Monthly Archives: February 2022

MADISON, Wis. Today marks the first day of Black History Month in 2022 a month in which we honor and reckon with the history of Black Americans, while also building a future that recognizes and uplifts the invaluable contributions and countless investments made by Black leaders in our local communities, both across the nation and right here in Wisconsin.

Over the next 28 days, many of us will explore and reflect on Blackhistory but to make the Badger state a safer, better place for Black Wisconsinites, its important to take it a step further by investing in thepresentandfuture. Not just in February, but all year long.

You can take action for tangible change by supporting, listening to, and amplifying Black leaders around you, and by having tough but necessary conversations with your friends, family, and community. You can be intentional about the way you spend your time, your money, and your vote this year.

Part of building a better future is having a well-rounded education on the past, and thats why your vote holds a lot of power this Black History Month and beyond, commented Chris Walloch, executive director of A Better Wisconsin Together. A handful of Wisconsin Republicans want to keep our countrys true history away from our kids. These GOP politicians want to ban schools from teaching the real, yet hard truths of Americas past.

If the right-wing legislators succeed, it would be illegal to teach students in Wisconsin about the harms of racism and would give Republicans the power to remove vital funding from school districts who teach about race in our nations history.

Together, by voting in local elections like the primary on February 15, we can jumpstart progressive movement on the issues and make it clear to our elected leaders that we must not erase Black history from our schools, Walloch said. Black history isnt just the past. Its our present, its our future, and its going to take more than the 28 days in February to fight for racial equity, set intentional goals, and hold ourselves accountable.

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A Better Wisconsin Together: Celebrate Black History Month by being intentional all year long - WisPolitics.com

A leading voice for two-year institutions says they can make a comeback by being more active and attuned to students.

Dr. Michael Baston has been fairly intentional about driving change in higher educations most challenged sector since becoming president of Rockland Community College five years ago. He has led new diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, forged workforce-driven pathways for students, raised more than $30 million in capital campaigns and been a national voice on completion and program design.

He never stops tinkering or thinking about the next potential partnership. But what he is most focused on is students and getting them what he calls real-world ready. He understands his colleges unique position in serving a very diverse population of learners and knows that the statistics the past two years havent very been positive: 700,000 students lost alone at two-year institutions, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

So he is on a mission to get them backand attract many more.

We have doubled down in making sure students have experiences that prepare them for the world of work, Baston says. That has not always been our emphasis. We focused on preparing students for their next stepand the presumption was that was going to be a transfer, and not necessarily into entrepreneurial or workplace opportunities. Thats shifted because of the expectations of our students and the needs of our region and nation.

Rocklands demographics also have changed significantly, from 25% students of color 30 years ago to 52% today. Those students have a lot more options, including a variety of education paths, certificate options and the enticing jump straight into jobs. So Rockland and others are working hard to show them the benefits of higher ed through support, partnerships and new curriculato remain on the radar.

Were not in competition with other educational actors, were in competition with students not going to college at all, he says. When people look at the community colleges and ask, why is there so much contraction, what people dont realize is that in the last major economic downturn, we did not have the rise of the convenience or gig economy. About 65 million people are now freelancers in the country. By 2028, it will probably be up to 90 million. More people will want to flex their muscles in the entrepreneurial space.

MorePresident Seriesstories from UB

University Business sat down with Baston, Co-Chair of Jobs For The Futures Policy Leadership Trust, member of the National Advisory Board of Center for Community College Student Engagement and leader on the national Education Design Labs Designers in Residence, to learn more about his colleges many unique supports and innovations.

How do institutions like yours convince students that getting an education has potentially more value than entering the gig economy?

We must help students with wraparound support services, like child care, and give them more flexible schedules so they dont make short-term dollars the goal. So its getting higher education to get into shorter-term credentials that lead to that first rung on the ladder of opportunity. Saying to students, if you cant wrap your head around investing 2, 4 or 6 years in an educational program, lets get you for 6 months or 18 months. Lets get you a nationally recognized certification where you can earn a living, and give you credit for further advancement. Were putting you in the best position on those pathways so you dont have to take lots of loans, so you have a competitive advantage when you go for higher-level opportunities. There are colleges like mine that are thinking about stackable credentials, credits for prior learning and pathways that pay a family-supporting wage. Lets get you on the path to the life you deserve.

What is Rockland CC doing specifically to attract and retain those who may not fit the idea of a traditional student?

All college students here are treated the same. They will always have wraparound support services. Through educational partners, we provide 24-hour, seven-day-a-week access to tutoring and virtual support. We are becoming more on-demand. We have a very robust program where students can bring their children into the same space within learning, and someone is working with their children while theyre getting tutoring and support through our connection center. We offer different learning modalities, and thats going to continue, to provide experiences that help students feel comfortable, capable and confident moving forward.

You didnt follow the traditional path through academia. You were a public interest lawyer. Now youre here in the presidents chair and even teaching a class. How has that past experience helped you at Rockland CC?

If youre going to be a president, you have to start with passion. What are you passionate about? When I was a public interest lawyer, I was passionate about helping clients lift their voice and seeing the possibility in their lives and then looking at the rules, regulations, policies, procedures and laws that often limited opportunity. It is that same critical eye that I brought to higher education. Moving into administration, because I had that experience of helping people advocate for themselves, it informs how I do my work as a college president.

Im what you call a practitioner president. I teach in the School of Business and Professional Studies. This semester, I taught a course on civil liberties and multiculturalism. What a wonderful thing to teach to students who are sociology students as we are dealing with DEI issues that theyre going to face in the real world. Im able to say I understand what you are experiencing. This semester, I taught synchronously online on purpose because I wanted to understand what kind of engagement it requires, the resources that faculty and students need and the upsides and downsides. I can bring those experiences into making decisions and allocating resources.

What are the linchpins to the success of good DEI programs and strategies on campuses?

We have something called Steps Beyond Statements. Its not enough to make great statements or resolutions that say were going to be against bigotry in all forms. What are you going to do to address the systems that perpetuate disparate outcomes? Any institution serious about equity, diversity and inclusion has to analyze the systems that produced the inequities. We have looked at four specific milestones in the student experience and four critical junctures in the employee experience. Weve looked at the systems that are connected to those junctures to see if they are causing inequitable outcomes. So for the students, where are we recruiting? What programs are we recruiting them into? Are we recruiting in such a way that we lock off opportunities to programs that lead to high wages and high-opportunity jobs? What do the materials look like in brochures that give people an indication of whether theyre welcome or not? For employees, where are we advertising? What does the composition of the search team look like? Do we have extra expectations beyond whats in the job description?

What can community colleges do to stem the massive downturn in enrollments?

The critical piece for colleges is the strength of partnerships. Look for the low-hanging fruit. I sat down with the hospitals and urgent cares to talk about the critical shortages of employees. What are shorter-term programs I could offer to give you a ready workforce? What guarantees can I get that youll hire people? When we work together, we can solve community problems. Many corporations and communities also have foundations connected to them. Were also working with school districts, giving students career exploration courses and college credit. Im in favor of co-creation. You cant just sit passively and say, Im going to send you a list of all the courses we have; let us know which ones your people might be interested in. If thats the approach, then passivity is the problem. We have to be active. We have to not come off arrogantly.

Continued here:

President Series: Is this is a time of opportunity for community colleges? | - University Business

An Afghan refugee leaves the registration office of Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in Peshawar, Afghanistan, in December 2006.FE/Arshad Arbab

Digitalization in Pakistan and its promise of cross-sector socio-economic development are centered around the countrys national identity system. Initially a paper-based form of identification, the National Identity Card was computerized in 2001 by the newly-formed National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). This federal body transformed the digital ID landscape by incorporating new markers of identity, such as biometrics, within a digital citizen database.

However, the national identity system is failing to cater to the needs of various marginalized communities, and is also a potential threat to citizens right to privacy because it is centralized under one authority.

In addition to revealing an individuals full name, date of birth, and addresses, the Computarized National Identity Card (CNIC) includes a unique 13-digit ID number which is made up of the individuals domicile, followed by a family number that forms each individuals family tree, after which an odd or even number is assigned denoting the individuals sex. The presence of the gender marker within the identity number is particularly sensitive for transgender communities since it will always reveal the gender they were assigned at birth, even though their chosen gender is already marked in a separate category on the card.

Each ID card was associated with the individuals father, which women were obligated to replace with their husbands name upon marriage. The consequences of such a patrilineal identification system are especially challenging in cases of divorce or single-parenthood, where the absence of a husband or a father poses barriers for women and children in all bureaucratic processes where their identity must be verified.

This requirement of the fathers name also raises concerns for orphaned children, those adopted by single mothers, or those conceived using a sperm donor. Although NADRA has created policies for registering children in orphanages under the head of the orphanages, it has not yet accounted for those orphaned children who are not in orphanages and are with or without known parentage. In fact, NADRA has revealed that it assigns a random name from within the citizen database as the childs father in order to issue an ID card because the field cannot be left blank.

These nuances expose the limitations in the design of the digital ID system in place, in that the markers of identity fed into the system are so rigid that they fail to cater to the many ways one might fall outside of the makers of the system might be considered for the average citizen.

Exclusion from the digital ID system of Pakistan is not just a consequence of a poor design; it is sometimes intentional. Already vulnerable communities are pushed further into the margins when their CNICs are forcefully suspended or blocked, on the suspicion of their being an alien. The Afghan refugee community is usually targeted with the suspicion of possessing illegal CNICs, because of which the Pashtun community is also subjected to increased profiling.

The process of re-verification that follows a blocked or suspended family tree is made even more difficult by the requirement of documentation as proof of citizenship. Bihari and Bengali-speaking individuals often face similar issues in being denied the acquisition or renewal of citizenship despite having the documents to show that they have been residing in Pakistan since before 1978, as required by law. This denial of citizenship renders these communities as stateless and bars them from the centralized digital landscape.

The CNIC numberas the most widely applicable form of digital identityis linked to a number of public and private services, including banking, telecommunication, housing, vehicle registration, utility billing, travel, education, employment, and healthcare. This means that exclusion from the system brings an individuals life to a halt, and has been particularly detrimental in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, since testing and vaccination, along with relief programs are all contingent on the existence of a valid identity card.

A centralized digital ID system is characterized by data sharing within different institutions involved in the system. In Pakistan, NADRAs citizen database is at the heart of the operations of many other public departments such as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the Federal Investigation Agency, and even the Federal Board of Revenue. Despite its centrality to the digital framework, the citizen database has been subject to data leaks more than once.

Yet NADRA either denied any occurrence or shirked accountability for leaks that do not occur directly from their servers, shifting the onus of responsibility onto the institutions that they have shared citizens data with, such as the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB). This incident not only demonstrates how NADRAs irresponsible data sharing is linked to the sale of citizens data online. It also highlights that NADRA is indifferent to citizens right to privacy by absolving itself of all responsibility for data leaks that occur. An absence of any legislation on data protection only further allows NADRA to escape accountability.

By virtue of maintaining a data warehouse that is so critical to the functioning of e-governance initiatives being introduced, NADRA as an institution is central to Pakistans digital ID landscape. This gives NADRA a lot of power over matters pertaining to the citizen and the state, which it has been criticized for in its arbitrary deployment of this power in the suspension of citizenship, which the Islamabad High Court (IHC) recently ruled to be unconstitutional

But there still remains very little discussion in the public domain regarding the undemocratic nature of NADRAs practices. The IHCs judgement should have opened up a wider discussion questioning NADRAs authority through dialogue with the communities that are impacted the most by its exclusionary policies. The issues raised by these communities must be addressed immediately by the relevant policy-makers.

The overall problematic nature of the digital ID landscape, however, would require fundamental changes in its design. The centralized system not only makes the citizen database more vulnerable to leaks and breaches, it also restricts access to various public and private services to those citizens who possess an ID card. A more accessible and citizen-friendly digital ID system would perhaps be more decentralized, and involve multiple ID systems within a larger digital framework.

Original post:

Privacy and digital identity: The case of Pakistan's NADRA - OpenGlobalRights

This article was originally published onWaging Nonviolence.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, along with systemic inequalities that have come to the fore, there has been increased attention to the role of mutual aid, community solidarity and alternative social structures. Many of these practices already exist around the world from intentional communities to activist encampments.

One such example can be found in the territories occupied by Brazils landless worker movement, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, or MST, which recently had one of its 20-year-old camps set on fire by Brazilian police. As a result, hundreds of people were evicted from their homes and school in Minas Gerais state.

The first time I visited Brazil was at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre in 2002. I was deeply impressed by the strong, radical and sophisticated resistance of activists in South America, MST in particular. Since then I have been returning regularly, learning about the ways these activists are engaging in constructive resistance to reimagine a better society.

During my last visit in June 2019 along with my colleague and friend Professor Kurt Schock from Rutgers University and research assistant Carolina Munis we encountered both a new and an old MST community in southern Brazil.

The land occupation Marielle

Our first visit was to the 14-month old ongoing land occupation of Accampamento Marielle, two hours outside of Sao Paulo. Comprising about 1,000 families organized in 33 base groups, the camp has a secretariat, an unarmed security team guarding the camp, a Saturday school for kids, a soccer field and a communal kitchen, where food comes in through donations. A second-hand clothing store sells clothes and shoes for a small price; other shops, like that of a car mechanic, coexist with communal gardens.

The activists work in different committees, including education, health, sport and culture, infrastructure and LGBT support. They have gender quotas for groups, make all decisions together and in equal fashion, and they have a zero-waste plan. All community members also have a duty to participate in these different thematic committees and a right to have representatives from the base groups take part in joint decisions.

Perhaps the most precarious aspect of the Marielle occupation was its little health center, which exists in one small room of an old, half-collapsed house. At this health center, two women in white clothes, who were newly trained health workers, did their best to help people with different medical problems. Having learned some basics from a conventionally-trained nurse, they created a medical handbook with advice for common health problems.

The health center had only simple equipment for checking fever and blood pressure, but also many local herbs for remedies including one mixture that was made from an old family formula. The two health workers try to use natural medicine and traditional knowledge whenever possible, while still being clear that conventional medicine is needed on occasion. In those instances, they refer to their collection of common medications, collected from inhabitants of the occupation. However, when anyone gets seriously ill, they call the ambulance or organize transportation to the nearest hospital.

When arriving at the hospital, they often have to give a false address, since staying in the camp makes them technically homeless and therefore liable to be denied treatment. These two health workers were acutely aware of how little resources they had and were embarrassed about their meager health service. Nevertheless, they took great pride in what they had built together with their comrades, despite all of the difficulties.

The settlement Contestado

After two days at this land occupation, we traveled to the established MST settlement Assentamento Contestado in the southern state of Parana. There we found the main educational center for Agroecology on the continent Escola Latino Americana de Agroecologia, or ELAA with thriving farm lands, nice and comfortable family houses, a small processing factory for vegetables and a newly-built health clinic. Consisting of a large one-floor building, this health center had space for visiting medical doctors and dentists, as well as an educational facility where community members could take a year-long class learning to treat people with natural medicine and traditional methods.

Resembling the little health clinic in Marielle perhaps only in spirit, this new shining center run by trained professionals gives free health services both in natural and conventional medicine to everyone in the local area, including those who are not part of MST. Its a profound realization what MST is capable of achieving.

Constructive resistance

MST is engaging in resistance by building a new society through resistance. It is fully integrated; contemporary resistance and the creation of the future. You cannot understand their resistance if you do not see how they are recreating community, agriculture, education, health, their relations to nature and each other, politics or gender relations. And, you cannot understand their creation of this new society if you do not see how the resistance is what makes it possible.

Their resistance creates the possibility of breaking the chains of the exploitative capitalist modernity that entraps them in poverty, injustice, repression and isolation from each other. Resistance is what makes the re-creation of communities possible, and the building of community is what makes resistance possible. It is an integrated form of constructive resistance.

In this occupying community of Marielle, I met with an experienced land activist. He told me about a previous occupation that he was involved with. His story is a hopeful one about a similar situation where they lived in shacks, resisted and created community together. Now the settlement has been formalized with legal titles to their land. He said,

Over seven years we were evicted 13 times. We would have to leave, occupy a different land and come back, leave and come back but in the end, we got the land.

Although I had heard such stories before, I still found it astonishing. The difference this time was that I was hearing his story after seeing what this kind of resistance and community-building looked like first hand so I could appreciate his story on a deeper level.

Every time the bulldozers and the police came, the state destroyed their decorated shack homes, the small gardens with vegetables and flowers growing, their assembled furniture, the meeting spaces with wooden benches and roofs, the soccer field where their kids played, their humble but proud health center and communal food area, their water collection system and their simple cafs and shops. Every time, after the bulldozers and police left, they had to rebuild either in the same place or on a new nearby piece of land.

They had to do it 13 times, again and again. That kind of endurance, persistence and resilience is what resistance is about. They rebuild and rebuild, re-creating their community again and again. It is also how nature works. It adapts; it comes back with new life every spring, even after a fire, and with time, if left alone, the vegetation will flourish.

When the forces of state repression come, this land reclaiming group of the poorest move away and take hold somewhere else. When the brutal blow of the states armed fist hits them, they move like water, absorbing the violence by flowing away. Like a swarm of bees or birds, they disperse when attacked, then quickly reintegrate again. Over time, the state does not have the energy to repress them anymore: land occupations start to pop up everywhere, counter-forces to the state mobilize, and urban support groups of journalists, lawyers, social workers and some politicians put pressure on the state.

When the poor eventually win their rights in courts and receive support from the general population, the state tends to give up. Therefore, at the end of the day, they often get the legal titles to their piece of land. And then, finally, they can build their permanent structures, solid meeting houses with real facilities, proper and large gardens, effective water systems, cultural centers, schools and proper health clinics.

Fulfilling Gandhis dream

The landless workers movement has achieved something Mohandas K. Gandhi never was able to do: integrate both the yes and the no of the struggle. In other words, MST has been able to combine the building up of new constructive alternatives which constitute a new society with the mobilization of a broad-based resistance to the dominant system that oppresses ordinary and poor people.

Clearly, Gandhi thought it was important to have a constructive program, and he emphasized and mobilized for that vision. He could rightly be seen as the foremost proponent of a kind of resistance that focuses on building a new autonomous society. On the other hand, he had serious trouble getting other anti-colonial activists to understand its importance for the liberation of India from British colonial rule. So the constructive element never gained significant attention as the peaceful mass resistance for which he became so famous.

More importantly, mass resistance campaigns against British colonialism did not integrate the constructive program. Instead they were separated, they took place in different places, and were sometimes not even organized by resistance-oriented activists, but people specialized in this more constructive work, like teachers and journalists.

In contrast, resistance and constructive work by MST are integrated. It is nearly impossible to understand the land occupations by MST without seeing how them are experiments in creating a new community and a new way of living. It is also impossible to make sense of and understand how they are able to create a New Brazil on their settlements if you do not see this in relation to their resistance through land occupations. The resistance and the construction are part of the same work.

I am not claiming that MST is perfect. There are many problems and weaknesses, as well as failures, which still exist. For example, MST was slow in showing support to LGBTQ persons within the movement though they now do that and they are struggling to make their peasant way of life in rural Brazil relevant for youth that often long for an urban life. Still, they are onto something, and they show us a promising path of social change that we all could follow.

By combining resistance with constructive work, they avoid the fundamental weaknesses of each approach. For resistance, that weakness is to just be against, to protest, critique and obstruct what is unjust and wrong, and to demand that others often the state correct it. For constructive work, the fundamental weakness is to only build up what is already tolerated, legal and fits into the existing system, like adding new alternatives for us to choose from in a market.

Resistance will always face repression if it is strong and poses a real challenge to the elites and the privileged. It will need resources and a community to survive and endure. Meanwhile, constructive work will always be co-opted if it becomes popular enough that corporations exploit and steal it to make a profit. Resolve and struggle are needed to maintain the foundational values and principles of constructive work, in order to push the limits and break the rules that otherwise force it to conform to existing systems.

A way forward for social change

This particular combination shows a way forward for social change that is truly transformative. That is what is so hopeful about the landless workers in Brazil, and what we can learn from them. Without copying what they do, we can and should apply the same combination of constructive resistance in our own struggles.

One key explanation behind the innovative thinking and success of MST is its emphasis on popular education. They organize their own basic and critical education from kindergarten to high school, as well as adult literacy training, forming it along the liberation pedagogics of the Brazilian educator Paolo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. And MST even has its own autonomous activist university, Escola Nacional Florestan Fernandes, outside of Sao Paulo, educating both MST militantes and other movements for free. At the same time, others learn from MST. During my visit I met with a network of educators who assist movements in Brazil to deal with issues of direct action, civil disobedience and security/safety issues.

I am already longing for the next visit to Brazil, knowing very well that they need all our solidarity and support. The new fascist Bolsonaro regime has declared MST a main enemy of the state, and they are determined to crush the movement. We cannot let that happen. Now is a time when international solidarity will be vital.

Teaser photo credit:Blockade of BR-367 by the Landless Workers Movement (Movimento Sem Terra, MST) against the arrest of former President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva in Eunpolis, Bahia, Brazil. Author HVL. This file is licensed under theCreative CommonsAttribution 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloqueio_da_BR-367_pelo_MST_contra_pris%C3%A3o_de_Lula,_Eun%C3%A1polis_BA.JPG

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A radical land occupation in Brazil shows how to reimagine our societies for the better - Resilience

The most popular sport in the world is growing in East Texas, both in number and diversity.

TYLER, Texas In 2021, soccer surpassed the NHL as the fourth most popular sport in the United States.

Dallas-Fort Worth has grown into one of the most robust soccer markets in the country. Their Major league soccer team, FC Dallas, is developing junior programs in many different regions including right here in East Texas.

"I really feel like we're in startup phase when it comes to the growth of soccer not just in North America, but particularly Texas," said Gina Miller, VP of FC Dallas communications.

"I think soccer is unique because you're seeing a lot of parents putting their children in soccer," Miller said. "Now, we've heard that for the past 20 years, but we're seeing more of that over the course of the past decade and some of those young athletes looking to participate in other sports, where there may not be as many serious injuries."

Then theres the East Texas football club which started four years ago with only seven teams, but right now they have a total of 19 teams.

Team captain Reese Rowe has had a front row seat to the expansion.

"When I first started, you could play a team over and over again within your season," Rowe explained. "Now you can play many different teams are out there."

We see the growth in numbers, but how about diversity?

In December, Kendell Howard became the first black male in Tyler high school history to sign a division one soccer scholarship to play at the next level. Although this makes him the first, hopefully he's not the last.

"As I was growing up, I didn't know any black soccer players, Howard said. "Now I have a teammate over there, and I have one of my football coaches and his younger sons, they look up to me and everything. Just being a pioneer for starting such things is amazing."

For Kendells mom Olivia, the lack of African American representation in the sport locally wasnt the driving force.

"Well, I needed something to kind of get rid of the amount of energy that he had," Olivia said. "And at three, that was all that was available to me. And so that's where it started with me because I had no idea about soccer. I had friends who played, you know, in high school, but none of them looked like us. I didn't care about any of that; I needed what I needed. He needed what he needed, and soccer provided that for us."

Not everyone has the resources like the Howard's had, which is why with FC Dallas, the diversity is also intentional.

"We're holding soccer clinics in underserved communities so that we can introduce members of these communities to the sport that is really so easy and affordable to play," Miller said. "So we're really looking at it holistically, not just on the soccer field, but in the community in the business community as well to expand and hit those communities that might not be gravitating towards soccer or might not be on the soccer radar at this particular time."

What if I told you that the most watched sporting event in the world could be coming to Dallas in the year 2026? Were talking the Mecca of the sport, the Crem de la Crem, the 2026 World Cup.

FC Dallas President and Chairman of the Dallas 2026 Host City bid, Dan Hunt, is working to make DFW a host city for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

"The majesty of the World Cup and the drama that goes in this tournament and the number of matches that are played, by the time it's played in the United States, Mexico and Canada, the World Cup of 2026 will have 80 matches in the tournament," Hunt said. "The economic impact, it's like the Super Bowl on steroids. People come to your market and they stay longer. They spend, you know, typically more money."

More money in a booming economy with room to grow as expansion and popularity in soccer continues to grow in East Texas.

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The Big Business of Soccer in East Texas - CBS19.tv KYTX

Community coalitions in Sacramento on Wednesday kicked off a targeted effort to get children ages 5 to 11 vaccinated for COVID-19. "There is more intentional focus on making sure we are reaching our hardest hit, hardest-to-reach families and youth," explained Mai Vang, Sacramento city councilwoman representing District 8. Sacramento County, Kaiser Permanente and La Familia Counseling Center joined forces this week to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine in communities with lower-than-average vaccination rates, particularly for children 5 to 11 years old and within communities of color. In Sacramento County, more than 68% of children ages 5 to 11 are still not vaccinated. La Familia hosted a vaccination clinic at its Maple Neighborhood Center on Wednesday encouraging shots for kids. "We know that the LatinX community has one of the lowest vaccination rates here," said Rachel Rios, executive director of La Familia Counseling Center. "We have pockets of communities, mostly our underserved communities and folks who dont speak English, that we still have yet to reach."Rios added that many in the community were also essential workers who could not easily take time off to get their children vaccinated. "We know COVID-19 doesn't discriminate, but our current system does," Vang said. " who has access to health care, who has access to vaccines."Medical experts continue to emphasize the importance of vaccinations to beat COVID-19."There's this underappreciation of just how serious COVID can be in children," said Dr. Dean Blumberg, head of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis. "I see children young children hospitalized for COVID. Just because it's milder doesn't mean it can't be more serious."Blumberg added there have been more than 1,000 known deaths in the United States among children and almost 50 pediatric deaths in California.Vaccines opened up for kids 5 to 11 two months ago, but vaccination rates remain low. New data from Kaiser shows just 28% of eligible children nationwide have gotten their first dose. About 19% are fully vaccinated. In California, about 24% of eligible kids are fully vaccinated."We encourage parents to reach out to trusted sources a pediatrician or someone else who believes in mainstream science," Blumberg said."We know the way out is by vaccinating our families so we can spend time together again and lead healthy lives," said Rios. La Familia will host additional vaccination clinics on Feb. 8 and 23. More information can be found on their website.

Community coalitions in Sacramento on Wednesday kicked off a targeted effort to get children ages 5 to 11 vaccinated for COVID-19.

"There is more intentional focus on making sure we are reaching our hardest hit, hardest-to-reach families and youth," explained Mai Vang, Sacramento city councilwoman representing District 8.

Sacramento County, Kaiser Permanente and La Familia Counseling Center joined forces this week to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine in communities with lower-than-average vaccination rates, particularly for children 5 to 11 years old and within communities of color.

In Sacramento County, more than 68% of children ages 5 to 11 are still not vaccinated. La Familia hosted a vaccination clinic at its Maple Neighborhood Center on Wednesday encouraging shots for kids.

"We know that the LatinX community has one of the lowest vaccination rates here," said Rachel Rios, executive director of La Familia Counseling Center. "We have pockets of communities, mostly our underserved communities and folks who dont speak English, that we still have yet to reach."

Rios added that many in the community were also essential workers who could not easily take time off to get their children vaccinated.

"We know COVID-19 doesn't discriminate, but our current system does," Vang said. "[It affects] who has access to health care, who has access to vaccines."

Medical experts continue to emphasize the importance of vaccinations to beat COVID-19.

"There's this underappreciation of just how serious COVID can be in children," said Dr. Dean Blumberg, head of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis. "I see children young children hospitalized for COVID. Just because it's milder doesn't mean it can't be more serious."

Blumberg added there have been more than 1,000 known deaths in the United States among children and almost 50 pediatric deaths in California.

Vaccines opened up for kids 5 to 11 two months ago, but vaccination rates remain low. New data from Kaiser shows just 28% of eligible children nationwide have gotten their first dose. About 19% are fully vaccinated. In California, about 24% of eligible kids are fully vaccinated.

"We encourage parents to reach out to trusted sources a pediatrician or someone else who believes in mainstream science," Blumberg said.

"We know the way out is by vaccinating our families so we can spend time together again and lead healthy lives," said Rios.

La Familia will host additional vaccination clinics on Feb. 8 and 23. More information can be found on their website.

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Most eligible children still not vaccinated for COVID-19. Groups in Sacramento are working to change that - KCRA Sacramento

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, students, faculty and administrators faced challenges amid the urgent pivot to emergency remote instruction. The pandemic and resulting quarantines are large-scale crises unlike anything we have ever faced. During the spring of 2020, more than 4,000 U.S. higher education institutions were forced to mobilize emergency remote instruction for more than 20million students. Moving courses en masse into a crisis-responsive form of distance learning protected the health of our communities and preserved academic continuity for students. Faculty members and support staff displayed heroic levels of creativity, commitment and courage to make it all happen.

Entering 2022, the Omicron variant created unprecedented surges in the numbers of infected individuals. Once again, many colleges and universities have chosen to start the term using remote instruction to address this emergency. With the return of what was seen as a temporary measure to preserve the health of students, faculty and staff, our organizations feel the time is right to have a conversation on the national level about some widespread misconceptions that have arisen.

Chief among those is the inaccurate use of terminology that has led to confusion for students, their families, faculty, administrators, policy makers, members of the press and the public at large. Notably, people conflate remote learning with online learning. Quite simply, the difference between the two lies in planning and preparation:

In distinguishing between the two, we sometimes use the lifeboat analogythe lifeboat is great if the ship is sinking, but the onboard experience cannot be compared to that of a luxury cruise liner.

Through emergency remote instruction, what many students experience is not the high-quality online learning that has been developed and delivered by countless institutions for the past several decades. Nor has that emergency instruction been guided by the pedagogies and best practices supported by online learning research. For example, purposefully designed, quality online learning considers online presence and multiple forms of interaction, includes digitally accessible materials, and is well organized in an online course site to guide students along their learning pathway. But as Charles Hodges and his co-authors noted in their important article in the Educause Review,"The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning," which explored this topic in depth, for people unfamiliar with online learning the distinction between quality online courses and emergency remote instruction was, and still is, unclear.

Letter to the EditorA reader has submitteda response to this essay.You canview the letter here,and find all our Letters tothe Editorhere.

Emergency remote instruction is not on par with the online learning that those of us who have long worked in the field strive to provide. We at the National Council for Online Education believe students deserve the best possible experience for their educationand institutional leaders must be committed to delivering top-quality, rigorous and engaging learning experiences, regardless of modality. In fact, some accrediting agencies are explicit in expecting that quality be the same for all modalities or even have additionalmore stringentrequirements for online instruction.

High-quality online learning is the result of faculty trained and supported in online pedagogy, intentional instructional design and a host of other important ingredients that we have been fine-tuning for more than 25 years. This work has been guided over the years by research-supported practices, online course and program design guidelines (such as the Quality Matters Rubric, the OLC Quality Scorecards and the UPCEA Hallmarks of Excellence in Online Leadership), and tools crafted to support faculty in designing quality courses.

As described in Every Learner Everywheres book Optimizing High-Quality Digital Learning Experiences: A Playbook for Faculty, high-quality digital learning experiences are well-organized and thoughtfully designed. These experiences rely on instructional design principles and strategies to align learning outcomes with learning assignments, activities and assessment practice not only through strategic design, but also through integrating intentional opportunities for community-building and interaction in the digital environment.

Research shows that, when done correctly, quality online courses are as effective as face-to-face classes and, in fact, often lead to greater student success. But while faculty teaching remote classes are trying their best, they simply have not had the necessary development time. And the process to build those courses, and to prepare instructors to teach them effectively, does take timea resource not afforded by the rush to respond to COVID-19. At the onset of the pandemic, 97percent of U.S. institutions reported having assigned faculty members with no prior online teaching experience to remote courses. In addition, many students faced difficulties accessing the technology and internet connectivity needed to succeed, especially when separated from on-campus computer labs and other vital resources. The pervasive stress of a global pandemic only intensified those difficulties.

According to the U.S. Department of Educations National Center for Education Statistics, before the pandemic, one out of six postsecondary students were fully online students who had already realized the flexibility that learning modality gave them to navigate full-time jobs, family obligations or other needs. Then, during the pandemic, the flexibility provided by using online learning tools in transitioning to remote instruction enabled a significant portion of postsecondary learners a chance to learn without risking themselves, their loved ones or their communities.

We all learned many lessons during the pandemic, including that students wantand needthe flexibility afforded by online learning. Even as students returned to campus, many asked for continued online optionsand not just for health-related reasons. They have asked for flexibility in the modality, duration and scheduling of learning that best serves their educational needs. Many students have full-time jobs, are caregivers and were affected by the pandemic in ways that will continue to influence and challenge them. We also learned the importance of preparedness and saw that institutions that had invested in building a foundation of online quality prior to the pandemicsuch as basic faculty training for online teaching, student orientation for online learning and necessary technology and institutional infrastructurereaped dividends for that work. Institutions lacking online experience struggled with their pandemic response, as they did not have a core of faculty, instructional designers and leadership to support the transition to remote emergency mode.

For this and other reasons, the National Council for Online Education and institutions of higher education owe it to our learning communities to continue to advance high-quality, intentionally designed online learning through which institutions can contribute to student outcomes in new and profound ways. By empowering our faculty members to teach even more skillfully online, we will make courses more engaging and learning more effective. By re-envisioning ad hoc and remote teaching materials, we can offer students new online courses that both adhere to well-established frameworks of quality and expand the opportunities that have made online learning a meaningful experience for millions of learners.

We certainly do not expect all courses to be online in the future, but institutions would do well to support all faculty in leveraging digital learning tools and best practices. We are hearing of more interest in incorporating digital technologies as supplements to face-to-face courses, in blended courses or in new fully online courses. To best employ such tools in serving students, institutions will need to rely on thoughtful technology selection, faculty development, instructional design and application of proven frameworks to best ensure quality online learning.

As colleges and universities offer more online options in response to student demands, they are also challenged to adequately describe the student experience, and ensure quality learning, for each course. Students need to know what learning environment to expect for each, such as how much time is spent face-to-face or online. They also need to know what technologies will be used, including how their instructor and institutional support services will assist them. Those communications with students are made more difficult when people conflate the terms remote and online learning. Therefore, we call on institutions, researchers and the press to be more reflective and accurate with terminology when discussing or examining a given educational experience

Finally, the pandemic reinforced why online learning is so vital to the future of higher education: through digital tools, students were able to continue learning. Digital tools enabled a new wave of students and educators in realizing the advantages and opportunities of online learning. As online education leaders, we pledge to use these lessons to continually adapt and evolve so that we can meet the needs of future students, even as we help shepherd our communities through unpredictable future emergencies.

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Remote instruction and online learning aren't the same thing (opinion) - Inside Higher Ed

Innovation is the name of the game this month, with artists working to expand viewer expectations while emphasizing vital issues of the moment. GLEANs Artist-In-Residence Exhibition demonstrates just how much can be achieved with materials gathered from the Metro dump, and at PCCs Paragon Arts Gallery, animations from a VR experience aim to increase awareness of tech addiction. High Desert Museum focuses on the history of ideal communities this month while spotlighting Native artists contemplating Indigenous futurisms.

Increased LGBTQ+ representation is also a theme within this months exhibitions. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU has To Survive on This Shore focuses on the histories and portraits of older transgender people, while Eugene Contemporary Art presents a group show of works by Tropical Contemporarys Transformation Residency participants. Read on for more information on these compelling, boundary-pushing events.

Modern FolkJanuary 22 February 19, 2022Stephanie Chefas Projects305 SE 3rd Avenue, Ste 202, Portland (Thurs-Sat 1 PM 6 PM)

This group exhibition centers the works of five West Coast artists who voice their cultural identities through folk art practices. Briana Spencer, Deedee Cheriel, Gina M. Contreras, Kellen Chasuk, and Lisa Congdon draw on a range of influences for Modern FolkCalifornia street art, punk rock, 90s DIY culture, Chicana culture, modern lowbrow, and humorto create an exhibition that feels graphic and vibrant.

Winter FormalJanuary 14 February 12, 2022Holding Contemporary916 NW Flanders Street, Portland (Fri-Sat 12 PM 5 PM)

Winter Formal gathers works by Emily Bixler, Jovencio de la Paz, Kassandra Howk, Kellie Romany, Stacy Jo Scott, and Sarah Wertzberger to accentuate the formal elements of each artists practice. Materiality, shape, color, and mark-making are brought to the forefront here, shown through the diverse mediums of each featured artist. Sculptural works, prints, paintings, and hung textiles demonstrate the ways in which distinct aesthetics can convey deeper intent.

Olivia Faith Harwood: Possessions, PossessionsJanuary 29 March 13, 2022Fuller Rosen Gallery1928 NW Lovejoy Street, Portland (Thurs-Sun 12 PM 5 PM)

Portland-based Harwoods solo exhibition at Fuller Rosen delves into the complex constructions of identity in adolescence. Harwoods painting series constructs a paranormal world through imagery pulled from the occult and feminist horror, plus plenty of creepy-crawly creatures. Dreamlike yet still anchored in reality (many of the objects seen in Harwoods paintings are from her own collections), Possessions, Possessions considers the inner and outer realms of selfhood during a perilous time.

Yang Fudong: from Yejiang/The Nightman Cometh to Dawn BreakingOctober 23, 2021 February 26, 2022Hallock-McMillan Building, curated by Zena Zezza237 SW Naito Parkway, Portland (by appointment Thurs-Fri, 2 PM 5 PM; Saturday screenings at 3 PM and 5 PM)

Zena Zezzas latest Artist Project Season, showcasing the works of Shanghai-based artist and filmmaker Yang Fudong, ends late this month. This programming, comprised of an installation alongside three short films, marks the first presentation of Fudongs works in the US. Additional Saturday screenings throughout the season have included other film works by Fudong, who references his formal education in Chinese landscape painting to engage with complexities of Chinese history, identity, and modernity.

To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older AdultsFebruary 8 April 30, 2022Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU1855 SW Broadway, Portland (Tues-Sat 11 AM 5 PM)

Photographer Jess T. Dugan and social worker Vanessa Fabbre collaborated on this exhibition to highlight representations of older transgender people, a demographic often hidden or obscured in modern culture. Dugan and Fabbre documented the stories of their photographed subjects, gathering diverse accounts spanning the last 90 years of trans experience and activism in the United States. This collection of portraits and stories aims to illustrate the nuanced, complex journey of aging while trans.

Imagine a WorldJanuary 29 September 25, 2022High Desert Museum59800 US-97, Bend (open daily 10 AM 4 PM)

High Desert Museums new exhibition explores the history of ideal societies in the American West and encourages interactivity by inviting viewers to contribute their own concepts of utopia. The exhibition considers specific ecological, spiritual, and communal philosophies around intentional communities, including Oregons infamous Rajneeshpuram. Imagine a World also highlights Native artists working through the lens of Indigenous futurism to intertwine science fiction, cosmologies, oral traditions, and more.

Mariam Ghani: Partial ReconstructionsFebruary 1 March 19, 2022Schneider Museum of Art555 Indiana St, Ashland (Tues-Thurs 10 AM 4 PM)

Filmmaker, writer, and artist Mariam Ghani creates work that examines the places in which sociopolitical and cultural structures take visible shape. She often engages in long-term collaborations, including ongoing critical, curatorial, conservation, and creative work with national film archive Afghan Films. Her first feature-length film, the critically-acclaimed documentaryWhat We Left Unfinished, premiered at the 2019 Berlinale.To learn more about Ghanis work and Partial Reconstructions, tune in for her Creative Industries Zoom Discussion on February 3.

Month of SundaysJanuary 15 February 27, 2022Eugene Contemporary Art245 W 8th Ave, Eugene (Sat-Sun 12 PM 4 PM)

Tropical Contemporarys innovative Transformation Residency Program has helped enhance resources and opportunities for transgender and gender-diverse artists since 2020. While the program was planned pre-COVID, the residency and its participants were bound to challenging pandemic constraints. Now, the ten artists who participated in the programCarina Borealis, Princess Bouton, Francis Dot, Irene June, Remy Malik, Oliver Myhre, Julia O., Eel Probably, Pace Taylor, and Ty Warrenassemble to present works together for the first time. Themes include meditations on rural gay identity, intimacy, and queer touch, explored through varying mediums like assemblage and installation.

Jeremy Rotsztain: Walking a TurtleJanuary 19 February 28, 2022Paragon Arts Gallery, Portland Community College Cascade Campus815 N. Killingsworth St. Portland (window exhibition)

Artist and software programmer Jeremy Rotsztains Walking a Turtle explores awareness, attentiveness, and digital distraction via a window exhibition at Paragon Arts Gallery. The exhibition consists of animated screen recordings taken from RotsztainsWalking a TurtleVR experience, which transports participants to 19th century Paris, where they go on a walk with a turtle in a nod to flneur practices of the time period. In the full VR experience, the participant must increasingly avoid distraction while on the walk with the turtle. In this way, Rotsztain emphasizes the dark UX patterns of pervasive technologies that encourage addictive, reward-seeking behavior. The full Walking a Turtle VR experience will be available on commercial VR platforms in Spring 2022.

GLEAN Artist-In-Residence ExhibitionJanuary 21 February 25, 2022Maddox Building1231 NW Hoyt St. Suite 102, Portland (Fri-Sun 12 PM 5 PM)

Each year, juried art program GLEAN invites five artists to spend five months contemplating consumption habits, waste, and discarded resources by making artworks with materials collected from the Metro Central Transfer Station (the dump). GLEANs current Artist-In-Residence Exhibition highlights works created by the programs 2021 cohort, including Caryn Aasness, Colin Kippen, Jessica (Tyner) Mehta, Malia Jensen, and Willie Little, and demonstrates how each artist made the most of dump materials provided through mediums like video and ceramics.

Lindsay Costello is an experimental artist and writer in Portland, Oregon, with an academic background in textile research at the Oregon College of Art and Craft. Her critical writing can also be read at Hyperallergic, Art Papers, Art Practical, 60 Inch Center, this is tomorrow, andTextile: Cloth and Culture, among other places. She is the founder of plant poetics, an herbalism project, andsoft surface, a digital poetry journal/residency. She is the co-founder ofCritical Viewing,an aggregate of art community happenings in the Pacific Northwest.Herartistic practice centers magic, ecology, and folkways in social practice, writing, sculpture, and installation.

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VizArts Monthly: Innovation and Representation - Oregon ArtsWatch

Grant is Intended to Develop a National Network of Organizations Focused on Mobilizing Large-Scale Change for Underrepresented Communities

Improving the access and impact of STEM education and experiential work-based opportunities is one of the key pillars of the Arizona Technology Councils mission, said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Council. This is especially critical in underserved communities, where the opportunity for a STEM education expands career possibilities immensely. The Council is proud to join the ALRISE network and will work directly with our members to help create more opportunities for Latinx students to take part in internships, hands-on training and more.

ASUs ALRISE Alliance is funded by NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion and broadening participation in STEM at scale. The grant represents a nationwide effort to address the overarching broadening participation challenge to accelerate Latinx representation in STEM education with institutional intentionality and capacity building for experiential learning.

ASUs vision for the Alliance is to drastically improve Latinx student retention and completion in STEM at two- and four-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and emerging HSIs (eHSIs). The Alliance aims to complete this goal by taking the following actions to deliberately change long-standing systems:

Our goal in bringing industry and educational leaders into the Alliance is to form a densely connected network of peers, a shared community and intentional coordination of the disparate efforts across individuals and organizations to drastically improve diversity and opportunity in STEM education and careers, said Caroline VanIngen-Dunn, director, Center for Broadening Participation in STEM at ASU and principal investigator of the ALRISE Alliance. The Council will play a critical role in connecting Latinx students with industry partners to facilitate more opportunities for work-based experiences in STEM fields while also enabling organizations to diversify their employment base.

As outlined in its 2022 Public Policy Guide, the Council is heavily focused on creating opportunities to cultivate a diverse, equitable and statewide STEM ecosystem. Through STEM advocacy at the state and federal level, the work of the SciTech Institute and events and partnerships with member organizations, the Council is working towards long-term, shared, sustainable and flexible STEM missions that bridge, integrate and strengthen the learning opportunities offered by organizations across sectors instead of isolated, independent entities. This will result in the expansion of STEM business and education opportunities throughout rural and urban Arizona communities, fueling a strong, diverse talent pipeline prepared to meet the states anticipated growth.

To learn more about the ALRISE Alliance grant #2120021 and the National Science Foundation, please visit the NSF website at http://www.nsf.gov/.

About the Arizona Technology Council

The Arizona Technology Council is Arizonas premier trade association for science and technology companies. Recognized as having a diverse professional business community, Council members work towards furthering the advancement of technology in Arizona through leadership, education, legislation and social action. The Council offers numerous events, educational forums and business conferences that bring together leaders, visionaries and community members to make an impact on the technology industry. These interactions contribute to the Councils culture of growing member businesses and transforming technology in Arizona. To become a member or to learn more about the Arizona Technology Council, please visit http://www.aztechcouncil.org.

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AZTC Selected by ASU as a Key Partner in a $10 Million NSF ALRISE Alliance Grant Aimed at Accelerating Latinx Representation in STEM - Digital Journal

We found out about the logging by accident. We'd gone to The Forest Service Ranger District in Waldport and were looking at a big map of our valley, Tenmile, which hung on the wall.

"What are the little flags?" I asked one of the Forest Service staff. The map was covered with flags, like what you see in old war movies when armies are being tracked. Chuck says they weren't flags, but stickers. He always wants me to get the facts exactly right, but I remember them as flags. The Forest Service worker that day said the flags, or stickers or whatever they were, indicated sale units. When I wasn't sure what that meant, he added that they were "units in process of being negotiated as part of the Forest Service's management process."

We looked more closely. Flags were everywhere: along the road lined with giant spruce, hemlock, cedar and Doug fir; above the sauna; above our houses; near the campground; near the beautiful Five Mile Meadow.

"Forest management," said the man.

RELATED:How much forest did we lose in 2020? Like, a Netherlands' worth

We'd only lived in Oregon for a few years and didn't know about logging yet. Of course, it was happening all around us. Throughout the day, we'd hear the sound of chainsaws, the yarder whistle, and the crash of trees as they fell, and every day on Highway 101 or on the narrow, winding gravel road to our place, we passed trucks full of huge logs.We'd seen whole landscapes that had been clear cut and then sprayed with toxic chemicals. We saw areas that had once been pristine forest, now stripped of every living plant and animal, like a bomb had gone off, but we didn't understand the forces at play. Later we'd see how Big Timber had worked its way into and corrupted Oregon's legislature, its agencies, communities and schools, but back then, we were innocent.

My midwife had told us about the Tenmile property: 25 acres for sale in a semi-intentional community located in Oregon's Coast Range. Theland is between two wilderness areas and surrounded by the Siuslaw National Forest. It's off Highway 101 and up a narrow gravel county road that twists and climbs. The first few times you drive the road it's harrowing, with blind curves and steep, deadly drops. Huge trees line the road: spruce with its thick, sharp needles; the graceful hemlock with its drooping branches; thick-barked Douglas Fir and my favorite the most iconic, dramatic of them all cedar.

Everything is layered and textured. The forest, first of all. The trees and their understory. Tall and short, thick and thin, sharp and soft. The colors are muted grays and browns and every shade of green. Most of it's in shadow, but every now and then a shaft of light makes its way through the thick branches and illuminates some little section of forest. The landscape is layered with trees and bushes, ferns and flowers, and it's layered with scent. The smell of the cedar and the other trees, too, and the damp, vegetative smell of growing things. To drive up Tenmile is to be enclosed in color, texture and scent.

RELATED:Is it possible to live off-grid?

We quickly learned to differentiate sections of that road. The kids named one part Columbine Hill for the orange flowers that grow there every spring. In early summer, they made a game of counting the wild irises or trillium we passed on the way home or to town.

When we moved there, the Tenmile community was nine years old and made up of six households: eleven adults and eight kids. They came from different backgrounds, from WASPs and Irish Catholics, from wealthy families and the working class.All of them were people who could do things. They built houses and put in driveways and fences. They roofed and sided and did masonry work. They ran water lines, repaired engines and built a hydro-system. They caught their own fish. They went clamming and crabbing. They were master gardeners. They canned, baked and pickled. They read Tarot cards and milled lumber. They wove, painted, played the mandolin and made pottery.

What I liked best about my neighbors was their love for the place.The way they stopped to listen when the first rains came. Their excitement at the sight of an otter in the creek, a lynx crossing the road, a marten in the woods or evidence of a bear. And I like that when the valley was eventually threatened by seemingly insurmountable forces, the neighbors turned into bad asses and fought like hell.

Each of us had our own separate piece of land, but we shared a garden and an orchard. The orchard grew plums, pears and apples, all varieties. There was a weekly sauna and potluck.We helped build each other's houses and take care of each other's children. Kingfishers and swallows flew over us. The kids caught snakes in the grass, and the men caught salmon in the creek. In the morning, the meadow outside our window might be full of elk or deer. Black bear and cougar lived in the woods, and at night we could hear owls.

At the beginning, Chuck and Ilived in a 12 x 24-foot cabin with our two kids. The first summer, we had no outhouse and dug holes in the ground instead, which is acceptable for only a short time, if you ask me. Then Chuck built an outhouse with a composting toilet, which just meant a large plastic barrel that, when full, would be capped and left to biodegrade. We heated our house with a woodstove. Hot water came from a tank which sat above the woodstove and was connected to it by a copper tube. At first, there was no phone service, although soon Pioneer Telephone, a co-op, put a line to the house.Electric power only went up the valley for a mile and a half, so, everyone was off grid. Our refrigerators and stoves ran off propane. We used generators to run machinery and ran lines off our car batteries to watch movies. In the beginning, at night we read by kerosene lamps, but eventually Chuck and I were able to connect with our neighbor's hydro system, and then, except in late summer when it got too dry, we had enough electricity for lights and the radio. Our drinking water came from a spring up the hill, and it was the sweetest water you ever tasted.

RELATED:"Off the Grid": The growing appeal of going off the grid

For the first two years, our house was too small for a bathtub, so the tub sat on the deck outside. I loved sitting in the hot bath beneath the stars, working in the garden surrounded by trees and mountains, lying in bed with the sound of the creek, waking in the morning to find a herd of elk in the meadow.

We had thought by going to a remote, hidden place, we could drop out, be part of a community, make our own rules and live quiet lives with our kids, but everything changed that day in the ranger district, looking at the map. All the little flags, the timber sales, clear cuts.

We soon realized that instead of paradise, we'd landed in the middle of the Northwest Timber wars.

Before, when we got together, we had talked about the kids or the garden, an unusual animal someone had spotted, or building projects. We told funny stories. Now our conversations were about the forest and what we might do to protect it. They were all about strategy. The first thing we had to do was figure how the Forest Service worked. As a federal agency, it was full of rules and procedures for everything. We needed to know who was accountable and where to put pressure.

We read books and talked to people. We learned from activists all over the country. Regional forest defenders came to Tenmile and we'd take them into the forest and to the sauna. We'd feed them salmon because this was back when you could still catch Coho in the creek, back before the salmon and trout numbers plummeted and even catch and release was outlawed. We'd give them pies made from berries we grew in the garden, salads and soups and fruit, whatever was in season. Brock Evans, president of the Endangered Species Coalition, visited from D.C. He encouraged us by saying that a small focused group is often more effective than a large unfocused one. And one night in the sauna, Brock told us what was necessary: endless pressure, he said, endlessly applied. This never stopped being true.

Now driving home, I'd find Chuck's truck parked along the road where he'd pulled over to go into the forest. I loved watching him in our meadow, bending over to look at a plant. We took walks in the woods and. he pointed out the canopy, the way the hemlock grows in the shade of the Doug fir, for instance, and the understory below. We noticed the shape of the oldest trees. Most of them have had their tops blown off in fierce winter storms, so they're the same height as the trees around them, but their tops are flat. We learned about the birds that nested in those high, flat treetops. We learned the names of the plants, theelderberry, huckleberry, and sword fern, that grow on the forest floor.Fallen trees became nurse logs for hemlock or spruce seedlings, helping build the biomass that makes up that soft forest floor, growing in a row up its trunk. We learned about the insects that live in the downed logs. We shared information and we strategized.

RELATED:Ecological, but unaware: You care about the environment more than you think

Our little community was starting to have conflicts, but when it came to protecting the valley, we pulled together. We were a team. We went to public meetings, lectures, workshops and trainings. We learned everything we could. Eventually, we were the experts. One day I called one of our go-to environmental groups with a question and was given my own home phone number to call for an answer.

Meanwhile, The Forest Service was surveying the trees along the road. Timber sale boundaries were being marked.The tall cedar that was my favorite tree in all the world. Yellow tape. They were getting ready.

But then, the Northern Spotted Owl, one of those species that liked to nest in the high, flat tops of the tallest trees, was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA,) and, just like that, all bets were off. Under the ESA, a listing meant its recovery fell on federal land, so anywhere an owl was found, an area had to be set aside for protection. Pretty soon you'd see bumper stickers saying "I like my spotted owls fried," (so witty) and in some places, owls were found shot and nailed to trees. When we found Spotted Owls at Tenmile, it seemed like our problem was solved.

Although our little valley was the center of the universe to us, the political wheels of the timber wars turned regionally and nationally. The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, now called Earthjustice, led the legal battle over old growth habitat for the Spotted owl. An injunction was issued by a federal judge shutting down all timber sales in Northwest National Forests. Then in 1989, Congress passed a one-year rider setting aside the injunction.

The following year, Congress failed to pass another rider but gave the go-ahead for clearcutting on already sold timber sales, if they didn't contain owl habitat forest structure. Each national forest was to have a Citizen Review Committee appointed to pass judgement on the size of each timber sale's trees were they large enough to be owl habitat or not?

First, we were told by the Forest Service that our trees weren't big enough to meet this criterion. We had a meeting then, and people came from town and from other nearby valleys, and we walked the drainages, measuring trees. DBH, diameter at breast height. We presented the data to the Forest Service, and they finally agreed to include the Tenmile sale units in the Citizen Review Committee process.

I think most people, at least in the northwest, realize the issue with the owl wasn't simply the survival of one species but that the owl is anindicator species,which means it's a gauge for the health of an ecosystem. It means that if the owl can't survive, a number of other plants and animals won't be able to either. You should also know that loggers were already struggling. Almost all of the old growth on private lands was gone by now, and many of their jobs had been automated. Also, as Chuck once pointed out to an audience of angry loggers who'd come to disrupt a talk he was giving: we're not your enemy. Your enemy is flying overhead at 35,000 ft in their corporate jets. It's those folks who overcut the forests, destroyed your unions and are sending our logs to mills in Japan.

RELATED:Reimagining humanity's obligation to wild animals

The Citizens Advisory Boards were made up of local leaders, including a sprinkling of those sympathetic to environmentalists, but generally weighted towards the timber industry. Everyone quickly realized that, regardless of the law, regardless of extinction or anything else, getting the cut out was primary. That wasn't going to change.

The meetings for our area were held at the headquarters of the Siuslaw National Forest in Corvallis.We'd go every week and sit in the back of the room. We weren't allowed to speak, but I still have the notes I took from those meetings.

Kent wants the cut out by Sept 30thCarl says there's no long-term plan for the owlGary says there is!Carl says that's an opinionGary says it's an expert opinion

Liz wants a votePat wants to talkDon wants a different definition of Old GrowthBruce says the process is proving itself.Pat says it's a timber-driven process.Liz says the volume is determining the processDon wants better stand descriptionLiz has a problem with analysis and mappingBruce has problem with definition of emerging Old Growth

Sometimes, we'd bring our kids. None of us had time for this and nobody could afford it, but we went to every meeting and made sure our tree size data was in the hands of each Committee member. Back in the valley, a neighbor was dying and someone else was getting a divorce. There was a fight over property. We were struggling to maintain our little community. And we had jobs and the normal hardship of living in the woods. Our water lines were always breaking. Roofs leaked. Driveways got washed out. Trees fell across the road. Car and trucks rusted and broke. It seemed like Chuck and I got flat tires about once a week. And you couldn't turn your back on the vegetation. It was always creeping over the driveway, over the paths, into the walls, over the gardens. You had to work hard just to keep from going backwards. It rained twenty-three days straight that December.

Even so, week after we went. It mattered that we showed up. It made a difference that someone was watching. When information about a particularly important stand at Tenmile was suppressed, our neighbor Paul got an accurate map to a sympathetic board member, and she was able to block its sale. Don't believe it when people say we have no power. In the end,nearly allthe Tenmile sales were taken off the board, which was a great victory, although slightly hollow. Our valley was preserved, but the cut still went out. Away from Tenmile, sale after sale went through. Where were the people to speak up for those places? We sat in the meeting room, silent, as the names of sales were called out.

Blue Bird, Angel, Beaver Pond, Black Snow, Tidewater, Skywalker, Stillwell, Sugar Cube, Sugarloaf, Mariah Skyline, Gordy Bluff, Picnic, Signal Point, Wapiti, Rocky Cedar, Sweet Thin, Crazy 25, Little Green Horn, Green Apple, Grass Skirt, Raspberry, Hot Elma. A place someone named Lower Sweet. A place someone called Starlight.

The following year, 1991, logging on the National Forest was shut down.

Oscar Wilde once said every story can be a happy one, depending on where you end it. This story didn't end here but, still, at least in terms of our valley, the ending is a hopeful one.

While it'struethat logging on national forest land was shut down, what really happened was complicated. The shutdown was in effect only until Congress or someone could work out the next deal. And nobody was talking about private property because private property was untouchable, even if most private forestlands were increasingly owned by big corporate timber firms who destroy the land, pay almost no taxes, take the profit and run. The public relations people want to convince us that those forest owners are all mom and pop, but it's not true.

First, we were able to protect Tenmile because the Tenmile forest is Spotted Owl habitat, and when that wasn't enough, Marbled Murrelets, another threatened species, were discovered there. Our efforts were further helped when a group called Conservation International identified the ecological importance of the Tenmile as part of one of the largest intact temperate rainforests left in the continental US. When a place we call The Five Mile Meadow, one of the most beautiful spots in the valley, was about to be bought by a timber company, Paul arranged for Audubon to buy it and create a sanctuary. He also facilitated the sale of another parcel to an Oregon State University conservation group known as The Spring Creek Project. Chuck and I, along with other landowners, put our trees in a conservation trust, to be protected. A few years ago, the philanthropic arm of Worthy Brewing from Bend, Oregon (their motto is earth first, beer second) bought 64 mostly logged-over acres and are planting trees in hopes of returning that property "to the natural world." Their plans include a solar-powered nature retreat and working organic, regenerative farm.

Years ago, I wrote an essay about our failed attempt at living on the land, which was published inThe Sunmagazine and reprinted inHigh Country News. The essay was titled "On Being Wrong" and was about my personal failures and about how little self-knowledge Chuck and I exhibited when we decided to live in the woods.We had worked for years, saving money to buy our land, but it turned out we weren't equipped for that life. Unlike our neighbors, we (especially I) didn't have the skills or wherewithal. And the community itself, despite its history and shared values, didn't hold together. For a long time, it seemed to me that the whole endeavor had been a failure, but that's not true.

We were still living at Tenmile when my husband, frustrated by the destruction of forests outside our own valley, started a regional conservation group, The Coast Range Association, to advocate for the entire Coast Range Forest, from the Columbia River, in the north, to the Siskiyou region, in the south. The organization is now over 25 years old, and Chuck is slowly handing over its management to the next generation of forest activists. The group's current focus is the climate crisis and the importance of leaving big trees in the ground for carbon, while creating good jobs. My husband's 25-year long criticism of the role of Wall Street ownership of private forests is no longer considered radical. Recently, his analysis of forestland ownership by Real Estate Investment Trusts was taken up by ProPublica and published in a series of exposs.

Chuck isn't the only Tenmile resident to dedicate himself to the environment. Nearly every household there has someone who ended up working in conservation. In addition to ensuring the preservation of Tenmile, Paul has worked in various capacities as a conservationist. Among other things, he's participated in watershed councils and helped development and management of wetland conservancy and ocean reserves. Paul's son earned a PhD with research focused on the cumulative effects of pesticide use in forest management in the Coast Range. His current job is addressing ocean acidification.. Two of our neighbors served on the board of Chuck's organization. Both our son and one of the neighbor's daughters worked on stream surveys, counting salmon, for Oregon's Fish and Wildlife agency. Our daughter and her husband own 150 acres of land, much of it damaged by misuse, on which they're practicing regenerative agriculture. Our son-in-law works in wetland restoration.

When Chuck and I looked at the map of Tenmile on the wall of the ranger district in Waldport all those years ago, we were planning to make a trail through the woods to connect all our properties, so the kids could reach each other's houses without walking on the road. We had no idea what those little markers foreshadowed, and how it would change everything. It wasn't what we'd dreamed of. We didn't plan it. We just wanted to have gardens and hang out in a beautiful place. We wanted dancing and storytelling, potlucks with pies and salmon, and on Sunday nights, sauna, and even though we ended up losing all that, what happened instead was beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

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We moved to an off-the-grid paradise and ended up fighting a war to save the forest - Salon