Scores Brave the Storm to “Ask a Muslim Anything”

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Heavy rains and winds did not douse the interest of over 125 people who braved the elements last Sunday for the opportunity to ask Arab-American Muslim Robert Azzi, a longtime photojournalist, newspaper columnist and former Middle East advisor to Phillips Exeter Academy, “anything.”

The event, hosted by the First Church in Salem, a Unitarian Universalist church, is the kickoff in a series of events the church is sponsoring to foster interfaith dialogue and engagement.

“We are at a crucial time in modern U.S. history as far as understanding other faiths — especially Islam,” said Rev. Jeffrey Barz-Snell, a pastor at the church. “It is crucial that we develop some rudimentary understanding about different faiths.”

Barz-Snell admitted that the title of the question and answer session — “Ask A Muslim Anything” — was deliberately provocative to “invite questions and produce dialogue.” And for over an hour and a half, the crowd of mostly non-church members complied, asking about everything from why women wear hijabs (head scarves) to the origin of violent jihad.

Two young Muslim women, Zoha Qumar, a Columbia University student and Phillips Exeter graduate, and Tan Nazer, a Saudi Arabian senior at Phillips Exeter, accompanied Azzi and were available to answer questions. Neither wore a hijab.

Phillips Exeter senior Tan Nazer (left) and Columbia University student Zoha Qumar answered questions from the audience.

The first question, asking about the distinctions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, drew a chuckle from Azzi, who joked, “I love it when we start a forum with a softball.”

Salem resident, Jeff Cohen, asked Azzi whether it is difficult to encourage children to continue to wear traditional clothing in the current American climate of Islamaphobia. “It should break our collective heart that women are shedding the head scarf because of intimidation.” Azzi said.

He later noted, however, that a lot of women here and abroad are covered not by preference, but because their families and, in the case of patriarchal Saudi Arabia, where men are in control, their governments impose it. “This is wrong. It should be a personal choice,” he said, adding that the definition of modesty in Saudi Arabia has changed in an oppressive way that burdens women.

The questions turned to contemporary American life when Nat Carpenter of Beverly asked how an observant Muslim, who desires to pray to Mecca during the day, can also work in an environment that might not accommodate that desire, as recently happened to a group of Somali workers who wanted to convene for prayer during their work shift in Colorado.

“I don’t see a reason why employers couldn’t make accommodations for workers to exercise religious rights and freedoms during lunch or coffee breaks as they would for any other American,” Azzi said.

Over 125 people showed up last Sunday at First Church in Salem to ask Arab American Muslim Robert Azzi “anything.”

Perhaps the most pointed question of the forum, and the one on many people’s minds judging from the nodding heads in the audience, was asked by Paul Marquis of Salem.

“Does the Quran (the principal religious text of Islam) advocate violent jihad?” he asked.

“There are a lot of Muslims who misunderstand jihad,” Azzi said. “Those who believe in violent jihad have not read the Quran with an open heart.”

Azzi suggested several times throughout the Q&A session that poor, illiterate Muslims are recruited by political factions, like ISIS and the Taliban, that distort religion in order to gain a military and economic foothold. “Who is it that profits from this kind of rhetoric? We can’t yield the playing field,” he warned.

On the domestic front, Azzi described recent one-on-one conversations he had with several Republican presidential candidates, including Jeb Bush, who has advocated bombing and putting American boots on the ground to defeat ISIS. Azzi said the American obsession with ISIS could be traced to the fact that we did not get the success we wanted after 9/11 when we invaded Iraq.

“ISIS is a cancer. We have elevated them way out of proportion in terms of their capability, threat and theology. We love to have villains,” he said, adding, “We have never come to terms with having Muslims in our midst in this country.”

Azzi’s comments about mainstream American press and the role it plays fanning the flames of anti-Muslim rhetoric met with loud applause. “Radical Islamic terrorism sells,” he said. He then challenged the audience to turn away from Yahoo, the New York Times, NPR and other Western media sources and read the English Al Jazeera instead. “Take a look at the world the way the rest of the world sees it.”

He believes that it is possible to put a “stake through the heart” of the religious debate that polarizes people in this country.

“There is common ground. The question is how many people are willing to challenge the orthodoxies of their religion to get back to the scripture and look at the similarities in messages among all religions,” Azzi said, citing the prophetic traditions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, which all have a version of the “golden rule.”

Asked what questions he wishes he had been asked, Azzi said that he would have liked to talk more about the connections between faith traditions and also the history of Islam in America going back to the days of slavery. Nonetheless, he was pleasantly surprised by how knowledgeable and interested the questioners were — and how respectful everyone was.

“I believe that as long as people keep talking to each other — to host forums where opinions and information can be exchanged with respect for each other — then there is hope,” he said.

Pictured at top: Robert Azzi, an Arab-American Muslim, answered questions at the First Church in Salem’s forum, “Ask a Muslim Anything.”

For more information about future programs, go to firstchurchinsalem.org or call 978-744-1551.

Math Common Core : Friend or Foe?

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Although Common Core State Standards were adopted in Massachusetts in 2010, the topic is still a lightening rod for impassioned critique and opinion. There is even an initiative, “End Common Core MA”, to place the increasingly controversial academic benchmarks on the 2016 state ballot, the first time voters would decide whether to keep the K-12 math and reading standards.

But for the parents of a young child who is learning math in a way that bears little resemblance to the way they were taught, there is a pressing issue that is more personal than political: how do I help my child with his math homework when I don’t understand it myself?

What exactly are math teachers teaching these children and how is it so different from how their parents were taught the same subject in the past?

In a nutshell, Common Core Standards for Mathematics emphasize the importance of building conceptual understanding before requiring students to memorize facts. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for parents is the fact that Common Core Standards have also replaced much of the language they learned to describe mathematical functions with new words. Instead of “reducing” fractions, students now “simplify.” Instead of “borrowing” or “carrying”, students now “regroup” or “trade.” Doing calculations in one’s head is encouraged; spitting out the right answer without being to explain how you got it is not.

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Pamela Halpern, Associate Professor at Salem State University in the Education Department, teaches math methods courses to students who will become elementary and middle school teachers. In the past, students learned in a directed, structured, “here’s what you do, here’s how you do it, here’s an example, now go do it” way. “We weren’t ever taught why we were doing what we were doing and what it meant,” Halpern said, adding, “Neither teacher nor student knew or cared what it meant as long as we got the right answer.”

While she is a proponent of Common Core Standards, she emphasizes to her classes that it is part of their ongoing responsibility to help parents understand how the standards translate into the day to day math work their children do at school.

“We in education do a disservice to parents and to ourselves by not letting parents in and educating them as to what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, and then actually having them do some of the work that their children are doing in class. We need to explain why we’re teaching what we’re teaching,” she said.

These days, there is a lot more talking during math classes because Common Core emphasizes that students actually understand the problem and persevere in solving it. They are encouraged to be curious, to have a variety of ways to solve each problem, and to be able to justify their arguments and critique the reasoning of others. “Math is about more than calculating. There are so many different ways to solve a problem and think about it, and so when students share their thinking, it opens up new ways of thinking for all students,” Halpern said.

Arthur Unobskey, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for Gloucester Public Schools, believes that Common Core math standards are a step in the right direction. “We need to teach differently in order to build an understanding of relationships that force students to connect different ideas they have learned, rather than just solve the problem. Our kids have not been able to compete with kids from other parts of the world because we don’t understand what is going on in a mathematics problem; we don’t understand how to apply our skills to new situations,” he said.

Unobskey admits it is an ongoing challenge to help parents understand the new ways math is being taught. Principals and teachers take time to explain the curriculum at school functions, such as Meet the Teacher nights, and teachers discuss it in newsletters, parent conferences and letters sent home. Marguerite Ruiz, Superintendent of Salem Public Schools, said that her district focuses its efforts at the school level through Math Nights and Open Houses. Salem has also invested in Math Coaches, teachers who have expertise and often certification in math, to plan these events and to serve as leaders and coaches of teachers at schools.

According to Halpern, this may not be enough. She tells her students that parent math nights are essential and should be held at least once every quarter. “Parents don’t know. I think if we clued them in, they’d be on board with the way we’re teaching things. We can’t expect them to know how to do it if they’ve never seen it before,” she said.

Bookcover

Christen Nine, a Gordon College alumna and high school math teacher, believes all parents want to and should feel confident in their ability to interact with elementary children’s homework. While there are plenty of resources for teachers, she felt they lacked the clear, practical examples that parents care about. To fill their need for a politically neutral, educationally practical guide, she recently published a book titled, “A Parent’s Survival Guide to Common Core Math: Grades K-5”.

“The goal of this project was to provide a resource that would bridge the gap between the older teaching methodologies and the newer ones. That gap is much easier to fill than parents might think, and just as a good math teacher aims to reduce math anxiety in their students to promote quality learning, this book aims to alleviate confusion and frustration related to Common Core Standards in order to build up parents’ confidence to be informed advocates in their child’s math education,” Nine said.

The Common Core Standards have fans among most educators and administrators. “Anything that increases the rigor of instruction for children I am always going to be in favor of,” said Ruiz, noting that the bigger challenge in her district is building the capacity of teachers to be able to teach to that level. “Teachers need to be really knowledgeable and thoughtful about their implementation of these standards,” she said.

Unobskey, who holds a doctorate in math education, is a strong advocate for Common Core standards. “As it is implemented more and more effectively, students will uncover connections that show how math describes the world, and they will become more motivated to learn, and less afraid of math. Ultimately, our nation’s lack of comfort with math, I believe, is what holds our children back,” he said.

So why are citizen groups like “End Common Core MA” trying to do away with something that professional educators support?

“There is a lot of misinformation out there,” said Nine. “Maybe we didn’t do a good PR job for Common Core Standards.” She lamented the fact that “End Common Core MA” and groups like it either intentionally or unintentionally spread this misinformation. “It concerns me, as an educator, that decisions could be made from someone’s blog post or the most recent viral photo that’s going around Facebook,” she said.

For information about Common Core Standards, go to corestandards.org. To order Nine’s book, go to amazon.com.

Native Fashion on the PEM Runway

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

When Karen Kramer, Peabody Essex Museum’s Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture, went to Santa Fe’s annual Indian Market, a traditional Native American juried show, she sensed there was a new, exciting movement afoot. It was edgier, unexpected and non-ceremonial.

Instead of the usual fare of beadwork, basketry and textiles, she noticed a new trend in contemporary Native American art, especially around fashion. “What I was seeing was fresh, relevant and a little bit sexy,” she said. “Native American designers were updating traditional ideas and making them their own.”

She wanted to curate an exhibit to showcase these innovative, pioneering Native fashion designers whose high-energy works break traditional boundaries with materials and invention that go far beyond the stereotypic buckskin, feathers, beads and fringe. “Contemporary Native fashion designers are dismantling and upending familiar motifs, adopting new forms of expression and materials, and sharing their vision of Native culture and design with a global audience,” Kramer said.

Kramer’s dream is now a reality with her curated show, “Native Fashion Now”, at PEM through March 6. Over two years in the planning, it is the first full-scale exhibit to chronicle the contemporary Native American fashion movement over the past 60 years. The show features over 70 artists and after debuting at PEM, will travel for two years to Oregon, Oklahoma and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York City.

One of the most unusual aspects of “Native Fashion Now” is the fact that of the 74 artists exhibited, 71, or 95 percent, are living.

Orlando Dugi (Dine Navajo). Photo by Shelley A. Sackett

With over 100 garments, shoes, pocketbooks, jewelry, scarves and accessories displayed on 40 mannequins, the exhibit feels like a Native American “Project Runway”- which, in a way, it is. Fans of the television show may recognize the white leather sheath dress that greets visitors on their arrival inside the exhibit. It is the one designed by Patricia Michaels, the Taos Pueblo artist who was the first Native American contestant on the reality TV hit show in 2013. The judges loved the dress, which Michaels hand painted with an abstract New York skyline.

Michaels is delighted that mainstream fashion lovers are embracing Native American design. “We don’t have to be stuck in this gunny sack look anymore,” she said with a smile. Kramer said that the groundbreaking Michaels’ work was the most fitting way to kick off the exhibition, and commissioned her to design the cascading parasols that lead up to the show’s entrance.

The exhibition’s four galleries — Pathbreakers, Revisitors, Activators and Provocateurs — reflect how designers respond to ideas and trends in the world of Native fashion. All take us to similar places, far away from buckskin and fringe, especially Provacateurs, whose departure from convention makes works that are experimental and one-of-a-kind.

Lloyd “Kiva” New, the Cherokee designer and first true “Pathbreaker”, blazed a trail with his delicate shirtwaist dresses. Their display pays homage to the designer’s 1950s creation of his high-fashion brand, the first Native American to do so. Their timeless style is just as fresh today.

Activators, who embrace an everyday, personal style that engages with today’s trends and politics, are represented in the third gallery by street wear, skates and a pop culture liveliness. Navajo Jared Yazzie’s bold T-shirt with “Native Americans Discovered Columbus” emblazoned on its front turns the familiar saying on its head by encouraging people to think about the truths of history.

Pat Pruitt (Laguna Pueblo) and Chris Pruitt (Laguna Pueblo/Chiricahua Apache). Belt buckle, 2012. Stainless steel, silver,Teflon, turquoise, and coral. © 2015 Peabody Essex Museum. Photography by Walter Silver.

Jeweler and metal smith Pat Pruitt, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, was trained as a mechanical engineer and worked in the body piercing industry before starting to make jewelry in the 1990s. His use of non-precious metals, like titanium, zirconium and stainless steel, creates pieces that are radically different from the traditional Native turquoise and silver jewelry.

Jewelers Kristen Dorsey (Chicksaw) and Pat Pruitt (Pueblo) at the PEM “Native Fashion Now” opening.

Pruitt told the story (repeated by most of the artists who were present at the show’s press opening) about how his creations were not allowed into Native American art shows because they were “not Native enough.” He praised Kramer’s vision in creating the opportunity to showcase the individuality of the Native designer in the context of their tribal identity. “The Native art world wants me to fit in with their stereotype,” he said, pausing. “But individuality and self expression is part of our tradition.

: Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock). Boots, 2013–14. Glass beads on boots designed by Christian Louboutin. Museum commission with support from Katrina Carye, John Curuby, Dan Elias and Karen Keane, Cynthia Gardner, Merry Glosband, and Steve and Ellen Hoffman, 2014.44.1AB. © 2015 Peabody Essex Museum. Photography by Walter Silver.

Although Shoshone-Bannock Jamie Okuma’s beaded boots, commissioned for the exhibition, are riveting in their intricacy and beauty, they are not focus of the “Revisitors” gallery, named for the artists’ fresh, new and expanded take on tradition. Rather, it is the two pieces by non-Native designers — Ralph Lauren and Isaac Mizrahi — Kramer included in order to spark conversation about cultural appropriation and borrowing that draw the audience’s attention.

“It’s a complex topic,” Kramer said, noting that some mainstreamers feel that certain Native American cultural icons should be off limits to non-Native designers. For example, Mizrahi’s flannel gown, embroidered as the totem pole that honors North West Native families, could be viewed as offensive by traditionalists. On the other hand, his use of a sacred Native icon could be viewed as mainstream fashion’s acceptance of Native American design, using new materials to update a traditional idea and create something entirely new. “It’s meant to open a dialogue,” Kramer explained, clearly delighted that her inclusion of the piece in the exhibit had already done just that.

While the dynamic and lively exhibit shines a light on what Kramer has called a “Native American fashion renaissance”, the real spotlight is on the individuality of these contemporary designers’ inspirations as they reference their tradition while transcending culture and stereotyping. “We can choose whether we present our culture in our art and what that art means to us,” said Pruitt. “PEM is a museum that recognizes individuality. They get it,” added Michaels.

Pictured at top:

Orlando Dugi (Diné [Navajo]). Cape, dress, and headdress from “Desert Heat” Collection, 2012. Paint, silk, organza, feathers,beads, and 24k gold; feathers; porcupine quills and feathers. Courtesy of the designer, Sante Fe. Hair and makeup: DinaDeVore. Model: Julia Foster. Photography by Unék Francis.

Native Fashion Now runs through March 6 at the Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem. For more information, visit pem.org.

Spotlight on the Massachusetts Solar Industry

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

By Shelley A. Sackett

If it seems that solar panels are suddenly appearing in greater numbers than ever before, it’s because they are.

“We’re definitely seeing a lot more activity,” said Tom Dowd, who has owned North Shore Solar and Wind Power in Beverly for nine years, installing commercial and residential wind systems.

These immediately recognizable rooftop systems harness the sun’s energy and produce electricity. They enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating global warming, and keep fossil fuel prices lower, according to the International Energy Agency.

They also have a more immediate, less altruistic purpose: they save the average homeowner money.

“What’s really helping are the renewable energy credits,” Dowd said, noting that the average system can be paid off in five to six years. “When you look to sell your house and you have a solar system already installed, the person buying your house gets a free solar system and lower electric bills. That’s a real benefit for the homeowner.”

The typical Massachusetts household paid $875 for electricity last year, according to the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. EnergySage, the Massachusetts-based online marketplace, estimates that homeowners whose monthly electric bill is $100 and who purchase and install a rooftop solar system would save almost $36,000 over the next 20 years. Furthermore, the cost of installing a system, after tax credits, rebates and incentives, has dropped 30 percent since 2009.

There are three routes available to consumers wanting to go solar: purchasing panels, leasing the panels and, where available, contracting with a solar farm in your area to buy solar electricity at a discounted rate.

To buy and install the panels for a 5.13-kilowatt-per-hour system, the average household need, costs between $18,000 and $25,000 according to Vikram Aggarwal, EnergySage’s founder and chief executive. After all the current tax credits and rebates, the net cost is closer to $14,000 for a system that will last from 20 to 30 years and pay for itself in fewer than ten years.

In the alternative, for a monthly fee and agreement to a long-term contract, consumers who can’t or don’t wish to make that kind of up front financial investment can lease a solar system from a solar company that will install the panels at no cost and maintain them in return for ownership of the panels and the accompanying tax credits and rebates. The homeowner gets to use the electricity the solar panels produce.

Even apartment and condo dwellers can get in on the solar action by finding a solar electric company that participates in community solar programs. Some municipalities have programs to help their residents. The City of Salem, for example, recently selected ConEdison Solutions as the electricity supplier for its Salem PowerChoice program, its municipal electricity aggregation program that will provide Salem residents and businesses with a cost-effective, transparent electricity supply alternative to National Grid. Ipswich Electric Co., a municipal power plant, has been trying to locate a piece of property where the town could build its own community solar system. The town is also considering contracting with someone to build the solar facility and make it available to the Ipswich community, according to Donald Newell, Ipswich Electric Light Manager.

Massachusetts is a shining star in the national renewable energy arena. In 2014, the state ranked fourth of the top ten solar states in the country. There are currently more than 391 solar companies at work throughout Massachusetts, employing over 9,400 people, according to Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). In 2014 alone, $791 million was invested on solar installations in the Commonwealth, an increase of one percent over 2013. There is currently enough solar energy installed in the state to power 140,000 homes.

So why haven’t all homeowners and all municipalities jumped on the solar bandwagon? The answer is complicated and, according to some, political.

Governmental support of solar energy started in earnest in 2005, when the United States established a 30 percent federal tax credit for residential solar-electric installation expenses. In 2008, Massachusetts enacted the Green Communities Act, a cutting-edge legislation intended to make the state a national leader in clean energy technology by boosting energy efficiency and encouraging investment in renewable energy.

Among the incentives Massachusetts mandated were solar tax credits, net metering and solar renewable energy certificates (SRECS), all meant to entice consumers and utility companies to embrace renewable energy. Net metering is the practice of selling the excess solar energy a homeowner generates back to the electric grid for credit on a future electric bill, the biggest long range financial incentive for installing residential solar panels. SRECs are certificates homeowners earn and can sell every time they generate solar energy. Because utilities are mandated to derive a percentage of their electricity from solar and other renewable sources, utilities buy SRECs to fulfill this legal requirement.

In essence, when the sun shines and your solar panels produce more electricity than you consume, you are literally able to save for a rainy (or snowy or cloudy) day.

The 2008 law set a statewide goal to generate 400MW of solar generated electricity by 2017. Massachusetts surpassed that goal four years early, in 2013 and the legislature set a new goal of 1.6GW by 2020. Because solar energy is so popular in Massachusetts, net metering caps do not align with these goals, and the legislature has had to act three more times to raise the net metering caps so that consumers can count on the utilities having to buy back their excess solar-produced electricity. In some utility areas, the 2020 caps are expected to be reached by 2015, according to SEIA.

The problem with this seemingly perfect green scenario is that the federal tax credit is set to expire December 31, 2016 and the future of the state’s net metering policy is anything but settled as the House and Senate lawmakers toil to update the state’s energy laws this session.

Last August, the House passed Governor Baker’s proposed H.B. 3724 (“An Act Relative to a Long-term, Sustainable Solar Industry”), which looks to lift and expand the cap on solar net metering and protect ratepayers, and provide long-term stability to the solar industry. The bill immediately expands the net metering cap by 40 percent for public entities and 50 percent for private entities and empowers the Department of Public Utilities to further raise the cap “when it is in the public interest to do so.”

The biggest boon for those trying to plan for long range projects is the grandfathering of all solar generators already receiving net metering credit for the next twenty years.

The bill now sits in the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, which continues to hear testimony from scores of witnesses on all sides of the issue, from National Grid to Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and dozens of renewable energy proponents. Mass Power Forward, a brand-new statewide coalition dedicated to fighting for a just transition to clean energy, advocates modernizing the power grid and empowering “everyday people” to access locally generated power. Among its 90 members are HealthLink, Ipswich Watershed Association, ICARE, GASSP and other local groups.

While House leaders have said they are holding out hope of completing a more comprehensive energy bill before the end of November, most observers are skeptical that will happen.

This uncertainty impacts everyone, from energy consulting firms trying to plan large-scale projects to municipal electric utilities, to large investor-owned utilities, solar panel installers and, of course, the consumer.

According to Donald E. Bowen and Richard E. Waitt, Jr., principals of Beverly’s Meridian Associates, settling the net-metering issue will open the floodgates on large-scale, free-standing solar projects. “There are projects being permitted all over the place. We’ve probably done 900-1,000 MWs of solar projects in Massachusetts. Next year will be the biggest year of all time,” said Waitt.

That the legislature is taking so long to pass a long term energy bill is particularly irritating to Waitt. “I suspect they’re trying to work on a bill that will have some legs and last for a while. This is very disruptive to the solar industry. It is very expensive to get these projects permitted, only to find out you can’t get them built,” he added.

Waitt suspects the power companies have too much say in the matter, needlessly rendering the process political. “In my world, what’s best for the environment, the economy, the country and the world is to put up solar everywhere and stop trying to be political about it,” he said with frustration.

Meridian Associates offers civil engineering, landscape architecture and renewable and sustainability consulting services, and has worked on renewable energy projects in 213 of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. The company was recognized as Greater Boston’s 2012 Small Business of the Year, in part in recognition of “the sustainable practices that we undertake internally and our advocacy for the fight against climate change and the development of large scale renewable energy,” according to Bowen.

The company’s completed renewable energy projects, along with projects currently in the feasibility, design, or construction phase, represent over 75’s of solar power throughout Massachusetts.

Although in his professional life he deals in large-scale projects, Bowen has been a small-scale consumer of solar energy for decades. “I was the first applicant under the buy-back program in Ipswich to file an application for and install a 3 kilowatt system on my home when I lived in Ipswich,” Bowen said, noting that as early as 2009, he was charging his plug-in electric Prius with solar power.

However, when he and his wife Amy wanted to build a net-zero home, they chose Hamilton, which is serviced by National Grid, rather than Ipswich, which has a municipal electric light plant. (A net-zero home produces on site all the renewable energy it consumes.] Bowen chose Hamilton despite the fact that he found dealing with National Grid far more cumbersome and painful than dealing with municipalities. “The opportunity to go net zero or even net surplus in Ipswich was not something that they looked favorably upon,” Bowen said.

The reason goes back to the 2008 Green Communities Act, which did not require that municipal lighting plants contribute to the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. The Trust funds MassCEC grant programs, rebates and other incentives. Because those financial incentives have been available historically to only those communities that contribute to the Trust, residents of towns that chose not to contribute do not qualify to receive the same benefits if they install solar panels as do residents of communities that are served by investor-owned utilities (like Western Massachusetts Electric Company, National Grid or Northeast Utilities) that do contribute to the trust.

Ipswich opted out of contributing to the Trust.

Regionally, the following cities and town are serviced by municipal lighting plants according to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center: Groveland, Georgetown, Rowley, Middleton, Danvers, Peabody, Lynnfield, Wakefield, Reading, North Reading, Wilmington, Marblehead and Merrimac.

Although Ipswich chose not to participate in the Trust, it does have its own net metering program. According to Ipswich Electric Co. Manager, Newell, the biggest challenge going forward with promoting renewable energy is making up for the lost revenue to the town when residents with solar energy reduce their kilowatt-hour sales by using net metering.

“We need to find a mechanism for making up the portion of revenue that is associated with fixed operating costs,” Newell explained. At the moment, one such possible mechanism is a “Net Metering Recovery Surcharge” which would charge a solar producer a surcharge for their share of the fixed costs involved in operating Ipswich’s network regardless of kilowatt-hour production. “We’re trying to make sure we’re not having customers that don’t have solar subsidizing those who do for some of the costs that they still bring to our system,” he added.

Many of the region’s solar panel installers say that they are busier than ever and that customers seem unaware or unbothered by the fact the state legislature is behind schedule in setting a long-term energy policy.

Nonetheless, Waitt is worried about the energy bill pending in the legislature and the influence the investor-owned utilities may have. “What will happen if we get squeezed again? There are thousands of people in Massachusetts working in the solar industry. Right now we’re one of the top states in the entire country and we just have to find a way to keep it there,” he said.

For more information, go to: malegislature.gov/Bills/189/House/H3724; seia.org; energysage.com/seia; iea.org.]

MORE INFORMATION

Federal Tax Credit

The federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit is a personal tax credit of 30 percent of qualified expenditures for a system that serves a dwelling located anywhere in the United States. The credit expires on December 31, 2016.

There is no maximum credit for systems placed in service after 2008 and the home served by the system does not have to be the taxpayer’s principal residence.

Allowable expenditures include labor costs for on-site preparation, assembly or original system installation, and for piping or wiring to interconnect a system to the home. If the federal tax credit exceeds tax liability, the excess amount may be carried forward to the succeeding taxable year until 2016.

For more information, go to www.energystar.gov/taxcredits

Electricity in a Nutshell

Watts are a measurement of power, describing the rate at which electricity is being used at a specific moment. For example, a 15-watt LED light bulb draws 15 watts of electricity at any moment when turned on.

Watt-hours are a measurement of energy, describing the total amount of electricity used over time. Watt-hours are a combination of how fast the electricity is used (watts) and the length of time it is used (hours). For example, a 15-watt light bulb, which draws 15 watts at any one moment, uses 15 watt-hours of electricity in the course of one hour.

Kilowatts and kilowatt-hours are useful for measuring amounts of electricity used by large appliances and by households. Kilowatt-hours are what show up on your electricity bill, describing how much electricity you have used. One kilowatt (kW) equals 1,000 watts, and one kilowatt-hour (kWh) is one hour of using electricity at a rate of 1,000 watts. New, energy-efficient refrigerators use about 300-400 kilowatt-hours per year. The typical American home uses about 7,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.

Megawatts are used to measure the output of a power plant or the amount of electricity required by an entire city. One megawatt (MW) = 1,000 kilowatts = 1,000,000 watts. For example, a typical coal plant is about 600 MW in size.

Gigawatts measure the capacity of large power plants or of many plants. One gigawatt (GW) = 1,000 megawatts = 1 billion watts. In 2012, the total capacity of U.S. electricity generating plants was approximately 1,100 GW.

ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/how-is-electricity-measured.html#.VkCZ3K6rSV4

‘Casa Valentina’ Is More Than Eye Candy

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Above: Eddie Shields as Gloria, Thomas Derrah as Valentina and Robert Saoud as Bessie access their inner McGuire Sisters./ALL PHOTOS GLENN PERRY

By Shelley A. Sackett

Shelleysackett.com

With the gloom of daylight savings time and shorter, darker days looming around the bend, we should say a double “Hosanna” for SpeakEasy Stage Company’s six-week run of “Casa Valentina”, Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-nominated play that is about much more than cross-dressing and visual gags.

“Casa Valentina” is a flawless production, from its across-the-board inspired acting and directing, to its funny and thought-provoking script. Before the house is even dark, the ukulele music and whimsical setting clue us that we are in for an enjoyable ride.

The play was inspired by a mysterious true subculture of heterosexual transvestite men who sought sanctuary in the Catskills during the 1960’s at the real-life hidden refuge, “Casa Susanna”. There, they could literally let their hair down, wearing wigs, heels, makeup and jewelry. A treasure trove of photographs discovered by a furniture dealer in a Manhattan flea market and published in a 2005 book showed the secretive world of men lounging around, playing cards and socializing — all while dressed as women.

A group of producers approached Fierstein, one of America’s first openly gay major celebrities, about writing a play based on the retreat. The author and Tony-award winning actor and playwright of “Kinky Boots”, “La Cage aux Folles” and “Torch Song Trilogy” agreed.

Metamorphosis at the Chevalier d’Eon.

Janie Howland’s pleasing, rambling set is the 1960s Chevalier d’Eon, a homey Catskills resort of bungalows named after a French transvestite spy. The Chevalier caters to a group of “regulars”, married city-men with straight lives and straight jobs, who convene in the tranquility of the retreat to dress and behave like women. These gatherings are vacations in more ways than one; “Being a boy is my day job,” laments one. The masculine pronoun is banished from conversation, the booze flows freely and the Oscar Wilde quotes are darts that never miss the bull’s eye.

Thomas Derrah as George/Valentina and Kerry A. Dowling as Rita share a tender marital moment.

The wife and husband proprietors, Rita and George (also known as Valentina), are equally devoted to providing a safe place where transvestites have the freedom to explore their feminine sides and enjoy the camaraderie and fun of their soul sisters. Rita, played by Kerry A. Dowling with warmth, substance and a lot of heart, is a wig stylist who met George when he brought his sad, straggly wig into her shop for repair. She loves the “girls” and is almost saintly in her support for her husband. [Thomas Derrah, as Valentina/George, is superb].

Jonathan, a masculine, shy and bookish thirty-something, is a first time guest at the Chevalier; in fact, it is his first time ever dressing as a woman in public. Rita takes him under her maternal wing and his transformation from nervous, cautious Jonathan to ebullient and prom-ready Miranda is heartwarming. It is also a hoot, with wigs, falsies and industrial strength foundations for face and fanny.

Thomas Derrah as Valentina (right) does a makeover on Greg Maraio, transforming him from Jonathan into Miranda as Will McGarrahan (Charlotte) looks on.

Each guest is unique and yet similar. Bessie, played with sass and verve by Robert Saoud, only appears in drag. She is the Oscar Wilde-spewing quick-witted Ethel Merman wannabe. As Albert, he is a decorated war veteran who has three kids and a wife able to ignore him.

Gloria, played by the breathtakingly beautiful Eddie Shields, is the most sexually charged and self-confident of the bunch, slinking around and miraculously not breaking an ankle in those stilettos. Terry, a frumpy maiden aunt type, couldn’t be more opposite.

But it is Timothy Crowe as Amy, the alter ego of The Judge, a distinguished and politically powerful man, who personifies the inner conflict suffered by those who must live secret lives. Crowe masterfully lets the Judge’s underlying sadness and fear poke its head above the surface of Amy’s wit and conviviality.

Most of the girls have known each other for decades, and their affectionate and easy chatter and jibes are fun and funny. The lip sync to the McGuire Sisters in a makeshift cabaret reminiscent of talent night at summer camp is worth the price of admission.

All, however, is not worry-free in Paradise.

Valentina has been summoned to the local postal inspector to answer for some suspicious mail, which could have dire consequences for all of the girls, but especially for George. The Chevalier is facing equally life-threatening financial problems. Only Rita is aware of these troubles.

Enter into this olio of eccentrics the Californian Charlotte, a Chanel-clad button-down, buttoned-up disciplinarian reminiscent of George C. Scott as Patton. Charlotte publishes a magazine and oversees an organization devoted to the rights of cross-dressers, as long as they’re the “right sort” of cross-dressers; that is, as long as they are not homosexuals. Valentina has naively pinned her hope on securing a loan form Charlotte, but the price she demands proves too steep and threatens to tear the Chevalier apart in a far nastier, bloodier battle than would ever take place in bankruptcy court.

Charlotte’s silver lining is that she is the spark that spurs serious discussion about serious issues. In this age of gender diversity, “Transparent” and the newest reality show, “Caitlyn Jenner”, how one identifies ones self matters both more and less. The lines between gender and identity, sexuality and gender identification, and what is “acceptable” and what is not have never been more blurred. With the explosion in labels comes an explosion in opportunities to marginalize and be marginalized. Perhaps the most powerful message “Casa Valentina” offers is that the discriminated against can themselves be the heartless discriminators.

“Casa Valentina” is a romp and a good time, but it much more than that. It shines an unblinking spotlight on the underbelly in all of us, and dares us to ask ourselves a simple question: What is “normal”?

Recommend is too tame a word for “Casa Valentina”. If you miss its run, you will be sorry.

“Casa Valentina” will run until November 28, at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527Tremont Street in Boston’s South End.

For tickets or more information, call 617-933-8600 or visit SpeakEasyStage.com.

PALS Makes a Pal out of Local Singer

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Above: From the left are PALs volunteers Judy Dean and Adam McInnis, North Shore Bank’s Mariellen Hayward, and
PALS volunteers Carol Fournier and Lorrie Kmiec /©tfiphoto/barry kaplan
By Shelley A. Sackett

salem@salemwickedlocal.com

Salem resident Julie Dougherty has been singing since the mid-sixties, performing all over the country and playing many styles of music, including folk, Irish, country-rock and jazz and blues combinations. She also has a soft spot for cats, starting with her own two older indoor cats, and extending to any cat in need. Over the years, she has taken in many a stray cat that has wandered to her back door.

Recently, she was looking out her window and noticed an unfamiliar straggly cat in her yard. “It was so skinny and timid, I thought it was a young cat,” she said. “I left out food, but noticed he wasn’t touching it.”

She knew the cat needed medical attention, but the first two places she called were no help. Then she remembered she had heard that the PetSmart store at 10 Traders Way had a stray cat program. “When I went in, they were so helpful. They sent a PALS Animal Life Saver volunteer out the very next day,” Dougherty recalled.

PALS is the only all-volunteer organization on the North Shore that rescues and rehomes local homeless, abandoned and surrendered cats and kittens. Since 2007, it has been a PetSmart Charities adoption partner, with ten adoption cages in the Salem PetSmart location.

The rescue took quite a while. The cat was an elderly cat that had been abandoned quite a while ago “because we see a fair number of cats running through the neighborhood and I had never seen him before,” said Dougherty. The volunteer worked for two to three hours to get him out from under the shed where it seemed he had gone to die. “He no teeth and I don’t know if he was mistreated, but he certainly was abandoned,” Doughtery added sadly.

The PALS volunteer, who prefers to remain anonymous, rushed the cat to the Northeast Hospital in Peabody Venter, PALS’ volunteer vet, but the cat did die. “At least his final moments were in a very nice, loving environment,” Dougherty said.

Julie Dougherty

She was so moved by the PALS volunteer’s dedication, that Dougherty went to the PALS office and made a donation the very next day. “I also told the staff that if they ever did a fundraiser and they wanted to put some musicians together, they should give me a call,” she said.

Carol Fournier, long-time PALS volunteer and its funding coordinator, did just that and on November 4, the PALS Animal Life Savers fundraiser, “Banding Together,” will be held at Finz Seafood & Grill on Pickering Wharf from 7 to 9 p.m. Julie Dougherty will headline a concert by her friends and local favorite musicians, Woody Woodward, the Errin Brown Band, the Guy Ford Band and Dave Balin & The Bailouts. Finz will offer a limited menu and there will be a cash bar, raffle items and… dancing!

“There are only 80 seats available, so people should pre-order on line,” Fournier said, noting that they wanted to make sure there would be enough room on the dance floor for everyone. Tickets are $25 and availailble at palscats.org or by calling Fournier at 978-745-7705. If there are still tickets left, walk-in may purchase them at the door.

“This is a bonus,” said KrisTina Wheeler, who started as an FCS (feed, clean and socialize) volunteer in 2006 and is now the PALS President, Managing Director and Treasurer. “The challenge with fundraisers is that we have such a small staff that we don’t have a marketing or advertising budget, so putting these events on really takes the time of a select few people,” she said. Other than the space and cat food donated by PetSmart Charities, PALS relies on donations and adoption fees to fund its work.

According to Wheeler, PALS rescues about 280 cats a year. Of those, between 200 and 230 are adopted. Some of the rest are strays that are returned to their rightful owners and some, like the cat who wandered into Dougherty’s yard, don’t make it.

PALS started in 1995 in Peabody by the animal control officer and a local firefighter. Originally, PALS operated out of Borash Animal Clinic in Peabody and assisted both cats and dogs.

In 2003, PALS was accepted as an adoption partner at PetSmart’s then-new store in Salem. By the next year, PALS left its Peabody location and focused solely on cats in PetSmart’s Traders Way store.

“It’s a great location and good exposure for our cats,” said Fournier, who started volunteering at PALS in 2003 after retiring from the corporate world. “I always loved animals – I had them my whole life – so I was drawn to PALS,” she said.

Once a cat is rescued, it goes to the veterinarian (“91% of all of our expenses is vet care,” said Wheeler). A network of foster homes cares for cats waiting for one of the ten cages to become available in the PALS Adoption Center located in the Salem PetSmart.

Approximately 40 active volunteers work each day to clean cages, do the laundry, feed the cats and socialize with the animals. They also do community outreach, with tables at the Salem Farmers’ Market and a couple of the blessing of the Animals local events. They participate as an exhibitor, trying to build more community awareness of their program.

Volunteers include college students, professionals, mothers, retirees and local animal lovers.

“I’ve been volunteering because I grew up with cats my entire life. I really wish this was all I needed to do, that I could be a full-time volunteer, because it is extremely rewarding,” said Wheeler, noting every one of their cats ends up being adopted. [Wheeler is also Assistant to the General Manager at the Hawthorne Hotel].

PALS has grown from $45,000 in expenses in 2011 to $75,000 in expenses in 2014, with $62,000 of that going to veterinary care. Half of PALS’s income comes from adoption fees and one-fourth is from private donations. The rest comes from fundraising and grants. Wheeler said the organization is looking to set a record in 2015, with over 235 adoptions and close to 300 cats helped.

With part-time volunteers who all have other jobs and responsibilities, Wheeler said that PALS’s biggest challenge is having the manpower to do what needs to get done. “Somehow, we get through it and end up saving 280 cats a year, which is pretty good for 40 people,” she said.

For more information, visit palscats.org.

Salem gets Saturday Night Halloween Fever

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Above: A ghoul beckons at the Hawthorne Hotel Halloween Party in 2014. COURTESY PHOTO / Patrick Cornelisson

By Shelley A. Sackett

Salem gets Saturday Night Halloween Fever

By Shelley A. Sackett

Halloween in Salem, the month-long party of haunted happenings, séances, ghouls, ghost stories, witches, pirates, vampires, and the macabre, is ending Saturday with a literal bang: at 10:15 p.m., Halloween Finale Fireworks will light up the sky over the North River.

The best place to watch them? “Bridge Street at Washington Street by the train station,” said Kate Fox, Executive Director of Destination Salem, the city’s Office of Tourism & Cultural Affairs, noting that in addition to affording the best view, that location also encourages the easy exit the city is insisting revelers make at 10:30 p.m..

“We shift gears from a communications standpoint from promoting all the events and programming to wanting people to understand that, while we want people to enjoy themselves and have a good time, we also want them to be prepared to leave at the end of the night,” Fox continued. Police will clear the streets at 10:30 p.m. and the MBTA has scheduled extra trains to accommodate the expected record crowds.

Hawthorne Hotel 2014 Halloween Party reveler.

With the good weather, Fox anticipates between 70,000 and 75,000 people coming into Salem for Saturday’s street party. “If you’re in a bar, a restaurant or a party, you can stay until that ends. But if you’re here to enjoy the streets, the DJs, the walking around and seeing and being seen that we all enjoy on Halloween night, that ends at 10:30 sharp,” she again stressed.

Until that magic witching hour, however, there is plenty this weekend to entertain and titillate all ages of revelers.

On Friday, October 30, the First Annual Salem’s Wicked Hot Spice Eating Challenge will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. on Artists’ Row. Tastings will be four types of chili peppers made into a mash with Salem Firefighters Local 172 on hand to douse any serious resulting flames.

Not looking to challenge your palate? “Myths & Misconception,” a walking tour sponsored by the Essex National Heritage Area, seeks to uncover the myths and debunk any misconceptions about the Salem Witch Trials that happened over 300 years ago and that have been dramatized in books, movies, documentaries, and even TV shows. This walking tour meets at the Salem Regional Visitors’ Center and lasts 45 minutes. It includes stops at the Old Burying Point Cemetery, Witch Trials Memorial, and the site of the original 17th century jail.

Festival of the Dead Salem Witches’ Magic Circle

Not lucky enough to have scored a ticket to the sold-out Hawthorne Hotel’s 25th Annual Halloween Party? Not to worry – there are plenty of other opportunities to party the night away. The “Victorian Halloween Magi Ball” will take place at Victoria Station at 86 Wharf St. from 7:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Dress in costumes and as characters from books written in the Victorian era by such as authors as Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, Bram Stoker and of, the creator of “Frankenstein”, Mary Bysshe Shelley. The event benefits the North Shore Elder Service “Over the Rainbow Coalition.”

Another 2015 first, the Heaven & Hell Party, will take place at Sea Level at 94 Wharf St. from 9 to 11p.m. and will feature “Heaven” on the top floor with Ketel One Vodka and “Hell” on the bottom Floor with Captain Morgan Cannon Blast.

Want to celebrate Halloween but take a break from the Salem crowds? Lynn Memorial Auditorium presents a special sowing of the classic 1975 film, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on its 40^th anniversary. Pre-show fun starts at 9 p.m. and the show starts at 10 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes, bring props, learn their lines and be on the lookout for a motorcycle on the loose.

On Saturday, October 31, Halloween day is chockfull of events from 10 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. “Salem Children’s Day!” is celebrated on Salem Common from 10 a.m. until 3p.m. with a full day of blow-ups, games, face paintings and more. At 5 p.m., the Festival of the Dead will sponsor a “Salem Witches’ Magic Circle” with Warlocks and Witches and the Dragon Ritual Drummers who will gather for the sacred and magical ritual of Halloween. The Salem Common event is free and open to all who wish to attend with an open heart and a love for their dead.

Evening events include: the Festival of the Dead’s “The Official Salem Witches’ Halloween Ball” at the Hawthorne Hotel; Gulu-Gulu Café’s Annual Halloween Party featuring Ponyfish with Jeff Savlon; the Annie Brobst Band “Halloween in Salem” party at the Knights of Columbus at Washington Square, and Mamadou Diop Band live at the Fountain Stage at Museum Place Mall on Essex Street.

“It’s been a great month. The weather has been phenomenal and that can really make or break the weekend. With the good weather, more people come in and are able to enjoy more things in Salem without being freezing,” said Fox, whose office is already busy planning Haunted Happenings 2016.

For more information and a full listing of events, visit hauntedhappenings.org.

Zalem Zombies on the Prowl in Salem

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Above: Frank Vieira, center, and some of his students reading ‘Zalem, Mass.’ Books, or holding up posters from the series. From left, front row: Helina Almonte, Frank Vieira (me), Richard Morrison; middle row: Mark Savio, Cortney Cook, Julia Chen, Precious Ifeacho; and back row: Olivia Bowers, Angelina Auth./COURTESY PHOTOS

By Shelley A. Sackett

salem@wickedlocal.com

Frank Vieira is not your typical history teacher. By day, the 47-year-old lifelong Salem resident engages Lynn’s Thurgood Marshall Middle School eighth graders with lessons about World History, covering the time period from Ancient Greece until the Enlightenment.

But once he leaves his classroom for the day, the mild-mannered father of five shifts gears and dons his other persona: Frank Vieira, creator and marketer of “Zalem, Mass.”, a comic book series about surviving a Zombie Apocalypse.

“‘Zalem, Mass.’ is not your typical zombie story. It is rich with emotion and quite often brings its readers to tears,” Vieira said, noting he deliberately included actual Salem locations, such as Forest River Pool, Market Basket, Winter Island and Steve’s Quality Market in the action-packed series. “Readers will be hard pressed to not be thinking about seeing zombies no matter where in the city they might go. Using actual geography truly helps to bring the story to life and give it a real feel.”

The cover of ‘Zalem, Mass.’ was designed by Salem artist Christina Robichau and author Frank Vieira.

The zombie craze that is sweeping the globe, and especially the television series, “The Walking Dead,” is the backbone of Vieira’s inspiration to write his comic book series. “This global fascination was no different in my household, where my five kids and I frequently found ourselves having numerous discussions about what we would do if a Zombie Apocalypse ever actually happened,” he said. As the stories and ideas the family tossed around grew in richness and detail, so did Vieira’s motivation to write them down, and “just like that, ‘Zalem, Mass.’ was born.”

Since the story is based on the Vieira family’s brainstorming sessions, the series uses actual people, centering on the Vieira family.

In a nutshell, “Zalem, Mass.” tells the story of a how a normal and unsuspecting family deals with the onset of a Zombie Apocalypse as it approaches their home in Salem. The father takes immediate action to keep his family safe and together, eventually building a sanctuary at Winter Island, which they call “Constantinople.” “Being a history teacher, I based this Safe Zone on the Byzantine capital, now called Istanbul and located in modern day Turkey,” Vieira said.

Originally, he wanted to take his story “on the road” and have the characters travel the countryside for one reason or another, “but Salem is the Witch City. Not only does it have so much spooky history, but it also has become the Halloween Mecca for millions of people,” he said.

Once Vieira decided to set the series in Salem, he came up with the idea of covering the “S” on an “Entering Salem” road sign with a bloody “Z”. He brought the concept to his close friend and local artist, Christina Robichau, and together they designed the final book cover with a bunch of zombie arms reaching for the bloody city.

In May 2013, Vieira started the Zalem, Mass. fan-page on Facebook and invited a few people to the site. After he added the cover image, he received requests for posters and t-shirts. “I literally made everything from coffee mugs to beach bags, to phone covers… Whatever people wanted, I made and sold via the fan-page,” he said.

Friends of friends invited friends of their friends. As soon as Vieira finished writing a chapter, he posted teasers, works-in-progress for some of the artwork, and, eventually, the finished artwork. “With each new image, people wanted new posters and t-shirts, etc.,” he said.

“I also had five or six test readers who I allowed to read my first drafts in order to get feedback. When they began posting how awesome they thought the story was, more and more people continued to look forward to the book’s eventual release date,” he added.

Last year, Vieira ran his first Kickstarter campaign for 30 days, with the goal of raising $5,000. He raised over $6,000, with many fans literally buying their way into the storyline. Larry Harrison, owner of Harrison’s Comics in Salem and a strong supporter of the “Zalem, Mass.” series, pledged $500 to become a character in Vieira’s Book 1:Constantinople and Book 2:Loss, and to have a major scene take place in his store in Book 3. A second Kickstarter this summer raised another $3,000.

Armed with funding, a title and a cover, Vieira began writing Book 1 in earnest. He plumbed Facebook to meet Marvel and DC artists, Thor Mangila and Michael Magallanes, two Philippines residents who created much of the book’s artwork. “I have been reading comic books for the last 40 years and have met many creators by writing letters or chatting on Facebook. Some I met in person at comic conventions, and one [Ed Beard] I met at the King Richard’s Faire,” Vieira said.

With $10,000 from Books 1 and 2 pre-orders, Vieira was able to pay for the artwork, copyright and publishing expenses. After several frustrating experiences with potential publishers, he decided to self-publish with Amazon.com. Currently, “Zalem, Mass.” has more than 13,000 hits on its website (zalemmass.com) and more than 2,100 worldwide fans on its fan-page (facebook.com/zalemmass).

Student Yen-Nhi Chit and author Frank Vieira show a poster of her Book 2 artwork, making her a published artist.

As a teacher, Vieira uses his books to encourage his students to follow their dreams and do whatever makes them happy. He shares the writing process and what publishing a book entails with his students and their families. His classroom is filled with original drawings and paintings by many of his comic artist friends. He was even able to get one of his students, Yen-Nhi Chit, who he discovered was “an amazing artist”, published in “Book 2: Loss” by pairing her with one of the Marvel/DC colorists. “Now she is not only a published artist, but she has also made her first serious contact in the art field. Not too bad for a 14-year-old young lady,” Vieira shared with tremendous pride.

“My central idea is to serve as a role model for my students and their families by being an example and showing them that anything is possible if they dream big, and then chase after their dreams and make them a reality,” Vieira said.

Vieira will be available at Harrison’s Comics at 252 Essex St., Salem, on Saturday October 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. for a book signing to celebrate publication of “Zalem, Mass. Book 2: Loss.” For more information, visit facebook.com/zalemmass and zalem

A Hallowed Time for Witches, Warlocks

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Above:Warlocks Brian Cain, left, and Christian Day practice the religion of witchcraft. Here they celebrate their wedding at Hammond Castle. COURTESY PHOTO

By Shelley A. Sackett / salem@wickedlocal.com

SALEM

For practicing Warlocks Christian Day and Brian Cain, Salem’s nickname, “Witch City,” is more than a marketing slogan and Halloween is more than a retail second Christmas.

“Witchcraft is one of the oldest spiritual paths that occurs in cultures throughout the world,” explained Day from the home he shares with Cain in New Orleans. “It’s a time when spirits walk among us. It’s a time when we remember those who have gone before who touched our lives in some way.”

Both Day and Cain stress that witchcraft is a religious faith, a belief system that includes magic, clairvoyance, and male and female deities. “We all see God in different images,” said Cain, who read the book “Raymond Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft” as a 15-year-old interested in the occult. The book was an eye-opener for the teen, who already accepted witchcraft as a source of magic. “It was a new way of looking at God and brought witchcraft into my life as a religion,” he said.

Born in Beverly to a “very Catholic, Democrat, Massachusetts family,” Day moved to Salem at age 4 and became a practicing witch at 18 after discovering Tarot cards the year before. Although his mother was “a little freaked out” at her son’s embracing witchcraft, his family understood that he was not doing anything harmful. Nonetheless, “people in our family will needle anybody about anything,” Day said with a chuckle.

After a traditional career in advertising at the prestigious Arnold firm, Day decided to leave that world in his 30s and practice witchcraft full-time in Salem.

Day became aware of a movement in the city that was trying to rid Salem of its witch identity. In 2003, Destination Salem, the city’s official Office of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, wouldn’t allow Day to join. “They said we didn’t fit their mission statement which, at the time, was devoted solely to ‘arts and culture,'” Day explained. This potential disenfranchisement was the impetus for his founding Festival of the Dead in 2003.

[When Kim Driscoll became Mayor in 2005, Day did join Destination Salem, ending up on the Board of Directors in 2010, a post he left after relocating to New Orleans.]

“Festival of the Dead was created to bring back the concept that Halloween is a sacred time of the year. We don’t want to get rid of the fun of Halloween. But we also want to show it has a spiritual side and that Salem has room for witches and their magic. There’s a place at the table for the magical community of Salem,” Day said.

During the month of October, the Festival hosts the Annual Psychic Fair and Witchcraft Expo at Museum Place Mall at 176 Essex St., Salem. Besides presenting an emporium of “magical gifts”, those interested can have a Tarot card reading, a crystal ball scrying or a private visit with a medium. Nearby, Enchanted Alley “magical marketplace” is chockfull of vendors selling crystals, jewelry, spell kits, voodoo dolls and more.

There are also more serious ticketed events such as “Hekate: Unveiling the Queen of the Dead,” “Speaking to the Dead with Laurie Cabot,” “The Horned God: Lord of Death and Resurrection with Brian Cain” and of course, the “Official Salem Witches’ Halloween Ball” on Oct. 31, featuring the Dragon Ritual Drummers and old-fashioned rituals and magic.

Day and Cain, who met on Facebook over a witchcraft discussion and then connected in New Orleans in person and “really hit it off,” were married at Hammond Castle in Gloucester on Nov. 16, 2014, a night sacred to the Witch Goddess Hekate. The castle was also the location of a music video for the song “Voodoo” by the band Godsmack; the video featured Salem’s Official Witch Laurie Cabot.

The couple owns two witchcraft shops in Salem, Hex and Omen. Day believes stores like theirs help people to understand what witchcraft is and to reconnect to their spirituality. He compares customers who buy a lucky charm or light a wish candle to lapsed Catholics who might visit Vatican City and look up at the Sistine Chapel and feel closer to God.
“They don’t necessarily want to become a priest or a nun, but they want to feel that connection. This is what goes on in Salem,” he said.

“People coming to Salem and going into a witch shop — most of them aren’t witches and they don’t want to be witches. What they want is to believe in magic again,” Day added.
Both Day and Cain turn serious when asked what their favorite Festival of the Dead event is and answer almost in unison: The Dumb Supper: Dinner with the Dead (so named because no one may speak throughout the event). “This is really the most spiritual event we have,” Cain explained. “It’s a time when we connect to our loved ones who have passed on and it’s a very specific experience.”

Day said his favorite thing about the Dumb Supper is that every year they get “the husbands,” those men dragged to the event by their wives. Although they weren’t interested in attending, after the evening they invariably approach Day and Cain with stories about seeing or touching their loved ones and ask the same question: “How is that possible?”

“These are the things that really inspire me. If someone goes in expecting nothing and then they get something, it so reinforces the idea of the spiritual world. It’s the most sacred thing a witch can do,” Day said. “Salem is the place to go if you want to believe in magic again.”

For more information, visit festivalofthedead.com.

Funding Cancer Research: ACS Fights the Good Fight

Posted by Shelley A. Sackett

Above: Aaron Goldman, Ph.D., American Cancer Society pay-if grantee.

By Shelley A. Sackett

This year, 1.6 million Americans will receive a new cancer diagnosis. Yet, federal funding for cancer research is at its lowest ebb in decades, according to American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

“It’s scary what we’re doing nationally with funding,” said Tom Flanagan, Interim Senior Director of the New England Division of the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Tom Flanagan

In 2014, cancer caused 585,720 deaths in the United States, or one fourth of all reported deaths. According to the ACS, the number of new cancer cases is expected to rise by almost forty percent by 2030. Yet, federal funding of medical research has remained flat for more than a decade when adjusted for inflation.

The U.S.’s National Institute of Health (NIH) is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world. Since 2003, however, its inflation-adjusted appropriation is down 23 percent, according to the ASCO. The NIH budget peaked in fiscal year 2010 at $30.9 billion, falling to $30.3 billion for fiscal year 2015.

Diminished resources have had immediate effects. For example, patient enrollment in NIH’s clinical trials network decreased from 29,000 patients in 2009 to 20,000 in 2013. Clinical trials are a critical step in bringing potential new therapies to the marketplace.

Next to the federal government, the ACS is the largest private funder of cancer research, subsidizing 809 research grants in the U.S. worth $438 million in 2015. Of that national total, $47.5 million, or over ten percent, is earmarked to fund 96 Massachusetts grants.

In addition, the ACS’s multi-disciplinary review panel sometimes approves applications that are beyond that year’s funding resources. Called “pay-if” grants, individual donors who wish to support research that would not otherwise be funded subsidize the work. In 2014, these individual donors stepped up to contribute more than $8.8 million in funding, financing 46 additional “pay-if” grants.

One pay-if grantee is Aaron Goldman, Ph.D., an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who was a fellow with ACS for three years, until this past July. He received a $150,000 research grant to study the biological mechanism that makes some breast cancer cells resistant to cancer therapy. His goal was to develop a drug that would attack this mechanism.

“The focus of our work is not just to keep testing and playing with pathways and molecules, but to really make something come to fruition. There is a huge unmet need, particularly when it comes to cancer cells’ resistance to chemotherapy,” he said. In fact, he and his team have developed drugs that they know are working. “We got a lot of great research accomplished in just three years,” he said proudly.

Goldman and his team are currently seeking private funding to expand these drugs into a full-fledged company so they can study and license them. With the right funding, these new therapies could be market-ready within a year-and-a-half, Goldman estimates, improving a cancer patient’s overall therapeutic outcome and preventing relapse.

Over the course of his 15-year involvement in cancer research, which started as an undergraduate and then graduate student at the University of Arizona, he has had a lot of experience with foundation and government grants. ACS is unique among funders.

“ACS brings you in as family. You’re interacting with the actual funders and the patient population. All the work I’m doing gets communicated throughout the community of administrators and the grant committee,” he said. By contrast, NIH is more anonymous and diffuse. “You feel a little more detached from the population that you’re trying to help – the people suffering from cancer.”

Goldman’s main takeaway from his experience with medical research and securing funding is that foundation grants are crucial in the current fiscal environment that has created even fiercer competition for federal grants, making it very difficult for a young investigator to even qualify for one.

“It’s the old paradigm of applying for a job without the experience but you need the job to get the experience. These foundation grants, like ACS, have been fantastic in filling those gaps,” he said.

ACS is trying to get Congress to refill NIH cancer research funding gaps by increasing appropriations. In 2001, it created ACS Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) to amplify the organization’s work in the public policy arena. As the nation’s leading nonprofit, nonpartisan cancer advocacy organization, ACS CAN promotes its agenda of fighting cancer at the state and federal levels. ACS provides 92 percent of ACS CAN’s 2015’s budget of $35.9 million. The other 8 percent is donated by individuals, health systems and companies.

“We hold candidates as well as lawmakers accountable for their stance on public policies that we know will make a positive impact on fighting cancer,” said Shalini Vallabhan, ACS CAN Vice President of Government Relation in New England. With one million volunteers nationwide, trained volunteers in every congressional district and a lobbyist and grass roots manager in every state, the group is a political force to be reckoned with.

“We all know the level of partisanship that is taking place in Washington, D.C. Increasing funding for medical research is an area we see strong bipartisan support for,” Vallabhan said, pointing out that on July 15, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Bill 6, “The 21^st Century Cures Act” (congress.gov/bill/114-congress/house-bill/6) which provides for dedicated funding for NIH for the next five years at $1.75 million per year, or $8.75 million total.

The bill must next pass in the Senate before President Obama can sign it into law. Later this month, over 700 volunteers and ACS CAN staff will travel to Washington, D.C. to lobby lawmakers from all 435 congressional districts.

ACS would not receive any of this increased funding. “This is for the public good. We have to get the story out because it’s such an exciting time in life sciences and cancer treatment and if we continue to decrease funding from the federal government, it will have a ripple effect for decades in terms of research and science in these areas,” Vallabhan said.

Since its first cancer prevention study in the 1950’s linked smoking and lung cancer, ACS has funded long-term prospective studies on large groups of people to help researchers identify cancer risk factors. Currently, 300,000 people across the country are involved in a study that looks at lifestyle, medical history and changes in medical history, trying to uncover the next big link that can help in the fight to prevent cancer.

“We know that cancer will cost our economy over $200 billion in medical costs and lost productivity this year. We also know that 50 percent of cancer is preventable either through preventing tobacco use or ensuring good nutrition and proper physical activity, “Vallabhan said, pausing. “It’s common sense that it’s better both from a cost perspective and certainly in terms of impact on families and communities if we’re preventing the disease,” she added.

ACS CAN Outreach

June 2015 ACS CAN Research Breakfast, standing from left to right are: Shalini Vallabhan (Vice President of Government Relations, ACS CAN), Mike Ruggiero (Vice President of Government Relations, EMD Serono), Governor Baker, Paris Panayiotopoulos (President and Managing Director, EMD Serono), and Paul Guzzi (then – President, The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce).

Each year, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network brings together leaders from the life sciences ecosystem, health care systems, non-profit sector and businesses. The annual Research Breakfast highlights new breakthroughs in federal funding for cancer research and calls on policymakers to commit to increases in federal funding for the National Institute of Health and National Cancer Institute.

In June 2015, the 8^th annual event featured Governor Charlie Baker, Mayor Marty Walsh and Paul Guzzi from the Boston Chamber of Commerce as guest speakers. More than 80 percent of federal funding for the NIH and NCI (National Cancer Institute) is spent on biomedical research projects at research facilities across the country. In FY 2015, researchers in Massachusetts received $2 billion in NIH funding, which supported more than 32,800 jobs across the state.

ACS CAN also launched the OneDegree project this year in partnership with Stand Up to Cancer to push for increased funding at the federal level. ASC CAN asks everyone to sign the petition at www.onedegreeproject.org. A two-minute video about the OneDegree campaign is at: facebook.com/video.php?v=10152839454796378&set=vb.6355071377&type=2&theater.

For more information or to donate to the American Cancer Society, visit http://www.cancer.org; for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, visit www.acscan.org, and for the One Degree project, visit http://action.acscan.org/site/PageNavigator/OneDegree_Microsite_Petition_Page.html.

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A Blog by Shelley A. Sackett

Author: Shelley A. Sackett

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