This just in from the Nunavut and Circumpolar Regions Yahoo Group Digest (number 861) posted by moderator George Lessard (as published by the Associated Press):

AP: Polar bear to be a protected species

Posted by: "George Lessard" media@web.netthemediamentor

Wed May 14, 2008 4:29 pm (PDT)

Polar bear to be a protected species
Associated Press
May 14, 2008

(AP) -- The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species Wednesday, saying it must be protected because of the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming.

Interior Secretary Dir Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses. These declines, he told a news conference, mean the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future.

Kempthorne also said, though, that it would be "inappropriate" to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases, or to broadly address climate change.

Reflecting views recently expressed by President Bush, Kempthorne said the Endangered Species Act was "never meant to regulate global climate change."

He said the decision to list the bear includes administrative actions aimed at limiting the impact of the decision on energy development and other climate related activities.

"This listing will not stop global climate change or prevent any sea ice from melting," said Kempthorne. He said he had consulted with the White House on the decision, but "at no time was there ever a suggestion that this was not my decision."

Kempthorne cited as support for his decision conclusions by the department's scientists that sea ice loss will likely result in two-thirds of the polar bears disappearing by mid-century.

Notwithstanding the secretary's disclaimers, this is the first time the Endangered Species Act has been used to protect a species threatened by the impacts of global warming. There has been concern within the business community that such an action could have far-reaching impact and could be used to regulate carbon dioxide.

Kempthorne proposed 15 months ago to investigate whether the polar bear should be declared threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

That triggered a year of studies into the threats facing the bear and its survival prospects at a time when scientists predict a continuing warming and loss of Arctic sea ice. The Arctic sea ice serves as a primary habitat for the bear and is critical to its survival, scientists say.

"The science is absolutely clear that polar bear needs protection under the Endangered Species Act," said Andrew Wetzler, director of the endangered species program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

A decision had been expected early this year, but the Interior Department said it needed more time to work out many of the details, prompting criticism from members of Congress and environmentalists.
Environmentalists filed a lawsuit aimed at forcing a decision and a federal court on April 29 set a May 15 deadline for a decision.

Keeping it reel...

After how many years of home ownership now--14, I believe--I finally bought the kind of lawn mower I've ALWAYS craved: a reel mower.  You know, the kind our immigrant grandparents used on their new American lawns, where people provided the power.  

I LOVE it!  

I can't even describe the thrill of mowing my 3/4 acre lot with this 16-inch wide thing.  We'll see how I feel by summer's end, but after my son helped me attach the handle, I mowed the entire yard...in about two hours.  The teens laughed as I smiled and cut and re-cut entire patches of the green stuff.  After all, it's early May, so only small patches are actually growing yet, making following my own tracks nearly impossible.

But where it needed mowing, the lawn now looks great!

So what prompted my sudden green turn?  It all began with half a case of organic beer.  Not drunk all at once, mind you.  Inside the Wolaver's Sampler Pack came a $50 coupon good toward a Neuton electric lawn mower.  So, after going round and round with operators at the company who had never heard of mower coupons or organic beer before, I finally found someone who cheerily told me that I might be the first person to take them up on the offer.  

Problem was, it would take four to six weeks to receive my new mower.

So, rather than risk the wrath of the neighbors over a possibly overgrown lawn (Heaven forbid!), I picked up the reel mower at the local hardware store.  Naturally, the Neuton arrived the same day that my son and I connected the handle.  But I don't care.  I now have two ways to mow my green stuff...uh, greenly.

We'll soon see how long it takes us to mow our portion of the Village Green, which we share with 21 other homes, of which only about a half dozen neighbors bother to do their share of mowing.  But that's another problem.  And I've recently taken a new vow to try not to complain anymore.

My husband has also gone somewhat green--having just two weeks ago trading in his gas guzzling truck for a Honda Accord Coupe that nearly doubles his gas mileage.  And while we still fill my van with people--we took six teens and adults, plus our adopted greyhound for ice cream tonight--and with stuff--dump runs and I just moved my son out of his dorm yesterday--I am dreaming of a day, soon, I hope, after I land a job (IF I ever land a job) when I will finally buy a Prius.  Or at least an extremely fuel efficient smaller car.

Gas prices?  Well, yeah, of course those bug me.  But I've had an eye on the environment for a while now.  (Haven't we all?)  Especially after speaking with all those scientists when conducting research for my climate change multi media script that I penned for the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium.  And with my recent screenplay that touches on environmental problems in the Arctic regions of Nunavut, Canada.

But I digress.  So rather than bore you with more information than you desire, I shall sign off for the evening.  And daydream of the next time I get to mow my lawn with my new reel mower...where I also benefit from the real workout it provides.

Thanks for dropping by!

Cheers,

Dana

Join us Thursday, April 17
for a Free Public Reading
of my Graduate Thesis
NIKI SWEET TALK MOVES
7 p.m.
UNH-Manchester
400 Commercial Street
3rd Floor Auditorium
Read by
Students, Staff, & Profs

Life after Graduation…People are sweet, wanting to know what I’m up to now that I’m free from the harried packet schedule of grad school. So here’s a rundown:

Job Applications are OUT: I collected my last reference letter over graduation weekend, returned home and sent out applications to EVERY commutable university and private high school position in the state (all beginning in the Fall of 2008)—even when the job was somewhat of a stretch for my credentials.

Shorts are IN: Am working on two short screenplays in anticipation of possible 2008 shoots. One is the long anticipated PROVIDER/NEXT IN LINE (The “Niki” short, as Director Mark Constance, DGA AD, and I refer to it) and the other is an all new Nathan Hale project with DGA Director Adam Jones who, last I knew, was hanging around 66th and 3rd in NYC.

Short plays are IN, too: I am writing to contest specifications for a ten-minute coffee-house setting with 2 to 4 actors. I’ll have it read next weekend at playwrights group where, as I understand it, three or more members ALSO have written plays for the contest. Yey team! I’m also trying a Hale-Jones experiment in the coffee house…can’t wait to see if it perks.

The Adjunct is IN the building: and in the classroom as of NEXT week. I’m scrambling to prepare my two classes. I’ll be teaching Image & Sound, filling in for a professor on sabbatical, so I am stressing out as I try to sort through all the material. (I do have the first five quizzes typed up and in to be copied, and I’ve sketched out the first two classes already….) And I’m teaching Media Writing for the second time ever; a few changes to the virgin syllabus from last semester, plus the AP Stylebook is newly updated, which changed seven of my ten quizzes. Ouch.

The Individual Adjunct is also IN: I’m excited to be working with a gifted writer in an Independent Study arrangement as he pens a feature-length script. I’ll be dusting off PLOWING UP A SNAKE, an adaptation of the Merle Drown novel by the same name, as I revise along with my student and exchange ten pages of script with him each week. And I’ve also begun advising on two internships—one student is at High Point Communications this semester, while the other is interning at WMUR TV. Fun!

The Son is MOVED: and onto semester number two. He has a cell phone this semester…and if he doesn’t answer my every call, he soon won’t have a cell phone this semester (consider that a warning, kiddo!). He has TWO entries in this year’s Minimalist Exhibit at the NH Institute of Art. One, in particular, is fabulous…and I’m hoping to add it to my own collection when the sale begins on the 1/17. KA-CHING!

The Daughter is pondering: whether to remain at her current high school or transfer to another. We’ll all make a decision in another two weeks. It’s rough going back and forth in the meantime. And this week she faces midterms, but she heads into them well-positioned. All A’s and B’s. She’s incredibly hard working, as also evidenced by her work schedule at the ski resort in town. Cool!

Another contest popped up this week: a flash fiction around the theme “beneath the bed.” I had just been to the dentist for a filling, an event that meant nightmares for me beforehand (I am soooo dramatic!). Guess what was under my bed in the story? We’ll see if the contest organizers think my idea has any teeth….

And I’ve been pondering an “Are we there yet?” writing prompt for Symphony Space’s latest Selected Shorts competition. I penned an essay that I enjoy, but it’s not the short story they’re looking for. I still have time, however. Who knows if it’ll come to me.

And of course I’ve been polishing NIKI SWEET TALK MOVES and am ready to move the latest draft out to my producer once the Writer’s Strike lifts. Here’s hoping that negotiations happen SOON.

In the meantime, I’m casting for the reading of NIKI SWEET TALK MOVES, to be held at UNH-M on April 17th at 7 p.m. Need to get to the character breakdowns this week and make a few calls to folks who have expressed an interest.

I’m also moving UP: to a first-floor in-home office! It’s exciting…but too much WORK. Oy. I’m hoping to be settled by the time classes start at UNH.

So that’s it. Nothing but the same old, same old, without the packet schedule. Except that a friend of mine and I ARE adhering to the packet exchange schedule in an effort to remain focused as writers. Gotta stick to that Mosley time, after all. In our G-1 semester, visiting novelist Walter Mosley advised us that if we are to succeed as writers, we must set aside at least two hours a day to devote to our craft. Preferably the same two hours each day, uninterrupted. So please refrain from contacting me between 4 and 6 a.m. Thank you!

And thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

(Photos: From the top - after uploading graduation pictures, I noticed the late afternoon sunshine casting cool shadows and making everyday objects look cool. An animated me reads behind the podium at graduation weekend. A couple more from my impromptu afternoon shooting--leftover candy canes and sun behind a stained glass star that my mom made. Finally, a pic of one of my daughter's window cling arts that she made.)

I've graduated!!!Even the ocean celebrates.

Congratulations to all of my classmates who walked and talked Sunday!

The trudge is over....

And yet it's just beginning.

Good luck 2008 graduates!

Thanks to all of you who have followed my blog all these semesters. An update as to what is next will soon follow....

Peace,
Dana

(Photo above features rocks off the coast of Cliff Island, Casco Bay, Maine, taken by my hubby; the sketch is one of my son's early drawings, one that did not make the cut of his art school portfolio, but which has always been one of my favorites.)

Happy Holidays!And all the best in the new year. Cheers!

Look outside...What? Snow. It's the great white north of New Hampshire...and there's snow. Lots of it. (Remember the McKenzie Brother's rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas where their true loves brought them lots of lovely stuff...and a beer? You can check out the lyrics here. Have fun!)

This photo's actually from last year; this year's photos are still sitting in the camera. (Oh well!) I just learned that the two companions to this picture will appear in the next issue of the Pitkin Review. I'll post the link as soon as it's ready. You're welcome....

For those of you who have been keeping tabs on my progress through Goddard, it's official: I will graduate on January 6th. Yesterday I faxed my diploma form that lists my really long writer's name, which is how I'd like the official document to read. (Hey, I earned the right to be listed as Dana Biscotti Myskowski; right?)

So what have I been doing in all my "free time" since Packet Five? I edited my screenplay again, of course. And I've been prepping to step in and teach the gen ed course Image & Sound next semester for a professor on sabbatical. I've had to dig back to my undergraduate days and even into high school days as I recall all the material. I know the students and I will have fun with the course, but I'm nervous I won't be able to prep enough in time....

And I'm finishing up this semester with my Media Writing and Intro to Screenwriting students. I have awesome students! Always do. UNH-M has the best, hardest working, most giving, supportive students I've ever met; it is a pleasure and a privilege to work with everyone there. (Hi there, Media Writing students who are visiting my site as part of this week's homework assignment! I really do mean every word I just wrote. Really!)

I'm also working with a director on a short that is coming together great. Fast, too. And I'll be working with another director soon so we can put the finishing touches on a script that I wrote for him a few years ago. I'm also getting ready if the call comes in to write for a TV show that I've been attached to for the past three years; it looks like this may be it: the time that it is picked up by a production company. It's a fabulous storyline with great characters, but I can't tell you more than that. Yet. Sorry.

I'm still working on my short scripts that together comprise my full-length stage play JOINT ACCOUNTS. It's something I began working on at Goddard and knew I'd still be writing and editing long after graduation. One of those shorts, Safety Deposit Boxes, is being performed this weekend at the New Hampshire Technical Institute (information in my blog entry below).

Plus I've started combing through my screenplay pages looking for the perfect ten-minute excerpt to read at graduation weekend. And I've thought about starting to pull together my graduation speech. Goddard: where every grad is the valedictorian. (Cool, huh?)

Alright, back to my work. Blogging is too much fun to even make my to do list.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!