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Posts tagged 'computational literacy'
What is programming-as-literacy, what does it look like, and what should we worry about? Alan Kay in Scientific American
Last month, I wrote a blog post about programming as a kind of literacy. I got some pushback. Really? Literacy? That programming in C stuff? Well, no, programming in C is not what I mean by a form of literacy. I recommended looking at some of what Alan Kay had written in Scientific American.
I decided to do that for myself.
Alan's first article for Scientific American was in 1977, "Microelectronics and the Personal Computer," about the idea of a personal computer and the explorations they were doing at Xerox PARC with Smalltalk. I liked this one a lot because it emphasizes simulations "the central property of computing."
The second was in 1984, "Computer Software." Here's where he defines literacy with the computer. It's way more than just programming.
The third was in 1991, "Computers, Networks and Education." This is the one where Alan really questioned whether things with computing were going in the right direction. For example, he worried about how people thought about "literacy" on the computer.
He returned to the importance of simulation.
And he was worried about people being critical of information that they find on the Internet (note that this is 1991, before Web browsers).
But in the end, Alan was hopeful, that we might develop a skeptical attitude with computing.
Literature is to Composition, as Computer Science is to Computational Literacy/Thinking
Annette Vee was visiting in Ann Arbor, and looked me up. We had coffee and a great conversation. Annette is an English Professor who teaches Composition at University of Pittsburgh (see website here). She published a book last year with MIT Press, Coding Literacy: How Computer Programming is Changing Writing. (I'm part way through it and recommend it!) She knew me from this blog and my other writing about computational literacy. I was thrilled to meet someone who makes the argument for code-as-literacy with a real claim to understanding literacy.
One of the themes in our conversation was the distinction between literature and composition. (I'm going to summarize something we were talking about — Annette is not responsible for me getting things wrong here.) Literature is about doing writing very well, about writing great works that stand the test of time. It's about understanding and emulating greater writers. Composition is about writing well for communication. It's about letters to Grandma, and office memos, and making your emails effective. Composition is about writing understandable prose, not great prose as in literature. People in literature sometimes look down on those in composition.
There's a similar distinction to be made between computer science as it's taught in Universities and what Annette and I are calling coding/computational literacy (but which might be what Aman Yadav and Shuchi Grover are calling computational thinking). Computer science aims to prepare people to engineer complex, robust, and secure systems that work effectively for many users. Computational literacy is about people using code to communicate, to express thoughts, and to test ideas. This code doesn't have to be pretty or robust. It certainly shouldn't be complex, or nobody will do it. It should be secure, but that security should probably be built into the programming system rather than expecting to teach people about it (as Ben Herold recently talked about). People in computer science will likely look down on those teaching computational literacy or computational thinking. That's okay.
Few people will write literature. Everyone will compose.
Governor of Rhode Island explains why we should teach programming to everyone
Gina Raimondo, the governor of Rhode Island, was on Freakonomics Radio a few weeks ago. Stephen Dubner challenged their plans to offer computing education at all grade levels in every district. She had a strong response. Dubner's question is good. We still don't have the empirical evidence for the value of teaching computing to everyone. We should do that research — not to figure out if Raimondo made the right bet, but to tune what we're doing to make sure that we get the maximum benefit for the investment.
I recommend the whole interview.
DUBNER: So, I hear about this kind of thinking a lot, and I certainly understand the appeal and the resonance. But I do also wonder if there's a proven upside of having everyone learn computer science or programming. It strikes me a little bit like the equivalent of having every student in America during the boom of the internal combustion engine learn to take apart a carburetor. And then I think, if you look at the history of economics and progress, that one of the main strengths of economic progress is the division of labor and specialization, rather than everybody chasing after the latest trends. So I'm curious what the evidence was that inspired that move of yours.
RAIMONDO: I think of it as access and exposure, and also just providing people with a basic level of essential skills. So, everyone has to take math. They may become a writer, they may become an actor, but they ought to have a certain basic level of math skills. First of all, because it's an essential skill to function. And by the way, they might like math. I think digital skills are the same thing. No matter what job you have, you have to have some basic familiarity with computer skills and digital skills. And so it is as essential in this economy as any other skill that we teach. But also, we know — and there's loads of data on this girls, people of color, and low-income folks are less likely to go into I.T. fields, which tend to be higher-paying. However, if they're exposed to some computer training, they're much more likely to go into the field and do well at it.
Source: How to Be a Modern Democrat — and Win – Freakonomics
Why should we teach programming (Hint: It's not to learn problem-solving)
This is a revision of the original post. Several readers pointed out on Twitter that my original post was insensitive. It read like an attack on Brenda, a woman of color, from a senior white guy (me). That was not my intent, and I apologize for that. I am grateful to Joseph P. Wilson who helped me understand how to avoid that impression. I can't change the post that went out yesterday, but I will be more careful in future blog posts.
At the CS for All Consortium Celebration Tuesday, Brenda Wilkerson gave the closing keynote. The full livestream of the CS for All Summit is available here, and it includes Brenda's talk. I'm a huge fan of Brenda, and she's done fabulous work in Chicago. She is a leader in bringing CS to All.
I have not seen Brenda's talk or any of the livestream. My experience of the Consortium Celebration was through reading the Twitter stream as I found time during the day. Brenda had one slide (which you can see in the tweet linked here) that I disagreed with, and because it's an important point, I'm going to respond to it here.
It says, "Computer science builds the mental discipline for breaking down problems, and solving them." There are few studies that test this claim as "computer science," but there have been lots of studies looking for transfer from teaching programming to general problem-solving skills. Probably the first study investigating this claim is Roy Pea and Midian Kurland's paper On the cognitive effects of learning computer programming. You can find this claim in a paper by Henry Walker to which I responded in this blog. You can see it in posts all over the Internet, from this blog post to this article from a teacher in England. There is a strong belief out there that learning computer science, and programming called out specifically, leads to new problem-solving and "a new way to think."
There is simply not evidence in support of these claims. I talk about these in my book, I reference the Palumbo meta-review in this blog post, and NYTimes wrote about it this last spring. Like "learning styles" and "Latin teaches thinking," this is a persistent myth that learning computing leads to problem-solving skills, and we have no support the claim.
I tweeted in response to Brenda's slide, and several CS teachers asked me, "So why teach programming or computing at all?" That's a great question! Here are some of my top reasons:
- To understand our world. The argument that Simon Peyton Jones made in England for their computer science curriculum is that Computer Science is a science like all the others. We teach Chemistry to students because they live in a world with chemical interactions. We teach Biology because they live in a world full of living things. We teach Physics because they live in a physical world. We should teach Computer Science because they live in a digital world.
- To study and understand processes. Alan Perlis (first ACM Turing Award laureate) argued in 1961 that everyone on every campus should learn to program. He said that computer science is the study of process, and many disciplines need people to know about process, from managers who work on logistics, to scientists who try to understand molecular or biological processes. Programming automates process, which creates opportunities to simulate, model, and test theories about processes at scale. Perlis was prescient in predicting computational science and engineering.
- To be able to ask questions about the influences on their lives. C.P. Snow also argued for everyone to learn computing in 1961, but with more foreboding. He correctly predicted that computers and computing algorithms were going to control important aspects of our lives. If we don't know anything about computing, we don't even know how to ask about those algorithms. It shouldn't be magic. Even if you're not building these algorithms, simply knowing about them gives you power. C.P. Snow argues that you need that power.
- To use an important new form of literacy. Alan Kay made the argument in the 1970's that computing is a whole new medium. In fact, it's human's first meta-medium — it can be all other media, and it includes interactivity so that the medium can respond to the reader/user/viewer. Computing gives us a new way to express ideas, to communicate to others, and to explore ideas. Everyone should have access to this new medium.
- To have a new way to learn science and mathematics. Mathematics places a critical role in understanding our world, mostly in science. Our notation for mathematics has mostly been static equations. But code is different and gives us new insights. This is what Andy diSessa has been saying for many years. Bruce Sherin, Idit Harel, Yasmin Kafai, Uri Wilensky, and others have shown us how code gives us a powerful new way to learn science and mathematics. Bootstrap explicitly teaches mathematics with computing. Everyone who learns mathematics should also learn computing, explicitly with programming.
- As a job skill. The most common argument for teaching computer science in the United States is as a job skill. The original Code.org video argued that everyone should learn programming because we have a shortage of programmers. That's just a terrible reason to make every school child learn to program. That's what Larry Cuban was arguing this last summer. Tax payers should not be funding a Silicon Valley jobs program. Not everyone is going to become a software developer, and it doesn't make any sense to train everyone for a job that only some will do. But, there's some great evidence from Chris Scaffidi (that I learned about from Amy Ko's terrific VL/HCC summary) showing that workers (not software developers) who program make higher wages than those comparable workers who do not. Learning to program gives students new skills that have value in the economy. It's a social justice issue if we do not make this economic opportunity available to everyone.
- To use computers better. This one is a possibility, but we need research to support it. Everyone uses computers all the time these days. Does knowing how the computer works lead to more effective use of the computer? Are you less likely to make mistakes? Are you more resilient in bouncing back from errors? Can you solve computing problems (those that happen in applications or with hardware, even without programming) more easily? I bet the answer is yes, but I don't know the research results that support that argument.
- As a medium in which to learn problem-solving. Finally, computer programming is an effective medium in which we can teach problem-solving. Just learning to program doesn't teach problem-solving skills, but you can use programming if you want to teach problem-solving. Sharon Carver showed this many years ago. She wanted students to learn debugging skills, like being able to take a map and a set of instructions, then figure out where the instructions are wrong. She taught those debugging skills by having students debug Logo programs. Students successfully transferred those debugging skills to the map task. That's super cool from a cognitive and learning sciences perspective. But her students didn't learn much programming — she didn't need much programming to teach that problem solving skill.But here's the big caveat: They did not learn enough programming for any of the other reasons on this list! The evidence we have says that you can teach problem-solving with programming, but students won't gain more than that particular skill. That is a disservice to students.
Certainly there are more reasons than these, and I've seen several in the response to this blog post, and some in the comments below.
This was just one slide in Brenda's talk. Her overall point was much more broader and more significant. I strongly agree with Brenda's key point: CS for All is a social justice issue. Learning computing is so important that it is unjust to keep it from some students. Currently, CS is disproportionately unavailable to poorer students, to females, and to minority ethnic groups. We need CS for All.
Teaching Computer Science Is Great, But It's Not Enough: Calls for Functional Computer Science Literacy
The article quoted below by Florence R. Sullivan & Jill Denner calls for us to go beyond "simply giving more students access." We need to give them "functional computer science literacy." By that phrase, they mean that we need to have students consider ethical and social issues. That's not what Andy DiSessa meant when he defined computational literacy, who talked more about using computing to understand the world. But there may be a more mundane, critical form of literacy than either of these definitions.
Computing classes that emphasize coding over traditional technology literacy (e.g., how to use the computer) are not attracting students in the UK. The BBC said it frankly, "Computing in schools – alarm bells over England's classes." In the UK, even where there is access to computing education, but students aren't flocking to the classes. It's not just a matter of "time, funding, and qualified teachers." Traditional Information and Communications Technologies classes are more attractive to English students than Computing classes, based on number of students taking GCSE's.
Massachusetts merged their digital literacy standards into their new computer science standards. That's likely going to be the most successful path. We can use digital literacy as a context to introduce some CS, to draw students into CS classes. CS may not be the draw. Literacy is.
There is still much work to do, however. In an ongoing, multiyear study on computer science education conducted by Google and Gallup, researchers found that although students, parents, teachers, and school administrators value computer science, it is still not offered in many schools. This is because of a lack of time, funding, and qualified teachers. Only 25 percent of schools nationwide reported offering a computer science class in 2014-15, and while that number rose to 40 percent in 2015-16, we are still years away from providing sufficient computer science education in all schools.
As educational researchers focused on computer science learning, we welcome the push by more districts to teach the discipline to students. But we believe that our nation's current conception of computer science education does not go far enough. It is not sufficient to simply give more students access. As computer science continues to expand, we advocate for educators to teach functional computer science literacy, just as the field of science education has spent decades refining an approach to teaching socio-scientific reasoning (which integrates learning science content in the context of real-world issues).
Source: Education Week
What Science Literacy Really Means: Concepts, Contexts, and Consequences
I've only just started reading this new report from National Academies Press, but am finding it useful and interesting. What do we mean when we say that we want people to be scientifically literate? It's an important question to ask when considering the goal of computational literacy.
Science is a way of knowing about the world. At once a process, a product, and an institution, science enables people to both engage in the construction of new knowledge as well as use information to achieve desired ends. Access to science—whether using knowledge or creating it—necessitates some level of familiarity with the enterprise and practice of science: we refer to this as science literacy.
Science literacy is desirable not only for individuals, but also for the health and well-being of communities and society. More than just basic knowledge of science facts, contemporary definitions of science literacy have expanded to include understandings of scientific processes and practices, familiarity with how science and scientists work, a capacity to weigh and evaluate the products of science, and an ability to engage in civic decisions about the value of science. Although science literacy has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of individuals, individuals are nested within communities that are nested within societies—and, as a result, individual science literacy is limited or enhanced by the circumstances of that nesting.
Science Literacy studies the role of science literacy in public support of science. This report synthesizes the available research literature on science literacy, makes recommendations on the need to improve the understanding of science and scientific research in the United States, and considers the relationship between scientific literacy and support for and use of science and research.
Source: Science Literacy: Concepts, Contexts, and Consequences | The National Academies Press
How to choose programming languages for learners: Reviewing JavaScript and Ready
My Blog@CACM post for June is Five Principles for Programming Languages for Learners. The five principles I identify are:
- Connect to what learners know
- Keep cognitive load low
- Be honest
- Be generative and productive
- Test, don't trust
I wrote the essay in response to Idit Harel's influential essay American schools are teaching our kids how to code all wrong. There were many responses to Idit's essay, on social media and in other blogs. Much of the discussion focused on text programming languages vs. drag-and-drop, blocks-based languages, which I don't think is the most critical distinction.
In this post, I respond to two of the suggestions that came up in some of these discussions. I use the five principles to review the suggestions in a kind of heuristic evaluation.
I recommend considering each of these five principles before choosing a programming language like JavaScript for learners.
- Connect to what learners know – You could teach JavaScript as a connection to what children already know. The notation of JavaScript doesn't look like anything that children are likely to have seen before, in contrast to Logo's emphasis on words and sentences, Squeak eToys' "Drive the Car," Boxer's simple UI boxes (what diSessa calls naive realism), and Racket/Bootstrap's connections between algebra and S-expressions. However, JavaScript is the language of the Web today, so one could probably relate the programming activities to Web pages. Most learners are familiar with parts of a Web page, animations in a Web page, and other Web features that JavaScript can control. That might serve as a connection point for children.
- Keep cognitive load low – JavaScript has a high cognitive load. I'm a JavaScript learner and am just meeting some of its weirder features. I was shocked when I first read that
=is assignment,
==is type-insensitive equality, and
===is type sensitive equality/equivalence. So,
"5"==5is true, but
"5"===5is false. Counting the number of
=and remembering what 1 vs 2 vs. 3 means is an excellent example of extraneous cognitive load. My bet is that JavaScript overwhelms children and is probably inefficient for adult learners. This means that learners are spending so much time making sense of the syntax, it takes them longer and more effort to get to the concepts (and they may lose interest before they get to the good stuff).
- Be honest – JavaScript is authentic, it's real for most senses of the term.
- Be generative and productive – I don't know if JavaScript would be generative and productive for students. I don't know anyone teaching JavaScript as a way to teach significant ideas in CS or other STEM disciplines. My worry is that the cognitive load would be so overwhelming that you couldn't get to the interdisciplinary or complex ideas. Students would spend too much effort counting
=and fighting
- Test, don't trust – The only study that I know comparing JavaScript to a blocks-based language had JavaScript losing. JavaScript conditionals and loop structures were far harder for students than the equivalent block-based structures.
We should experiment more with JavaScript, but I suspect that students would do better (struggle less with syntax, learn more, connect to other disciplines more) with a different syntax. If I were trying to get the advantages of JavaScript without the syntax cost, I'd try something like ClojureScript — freely available, as fast as JavaScript, as ubiquitous as JavaScript, used professionally, can be used to control Web pages like JavaScript (so connectable for learners), and with the syntactic similarities to mathematics that Racket enjoys.
Baker Franke of Code.org is promoting the essay Coding snobs are not helping our children prepare for the future as a response to Idit's essay. The essay is about the application-building tool, Ready. Media theorist Dough Rushkoff has also been promoting Ready, What happens when anyone can code? We're about to find out.
I disagree with Rushkoff's description of Ready, even in the title. As the first essay by David Bennahum (a "Ready Maker and Venture Partner) points out, it's explicitly not about using a programming language.
Our efforts at Ready, a platform that enables kids to make games, apps, whatever they want, without knowing a computer language, are designed to offer a new approach to broadening access to code literacy.
Bennahum's essay means to be provocative — and even insulting, especially to all the teachers, developers, and researchers who have been creating successful contextualized computing education:
In this new world, learning coding is about moving away from computer languages, syntax, and academic exercises towards real world connections: game design and building projects that tie into other subjects like science and social studies… This is the inverse of how computer science has been taught, as an impersonal, disconnected, abstracted, mathematical exercise.
I can see how Rushkoff could be confused. These two quotes from the Ready team seem contradictory. It's not clear how Ready can be both about "learning coding" and "code literacy" while also allowing kids to make "without knowing a computer language." There is no programming language in Ready. What is coding then? Is it just making stuff? I agree with Rushkoff's concerns about Ready.
True, if people don't have to code, they may never find out how this stuff really works. They will be limited to the programming possibilities offered by the makers of the platforms, through which they assemble ready-made components into applications and other digital experiences.
Let's consider Ready against the five principles I propose.
- Connect to what learners know – the components of Ready are the icons and sliders and text areas of any app or game. That part is probably recognizable to children.
- Keep cognitive load low – Ready is all about dragging and dropping pieces to put them together. My guess is that the cognitive load is low.
- Be honest – Ready is not "real" in most sense of authenticity. Yes, students build things that look like apps or games, but that's not what motivates all students. More of Betsy DiSalvo's "Glitch" students preferred Python over Alice (see blog post). Alice looked better (which appealed to students interested in media), but students knew that Python was closer to how professional programmers worked. Authenticity in terms of practice matters to students. No professional programmer solely drags and drops components. Programmers use programming languages.
- Be generative and productive – Ready completely fails this goal. There is no language, no notation. There is no tool to think with. It's an app/game builder without any affordances for thinking about mathematics, science, economics, ecology, or any other STEM discipline. There's a physics engine, but it's a black box (see Hmelo and Guzdial on black box vs glass box scaffolding) — you can't see inside it, you can't learn from it. They build "models" with Ready (see this neurobiology example), but I have a hard time seeing the science and mathematics in what they're building.
- Test, don't trust – Ready offers us promises and quotes from experts, but no data, no results from use with students.
Ready is likely successful at helping students to make apps and games. It's likely a bad choice for learners. I don't see affordances in Ready for computational literacy.


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(Scenic Tri-Cities area photos by John Sokol.)
BELLINGHAM, WA— The Evergreen Premier League of Washington (EPLWA) today announces that Tri-Cities Alliance FC of Tri-Cities, Washington have been accepted as a member into the elite adult men's statewide soccer league. The Alliance (TCAFC) applied to join the EPLWA in August and were recently accepted by a vote of the league's clubs.
The Alliance will now prepare for the 2018 season which kicks off in late April. The club is planning to call Kennewick's Neil F. Lampson Stadium their home for league matches. TCAFC joins clubs from Bellingham, Bremerton, Olympia, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver and Yakima as the Evergreen Premier League expands to nine clubs. The Alliance will hold open tryouts at a date yet to be announced.
TCAFC Operations Manager and co-founder Zachary Sansom says this is the kind of boost that soccer needs in the greater Tri-Cities area. "It's a huge achievement for the players and this region. I'm proud of every one of those guys that has stepped onto the pitch in an Alliance jersey. They wanted this as bad as we did and they went out there and made it happen. Now, thanks to the EPLWA and the other team owners, we have a platform to truly challenge ourselves."
The Alliance played a series of tournaments and friendlies in the spring and summer. They traveled to Bellingham for a friendly against EPLWA club Bellingham United. They won two tournaments and finished second in a third. The results added extra punch to the TCAFC application to join the highest level adult league in Washington.
EPLWA President Peter Ostrovsky acknowledges the strong showing of the Tri-Cities club. "Congratulations to TCAFC, their staff, players, supporters and partners for their successful bid to join EPLWA in 2018. TCAFC has proven that there is passion for high-level adult soccer in the Tri-Cities area and we look forward to their first season with us. Even though I will not be the league's president during the 2018, I can't wait to watch them as a spectator to see what Tri-Cities' has to offer, in both competition and culture, to The Beautiful Game in our great Evergreen State."
TCAFC's Business Manager and co-founder JD Loveless looks forward to the challenges ahead. "Being accepted into the EPLWA validates that the men's soccer talent in the Tri-Cities is at the highest level. This allows our players to showcase their skills against the best in the state." General Manager Ramiro De La Mora knows this is just the beginning. "Being accepted into the Evergreen Premier League means we reached our first short term goal and we now have a bigger goal for our community— to finish in the top of the table in 2018."
Sansom has his eyes wide open to the tasks his club will need to accomplish before "jumping up" to the EPLWA. "My mindset is to always accomplish something related to the club every day. Whether it be a phone call to a sponsor, a Facebook post, anything. I fully expect that to accelerate now. Some bigger, short term things I see are advertising and sponsorships." Loveless says, "I think the biggest task will be the behind the scenes work and getting the word out. We are new and need to make sure everyone knows who we are and what we have to offer."
About Tri-Cities Alliance FC
TCAFC is an elite adult amateur men's soccer club that will play in the statewide Evergreen Premier League starting in May 2018. The club was founded in 2017 but has roots in local side Alianza Tri-Cities which has competed over the years in regional play and in the Pasco Soccer League. Zachary Sansom (Operations Manager), JD Loveless (Business Manager) and Ramiro De La Mora (General Manager) have joined up to provide players and supporters in the greater Tri-Cities area with a team to join and cheer for. TCAFC is on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/TriCitiesAlliance/.
About the Evergreen Premier League
The Evergreen Premier League is an elite adult men's amateur soccer league for college and post-college age players to feature their skills on hometown clubs throughout the state of Washington. The league's mission is to cultivate "football club" culture while providing opportunities for coaches, owners, supporters, players and towns to enjoy the sport and all of the community-building it can bring.
The Evergreen Premier League of Washington (EPLWA, pronounced E-P-L Wah) was founded in 2013 and began play in 2014. The league is a national "Elite League" under an association with United States Adult Soccer that also connects the league to US Soccer and FIFA. Elite Leagues are considered 4th division USA in the unofficial "pyramid." The EPLWA begins its 5th season of play in May 2018.
The nine clubs of the EPLWA are: Bellingham United, Olympic Force, Oly Town Artesians, Seattle Stars, Spokane Shadow, Washington Premier South Sound, Tri-Cities Alliance, Vancouver Victory and Yakima United.

subset: commoncrawl


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We won't stop until we've found Dublin's best independent coffee shop. Now in our third week, the coffee crawl has already hit some of the best places that our fair city has to offer – on our first outing we hit the Northside, while for the second week we took a jaunt across the Liffey and checked out the Southside. With week three upon us it was time to see what the city centre had to offer by way of coffee shops.
Tamp & Stitch – Essex St W, Temple Bar, Dublin 8
At first glance, Tamp & Stitch seems to be another boutique with elegant, minimalist styling that has you thinking of prices tags with more zeros than your bank balance, but you'd be wrong. This gorgeous little spot, tucked away on Scarlet Row, has managed to avoid the many negative connotations that might come to mind when you read a Temple Bar address. It's effectively a super cool clothes shop with an in-store cafe. They stock a good range of high quality pieces, with great quality clothes, brilliant gift buys, and quirky jewelry you are always bound to fall in love with something once you walk in. While it is a shop first, they do serve coffee, hence, why we paid them a visit, and you can rest assured that the coffee is as good as the clothes. Like many other spots around Dublin they offer 3fe coffee so you are guaranteed a cup with a good punch and great flavour. As an added bonus, the staff here are incredibly easy on the eye, and really accommodating – despite a group of 15 members being served by one barista, he did so in record time. They also have a selection of baked goods on offer from Mud Bakes, so if you like retail therapy, caffeine, and cakes this place will be your idea of heaven.
Indigo & Cloth – 9 Essex Street East, Temple Bar
Similar to Tamp & Stitch, Indigo & Cloth not only has an ampersand, but it also has a cafe within a clothes shop. For those who don't know, Indigo & Cloth are a leading independent menswear and lifestyle retailer. They have carefully curated a store that features international and Irish brands, and despite the menswear label they have a whole range of top quality products that anyone would love. This place has taken inspiration from Italy and Japan so it boasts a pretty minimal interior; think angular wooden furniture and polished concrete floor. On the ground floor you will find the Brew Bar, their cafe which is run in conjunction with the fine folks over at Clement and Pekoe. The coffee is sourced from the green and ethical supplier, Climpson and Son, so the beans are roasted to order in small batches ensuring a flavour that is consistent and fresh. For those who like samples, the Brew Bar have run cupping sessions so you can taste test their offering and with a good range on offer this is the perfect event for all you coffee lovers. The Indigo & Cloth team are also actively involved in the Repeal the 8th Campaign, and while our gang was in, Project Blue was going on. Some of our members happily joined in getting their faces painted to show their support, and bagged free donuts in the process – as Ilaina says it was "a bit of social activism with our coffee!" With faces painted, and bellies full, the gang took the short hop to spot number three.
First Draft Coffee – 1st Floor, Filmbase, Dublin 2
The first thing you'll notice about First Draft is how big, light, airy and open it is. This is the perfect place to chill with some friends, or even while away a few hours with a good book, and, of course, an amazing cup of coffee. They are the creators of the Dublin City Speciality Coffee Map, along with artist, Ruan van Vliet, so it was serendipitous that it should have been included on our crawl as the map inspired these events. First Draft get their beans from The Barn, a speciality coffee roaster based in Berlin. The beans are hand-picked Arabica sourced from micro-farms, and never blended. Combined with a light roasting this ensures the coffee has full flavour that isn't altered during the roasting process. For those who like to take things one step further, you can also attend cupping sessions at First Draft, and they offer a whole host of SCAE accredited classes and workshops. Covering everything from an Introduction to Coffee including Modern Home Brewing, and competition prep classes, these guys have all your coffee needs covered. They also do a savage toasted sandwich so make sure you check those out too.
Kaph – 31 Drury St, Dublin 2
The last stop of the week was to Kaph, located on a side street you could easily skip past this place but it's worth popping in. The interior is a nod to Scandinavian minimalism, with an arts space upstairs that is worth checking out. They are also change up the window are with different artists being allowed to run riot on the huge glass window that makes up the front of the shop. Coffee lovers will be in safe hands as the beans are supplied by 3fe and Has Bean coffee, which you can also buy by the bag, and they have a strong following for their flat white. They also have great taste in music, and the free wifi is a bonus. This place has a stellar reputation but we must admit we found the service to be lacking. Granted, we were a big group but the gang purposefully went in a few at a time so as not to overwhelm the place. Given the great reception at other locations, and the strong reputation this place has, we were left a little underwhelmed by the experience. Perhaps it's a place to go when you are flying solo. However, we can all have an off-day so we won't hold it against them and everyone agreed that the cakes were fantastic, with points added for the paleo and gluten-free options.
The Verdict…
Given that they created the map, our winner of the week has to First Draft Coffee. They are much more than just a coffee shop and the space is incredibly inviting. We find it's often the team that make a place and the staff here are warm and welcoming; a special mention to Ger who looked after our ladies, and took the gorgeous photo of our gang enjoying their wares.
If you haven't made it to one of our coffee-filled adventures yet, don't worry as the next Perk Me Up event is set for August 13th; Dublin members check the events tab for further details. This crawl focuses on the independent and specialty coffee spots, so if there's a place you think that our group need to check out let us know – we're building an ever-growing list in our pursuit to find the top spot.


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When it comes to designing wood trusses, the spacing of each truss according to each design is crucial. If you miscalculate any bit of the spacing and don't consider the use of the building you're constructing, then you're likely to end up with a compromised structure that can present a hazard.
Today, we want to run through a design scenario to discuss how we approach design and our consideration of spacing. If you have any questions along the way, please don't hesitate to reach out to our team. We're happy to help – 580-852-3660
Here's the design scenario:
Take trusses that are spaced 4' apart. They are loaded for a post frame construction that has purlins on the top cord with metal screwed down to that.
The bottom of the truss is open and exposed from underneath although the building will be completely enclosed. So on this 30' span truss, it is resting on 5 ½ inches at each end.
On that small surface, there is 1560 lbs. of weight on the bearing point. This is every 4'. So if the trusses were spaced out to 8', there would be double that amount of weight.


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University of Oregon: Best Late Night Food Spots
Most restaurants near the University of Oregon close around 11 p.m. That's a nice, respectable time. But what about those nights that demand you stay up till the crack of dawn? Whether it's for late-night studying or partying, check out the following 10 best late-night food spots to refuel and keep the good times rolling.
1. Sizzle Pie, Eugene, OR
Sizzle Pie in Eugene, Oregon, is not like most pizza joints: Sizzle Pie hosts art shows, sells merch, and offers meat pizzas, veggie, seasonal, and breakfast pies. They're open for dine in, delivery, and takeout until 3 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekends.
Slice of "Emotional Cabbage" & Rabbit Salad👊ðŸ¾ðŸ'‹#sizzlepie #vegan #veganfood #veganeats #veganaf #eugene #eugeneoregon #plantbased #plantpowered #plantbaseddiet #crueltyfree #meatfree #noanimalproducts #eattolive #eatplants #plantsoverpills #cancersurvivor #wfpb #cleanarteries #foodislife #foodismedicine @sizzlepie @veganfoodshare @eugeneeats @eugenefoodies #veganpizza #tofu
2. Izakaya Meiji Company, Eugene, OR
The Izakaya Meiji Company is open until 1 a.m. every night. They have a special late-night menu that includes ramen, spicy tuna, a burger, whiskey and cookies, and much more.
3. Cornucopia, Eugene, OR
Cornucopia has two locations in Eugene, Oregon, and is home to award-winning burgers. Open until 1 a.m., you'll have the option of pizza, appetizers, burgers, house favorites, rice bowls, and much more.
4. The Barn Light, Eugene, OR
The Barn Light in downtown Eugene, Oregon, is open until 12 a.m. Monday-Wednesday, 2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 10 p.m. on Sunday. They've got a special late night menu that includes biscuits and gravy, pretzel and dip, chili, and much more.
5. Agate Alley, Eugene, OR
Agate Alley is open until 1 a.m. every night of the week and serves up dishes with "a touch of Latin and Asian flair." They've got a wide variety of entrees, pizzas, and sandwiches, each made with fresh, organic ingredients.
6. McMenamins High Street Brewery and Cafe, Eugene, OR
The High Street Brewery and Café is open until midnight on most nights and 1 a.m. on weekends. It is the first microbrewery in Eugene since prohibition, and sells burgers, sandwiches, and house specialties.
7. La Noria Mexican Food, Eugene, OR
Craving Mexican food around 2 a.m.? La Noria has you covered. Open until 3 a.m. daily, the restaurant sells quick and easy small plates with a Mexican flair. Perfect late-night bite.
8. Black Forest, Eugene, OR
Black Forest in Eugene, Oregon, stays open late every day of the week. They host karaoke and regular live shows almost every night. The menu is typical bar food and includes nachos, fries, wings, corn dogs, and more. Delivery is available on their website.
9. Side Bar, Eugene, OR
Open until 1:30 a.m., Side Bar sells fantastic burgers, appetizers, sandwiches, salads, and more substantial entrees. Don't be surprised to find the place packed with sports fans any time you come in.
10. The Dough Co., Eugene, OR
The Dough Co. sells calzones and cookies made from scratch, every day until 3 a.m. Choose from over thirty unique calzones and four staple cookies to be delivered right to your door. Check their website for rotating specials.


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Home > IJES > Vol. 5 > Iss. 1 (2012)
Volume 5, Issue 1 (2012)
Invited Editorial
The International Journal of Exercise Science: 2011 Year in Review
T. Scott Lyons, Jenny Hutchens, and James W. Navalta
Original Research
FITNESSGRAM® Friday: A Middle School Physical Activity and Fitness Intervention
Tinker D. Murray, James Eldridge, Pete Silvius, Erik Silvius, and William G. Squires Jr.
Stability Ball Sitting Versus Chair Sitting During Sub-maximal Arm Ergometry
Charles R.C Marks, Kristina E. Hylland, and Jacob Terrell
The Effects of Muscle Mass on Homocyst(e)ine Levels in Plasma and Urine
M. René Malinow, Craig L. Lister, and Carl De Crée
Effects of Carbohydrate-Protein Ingestion Post-Resistance Training in Male Rugby Players
Colin J. Coyle MSc, Bernard Donne, and Nick J. Mahony
Caffeine and Sprint Performance in Habitual and Caffeine Naive Participants
J. Bradley Jordan, Richard S. Farley, and Jennifer L. Caputo
Experimentally Manipulated Somatic Information and Somatization Tendencies and their Impact on Physical Symptom Reporting and Performance in a Physically Strenuous Task
Kathleen V. Casto and Len B. Lecci
Self-estimation of Body Fat is More Accurate in College-age Males Compared to Females
Halley L. Hancock, Alan P. Jung, and John K. Petrella
Physiological and perceptual responses to Nintendo® Wii Fit™ in young and older adults
Nicole M. Mullins, Kathryn A. Tessmer, Michele L. McCarroll, and Brian P. Peppel


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Waltham, MA, November 20, 2017: Twenty coaches and six selected players from GPS and FCB Affiliate clubs travelled to Munich last week for the annual technical visit to FC Bayern's home. The trip, which took place from November 13-19, has been an opportunity for the coaches to learn the FC Bayern philosophy and methodology while our players had the fabulous experience to train with FC Bayern Youth Teams in front of FC Bayern Coaches.
The list of ID Players selected for the trip this year includes:
Coaches and players had the opportunity to "live" the life inside the FC Bayer Campus, a 30-acre facility comprehending of eight football pitches for youth teams from the U-9s to the U-19s and the Frauen Teams, a 2,500-capacity stadium, offices for staff and 35 apartments for talents who don't live in the Munich Area.
In this state-of-the-art sport venue, our players enjoyed the sessions over the week, having the opportunity to face and confront themselves with FC Bayern players. FC Bayern coaches have been very pleased by our ID Players performance. 'Once again I am proud of the quality displayed by our programming in US' said Sebastian Dremmler, Head of FCB International Academy, 'I look forward to visiting again GPS in 2018 to identify the next players who will train at the FCB Campus.'
In addition to the practices with FC Bayern Teams, our players had the time to visit the Allianz Arena, home of FC Bayern and the Olympic Stadium, heart of the Olympic Area and home of FC Bayern until 2006.
During their five-day stay, the GPS staff had the opportunity to follow several training session of FC Bayer Youth Teams, while attending a three-day technical workshop on general soccer education guidelines, FCB Ladies Programming and Goalkeeping in the new FC Bayern offices.
Saturday was a day full of Youth Academy games for our hosts at the FCB Campus, who got the opportunity to see on the field what has been explained during the week in the classroom. Thereafter staff and players went directly to the Allianz Arena to assist to the first team game against FC Augsburg, which ended up with FC Bayern winning 3-0 in a sold out (as always) stadium.
On Sunday the group had the chance to attend an open first team training session and meet with Jupp Heynckes, the legendary FCB Head Coach, who recently achieved his 500th win in Bundesliga (as a player and as a coach). A fantastic epilogue for GPS players and families that on Sunday flew back in North America with a baggage full of tremendous and emotional experiences.
"The third technical visit was another huge success. We were able to witness a truly wonderful week of football with the added bonus of seeing two of our own boys there participating in FCB junior team sessions," said Luke Krawczyk, GPS Carolina General Manager, who lead the group in Munich.
The level of access to FC Bayern facilities and staff displays the uniqueness of the most extensive European Club partnership ever seen in the USA.
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US GDP Data Release
US publishes first read of GDP growth for Q1 2018 on Friday, April 27th at 12:30 GMT.
The first publication tends to have the most significant impact on markets.
Apart from being the first official look at a quarter that just ended, the release can provide significant surprises.
The second, third, and fourth quarters of 2017 saw annualized growth rates around 3%, a substantial rate and above the "new normal,," the post-crisis averages of 2.0%-2.5%.
This time, the consensus of economists points to an annualized figure of 2.3%, down from a final read of 2.9% for the latter quarter of last year.


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When it comes to advertising to the modern demographic, video ranks higher than every other medium. Therefore, it is essential for marketers to incorporate videos in their strategy.
Streaming live video has its appeal because the actions happen in the present. Human nature being what it is, we naturally tend to have our interests easily piqued by events happening in real time.
Our analysis would be remiss if we didn't contemplate just how Facebook Live trumps other video platforms. In truth, Facebook Live is somewhat a cut above the rest when it comes to live video streaming.
The number one reason has a lot to do with Facebook's popularity through the years. At present, Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world. The numbers speak for themselves. On average, the site records two billion monthly users. In the US, estimates show that about two-thirds of adults are on the platform.
Importantly, irrespective of the nature of one's industry, both the current and prospective audiences marketers seek are already using Facebook in their day-to-day lives. Thus, the number one agenda for most video professionals is how to reach new followers and what strategies to employ to ensure that existing ones remain loyal.
Video marketers also love using Facebook Live because the platform is built for engagement purposes. Impressively, Facebook Live has custom-built options that strive to ensure that posts attract new audiences and retain loyalists.
While the live session is ongoing, viewers can comment and use emojis to express their emotions concerning what the broadcaster is saying. The broadcaster can also use the live response features to interact with members of the audience. Two-way engagements done in real times help create an authentic link between the viewers and broadcasters.
For marketers, Facebook Live presents the opportunity to reach an expansive and easily accessible audience all at once. The ability to track performance with relative ease is also a major appealing factor.
Given Facebook's amazing capabilities, devising techniques to make the Facebook Live session an epic slam-dunk by the marketing department is all the more important. Thankfully, we've compiled a couple of essential tips that will make the ride smooth. Read on!
7 Key Tips For A Successful Facebook Live
1. Promotion is key
The main difference between a live video session and a blog post is that live videos are treated more like an event. In order to have people come over to an event, prior communication promoting the event needs to be in place.
Good strategies ensure that upcoming announcements are posted regularly on Facebook accounts ASAP. However, the announcements should not be bland; instead, they should provide insights on various phenomena. Then, at the end, they should remind audience members about the event.
Key Takeaway: The promotion serves to generate interest among the masses. Facebook Live facilitates promotions to target specific demographics. That way, focused advertising campaigns can be devised.
2. Preparation
Facebook live has a great distinction with other mediums like television adverts and YouTube productions in that it offers a natural experience. Despite the laid-back nature of most Facebook Live sessions, it is important to always plan before going live.
Preparation is necessary because it helps one sell their brand better. By presenting the best version of oneself, the reception from the masses is likely to be positive. Good impressions sell. The essence of preparation is best reflected in the numbers, Facebook Live users watch videos that are about three times longer than their contemporaries.
Key Takeaway: Preparing in advance helps factor out any probable factors that could have been easily avoided. Activities like testing devices beforehand by conducting sound checks, lighting displays and reviewing the environment can prove to be the difference between a good live session and a bad one.
3. Formatting
Right before the Facebook Live video sessions begin, one needs to decide on a number of formatting decisions. The choice to go either horizontally or vertically needs to be considered critically. Whatever it is the marketing team agree on, they should stick to it.
At times, vertical shots make users appear too close to the camera, thus, they are not the most ideal for interview situations. However, vertical shots work perfectly in intimate settings where the audience members and broadcasters converse.
In retrospect, horizontal shots help sell the surrounding environment. One of the key proponents of horizontal shots is none other than Martha Stewart. In most of her shows, she can vividly be seen exposing the surroundings of her own Martha Stewart Home Depot collection.
Key Takeaway: Good formatting ensures that visual appeal is employed effectively to pull the masses.
4. Timing
Punchlines work best when delivered with pauses long enough to exert weight on the closing words. The same can also be said concerning how Facebook Live works.
Essentially, Facebook Live sessions need to be held during peak hours in order to ensure that the videos are able to reach as many people as possible. The internet is awash with a number of tools available that can be utilized to learn more about how customers interact with the broadcaster.
Key Takeaway: Deciding on the length of time to take in between Facebook Live sessions and the general timing of the sessions can be major factors influencing the effectiveness of the broadcasts.
5. Response Rate
Broadcasters should always be on high alert regarding comments and reactions their viewers share during their Facebook Live sessions. Audiences and broadcasters can ably mimic the natural two-way mode of conversing when they maintain good response rates.
The statics show that interaction is quite important since Facebook Live comments are about 10 times more than non-live based videos. On the platform, it is easy for broadcasters to track questions and respond to comments.
Key Takeaway: Maintaining a high response rate ensure that broadcasters are able to sell their brand in real time. Regular engagements with viewers enables them to live the moment with the broadcaster, thus, they are more likely than not going to have a thrill.
6. Personality
Objectively, broadcasters need to consider their own personal appeal. Great presentations are often delivered when the broadcasters are relaxed, smiling and confident in what they are talking about.
While advertising should be the chief agenda, it should be done with a hint of subtleness. It is paramount for the Facebook Live session to naturally flow. The broadcaster can draw attention to their products and services occasionally using elaborate intelligent designs.
Another excellent strategy broadcasters can employ involves incorporating calls-to-action towards the end of the presentation and referencing services all through the presentation.
Key Takeaway: A likeable personality can help broadcasters connect with their audiences on a personal level.
7. Shout-Outs to Viewers
For many years, radio was a dominant force in the digital communications sphere. Incredibly, even with the advent of the internet and other new world technologies, radio still maintains an excellent command of the market.
On the platform, most presenters allow shout-outs to be sent during the show. Thus, listeners are likely to stay tuned hopeful to hear their names called out in acknowledgement over a feat accomplished. Facebook Live broadcasters can employ the same tactic during their presentations in order to gain traction.
Key Takeaway: Shout outs can help boost viewership even among people who didn't tune in for the live show. The shout-outs can thank viewers for watching, ask the audience questions and comment on their responses. Effectively, shout-outs provide a fantastic opportunity for broadcasters to increase their engagement levels.


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Viessmann Vitodens 100-W Combination Boiler
(Special Offer)
Offer Valid For July 2019 (Only)
The special offer includes the supplying and fitting of the below...........
All For Just £1490.00 + vat
Please note this offer is only valid for July 2019.
Contact us today to arrange a free no obligation quotation for your new heating system.
* terms & conditions apply *
We don't endure you with sales calls, we will simply provide you with your quotation and follow up with one courtesy call and then leave the decision in your hands.
Office - 02922 218411
Email - firstname.lastname@example.com
Viessmann Boiler Replacement Special Offer July 2019
Thompson Services have teamed up with Viessmann to offer an exclusive special offer on a Viessmann Vitodens 100-W combination boiler replacement. For a competitive boiler replacement quotation contact us today, for a free no obligation quote.
Who Is Eligible For The Special Offer?
Any private customer, landlord or small business based in Cardiff, Newport, Barry or Caerphilly would be eligible for the special offer set out below, please note the special offer is only available for July 2019 only.
What Boiler is included within the special offer?
The Viessmann Vitodens 100-W is the boiler associated within the deal.
What is the guarantee of the boiler?
The Viessmann Vitodens 100-W is backed with a 10 year parts and labour manufacturers guarantee.
What's included within the deal?
Our Price Promise Guarantee
Thompson Services are so confident of our boiler and central heating pricing structure, if you get a cheaper quote from the big 3 companies we will match the price and even knock a further £50.00 off the price.
(Price promise guarantee would only take effect on like for like quotations i.e manufacturer, model and controls.)
Terms & Conditions Of The Offer
The promotional price is based on a combination for combination boiler swap, whether it be a non condensing or condensing boiler it is replacing, as long as condensing pipe can be terminated to local drain and no pump is needed to help provide termination.
If a conventional system is currently in place i.e tanks and cylinder the price will be subject to a increase, as every house is different this price increase will vary on each home, a engineer will go over this with you upon carrying out the quote.
The price is based on the gas line being of the correct size and materials.
The price includes a horizontal flue, no allowance is made for plume kit's or vertical flue within this price but can be added on at additional costs where needed.
The price includes a built in mechanical clock, if the customer wishes to include wireless or smart controls, this can be done at an agreed additional cost.
There is no allowance within the price for a system filter, but one can be added upon request at an additional amount.


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Your shopping cart is empty!
We will be completing physical inventory from November 20 through November 28 and taking a bit of time off for the US Thanksgiving holiday.
Orders prior to November 17 will ship on or before November 18, while orders placed on or after November 17 will not ship until November 29
Thank you for your understanding and patience!


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Printing Salt Lake City
We have 2 locations in Salt Lake City, Utah
Redwood Documart
1615 W 2200 South, Suite B
West Valley City, UT 84119
phone: (801) 487-8585
fax: (801) 487-8638
Monday – Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: Closed
Downtown Documart
30 E Broadway
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
phone: (801) 531-6749
fax: (801) 537-5015
Monday – Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: Closed
Printing Salt Lake City
Printing Salt Lake City – where your printing needs are our specialty! We are a premier printing company that provides various printing Salt lake City services for everyone, but we specialize in supporting companies, large and small, with their printing, advertising, and fulfillment needs. Our qualified and speedy staff have years of experience using our top of the line equipment to produce your prints and advertising collateral in pristine condition at lightning fast speeds.
We do it all – everything from start to finish. Starting with what you want, our graphic designers can get right to work from simple layout assistance and editing to full-scale branding support. Knowing our designs could span multiple mediums, our designers plan ahead to save you time and money for future advertising and printing Salt Lake City projects. With our portal services, you can automate the management and ordering of your marketing collateral. We provide online print ordering, real-time proofing, print-on-demand, online pricing, order tracking, approval protocols, and inventory management.
After a great design has been completed and approved, we move into pre-press to make sure what you see on the computer screen is how it should be in print. We use the best software and hardware in the business to make sure everything is perfect before moving to print. Our extensive printing equipment insures we have the right tool for every job you have. We have offset printers for large runs for most full color printing jobs, like: business cards, brochures, booklets & catalogs, posters, and banners. For your smaller jobs, we use digital printing to keep your costs down and turnaround fast. When you need to make a BIG impression, we have large format printers to make durable banners, giant posters, and vinyl graphics like unique wall & floor graphics and vinyl cut letters.
Our printing company also has a full service direct mail marketing service that can send mail to all of your customers or potential customers anything from a postcard ad, a letter, or even a full color catalog. We can make the list, design the collateral, print it, finish it, post it, and mail it all for you. We even have variable data printing to customize and specifically target each member of your target audience in professional print medium, making you look just that much better. Our die cut printing services can set you apart from your competition with unique cuts that create unique designs. If you use or are in need of carbonless forms, also known as NCR paper, we can keep you stocked up so business never slows down.
As if that wasn't enough, we can also make a huge list of promotional items and apparel with your design or logo that you can sell or giveaway to promote your brand. Do you need a lot of stuff, just not all at the same time? We got you covered. Our inventory, kitting, and order fulfillment services can make even the smallest company look like a large one. We'll store your print and promo items, prepare custom packaging, and even manage a single pick, pack, and ship request via our ordering portal without even blinking an eye. When you need to automate the management and ordering of your marketing collateral, we have the perfect solution. We provide online print ordering and management known as our portal services to qualified customers; saving you time and personnel resources. Go from managing to monitoring instead.
But wait, there's more! You've probably seen our trucks running around making our customers happy and more profitable. We save you valuable time by coming to you – it's just a part of the unparalleled service we're known for. Did we mention that our local delivery is FREE?
We ARE the one-stop-shop for all of your company's printing, advertising, and fulfillment needs.
What are you waiting for? Give us a call to find out what we can do for you, today!


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On Friday, May nineteenth, 2017 the Faculty of Science hosted a commencement brunch for the graduating college students in the undergraduate and graduate programs in all College of Science departments. The RAND Behavioral Finance Discussion board, in partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts, will likely be holding its annual convention this year on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at The Pew Charitable Trusts' convention heart at 901 E Street, NW in Washington, D.C.
It is quickly redefining a big selection of industries and delivering better insights into science and research. As science turns into ever more beset by industrial and ideological pressures, there is urgent want for scientific reporting and evaluation from an independent, skilled, public curiosity perspective.
By comparability, 45 percent look to documentaries for science updates, and fifty two {be6a43e7f5756053609681c712174fa60d14c7403e385ed3bea9f88fbcd304c2} trust the data in those movies. Your membership promotes scientific literacy and provides hundreds of thousands of students alternatives to fall in love with science. To take a look at this, we plot the smoothed common excessive temperature in every cluster for each week of the yr.
We work hard to get the very best content and updates into Science News so we will all learn collectively, as well as have discussions about fascinating and exciting information. Jonny Kim, a Harvard Medical Faculty graduate and former Navy SEAL, has been chosen to join NASA's subsequent astronaut class.
A wonderful magazine, chock full of fascinating, updated science tales/news that appeals to both the layman and the science fanatic. While few (12 p.c) get their science information from museums and zoos regularly, the respondents judged these locations to be probably the most trustworthy for information.


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I'm a community health worker for a living, and one of my duties is to help host a quarterly meeting to get all the regional coordinators in my state together to talk about how to get our programs to more people, keep people engaged, and achieve the best outcomes for the people we serve. Sometimes these meetings are boring info sessions about marketing strategies and panel management* but sometimes, like this time, we get into the nitty-gritty of what we can do as health care educators to keep people in our programs and help them get the most out of them.
To my delight, at this meeting we had a conversation about how language affects access to programs, and managed to inject some feminism into a field that largely doesn't engage with social justice practices.
One of our self-management programs, WRAP, focuses on helping people take charge of their mental health. The success of the program lies in instilling the belief that participants are the experts on themselves—they must take charge of their wellness. From the beginning of the program, the facilitators discovered they were having difficulties with the language they were using. Although this problem is particularly apparent in WRAP, it applies across many self-management disciplines.
Language is shaped by culture, age, environment, education, personal biases, location, experiences, identity and a variety of other factors. It's not static, and it's tightly connected to how you see the world. Bringing people together from diverse backgrounds, who may have different understandings of words and concepts, presents a unique challenge. It's especially important to use language carefully because first impressions are incredibly important. A confusing or negative interaction with a health/wellness agency can have lasting repercussions for people seeking health care.
Self-management is, fundamentally, about changing the idea of wellness from something that is in a teacher or a medical provider's hands to something that's in the health-seeker's hands. Each person knows their own vulnerabilities, and is therefore the only true "expert" on a successful wellness plan. This means that every participant needs to have a good understanding of what the words used to talk about their own wellness mean, and what the other people in the group expect from them.
From the recruitment materials, which need to use language that doesn't turn people off, to the group values, which need to mean the same thing to every participant, language used by self-management facilitators has to be clear, positive, and most importantly widely understood with an agreed-upon definition.
Here are a few areas where attention to language can make self-management programs stronger:
1. Advertising and Recruitment
When you think about advertising, do you mention illness? Are you labeling? Are you giving out a picture of helplessness and disability? Are you "robbing people of their hope"? Workshops that are too illness-oriented may encourage people to think of themselves as their diagnosis, which sometimes makes it difficult to believe that change is possible. A colleague at the meeting discussed her decision to change the language in her Livestrong (group for people with or recovering from cancer) from "survivor," which is not a label everyone wants to apply to themselves, to "growing stronger together," which covers both the people who want to think of themselves as survivors and the people who want to move on from that aspect of their life.
Another facilitator pointed out that using the descriptors "provider," or "primary care" can turn people off, but using their doctor or nurse's name helps give participants a sense of involvement in their healthcare, and makes them more likely to participate in self management groups. In addition, our programs can seem very specific-disease-focused, but many of them can be expanded to fit the needs of many different types of people with chronic conditions, as well as people simply looking to improve their health. Changing the program language will make participation more attractive to people who may not feel like "a person with diabetes" or "a mentally ill person" etc…but who can still benefit from the programs.
2. Participation and Trust Within the Group
One facilitator explained that she will stop a class to explain a word, or acknowledge that the group needs to agree on a definition. Words like "respect, confidentiality, etc…" can trip people up. If you stop and agree on a definition, it gives people with less cultural privilege more power because they contributed to defining the word in a way that works for them.
One facilitator has started walking groups to get to know people and be able to funnel them into the classes since they're already coming out for socializing and exercising. She's earned their trust in a low-stakes setting, and she uses that trust to sell self-management groups.
3. Sensitivity to Marginalized Groups
People in poverty have different needs, and different populations may be either limited in the choices they have (by finances, or being incarcerated, etc…) or never having been introduced to the concept of self-management as a positive thing. Language use is particularly important in this context–it needs to be engaging, non-intimidating, and logical.
Meeting people where they are is also essential. Even a frank conversation about what support someone might get from, say, a group of heroin addicts, can be detrimental if you are too aggressive. Be prepared for people to say that they really do have support from people who seem like poor supports to you, and be prepared to accept and support their decisions. The tone of your questions makes a difference in how successful you'll be in offering different ideas for their wellness. Thinking of yourself as a peer, telling/bearing in mind your own personal stories can help you empathize and build a connection.
4. Health Outcomes for the Participant
It's important not to discourage people from exploring their options. It's tempting to paint your program as the best in the land, but in reality, the more resources people have to improve their health, the better! Focus on the person needing health care—more options is nearly always better. Remember that once you've engaged someone you need to have things to offer them, such as a follow-up class once theirs ends, or you're going to lose momentum.
Language also needs to be carefully crafted not to stifle people's efforts to self-advocate. People can start out very aggressive when taking charge of their health, but if we remain calm and not defensive, we can learn a lot about what works best for them. We also need to be careful not to, accidentally or otherwise, separate people from their organic/natural supporters just because we don't believe them to be the best kind of support. More support and less judgment is always the best way to build trust.
5. Keeping Yourself in Check
Attend trainings. Accept feedback graciously. Keep up with trends in social justice language use. But, most importantly, listen to your participants. Body language, level of engagement, and literacy levels are some ways that you will know that the way you're talking needs to change. Paying attention to signs of ability, interest, comprehension, and emotional buy-in is a good way to tell if you need to change your approach.
Self-Management programs are life-savers for many chronically ill people, but they work best when the people delivering the programs are flexible and keep the best interests of the participants in mind.
*Ask me what this is in the comments if you're curious, but it's nerdy public health stuff so be warned!


text: Services Roofing Services: We understand that installing a new roof is a major investment that can last 20-30 years, or even a lifetime. Our experienced estimators will determine the best materials at the best price to reduce your cost of ownership and your roof can achieve the greatest life expectancy.Our Residential Roofing Division is a dedicated team of professionals that are trained in every aspect of installation of your new roof or gutters. From materials to safety, you're guaranteed the best service and support. Click Roofing Services to learn more about the high quality products we use when repairing or restoring your roof. Gutter Services: JAF Roofing offers quality gutter service by qualified technicians. We offer 5" and 6" Aluminum Seamless K- style gutters in numerous colors that best suit your needs. All of our gutter systems are attached using hidden hangers. This type of fastener is a far superior attachment system that replaces the old style spike and ferrell system. We also offer an array of gutter guards, some of which come with lifetime warranties. Additionally, our gutters are custom made to ensure a perfect fit for any residential or commercial location. Click Gutter Services to learn more. Testimonial "We just want to thank you for a job well done!!! It was so nice to do a job with people who "Do the job" with no hidden costs, no problems. What a pleasure, and in today's world, a welcome surprise. You will be the first people/company we will pass on to friends. Thank you for making the job stress and pain free." Debra & Jim Liller, Mason, OH We're A Member Of:


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Admir Latić
Admir Latić is a Slovenian entrepreneur, currently living and working in Slovenia. Born on the 24.12.1983, he grew up in Vrhnika, a small town near the capital city of Ljubljana. To obtain his formal education he enrolled at the Faculty of Economics where only the diploma thesis still awaits him. He also spent a short time studying at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, Ljubljana, and is at the moment active at the Faculty of Commercial and Business Sciences, also in Ljubljana. He says that formal education does not mean a lot to him, yet he enjoys meeting new people and feels at home in academic circles. In his youth he was a chess player and accomplished quite a few enviable triumphs at the national level.
His entrepreneurial path began during his studies at the Faculty of Economics where he was the mastermind and co-founder of LBC, a company that dealt with internet solutions and, among others, created the application Gradbenik.eu which is a search engine for construction contractors in Slovenia. A great deal of service was done for construction companies that had abundant work and extreme growth after the year 2000. His experience and knowledge were focused on the establishment of ENDOM Company which specialized in energy renovation of facilities. His goal was the takeover of the majority market share in the field of energy renovation of facilities, particularly in the field of thermal insulation facades. The company grew fast and in its third year of operating on the Slovenian market exceeded the annual income of 1 million euros, which is an impressive result for a market as small as Slovenian (2 million inhabitants). In 2011 Admir was awarded the Mladi podjetnik award (Young Entrepreneur Award), given by Zavod Mladi podjetnik (Young Entrepreneur Institute). He considered the award a great motivation for future challenges and pointed out his surprise, for such awards are normally given to fellow colleagues from the IT sector. The ENDOM project ran into some difficulties in 2013 and in the article Ups and Downs are Part of the Entrepreneurial Path (May 2014) he mentioned that due to the fast growth of the company, mistakes that financially jeopardized it were made. He also added that too much trust was put into partners and the correctness of the Slovenian legal system, and explained that 'It was difficult to accept the collapse since the team comprised of several extraordinary individuals, extremely motivated to achieve


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The clock is ticking and as 2017 winds down, it's time to figure out how to improve yourself in 2018. Obviously losing weight is a popular resolution, especially if it's been suggested by your doctor; however, there are plenty of health-related resolutions you can commit to without staring at the scale or those jeans from your freshman year of college.
It's time to get practical about new year goals and look forward to keeping them.
Resolve To Get A Complete Understanding Of Your Health Status
A head to toe workup is the only way to find out where your health stands. While calorie counting can seem like a great way to start honing in on getting healthy, it's not.
"The start of a new year is an excellent time to focus on your health," says Dr. Olatokunbo Famakinwa (better known as Dr. Toks). "I recommend that people visit their medical provider for a routine physical. At the visit, your doctor will check to make sure that you have age-appropriate screening tests done. Taking a few moments for your health will save you significant time, money and stress in the long run."
Resolve To Drink More Water
Staying hydrated seems simple but many Americans are severely dehydrated and, when we begin to get tired, we chug a couple caffeinated drinks.
"Your kidneys and lymph nodes need to filter daily," explains Sally Kravich, a holistic health specialist. "By buying your own home filtering system, you are contributing less to cluttered waste for the earth." Keeping water in your body will have a large effect on your overall quality of health.
Catch some Zzzs
Lack of sleep contribute to anxiety and stress as well as weight gain and a weak immune system. Make a goal to reach at least seven hours of sleep nightly.
"Buying a Himalayan salt lamp, getting black out curtains or masking any light with electrical tape are all good starts," adds Rachel Montañez, founder of Sleep 10:2. Cutting down on electronics before bed is also a great idea as the light from our screen lower melatonin levels.


text: Thank You for Making Pancake Breakfast Biggest, Best Ever! 03/14/2017 It has been a week since our annual Pancake Breakfast fundraiser. Once again, I am completely blown away by the generosity and support Stonington Crew has received from our families and our community. Thank you to all the parents and rowers for making this year's Pancake Breakfast and Basket Raffle the biggest and best, ever! It was a team effort. The rowers did a tremendous job selling tickets. Parents were awesome donating food and working in the kitchen cranking out bacon, eggs, sausage and


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Summer is coming up and what better way to spend time with your family than taking a vacation and drive to your favorite locations. You might be thinking, what about the gas prices? We all know the prices have escalated and according to the experts, they are expected to go even higher. Don't let higher prices get the best of your summer and keep you home, save on gas by driving an affordable car that will save you a considerable amount of money every year.
The cars that Credit: Jennifer Walz | Dreamstime.comwe will mention are not the most expensive, luxurious cars, however, they are fuel efficient, which means they give you more miles per gas gallon.
1) Toyota Prius. 51 miles in the city and 48 miles on a highway (50 combined). It has a 1.8-liter, with 4-Cylinder engine and 134 hp, and goes from 0 to 60 mph in 9.8 seconds. Even though it's a small sedan, it's spacious enough inside to fit 5 people comfortably. It's also one of the most demanded cars in the market and with good reason. Besides, you can find it in almost all Toyota dealers.
2) Lexus CT 200h. 43 miles in the city and 40 miles on a highway (42 combined). This car is a small model with good fuel consumption easy to achieve in mixed driving. It is also the least expensive Lexus, but it still has the luxurious feel that you would expect from the brand.
3) Honda Civic Hybrid and Honda Insight. Both cars give you 40 miles in the city and 43 miles on a highway (41 combined). The Honda Hybrid is very spacious and with more room for luggage. In addition, it's very functional and with great styling. On the other hand, the Insight is more affordable, with less hp but still with same fuel mileage.
4) Ford Fusion Hybrid and Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. Both cars yield 41 miles in the city and 36 miles on a highway (39 combined). They both have a powerful engine of 191 hp; the Fusion is more affordable while the Lincoln is more luxurious and stylish.
5) Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Honda CR-Z. The Sonata gives you 35 miles in the city and 39 miles on a highway (37 combined). This model is a full sedan, very spacious and again, with great gas mileage. Also in fifth place, the Honda CR-Z with the same mileage per gallon as the Hyundai Sonata with the difference that it only seats two people and it is overall, a more sporCredit: Geoffrey Kuchera | Dreamstime.comty model with a very nice curb appeal.
6) Smart for Two. This car yields 33 miles in the city and 41 miles on a highway (36 combined). This is not a hybrid but a conventionally powered gasoline car, it's spacious for two people and can hold a lot of cargo. Besides this great features, it's incredibly easy to park (it fits almost everywhere) and it's outfitted with security equipment.
7) Volkswagen Jetta TDI and Golf TDI. Both cars give you 30 miles in the city and 42 miles on a highway (34 combined). They both run on diesel and their prices are very similar so basically you can choose the one that fits your style the most.
8) Hyundai Elantra and the Ford Fiesta. Both cars are affordable sedans with plenty of space. They give you a fuel mileage of 29 miles in the city and 40 miles on a highway (33 combined). The other advantage of these two models, they are very inexpensive.
9) Nissan Altima Hybrid. This car yields 33 miles in the city and 33 miles on a highway (33 combined). This is a mid-size sedan with a more powerful engine than the previous two models and the reason we placed it ninth is because it has a higher price.
10) Ford Escape Hybrid. This car yields 34 miles in the city and 31 miles on a highway (32 combined). This vehicle is actually the most fuel efficient SUV in the world. It has a gas mileage that most regular sedans could envy and functionality that allows it to be used for heavy duty jobs.
And there you have it, a list that summarizes the cars with better mileage for 2011. As mentioned before, these are not the best cars in the world but they are really great options when looking to save money on gas and still enjoying the ride. Happy driving!


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Experiencing Pop-Ups and Parklets in Downtown Redding
● By Carrie Schmeck
Curb AppealSeptember 2015
By Carrie Schmeck
Photos: Jefferson Thomas
Move over Portlandia. Step aside, Seattle. Redding is about to adopt some urban vibe. For three days in September, a trio of coordinators and a host of believers will transform and showcase a few tiny downtown spaces in hopes of making big marks on the urban scene.
While not new across the nation, the concept behind the Market Hall Parklet and Pop-Up
Event, to be held Sept. 17-19 at the south end of Cascade Square on California Street, will be new to most area residents. At the event's core are pop-ups and parklets.
Pop-ups won't mean a farmers market-esque sea of lean-to tents and colorful crafts, though.
This is an elevated version, featuring a collection of intentional vendors who will collectively create a bistro-like culinary experience. Surrounded by local art and serving up early morning coffee and croissants, midday paninis and evening cheeses and wine, this pop-up rendition invites all walks to chill and dine in and around its partner parklet.
The term parklet infers a mini-park, which it is, kind of. But not quite. Like a park, it is public
space, but its genesis comes from the clever use of parking spaces. San Francisco gets credit for introducing the first parklet in 2005, which launched what is now a worldwide annual event called PARK(ing) Day, held the third Friday in September.
Parklets are no asphalt-and-card-table affairs. They are cleverly designed spaces that include flooring to extend the sidewalk and then an array of imaginative configurations that can include seating, bike parking, play areas, greenery, lighting, and often, shade. They can be austere, whimsical or posh, but the primary goal is that they are inviting.
Local architect Ryan Russell of Ryan Russell Studio and Ben Fromgen, a San Francisco architect from bcooperative, will plot a master design for Redding's three-day parklet, which will span two parallel parking spaces. Fromgen brings parklet experience while Russell hopes to establish his stamp as an architect who influences the value of his hometown. "Good public design plays such an important role in the process of connecting the people, businesses, and culture of an area," says Russell. Already known for his more permanent parklet-like work in front of Coffee Bar on Pine Street, he relishes the opportunity to design for area enhancement and community interaction. "Parklets are a simple but very effective means for doing this."
But how does a three-day pop-up and parklet event do more than bring out the curious for temporary entertainment? Can this idea spark something bigger?
Redding City Councilwoman Kristen Schreder says yes. "Events like this open people's eyes to what the downtown is and can be."
"This can be a 'what-if ' experience," says James Mazzotta, new business development manager for Enjoy, Inc. "What if we had more of these? This event lets us draw upon a successful urban model and gives us permission to think outside the box. We'd love to build one of these permanently in front of our Enjoy the Store to extend our customers' experience and create a cool space."
Dale Woods, property manager for Cascade Square and cocoordinator of the event, says it won't change anything unless people experience it. If people come and hang out, try the food, and see what a parklet feels like and how it changes their perspective, then the community can collectively decide if this is a direction it wants to pursue more permanently. "We know the economy has improved. Merchants are reporting upticks in both sales and foot traffic. This will celebrate what many know is good and paint a vision for even more vibrant, postrecession downtown attractions."
Anne Thomas, another event coordinator and executive director of Shasta Living Streets, says making cool and accessible public spaces like this highlights the downtown's usability and cements the connection between walking, biking, and economic vitality. "These pieces of
positive transformation are interconnected. If successful, they lead to more conversation, awareness, and hopefully, improvements that everyone wants."
Pop-ups and parklets aren't exactly "if you build it they will come," but more like, "If you do it, they will know." So the coordinators will pop up their popups and hope the community pops over to discover this Northern California downtown vibe.


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That Which We Will Never Miss
Luke 21:1 He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; 2 he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; 4 for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on."
Jesus pointed out the significance of the woman's gift. "God measures not so much the size of the gift as of what remains to the owner after it has been given." (New Bible Commentary) Her contribution was given in faithful obedience to God. Too often we give away that which we will never miss.
This is a season for giving and the opportunities simply abound. There is the food drive at work, or the local church which stirs our heart. We go to the pantry and find the canned food items which may be close to, or out of date and put them in a bag to give away. We quite literally make giving a process in which we clean out that which we don't want and give it away to someone else. In the meantime it's no sacrifice to us because we will never miss it!
The same happens when there is a clothing drive. Searching our closets we clean out the items that are looking a bit worn, are a little too tight to wear, or are extremely outdated and we package them up to give to the needy. There is no sacrifice in giving away things that we don't want in the first place.
Faithfulness and obedience requires sacrificial generosity. God doesn't want our left-overs, he wants there to be nothing left-over because we give our all to Christ. The widow's gift reflected the love of God and our sacrifices are to reflect God's great gift to us.
Lord, may your spirit of generosity fill our hearts to overflowing for others. Amen.


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Criminal law-making has been prolific during the last 14 years. In this time, over 50 new criminal justice bills have been laid before Parliament, resulting in 23 criminal justice acts which have created over 3,000 new criminal offences, with nearly half attracting a possible prison sentence. When we contrast this period with the 60 years between 1925 to 1985 when only six new criminal justice acts were passed, one gets an astounding illustration of Parliament's appetite for regulation.
Law-making cannot mitigate the effects of crime on victims nor rehabilitate offending behaviour. Two fundamental questions for society are how to hold offenders to account while ensuring justice for their victims, and how criminal justice agencies can rehabilitate offenders to community social values and behaviour. The retributive paradigm which brought about the Michael Howard mantra 'prison works' in 1993, and which has been at the heart of Western thinking for over 900 years, has consistently failed to achieve its core objectives.
In his 2001 review of the criminal courts, Lord Justice Auld acknowledged the failure of our formal judicial process to repair the wrongs suffered by victims and our failure to rehabilitate offenders. Auld argued for a more 'sensitive and sustained' intervention approach with offenders in the early stages of their offending career. Citing the use of restorative justice used in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA, he argued that strategic and operational investment in restorative justice would secure significant and widespread benefits to the community.
It would be wrong to suggest our current criminal justice system is driven solely by an ethos of punishment. The principle of restoration in criminal justice was given its first statutory toehold in the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act which introduced the concept of, and the authority to require, youth offenders to make reparations: 'to a person or persons so specified; or to the community at large' (s67).
In his 2001 review of sentencing, Making Punishments Work, Halliday identified three key purposes of sentencing: 'punishment, crime reduction and reparation', which he felt were inadequately covered in statute. This was remedied in s142 Criminal Justice Act 2003 which set out the clear purposes of sentencing: to punish offenders, reduce crime (including its reduction by deterrence), reform and rehabilitate offenders, protect the public, and facilitate the making of reparation by offenders to persons affected by their offences. In practice, however, victims' voices remain silent and, although there is a statutory duty placed on sentencers to consider the making of reparations to victims of adult offenders as part of their sentencing decisions, this is mainly limited to the making of compensation orders.
Restorative justice (RJ) is where the victim and the offender are brought together directly or indirectly by a trained facilitator to deal with the consequences of an offence and its implications for future offending behaviour. RJ requires the offender to accept full and expressed responsibility for his/her offending and to make reparations to the victim and to make and to keep promises of good behaviour in the future.
The idea of victim-offender RJ first emerged in the UK in the 1980s through mediated settlements by probation officers. It was an ad-hoc affair to begin with, often motivated by religious conviction in the concept of restitution. Pioneering practitioners became self-appointed mediators/facilitators by stepping outside a criminal justice process which they viewed as punitive in its origins and destructive in its application and outcomes.
Between 2001-04 the Home Office funded an extensive study of RJ practice in London, Thames Valley, South Yorkshire and Northumberland which covered both adult and youth offending and relatively serious offences (524 cases). Of the three organizations (CONNECT, REMEDI and Justice Research Consortium (JRC)) involved in this research, only JRC worked within a randomized control environment. JRC managed to complete 342 cases (65% of all cases under trial) exclusively using the RJ conference model where the victim and offenders and their supporters were actively engaged in repairing the harm to the victim and designing a plan of reparation with promises by the offender to refrain from future offending.
Professor Joanna Shapland of the University of Sheffield independently evaluated the trials for the Home Office and published her key findings in four separate reports: the setting up of RJ programmes (2004); victim and offender willingness to participate in RJ (2006); the views of victims (2007) and finally the impact of RJ of reoffending (2008).
Of the victims who were invited to experience RJ conferencing, up to 77% of victims of adults offenders and up to 89% of victims of young offenders participated. From their responses, 85% of JRC victims were very/quite satisfied with their RJ conference experience and 80% of JRC offenders were also very/quite satisfied with their experience. Outcome agreements (where the victim/offender agree on the way forward) were achieved in 98% of JRC conferences.
Offenders who participated in the JRC trials committed 27% fewer offences (in terms of reconvictions) in the subsequent two years when compared with offenders who did not experience a JRC conference. Although RJ does not stop reoffending completely it does reduce the frequency of offending. There is no evidence suggesting different effects on reconvictions between types of offence and offenders. In short, it is not necessary to target RJ at specific offenders or offences.
When costing the three JRC trials in London, Thames Valley and Northumberland using a Home Office standard measure, Professor Shapland was able to show RJ represented significant value for money. The ratio of costs to savings through reductions in offending from the three JRC locations amounted to 1:8. Surprisingly, there has been no evaluation of the cost savings arising from RJ-induced reductions in victim post-traumatic stress disorders and the consequent reduction in costly dependency on health and social services resources compared with victims who have not experienced RJ.
In Northern Ireland, the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 enshrined the provision for RJ under the Youth Conference Service (YCS). The YCS is recognised through statute to provide and facilitate restorative justice conferences for young offenders (ages 10 to 18) and their victims. Since 2003 over 5,500 referrals have been made to the YCS which has consistently achieved over 60% victim participation, with 91% of victims reporting satisfaction with their experience. According to the 2009 Prison Reform Trust report Making Amends: 'in 2006, the combined reoffending rate for youth conferencing was 37.7% – this compared to 52.1% for those given community sentences and 70.7% for those given custodial sentences'.
A restorative justice conference between the victim, the offender and their supporters can be a deeply emotional and challenging experience for its participants; a process which is managed by a trained facilitator who must maintain control throughout yet empower the parties to make decisions about outcome agreements for themselves. Research suggests that the affected parties, particularly victims, are actively empowered by their experience during the restorative justice conference, whereas power is strategically and operationally removed from victims and offenders by the remoteness of conventional justice procedure and ritual.
When an offender and victim agree to participate in restorative justice, they embark upon a difficult psychological journey which actually personalises a shared criminal event from diametrically opposite experiences. Often for the first time, the victim becomes a real person to the offender, and the emotional pain suffered as a consequence of the offending is particularly and graphically brought home to the offender during a RJ conference.
Unlike conventional justice, the restorative justice conference requires the offender to explain personally and directly to the victim why they committed the offence. Critically, this explanation is given in front of their own family and supporters who often experience collective shame while encouraging them to become active supporters in the rehabilitative process.
Conventional justice practice is principally though not solely about punishing offenders for their offences against the state, rather than reforming offending behaviour or giving victims justice. In contrast, RJ is about offenders making amends directly to the victims or organisations they have harmed. When the state apparatus gives way to the less formal restorative process, the criminal justice landscape changes dramatically; fact, effect and outcome are examined and critically felt by the affected parties. They engage, exchange and interact during a RJ conference, whereas conventional justice ritual relies on advocates: exploring, examining and determining outcomes by adversarial joust.
Conventional justice ritual in actuality denies the voice of the victim and procedurally smoothens their pain. For justice to be seen and done, victim pain should be shrill, especially to the perpetrators of such harm. Only then will offenders be able to fully appreciate the value of, and respond to, the building blocks of rehabilitation.
RJ is not a panacea. However, its enormous value to victims, its significant contribution to reducing the frequency of offending and its obvious cost benefits to individuals and the community must be acknowledged by policy makers and practitioners. RJ should not be seen an alternative to conventional justice but as an integral part of the judicial process by becoming an available option in the adult court. Our courts must no longer be deaf to the pain of offending nor blind to its potential for healing and rehabilitation. As the old Angolan proverb reminds us: 'the one who throws the stone forgets; the one who is hit remembers forever.'
Published in The MAGISTRATE Magazine February 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
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