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NEWS | Orcas teachers rally for education [2] COMMENTARY | Why domestic violence is a men’s issue [4] SCIENCE | A look at last winter’s weather [9] ART | Classical Funny Bones [11]
WEDNESDAY, May 27, 2015 VOL. 48, NO. 21 75¢ islandssounder.com
Dinosaur bones found on Sucia Island
Local woman helping refugees The following is being reprinted with permission from “Duke Today,” the newspaper of Duke University.
by SCOTT RASMUSSEN
Journal of the San Juans Editor
The San Juan Islands are known for orcas, pristine beaches and charming storefronts. Now dinosaurs are putting the islands on the map. As it turns out the San Juans very own Sucia Island is home to the first-ever discovery of a dinosaur fossil in Washington state. Not just any dinosaur, mind you, but one from the family of carnivorous, ferocious creatures known as theropods, which includes Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus rex and modern birds as well. “The fossil record of the west coast is very spotty when compared to the rich record of the interior of North America,” said
Photo Courtesy of the Burke Museum
L-R: Brandon Peecook, UW graduate student and Dr. Christian Sidor, Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology, show the size and placement of the fossil fragment compared to the cast of a Daspletosaurus femur. University of Washington biology grad student Brandon Peecook, who assisted the Seattle Burke Museum’s Dr. Christian Sidor, curator of vertebrate paleontology, in identifying the fossil. “This specimen, though fragmentary, gives us insight into what
the west coast was like 80 million years ago, plus it gets Washington into the dinosaur club,” said Peecook. Washington is now the 37th state where dinosaurs have been found. Sidor and Peecook’s description
of the fossil was recently published in the journal PLOS ONE. It is now on display in the lobby of the Burke Museum. The story of the fossil’s discovery gets even better.
SEE DINOSAUR, PAGE 6
Island men stand up against violence Contributed photo
by COLLEEN SMITH ARMSTRONG
At left: In 2014, Lopez High School Senior Miriam Drahn launched an awareness campaign for sexual assault with posters featuring her male classmates. It is an example of boys and men becoming part of the conversation about violence against women.
Editor/Publisher
Local men are taking a public stand in opposition to violence against women. Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of the San Juans has been holding a fundraising campaign to get 100 “stand up” men to donate $100 in tribute to a woman in their life. “This is a way for men to get involved but also be recognized for it,” said DVSAS Community Advocate Alison Sanders. “Men have been honoring daughters, mothers, partners. It's been really sweet.” Donors have until the end of May to make donations at www.dvsassanjuans.org. The campaign has not yet reached 100 men. Donors and the woman they are honoring will have their name published in the paper and on the DVSAS website and will receive a handmade card. The contribution will go toward safety plan-
ning tools and counseling services for victims and prevention outreach in the schools. “The campaign was our Director Kim Bryan's idea. We always wanted to do it around Mother's Day,” said Sanders. “With the start of the men's action group on San Juan Island, it seemed like there was a lot of movement around mobilizing men. It's something that all
agencies are trying to push.” Richard Lowe, who is the only male victims advocate for DVSAS, is leading the men's action group. They've been meeting for a few months to plan upcoming projects. There are 12 group members who range from community leaders to business owners to elected officials. Every Friday they are on the courthouse lawn with signs and hand-outs. “It's about men approaching men,” he said. “We want to be an example to other men to stop being the silent gender. It's not a gender
SEE MEN, PAGE 7
When a boat full of refugees bound for Italy capsized in the Mediterranean last month, killing hundreds, it didn’t feel like a distant crisis to Duke University junior Emma Smith. “Every single person on that boat left a whole life behind in their home country,” Smith said. “Every one of them has a story.” Smith, an international comparative studies major, immersed herself in such stories last spring and summer as she worked with refugees in Italy, Spain and Morocco. Spotting a need, she designed a LinkedIn page where refugees in Europe could network. She also created a curriculum to
SEE SMITH, PAGE 7
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