“China expands language institutes at US colleges - KTRE” plus 4 more |
- China expands language institutes at US colleges - KTRE
- Plans for undersea cable advance - Honolulu Advertiser
- Feds to review subsistence management in Alaska - Alaska Journal of Commerce
- America, morality, Polanski, yada, yada - GetReligion
- Arts agencies to get highest funding in 16 years - WTVF
| China expands language institutes at US colleges - KTRE Posted: 30 Oct 2009 05:32 AM PDT Associated Press - October 30, 2009 8:35 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Some students in the U.S. are part of a global outreach by the government of China called the Confucius Institute. The cultural and language centers have sprung up around the world, hosted at universities eager to boost their Mandarin offerings as China's economic influence grows. The Confucius Institute at South Florida is 1 of nearly 60 such centers in the United States, and 396 globally in 87 countries. Randy Kluver, director of the Confucius Institute at Texas A&M University, says the school's programs were "maxed out." The first Confucius Institute outside China was established in Seoul, South Korea, in 2004. The first U.S. center was created at the University of Maryland. Each institute is paired with a Chinese university, which sends visiting instructors. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Plans for undersea cable advance - Honolulu Advertiser Posted: 30 Oct 2009 02:43 PM PDT The state said yesterday it is seeking bids from companies to conduct an environmental impact statement for an undersea power cable that would connect the islands of Lanai, Molokai, Oahu and Maui. The state last year announced the cable as part of its Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, designed to cut the state's dependence on foreign oil for most of its energy needs. Gov. Linda Lingle's administration has called for 70 percent of the state's energy to come from renewable resources by 2030. The state in June awarded a $1.5 million contract to the University of Hawaii for mapping of the ocean floor between Honolulu and Maui County with the hope of identifying the best route for a cable. Two 200-megawatt windfarms are being planned for Molokai and Lanai, with the power being sent via the cable to Oahu. The 400 mega-watts could provide up to one-third of Honolulu's power needs. The undersea cable is part of a comprehensive energy agreement signed one year ago between the state of Hawaii and Hawaiian Electric companies to move the state away from its dependence on fossil fuels for electricity and ground transportation. Partners in the agreement include the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the Hawaiian Electric companies, the State Consumer Advocate and the U.S. Department of Energy. The contract for the EIS is expected to be awarded by the end of the year. "The interisland cable project is an important piece of infrastructure needed to achieve the goal of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative of 70 percent clean energy by 2030," Lingle said in a news release. "We are committed to making sure all environmental, economic, cultural and community issues are fully addressed." This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Feds to review subsistence management in Alaska - Alaska Journal of Commerce Posted: 30 Oct 2009 02:29 PM PDT "The system, frankly, today is broken," Salazar said during a taped speech to the Alaska Federation of Natives. The department will review management policies and programs on federal lands to make them work more effectively to meet the needs of Native Alaskan communities, he said. Federal law passed in 1980 guarantees a "rural" preference for fish and game on the vast federal holdings in Alaska more than 60 percent of the state. The law is in conflict with the Alaska's state constitution, which says fish, wildlife and water will be reserved for the common use of all Alaskans with no preference based on race or geography. Hunters and anglers in Alaska communities designated as "urban" contend that a preference for Alaska's fish and wildlife should not be determined by where a person lives. The Alaska Legislature has rejected proposals to place a constitutional amendment proposal before voters that would grant a rural preference and win back state management of fish and game on all lands within the state. Salazar said the federal government began managing the subsistence priority nearly two decades ago and that it was time to look at what has happened and what must be done to meet the federal law's obligations. Kim Elton, the Interior Department senior adviser for Alaska affairs and a former state senator from Juneau, said subsistence is critical to sustaining both the physical and spiritual culture of Native Alaskans. The review will consider leadership and budget issues, he said. "A fundamental premise will be that we can no longer expect the state to regain subsistence management on federal lands," he said. "We are here to stay, so we have the obligation to provide the best management system that we possibly can." Elton said Salazar wants a clear subsistence plan by early next year. The revamped subsistence management plan will use decisions based on science and traditional knowledge, an understanding of subsistence, and a commitment to the promise made in federal law that subsistence will not be compromised or relegated to a low priority status.
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| America, morality, Polanski, yada, yada - GetReligion Posted: 30 Oct 2009 02:21 PM PDT
We think we sense the presence of a religion ghost and, of course, chasing those ghosts is what this weblog is all about. So we write out post and then, on the comments pages, someone will say, "Why is this a GetReligion issue? There's no religion in this story." And we say, "Well, there should be." And the reader then says, "Well, the story also doesn't mention iced tea, moon rocks, polkas or the shocking rise in teens wearing flip-flops when it's 35 degrees, and it could have (or similar arguments). In other words, the reader is asking: What does religion have to do with this kind of argument about culture and morality (and, often, sexuality)? What's faith got to do with it? We then say that, statistically speaking, we are dealing with subjects that tend to be linked to religious beliefs and traditions here in America. And so forth and so on. So you have been warned: Here comes another GetReligion post about the Roman Polanski case. I think I saw a ghost in that stunning Los Angeles Times feature the other day by Joe Mozingo about the shocking contents of the original testimony by the victim, Samantha Gailey. The double-decker headline read:
It's a long, long story and, at times, almost impossible to read. You know you are in rough territory when a young girl tries to describe an explicit act of oral sex as "cuddliness." All of the details are here, in large part because the story is trying to make the case that — for a variety of cultural reasons — people in Hollywood and elsewhere had motivations for making the blunt details go away. So what did one of the world's most respected movie directors — at least in high, elite circles — plead guilty to doing, kind of, before later trying to say that he didn't really do what he was accused of doing, or it wasn't really that bad because, yada, yada?
So where is the ghost? Well, what are these two forces in this tug-of-war? Or what are the forces that helped shape the moral visions of the groups on both sides of this debate about Polanski and his history of seducing young girls? After all, as Mozingo notes much later in the story, the European media could not understand what was going on. What about the private life of this young American siren who was causing trouble for this great artist?
At a crucial moment, Polanski's fate depended, in large part, on the recommendations of a probation officer named Irwin Gold. Would this case evolve into a mere public relations fiasco or would people, responding to Samantha's stark testimony, keep talking about — gasp — jail? The victim's testimony kept getting "scrubbed" clean of the nasty details in report after report. Finally, Gold openly wrote about his admiration for Polanski and the degree to which the director had risen above the great tragedies in his life. And, of course, Polanski was a living symbol of Hollywood and its culture. Gold wrote:
And there you have the two forces that keep colliding in the Polanski case. Now, if you look at history and if you look at the statistics that define American life, would you say that religion plays a rather important role in defining the "manners and mores" of the "native land" that keeps causing grief for many elite artists in Hollywood? In terms of facts and statistics, what are some the most stark differences between Europe and America, when you are dealing with questions of morality and public life? Just asking. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
| Arts agencies to get highest funding in 16 years - WTVF Posted: 30 Oct 2009 02:29 PM PDT
By BRETT ZONGKER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities are expected to receive their highest levels of funding in 16 years from a bill President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law by this weekend. Under the Interior Appropriations Bill passed Thursday by the House and Senate, both cultural agencies were slated to receive $167.5 million for the 2010 fiscal year. Last year's budget allocated $155 million. The increase - amid a record federal budget deficit - comes after an aggressive push by lobbyists to show that arts organizations provide thousands of jobs across the country. Many arts groups, including the Baltimore Opera, have closed their doors or cut jobs because of the tough recession. In a statement, the advocacy group Americans for the Arts credited Obama and key congressional leaders with edging federal arts funding closer to its high of $176 million for the NEA in the 1990s. "This important budget increase recognizes the essential role the arts play in our lives, schools and communities," said Robert Lynch, president and CEO of the lobbying group. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, a Washington state Democrat and chief author of the House bill, said interior accounts had been "chronically underfunded" for the past eight years under Republican President George W. Bush. The bill also includes an increase for environmental programs. Republicans slashed funding for the arts endowment to less than $100 million in 1996, and the annual allocation has yet to fully rebound to its high from 1992. The arts endowment did, however, receive an extra $50 million this year as part of the federal stimulus package to help struggling nonprofit groups sustain arts jobs. The bill also includes increases for the national museums in Washington and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Smithsonian Institution, the largest federal arts allocation, is slated to receive a $30 million increase - from $731.4 million to $761.4 million. It covers increasing costs, funds to digitize museum collections for the Internet and $12.6 million to help renovate the shuttered Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall. The separate National Gallery of Art is slated to receive $167 million, up from about $123 million in 2009. ___ National Endowment for the Arts: http://www.nea.gov/ National Endowment for the Humanities: http://www.neh.gov/ Smithsonian Institution: http://www.si.edu/ National Gallery of Art: http://www.nga.gov/ Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. |
Every now and then, one of your GetReligionistas reads a story — usually about a controversy tied to culture and morality — and then says, in his or her heart of hearts, "You know, religion ought to be in here somewhere."
So, finally, we get to the passage in which I sensed the presence of a ghost, a passage worth sharing with GetReligion readers.| You are subscribed to email updates from cultural - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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