2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session arts arts and culture author ballot measures basketball bomb books boy scouts budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal college courts crime culture culture club democrats drugs economy education environment family film fluoride food gay rights guns handguns health health care health insurance high school history housing immigration internet kitzhaber law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana marriage media medicine mental health military minor parties mohamed mohamud movies music native americans news newspaper obama olympics oregon our town parenting pers photography police politcs politics port portland portland business journal president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes technology terrorism theater third parties transportation union university of oregon washington wildfire women

Can someone please explain the formula for school funding...percentage from local, state, federal?  And whether it varies for urban and rural schools.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
view in context

In Oregon, citizens have the unique opportunity to fund culture themselves by participating in the Oregon Cultural Trust's fundraising program.  Match your membership in OPB, the Columbia Center for the Arts or the Southern Oregon Historical Society, or your cash donations to Eugene Ballet Company, Third Rail Repertory Company or Bend's Nature of Words with a donation to the Trust and your ENTIRE Trust donation returns to you as an Oregon tax credit.  You give twice but it only costs you once.  Donations to the Oregon Culture Trust benefit 1,200 arts, heritage and humanities nonprofits in all of Oregon's 36 counties.

The Oregon Cultural Trust is a brilliant program, very much in the DIY spirit, that's been compared to the bottle bill and vote by mail as among Oregon's most forward-thinking public policy measues.  www.culturaltrust.org

posted 3 years, 10 months ago
view in context

During the election, McCain's rhetotric was all about "fight! fight! fight!" and his qualifications to be commander in chief. The problem was, we don't need a commander-in-chief. We need a leader-in-chief, a diplomat-in-chief, a statesman-in-chief and, hopefully, we got it. War is barbaric; not worthy of a civilized people. It should be abolished. Look at the toll it takes on our society, individual veterans who number too many among the homeless, the addicted, the alcoholic, the suicides. And the legacy of anger, horror and aggressivesnes that gets passed onto to families, becomes an example of the "the way to live" and continues the spiral of violence's viral infection.

I believe all this this in spite of, or because, my father was an Annapolis-trained Navy pilot, who died in service to his country in the early days of Vietnam.

posted 4 years, 6 months ago
view in context

Oregon's Poetry Out Loud State Champion is Sophia Soberon, a 17-year-old senior at Brookings-Harbor High School. She'll represent the state in the national competition, in Washington, DC on April 28-29.

Caren Sims, heard on Friday's Think Out Loud, was one of six finalists adding to Gresham's Center for Advanced Learning's outstanding track record for Poetry Out Loud:

2006 -- Michael Santiago, State Champion and one of 12 finalists in the national competition in Washington, DC

2007 -- Ian Holt, State Champion

2008 -- Caren Sims, one of six finalists in the state competition.

Rita Ramstad, also heard on Friday's TOL, is the POL coordinator at CAL.

Any high school teachers interested in bringing Poetry Out Loud to their schools next year, should contact the Oregon Arts Commission's

Deb Vaughn
503-986-0085

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
view in context

Memorization is key to many creative expressions...from music to acting to dancing to writing to cooking. Once you know the basics -- a scale, for instance -- whether it's a muscle or intellectual memory, you're able to move on to much more complex patterns and deeper beauty.

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
view in context

The Medicis are dead and we now have an institutional form of government that provides incentives for all kinds of economic activity -- like owning a home or relocating a business. Arts and culture bring beauty and stimulus to our lives, sometimes even enlightenment. But they also contribute to the community, economically and civically. Artists are taxpayers, too, and theater companies generate jobs in a ripple effect that includes fabric stores, paint shops and lighting suppliers, to say nothing of drinks, dinner and dresses in preparation for a night on the town! Young people who get involved in the arts are motivated by their own creativity, they learn participation, teamwork and discipline. Aren't these the hallmarks of good citizens? Giving to culture at the government, corporate, foundation and individual levels is a smart investment

posted 5 years, 3 months ago
view in context