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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
Wednesday Update for March 13, 2013 - College of Education ...
? *Announcements for the COE Wednesday Important Information newsletter can be sent to ronw@coe.ufl.edu by 2pm on the Tuesday prior; confirmation that your announcement has been received will be provided
Important Dates
Commencement Spring 2013
- PHD, EDD Degree ceremony ~ Friday, April 26, 4:00 p.m. ~ Stephen C. O?Connell Center
- Master?s/ Specialist?s Degree ceremony ~ Friday, May 3, 4:00 p.m. ~ Stephen C. O?Connell Center
- Bachelor?s Degree ceremony ~ Saturday, May 4, 7:00 p.m. ~ Stephen C. O?Connell Center
Announcements
FEA?s Upcoming Meeting & ?Using Multicultural Literature in the Classroom? Workshop
Thursday, March 14th at 7PM?in the Norman Terrace Room
The Center for Community Education in the College of Education is sponsoring a talk by Dr. Yolanda Moses
The Center for Community Education in the College of Education is sponsoring a talk by Dr. Yolanda Moses, past president of the American Anthropological Association, and co-creator of the award-winning museum exhibit, RACE: Are We So Different? http://www.understandingrace.org. This exhibit is currently at the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville, FL until April 28, 2013. Dr. Moses? talk will take place in the Terrace Room on Friday, March 15, from 1 ? 2:30 pm.
FREE GRE WORKSHOP from the UF Teaching Center
This workshop will take place on Monday ? Thursday, April 1-4? from 5:00- 7:00 p.m. each day.? We will cover the Verbal and Writing sections of the test? on Monday? & Wednesday, and the Math on Tuesday & Thursday.? Go to teachingcenter.ufl.edu, click on ?Current Test Review Schedule & Practice Exams? to register and learn the location.
Education Career Networking Event and Workshops ? MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Attention College of Education Students!? We are very excited about the forthcoming Career Networking event, April 2, 2013, co-sponsored by the College of Education (COE) and the Career Resource Center (CRC).? The networking event, titled ?Your Future:? Network with Recruiters in Education? is designed to provide YOU an opportunity to prepare for and to be involved more intimately in educational career recruitment.? We have invited School Districts, Charter Schools and Private Schools from across Florida, including School Districts from Georgia.? Please log into your Gator CareerLink account to peruse the current list of organizations attending.? Networking with Recruiters in Education will be held 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Rion Ballroom located in the UF J. Wayne Reitz Student Union.?? Please place April 2 on your calendar.? On the evening before the Education Career Networking event, April 1, you are invited and encouraged to attend?two workshops focused on interviewing, and job search techniques.? The workshops are scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m in the College of Education Terrace Room.
This year, Kappa Delta Pi will be participating in Dance Marathon!
Dance Marathon will be held on April 13th and 14th, and 800 students will stand for 26.2 hours to show their support for the patients at Shands Hospital for Children at the University of Florida, our local Children?s Miracle Network hospital here in Gainesville. Please consider donating and joining the team of physicians, volunteers, and students like us who are advancing the quality of children?s healthcare through Children?s Miracle Network Hospitals. Only with your support can we truly make miracles happen.? Please see attached announcement with information on how to donate
Taking an FTCE or FELE exam soon?
Resources to prepare for exams, including Test Information Guides and an FTCE Learning Portal, are now available on the web at http://www.fl.nesinc.com/prepare.asp.
Summer Course Announcement: Rating Scale Design and Analysis in Educational Research (EDF 7435)
This class will guide students through the entire process of designing a rating scale/questionnaire, collecting pilot data, and analyzing the scale. Through applications of research design, psychometric models, scale evaluation, bias detection, factor analysis, and measurement of change over time, students will build on their knowledge of reliability and validity, specifically in reference to data collected from rating scales/questionnaires. The class will be particularly useful for graduate students interested in developing and/or using rating scales/questionnaires in their research, thesis, and/or dissertation. Prerequisites are EDF 6403 (or equivalent) and either EDF6434 or EDF6436.
?Please help the Education College Council (ECC) give back to the community!
This semester ECC has chosen Peaceful Paths to donate items for the Gainesville Community. Some items that can be donated to Peaceful Paths are as follows: grocery store gift cards, breakfast cereal, popcorn, granola, canned pasta/soups, and cleaning supplies. A complete list of items can be found at www.peacefulpaths.org/get-involved/donate/.? Donated items can be dropped off in the Student Resource Center, Student Services, or the Norman Library. There are black crates in each of these designated locations. You can start dropping off these supplies from today until March 20th.
March CRC Career Buzz
Check out our latest edition of the Career Buzz to learn about our events: http://careerbuzz.tumblr.com/post/44303221763/march-faculty-staff-buzz . Don?t forget that you can create your own account for Gator CareerLink to see up-to-date employer visits, who will be attending the Summer Job & Internship Fair, etc.
Edugator T-Shirts
All sizes of edugator shirts are available for a donation of $15.? Remember, you can access ECC or FEA merchandise at Production Lab hours or any ECC and FEA events.
?Events
Stride Against Silence 5K Run/Walk
Come join the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association at their annual Stride Against Silence 5K Run/Walk. All proceeds to towards the UF Cochlear Implant Fund to benefit the UF&Shands Speech and Hearing Center. It is taking place on March 16 at 8:30 a.m. starting and ending at the Commuter Lot on Gale Lemerand Drive. Check-in and day-of registration begins at 8am. Registration is $20, which includes a t-shirt, breakfast, and a ticket to win cool prizes. You can also receive more prize tickets by donating a pair of shoes to go to someone in need around the world or donating $1 for each additional ticket. You can register online at https://sites.google.com/site/strideagainstsilence5k/ or at the event. Join them as they ?give the gift of sound, one STRIDE at a time.?? For more information, you can to go their Website mentioned above, or LIKE our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/StrideAgainstSilence.
Volunteer Vegetable Garden
Calling all green thumbs, artists, environmentalists, and enthusiastic students! The ?Grow Israel? initiative at University of Florida kicks off on Sunday, March 17 to plant the seeds and landscaping for the new drip irrigation garden on the UF Hillel Campus. Knowledge of gardening or Israel is not required! Please wear your clothes you don?t mind getting dirty and sneakers.?Where:?UF Hillel (2020 W. University Avenue)?When:?Sunday, March 17th (10am-5pm, but volunteers are welcome to join at any time.)?www.?Facebook.com/events/215998031872151/
Join Florida Education Association (FEA) at UF!
FEA is a College of Education student organization that thrives on integrity, respect, empowerment, and advocacy for education. The organization strives to provide members with professional development and community outreach opportunities, as well as to promote political activism and awareness.
Spring 2013 Events:
- Meeting & ?Reading Around the World: Using multicultural literature literature in your classroom? Workshop -?Thursday, March 14th at 7pm
- Meeting & ?Using Kagan Strategies & Building Classroom Community? Workshop -?Thursday, March 28th at 7pm
- NASA Professional Development Workshop -?Saturday, April 6th 9am-3pm (Workshop presentation by Kennedy Space Center?s Teacher Resource Center)
- Last Meeting & ?Hands on Mathematics: Making manipulatives for your future classroom? Social?- Thursday, April 18th?at 7pm
*Join our Facebook group:?http://www.facebook.com/groups/FEAUF/?*LIKE our Face book page:?http://www.facebook.com/FloridaEducationAssociationAtUF?*Join our Gator Connect page:?https://ufl.collegiatelink.net/organization/uf-fea. Please email FEA at UF President, Valentina Contesse, at?FEA@coe.ufl.edu?if you have a question.
ECC Spring 2013 Schedule
All workshops will be held on Wednesdays at 7:00pm and will be held in the Terrace room. Listed below are the dates and topics for the Spring 2013 Semester:
- March 20 ? Music in the Classroom
- April 10 ? Reading Across the Common Core Curriculum
?Opportunities
Applications are now available to join the Center for Leadership and Service Ambassadors!
As an Ambassador, you gain valuable leadership and service experience. CLS Ambassadors are a group of students that serve to promote the CLS and its mission on campus. They support the mission of positive sustainable change through leadership and service as liaisons for CLS planned events, presentations, and service opportunities.? Applications are due 3.29 at 4:30pm. For more information, visit http://tiny.cc/CLSAmbassadors or email ambassadors@leadershipandservice.ufl.edu
Part time instructors needed at Corks & Colors
Corks & Colors (http://www.corkscolors.com/) has a couple openings right now for part time instructors for our studio. ?Applicants must have a creative side to them, great personalities and able to work with adults and children. ?This is a paid position and we do require working some weekends. No previous teaching experience required, just a willingness to learn and teach. ?Previous experience with pottery, clay or canvas painting a plus but not required.? Interested students should send a resume and cover letter to rebecca@corks-colors.com
Tutor Needed
If you are interested in working with a 5th grade boy?who has short term memory problems, and, reading/comprehension difficulties,?combined with?seizure disorder as well as life skills, please contact Megan English (megankat9@hotmail.com).
Seeking ISO tutor for second grader
In need of help in the following areas math, spelling, and reading. ?I prefer afternoon hours at my home. Please contact Latasha at 352-275-8269.
Babysitter needed
A babysitter is needed to help the mom with a three-year old girl and one year old boy from 10:00 am-2 pm M-F each day.? It would be ideal if you could work M-F, but if you can come regularly on certain days or certain hours in the 10 am-2 pm interval will also work for us. If you can speak Spanish, that will be a plus.? Please contact Ginger at jinw@terry.uga.edu
Part-time Nursery Attendant
Hours:? 10:00-12:00 Sunday mornings.? Location:??Evinston United Methodist Church (Located about 15 minutes south of UF).? Job Description:? The nursery attendant will oversee all activities in our small church nursery.? Duties include supervising children from infants through 1st grade ages.? We normally have 1-2 still in diapers with 6-8 children total.? Activities include watching videos, playing with blocks, board games, puzzles, coloring, etc.? Additional duties include an occasional diaper change and wiping/spraying toys with sanitizer during cleanup.? Job Requirements:? Some babysitting experience desired; DCF Certification is a plus; Background check required.? Salary:? $40 per week.? Please contact:? Bill Edwards at Phone: (352) 591-1473 or Email:??? bill@cherrytreebeads.com
Seeking Part-time Nanny
I am looking for help Monday through Thursday from 4:30-8:30 in the evening. ?This help will be in the form of using my vehicle to pick up my 3 children at their day school, and bring them home, or help with light housework such as helping get dinner ready, folding children?s laundry, keeping kids entertained/helping pack lunches for the next day. ?I will be at home two of the four nights, so this schedule of ?help? will be varied depending on my schedule. ?I am looking for one person preferably, but I?am open to two people since everyday may be hard. ?The ages of my children are 3(boy), 1(girl) and newborn(boy).? Please contact Alecia McDonald at aleciaskipper@hotmail.com or 352-262-5639.
Volunteers needed for VIVA EUROPE festival on March 23
The Center for European Studies is doing the VIVA EUROPE festival on March 23 and we are looking for some fun education students who would want to do an activity with kids at the festival.? Ideally, it would be something fun and educational about Europe.?? Maybe re-creating European art masterpieces?? Building an Eiffel tower out of hangers and foam board? Kids of all ages attend the outdoor festival on Saturday, March 23 from 11-4 at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza.?? Please write Gail Keeler at gskeeler@ufl.edu if you are interested!
?
Archived Newsletters
If you want to read about any of the announcements, opportunities, and events posted in last week?s Wednesday Update Newsletters, or peruse previous newsletters, please visit?http://education.ufl.edu/student-services/category/student-newsletter/
Source: https://education.ufl.edu/student-services/2013/03/13/wednesday-update-for-march-13-2013/
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Maldives ex-president arrested, to appear in court Wednesday
MALE (Reuters) - Police in the tropical Indian Ocean resort archipelago of the Maldives arrested former president Mohamed Nasheed on Tuesday, 10 days after he left the Indian High Commission where he had taken refuge to avoid detention.
A court had ordered police to arrest Nasheed after he missed a February 10 court appearance in a case relating to accusations that he illegally detained a judge during the last days of his rule.
"We have received a court order to arrest him and produce to the court," Maldives police spokesman Hassan Haneef told Reuters.
"...We have him in police custody. He will be produced in court tomorrow."
Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected leader, left office last year in contested circumstances. He entered the Indian High Commission on February 13 and left 10 days later on the understanding that he would be able to conduct "peaceful political activity".
His supporters say he was ousted last February in a coup in the Maldives, a major tourist destination. They have clashed with police outside the diplomatic mission.
If Nasheed is found guilty in the case, he could be barred from standing in a presidential election on September 7. His party says the trial is an attempt to exclude him from the contest and has challenged the court's legitimacy.
Nasheed says he was forced from power at gunpoint after opposition protests and a police mutiny. A national commission last August said the toppling of his government was not a coup, but a transfer of power that followed the constitution, a ruling that triggered several days of demonstrations.
The Maldives held its first free elections in 2008. Nasheed defeated Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had ruled for 30 years and was accused by opponents and international human rights groups of running the country as a dictator.
(Reporting by J.J. Robinson in Male; Writing by Shihar Aneez in COLOMBO; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/maldives-ex-president-arrested-appear-court-wednesday-100357716.html
S.Africa has room to ease interest rates further: OECD
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has room to ease monetary policy further to help boost growth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a report released on Monday.
"With core inflation remaining well contained, monetary policy has been eased cautiously but not by enough to prevent an increasing degree of slack in the economy," the Paris-based group said.
The South African Reserve Bank has kept the benchmark repo rate at 5.0 percent since reducing it by 50 basis points last July, citing rising inflationary pressures including the impact of a sharply weaker rand currency.
Most economists see no further scope for easing, although growth remains lacklustre after Africa's biggest economy suffered a recession in 2009.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan last week cut the economic growth forecast for 2013 to 2.7 percent from a previous projection of 3 percent. The economy is estimated to have grown 2.5 percent in 2012.
Slow growth and revenue underperformance have also seen wider budget deficit forecasts for this and next year, with a deficit of 4.6 percent of GDP seen in the 2013/14 year that begins April 1, from the 4.5 percent previously expected.
The OECD said government should look at adopt a more "growth friendly" taxation system by reducing taxes on corporate profits and raising property taxes.
"The macroeconomic policy mix has been insufficiently supportive of growth while allowing large budget deficits to persist," it said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africa-room-ease-interest-rates-further-oecd-131416460--business.html
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Tuesday, March 5, 2013
McIlroy tells SI: Leaving course a mistake
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, watches his tee shot on the 10th hole during the first round of the Honda Classic golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, watches his tee shot on the 10th hole during the first round of the Honda Classic golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) ? Rory McIlroy says he should have finished his second round at the Honda Classic, telling Sports Illustrated magazine that "it was not the right thing to do" to walk out after eight holes of his second round.
McIlroy was 7-over for the round and headed toward another missed cut when he hit his second shot into the water on the 18th and abruptly withdrew without finishing the hole. On his way to the parking lot, he reporters that his head was not in the right place. He later issued a statement that his wisdom tooth was causing pain.
"It was a reactive decision," McIlroy told the magazine in a telephone interview Sunday night. "What I should have done is take my drop, chip it on, try to make a 5 and play my hardest on the back nine, even if I shot 85. What I did was not good for the tournament, not good for the kids and the fans who were out there watching me. It was not the right thing to do."
The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland said his lower wisdom teeth are growing sideways and he has been prescribed a painkiller, which he did not use Friday. Even so, he said it was frustration over his swing that led to him leaving.
McIlroy switched to Nike equipment late last year after signing an endorsement contract said to be upward of $20 million a year. The world's No. 1 player says his swing has been a bigger problem than the new clubs, and he was practicing with swing coach Michael Bannon the afternoon that he withdrew.
McIlroy said he did not read any stories about his departure over the weekend because "whatever people are saying, I probably already said to myself."
He is playing the Cadillac Championship at Doral this week and is to speak to the media on Wednesday. McIlroy is assured of playing four rounds in this World Golf Championship (which has no cut) for the first time all year. He missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, lost in the first round of the Match Play Championship and played only 26 holes of the Honda Classic.
McIlroy, who has joined Tiger Woods in the Nike stable and has studied the 14-time major champion his whole life, said he wishes he could have been like Woods on Friday.
"He might be the best athlete ever, in terms of his ability to grind it out," McIlroy told the magazine. "I could have a bit more of that, if I'm honest."
Associated Pressseattle weather skier sarah burke gingrich wife cheryl burke
China-Japan island dispute opens door to misunderstandings
Stubbornness over conflicting claims to the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands in the East China Sea holds out the prospect of competing maritime patrols and continued tensions, raising the risk of an incident.
A Chinese ship and a Japanese Coast Guard vessel sail near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Kyodo News/AP/File
EnlargeAfter five months of naval maneuvering around a group of uninhabited rocks in the East China Sea, Japan and China remain deadlocked in a potentially disastrous game of chicken over their rival territorial claims.
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Few on either side of the dispute are predicting a face-saving solution will appear anytime soon that might calm the tensions between the world's second- and third-largest economies and avert the risk of outright hostilities.
Both governments blame each other for the deepening crisis and promise to stand firm.
"I don't see a way out," says Akihisa Nagashima, a former deputy Japanese Defense minister. "It is very unfortunate, but we do not have a solution."
"It will be very hard for China's new leaders to give up their political stand on the Diaoyu islands," says Sun Zhe, who teaches international relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing, using the Chinese name for the islands known in Japan as the Senkaku.
The two countries, Professor Sun worries, "may be falling into a deep trap and a black hole of misperceptions that create miscalculations."
The dispute, which has seen Chinese naval vessels "lock on" their missile-guiding radars to a Japanese ship and helicopter, and prompted Japan to scramble F-15 fighters to chase a Chinese plane flying over the disputed waters, erupted this past September.
Saying that it wanted to keep three of the privately owned but Japanese-administered islands out of the hands of a nationalist firebrand who was seeking to buy them, the Japanese government bought the islands itself.
Beijing charged that this move violated a longstanding tacit agreement not to change the islands' status and began dispatching marine surveillance ships, naval vessels, and planes into the disputed territory in order to undermine Japan's administration.
Beijing's current goal, according to Chinese analysts and Japanese officials who have spoken with their Chinese counterparts, is to force Tokyo into acknowledging that a territorial dispute exists.
This Japan resolutely refuses to do, insisting that there is no question about who the islands belong to. China only began voicing a claim in the 1970s, when studies suggested that oil and gas deposits might be found near the islands, Japan argues.
Japan also claims to be standing up to Chinese assertiveness in a manner that should stiffen the resolve of other countries locked in territorial disputes with China, such as Vietnam and the Philippines.
"If we give up, the whole of Asia could be controlled by this lawless game," says one senior Japanese official. "We have to stand very firmly against the possibility that the whole area might fall under Chinese rule."
Shinzo Abe, Japan's new prime minister, was elected in December partly on pledges to firmly defend the islands. His refusal to acknowledge that China claims them enjoys support across the Japanese political spectrum, as far left as the Communist Party.
With crucial elections to the upper house of parliament due in July, Mr. Abe cannot appear weak in the face of China's maritime intrusions.
Nor can Xi Jinping, who is due to become China's president in early March. Since becoming head of the ruling Communist Party last November, Mr. Xi has made frequent visits to military units, and until he has fully established himself as the man in charge, he is not expected to show flexibility on the Senkaku/Diaoyu issue.
Such stubbornness on both sides holds out the prospect of competing maritime patrols and continued tensions, raising the risk of an incident.
Eventually, hopes the senior Japanese diplomat, "Xi will rethink the costs and benefits of this crisis and realize that it is not good to harbor bad relations" between countries tied by $330 billion worth of trade each year.
But Xi's calculation, in light of angry Chinese public opinion, may not come out in Japan's favor. For the time being, says one Western diplomat in Tokyo, "the best we can hope for is that they can cauterize this [territorial crisis] and keep it from expanding into other areas of the relationship."
Florida hazing defendants to face manslaughter charges
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Florida prosecutors will charge former Florida A&M University band members with manslaughter in the 2011 hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in a decision that came as a surprise to defense lawyers, one defendant's attorney said on Monday.
Twelve former band members originally faced felony charges in the brutal hazing case, but two of the defendants settled their cases by pleading no contest last year.
All of the remaining defendants, who still face felony hazing charges, will now be hit additionally with the more serious charge of manslaughter, said lawyer Craig Wellington.
"We were certainly not expecting that firework," Wellington said of the decision, adding that defense lawyers were alerted via email to the manslaughter charges minutes before stepping into an Orlando courtroom for the start of a status hearing in the case.
Champion, 26, died in a hazing ritual during a band trip to Orlando on November 19, 2011. His death was ruled a homicide as a result of a hemorrhagic shock caused by blunt force trauma during the hazing on a chartered bus, according to the medical examiner's report.
Wellington said prosecutors were adding two new defendants to the case and would charge them with manslaughter too.
A clerk for the court said the charges had not yet been filed and a spokesman for State Attorney Jeff Ashton told Reuters the office would not comment.
Wellington said manslaughter is a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Felony hazing is a third degree felony, which carries a potential five years in prison.
"I think it's a travesty," Wellington told Reuters. "We don't think these kids should have to endure a manslaughter charge ... It was tragic but it was a doggone accident," he said.
Champion died after he collapsed due to what prosecutors have described as a savage ritualistic beating aboard a charter bus that drove the band from Tallahassee.
"We applaud the courageous leadership of Mr. Ashton," said Christopher Chestnut, who is suing FAMU and the school charter bus company on behalf of Champion's parents.
"We had been pleading with the prosecution from day one to appropriately charge this case," he said.
(Reporting by Barbara Liston; Editing by Daniel Trotta, Cynthia Johnston and Andrew Hay)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/florida-hazing-defendants-face-manslaughter-charges-234823965.html
Life+Living: Cassie Throws Lola Monroe A Super Baby Showers ...
LoLa Monroe celebrated her baby on the way at a joyous occasion with some of her closest friends and family. Her ?All Gold, All Girls? collaborator Cassie hosted a baby shower in her honor on Saturday.
The mom-to-be was joined by her girlfriends including Teairra Mari, Hazel-E, and Toccara Jones at the intimate celebration in the Hollywood Hills.
Cassie Throws
?So much love today?friends and family..in town to the ones that flew in. Thank you for joining us to be apart of something special,? tweeted the Taylor Gang rapper, who thanked her gracious host.
?Thaank u @CassieSuper 4 being so special n throwing me such a beautiful baby shower!!ur such a great friend #Rare #Genuine Love u so much!?
One friend of hers who wasn?t able to make it was Lil? Kim. ?I?m sorry I couldnt make it but just know I love U & the baby and I?m sending a gift very soon!!? tweeted the Queen Bee.
LoLa announced in December that she was expecting her first child with Bad Boy rapper Los.
She is readying her mixtape Lipstick N Pistols, while Cassie plans to announce a release date for her own mixtape Rock-A-Bye Baby next week. Source
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Source: http://www.hiphopweekly.com/2013/03/03/lifeliving-cassie-throws-lola-monroe-a-super-baby-showers/
Monday, March 4, 2013
Literary Agent ? Creative Writing Tips | Writing and Speaking Tips
This is made difficult by the necessity to write in verse.
First, write a poem in the first person point of view. You must say ?I? did that, this, or the other thing, not ?He?. Show what you felt, said, saw, thought, wished, did, (saying ?I? did it). Make yourself sound entertaining to yourself as your first reader. Surprise yourself. Make yourself sound noble, or else unjustly put upon. And there you sound like a Protagonist. Remember, a poem is always telling a story. Thus, a character is part of the requirements.
You may also create yourself as a cross, petty, treacherous, cruel, corrupt character. To avoid authorial intrusion, you can switch the POV (point of view) to the third person. To flesh out a character fully, it is always proper to be omniscient in telling the story. An antagonist may have plans to thwart and obstruct another character in quest of love, glory, honor, or whatever that character logically desire and deserve. Writing it in other POV?s will make the protagonist appear bias. However, homely protagonists rarely work in poetry.
Do not forget the elements of poetry. Figures of speech are the basic elements. It?s a good idea, let?s say, to have somebody get in bed with someone else. Set your place in a parked car, broom closet, bathtub, something like that, though a bed will do better for romantic touch. To pull off an erotic touch in a poem, make sure you include the senses which make everything erotic and sensual. Bear witness to the scent and sound of the environment wherein the action happened, and do not forget the body language.
Change the point of view to the second person. This is to keep the reader from getting bored with what the omniscient speaker saw in a parked car. Use your imagination. You may say ?I? did that, this, or the other thing and prove it was not in a parked car. But let?s face it: if you?ve really had it in a parked car, you wouldn?t be wasting your time trying to figure out the scent of vehicle emission or the air vent. Or you wouldn?t be wasting your day trying to write a poem. Horace says that one should write the feelings after some moment of tranquility. So don?t write a poem after getting it on in a parked car.
When you have finished showing (not telling) what you did or wished you?d done that night, type ?first draft? neatly in the center of the page and take a glass of water. Now you will want to let someone else read what you?ve written. Most likely, however, your reader will say one of two things: ?I think you need a new printer,? or: ?Who was that you were with in that parked car??
Why don?t you just keep the draft and drink another glass of water, and revise it until you can say you have written a poem. No one will know, but who cares, Emily Dickinson got famous after her publishers discovered hundreds of poems in her room after her death.
Source: http://www.writingspeakingtips.com/literary-agent-creative-writing-tips/
Paul Rudd reveals his 'Anchorman' mustache
By Kurt Schlosser, TODAY
Bust out the Sex Panther: Paul Rudd and his "Anchorman" mustache were in fine form on TODAY Monday morning.
The actor was on to promote his new film "Admission," in which he stars alongside?Tina Fey for the first time, and talked about a "steamy" shower scene with the actress.
"We shot it at about 2 in the morning in a barn. It was freezing cold," Rudd said. Matt Lauer quipped that the actor is naked for about half the movie and Savannah Guthrie chimed in that Rudd must "feel naked without his mustache."
"I'm really just getting a look at it now," Rudd said of the facial hair he's growing for his role as Brian Fantana in the "Anchorman" sequel.?"I look like Yanni."
"Admission" opens in theaters March 22.
Related video:
SpaceX cargo capsule reaches International Space Station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida |
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule overcame a potentially mission-ending technical problem to make a belated but welcome arrival at the International Space Station on Sunday.
Astronauts aboard the outpost used the station's robotic arm to pluck the capsule from orbit at 5:31 a.m. EST as the ships sailed 250 miles over northern Ukraine.
Flight controllers at NASA's Mission Control in Houston then stepped in to drive the capsule to its berthing port on the station's Harmony connecting node. Docking occurred at 8:44 a.m. EST.
The Dragon capsule, loaded with more than 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of science equipment, spare parts, food and supplies, blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the second of 12 planned supply runs for NASA.
SpaceX is the first private company to fly to the station, a $100 billion project of 15 nations.
Dragon was to have arrived at the station on Saturday but a problem with its thruster rocket pods developed soon after reaching orbit. Engineers sent commands for Dragon to flip valves and clear any blockage in a pressurization line in an attempt to salvage the mission.
By Friday evening, Dragon had fired its thruster rockets to raise its altitude and begin steering itself to rendezvous with the station.
The orbital ballet ended when station commander Kevin Ford, working from a robotics station inside the outpost, grabbed the capsule with the station's robot arm.
"As they say, it's not where you start but where you finish that counts. You guys really finished this one on the mark," Ford radioed to Dragon's flight control team in Hawthorne, California, and NASA's Mission Control in Houston.
"What a fantastic day," Ford said.
Once Dragon's hatch is open, the station crew will spend the next several days unpacking the food, clothing, supplies and science experiments from the capsule. The research includes studies on plant seedlings, mouse stem cells and combustion in microgravity.
SpaceX also sent the crew a gift of fresh fruit from an employee's father's orchard, company president Gwynne Shotwell said.
Ground controllers will use the station's robot arm again on Wednesday to unpack equipment for a future spacewalk that is stowed in Dragon's unpressurized trunk.
Once the capsule is unloaded, the crew will begin refilling it with 3,000 pounds (1,361 kg) of unneeded and broken equipment and science samples for analysis on Earth.
Dragon is the only station freighter that makes return trips, a critical service that was lost after the U.S. shuttle program ended in 2011. Cargo ships flown by Russia, Europe and Japan incinerate in the atmosphere after leaving the station
Dragon's departure and parachute splashdown in the Pacific Ocean is scheduled for March 25.
Dragon's flight is the second of 12 missions for privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, known as SpaceX, under a $1.6 billion NASA contract. Following a successful test flight to the space station in May 2012, SpaceX conducted its first supply run to the orbital outpost in October.
A second firm, Orbital Sciences Corp is due to debut its freighter this year.
NASA turned to private companies for delivering supplies to the station following the retirement of its shuttle fleet. The agency hopes to buy rides commercially for its astronauts as well beginning in 2017.
(Editing by Bill Trott)
Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/vorHWtGE0Fk/us-space-nasa-idUSBRE92006C20130303
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Saturday, March 2, 2013
Syrians are receiving US aid - they just don't know it
The widespread perception among Syrians that the US has abandoned them is untrue, but US aid is rarely branded as such and it is still far short of what is needed.?
Syrian refugees carry a bucket of water as they walk at Atmeh refugee camp, in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, Syria, last week. Despite US efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to Syria, intended recipients say the American presence remains virtually invisible.
Hussein Malla/AP
EnlargeAt his tiny hospital in Turkey just a stone?s throw from the Syrian border, Qussay Said Essa says he?s all but given up on American assistance. Though he knows the US has pledged money both inside and outside of Syria, he says he doesn?t know of anyone who has seen American aid.
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?What they?ve given is not enough,? says Dr. Essa, a general surgeon at a hospital run by Orient Humanitarian Relief in Reyhanli. ?They?ve given what? $350 million over two years? [The actual American pledge is $385 million.] That?s nothing when you compare it to the size of the tragedy and the destruction.?
Just keeping his tiny clinic afloat in Reyhanli costs $200,000 per month and a sister clinic just across the border with better surgical facilities costs another $600,000 per month. Orient Humanitarian Relief, which Essa says receives funding from wealthy Syrian expatriates, is one of many hundreds of small charitable organizations helping those affected by the Syrian crisis that are in dire need of economic support.
Despite US efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to Syria, intended recipients say the American presence remains virtually invisible. Part of the perceived deficit of support comes from the US policy of not branding or labeling aid parcels to identify them as coming from the US. Many in the aid community say that this has resulted in Syrians feeling abandoned by the US.
In a region where perceptions often matter more than reality, the US has failed to convince many Syrians that it is doing good.
?There?s a sense inside Syria that the US has been stringing the Syrian opposition along,? says Christy Delafield, program director for the Syrian Expatriates Organization. ?Syrian-Americans have been begging the US to brand aid.? The US is doing some great things and the Syrian people aren't seeing it. When they get aid, they credit the Gulf countries, Turkey, or the Europeans, who do brand."
Early this year, President Barack Obama upped the US aid commitment to Syria from $210 million to $365 million. The money has been focused on providing food and healthcare, with more than half of the funds intended for those still inside Syria.
The US announced today that it will give nonlethal aid directly to the rebels that will include medical supplies and food. The US will also provide $60 million for opposition councils working to provide government services in rebel-controlled areas. This is on top of $50 million that the US has already provided for these groups.?Yet the US has intentionally made no effort to communicate to its recipients where the majority of this assistance comes from. Policy makers are concerned that if aid parcels are stamped with American flags or other symbols tying it back to the US, it could endanger the beneficiary or those delivering it inside Syria if they encounter a group hostile to the US.
?We are not putting flags on the aid so that it?s perhaps not as visible as it is in other situations. Our priority is to ensure that it reaches people and that it doesn?t create additional insecurity,? said Nancy Lindborg, USAID?s assistant administrator for democracy, conflict, and humanitarian assistance in recent remarks to the press.
Among those aware of US spending, many allege that a large portion of the money goes to the Syrian government or those inside government controlled areas ? areas less likely to be affected by shortages of food and medical supplies than opposition-controlled areas.
American officials remain insistent that no aid goes directly through the Syrian government, but concede that some may reach those sympathetic to the government when aid is disturbed through groups such as the Red Crescent, whose regional employees may still sympathize with the regime. Other projects benefit large swaths of people that include government supporters, as was the case with funding that provided chlorine for municipal water treatment facilities to produce clean water for 10 million people.
?Much of the aid that?s going in is benefiting a broad array of folks throughout Syria,? said Ms. Lindborg.
For the majority of Syrians, the widely held perception remains that what little US assistance has come their way, much of it has gone to the Assad regime, negating any good done by aid to the opposition that could serve to improve the US image among Syrians.
?I know the US has given money but I?m sure this money has gone to the Red Crescent and this organization has helped the regime so what is the benefit of this assistance?? asks Yasir Alsyed, who manages the Recovery House, which helps wounded Syrians in Reyhanli. ?The US has not supplied any help to the medical or humanitarian sector,? he adds, stating something that is incorrect.
Meanwhile, the scope of the financial commitment to Syria remains disproportionate to the level of need, which Lindborg and other US officials have admitted. Compared to other foreign aid campaigns, the US effort in Syria remains relatively low. During the 2012 fiscal year, the US pledged $2.3 billion to Afghanistan. Even in countries less central to US interests, American spending still exceeds its investment in Syria. During the previous fiscal year the US planned $676 million for aid spending in Jordan and $383 million in Columbia.
As the Syrian conflict approaches its two-year anniversary, the optimism that permeated the early days is gone and the assumption that it is only a matter of time before Assad steps down has faded away amid statements and other indicators that he will not willingly leave power and his troops remain well-armed and capable. Now many Syrians are hunkering down for a prolonged conflict in which they?re not expecting outside help.
?All these are blow after blow. Syrians really thought the West would come to their aid,? says Mouaz Moustafa, political director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force.?
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Friday, March 1, 2013
Can an App Take Down Climate Change Deniers? Al Gore Thinks So.
It's happened to all of us. Sometime in the middle of dinner, or hanging out with friends, someone says they're not sure climate change exists. And you're suddenly at a loss for words.
The solution, according to former Vice President Al gore, is a new social media tool designed to tell users the scientific truth about global warming. The app, called Reality Drop, was unveiled today at a live event in Long Beach, Calif.
In a calculated nod to millennials and the increasing gamification of our culture, the tool curates hundreds of daily online news articles about global warming, and then allows users to earn points if they leave comments that spread truthful science and refute anti-science myths.
?Social networks are the key in helping us move the needle in the right direction?the key is to seed the conversation with reality,? said Gore, from a hotel conference room in Long Beach, California. ?Wherever there is an example of denial in the media, we will give everyone that participates the precise scientific answer to the denial in the story.?
Reality Drop debuts at a vital time in the global bout to cool our ever-warming planet.
The last two years have featured record-setting extreme weather events that?climate scientists said were made more intense because of global warming. Sweltering heatwaves, backbreaking drought, above-average wildfires, and multiple freak storms were the defining events of 2011 and 2012.
In 2012, 3,527 monthly weather records were broken for heat, rain, and snow in the U.S. Shockingly, 34,008 daily high temperature records?were set or tied?throughout 2012, compared to just 6,664 daily record lows?a ratio of five-to-one.
Such extreme weather events proved very costly?both in terms of lives lost and dollars wasted. In addition to 1,107 tragic fatalities, up to $188 billion in damage was caused by the severe weather events of 2011 and 2012.
Halfway through his presentation, Gore queued up perhaps the most sobering clip from his 2005 Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, in which a computer model simulates the flooding of lower Manhattan. ?Deniers said this would never happen,? said Gore. He then played a montage of news clips from Hurricane Sandy, in which the Hudson River in fact poured into lower Manhattan and Ground Zero.
?This particular moment in time is the exact right moment in time to do this?superstorm Sandy, in particular, represented something of a tipping point, I believe,? said Gore.
In the face of overwhelming evidence, the fossil fuel industry, the most profitable business in human history, has dug in its collective heels in defending the anti-science line.
?Just like the tobacco companies in the ?50s, the fossil fuel industry has engaged in a well-funded and coordinated effort mislead the public about the scientific reality of climate change,? said Gore, in a press release.
As a supplement to the gaming feature, Reality Drop also highlights and debunks more than a hundred of the most-commonly espoused climate myths, including ?Antarctica is gaining ice,? ?spring isn?t arriving sooner,? and ?it?s the urban heat island effect.?
The tool was developed in collaboration with Skeptical Science and Arnold Worldwide, a global communications organization. ?You get points for promoting the truth and for combatting the denial?it?s fun and it works,? said Gore.
Gore ended his roughly 45-minute presentation on a call to action, saying its ?time to win the conversation on personal terms,? making an analogy to the recent groundswell of support in America for gay marriage.
?Two, three, four years ago, nobody would have imagined how gay rights would have transformed this country?it?s so inspiring,? said Gore. ?That same conversation phenomenon has to happen on carbon.??
Related Stories on TakePart:
? You Can Totally Thank Climate Change for Future Mutant Hurricanes
? Al Gore on Summer 2012's Extreme Weather: 'It's Like a Nature Hike Through the Book of Revelations'
? Sandy's Wake Widens: One Million Honeybees Perish in Brooklyn
?An Angelino by way of Wilkes-Barre, PA, Sal holds a Political Science degree from George Washington University. Though he began his career in sports, he's written about all things environment since 2007. @SalCardoni?| Email Sal | TakePart.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/app-down-climate-change-deniers-al-gore-thinks-145100645.html
Comedian Tina Fey says "no way" she would host Oscars
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comic actress Tina Fey says there is "no way" she would host the Oscars ceremony next year, despite getting a thumbs up from "Star Trek" actor William Shatner in a sketch at Sunday's Academy Awards show.
The creator and star of TV comedy "30 Rock" told the Huffington Post website that she did not see herself as fronting the Oscars telecast.
"I just feel that gig is so hard. Especially for, like, a woman - the amount of months that would be spent trying on dresses alone...no way," she joked, during an interview with the Huffington Post posted on the website on Tuesday.
Asked if there was at least a one in a million chance, Fey replied, "I wish I could tell you there was."
Fey and "Baby Mama" actress Amy Poehler both received rave reviews for hosting the Golden Globes awards for the first time in January.
In a sketch on Sunday with Seth MacFarlane, Shatner appeared from the future as "Star Trek" Captain James T. Kirk in a running joke about the edgy "Family Guy" creator's suitability as host of the most coveted honors in the movie business.
"Why couldn't they get Tina and Amy to host?" Shatner asked, to laughs from the audience packed with Hollywood stars.
TV critics panned the song-and-dance-heavy show and MacFarlane said on Tuesday that he would not consider hosting the Oscars a second time.
The Oscar host - considered both the highest honor and riskiest job in Hollywood - is usually chosen by the producers of the Academy Awards show and is generally announced about five or six months before the February ceremony.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/comedian-tina-fey-says-no-way-she-host-193109656.html
Dow edges near record, then sputters; stocks down
Specialist Meric Greenbaum works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. The stock market pushed higher Thursday afternoon, sending the Dow tantalizingly close to a record high. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Meric Greenbaum works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. The stock market pushed higher Thursday afternoon, sending the Dow tantalizingly close to a record high. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Leon Montana, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. The stock market pushed higher Thursday afternoon, sending the Dow tantalizingly close to a record high. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Peter Giacchi, right, calls out prices at the closing bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. The stock market pushed higher Thursday afternoon, sending the Dow tantalizingly close to a record high. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? It came oh so close.
The Dow Jones industrial average came within 15 points of its all-time high Thursday afternoon. But the momentum petered out, and the Dow and other indexes broke a two-day winning streak and closed lower.
Economic data and company reports reflected an economy beating investors' low expectations, rather than one growing like gangbusters. Impending government budget cuts also cast a pall for some investors.
"There was no dramatic, great news," said Leon LaBrecque, CEO of LJPR in Troy, Mich. "There's no remarkable economic information. Earnings are pretty much mixed."
The day started with the stock market plodding along before sending investors on a whipsaw day. After gaining a combined 291 points on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Dow spent Thursday morning darting between small gains and losses.
It took a decisive turn upward in the early afternoon. Around 2:30 p.m. EST, it hit 14,149 ? just 15 points from the Oct. 9, 2007 record of 14,164.53.
Then the rally sputtered and stocks turned lower in the final few minutes of trading.
The Dow ended down 20.88 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,054.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 1.31, or 0.09 percent, to 1,514.68. The Nasdaq composite index edged down 2.07, or 0.07 percent, to 3,160.19.
Some said the market's fleeting gain Thursday was more about its general tendency to rise over time, and not necessarily a reflection of a surge in strength for the U.S. economy.
"People have to separate the economy from the stock market," said Ed Butowsky, managing partner of ChapwoodFinance.com in Dallas.
Thursday's data didn't provide a clear picture on the economy.
Company earnings were mixed. J.C. Penney and Barnes & Noble posted losses. Wendy's and Domino's had higher profits. The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the last three months of 2012 ? better than the original estimate of a 0.1 percent decline, but hardly robust. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell, and the government prepared for federal spending cuts to kick in Friday, a result of Democrats and Republicans not compromising on the budget debate.
"We still have work to do, still a lot of headwinds to face," said Steve Sachs, head of capital markets at ProShares in Bethesda, Md. But, he added, "we're in a better position now than we were three years ago."
Thursday's close means the Dow rose 1.4 percent in February ? respectable, but a slowdown from its 5.8 percent gain in January.
The Dow milestone doesn't mean much in practical terms. It's an index of 30 big-name stocks, such as Disney and General Electric that investors follow as a gauge of how the overall stock market is doing. But professional investors don't change their strategy because of it.
Even so, a Dow record would be important for psychological reasons: It can make people feel like the economy is doing better. That can induce them to spend and invest more. And it reminds people of a time before the financial crisis, which peaked in 2008.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at about 1.90 percent.
Among stocks making big moves:
?Groupon, the coupons website, plunged 24 percent after reporting late Wednesday that its quarterly loss had expanded. The stock fell $1.45 to $4.53.
?J.C. Penney fell 17 percent after the department store reported a higher-than-expected quarterly loss late Wednesday. The stock dropped $3.59 to $17.57.
? Wendy's, Domino's, clothing chain Chico's and energy drink maker Monster Beverage all rose after reporting higher profit and revenue.
?Barnes & Noble climbed 3 percent, up 51 cents to $15.74. The bookstore chain posted a loss, though its CEO confirmed that the company was still in talks with its founder about a partial buyout.
Associated Press
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