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New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert to discuss global warming at Williams College on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

One of the nation's most knowledgeable journalists on the subject of global warming is speaking at Williams College tomorrow evening (Feb. 28) and will be previewing her forthcoming book, "Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change." Elizabeth Kolbert, a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine who lives in Williamstown, will speak at 8 p.m. in Griffin Hall, Room 7. Her coming book expands on her three-part series in the magazine published last year. "It may be impossible to imagine that a technologically advanced society could choose, in essence, to destroy itself, but that is what we are now in the process of doing," Kolbert wrote in the last installment of the series, which won an American Association for the Advancement of Science magazine award. One early reviewer of her coming book has compared it to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring." Publishers Weekly has given it a starred review, writing: "On the burgeoning shelf of cautionary but occasionally alarmist books warning about the consequences of dramatic climate change, Kolbert's calmly persuasive reporting stands out for its sobering clarity. Kolbert lets facts rather than polemics tell the story." In researching climate change, Kolbert traveled to Alaska and Greenland, interviewing residents who had observed changes occurring close to home and scientists who had compiled sobering evidence of the global warming phenomenon. Prior to joining the New Yorker, Kolbert was a reporter at The New York Times for more than a decade. She served as Albany bureau chief and later wrote a column, Metro Matters, for the Metropolitan Desk. Her book, "The Prophet of Love: And Other Tales of Power and Deceit," a compilation of articles she published on New York public figures in the New Yorker, was published in 2004.

(Source: Williams College News Release: http://www.williams.edu/admin/news/releases.php?id=1150)

"Cabin fever" arts fair today at MCLA

Spencer Moser, service and citizenship center director at the
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, reminds that the 2nd-annual ASB
"Cabin Fever" Arts and Crafts Fair is today (Sat. Feb. 25) in the Venable
Gym at the school in North Adams. He says there will be over 30 tables
offering a mix of interesting items; from jewelry to woodcraft to
photography to baked goods to raffles to face painting and much more.

(smoser@mcla.edu / 413-662-5251)

Wal-Mart author/critic to speak Thursday, Feb. 23 at Williams; Sat. at MCLA

If you're interested in the business success and social impact of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., you might want to hear author/journalist John Dicker, who is speaking on Thurs., Feb. 23, and Saturday, Feb. 25, in Williamstown and North Adams, respectively. Dicker is the author of the book, The United States of Wal-Mart.  The Inkberry website says he'll give a talk and answer questions at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall on the Williams College campus. Then he'll appear again on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Smith House on the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts campus, where he will give a readingof his work.  Dicker's work has appeared in The Nation, Salon.com, The Boston Globe and alternative weeklies. He also blogs at The Huffington Post and The Toilet Paper. He lives in Denver. His visit is co-presented by Inkberry and Williams College and co-husted by MCLA. The reviews of Dicker's book (check Amazon.com) paint it as being largely factual, rather than polemical, account of the way Wal-Mart works for its customers and employees. Dicker also wrote a piece in The Nation magazine about Wal-Mart's alleged union-busting tactics.

"Feet to Fire" journalist Borjesson to discuss post-9/11 journalism at March 1/2 appearances in North Berkshire

Journalist Kristina Borjesson, author of “Feet to the Fire,” a disturbing insider’s look at how America’s news organizations have reported the Iraq conflict and “war on terrorism,” will be speaking in Northern Berkshire County on March 1 and 2. “Feet to the Fire” is a collection of interviews with 21 of America’s most distinguished journalists and news executives involved in areas of reporting most germane to pre-Iraq war and post war reporting. It provides an unprecedented look at how the nation’s arena of political power have interacted with the press since 9/11.

Borjesson is a former independent producer for CBS, PBS and CNN and a Columbia University journalism school graduate. She will speak and sign copies of her new book on Wed., March 1, at 7 p.m. at Water Street Books, 26 Water St., Williamstown. On Thurs., March 2, at 8 p.m., she will give a talk and answer questions as part of the "Future of Journalism" seminar at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, in Bowman Hall room 101. Both events are free and open to the public.

"Feet to the Fire," published in October, is Borjesson's second book. Her first, "Into the Buzzsaw," about the difficulty journalists having getting hard-hitting reports published, won the 2005 Independent Publishers Book Award for Best Book in the Current Events Category. “Buzzsaw” was also a bestseller overseas, garnering critical acclaim in Europe and Canada. Borjesson speaks internationally about issues surrounding American society, investigative reporting and the press.

Borjesson was raised in Haiti, and speaks fluent French, Spanish and Creole. Since moving from TV production into book writing, Borjesson  has embarked on an effort to help journalists develop their own base of readers and viewers via the Internet -- independent of major news organizations. In Quebec, Elle magazine selected Borjesson as their Woman of the Year in Journalism.

CLICK HERE TO READ LONGER STORY  (click on photo to enlarge; right click to download)

(Source: Bill Densmore, 413-458-8001)

Middle-school teachers at MGRH receive training on violence prevention

Middle School and encore teachers at Mount Greylock Regional High School received training from the Mass. Dept. of Education staff in the violence-prevent curriculum "Second Step" last week, according to a report in The Beacon, the weekly newsletter for middle-school parents dated Feb. 16. The Beacon report said middle-school teachers will conduct lessons during their advisory classes beginning Feb. 27. The curriculum is designed to promote social, emotional education through formal lessons, and will be reinforced by faculty interactions with students, The Beacon said. School adjustment counselor Deb Cole-Duffy, contact for the program, said an information session will be held on "Second Step" in the next few months. It is designed to identify and manage emotions, teach how to get along in a civil fashion with successful relationships with problem-solving techniques, empathy, iimpulse control, frustration tolerance and anger management.

EARLIER STORIES: 
http://newshare.typepad.com/greylocknews/2006/02/forty_years_lat.html
http://newshare.typepad.com/greylocknews/schoolseducation/index.html

ALSO NOTED:
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Family ownership of newspapers makes a difference, ex-Times ombudsman says

Family ownership is the common thread among the three most prestigious newspapers in America, the former ombudsman of The New York Times says. Daniel Okrent, the first "public editor" of The Times, was at Williams College tonight for a public talk after dinner with the staff of the Williams Record student newspaper and invited guests. In a 38-minute talk and almost a half hour of questions-and-answers in Griffin Hall, Okrent talked mostly about his experiences at the paper, and a bit about the future of newspapers. He said he is fearful about the growth of Internet web blogs because of the difficulty in determining their credibility. He said the future of newspaper organizations lies in their ability to transfer the integrity and accuracy of their brands onto the Internet in such a way that they are see as clearly more reliable than blogs.

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL STORY

LISTEN TO OKRENT: Download dan_okrent_williams-02-13-06.mp3 (28.8MB, 63 min.)

Eagle/Transcript parent reported teaming with Gannett

The parent company of The Berkshire Eagle, North Adams Transcript, Advocate and Bennington Banner is reportedly considering teaming up with another of the nation's largest newspaper publishers to purchase a third big newspaper chain.  The San Jose Mercury News is reporting on its website that Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc. is considering an alliance with Gannett Co. Inc. to purchase Knight Ridder Inc.  Such an alliance would put the combined entity way ahead of anothe newspaper group in the nation.  In New England, Gannett owns the Burlington [Vt.] Free Press, and MediaNews also owns the dailiy Brattleboro Reformer and the Manchester [Vt.] Journal, a weekly.  Knight-Ridder does not own any papers in New England or New York.

REFERENCE: Year 2000 study of Williamstown town garage site

As the Town of Williamstown ponders what to do with the PhoTech site and the old Town Garage site, it is worth looking at two resources which are available online:

• In 2000, environmental-studies students at Williams College completed an extensive survey of the downtown area and wrote  a report for professors Roger Bolton and Hank Art.
• On the Town of Williamstown website is a page devoted to the town's master plan, including a specific link to economic development.

Forty years later, a superintendent recalls how bullying was "just a seat at the table"

Early in his first year as superintendent of the 700-student Mount Greylock Regional School District in Williamstown, Mass., William Travis faced a small crisis: In two incidents, students reported they had been bullied and harassed by fellow seventh graders. The incidents allegedly involved a physical roughing up, the uttering of some defamatory remarks and persistent verbal taunting. Intent upon teaching middle-school students the emotional danger of such incidents, Travis called in counselors and a juvenile-court judge, sought state grants for tolerance training, suspended some students, and sent home advisories to parents. Then at a parent-teacher assocation meeting, he recounted a experience from his own middle-school years. To read Travis' story, click below.

READ TRAVIS BULLYING ARTICLE: "It was just a seat at the table."

Storytime at Williamstown's Little Red Schoolhouse

On Friday, February 2 at 5:30 pm, the Williamstown Cooperative Nursery School at the Little Red Schoolhouse hosted its annual Pizza and Pajama Storytime event to add some fun to the long winter nights. Little Red students came in their PJs and enjoyed food, fun and stories read by parents. Please find two event photos attached.

(Click to enlarge photo; posted courtesy of Jennifer Mardus Fine Photography)