The Weekly Tally 02.23.17

WHO’S IN TOWN?

The role of power in education as a way to succeed and to gain control – both inside and outside institutions of learning – is the intriguing theme of this year’s annual Sociology of Education Association conference. Keynote speakers for the “Power and Schooling in the 21st Century” conference are Steven Brint, professor of sociology and public policy at UC Riverside, and Amanda Lewis, professor of African-American studies and sociology and director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy at the University of Illinois. Conference panel discussions delve into topics like social status, employment and financial status, and social power structures in schools.

3pm Feb. 24-3pm Feb. 26. Asilomar Conference Grounds, 800 Asilomar Ave., Pacific Grove. $80-$160. www.seassoc.wordpress.com.

FREE SPEECH

They say that what you post on the internet is forever – except, of course, when it’s not. Based on recent reports that federal agencies had removed information from their websites on topics including climate change, animal welfare and individuals with disabilities, 69 organizations signed a Feb. 13 letter to Dominic Mancini, acting administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. “The public is at risk of losing access to valuable government information,” the letter states. It goes on to argue the feds have failed to provide proper notice to the public under the Paperwork Reduction Act: “Providing the required notice will assure compliance with the law, smooth transition issues, ensure public participation, calm fears of censorship, and will reduce litigation costs for both the government and the public interest community.” Signatories include the American Civil Liberties Union, Consumers Union, First Amendment Coalition andAssociation of Alternative Newsmedia, of which the Weekly is a member.

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD:

Students at local schools are showing off their science chops in more ways than one this week. Carmel Valley Middle School and El Sausal Middle Schoolstudents have both made it to the regional level of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science’s National Science Bowl. Carmel Valley Middle is competing in San Diego, while El Sausal Middle is competing on their home turf of Salinas. Winners of the regional level will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the national competitions in Washington, D.C. in April. And on Feb. 24, local 190 high – and middle-school students discuss their findings of their independent investigations on polar sea ice at the Student Polar Research Symposium at CSU Monterey Bay. The students were trained on research techniques last summer by polar scientist as a part of the National Science Foundation-funded Polar-ICE Project.

BAD:

It was a terrible week for weather in Monterey County, affecting thousands of people with issues ranging from power outages to flooding to isolating road closures. Things were also bad for some emergency responders: Cmdr. John Thornburg reports six Monterey County Sheriff’s Office patrol cars were damaged by falling trees. He expects the broken windows, dented fender and scratches to be covered under the county’s self-insurance. The sheriff’s dive team and search and rescue also had a bad week, coming up empty after searching for a missing man who was reportedly struck by a vehicle and thrown off the Elm Street Bridge in Greenfield into the fast-flowing Salinas River. The dive team arranged to slow the flow from the Nacimiento Dam to gain access to the river, and a CHP helicopter joined the search, but as of Feb. 21 – 10 days after falling into the water – the man has not been located.

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