Ridge Fire District and United Public Service Employees Union

In the matter of the fact-finding between the Ridge Fire District, employer, and the United Public Service Employees Union, union. PERB case no. M2011-341. Before: Thomas J. Linden, fact finder

Race, Hegemony, and the Birth of Rock & Roll

The Blues Had a Baby and They Named it Rock & Roll On his Grammy winning album, Hard Again, McKinley Morganfield (a.k.a. “Muddy Waters”) sings his song The Blues Had a Baby and They Named it Rock & Roll.1 What are the racial and social implications of this rebirth? In this study, I will argue that the cultural context during the birth of Rock & Roll was such that Blues music had to be “reborn” in order to enter into the predominantly white mainstream. From the perspective of a Blues musician, Morganfield’s use of the idea of rebirth is a subtle apology for the Blues, preserving the filiation and downplaying the issue of racial division. However, a more critical analysis of the situation questions the aptitude of rebirth as a metaphor for the process of change that was required of (Rhythm &) Blues music before it could be embraced as a mainstream art form. Contemporary scholarship suggests a range of terms as more accurate descriptors of this transformative process, including appropriation, assimilation, blanching, and subsumption.2 We can add terms like “translation” and “renaming” to this list, each bringing a slightly different perspective to the issue.3 By attempting to recognize a convergence of unseen or “behind the scenes” forces that cause this transformation to take place, the current study seeks to demonstrate their consequences not simply with respect to the development of popular music, but with respect to the larger relationship between popular culture and race in the latter half of the twentieth century

Sustainability Children\u27s Book

As human driven climate change continues to alter our planet, persuading the general public to adopt sustainable living practices has become increasingly important. Storytelling has long been a part of human culture, and recent studies have emphasized the power of storytelling to influence the audience as a means of changing behavior. This project attempted to teach sustainable principles to primary school children through the creation of a scientific children’s book. The book communicated the maxim of “reduce, reuse, recycle” by tracing a fictitious story of a town where children frequently buy new toys and throw the old toys away. The book explores the supply chain of toys and the market forces of supply and demand, focusing on the consumer’s responsibility to not over-consume, i.e “reduce”. It also presents the concept of “reusing” and “recycling” as alternatives to disposal of old toys. The book was evaluated for age appropriate language and concepts for K-5 students and adjusted to meet educational standards. It was then tested by reading it to a classroom of 2nd grade students. A discussion with the students following the reading showed that they understood the theme of the book and how they could apply it to their own lives. The project also included a life cycle analysis (LCA) of a stuffed animal, a representative toy from the story. The LCA showed that the largest contributors to the stuffed animal’s impacts were the production of cotton used for its outer layer and the electricity used in its assembly. It also showed the impacts most damaging to human health were chiefly a result of the fossil fuels used to provide process energy

Eastern Suffolk BOCES and Eastern Suffolk Civil Service Unit, United Public Service Employees Union (UPSEU)

In the matter of the fact-finding between the Eastern Suffolk BOCES, employer, and the Eastern Suffolk Civil Service Unit, United Public Service Employees Union (UPSEU), union. PERB case no. M2011-335. Before: Thomas J. Linden, fact finder

Cold Spring Harbor Central School District and Cold Spring Harbor Teachers Association

In the matter of the fact-finding between Cold Spring Harbor Central School District, employer, and the Cold Spring Harbor Teachers Association, union. PERB case no. M2012-330. Before: Thomas J. Linden, fact finder

Uniondale Union Free School District and United Public Service Employees Union (UPSEU)

In the matter of the fact-finding between the Uniondale Union Free School DIstrict, employer, and the United Public Service Employees Union (UPSEU), union. PERB case no. M2015-096. Before: Thomas J. Linden, fact finder