Incredible Weather

The weather has been INCREDIBLE this past week!  The first two pictures were taken from the Mountainside Neigborhood, the rest from my deck.

Looking at Thunder Mountain from the south.

Looking north toward the Chilkats

NYTimes Article: Can Exercise Make Kids Smarter?

"...researchers sorted the children, based on their treadmill runs, into highest-, lowest- and median-fit categories. Only the most- and least-fit groups continued in the study (to provide the greatest contrast). Both groups completed a series of cognitive challenges involving watching directional arrows on a computer screen and pushing certain keys in order to test how well the children filter out unnecessary information and attend to relevant cues. Finally, the children’s brains were scanned, using magnetic resonance imaging technology to measure the volume of specific areas.

Previous studies found that fitter kids generally scored better on such tests. And in this case, too, those children performed better on the tests. But the M.R.I.’s provided a clearer picture of how it might work. They showed that fit children had significantly larger basal ganglia, a key part of the brain that aids in maintaining attention and 'executive control,'....

in a separate, newly completed study by many of the same researchers at the University of Illinois, a second group of 9- and 10-year-old children were also categorized by fitness levels and had their brains scanned, but they completed different tests, this time focusing on complex memory. Such thinking is associated with activity in the hippocampus, a structure in the brain’s medial temporal lobes. Sure enough, the M.R.I. scans revealed that the fittest children had heftier hippocampi."

link to full article: Phys Ed: Can Exercise Make Kids Smarter?

Street Performers, Boston

(just because a blog with no photos is boring!)

Upcoming Hearings

Friday, September 17

Joint Legislative Higher Education Scholarship Funding Task Force
8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Anchorage LIO, Room 220
Agenda: Merit-based scholarship component

Monday & Tuesday, October 4-5
Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness
Nome (agenda, exact location & time to be announced)

Friday, October 8
Joint Legislative Higher Education Scholarship Funding Task Force
8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Anchorage LIO, Room 220
Agenda: Needs-based scholarship component

Monday & Tuesday, November 8-9
Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness
Sitka (agenda, exact location & time to be announced)

Monday & Tuesday, January 10-11
Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness
Anchorage (agenda, exact location & time to be announced)

Friday & Saturday, March 4-5
Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness
Juneau (agenda, exact location & time to be announced)

Upcoming Task Force Hearings

Joint Legislative Higher Education Scholarship Funding Task Force:
8:30 - 11:30 a.m., Friday, August 27

Location: Anchorage Legislative Information Office, 2nd Floor Conference Room
Agenda: Opening Remarks and Introduction of Task Force Members; Historical Review of Alaska Scholarship: Taylor Plan, Governor’s Performance Scholarship, SB 224/HB 297, SB 221 – Alaska Merit Scholarship Program; Current Activities regarding Alaska Scholarship: Establishment of Regulations, Programmatic and Administrative Start-up, Expenditures and Financial Obligations to Date; Member Discussion; Closing Remarks & Adjournment

Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness:
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Wednesday & Thursday, Sept. 1 & 2
Location: UAF Regents' Conference Room (Rm. 109), Butrovich Building, 910 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks
Agenda: http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_hearing.asp?session=26&Chamb=B&Date1=090110&Date2=090210&Comty=&Root=&Sel=1&Button=Display

You can follow hearings at any Legislative Information Office open during the interim. For a list of LIOs and whether they are open during in the interim go to: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/misc/lios.php .  If you are not in a location with an open LIO, send me an email or call me at (907) 500-7069 and I will give you the phone number to call to join the teleconference. Staff at the Juneau Legislative Information Office said it is preferable that you go to an LIO, if possible, since there are a limited number of teleconference ports available.

Fountains, Alaska State Museum

Does anyone remember the fountains at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau?  I'm sad they are no longer there.  My brother and I loved playing in them when we were kids.  Here is a photo I found on VILDA http://vilda.alaska.edu/

Moore v. State: who has control, the Alaska Legislature, the Dept. of Education & Early Development, or Local School Boards?

During the July 30 Legislative Budget & Audit hearing the agenda was a request for a DEED audit and testimony from the plaintiffs' attorneys in the Moore vs. State of Alaska case. It was a very interesting discussion of legislative versus departmental versus local control of education.

Judge Gleason’s 2007 Decision, pages 173-174, says:
1. “The Alaska Constitution requires that the Legislature.....

Moore vs. State of Alaska Links

The 2007, 2009, and 2010 court decisions:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_documents.asp?chamber=HEDC&session=26&bill=&date1=20100407&time2=0800

From the plaintiffs' attorneys: order summaries and the draft Blueprint for Constitutional Compliance:
http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_documents.asp?chamber=SBUD&session=26&bill=&date1=20100730&time2=1200

Review of the Alaska Constitution's Education Clause in Moore v. State 2007 Decision

Pages 147-154 of the Moore vs. State of Alaska 2007 Decision contain a summary of Alaska court interpretations of the Alaska Constitution's Education Clause.  They are very interesting.  Follow the title link above to access documents related to the case, including the pages referenced above.

Hearings Scheduled: Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness

Hearings of the Advisory Task Force on Higher Education & Career Readiness have been scheduled for Thursday & Friday, July 22-23, from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., both days. The meeting location is the Anchorage LIO, room 220.

You can follow the hearing by calling 463-5009 (in Juneau), or 877-763-5073 (outside of Juneau), or at any LIO that is open during the interim. For a list of LIOs and whether they are open during in the interim go to: http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/misc/lios.php