A recent collaboration between UMBC’s New Media Studio, headed by Bill Shewbridge ’80, history, and the Erickson School resulted in a digital storytelling project pairing university students with seniors at the Charlestown Retirement Community. Shewbridge, Director of the New Media Studio, noted that the participation of freshman in the course inspired the theme of life transitions, the Catonsville Times reported.

Read the full story here.

“You can’t tell your life story in three minutes,” Shewbridge said, but the results are compelling. “They’re all different. Some are funny. Some are poignant. But they all have their own value and their own message.”

The digital stories are now also online for public viewing.

Thanks to the NY Times!

One of the greenest cities in the country is making another big change in the name of environmental awareness.

On Monday, the Seattle City Council voted to ban plastic bags from being given out in stores. In their place, retailers can offer paper bags for a 5-cent fee.

The fee is meant to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags. Amendments in the bill exempt food banks and low-income residents from having to charge and pay the extra fee.

The ban is expected to reduce pollution, free up landfill space and improve the environment. Seattle’s residents use 292 million plastic bags and 68 million paper bags a year. About 82 percent of paper bags are recycled, while only 13 percent of plastic bags are recycled.”

Seattle is not the first city to take such steps. Several municipalities in the state of Washington and all around the country have targeted plastic bags.

If the ordinance goes on to become law, it will take effect in July of 2012.

In between cross country skiing and tasty meals, I hope to catch up on a backlog of reading. In case others are looking for some readings over the holidays I've compiled some recent publications (many that were publicized in the AASHE Bulletin). If readers have other publications from 2011 they would like to recommend please post a comment or email resources@aashe.org.

Educational Reforms for the 21st Century: How to Introduce Ecologically Sustainable Reforms in Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies
Bowers, C. A., Eco-Justice Press, 2011.
This book introduces pedagogical strategies for addressing the linguistic colonization of the present by the past; the teacher’s role as a cultural mediator between the cultural commons and consumer-dependent experiences; and how computers contribute to the enclosure of the cultural commons.

Also from Bowers and Eco-Justice Press is University Reform in an Era of Global Warming which addresses a number of issues ranging from language, cultural commons, academic freedom, patterns of cultural reproduction and the need for administrative leadership that addresses the cultural roots of the ecological crisis. Bowers argues that replacing inefficient campus infrastructures is easy compared to the challenges of engaging faculty in discussions of how the content of their courses continue to reinforce the deep cultural assumptions that give conceptual direction to the individualistic/consumer-dependent lifestyle that that is now widely recognized as unsustainable.

Education for Sustainability: Guides for Teaching and Learning
In an effort to provide a framework for enhancing teaching and learning in sustainability, the Sustainability Team at the University of Gloucestershire (UK) released two installments of its Education for Sustainability (EfS): Guides for Teaching and Learning series. A Guide for University Managers on Needs and Opportunities explores strategic needs, benefits and the potential for EfS in the curriculum and in partnership with external organizations. A Guide for Educators on Teaching and Learning Approaches provides orientation on the aims and principles of EfS to inform curriculum development work.

GUNi Report: Higher Education's Commitment to Sustainability
The Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi) released the fourth report in its Higher Education in the World series: "Higher Education's Commitment to Sustainability: from Understanding to Action." Analyzing the link between sustainability and higher education, the publication includes trending topics, good practices and a map of how regions around the world are advancing sustainability. The publication also explores the main barriers that prevent the transformation of higher education institutions towards contributing to the sustainability paradigm, and highlights possible solutions.

Department of Ed Sustainability Education Summit Report
The U.S. Department of Education released a Proceedings Report that provides an overview of its September 2010 "Sustainability Education Summit: Citizenship and Pathways for a Green Economy." Including industry, academic and government representatives' comments from the summit’s four panel sessions, the report recommends ways to advance sustainability education throughout the country.

Higher Ed's Role in Adapting to a Changing Climate
Supported by Second Nature and Clean Air-Cool Planet, this report evaluates how colleges and universities are preparing society for a changing climate through their education, research, operations and community engagement activities. The report was developed by the Higher Education Climate Adaptation Committee, a group of 13 leaders in higher education and experts in climate adaptation convened by the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in March 2011.

UNECE Education for Sustainable Development Report
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Steering Committee on Education for Sustainable Development released the report, “Learning for the Future: Competences in Education for Sustainable Development.” A result of 18 months of discussions and negotiations among academics, government officials and experts from international and non-governmental organizations, the paper makes recommendations for the development of education for sustainable development across all sectors of education including guidelines and tools for integration.

In addition to the above, I would also recommend the AASHE publications that were released in 2011, including our partnered publications. These include the 2010 Campus Sustainability Review, the 2010 Higher Education Sustainability Staffing Survey, Greening the Bottom Line: The Trend toward Green Revolving Funds on Campus, Sustainability and Catholic Higher Education Toolkit, and Starting from Scratch: Greening Your Game Day.

A recent collaboration between UMBC’s New Media Studio, headed by Bill Shewbridge ’80, history, and the Erickson School resulted in a digital storytelling project pairing university students with seniors at the Charlestown Retirement Community. Shewbridge, Director of the New Media Studio, noted that the participation of freshman in the course inspired the theme of life transitions, the Catonsville Times reported.

Read the full story here.

“You can’t tell your life story in three minutes,” Shewbridge said, but the results are compelling. “They’re all different. Some are funny. Some are poignant. But they all have their own value and their own message.”

The digital stories are now also online for public viewing.

Do you shop at Whole Foods? How about the Cracker Barrel? Does it matter?

Yes, it does.

It turns out food stores can be determining factor in election results.

In 2008, candidate Barack Obama carried 81 percent of counties with a Whole Foods and just 36 percent of counties with a Cracker Barrel —a record 45-point gap

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is a country southern themed restaurant and gift store. Whole Foods is an organic food store. You can probably guess the demographic breakdown here. Liberals most likely shop at Whole Foods… conservatives at the Cracker Barrel.

In the 2010 midterm elections, the culinary divide was even more apparent: Eighty-two percent of congressional districts that flipped from Democratic to Republican were home to a Cracker Barrel, and just 20 percent of these districts had a Whole Foods.

Can you think of any other correlation between food and politics?

Colossians 1:3, 4 NIV

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—

Reflection:

The Occupy Wall Street movement has captured the attention of the world for many reasons. First and foremost is the fact that it is comprised of a seemingly disparate group of people, who are camping out, and holding an ongoing demonstration in the midst of the world’s premier financial institutions. What many considered to be a short term, life-less protest has persisted to the point where it is now a political talking point throughout the world. In this passage, Paul is conveying this same idea of persistence and day after day devotion to prayer for the members of the church of Colossae, as he describes his prayers for them. His heart and mind were set and focused on praying for the things of God.  In the same way, may our thoughts not be caught up in the passing distractions of this life, but may we instead be focused and set fast upon things that God wants us to pray for.

Response:

Let’s respond by spending some time today praying for those in our workplaces and campuses. Let’s ask that they would come to know the love of God, and that they would be filled with a deep faith in Jesus Christ.

Today’s Catonsville Times highlighted an exciting collaboration between UMBC’s New Media Studio and Erickson School: a digital storytelling project paring university students with seniors at the Charlestown Retirement Community. Bill Shewbridge, Director of the New Media Studio, noted that the participation of freshman in the course inspired the theme of life transitions.

The students and elders learned from one another’s life experiences through weekly meetings, culminating with the creation of 14 three-minute films, presented in the UMBC Library Gallery. “You can’t tell your life story in three minutes,” Shewbridge said, but the results are compelling. “They’re all different. Some are funny. Some are poignant. But they all have their own value and their own message.” The digital stories are now also online for public viewing.

“With the Iowa caucuses less than three weeks away, the narrowed Republican presidential contest between Romney, Newt Gingrich, and the surging Ron Paul remains a muddle,” writes UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller in Salon.com. This landscape has led Romney to focus on a new strategy to win the GOP presidential nomination: surviving a tough fight in January to win more favorable states in February.

Schaller argues that the crucial step for Romney is to attack Gingrich “using a negative television and radio blitz on the issue of Medicare to win Florida’s pivotal seniors.” He suggests, “If Romney can pair his younger support four years ago with a better performance among Florida seniors this year, he can win Florida on January 31.” Such a win might carry him through to February’s primaries in Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota and Nevada, where he was successful in 2008.