Nick Acheson
April 29, 2010

An environmental issue that is becoming increasingly more important, especially in Maine, is the spread of invasive aquatic plant species. Invasive species can be plants, animals, or microbes that are introduced from other regions and aggressively out-compete the native species. When spread, these plant species takeover any body of water and multiply exponentially so in only a short time the lake, stream or pond becomes engulfed in invasive plants.

These plants are usually spread by recreational activities such as the transportation of boats and boating gear, illegal fish stocking, and even fishing lures and/or gear can be enough to “infect” a body of water. These invasive plants can ruin an ecosystem by reducing fish movement, stunting growth, crowding out native plants, and shading out the bottom which reduces the amount of other useful animals such as snails. In some cases it can even change the water chemistry in very dense plant beds.



Currently Maine is host to 45 or more invasive aquatic species which includes ocean species as well as freshwater species. These invasive species include Eurasian milfoil, variable milfoil, fanwort, water chestnut, curly-leaf pondweed, and hydrilla. There are 25 documented bodies of water in Maine that have invasive milfoil, the most common type of invasive species. Last September the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) confirmed that Damariscotta Lake in Jefferson had hydrilla which is the most aggressive invasive plant species in North America.

The Maine DEP along with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW) and other agencies are working to make sure they eradicate any new infestations by educating people how these plants are spread, and what to do if you find them. Since there are only about 25 infected lakes and ponds out of the total amount of 6,000, “prevention is the most practical option available for protecting Maine inland water bodies,” according to the Maine DEP website.

Additional information can found at the Maine DEP and Maine DIFW websites.

Sources:

http://maine.gov/dep/blwq/topic/invasives/invsticker.htm

http://maine.gov/dep/blwq/topic/invasives/rrp_part1final.pdf

http://maine.gov/dep/blwq/topic/invasives/rrp_part2final.pdf

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MYSP2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrilla_verticillata

http://maine.gov/dep/blwq/topic/invasives/eurapic2.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Plant_-_Hydrilla_verticillata_-_Batu_kawa.jpg

http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/doclake/boaters.jpg

http://maine.gov/dep/blwq/topic/invasives/fanpic2.jpg

http://maine.gov/dep/blwq/topic/invasives/chespic2.jpg

CMJ 236 Assignment 13-1: Town Meeting

Nick Acheson
April 23, 2010

ORONO- The 3rd Iteration of a Draft option agreement with Deep Cove, LLC regarding the Webster Mill site took place at the Community Development Committee Meeting at the Orono Town Office on Wednesday afternoon. The draft option describes proposed 20 unit condominium housing at the location of the old Webster mill located on the corner of North Main Street and Penobscot Street.

The purpose of the meeting was to go over the change in concept design and to hear community guidance for the option. Architect David Lloyd, of Archetype, based out of Portland, ME was in attendance to answer any questions the Committee had on the draft option. Lloyd showed proposed plans and design of a contemporary building.

One of the greatest concerns from the Committee dealt with the design of a contemporary building over a historic design. “I’ve seen a lot of contemporary buildings and in 10 years they look awful, I just want to make sure that doesn’t happen here,” said one committee member.

Kevin Bunker, a Principal of Developers Collaborative, a Portland based real estate development company, was also in attendance to answer questions. Developers Collaborative, which owns the rights to the site, believes the best use for the site is residential.

The proposed 20 unit building would offer one bedroom units of approximately 900 square feet priced just under $200,000 and two and three bedroom units of approximately 1500 square feet that will be priced around $300,000. The prices will vary some depending on what the final decision is regarding salvaging the historic old mill or just starting new construction, but it seemed like there was consensus leaning towards new construction.

These prices are higher than average condominium prices in the greater Bangor area due to the fact that it is waterfront property and they are being marketed towards a specific higher income group (niche) in the market. Each unit comes with two parking spaces, one covered and one uncovered, and a deck that overlooks either the Penobscot or Stillwater rivers.

More deliberation is still necessary, but the committee must make a decision on this draft option by June 30th at the latest.

To see more information visit:

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/135051.html

CMJ 236 Assignment 12-1: Sports Event

Nick Acheson
April 14, 2010

BANGOR- The Husson University Eagles softball team defeated the University of Maine Farmington (UMF) Beavers 8-5 on Wednesday afternoon at O’Keefe field. With the win the Eagles improve to 13-12 overall (5-0 in conference play) while the Beavers fall to 4-5 overall (2-3 in conference play).

UMF got out to an early lead in the top of the first inning when Kaitlyn Bartlett hit a two-run homerun to centerfield. Husson answered back in the bottom of the second inning with 3 runs when Megan Richard hit a leadoff double and Sarah Risser followed with an RBI single down the right field line. After the next two hitters got out, Brianna Webster doubled, scoring Risser, then Courtney Hill hit a single scoring Webster.

Husson added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Aimee Mortensen worked a leadoff walk and then Brianna Webster hit her second double of the game scoring Mortensen. After another Husson single moved Webster to third base, Cassie Berry hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Webster and giving the Eagles a 5-2 lead.

Husson University scored another run in the fifth inning when Megan Richard smashed a solo home run over the center field fence.

After being shut out from the second through the fifth inning, the UMF Beavers came alive in the top of the sixth scoring 3 runs beginning a with a single by pitcher Jessica Timmerick and then two consecutive errors by Husson allowed UMF to keep the inning alive. Right fielder, Kasey McPhail hit a bloop double down the left field line allowing two more runs to score. After 6 innings, UMF trailed 5-6.

UMF was unable to hold the Eagles to a one-run lead. Husson added a two run cushion in the bottom of the inning when Dorothy Cameron reached base with a single and then scored on an RBI double by Cassie Berry. Berry then scored when the next batter, Kodi Lyon, hit a single to left-center field.

In the top of the seventh inning the Beavers couldn’t get anything going. The first three batters flied out to left, struck out, and then flied out to third base to end the game.

Husson pitcher, Nicole Sargent, got the win going 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, and striking out 4. Jessica Timmerick received the loss for UMF.

Husson scored 8 runs, on 14 hits, with 2 errors while UMF scored 5 runs, on 7 hits, and had 0 errors.

CMJ 236 Assignment 11-1: Police Story

Nick Acheson
April 6, 2010

Orono, Maine- A minor traffic accident on Stillwater Ave. has led to a warrant arrest of one individual. Irving Stone, 59, of Bangor was arrested by Officer Watson of the Orono police on a warrant for unpaid fines after Stone had been a witness to a traffic accident that occurred at 10:10 a.m. on Thursday, April 1 just south of where Stillwater Ave. intersects with Forest Ave.

The accident occurred when a Pine Tree Waste trash truck was pulled to the side of the road on Stillwater Ave. picking up garbage from residents’ homes. Drivers in Two separate cars, whose names were not released, were stopped behind the trash truck, waiting to go around. The driver of the truck first made sure there was no oncoming traffic and then waved the cars on. The first car did not move right away, so the second car decided to go around the first car. When the second car was passing the first, the first car pulled out to go around the trash truck and the second car collided with the first and wedged the first car against the trash truck.

Officer Watson happened to be driving by when he saw the accident and pulled over to investigate. After he checked the car insurance, vehicle registrations, and took statements from both drivers, he decided to take a statement about the accident from Mr. Stone who was a Pine Tree Waste employee working on the back of the garbage truck.

When Officer Watson checked the Stone’s identification, dispatch notified the officer that there was a warrant out for Stone’s arrest from Bangor Superior Court for unpaid fines and a cash bail of $500.61. Officer Watson placed Stone under arrest in handcuffs and transported him to Penobscot County Jail where he was turned over to jail personnel.

Neither driver was seriously hurt in the accident.

CMJ 236 Assignment 10-1: Disaster Management

Nick Acheson
April 1, 2010

When an emergency occurs such as a flood, hurricane, tornado, fire, etc., emergency management (disaster management) is required to help allocate a variety of resources to the disaster area, and also to inform the public about what has occurred and what is being done to fix the problem.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is usually the agency that is called in to coordinate with emergency teams in the event of a disaster in the United States and U.S. territories when the governor of that state has declared a “state of emergency.” If a “state of emergency” is not declared then the usual responders (firefighters, police officers, and other agencies) are used at the state and local level.

In the past emergency management has used a variety of different computer programs such as geographic information systems, and population trackers in order to get resources to where they need to go and to retrieve information on how many people are injured, missing, etc. But, when it came to notifying the public about the disaster, emergency management teams would use the usual lines of communication such as television, radio, government websites, etc. but it was still difficult to get the word out to everyone.

Until recently where twitter and facebook have been used in disaster/emergency situations in order to reach a large number of individuals (all Americans) in a short time span. Firefighters can now inform the public on one of these social networking sites about any variety of emergencies such as fires, tremors/earthquakes, car accidents, as well as many others.

This is exactly what the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) has done through the use of twitter when in one case a “significant seismic event” had caused tremors in the Las Angeles area. And after more information was received, the LAFD posted more “tweets” about the size and exact location of the quake.

Los Angeles service officer, Brian Humphrey, described that the use of twitter is a way to keep people up to date on disaster information. When talking about the communication problems with hurricane Katrina, Humphrey said, “The people at the Superdome were darn hungry. They were darn thirsty, but they were not dying from hunger or thirst, what they were dying from a little bit at a time was a lack of information. We were dying from a lack of information as well. We didn't know what was going on. It was a two-way lack of conversing."

These social networking sites have greatly improved the communication process in a disaster situation. They can reach thousands of people very quickly which makes them a very important asset when disaster strikes.

Source:
http://www.govtech.com/gt/701799

Assignment 9-2: Broadcast Script

Nick Acheson
March 26, 2010

[NICK ACHESON]

IN A CONTINUATION OF LECTURES ON WESTERN CIVILIZATION AND AMERICAN LIBERTY, CHARLES T. RUBIN, A PROFESSOR AT DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY GAVE A LECTURE FRIDAY AFTERNOON TITLED, “TECHNOLOGICALLY ENHANCED HUMANITY: IS IT THE END OF LIBERTY, OR IS IT THE END OF LIBERTY?”


[TAKE VO]
[CG: CLIP OF PROFESSOR RUBIN DELIVERING HIS LECTURE]

THE LECTURE COVERED THE ETHICAL BARGAIN BETWEEN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY VS. AMERICAN LIBERTY.


[TAKE VO]
[CG: CLIP OF A UMAINE STUDENT ASKING RUBIN A QUESTION]

IT ALSO DESCRIBED A NEW MOVEMENT KNOWN AS THE TRANSHUMANIST MOVEMENT WHERE A SMALL BUT GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD BE USING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PURPOSE OF REDESIGNING THE HUMANKIND TO BE HEALTHIER, SAFER, AND BETTER.


[Nick Acheson]

THIS NEW MOVEMENT HAS SPARKED HEAVY DEBATE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND BEGS THE QUESTION: JUST BECAUSE WE CAN DO SOMETHING DOES THAT ME WE SHOULD?

Assignment 9-1: Lecture

Nick Acheson
March 26, 2010

ORONO- In a continuation of Lectures on Western Civilization and American Liberty Charles T. Rubin , a professor at Duquesne University gave a lecture Friday afternoon titled “Technologically Enhanced Humanity: Is the End Liberty, or is it the End of Liberty?”

The topic covered the ethical bargain between science and technology vs. American liberty. According to Rubin, a small but growing number of people known as “Transhumanists” have started a movement to use science and technology for the purpose of redesigning humanity in order to make mankind healthier, safer, and better than we presently are. Transhumanism describes human life presently as undesirable, disabled, suffering, aging, and unnecessary death.

Professor Rubin used an example of the Transhumanist argument to cover the topic of a prosthetic limb. If we can make a prosthetic limb for a disabled veteran or accident victims couldn’t be design one to be better than a regular, healthy working human hand? This prosthetic limb topic opens doors to more topics that seem closer to science fiction books than to actual science or technology. These include: uploading human minds into computers, and making humans so they never need to eat, as well as the very controversial topic of serious life extension.

Ethical dilemmas are faced in each of the arguments brought about by transhumanists. The major topic that each dilemmas faces is, “Just because we can do/create something, does that mean we should?”

Rubin, equates the transhumanist movement to a topic out of a George Orwell book called “Brain in the Bottle” where all that is needed to control vast amounts of machines and technology is a human brain but no other human parts. This is similar to the transhumanist view of “post humans” where everything would be performed by genetically enhanced parts and no actual human parts.

The argument that most transhumanists have come to side with is, “you can’t stop science and technology from growing and coming up with new ideas.” When asked about this argument, Professor Rubin agreed that it might not be possible to stop science and technology from coming up with new ideas but he also stated that, “Not everything (humans) do becomes popular and desirable, in order for these new technologies to take effect they must be desirable to humans.”