Events
Brown Bag: Barefoot Lawyer Needed—The Path to Secure Land Rights for Farmers in China
Presenter: Zhu Keliang
Thursday, January 22, 12:30 to 1:30p
Atlantic Room at Tides
Land rights represent the single greatest asset for the world’s rural poor. However, in the case of China, farmers’ land rights are far from secure or transferable. Forty million rural residents in China have lost their farmland due to urban or industrial developments for the past decade while receiving little or no compensation. The implications of insecure land rights are two-fold – Chinese farmers cannot make long-term investments in land to enhance productivity and China now suffers one of the worst rural-urban income gaps on earth. Moreover, land is the top source of grievances in rural China where thousands of violent protests erupt each year.
Zhu Keliang is an attorney and East Asia Program Manager of Rural Development Institute (RDI). He was born and raised in the countryside of southern China. He holds a Bachelor in Law (1996) from a college in Beijing and a J.D. (2000) from Willamette University (Salem, Oregon). Mr. Zhu came to RDI after spending four years in private legal practice in Oregon with a specialization in land use, real estate, and general business law. Since joining RDI in the summer of 2004, Keliang has accumulated substantial experience in conducting rural fieldwork, preparing research and policy memos, drafting laws and regulations, and designing programs and solutions for land reforms in China and other eastern Asian countries.
Rural Development Institute (RDI) is an international not-for-profit organization working to secure land rights for the world’s poorest people. For 40 years, RDI’s legal professionals have worked with the governments of 40 developing countries, foreign aid agencies, and other partners to design and implement laws, policies and programs that provide opportunity, further economic growth and promote social justice. RDI is based in Seattle, with branch offices in Beijing (China), Bangalore (India), Hyderabad (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), and Vladimir (Russia).
Thoreau Gallery + Seed Gallery Opening Reception: Common Ties + Palermo Hollywood
Artist: Salifu Alaagy + Josh Karliner
Thursday, February 5, 5:00p to 7:00p
Exhibitions run February 5 through April 3, 2009
Salifu(Sali) Alaagy’s dramatic and vibrant paintings speak of humanity’s likenesses and differences and the power of feminism in all creation. Many of his canvasses convey images that merge different cultures and traditions where we see common ties that bind them. Sali’s images are inspired by traditional African culture, much like the traditions expressed in the village of Wa of his childhood, in the west region of northern Ghana called Busa.
IMAGE: “Bliss,” Salifu Alaagy
In 2007-08 photographer Josh Karliner lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the neighborhood formerly known as Palermo Viejo--and now as Palermo Hollywood. It is a barrio in the midst of a vast transformation. Many of his neighbors have lived there for forty or more years—they are old-school butchers, bakers, antique dealers, bar owners. Yet they are increasingly surrounded by trendy boutiques, fashionable restaurants and trendy apartment towers. The photodocumentary captures the intersection—the convergence and contradiction-- of these two separate realities—the old and the new of Palermo Hollywood.
IMAGE: “Manifestacion,” Josh Karlinger
Brown Bag: Diversity and Philanthropy
Presenter: Chris Vayth, The Greenlining Institute
Thursday, February 12, 12:30 to 1:30p
Pacific Room at Tides
The Greenlining Institute has long viewed philanthropic issues as a matter of empowerment, or investment, rather than charity. Since 1993 they have helped banks and corporations see the profitability of investing in low-income and minority communities. In that time, the result of their work has seen these institutions reverse course from past discrimination and begin to instead “greenline” communities.
Chris Vayth will discuss Greenlining’s particular wins and how it’s changing the philanthropic world.
The Greenlining Institute is a multi-ethnic public policy center which has successfully connected private enterprise and community organizations in innovative partnerships, garnering over $2.4 trillion dollars in investments into traditionally underserved areas.
Thoreau Center Special Exhibition:
The Bridge Rail Foundation presents: Whose Shoes?
Building 1016 corridor
Opening reception: Thursday, February 19, 5:00p to 7:00p
Exhibition date: February 19 through April 16, 2009
This exhibit consists of hundreds of shoes representing the over 1,300 suicide deaths off the Golden Gate Bridge—a problem that has festered unresolved for over 70 years.
Sneakers from teens and young adults are included as well as the polished wing tips, sharp high heels and worn loafers of older adults. Central to the exhibit is a pair of US Army boots, commemorating the WWI veteran who was the first known suicide from the bridge.
The Bridge Rail Foundation is a local non-profit dedicated to ending the suicide problem on the Golden Gate Bridge. Foundation volunteers created and organized this display. To learn more about the foundation, visit www.bridgerail.org.
PHOTO: By Cristina Taccone
Pizza + Politics: Marriage Equality for All!
Presenters: Kate Kendall, National Center for Lesbian Rights + Andrea Shorter, “And Marriage For All”
Thursday, February 26, 12:30 to 1:30p
Pacific Room at Tides
Is there still hope for marriage for all? Join us for a discussion with Kate Kendall and Andrea Shorter as they give a quick legal update to the challenge to Prop 8 and reveal steps being made to win full equality—on all issues—for LGBT folks in California, including new and improved collaborations and grassroots involvement.
Kate Kendell leads the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Through direct litigation and advocacy, NCLR works to change discriminatory laws and to create new laws and policies benefiting the LGBT community.
Andrea Shorter is co-chair of the Bayard LGBT Rustin Coalition, Northern California’s largest Black LGBT political organization. A longtime advocate in the LGBT community, she is the former Deputy Executive Director of the NAMES Project Foundation/AIDS Memorial Quilt, where she launched several key HIV/AIDS outreach and education initiatives targeting African American and South African communities.
Eight New Rules for Green Computing
By Susan Labandibar
Founder and CEO of Tech Networks of Boston
IMAGE: Susan Labandibar
The rapid evolution in computer technology has made it seem that attempting to be frugal with office computers is penny-wise but pound-foolish. Anyone who has tried to keep a computer longer than three years knows how frustrating it can be to wait for their computer to start up in the morning.
So you purchase a new computer. But what happens to the old one? No one seems to know what to do with all these outdated computers. Of the 63 million tons of U.S. computer equipment taken out of service annually, only 25 percent is recycled or landfilled. The rest of our electronic waste (e-waste) is stockpiled, like nuclear waste and other toxic substances that are not conveniently disposed of.
E-waste contains many substances that are harmful to human and animal health, such as barium, beryllium, cadmium, mercury, lead and dioxins released when the computer is burned.
How can you make sure that you are not contributing to the problem? In this article we list eight new rules for sustainable computing in the spirit of good old Yankee frugality.
(Re)-use It
Rule #1 – Buy EPEAT-certified equipment.
The Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) was developed by the Green Electronics Council. EPEAT-certified computers are ranked based on criteria such as power management capabilities, the amount of hazardous material it contains, the amount of recyclable materials used and how easily the unit can be disassembled when it reaches end of life.
Rule #2 – Give your old computer to charity.
The trick here is to make sure that the old computer still has useable word processing software and that it can browse the Internet. No one wants a computer that takes ten minutes to load a Web page. If the computer is not suitable for donation, make sure that you dispose of it responsibly. Consult the Basel Action Network for a certified recycler who will not export your computer overseas.
(Don't) Wear It Out
Rule #3 – Enable power management on your computer.
Power management software is used to put your computer in a sleep state if it is not used for a period of time. A computer and monitor left on can use over $300 of electricity per year. Computer equipment will last longer if it is set to “hibernate” when not in use.
Rule #4 – Get longer wear from your laptop battery.
Laptops use about half as much power as a PC. But the battery can be a source of additional pollution and expense. Batteries are only capable of a finite number of charges. To extend the life of your laptop battery, remove your laptop battery when your laptop is plugged in to a power outlet. To know when to recharge your battery, you should determine if it is lithium-ion or nickel cadmium. A lithium ion battery should be recharged before it is completely depleted, discharging it completely once per month. A nickel-cadmium battery, more commonly used in older laptops, should be fully depleted and recharged each time.
Make It Do
Rule #5 – Move to thin client computing.
A thin client is a device that depends on the main server for processing. A thin client has several advantages such as decreasing the need for technical support, being less susceptible to viruses, being smaller and less costly, and storing data more safely. Thin clients do not “wear out” or become outdated like personal computers. Feeling even more frugal? You can use any old workstation as a thin client without any upgrades at all.
Rule #6 – Turn your computers and equipment off.
Plug your computer into a power strip that can be shut off when it is not in use. So-called “vampire power” (power used even when the device is turned off) can consume up to 10 percent of your electric bill.
Or Do Without…
Rule #7 – Consolidate your servers.
With server virtualization technology, one server can take the place of four or five servers. This means that many small businesses can safely reduce their servers down to a single physical server.
Rule #8 – Use Web-based software.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is software you run while connected to a server on the Internet. Data is stored online, which means that you will not lose your work if your hard drive dies. Web-based software is convenient because it can be accessed anywhere at anytime and it never needs upgrades. It also can reduce or eliminate the need for your organization to purchase a server.
Susan Labandibar has 17 years of experience in IT management. She is the founder and CEO of Tech Networks of Boston, a Microsoft Gold-Certified partner and a primary IT service provider for many Boston-area businesses and nonprofits. The firm has been prominently recognized in the Boston Globe, American Public Radio’s Marketplace and many trade publications for its line of energy-saving Earth-PCs and its dedication to environmental causes.
Labandibar serves as president of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston and as a board member of the Inner City Entrepreneurs program. She was recognized by MSP Mentor as one of the top 250 people who are shaping the Managed Services ecosystem.
