Ralph Martire, Executive Director, Center for Tax and Budget Accountability,gave a great CFA-sponsored talk on pension funding last year. He's back this Friday (9/30) at the YMCA on Wright Street to talk about school funding and tax structure. Ralph is one of Illinois' best-informed experts on taxation and its effects on public education. He's accessible and interesting to talk with. Hope to see you there at 12 noon!
His talk "Improving Equity in School Funding," is part of the Friday Forum series, noon, September 30, University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright Street, Champaign.
The Fall 2011 Friday Forum Series "The Future of Learning; Is Public Education Under Siege?" will explore the relationship between education and society with special attention to the challenges of improving education in an era where budgets, politics, and ideology are central to the debate.
For more information see http://www.universityymca.org/friday_forum/
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
TWO new species!! and an all-time high list
Early fall color, Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina, family Anacardiaceae (comprising cashews and sumacs)
Bird list for the week of September 19-23, 2011:
Wild Turkey
Double-crested Cormorant
Canada Goose
Ring-billed Gull
5. Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
10. Sharp-shinned Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Monk Parakeet - flock of twenty flew over
Downy Woodpecker
15. Hairy Woodpecker - one heard calling
Northern Flicker - many
Chimney Swift - a few still in migration
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - still high numbers, as many as six at one time
Eastern Kingbird - one
20. Eastern Phoebe - several
Eastern Wood-Pewee - one
All of the possible corvidae!!:
Common Raven
American Crow
Fish Crow
25. Blue Jay
Lynn and I were called to the scene of a panicked fledgling goldfinch in the grass. Grounds crewmember Jeff was mowing when this youngster fluttered down out of a pine and landed just in front of the mower. I scooped up the bird and returned it to a branch in the white pine (probably its natal tree) where it sat quietly as its parents called from a nearby tree.
Red-eyed Vireo - very common this week
Cedar Waxwing - flocks
European Starling
American Robin
All of the possible mimidae!!:
30. Northern Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher - seen on two separate days at the same spot!!
House Wren
Carolina Wren
35. Black-capped Chickadee
Palm Warbler - seen on two separate days at the same spot - oh did I already use that line?
Magnolia Warbler
Pine Warbler, Dendroica pinus - (click name) a new bird for West Campus!! - was feeding in a scotch pine mid-week, I had a brief view before it flew off
Yellow-rumped Warbler
40. Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler, Wilsonia pusilla - another new bird for our West Campus list!! - seen Wednesday late afternoon and twice on Thursday by Tom and Lynn - in the thickets in the "leaf pile" - I tried for it again in the rain on Friday morning, but had no luck
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Northern Cardinal
45. Indigo Bunting
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow - first of the fall
White-throated Sparrow - first of the fall
Baltimore Oriole
50. Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow
Fifty two is an all-time high species count for a week at West Campus!
And if we had added one of the birds below, well, that would have made 53.
Black-throated Green Warbler and Ruby-throated Hummingbird found under the corridor of doom earlier in the week. photo from Lynn's phone
For every little corpse we find, hundreds more across the migratory flyways of North America have met a similar fate, colliding with windows or communications towers.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Contract for Lecturers at Eastern Michigan
From AnnArbor.com
September 22, 2011
-- For Eastern Michigan University part-time lecturer Kay McGowan, it finally feels like her employer of 14 years is listening.
“Our voice has been silent for too long,” McGowan said of EMU’s part-time faculty, who teach 29 percent of classes on campus. “Now we have a say in some of the situations that affect us on campus.”
McGowan’s comments come after the EMU Board of Regents voted Tuesday to approve the first-ever contract agreement with part-time faculty.
About 800 contingent lecturers are represented by the new contract, which was ratified last week by the adjunct bargaining unit of the EMU Federation of Teachers. The contract increased and formalized pay and benefits for adjunct professors.
After 14 years of teaching anthropology part time at EMU, McGowan says the contract brings welcome stability.....-- Read the whole story at AnnArbor.com
http://www.annarbor.com/news/education/emu-board-of-regents-approve-first-ever-union-contract-for-contingent-faculty/
September 22, 2011
-- For Eastern Michigan University part-time lecturer Kay McGowan, it finally feels like her employer of 14 years is listening.
“Our voice has been silent for too long,” McGowan said of EMU’s part-time faculty, who teach 29 percent of classes on campus. “Now we have a say in some of the situations that affect us on campus.”
McGowan’s comments come after the EMU Board of Regents voted Tuesday to approve the first-ever contract agreement with part-time faculty.
About 800 contingent lecturers are represented by the new contract, which was ratified last week by the adjunct bargaining unit of the EMU Federation of Teachers. The contract increased and formalized pay and benefits for adjunct professors.
After 14 years of teaching anthropology part time at EMU, McGowan says the contract brings welcome stability.....-- Read the whole story at AnnArbor.com
http://www.annarbor.com/news/education/emu-board-of-regents-approve-first-ever-union-contract-for-contingent-faculty/
Thursday, September 22, 2011
HP's Interesting Move
Will HP’s move to hire Meg Whitman cause corporate CEO’s to decide not to keep strong exec’s on their boards? While I haven’t been following the last few months of HP particularly closely, I was surprised to see the way that they handled the firing of Leo Apotheker. What I find interesting now is the question of whether, if you’re a corporate CEO, would you want a strong unemployed or retired executive on your Board? Now I know that any strong CEO shouldn’t be intimidated by having strong exec’s in the boardroom, but I wonder now if many will find that tempts fate a bit too much and decide to take the safe route and have pals on their Board. After all, if you’re a young head football coach, you don’t generally have as offensive or defensive coordinators seasoned coaches who could step in and take your place the minute the owner becomes displeased. In the same manner, unless you’re a Jeff Immelt or Bob Lutz, with the notion of HP in your mind, you might want to not have your successor sitting there tempting the rest of the Board to make a move. And having a weak board is a move that will almost always hurt the company and its stockholders.
Monday, September 19, 2011
University of Illinois Spends Millions on Outside Counsel to Resist Collective Bargaining
The University of Illinois continues to spend millions of dollars resisting unionization and collective bargaining.
Our unionized colleagues at Chicago, UIC United, have obtained financial and other records revealing that the University administration has spent millions of dollars over the last decade resisting unionization. The records were made available through a Freedom of Information Act filing.
In the past ten years, the UI administration has spent $3,282,414.14 on outside counsel costs for labor issues. This averages to over $300,000 per year. At the same time, UI has many on-staff lawyers who are paid very well, several of whom are assigned to deal with labor issues.
In the month of May 2011 alone the administration paid $24,583.75 to Clark Baird Smith LLP to try and defeat The UIC United campaign, which followed the legal process by filing a majority interest petition with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board [IELRB]. U of I continues to resist entering into a legally mandated collective bargaining with UIC United.
On September 15, 2011 the IELRB supported the ruling of an administrative judge and reaffirmed UIC United's right to exist and to represent tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty. But the administration has said it will continue to pursue its appeal through the courts. We can only imagine how much more expensive it will be to carry out that threat, not before a labor relations board, but in the courts of the state of Illinois. And what if they lose in Illinois? Will they go to the federal courts?
Faculty here at UI Urbana-Champaign wonder how that three million plus dollars might have been used to upgrade classrooms, maintain equipment, avoid furloughs, provide raises, lower or maintain student tuition, and bolster staffing support. $300,000 a year could go a long way toward improving the UI working environment and our students' learning environment, here and in Chicago.
President Hogan says he has a long history of working with unions. We hope that’s true. The UI’s resistance to UIC United makes us wonder.
The Campus Faculty Association is committed to transparency and wise use of public funds. We think unions can strengthen the faculty voice in the running of the university and fulfilling its three missions: education, research and public service.
Many thanks to our UIC United colleagues for their efforts, and many congratulations on their big win. We’re all for you!
Campus Faculty Association
campusfacultyassoc@gmail.com
Our unionized colleagues at Chicago, UIC United, have obtained financial and other records revealing that the University administration has spent millions of dollars over the last decade resisting unionization. The records were made available through a Freedom of Information Act filing.
In the past ten years, the UI administration has spent $3,282,414.14 on outside counsel costs for labor issues. This averages to over $300,000 per year. At the same time, UI has many on-staff lawyers who are paid very well, several of whom are assigned to deal with labor issues.
In the month of May 2011 alone the administration paid $24,583.75 to Clark Baird Smith LLP to try and defeat The UIC United campaign, which followed the legal process by filing a majority interest petition with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board [IELRB]. U of I continues to resist entering into a legally mandated collective bargaining with UIC United.
On September 15, 2011 the IELRB supported the ruling of an administrative judge and reaffirmed UIC United's right to exist and to represent tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty. But the administration has said it will continue to pursue its appeal through the courts. We can only imagine how much more expensive it will be to carry out that threat, not before a labor relations board, but in the courts of the state of Illinois. And what if they lose in Illinois? Will they go to the federal courts?
Faculty here at UI Urbana-Champaign wonder how that three million plus dollars might have been used to upgrade classrooms, maintain equipment, avoid furloughs, provide raises, lower or maintain student tuition, and bolster staffing support. $300,000 a year could go a long way toward improving the UI working environment and our students' learning environment, here and in Chicago.
President Hogan says he has a long history of working with unions. We hope that’s true. The UI’s resistance to UIC United makes us wonder.
The Campus Faculty Association is committed to transparency and wise use of public funds. We think unions can strengthen the faculty voice in the running of the university and fulfilling its three missions: education, research and public service.
Many thanks to our UIC United colleagues for their efforts, and many congratulations on their big win. We’re all for you!
Campus Faculty Association
campusfacultyassoc@gmail.com
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Our Fall Reception and Membership Meeting
Campus Faculty Association Invites All Faculty to:
Come meet and share ideas with:
People who organized the victorious union campaign at UIC
Hear what's happening with CFA this fall and how you can be involved
Munchies from World Harvest, soft drinks and inspiration guaranteed.
Date: Wednesday, September 21st
Time: 5-7 p.m.
Place: University YMCA
1001 S. Wright St
Bring a Friend!
Come meet and share ideas with:
People who organized the victorious union campaign at UIC
Hear what's happening with CFA this fall and how you can be involved
Munchies from World Harvest, soft drinks and inspiration guaranteed.
Date: Wednesday, September 21st
Time: 5-7 p.m.
Place: University YMCA
1001 S. Wright St
Bring a Friend!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Second Annual "Lynn's Birthday Hawkwatch"
The weather was perfect this morning for migrating birds - a cold front came through last night. The wind was out of the northwest all morning, shifting to west during the afternoon. Winds were generally light, from 5 to 10 mph, with gusts up to 15mph. The temperature rose from 55 degrees F at 9am to 65 at 3:30pm. Humidity was low, between 37 and 41%.
Our work table. Field guides, notebook, raptor chart, camera, ... and coffee.
A beautiful patch of sky. Hawks show up as black dots against the clouds, which makes them marginally easier to detect than against the blue. Clouds also serve as reference points, as in - to the right of the wispy edge, or below the long thin cloud.
Tom watching for kettles of Broad-winged Hawks and Lynn checking to see what other hawkwatchers are reporting.
Very tired now after 6 1/2 hours of hawk-watching - will fill in the list later :-)
Highlights were 1738 Broad-winged Hawks and 123 Chimney Swifts and two Bald Eagles.
Our work table. Field guides, notebook, raptor chart, camera, ... and coffee.
A beautiful patch of sky. Hawks show up as black dots against the clouds, which makes them marginally easier to detect than against the blue. Clouds also serve as reference points, as in - to the right of the wispy edge, or below the long thin cloud.
Tom watching for kettles of Broad-winged Hawks and Lynn checking to see what other hawkwatchers are reporting.
Very tired now after 6 1/2 hours of hawk-watching - will fill in the list later :-)
Highlights were 1738 Broad-winged Hawks and 123 Chimney Swifts and two Bald Eagles.
Back again on Saturday morning - with the numbers from the hawkwatch and a bird list for the week. Most "real" hawk-watches count only truly migrating birds - for example the Osprey cruising high overhead in a southwesterly direction and not the Osprey flying over the treetops carrying a fish. Here we have included every bird that we saw, regardless of its residential status.
9:20am to 3:45pm Friday, September 16, 2011 - Yale West Campus, Orange, CT, USA. This is the list we submitted to e-bird, for a total of 34 species.
Turkey Vulture 4
Osprey 17
Bald Eagle 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 33
Cooper's Hawk 6
Accipiter species 22
Red-shouldered Hawk 6
Broad-winged Hawk 1738
Red-tailed Hawk 7
Buteo species 26
American Kestrel 6
Merlin 1
Falco species 1
Ring-billed Gull 1
Herring Gull 6
Rock Pigeon 12
Mourning Dove 18
Chimney Swift 123
Ruby-thrtd Humbrd 5
Red-bellied Wdpkr 1
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Wood-pewee 1
Empidonax sp. 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 20
American Crow 4
Tree Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 5
Blck-cap'd Chickadee 3
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 2
European Starling 54
Cedar Waxwing 10
Magnolia Warbler 2
Red-winged Blckbrd 3
Common Grackle 3
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 4
Ebird seems to not count those we listed as Genus sp., but I will include the Empidonax, since it was unique, bringing our day total to 35.
And now the additional species for the week - which includes the regulars, such as our Wild Turkeys and some migrating warblers!
Wild Turkey
Belted Kingfisher
Killdeer
Downy Woodpecker
Fish Crow
Northern Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Northern Parula Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow
The total week's list is forty nine species - a great week for Birding West Campus!
Tom - is there anything else you saw during the week that could bring our total to a nice round number - FIFTY!??
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
US News yesterday ranked Lynn University number 4 in USA for percentage of international students attending with 17 percent of its student body coming from other nations. By the numbers, Lynn University students come from 87 countries (and 44 states in the US). This also means Lynn is number one for international students among schools who appear in the publication’s listing of “Regional Universities” in the South—this was the list Lynn appeared in for the 2011 rankings. We’re in some very good company here with schools in this ranking including Purdue, Columbia University, Carnie Mellon, Northeastern and Princeton.
Now, as a student or parent…why is this important? The reason this international focus on campus is so important came through loud and clear to me this week when I sat in Professor John Cipolla’s Managing Organizations class. John was leading an outstanding discussion about the intersection of management decisions and ethics. What made that discussion so rich was that students from North America, South America, India and beyond all were able to bring their own unique perspectives to the conversation…so rather than it just being a discussion from the US perspective, we were able to hear directly from students who have grown up and lived elsewhere. This diverse student population will provide our graduate with a distinct advantage as they will see their jobs and responsibilities from a truly global perspective.
Now, as a student or parent…why is this important? The reason this international focus on campus is so important came through loud and clear to me this week when I sat in Professor John Cipolla’s Managing Organizations class. John was leading an outstanding discussion about the intersection of management decisions and ethics. What made that discussion so rich was that students from North America, South America, India and beyond all were able to bring their own unique perspectives to the conversation…so rather than it just being a discussion from the US perspective, we were able to hear directly from students who have grown up and lived elsewhere. This diverse student population will provide our graduate with a distinct advantage as they will see their jobs and responsibilities from a truly global perspective.
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Business of the Gym Business...Gym Jones is Interestingly Different
Yesterday’s NY Times had several interesting articles and retrospectives. On the business front, I particularly enjoyed the piece on the Gym Jones, a unique fitness gym that has nothing that most of the modern gyms have…but is doing very well. The article addressed so many of the topics that we like to talk about in the business school including opportunity recognition, customer retention, growth, customer service and all from the perspective of the fitness industry.
A willingness to take on famous clients has actually been problematic for Gym Jones. The studio cash is nice, and the “300” notoriety was rewarding; a version of a 300-rep workout designed for the cast as a graduation test has gone viral and was even plugged by Men’s Health. But the Twights prefer privacy. They aren’t angling for their own line of protein powders or a reality show, and accept only 30 to 40 clients at a time. If you are hearing about them through their work with stars, a tiny part of the gym, your chances of getting in are pretty much zero.
The Twights generally require an interview or a referral from a current Gym Jones client, the completion of a written application that’s more of a fitness SAT than anything and, if you pass that step, a workout with Mr. MacDonald, a world champion mixed-martial-arts fighter. “If I’m surrounded by substandard people, I’m not going to work that hard myself,” Mr. MacDonald said. Again, it’s right there on that full-of-itself Web site: “We choose clients. Clients don’t choose us.”
Gym Jones has another reason to guard its privacy: its military customers like it that way. Although the Twights refuse to talk much about this side of their business, which occurs inside the gym and in the nearby mountains, it appears to be considerable and to involve people who are supposed to be invisible. Six of Mr. Twight’s former students, for instance, were among the 30 Americans — most of them Navy Seals, including members of the team that killed Osama bin Laden — who died in Afghanistan in August when their helicopter was shot down.
Theater is a big part of Gym Jones, which the Twights founded in 2003 in a garage with no air-conditioning and no heat. (The couple moved to Utah from Colorado in 2001 to operate a climbing-equipment company and later started Gym Jones as a side project. Eventually, the Twights decided to go full time with Gym Jones.)
Everything about the gym’s current configuration screams hard core, from the Web site (“Don’t complain if the work is too hard, or if you pass out, drop a barbell on your head, a kettle bell on your toes”) to cold décor: cinderblock walls, black rubber floor mats, fluorescent lights, no mirrors or windows. Outside magazine described the gym as “part martial-arts dojo, part smash lab, part medieval dungeon.”
Gym Jones calls clients “disciples” and prominently displays a quote from “Fight Club,” the 1999 film starring Brad Pitt. It reads in part: “Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you’re alive.”
But once you’re past all that, the mood at the gym is surprisingly warm. Mr. MacDonald, 33, has a daunting physical presence (at 6-foot-3, he can dead-lift 550 pounds) and blunt speaking style, but he also once taught kindergarten. The pixie-ish Ms. Twight, a 50-year-old jujitsu practitioner, has a quick, infectious laugh. A celebrated mountain climber, Mr. Twight, 50, is direct and aggressive but also quite polite and generous with his time
As an educator and a parent who used to struggle with the kids and homework, I also liked the article The Trouble With Homework.
From the article:
The quantity of students' homework is a lot less important than its quality. And evidence suggests that as of now, homework is not making the grade. Although surveys show that the amount of time our children spend on homework has risen over the last three decades, American students are mired in the middle of international academic rankings: 17th in reading, 23rd in science and 31st in math, according to results from the Program for International Student Assessment released last December. A new study, coming in the Economics of Education Review, reports that homework in science, English and history has "little to no impact" on student test scores. (The authors did note a positive effect for math homework.)
A willingness to take on famous clients has actually been problematic for Gym Jones. The studio cash is nice, and the “300” notoriety was rewarding; a version of a 300-rep workout designed for the cast as a graduation test has gone viral and was even plugged by Men’s Health. But the Twights prefer privacy. They aren’t angling for their own line of protein powders or a reality show, and accept only 30 to 40 clients at a time. If you are hearing about them through their work with stars, a tiny part of the gym, your chances of getting in are pretty much zero.
The Twights generally require an interview or a referral from a current Gym Jones client, the completion of a written application that’s more of a fitness SAT than anything and, if you pass that step, a workout with Mr. MacDonald, a world champion mixed-martial-arts fighter. “If I’m surrounded by substandard people, I’m not going to work that hard myself,” Mr. MacDonald said. Again, it’s right there on that full-of-itself Web site: “We choose clients. Clients don’t choose us.”
Gym Jones has another reason to guard its privacy: its military customers like it that way. Although the Twights refuse to talk much about this side of their business, which occurs inside the gym and in the nearby mountains, it appears to be considerable and to involve people who are supposed to be invisible. Six of Mr. Twight’s former students, for instance, were among the 30 Americans — most of them Navy Seals, including members of the team that killed Osama bin Laden — who died in Afghanistan in August when their helicopter was shot down.
Theater is a big part of Gym Jones, which the Twights founded in 2003 in a garage with no air-conditioning and no heat. (The couple moved to Utah from Colorado in 2001 to operate a climbing-equipment company and later started Gym Jones as a side project. Eventually, the Twights decided to go full time with Gym Jones.)
Everything about the gym’s current configuration screams hard core, from the Web site (“Don’t complain if the work is too hard, or if you pass out, drop a barbell on your head, a kettle bell on your toes”) to cold décor: cinderblock walls, black rubber floor mats, fluorescent lights, no mirrors or windows. Outside magazine described the gym as “part martial-arts dojo, part smash lab, part medieval dungeon.”
Gym Jones calls clients “disciples” and prominently displays a quote from “Fight Club,” the 1999 film starring Brad Pitt. It reads in part: “Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you’re alive.”
But once you’re past all that, the mood at the gym is surprisingly warm. Mr. MacDonald, 33, has a daunting physical presence (at 6-foot-3, he can dead-lift 550 pounds) and blunt speaking style, but he also once taught kindergarten. The pixie-ish Ms. Twight, a 50-year-old jujitsu practitioner, has a quick, infectious laugh. A celebrated mountain climber, Mr. Twight, 50, is direct and aggressive but also quite polite and generous with his time
As an educator and a parent who used to struggle with the kids and homework, I also liked the article The Trouble With Homework.
From the article:
The quantity of students' homework is a lot less important than its quality. And evidence suggests that as of now, homework is not making the grade. Although surveys show that the amount of time our children spend on homework has risen over the last three decades, American students are mired in the middle of international academic rankings: 17th in reading, 23rd in science and 31st in math, according to results from the Program for International Student Assessment released last December. A new study, coming in the Economics of Education Review, reports that homework in science, English and history has "little to no impact" on student test scores. (The authors did note a positive effect for math homework.)
Nighthawks!
Common Nighthawk, Cordeiles minor
I could have slipped this in to Friday's post, but since it was a new species for campus, opted for a dedicated post. The Common Nighthawk (link to images & calls) is a bird we see regularly this time of year, but always at dusk, after we've departed West Campus for the day. So, for the sake of a new species for our list I stayed late at work on Friday. High over the parking lot just before 5:30, as I watched yet another Osprey through the binoculars, one nighthawk, then another passed through my field of view.
I just searched the web for an image approximating my view, link here:
Our Common Nighthawk belongs to the family Caprimulgidae, Order Caprimulgiformes. The latin name means "goat sucker", which reflects old popular lore that the birds sucked milk - from goats.
Nighthawks gather in large flocks this time or year, towards dusk, with migratory flights known to number 1000 birds. The birds feed as they fly - catching insects on the wing, both at high and low altitudes. So, look skyward in the late afternoon towards dusk, for these slender-winged birds, with their strange floppy-looking wingbeat, hawking insects over a clearing or a watercourse.
I could have slipped this in to Friday's post, but since it was a new species for campus, opted for a dedicated post. The Common Nighthawk (link to images & calls) is a bird we see regularly this time of year, but always at dusk, after we've departed West Campus for the day. So, for the sake of a new species for our list I stayed late at work on Friday. High over the parking lot just before 5:30, as I watched yet another Osprey through the binoculars, one nighthawk, then another passed through my field of view.
I just searched the web for an image approximating my view, link here:
Our Common Nighthawk belongs to the family Caprimulgidae, Order Caprimulgiformes. The latin name means "goat sucker", which reflects old popular lore that the birds sucked milk - from goats.
Nighthawks gather in large flocks this time or year, towards dusk, with migratory flights known to number 1000 birds. The birds feed as they fly - catching insects on the wing, both at high and low altitudes. So, look skyward in the late afternoon towards dusk, for these slender-winged birds, with their strange floppy-looking wingbeat, hawking insects over a clearing or a watercourse.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
September VERTIGO
The first weeks of September for anyone involved in campus ministry brings to mind the condition or state of Vertigo. It is a manic dash for equilibrium when everything is in flux. Our best efforts and resources are poured into these weeks as students establish the patterns for their term and possibly their school career. It is important for us to be there while they are making up their minds.
 |
| Clubs Days CCM @ BCIT |
These are exciting times at CMC as we work with individuals, churches and districts to establish and strengthen campus ministries of various kinds. As I have shared with people across the country, the campus is, to my eyes, the most strategic mission field in our nation...
New ministries on the docket include: Psegga Jones in Montreal on the urban campuses of Concordia, McGill and Dawson. Gary Wilson and Jedidiah Armstrong at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Tamera Thibodeau at John Abbot College in Montreal. Ones that are in gestation as we speak include: The University of Saskatchewan, Humber College ( Lakeshore) and Laurentian University. At BCIT in Vancouver, I am excited about the addition of Cal Weber, who brings a ton of gifting and experience to the task of directing Campus Christian Ministry in that booming institution.
There are things I am forgetting, but it is a start. In an email chain, a number of campus directors weighed in on the creative ventures they have done in the past week in kickstarting their ministries for a new term. Below you can see scenes from University Christian Ministries at UBC and their annual welcome BBQ. Their director, Arthur Howard, wrote that they fed over 300 students, over 140 of which remained for an outdoor worship service.
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| (l-r) John Engels Cal Weber Rachelle Fulford |
There are things I am forgetting, but it is a start. In an email chain, a number of campus directors weighed in on the creative ventures they have done in the past week in kickstarting their ministries for a new term. Below you can see scenes from University Christian Ministries at UBC and their annual welcome BBQ. Their director, Arthur Howard, wrote that they fed over 300 students, over 140 of which remained for an outdoor worship service.
 |
| UCM @ UBC Welcome Dinner |
 |
| UCM Welcome Dinner |
We are slowly and surely spreading our wings and establishing missional communities on our campuses.
One ministry that I am familiar with up close and personally is Lift Church at McMaster. I have the privilege of serving in an adjunct capacity as an advisor to their young, passionate leadership team. Tonight I went to their opening service at the 1288 Pub in the Student Centre. It was hopping. Complete with a free BBQ before the service, it was filled with first year students who had responded to the invitations to come and check it out. Andrew Masters, their new pastor spoke about serving Christ in the context of the University and John Balt and team led worship. The whole thing was solid. |
| Lift in 1288 |
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| Andrew with mic. John and Micha lead worship |
At a personal level, I am working in a part time chaplaincy capacity at Redeemer University College in nearby Ancaster, ON. It gives me an opportunity to work directly with an outstanding group of young leaders and minister to a broad cross-section of Christian students. This includes teaching a course on practical discipleship, leadership training and speaking wherever and however needed. It is all good and it is also all Vertigo right now. I am looking forward to things settling into a rhythm in the near future.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Hawk-watch season
Lynn and Sue out on a West Campus hawkwatch. All of today's photos from my camera (S. Hochgraf)
Four days of rain lends itself neither to bird activity nor birding activities, so we were very happy to get out for an hour at lunchtime today (Friday) to scan the clear skies for migrating raptors.
Our efforts yielded one American Kestrel, one Cooper's Hawk and one possible Northern Harrier, and both last and least, more than a half dozen Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. The local Red-tailed Hawks, Ospreys and Herring Gulls added to the oh-so-blue skies.
Weather reports earlier in the week indicated the winds today would be from the northwest, which helps push all migrants along - instead it was from the southwest, so, not much was moving.
The regular bird activity for the week of Sept. 6-9, 2011 - as much as we could see between raindrops:
Double-crested Cormorant
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
5. Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
10. American Crow
Blue Jay
European Starling
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
15. Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Common Grackle
House Sparrow
Hawkwatchers with charts of raptor silhouettes - even so, we still miss some identifications.
The raptor list:
20. Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
25. American Kestrel
Bald Eagle
Migration is an amazing fall spectacle to us birders, but for the birds, especially the small passerines, it's fraught with dangers - some of which we create right here on West Campus with our large expanses of glass.
A Chestnut-sided Warbler hit a window just this morning - one of those sad moments when we exclaim that we haven't yet seen this species alive here on campus.
Chestnut-sided Warbler, Dendroica pensylvanica, in fall plumage.
A neotropical migrant, this species leaves its eastern North American breeding grounds in August, passes over the Gulf of Mexico, and winters in Central America. The migratory flights take place at night and usually end by dawn, but there can be limited daytime movement after landing. This individual was probably exhausted after a night of flying, took refuge here on campus and during rest or foraging became disoriented or was disturbed and flew into the window.
Chestnut-sided Warbler, Dendroica pensylvanica, in fall plumage.
The dorsal plumage has an indescribably brilliant quality - somewhere between neon green and green-gold and emerald green - and contrasted with the clear white breast and belly, it's a spectacular little warbler.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
A Hero's Story
Hero is a word today that gets tossed around a lot, but to read about true hero’s…take a look at a piece in the Atlantic, Wounded in Iraq: A Marine's Story. It’s my honor to know the author of the story, Justin Constantine. I met him several years ago through the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities program at Syracuse University. Justin is an outstanding young man, and when I think of the men and women serving our country…I often times think of Justin and the incredible price he and his wife paid so we can live here in the USA. Read it, wipe the tears away from your face as you think about young Justin and Dahlia and say a prayer for them and the other 44,000 wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan…and then think of what Justin says near the end of the article and reflect on how you can help in your home town.
From the article:
As September 11, 2011, approaches, take a few minutes to think of wounded warriors and our families. We are in your community, sprinkled throughout small towns and big cities. Do not let our sacrifices go unknown or forgotten. Think about helping that soldier's caregiver with everyday chores, because he or she now has two full-time jobs instead of one. And don't forget that Marine who has to put on a prosthetic leg first thing every morning. Remind yourself that far too many service members have not made it back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
From the article:
As September 11, 2011, approaches, take a few minutes to think of wounded warriors and our families. We are in your community, sprinkled throughout small towns and big cities. Do not let our sacrifices go unknown or forgotten. Think about helping that soldier's caregiver with everyday chores, because he or she now has two full-time jobs instead of one. And don't forget that Marine who has to put on a prosthetic leg first thing every morning. Remind yourself that far too many service members have not made it back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Leadership Stories...Reading on an Airplane
While waiting on Labor Day while my air plane which was number 1,847 for takeoff, I had the chance to read through most of the current issue of Fortune magazine. A couple of interesting articles caught my attention…the first was Why McDonald’s Wins in Any Economy. Great story about why the Golden Arches is winning and why the CEO, a quiet, unassuming guy is leading the way.
In addition, while the days ahead will find a run of stories about 9/11, the magazine also carried a moving piece about Sandler O’Neill, a company that I’d never heard of that lost 66 employees on that sad day, and it’s resurgence led by a reluctant, yet powerful leader.
In addition, while the days ahead will find a run of stories about 9/11, the magazine also carried a moving piece about Sandler O’Neill, a company that I’d never heard of that lost 66 employees on that sad day, and it’s resurgence led by a reluctant, yet powerful leader.
Friday, September 2, 2011
More than just birds...
Black Saddlebag, Tramea lacerata, in the skimmer family: Libellulidae, in the insect order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) - Lynn's photo.
The butterfly nets in the storage room called to us today, and asked to be taken outside. I was the trip photographer, and mostly caught the flowers that the insects were feeding upon.
Left, a little low legume. Right, bindweed.
Eventually I can get these flowers identified a little better, but just wanted to post them, for now.
Left, thistle gone to seed. Right, Solidago species (Goldenrod).
We collected over a dozen species of butterfly, several grasshopper species, a tree cricket, katydid, beetles - and probably more.
Left, a primrose. Right, a purple composite.
While out prowling the edges of West Campus for small flying things, we managed to see a few larger ones. A young Red-shouldered Hawk flew in and perched on a nearby tree, giving us great views of this striking raptor.
Left, oregano. Right, a salticid spider.
The oregano was very fragrant - and the little jumping spider had blue pedipalps and lots of iridescence on its body.
Left, a yellow hawkweed. Right, chickory.
Left, a bluet (damselfly species). Right, crown vetch.
Junonia coenia, Buckeye
This is the first Buckeye I've ever seen. Okay, the second. The first was just a few minutes before, on the other side of the chain-link fence.
And here's Lynn butterflying.
Now for the bird list for the week of August 29 - Sept 2, 2011.
It was a fairly birdy week. Not in numbers of individuals, but in species, so here we go:
Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Double-crested Cormorant
Turkey Vulture
5. Bald Eagle
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
10. Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Killdeer
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
15. Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Empidonax sp. (small flycatcher, difficult to distinguish one from another)
20. Eastern Kingbird
Common Raven
American Crow
Fish Crow
Blue Jay
25. European Starling
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Barn Swallow
30. Tree Swallow
House Wren
Black-capped Chickadee
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart, male and female
35. Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Common Grackle
40. Red-winged Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole (a low fly-over)
House Sparrow
Hmm - I believe I said fairly birdy - I had no idea we had forty two species for the week. For us here at West Campus, that qualifies as a distinctly birdy week! And as more fall migrants move along the coast, or overland from the north, we'll pick up some interesting additions - hopefully!
Have a good long weekend. Labor Day in the US of A. Time to celebrate working people, and the rights earned for us through the struggles of generations of workers who came before us and through our labor unions who still fight for us. And for those interested in learning about our other Labor Day, read through this article.
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