Judi Hansen Ponders Shero Sally Ride

This is a short piece by Zonta vice-president and Southwest Times Editor Judi Hansen upon Sally Ride's death. Zonta is a strong women's organization with a vigorous Fort Smith Chapter.

 A short tribute to Sally Ride. She and Amelia are flying high together now, I believe.

On a day on which much of the news was divided between the horror of a mass murder and the horror of a pederast, there was such a clean sadness in learning of the death of Sally Ride, physicist, astronaut, hero, role model, beacon of integrity, woman I wish we'd known.

How many women entered those all important STEM professions because they loved Sally Ride when they were little girls? She was the first American woman in space, and at the time of her first flight, the youngest person. I like thinking of Sally and all those flyboys, the macho fighter pilots who dominated the astronaut corps at NASA: Flipping that mop of hair, flashing that science background and letting them eat her dust. 

She was seven years older than me, and I sure wish I had known her when we were accidental and unwitting neighbors for a while: She attended Swarthmore College, before transferring to that science Mecca, Stanford. I was living two towns over in Morton, Pa., attending Our Lady of Perpetual Help grade school, locked in competition for the nuns' approval with Robert Moore. Robert had a microscope and lots of books on science; he had been to Death Valley. Sister Ann Richard called him, "Robert, my little scientist." I was encouraged to read and write and try to be neater on my art projects. By the time I reached Cardinal O'Hara High School, I hated science, and by the time I reached Algebra 2, I hated math. Sally Ride had bachelor's degrees in physics and English. She was also a nationally ranked tennis player, I learned Monday, proving that sometimes you really can have it all.

Sally's expeditions into outer space — for a total of more than two weeks — both were on the Space Shuttle Challenger. She was training for another mission when the Challenger exploded. Ride was integral in the commission looking into the disaster, a commission that cast a cold eye on the NASA culture that valued expedience over prudence. That commission was the first to point out that the vaunted redundancies in the space program were useless if the warnings of first-line advisers were ignored. I can only imagine the grief — and anger — she must have felt on learning of the explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia after similar low-level warnings were ignored. Although no longer with NASA, she managed her anger and served on that investigating committee as well.

Roger Boisjoly, the whistle blower who warned for six months that terribly cold weather could cause seals on the space shuttle to shatter — and who warned of that again, the day before the disaster — was blacklisted by Morton Thiokol (the O-ring manufacturer) and shunned by former friends and coworkers, despite a history of excellent work. According to his obituary in the New York Times earlier this year, after the disaster he suffered headaches, double-vision and depression. He and his family stopped going to church to avoid people. A single gesture kept him going: Sally Ride hugged him in public. According to the Times: “She was the only one,” he said in a whisper to a Newsday reporter in 1988. “The only one.” 

Ride was married to fellow astronaut Steve Hawley for five years. But her childhood friend, business associate, co-author and life partner was Dr. Tam O'Shaughnessy. The two co-authored several books for children about science and about loving science. At least two elementary schools are named after Ride. We were so proud to teach our daughters about her — and our sons.

On SallyRideScience.com, O'Shaughnessy and Ride discuss the dangers of global warming. Here's what Sally said: "If we have learned anything over the last 30 years, it’s that Earth is a complicated place. It might be possible to do something—try some experiment to help solve things—that could actually throw the whole system off, and we might have trouble recovering from it. We have to start working on and developing technologies, and then deploying these technologies. And we need to focus on the science to keep learning more and more. If we start experimenting with the planet, we could get ourselves in trouble. If we are going to be smart, we had better be really smart."

That's the lesson, isn't it? If we are going to be smart, we had better be really smart.

Thanks, Sally, for being really, really smart for us so many times. I know you're enjoying the view from where you are right now. Ride, Sally, ride.

Living in the Shadows comment

by Margarita Solorzano, Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas

April 23, 2012

Springdale AR- As an organization which believes in building a stronger America, the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas (HWOA) applauds the initiative of the University of Arkansas Chancellor Dr. David Gearhart to talk about the Undocumented: living in the shadows.  The University of Arkansas as an educational institution has a responsibility to educate and inform the public on social and political issues that affect our state and nation. This institution has been trusted to educate our community on important legal, social, educational, cultural, economic, policy, and political issues as a service to the public. The issue of undocumented students is one of these issues.

Undocumented: living in the shadows provided participants a glimpse into the lives of these six students and a picture of what it is like to live and grow up in America without the claim to citizenship. The Development, Relief, and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a modest and sensible piece of legislation would allow young undocumented students to pursue higher education or serve in the military.   Beneficiaries of this piece of legislation would be students who were brought to the United States by their parents at a very young age, and have been educated in the American educational system and recognize America as their home.

Arkansas and America cannot afford to lose a generation of young people who stand to contribute to this country’s economic and social prosperity. The beneficiaries of the “DREAM Act” are our future teachers, nurses, and engineers. The U.S. has invested in the education of many of these individuals since kindergarten, and it is only by permitting them to serve and contribute that our country will reap the benefits.  This issue needs to be discussed here in our state.  HWOA supports the University’s efforts to bring these young students out of the shadows.  

We know from released studies that the students covered under the “DREAM Act” will contribute at least one trillion dollars to the American economy over the course of their lifetimes. Moreover, according to the Congressional Budget Office, enacting the “DREAM Act” would reduce the deficit by $1.4 billion dollars over ten years.  

The Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas (HWOA) was founded in July 1999 by a group of women concerned with the well-being of their families and their community.  HWOA obtained 501(c)(3) status in 2003.  Our mission is to advance educational opportunities for Hispanic women and their families, to celebrate and teach others about our cultures, and to become active participants in the community. 

Trayvon Martin scandal - boycott Orlando

NEW MILLENNIUM CHURCH CALLS FOR ECONOMIC BOYCOTT OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA IN THE WAKE OF THE TRAYVON MARTIN KILLING

            March 22, 2012, LITTLE ROCK—New Millennium extends our deepest condolences to the family of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager shot and killed by George Zimmerman on February 26 while walking to his father's home.   Sanford, Florida police did not disarm Zimmerman.  They did not arrest Zimmerman.  Local prosecutors have not charged Zimmerman with committing a homicide.

            Sanford, Florida is a suburb of Orlando in Seminole County. Orlando is a popular tourist, conference, and vacation destination.  But a community that refuses to protect an unarmed teenager from being threatened by an armed vigilante, that refuses to arrest the vigilante who shot the teenager, and that refuses to aggressively investigate and prosecute the vigilante cannot reasonably be called a proper destination for tourists, businesses, and vacationers. 

            Our congregation joins the voices of people who are dismayed, frustrated, and morally outraged concerning Trayvon's death.  We do not accept the conduct of Chief Bill Lee and the Sanford, Florida Police Department and are offended by the behavior of state prosecutors in Florida. 

            Therefore, we call for an economic boycott of Orlando.  We will not support or attend conferences in Orlando.  We will not vacation in Orlando.  And we urge all other persons and groups who believe in justice to do the same. Orlando, Sanford, and Seminole County do not deserve the patronage of people who believe in justice for crime victims. 

            Remember Trayvon Martin!  Boycott Orlando!

Contact:  Rev. Wendell Griffen (judggriff@aol.com), Grif Stockley (grifstockley@sbcglobal. net)

Statement from Center for Biological Diversity

Shell Oil has sued the Center for Biological Diversity and 12 other environmental groups.

But with generous donations by more than 1,500 supporters in the past week, we're close to reaching our Emergency Legal Defense Fund goal to stop Shell's strong-arm tactics.

It seems that Shell thinks it can intimidate us with threats in order to push through dangerous new drilling in the fragile Arctic ecosystem.

Please stand with the Center today and help us defeat this obnoxious, anti-free-speech lawsuit -- donate to our Emergency Legal Defense Fund today. We need to reach our goal by the end of this week and time is running short.

Remember that due to this emergency, a generous Center supporter has agreed to match all donations if we can raise $50,000, so if you can, please make a special gift today to stop Shell's attack and save the Arctic.

Why is Shell Oil suing the Center? Because we've stopped every offshore drilling proposal in the Arctic since 2007. Shell knows we're effective, so it's trying to take us out with its preemptive attack.

But we're not backing down. We're fighting back.

Don't let Shell win. Donate today to the Center's Emergency Legal Defense Fund to save the Arctic.

Please, help us take a stand against Shell's strong-arm tactics.

We need to raise $50,000 to secure the matching pledge so we can defeat Shell's attack on the Center, free speech and the Arctic wilderness. Please donate today and forward this email to friends or post this link on Facebook.

Thanks in advance,

P.S. While Shell is aggressively suing us, it's telling the Supreme Court that environmentalists should be prohibited from suing it. Don't let Shell's hypocrisy stand! Please donate to the Emergency Legal Defense Fund today.

Save & Close

Working for Public Transit

Letters by environmental advocate Dr. Art Hobson and Sierra Club president Michelle Halsell

Dear Environmental Advocates,

We have a tremendous opportunity to advance environmental sustainability in Washington County.  The Washington County Quorum Court voted to put the 1/4 cent sales tax to expand public transit on the May 22 ballot.  We have about 65 days to get out the vote and pass this tax. 

There will be two important meetings next week.

1) Tuesday, March 20, 5 pm to 7 pm at the Fayetteville Public Library.  This is a campaign strategy meeting. We are encouraging both the social service agencies and environmental groups to meet together to map out strategy, form committees, and recruit volunteers for specific activities such as phone banking, fund raising, and distributing materials at Farmer's Markets.

2) Wednesday, March 21, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm at First United Methodist Church in Springdale.  This is the next Finance Committee Meeting. If you are skilled at fund raising and you'd like to assist in raising money to fund the campaign, please plan to attend.

I've tried to reach everyone that I could think of including Omni, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, Green Drinks, Arkansas Interfaith Power & Light, Green Economy Group, Bicycle Coalition of the Ozarks.  If I have missed anyone, PLEASE forward this email to them. 

It is going to take ALL of us working together to pass this 1/4 cent tax and deliver a more just, equitable, and environmentally responsible transportation system for our community.  Washington County can lead the way for the entire region!

Forward!  Michele Halsell

Here (absolutely free of charge!) are a couple of thoughts about the "Transit Group Eyes Funding Bill" article in the NWA Times yesterday.    :-)  

There is no way that this bill "nullifies one of the core arguments initially used by backers of the …tax."  The Times never should have said that.  This bill is tentative.  More importantly, it's only for two years, after which funding stops unless the bill is renewed.  And, as you point out in the article, it requires matching--for which we'll need the new tax.  ORT cannot rely on the feds or on the NWARPC or on the RMA for funding.  ORT needs an independent source.  

The most important item for me was the table of what the tax will buy:  22 fixed routes (up from 6), 39 buses (up from 8), and full-time service except midnight-6 am.  Of course, I'd seen these figures before, but we all need to see them frequently.  The present service is helpful and well-managed, but it's done on a shoestring budget and is grossly inadequate.  To me, it's unbelievable that there are only 6 fixed routes, 8 buses, and weekday-only service throughout NW Arkansas.  Going to 22 routes, 39 buses, and nearly full-time service still seems minimal to me.  Opponents look at this as a huge upward jump in funding, but really the new funding will be minimal in providing adequate service.  

Cheers - Art Hobson