuit—the one that will hang in your closet forever—today. It is our best intention to have a draft to the editor by mid-month and the guide on the street by the first of May. ■
Steve Deutsch is so old that he is a veteran of the coffee bar at the Corner Room. He intends to run the Boston Marathon soon. He is doing extensive research on buying run-ning shoes in Kenya.
STEVE DEUTSCHVOICES Satirist
By STEVEN DEUTSCHVOICES Satirist
Get ready for your trip to Callisto, one of the larger moons of Jupiter. Put your name on the list of future interplanetary
travelers and find a pen pal at NASA or Roscosmos. Or perhaps you prefer a six-year trip around our own planet, in
the Captain’s Suite on the cruise ship “The Jewel of Jewels.”
| 19 May 2015
The folks behind folk music: more folk venuesBy: HOLLY [email protected]
Last month I introduced folkies in the Acoustic Brew Concert Series, House Concerts, and mentioned several area jams. This month’s article focuses on Folk Festivals, open mics and a resource list.
Maybe you already play or sing a bit and feel ready for a Folk Festival. We just happen to have several that fit the bill here in central Pa. Started by Linda Littleton of Simple Gifts, Folk College and Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering are both friendly, three-day, festivals. On a typical Memorial weekend at Folk College, on the campus of beautiful Juniata College in Huntingdon, you can take any of 65 offered classes on a variety of instruments and genres including Celtic, bluegrass, blues and more. You can try a new instrument, listen to nationally and internationally renowned teachers in a showcase concert, play in the contra dance band, dance a spell, join a weekend band and perform on stage, and then jam until the wee hours of the morning!
This year the Barefoot Movement, runners up for the 2013 Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s New Band Competition, and Joel Mabus are a few of the teachers who will be sharing their expertise with participants. Not sure you are ready to jump in for a whole festival? Stop in one evening at seven o’clock and join us for the concert and stay and jam and see what you think!
If that sounds fun, you may also enjoy the Greenwood Furnace Folk Gathering taking place September 11-
13 at the beautiful State Park between here and Huntingdon. Both events have lots of information online.
Once you have your music skills honed at a festival, it may be time to try performing at an open mic. State College has a really long history of having venues that invite folks on stage to try out a short set. Guitarist Dan Kozar, who plays at the Tuesday night Pine Hall Lutheran Jam, recalls the Jaw Bone Coffeehouse that opened
in State College in 1963 and lasted almost 20 years. That weekend coffeehouse, run by the Penn State Lutheran Student Association, had poetry, political discussions and lots of folk music. Two acts would play each night, but there was open mic
time between sets. Musicians who performed and enthralled the crowd during open mic, were often invited to do a whole set later in the season. You may recognize some performers who used to play there such as Karen Hirshorn and Tim Craven from Rustical Quality String Band, music historian and guitarist, Jerry Zoltan and harmonica player Richard Sleigh.
Jim Colbert carried on this tradition of welcoming and
encouraging new performers when he opened an open mic at the Bellefonte coffee shop, Cool Beans, back in 2001. Jim, a talented singer-songwriter, artist and poet, created a caring environment for individuals and small groups who desired experience trying
their songs in front of an audience. Jim later moved his open mic to Webster’s Bookstore. It takes place on the first Thursday of the month from six to eight o’clock in the evening. There are a variety of performers who take the stage, from high schoolers to retired folks, playing a huge range of instruments and singing, with occasional storytelling and even a rare sitar or puppet performance!
Jim recently stepped down as the organizer, but Harold Taddy stepped up and the open mic tradition continues. Harold not only runs the Webster’s open mic, but also those at Chumleys, The Arena, and outdoors at Clems/Autoport in the summer. He also books Variety Showcases at the Bremen Town Ballroom in Millheim. On rare nights that Harold is NOT emceeing open mics, he is working at Eisenhower or gigging at Zenos!
Another great open mic is run by Alleycat Music Shop’s Mark Ross. Mark is a killer guitarist and played with Queen Bee and the Blue Hornet Band and currently with Miss Melanie and the Valley Rats. He leads a fantastic evening Monday from eight to ten o’clock at Otto’s (formerly at the Gamble Mill). This one includes a huge variety of genres including folk, swing, blues, jazz and others.
These are just a taste of some of the many folk music opportunities in this rich area! More great folk experiences can be found at Webster’s during Sunday Brunches. You can also check out the Huntingdon “Hootenanny” at the Lions Club on the last Saturday of the month. ■
Holly Foy, an SCASD Art teacher for 20 years, is out of the closet as a FOLKIE, a board member for the Acoustic Brew for 13 years, Folk College for 10, and has been the guitarist in the Celtic band CALLANISH for five years.
ConcertsAcoustic Brew Concert Series - AcousticBrew.orgUntangled Strings – UUFCC websiteElk Creek Café – www.elkcreekcafe.netWebster’s Bookstore and Café - www.webstersbooksandcafe.com
FestivalsFolk College: folkcollege.comGreenwood Furnace Folk Gathering www.folkgathering.com
House ConcertsContact to be added to email lists for upcoming showsLaurel Zydney (814) 235-1833 or [email protected] Mountain Hideaway – Anne Marie Nachman at 814-263-7351 or Facebook at Oak Mountain Hideaway House Concerts
Jams and SessionsTussey Jam at Webster’s on third Weds. Catherine Grigor email at: [email protected]
Tuesday Night Bluegrass, Old Time and Gospel Jam - every Tuesday night at the Pine Hall Lutheran Church, 1760 West College Avenue, State College, 7-9:30 p.m. 814-883-0287 or [email protected].
Old Time Jam with the Gnarled Knuckles Band at Green Drake Gallery and Arts Center last Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., contact Bill Smedley at [email protected].
State College Area Irish Session – Kildare’s Pub last Thursdays, 7-9 p.m., contact Patty Lambert at [email protected] or see Facebook page by session name.
MiscellaneousWPSU Events Calendar @ WPSU.orgSimple Gifts Music @ www.simplegiftsmusic.comThe Folk Show and Folk Show Road Show @ WPSU.com
Jim, a talented singer-songwriter, artist and poet,
created a caring environment for individuals and small groups who desired experience trying
their songs in front of an audience.
20 | May 2015
New Leaf: offering a new way to work well
What does a place look like that can shift the trajectory of a person, maybe even the trajectory of a town? More and more people are finding that for them it looks like New Leaf Initiative, a co-working space and community hub in downtown State College.
Since launching in 2010, New Leaf has supported hundreds of students, citizens, and startups pursue work that’s good for them and good for the world. It’s a space to get inspired, a community to form rewarding rela-tionships, and a training ground to shift from dispiriting to fulfilling work.
While distinct in how it blends cam-pus and county, citizens and startups, New Leaf is far from alone in the idea that a creative, collaborative space boosts innovation in a community and individuals. The co-working movement has blossomed in the past decade, with more than 3,500 co-working spaces open worldwide. Co-workers can be nomad and remote workers, self-em-ployed or freelancers, entrepreneurs or startup teams. Varied in industry,
co-workers unite in seeking connec-tion and productivity instead of fight-ing for space at Starbucks, handling the logistical headaches of an office, or facing a creative block alone at home.
New Leaf provides two types of
membership for people to take full advantage of its services. Co-working members get a seat at the bay of work desks, monthly meeting room time, printing, storage, and mailing. Co-working memberships range from $150 to $450 per month, based on time spent in the space. People who want to benefit from the New Leaf cul-ture but don’t need the trappings of an office can be Ally Members. For $20 a month, Allies can use the commu-nal tables and cozy couch areas in the 2,600 square-foot space, plus get room
discounts and access to special events like member mixers. All members get connected to the nearly 200 talented, supportive people coming through the space each week.
New Leaf’s main workspace is open only to members during the day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and free to the public in the evening. Meeting rooms, fit with rolling chairs
and whiteboards to spark brainstorm-ing, can be reserved by the public at any time. The Leaf also hosts several weekly daytime events free and open to all.
Startup Coffee brings problem solv-ers together to share resources every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. At the Salad Club lunch Fridays at noon, New Leaf provides the greens and dressing and everyone brings an ingredient for a shared lunch. Both events create a time to build valuable relationships. The
recently launched Wellness Wednesday series promotes healthy work through noon meditation sessions and evening activities like improv and dance.
In addition to inspiring and con-necting people seeking to do good work, New Leaf aims to equip these individuals with the necessary know-how. This spring, a learning program called Seed School, helped partici-pants develop the skills to do work they love. Trainings included how to rapidly bond with a new person, form habits for optimal productivity and wellbe-ing, and pitch a project to generate sup-port. Seed School will continue in the fall with a focus on the communication skills crucial to strong work relation-ships and success.
For the summer, New Leaf staff members are intent on creating plat-forms for important ideas to receive community funding. This support will include a crowd funding site for local projects and a new event called Soup Club where five people present solu-tions to pressing local challenges, like mental health, and the audience votes to fund one with proceeds from the meal.
By: GALEN BERNARD, SERENA FULTON, AND ERIC SAUDER
“The whole environment at New Leaf is stimulating, there are fish swimming in tables!”
I was talking the other day to Whitey Blue, longtime Centre Region resident and hardnose.
Whitey, there’s been articles in the newspapers lately about widening some of the major highways in central Pennsylvania, like Interstate 80. Any thoughts about that?
“I think it’s a great idea! Why should traffic be squeezed into old-fashioned, narrow roads?”
But wouldn’t that greatly reduce land that’s available for raising crops?
“I think there’s plenty land available in other parts of the state or country. Or maybe we should import more from other countries, like we are doing with many things now?”
It seems to me that we are already importing too much now! Our country could become full of under-employed, needy people.
“You and I will be long-gone by then, so why should we worry? ■
David M. Silverman grew up in the days of the so-called Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s.
Whitey Blue on widening highways
By: DAVID M. SILVERMANVOICES Satirist
Photo by Michael Thiels//FLICKR.COM
NEEDEDSocial Media Intern
To develop a Voices presence on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, as well as keeping our webmaster informed of
updates and changes.
E-Mail Marilyn Jones at: [email protected]
| 21 May 2015
Though often known as a space for entrepreneurs, the New Leaf mem-bership actually is more than 60% freelancers and thrives through the di-verse range of work backgrounds pres-ent. Designers, nonprofit staff, and ed-ucation innovators all find the place an invaluable location to pursue the work that matters most to them.
New Leaf member Brad Fey saw a need for reducing local waste, specif-ically at the annual PA Festival of the Arts. Using New Leaf as his base, Brad brought together varied campus and community volunteers to launch Fest Zero, which is working towards a zero waste Arts Fest. Brad also wanted to put his passion for music toward show-casing local musicians online. New Leaf staff introduced him to videogra-pher Dan Lesher and they collaborated to create the Green Couch Concert se-ries on YouTube.
No stranger to social impact work, Mary Watson was impressed that her gifts were welcomed despite “being old enough to be a grandmother” to many of the New Leaf regulars. A retired drug and alcohol counselor, Watson found herself bolstered by new relationships and the space. “The whole environ-ment at New Leaf is stimulating,” she
said. “There are fish swimming in ta-bles!” Mary is now developing a project called “A Piece of Cake” to offer culi-nary training and business skills to un-deremployed people in Centre County.
Eric Zimmett always wanted to start his own company. Meeting other enter-prising individuals at Startup Coffee motivated him, and New Leaf staff introduced him to prospective clients as he opened a digital media agency. “Connecting with the New Leaf com-munity has been a valuable resource to grow my business,” he said. “I can work, meet with clients, and gain new insights and ideas.”
The New Leaf team is thrilled that the desire for a collaborative environ-ment and culture has gone from start-ing under the basement of Qdoba Grill
on College Ave to the top of the munic-ipal building. Anyone seeking a place to work well on what matters to them
can come check the space out for a day and see how New Leaf supports their work. ■
Galen Bernard is the Executive Director at New Leaf Initiative, Serena Fulton is Membership Director, and Eric Sauder is Growth Director. They sometimes have trouble getting their work done at New Leaf because they’re having too much fun helping all the awesome people in the space.
New Leaf Initiative is located on the third floor of the Municipal building, at 243 South Allen Street, Suite 337, State College, Pa.
Photo by New Leaf Coworking Space// VOICES
The communal tables and cozy couch areas in the 2,600 square-foot space being put to good use.
This spring, a learning program called Seed School, helped participants develop the skills to do work they love. Trainings included how to rapidly bond with a new person, form habits for optimal productivity and wellbeing, and pitch a project to generate support. Seed School will continue in the fall with a focus on the communication skills crucial to strong work
relationships and success.
Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest
virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak
immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of
triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.
Henry Anatole Grunwald
22 | May 2015
350 Freestone Lane, Port Matilda, PA • 814-692-4249 • www.skytopgolf.com
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This is classic golf.The way the game was meant to be played.
The Skytop Mountain Golf Club is now the high point for golf in Central Pennsylvania.
Bring your camera and your clubs.
“Birdsong brings relief to my longing. I am just as ecstatic as they are, but with nothing to say! Please, universal soul, practice some song, or something, through me!” – Rumi
While the Sufi mystic poet Jalal al-Din Rumi searches for the words to express himself, birds seem to be at no loss for something to say. Each spring, male birds with an aspiration of starting a family take to the tree tops and begin singing. The singing typically commences in the pre-dawn hours and continues throughout the day. The purpose of these incantations is more than just announcing one’s presence. The goal is to attract a mate and to alert rival males that a breeding territory has been claimed.
In addition to their repertoire of songs, birds have a variety of other types of vocalizations or calls that are used for purposes other than those related to breeding. These calls are usually simpler in structure and are used to convey a variety of messages important to the daily functioning of the flock or family unit.
Learning to identify these calls and deciphering their meanings is a fascinating area of avian research. It is also an important tool that birders can use to enhance their birding experience. By becoming “fluent in bird,” one can gain a better understanding of what is going on in the bird’s environment. While there are many bird calls to choose from, most birders take their cue from those of the familiar Black-capped Chickadee.
The Black-capped Chickadee is a year-round resident in Central Pa. It is a small bird measuring just over five inches in length and weighing a hefty 0.4 ounces. The chickadee has a greenish-gray back, a pale breast, and thin white wing bars. The most distinguishing feature of the chickadee is its white face with its black cap and bib.
The song of the Black-capped Chickadee is well-known to most birders. It is a short, two to three note whistled phrase that is sung exclusively by the male. It is transliterated as “Fee-bee” or “Fee-bee-o”, with the first note being higher pitched than the latter. Ornithologist Don Kroodsma prefers to translate the song as “Hey Sweetie.” Chickadees begin singing the Fee-bee song in the winter, but increase the intensity of their singing as spring approaches. The call functions primarily in the advertisement of
territorial boundaries and the attraction of mates.Both males and females give a short, faint call
that is similar to the Fee-bee song. The so-called Faint Fee-bee call is given when the mated pair is separated or not visible to each other. It appears to function as a short-distance summons. According to ornithologist Millicent Ficken, the call may serve to help coordinate the delivery of food by the male to the female when she is unable to leave the nest hole during the egg incubation period.
The least understood call of the Black-capped Chickadee is the “Gargle” call. The call is complex in structure. The call is a descending series of harsh jumbled notes that can be variable in length and structure. It is typically given during agonistic encounters between males and serves as a dominance display or threat. Gargles are also heard during sexual encounters with potential mates. Under these conditions, the call was not associated with any type of aggressive behaviors.
Perhaps the most well-known call of the Black-
capped Chickadee is the call for which it was named, the “Chick-a-dee” call. Like the Gargle call, the Chick-a-dee call is quite complex. The call consists of multiple parts, each of which can be delivered alone or in any number of combinations. With so many potential permutations, the call can be used to convey a great deal of information, such as a identification of the individual or flock, a summons, an alert of a mild threat, or a call to maintain contact and coordinate group movements.
Lastly, there are the high-pitched “Zee” calls. These calls are delivered in rapid bursts and are given by the male to indicate that a predator has been spotted. The frequency of the call is in the 8 kHz range, making it very difficult for a potential predator to home in on or localize. Upon hearing the Zee call, the flock members cease all movement in order to avoid detection. They will remain in the freeze position until the male gives a “chick-a-dee” call, indicating that all is clear.
The social and chattering nature of the chickadees is a characteristic employed by birders
to track down other birds. During migration, chickadees forage in mixed flocks with other birds. You can listen for their “Gargle” and “Chick-a-dee” calls as a means of finding a variety of neotropical migrants, such as titmice, woodpeckers, nuthatches, kinglets and various wood-warblers. ■
Joseph Verica is a vice-president of the State College Bird Club. He received a PhD in Biology from Penn State in 1995. He has been a birdwatcher for over 30 years.
The Chickadee: a little bird with a lot to sayBy: JOE VERICA
Photo by Alain Wolf//CREATIVE COMMONS
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus).
| 23 May 2015
The Chickadee: a little bird with a lot to say
Photo by Alain Wolf//CREATIVE COMMONS
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus).
Bill Callahan’s alarm sounds at 5:30 every morning. He takes time for reading and reflection, and then goes out to feed his animals.
Callahan has lived on the 100-acre Cow-a-Hen farm for the last 34 years. He considers himself a sustain-able farmer, allowing his “critters” to graze the land and avoiding the use of herbicides.
However, he does not practice sus-tainability because it’s a hot-topic, or because of his personal ethics, or be-cause he wants to create a better to-morrow. He practices sustainability because 22 years ago he realized the hazards of unsustainable farming.
“There was a pair of herbicides back at that time that came in a pack about the size of a teabag, and mixed with water, they would burn everything within two acres,” he said. “And I’m getting to think about it, ‘Do I really want to be anywhere close to some-thing like that?’”
He continued to say that he didn’t want to risk his life with such potent chemicals. He explained that farm-ers are notoriously susceptible to the long-term effects of herbicides, fungi-cides and insecticides, and that well documented health conditions can be tracked back to them. “I just decided that I didn’t want to be another one.”
Callahan also sees sustainabili-ty as a challenge, and he’s not one to turn down a challenge. He started to transition his farm to become more sustainable in the early 90s, and ex-plained he didn’t have all of the tools and knowledge we have now to help him out.
“Initially, we started off grazing cattle and that was kind of heresy at the time. Everyone said you have to finish with grain; well… no you don’t,” he said with a chuckle. He explained that cattle can finish on grass just as well as they can finish with grain. It just takes a little more skill and a
different phenotype of cattle than what you would find on a grain-fed farm.
Callahan also has a dis-tinctive philosophy when it comes to what his animals eat.
“The approach we’ve al-ways taken is there’s no such thing as a weed,” he said. “There are a lot of al-ternative forages out there. They’re not weeds, and the challenge becomes to find something that eats every-thing that grows there.”
One of Callahan’s new-est experiments, sheep, has helped him to meet this challenge. He’s had them for about a year and seems to be impressed with how they’ve turned out.
“All that stuff that was out there that nothing else would touch – the sheep clean it up pretty nicely,” he said. He said if he didn’t like them, they would have been back on the market without a second thought.
Callahan, who grew up on a dairy farm, has a sense of humor about his relationship with animals..
He said that pigs, for example, can definitely be peskier than others. “They’ll destroy anything they come in contact with and that can be aggra-vating,” he said. “The pig has 24 hours a day to lay out there and figure out how he can aggravate the pig herder.”
“The pesky ones we eat,” he said with a smirk. “Aggravation will get an animal out of my place very quickly.”
Despite his jokes, his farm and his critters are his pride and joy. At the Boalsburg Farmer’s Market he greets his customers by name and with a smile. With his apparent passion for farming, his long white beard, and a
lifetime of trust from his clients, they keep coming back for more. “I’m just an old farmer,” he said, “perfectly con-tent on the farm.” ■
Pamela Gramlich is a senior majoring in Advertising with a minor in Sustainability Leadership. She interns at Penn State’s Sustainability Institute.
Sustainable farming keeps the farmer aliveBy: PAMELA GRAMLICH
“Initially, we started off grazing cattle and that was kind of heresy at the time. Everyone said you have to finish
with grain; well… no you don’t
Photo supplied by Pamela Gramlich//VOICES
Cow-a-hen farmer Bill Callahan interacting with customers at the farmer’s market.
VOICESOF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
Thoughtful. Fearless. Free.
Make someone’s day. Share this paper with a friend, co-worker, family member
or acquaintance!State College Borough Council
“For a Forward Looking Borough” Continue preservation of borough neighborhoods. Work toward a borough that attracts young profes-
sionals and families. Support pending legislation to allow municipalities to
develop their own internet and follow up in the Centre Region.
Encourage appropriate growth strategies.
Send email to [email protected] www.BarlowforCouncil.com
PAID FOR BY BARLOW FOR COUNCIL Jesse Barlow
BRUNCH PERFORMERS
May 3: JT & Andy
May 10 (Mother’s Day):
Myra Sletson
May 17: Richard Sleigh
May 24: Hops & Vines
May 31: The Echo & Sway
EVERY MONTH AT WEBSTER’S:
First Wednesday:Poetry Series - Open Mic + Featured Poet, 7 pmFirst Thursday:Open Mic Variety Show - Hosted by Harold Taddy, 6 pmFirst Friday: 10% off books and drinks from 5-9 pm | Art reception, 6 pm | Punk show, 9 pm (all ages, BYOB, $5)
See our website for all of the events happening at Webster’s this month and every month.
WebstersBooksAndCafe.com