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Group using entertainment media to
bring about change
By
Bill Rynerson
President, Population Media Center
Special to GwinnettForum.com
(Editor's Note: Here is one United States non-profit
group tackling the problem of the explosion of population in a
unique way, using the media to bring down the population growth.
We thought our readers would enjoy hearing of this unique approach.
-eeb)
SHELBURNE, Vt., Sept. 25, 2007 -- Population
Media Center (PMC) is an international nonprofit organization
headquartered in Shelburne, Vermont. PMC works worldwide to bring
about stabilization of human population numbers at a level that
can be sustained by the world's natural resources and to lessen
the harmful impact of humanity on the earth's environment. PMC uses
entertainment broadcasting to change cultural attitudes and individual
behavior with regard to health and social issues in various developing
countries.
To achieve this, PMC adopted the Sabido methodology. This uses
long-running serialized melodramas, written and produced in participating
countries in local languages, in order to create characters who
gradually evolve into positive role models for the audience. This
eventually gives rise to such topics as the use of family planning,
adoption of small family norms, avoidance of AIDS, elevation of
women's status, protection of children, and related social and health
goals, depending upon the relevance of each to the policies of the
country in which PMC is working.
The programs attract huge audiences and are often the top-rated
programs on the air in that nation. PMC has adapted the Sabido methodology
and applied it successfully around the world. The strategy is based
on numerous social science theories, most notably the Social Learning
Theory of Stanford University psychology professor Albert Bandura,
which describes how role models influence behavior.
There is much evidence about the cost-effectiveness of long-running
serialized dramas. The ultimate measure of cost-effectiveness is
the cost per person who changed behavior in a positive direction.
The serialized dramas PMC is using to improve people's lives are
highly cost-effective because of the huge audiences they attract
and the strong impact they have on the public.
In Ethiopia, PMC's first long-running program cost just four U.S.
cents to reach each listener. Cost per listener of a similar program
in Tanzania was three cents per year. The annual cost per new adopter
of family planning in Tanzania was 34 cents U.S., while the cost
per person who reported that they changed behavior to avoid HIV
infection as a result of hearing the serial drama was eight cents.
The strategy that PMC uses is unique in that it makes life-saving
information accessible and entertaining to people who have access
to mass media. Research on Sabido-style long-running serialized
entertainment-education dramas in several countries has proven this
methodology to be uniquely effective at bringing about population-wide
changes in behavior with regard to health and social development
goals.
While PMC focuses on the use of long-running serialized dramas
for modeling positive behaviors, the organization works with partners
in each country to design a whole society strategy, that combines
traditional and new media and uses a variety of program formats
to reach different segments of the population.
PMC has completed projects in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast,
Mali, Niger, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Sudan with impressive
results. It currently has programs either broadcasting or in development
in Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico, China,
Vietnam and the United States.
PMC has a goal of being active in 50 countries in the next 10 years
to stabilize population numbers on a global scale in order to improve
the health and opportunities of millions of people and protect the
earth.
Greenspan criticism helps explain spend-all
GOP of today
By
Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
SEPT. 25, 2007 - - What was once the posture of the Democrats,
that is big spending and high budget deficits, now seems firmly
moved to the Republican Party.
Brack |
Spending was more checked during the Clinton years, when we actually
had some balanced budgets. Not so under George W. Bush, who has
used one reason after another for pushing the spending of the United
States further and further along larger deficit lines.
Recently one of the most respected economists of the era, Alan
Greenspan, himself a traditional Republican, halted his silence
on the matter and broke with President Bush on the way the president
has steered the economy. In his new book, "The Age of Turbulence,"
Mr. Greenspan takes issue with President Bush for not using the
power of the veto to block programs sent to him by the Congress,
even when it was controlled by Republicans. These spending measures
substantially raised the national debt. The issues causing the rise
in the deficit went well beyond the cost of the war in Iran, into
many domestic issues.
 The
traditional Republicans of yesteryear, who wanted to limit outrageous
spending, must be spinning away in their graves when they think
of today's monetary policy. The likes of Henry Cabot Lodge, Arthur
Vandenberg, Bob Taft, and Everett Dirksen, must wonder about the
understanding of the economy by today's spendthrift president.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan certainly has his questions
about the current spending practices. He has also said that though
he met frequently with the President and his staff, they "ignored"
much of his advice. You wonder why the president even invited Mr.
Greenspan, a person who headed the Federal Reserve during much of
the explosive growth of recent years, to the White House in the
first place.
It must have wrankled Mr. Greenspan, himself a traditional Republican,
to see the departure of his party's leader into a "spend-all"
stance. Mr. Greenspan speaks directly to the issue when he maintains
Mr. Bush is a president putting politics ahead of traditional Republican
goals such as fiscal discipline and less governmental outlays.
"I'm just very disappointed," he told The New York
Times. "Smaller government, lower spending, lower taxes,
less regulation ---they had the resources to do it, they had the
political majorities to do it. And they didn't."
And, as a result, "political control trumped policy, and they
achieved neither political control nor policy."
When you have a veteran economist who is thoroughly familiar with
worldwide economic policy saying this, it's not like it is another
liberal or conservative columnist, nor some party hack. This is
81-year Alan Greenspan, widely recognized for his economic genius,
and he is thoroughly disappointed in the Bush presidency.
The sad aspect is that the growing economic deficit, up from plus
$236 trillion in 2000, to a deficit of $318 trillion in 2005, is
a monstrous figure our nation will be saddled with for years and
years to come. This continuing and growing deficit will pull down
the United States economic status, as our children and grandchildren
have to pony up for the outrageous spending of the Bush years. It's
like trying to come back from a halftime score of 50-0. It's mighty
difficult.
We appreciate Mr. Greenspan for guiding our economic policies for
years….and appreciate him for speaking out about the way his
advice has been treated by the current administration. Now we can
better understand how the Republicans have gone from the conservative
fiscal party of the past to caring little about the fiscal policy
of today and tomorrow.
 The
public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is Wheeler/Kolb
Management Co. The company evolved from the name change of Hudgens
Management Company in November, 1991. Tom Wheeler and Tom Kolb have
been principal owners since 1985. Wheeler/Kolb has offices in Duluth
and has 28 employees. More: www.wheelerkolb.com.
Feels
letter writer about Hardee's needs a new life
Editor, the Forum:
Oh pleeeeeeeze! First of all, the couple writing in the last issue
about Hardee's doesn't know a thing about the advertisement, since
Carl isn't a Junior. It's Carl Edwards, so I guess in her NASCAR
wisdom, she is confusing him with Dale Jr.
Give me a break . . . if we take every little thing off television,
and obviously they took it that it had sexual undertones . . . they
need to get a life. Don't they remember the good ole' comedy shows
on TV, they all had sexual undertones and we laughed it off?
Anyway, I think people are being ridiculous about all of this stuff.
Why don't they jump on a bandwagon that actually affects all of
our lives like the overbuilding being done in Gwinnett County. Now
THAT affects all our lives and the lives of our families for years
to come.
-- Lila McCarty, Duluth
Wants Jekyll Island
to get more into political arena
Editor, the Forum:
Please take a look at the statement below issued jointly on September
16 by Rep. Stephanie Benfield (D-Decatur) and Karla Drenner (D-DeKalb).
We would like to encourage other legislators to take a stance on
the Jekyll affordability issue as raised by Senator Jeff Chapman
(R-Brunswick) and Reps. Benfield and Drenner, and, hopefully, to
make the IPJI's "Let's Keep Jekyll Island State Park Affordable"
petition known to their constituents.
The best way to accomplish this task is to have the constituents
themselves contact their own representatives. So we are asking all
of you to send something akin to the following message to your state
elected officials and to include the statement issued by Reps. Benfield
and Drenner. Contact information for Georgia's lawmakers can be
found at - www.legis.state.ga.us/.
We really need your help to bring the Jekyll into the political
arena and to involve elected state officials in the campaign to
protect "the people's park.
-- David Egan, Jekyll Island
Lawrenceville Ghost Tours expands Halloween
schedule
For the second year in a row, Lawrenceville Ghost Tours offers
an expanded Halloween schedule with tours every night in October!
Highlighting the most vivid stories of the strange and supernatural,
a costumed guide leads ghost tour groups on a 90-minute adventure
on the Historic Square in downtown Lawrenceville.
Cynthia Rintye, LeeAnna Lambert and Amy Cain in costume for
the Lawrenceville Ghost Tour. |
Anthony Rodriguez, artistic director of Aurora Theatre who produces
the tour, said, "I challenged our team to add another element
to the tour to spice things up. Adding a mystery writer and a psychic
to the roster just draws more attention to what we do - entertain
people."
The tours begin at Aurora Theatre, 128 Pike Street, Lawrenceville.
Tours begin every night in October at 7:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday,
and 7 and 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Prices are $12 for adults
and $9 for children. (Friday and Saturday prices are $15 for adults
and $12 for children.) For more information, contact www.scarystroll.com
of call for reservations at 678-226-6222. Tickets available at Aurora
Theatre Box Office
The highlights of the Tours will be:
- October 20 with Jaclyn Weldon White, best known for her work
in the true crime genre. Ms. White will kick off the 7 p.m. Ghost
Tour with a story of her own and will be selling signed copies
of her book Whisper to the Black Candle.
- October 27 with Heidi Wyrick, the subject of the Discovery Channel's
A Haunting in Georgia, a documentary recounting Heidi and her
family's face to face confrontation with the dead in their home
at Waverly Hall outside of Columbus, Ga.. Ms. Wyrick will be appearing
courtesy of the Paranormal Science Investigations Network.
Cold-weather campign
is subject of next Sierra Club meeting
Cold weather does not need to mean the end to your outdoor camping
season. Charbon's Outfitters will give a presentation on how to
enjoy camping even in the cold, at the November meeting of the Sierra
Club. They will discuss what equipment and clothing will make your
trip more comfortable and "tricks of the trade" for outdoor
winter activities.
The Gwinnett Group of the Sierra Club meets on Thursday, November
15, at 7 p. m. at the Willow Run Condos Clubhouse, 1015 Country
Court, Lawrenceville. This is off Club Drive, one mile north of
Pleasant Hill Road, east of Interstate 85. The meeting is free and
open to the public. For more information please contact Lydia Pochatko
at lalli1920@comcast.net
or 770.609.3261.
WIKA
celebrates 40th anniversary in USA with big fete
WIKA Instrument Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of pressure
and temperature measurement instruments, opened its U.S. facility
in a 500 square-foot building in Long Island, N.Y. That was in 1967
when WIKA had essentially one product it considered just right for
the U.S. market; the liquid-filled brass gauge, used at the time
primarily for hydraulic applications. On September 22, the company
marked its 40th anniversary in the United States with celebration
for over 1,000 employees and families.
A few years later, WIKA moved to a newer and larger building in
Hauppauge, N.Y. to meet the demands of new product development and
their expanding customer base. In this larger manufacturing facility,
WIKA produced an even wider range of products, with increased engineering
and manufacturing support from its parent company located in Klingenberg,
Germany.
In 1990, WIKA outgrew its facility in Happauge, and moved to a
110,000 square-foot facility in Lawrenceville, Ga., tripling its
manufacturing capabilities. Moving and expanding the headquarters
operation was critical to ensuring the company's growth and competitive
position while maintaining its high standard of manufacturing. Since
this time, the facility has doubled to 210,000 square feet with
additional plans for expansion in the future.
The core of WIKA's business remains the pressure gauge, a 160-year-old
invention used by industries to measure the pressure of liquids
and gases involved in the manufacture, transportation and storage
of almost every product from plastics to pharmaceuticals. As a pioneer
of many innovative solutions, WIKA was the first to produce liquid-filled
gauges. The liquid-fill extends the service life of the gauge by
dampening vibration and pressure pulsation, absorbing pressure spikes
and lubricating the movement to reduce wear on the instrument. In
1998, WIKA Instrument Corporation acquired TREND Instruments. TREND
was known in the industry for its methods to design and manufacture
more accurate, longer-lasting thermometers. TREND products complemented
the WIKA line without any overlap of existing products.
An invitation: What
Web sites, books or restaurants have you enjoyed? Send us your best
recent visit to a restaurant or most recent book you have read along
with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus what book you
plan to read next. --eeb
Valdosta
State University hosts Governor's Honors Program
The Governor's
Honors Program is a six-week supplemental enrichment program
held each summer for academically and artistically advanced high
school students from around the state. The program is financed by
the state of Georgia and hosted by Valdosta State University in
Valdosta. Each year public and private schools nominate students
for participation in the program. Students who are accepted to the
program live on the campus of Valdosta State University. Following
a full academic day, the students are offered enrichment activities
until they retire for the evening.
At the Governor's Honors Program |
To be eligible for nomination a student must have successfully
completed the 10th or 11th grade and must excel academically or
artistically in at least one area. The student's teacher and guidance
counselor must submit a nomination form, accompanied by the student's
transcripts, recommendations, and other accolades. Once nominated
by his or her school, a student must undergo a statewide screening
and interview process. Students who interview or audition are then
ranked according to records, nomination forms, and audition or interview
information.
The Governor's Honors Program began in 1964 with 400 participants
and was hosted at Wesleyan College in Macon. The program's success
led to an increase in the number of students, to 600, and North
Georgia College (later North Georgia College and State University)
in Dahlonega became a co-host of the program. In 1980 Valdosta State
University became a new host institution, and for several years
participants were split between North Georgia and Valdosta State.
Today, the program is consolidated in Valdosta. Curricular decisions
are made by the state Department of Education.
To access the Georgia Encyclopedia, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Former president explains
how things aren't what they were
"About the time we can make ends meet, somebody moves the
ends."
-- Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964.)
Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves
or comments on any issue to Gwinnett
Forum for future publication.
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© 2007, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum
is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible
social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett
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