Sally Branson – Class of 1996
Sally Branson, new boss of the Victorian Nationals, breaks the party mould
By Darren Gray – The Age, 31 July 2016
The new party boss is young, understands the influence of social media and is a woman who lives in St Kilda East.
Traditionally, the National Party has been known as a party of farmers, represented mostly by male MPs. And in a number of cases over the years, at least in Victoria, many Nationals politicians have been ex-AFL footy players, or former country sports stars.
So Sally Branson, the new state director of the National Party of Victoria, breaks the mould.
But she is also one of a growing number of young women in the Victorian party in positions of influence. There are three women in the Victorian Parliament representing the Nationals, Stephanie Ryan, Emma Kealy and Melina Bath, who are all in their first term in Parliament.
Another Victorian woman, Bridget McKenzie, represents the Nationals in federal politics in the Senate.
“(Over) the last six years in Victoria we’ve gone from having one woman in our party room, to having three women, one of them being the deputy leader. So in Victoria I feel really proud to be a part of that team,” Ms Branson says.
While she now lives in inner-Melbourne, the 38-year-old grew up in “Colbo”, or Colbinabbin, a small town and farming district in north central Victoria where her parents were mixed farmers.
“I’m very proudly a country girl from Colbinabbin,” she says.
But she is also experienced in the world of Canberra politics, having been a press secretary for former prime minister Tony Abbott and former small business minister Bruce Billson. She is also a former member of the Liberal Party.
Ms Branson, who took up her role with the Nationals earlier this year, hopes to increase party membership and get more young people and women involved with the party. She also hopes the party can appeal to people who were raised in country Victoria but have moved to Melbourne for career or family reasons, and to other Melburnians who have a strong affinity with country Victoria.
“We need to build the membership, because we have no other option. So I really want to look at how we can share more messages about how we are relevant and how we are progressive on policy,” she says.
“We have a lot of women who are involved in the party, but there is a hesitancy to stand up and put their hands up, because they think that you can’t combine family and politics, and also that politics is a dirty game. Politics doesn’t have to be a dirty game,” she says.
She plans to extend the party’s social media footprint, recently established the Victorian Nationals’ first Snapchat account and is also considering the concept of “e-branches”, or electronic branches, for some members.
The party is also looking at new ways to communicate with members. “The reality is that we don’t have a lot of email addresses for our members, because our membership hasn’t traditionally been on email,” she says.
As well as being a former press secretary, Ms Branson has been a public affairs officer for the US embassy based at the consulate in Melbourne, a regional arts development officer in outback NSW and a former state Coalition staffer.
John Holton2016-08-01T09:52:41+11:00August 1st, 2016|Alumni News|
History celebrated
Retirement function for Meredith Fettling
Alumni to perform in Baai celebration
Jack Hickman – Class of 2020
History plaques installed


ABE OOMMEN
Abe Oommen, Ph.D.
Founder and CSO
Abe Oommen, Ph.D. founded MatMaCorp in 2014 and is the company’s President and Chief Scientific Officer where he manages all new technology development. Abe, an entrepreneur and scientist, founded the company to address unmet needs from the service-lab model of genotyping and diagnostic testing. Before founding MatMaCorp, Abe co-founded GeneSeek, a high-throughput genotyping service lab, in 1998. GeneSeek was acquired by Neogen in 2010 and today is the world’s largest commercial agricultural genotyping facility. Before that, Abe worked as an Applications Scientist at LI-COR Biosciences, a scientific instrumentation company, where he was involved in the development, marketing, and sales of an automated DNA sequencing system. Abe has a Ph.D. in Biology (Molecular Genetics) from Kansas University and completed his postdoctoral work at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Oklahoma.
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65 Years Ago: Johnny Cash Records ‘I Walk the Line’
On April 2, 1956, Cash recorded what would become one of his most famous songs.
Johnny Cash + June Carter Cash — Country’s Greatest Love Stories
Theirs is a love story of persistence.
The Boot Staff
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s Sweetest Relationship Moments [PICTURES]
Great country love story ... or GREATEST country love story?
30 Years Ago: Johnny Cash Is Inducted Into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
On Jan. 15, 1992, the Man in Black was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Top 10 CMA Awards Moments
From historic Entertainer of the Year wins to surprising onstage antics, this photo gallery looks back at 10 of the CMA Awards' biggest moments.
Top 5 Glen Campbell Duets and Collaborations
Which one is your favorite?
10 Albums Even Country Music Haters Should Own
If you're cut from the cloth of those that just don't like country music, we understand -- kind of.
Top 10 Cover Songs in Country Music
Remakes, also commonly known as cover songs, go all the way back to the earliest days of popular music and have stretched across myriad musical genres.
10 Essential Albums for Your Country Music Education
Whether you're a lifelong fan or a country music newbie, there's always something to learn and someone new to discover.
Remember When Columbia Records Dropped Johnny Cash and Stunned Nashville?
He heard the news in the worst possible way.


This historic and wildlife-rich waterway, owned by Waveney District Council, runs through the millennium Green, joins the River Blyth and runs onwards to Southwold. Our volunteers carry out management work along its banks for amenity and wildlife purposes, in consultation with the Environment Agency, WDC and the Town Council. (See New Reach Review and Update 2016 and New Reach Aims/Objectives/Action Plan from 2016)
Halesworth New Reach is one of the most important, truly distinctive features, of our Town. It was dug in 1760 as part of the Blyth Navigation to provide a direct link between Halesworth and the sea at Southwold Harbour. For over 100 years the wherries provided the vital transport link for the industries of Halesworth to import their raw materials and export their finished goods. It was the reason why Patrick Stead in the first half of the 19th Century made Halesworth the hub of his Maltings empire.
The Blyth Navigation had ceased to be a commercial waterway by the end of the 19th century ruined by the coming of the railway and the continuing problems of the silting of Southwold Harbour. However in 1968 Wilfrid George, in order to safeguard it as a community resource, registered the New Reach from the junction with the Town River to Halesworth Lock as a Village Green. The area of land marked on the plan includes the towpath from the bridge adjacent to Langley’s Quay site to White Bridge, an area adjacent to the Langley’s Quay Bridge that is now included in the recreation area, a spur that was a channel for wherries accessing the George Maltings but is now a tarmac path and otherwise is just the area of the old channel of the Navigation.
In 1993 a community initiative was started to restore the New Reach and create a new local amenity. A combination of the bureaucracy associated with water levels and the floods of that year led to the ending of this scheme.
There is a sluice under White Bridge that retains water in the upper part of the Reach and this section is rich in water plants, fish and invertebrates. Unfortunately it receives overflow from the River after heavy rain and the fertiliser causes a heavy growth of weed which tends to clog the open water and require frequent clearance. Otters fish in the New Reach and water voles are sometimes seen.


Car Accident News and Tips » Sixteen-year-old Boy Killed in Mojave Desert Crash
Sixteen-year-old Boy Killed in Mojave Desert Crash
A boy from Illinois died in yesterday’s rollover crash on Interstate 40 in the Mojave Desert, according to officials from the San Bernardino County coroner’s office. The accident, which happened around 2:25 a.m. on September 7, 2011 near the Fenner Rest Area, involved a single vehicle that was towing a trailer.
As reported in The Press-Enterprise, Jesus Aguiar was traveling with eight others when their vehicle overturned, killing the teenager at the scene of the crash. He had not been wearing a seat belt, and was thrown from the vehicle when it went out of control and overturned.
No other details of the accident are currently available, but California Highway Patrol officers from the headquarters in Needles are continuing to examine this tragedy.
If you are in an accident, you need support. The Accident Attorneys’ Group provides their clients the expert legal help to win results. You can feel confident that the car accident lawyer who represents you knows your concerns, and the issues you face with crowded roads, freeways, and highways that can lead to automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, bus accidents, and truck accidents. The car accident lawyer knows these issues from the inside and out—as a legal professional and as a citizen who shares the road and lives in the communities.
The Accident Attorneys’ Group serves clients in many locations across the United States, and has a car accident lawyer to represent you in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange County, San Fernando Valley, Ontario, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Las Vegas.


The Fluoride Deception - Video
The Fluoride Deception, a book by award winning investigative reporter Christopher Bryson, contains an impressive amount of research to demonstrate fluoride’s harmfulness, the ties between leading fluoride researchers and the corporations who funded and benefited from their research.
Check out some local debate featured on TV3 Campbell Live.
Reviews of The Fluoride Deception
The Fluoride Deception
by Christopher Bryson
with a foreword by Dr. Theo Colborn
Seven Stories Press, May 2004
"Bryson marshals an impressive amount of research to demonstrate fluoride’s harmfulness, the ties between leading fluoride researchers and the corporations who funded and benefitted from their research, and what he says is the duplicity with which fluoridation was sold to the people. The result is a compelling challenge to the reigning dental orthodoxy, which should provoke renewed scientific scrutiny and public debate." - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The arguments have raged for more than forty years, and in The Fluoride Deception, Christopher Bryson raises the stakes by reporting a great deal of relevant and often alarming research, and by telling a series of human stories... [A] thought-provoking and worthwhile book." - NATURE, "A Chemical Conspiracy?" March 17, 2005
"'The Fluoride Deception' reads like a whodunit. There are conspiracies, cover-ups, human casualties, and broken careers. The prime suspects in this toxic thriller are compounds of fluoride; the coconspirators represent industry, the military, and the public health community. At the book's ending, the suspect chemicals are not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but we are left with compelling evidence that powerful interests with high financial stakes have colluded to prematurely close honest discussion and investigation into fluoride toxicity." - CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWS, "Is Fluoride Really All that Safe?", August 16, 2004. (Read full review)
"The Fluoride Deception by Christopher Bryson, just published in the US, examines the background of the fluoridation debate. Bryson, who has had the advantage of access to recently declassified files, concludes that fluoridation is a triumph not of medical science but of US government spin.'" - THE GUARDIAN, "A Kick in the Teeth", June 8, 2004
"The Fluoride Deception points to the suppression of medical information, the sacking of experts who found damaging evidence of potentially nasty side-effects that governments didn't want to hear and a powerful political lobby that grasped fluoridation as a cheap means of mass medication." - IRISH INDEPENDENT, "Teething Trouble", June 22, 2004
"In much the same way biologist Rachel Carson warned us over forty years ago in Silent Spring about the havoc and harm being caused by the misuse of persistent pesticides, journalist Christopher Bryson here lays bare the secret story and hidden dangers of the introduction of fluoride chemicals from the cold war era into our drinking water. The Fluoride Deception presents a scorching indictment of how researchers and health care officials working closely with government agencies, big industry, and their attorneys have allowed themselves to surrender their responsibility for the medical well-being of their fellow citizens." - DR. ALBERT W. BURGSTAHLER, former president of the International Society for Fluoride Research and Emeritus Professor of Organic Chemistry, University of Kansas
"The Fluoride Deception compellingly and inescapably exposes the murderous fraud that heads of state and industry have for decades perpetrated on an innocent public. Extremely well written and tightly researched, The Fluoride Deception is sure to become the 'must read' book in this important and burgeoning field." - DERRICK JENSEN, author of The Culture of Make Believe and A Language Older Than Words
"Bryson is right on in his emphasis on the ineffectiveness of fluoridation of water with industrial wastes, and its risks of nerve and brain damage, and cancer, coupled with the long-standing industrial conspiracy to suppress this information." - DR. SAM EPSTEIN, Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition and Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Illinois School of Public Health
"Bryson has done some excellent research here. The book has Pulitzer Prize written all over it. He has taken things of which many of us were already aware, but added the crucial details, dotted all the i's, crossed all the t's. It is a sickening tale of industrial and governmental collusion to conceal from the public the dangers of fluoride pollution generated by so many industries as well as the nuclear program... No environmental activist with an ounce of intelligence or integrity could read this book and not be appalled.
The Fluoride Deception should become the basic text for those who would insist that science and integrity should inform public policy and that regulators should serve the public not the polluters." DR. PAUL CONNETT, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network.
About the Author Christopher Bryson
CHRISTOPHER BRYSON is an award winning investigative reporter and a television producer. He covered Guatemalan Army human rights abuses from Central America in the late 1980's for the BBC World Service, National Public Radio and The Atlanta Constitution. In 1989 he was part of an investigative team that won a George Polk Award and Sidney Hillman Prize with Jonathan Kwitny at Public Television's The Kwitny Report. In 1999 he won a Project Censored award with medical writer Joel Griffiths.


410 U.S. 263 - McGinnis v. Royster
410 US 263 McGinnis v. Royster
93 S.Ct. 1055
35 L.Ed.2d 282
Paul D. McGINNIS, Commissioner of Correction, et al., Appellants.
James ROYSTER et al.
Argued Dec. 11, 1972.
Decided Feb. 21, 1973.
Appellees challenge as violative of equal protection § 230(3) of the New York Correction Law, which denies certain state prisoners good-time credit toward parole eligibility for the period of their presentence county jail incarceration, whereas those released on bail prior to sentence received under the statute full allowance of good-time credit for the entire period of their prison confinement. A three-judge District Court, viewing the good-time statutory scheme as primarily aimed at fostering prison discipline, upheld appellees' claim on the ground that there is no rational basis for the statutory distinction between jail and non-jail defendants in awarding good-time credit. Held: Under the New York scheme good-time credit takes into account a prisoner's performance under the program of rehabilitation that is fostered under the state prison system, but not in the county jails, which serve primarily as detention centers. Since the jails have no significant rehabilitation program, a rational basis exists for declining to give good-time credit for the pretrial jail-detention period; and the statute will be sustained even if fostering rehabilitation was not necessarily the primary legislative objective, cf. South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301, 331, 86 S.Ct. 803, 820, 15 L.Ed.2d 769; Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 486, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 1162, 25 L.Ed.2d 491. Pp. 268—277.
332 F.Supp. 973, reversed.
Michael Colodner, New York City, for appellants.
G. Jeffery Sorge, Long Beach, N.Y., for appellees, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court.
Mr. Justice POWELL delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question before us concerns the constitutionality of § 230(3) of the New York Correction Law, McKinney's Consol.Laws, c. 43, which denied appellee state prisoners 'good time' credit for their presentence incarceration in county jails.1 Appellees claim that disallowing such credit to them while permitting credit up to the full period of ultimate incarceration for state prisoners who were released on bail prior to sentencing deprived them of equal protection of the laws. The three-judge District Court, one judge dissenting, upheld their claim, 332 F.Supp. 973 (1971). The Commissioner of Correction and other officials (hereafter Commissioner) have appealed and we noted probable jurisdiction, 405 U.S. 986, 92 S.Ct. 1247, 31 L.Ed.2d 452 (1972).2
The challenged New York sentencing system is a complex one, and some basic definitions are required at the outset. Jail time denotes that time an individual passes in a county jail prior to trial and sentencing. Good time is awarded for good behavior and efficient performance of duties during incarceration. Both good time and jail time figure variously in the calculations of a series of release dates that each prisoner receives upon his arrival at state prison. Each inmate has both a minimum parole date, which is the earliest date on which he may be paroled at the discretion of the Parole Board, and a statutory release date which is the earliest date he must be paroled by the Parole Board.3 The minimum parole date is calculated under §§ 230(2) and 230(3) by subtracting the greatest amount of good time that can be earned (10 days per month) from the minimum sentence of an indeterminate term.4 The statutory release date is calculated under § 230(4) by subtracting the greatest amount of good time that can be earned (5 days per month) from the maximum sentence of an indeterminate term.
Although appellees did receive jail-time credit for the period of their presentence incarceration in county jail, § 230(3) explicitly forbids, in calculating the minimum parole date, any good-time credit for the period of county jail detention served prior to transfer to state prison.5 Appellee Royster, being unable to post bail, served 404 days' jail time in the Nassau County Jail prior to his transfer to state prison to serve consecutive 5-to-10-year terms for burglary in the third degree and grand larceny in the first degree. Appellee Rutherford also failed to make bail and spent 242 days' jail time in Nassau County Jail prior to his trial, sentencing, and transfer to state prison for concurrent terms of 10 to 20 years for robbery in the first degree and two and one-half to five years for grand larceny in the second degree. It is undisputed that, were appellees Royster and Rutherford to receive good-time credit for their presentence confinement in county jail, they would be entitled to appear before the Parole Board approximately four and three months earlier, respectively, than under the computation required by § 230(3).
Two additional points merit mention. While New York does deny good-time credit for jail time in computing the minimum parole date under §§ 230(2) and (3), it allows such credit in calculating the statutory release date under § 230(4).6 Finally, § 230(3) itself provides that good-time credit for jail time shall be awarded to those prisoners confined after sentence in county penitentiaries, as opposed to those convicted of felonies, such as appellees, who are transferred after sentence to state prison.7
* Section 230(3) of the New York Correction Law does, as appellees note, draw a distinction 'between the treatment of state prisoners incarcerated prior to sentencing and those who were not similarly incarcerated.'8 Appellees contend that 'denying state prisoners good-time credit for the period of their pre-sentence incarceration in a County Jail whereas those fortunate enough to obtain bail prior to sentence (receive) a full allowance of good time credit for the entire period which they ultimately spend in custody'9 violates equal protection of the laws and discriminates against those state prisoners unable to afford or otherwise qualify for bail prior to trial.
We first note that any relative disadvantage the distinction works on appellees is lessened by the fact that New York on September 1, 1967, replaced § 230 of its Correction Law with §§ 803 and 805, which apply to all convictions for offenses after that date.10 Under the new scheme, 'good time earned on the minimum sentence is abolished. A prisoner meets with the Parole Board at the expiration of his minimum term, regardless of how much good time he has earned or of how much time he spent in jail prior to arriving at state prison.'11 New York has given appellees—and all those sentenced for offenses committed prior to September 1, 1967—a chance to elect the new procedure, but appellees declined to do so. Appellees thus enjoy at least as favorable a position as all state prisoners convicted for offenses committed subsequent to September 1, 1967, including those released on bail prior to sentence. Appellees thus are disadvantaged in the computation of time only in comparison with those who were convicted of offenses committed prior to September 1, 1967, and made bail prior to trial. Even the adverse impact of this difference is lessened, though not eliminated, by the fact that New York did not deprive appellees of credit for the full amount of actual time spent in jail prior to trial and sentencing but only of the potential additional 10 days per month of good time ordinarily available under § 230(2) to inmates for good conduct and efficient performance of duty.12
We note, further, that the distinction of which appellees complain arose in the course of the State's sensitive and difficult effort to encourage for its prisoners constructive future citizenship while avoiding the danger of releasing them prematurely upon society. The determination of an optimal time for parole eligibility elicited multiple legislative classifications and groupings, which the court below rightly concluded require only some rational basis to sustain them. James v. Strange, 407 U.S. 128, 140, 92 S.Ct. 2027, 2034, 32 L.Ed.2d 600 (1972); Lindsey v. Normet, 405 U.S. 56, 73—74, 92 S.Ct. 862, 874—875, 31 L.Ed.2d 36 (1972); Schilb v. Kuebel, 404 U.S. 357, 92 S.Ct. 479, 30 L.Ed.2d 502 (1971); Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 487, 90 S.Ct. 1153, 1162, 25 L.Ed.2d 491 (1970). Appellees themselves recognize this to be the appropriate standard.13 For this Court has observed that '(t)he problems of government are practical ones and may justify, if they do not require, rough accommodations, illogical, it may be, and unscientific.' Metropolis Theatre Co. v. City of Chicago, 228 U.S. 61, 69—70, 33 S.Ct. 441, 443, 57 L.Ed. 730 (1913). We do not wish to inhibit state experimental classifications in a practical and troublesome area, but inquire only whether the challenged distinction rationally furthers some legitimate, articulated state purpose. We conclude that it does.
The Commissioner defends the distinction by noting that 'state prisons differ from county jails with respect to purpose, usage and availability of facilities.' State prisons are 'intended to have rehabilitation as a prime purpose and the facilities at these institutions are built and equipped to serve this purpose.' The Commissioner cites the presence at state prisons of 'educational and vocational services such as schools, factories, jobtraining programs and related activities.'14 At argument, the Commissioner noted: 'We have barber shops. We teach trades. We manufacture a lot of goods. . . . Greenhaven State Prison has a textile factory.'15
We pass no judgment on the success or merits of the State's efforts, but note only that at state prisons a serious rehabilitative program exists. County jails, on the other hand, serve primarily as detention centers. The State asserts they are 'neither equipped nor intended to do anything more than detain people awaiting trial and maintain no schools, run no factories and require no work from these inmates.'16 While appellees do point to the existence of some rehabilitative or recreational facilities within some county jails,17 it is clear that nothing comparable to the State's rehabilitative effort exists.
These significant differences afford the basis for a different treatment within a constitutional framework. We note that the granting of good-time credit toward parole eligibility takes into account a prisoner's rehabilitative performance. Section 230(2) of the New York Correction Law authorizes such credit toward the minimum parole date 'for good conduct and efficient and willing performance of duties assigned (emphasis added).'18 The regulations of the New York Department of Correction, 7 N.Y.C.R.R. § 260.1(a), state that: '(T)he opportunity to earn good behavior allowances offers inmates a tangible reward for positive efforts made during incarcertation (emphasis added).'19 As the statute and regulations contemplate state evaluation of an inmate's progress toward rehabilitation, in awarding good time,20 it is reasonable not to award such time for pretrial detention in a county jail where no systematic rehabilitative programs exist and where the prisoner's conduct and performance are not even observed and evaluated by the responsible state prison officials. Further, it would hardly be appropriate for the State to undertake in the pretrial detention period programs to rehabilitate a man still clothed with a presumption of innocence. In short, an inmate in county jail is neither under the supervision of the State Correction Department nor participating in the State's rehabilitative programs. Where there is no evaluation by state officials and little or no rehabilitative participation for anyone to evaluate, there is a rational justification for declining to give good-time credit.21
We do not agree with the court below that the integrity of appellants' assertions as to rehabilitation is undermined by the fact that the State does grant under § 230(3) good-time credit for presentence jail time to county penitentiary inmates and under § 230(4) to state prisoners for the purpose of calculating their statutory release dates.22 The legislature could have concluded rationally that county penitentiary inmates, who are nonfelons with less than one-year sentences, required quantitatively and qualitatively less rehabilitation—with fewer risks of misevaluation—than inmates confined to state prison for more serious crimes. And the legislature could rationally have distinguished between the minimum parole date and the statutory release date on the ground that an acceleration of the minimum parole date posed a greater danger that an inmate would be released without adequate exposure to rehabilitative programs and without adequate evaluation by prison officials. Thus, New York's decision to deny good-time credit for presentence jail time solely with respect to a state prisoner's minimum parole date is rationally justified on the ground that the risk of prematurely releasing unrehabilitated or dangerous criminals may well be greatest when the parole decision is made prior to expiration of the minimum sentence.
Neither appellees nor the court below contended that increased opportunity for state evaluation of an inmate's behavior and rehabilitative progress was not a purpose of the challenged provision of § 230(3). Appellees state only that the rehabilitative purpose was not the 'overriding' one,23 and the District Court noted that 'the legislature's primary aim in enacting the good the statute was to foster and insure the maintenance of prison discipline.' 332 F.Supp. at 978 (emphasis added).24 We do not dispute these statements: the disciplinary purpose is certainly an important and possibly the 'primary' aim of the legislation.25 Yet, out decisions do not authorize courts to pick and choose among legitimate legislative aims to determine which is primary and which subordinate. Rather, legislative solutions must be respected if the 'distinctions drawn have some basis in practical experience,' South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301, 331, 86 S.Ct. 803, 820, 15 L.Ed.2d 769 (1966), or if some legitimate state interest is advanced, Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S., at 486, 90 S.Ct., at 1162. So long as the state purpose upholding a statutory class is legitimate and nonillusory, its lack of primacy is not disqualifying.
When classifications do not call for strict judicial scrutiny, this is the only approach consistent with proper judicial regard for the judgments of the Legislative Branch. The search for legislative purpose is often elusive enough, Palmer v. Thompson, 403 U.S. 217, 91 S.Ct. 1940, 29 L.Ed.2d 438 (1971), without a requirement that primacy be ascertained. Legislation is frequently multipurposed: the removal of even a 'subordinate' purpose may shift altogether the consensus of legislative judgment supporting the statute. Permitting nullification of statutory classifications based rationally on a nonprimary legislative purpose would allow courts to peruse legislative proceedings for subtle emphases supporting subjective impressions and preferences. The Equal Protection Clause does not countenance such speculative probing into the purposes of a coordinate branch. We have supplied no imaginary basis or purpose for this statutory scheme, but we likewise refuse to discard a clear and legitimate purpose because the court below perceived another to be primary.
As the challenged classification here rationally promotes the legitimate desire of the state legislature to afford state prison officials an adequate opportunity to evaluate both an inmate's conduct and his rehabilitative progress before he is eligible for parole, the decision of the District Court is reversed.
Mr. Justice DOUGLAS, with whom Mr. Justice MARSHALL concurs, dissenting.
Under § 230(3) of the New York Correction Law, a prisoner loses 'good time' as punishment for offenses against the discipline of the prison. The statutory appearance of inmates before a parole board is computed by allowance of up to 10 days for 'good conduct' each month under the law governing appellees.1 No 'good time' credit is allowed, however, for the period of their presentence incarceration in a county jail. Thus, two prisoners—one out on bail or personal recognizance pending trial and the other confined in jail while awaiting trial—are treated differently when it comes to parole, through each is convicted of the same crime and receives the identical sentence. The result, as the opinion of the Court makes plain, is that appellees are required to wait some months longer before they may appear before the Parole Board than do those who were out on bail or on personal recognizance pending trial but sentenced to the same term for the same crime.
The 'good time' deduction is not based on progress toward rehabilitation but is an inducement to inhibit bad conduct. That is what the three-judge court held in 332 F.Supp. 973. That construction accurately reflects New York's interpretation of § 230(3). The court in Parez v. Follette, 58 Misc.2d 319, 295 N.Y.S.2d 231, said:
'The policy underlying the discretionary grant of good time reductions is clear. The attitude and conduct of prisoners should improve if they are offered an incentive for good and productive behavior while at the same time the fact that reductions can be withheld will inhibit bad conduct.' Id., at 321, 295 N.Y.S.2d, at 233.
That discipline—not rehabilitative progress—is the key to 'good time' credit is evidenced in another way. Once a prisoner arrives at prison, his future 'good time' is immediately computed and credited to his sentence. 'In effect, then, a prisoner does not 'earn' good time credit as time goes on for exemplary performance in assorted prison programs but rather simply avoids being penalized for bad behavior.' 332 F.Supp., at 978. That is confirmed by § 235 of the New York Correction Law:
'(a) punishment for offenses against the discipline of the prison or penitentiary (is) in accordance with the rules hereinbefore mentioned. Reduction credited to a prisoner in the first instance, in his account, by the warden, as provided in section two hundred and thirty, shall stand as the reduction allowed, unless withheld wholly or partly by the board as punishment, as above provided.'
Moreover, under § 230(4) of the Act, jail time is not excluded from the computation of a prisoner's maximum good-time allowance from the maximum term of an indeterminate sentence. This is the earliest date on which an inmate must be paroled, unlike the one we have here which involves the earliest date on which a prisoner may be paroled. But no rational grounds have been advanced for allowing 'good time' credit for jail time in one case but not in the other.
The claim that 'good time' is correlated to rehabilitative programs that only prisons have is the red herring in this litigation. The District Court exposed the fallacy in that rationale. Since the 'good time' credit is to induce good behavior by prisoners while they are confined, the place of their confinement becomes irrelevant. Jail-time allowance is allowed those confined in county penitentiaries. § 203(3). And, as I have said, jail time is credited in computing a prisoner's statutory release date.
It would seem that the 'good time' provision in § 230(3) is used capriciously, since it is allowed in cases not dissimilar to the present one.
After all is said and done, the discrimination in the present case is a statutory one leveled against those too poor to raise bail and unable to obtain release on personal recognizance.2 See People v. Deegan, 56 Misc.2d 567, 289 N.Y.S.2d 285. That is the real rub in the present case.
In Paul v. Warden, N.Y.L.J., May 21, 1969, p. 18, col. 6, the Court said:
'In computing the allowance of 'time off' for good behavior respondent considered only that time served subsequent to sentence as eligible for the allowance. Time served prior to sentence was excluded from the computation. The respondent's computation follows the method suggested by the Department of Correction.
'This court is not in agreement with (the) method employed. It is inequitable in that it discriminates against those persons charged with crime that are able to furnish bail upon arraignment and those remanded as a result of inability to furnish bail.3
'The inequity is blatantly apparent in the following cases. Two persons are charged with crimes identical in nature. On arraignment defendant A furnishes bail. A is subsequently sentenced, after a trial resulting in a verdict finding him guilty as charged, to one year in the county jail. Predicated upon his good behavior during the period of his incarceration A would be allowed a reduction of sixty days from the sentence of one year and would serve a total of 305 days. The defendant B, if confined for a period of 350 days prior to trial and sentence, and upon sentence was sentenced to confinement for one year would only be entitled to 'time off' for the period served following sentence or one-sixth of fifteen days for a total allowance of two days reduction in sentence despite good behavior during his entire period of imprisonment. B because of inability to furnish bail would thus serve 363 days as compared to the 305 days served by A.
'This court refuses to countenance such disparity and discrimination.'
If 'good time' were related to rehabilitative progress, I would agree that the law passes muster under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. But since 'good time' is disallowed only to those who cannot raise bail or obtain release on personal recognizance, the discrimination is plainly invidious.
We deal here with a deepseated inequity. In New York City as of 1964, 49% of those accused were imprisoned before trial, while only 40% were imprisoned after conviction.4 See Wald, Pretrial Detention and Ultimate Freedom: A Statistical Study, 39 N.Y.U.L.Rev. 631, 634 (1964). It is poverty that is 'generally accepted as the main reason for pretrial detention.' Id., at 636. The inequality apparently appears in the end product since 'the longer the period of detention before disposition of the case, the greater the likelihood of a prison sentence. . . . The key seems to be the defendant's at-large status at the time of sentencing. The glow of freedom apparently shines through.' Id., at 635.
Another sample of 385 defendants showed that 64% of those continuously in jail from arraignment to adjudication were sentenced to prison, while only 17% of the 374 who made bail received prison sentences. Rankin, The Effect of Pretrial Detention, 39 N.Y.U.L.Rev. 641, 643 (1964). Detained persons are more likely to be sentenced to prison than bailed persons regardless of whether high or low bail amounts have been set. Id., at 641.
These studies were made by the Vera Foundation founded by Louis Schweitzer. See Programs in Criminal Justice Reform, Vera Institute of Justice, Ten-Year Report 1961—1971 (1972). That Report states that 'people who were too poor to afford bail or private counsel ended up in prison more often than those who could pay.' Id., at 96. And see Ares, Rankin, and Sturz, The Manhattan Bail Project: An Interim Report on the Use of Pre-Trial Parole, 38 N.Y.U.L.Rev. 67 (1963).
The present case is on the periphery of one of the most critical problems in criminal law enforcement.
The important issue involved in this case is not when and whether a prisoner is released. It concerns only the time when the Parole Board may give a hearing. To speed up the time of that hearing for those rich or influential enough to get bail or release on personal recognizance and to delay the time of the hearing for those without the means to buy a bail bond or the influence or prestige that will give release on personal recognizance emphasizes the invidious discrimination at work in § 230(3).
Section 230(3):
'In the case of a definite sentence prisoner, said reduction shall be computed upon the term of the sentence as imposed by the court, less jail time allowance, and in the case of an indeterminate sentence prisoner said reduction shall be computed upon the minimum term of such sentence, less jail time allowance. No prisoner, however, shall be released under the provisions hereof from a state prison until he shall have served at least one year. In the case of a prisoner confined in a penitentiary, said reduction shall be computed upon the term of the sentence as imposed by the court, including jail time allowance. Subject to the rules of the commissioner of correction, the maximum reduction of ten days in each month may, in the discretion of the board hereinafter provided for, be in whole or in part withheld, forfeited or cancelled, in accordance with the rules of the commissioner of correction for bad conduct, violation of prison rules or failure to perform properly duties assigned.'
Other relevant sections read as set forth below.
'Every prisoner confined in a state prison or penitentiary, except a prisoner sentenced for an indeterminate term having a minimum of one day and a maximum of his natural life, may receive, for good conduct and efficient and willing performance of duties assigned, a reduction of his sentence not to exceed ten days for each month of the minimum term in the case of an indeterminate sentence, or of the term as imposed by the court in the case of a definite sentence. The maximum reduction allowable under this provision shall be four months per year, but nothing herein contained shall be construed to confer any right whatsoever upon any prisoner to demand or require the whole or any part of such reduction.' Section 230(4):
'Every prisoner confined in an institution under the jurisdiction of the state department of correction for an indeterminate term, except a prisoner sentenced for a term having a maximum of natural life, may receive, for good conduct and efficient and willing performance of duties assigned, a reduction of his sentence not to exceed two days for each month of the maximum term. For meritorious progress and achievement in a treatment program to which he has been assigned, following appropriate testing and classification, such prisoner may also receive a reduction of his sentence not to exceed three additional days for each month of the maximum term. In no event, however, shall the maximum reduction allowable under this subdivision exceed two months for each year of the maximum sentence, nor shall any such reduction be calculated under this subdivision to reduce the time actually served to a term less than the minimum sentence imposed by the court. . . .'
The Commissioner claims in this brief that the court below should have treated the instant case, not as a class action, Fed.Rule Civ.Proc. 23, but as a petition for habeas corpus with the attendant requirement that appellees exhaust their state remedies. Brief for Appellants 2. Appellants did not, however, raise this question in their jurisdictional statement, and did not argue it before the Court. In light of this, it becomes unnecessary to comment further on any possible exhaustion question.
He also has a maximum expiration date which is the date of the maximum sentence to which an inmate can be held if he receives no good-time credit at all. This date, unlike the other two, bears no direct relevance to the instant case.
Both prisoners here were sentenced to indeterminate terms. See § 230(1):
'. . . A sentence to imprisonment in a state prison having minimum and maximum limits fixed by the court or the governor is an indeterminate sentence.'
As the court below noted:
'There is no doubt that by its express wording Section 230 mandates the denial of good time credit for the time plaintiffs served in county jail awaiting trial and sentencing. Subsection 2 thereof provides that a state prisoner may receive, 'for good conduct and efficient and willing performance of duties assigned, a reduction of his sentence not to exceed ten days for each month of the minimum term in the case of an indeterminate sentence . . .,' and subsection 3 states that 'in the case of an indeterminate sentence prisoner said reduction shall be computed upon the mimimum term of such sentence, less jail time allowance. (Emphasis added.)' 332 F.Supp. 973, 974—975.
See People v. Deegan, 56 Misc.2d 567, 289 N.Y.S.2d 285 (1968); Paul v. Warden, N.Y.L.J., May 21, 1969, p. 18, col. 6.
'In the case of a prisoner confined in a penitentiary, said reduction shall be computed upon the term of the sentence as imposed by the court, including jail time allowance.' (Emphasis added.)
Brief for Appellees 5.
Id., at 5—6.
The court below correctly noted:
'(The) statutory scheme of § 230, which is the subject of this lawsuit, is no longer the law in New York. On September 1, 1967, § 230 was replaced by §§ 803 and 805 of the Correction Law and §§ 70.30 and 70.40 of the new Penal Law, which sections apply to all convictions for offenses committed on or after that date (but not to convictions—as of plaintiffs herein—for offenses committed prior to the effective date). Thus, the scope of this case (and of the proposed class) is necessarily limited, for the challenged statute, § 230(3) of the Correction Law, now applies only to those prisoners who were convicted for offenses committed before September 1, 1967, whose minimum terms have not yet expired, who have not yet met with the Parole Board, and who have not yet elected the 'conditional release' program offered by the new law and made available to old law prisoners by § 230—a of the Correction Law. Of these prisoners, a smaller class yet—comprised of those inmates who served time in county jail prior to sentence to state prison—actually feel the effect of § 230(3)'s proscription against good time credit for jail time. Nevertheless, the briefs in this case attest to the continuing effect of that mandate on a substantial number of individuals.' 332 F.Supp., at 975 n. 4.
Brief for Appellants 12.
As noted above, this would make a difference of three and four months, respectively, in the time appellees Rutherford and Royster were eligible to appear before the Parole Board.
Tr. of Oral Arg. 30.
Brief for Appellees 17. But the State notes that 'some counties have absolutely nothing. Some have a little something.' Tr. of Oral Arg. 6.
See n. 1, supra.
The Appellants further note that:
'Section 260.3 sets forth the criteria for awarding allowances and states:
"(b) In evaluating the amount of allowance to be granted, the statutory criteria (i.e. good behavior, efficient and willing performance of duties assigned, progress and achievement in an assigned treatment program) shall be viewed in the light of the following factors:
"(1) The attitude of the inmate;
"(2) The capacity of the inmate; and
"(3) The efforts made by the inmate within the limits of his capacity.'
'These factors are evaluated by a time allowance committee, whose purpose is to make recommendations to the superintendent as to the amount of good behavior allowance to be granted to inmates who are eligible to be considered for such allowance. 7 N.Y.C.R.R. 261.2. The time allowance committee awards good time on the following criteria (7 N.Y.C.R.R. 261.3):
"(d) The committee shall consider the entire file of the inmate and shall interview the inmate and then shall decide upon a recommendation as to the amount of good behavior allowance to be granted, applying the principles set forth in sections 260.3 and 260.4 of this Part.
"(e) The committee shall not recommend the granting of the total allowance authorized by law or the withholding of any part of the allowance in accordance with any automatic rule, but shall appraise the entire institutional experience of the inmate and make its own determination.' (Emphasis added).' Reply Brief for Appellants 2—3.
See also the affidavit of the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Correction, John R. Cain, who stated that:
'The actual allowance of 'good time' is discretionary and is awarded as an incentive for good conduct. It is a means for encouraging participation in programs, efficient work and discipline.
'The state correctional system seeks to encourage rehabilitation by work participation by inmates, job training programs and education programs. An inmate can be evaluated in his work and participation in the facility's programs and 'good time' granted as an incentive. Prior to being received in the facility, however, an inmate who is in jail is not under the supervision of the State Correction Department and is not involved in the facility program. Since the inmate is not participating in the state programs while in jail there is no opportunity to evaluate him nor need to encourage his participation.' App. 19a.
Appellants further correctly note:
'In fact, until recently changed by federal policy, the federal prison system itself did not require the awarding of good time for pre-trial incarceration under 18 U.S.C. § 4161, which awards good time solely for good behavior. Section 4161 states that good time begins to run 'with the day on which the sentence commences to run', and the sentence does not start to run until the prisoner is received in a federal penitentiary. See Blackshear v. United States, 434 F.2d 58 (5th Cir. 1970). The federal courts have uniformly upheld the denial of the opportunity to earn good time on this jail time. Bandy v. Willingham, 398 F.2d 333 (10th Cir. 1968), cert. den. 393 U.S. 1006, 89 S.Ct. 497, 21 L.Ed.2d 470, Aderhold v. Ellis, 84 F.2d 543 (5th Cir. 1936), cert. den. 299 U.S. 587, 57 S.Ct. 123, 81 L.Ed. 433, Swope v. Lawton, 83 F.2d 814 (9th Cir. 1936).' Brief for Appellants 20—21.
See supra, at 268, and nn. 7 and 8. The court below stated:
'Whatever the merit in defendants' attempted distinction, the fact remains that state prisoners can be, and, under certain circumstances, are, granted good time credit for jail time for reasons other than as a reward for participation in the variout rehabilitative programs of the state prison system. The awarding of good time for jail time to these two classes of prisoners only reinforces the belief that the legislature's primary aim in enacting the good time statute was to foster and insure the maintenance of prison discipline.' 332 F.Supp., at 978.
At oral argument the following instructive colloquy occurred:
'Q. Then it is your position that the only purpose at all, sir, by the statute, exclusively, the only single purpose, is the disciplinary one?
'MR. SORGE: Your Honor, it is extremely difficult to say whether the only purpose is just for the discipline. I believe that the court has—
'Q. If a purpose is the rehabilitation one, then are you not in some trouble?
'MR. SORGE: If the main purpose is?
'Q. If a purpose, not the main purpose, a purpose.
'MR. SORGE: I do not believe so, Your Honor, because, as the district court stated, the overriding consideration in this case is disciplinary.
'Q. You go further then than the district court, I take it, because I read the district court's opinion the same way Mr. Justice Brennan does, as saying that rehabilitation is a subordinate function and that its opinion is based on that. You say that it really is no function at all?
'MR. SORGE: I believe that if you take the state prisoners themselves, Mr. Justice, there might be a subordinate position. However, I would repeat that the overriding consideration is the disciplinary aspect of it.' Tr. of Oral Arg. 28—30.
See also the court's statement that:
'Defendants contend that good time is granted as an incentive to the inmates to participate in these prison rehabilitation programs and that, since county jails are not equipped to provide such services, there is no basis for granting good time for time served therein. If it were clear that the awarding of good time was based solely and exclusively on an evaluation of an inmate's performance in such programs so endemic to the state prison system, the denial of good time for jail time might be understandable; however, this does not appear to be the case. Rather, it seems that the overriding consideration in the granting of good time reductions is the maintenance of prison discipline.' 332 F.Supp., at 977.
The court below noted that the disciplinary purpose of the statute is demonstrated by the fact that 'a prisoner is immediately and automatically credited with a maximum allowance of good time credit for future good behavior at the time his minimum parole date is initially fixed upon his arrival in state prison. In effect, then, a prisoner does not 'earn' good time credit as time goes on for exemplary performance in assorted prison programs but rather simply avoids being penalized for bad behavior.' The court then cited § 235 of New York Correction Law providing that good time may be withheld as "punishment for offenses against the discipline of the prison or penitentiary' (emphasis added) . . ..' 332 F.Supp., at 977—978.
The statements above do demonstrate a disciplinary purpose for the statute, but do not negate the rehabilitative one. There is nothing to show that good-time credit may not be revoked for failure of the inmate to participate acceptably in the State's rehabilitative program as well as for disciplinary violations. Indeed, § 230(3) requires loss of good time for 'bad conduct, violation of prison rules or failure to perform properly duties assigned.' (Emphasis added.)
The statutory scheme of § 230 was replaced on September 1, 1967, by §§ 803 and 805 of the Correction Law and §§ 70.30 and 70.40 of the new Penal Law, McKinney's Consol.Laws, c. 40, which sections apply to all convictions for offenses committed on or after that date (but not to convictions—as of appellees—for offenses committed prior to the effective date). The challenged statute, § 230(3) of the Correction Law, now applies only to those prisoners who were convicted for offenses committed before September 1, 1967, whose minimum terms have not yet expired, who have not yet met with the Parole Board, and who have not yet elected the 'conditional release' program offered by the new law and made available to old law prisoners by § 230—a of the Correction Law. Of these prisoners, a smaller class yet—composed of those inmates who served time in county jail prior to sentence to state prison—actually feel the effect of the § 230(3) proscription against good-time credit for jail time. Nevertheless, the mandate of § 230(3) affects a substantial number of individuals. See 332 F.Supp. 973, 975 n. 4.
The court in People v. Deegan, 56 Misc.2d 567, 289 N.Y.S.2d 285, in refusing to infer that § 230(4) must exclude jail time since § 230(3) does so, explicitly said: 'Adoption of the respondent's interpretation would have the effect of prejudicing a defendant who was unable to raise funds in order to be released on bail, and would deprive him of 'equal protection of the laws' in violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. For example, a defendant who was at liberty on bail prior to judgment, and received a similar sentence would be subject to a maximum of 16-months, as opposed to 18-months for petitioner who could not afford bail and who languished in jail awaiting sentence. If there is logic or justice in this anomaly it escapes the court.' Id., at 568, 289 N.Y.S.2d, at 287.
This loss is real, for '(w)hat he is losing . . . is the possibility that if he appeared before the board he might persuade it to decide in his favor. Of course this loss, in practical, human terms is serious and involves a chance for at least qualified liberty.' United States ex rel. Campbell v. Pate, 7 Cir., 401 F.2d 55, 57.
The Vera Foundation in its Report, The Manhattan Bail Project, observed that 'bail is generally a door to pre-trial liberty for the rich, to pre-trial detention for the poor.' For the latter, it notes, 'poverty is, in fact, a punishable offense.' Even those with money may not be able to purchase a bail bond (id., at 3). 'The bondsman is responsible to no one and is subject to no review. He can refuse to write a bail bond whenever he chooses—because he 'mistrusts' a defendant, because he dislikes members of a given minority group, or because he got up on the wrong side of the bed. A bail bondsman is not obliged to have valid or sensible reasons.' Id., at 4.
The Vera Foundation has a staff that works with the magistrate to see which of those arrested may properly be released on their personal recognizance.
'During the Project's first 30 months in the Manhattan courts, 2300 defendants were released on their own recognizance upon the recommendation of Vera staff members.
'Ninety-nine per cent of these defendants returned to court when required; only one per cent failed to appear.
'During this same period, about three per cent of those freed on bail failed to appear in court. Thus, it appears that verified information about a defendant's background is a more reliable criterion on which to release a defendant than is his ability to purchase a bail bond.' Id., at 7.


Macropis Cuckoo Bee
Scientific Name: Epeoloides pilosulus
Other/Previous Names: Epeoloides pilosula
Taxonomy Group: Arthropods
COSEWIC Range: Nova Scotia
COSEWIC Status Criteria: B2ab(iii)
COSEWIC Reason for Designation:
This species is a habitat specialist, requiring both a suitable host (Macropis bees) and their host’s foodplant. The foodplant requires moist habitat and the host bee requires sunny, sandy slopes for its nest site. Historically in Canada, this species was known from six sites across five provinces. Despite recent increases in bee surveying activity nationwide, it has been found in Canada only once in the past fifty years and has not been seen again at this locality or nearby despite recent extensive searches. With only one location and a predicted continuing decline in habitat area and quality, this species is at imminent risk of extinction.
Quick Links: | Description | Habitat | Biology | Threats | Protection | Recovery Initiatives | National Recovery Program | Documents
The Macropis cuckoo bee, Epeoloides pilosulus (Cresson), is the only North American member of a genus that contains two species, the other being found in the Old World. Epeoloides is the only genus of the tribe Osirini (Apidae, Apinae) found in both the New and Old World, the remaining genera are otherwise restricted to the Neotropics. All Osirini are cleptoparasites (i.e., cuckoos), thought to have oil-collecting bees as hosts, many of them are rare. Cleptoparasitic bee females sneak into the nests of their hosts and lay eggs on the food provision collected by the host bee. The egg or larva of the host bee is killed by the cleptoparasite. [Updated by COSEWIC - May. 2011]
Historically, Epeoloides pilosulus ranged throughout much of eastern and central North America. In Canada, Epeoloides pilosulus has been found originally from Quebec, but has since been reported from Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In the past 40 years, it has only been collected in Canada at only one site in Nova Scotia and has not been found in more recent surveys there. In the United States, it was reported from Massachusetts south to Georgia and west to Montana. Recently it has been found only once in the U.S. Until the recent captures of two male specimens of Epeoloides pilosulus in Nova Scotia (2002) and one female in Connecticut (2006), this species was thought to be possibly extinct as no specimens had been seen since the early 1960s and very few since the early 1940s. Despite the commonness and wide distribution of oil-producing Lysimachia, E. pilosulus is very rare. [Updated by COSEWIC - May. 2011]
Epeoloides pilosulus is found in habitats supporting both Macropis bees (Melittidae) and their food plant, Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia). Most species of Lysimachia known to be food hosts for Macropis bees in North America grow in swampy or moist habitats, and several are relatively common (and much more widely distributed than Macropis). Nest sites of Macropis (which serve as the “nesting sites” of Epeoloides pilosulus) are typically located within or adjacent to the host plant population, usually in sandy soil with sun exposure and vegetative undergrowth. [Updated by COSEWIC - May. 2011]
Epeoloides pilosulus attacks nests of Macropis in North America, a genus which is dependent on its floral host, Lysimachia, for pollen and floral oil, though nectar from other plant species is also collected. Epeoloides coecutiens (Fabricius, 1775) from Europe is known to attack Macropis nests which it locates by the scent of nesting provisions (i.e., pollen and oil from Lysimachia flowers). [Updated by COSEWIC - May. 2011]
The main factors contributing to the tenuous existence of this species are primarily linked to loss or reduction of Macropis nesting sites. Both cleptoparasite and host bee are dependent on host plant populations of suitable size, and their distribution is thus restricted within the range of the food plant. As the oil-producing Lysimachia species normally used by North American Macropis usually grow in wet or swampy habitats, populations may be isolated from one another, preventing gene flow among both floral and bee populations. Under such conditions, local extirpation of both bee species is possible due to intrinsic factors linked to the haplodiploid reproductive system of bees, i.e., the production of sterile or inviable males instead of fertile females as population size declines, leading to fewer egg-laying females in the population which exacerbates the other impacts of small population size. Loss of large stands of Lysimachia through natural and anthropogenic causes with resulting increased distances between isolated patches are probably affecting Macropis populations, which in turn is probably the main factor contributing to the rarity of Epeoloides pilosulus. [Updated by COSEWIC - May. 2011]
The Macropis Cuckoo Bee is protected under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). More information about SARA, including how it protects individual species, is available in the Species at Risk Act: A Guide.
Name Recovery Strategy for the Macropis Cuckoo Bee (Epeoloides pilosulus) in Canada
Related Information (1 record(s) found.)
COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Macropis Cuckoo Bee Epeoloides pilosulus in Canada (2011-09-09)
The Macropis cuckoo bee, Epeoloides pilosulus (Cresson), is the only North American member of a genus that contains two species, the other being found in the Old World. Epeoloides is the only genus of the tribe Osirini (Apidae, Apinae) found in both the New and Old World, the remaining genera are otherwise restricted to the Neotropics. All Osirini are cleptoparasites (i.e., cuckoos), thought to have oil-collecting bees as hosts, many of them are rare. Cleptoparasitic bee females sneak into the nests of their hosts and lay eggs on the food provision collected by the host bee. The egg or larva of the host bee is killed by the cleptoparasite.
Response Statement - Macropis Cuckoo Bee (2011-12-08)
Recovery Strategy for the Macropis Cuckoo Bee (Epeoloides pilosulus) in Canada (2021-10-21)
The Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency is the competent minister under SARA for the Macropis Cuckoo Bee and has prepared this recovery strategy, as per section 37 of SARA. To the extent possible, it has been prepared in cooperation with the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, as per section 39(1) of SARA. In light of the current Covid-19 pandemic, the 60-day public comment period on the proposed Macropis Cuckoo Bee (Epeoloides pilosulus) in Canada has been extended to 90 days to provide sufficient time for feedback.
Order Acknowledging Receipt of the Assessments Done Pursuant to Subsection 23(1) of the Act (Volume 151, Number 25, 2017) (2017-12-13)
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, acknowledges receipt, on the making of this Order, of the assessments done under subsection 23(1) of the Species at Risk Act by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada with respect to the status of the species set out in the annexed schedule.
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, pursuant to subsection 27(1) of the Species at Risk Act, makes the annexed Order Amending Schedule 1 to the Species at Risk Act.
Under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA), the foremost function of COSEWIC is to “assess the status of each wildlife species considered by COSEWIC to be at risk and, as part of the assessment, identify existing and potential threats to the species”. COSEWIC held two Wildlife Species Assessment Meetings during the past year assessing the status or reviewing the classification of a total of 92 wildlife species.
Consultation on Amending the List of Species under the Species at Risk Act: Terrestrial Species – December 2011 (2011-12-08)
As part of its strategy for protecting wildlife species at risk, the Government of Canada proclaimed the Species at Risk Act (SARA) on June 5, 2003. Attached to the Act is Schedule 1, the list of the species that receive protection under SARA, also called the List of Wildlife Species at Risk. Please submit your comments by February 8, 2012 for species undergoing normal consultations and by November 8, 2012 for species undergoing extended consultations.
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) Listing Plan 2016 to 2018 (2017-09-29)
The status of wildlife species is assessed by an independent panel of expert Canadian scientists, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). 149 terrestrial species were assessed as at-risk by COSEWIC between 2009 and 2016 and are eligible for listing under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) to be considered by the Governor-in-Council (GIC) on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment: 86 species would be new additions, 54 currently listed species would be reclassified and 9 species would be updated to reflect changes in their recognized designatable units. A three-year listing plan has been developed to address all 149 terrestrial species and listing decisions for most species are anticipated by the end of 2018. Making amendments to Schedule 1 of SARA is a two-step process. The first step is for the GIC to propose an amendment through an order in council published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, for a 30-day public comment period. The second step is for the GIC to make a final decision on whether or not to make amendments to Schedule 1 of SARA, taking into consideration comments received during the 30-day public comment period. The amendments are made through an order in council published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. Both orders are accompanied by a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) which presents the implications of listing the species or changing their status. Publishing this plan on the Species at Risk Public Registry is intended to provide transparency about the Government of Canada’s plan to make listing decisions under the Species at Risk Act. NOTE: The information presented below is intended to provide openness and transparency with respect to when terrestrial species might be considered for listing under Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act. It is intended to assist anyone who may wish to provide comments on such listing considerations. Given any number of factors can affect the timing of a listing decision; the Plan is subject to change. Accordingly, the Plan will be periodically updated.


Benton L. Thompson Siege of Knoxville Letter
This Civil War letter was written by Benton L. Thompson of the Union Army, and contains general details of his journey to Knoxville, Tennessee by railway and by foot for the Siege of Knoxville.
C. Perry Goodrich Letter
C. Perry Goodrich of the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry wrote this letter from a camp near Kingston, Tennessee on December 12, 1863. In it, he discusses Longstreet's clash with Burnside in the Knoxville campaign and mentions rumors that are circulating, including one stating that Gen. Crook with the 2nd Div. Cav. has defeated the Rebel Gen. Wheeler.
Dates: 1863 December 12
C. Perry Goodrich wrote this letter to his wife, Frances (Bowen) Goodrich, in Christiana, Wisconsin on March 13, 1864. In it, Goodrich describes the recent battle for Knoxville and mentions that both the Union and Confederate Armies are living on hardtack and coffee due to extreme lack of supplies.
Dates: 1864 March 13
Frank Bean Collection
This collection consists of two diaries, an ambrotype, and a Grand Army of the Republic Veterans' medal relating to Sergeant Frank Bean. Bean, a Sergeant in the Union Army, served in and around Tennessee during the American Civil War.
John W. Cleland Letter
This collection houses a letter that John Cleland wrote to his sister, Mary J. Jennie Cleland, in Defiance County, Ohio from Knoxville, Tennessee on December 14, 1863. In it, he discusses his regiment's participation in the Battle of Knoxville, including the losses they suffered.
Robert A. Ragan Letters
This collection houses eight letters from Robert A. Ragan to his wife, Emeline (Neass) Ragan, during the Civil War. In them, Ragan discusses battles and skirmishes with the Rebels, describes the landscapes he has seen, relates his frustration with army life, mentions his fear of moving too far South, and comments on his unit's movements and actions. He also expresses his concern for his family and friends in Tennessee and asks Emeline to write to him and to pray for him in the struggle.
Dates: 1863 October 13-1864 April 11
Watson B. Smith Letters
This collection houses two letters that Union soldier Watson B. Smith wrote to his mother, Mary Amanda (Birchard) Smith, on September 23, 1863 and October 1, 1863. In them, Smith discusses Union operations in the Knoxville Campaign, life in headquarters, and news from the Battle of Chattanooga.
Dates: 1863 September 23, 1863 October 1
Watson B. Smith Papers
Abstract This collection houses four letters that Watson B. Smith wrote to his family in Michigan from East Tennessee during August and September of 1863. In them, he discusses the Knoxville Campaign, battles with Confederate troops and guerillas, and dealings with the civilian population, which was mostly (but not entirely) sympathetic to the Union. He also discusses his duties in headquarters, including his temporary appointment as aide-de-camp. Several letters written to and from captured...
Dates: 1863 June 28-September 17, undated
Subject: Correspondence. X
Subject: Knoxville (Tenn.) -- History -- Siege, 1863. X
Soldiers -- Michigan -- Correspondence. 2
Soldiers -- Ohio -- Correspondence. 2
Soldiers -- Wisconsin -- Correspondence. 2
United States. Army. Corps, 23rd (1863-1865). 2
United States. Army. Michigan Cavalry Regiment, 8th (1862-1865). 2
United States. Army. Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment, 1st (1861-1865). 2
Chattanooga, Battle of, Chattanooga, Tenn., 1863. 1
Illinois -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives. 1
Illinois -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Regimental histories. 1
Soldiers -- Illinois -- Correspondence. 1
Soldiers -- Tennessee -- Correspondence. 1
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Religious aspects. 1
United States. Army. Illinois Infantry Regiment, 107th (1862-1865). 1
United States. Army. Ohio Infantry Regiment, 111th (1862-1865). 1


Seems AWS has some plan to encroach more Telco space.
Two pioneers of the software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) community have left CableLabs, the US cable sector's R&D body. Intriguingly, Tetsuya Nakamura has joined Amazon Web Services, where he's now working as part of the telecom-focused team, while Don Clarke says he's taking time off from the industry.
Specifically, Nakamura is currently a partner solutions architect for AWS, effective from March, according to his LinkedIn profile. Clarke's LinkedIn profile lists him as leaving CableLabs the same month, and "enjoying a career break to recharge."
Nakamura led CableLabs' open source research efforts on NFV and SDN and led NTT DoCoMo's mobile network virtualization project from 2011 to 2014, as well as serving as NFV-ISG vice-chairman at ETSI and undertaking various roles at OPNFV and OpenDaylight.
Clarke was one of the original authors of the ETSI white paper that launched the NFV vision in 2012, when the Brit was still at BT.
News of their departure from CableLabs was first reported by Fierce Telecom on Monday.
NFV is, of course, a natural fit for AWS. NFV started with a vision to run network functions on commodity hardware rather than purpose-built appliances, but, in a natural step, advocates now seek to run virtual network functions (VNFs) on cloud platforms -- private, hybrid, or public. And nobody's got a bigger public cloud than AWS.


James F. Fedor
Ordained:
Diocese: Diocese of Scranton
From Report I of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania:
From 1981 to 1986, Father James F. Fedor sought counseling on his own for issues/concerns relating to his desire to have contact with young girls. From 1986 to 1987, Fedor received psychological treatment/evaluation.
On July 7, 1991, Fedor was granted an indefinite leave of absence by Bishop James C. Timlin and he was laicized on May 3, 1994.
On November 1, 2012, the Diocese of Scranton received an anonymous letter from an adult female. She claimed that Fedor abused her in 1978 when she was 10-years-old. She stated that he engaged in grooming behavior which led to sexual abuse for a period of two years.
On November 15, 2012, a letter was sent to the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office about the allegation.
Additional information regarding the widespread sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Dioceses of Pennsylvania and the systemic cover up by senior church officials is compiled in the Pennsylvania Diocese Victim’s Report published by the Pennsylvania Attorney General following a two-year grand jury investigation. A complete copy of the Report is available on the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s website.
Robert J. Brague
Joseph T. Hammond


Stikine MLA reacts to budget
Stikine MLA Doug Donaldson reacts to the Liberals' new budget.
Feb. 28, 2012 8:00 a.m.
The B.C. government is restricting spending increases and keeping its small business income tax alive to meet its balanced budget target before the 2013 election.
Finance Minister Kevin Falcon presented his first budget Tuesday, with a deficit of $969 million for the fiscal year starting April 1, as B.C. pays to end the harmonized sales tax. His three-year plan predicts a $154 million surplus in 2013-14 and $250 million surplus the following year.
To do that, the budget aims to hold government spending growth down to two per cent for three years, with most of it going to health and education. That leaves most other ministries with little or no increase for inflation, a restriction that is expected to reduce overall B.C. government staff from about 27,000 this year to 25,000 by 2014-15.
Falcon also reversed course on business taxes. The government has been promising for years that it would eliminate the small business income tax this spring, after lowering it to the current 2.5 per cent. Now it will continue at 2.5 per cent until B.C.’s financial picture improves.
Falcon is also considering a one per cent increase in the general corporate tax rate to 11 per cent, but not for another year depending on financial conditions. That move positions the B.C. Liberals politically for an election against NDP leader Adrian Dix, who has called for a corporate tax increase.
Stikine MLA Doug Donaldson suggested that the finance minister did the best job he could but added that his ‘boss’, Christy Clark, has no solid vision for the future of the province.
He slammed cutbacks in the budget in the Ministry of Advanced Education, pointing to the Industry Trade Association in particular which has a $9 million cutback, he said.
“When we’ve got a college like Northwest Community College that’s struggling financially, I was hoping to see more emphasis on the skills training that’s needed,” said Donaldson.
He said he’s not suggesting every ministry needs to see more funding but that with the prospect of further increased spending on resource extractions in the north a jobs plan is needed to give local people the skills to work.
“If you don’t have that then a jobs plan is next to meaningless unless you’ve got the training component,” he said.
He also noted that nothing was mentioned about forestry in the budget, a fact he said he found shocking.
– With files from Tom Fletcher
Bulkley RAMP talk brings critics, supporters
Smithers council joins Enbridge opposition


Sunil Mittal Net Worth, Biography, Age, Height, Wife
Business By Santosh March 13, 2015
Sunil Mittal is the founder and Chairman of the leading Indian telecommunication company called Bharti Enterprises, which is the largest GSM mobile phone service provider in the country and the fourth largest wireless company in the world. He is one of the most famous businessmen in India, who has made a global reputation for himself.
Net Worth: $7.8 billion
Income Sources: Sunil Mittal is the CEO and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, one of the largest telecom companies in the world, which boasts of nearly 275 million uses in Asia and Africa.
Born: 23rd October, 1957 (57 years old)
Marital Status: Married to Nyna Mittal. The couple has three children, Shravin, Kavin and Eiesha.
Sunil Mittal was born in Ludhiana, Punjab and hails from a Punjabi Agarwal family of repute. His father Sat Paul Mittal was an influential politician belonging to Indian National Congress and a member of Rajya Sabha from Punjab. Sunil Mittal did his schooling from premier institutions like Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie and Scindia School, Gwalior. He graduated from Arya College in Ludhiana, which was affiliated to Panjab University, Chandigarh. He started his first business venture at a young age of 18 years by borrowing funds from his father. It dealt in manufacture of bicycle crankshafts. As time went by, he realized that he could not make much progress in his current city, Ludhiana and decided to move to Mumbai to look fr greener pastures. Later, he started an import company called Bharti Overseas Trading Company, along with his brother. He started importing prtabel generators from Japan, but the business was halted suddenly due to change in government policies. In 1984, he ventured into manufacturing push button phones, with his company Bharti Telecom Limited establishing a tie up with the German telecom company called Siemens AG. His company later diversified into manufacture of fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom equipment. When the Indian government acquired the license for mobile phones in 1992, it came as a golden opportunity for Mittal and he started a company called Bharti Cellular limited, which offered mobile services in the country under the name of Airtel. The company progressed by leaps and bounds and soon went on to become the biggest mobile services provider in the country, which played a pivtal role in cutting down the STD and ISD rates in India. Mittal also negotiated with the leading US based retail chain Wal Mart to set up some retail outlets in the country. Besides being honored with several business awards including Top Entrepreneurs in the World 2000 and IT Man of the Year 2002, Sunil Mittal has also been honored with the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honor in the country.
Sunil Mittal currently resides in New Delhi with his family and lives a simple and down to earth lifestyle despite his phenomenal success. He is calm by nature and performs yoga every morning to keep himself physically fit and mentally alert. He is hard working, diligent and passionate about his work.
Rohit Shetty Net Worth, Biography, Age, Height, Wife


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Lawrence J. Haber, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Emeritus, 2007
Year Began at IPFW: 1981
Dr. Haber received his Ph.D. in Economic Theory from University of North Carolina in 1975.
Dr. Haber's teaching interests includes theoretical and applied microeconomics, finance, and labor relations. Dr. Haber emphasizes the theoretical aspects of problem solving and critical thinking.
Dr. Haber's research is in the areas of theoretical and applied microeconomics and labor relations
Research Published In
The Journal of Collective Negotiations
The Journal of Individual and Employee Rights
The Labor Law Journal
The American Business Review
The Southern Economic Journal
Managerial and Decision Economics
The Atlantic Economic Journal
The Journal of Economic Behavior
Organization and The Eastern Economic Journal
Highlights of Community Service
Dr. Haber is a member of the Southern Economic Association, Midwest Business Administration Association and has presented at many meetings including the Midwest Business Administration Association (MBAA). Dr. Haber is also an associate editor for The Journal of Collective Negotiations.
Dr. Haber joined the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne faculty in 1981 after serving one year at North Carolina State University, and 5 years at Rutgers University.
Dr. Haber has also been included in several editions of Who's Who Among America's Teachers after having been nominated by students at IPFW.
Dr. Haber is member of Omicron Delta Epsilon.
Dr. Haber retired in July 2008, after 27 years of service to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.


Violinist.com - Violin Blogs - Darcy Lewis - Blog Entry
Violin News & Gossip, Op. 2, No. 28
5/4/06 – The Salt Lake Tribune recently ran a story about the latest effort to understand what makes a Strad a Strad: "Joseph Nagyvary, an emeritus professor of biochemistry and biophysics at Texas A&M University, said several things set a Strad apart, but none more so than the chemicals that hardened the wood and gave each instrument its fiery appearance." Nagyvary, an amateur luthier, comments: "I have proven more or less that the refinement of sounds comes from a variety of chemical tricks that were not done by Stradivarius himself, but by the local drugstore that developed a manner of preserving against the wood worm." The reporter adds that Salt Lake City violin-maker Peter Prier "attributes a Strad's qualities to exceptional craftsmanship and simple aging. 'After 250 years, the old materials are totally dry and open, and that is the difference. We have the same varnishes and the same technology or better,' but making new wood sound like an old Strad is 'almost impossible.' "
5/14/06 - Starting next year, thanks to a $100 million gift, tuition at the Yale University School of Music will be free. The New York Times ponders the consequences: "Now as the school prepares for commencement on May 22 for the final graduating class to have paid the $23,750 annual tuition each year, many faculty members and students are wondering how the donation will affect Yale's reputation. Will subsidized tuition affect the type and quality of new students? Will the school claim a place alongside conservatories like the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia?"
Musician News
5/12/06 - Cecylia Arzewski, concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra who was profiled recently in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, performed the Berg Violin Concerto with the orchestra. The paper noted that Arzweski studied Berg's concerto with its dedicatee, Louis Krasner: "Yet her approach was her own: exacting, lyrical and a bit circumspect. As a soloist, she didn't reach out to the audience but invited the listener into her private world, rich in memory, pathos and a rather cosmic understanding of the music."
5/11/06 – Charles Meacham, concertmaster emeritus of the Marin Symphony, was honored by the College of Marin Music Department in "A Special Tribute to Charles Meacham," reports the Marin Indpendent Journal. "Meacham, who taught music at the college for nearly 20 years, was influential in the Marin music scene for half a century ... Through the college and in private lessons, Meacham taught hundreds of students, some of whom -- now professional musicians themselves – [flew] in from as far away as Florida, Ohio and Utah to join Bay Area musicians in performing at the tribute." The paper adds: "In 1952, Meacham helped found the Marin Symphony, of which he remains Concertmaster Emeritus. He also founded the Marin Arts Quartet, the only Marin string quartet for nearly 30 of its 40-odd years in existence. When the College of Marin music building opened in 1967, Meacham taught classes there until he retired in 1984 ... Meacham will return for Sunday's performance and the announcement of a College of Marin music scholarship in his honor -- the Charles Meacham String Scholarship."
5/11/06 - Andrey Boreyko concludes his short tenure as music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, reports the Winnipeg Sun. "Soon after taking the reins from former maestro Bramwell Tovey in 2002, [Boreyko] discovered the WSO was in a ‘tragic’ budget bind that threatened its existence. He and the musicians made financial sacrifices, the WSO rallied and Boreyko later extended his contract for an extra year to see the orchestra through its current season. But he bemoans the lack of public support for classical music in Canada." Germain quotes Boreyko: "If I could take this orchestra from Winnipeg to Europe and work with this orchestra for the rest of my life I would do it." Boreyko comments on his successor, Alexander Mickelthwate: "When I came here I was already in a certain part of my career that didn't allow me to be here as much ... He can dedicate himself to this orchestra."
5/11/06 – The Chicago Tribune published an update on Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project: "Earlier this year, Ma received the $1 million Dan David Prize for preserving cultural heritage" with his Silk Road Project, started in 1998. "The award is administered by Tel Aviv University and endowed by a foundation started by Dan David, a Romanian by birth and former longtime chairman of an automatic photo booth firm based in England," notes the paper. "The prize requires Ma to donate $100,000 for 20 scholarships for study at Tel Aviv and other universities around the world. Laura Freid, Silk Road Project's chief executive officer, says Ma is using the remaining $900,000 as a matching grant" to support Silk Road Chicago, "a year of cross-cultural programs and events here that is to begin June 1."
5/11/06 - "First-rate soloist” Chuan-Yun Li performed the Khachaturian Violin Concerto and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade with the China National Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall, reports the New York Times. The orchestra "has strong players throughout its ranks. They and their energetic conductor, Xincao Li, are still grappling with Western style, at times convincing in their phrasing and expression, at others creating reasonable imitations that can sound stiff and learned."
5/14/06 – The Berlin Philharmonic, fearing the loss of future audiences, has constructed an elaborate education program, reports the New York Times. These are “something still relatively rare on the Continent. Many orchestras in Britain and the United States have been making similar efforts to draw in youngsters and educate the public, but in catching up, the Berliners have created one of Europe's most ambitious programs."
5/13/06 – According to the Las Vegas Sun, even though the Las Vegas Philharmonic is only eight years old, it is growing, seems to have found an audience, and has a $1.5 million budget. So it's time to pick a new music director. The candidates are: David Commanday of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, David Itkin of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Peter Rubardt of the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. As part of the selection process, they will serve as guest conductors during the 2006-07 season.
From Sydney Menees
Posted on May 19, 2006 at 10:26 AM
I think that Boreyko guy was the conductor for the Deutsch "Youth" orchestra when they performed with Janine Jansen!
From Maura Gerety
Is Nagyvary ever going to give it up? That "amateur luthier" sounds more ridiculous every day.
From Jim W. Miller
Now, is the Times reporting that accurately? Are many faculty members and students really pondering that? How many and how much total pondering are we talking about?
Grats, Cecylia! Wish I coulda been there.
From Ron Gorthuis
I'm the type that always considers the proof in the pudding. Nagyvary theorises well, but were is the pudding? If his are so great, why do I not see great players playing them? If violins are so easy to make, why are millions of old instruments not equal to a Strad, or Gaurneri, or etc. After all, literally thousands of older german or hungarian violins are aged dry equally, with equal varnish, woods, etc, yet have no sound. Could there be possibly a skill factor, only few (eg Stradiavri) discovered and could apply? stands to reason, after hundreds of years.


Apprenticeships Helping People Find Careers
Nov. 24, 2012 / By Patrick Moreno
Apprenticeships are important to Long Beach because they are a way for men and women who haven’t received a university education to earn a living-wage, even when more than half of recent college grads nationwide are unemployed, or “underemployed.”
Long Beach’s unemployment rate is currently 11.2 percent, and hasn’t been below 10 percent since 2008. But jobs in construction are actually on the rise, more than five percent this year alone.
Apprenticeships are a powerful and often overlooked way for people to make a great living. Even in this economy, a job in the trades can earn more than $30 per hour, and provide a family with full benefits. Over 50 apprenticeship programs are available in Long Beach alone.
Most programs only require a high school education to enroll, and many men and women with felony convictions have also found steady work in the trades from laborers, to electricians and pipe-fitters.
“If I wasn’t doing this, I’d probably have my old job, but I’d still be acting wild and running the streets trying to make ends meet,” said Thomas Ramirez, who is currently apprenticing at the Port of Long Beach for the Manson construction company through the Local No. 507 Laborers’ Union.
Ramirez is a 33-year old warehouse worker from Wilmington, who decided to put an unsavory past behind him when he joined the apprenticeship program for the Laborers’ Union in July. He has since gone as far as offering others who feel trapped in low-wage jobs rides to the union hall so they can sign up.
“There’s no discrimination out here,” he said. “If you’re ready to do your homework and take care of business, an apprenticeship can be a great opportunity.” Ramirez, who has been on the job for 5 months, has already earned two pay-raises.
Unions, and other organizations often offer free training and assistance to apprenticeship programs throughout the state. A list of those trades is available here.
A panel of union representatives, and an educator talked about apprenticeships at the Back to Work 2012 summit last weekend, hosted by Council Member Steven Neal and the Pacific Gateway Workforce Development Program.
Josh La Farga who spoke on behalf of the Laborers’ Union Local No. 507 said that apprenticeships don’t get you into a job, they provide you the opportunity to have a career in an industry that is not going away.
Vivian Price, an electrical line-woman, lifetime trade-worker and professor of labor studies at Dominguez HIlls State University was one of the members of the panel. She said that when she first went to apply to become an electrician, the clerk asked her who she weas applying for, insinuating that she certainly could not be applying for herself.
“The first thing you have to do is go buy yourself a pair of boots, and the jobs are certainly tough,” Price said about the male-dominated trade-industry, “But there are plenty of women working in trades in the Long Beach area right now.”
WINTER or Women In Non Traditional Employment Roles, is a group aimed at promoting a woman’s right to earn a living at a trade. Their Rosie the Riveter program is based in Long Beach and helps high school dropouts get into the trades through apprenticeship programs, as well as helping young men and women achieve goals of upward mobility by going to college.
The atmosphere of tolerance and diversity among trade-union-members was a resounding note of all of the speakers on the panel. Tommy Faavae the director of the IBEW Electrical Workers Union Local No. 11 here in Long Beach said, “ I represent a group of men and women as diverse as the population of Long Beach.”
Faavae graduated from an apprenticeship program almost 30 years ago, and today is an organizer for the union. He invites all men and women to try their hand at electrical work.
“It’s not easy, but union work is organized, and the check will always be there,” he said. As for public opinion that unions try to keep jobs hidden to ration them out to only their members, Faavae said that the IBEW goes to career fairs and anywhere that will have them to tell people about programs just like the one that got him his lifetime career as an electrician.
“Some people will be negative, but I invite them to come out and sign up,” he said.
In short- Today’s job market has proven that skills are still the most important part of being gainfully employed and traditional education does not always guarantee you a good job. Apprenticeships can help Central and West Long Beach because they help people learn marketable skills with only a high school diploma or GED.
Tags: Education, Long Beach, Unemployment, Youth
Patrick Moreno
Patrick Moreno is a graduate of the CSULB department of journalism. He wrote for the Daily 49er and spent more than a year with VoiceWaves reporting on the diverse communities of Long Beach. Originally from Ventura California, Moreno studied photography for 5 years before transferring to CSULB to work on his writing. At the heart of his work is Moreno's love for culture and the arts, but it is through factual and fair reporting that he hopes to transform his community into a place where people can express themselves and continue to thrive. Patrick is also a musician, artist and photographer, beach bum, and capoerista!


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Former Members of Heart Suing Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Two former members of Heart are suing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for using their likenesses in promoting the 2013 induction ceremony even though they were not inducted.
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Bassist Mark Andes and drummer Dennis Carmassi and were members of Heart from 1982-1993, during which the band staged a comeback with all four of its Grammy nominations and ten of its 20 Top 40 hits including “These Dreams”, “Alone”, “All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You” and many several others. But when Heart was inducted into the Hall of Fame, it included only the bands’ original lineup from the 1960s and ‘70s and Andes and Carmassi were not included.
Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson Reflect on Rock Hall Induction
Now Andes and Carmassi are suing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because their likenesses and the songs they performed were used to promote Heart’s induction. The duo’s complaint states that when fans and fellow musicians offered them congratulations for their success, they were “humiliated” to explain “that they were inexplicably not chosen for induction.”
The complaint states: “Plaintiffs are not asking that defendant Rock Hall induct them into the Hall of Fame. Instead, this is an action to protect the rights, reputations, and likenesses of Mark Andes and Dennis Carmassi through the causes of actions false light invasion of privacy, misappropriation of name and likeness invasion of privacy, injurious falsehood, libel, slander, and right of attribution falsification of rock and roll history for Defendants’ wilful and unauthorized use of Plaintiffs’ images and likenesses.”
According to the complaint, following the Dec. 11, 2012, announcement Heart would be inducted into the Hall of Fame but that Andes and Carmassi were not, they wrote a letter to the institution asking for an explanation and defending their role in the band’s success. It states Hall of Fame CEO Joel Peresman responded the next day stating, “We have a group of people who are very focused on these things and collaborate on the various areas of their expertise. As we do every year we went very carefully over all of the history and the members of Heart that were are [sic] being inducted besides Ann and Nancy [Wilson] were the ones everyone felt should be inducted. I am sorry if these others feel this isn’t right but this is the final decision of our committee.”
Kiss Says It Won’t Play at Rock Hall Induction
From there, images including Andes and Carmassi’s were used on the Rock Hall’s biography page for the band including the band’s 1985 self-titled album’s cover art. Founders and main members Ann and Nancy Wilson asked the Hall to reconsider its decision to exclude Andes and Carmassi given that they “were in the band when it garnered several Grammy nominations and their biggest commercial success”. But the Hall refused to change its decision. The complaint sites a Billboard article and video in its exhibits, as proof of Ann and Nancy Wilson’s desire that Andes and Carmassi should have been admitted.
Speaking at the 2013 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Red Carpet, Ann Wilson said of Andes and Carmassi, “They should be here. They really should be here.”
Andes and Carmassi are seeking compensatory damages for all losses, treble damages on all trademark claims, punitive damages and exemplary damages.
The complaint states: “Although induction to the Rock Hall is normally a positive thing, to be knowingly and/or recklessly placed in such a position by Defendants is highly offensive to a reasonable person when being placed in that position requires having to continually correct the record on an issue of such personal importance.”
The Rock Hall has not yet responded publicly to the lawsuit’s charges.
The matter of which band members are inducted into the Hall of Fame has been a continues source of controversy for the organization. Recently, Kiss refused to perform at its award ceremony because only its original members were being honored.
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