Category: Spring 2008 Newswire
Monadnock High Student’s Art Work to Hang on Capitol Hill
ART
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
April 17, 2008
WASHINGTON – In June a Swanzey high school student’s art work will join works by students from across the country in an art exhibition in the tunnel that leads from the Capitol to the House office buildings.
Alison Dreyfuss, a 17-year-old senior at Monadnock Regional High School, on Saturday won first place in the 2nd Congressional District Art Exhibition held at Plymouth State University and sponsored by Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H. Her “Casualties of Winter” was part of “a project that the whole class was doing,” Dreyfuss said.
Her art teacher, Debbra Crowder, “said it was really great and she was going to put it into the competition,” Dreyfuss said. “I just went along with what she suggested.”
Dreyfuss said her winning piece features a mailbox “that had been kind of battered, hit by a plow and rust,” with Mrs. Crowder’s name on it. She used charcoal and conte crayons, which are a mixture of graphite and clay, to create it.
“It’s very important to encourage young artists.… [There] aren’t that many national competitions for young artists to enter at this level,” Rep. Hodes said.
“The winning artwork is hung in the corridor that goes…right to the Capitol…so literally thousands and thousands and thousands every year get to see the artwork,” he said. “To have your work displayed in the Capitol is pretty high level.”
According to a information from Rep. Hodes’ office, the Monadnock region was well represented in the exhibition; of the 43 entries, nine came from Fall Mountain Regional High School, four from ConVal Regional High School and five from Monadnock Regional High School.
“There’s a lot of interest and terrific involvement from Mondanock region,” Hodes said.
Karen Lyle, owner of Creative Encounters, a custom framing store in Keene, was tapped to frame the winning artwork.
The competition is “one of those things that just makes you smile,” Lyle said.
The competition is a national event, started in 1982. Since then more than 650,000 high school students from across the country have been involved, according to a statement from Mark Bergman, communications director for Rep. Hodes.
The winning artwork hangs for 11 months, starting in June, in the Cannon Tunnel, which connects the Cannon House Office Building and the Capitol.
The winner in the 2nd District of New Hampshire receives three round-trip tickets courtesy of Southwest Airlines to visit Washington for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 25. Also, if the winner is interested in starting his or her post-secondary education, the Savannah College of Art and Design offers a $5,000 “artistic honors scholarship,” according to Rep. Hodes.
Dreyfuss said she is set to attend Keene State College in the fall and plans to become a teacher. She has no plans to pursue art, though she took classes throughout high school and has been in Mrs. Crowder’s advanced placement art class for two years.
“I think any competition in which a young artist can obtain recognition for their ability is important because it allows them to feel confident in pursuing art,” Dreyfuss said. “A lot of kids don’t realize that there are opportunities where you can get a job and actually make money making art.”
The second and third-place winners, Erik Warn, a senior at Plymouth Regional High School, and Kiera McTigue, a senior at Pembroke Academy, will have their work displayed in Rep. Hodes’ district offices.
Levy Smith, a junior at Monadnock Regional High School, received an honorable mention for his work.
“I think it’s very important to provide opportunities for young artists to practice…. Young artists today are mature artists of tomorrow,” Rep. Hodes said. “Ultimately society and the country are often judged by history more on the base of lasting works of art than by any other measure.”
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Collins, Michaud Attend Mass with the Pope
Pope Reaction
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
4/17/2008
WASHINGTON – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, were among the 46,000 to crowd the new Nationals Park on Thursday for a Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.
Collins called the Mass one of the most memorable experiences of her life and found the pope’s homily to be exactly the right message for American Catholics.
“It was heartening and hopeful,” Collins said in an interview Thursday afternoon. “He recognized the contributions of the American church and its diversity.”
Also in his homily, the pope “expressed a profound regret” for the sexual abuse problems, Collins said.
At the Mass, Collins had a cross necklace blessed. She had gotten the necklace from Rome when she attended Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005.
“It was a tremendous honor to hear his message of hope and renewal,” said Michaud, who called the Mass a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a high point in his life as a life-long Catholic. “The Pope’s message was a clear call to Americans of all faiths and walks of life to push for a more just and more peaceful society.”
Michaud, like Collins, attended the White House greeting of the pope on Wednesday and called that event a “great honor” as well.
Collins, along with her guest, Sister Mary Norberta, president of St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor, dined at the Italian Embassy Wednesday night for a birthday reception for the pope, who turned 81 on Wednesday. Another dinner occurred at the White House. The pope had a quiet evening in the Vatican’s house, close to the Italian Embassy, and did not attend either of his birthday celebrations despite rumors that he might.
Though the guest of honor was not present, opera singer Denyce Graves led the gathering of about 300 at the embassy in wishing him happy birthday.
“It was a lovely evening nonetheless,” Collins said. “And perhaps he heard us singing from across the street.”
Thursday’s Mass was the last chance for most Washingtonians to see the pope before he headed to New York City Friday morning. Before leaving Washington, he met with the leaders of Catholic colleges and universities at Catholic University and representatives from other religions at a separate gathering at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, located next to the university.
Events in New York include an address at the United Nations, a visit to Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center once stood, and a Mass at Yankee Stadium.
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Martha Stewart Tells Senate Panel to Focus on Caring for Aging Citizens
Aging
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
4/17/2008
WASHINGTON –Martha Stewart, who is already there, told a Senate panel Wednesday that as the first of the nation’s 78 million baby boomers reach their 60s, their health needs will grow but not the number of trained professionals needed to care for them.
Stewart, who is 66, was among those who testified about the need for more and better trained caregivers for the elderly at the Special Committee on Aging hearing.
Stewart told of how experiences with her mother inspired her to establish the Martha Stewart Center for Living, a clinic providing geriatric outpatient services at the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. Stewart donated $5 million toward this project and said she hopes it will recruit more doctors to specialize in elderly care.
The center is located on the Upper East Side of New York City, but Stewart said in testimony on Wednesday that “it’s difficult, especially in smaller cities and rural locations, to find doctors experienced in the specific needs that arise with age.”
Stewart, who spends her summers on Maine’s Mount Desert Island and has given to local Maine charities, has not indicated whether she would set up in Maine a program modeled after the Mt. Sinai program.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the committee, cosponsored legislation in March that would strengthen recruitment and retention for geriatric caregivers. The AARP, an advocacy group for people over 50, endorsed the measure.
The most rapidly growing segment of the nation’s population is 85 and over, Collins said at the hearing. “Maine is disproportionately elderly,” she said. “I’m very concerned about access to health care as my generation and others join me in this population segment.”
The hearing reviewed the findings of a report issued on Monday by the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, which was created by Congress to advise the government.
The report found that there aren’t enough geriatric specialists to care for the growing aging population. There is one geriatric-certified doctor for every 2,500 elderly Americans.
Medicare is also a problem because it does not pay doctors as much as they would get if the patient were not in Medicare, according to the report. This hinders patients from getting the best care because their doctors are forced to treat short-term problems rather than deal with the larger chronic conditions.
Dr. John Rowe, chairman of the Institute of Medicine committee that issued the report, said at the hearing that the health care workforce needs to be better trained to cope with an aging population and that more attention must go to recruiting and training geriatric specialists.
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GOP Senators Call for Stronger Economy Instead of Higher Taxes
TAXES
Union Leader
Matt Negrin
Boston University Washington News Service
15 April 2008
WASHINGTON — While Americans finished filing their tax forms by Tuesday’s deadline, Republicans in Congress were filing statements slamming the Democratic budget they say would hit millions of people with $1.2 trillion in taxes.
Using the credit crisis and weak economy as talking points, Senate Republicans said Tuesday that Americans need a stronger economy instead of higher taxes.
“Instead of trying to generate more revenue at the expense of the family budget, the Democratic Congress should focus on tax incentives to stimulate the economy, address the housing credit crisis and create jobs,” Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said in a statement issued before a press conference.
Republicans also are attacking the Democratic plan by highlighting the amounts millions of taxpayers will pay beginning in 2010 if the tax plan is included in the budget that becomes law. They point out that each year, on average, 43 million families would pay $2,300 more, 18 million seniors would pay $2,200 more and 27 million small businesses would pay $4,100 more.
“It’s very expensive for the American people to have this Democratic Congress,” Gregg said.
Democrats say the tax increases that would result from letting current tax cuts expire as scheduled are targeted at the rich, though Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said they also would hurt single workers making at least $34,000 and couples earning at least $60,000.
“It makes no sense that they’re rich,” McConnell said.
Republicans have been calling for tax relief to stimulate the economy in light of the credit crisis and the drop in consumer spending. “We should be helping the economy,” said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, adding that tax increases will be a major issue leading up to the November elections.
Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., called for a new tax code with simple rules instead of the current system that changes each year and has different instructions for taxpayers who itemize deductions, those who don’t, and those who pay the alternative minimum tax, which was originally targeted at rich people and businesses eligible for many tax benefits but which now casts a far wider net.
Echoing conservative concerns on spending, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., called for a federal flat tax that would give taxpayers the option of filing a one-page tax return with a 19 percent rate for two years and a 17 percent rate thereafter.
Meanwhile, congressional Democrats assailed the war in Iraq for sucking tax dollars away from the economy. The war has cost more than $500 billion since 2003, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and is estimated to total $1 trillion to $3 trillion or more by the time it ends.
“Taxpayers think their money is going to Washington, but it’s really going to Baghdad,” said Rep. Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., at a press conference.
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House Democrats Say Iraq Costs Hurting American Families
TAX DAY
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
April 15, 2008
WASHINGTON – Condemning excessive spending on the war in Iraq, a group of House Democrats Tuesday said the average American family has paid $16,500 toward the war since it began.
Funding the war has directly contributed to the faltering economy and the house foreclosure crisis, the members of Congress said at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tax Day. Having spent nearly $1.3 trillion on the war effort, now in its sixth year, the Democrats stressed reprioritizing how the government spends taxpayer dollars.
“Federal budgets are like family budgets. They reflect priorities,” U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, said. “For too long, the priorities of this administration and its Republican allies in Congress have been flat wrong.”
The Democratic representatives said the Bush administration’s policy of borrowing for the war will place a burden on taxpayers for years to come. Meanwhile, Democrats said they are still fighting for more money for domestic programs.
“Taxpayers think their money is going to Washington, but it’s really going to Baghdad,” said U.S. Rep. Janice D. Schakowsky, D-Ill., one of the co-founders of the Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus.
An impassioned Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former presidential candidate, slammed the Bush administration for damaging the American economy with continued support for the war.
“It’s ruining the chance to create the type of future Americans expect,” the Ohio Democrat said.
According to a report by the congressional Joint Economic Committee, the total cost of the war – when accounting for other related factors, such as treating wounded soldiers, purchasing military equipment and spending more for military recruitment – is $1.3 trillion, costing a family of four $16,500 since the war started in 2003. In an April 4 New York Times/CBS News poll, 89 percent of the people interviewed said the cost of the war has contributed “a lot” or “some” to economic problems.
A week after Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military leader in Iraq, recommended to Congress a pause in the troop drawdown, the Democrats acknowledged that American troops will still be in Iraq as the next president takes office.
“Gen. Petraeus told us there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” said U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas. “This is after years of sacrifice and an immense amount of money.”
In an interview after the press conference, Mr. McGovern said the government should give priority to spending for health care and programs to fight hunger. He said if the government spent on domestic programs what it spends on the Iraq war, Americans would see a better return on their tax dollars.
“If we’re going to have debt, I’d rather have it because we’re helping our people instead of diminishing our standing around the world and contributing to war,” he said. “You spend in Iraq, it’s like you’re throwing money into a black hole – you don’t get anything in return. You spend money on infrastructure, you’re creating jobs. You actually make that money back.”
In a separate press conference Tuesday, Senate Republicans blasted the tax plan in the House Democrats’ budget, saying it would raise taxes by $1.2 trillion and would affect 116 million taxpayers. The higher proposed taxes would result from letting current tax cuts expire as scheduled in 2010.
“It’s very expensive for the American people to have this Democratic Congress,” said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. “The American people are not fundamentally under-taxed. They're over-taxed.”
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Collins Says Pope’s Message ‘Inspiring and Filled With Hope
White House
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
4/15/2008
WASHINGTON – Pope Benedict XVI was greeted Wednesday morning at the White House by President and Mrs. Bush and thousands of invited guests, including a child holding a “Welcome Pope Hope” sign.
Among the crowd of more than 9,000 on the South Lawn were Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, minutemen in colonial garb, military personnel, Roman Catholic cardinals from throughout the nation and U.S. senators, including Susan Collins, R-Maine.
“I thought the pope’s message was inspiring and filled with hope,” Collins said after the ceremony. “He is bringing a message of hope and healing to our country and has the opportunity to inspire and strengthen America’s Catholics. His approach seems to be very warm and welcoming and invitational to encourage a stronger faith that I believe will be well received by Catholics and all Americans.”
Collins’ described the event as a “moving experience.” It was the first time she had seen Pope Benedict, though she had met the previous pope, John Paul II. Collins said she was surprised to see many of her Senate colleagues in attendance, some of whom weren’t Catholic, like Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., but wanted to be present for the historic event.
Wednesday’s presidential greeting of Pope Benedict was only the second time a pope has visited the White House and the first in 29 years. Pope Benedict greeted the crowd of more than 9,000 invited guests, making the event the largest in White House history.
In addition to a 21-gun salute and soprano Kathleen Battle’s rendition of The Lord’s Prayer, the crowd sang happy birthday to the Pope, who turned 81 on Wednesday.
The President and Pope Benedict share many of the same views on matters like abortion and stem cell research, but one matter they disagree over is the Iraq war. Alluding to this, the Pope maintained his hopeful stance.
“In moments of crisis, Americans continue to find strength and commitment,” he said. “Freedom must always be fought for in the name of the common good…. I am confident that you will use diplomacy to solve international problems.”
The president assured Pope Benedict that in America he will find a nation of compassion, where “faith and reason coexist in harmony.”
“You’ll find in America a people whose hearts are open to your message of hope,” Bush said. “In America and in the world we need that message.”
After the greeting on the South Lawn, the pope met privately with the president. From there, the “popemobile” traveled among a crowd of well-wishers to the Vatican Embassy, across from the vice president’s residence on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory on Massachusetts Avenue.
Pope Benedict visited the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Roman Catholic Church in North America, on Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday night Collins, along with her guest, Sister Mary Norberta, president of St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor, was scheduled to have dinner at the Italian Embassy. There were conflicting reports on whether the pope would attend this dinner or have a quiet dinner at the Vatican’s residence in Washington. He had earlier indicated that he would not attend the White House dinner in his honor Wednesday night.
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Pioneer North Pole Crossing by USS Nautilus Celebrated
SUBMARINES
New London Day
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
April 11, 2008
WASHINGTON – Late on Aug. 3, 1958, the USS Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole, an event that was celebrated Thursday night in Washington with presentations by members of the original crew and some of the officers who participated in later Arctic sub explorations.
The Nautilus, built and launched at Electric Boat in Groton, was the first submarine powered by nuclear energy and now remains a vital component of the Submarine Force Library & Museum in Groton.
The celebration, complete with a birthday cake, was held at the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation's Heritage Center in Washington and was hosted by the Naval Historical Foundation, the Naval Submarine League and the Naval Historical Center.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, on April 2 introduced a resolution in the House to honor the 50th anniversary of the Nautilus’ Arctic crossing. Courtney, who spoke at the event, said he expects the resolution to be approved soon.
“The resolution is an important action by our country to recognize this historic occasion,” Courtney said, while pointing out that he had an “ulterior motive” in the symbolic resolution.
“I’m trying to get the spotlight on the importance of addressing the shortfall” of funding for submarines, he said.
Courtney pointed to that resolution as a way of continuing the momentum started last year, when $588 million was secured for construction of two Virginia-class submarines per year starting in 2011 instead of 2012, which was the Navy’s initial suggestion.
Last year Courtney went to the North Pole on the USS Alexandria, which was participating in Arctic exercises conducted by the U.S. Navy and British Royal Navy.
Though the Nautilus’ 1958 voyage—dubbed Operation Sunshine—paved the way for numerous Arctic voyages and represented a breakthrough in national security during the Cold War period, members of the Arctic crossing fleet did not originally see it as such a momentous trip.
Retired Vice Adm. Kenneth Carr, who was on the 1958 voyage, said, “When I look back on it, it looks a lot more important than it did at the time.”
Retired Navy Lt. Joe Degnan, another member of the North Pole voyage, said the significance of his assignment set in when the crew was celebrated with a ticker tape parade in New York.
“At the time it was just another assignment,” Degnan said before the event.
Navy Capt. Robert Perry, who spent 90 days under the ice in 1998 and 1999 while commanding the USS Hawkbill, pointed to the voyages as important opportunities for understanding the geography and science of the North Pole.
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Renewable-Energy Tax Credits Pass in Housing Bill
RENEWABLES
Union Leader
Matt Negrin
Boston University Washington News Service
10 April 2008
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan bill to ease the strain of the housing crisis on homeowners while giving tax breaks to consumers of renewable energies.
The energy provisions would give $6 billion in tax incentives for the purchase of alternative energy sources like solar, wind and biomass. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., backed the measure last week and added a provision that would give tax credits for buying wood pellet stoves, which are more efficient than gas heaters and are popular in New England.
Many senators supported the legislation as a way of moving the country away from its reliance on foreign energy. The Senate bill includes extension of a deadline through 2009 for consumers to claim credits on clean energy sources.
The 88 votes for the energy amendment, added to the broader bill that addresses the current housing crisis, “shows there is a lot of consensus,” Sununu said in an interview outside the Senate chamber.
The entire bill is expected to be rehashed in the House, where a different plan is being considered. Despite overwhelming support in the Senate, critics say its version is tilted toward home builders and other businesses, and not borrowers, inadequately addressing the housing crisis.
Even supporters of the bill have said it has flaws. “It is not a perfect bill,” Sununu said, adding that its most important provision modernizes the Federal Housing Administration and requires homeowner counseling.
“Information is of enormous value,” said Sununu, who has held several workshops in New Hampshire to educate homeowners about financing homes and the risk of foreclosures.
At a press conference after the bill passed, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the energy amendment can stay intact in the House if it is considered as a second economic stimulus, which Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has favored. Cantwell, one of the authors of the amendment, said the supporters of the legislation would be happy with “any vehicle” to move it quickly through the House.
The energy amendment passed, 88-8, and the larger housing bill by 84-12. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., voted for the energy measure but against the housing bill, saying it would create billions of dollars in federal debt for “ineffective programs” and “special-interest handouts.”
“Considering the billions in debt it will pass onto the backs of our children, this bill does very little to stimulate the economy and address our nation’s housing problems,” Gregg said in a statement. “I cannot support this bill in spite of its positive aspects and will continue working on more effective solutions for our economic slowdown.”
The White House also opposes the bill, saying it would lower home values and aid lenders who are blamed for a dramatic spike in foreclosures.
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Keene High Senior Practices Diplomacy at National Youth Leadership Forum
FORUM
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
April 10, 2008
WASHINGTON – TJ Ferguson came to the phone to talk about his time in Washington at the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security, but only for a minute because he needed to go outside to help his parents with the maple sugaring.
A 17-year-old Keene High School senior from West Milan, Ferguson has a lot on his plate. Last October he took time away from classes, from baseball, from his parents’ businesses and from Interact, Rotary International’s youth club that does charity work, to attend the national security forum.
“They mailed me a letter that said ‘accepted’ and gave some information about the program…. I was interested in national security, and that’s exactly what this was on,” Ferguson said. “It just seemed like a fun thing to do…. I’ve always liked history.”
It was Ferguson’s mother, April Ferguson, who opened the letter from the forum. The Fergusons own Ferguson Roofing Co and Millbrook Farm Woodworks; Woodworks sells sheds and gazebos and taps for maple sugar.
“It was addressed to ‘the parents of’ and I read it and thought ‘This sounds great,’ ” April Ferguson said. “I wasn’t sure if T would want to pursue the program…20 minutes later he was like, ‘I would love to participate in that.’ He had been indicating…a lot of kids graduate from college and have a tough time getting jobs. He said, ‘Look at all these jobs available with homeland security…. It’s never going to end.’ ”
The National Youth Leadership Forum, founded in 1992 by Richard Rossi and Barbara Harris, who also founded the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in 1985, aims to provide students with an introduction to various career paths, with forums on law, medicine and national security.
“Basically the goal is just to give high-achieving high school students the opportunity to explore a career field more in depth than even just a high school class that deals with it,” said Laura Stevenson, director of media relations for the forums.
“This particular program was developed in the wake of the first Gulf War,” Stevenson said. “Increased interest in careers in the military dissipated over time…. We introduced intelligence and diplomacy fields. The forum used to be called Forum on Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy.”
The week-long forum, funded by student tuition, stresses speakers, site explorations, seminars and strategy exercises related to national security, according to a forum fact sheet.
“They [students] find out realistically what they can expect,” Stevenson said. “It informs them enough so they can make a more educated decision about what they want to pursue in college in terms of courses and majors.”
At the national security forum students hear from high-profile public officials in the defense, intelligence and diplomatic fields. Past speakers have included Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Richard L. Armitage, deputy secretary of State; and George Tenet, former director of the CIA.
One of the speakers who made an impact on Ferguson worked at the Pentagon and was there on Sept. 11, 2001.
“One of the guys talked about his experience…. He talked about what happened there and process of recovery,” Ferguson said. “He said things tightened up a lot.”
The culmination of the program is a three to four-hour simulation of a national security crisis. According to Stevenson, the program tries to create a situation that is relevant to national security issues of the time and could really happen. The theme for the session that Ferguson attended in October was “crisis or crossroads: East meets West in the Congo.’
“We all got assigned different roles,” Ferguson said. “I was an ambassador. There were a bunch of countries that I suggested group together and make a bigger territory and ward off the people that were invading.”
Students are often recommended and nominated to the program by a teacher. The nomination process is anonymous. A student’s grade-point average must be over 3.0, and the SAT score also factors into the equation. Students may also mark a field that they are interested in on their standardized tests and, if their scores are high enough, be recommended to the program.
Ferguson qualified not only because of his grades and SAT scores but also because of his leadership.
“He’s a real goal setter,” said Tom Fowler, the Keene High School baseball coach. “I think TJ’s leadership abilities extend into him being a future success in the real world. He cares about other people.”
The summer after Ferguson’s freshman year of high school, while pitching in the state tournament, he was hit in the head by a baseball. His skull was fractured.
“He had to recover from that and get back up on that mound,” April Ferguson said. She marveled at her son’s strength and called the accident a “turning point.”
“He doesn’t talk about it and just carries on. He never carries it as a crutch. Still waters run deep.... He has a deep strength that he exhibits to us,” she said.
April Ferguson sees that same strength in her husband, TJ’s father, Ted Ferguson, a former police chief in West Milan.
“He juggled that with his roofing business and he did a great job,” April Ferguson said. “And I remember it takes a certain presence…I remember T and I were talking about it one time and I said, ‘You have the same kind of presence that Dad has…. You stand back and look…. Diplomats are like that.’ ”
Security work at U.S. embassies appeals to Ferguson, but he is not sure what career path he wants to pursue yet.
For now, he is trying to decide between criminal justice and business as a major when he attends Franklin Pierce University in the fall, and he is hard at work trying to lead his baseball team to a top spot in the state.
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Government Leftovers Would Go to the Poor
Hunger
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
4/10/2008
WASHINGTON – Despite millions of Americans who go hungry every day, government leftovers have been going straight to the trash because of strict liability laws.
Those rules may soon change thanks to legislation cosponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, that would encourage the government and its food contractors to donate their extra food to soup kitchens and food banks.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, of which Collins is the senior Republican, passed the measure on Thursday. It now goes to the Senate floor, where it is expected to pass. The House passed a companion bill at the end of last year.
Collins’ measure would require that all federal contracts above $25,000 for food services include a clause encouraging the donation of excess, wholesome food to nonprofit organizations. The law also would protect the donor from civil or criminal liability, a move Collins calls “common sense.”
Maine is the 11th poorest state, with nearly 13 percent of its citizens going hungry, said the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit that works to wipe out hunger in the United States. A 2006 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that of the 35.5 million hungry Americans, 12.6 million were children. There are more than 6,000 poor children in Penobscot County alone, according to 2006 Census Bureau data.
Because of the sinking economy and escalating oil prices, “families are being forced to choose between paying their bills and buying food,” Collins said after the committee’s passage of the measure. “This, combined with grocery stores becoming more efficient and donating less, has caused the demand for food to reach a record high.”
Collins told of a teacher who couldn’t afford food because of skyrocketing heating bills and unexpected medical costs.
While donations seem to have remained the same at the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Brewer and Auburn, the demand for food has increased, said Paul Tarr, warehouse operations manager of the food bank. Tarr, like Collins, attributes this to the price of fuel.
“If the price of fuel goes up, the price of everything else goes up,” Tarr said. “Everything someone needs to spend more money on is less money they have to spend on food.”
Because of higher demand, Good Shepherd is “moving food out almost as fast as it’s coming in,” Tarr said.
Tarr supports the legislation, saying he believes it will bring in more food in larger volumes to food banks and pantries throughout the nation.
Portland’s Preble Street, the largest soup kitchen in northern New England and one of 250 food shelters in Maine, is experiencing bare shelves for the first time in decades.
Serving more than 330,000 meals a year, Preble depends on donations for 90 percent of the food it serves. But its supplies have become meager at a time when poverty is on the rise.
“We all know it makes sense to share, it’s one of the first principles we are taught as children,” representatives from the soup kitchen said in a letter of endorsement for the legislation. “We all know that in this richly blessed nation, there is ‘enough to go around.’ Nothing makes more sense than to make our inclination and obligation to care for our neighbors in need part of our federal administrative practice.”
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