“Katharine McPhee's Birthday Philosophy: Skip the Gym! - People” plus 3 more |
- Katharine McPhee's Birthday Philosophy: Skip the Gym! - People
- New David Douglas superintendent Don Grotting says his ... - Oregonian
- J. Witty: Organic chamomile liqueur made in Portland - Examiner
- Brain unable to understand existence of God: expert - Vancouver Sun
| Katharine McPhee's Birthday Philosophy: Skip the Gym! - People Posted: 27 Mar 2010 06:54 AM PDT  Albert Michael/Startraks "My trainer texted me to come to the gym and do weights today," she tells PEOPLE. "But I just laughed. 'Haha, very funny. I ain't coming to the gym on my birthday!'" McPhee wanted – and got – the mellow day she had hoped for. "I'm more of a homebody," she says. "I'm not one to make a big deal about birthdays." So after sleeping in till 10 a.m., she decorated Easter eggs over lunch at the Pepsi Refresh cafe (which raised money for her favorite charity, Feeding America), where she enjoyed a chocolate cake. Then she visited her voice teacher and dug into a plate of Gorgonzola gnocchi for dinner with husband Nick Cokas and her mom at her favorite local Italian restaurant, L.A.'s Panzenella. Last stop of the day: British jazz-pop artist Jamie Cullum's show at the Wiltern Theater in L.A., where a mutual friend introduced McPhee to fellow concertgoer Clint Eastwood. "I kept my composure," she says. "I really enjoyed the show, and meeting Clint was a plus." The gifts weren't too shabby either. While Mom got her two crystal chandeliers, her husband of two years followed up on an early present – a custom-made pave diamond initial necklace – with something more practical: gym clothes. "He is so funny," she says. "I am the worst-dressed person at my gym. I always look like I'm in my pajamas, so he got me a bunch of proper gym clothes." McPhee, whose sophomore album Unbroken was released in January, says so far 26 "feels great." "I've had some years where I've woken up and I'm like, 'I'm so old,' and I'm not. People thinking 22 is old is unfortunately part of growing up in Hollywood," she says. "I'm not concerned with the number. I don't feel any different." Next up for American Idol's season 5 runner-up, who starred in The House Bunny and recently guest-starred on NBC's Community: The network's new comedy pilot The Pink House, where she'll play a girl-next-door pharmaceutical rep. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| New David Douglas superintendent Don Grotting says his ... - Oregonian Posted: 27 Mar 2010 06:04 AM PDT By Kimberly Melton, The OregonianMarch 27, 2010, 6:08AM View full sizeDon Grotting Don Grotting is moving west, leaving the eastern edge of Oregon to become superintendent of the David Douglas School District on July 1. For the past 10 years, Grotting has led the 1,200-student Nyssa district. Grotting hasn't traveled the typical road of most education leaders. After graduating from Coquille High School, Grotting entered the military and spent three years in Germany before returning to work for the Georgia-Pacific plywood plant in Coquille. After 13 years, the plant closed, and Grotting, then 33, debated what he wanted to do next. Encouraged by friends and having worked as a coach, Grotting decided to return to school to become a teacher. He jokes that he and his eldest son, Josh, often did trigonometry and other homework together. Grotting received his bachelor's degree in three years from Linfield College and took his first teaching job in Powers. From there, Grotting's rise to administration was swift. While teaching, he worked on his master's degree, spending summers at Portland State University. After two years teaching, he became the superintendent in Powers, where he stayed for six years before moving to Nyssa. Age: 53 Grotting recently fielded questions about his experiences in Nyssa, his education philosophy and his decision to come to David Douglas. His responses have been edited for brevity and clarity. Family: Wife, Lisa; sons, Josh, 33, and Conner, 18; daughters, Kim, 30, and Kennedy, 12 Education: Undergraduate degree in elementary education from Linfield College; master's degree in education from Portland State University Hobbies: Watching kids participate in athletics, coaching, fishing, buying and selling classic cars Gold star: In 2005, Nyssa became the first school district in Oregon presented with a Closing the Achievement Gap Award by the Oregon Department of Education. About 60 percent of Nyssa's students are Latino, and nearly 70 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. But those students' successes come close to mirroring those of their white counterparts. In 2008-09, more than 70 percent of low-income students met state benchmarks in reading and math. Nyssa has gained state and national recognition for the success that you've had serving students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. What's been the key to doing that? Other than being in the service, where I was able to experience a lot of diversity, I had never really been exposed to that until I came to Nyssa. But I had firsthand experiences with poverty. I grew up in a poor family -- six kids -- and we did not have indoor plumbing until I was a sophomore in high school. Part of it is being able to recognize that a lot of these students come to us with a lot of different issues especially if they're coming from poverty. Giving these kids skills to succeed is really important to me. We're 60 percent Hispanic, and it's been an absolutely great experience for me. Regardless of race, socioeconomic status, I believe that every child has an unlimited capacity to learn. I believed it when I went to Nyssa. Once that belief is carried out through the staff, it resonated with students, who started achieving and going beyond what people expected of them. I have a philosophy -- no excuses. There may be barriers as to why certain populations don't achieve. But we don't make excuses because of one's socioeconomic status or race. I have had multiple opportunities to go to many districts, but I had a loyalty here. I believe a superintendent needs to stay six or seven years just to see some of the things put in place will be sustained and not short-lived. But I think it was time to get back west. My son and daughter-in-law teach in Sutherlin. I have a daughter in Hood River and a son going to the University of Oregon. There were several districts open in the Willamette Valley. We visited David Douglas, talked to employees and called past administrators and teachers. I decided to put in my application. I was interviewing them as much as they were interviewing me. The board was very upfront with me with what some of the challenges were and the direction they would like to head. They want that connection with all aspects and parts of the community so they do feel they are connected to David Douglas. The pressure's on me. How have you been able to take the idea of believing in students and transform that into action and achievement growth in the classroom? I have lots of people come from all over Oregon to find out what our silver bullet is. The silver bullet is believing in kids and doing the best you can with the resources that you have. That's the silver bullet if you can get that belief system throughout the community, throughout the staff. Once that's there, kids feel connected and they do absolutely amazing. I'm not saying that education strategies don't help break down some of the barriers. It is pretty amazing what we're expected to do. In Nyssa, 40 percent of kindergarten kids come in not speaking English. We do not have a dual language program. But, when I walk in towards the end of the year and kids are reading in English, I'm amazed at the work the staff does. The strategies are important. We double-dose kids with reading and sometimes math. But none of those strategies would work if the kids didn't have the belief system that we care about them. A lot of people talk a good game. But the accountability is to look at the test scores and how kids feel through formal and informal assessments. If it's not really happening, it's not going to show up in the scores.
Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| J. Witty: Organic chamomile liqueur made in Portland - Examiner Posted: 27 Mar 2010 02:39 PM PDT The Oregon spirits scene is one of the hottest in the country right now, with micro-distilleries popping up all over the place. It's a heady time for all...and it makes Portland the epicenter for consumption of all those delectable products---usually in cocktails concocted by the local mixologists! Enter J. Witty, a worldly and well traveled restaurateur who is consumed by an interest in good taste derived from natural products. After several years of exhaustive experimentation and persistence Witty managed to come up with a perfect concoction that not only uses all natural products, but also expresses a unique flavor statement. Where most liqueurs are mass-produced by large corporations and generally (okay, almost exclusively) use synthetic chemicals and manufactured essences on top of the simplest and cheapest of grain neutral spirits (translation: as little flavor as possible, made as cheaply as possible), Witty insists on top quality organic botanical components. But when the philosophy is stripped away, and only the flavor is left, the flavor becomes the most important thing. So how does the J. Witty organic chamomile liqueur taste? Pretty darned good! Witty wisely elected to stay relatively low on the sugar scale---it tastes a lot closer to the 2.5% minimum than the 35% maximum sugar allowed---and perhaps more important, it's a softer, gentler style of sweetening from agave nectar and cane sugar that is in harmony with the pleasantly delicate aromas and flavors of the chamomile and spice base. This would be perfect as a light, slightly sweet, delicate after-dinner drink, or used judiciously to enhance and expand the flavor of a cocktail. On a side note, and circling back to the original philosophy espoused by Witty, the chamomile dregs left after fermentation and distillation are provided to local Portland gardeners as a fragrant compost, thereby completing the cycle back to the earth! So, good quality, responsibly made, and totally sustainable. What more could you ask of a liqueur? Perhaps, another serving? Oh, and the next time your Great Great Aunt Genevieve smiles as she gently sips her chamomile tea---you might look at what she sweetened it with. For more information on this delicious organic chamomile liqueur, go to check out their website. You should be able find out where to buy it, and there are some great cocktail recipes and ideas to stimulate your own creativity. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Brain unable to understand existence of God: expert - Vancouver Sun Posted: 27 Mar 2010 12:59 PM PDT OTTAWA — One of the world's foremost neuroscientists is about to tell some of the world's foremost theologians the bad news: God may exist, but the human brain is simply not capable of knowing that for sure. Georg Northoff, research director of Mind, Brain Imaging, and Neuroethics at the University of Ottawa's Institute of Mental Health Research, will speak March 23 to several hundred theologians at the University of Marburg, in Germany. The 500-year-old school has produced such towering intellects as theologian Paul Tillich and philosopher Martin Heidegger. Northoff, internationally recognized for his research into brain function, will be the only scientist to speak to the group. "We will never be able to answer the existence of God," he said this week from his office at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. "There is a limit because of the way the brain functions. (That) limit . . . is the price we to pay for consciousness. "We can research the neuro-mechanism into belief, but we cannot say anything about God. That's where we have to go to philosophy." To any theologian, or simple man of faith, the fact that science doesn't have all the answers seems laughably self-evident. But Northoff points out that all our thoughts and feelings, even a transcendent sense of holiness, ultimately emanates from a big, wet, physical brain trapped in a hard skull. The brain is built to focus entirely on the threats and pleasures of its immediate environment — attacking lions, lovely young mating partners — and can never escape to see the larger picture. It cannot see beyond its own life without dying. It cannot even look at itself without ending up in a surreal fractal loop of the mind examining itself, examining itself as it examines itself ad infinitum. "I would never deny the feelings (of the faithful)," said Northoff. "But what I would deny is that the content of his feelings, God in this case, exists independent of him. That is something that is beyond his knowledge." Northoff thinks his reception at next week's meeting may be a little chilly but it could be worse. "Many colleagues of mine say all belief is b----- and everything is the brain," he said. "I'm not saying that, I have an open position." In his clinical work, Northoff has found people with strong religious beliefs are not as prone to suicide, because they have a sense of obligation to God. He had one patient in a deep depression who had nagging doubts about God, "but on the other hand it was the only thing that kept her alive." As a young doctor, a psychotic punched him and knocked him down, outraged that anyone would treat Jesus with such disrespect as to suggest he was suffering a mental illness. Two other psychotics both claimed they were God — and each thought the other was clearly delusional. Northoff finds spiritual practices can help in some mental illnesses, and he believes it would be worthwhile to study the meaning of religion from a sociological or anthropological point of view. He has done research on brain activity in people who react emotionally to something positive or negative — a picture of a gun, or a smiling baby, or a prayer. Of course, religious people reacted to the prayer. But what does that really mean? From a neurological point of view, what is faith? What is belief? What happens when it goes away? He was raised Catholic, but no longer practises. "There was a certain coziness, which is lost, an emotional coziness. On the other hand, you substitute it by other things. For me, all this research, and philosophy are as important for me." Northoff arrived in Ottawa last year, a major catch for the research institute. "He's one of the top psychiatry researchers in the world," said chief executive officer Zul Merali. Northoff, who holds doctorates in both neuroscience and philosophy, holds two prestigious Canadian research chairs simultaneously: Canada research chair in mind, brain imaging and neuroethics, and the ELJB-CIHR Michael Smith chair in neurosciences and mental health. The chairs carry with them more than $3 million in funding over the next seven years. He will be advancing the new technology of brain imaging, which allows the conscious mind to be studied scientifically. Ottawa Citizen Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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