Published in the Current
Cumberland County YMCA officials have agreed that plans for a YMCA in Scarborough should move ahead, though a location and the services to be offered have yet to be decided.
In a meeting with Town Councilor Mark Maroon and YMCA supporters and residents, Steve Ives and Gary O’Donnell, representatives of the YMCA national organization, released the results of a survey of Scarborough community members.
“The report is highly satisfactory,” said Dave Thompson, executive director of the Cumberland County YMCA, which would be the parent organization of a Scarborough Y.
The report indicates that not only is Scarborough in need of Y-type services, such as a pool, senior activities and children’s programs, but that the money-raising potential to support a Y is in place, Thompson said.
But he noted that the process is still in the very early stages.
“We’re not anywhere near saying where it’s going to be or what it’s going to look like,” Thompson said.
The next step will be for volunteers and Y board members, including Thompson, to come up with a timetable for the process.
“We’re going to take baby steps in it so we do it well,” he said.
Initially, some community programs will begin in the near future, at the same time as initial fund-raising efforts are made to raise the $250,000 needed to launch a major capital campaign.
Such a campaign would provide the money needed to build a Y, and could take three or four years to complete. Thompson is optimistic about the potential success of such an effort. “If the community wants (a Y), they’re going to be out in force to get it,” he said.
Part of that effort will be approaching people in town who could make major contributions to the effort. But he said the campaign would not include just the town of Scarborough. “The Y doesn’t belong to any municipality,” Thompson said.
Town Manager Ron Owens said, “it’s no surprise that there is enough interest and support here for a YMCA.”
“The critical next step is the need to raise the $250,000 to just get things underway. We’re just in the initial phases now, but I think that the town would be happy to provide the land,” Owens added.
“It will be up to the Y to do all the hiring and the staffing and the fundraising, including any use of corporate sponsors,” Owens said.
“I believe the Y could be the core for future programs whether for the youth, the seniors or the middle-aged. The town would definitely be interested in creating a partnership with the Y where we would try to meet most of the needs of those in town. My understanding is that the Y would offer exercise spaces, community meeting rooms, programming and of course the pool,” Owens said.
“Having a Y here would just be another thing that would keep the town an attractive place. We offer a lot here and the Y would add to that feeling that Scarborough is a good place to locate your business or your family,” he added.
Mark Maroon, a town councilor who made clear he is involved with the Y project as a citizen of Scarborough, and not as a councilor, said he was pleased to hear support not only for a Y but also for existing community services. “Most people believe that there could be a comfortable meshing between the two,” he said.
Maroon said he is opposed to spending town dollars on the Y project, preferring to let funds be raised from private contributions. He said it remained unclear how the town might contribute to the Y effort.
He added that people wanting to participate in the planning process should get in touch with him or Gary O’Donnell to express interest.
Thursday, April 11, 2002
Thursday, April 4, 2002
Cape teacher up for top honors
Published in the Current
Kelly Hasson teaches first grade at Cape Elizabeth’s Pond Cove School, and the staff has recognized her for her work by nominating her for the Maine Teacher of the Year award. But she’s not getting a big head about it.
The 18-year veteran of Cape schools said, “I think of this honor as representing everyone here.” She added, “My colleagues are amazing.”
She is now one of 10 regional finalists, who will be narrowed down to four before the award is presented in a surprise ceremony in September.
“Teacher recognition is difficult,” said Tom Eismeier, the school’s principal. It’s hard to make sure all the people who do great work get noticed, he said. But the school’s teachers, at the request of several parents, nominated Hasson, the first such nomination from Pond Cove in recent memory.
“It means a lot more coming from parents and colleagues,” Hasson said.
At a recognition ceremony March 14 in the Hall of Flags in the Maine Statehouse, Hasson got to meet the other 22 nominees for the award. She also got to talk to legislators, and received a certificate from Gov. Angus King and state Education Commissioner Duke Albanese.
The wide range of students of each of the teachers didn’t seem to matter much, Hasson said. “There is a common thread to help children learn,” she said.
Hasson credits other teachers and the district’s administrators for their help in her work, including efforts for teacher professional development.
“There’s just an incredible amount of support for that,” Hasson said.
But she has had to work to get this far. She had to write essays on several aspects of education, taking time to reflect on what she does and why, she said.
“I had to really think about what I represent,” she said.
Colleagues, parents, and even a former student, now in third grade, wrote recommendations.
“The whole process has been really uplifting,” Hasson said.
She loves teaching first grade. “There’s so much growth that happens,” she said.
The big issue, she said, is literacy. “Reading and writing is integral to all aspects of learning,” Hasson said.
But larger than that, she said, is “my mission to instill a love of learning at a very early age. I believe everyone can learn.”
And she’s learning how much Cape values her, too. “I’ve been so touched by the support,” Hasson said.
Kelly Hasson teaches first grade at Cape Elizabeth’s Pond Cove School, and the staff has recognized her for her work by nominating her for the Maine Teacher of the Year award. But she’s not getting a big head about it.
The 18-year veteran of Cape schools said, “I think of this honor as representing everyone here.” She added, “My colleagues are amazing.”
She is now one of 10 regional finalists, who will be narrowed down to four before the award is presented in a surprise ceremony in September.
“Teacher recognition is difficult,” said Tom Eismeier, the school’s principal. It’s hard to make sure all the people who do great work get noticed, he said. But the school’s teachers, at the request of several parents, nominated Hasson, the first such nomination from Pond Cove in recent memory.
“It means a lot more coming from parents and colleagues,” Hasson said.
At a recognition ceremony March 14 in the Hall of Flags in the Maine Statehouse, Hasson got to meet the other 22 nominees for the award. She also got to talk to legislators, and received a certificate from Gov. Angus King and state Education Commissioner Duke Albanese.
The wide range of students of each of the teachers didn’t seem to matter much, Hasson said. “There is a common thread to help children learn,” she said.
Hasson credits other teachers and the district’s administrators for their help in her work, including efforts for teacher professional development.
“There’s just an incredible amount of support for that,” Hasson said.
But she has had to work to get this far. She had to write essays on several aspects of education, taking time to reflect on what she does and why, she said.
“I had to really think about what I represent,” she said.
Colleagues, parents, and even a former student, now in third grade, wrote recommendations.
“The whole process has been really uplifting,” Hasson said.
She loves teaching first grade. “There’s so much growth that happens,” she said.
The big issue, she said, is literacy. “Reading and writing is integral to all aspects of learning,” Hasson said.
But larger than that, she said, is “my mission to instill a love of learning at a very early age. I believe everyone can learn.”
And she’s learning how much Cape values her, too. “I’ve been so touched by the support,” Hasson said.
Injured owl released in Cape
Published in the Current
A barred owl, blinded in one eye after being hit by a car Feb. 17, was released into the wild in Cape Elizabeth March. 28 by a volunteer from the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick.
Also present at the release were Kathy Hewins and Laurie Littlejohn, who were the driver and passenger, respectively, in the car that hit the owl. The bird was released near where the accident occurred, as Hewins, Littlejohn and others cheered.
When the owl was hit, Hewins stopped the car and Littlejohn was able to pick up the owl and cradle it in her arms while Hewins drove home, where they called the Center for Wildlife.
That evening, the two drove the bird to the Scarborough home of center volunteer, Nancy Robinson. The following morning, Robinson took the owl to the center, where it stayed until the day of its release.
The bird was blinded in its left eye in the accident, but its other eye, also injured, healed fully, Robinson said.
When released, the bird flew out of Robinson’s arms and up into a nearby tree, where it stayed for a few minutes before flying a bit farther into a stand of trees. Over the next several minutes, the owl flew deeper into the trees and out of view of the road.
Owls hit by cars are not uncommon in Cape, Robinson said, and their territorial nature means they have a good chance of survival, if they are released in their home area, she said.
A barred owl, blinded in one eye after being hit by a car Feb. 17, was released into the wild in Cape Elizabeth March. 28 by a volunteer from the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick.
Also present at the release were Kathy Hewins and Laurie Littlejohn, who were the driver and passenger, respectively, in the car that hit the owl. The bird was released near where the accident occurred, as Hewins, Littlejohn and others cheered.
When the owl was hit, Hewins stopped the car and Littlejohn was able to pick up the owl and cradle it in her arms while Hewins drove home, where they called the Center for Wildlife.
That evening, the two drove the bird to the Scarborough home of center volunteer, Nancy Robinson. The following morning, Robinson took the owl to the center, where it stayed until the day of its release.
The bird was blinded in its left eye in the accident, but its other eye, also injured, healed fully, Robinson said.
When released, the bird flew out of Robinson’s arms and up into a nearby tree, where it stayed for a few minutes before flying a bit farther into a stand of trees. Over the next several minutes, the owl flew deeper into the trees and out of view of the road.
Owls hit by cars are not uncommon in Cape, Robinson said, and their territorial nature means they have a good chance of survival, if they are released in their home area, she said.
Final Mile prepares to double staff
Published in Interface Tech News
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. ‹ Final Mile Communications has relocated its headquarters from Newington, N.H. to the Pease Tradeport.
As a result of the new location's increased space, additional services, and simplified logistics, the company expects to double its staff this year, beginning in April.
A new network operations center (NOC) to be constructed at Pease should be operational in late summer 2002, according to company spokesman Frank Budelman.
The search for the space began in late 2001, and has only now concluded with the departure of another company from Pease. The location is good for the company's communications and travel needs, Budelman said, providing easier access to highways for service technicians and other transportation infrastructure for shipping and receiving.
Final Mile spun out of Cabletron in the fall of 1999 and serves schools, colleges, hospitals, law firms, and other clients with high-capacity data networks, by providing wiring, collocation, and network maintenance.
When the NOC is completed, Budelman said, the company should be able to offer more services to more clients, with increased efficiency. "We'll be able to do everything to the desktop," he added.
Increased IT services are the next target for Final Mile, as well as expanding the company's client base. Budelman said the privately held company's position is solid, with around $10 million in annual revenue.
"We're in business and we don't plan to go out of business," he said. Staffing increases, he said, would be incremental based on the size of projects in the works.
Reports from the Aberdeen Group released in 2001 indicate not only that IT spending will climb by about 10 percent annually through 2005, but that field service support will be increasingly important to companies, whether they outsource or provide in-house services.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. ‹ Final Mile Communications has relocated its headquarters from Newington, N.H. to the Pease Tradeport.
As a result of the new location's increased space, additional services, and simplified logistics, the company expects to double its staff this year, beginning in April.
A new network operations center (NOC) to be constructed at Pease should be operational in late summer 2002, according to company spokesman Frank Budelman.
The search for the space began in late 2001, and has only now concluded with the departure of another company from Pease. The location is good for the company's communications and travel needs, Budelman said, providing easier access to highways for service technicians and other transportation infrastructure for shipping and receiving.
Final Mile spun out of Cabletron in the fall of 1999 and serves schools, colleges, hospitals, law firms, and other clients with high-capacity data networks, by providing wiring, collocation, and network maintenance.
When the NOC is completed, Budelman said, the company should be able to offer more services to more clients, with increased efficiency. "We'll be able to do everything to the desktop," he added.
Increased IT services are the next target for Final Mile, as well as expanding the company's client base. Budelman said the privately held company's position is solid, with around $10 million in annual revenue.
"We're in business and we don't plan to go out of business," he said. Staffing increases, he said, would be incremental based on the size of projects in the works.
Reports from the Aberdeen Group released in 2001 indicate not only that IT spending will climb by about 10 percent annually through 2005, but that field service support will be increasingly important to companies, whether they outsource or provide in-house services.
Friday, March 29, 2002
Innovation and adaptation keep Mac strong
Published in ComputorEdge
Five years ago, in early 1997, things were looking really bad for Apple and for Macintosh computers. That year, the company lost hundreds of milllions of dollars and Apple nay-sayers everywhere saw a company in its death throes. People I encountered in my daily life as a techie always asked me when Apple would go under.
What I tried to show them was a company that had already taken a major step along the road to its recovery. While 1997 wasn’t a year any Mac friend wants to repeat, it was the “getting worse before it gets better” part of a comeback story. For those who, like me, had done tech support for Macs since the early 1990s, there was a bit of faith and a lot of hope.
We only had to wait a year for something to point to. In 1998, the iMac was the best-selling computer in the world for four months, helping the company post four profitable quarters for the first time ever.
In an industry where corporate turnarounds had previously taken years, even decades, Apple moved quickly and decisively. The company retreated from an overextended development and marketing position, back to its core product line, and further solidified its technology. Then Apple took the battle to the PCs, offering for actual purchase processor speeds and device communications the Wintel world had been promising for years.
In1997, Apple enthusiasts saw several major housecleaning steps that paved the way for the company’s return. The new G3 chip was the catalyst. It startled everyone—including Apple—with its speed superiority over the Pentium II and Pentium MMX chips, released earlier that year.
Mac loyalists were thrilled. No longer were Mac-vs.-PC discussions limited to interface. We could brag that Mac processors handily outdid Pentium-series chips in computing speed tests, even as clock speeds remained very close.
And then Apple leveraged U.S. Justice Department action against Microsoft, scoring $150 million from Bill Gates to make sure Apple didn’t fail and leave Microsoft as an undisputed monopoly. Also part of the deal was a guarantee that Microsoft Office would be available for the Mac, ensuring easier file exchange between platforms.
Further simplification was in the air at Apple. In early 1998, the company cut its product lines, reducing the confusing array of printers, monitors and CPUs to a reasonable level. That move eliminated long explanations to budgetary bean-counters (all using PCs) when you were trying to outfit a lab.
With the release of the iMac in mid-1998, Apple again stepped far ahead of its Wintel competition with a three-prong, one-box attack. The iMac left behind the slow, low-capacity floppy-disk drive. It added Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectivity, with true plug-and-play, features PC makers had been talking about for years.
And the iMac declared the maturity of the computer as a product, by changing its color. Before a product reaches maturity, what it is matters far more than its appearance. But when iMacs were unveiled, with a new form factor and bright colors, computers became items to display in a home, rather than conceal in a drawer or under a desk. Buying peripherals was no longer just a question of finding the right speed for a CD writer. Now you had to match it to your computer, and even your curtains.
Apple’s 15th anniversary year, 1999, kept the upswing going, with the new PowerMac G3 desktop bringing internal design elegance into line with the sleekness of the exterior. The PowerMac G4 and September’s iBook launch made sure the world knew the Mac was growing and changing at the speed of its competition.
Apple also remained true to its art and media loyalists. With FireWire on the desktop, consumers had access to digital moviemaking. New software, iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie, and now iDVD, made manipulating digital media simple for the first time ever. But these offerings were also becoming more desirable for basic-level consumers, who suddenly had MP3 files and digital still and video cameras to play with. No PC let folks do their own video editing, or make sound-synchronized slide shows as easily as a middle-schooler could do it on a Mac.
And the company kept moving. In 2001, MacOS X finally came out, promising increased stability and the possibility for the MacOS to run on Intel architecture. Mac folks liked the idea that Apple was again expanding its appeal to wider audiences, using existing standards. As wireless networking took off, Airport led the way, allowing schools and small businesses to save money on cabling.
The company has continued to innovate, making everyone curious with its new iMac design, a small dome and 15-inch flat-panel monitor on a movable arm. The reviews are good, indicating that an 800 MHz G4 processor and 40-gig hard drive with a CD burner, 128 megs of RAM and three USB and two FireWire ports just might be good enough for the next little while.
What next? Only Apple knows, and if the pattern continues, they’ll even surprise themselves.
Jeff Inglis is a Mac user and freelance journalist who runs a Microsoft-free computer. He has worked around the U.S., New Zealand and Antarctica. He is now based in Portland, Maine, where he works and hangs out with friendly people and dogs.
Five years ago, in early 1997, things were looking really bad for Apple and for Macintosh computers. That year, the company lost hundreds of milllions of dollars and Apple nay-sayers everywhere saw a company in its death throes. People I encountered in my daily life as a techie always asked me when Apple would go under.
What I tried to show them was a company that had already taken a major step along the road to its recovery. While 1997 wasn’t a year any Mac friend wants to repeat, it was the “getting worse before it gets better” part of a comeback story. For those who, like me, had done tech support for Macs since the early 1990s, there was a bit of faith and a lot of hope.
We only had to wait a year for something to point to. In 1998, the iMac was the best-selling computer in the world for four months, helping the company post four profitable quarters for the first time ever.
In an industry where corporate turnarounds had previously taken years, even decades, Apple moved quickly and decisively. The company retreated from an overextended development and marketing position, back to its core product line, and further solidified its technology. Then Apple took the battle to the PCs, offering for actual purchase processor speeds and device communications the Wintel world had been promising for years.
In1997, Apple enthusiasts saw several major housecleaning steps that paved the way for the company’s return. The new G3 chip was the catalyst. It startled everyone—including Apple—with its speed superiority over the Pentium II and Pentium MMX chips, released earlier that year.
Mac loyalists were thrilled. No longer were Mac-vs.-PC discussions limited to interface. We could brag that Mac processors handily outdid Pentium-series chips in computing speed tests, even as clock speeds remained very close.
And then Apple leveraged U.S. Justice Department action against Microsoft, scoring $150 million from Bill Gates to make sure Apple didn’t fail and leave Microsoft as an undisputed monopoly. Also part of the deal was a guarantee that Microsoft Office would be available for the Mac, ensuring easier file exchange between platforms.
Further simplification was in the air at Apple. In early 1998, the company cut its product lines, reducing the confusing array of printers, monitors and CPUs to a reasonable level. That move eliminated long explanations to budgetary bean-counters (all using PCs) when you were trying to outfit a lab.
With the release of the iMac in mid-1998, Apple again stepped far ahead of its Wintel competition with a three-prong, one-box attack. The iMac left behind the slow, low-capacity floppy-disk drive. It added Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectivity, with true plug-and-play, features PC makers had been talking about for years.
And the iMac declared the maturity of the computer as a product, by changing its color. Before a product reaches maturity, what it is matters far more than its appearance. But when iMacs were unveiled, with a new form factor and bright colors, computers became items to display in a home, rather than conceal in a drawer or under a desk. Buying peripherals was no longer just a question of finding the right speed for a CD writer. Now you had to match it to your computer, and even your curtains.
Apple’s 15th anniversary year, 1999, kept the upswing going, with the new PowerMac G3 desktop bringing internal design elegance into line with the sleekness of the exterior. The PowerMac G4 and September’s iBook launch made sure the world knew the Mac was growing and changing at the speed of its competition.
Apple also remained true to its art and media loyalists. With FireWire on the desktop, consumers had access to digital moviemaking. New software, iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie, and now iDVD, made manipulating digital media simple for the first time ever. But these offerings were also becoming more desirable for basic-level consumers, who suddenly had MP3 files and digital still and video cameras to play with. No PC let folks do their own video editing, or make sound-synchronized slide shows as easily as a middle-schooler could do it on a Mac.
And the company kept moving. In 2001, MacOS X finally came out, promising increased stability and the possibility for the MacOS to run on Intel architecture. Mac folks liked the idea that Apple was again expanding its appeal to wider audiences, using existing standards. As wireless networking took off, Airport led the way, allowing schools and small businesses to save money on cabling.
The company has continued to innovate, making everyone curious with its new iMac design, a small dome and 15-inch flat-panel monitor on a movable arm. The reviews are good, indicating that an 800 MHz G4 processor and 40-gig hard drive with a CD burner, 128 megs of RAM and three USB and two FireWire ports just might be good enough for the next little while.
What next? Only Apple knows, and if the pattern continues, they’ll even surprise themselves.
Jeff Inglis is a Mac user and freelance journalist who runs a Microsoft-free computer. He has worked around the U.S., New Zealand and Antarctica. He is now based in Portland, Maine, where he works and hangs out with friendly people and dogs.
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