Opinion II
Roswell Daily Record
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
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It’s science time at the Roswell Public Library Book talk
By Loretta Clark Roswell Public Library Chris Harrell, the Singing Scientist, will be sharing songs about how Superheroes use the principles of force and motion to “Save the Day.” In addition to Superheroes, this kid friendly program will introduce a multitude of scientific concepts through songs and fun demonstrations of science activities. His free performances will be held at the Roswell Public Library, 301 N. Pennsylvania Ave., on Wednesday at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Chris is an “edu-tainer” who writes, sings and performs hands-on science songs for curious minds. His hands-on science program encourages the young and the young at heart to be curious; proving that science may be both educational and entertaining. The program will be held in the library’s Bondurant Room. By order of the fire marshal, attendance is limited to 150 people on a first come basis. Chris’ visit is part of the “Every Hero Has a Story” summer reading adventure. Be a reading hero and take time this summer to read for fun and knowledge. As an incentive to read, save the date due receipt you receive when checking out books from the library and return the slip at the prize cart to select from a variety of prizes. On the back of the
Kral
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just a few years ago. Israel is actually drought proof and has so much extra fresh water that it is now supplying its neighbors, even the ones that are hurling rockets at them. Back here at home, there is a grandiose idea in New Mexico to divert water from the Gila River, west of the Continental Divide, to the east side. This proposal would require a diversion structure and some combination of a pumping station, a power station, a massive pipeline, canal system, an off-stream dam reservoir and a huge price tag. When asked in a June 2013 poll which approaches the residents would prefer to address the state’s water situation, New Mexican’s overwhelmingly supported alternatives to diversions.
Dr. K
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need to stop playing sports for a while, or wear a cast or brace for several weeks. Surgery is rarely needed. Finally, talk to your daughter’s gymnastics coach. Check to see that your daughter is using sports equipment appropriately and has proper technique. Her coach may
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left 10,000 troops in Iraq that would tie us down.” Obama’s ill-considered decision in 2011 left the Iraqi people to the ten-
receipt, note your name and the number of hours spent reading or listening to books. Reading to a child brings double enjoyment and prizes. For information on the summer reading adventure, along with all of the other library resources and services, visit the Library or go to roswellpubliclibrary.org. Reference librarians are available to assist patrons in answering questions and locating books and other materials. The library offers many “edu-taining” programs for all ages. Computers are an important aspect of life in today’s world. However, not everyone is proficient in their use. An Intermediate Computer class sharing information on e-mail, word processing and Internet use and safety will be held tonight at 6 p.m. A repeat of the class will also be held on Saturday at 10 a.m. These classes will aid people who own a computer but need to learn more about their uses, as well as patrons who rely on the Library’s computers. Please register in advance so the Library may better accommodate your needs and interests. Contact the librarian at the reference desk to register. Registration may be made in person or by phoning 622-7101. Recycling treated wastewater would be a better approach, but the Interstate Stream Commission voted for the diversion project anyway. Congratulations to UTEP for their second place contest finish in the Desal Prize ($600,000), designing a clean water solution for brackish water. Now they have some funding to take their design to a pilot project here in New Mexico, which has plenty of brackish water. Without new technology, the alternatives for fresh water are to do nothing, hope for the best, pray for rain or spend $1B for water diversions. Reference link: haaretz. com/life/nature-environment/1.596270. Martin Kral is retired and lives in Roswell. He spent 30 years in the computer industry and now takes science and technology online courses through the MOOC program. also be able to modify the intensity of her training. Also ask your daughter’s pediatrician if it would be valuable for a physical therapist to teach your daughter some exercises to strengthen the leg muscle. Dr. Komaroff is a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. To send questions, go to AskDoctorK.com, or write: Ask Doctor K, 10 Shattuck St., Second Floor, Boston, MA 02115. der mercies of ISIS. And because he has failed to contain the gathering threat ISIS represents, he will leave his successor a bigger mess than he inherited from Bush. Reprinted from the Orange County Register
“Steampunk Society growing with Roswell youth” was the headline of a recent article in Vision Magazine. Nancy Schummer, Teen Librarian, encourages Steampunk enthusiasts to come to the library for books that are inspired by gears and clockwork, steam and gaslight, keys and inventions as well as elegant Victorian fashion often with goggles. A search in the library’s online catalog using steampunk as a word or phrase shows three screens of titles. Nancy begins with a few of the fictional titles. Adrienne Kress’ “The Friday Society” introduces three dashing teenage heroines: Cora, lab assistant; Michiko, Japanese fight assistant; and Nellie, magician’s assistant. The three young women’s lives become intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man. They attempt to solve the murder and other crimes they believe may be connected. When mysterious villains and monsters begin to stalk the streets of London, they team up to bring an end to the reign of terror. Richard Harland’s “Song of the Slums” takes place in the middle of the Age of Steam. Astor thinks she is engaged to a scion of the fabulously wealthy Swale family. She expected to live a ladylike life of quiet lux-
ury; instead she has been pressed into service as a governess to the odious Swale children and treated with contempt within the household. She connects with Verrol who is part of Granny Rose’s Gang and also a part her musical band, The Rowdies. They are playing a new kind of music, with pounding rhythms and wild guitars. Their rock ‘n roll could change the course of history. Astor and Verrol use their musical talents to join the band. Harland’s gaslight romance remains engaging and will hold readers’ attention to its suspenseful end. Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series is available as e-Books and includes “Leviathan,” “Behemoth” and “Goliath.” In an alternate 1914 Europe, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated. Their son, fifteen-year-old Prince Alek, is on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery. He forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts. There are exciting and sometimes violent fight sequences and Westerfeld’s brilliantly constructed imaginary world, enhanced by Thompson’s intricate black-and-white illustrations, will capture reader’s imagination. Other fiction books include Lisa Mantchev’s
“Ticker,” Andrea Cremer’s “The Inventor’s Secret,” Cassandra Clare’s “Infernal Devices” series, Tiffany Trents’s “The Unnaturalists” and “The Tinker King,” or Y.S. Lee’s “The Agency” series. There is also a musical CD, “Steampunk Experiment: Mechanical Cabaret.” For the dedicated followers who want to create their own items; check out the following non-fiction titles. “How to Draw Steampunk,” “Semiprecious Salvage: Creating FoundArt Jewelry,” “Rejuvenated Jewels: New Designs from Vintage Treasures” or “The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature.”
What’s happening?
Tweens, ages 10, 11 and 12, are invited be creative during the special craft program held each Thursday, at 2 p.m. during the summer reading adventure. This week, tweens will decorate wooden plaques. They will have a choice of styles of wooden plaques to enhance with various embellishments and colored permanent markers. The program is free and all materials will be provided, including a ribbon or cord to hang the plaque. The session is limited to 24 participants and numbered cards are handed out on first come first serve basis to the first 24 arrivals. No
late arrivals will be admitted. Heroes come in all shapes, sizes and abilities, especially Dads. Father’s Day honors dads and the 2 p.m. Saturday storytime will celebrate dads of all kinds. The stories might feature “Daddy is My Hero,” “Blue-ribbon Dad,” “Don’t Wake the Baby,” “Guess How Much I Love You” or “Fix It.” Children arriving in the first 15 minutes of the program are invited to the related craft session. All materials are provided but the quantities of some craft items may be limited.
Books Again
Sizzling hot reads at cool prices will be found at Books Again used book store, 404 W. Second St. Fiction and non-fiction hardback books for all ages are $2 each. Softbound and larger paperback books are $1 each, while mass market paperback books are 25 cents each. Books on cassette are $1 and books on CD are $5 each. DVDs and musical CDs are $3 each. Videos and VHS cassettes of movies for children and adults are 25 cents. Books Again is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. The store is operated by Friends of the library volunteers and all proceeds are used to benefit the library. Parking is behind the store. Find titles to enjoy at home or to take on vacation.
Clinton seeks ‘high quality preschool’ for all 4-year-olds ROCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton promised Monday to dramatically expand education opportunities for young children, vowing to make “high quality preschool” available for all 4-year-old children in the next ten years. The Democratic candidate for president focused the first major policy proposal of her campaign on universal pre-K education — an issue championed both by liberal voices in her party, as well as by more conservative governors in Republican-led states, including Texas. “You shouldn’t think of childcare as just a place to deposit your kids — a warehouse,” Clinton said while campaigning in Rochester, New Hamp shire. “We should invest in programs to address the needs of parents and children.” Speaking to an audience of parents and children at
a YMCA early childhood education center, Clinton offered a first glimpse at her education platform, saying she would double both federal funds and grants for Head Start programs and propose a tax cut to help parents with the costs of raising children under the age of 3. She also linked affordable childcare to what she called a need for better programs to help with mental health and substance abuse — two other policy focuses of her early campaign. “We have to extend every program, every tax break, everything we do to people who are taking care of kids,” she said, speaking to a grandmother at the center who said she was raising her grandchildren because of addiction problems in her family. “Whatever I propose you will be eligible for,” Clinton added. Clinton has long pushed
AP Photo
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with a group of pre-schoolers during a campaign stop Monday in Rochester, N.H. for expanding educational opportunities for young children, starting a program at her family foundation to improve the health and well-beings of children under age 5. In New Hampshire, she turned her advocacy into slam on her potential GOP rivals. She said Republicans in Congress had cut
f u n d i n g f o r e a r l y e d ucation programs in their recent budget, saying they prioritized hedge fund investors and oil companies over children. “Did they cut subsidies to oil companies? Did they cut tax loopholes?” she said. “The Republicans took care of those at the top and cut the kids.”
July 4th events to recall bold 1965 gay rights protest PHILADELPHIA (AP) — On the Fourth of July 50 years ago, when homosexuality was considered a mental illness and a same-sex couple’s public declaration of love put their lives and livelihoods at risk, about 40 people took a stand by staging a peaceful protest in front of Independence Hall. Philadelphia’s Independence Day festivities this year will include the usual concert, fireworks, parade and public reading of the Declaration of Independence, but will also mark the city’s important place in the history of America’s gay rights movement with events billed as the 50th anniversary of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement. While these weren’t the first public protests for gay rights, nor were very large when compared with demonstrations that came later, many LGBT activists say they are worthy of being celebrated as stepping stones to
1969’s Stonewall riots in New York City, a turning point in gay rights. Philadelphia participant John S. James, now 74, said he was relieved when no one staged a counterprotest that day. Still, the mood of the time was summed up by the comments an ice cream vendor made to him. “He said something like, ‘I never thought I’d be doing this,’ and it was obvious he meant doing business with homosexuals,” said James, who now lives in an LGBT-friendly senior apartment building in Philadelphia. James didn’t want his photo taken that day for fear of losing his government job. Yet among the images is one of James holding a sign that says, “Homosexual citizens want their right to make their maximum contribution to society.” James kept his position — possibly because there was very little media attention given to that march and the ones that followed. “What they were potentially subject-
ing themselves to far outweighed the benefits,” said Malcolm Lazin, executive director of the nonprofit LGBT rights organization Equality Forum. “At the time, there were at most 200 people in the U.S. who identified as gay activists. Very few gay people were willing to rock the boat, because it could always get worse.” Over the four years that followed the protest, a growing number of people took part in the “Annual Reminders” outside America’s birthplace, where both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were debated and signed. Even their supporters thought they “were out of their minds,” said Lazin, who is organizing a series of events over the holiday week to mark the half-century anniversary of the protest, which is also recalled in a state historical marker that went up a decade ago.