CLOSE UP by Brian Rudnick

"Computer Lady" refurbishes computers for students

I’ve been retired now for about twelve years.  And ever since I’ve been retired I’ve wanted to do something. I’m not a lay home watch soap opera kind of girl.  I ran into a place called non-profit technology resources down near Spring Garden and Stan introduced me to recycling. And what I do is the donations that have come into the YWCA where I started and Malt Computer Volunteer Group, with the donations that come in, they were just sitting around. So I decided to tinker with and fix them.

As of the past four years we’re a Microsoft authorized refurbisher. We’re licensed by Microsoft to refurbish computers and install licensed products. Because we’re an authorized refurbisher, that means I’m obligated to wipe any and all hard drives. So I can assure people if they want to donate it or someone comes in and says I want to donate and I want my data, I’ll open the computer up and pull the hard drive out and hand it to them. Because when I re-image it, it has to be wiped. I have other hard drives.

You used to be able to put computers out on the sidewalk. Now you can’t do that. Also industries can’t dispose of their computer equipment the way they used to. So they donate it. They say you come get it. No you drop it off because I know they’re saving money (plus they’re getting a tax deduction} because they don’t have to pay for disposal.

My concern is since I’m a grandmom my concern is with schoolchildren, middle school through high school and college students. When I get donations of laptops, the college students are first on the list AT REDUCED PRICE? At minimal price. Especially a high school student who comes in and they’re honor roll. They get a whole PC for twenty bucks. AND HOW DO THEY FIND OUT ABOUT YOU? Usually word of mouth. Everybody knows “Miss Wynnie, the computer lady.” Wynne Hill, Summit Presbyterian Church, Mount Airy.

Watch video here.

Brings deconstructed astronomy book to science high school interview

My book is called a deconstruction book and it’s like when you get a plain old book that nobody reads, sits on the shelves at stores and stuff and getting it and exposing the information in a 3-dimensional work of art. WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT? It’s about astronomy, all about the planets, the moons, suns, stars… I can name you everything inside. Right here there’s an asteroid and it’s called Hyperion and Hyperion back in Greek mythology was one of the Titans of the East. 

Javier Peraza, of South Philly, with his project for an application interview at the Science Leadership Academy.

Watch video interview here

She counts hawks

SO MELISSA’S THE OFFICIAL- the official hawk counter for Cape May Bird Observatory. AND WHAT DOES THAT INVOLVE? It involves getting here at sunup every day until about 5 o’clock at night, monitoring the hawk migration, identifying and counting the hawks that go by. She has to be able to identify fourteen or fifteen regularly occurring species. Cape May is known for rarities so she has to be able to identify rarities that might show up as well.  HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO KEEP TRACK OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME? It’s not so based on the weather that day, wind direction, she kind of figures out whether a lot of the birds are migrating through or whether they’re just hanging around, does her best to keep track of them. WHAT’S COMING THROUGH THESE DAYS? Not much, it’s late in the season, the peak of the season is September, October so at this point we’re hoping for a golden eagle, a goshawk, more northern birds but those are sort of unusual. Not much is moving today, had a couple redtails, a couple bald eagles, northern harriers and sharp shin hawk. ANYTHING OUT THERE NOW? A bald eagle right over the pavilion here going away from us over that tree…DO I SEE CLICKER THINGS DOWN HERE FOR KEEPING THE COUNT? Yes, because on busier days at the peak of the season, there are hundreds of brides and obviously she can’t keep in her head so she clicks them as they come by. Each species has its own clicker. Steve (“Mr. Awesome”) Bauer, narrating activity of Cape May Bird Observatory Official Hawk Counter, Melissa Roach. Watch video here

Re Clamming Barnegat Bay

Martin Sedlacko, of Forked River, New Jersey volunteers with ReClam the Bay, an environmental organization with an educational focus that grows up seed clams and oysters until they are large enough to be transferred to protected reefs in Barnegat Bay.

The native oyster and clam populations died off substantially in the 1950s and ‘60s due to land development in the shore community and environs, Sedlacko explains. One significant factor is eutrophication; nitrogen (found in fertilizers, acid rain) from runoff contributes to excessive underwater plant growth. In the subsequent dieback and decomposition process, bacteria consumes the oxygen the shellfish depend on.

On Monday afternoons, volunteers gather at a shellfish station on Barnegat Bay off of 24th street in Seaside Heights, not far from the extensive Island Beach State Park on the south side of Long Beach Island. They clean the growing shellfish and introduce bay water into several tanks called “upwellers.” The juveniles feed on plankton in the water.

The Seaside Heights station is one of ten such locations on the bay that participate in the Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program, a partnership between Rutgers University/Ocean County Cooperative Extension and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Employees from Subaru of Cherry Hill complemented the regular volunteer contingent at the Seaside Heights station on a recent Monday afternoon. In the morning the employees had participated in a bay cleanup. According to one employee, Subaru partners with the Ocean Conservancy because this kind of volunteering is a good fit with its brand and the values held by its customers.

Watch video here

For more information about Barnegat Bay and restoration efforts visit

http://www.reclamthebay.org/

http://ocean.rcre.rutgers.edu/marine/bbsrp.html

http://www.savebarnegatbay.org

Dali (String) Quartet entertains, educates

The Dali (string) Quartet, whose repertoire consists of both traditional classical music and Latin American chamber  music, presented an educational concert at the Jenks School Monday morning. They are seen here at the Chestnut Hill Coffee shop, near their Chestnut Hill office, after the concert satisfying their hunger and planning their schedule for the next two years. From left to right, Jesus Morales, Cello, Adriana Linares, Viola, Luigi Mazzocchi, Violin, Carlos Rubio, Violin. Visit them at daliquartet.com Watch video here.

Toastmasting

In the Chestnut Hill Library meeting room last Wednesday there was speechgiving. The Toastmasters Club based at the New Covenant Church in Mount Airy has moved to the Chestnut Hill and Lovett libraries this summer to take advantage of air-conditioning.

Members take turns giving speeches, often drawing on their own personal experiences, and get feedback from evaluators. These include an “Ah” counter and a grammarian. With personal performance at its core, Toastmasters bears much similarity with the story slams popular among the twenty-somethings but there are significant differences. Speakers don’t compete and whereas slammers are often irreverent, a Toastmasters evening has religious and patriotic overtones.

Before the meeting, Deborah Cureton, VP of education and Vicki Lander, VP of membership, demonstrated a “table top” speech; this is an impromptu speech on a topic one is given on the spot. The only time to prepare is the time it takes to get up from one’s seat and arrive at the podium.

The Wednesday event drew several regulars and some newcomers Cureton originally associated the organization with toasting at the drinking of wine but found it right up her alley when she discovered what it really was about. At the front of the room, she gave a “pocket speech” (a 5 minute practice speech) on the topic of change employing vocal variety and other techniques that Toastmasters helps develop.

According to literature, Toastmasters International has focused on building people’s public speaking and leadership abilities since 1924 and boasts more than12,000 clubs in more than 100 countries.

In the photo: Cureton, left and Lander, right.

Watch video here.

Tasting like a lion

Guests sample six different concoctions to understand how animals taste. Cats don't taste sweet so a sweet substance was tasted followed by a sweet blocker followed by another draft of the same sweet substance- which tasted like not worth eating or drinking! At the Philadelphia Science Festival event at Rembrandt's Restaurant produced by the Philadelphia Zoo and Monell Center where they study the sense of taste. Watch video here.

Chestnut Hill Newsstand News- cigarettes and handouts out, treats for A grades?

New owner, Chestnut Hill resident Stewart Graham is introducing Brings healthy snacks and flowers to the top of hill newsstand. And cigarettes are out.  Jazz pianist Chris Marsceill daylights behind counter

Watch part one video here.

The Newsstand, at the top of the Chestnut Hill West rail line, is considering continuing the tradition started by Jay, a former SEPTA worker, of handing out treats to students who come by and show A grades on tests. But handouts are out.

Watch part two video here.

Jazz pianist Chris Marsceill daylights behind counter,

Peace High School Students talk about guns and Martin Luther King Day

WE WOULDN’T BE CELEBRATING MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY IF HE WERE STILL ALIVE AND NOT ASSASSINATED BY SOMEONE WHO WAS A LITTLE CRAZY, WITH A FIREARM. I’M THINKING THAT IT’S TIME TO REPEAL THE SECOND AMENDMENT. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE BUT NO RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. WHAT’S YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE ARIZONA SHOOTING AND THE VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS?

“Most of us agree that the second amendment should be revised as to who’s allowed to carry a gun. We learned that in certain states you can carry concealed weapons. There’s no law against it. They force some colleges to allow students to carry concealed weapons…. There should be some sort of test to pass, not just filling out paperwork.” Breanna Hawkins, right.

“We’re actually learning about that in our English class. We have a lot of opinions about what happened what should have happened … Maybe it’s time for the police to also step up and go through the streets and find those people that are selling the guns and people that are buying them illegally. Most teenagers that have firearms are getting their guns illegally from the streets.” Brittany Moldey, left.

Brittany and Breanna, eleventh graders at the Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice in Mount Airy, were welcoming prospective students and their parents on Saturday as part of their required community service. On Martin Luther King Day, Parkway students will help paint the lunchroom and others are volunteering to cook with younger children at the Waldorf School, also situated on the New Covenant Church campus in Mount Airy.

Watch video interview here.

Med student preps for exam

Divya Arun, of Roxborough, a 3rd year medical student at Drexel University, studies the clinical manifestations of diseases at Chestnut Hill Coffee cafe in preparation for an oral exam.

I SEE YOU HAVE EVERYTHING SET UP HERE, YOUR DRINKS YOUR BANANA, YOUR BOOK, YOUR NOTEBOOKS, YOUR PEN. WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON? I’m actually in medical school. We have an oral exam coming up Thursday so I ‘m preparing for that. I have to pick fifteen different medical topics and know ever thing about them. And they’ll randomly ask me questions about the topics so I have to prepare the clinical manifestations of diseases and things like that. WHAT AREA IN MEDICINE ARE YOU INTERESTED IN? I’m not sure, Third year we go through the different specialties like medicine, pediatrics, ob-gyn, surgery, psychiatry, family medicine and you kind of decide from there. That’s what this year is about and I haven’t figured it out yet. DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA WHAT SETTING YOU WANT TO PRACTICE, WHETHER CLINICAL OR RESEARCH..? Definitely clinical probably not research although I’ll have research integrated in whatever I do but not totally research. WHAT INTERESTS YOU IN THE FIELD? It’s constantly changing, you work with people day in and day out. You get to help them most of the time. It’s pretty rewarding, feeling you’re doing something productive every day. CAN YOU THINK OF AN INSTANCE WHERE YOU FELT GRATIFIED HELPING SOMEONE? I volunteered last year at the Eliza Shirley Clinic which is a domestic violence shelter for women and their children who are abused and have nowhere else to go and I felt that was pretty rewarding. We had a student run clinic and you just see whoever wants to be seen with one of the doctors from Drexel who comes. WHAT KIND OF MEDICAL ISSUES DO THEY PRESENT WITH? They present with the gamut. We see the adults on the adult clinic day and the “Peeds clinic”, the pediatricians come in. Lots of colds, lots of gyn-related problems, really anything. AND YOU’RE STUDYING WHERE? Drexel University School of Medicine. AND THIS IS YOUR OFFICE AWAY FORM HOME? Pretty much.

Divya Arun, of Roxborough, studying at Chestnut hill Coffee cafe.

Watch video here.