voices of central pa december 2015 -january 2015

VOICESOF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

Thoughtful. Fearless. Free.

Helping create VOICES for the voiceless • Rebuilding Penn State for the 21st century • Heating bills: Making winter fuel go further • A Personal Memoir of a Civil Rights Activist • The wonders of the rosehip • A look at energy, economy & environment • VOICES Choices • Middle East: Rising population & problem • BOOK REVIEW: This Changes Everything • BIRDWATCH: Cackling Goose • What smells? The stink about stink bugs • Advice to happily survive the winter chill • Not so fast there: The LAGuide to change • Whitey Blue • Sudoku

December/January 2014/15 Issue #212

Remembering VOICES’ beginnings

pg. 3

Saving on heating costs

pg. 6

Looking into the advances of Penn State construction. The five year capital plan that Penn State has put in place has specific goals in mind that will hopefully

make the Penn State community more efficient and technologically innovative.

Pg. 5

CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION

Voice’s Choicespg. 12

The wonders of rosehipspg. 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Voices encourages letters to the editor

and opinion pieces commenting on local

issues.

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cannot guarantee publication.

Send submissions to:

[email protected].

Letters become the property of Voices.

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CONTACT US

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State College, PA 16805-0066

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In This Issue...

2 — PAGE TWO: Voices - alive, vital and expensive

3 — Helping create VOICES for the voiceless

5 — Rebuilding Penn State for the 21st century

6 — Heating bills: Making winter fuel go further

7 — A Personal Memoir of a Civil Rights Activist

9 — NATURAL LIFE: The wonders of the rosehip

11 — A look at energy, economy & environment

12 —VOICES CHOICES

14 — Middle East: Rising population & problems

16 — BOOK REVIEW: This Changes Everything

17 — A Cackling Goose of a different feather

18 — What smells? The stink about stink bugs

19 — Advice to happily survive the winter chill

20 —Not so fast there: The LAGuide to change

21 — Oregano, a seasoned cure for indigestion

22 —Letters to the Editor

22 — Tantalizing highlights of the 2014 midterms

22 — SUDOKU

23 — Out and about: This month in your township

23 — Whitey Blue on war in the classroom

EDITORIAL BOARDEDITOR IN CHIEF

Marilyn Jones

[email protected]

LAYOUT CHIEF

Amanda Dash

[email protected]

OPERATIONS

Advertising Manager

Jon Vickers-Jones

[email protected]

Circulation Manager

Kevin Handwerk

[email protected]

Webmaster

Bill Eichman

[email protected]

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President

Elaine Meder-Wilgus

Vice President

Arthur Goldschmidt Jr.

Secretary

Chip Mefford

Treasurers

Peter Morris & Jesse Barlow

2 | PAGE TWO

Thoughtful. Fearless. Free. © 2014/15 Voices of Central Pennsylvania Inc.

December/January 2014/15, Issue #212

Whew! This month is overwhelming. I’m not talking turkey trouble; I’m not talking holiday shopping, I’m not talking New Year’s plans, or even the family birthdays in December. I’m talking the number of submissions Voices has had from brilliant local writers. It is so exciting to look in my e-mail and see an article that speaks about problems and solutions for climate change, one that talks about energy conservation, one that suggests how to have a pleasant cold weather experience, one that informs us about issues in the Middle East, others with relevant and enlightening information we can use, and some that just make

us smile or laugh. This is a unique newspaper. It is

one that highlights the local – local voices and local concerns. It takes larger issues on, showing how global is local, too.

We can include anything we would like because we are not governed by a conglomerate or a boss who is only interested in the bottom line. Our bottom line is to report stories that otherwise might not see the light of day, or be accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford our product.

It is a radical thing to print a paper with liberal values, to support efforts to derail climate change, to support

lowering our carbon footprint, to stand up for local farmers and businesses, to share information a b o u t ve ge t at ion that we can all access for nutritional, med ic ina l , a n d b i o l o g i c a l health, to s u p p o r t causes that help poor people and victims. It is also radical to report about more ordinary things without any bias – our local police department, our townships’ business.

But a paper like this does not

survive alone. To print this ongoing voice of the people we need your help. So here is my plea:

This is the end of the year, folks, and that means we really need your tax-deductible contributions to keep printing in 2015. We don’t want this to be our last issue. We do want to thank our volunteer staff and all our contributors and readers for working hard to keep this free, independent publication alive, vital and relevant. Please help us make sure we can print again this coming year. Send your payments or contributions to: Voices, P.O. Box 10066, State College, Pa. 16805-0066. ■

Page Two: Voices- alive, vital and expensive

MARILYN JONESEditor in Chief

| 3 December/January 2014/15

As a young man, I had some interest in journalism, but I never saw myself as the founder of a journal. The world already had so many books, magazines, newsletters, and newspapers, so why complicate it further? Writing is what I most love to do, but by the 1990s I had so many books or articles that I wanted to write, or that others wanted me to write or to edit, that I needed no more chances to burst into print.

Around 1989 Ben Novak, who was president of Penn State’s Undergraduate Student Government when I joined the faculty and later served as (unpaid) legal counsel to the State College Democratic Committee when I chaired it, founded a biweekly magazine called The Lionhearted. By then Ben was already an elected trustee of the University, and indeed

I recall exchang ing views about his gadfly role with Bryce Jordan, who was our p r e s i d e n t from 1983 to 1990; it was clear that Ben was seeking a new means of influencing Penn State s t u d e n t s . He asked G e o f f r e y Perry and me

to be among its writers. Both of us were too busy to accept, and as time passed, it became clear that The Lionhearted was going to be politically conservative, pro-life, and hostile to homosexuals and feminists. I remember meeting

Ben for breakfast in the spring of 1992, when I got ambushed by his attacks on the Democratic Party, women’s rights, and related issues. Although we shared a common bond as fraternity advisers (he advised TKE and had earlier spoken to some of my Delts), I was sure now that we would march in different directions politically.

The Lionhearted was becoming quite shrill in its attacks on The Daily Collegian (renamed The Daily Communist), the womyn’s rights, gay rights movements, and campus liberals generally. In an infamous issue published in April 1993, it printed a cartoon of the leading feminist writer of the Collegian writing her article while wearing a bikini. The campus feminists, discovering this outrage, decided to follow the truck that

delivered copies of The Lionhearted to various drops in and around town and on campus, to pick up all copies of the offending issue, pile them up in front of Ben’s law office on South Allen Street, and burn them. It was a silly thing to do, slightly reminiscent of the Nazi book-burnings, and probably illegal. It did, however, give The Lionhearted and Ben the national publicity that they craved.

How could we liberals best respond? Many of us realized that the soundest approach was to create a periodical that would counter The Lionhearted’s messages, perhaps on a level more cerebral and mature than that of The Daily Collegian. Unlike The Lionhearted, which published the Penn State football schedule on its front page but never listed its Board

of Directors or identified Ben’s role as publisher on its masthead, and which frequently reprinted articles from conservative national periodicals or wrote locally under pseudonyms, we’d abide by journalistic standards, if we knew what they were.

I reserved the Community Room in Schlow Memorial Library for Monday night, July 26, 1993, and sent press releases to the Collegian and the Centre Daily Times, inviting anyone interested in creating an alternative newspaper to The Lionhearted to come. I wasn’t expecting a crowd. I remember riding home that afternoon on a CATA bus with Martha Evans, who thought that the purpose of

Helping create VOICES for the voicelessBy ART GOLDSCHMIDT

[email protected]

ART GOLD-SCHMIDT

Vice President

see voices, pg. 4

Photo by AMANDA DASH // VOICES

A look inside the office of VOICES, located at Webster’s Bookstore and Cafe. Starting off as a subset of the biweekly and conservative magazine, The Lionhearted, VOICES, since 1993, has developed into a monthly liberal newspaper that promotes collaboration and discussion berween the community and those who write, edit, and design the paper for Centre County readers.

4 | December/January 2014/15

starting this journal was to enable Penn State faculty members to come up with more publications for promotion or tenure. Louise usually attended a Buddhist meditation group that met on Monday nights, but she decided to skip it in order to join me for moral support. To our surprise and delight, enough people showed up to fill the Community Room. I had agreed to cochair the meeting, together with Alycia Chambers, a counseling psychologist who was then president of the local chapter of the National Organization for Women. They had been contemplating the creation of a periodical to be called the Voice, but my press releases came out before they were ready to go public. Among the people attending that meeting was Ben Novak himself, who offered to take our hypothetical paper under the care of his already created nonprofit association that had 501(c)3 status under the US Tax Code, to be the “left ventricle of The Lionhearted,” as I quipped at the time. It would have saved us much trouble later on, but I was sure that neither the feminists nor the gays would want our paper to fall under the care of The Lionhearted, whatever the tax advantages. I sug-gested that we create some working committees, principally administrative, editorial, ways and means, and social. The administrative committee, which I agreed to chair, would draw up our constitution and bylaws, and would elect our officers. It eventually morphed into the Board of Directors that Voices now has, with responsibility for general direction and fundraising. The editorial committee would figure out who would manage the various operations of the paper itself, choose an editor-in-chief, create a structure of section editors, think of topics for articles, and seek out writers. They quickly determined that Bonny Farmer would be editor-in-chief, Angela Rogers managing editor, and various people who attended the 26 July meeting would head the various sections. We agreed to meet a second time one week later.

By conducting a name search on LIAS, as the Penn State libraries’ online catalog was then known, I determined that quite a few periodicals had been named the Voice. Indeed, I feared confusion with the Village Voice, familiar to many of us as the mouthpiece for New York’s bohemians. It was Dan Walden, one of our early administrative board members, who suggested Voices of Central Pennsylvania, a name none of us thought had ever been used before. I wanted us to speak up for all disadvantaged people, not only women and gays, hence the plural title. Dan also suggested that we subtitle it “A Liberal Journal of News and Opinion.” Given the conservative bent of most central Pennsylvanians, we soon had to drop that qualifier, which was making it hard for

us to sell the advertising space that we needed to meet our expenses, since we clearly could not expect our readers to pay for copies, something both the Collegian and the Lionhearted couldn’t do. Bonny Farmer played a lead role in many of our initial decisions, and I think that she must have had prior experience with running newspapers. Regrettably, I no longer recall exactly what she had done, but I do know that she aspired to make Voices financially strong enough to pay her a living wage. When that proved impossible—indeed, we had moments when the editors worried lest we could pay neither our office rent nor our printer—she quietly vanished from the scene.

But I’m getting ahead of my story here. I visited the office of Mimi Barash, who said she’d be delighted to see a periodical dedicated to fighting The Lionhearted, for she and Ben were both Penn State Trustees and their offices actually faced each other on South Allen Street. She predicted that we’d need six months to acquire our staff and equipment, and offered to run a free advertisement for us in

Town and Gown. That was all she could do at the time, and I soon found that she wouldn’t return my phone calls. Ben was actually more supportive, for he viewed this rivalry as the journalistic equivalent of a courtroom debate. This caused me a problem: there was a biology instructor on campus who wanted an avowedly feminist paper that would in no way cooperate with Ben Novak, and she made an angry phone call, not to me but to Alycia Chambers, the NOW president who had become our vice president. Louise actually interviewed Donna for Voices. As far as I was concerned, she was an unhappy woman who distrusted all males, and luckily she didn’t last very long at Penn State. For the most part, we tended to recruit and sometimes to alienate our editors and writers, totally independently of the Women’s Studies Program, or any other campus group, or indeed from any town organization, including the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

The first issue of Voices hit the street earlier than Mimi Barash had predicted: 14 October 1993. It was tabloid-sized, had 24 pages, a fair number of advertisements, and an impressive array of articles. Its cover picture was of the new façade of the Palmer Museum on campus, leading the reader to a critique of its architecture by Wil Hutton, our Arts and Entertainment editor. I missed out on the experience or the trauma of putting that first issue together. The editors claimed that they spent three all-nighters, working in Angela’s apartment in Bellefonte, trying to cut and paste the various sections to fit our print space. The first student representative on our Administrative Committee, Jason Ezratty, was so enthusiastic that he thought we could give away thousands of copies to

students on campus, so our initial press run was 20 thousand, far more than we could distribute. I spent the first Sunday morning after the paper appeared, standing at one of the exits to the Eisenhower Auditorium, trying to hand copies to each Catholic student leaving mass, because one of our contributors was a Roman Catholic kid whom I had met at that year’s Student Encampment who had gone to Denver to be with a huge student group that met with Pope John Paul II. I thought it would be fun to show that Voices was open to a group with which Ben identified closely. It was an experiment we never repeated. That was how we began. And we have not yet ended. ■


The second issue of VOICES from November 1993. The first issue printed in October 1993 was also tabloid size and 24 pages. The paper intially was quite an effort to print, with three all-nighters held by the editors to get to the paper out on time and accidentally printing off too many issues to distribute. Whereas the paper was initally worked on in the apartment of former editor-in-chieft Angela Rogers, nowadays VOICES has an office and meeting place in Webster’s Bookstore and Cafe.

from voices, pg. 3

Arthur Goldschmidt is Vice President of VOICES and is a Professor Emeritus of Middle East History at Penn State University where he taught from 1965 to 2000.


Although residents of State College may be growing tired of all the construction going on in town and on the Penn State campus, each project has specific goals in mind to make the Penn State community more efficient and technologically innovative. These goals are part of the five year capital plan that Penn State, as well as Hershey Medical Center, put into place to benefit the local community. “The principal goal is to make some significant progress in renewing our facilities,” said Ford Stryker, associate vice president of Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant. “We have many buildings that were built in the 50’s and 60’s after World War II in response to all of the students that were going to college then, and unfortunately now they are old and they need to be renovated.”

One major part of these renovations is focused on several scientific buildings on University Park campus. These include renovations to the chemistry labs in the Whitmore building, the biology and microbiology labs in the South Frear building and the biology labs in the Euler building. By far the biggest project in terms of capital, according to Stryker, is building a new facility to replace the Fenske building that houses the Department of Chemical Engineering. “Each project is oriented toward providing better facilities for the academic programs that they are in existence for,” said Stryker. These projects have, for the most part, been going according to plan without any major setbacks, despite challenges that naturally accompany every project. “Finding the space to accommodate everything during these renovations is hard,” said Stryker. “We don’t have any extra buildings sitting around that we can just put people in, but we are working our way through it.”

There are plenty of other important projects on campus that do not revolve around science departments. These include renovations to the Burrowes building, and renewing portions of East and South Residence Halls. A major project that has impacted students and faculty is the renovation of the Hetzel-Union building, more commonly referred to as the HUB. The good news for people on campus is that this project is nearing completion and should be open to the public by this February. “In February the main part of the building is going to open up, but there is some additional renovation work that has

to be done which won’t be done until May,” Stryker said.

Another important project for students and faculty who are interested in athletics and fitness is the renovation of the Intramural Building located on the east side of campus. This project has been funded mainly by student facility fees and has been broken up into two phases, according to Stryker. “We

did phase one, which added a recreation fitness facility in the front, and now we are working on phase two, which is going to add more b a s k e t b a l l courts and convert the existing area

in the middle of the building to a multi-sport court facility,” Stryker said.

Although the renovation of academic and faculty-based buildings is a huge part of the capital plan, it is not the only part. A significant amount of the total capital has also been put toward technological innovation and efficiency. This includes major investments into information technology to upgrade data centers at Penn State and the Hershey Medical Center and update the human resources and student information systems, according to Stryker. Another goal of the plan is to reduce energy consumption by updating water treatment plants and by switching to different energy sources. “We are converting our coal-fired heating plan to heating by natural gas, which is much more efficient and reduces significantly the amount of greenhouse gases that we

emit,” Stryker said. This project was met with quite a bit of resistance from the public. “There was a lot of controversy over the conversion of the power plant from coal to gas, but we were able to work through that and we have gotten the necessary permits, so that project seems to be moving along relatively well,” said Stryker.

The whole five year plan costs approximately $2.7 billion, which is garnered from a variety of sources. This is how the money can be broken down according to Stryker: $940 million is coming from reserves that Penn State has been saving for capital spending and $750 million will be borrowed from a variety of sources. Some of the money that is borrowed will be paid back through self-supporting facilities that the plan is contributing to, such as Hershey Medical Center and the housing and food services. $700 million will come from the category of “other” which includes things like gifts and student facility fees. $175 million will come from the operating budget. Penn State has also been receiving $40 million per year from the state, for a total of $200 million over five years. A more in-depth breakdown of these sources can be found on the Office of Physical Plant’s website.

“I think this is really a great opportunity for Penn State to address some of our long-standing facility issues and use this money judiciously to do that,” said Stryker. “It’s wonderful that we are in a position that we are able to do this because the facility assets of the university are very significant so it’s important to keep them up to date so that they can serve the students and researchers years into the future.” ■

Rebuilding Penn State for the 21st centuryBy RACHELLE GAYNOR

[email protected]


View of the renovation of the Health and Human Development building from Old Main lawn. This building used to be called Henderson South and renovations are part of Penn State’s five year capital plan to renovate and update the University Park campus.

Rachelle Gaynor, originally from Long Island, New York, is a senior at Penn State pursuing a career in journalism.

“Finding the space to accommodate everything during these renovations is hard. We don’t have any

extra buildings sitting around that we can just put people in, but we are working our way through it.”

Ford StrykerAssociate VP of Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant


Get a more efficient refrigerator for free! Rid your house of vampires! Slash your bills!

No, these are not the splashy headlines of an overly enthusiastic late-night infomercial host; they’re teasers for a class that is an important collaboration between PA Interfaith Power & Light (PA IPL) and Interfaith Human Services (IHS). The class details effective energy efficiency measures that people can take in their own homes. The goal is to make Fuel Bank supplies last longer, keep Centre County residents warmer, cut total housing costs for financially poor households, and benefit us all by reducing climate-changing pollution. The first class for the 2014-15 heating season took place November 6 at IHS member congregation Grace Lutheran Church in State College for a crowd of about 25.

The class began three years ago, when Ruth Donahue, the executive director of Interfaith Human Services (which administers the county fuel bank), approached the United Way and the Centre County Commissioners for additional funds to fill the growing need for winter fuel by low-income households that had exhausted the fuel help provided by the federal LIHEAP program before the cold weather ran out. Many of these households include very young children, elderly residents, or people with disabilities. The commissioners wanted to help, but they also asked if there was any way to reduce the demand for fuel.

PA Interfaith Power & Light works on climate change as a moral challenge, responding to the common calls of all faith traditions to care for the most vulnerable people, and to care for Creation. Helping local low-income residents stay safely and more comfortably in their own homes by doing more with less was a perfect fit, and the two organizations have been collaborating on these classes ever since.

Two Americorps workers, Kris Klotz and Andy Hayes, were instrumental in developing and presenting during the first couple of years, and Sylvia Neely (who has served on the Executive Committees of both organizations) has continued the work. This year, the class has been revamped to include a couple of hands-on demonstrations and how-tos.

In November’s class, Ron Johnson took the section about programmable thermostats (who needs to keep an empty house at 70 degrees?) to a new level by showing how to replace an old thermostat — including the helpful “been there, done that” tips that never seem to be part of instruction booklets. The big hint here: tape the wire ends to the wall before

disconnecting them from the old thermostat so they don’t escape back into the wall cavity! Setting your thermostat to drop 10-15 degrees while you’re in bed or out of the house (and so that it’s warmed back up before your feet hit the floor in the morning), can save 5-15% a year on heating bills! Ron also talked about how easy it is to override the settings if you’re up unusually late for a west coast ballgame in overtime, or if you need to rise with a sick child in the middle of the night. New programmable thermostats don’t even have to be reset after a power outage. Thanks to Ace Hardware of State College, every class participant received a coupon for $4 off of any thermostat. Anyone can purchase one for about $25.

At every class, there are participants who are able to share some of their own tips and tricks for cutting utility bills, but (remarkably) everyone comes away with something new, too.

Returning to the teaser at the top: Get a more efficient refrigerator by simply vacuuming the coils. If you can’t move your own, trade a local high school student five minutes of muscle for a few cookies. If you can, offer to help a neighbor – and put it on

your calendar for the time-change weekend every year so you don’t forget. Advances: new refrigerators often have the coils underneath instead of in the back, so they can be pushed all the way to the wall. To clean these, just make sure you clean the intake every time you vacuum – no need for an appliance mover.

Worried about vampires? Stock up on garlic and wooden spikes or plug anything with an indicator light in to an accessible power strip to eliminate “vampire” or “phantom” loads created by chargers and appliances on standby by turning them really and truly off , without the hassle of nightly unplugging. Some estimates put phantom loads over a year at nearly a month’s worth of total household electricity! Advances: new-generation power strips can treat secondary devices (like stuff plugged into your TV) differently, automatically powering them down when you turn off your TV (or whatever you may have plugged into your designated “primary device” receptacle).

Sign up for a class by calling Interfaith Human Services at (814) 234-7731. Upcoming classes:

•December 2, Tuesday 6 p.m., Philipsburg, CenClear

•December 12, Friday, noon, State College, Trinity Lutheran Church

•January 12, Monday, 6 p.m., Philipsburg, CenClear

•January 23, Friday, noon, Bellefonte, Catholic Charities

•February 5, Thursday, 6 p.m., Spring Mills, New Hope Lutheran in

Spring Mills•February 20, Friday, 1 p.m., Philipsburg,

CenClear•March 9, Monday, 5 p.m., Bellefonte, Catholic

Charities•March 18, Wednesday, 6 p.m., Philipsburg,

CenClearWant to help?•Volunteer to create a hands-on demonstration by

contacting Sylvia Neely [email protected]•Volunteer to help weatherize low-income Centre

County homes through PA IPL’s Weatherization First initiative.

•Donate $4 or more to match Ace Hardware’s community-minded contribution when you make your own Ace purchases (energy efficiency or otherwise). Ace will collect gift cards and cash donations to purchase energy-saving supplies for Fuel Bank class attendees. ■

Heating bills: Making winter fuel go furtherBy CRICKET ECCLESTON

[email protected]

Photo by RUTH DONAHUE // Interfaith Human Services

Sylvia Neely demonstrates an LED light bulb and measures the energy use for a Fuel Bank energy class at Grace Lutheran Church. This, as the first of many classes, is to demonstrate effective energy efficiency that people can practice in their own homes.

Cricket Hunter is the executive director of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light.


Personal Memoir of a Civil Rights ActivistPart 2- A LONG HOT SUMMER

1964 – Events of 64 generated the first of the long hot urban summers that became typical of the late sixties. The country was still in mourning for President Kennedy. Neither the Warren Commission Report, which identified Oswald as the lone assassin, nor the conviction of Jack Ruby in March for killing Oswald had allayed suspicion that the assassination was a conspiracy. In Jackson, Mississippi, an all white jury wouldn’t convict the murderer of Medger Evers, Byron DeLa Beckwith.

There was some good news. The 24th Amendment which prohibited the use of poll taxes in federal elections was ratified. Poll taxes and literary exams were two of the primary legal methods used to deny Black people the right to vote in the South. The US Senate broke the Southern filibuster and passed the Civil Rights Bill in June. Sidney Poitier became the first African-American to win an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in LILIES OF THE FIELD. Other events in the cultural world included the American debut of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and Muhammed Ali beating Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight championship.

Internationally, two newly independent African countries, Tanganyika and Zanzibar had merged to become Tanzania. Nelson Mandela and his fellow defendants in the Rivonia Trial were sentenced to life imprisonment. They remained incarcerated on Robben Island for twenty-seven years until democracy came to South Africa.

The mood in the Mississippi Summer Project had been set by the disappearance and assumed lynching of our fellow activists, Mickey, Andy, and James. It created a chilling effect on our work yet inspired us to move to a higher level. Every action for good or bad seemed a matter of life and death.

LELAND- I had arrived in Greenville, Mississippi around the Summer Solstice in June to work through a Catholic Church. But, that plan hadn’t worked out so I joined The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). I stayed around the Greenville office through early July. Then I was assigned to be the project director in Leland, a small suburban town about ten miles from the city. For the first week I was alone trying to build a base. At the reunion last Summer, a fellow volunteer, Lisa Todd, shared a report that I wrote at the time to “The Powers That Be in Jackson.” It was dated July 10th. What follows are some excerpts:

“I arrived in Leland the evening of the 8th of July. My clothes and work material arrived the 9th. The first thing I did was to make contact with the police officials, city hall, and the Catholic priest. I secured a map of the town, a list (which I personally copied from the record book) of the Negro registered voters, and a list of the members of the Chamber of

Commerce. Copies of the same are in the hands of Charlie Cobb. I subsequently made contact with the weekly newspaper editor, two Negro ministers and a couple of the Negro store owners. My work thus far has been limited to accurately laying out different areas on the map, attempting to arrange a place for rallies, meeting, etc, trying to identify and locate the elusive Negro leadership in Leland, and attempting to communicate about various matters with Greenville.

II. As I understand I am to concentrate primarily on voter registration with July 16th in mind as

Freedom Day for the County. Also I am to secure housing for others who might possibly arrive here.

III. In my analysis of the situation of things, the area (sic) will remain stagnate in this town (by that I mean the stone wall will stand no matter how many times I fracture my skull) unless: 1) I am either assisted or subordinated by another worker who will be able to spend a goodly portion of time here. 2) More funds are allocated for future housing, and, more important(ly) the rental of facilities that could be used as a co-ordinating mechanism. 3) An adequate communications network is provided between here and Greenville for the transportation of necessities and messages.

IV. My budget for the week was: Income: $10 from COFO Funds, $5 donated by Father, $5 personal funds Reed, St. James Catholic Church; Outgo: $6 rent for living quarters (weekly) $2 toilet articles, $2 office supplies, $5 food, communication cost, cigarettes, pool; Balance: 0

I managed to find an office and a place to stay in a second floor walk-up across the street from railroad station. I supervised a couple of volunteers. Jim, a college student was the only one who stuck around for the long haul. The rest of the staff consisted of several local kids who were in and out of the office all summer. We had a makeshift freedom school, which helped with the basics of literacy. But, the primary activity was registering folks for the Freedom Democratic Party.

MFDP- In the planning for the Summer Project, the original intent was to use the volunteers to register voters and test the parameters of the recently passed Civil Rights Act, by sit-ins, demonstrations, etc. There was some of that. We integrated the main floor of the only movie theatre in town. Blacks were only allowed in the balcony. But, our band of merry but scared brothers and sisters purchased our tickets and sat downstairs. The police came and told us we were violating the law. I retorted that the

Civil Rights Act superceded the local law. It didn’t matter we were arrested and escorted out. We sent one of the kids to call the Greenville office as we had been instructed to do. But, there was no need. Once outside the police released us.

Our other act of civil disobedience targeted the local public swimming pool, which was all white, all the time. A dozen or so of us marched to the pool carrying towels and trunks even though we knew that there was no chance that we were going to be allowed in. Sure enough when we arrived the police were already there. We were informed that the pool was closed for repairs. It stayed closed for the rest of the Summer. We were detained for holding a demonstration without a permit. Fortunately we had sent the local kids home so that they would not be in harm’s way either that day or after we left. I remember sitting at that little small town police station waiting for COFO lawyers to arrive from Jackson. It was a terrifying experience. The three of us passed the time singing freedom songs, which at least gave the appearance that we were courageous freedom fighters. We weren’t. We were scared teenagers, a long way from home and very much in harm’s way. That arrest and the previous one, indeed nearly all of the similar arrests from that summer were thrown out by the Supreme Court as civil rights violations. That and other similar incidents inspired some of us like Karen Brown and myself to go to law school later in order to be a voice for the voiceless and to defend the civil rights of the oppressed. Of course it took me eleven years to get there.

But, legal issues were not our main concern. We were more afraid of the retaliatory violence from the white terrorist groups. One night a pick-up truck sped by and fired a few barrels of buckshot through

the window. No one was hurt and fortunately the window was open, so didn’t need to be repaired. At Charlie Cobb’s suggestion, we spent that night in the Greenville Freedom house.

Early in the summer the strategy had changed. Because of the upcoming Presidential election, the “powers that be” decided to forestall any actions that might cause confrontations. It was felt that bad publicity might help the conservative Republican Barry Goldwater get

elected. Also no one wanted to create situations, which might result in violence. We had already seen what that might bring. Most of our efforts went into registering people for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).

Since Negroes were systematically denied the right to vote, they were not allowed to join a political party. It was our intent to register as many people, black and white, as possible to a new party, the MFDP. These registrations would be presented to

By CHARLES [email protected]

CHARLES DUMASTheater Professor, PSU

see memoir, pg. 8

The three of us passed the time singing freedom songs, which at least gave the appearance

that we were courageous freedom fighters. We weren’t. We were scared teenagers, a long way from home and very

much in harm’s way.


the Credentials Committee at the Democratic Party Convention, which was going to be held later that summer. We would argue that the MFDP better represented the democratic and egalitarian principles of the Democratic Party, than did the regular democrats who discriminated against Negroes. By the end of the Project we had registered over 80,000 people under very difficult circumstances.

DAILY ROUTINE- Farm workers worked the fields from “can to can’t” - can see to can’t see-, sunrise to sunset. Each morning we would get up before sunrise to get out to where workers would be picked up to be taken to the fields. We were not allowed on the fields by the plantation owners and we avoided churches out of fear that they would be burned or bombed. We would explain the principles of the MFDP to the workers and ask them to register. We explained that their names would not be revealed to local authorities. Hence they should not be afraid. Some enthusiastically jumped at the opportunity to participate in the process, but many didn’t. Despite our assurances they feared reprisals. They knew that many black Mississippians had been attacked, lost their jobs, had their houses and churches burned, even killed for daring to try and vote.

After a week or so we noticed a strange phenomena. If I would make the pitch more people said no. But, if one of the white volunteers made the pitch people were more likely to sign the registration form, even some of those who had refused to sign when I had asked them. It was not due to my lack of oratorical skills. Other projects had similar experiences. Rather it was the residue of long infused Jim Crow discrimination. Some folks would do something just because white folks said to do it, even if they perceived it to be against their self-interest.

This created an ethical dilemma. One of the underlying principles of the Movement was to help restore the dignity and self-worth of oppressed African-Americans in the South by facilitating their active engagement with the political process. The MFDP was one of the means to promote that engagement. However, the fear engendered by generations of racial intimidations dissuaded many from joining the MFDP. We could get people to sign by using the power of white presence, which came from that systematic discrimination and intimidation to get people to sign the MFDP registrations. We could use Jim

Crow against itself but at what cost? In the end it became a case-by-case determination.Stokely Carmichael (Kwame

Toure) had become project director in nearby Greenwood. We had several talks about this realty of Black folks being kowtowed after years of racial oppression. He became convinced that only by having Black people work with Black people could we help liberate them from the psychological depression, which had arisen from institutional racism. Later he became head of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and articulated the idea of Black Power which excluded white activists from the orga ni zat ion. I am sure he drew from these experiences in the Delta. The idea was not so much to punish white activists as enhance the empowerment of Black people. The other issue we all discussed was the use of nonviolent protest.

SATYAGRAHA- We had all been instructed in the tactics of nonviolent resistance, based on Dr. King’s interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of satyagraha or truth force. In the philosophy of satyagraha, the protestor or activist does not ever use violence to assert his or her cause, even unto death. The satyagrahi believes that the transformative power of love and justice can transform the oppressor. King believed in the philosophy of nonviolence. Most young people in the Movement believed that nonviolence was a tactic to be used in some but not all situations. In the South that tactic was adhered to in almost all situations. Up north it was a different story.

In New York City, in Harlem, July 16, 1964, a fifteen-year old Black youth, James Powell was shot and killed by police Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan in front of his friends and about a dozen other witnesses. The incident set off six consecutive nights of unrest and rioting. It is estimated that 4,000 New Yorkers participated in the riots which led to attacks on the New York City Police Department, vandalism, and looting in stores. At the end of the conflict, reports counted one dead rioter, 118 injured, and 465 arrested. This Harlem riot arguably

set off riots in Philadelphia, Chicago, Rochester and Jersey City later in the summer. 1964’s Long Hot Summer precipitated similar disturbances in dozens of American cities for the rest of the decade. It had little effect on us in Mississippi, where that kind of atrocity and the deplorable living conditions were commonplace. But, it brought the issue of nonviolence, strategy or tactic to the forefront.

THE LAST DAYS OF THE PROJECT- On August 4th the bodies of Jimmy, Andy and Mickey were found buried in an earthen dam near where they had been lynched. Interestingly

enough, during the 44 days that they had been missing, seven other bodies of Black men who had been suspiciously killed were discovered buried around the State. Andy and Mickey had both been shot in the head. Jimmy had been shot three times after he was severely beaten. The plans were to bury

all three of them together. But, there were no cemeteries in Mississippi, which allowed Blacks and Whites to lie at rest together. So, Mickey and Andy’s bodies were sent home to New York.

On August 6 MFDP held a convention at the Masonic Temple in Jackson. Ella Baker was the keynote and Fannie Lou Hamer, E.W. Steptoe, Winson Hudson, Hazel Palmer, Victoria Gray, Rev. Ed King, Lawrence Guyot, Peggy J. Conner, Aaron Henry, Fannie Lou Hamer, Annie Devine, and Bob Moses, were among those 68, elected as delegates to the National Convention to be held in Atlantic City in late August. Two days later on August 8, the body of James Chaney was laid to rest at Okatibee Cemetery in Meridian Mississippi. Many people from the Movement including Rita Schwerner, Mickey’s widow, and the Community were in attendance. Even though there were many hard days to come, including the struggle at The Democratic Party Convention later that Summer. Jimmy’s burial was for many of us the end of the Mississippi Freedom Project.

It has been hard to put into words what Mississippi Summer meant to me personally. It changed my life. In a few short months I was transformed from a frustrated teenager into a hardened freedom fighter. At the time, I was not sure what was going on. I wrote the following poem one night

at a get together at Hodding Carter’s house. He was my friend and a friend of the Movement. He and his father had used the family newspaper, The Delta Democratic Times, to argue for sanity and civility. For their efforts they had crosses burned in their yard and their family threatened. Later Hod became a spokesperson for the State Department during President Carter’s administration.

LELAND, MISSISSIPPI JULY 1964What place am I in?Am I sitting in Leland, Mississippi

or Hyde Park?From the conversation, cocktails

and potato chip dips, I can’t tell.The banter and chitchat seem banal

enough.Yet through the window a breeze

brings hints of kerosene and burnt wood.

Amidst the night sounds, a muffled trio cries for help.

Strange fruit truly hangs on these Southern trees.

And in the dimmed light I do not see the faces of my people.

Tomorrow as I walk the streets of this town, what will come of this?

As I carry the registration cards to the cotton fields,

As Another black,Another freedom fighter,Another target?Can these words deflect the hate,

stop the bullets?Or are these just eulogies, flimsy

funeral flower arrangementsTo be flung about my charred corpseWhat a strange scene,A Black boy from Chi-town sipping

imported vermouth,Listening to a lot of fancy ideas from

a room full of people,Who could, and would, and should

give goddamn.Mississippi, you don’t really existYou are a myth that drives men

when all else has fadedAnd no other idea persists except

that which screams to be.Black is the topic of conversation,

temporarily.Black is reason for forgetting the

rest of humanity, temporarilyBlack seems lost in the darkness of

night, temporarily.But Black is, and, oh my God, not

temporary. ■

NATURAL LIFE: The wonders of the rosehipfrom memoir, pg. 7

We could get people to sign by using the power of white presence, which came from

that systematic discrimination and intimidation to get people to sign the MFDP registrations.

We could use Jim Crow against itself but at what cost? In the end it became a case-

by-case determination.

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.


NATURAL LIFE: The wonders of the rosehip

Winter is on its way: drying indoor air with wet, cold, chapping winds and frigid temperatures. All are irritants that cause dry, cracking skin, chapped lips and splitting cuticles, contributing greatly to the breakdown of delicate skin tissue and premature aging. Now is the time to start your skin regimen by adding some extra protection.

Our grandmothers used Crisco for dry, chapped, skin. Our mothers swore by Ponds cold cream for irritated skin. Today, we have the benefits of worldwide ingredients at our fingertips to combat premature aging. There is cocoa and shea butter, aloe vera gel, almond, apricot, and olive oils, and countless essential oils. The list of ingredients goes on and on, all with different health benefits, and many with very similar benefits and uses. But when it comes to skin care, Rosehip seed oil is a stand-out favorite, especially in the winter season when your skin, particularly your face, needs constant attention from exposure to the harsh elements of winter weather.

Commercial Rosehip seed oil is extracted from pressing the seeds of wild rose bushes, Rosa moschata or Rosa rubiginosa in the southern Andes, or from Rosa canina, which grows in many regions of

the world including South Africa and Europe. It has been used by Chileans, ancient Egyptians, Mayans, Native Americans, and Europeans for centuries for its healing properties. The amazing benefits of the rosehip seed oil has only recently been validated and introduced to modern cultures.

Although the United Stated Department of

Agriculture (USDA) has proclaimed the Multi-flora rose, Rosa-multiflora, as an invasive, wild crafter in the northeast, we are actually very lucky indeed, for our infamous and plentiful Multi-flora rose does

By LINDA [email protected]

Photo by Eleanor F Coutts // Flickr

Rosehip seed oil is extracted from pressing the seeds of wild rose bushes.Rosa moschata or Rosa rubiginosa in the southern Andes, or from Rosa canina, which grows in many regions of the world including South Africa and Europe.

see rosehip, pg. 10


produce a rose hip that generates as many health benefits as those grown in other countries for commercial use. The Multi-flora rosehip is as effective as the rosehips commonly harvested for use in commercial skin care products. There are other uses for the Multi-flora as well: the leaves can be ground and applied to heal sores. The fruit or hip, relieves pain (consumed in a tea or applied topically), and is used as a diuretic or a laxative, and has shown evidence for healing ulcers, wounds, sprains, and injuries. Even the roots can be used to make a successful tightening and regenerating skin tissue astringent, a calmative to sooth and ease irritation of the skin, and a carminative to relieve the bowels if taken as a tea internally. The leaves and hips can be brewed for a wonderful, rosy flavored cup of vitamin C.

Rosehip seed oil is a superstar for healthy skin, hair, and nails. Unlike any other oil that addresses similar skin conditions, Rosehip seed oil prevails because of its natural ability to be quickly absorbed into the skin, and to replenish moisture and create a barrier against further dehydration without leaving an oily residue. It is just what is needed for winter weather - an organic moisturizer that can be carried along and applied anytime,

leaving a mess-free finish. It is rich in vitamins and

antioxidants: vitamin A, in the form of beta carotene, essential fatty acids, and the linoleic acids omega-6 and omega-3, making it a natural and organic remedy for a variety of skin conditions. It corrects UV damage from the sun, reduces appearances of scars, burns, and stretch marks, treats fine

lines and wrinkles, and helps prevent premature aging by soothing, healing, and moisturizing mature skin. It is a wonderful remedy for eczema and psoriasis, and it evens skin tone if you have hyper-pigmentation, age spots or other minor skin discolorations. It also has the added bonus of healing brittle nails and moisturizing dry hair.

As an acne remedy, rosehip oil is superlative. It seems counterintuitive to put oil on your face to reduce acne, but some acne is caused by a lack of moisture, over washing, or applying drying agents that irritate and deteriorate skin tissue. Rosehip seed oil heals irritation and helps balance the over-production of the oil, aiding in reducing acne.

Using it as a make-up remover is one way to add rosehip seed oil into your daily skin routine to replenish skin. Adding it to your spray toner helps balance and regenerate skin, providing your toner does not contain any alcohol or harsh chemicals. Some who have very oily skin may want to use it only at night, but most will find it to be light and absorbent, making it easy to use throughout the day. The scent is a soft citrus aroma that makes it pleasant for daytime use.

It is still not too late to take a walk and pick rosehips. Although their thorny protection will require gloves and a jacket that can be snagged, don’t let that deter you from using this wonderful bounty. Dried and crushed rosehips can be diffused in a light oil such as organic sweet almond or jojoba oil to complement the rosehip

oil absorbency qualities. You might end up with an oil that is slightly less absorbent, but the fun of making your own organic moisturizer will far outweigh the differences. When picking wild rosehips, the inclination is to stand still and pick only from one spot because scratches and pricks are inevitable, but Rosehips are a sweet and necessary food for many overwintering birds, so caution is required when stripping a bush of its hips. But it is so plentiful that with permission any farmer would welcome a crafter walking through pastures to pick hips. Every hip you pick and use is one less seed that a bird will spread, and one less plant that a farmer will need to eradicate with chemical application. A few tools such as scissors, eye protection, and a bag to hold your precious thorny cache will help keep injuries to a minimum.

Co-existing with nature and using nature’s bounties is a mindset that many people are starting to embrace. Rosehip seed oil production is a worldwide, multi-billion dollar industry. Farming for rose hips and complimentary products would have some positive environmental and financial impacts, such as eliminating the necessity for tons of herbicides used to eradicate it, improving runoff and water quality, and feeding many birds and wildlife species that are now endangered. ■

Photo by YASMINE HAMID // Flickr

Rosehips, sometimes referred to as haws or heps, are a sweet and necessary food for many overwintering birds, so caution is required when stripping a bush of its hips. The hip can be used as a diuretic, and has shown evidence for healing ulcers.

from rosehip, pg. 9

Great opportunity with Voices!

Do you know how to do layout with InDesign? Are you reliable? Would you like to pick up a bit of extra money?

Well, this is your opportunity to make a great

addition to your resume, and meet new and interesting people.

Starting in February we would like to begin training a new layout person for our paper. You need to be competent in InDesign, reliable, and able to meet deadlines.

If you are interested, e-mail Marilyn Jones at [email protected].

P.S. You might be able to do this for credit or use it as an intern experience.

Linda Meek is the owner and operator of Stone Pond Farm in Julian, Pa.


A look at energy, economy & environment

When I was little, my father gave me a great explanation of deus ex machina, the literary plot device used by writers when they’ve backed a character into an inescapable corner. He set the scene as a radio drama episode ending with the story’s hero stuck at the bottom of a deep pit: straight sides, no ladder, no rope, no other people to pull him out.

Tuning in next week, listeners heard the drama continue, “with a mighty leap…”

The Wikipedia entry on “deus ex machina” notes that it’s generally undesirable, implying a lack of author creativity, and failing to pay due regard to the story’s internal logic. The resulting plot developments are often so unlikely that they challenge the audience’s suspension of disbelief.

In September 2013, when asked what Penn State will do if no new cheap, high-EROEI (energy-return-on-energy-invested) technologies emerge and scale up quickly enough to bridge the gap between today’s energy resources and an 80% reduction by 2050, Office of Physical Plant Director of Energy & Engineering Rob Cooper borrowed the narrative technique, commenting: “We have confidence in mankind’s ingenuity to create these ‘breakthrough’ technologies to help us address our energy future.”

Unable to suspend my disbelief, along with a handful of other activists, I’ve been testing a “Yes-No” question since then: “Does Penn State have a plausible, data-supported plan to safely steer the University community into the gathering storms of costly and unreliable fossil fuel supplies, climate change, and economic contraction?”

So far, the answer is “No.”Penn State’s detailed energy plans

are mostly a black box of unknowns for outsiders. There’s some evidence that an Energy System Master Plan was drafted in 2007 or 2008, laying out multi-decade energy demand and supply projections. The plan is classified as “confidential” by OPP and held in the University Archives at Pattee Library. Appeals to Ford Stryker, Vice President for Physical Plant, and the Records Management Advisory Committee were both rejected during Summer 2014, and President Eric Barron declined to intervene.

Reverse engineering Penn State’s

overall energy strategy by collecting small pieces of information that fall into public hands, primarily through zoning review and Board of Trustees minutes, we know they’ve got a 30-year contract for natural gas delivery by Columbia Gas. We know they’ve designed and built a new 400-psi natural gas transmission pipeline across campus. And we know they’re converting the West Campus Steam Plant from coal to natural gas and diesel fuel for a production capacity far higher than required for current campus demand.

We’ve also looked at public capital spending plans (including a $140 million Chemical & Biological Engineering building, and a $69 million data center), and the recent announcement that Penn State will participate in the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge to reduce the “energy use intensity” (EUI) of the building portfolio by at least 2.5% per year through 2020. (The EUI measures energy use per square foot, a metric the University tends to play up in press releases because it makes charts with lines sloping down and to the right, while masking the cancelling effect on total energy use caused by increasing the number and size of buildings while marginally improving portfolio efficiency.

Energy use intensity is not the same as total energy consumption. Kevin Anderson, Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, wrote about the difference in October:

“…We are many times more efficient now than we were in 1970 and even more than in 1920 – yet energy consumption and emissions continue their relentless rise. The climate doesn’t give a damn about efficiency, only about emissions. So if companies, governments and individuals, at least the wealthier amongst us, are to make a positive contribution, we need to be delivering absolute reductions in our emissions. And if we are serious about avoiding the 2°C characterization of dangerous climate change, then those absolute reductions need to be in double figures (i.e. over 10% [per

year]). Anything less and we certainly should not be claiming to be moving in the right direction – rather moving in the wrong direction, just at a slower rate…”

By the university’s own calculations, fuel substitution strategies aren’t reducing overall energy use. Combined with the last several years of moderate investment in better building envelopes to reduce waste, they’ve only managed to stabilize campus energy consumption at just about 3,000,000 mmBtu per year.

In public statements, OPP officials claim they’re motivated by a combination of regulatory pressures (tightening emissions standards) and a moral obligation to mitigate the University’s contribution to climate-destabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. To support their emissions claims, they rely on gas industry propaganda that natural gas combustion emits lower amounts of greenhouse gases than coal.

Independent s t u d i e s support the o p p o s i t e c onc lu s ion: m e t h a n e leakage at the wellheads cancels out the carbon emissions at combustion, l e a v i n g n a t u r a l

gas about the same as coal from a greenhouse gas standpoint.

In my view, there’s a third, far more implacable force at work, and it demands a very different institutional fiduciary response: the declining marginal economic returns on fossil fuel dependence.

Actuary Gail Tverberg of Our Finite World predicts that the world will be working with roughly 40% of 2010 baseline fossil fuel supplies by 2030 – not due to carbon legislation, or to fossil fuels running out completely, but because a growth-driven economy requires cheap fuel to grow, and the unconventional, barrel-scraping extraction techniques we’re using now (such as fracking) aren’t cheap. Geoscientist David Hughes of the Post-Carbon Institute has analyzed well decline rates across the so-called “shale revolution” for oil and gas and reached the same conclusion: as early as 2020, fuel that will still

be technically recoverable will not be economically recoverable; many extraction companies sustained by junk bonds rather than operating revenues for the last few years will go bankrupt during the shakeout, leaving abandoned wells and investors holding the empty bag.

In other words, the economic harms of natural gas substitution strategies are more immediately significant than the climate harms. Natural gas hasn’t just physically displaced coal at many power plants, including Penn State’s. As Bill McKibben and other environmentalists note, capital investment in substitution-oriented natural gas delivery and combustion infrastructure has displaced capital investment in the zero-carbon and de-growth energy strategies that are essential for reducing total energy use. McKibben quoted energy analyst Joe Romm in a September Mother Jones article: “[F]rom a climate perspective the shale gas revolution is essentially irrelevant — and arguably a massive diversion of resources and money that could have gone into carbon-free sources.”

That global scenario has been perfectly mirrored here in Central Pennsylvania. To date, at least six crucial years and tens of millions of student and taxpayer dollars have been wasted at Penn State with the natural gas detour – the permitting, design and construction of new gas-dependent physical infrastructure across the University Park campus.

If Penn State OPP were to take these pressures seriously going forward, a 10% annual cut in campus fossil fuel consumption would be a big step in the right direction. The 2013 baseline of 3,104,127 mmBtu per year would drop to 1,484,695 mmBtu by 2020: cutting consumption and emissions by roughly half and at least doubling our regional capacity to withstand global energy price and access shocks.

With a lot of hard work by community activists, and a little luck, perhaps 2015 will be the year Penn State OPP leaders recognize the full scope of our shared community energy predicament, effectively communicate it to the Board of Trustees, and establish a plausible public response.

For more information, check out the archives at Steady State College (steadystatecollege.wordpress.com) ■

By KATHERINE [email protected]

Katherine Watt is a State College writer and community organizer.

By the university’s own calculations, fuel substitution strategies aren’t

reducing overall energy use. Combined with the last several years of moderate investment in

better building envelopes to reduce waste, they’ve only managed to stabilize campus energy

consumption.


VOICES CHOICESVOICES CHOICES

Artist of the Month ~ Justin Gruneburg

Local artist Justin Gruneberg, a graduate of Penn State with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts has been working with multiple mediums, usually oil on canvas, but has been experimenting with digital work as well. Gruneberg said, “I don’t necessarily have a preference. Digital is cool because it can be very efficient and allows for more flexibility throughout the process. But I think I still hold a romantic ideal towards painting. Maybe it’s because I’m so familiar with it, or maybe it’s nostalgic, but whatever it is, when I put oil paint onto a canvas by way of a brush, that’s when I feel the most fulfilled.”

Gruneberg used to attempt to make political, cultural or social statements and to put meaning in his work, but it never materialized how he imagined, so he’s exploring another direction with his new works, taking interesting concepts and images and putting them “through the filter” of his brain, with the goal of creating something he enjoys and feels passionately about. He describes his own past works as “if you have a box with a label and you drop me into that box, the label would read I take a bunch of stuff and throw it together and see what happens. I find images of objects and environments and mix them together with the hope that something resounding comes out the other end.”.

His works are available for sale on his website, www.saatchiart.com/jmgrune.

By KASSIA [email protected]

One of the only elements that would seem out of place in a home setting is the small breakfast bar complete with professional espresso machine. This bar allows for the restaurant to boast a complete list of coffee and espresso drinks, all made with the coffee of the day. Those of us who require a good caffeinated pick-me-up most mornings will appreciate this drink list, whether your preference is a vanilla latte or a good old fashioned shot of espresso.

Upon our arrival, we noticed that the dining room was full, and immediately expected a long wait. However, the twenty minutes that the hostess told us would be our wait time turned out to be more like fifteen and passed quickly.

After our wait time was up, we were promptly seated and attended to by a professional and personable server. She quickly took our order and brought us our drinks. Despite the dining room still being rather packed at this point, our food did not take long at all to come out of the kitchen.

I had ordered a bagel with cream cheese and lox with a side of sausage patties. The café’s rendition of the bagel and lox came with a few pieces of red onion sprinkled on top, which I thought added a great taste to the already-savory breakfast. The sausage tasted good, but the patty was rather thin, and had a slightly dry texture. Someone at my table also ordered scrapple, which I had never had before. It had a good taste, but a slightly soggy, mushy texture.

Overall, The Naked Egg Café is a great place to eat brunch, with a great ambience at a reasonable price.

Restaurant of the Month ~ The Naked EggBy HANNAH GENOVESE

[email protected]


DesolationI have known the exposed desolation of white walls,Dripping with fresh paint, fumes suffocating,All the plain pre-packaged promises of empty boxes,Filling with pictures, and pillows, and infinite keepsakes,Perpetual ripping of tape and cardboard, barbaric,Stumbling over piles of junk and mountains of clothes,Empty closet, bookshelf barren except for the cloud of greyDust that covers everything, coughing from the smell of it.And I have known the sorrow of torn down posters,Loneliness of a freshly washed carpet, a newly stripped bed,Slamming of dresser drawers, now empty of their guts,Bottomless garbage bags, deformed cable ties, a circus of trash,A crisp clean room, only ghosts dare to linger.

Help Chip get some exercise! (A Fundraiser!)

Donate and receive! Our friend Chip Mefford has graciously volunteered to deliver Voices to your door via old-fashioned bicycle for one year (in wind, rain, sleet, and snow) for a 100-dollar donation to our local free press. We must get at least 100 participants in order for this plan to work. Help us out! This money would make all the difference. Please go to: State College Bicycle Transport at http://www.statecollegebicycletransport.com/ to find out the details and place your order. Don’t let Chip down!

VOICES CHOICES

Rachelle Gaynor is a senior at Penn State majoring in journalism and minoring in English. She grew up on Long Island, New York with two older brothers whom, she said, served as her main support system and inspiration.

According to Gaynor, she has had a passion for writing (especially poetry) since she was in fourth grade when she started writing poetry almost everyday. She has taken multiple poetry and short story courses throughout her education for fun rather than out of necessity for her major, and her poems have been published in Penn State’s Kalliope Literary Journal.

Gaynor said the main reason she writes poetry is because she feels like it is the best way for her to communicate her emotions and it helps her work through the thoughts in her head. She always feels better by the time she finishes a poem, even though she believes that a poem is never truly finished.

Poet of the Month ~ Rachelle Gaynor


Military and political events dominate the headlines for Middle Eastern news these days, whether about Iraq or Iran, ISIS or Sisi, OPEC or AIPAC. We find it hard to keep up with the names of leaders, places, and even countries, let alone what all of them are doing. Now, with several thousand US troops heading to Iraq as “advisers” to its government, which is fighting the Islamic State, the American people need even more to understand what is happening in this turbulent region—and why.

Historians often say that political events are best explained in the context of social and economic trends. How have the peoples and countries of the Middle East experienced changes in their social organization, life-styles, and ways of making their living during, say, the past century?

One hundred years ago, the Ottoman Empire, then the nominal ruler of lands from Egypt in the west to Kuwait in the east, from Adrianople in the north to Yemen in the south, openly entered World War I on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Its main foe was Czarist Russia, which the Ottomans thought had incited the Balkan peoples against their Turkish rulers. But now the Ottomans were also fighting France and Britain. The three countries each ruled over more Muslims In 1914 than the Ottoman sultan, who was Sunni. The only other Muslim state still nominally independent was Persia, which was Shiite.

These two Muslim states suffered from the fighting on their territory during World War I. The Ottoman Empire, with 21.3 million inhabitants as of 1914, lost a total of 3 million soldiers and civilians as a result of the fighting, war-related starvation, disease, and the Armenian deportations. Even Persia (which we now call Iran), though not a belligerent, lost several hundred thousand subjects due to fighting on its soil by Russians, British Empire forces, and Germans. The US, with 92 million citizens in 1914, lost about

117 thousand troops during World War I, whereas the Ottoman Empire, with a population of 21.3 million, lost more than two million lives from battles, famine, and disease. America’s wounded numbered 204 thousand; estimates of Ottoman soldiers injured in battle range from 400 to 764 thousand.

A foreign traveler in the Middle East a century ago would see vast empty spaces, mainly mountains,

deserts, and a few salt marshes. In some areas, the majority of the locals were nomads who herded camels, sheep, and goats. For most of the region, subsistence agriculture predominated, carried out by unschooled peasants, using tools and methods little changed since Biblical times. Cities were few.

Middle East: Rising population & problemsBy ART GOLDSCHMIDT

[email protected]

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

(Above): Image of Cairo, Egypt in 1920, which at this point in time was the largest city in the Middle East with a little less than 800,000 people, according to the 1917 Egyptian census. In the early 1900s large Middle Eastern cities were not commonplace.

Photo by cilla//Flickr(Below): Cairo’s Midan Tahrir, translated to Liberation Square, in modern times. Currently Cairo has a population of nine million, 17 million if you count Giza and other places accessible by Cairo public transportation. Overpopulation in countries such as Egypt is becoming a problem for the Middle East with water scarcity and food concerns now becoming major problems for growing cities.

With populations rising in the Middle East, overpopulation

is beginning to put a strain on nation’s resources as water

and food become more scare for these growing countries.

see middle east, pg. 15


deserts, and a few salt marshes. In some areas, the majority of the locals were nomads who herded camels, sheep, and goats. For most of the region, subsistence agriculture predominated, carried out by unschooled peasants, using tools and methods little changed since Biblical times. Cities were few.

The largest was Cairo, which had 787,461 inhabitants according to the 1917 Egyptian census. It now has over nine million, or 17 million if you count Giza and all other places accessible by Cairo public transportation.

Iraq had about three million people when the British Empire troops took it from the Ottomans; now it has 35 million. Baghdad has grown from 200 thousand to seven million. Syria had 2.2 million when France took control of the country in 1920; its population just before its civil war began in 2011 was slightly over 20 million. Its largest city, Aleppo, had 200 thousand people in 1920 and more than 2.3 million in 2011.

The same story can be told for other Middle Eastern countries, especially the ones in which oil has been found and developed. There are now fewer empty spaces and many more people. Despite heroic efforts to increase lands under cultivation by building new dams on the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris rivers, the amount of arable land has hardly increased at all. Countries that once exported grain now import most of their basic foodstuffs. Potable water is scarce. Overpopulation is a grave problem for most countries.

There are few nomads left. The peasants no longer make up more than half the population of most Middle

Eastern countries. The people have become much more urbanized. M a nu f a c t u r i n g has grown, but the real growth areas have been in the military, the bureaucracy, and the professions. Outside of government, landowners and Muslim scholars used to be the leading classes; now business owners and labor leaders vie for dominance.

State-supported schooling is now available to both boys and girls, so a much higher percentage of the people are literate. Many young people feel that their governments do not give them the jobs or the chances for advancement that they feel they deserve as a result of their many years of education. This feeling contributed to the revolutions that convulsed the Arab countries in 2011—and Iran in 2009 and Turkey in 2012. Social mobility is stalled, at least for civilians.

Highly trained and urbanized men and women are likely to move to places where they can find suitable jobs. During the past forty years, this usually meant the Arab emirates and sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf, but now jobs there have become scarce because more Saudis, Kuwaitis, and Emiratis (citizens of the United Arab Emirates) have become educated or

trained for work in their modernizing economies. Not surprisingly, many now want to migrate to Western Europe or to North America.

Regrettably, the growth of large-scale manufacturing in the Arab countries, Turkey, and Iran has not reached the level of Japan, China, or the “Little Tigers” of Southeast Asia. Nor have they developed a Middle Eastern version of Silicon Valley, as Israel has been doing. More investment is needed in libraries and laboratories that would facilitate large scale industrialization and technical training, but the funds that might develop them are spent instead on guns, tanks, and fighter jets.

Many Middle Eastern countries are caught in a vicious circle. Civil wars, dissident movements, strikes, and demonstrations abound because economic and social conditions are bad. But as long as there are wars and internal disorder, they cannot improve those conditions, even as their populations continue to rise and

become steadily and more urbanized, more schooled, and more ambitious.

There is little that the European Union or the United States can do to alleviate these problems beyond what they are doing already. The rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria does not augur well for the future of the Middle East, but defeating it militarily will be extremely costly and protracted. If I could advise Obama, I would tell him to use his rhetorical skills to articulate a vision for the future of the Middle East, a goal toward which Israelis, Arabs, Turks, Kurds, and Iranians might strive.

The vision that I would propose is that all people will feel secure about their own lives and property, the future of their children, their basic rights and freedoms, and a world at peace. ■

VOICES AD: 5” X 5-1/2”

Home of the 9-to-5No-Repeat Workday

Many Middle Eastern countries are caught in a vicious circle. Civil wars, dissident movements, strikes, and demonstrations abound because economic

and social conditions are bad. But as long as there are wars and internal disorder, they cannot improve those conditions, even as their populations

continue to rise and become steadily and more urbanized, more schooled, and more ambitious.

from middle east, pg. 14Middle East: Rising population & problems

see middle east, pg. 15

Arthur Goldschmidt is Professor Emeritus of Middle East History at Penn State University where he taught from 1965 to 2000.


~ VOICES BOOK REVIEW ~

Naomi Klein’s “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate’’ is an in-your-face activist’s book about the politics of climate change, the political power of the fossil fuel industry, and the grassroots resistance to it.

That humans, through the burning of fossil fuels, are causing climate change is well-established science. To quote a report from the American Association for the Advancement of Science “about 97 percent of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening.’’

Various international agreements have put the acceptable level of global warming by 2100 at two degrees Celsius. One highly credible study quoted by this book says that we can burn about 565 gigatons of carbon and have an 80% chance of meeting that goal. Oil, gas, and coal interests have already laid claim to deposits which will produce about 2795 gigatons of carbon. As I heard Klein say in an interview on BillMoyers.com, that means we will be telling fossil fuel companies to leave assets in the ground.

That is why climate change has become a political controversy. The 2014 election (which was after the publication of this book) was a boon to fossil fuel interests and climate deniers. The leaders of the next Congress have prioritized their crusade against the Environmental Protection Agency, particularly its ability to regulate greenhouse gases, above their crusades about Obamacare, immigration, “restrictive’’ gun laws, and abortion. In these pages, the Pennsylvania 5th district’s own congressman, Glenn Thompson, is in professed climate change denial.

The first chapter, titled “The Right is Right,’’ offers an explanation of climate change denial. After attending what amounted to a climate change denial conference at the Heartland Institute, a right-wing “think tank,’’ Klein concludes, “I think these hard-

core ideologues understand the real significance of climate change better than most of [those]...in the political center...the Heartlanders are completely wrong about the science. But when it comes to the political and economic consequence of those scientific findings...they have their eyes wide open.’’

She rejects a number of ideas, mostly market oriented, that have been promoted by our political center. She is more than skeptical of the notion that somehow, some day, the market is going to produce an idea that will save us all from climate change. She considers the cap-and-trade bills that were defeated in Congress in 2009 to be not “the climate movement’s greatest defeat, but rather a narrowly dodged bullet.’’ The downside of that defeat is that the very notion of climate change legislation was discredited. One market based solution she favors is carbon taxes, especially if attached to a redistributive mechanism to help poor and middle class consumers pay fuel and heating costs.

One of the book’s biggest targets is neo-liberal trade agreements (e.g., NAFTA). Klein is not uniformly against trade agreements, but, she believes that for the most part, they have been detrimental to the development of green energy companies. She argues that World Trade Organization (WTO) rules make it very difficult to protect local green industries against competition from foreign companies and multinationals.

Even with neo-liberal trade agreements, there still have been a number of successes among green energy companies through the U.S. Department of Energy’s loan program. Some companies failed, but there were enough successes to earn the American taxpayers a $5 billion profit. Still Klein

believes that these successes are not coming quickly enough.

The book calls for a rebuilt and reinvented public sphere or as conservatives call it, “a lot of big government.’’ For starters, she recommends several taxes on the fossil fuel industry. Almost all of the book’s proposals would not get a hearing in the new congress, but, there are some good ideas here.

As the result of privatized energy companies showing little interest in switching to renewables, cities such as Hamburg, Germany and Boulder, Colorado have voted to buy back their electrical grid. Klein strongly favors utility buybacks and stronger local

control over the energy industry.

C l i m a t e change has meant

that natural disasters such as Hurricanes

Katrina and Sandy have become more frequent. She would like to see the fossil fuel

industry paying for more of these disasters

in much the same way that the tobacco industry was made to pay health-related damages for smoking.

Texas Congressman Steve Stockman’s 2013 comment, “The

best thing about the Earth is if you poke holes in it, oil and gas come out,’’ is an excellent representation of the philosophy this book calls “extractivism.’’ The book points out several instances of local and indigenous populations displaced by fossil fuel companies and the extractivist philosophies of their governments.

Many areas where we extract our energy are poor and in out-of-the-way places where residents have little political power.

Klein points out that until recently, many of us reaping benefits from fossil fuel were isolated from its

extraction, allowing us to ignore the issues involved. However, to extract the energy from many of the new energy sources-the Alberta tar sands, North Dakota’s Bakken formation, Marcellus Shale deposits- requires significant energy, environmental destruction, and, in the case of natural gas extraction, greater methane emissions. Not only are these energy sources more difficult to extract, we cannot isolate ourselves from them as easily.

All that drilling and fracking has caused a lot of resistance and not necessarily from your typical “tree huggers.’’ Opponents have included cattle ranchers in South Dakota, suburban home dwellers in Texas, and, in one instance, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson quietly joined a lawsuit opposing fracking-related activities near his home. The book gives accounts of several struggles between locals and the extractivists that include a few victories for the locals.

Klein’s good news is her argument that climate activism could be used to produce a broader social movement. Perhaps that is what climate deniers and market fundamentalists fear the most. She argues that it will not be possible to produce real political movement on climate change without producing change toward a more egalitarian society.

Shortly after the publication of this book, the People’s Climate March in New York City on September 21 attracted over 400,000 including some from Centre County. There were also about 2,700 related events that day in 166 countries. The climate movement directly affects the rights of the poor, minorities, and indigenous people, since they are most likely to live near areas such as the Alberta tar sands where fossil fuels are extracted. They are also the most likely victims of climate disasters and often get the least enthusiastic relief. Unfortunately, so far, the impact of the climate movement on elective politics has been less than it should be. This book helps the reader understand that movement and where it could go. ■

By JESSE [email protected]


One weekend in early November, I spent the better part of a brisk Saturday afternoon in the backyard raking leaves. After hauling several loads of the desiccated rust-colored foliage to the curb, I paused for a few moments to catch my breath. As I stood there calculating how much longer it was going to take to complete my task, I heard the distinct honking sound of migrating geese approaching. When I looked up, I spotted a long skein of Canada Geese advancing from the north.

Overcome with a mild case of arithmomania, I began counting the geese. As the tally was nearing the century mark, I noticed something peculiar about two of the geese. While they superficially looked like geese, they appeared significantly smaller than their flock mates. Were there other waterfowl besides geese in the flock? I quickly grabbed my binoculars off the front porch and trained them on the party crashers. It turns out the interlopers were not Canada Geese, but rather Cackling Geese.

Cackling Geese (Branta hutchinsii) are small geese that closely resemble the more familiar Canada Geese. The resemblance is so striking that the Cackling Goose was once considered to be a sub-species of the Canada Goose. That all changed in 2004, when the American Ornithologist Union split the Canada Goose into two species. The subspecies representing the large-bodied geese that bred in the interior of North America were designated as Canada Geese, while the small-bodied, tundra breeding subspecies were elevated to full species status as Cackling Geese.

Like the Canada Goose, the Cackler is a grayish-brown goose with black legs and a black head and neck. A narrow horizontal white band can sometime be seen at the base of the neck, just above the breast.

On the side of the face, the Cackler has a white cheek patch or “chinstrap” extending from the ear down below the head. The tail is also black with a white band near the base. The call of the Cackling Goose is also distinctive. It tends to be higher pitched than the Canada Goose’s “honk” call. To my ears, it sounds more gull-like than goose-like.

The main morphological differences between the Cackler and the Canada Goose are related to size. While the Canada Goose can tip the scales at 10-15

lbs, the Cackler is closer in size to a Mallard Duck, weighing in at about 4-5 lbs. While the difference in size can be substantial, size alone is not always a reliable characteristic. Smaller Canada Goose individuals can weigh between 6-7 lbs, overlapping in size with larger Cackling Goose individuals. Also, Canada Geese that are malnourished may develop as runts.

If you see a small goose that looks like a good candidate for a Cackling Goose, be sure to get a good look at the head and the bill, as they are often distinctive. The head of the Cackler is smaller and more rounded relative to the Canada Goose. The Cackler is also noticeably short-necked. This can sometimes be difficult to discern in a sitting or swimming goose, as geese tend to contract their necks while at rest. In flight, this difference is more obvious.

Perhaps the most distinct difference is the shape of the bill. In contrast to the elongated bill of the Canada Goose, the Cackling Goose has a stubby, triangular-shaped bill.

Cackling Geese breed in coastal tundra, in a range extending from western Alaska through northwestern Canada to Baffin Island. This range is typically beyond the northern limit of the Canada Goose. Cackling Geese are grazers - like cattle with wings. They feed primarily on grasses, submerged aquatic plants, and grains.

As winter approaches and the tundra marshes and wetlands freeze over, the Cackling Geese head south. Their winter quarters extend from southwestern British Columbia and central California in the west, to northern Mexico and the Gulf Coast in the east. Small groups of Cackling Geese regularly stray eastward during migration, and have been known to overwinter along the Atlantic coast. Here in Central Pa., we regularly see a small number of Cackling Geese each year during migration. While a few are seen during fall migration, the vast majority of Central Pa. sighting occur during spring migration. When they are seen, they are typically mixed in with migrating flocks of Canada Geese. One way to pick them out in a flock is to look for the loners that are hanging out near the edge of the flock. The best local places to see them are the Centre Furnace Duck Pond, Bald Eagle State Park, Colyer Lake and Lake Perez in Stone Valley. ■

A Cackling Goose of a different featherBy JOE VERICA

[email protected]

Photo by Amy Evenstad // Creative Commons

The Cackling Goose (foreground) is noticeably smaller than the familiar Canada Goose (background). These two birds have such a striking resemblance that the Cackling Goose (branta hutchinsii) was once considered to be a sub-species of the Canada Goose. In 2004 the two geese were officially split into two different species.

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.


What smells? The stink about stink bugs

Rolling out of bed on a chilly fall morning, heading to the coffee maker or the television, it is not uncommon to glance down and find a visitor in your warm home: a tiny brown stink bug making its way across your floor searching for a heated shelter, safe from the elements.

Stink bugs, though a commonplace almost expected occurrence in the fall season, has more severe consequences beyond the disgust of a smashed bug, the annoyance of a sudden surprise, and the odd smell creeping into your living room.

Stink bugs, or Halyomorpha halys, the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), are not native to the United States, and can be easily confused with the common garden variety of native shield bugs. Accidentally introduced from Asia, this invasive species has actually not been around for very long. It was first documented and collected in Allentown, Pennsylvania in September of 1998, though it was mostly likely around for a few months before then. According to the Associated Press, stink bugs have increased in numbers, and are now present in 41 states.

With no natural native predator (in China there is the parasitoid wasp Trissolcus halymorphae, which is being considered, very carefully, for introduction into the United States), the brown marmorated stink bug, commonly referred to as just the “stink bug,” is able do great damage on farms in the summer and early fall months, specifically in Pennsylvania.

Stink bugs feed upon a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. In their native countries (China, Japan and Taiwan), it is not unusual for them to be found on soybeans and a variety of fruit, including but not limited to persimmons, citrus fruits, figs and peaches, but farmers have found that the stink bugs are not discriminatory in their taste – they seem to find most fruits and vegetables, and even some decorative plants, desirable, regardless of region. In

Pennsylvania the stink bugs have targeted mostly orchards – content to feed on apples and peaches. Some blackberry, corn, and soybean crops have been damaged as well, according to the Penn State entomology department’s fact sheets.

Though stink bugs don’t actually damage the fruit so that it isn’t edible, they make it appear very undesirable to buyers, leaving it with dark brown spots where the bugs have gnawed. Despite the produce’s freshness and safety for consumption, this forces farmers to use their fruit only for juice, unable to sell it whole, even at a reduced price. According to the Associated Press, the profit from stink bug-affected crops can be reduced by almost 90%.

Pesticides aren’t consistently effective – if they are sprayed one day, the resilient bugs will be back the next. Though various techniques are being tested for keeping them away from crops, nothing has been largely successful, and researchers are still working on ways to get the stink bug population under

control. The introduction of a predatory species is being considered, but could have many unforeseen consequences, thus resulting in a long process for approval. The US Department of Agriculture has developed an artificial stink bug pheromone, which can be used in the summer to lure the bugs away from crops, when placed on traps located away from the fields.

If the stink bugs are unwelcome guests in your household, there are a few precautions you can take. Of course, make sure most cracks around window screens or panes are totally sealed against the outside with caulk. Though there are store-bought traps and insecticides available, the bugs can learn how to escape from the trap. There are some moderately effective sprays, but not everyone feels comfortable spraying chemicals where their family lives.

Placing a disposable aluminum turkey pan under a lit-up desk lamp, and filling it with warm soapy water will attract the stink bugs. The soapy water and the warm light draws them in, and the soap keeps them in the trap, as they can’t gain traction on the suds.

If this seems unappealing for a living space, try carefully cutting the top off of a plastic soda bottle, gluing foam (found in a hardware store) to several points around the circumference of the bottle, so the bugs have a surface to climb up. Then, take the top of the bottle, cap still screwed on, upside down into the main area of the bottle, securing it down with tape. Place a battery powered light under the bottle to attract them, and add a little soapy water in the top if desired.

Additionally, rubbing scented dryer sheets along window screens reportedly cuts down stink bug sightings in the home greatly.

So, let’s support local Pennsylvania farmers by trying to make less of a stink about stink bugs in our home, because their presence in our home is not where they are the most harmful. ■


Photo courtesy of online Wall Street Journal

Damage done to an apple by the stink bug’s feeding. Stink bugs (halyomorpha halys) although seeming common to the area are not native to the United States and were introduced from Asia, with earliest local documentation being 1998 in Allentown, Pa.

Kassia Janesch is a senior at Penn State studying English and Environmental Inquiry.


Advice to happily survive the winter chill

So… remember last winter - how cold it got and just stayed there? So far, as of this writing in November, it is looking like it may be the same, or possibly worse, this year. Some folks told me how cold and miserable they were last winter, basically just “holed up” in their apartment or home, afraid to go out, so depressed and irritable that they made friends and family suffer along with them.

GOOD NEWS! There are things you can do, not only to help yourself survive the winter chill, but to …THRIVE! Number one on the list is the problem of sensitivity to the cold. Everyone feels the cold deep down when its first shots come in the fall and early winter. As the temperature goes down, so does the mood. The number one way to deal with that is to protect yourself from the cold, and thankfully, science has come a long way to help us out. You can wrap yourself in the best thermal underwear that is designed to keep the body’s heat in, and the cold out.

Shawn Lupa, Product Specialist at Appalachian Outdoors shared a list of products they had which includes everything from the most modern, thin, very warm materials, to the latest in wool products that do not itch, and, as Lupa said, “keep your skin dry and you warm.” Some of the brands we discussed were Patagonia, Smart Wool, Ibex, and Ice Breakers. This good stuff allows you to put on layers, go play, or do whatever you want outdoors while staying warm. Then, when you come in, you will also feel comfortable because you’re still dry since the layers allowed your skin to “breathe.”

The other major issue in winter interfering with good health and happiness is the lack of exposure to sunshine. This tends to put people on a downward spiral, sometimes sending them in a desperate search for a remedy for their blues. One solution is to take a short, regular walk outside. It will invigorate you, get your blood circulating, and expose you to the sun. There is another place I think folks could go that might help – to the vitamin department of your local store. Since I am not a medical professional, you will need to check with your doctor first before

doing anything shared here. From personal experience, according to blood tests I took, I had low Vitamin D levels heading into the 2012 winter season. My doctor put me on 10,000 to 15,000 units of Vitamin D a day. (It takes a month or more to get levels up in your body to where they can do you some good, and one pill of vitamin D in most brands is only 1,000 units). Once my levels were up, I felt so much better and healthier for the rest of the winter.

So you fix all this stuff and you’re feeling warm and comfy inside; there is even a smile on your face most of the time. Then what do you do with this white winter wonderland? Well, there is a lot you can do depending on how the winter turns out, especially snow-wise. Locally, for downhill skiing, there is Tussey

Mountain, with plenty of space to zoom down the slopes and have a great time. This, of course, is dependent on snow cover, but we don’t have to worry about that. All we need is cold weather and the good folks at Tussey Mountain will make a great snow cover for us!

If we get plenty of snow across the state, there are places you can go cross country skiing, too - even some places that are pretty likely to have good snow regardless of what the weather is doing. One source you can access for more information, headed by major enthusiast and local teacher Howard Pillot, is his web page, “crosscountryskipa.com.” It has maps and resources with recommendations for equipment and clothing and where to find the best cross-country skiing in Pennsylvania.

An outdoor activity that is a bit rare here is ice fishing. I am an enthusiast from Minnesota who looks forward to drilling holes in the ice and to catching fish. All species that bite in the summer can be caught in the winter through the ice, though it is usually a slower process. If you decide to take up this adventure, do your research and go prepared: Do not go alone, ever! Safety is your number one concern. Some local lakes that freeze over by mid to late December are Black Moshannon and Canoe Creek State Park. There are several local bait stores with lots of information and equipment available.

There are also plenty of winter sports and activities in all the local communities. Many activities occur around the holiday season, and sports continue throughout the winter. You can visit area web pages, including happyvalley.com for listings. Always be aware of the weather forecast and potential changes before heading out, though. And for that, you can check local listings including weatherranger.com.

However you decide to tackle the cold weather season, I just hope it is safe and enjoyable for you. Cheers! ■

By JAY [email protected]

Photo courtesy of crosscountryskipa.com

A cross country skiing path in Central Pennsylvania from the website of major cross-country skiing enthusiast and local teacher Howard Pillot. Pillot’s site has maps and resources for cross-country skiing in Pennsylvania.

Jay Searles is a meteorologist who forecasts the weather for the State College area at weatherranger.com.


Who among us hasn’t stepped outside on the first crisp day of autumn, taken a deep woodsy breath, coughed, and exclaimed that “change is in the air.” And, I’m sure that many of us grew up with a “philosopher uncle.” In my case it was great Uncle Mulliner, who would as he sat by the fire in every weather, place his paper down, scratch his balding head, take a sip of his cold tea and a puff on his dead pipe and wisely proclaim, “The more things change the more they stay the same.”

Make no mistake about it, change is coming. It is even coming to the Centre region, where it has been 1954 since, well 1954. And although, humankind, p a r t i c u l a r l y Americans, find it difficult to accept, change did not start with Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. Philosophers, poets and politicians have been commenting on the causes and effects of change for thousands of years. Heraclitus even argued that “there is nothing permanent except change.” While to Confucius, “Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” A subtle Lao Tzu states, “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” And C.S. Lewis helpfully adds, “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg.” We even know where change happens, thanks to Ronnie Reagan who said, “All great change in America begins at the dinner table.” And where it doesn’t, thanks to George Carlin who said, “I put a dollar in a change machine. Nothing changed.”

Strangely, it was my young cousin, Charley, who summed up how most of us feel about change. Charley is an evolutionary biologist with three

Ph.D.’s, an MD and a habit of e n t e r t a i n i n g friends and family in his basement laboratory. His face reflects the strain of a lifetime of staring at really, really small things and fighting for government grants by writing around the word evolution. Charley’s favorite expression, usually uttered while staring at who-knows-what in a high powered microscope is a resigned “all change is bad.” Many in the family find these outbursts disturbing. Some have been forced to seek counseling, while others---like Cousin Jerry, may be found most days in a bedroom closet gibbering things like, “the end in nigh.”

Here at Stevieslaw, we feel that the real problem in dealing with change is not that change is happening, but that it appears to be happening faster and faster. Wasn’t it Paris Hilton who famously said when discussing Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity on the last Oprah, “More than 98% of the change that has ever affected mankind has happened since last Wednesday?” And that is the reason we are pleased to publish, “Not so Fast, Not so Fast: The Less-intelligent-than-average-American Guide to dealing with change.” In the guide, we will instruct you in great detail about the three strategies of dealing with change (or for that matter most problems):

1. Embrace it1---Be the first person on your block for every new endeavor. Start with a continuous contract with Virgin Galactic to explore the Universe and beyond. Have technical updates from companies on the forefront of “the new” delivered instantly through a novel implant to your brain, and then have your people test each new idea at once. Develop a fleet of drones for communication and defense. Generate your power needs by processing invasive species of plants, animals, and people using a new technique that has as its single waste product, a dollop of anti-cancer vaccine. And more and more…

2. Accept it: Sure change is going to turn everything on its head, but what can you do? Abject resignation and blind submission are things we have all learned to do well---witness the results of the

recent mid-term elections. In the guide, you will not only learn the best techniques for molding yourself into an emotional fetal position, but also where to buy the buttons and tee shirts that best express your decline. We will show you how you can at least become cognizant of the changes that are clobbering you by passively studying them. Why not arrange for an eight-year-old and an eighteen-year- old to lecture you and your neighbors on what’s current once or twice a day?

3. Run and Hide: Here in Central Pennsylvania, we often encounter Amish and Mennonite horses and buggies on our major roads. More often than not, we brake or swerve around them in time. I suspect most residents have wondered, when the pace of life seems just too much, about showing up at a Sunday service and asking, sincerely “Can I live with you?” In the guide, we will teach you why that just won’t work---you have no skills, they have actual rules, etc. The answer is to form your very own religious group that won’t accept change in any form. In the guide, we introduce you to a host of American locations where no one lives or wants to live. Learn to live off the land by accepting government subsidies for not growing alfalfa! You can do that the old fashioned way2.

Buy the guide and use December and January to study it. Hurry or the world will have completely changed before you are finished.

1This may require substantial resources. If you are not already fabulously wealthy, see the LAGuide: Rags to Riches in America: The power of inherited wealth.

2Instruction may be found in Catch-22. ■

Not so fast there: The LAGuide to changeBy STEVE DEUTSCH

VOICES [email protected]

STEVE DEUTSCHVOICES Satirist

Steve Deutsch retired from Penn State in 2006, although he has not yet told them.

Here at Stevieslaw, we feel that the real problem in dealing with change is not that change is happening, but that it appears to be happening

faster and faster. Wasn’t it Paris Hilton who famously said when discussing Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity on the last Oprah, “More than 98% of the change that has ever affected mankind has

happened since last Wednesday?”

Oregano, a seasoned cure for indigestion


recent mid-term elections. In the guide, you will not only learn the best techniques for molding yourself into an emotional fetal position, but also where to buy the buttons and tee shirts that best express your decline. We will show you how you can at least become cognizant of the changes that are clobbering you by passively studying them. Why not arrange for an eight-year-old and an eighteen-year- old to lecture you and your neighbors on what’s current once or twice a day?

3. Run and Hide: Here in Central Pennsylvania, we often encounter Amish and Mennonite horses and buggies on our major roads. More often than not, we brake or swerve around them in time. I suspect most residents have wondered, when the pace of life seems just too much, about showing up at a Sunday service and asking, sincerely “Can I live with you?” In the guide, we will teach you why that just won’t work---you have no skills, they have actual rules, etc. The answer is to form your very own religious group that won’t accept change in any form. In the guide, we introduce you to a host of American locations where no one lives or wants to live. Learn to live off the land by accepting government subsidies for not growing alfalfa! You can do that the old fashioned way2.

Buy the guide and use December and January to study it. Hurry or the world will have completely changed before you are finished.

1This may require substantial resources. If you are not already fabulously wealthy, see the LAGuide: Rags to Riches in America: The power of inherited wealth.

2Instruction may be found in Catch-22. ■

Not so fast there: The LAGuide to change

Steve Deutsch retired from Penn State in 2006, although he has not yet told them.

Oregano, a seasoned cure for indigestionLiving in central Pennsylvania, we are all familiar with the sights and

smells that come along with farm country, so much so that we don’t even wrinkle our noses at a field freshly

spread with manure. Bombarded with news of climate change, it isn’t often that we connect it with the picturesque

(and smelly!) fields of cows.However, the Pennsylvania State

University College of Agriculture Sciences has been conducting research at the dairy barns, located off Park Avenue near Beaver Stadium, regarding methane mitigation. Methane (CH4), according to the Environmental Protection Agency, “is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the United States from human activities… Methane is emitted by natural sources

such as wetlands, as well as human activities such as leakage from natural gas systems and the raising

of livestock.” Methane is released from cows’

digestive process, but can also further enter the atmosphere when manure is stored in large amounts. Because livestock like cows are raised for our consumption, these methane emissions are considered to be human-related.

Dr. Alexander Hristov, a professor of Dairy Nutrition at Penn State, has been conducting research to find ways to reduce methane production from cows. He and his team of research assistants made a surprising find involving a common kitchen staple – the herb oregano.

Most commonly seen when sprinkled upon a slice of pizza, oregano is also linked to high antioxidant levels and may have anticancer properties. This was suggested in several studies with animals, though this is still being studied and isn’t certain yet, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. It has previously been used with livestock in a commercial farm setting, to reduce mortality rates and increase success of reproduction.

Dr. Hristov explained that they “carried out screening in in-vitro tests with various compounds, essential oils, and other plant-derived compounds, and oregano leaves was the one that significantly decreased methane production in laboratory conditions.”

Then, oregano was introduced into the cows’ diet, and within a specified amount of time after feeding, gas samples were taken from the rumen. For those of us who aren’t familiar with the anatomy of cud-chewing mammals, the rumen is, according to Merriam-Webster, “the large first compartment of the stomach of a ruminant in which cellulose is broken down by the action of symbiotic microorganisms.” The methane emissions were estimated using a tracer gas technique.

There were taste panels to compare milk from control cows and milk from those that were fed oregano, and the panelists were unable to tell the difference. However, Dr. Hristov does not think that this method could be used on commercial dairy and meat farms yet. He stated, “we still need to do further research to confirm these findings in larger and longer trials.”

However, the College of Agricultural Sciences does not limit their research to just one option in regards to methane mitigation. They will soon be publishing data regarding a recent trial they’ve done with a methane inhibitor that resulted in a consistent long-term decrease, around 30%, of methane production.

This is without a doubt an important and necessary scientific advancement, but Dr. Hristov wanted to clear something up: “The general public may have a misperception of the role of livestock in total greenhouse gas emissions in the US. The contribution is only about 3%. The public should pay a lot more attention to reducing greenhouse gasses from energy and transportation than from agriculture activities.” ■


Kassia Janesch is a senior at Penn State studying English and Environmental Inquiry.


Letters to the Editor

I’m appalled that Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act for women once again as a senator. He was one of only 25 senators to vote against it this week and that was the third time he has blocked this bill as a senator. Doesn’t he recognize the importance of providing equal pay for equal work for women? By 2018, women will make up the majority of America’s workforce so we must fix this pay disparity. The bill would punish employers who retaliate against

employees who share wage information and would create a grant program that would train women on pay negotiation skills.

Sadly, this is not the first time Toomey has voted against women. He’s also failed to cosponsor the International Violence Against Women Act of 2014, which would permit United States leadership to have regional cooperative arrangements with five to 20 other countries to prevent violence against women and girls. He’s voted three times to end

services for victims of human trafficking such as crisis intervention, counseling, emergency shelter, criminal justice advocacy and emergency transportation. He’s even voted to defund a U.S. Attorney-led human trafficking task force.

I don’t understand why Toomey repeatedly votes against the interests of women.

Voices encourages letters to the editor and opinion pieces commenting on local issues. Send submissions to [email protected] should be a maximum of 250 words; opinion pieces should be a maximum of 800 words. We reserve the right to edit for length. Because of space

limitations we cannot guarantee publication. Letters become the property of Voices.

Linda Jacka-FrantzBellefonte, Pa.

Tantalizing highlights of the 2014 midterms

In a fog of irony too dense to drive through, and among the many highlights of a memorable election evening, Republicans have sent a self-identified castrating woman to Washington. (Joni Ernst, R. Iowa). Florida chose a sitting governor with an aversion to both floor fans and telling the truth (Rick Scott). Wisconsin re-elected a misogynist with a penchant for disciplining teachers (Scott Walker). Texas elected their former Attorney General who has made vast inroads in disenfranchising qualified voters in Texas (Gregg Abbott). Massachusetts elected an outsourcing-award-winning-crybaby with a fake human-interest story about fishy families (Charlie Baker). And a former centerfold, that still plays one on TV while driving a pick-up truck (Scott Brown), nearly undid a committed and respectable sitting Democrat from

New Hampshire (Jeanne Shaheen).Apparently, the Democratic record

just wasn’t good enough. God/Zeus knows that the “faltering economy” is all the President’s fault. Yes. Approximately 10 million Americans now have affordable healthcare, bringing costs down (CBO). There have been 64 consecutive months of job growth (Forbes) and 4.538 million new jobs created. The Stock market has topped 17,000. There are now two additional women on the Supreme Court. Bin Laden is dead, which used to matter. Same-sex couples now enjoy equal rights. And there have been strong though quiet anti-poverty measures and pro-environment Executive Orders (Republicans are suing him). Moreover, the U.S. economy is soundly recovering from the Bush Recession, despite years of Republican obstruction and a trickle-down economy nearly completely gutted by Republicans the last time Americans endowed them with power.

And so, in the tragi-comic 2014

midterms, Republicans, without firing a single synapse, have successfully deemed all that was good to be bad, blaming President Obama, with a lot of help from cable news on both sides. Cowardly Democrats, rather than taking credit for populist issues — health care, the economy, student loans, the environment — chose instead to distance themselves from their own success. And worst of all, a majority of alienated, lazy or misguided voters made the

unfortunate choice to simply not show up, leaving the election — and the fate of our democracy —to the least informed and the most unreasonably angry one-sixth of the voters among us.

A veritable “Confederacy of Dunces.” ■

By MARYLOUISE [email protected]

Marylouise Markle is a writer who lives in State College, PA.


Out and about: This month in your township

Whitey Blue on war in the classroom

I was talking the other day to Whitey Blue, long-time Centre Region resident and hard-nose.

Whitey, I read in the local newspaper the other day about a grade school recently having a tribute

to war veterans in their all-purpose room. Have any thoughts about that?

“I sure do! Why expose all those little kids to the horrors of war?”

So they will appreciate the horrors these guys and gals went through to protect this country!

“C’mon, some of these kids in 10 to 15 years will be drafted into the service to fight against whatever

country or group the government of that day declares war on. Why bother them with all that now? By that time today’s enemies, like ISIS or al-Quaida, may be our allies!” ■

By DAVID SILVERMANVOICES Satirist

[email protected]

David M. Silverman, combat vet of WWII, who, appreciatively, attended such a gathering at a local school.

State College Borough

The borough has completed a proposed budget for 2015 that calls for the elimination of several currently vacant positions, including two police officer positions. Snow removal laws are as follows: Snow must be removed from the full width of all public walks within 24 hours after the snow has stopped falling; anti-skid materials must be placed on icy walkways; if the walks are not cleared of ice and snow, the borough may have the walk cleaned and bill the property owner for the cost of the work. ■

Ferguson Township Residents will be informed about

snow emergency routes, offered tips for protecting mailboxes from snow plow operations, and provided other information by email automatically by going to their website at twp.ferguson.pa.us. Click on winter weather reminders at the link.■

College TownshipMount Nittany Medical Center has applied for permission to build

a “Healing Garden” in the spring of 2015. The space it would occupy is currently open space.■

Harris TownshipThe township has a program

called “Adopt-a-Hydrant” in which community members commit to keeping the hydrants of their choice clear of snow in the winter, and free of weeds and shrubs in the summer. Contact: [email protected]. ■

Patton Township The Waddle Road Interchange

Improvement Project to widen the road will begin this year and is projected to finish by the end of 2016. In March they will bid out the remainder of the project. Twelve million dollars in state and federal funds have been appropriated for the project. The township will remain responsible for utility relocations and right of way acquisition. ■

VOICESOF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

Thoughtful. Fearless. Free.

Sales person to head advertising

department. Apply to Elaine Meder-Wilgus

at webstersbookstore [email protected]. Great

opportunity for outgoing person.

When you, GPSA President Rhubart and Executive Vice President Whalen, under advisory by the judiciaries, removed Kevin Reuning, a delegate for the College of Liberal Arts in the Graduate and Professional Student Association as the chairperson for the Committee of Student Concerns for surveying the graduate and student body on their…concerns, we were shocked. Some felt that the survey was critical of the GPSA and others thought the survey was a good barometer of the organization, but the response was to cite presidential privilege in making policy and thus limit discussion on the issue. Furthermore, you have referenced this as an internal matter when it is in fact of upmost importance to the Graduate and Professional Student body.

Trying to silence criticism in this

way can only be counterproductive, as is citing a constitution that lacks clarity and is recognized by all as wanting. Those of us who support Kevin and recognize his considerable efforts and talents can only be disappointed by such a short-sighted action. We believe that the challenges of the GPSA need people like Kevin and those who have come forward to support him.

We want to move forward and make the GPSA something vital. Right now the GPSA has a great chance to change the image that it has had in the past. We’ve made great gains in a short period of time by having dedicated people like Kevin working in the GPSA. Others are equally dedicated and some of those people have spoken out already on social media and are understandably concerned. Many in the student body are in support of this

survey and will be concerned as well. We have made gains convincing the

grad and professional student body that we are serious about advocating, representing and serving them; let’s not spoil it now. Reinstate Kevin and hopefully he will accept. Otherwise, please tell me who will be more committed in his or her time, efforts, and spirit, in working to better the welfare of graduate and professional students? Tell me what direction we are to take if you fail to listen?

Concerned Graduate and Professional Students (This list continues to grow and Reuning also has wide spread support among graduate students not involved in GPSA directly.)

Anne Whitesell, Graduate Student College of Liberal Arts,Department of Political Science

Spencer Carran, PhD Candidate, Ecology/CIDD, IGDP Delegate

Representative to the student health insurance taskforce

Jeffrey masko, PhD Candidate,

College of Communications, Student Delegate of the Graduate Council, Executive Secretary of the GPSA

Enica Castaneda, College of Communications

Mehmet Ali Döke, PhD Candidate in Entomology Program in the College of Agricultural Sciences & At Large Delegate in GPSA

Mahmut Nedim Cinbiz, PhD student in Nuclear Engineering

Ceyda Coruh, PhD in Plant BiologyNatali Ozber, PhD Candidate in

Plant Biology and a member of Student Concerns Committee in GPSA

Renata Horvatek, Ph.D. candidate, Education Theory and Policy | Comparative and International Education

Morteza Nove 22Laurent Cases, Graduate StudentMorteza Karimzadeh, PhD

Student, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Stephanie N. Berberick, PhD candidate, Mass Comm/ Women Studies minor ■

An Open Letter to Those Responsible for Removing Kevin Reuning

voices of central pa december 2015 -january 2015

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