wMelissa's AP stories
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wMonday, December 29, 2003


Dec. 26, 2003
Single mothers use web project to tell their stories
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

TROY, N.Y. (AP) _ "Home is a big responsibility," Sonia De Alba wrote.
"It's the place where you are beginning to teach your family values such as respect and discipline. Home is when you take care of your children when they are sick, and where you show them you love them. They know they always have a home with you."

De Alba is one of eight single mothers who participated in a project called Relocating Our Roots, which taught them how to express and tell their stories through their own web site, www.relocatingourroots.cjb.net.

Most of the women had little experience with computers before they started working with Dina Williams, who designed the program. Still, they were not intimidated by the idea.

"Everything is a learning tree and with every thing that I learn, the better I will be as a person," said Virginia Clark.

Williams taught the women, in groups of four, the basics of web-site writing and digital photography at the Ark, a community-based after-school program within Taylor Apartments, a federal housing complex.

Then Williams, whose mother and grandmother were both single moms, posed to the women open-ended problems to solve on their sites, such as "define home."

"I would leave it up to them to think and write about how they have made homes for themselves and how that can be difficult when you don't have a lot of money. I wanted to hear other peoples' voices instead of my own," Williams explained.

The women responded with stories of traditions and holidays. Clark shared a story on her pages about the day she had her daughter. She wrote, "I love her totally and with all my heart and didn't realize how deep a mother's love is until I became one."

Besides personal stories about being a single mother, the women also talk about work, both inside and outside the home.

"We talked a lot about women, their jobs in the home and out of the home, and how we are really not compensated for all that we do," said participant Jean Smith, 64. "We become technicians by what we do in the home, but you step out in the community and you cannot get a job doing the same thing because it isn't considered experience."

Smith explained how even though she raised seven children, she would not be able to get a job in a day care center without a degree.

"Staying home and taking care of your children isn't considered work because you aren't financially compensated for it, but it's very important work," Williams said.

The women calculated their "unpaid work worth" through a web site that shows, for example, how much money a childcare worker or a cook would make for the same time.

"My mother raised 22 children. She would have been a millionaire today for the amount of time she spent cooking and cleaning and wiping noses," Smith said.

Clark hopes women who visit the site get a sense that they are not alone.

"There are other women dealing with the same things, the same aspirations, the same thoughts," she said. "Maybe somewhere somebody is saying, 'I identify with what she is saying.'"

___
On the Net:
www.RelocatingOurRoots.cjb.net
www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org

posted by Melissa at 11:24 AM


wTuesday, December 09, 2003


Dec. 6, 2003
Slow-moving storm hitting half the state
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ A foot or more of snow blanketed parts of upstate New York Saturday, causing at least one death, while forecasters predicted additional accumulations before the storm was expected move out by Sunday.

Police blame slippery road conditions for the death of a Yates County teenager Saturday morning. Laura E. Decker, 18, of Penn Yan, 45 miles southeast of Rochester, was in the back seat of a van driven by her father, when the vehicle went off the road. Decker, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partly ejected from the van.

Many roads remained covered in snow and visibility was limited as crews tried to keep up with the slow-moving storm. The National Weather Service reported that snow fell as fast as 2 to 3 inches per hour in some areas.

The Albany International Airport remained open Saturday and snow crews were put on "storm status," which includes 12-hour shifts, authorities said. Airport officials said airlines were experiencing some delays and cancellations, including for Sunday morning flights.

"It's going to be snowing at varying intensities throughout the night, probably tapering off to snow showers around daybreak," said meteorologist Hugh Johnson in Albany.

The snow didn't stop Dorothy Wilburn, a church secretary from East Greenbush, from venturing to downtown Albany to go Christmas caroling with a quartet at a sparsely attended neighborhood holiday festival.

"Well, heck, we're here, we're gonna sing anyway," said Wilburn, who sported a Santa hat.

John Kennedy, who moved to Albany from Ireland, said he planned to mail home photographs and newspaper coverage of the storm.

"We don't get this kind of snow in Ireland," he said.

By Saturday night, the weather service had received reports of 18 to 24 inches of snow in Rensselaer County and in parts of the Mid-Hudson Valley. The Albany area got about a foot of accumulation.

In central New York, the highest accumulations were in Delaware and Otsego counties, with the communities of De Lancey and Schenevus reporting 15 inches. Binghamton received about eight inches, while the Syracuse area got only about three, the weather service said.

"It's pretty much done, there are scattered snow showers around and we're actually starting to see some lake effect snow showers developing as the wind shifts around to the north," said meteorologist Michael Cempa in Binghamton. "There still might be some accumulations in the western Catskills, but in general it's winding down or has wound down already."

___
AP Writer Rachel Kipp contributed to this report from Albany. (I did the reporting and she did the writing!)

posted by Melissa at 9:34 AM


wFriday, December 05, 2003


Nov. 28, 2003
Announcers use radio shows to reach out to inmates
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) _ Vassar College disc jockey Julie gets about 10 letters a week from men across the Hudson Valley. She's never met these men _ all of whom are in prisons within the listening area. Since 1999, Julie has read their letters on the air during her jazz show on WVKR.

"A radio show is a public forum, and a lot of people are listening," Julie, who does not use her last name for security reasons, explained. When she heard about a radio station in Texas that catered to prisoners' families, she thought about how she could use her show.

Then Julie got an unsolicited letter from a prisoner, thanking her for a Nat King Cole hour. She read the letter on the air, gave out the station's address, and letters started coming in.

During one show in September, Julie read a letter about the anniversary of the Attica prison riots and another looking for parole board advice. One letter was from a man whose son found him in prison after 25 years.

"We're letting those outside prisons know what it's like inside," she said.

Valerie Linet, another disc jockey at WVKR, read a series of haiku poetry from a prisoner in Washington state who had heard of the program through a literacy effort at the jail. "The clock ticks away. The calendar pages turn. I know loneliness," Linet read into the microphone.

She had studied traditional haiku with subjects like dewdrops, and said these _ with subjects of freedom and barbed wire _ were especially evocative. "A drug deal at yard. Sex offenders get stabbed. Never a dull day."

Besides reading letters from prisoners, Julie also invites those involved in prison issues _ ranging from politicians and criminal justice workers to children and spouses of the incarcerated _ to speak about their experiences. The noncommercial station run by students has not heard any complaints from the community.

The state Department of Correctional Services declined comment for this story. Robert Gangi, executive director of the nonprofit prison watchdog group the Correctional Association of New York, sees these radio programs as positive.

"It is a way for prisoners to engage in warm and supportive relationships with people on the outside, helping to keep prisons safer and more manageable," said Gangi.

"Inmates will often reach out to people on the outside who seem to be concerned about them and interested in them," he said, adding that these relationships may help prisoners "make a better adjustment when they are released."

A Jeffersonville disc jockey who also has listeners in prison hopes to meet some of her faithful writers someday.

"Some of these men have adopted me as their little sister," Liberty Green said. "It's really intense."

Green stays away from politics and talks about music with the men who write her, responding to their questions and comments during her soul music show "Silly Love Songs," on WJFF.

"I say specific things to each guy, and I keep it neutral," she said. Most of the dialogue is about the music. "They write about how the music takes them back to a time when they weren't in jail and when everything was good. The music is total time travel."

Green gets between 15 and 20 letters a week, and though warned by other DJ's that she was "playing with fire" by inviting the letters, she hasn't had any problems.

"They call themselves the forgotten ones," Green said. "I'm the one saying, `Hey, wait a minute, there are people in there, people with feelings.'"

___
On the Net:
www.wvkr.org
www.wjffradio.org

Nov. 27, 2003
All along the Hudson, historic homes host special holiday events
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) _ Just as Frederic Church's children anxiously waited to peek into the sitting room at Olana, visitors will be able to glimpse the family's Christmas tree as it would have looked in the late 1800s.

Olana is one of many historic homes in the Hudson Valley that will be decorated for Christmas and host special events to demonstrate what holidays past were like in New York.

Along with two trees and presents such as dolls and a rocker the children received for Christmas, Olana will also have musicians playing selections from the early Victorian days. On Dec. 7, a man dressed as Samuel Clemens will recite a monologue about Christmas in the character of Mark Twain, a frequent visitor at Church's estate on the east bank of the Hudson River.

Curators will focus on authenticity and accuracy when decorating the home Church built, according to Gerry Weidel, historic site assistant. A floral historian will arrange the flower globes on the dinner table, by using photographs in the collection and according to the fashion of the time.

Nearby Clermont, in Germantown, is the home of seven generations of the Livingston family, including Robert R. Livingston, Jr., who administered the oath of office to George Washington. Each Christmas, the home is decorated with the family's ornaments from a certain era. This year, the 9-foot tree will be dotted with 1930s era revolution and colonial revival pieces. Candlelight tours will also be available.

Thirty-five miles south in Hyde Park, visitors can participate in the "Historic Hyde Park Christmas," an initiative by the National Park Service including the Vanderbilt Mansion, the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill, which will hold evening open houses the first weekend in December.

"The Vanderbilt Mansion will be lavishly decorated to represent the kind of Christmas the people of Vanderbilt's social status would have," said Franceska Urbin, supervisor park ranger. Elegantly decorated trees accent the gold leaf furniture and ornate style of the mansion.

At the Roosevelt home, near a portrait of the president, a 1940s era Christmas tree will be surrounded by stacks of presents. Potted poinsettias can be found throughout the home as well, and works by Dickens will be read in accordance with a Roosevelt family tradition.

Of all the Christmas recreations in the Hudson Valley, Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill will remind the most visitors of their own Christmases past. The stone cottage, built by Franklin Roosevelt for his wife as a retreat, is decorated in the style of the 1950s. Eleanor Roosevelt made window stencils of snowflakes and bells, and sometimes added little pieces of cotton around the window sills if it didn't snow. Packages are piled on chairs and sofas in the living room, divided up by family.

"She tried to put touches of Christmas in every room that she could," Urbin said. The rooms are arranged according to pictures and stories passed on by family members.

Another five miles south brings visitors to the home of Samuel B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code. The Tuscan villa's Christmas festivities revolve around stories of the season, rather than a particular time period. For example, the drawing room tree is designed exactly as portrayed in the Nutcracker.

Locust Grove, the name of the full property on which the house sits, was once owned by Henry Livingston, Jr., who some believe wrote the Christmas classic "The Night Before Christmas," which will be depicted in the master bedroom.


Information about holiday tours at Hudson Valley estates:
_Vanderbilt Mansion, Hyde Park, Dec. 6, evening open house. For information, 845-229-9115.
_Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, Dec. 7, evening open house. For information, 845-229-9115.
_Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-kill, Hyde Park, Dec. 7, evening open house. For information, 845-229-9115.
_Home of Samuel F.B. Morse, Poughkeepsie, Dec. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, "Stories of the Season" activities. 845-454-4500.
_Clermont State Historic Site, Germantown, Dec. 6, 7 "A Child's Christmas," Dec. 5, 12, 19 holiday candlelight tours. For information, 518-537-4240.
_Olana, Hudson, weekend holiday tours. For information, 518-828-0135.
_Boscobel, Garrison, Dec. 12, 13, 14, candlelight tours. For information, 845-265-3638.

posted by Melissa at 11:00 AM


wTuesday, November 11, 2003


Nov. 11, 2003
Veterans go on organized tours to Vietnam to reconcile their feelings in war's aftermath
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

TROY, N.Y. (AP) _ The first time Ivan Van Laningham was in Vietnam, the mountain of Cu Chi was a combat zone.

Thirty-two years after serving in the Vietnam War, Van Laningham returned and found a resort area where rubber-tired trains cart tourists around and rabbit-shaped trash baskets dot paved trails.

"It was incongruous to visit the mountain that had once been the target of so much firepower and see such cutesy trash containers," said the 56-year-old Salt Lake City man.

Van Laningham went back to Vietnam as part of a Learning and Reconciliation Tour organized by a doctor and professor to help Vietnam veterans come to terms with the war and its aftermath.

Edward Tick, a psychotherapist in Albany, and Steven Leibo, a history professor at The Sage Colleges in Troy, have led three such tours with some 70 veterans, historians, teachers and students from across the nation. Veterans pay for the trips.

"Part of the philosophy of healing is returning to the scene of the crime in safety," said Tick, who has worked with survivors of severe trauma, especially war, since 1979. Many of the veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which can include flashbacks, nightmares and agitation.

Combat "traumatizes and petrifies the mind," Tick said. "The best way to change it is to go back and thaw the frozen psyche."

These trips bring veterans back to a living, peaceful country _ very different from the one they left.

"I was holding on to an unchanged vision and the country of Vietnam had changed," said Terry Miltner of Rexford, who was 18 when he was a dog handler in An Son. The Department of Veterans Affairs diagnosed him as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, a conclusion first based on his multiple marriages and drunken driving arrests. When evaluated by the VA three years later, he couldn't maintain eye contact with his interviewers.

When Miltner, now 52, returned to An Son, there was no trace of combat.

"I felt as though the last 30 years were lost," Miltner said. "This opened my eyes and allowed me to see much more."

Jim Doyle, a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans of America, has been back to Vietnam seven times and recommends the trip.

"It replaces all the negative memories and photographs in their minds with the positive memories and photographs of the way things are now," he said.

Tick looks forward to veterans meeting former Vietnamese soldiers during the journeys. Many participants talk about "Mr. Tiger" _ a man in his 80s who runs a garden nursery and shares special "healing" wine.

"He explained how governments fought the war, but those involved on both sides were just doing as they were told," said Beth Marie Murphy of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan who was a 22-year-old Navy nurse during the war. "He said that time was past and now we were his friends and he was glad we were there visiting with him."

Tick remembers "Mr. Tiger" saying, "We're all brothers and sisters. We went through the same hell."

Bob Cagle of Atlanta, a rifleman in 1965, met with "Mr. Tiger" and other former soldiers _ enemies and allies alike.

"Each day I met someone along the way who made it a special time for healing," said Cagle, 57. "Every person I met was gracious, wanting to talk, share what they had and bestowing on me new insight on humanity."

Tour of Peace, a similar group based in Tucson, Ariz., brings family members with the veterans. Organized by Jess DeVaney in 1998, the tours go back to battlefields and villages where the veterans do service projects. Vietnam Veterans of America did not know of any other groups.

When he first went back to Vietnam, DeVaney kept looking at the orphanages and homes for the disabled and wanted to keep going back.

"We heal by helping others," he said.

He plans to bring two groups of veterans back this year.

"We don't pretend to erase Vietnam," he said. "We can't do that. But we do try to get people to accept how they have been affected by the Vietnam experience in order to live in the present instead of the past all the time."

"To Americans, it's still not a country, it's still a war," said Leibo.
___
On the Net:
www.mentorthesoul.com
www.topvietnamveterans.org


posted by Melissa at 3:14 PM


wSaturday, November 01, 2003


Bands, fans give back to communities they visit
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
October 30, 2003

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Jamie McGinnis and Jorge Gomes often donate to food drives near their home in Gardiner.

So when they came to the Palace Theater here to see a bluegrass jam band called The String Cheese Incident and heard there was a food collection, they brought along bags of food and some flowers for the volunteers.

"I think we're lucky that we have never been hungry," said McGinnis, 25. In exchange for their offering, they got an event poster and a ton of "thank yous."

The October concert brought in more than 1,100 food items for a local food bank. It's part of a growing trend in the $1.7 billion concert industry, which last year drew 42 million people to venues across the country, according to Billboard.

"We recognized early on that giving back to those communities that the band visits was something we wanted to do," said String Cheese bass player Keith Moseley. "We're very grateful to be surrounded by a community that wants to be involved and contribute to positive change."

Fan Justin Baker approached the band in the spring of 2002 about his Colorado-based group, Conscious Alliance. The food service organization became a "Gouda Cause," nonprofit groups the band endorse by allowing them to collect donations at concerts. In Vermont, fans had committed to helping cut and clear a half-mile mountain trail while a summer Gouda Cause was Solar Cookers International, which taught fans about solar ovens and poverty.

Baker, who collected close to 4,000 cans at that first event in Colorado, got 8,000 cans in seven nights as The String Cheese Incident performed from Philadelphia to Boston. The band gave him free tickets for volunteers and Baker looked for help nightly.

"A lot of good people in the String Cheese community have stepped up and helped out," he said. Since high school, the 23-year-old Baker has been helping get food to people who might not otherwise eat. He has raised enough money to build a food storage facility for the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

After collecting more than 1,000 cans in Rochester the night before the Albany show, Baker drove the donation to FOODLINK, a regional food bank that redistributes food to more than 550 agencies, soup kitchens, shelters and pantries in central New York.

"For an emergency food network to survive, it has to rely on the good energy and good efforts of groups like this," said Jaime Wemett-Saunders, vice president of operations for FOODLINK. The agency estimates the 1,000 cans would provide 1,200 meals.

Bands give back in other ways, too.

The popular touring band Phish, which in August drew 75,000 fans to northern Maine for a two-day show, created the Waterwheel Foundation, an organization that raises money for environmental and social non-profits. During the past summer tour, the Waterwheel Foundation raised $55,000 for 18 groups. Since its inception, the group has raised about $420,000 for 180 groups. Recently, Phish has been registering fans to vote.

"It was very important to the band members to do what they could to ensure they left behind a positive impact whenever they played," said Waterwheel's Amy Skelton. This year's beneficiaries have included prison literacy programs, women's shelters, community music programs and a camp for children with HIV.

Panic Fans for Food, made up of devotees of the jam band Widespread Panic, have collected 18,222 pounds of food and $27,311 since 1999.

"This is people giving dollars and fives," said Joshua Stack, director of the Washington, D.C., based group. He now runs collections at a third of the band's concerts. "We've helped a lot of people, that's for sure."

And fans of other bands including Ekoostik Hookah and Strangefolk have collected tens of thousands of food items for local distribution.

"As I tell everyone who stops by the table, one item can make a difference in someone not going hungry," said Strangefolk volunteer Donald Pearson.

"I think people have realized that music and good causes go very well together," said Moseley of The String Cheese Incident. "Music lovers just have the right kind of heart."
___
On the Net:
www.StringCheeseIncident.com
www.ConsciousAlliance.org

posted by Melissa at 4:52 PM


wWednesday, August 27, 2003


Sales tax on clothing, footwear waived through Labor Day
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
August 25, 2003

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ With back-to-school shopping in full swing, the state and 49 counties are waiving sales taxes on clothing and footwear starting Tuesday. The governor's office estimates that shoppers will save $46 million.

"Not only will this program help New Yorkers save tens of millions of dollars, it will also provide New York merchants and retailers a welcome boost in sales," said Gov. George Pataki.

The exemption waives through Labor Day the state's 4.25 percent sales tax on clothing and footwear purchases under $110 per item, and allows counties and cities to surrender their local portion of sales tax as well.

"I shop all the time, but it's definitely an added perk," said 19-year-old Melissa Golden. When she learned about tax savings Monday, she suspended shopping for the day.

Albany County Executive Mike Breslin said the timing of this tax-free week, the second this year, is good for parents and students doing back-to-school shopping. Businesses hope to benefit from the added flow of customers.

"Tax-free week has always proven to result in a substantial increase in sales," said Jack Yonnally, president of B.Lodge and Company in Albany. "We look forward to an increase of 30 to 40 percent."

The decision to participate in the tax free week was left up to individual counties.

Thirteen counties will not be participating, including Orange County. Joseph Vespo, administrative officer, said that the county will not be participating because of "unfair" mandates given to the counties by the state, without money to offset the costs.

"Right now we are looking for every penny and every dollar we can possibly find in order to reduce the impact on any reduction of services," said Vespo. "This would not be the time to do something like this."

According to Vespo, Orange County is considering raising their sales tax to relax the financial strain.

Though the state does not receive any of the extra revenue from the increased sales, Pataki had proposed four weeks of tax free shopping instead of the current two.

Pataki budget spokesman Ken Brown said it is too soon to see if it will be included in next year's budget.

posted by Melissa at 11:58 AM


wFriday, July 25, 2003


Combining gravity and grace, school teaches art of trapeze
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
July 25, 2003

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) _ Chalked hands visibly shaking, I stared straight ahead, knowing a glance downward would not be helpful. I focused on breathing, hoping I wouldn't hyperventilate. My head was already feeling light.

"Why am I up here again?" ran though my head as I stood 23-feet above the ground, looking out over the Trapeze Club at Stone Mountain Farm and preparing to "fly" on a trapeze.

Knees bent, toes dangling slightly over the platform, wanting to curl tight to it, I took the swinging bar with my left hand, and held my breath for the signal from instructor Megan Dwyer, who held me from behind as I leaned over the edge.

"Hep!" she said, circus talk for "do it!"

My right hand joined my left on the cool metal. I raised the bar, grasping tightly, pushed my hips forward, and was off.

I was flying.

I let out a short scream, and my arms tightened as I swung about 20 feet above the ground like a pendulum. Swinging forward and back, feeling weightless, I knew my arms couldn't hold much longer and signaled to the second instructor, David Pakenham, who held the ropes of my harness. I waited to hear another "Hep!"

I let go and fell onto the white net, grateful I went through with it, my body slowly relaxing.

Since the Trapeze Club began teaching the art of combining gravity and grace, many have willingly jumped off that platform.

"Anybody can do it," Dwyer, 35, said. Pupils of all ages, sizes and physical abilities have flown.

Even those who attend only one 2-hour session can get a lot out of it, she said. "It makes you feel that you can do things you never thought you could."

For many, once is not enough. Flying for three years, 33-year-old Lexsea Linardakis still gets the jitters when she jumps, often without a harness.

"I feel like it breaks up patterns in life, it wakes me up," she said. Before a first swing, fliers practice on a swinging bar closer to the ground. Savannah O'Malley kicked up and positioned herself as instructed _ dangling from the bar by her knees upside down.

Minutes later, the 13-year-old climbed the ladder and did it again, this time 23 feet up.

"It was scary when you had to grab the bar," she said, eager to go back up.

Pakenham said he enjoys seeing how different students progress on the trapeze.

"If it wasn't so diverse, we wouldn't be doing it. We would just be using it ourselves," he said. Pakenham, who has trained with Ringling Brothers, directs positions from the ground.

Pakenham and Dwyer also work with non-profits, youth at risk and girls' empowerment camps.

"The kids find something really special _ a sense of strength and courage," said Dwyer.
Sophia Ryzy-ryski followed Pakenham's directions and dismounted with a flip. When she was younger, she told her mom she wanted to be the girl who rides elephants in the circus. After the 13-year-old landed from herfirst try at flying, she smiled and asked, "Do you think I can be the elephant girl yet?"

Her mother, Aleta Wolfe, reassured her it would take some more practice.

Sophia's 9-year-old brother Forrest giggled a lot while hanging above the net. To him, the swinging itself wasn't the best part.

"I like climbing up the ladder," he said, "and falling, and bouncing and just laying on the net."

Dwyer compares jumping to a meditation that allows you to only focus on one thing.

"You can't keep up with your thoughts, you have to trust your body more," she explained.

Stone Mountain Farm, located 85 miles north of New York City, also has festivals, rock climbing, biofeedback counseling, and other activities.

Sarah Charlop-Powers, another artist-in-training, has seen children fearlessly try the trapeze, while athletic adults have frozen at the platform.

"It's not so much about strength," the 24-year-old said. "It's about timing and listening."
"It's just so different from everything else," she said ... and everybody dreams of flying."
^___=
On the Web:
www.trapeze-club.org

posted by Melissa at 3:51 PM


w


Bar braces for nonsmoking days ahead
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
July 23, 2003
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ As the statewide smoking ban loomed, bar manager Michael Proctor wasn't worried about business. "Where else are they going to go?" he asked, since virtually all bars will be the same _ smoke free.
"This is a big change," Proctor, who works at the Lionheart, in Albany, said. "It's on the same level as bars becoming 21 and over."
The Lionheart hasn't always been a smoker's haven. When it first opened in 1995, owners Jerry Aumand and Eric Shilling decided to make it tobacco-free.
"We wanted to try something different," said Aumand, who has worked in the restaurant business for 11 years. Since the bar served food and was relatively small, Lionheart Blues Cafe patrons had to step outside for a cigarette.
"We had a very positive response from both nonsmokers and smokers that grew to be regulars, even though it was a little inconvenient for them," he said.
After five years, the bar closed its kitchen and put out the ashtrays.
Kelly Sayward, who was enjoying a cigarette with his tall glass of beer, said the ban won't curtail his desire to go to the bar. "I don't go out to smoke," the 25-year-old student and Army reservist said. "I can stay home and smoke a million cigarettes."
With the new anti-smoking law set to begin Thursday, Aumand was not worried about losing customers. "I have dealt with it before," he said. "It will be a greater inconvenience come wintertime when smokers have to
step outside into the cold air."
Bartender Megan Hamrahan, 26, said she still sees bar patrons smoking in New York City, where a similar workplace indoor smoking ban has officially been in effect for three months. "It's not going to fly. People are going to smoke in bathrooms and back rooms," she said.
Josh Turner, a bouncer at the downtown establishment and a self-proclaimed "jack of all trades," was concerned about security with this new ban, and smokers going in and out of the bar all night. Proctor agreed that the "levels of politeness" while implementing the new code will be delicate. Both worry about person-to-person complaints about the
law's enforcement.
As for the law itself, Turner, 25, said, "I think its an extension of government authority."
Aumand also expressed displeasure. He said, "I don't like them deciding what is best for my business and my clientele."
Eight years ago when the bar opened, skeptics scoffed but the voluntarily smoke-free experience worked. "With the trend we could see in the '90s," Shilling had said, "people were really pushing away from
unhealthy atmospheres."
Eight years later, within walking distance of the pub were a Southwestern restaurant that served drinks and had smoke-free Tuesdays, and a wine bar that smelled of wood, not smoke.
Yet Proctor, a former smoker, was worried about telling older patrons who have been smoking in bars for years that they have to step outside. He said, "Bars are a place where it's socially acceptable to engage in a
vice."

posted by Melissa at 9:41 AM


wThursday, July 10, 2003


Monastery offers visitors window into Buddhism
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
July 4, 2003
CARMEL, N.Y. (AP) _ The 37-foot Buddha sits atop a lotus flower, encircled by 10,000 smaller Buddha statues.
His hands _ the left index finger extended into the clenched right in a "knowledge fist" _ show this Buddha Vairocana represents the unification of compassion and wisdom.
The Chuang Yen Monastery houses this statue, the largest Buddha in the Western Hemisphere, on its 225 acres in Carmel.
With meditation programs in both English and Chinese, the monastery welcomes visitors to walk around the Seven Jewels Lake, meditate in its halls and learn about the principles of Buddhism.
Venerable Xin-Xing, a monk living at the monastery run by the Buddhist Association of the United States, emphasized the importance of meditation today.
"The people of America should meditate and cultivate compassion," he said. "When we meditate, the negative emotions will sometimes arrive. We have to transform them, then we can help other beings."
Visitors are invited to meditate with the 15 monks and nuns living on the site, and are encouraged to ask questions about the Chinese tradition of Mahayana Buddhism.
"I learned how to meditate with some assistance," John Fitzgerald said. He first visited the monastery with other students in his Tai-Chi class, but continues to return. Visiting the monastery "has opened my mind to many different aspects of life," said the 63-year-old from Yorktown Heights.
To help guests understand the principles and applications of the religion, the Great Buddha Hall has tables piled high with books ranging from "What the Buddha Taught" to "Finding Inner Peace." The books are available for visitors to take home.
The Great Buddha Hall, completed in 1997, was built around the finished Buddha statue. Photographs of the dedication, with the Dalai Lama, and the process of building the artificial marble statue adorn bulletin boards that also offer information on retreats, camps, classes and special events.
Kuan-Yin Hall, adjacent to the Great Buddha Hall, is used for daily meditations, special events and retreats. Housed inside is a porcelain statue of Kuan-Yin Bodhisattva dating back to the Ming Dynasty. The woman stands on a dragon's head, and reaches out, toward the ocean, which symbolizes compassion, according to Xin-Xing.
"What's most important," he said, "is the meaning, not the age" of the statue.
A short walk from the two halls is a larger Kuan-Yin statue beside the Seven Jewels Lake. The barefoot woman wears a smile, which Venerable Kong-Dow explained comes from the peace and happiness in her heart.
"She always appears to be smiling. Not like us who need to `say cheese' when we want to take a picture," said the 56-year-old newly ordained nun.
Within the cocoon of thick trees and underbrush, the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions relocated here from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The library holds 70,000 books on world religions, many of which are Buddhist reference books in various languages.
College students take advantage of the resource, according to volunteer Tsu-Ku Lee. He said the monastery also gets groups of senior citizens and special education students visiting the grounds. Lee said the association may build a college on the land in the future.
The monastery, 55 miles north of New York City, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and offers vegetarian brunch on weekends.
___
If you go ...
INFORMATION: Phone (845) 225-1819 or www.baus.org
HOURS: Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., April through December; Vegetarian bunch is offered on weekends.
ADMISSION: Free. Groups of 10 or more can request a guided tour.

posted by Melissa at 8:35 AM


wFriday, June 13, 2003


Preface- I feel weird including this one. It was a quick news story. I didn't get emotionally involved or really into it -- there wasn't time. But my name is on it and it is in this morning's papers across the state. So, enjoy:

Hevesi criticizes Tuboliner delays, cost overruns
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
June 12, 2003

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ A project aimed at modernizing passenger trains between New York City and Buffalo has fallen behind schedule and over-budget, according to state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

Hevesi released three audits Thursday that show the state Department of Transportation project on Amtrak's Empire Corridor is $21 million over budget and years behind schedule. In the five years since the Turboliner modernization project began, $51.5 million dollars have been spent and two of the seven trains planned are in service.

"The millions spent for train modernization will not make travel noticeably faster until $140 million in improvements are made to tracks, signals and grade crossings," Hevesi added. "Neither DOT nor Amtrak appear to have plans in place or funds identified to complete the necessary work, so it is as if they are creating Formula One race cars to drive on city streets."

Jennifer Post, a spokeswoman for the state DOT, said the information reported is not new, including Amtrak's financial problems. "The comptroller has approved all parts of the project, and has been well aware of the problems the project faces," she said.

Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel said the company would not comment on the situation.
Auditors examining the causes of the delays cited weaknesses in project management by the DOT and a lack of experience with both the DOT and Super Steel Schenectady Inc., which was contracted to rebuild seven five-car diesel turbine trains, known as Turboliners. The company discovered asbestos in engine and passenger compartments being refurbished, which also added to delays.

"The ongoing delays and other problems with this project are especially troubling because, throughout our auditing process, we raised many of these concerns to DOT," Hevesi said.

"This project has already provided significant benefits to New York state and railroad passengers," Post said. She cited improved passenger amenities and air quality, as well as the upgrade of the Rensselaer railroad station.

The comptroller's office also noted that Amtrak has not ordered some of the transmissions and engines yet that it agreed to provide for the project, and once ordered, transmissions will take about a year to be delivered.

Refurbished Turboliners can reach speeds of 125 miles per hour, but officials estimate $140 million in improvements to tracks, signals and grade crossings are needed to allow the trains to travel that fast.

Currently, most trains serving the Empire Corridor operate between 75 and 95 miles per hour.

A fourth audit on cost reconciliation by the comptroller on the program is underway.

posted by Melissa at 11:46 AM


wMonday, June 02, 2003


Artists appreciate letter A
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer
May 30, 2003

TROY, N.Y. (AP) _ A is for Art and Argentina and Austria and Australia, as well as America. A simultaneous art exhibit featuring postcards by artists living in countries beginning with the letter "A" opened Friday in America, near Albany.

The Arts Center of the Capital Region received hundreds of postcard-sized works of art since December for the "A is for Art" exhibit, currently showing in Buenos Aires, Vienna, Melbourne and Troy, 10 miles north of Albany.

The guidelines by organizer Gail Stiffe, an Australian, were loose _ create a series of four postcard-sized works inspired by a word starting with A _ and the "mail artists" sent in their interpretations.

"I was very impressed by their originality," said Margo Mesing, who was the American coordinator of the project. She contacted artists, found a gallery and chose the 36 pieces on display in Troy.

The Skidmore College art professor also asked the artists to mail in their works, without envelopes. "I think it's important that they travel through the mail ... to get postmarks on them," she said.

Though the contributions from abroad were packaged together and mailed, the Americans sent their postcards individually to each participating gallery. All works have been received, including a thick plastic-coated skyline representing architecture.

Baltimore resident Piper Shephard's piece depicted a diagram of the stars above a map of the Albany area, with Plexiglas and fishing line for constellations. She wrote, "A is for Astronomy. This is your night sky."

"A is for Albino" was written on a light peach card, with pink-iris eyes and white squares. Ants marched toward a ring, similar to those left from glasses of cold water on a hot day. Sisters Betsy and Susie Brandt used their bodies to make the letter A _ bending over and smiling at the camera from between their legs.

The first letter of the alphabet was chosen simply because that's how the word "art" starts.

One artist from White River Junction, Vt., did not like the "A" theme. Self-identified as "B," he scribbled on the back of his card, "I am writing to protest your choice of the letter A for your exhibition," citing that consonants were more interesting, particularly the second letter of the alphabet.

Melissa Conroy also snubbed "A" but borrowed the concept, sending in a photograph of a baby asleep in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. "I brought my bawling baby to see the Brooklyn Bridge," the card broadcasted.

"The A word alliteration gave me the excuse to send you a picture of my lovely 6 week old baby Lila Blaine," she wrote on the back.

Her husband Jay Shermeta focused on the word "amp" and wrote a poem, "Born in France to Andre Marie, the basic unit of electricity, in flows of circuitry, Amp how you mystify me."

While the Americans focused on the concepts, the foreign artists put more effort into creating the physical paper and the designs of the pieces. Mesing said many were members of paper-making groups.

Gallery director Gina Occhiogrosso pointed out the Australians' dominance of land, agriculture and primitive throwbacks, while Austria had a little more "angst" in their works. One card was sewn shut, while another had bright orange and red with "4 + 4 = Acht!" repeated.

Argentineans used thicker papers, with many bordering on three dimensional works. "Agonias" has many layers of dark handmade paper, a wooden cross and a white figure.

Each postcard is attached to metal shelves by fishing line for easy viewing.
The exhibition runs through Aug. 24.

posted by Melissa at 8:25 AM


wFriday, May 30, 2003


June 2, 2003
Women use energy healing on horses
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. (AP) _ After being spooked by a bee that got too close, Buddy the horse was visibly irritable and jumpy.

Dawn Taylor put one hand under the base of his chocolate-brown neck, the other at the withers, just below the end of his mane. After a few moments, Buddy's breathing calmed and his eyes closed slightly.

Taylor, a 29-year-old hairdresser who uses the ancient practice of reiki on horses, later joked that when Buddy sees her coming, he thinks: "I'm going to get mellowed out."

Reiki is a centuries-old practice of guiding "life force energy," called Ki, from a practitioner to the recipient, usually both of whom are human. The practitioner focuses on seven chakras, or power centers that reflect the recipient's psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being.

In October, Taylor introduced Melissa Ward to reiki, and Ward suggested they use it with animals. Now, they perform it on horses and hope to teach other riders how to treat their own animals.

"When I became attuned to reiki, I worked on people close to me," Ward, 37, said. When she didn't feel comfortable working on humans, she started experimenting on Buddy, her 12-year-old horse.

"Through the use of the reiki, behavioral issues I've had in the past with Buddy are no longer a problem," the Ballston Spa resident said.

Ward has focused on his sacral chakra, which has to do with sociability and interaction with others.

"My working with him in clearing that chakra has subsided some of that behavior, and made his interactions with other horses more positive and less aggressive," she said.

Another male horse, Shorty, entered the same sand-filled arena without restraints. Buddy stood still and just watched as Shorty rolled in the dirt and left the pen. Ward said Buddy and Shorty have "argued on more than one occasion." She believes the reiki has helped ease his aggression.

The pair also worked on 26-year-old Oliver, who had been kicking stall walls at his new barn and seemed unhappy. The women worked on his physical wounds from other horses, and on his heart and sacral chakras, to balance out his behavior. The Morgan gelding has since stopped kicking stalls, according to his owner Karen Schwalm.

"For me, the best thing is there is no placebo effect with animals. It works or it doesn't," she said.

Ward, who works at a web design company, and Taylor want to teach horse owners how to use reiki on their own horses.

"My goal would be to get people to interact with their horses more," Ward said. "People underestimate the social needs of animals. Horses are very social."

Jan Barley, who teaches horse reiki in England, also stresses the need for owners to "begin to communicate with their horses on a deeper and more profound level."

"This is what the horses want from us, and many of my students have transformed their relationships with their horses, and indeed with all horses," the writer said.

Taylor and Ward insist these sessions are not substitutes for veterinary care but believe reiki also helps healing.

"I'm not going to say we can cure anyone, but we're trying to alleviate discomfort," Ward said. "In my opinion, it helps speed recovery."

Jan Kendall, a supervisor at the International Center for Reiki Training, said animals require less energy since they are not domestic and because practitioners don't have to break through the ego and preconceptions, as with humans.

"If a person isn't willing to open up, the benefits of reiki aren't as effective," said Ward.
^___=
On the Web:
www.saratogareiki.com

posted by Melissa at 8:28 AM


wWednesday, May 28, 2003


This story went out last Monday, for use any time:
May 18, 2003
Made with care: Group donates items to those in need<
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

SIDNEY, N.Y. (AP) _ Andrea Whiteside held up a clear garbage bag full of yarn, smiled, and added it to boxes and bags before her.

"Just look at these piles and piles of yarn," she said with a twinkle in her eye.
When Whiteside placed an ad in the local paper inviting anyone interested in knitting to meet at the library, she had no idea that Happy Helping Hands would churn out 865 crafts in its first year. Through the first four months of this year, the group has already donated more than 450 to hospitals, shelters and organizations in need.

Betty Ford, an 83-year-old resident of Unadilla who knit three sets of baby clothes in April, joked, "It's better than housework." The pastel colored hats, sweaters and booties were donated to a local hospital's maternity ward, for babies to wear home.

"I can't begin to tell you how many compliments and appreciative words we have received," said Julie Clark, director of volunteer services at Chenango Memorial Hospital. "We've had a lot of the mothers comment on how wonderful it is."

Clark said the hospital often receives donations, but added, "We have never had this large of a group contribute so many items at once."

"Everyone has their little specialty," said Whiteside, 60.

Diane Hendee creates blankets from leftover yarn. Rosemarie Bloxsom crochets afghans. Ford knits layette sets and Whiteside, a cancer survivor, makes special "comfort hats" for chemotherapy patients losing hair.

At the April meeting, Bloxsom, 55, displayed rows of blankets, varying in colors and designs, at the Sidney Memorial Library, 65 miles southeast of Syracuse. The sofa throws take her three days to finish _ the baby blankets need only one. Whiteside held a blanket up and asked the group, "Where should this go?"

The women decided the multicolored piece should go to the battered-women's shelter, then found a volunteer to get it there.

Ethlyn Overton, a retired kindergarten teacher and mother of five, made lap quilts. The 73-year-old said they don't take long to make and said with a laugh: "Time is wastin' _ might as well get them done fast."

The women vary from novices who first knitted when they joined the group, to those who use their talents as a career. Professional quilt-maker Harriette Slawson, 83, boasted that she has made at least 3,000 quilts in her lifetime.

Joan Barber, 66, said, "When the war started I started making hats. I had to do something." Hearing of cold nights in the Kuwaiti desert, the group sent handmade wool hats and socks to the troops.

Since the women do not take monetary donations, postage was paid by the fireman's auxiliary and a local women's group. Community organizations and residents have also contributed yarn, wool and needles.

A few of the women went to a detention center for young men, and taught the "cadets" how to crochet hats. "To see these kids put their male pride aside and make something ..." Whiteside said, with awe.

Hendee, 55, told how the "tough guy" of the group put on his finished hat, proud of himself.

A local field hockey team with little funding requested mittens. One woman made enough of them _ in school colors purple and gold _ for the entire varsity and junior varsity teams. A pregnancy support group asked the group for small baby-booties, and Helen Crandall, 74, made some with peach yarn.

Crandall, who also makes crafts using diamonds she mines in Herkimer, attended the first meeting of the Happy Helping Hands knitting club after seeing an ad, and has tried many different projects.

"When you see what other people are doing, you just want to try it," she said.

The group received a letter from a patient at Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich, thanking them for a quilted robe. "It made my hospital stay more pleasant and cheered me up just thinking that someone cared," it read.

"Once you see a little bit of joy on someone's face, it's really very addicting. We get so much more back than we give," Hendee said.

posted by Melissa at 8:15 AM


wWednesday, May 07, 2003


May 6,2003
Bard student receives grant to study beekeeping
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) _ When Emily McNair tried to start a beekeeping collective on her college campus, the student body wasn't very receptive.

"It's kind of hard to get people to hang around bees," the 22-year old Bard College student reasoned. Instead she will use a grant to travel around the world to study different bee collectives, with the hope of using her knowledge to start her own.

As a recipient of a $22,000 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, McNair will join 60 other graduating seniors in leaving the United States for their studies. The award stipulates they can't return to the U.S. for 365 days.

"It's going to force me out of my comfort zone," she admitted, though McNair is no homebody _ she has already lived and studied in Nepal and South Africa.

Her project, "Exploring the Lands of Honey: Beekeeping Around the World," will focus on ecological, historical, economic and social components of beekeeping. The itinerary will take her across the world to five very different areas: Slovakia, Tunisia, Patagonia of Argentina, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Though McNair went to nature camp and worked on a berry farm when she was younger, living in Watertown, Conn., bees are a newer interest. While studying in Nepal, during college, a friend invited her to an apiary. She found the sustainable agriculture appealing, and after returning to the U.S. looked into local honey sources.

When McNair heard of this "do-whatever-you-want grant," she applied, seeing it as a chance to explore her interest in beekeeping.

The fellowships this year will allow University of Puget Sound student Buck DeFore to further his research on "Living With the Legend of a Lake Monster." Rhodes College student David LaFevor will examine the culture of amateur boxing and Carleton College student Molly Bruder will study appliqu De in Chile, Vietnam, Panama and Zimbabwe.

"I really love to travel by myself," McNair said. "You have those lonely, homesick moments, but you won't remember those."

The young traveler, sporting a blue shirt with "Katmandu" in bright white letters, believes that finding the humor in everything is essential _ from earthquakes to food poisoning. "I anticipate many funny moments," she smiles.

Only speaking English and French may lead to some of those situations. "You'll be asking for somebody's cow when you want to know the time," she joked.

Her plans may be altered as the trip nears due to current global threats. Between terrorism and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, McNair already has had to think about Malta instead of Tunisia, and another tropical area in place of Vietnam. The Watson Fellowship does not allow students to go to places the State Department warns travelers to avoid.

Bard College, a private liberal arts college 115 miles north of New York city with 1,300 students, joined the Watson program last year and McNair is their third recipient.

posted by Melissa at 10:55 AM


wFriday, April 04, 2003


March 1, 2003
Internationally coordinated theater piece promotes peace<
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) _ From a community college auditorium in Plattsburgh, to an art gallery in Ithaca, a mall bookstore in Syracuse, and a cafe in Saratoga Springs, groups around the state will perform an ancient Greek play to protest a possible war with Iraq on Monday.

Called the Lysistrata Project, actors and activists around the state will join more than 900 readings in 56 countries of the Aristophanes comedy. It was originally planned for three cities, but e-mails and public radio interviews have spread the word and gathered groups of participants.

"I thought it was important to be speaking out about what's happening in the world right now, as an artist and as a citizen of the world," said Katie Zaffrann, 20, from Syracuse. "The project seemed like a great way to join with people all over the world in one great big voice."

Lysistrata tells the story of a group of women from the opposing sides of the Peloponnesian War who work together to end the violence _ they withhold sex from their partners until the men put down their swords.

Productions will vary from small sit-down readings to full-scale productions. In Buffalo, Mary Kate O'Connell said, "We have a revolving cast of over 40 actors, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative _ peace loving patriots."

Judith Fetterley is involved with the project in Albany, sponsored by a group called Women Against War, whose goal is to empower women to stop war. Fetterley, a distinguished professor at the State University at Albany, saw a correlation between the groups purpose and the play.

"There were certain kinds of things women could do as a group, and Lysistrata is a play exactly about that," she said. "Women suffer the consequences of war and as women they can do something about it."

Translations of the Aristophanes play vary from the traditional scripts, including one in Buffalo that will follow a 1940s style radio show, complete with commercials and sound effects.

In Ithaca, a women's a capella group called Winnim in Black will perform and a clarinetist will play Greek melodies during the show. In Saratoga Springs, the cast at Caffe Lena will incorporate the John Lennon songs "Give Peace a Chance," "Imagine," and "All You Need Is Love."

A second group in Syracuse decided to read at a Borders Bookstore in Carousel Center mall during lunch hour.

"I was looking for a venue where I would catch a walkthrough audience of people who would not necessarily expect us or agree with us," said organizer Susan Galbraith, a former four-term Republican county legislator.

Many groups are not charging admission, but those that are plan on donating earning to various groups.

Organizers in New York City suggest Madre, which promotes social justice by building partnerships with community-based women's groups, and Education for Peace in Iraq Center, dedicated to defending the human rights of the Iraqi people.

The money collected in Ithaca will go to Conscience and War Counselors, a group that provides counseling about conscientious objection. Proceeds from the production at Russell Sage College for Women in Troy will go to the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Cazenovia College, 20 miles southeast of Syracuse, will donate money to the Afghani Women's Mission.
___
On the Net:
www.pecosdesign.com/lys/
www.womenagainstwar.org

posted by Melissa at 9:38 AM


wFriday, February 07, 2003


February 6, 2003
Women plan trip to Iraq to prevent war
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) _ Michele Riddell held up a photograph of two smiling Iraqi boys. "This is what we're going to be killing," she said, her voice strained. "And I feel like it's not OK."

Riddell, Lorna Tychostup and Manna Jo Greene plan to go to Iraq Saturday for 10 days on a mission of peace. Forming the Hudson Valley Peace Brigade, the women worked with Voices in the Wilderness, an international group that has brought hundreds of people in and out of Iraq since the Gulf War to challenge sanctions and American-led warfare.

Though many describe the women as part of a "human shield," to prevent the United States from attacking, Greene has pulled away from that term. "Our bodies won't stop the bullets or bombs," she said. Instead, she wants to bring a message of peace from the Hudson Valley to the Iraqi people. They leave Saturday.

To aid their mission, they will have a bilingual translator, other volunteers and a "minder" _ someone paid by the Iraqi government to make sure the visitors respect the nation's rules. The women will also bring a "Peace Pole" to plant in Baghdad, and art supplies for the children.

"We won't be talking politics," the 57-year-old Greene said. The Cottekill resident said the delegation hopes to visit hospitals and may dig ditches for alternative water in case of an attack on the supply.

"We'll be keeping our ear to the ground," Tychostup said. "We are not martyrs. We don't plan on dying." Some believe an American attack may happen while the women are abroad.

Greene acknowledged she was scared, but "one of the pieces of comfort we have is the U.S. inspectors are there. We don't know what's going to happen, but we are prepared."

To finance this voyage, the three woman paid from their own pockets, but also received many donations to cover the total $12,000 needed. This includes evacuation insurance.

"We are three mothers. We have six kids between us. We want to come home," the 46-year-old Tychostup said. She has a 22-year-old son and an 18-year-old daughter. She is an editor for Chronogram, a monthly magazine in Ulster County, and has been photographing the peace movement since seeing a demonstration in Brooklyn days after the World Trade Center attacks.

Greene's two sons, ages 29 and 32, do not want her to go, but she said they understand why she must. She works for the environmental organization Clearwater as a director.

Tara Riddell, 24, offered, to no avail, to accompany her 52-year-old mother. Riddell also has a 14-year old son and teaches special needs children. While preparing for the trip, she asked another volunteer what to expect. "He said it's more than one person can bear," she said.

While abroad, the support team for the Hudson Valley Peace Brigade will post text and photos to Tychostup's web site, www.LornaTychostup.com.

Tychostup said she has not run into one person who thinks the trip is wrong or a negative thing while traveling throughout New York state. Many people have thanked her for going. She said many have said they want to, but can't.

"I feel a tremendous responsibility," she said. "We're bringing the face of America to Iraq."
___
On the Net:
www.iraqpeaceteam.org

posted by Melissa at 10:46 AM


w


January 30, 2003 (second to go national this year! woo hoo!)
State museum opens second phase of World Trade Center exhibit
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Gerry Forino and Anthony Basic examined panoramic photos of the Fresh Kills landfill, trying to point out where they sifted through debris taken from the World Trade Center site for 11 months.

"This was out front yard," Forino, an FBI agent, said, pointing to a large pile of burned and crushed cars.

The photos, which document the debris sorting effort on Staten Island, are part of the New York State Museum's second phase of "World Trade Center: Rescue Recovery Response." The exhibit, which focuses on the recovery and response part of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on Manhattan, opens Friday.

Forino and Basic, a police officer for the Port Authority, were part of the team that sorted 1.8 million tons of rubble. Recovery workers and agency officials previewed the exhibit Thursday.

Museum Director Dr. Clifford Siegfried helped collect some of those items recovered, "to tell the story of New York state ... to complete the story of Sept. 11."

Three large airplane fragments _ a piece of metal used in airplane flooring wedged into a burned and bent steel beam, landing gear for a Boeing 767 and part of a wing _ were on display.

The exhibit not only includes recovered objects _ a chipped yellow thimble that was sold at the observation deck and charred metal floor numbers _ but also contains a protective suit worn by a worker at Fresh Kills and a plastic bucket used to collect findings.

Detectives Gregory Maeder and Irene Merola of the New York Police Department also worked on the site for 11 months. "They filled the room with enough detail," Maeder said.

Merola said, "To get the feel of what went on..."

Maeder added, "without the dirt and dust."

Other objects on display include part of the fence that once lined the nearby streets of ground zero; entwined rosary beads, dried flowers, red, white and blue paper swans and laminated poems hung above a collection of teddy bears and candles; cards that children from across the nation made for firefighters.

The exhibit also has interactive computer stations, where visitors can listen to recorded memories of the World Trade Center. The bittersweet accounts include commuters enjoying the sunset framed between the two towers, a rock climber scaling the south tower in 1977 before being arrested, and "Vanessa and John's Wedding on Top of the World."

State Education Director Rick Mills hopes that children and future generations use the exhibit to learn about the terrorist attack. "There are things in this room that will help us tell the story," he said.
___
On the Net: http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/

posted by Melissa at 10:43 AM


wThursday, January 09, 2003


January 7, 2003
Beatles photos, memorabilia on display
By MELISSA MANSFIELD
Associated Press Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Harry Benson was in the room when the Beatles found out they would be playing the Ed Sullivan Show. He was there when "I Want to Hold Your Hand" landed in the Top 10. He photographed them joking around, composing classics and flying to America.

Along with 80 of the photojournalist's works of the Fab Four, the Albany Institute of History and Art has also collected memorabilia from local fans for its exhibit, "The Beatles: Now and Then."
Through his photos, Benson captured personal and intimate details of the Beatles during their first American tour, offering insight into the world of the young rock icons and those around them.

Benson was working at a daily newspaper in Scotland in 1964 when his editor sent him to Paris to cover the Beatles. There, he followed them as they "played tourist," taking pictures. Among some of Benson's photos, Paul McCartney and George Harrison pick out postcards of the Eiffel Tower and John Lennon mimics a bust of Napoleon.

The night they found out they were going to America, Lennon banged McCartney in the head with a pillow, and the others followed, in what Benson labeled "the pillow fight" photos. These are his favorites, he said in a recent interview. The best, he believes, is the one with the four of them about to fall on one another.

"It's a portrait with movement. It's perfect," Benson said.

Upon their arrival at an airport in Florida, local beauty queens followed the boys to the beach where Benson continued to shoot. In one picture, Ringo Starr talks to one thrilled girl in the waves while others in bikinis surround him.

"To say that a lot of women were interested in meeting the Beatles would be a gross understatement," Benson wrote in his book "The Beatles Now and Then," which contains most of the photos on display.

The Beatles aren't the only stars in the images. A grinning Ed Sullivan in a "mop-top" wig warms up the audience before his show, and Cassius Clay _ before the boxer became Muhammed Ali _ hams it up with the lads in other photographs.

Benson also documents the fans. Teenage girls peeking in the limo windows outside a New York City theater are frozen in mid-scream, while a close up of a shrieking blonde girl in Copenhagen reminds viewers of the chaos surrounding the band.

In "The Show Begins," four silhouettes are headed to a stage, with blinding bright lights washing out a crowd Benson describes as "deafening."

"All the time it was growing. You could see Beatle-mania getting bigger and bigger," Benson said. "You could feel this wave building up and the crowds were getting bigger and bigger."

Along with this new level of fame came a flood of product endorsements, pencil boxes and newsletters depicting the young men.

"The Beatles generated a lot of stuff," said Tammis Groft, deputy director of collections and exhibitions at the Albany museum. The exhibit also includes more than 100 objects collected from the community, from a 1964 "Flip Your Wig" game, to inflatable dolls that were part of a soap display in 1966, to a pin that reads: "I am a Beatles fan. In case of emergency call Paul or Ringo."

The exhibit runs through March 2.
___
On the Web:
www.albanyinstitute.org

posted by Melissa at 2:50 PM