Archive for June, 2011
June 10 is the winning date for Fresno State corn contest
June 26th, 2011
Forty-two people correctly guessed that the first of 2011’s Fresno State’s popular sweet corn would arrive at the campus’ Rue and Gwen Gibson Farm Market on Friday, June 10. The corn goes on sale when the student-run market opens at 7 a.m.
The corn harvest contest generated 552 participants, all of whom are eligible to win a $50 gift basket during a drawing that will be held at the 5th annual Fresno State Farm Festival on July 9.
The 42 who picked June 10 for the first corn of 2011 each receive a coupon for six free ears. The coupon can be redeemed through Aug. 31.
Crews begin picking the corn near dawn for delivery at the Gibson Farm Market. In years past, customers have lined up early outside the store for the first crack at the popular corn that is 99 cents for three ears this year.
Fresno State’s hand-picked corn arrives at the market at Barstow and Chestnut avenues minutes after harvest – a freshness that ensures high quality, sweetness and tenderness, said Gary Chavira, manager of the campus farms Vegetable Crops Enterprise.
In spite of the cold weather that delayed our corn by two weeks, the student-produced corn is looking very good in the field and will turn out to be one of the best-tasting and sweetest corn crops produced by Fresno State during the past 15 years,” Chavira said.
The university farm had hoped corn would be ready for the Memorial Day weekend. However, the unusually cold, wet spring delayed harvest by two weeks, said Dr. Ganesan Srinivasan, director of the University Agricultural Laboratory, composed of 25 enterprises including the market.
More than 85 acres of white IFS Hybrid and yellow Vision Hybrid corn were planted, which should yield a million ears, he added. “We have planted enough acreage to meet the demand and plan to pick corn until Labor Day and beyond,” Srinivasan said.
He was also pleased with the “When is Fresno State’s Corn Coming?“ contest he introduced this year. Contestants had until May 27 to predict when corn would hit the market.
“Our contest was a big hit, generating a lot of enthusiasm among our corn lovers,” he said.
To accommodate the extra interest in sweet corn, the Gibson Farm Market is open an hour earlier this year and closes an hour later, except on Sunday. What the market calls “Corn Hours” are 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.
Tags: Corn, Fresno State, June 10
Posted in University Business | No Comments »
Broward schools docking ex-janitor paid $108,000 to teach
June 24th, 2011
A former janitor who earns $108,000 a year to teach occasional cleaning classes for the Broward School District will see his pay docked, Superintendent Jim Notter said this week.
After the pay cut, Reynolds Hedland III, 52, will still be one of the school system’s highest-paid teachers.
Hedland will be paid for one fewer hour a day, or about $12,000 less a year. To keep the rest of his salary, he must teach more often, Notter said.
“If that’s what he’s getting paid to do, then that’s what I expect him to do,” the outgoing superintendent said.
Even that solution could be temporary, however. If Hedland teaches six hours a day, he’s entitled to the ninth hour of pay by contract, Notter said.
School Board member Nora Rupert, a former reading teacher, said Notter hadn’t gone nearly far enough in handling the situation.
“That’s totally wrong,” she said. “That’s a slap on the wrist [for Hedland] and a stab in the back to teachers.”
It wasn’t clear Tuesday what else Hedland would be qualified to teach. He has no college degree or state teaching certificate, though he is certified for vocational education through the district.
Notter opened an administrative review into Hedland’s salary last month after the Sun Sentinel found that the ex-janitor earned more than 99 percent of Broward’s teachers. He was scheduled to teach classes only 58 days this year at Sheridan Technical Center in Hollywood.
Notter said the review isn’t finished, but will be by the time he leaves his post on June 30.
A majority of the nine-member board also have said they would support asking the new superintendent to conduct a comprehensive review of all district employees’ salaries and job duties in light of Hedland’s case.
Board member Laurie Rich Levinson said she would like to see Notter do a “thorough” investigation of Hedland’s case before he leaves. But she said she was more interested in the comprehensive review of all employees.
“These things are very important for our new superintendent to do,” she said.
Hedland’s salary was calculated based on a 12-month year, though he has a single day of classes scheduled this summer and his supervising principal said he works mainly as a “facilities coordinator.” Hedland has been in the position for about five years.
Many of his duties are the same as when he was head custodian, a position for which he was paid about $45,000 a year.
Notter acknowledged this week that Hedland “doesn’t qualify” for a teaching salary because he doesn’t teach enough. But he said he’s reluctant to cut his salary without first finding out if other employees at the technical centers are in similar positions.
Already, Notter said his review found 11 other employees at the district’s job-training centers who are paid for an extra hour per day they shouldn’t be getting. Those employees, who include career advisors, technology coordinators and a graphic artist, also will see their pay cut, he said.
Notter said some employees had been receiving the extra pay for years, something he attributed to principals’ misinterpreting contract language. The principals’ supervisors likely didn’t realize there had been an error, he said.
Vocational teachers, who teach job-training skills such as hair styling and car repair, often are among the Broward district’s top-paid teachers because they are paid to work year-round, instead of 10 months a year. They also are entitled to nine hours of pay per day if they teach for six hours a day.
Many don’t have college degrees, but are paid for their years of experience in their fields.
Hedland was credited 26-plus years of experience, vaulting him to the top of the teacher pay scale in summer 2006, records show.
Tags: Teach
Posted in School Advisory | No Comments »
Movie review: ‘Cars 2′
June 24th, 2011
Here’s something perplexing: If the first “Cars” movie was deemed one of Pixar’s worst — and there are several other Pixar movies (“WALL-E,” “Up”) that people would die to see a sequel for — then why on earth was “Cars” rewarded with a follow-up, and a near-two-hour one at that?
Never mind that, though. Despite my wishes for a movie that follows WALL-E and the gang’s task of making the earth livable again, I suppose “Cars 2” will do for now. At the very least, it’s pumped full of adrenaline and a whole lot of action. But all that excitement isn’t backed up by the deeper connection we feel toward characters like the sickeningly adorable robot, WALL-E, and his love interest, or the lonely old man in “Up.”
In “Cars 2,” the character of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) — the underdog-gone-celebrity from the first “Cars” — returns. He’s taking some time to relax in Radiator Springs with his girlfriend Sally (Bonnie Hunt) and best friend Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) when he gets roped into doing another race, run by a certain Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard). In Pixar’s attempt to keep up with the environmentally conscious times, Axlerod is an electric car using the race to promote his new clean fuel, Allinol.
Oh, and, in addition to the race, Mater gets involved in some international espionage, teaming up with a couple new cars who are trying to reveal a mysterious group’s plot to get Allinol off the market. We are provided with enough interlinked story lines in the film to avoid boredom, wondering whether McQueen will beat his rival Francesco (John Turturro) in the race, while also rooting for Mater as he steps out of his comfort zone to fight the bad guys with quick smarts.
The fact is, though, that no matter how many telling facial expressions and human characteristics someone gives to a car, they’re still just cars. While the action in the movie will certainly please a younger crowd, and there are enough adult-targeted jokes to engage the older crowd (there are references to State Farm Insurance and a few jabs at the sloppiness of Americans), it’s still hard to relate to a bunch of hunks of metal that happen to be able to talk. Sure, we have the inevitable Pixar lesson — don’t be embarrassed by your lower-class friends! — but it’s a bit shallower than those of other Pixar films. The directors seem to want to rely on the excitement and aesthetics of the thing — there’s always some sort of explosion, chase, or situation of impending doom, and Italy, England, and Japan look almost real — so much so that the heart of the film is lost. It’s a spy thriller that will entertain the kids but quickly lose ground with adults.
However, it seems unfair to judge “Cars 2” in relation to other Pixar films. The reality of the matter is that a “bad” Pixar movie is still better than a great amount of other animated films these days, and “Cars 2” still has enough substance to engage viewers without falling completely flat.
The verdict: A bad Pixar movie is still better than most, making Cars 2 just good enough.
Tags: Cars
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Track and field: Two from area win New England titles
June 24th, 2011
Northwest Catholic sophomore Sarah Gillespie won the 1,600 meters at the New England Interscholastic Track and Field championships Saturday in Burlington, Vt. Gillespie, who was the State Open champion in the 1,600 this year and the New England champion in the 800 last year, ran 4:50.87. Coventry sophomore Thomas Myers won the javelin (180-6) and Brian Eilers of Simsbury was second (178-2). Cherraine Davis of Southington was second in the shot (42-6 ¼). Jamie Tobias of Bloomfield, who jumped 6-8 to win the State Open title, finished third (6-3).
Tags: England, New England
Posted in Education Sport Notes | No Comments »
Auburn Summer League scores and standings — June 24
June 24th, 2011
Scores From Thursday June 23rd (Make Up Day)
Kentridge – 53 Sumner – 51
Aub-Mountainview – 71 Rogers – 66
Todd Beamer – 80 Kentlake – 69
Kentwood – 57 Kentlake – 50
Tahoma – 72 Sumner – 43
Kentridge – 64 Mount Si – 50
Auburn – 61 Bellermine Prep – 48
Federal Way – 47 Riverside – 37
Bellermine Prep – 55 Mount Si – 44
Lindbergh – 63 Riverside – 53
Kentwood – 62 Tahoma – 46
Tags: June, June 24
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