The New Travel Promotion Act – will it work?

Travel News story published on TravelNewsNotes.com on March 30, 2010 See the original online article

It has been signed, but will it get the job done?

Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act and it’s caused quite a bit of controversy among travel gurus.

As a global industry, tourism has increased significantly over the past ten years.  But according to the U.S. Travel Association the once-stable tourism industry in the U.S. has plummeted by 17 percent and has lost over 58 million potential visitors since 2000.

That enormous number means an enormous sum of money was lost and just to be precise, that number is $182 billion lost in visitor spending and $27 billion in lost tax receipts. That’s not to mention the 200,000 travel-related jobs that were lost as a result.

ED/Op – Our position and Haiti

Ed/Op article published in the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Daily Collegian on Feb. 4, 2010 See the original article

As I sat in the heated office of the auto shop waiting for the mechanics to finish fixing up my car, a rather large middle-aged woman walked in and started chatting with the man behind the counter. She wasn’t the most refined of women – throwing unnecessary curse words into her vocabulary as she carried on about the day’s events.

I was paying more attention to the book I was reading than to whatever it was they were talking about, but at one point in their conversation my ears perked up as she said, “Why should we donate? You know, we’re floundering enough as it is over here. Just look at our economy, we need to help ourselves before we can help anyone else.”

She was talking about Haiti.

Countries join together to celebrate benefits of international education

Published in the University of Massachusetts Daily Collegian on November 20, 2009
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Educational institutions from over 100 different countries joined together this week to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.

The University of Massachusetts hosted various events in recognition of International Education Week, which ran from Sunday, Nov. 15 through Friday, Nov. 20. Events included presentations featuring Cambodian dancing, live speakers from Afghanistan, films from Africa and East Asia, as well as multiple workshops and fairs to aid students in their quest to study or work internationally.

“The whole point of this is to say, ‘There is more on this Earth than you can possibly imagine,’” said Assistant Director for Career Planning Caroline Gould during the International Opportunities and Careers Fair on Wednesday. Gould was also a contributor to the production of the fair.

PHENOM to hold event describing effects of budget crisis on students

Published in the University of Massachusetts Daily Collegian on November 17, 2009
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Students, staff and faculty at the University of Massachusetts will hold a teach-in this Thursday, Nov. 19, to discuss the context of the current budget crisis of public higher education in Massachusetts.

According to a release, The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts [PHENOM] encourages all to attend this teach-in in order to support and strengthen the organization’s efforts to win back funding for higher education. The teach-in, titled “Budget Crisis: UMass at the Tipping Point,” will take place from 12-1 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge of the UMass Student Union.

“For the first time ever, UMass students now contribute more to the campus budget than the state does?” said Outreach and Education Coordinator of the Student Government Association Sam Dreyfus in a release sent out on Nov. 17. “Can we even still call this public higher education?”

UMass Hosts Second Annual Clean Energy Connections Conference

Published in the University of Massachusetts Daily Collegian on November 6, 2009
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The University of Massachusetts has an extensive history of providing clean energy research and education and is quickly becoming a nationwide leader in green research, advocacy and campus sustainability.

On Tuesday, UMass hosted its second annual Clean Energy Connections conference in Springfield. The event was geared toward career and business development and networking for anyone interested in working in the burgeoning green economy.

Disability rights advocate delivers speech at Mount Holyoke College

Published in the University of Massachusetts Daily Collegian on November 6, 2009
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Norman Kunc wants you to know that he is just like everyone else, only he happens to have cerebral palsy.

The humor-laden speech that Kunc delivered Wednesday night at Mount Holyoke College titled, “A Life Beyond Compare: Disability, Normalcy and Transformation,” had a receptive and enthusiastic audience of about 100 people in Gamble Auditorium. Kunc, who displayed a big smile and the salt and pepper ponytail during his speech, focused on the need for respect and understanding for disabled people who, he says, are simply an element of human diversity.

Kunc lived up to his expectation as a funny, modern storyteller, starting off his speech by telling the audience, “I want to tell you a series of stories about my favorite topic: Me.”

Beginning with memoirs about his life before his realization that he has a right to be disabled, Kunc said that for the majority of his youth he lived with the idea that he should minimize his disability to be as valued in society as possible.

Norman Kunc to give speech at Mount Holyoke College

Published in the University of Massachusetts Amherst Daily Collegian on November 3, 2009
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In a speech to be held this week titled “A Life Beyond Compare: Disability, Normalcy and Transformation,” Norman Kunc will discuss the habitual ways that society perceives peoples with disabilities. Kunc (pronounced Koonz) will be advocating that society needs to include people with disabilities as a part of human diversity so that they may begin to be recognized as valued and contributing citizens.

Kunc’s speech will be held Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Gamble Auditorium at Mount Holyoke College. This free event is open to the public, is handicapped accessible and will have a sign language interpreter present throughout. The speech should run for about an hour and will include a question-answer session at the end.

Locals rally on Amherst Common Saturday for International Day of Climate Action

Published in the University of Massachusetts, Daily Collegian on October 26, 2009
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On Saturday, Oct. 24, members of the Amherst community rallied on the Amherst common, as part of an international attempt to send a message to members of the United Nations, calling for serious efforts to reduce global warming.

The event was sponsored by the international organization called 350. Despite the rainy weather, about 200 locals and students showed support for 350. The organization was also sponsor to over 5,200 events in 181 countries on Saturday, which was named “International Day of Climate Action.”

This December in Copenhagen, Denmark, the UN will meet to discuss a global treaty on cutting carbon dioxide emissions. At its current standing, carbon dioxide emissions are at a level of 390 parts per million, 40 parts above what NASA reports to be the safe limit for humanity. Carbon dioxide emissions need to be lowered to 350 ppm to stop the effects of global warming.