Thrive: Finding Happiness The Blue Zones Way (Living Well With Dan Buettner) — MPR Notes

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/01/17/midmorning2/
Audio

Living well with Dan Buettner Broadcast: Midmorning, 01/17/2011, 10:06 a.m.

Want to live to one hundred? Talk to Dan Buettner. The explorer and National Geographic writer has traveled all over the world in search of the key to longevity and living well. He shares some of what he’s learned on Midmorning.

Guest: Dan Buettner: an explorer and best selling author. He writes about longevity and living well for National Geographic. His latest book is “Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way.”

LibrarySense’s notes: [~10:16]
Dan] “… the things that matter most on a national-level for happiness:
1) Trust — Can I trust my government, are the cops honest when they pull me over? … Trust is the most strongly correlated quality in a nation.
2) Tolerance.
3) Access to recreation. // LS notes

Resources: About Dan Buettner

[Speech Topics … Thrive: Unlocking the Secrets of Happiness] … “What can governments do to maximize the well-being of their citizens? And more importantly, what can we do as individuals to stack the deck in our favor to maximize happiness?”

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http://twitter.com/BlueZones http://Twitter.com/KerriMPR http://Twitter.com/MPR http://twitter.com/MPRnews

Dan Buettner joins Kerri Miller in the 10 am hour of Midmorning @MPRnews Monday 1/17 to talk #happiness and #Thrive http://bit.ly/h9y4OL

— Blue Zones (@BlueZones) January 16, 2011

Dan Buettner joins Kerri Miller in the 10 am hour of Midmorning @MPRnews Monday 1/17 to talk #happiness and #Thrive http://bit.ly/h9y4OL 5:57 PM Jan 15th via web

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Note re © (of MPR, Blue Zones) : Any material excerpted here has been adaquetly attributed/linked. LS strives to excerpt as briefly as possible, while maintaining clarity. Furthermore, LS believes non-profits would welcome greater promotion. If bona fied representatives of such entities believe excerpts herein are improper, please message LS.

Positives Of Campus-Environs New Student-Housing

Many colleges/universities have increasing enrollment, and the population is increasing on most of the inhabited regions of Earth. People have to be housed somewhere, and; planning-commissions should be very mindful of the full-range of impact on the community. Confer our previous post: UWRF Environs Despoliation.

Some universities, including UWRF, have had dormitory overcrowding, and house students in areas that used to be common-spaces (lounges, rec-rooms…). UWRF’s South Fork Suites (and it’s planned expansion) helped, but; more is needed. Also, for housing not administered by the campus, such as for students third-year and above (continuing ed., “adults”…). The “University Falls” development on west Cascade ave was slated to begin this March, and; Sept, 2010, construction of the new “CampusView Apartments” (a subject of our previous article) has begun.

These new student-housing developments may not, nor need be, in a “luxury” category, but, hopefully, will turn-out to be ok as far as student-housing goes. If, hence forth, these developments go fairly-well along with the philosophies of, eg; “America In Bloom”, River Falls Garden Club, and, River Falls’ “Environmental Awareness”, inconveniences upon the citizenry will be ameliorated. “Resident objects to apartments, city planner says zoning fits” says: “abundant green space and a sidewalk linked to the university trail system … building fits well with the rest of the neighborhood …. on a slope, making them less visible … sufficient landscaping around the parking lot to give it a buffer and provide for a softer look.” Hopefully the architect and landscaper can give the whole property a terraced / well-fitting look. Frank Loyd Wright’s “Falling Water” is well-acclaimed.

Regarding “CampusView Apartments”; we can (try to) make the best of it, since there’s no turning-back the clock. Though; the legally-deliniated time-frames stated in “Notice of Complete Application for Proposed Grading” [WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Docket Number IP-WC-2010-48-03664] may not [?] have been adhered to [and, if so; any “friendly” lawyer wish to Contact: Library Sense and/or Ken Olson? — Though measures to “cure” can be quite “messy”!].

A tentative “welcome” to the new residents of CampusView, especially; UWRF-students. Please be mindful of what got you here, and; how you can responsibly-shape the future of this finite-planet. Strive to be better than your forefathers. Be very “environmentally-aware”.

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* Etc. Notes:
● ~ Improper-notice[?]: Also confer: “Apartment project bulldozes green of River Falls” [Thomas R. Smith]
“… reflects poorly on our city that this project has come so far without input from the affected neighborhood … not routinely notified of alterations that may radically affect their ability to enjoy their immediate home surroundings…”
● Also see Tom’s letters to River Falls Journal regarding global climate change (population increase exacerbates) [references pending].
● “University Falls” development [2010-1-27]:
City OKs plan for former Foster site
Comments — City OKs plan for former Foster site
• charlie c.: “…suppose to be such a ”environmentally friendly” community… looks like the city leader wants for a built up kinni… turning the spot into a nice park would be less costly …”
• Rob K.: “… what about all the hard work and great expectations for the community gardens? … bunch of volunteer effort put into that land last year?”
• Christopher S.: “Great! Another blight on the banks of the Kinni!”
• K C.: “… so much for trying to protect the Kinni. Nothing like a nice manicured landscape and parking lot college housing project to border Lake George. …”

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Still need to correct typos,etc in previous post — whenever …

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UWRF Environs Despoliation

Unfortunately, as esteemed River Falls citizen Thomas R. Smith wrote, it appears construction of the new “CampusView” apartments [Campusview 320 LLC, c/o Matt Twomey, P.O. Box 439, River Falls, WI 54022] is a foregone conclusion.

This is a last-ditch effort for reason/sensibility to prevail.

Following this intro are pertinent links, and images; taken [amateurishly] by Library Sense Friends on 2010-9-20 mon.

Humanity is Hell-bent on engaging it’s hubris to it’s own downfall. This latest assault upon the Kinnickinnic watershed and UWRF environs is a salient example.

Even though the proposed apt buildings are on a bordering-property, there will be a not-insignificant negative-impact upon UWRF. Too bad, apparently, that UWRF/city doesn’t have a type of “Extra-Territorial-Zoning” that the city itself has on it’s surroundings. Ironic that UWRF espouses Forward-Thinking, Sustainability, Eco-Friendly / Green-Environment, The Wisconsin Idea, UWRF Vision And Values, and; Master-Plan. And; now; this denudation of a beautiful natural-area is upon us!

How can such an atrocity be prevented in the future?! Friends; please comment. Library Sense administration can publish extensively on this subject, perhaps build other websites, but; no time now. So; for the time-being; this post will have to suffice.

Ken Olson, and family, neighbors; (try to) prepare yourselves for the construction noise and commotion. Then; the living conditions after apt-residents (likely, many UWRF students, and, some may engage in very unsavory activity) move in. Your lives may become hellish!

Michele Thurston has well-detailed her city and neighborhood concerns, see (may be behind a pay-wall) :
● Way, way too loud: Blaring music simply drives our family away [July 2010]
● Editorial: Don’t let volume, late hours spoil the rest of the party
● My plea is for help to save our city [July 2007(previous letter on similar matters)][…discovered something far worse…Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night parties…]
● UW-RF should take responsibility for rowdy students [July 2008]
● Put limits on downtown drinking [Feb 2007][(UWRF students)…immediately expelled for citation of vandalism or destruction of property…drunks vomit on the sidewalks and bash in people’s windows…]
Furthermore, we believe society should be more like Mist Rolls-in & In My Garden; Beauty Grows, and less like Dark-alleys Souls & Burning Bridges.

Sure, the people of Campusview 320 LLC have the “legal right” to “make a living”. Perhaps a coalition could “buy-out” their interests, but; it’s probably too late.

Maybe this parcel of land is too small, and/or, perhaps if it was referred to the Kinnickinnic River Land Trust; they have plenty to do, and, unfortunately; not every prospect can be fulfilled.

River Falls’s population and construction are increasing, we should be mindful of desirable-growth.

This post, and Ken and Tom’s writings shall stand as cautionary-testaments for mankind to put checks upon it’s voracious appetite for “progress”.

As usual, LS is in fear of retaliation/reprisal for writing this. Regardless of by “accident” from whatever the source (please be understanding, surely you are; SCVRJP). Again, LS stands firmly with the constitutionally-mandated rights to freedom of expression, and; soldiers-on with as much bravery as we can muster. We also hope no one retaliates against Ken and Tom.

We could go on, expositorily at length, perhaps in an update, but; no time now. Kenneth Olson [UW-River Falls English Professor], and Tom’s writings state matters quite well.

note: River Falls Journal links may be behind a pay-wall, we’ve included these links nevertheless. Ken and Tom; it is LS’s assumption that your originally-submitted letters to the editor are co-© with the Journal. Ken, Tom, friends; leave a comment/message to LS [may take 2 weeks for us to reply to you] on this post, or our About Page if you desire further publishing [on LS or new site(s)]. And/or consider publishing also on http://www.thomasrsmithpoet.com/
• Friends can also reach LS at ** http://twitter.com/LibrarySense/ **

● sub-note: Q: Why is this info on Library Sense?
A: 1) Because; this is an instant-concern, and, no time to host it elsewhere.
2) Readers of this, Ken’s, and, Tom’s, etc articles, may, either on computers, and/or “hard-copy” be reading such at a library.
3) Library use, and all community concerns are inter-woven.
Q: URWF-related — again?!
A: Just a coincidence. This instant-concern came to the fore, initiated by a UWRF Professor/border-neighbor.
● Quick digression: UWRF-Library [“Quick Kiosks”]: Since you got the new computers a couple months ago; could you Please re-enable right-clicking on Windows Explorer![especially on folder-panes]? Also; .RTF files are still, incorrectly default-opening in Word-Viewer. They should default-open in their native-format: Wordpad [that’s the way 99% of people want to do it!!]. System Administrators: go to ~ : Control Panel → Default Programs → Set [file] Associations → .rtf → [set default] → WORDPAD.

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● Links: [note: browsing is easier, especially in Firefox, to mid-click on links to open them in new tabs] Listed chronologically:

Let’s protect our remaining wildnerness [Letter]
Resident objects to apartments, city planner says zoning fits
http://topics.areavoices.com/2010/08/19/resident-objects-to-apartments-city-planner-says-zoning-fits/#comments
Notice of Complete Application for Proposed Grading
Editorial:No one asked but…
Don’t waste this emerald necklace[Ken Olson]
Apartment project bulldozes green of River Falls[ Thomas R. Smith ]

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● Extra-Links: [also: see our sidebar]

Kinnickinnic River Land Trust
NRDC: The Earth’s Best Defense
Nature Conservancy
St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice Project
United Way St. Croix Valley
River Falls Public Library
River Falls, WI – The City on the Kinni
Apartment Ratings :: The leading source of apartment reviews by renters for renters.
Locate, Rate, and Share Good and Bad Neighbors Before and After You Move

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●●!! Update! [hurridly-written!] : Oh-Oh!! What a mess! It’s monday, 2010-10-10, Columbus Day. Thanks; Columbus, for “discovering” America [the native-people are so “thankfull”! ;)]. And; 518 years-on; the newer-residents continue to evince their appetite for “progress” via despoliation.

Per usual, there’s a lag-time between Library Sense’s latest info, and publishing. LS just found out, and, as per Thomas R. Smith’s words; the green has been bulldozed — all of it, so close to Ken Olson’s house.

Sure, in this struggling economy, construction employment is needed. So; in this case; construction via destruction has won-out. Note to KRLT, SCVRJP, United Way St. Croix Valley,etc: as far as forestalling the above-mentioned development — it’s too late (!).

It’s ironic that, immediately east of what was a beautiful natural-area with ~ hundreds of trees, stands a memorial-tree (southwest of the amphitheater, on east-side of walk-path across from light-pole #182). Plaque: “In loving memory of Richard Insley 1984-2007 UWRF student 2002-2004”.

KRLT, Ken, Tom, friends: how and where shall memorial-trees be planted in recognition of what has, atrociously, been replaced by the impending new CampusView apartments?!

Hey, UWRF-students; probably by autumn 2011: beer-parties, etc, at the new CV-apts! [also; ~ in-spirit recognition to Michele Thurston’s writings ;)] And, especially for journalism students [staff at UWRF Student Voice, are you reading this?], and/or students of Ken Olson; consider writing of the beauty that was right behind professor Olson’s house!

Also, Mayor Don Richards is a former journalism teacher, Mr. Mayor, certainly you’re OK with River Falls citizens, UWRF-students, exercising their free-expression right to write about “Environmental Awareness”. Perhaps a former student of yours: KARE11 TV’s Boyd Huppert, shall take the opportunity to report on the “Environmental Awareness” that just got derailed behind professor Olson’s home, and the dramatic change of scenery to the west of the UWRF walking-path near the recently improved amphitheater-area.

Ken, Tom, concerned-citizens; “progress” has, again, hit us right in the face!

Well, at least on UWRF land, we still have “School Forest 1” [sign donated by the Merton Timmerman Family]. — “Managed sustainably for the education, recreation, ecological and economic benefits of the campus” “Please use the area responsibly”. Anyone want to venture a guess how much longer “School Forest 1” will last? “Sustainably”? [SF1 is to the west of the original Lab Farm (say “hi” to the horses if your arriving from the east road)]

PS. Ken, Tom, etc: let LS know if you have photos of the recent bulldozed-over area. Also; RF Journal’s Debbie Griffin, Phil,etc: photo-witness the horror, if you haven’t yet, same to UWRF-Voice.

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Scratch-pad [added Oct 11, mon. — possible future incorporation in this or other posts]
Despoliation — for those still in need: consult an unabridged dictionary [what’s “unabridged”? ok, look that up too ;)] ##
RF] sustainable, “inclusive” competing-interests ##
2010-10-1 city newsletter] Mayor, AmericaInBloom.org ##
Board member of the St. Croix Valley Habitat for Humanity, Kelly Cain — + ~ of UWRF + ~ st croix valley — what other org — pending find info. ##
Trees/KRLT,etc] Timmerman (Mert, Rich …) Tostrude / old Knollwood house B and B, knollwoodofriverfalls.com Nelson French, Bruce Mann, Kim Kiiskinen[+@RFPL] arborday.org ##
Katie Chaffee [frmr RF Journal, mayor, RFPL event coordinator] unfortunately, also no chicken coops 2b allowed in RF ##
Kris Miner. jim nordgren, Caflisch … — RFPL + city council … ##

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Portal Locus Profanus — View To East

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Heavy-Equipment Tracks (note: These tracks go hundreds of feet deep to the south/south-east — just don’t have photos)

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To North Of Ken’s Yard

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View Of Ken’s Property From North

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Broadway St. Viewing West

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At UWRF Walk Path, View To West [poor-quality image]

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Deeper View

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View Of UWRF Fields To East Of Walk Path

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Walk Path — View To South

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Response To UWRF-Library Director Valerie Malzacher’s Comment

Valerie’s message arrived on our About page [ Dec 22, 2009, tuesday @ 19:48 GMT ]. Reproduced here for easier access. Our response follows.
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Dear author of the Library Sense blog,

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss with you in person the concerns that you have itemized regarding computer access for community patrons in the Chalmer Davee Library.  The provision of access to library resources for community users is an important part of services that we provide, and I want to be sure that you are able to find the information that you are seeking when you use our library.  Please contact me at 715-[edited-out] or [edited-out]@uwrf.edu so that we can set up a time to meet.  Until we can meet, I do want to make sure that you are aware that as of early November, all of the computers designated for community users do allow the use of USB drives to save information.  If you have difficulty with this, please don’t hesitate to ask a library staff member for assistance.

Sincerely,
Valerie Malzacher
Library Director
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Thanks, Valerie,
● UWRF is on winter-break, so; for the next few weeks; don’t know if many UWRF-affiliated people will see this [including you?]. Glad that you eventually overcame your reluctance at commenting. As said on the About page; messages [not neccessarily direct comments] may be published. Herein; prima-facie proof your comment has been approved. Even though your [and others] Email address was mentioned on   https://librarysense.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/uwrf-2-update-and-why-concerns-are-reasonable/ , and the publically-accessable   http://www.uwrf.edu/library/info/contact.php   has your phone [although it ends in 22, not 24], those addresses have been obscurred from this page view, to lessen possible “spammification” unto you.

● Regarding: “as of early November, all of the computers designated for community users do allow the use of USB drives to save information” : early November? — on Nov 22 there was still no save-ability of Wordpad, webpages, and still no Paint application on the Quick Kiosks. At the risk of even appearing sarcastic; we rightfully question the veracity of your info. As of Dec 13, our knowledge is that Notepad and Wordpad save to USB, but a webpage’s save option is only to “Desktop”. We’re not referring to Firefox’s preferred default save-location listed in Tools>Options>Downloads. Webpages can not be saved to USB — period. Plus the Win [key] + E keyboard option to get to Windows Explorer [to view a USB’s files], still doesn’t work. It seems any usual access to Win Explorer is still disabled. The only way to access Win Explorer is to insert USB-drive and wait for Autoplay to pop-up, then select “view folders’. This “side-door” approach has actually worked since August — oop’s now that *”secret”* is out! And even when one can view files/folders, you can only view one folder at a time, and one, and only one folder per USB is capable of minimizing to the taskbar. It would be great if things worked as back in “the good old days” before the QK mess started. Don’t know if Paint or Flash-Player plugin [ http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ ] for Firefox have been enabled yet. Hopefully, soon after winter-break, all [almost all?] QK encumbrances will be resolved. [ “Oh, Library Sense “fancies” the word “encumbrance”” — Sure do! Also; placing some parenthetical comments in square-brackets, where parenthesis would be, technically, more appropriate. Oh, our “liberal” nature (!) ]

● UW-River Falls Chalmer Davee Library – FAQ – Community Users [  http://www.uwrf.edu/library/info/faq/Community.php  ]  * “Everone is free to use the seven green-labeled “Quick Kiosk” computers near the library entrance and the additional four on the upper floor in the book stacks. They do not have MicroSoft Office products, but do have access to the internet and the library’s electronic resources.”
* — Sometimes, at least 1 QK on each floor is out of order, so; that leaves only, maybe, 9 functioning [partially-functioning at that (!)] PC’s available to community patrons. Plus; still no community patron accessable PC’s @ Gov Docs area [again; not good for a Federal Depository Library!]. Oh, how Library Sense longs for the good old days!

● It’s nice to see some progress being made, though LS is still trying to figure out how the Quick Kiosk mess happened in the first place [ cfr.  https://librarysense.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/uwrf-library-quick-kiosks-concerns/  ]. Concerns continue …

● There’s more detail and points to go into, but; no time now. This was intended as a brief [?] comment to your comment; Valerie.

● Valerie, feel free to comment again on any Post/Page as is pertinent. Perhaps, soon, progress on resolving the QK mess can be announced on  http://www.uwrf.edu/library/news/ . A link to *  https://librarysense.wordpress.com/  * could be included on UWRF library’s News or whatever pertinent pages so “the whole world” can employ their First Amendment right to read pertinent concerns — but we’re being somewhat jocular on this, because there likely is far less than a 1% chance. Valerie, or any “caring entity” can also communicate with Library Sense via Twitter [though we’re still early in learning how to use it (!)]  —  **  http://twitter.com/LibrarySense  **

● “Dear author … I would welcome the opportunity to discuss with you in person …”  —  Valerie; thanks for the kind offer. Ah, winter break, etc, etc. Not ruling-out a Library Sense associate contacting you with an “inappropriate” “let’s do lunch”, but, for the near future; continuing to communicate via WordPress and Twitter should work fine.

● Hmm — an instant-thought: better yet: Hire me — at UWRF-Library, or; Division of Technology Services [  http://www.uwrf.edu/dots/  ], or; UWRF in general as an Ombudsman for campus-community improvement. I can produce not-insignificantly more financial benefit than the salary paid. And, in the current economy; I [ and, many others, if qualified] could certainly use the work and pay. But; this is another of those “less than 1% chances” [I did say “an instant-thought”!]. Also; need to establish exactly who “Me” is [? — author, copyright agent, publisher … — (more than one person? what gender? — etc — oh; so “mysterious” [and; also trying to avoid possible retribution/reprisals])]. What do you think, Valerie? [Guess I’m now really edging the limit of probability!]

● Thanks — Admin.
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• Subnotes:
— Now; a significant change of pace: Puppies and Kitties!
Papillon Club

UWRF-2 (Update) And Why Concerns Are Reasonable

[Final formatting pending]
Concerns continue. There’s a lag-time between our latest info, until we do a new post. As of mon. Nov. 23, still no reports of  improvements [altough lib staff have been aware of this blog as of wed. Nov 11]. Perhaps fixes are in the works now, though we haven’t received any comments here [as of mon. Dec. 7], despite [reports that] UWRF library director [ Valerie I. Malzacher (1992) Director Chalmer Davee Library — B.A. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; A.M.L.S. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. [ http://www.uwrf.edu/hr/faculty_staff/faculty_staff_m.htm%5D valerie.i.malzacher@uwrf.edu ] has read this blog.

https://librarysense.wordpress.com/   Has also been referred to the Campus Security dept. Fine by us; readers of any classification, from any educational institution, are welcome to read the helpful articles Library Sense [LS] publishes. As our About Page says, we are; “Dedicated to optimizing the productive use of all library resources, via suggestions and constructive critiques”. We care about effective library use, and we thank WordPress.com for hosting us on the WWW. Anyone with internet access can access us [however; saving this webpage, or Wordpad copy to USB, is problematic at UWRF/library; as we datailed in our first post].

At end of  https://librarysense.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/uwrf-library-quick-kiosks-concerns/ :  “If the disablement of basic functionality is for security-measures, that, likely is significantly erroneous also”. Example; we don’t believe a computer, or campus security concern is entailed in a community patron saving [ie.] Gov Doc research notes via Wordpad, or, Paint to their USB thumbdrives. Of course; LS is about: Sensible Library Access, on ANY campus, and we are also concerned about security issues such as a recent hate-speech graffitti matter, [which prompted a .pdf   “I pledge to speak up”:  http://www.uwrf.edu/inclusiveness/I%20Pledge%20to%20Speak%20Up%20FINAL.pdf%5D.  Also, see RF / UWRF Inclusiveness Sign:  http://www.uwrf.edu/inclusiveness/sign.jpg .

Other than what has been reported in the media, LS has no further knowledge of the Graffitti Incident. We are just as concerned as Valerie and UWRF/Security are, although; we are somewhat curious as to the specific referral of LS to UWRF/Security. Again; thanks for visiting LS, your welcome to continue, and from a security-concern standpoint; LS/management is not in the negative-catagory — just thought we’d mention this.
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As readers realize; we are stong advocates for the First Amendment / freedom of the press. We are inspired by the work of many, and we believe we are no worse than the  following examples:

● Kevin Harter [ https://www-dev.uwrf.edu/pa/staff.htm ] Kevin Harter, UWRF, University Communications, 715-425-3771, kevin.harter@uwrf.edu [… most recently, the St. Paul Pioneer Press …]
St. Paul Pioneer Press [ WI edition] :
* Police Chief [Andy Smith] quits in protest. — 2007-8-16 thur., pg. 1B
* Neighbors worrried about halfway house  — 2008-3-16 sun., pg. 1B

● Bill Henderson [UWRF] Professor wants butts [cigareetes] out of eyesight.  — 2008-2-8   http://www.uwrfvoice.com/index.php/views/article/professor_wants_butts_out_of_eyesight/  [print-version:  http://uwrfvoice.com/index.php/site/print/1229/%5D

● Hans Hage [Student Voice] Regarding concern over improper UWRF parking ticket. [.pdf version not yet available from Voice online archives] also, the following link is no longer functional but included here for reference/proof purposes:  http://www.uwrf.edu/student-voice/060224/viewparking.htm

● Cristy Brusoe [Student Voice]  cristina.brusoe@uwrf.edu
Articles by Cristy Brusoe    http://uwrfvoice.com/index.php/archive/author/cbrusoe/
* See these GREAT articles * :

Century College students given time-out

Online course offerings lacking at University

Opinions remain unspoken on UWRF campus

Search for internships remains unfruitful

Smoking ban necessary on campus

Stupid people decide with stupid reasoning

● Sandy Berman’s Last Stand [Henn cnty librarian — City Pages article] —  http://www.sanfordberman.org/cityp/ber1t.htm
● Lakefront Library effort [Hudson Wi quest for a new library] (their site;  LakeFrontLibrary.org is no longer online, even in an archival-format — unfortunate).
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The Quick Kiosk Problems have a disproportionate impact on the poor [including, to some extent on students and prospective-students]. The ALA has articles on the economic effects of less than adaquate accessability. The current economy is concerning to many, and; unreasonable time, transportation, and financial hurdles [cfr first post], that people should not have to contend with is truly saddening. Witness the recent formation, in River Falls of a service organization trying to help:
● Our Neighbors’ Place —  http://ourneighborsplace.org/home/
* Communications Director, Sue Watters:  sue.watters@uwrf.edu
Sue understands the importance of a healthy, productive community for all. She is also affiliated with UWRF —  Office Manager {career services}    http://www.uwrf.edu/career/career-staff.htm
The career/counseling/health services are important functions at any university, and Sue’s skills dovetail well with her kind work voluteering for Our Neighbors’ Place. Thank you, Sue, for helping to make society better for all, that also is the mission of Library Sense [ effective library / resource access is vital to a healthy, modern society]. We haven’t visited Our Neighbors’ Place, and don’t know if they have USB, Wordpad, etc access for their clients, we hear they have Email Access, Voice Mail, and an address for snail mail [good going ONP!].
* Also see [volunteering]  http://www.uwrf.edu/career/svc-learning/welcome.html

If those of good conscience, and “the powers that be” in River Falls truly care about the economic and environmental vitality of RF, they can/should clearly see that the UWRF/library Quik Kiosk debacle is a drag upon the net-value of the community. UWRF, in line with it’s stated mission and values should always be striving to enhance the productivity of all members of the community, instead; with the Quick Kiosk mess, it’s moving backwards. Truly sad. We hope for rectifications soon, but; for the forseeable future, all we have is hope [and:  https://librarysense.wordpress.com/ ].

One of our friends used to be able to do extensive research, including in Gov Docs area [and, community patrons can’t even use those computers anymore!!], on health care concerns, especially to help children with terminal medical conditions. This QK mess is a real hindrance. And, just try printing 20 page documents that you would rather save, easily, to a USB thumbdrive — the paper costs effect a Green Economy. Are you listening, UWRF?

Valerie [ and/or UWRF Security dept (or any UW department) (are you reading this?, Kevin Harter, you are in University Communications)], please coment to us, on any of our posts/pages, regarding progress on resolving the QK mess. We’d like to move on to other topics. Anyone, you don’t need to be affiliated with UWRF, can comment on any of our concerns. Comments are moderated, it may take 2 days, or even 2 weeks to approve and publish.

Library Sense is a volunteer effort, we do the best we can with our constrained resources [and, since you’re wondering — no, we hardly could build this blog at UWRF (all the QK encumbrances), we use other libraries, and look forward to a new home (2010?) for Hudson Wisconsin’s —  http://www.hudsonpubliclibrary.org/ ].

Also, see Library Sense on:  ** http://twitter.com/LibrarySense **.  — Thanks.

UWRF Library Quick Kiosks Concerns

The new [as of about Aug 11 2009] “Quick Kiosks” at UWRF’s library [Chalmer Davee Library] create more of an impediment than a “quick” convenience for all library users; community patrons, and, ironically; students. Previous to the implementation of this encumbrance, anyone could at least use Wordpad on any of the publically accessable computers, and save their notes to their removable storage media [i.e. flash/USB drive]. Now, community patrons are restricted to the few “Quick Kiosks”, and USB access has been disabled!

The Gov Documents area now only has student/faculty accessable computers — a real hindrance to any community patron, and something new that shouldn’t happen at ANY Federal Depository library.

Also, Paint [can be used to take screenshots, sometimes a real convenience as a form of a note on research] has been removed from use on the “Quick Kiosks”. Paint, and Wordpad [standard on any Windows PC] are not “MS Office” products, therefore the library needn’t be concerned of lincensing restrictions.

If in restricting access to such basic functionality [and other basics, we’ll mention later], library administration sought to “Quicken” the use of community patrons, thus freeing-up more accessability of computer resources for students [students, quite reasonably the prime focus for a university], this effort has significant net-negative results.

As with some libraries, for only a quick 5 minute check of email, UWRF library could have 2-4 truly “quick” kiosks near the front of the library, but have all the other publically-accessable computers keeping their former functionality [Wordpad and Paint, etc save-ability for taking research notes …].

Upstairs, aside from the instructional lab [which may be in use for a class anyway], if a student, doing research, wants to use any of the 4 computers [outside of the lab], s/he also can’t save a wordpad document to their USB device, can’t save to a UWRF network drive either, because these 4 computers are restricted to the new “Quick Kiosk” type. “But, they can just use their laptop while doing research near the bookstacks” — not every student has a laptop, or may not have it with them that day[!]. So; encumbrances with the reduced basic functionality of the “Quick Kiosks” also effect students. That goes for on the main floor too! What if all of the student-accessable-only PC’s [the red-labled ones] are in use? — The student has to resort to the “Quick Kiosks” [green-labled].

Before this debacle, guests could logon to any computer in the main areas [i.e. excluding labs] of the library as GUEST, and they could use and save Webpages, Wordpad and Paint via USB, and, since they didn’t have a student-ID logon, they couldn’t access “higher functionality’ [ i.e. “MS Office” products, such as Word, Powerpoint…] anyway [ therefore, there wasn’t a M.S. liscensing concern back then either]. And, students could use the same PC’s, and also save Wordpad to USB, whether or not they were logged-in as a student.

The old system worked quite well, the new one (probably well-intentioned) is, albeit, possibly, by accident and/or “designed by a committee”; wrong-headed, counter-productive [also unto the Library and UWRF itself [reasons to be written more at length later]], just: wrong.

Sure, it may take dozens, or over 100 hours of staff time to reverse the current mess, but let’s all take into consideration the 1000’s of hours of extra time spent trying to circumvent [ie. cumbersomly send emails to oneself] the present dysfunctionalities that may very much mount up over the years to come. The frustrations, decreased productivity [and, yes, undoubtably to some extent on the student populace as well], and, likely 100’s of hours [about 100 upon the implementation and writing of this blog/post itself — if anyone cares] already lost by patrons has gone on far too long.

Summary: Possibly, primarily implemented by the recently-cast Dept. of Tech. Svc’s [DOTS], the current schema is significantly-flawed, has brought unintended consequences, should be wound-back. When community patrons and, even students have to take more time and paper[not good for a campus moving in a green-directon] [for notes, if no Wordpad saves to USB] to deal with unneccessary encumbrances, we all lose. Again, such encumbrances should not be at any library, even more so; a Federal Depository Library, and, albeit, if by accident, also acts constructively/effectively as a prior-restraint on the constitutionally-mandated freedom of the press /speech/expression.

Links:

• About this Blog • Library Computer Access: Fair And Useful Enablements
• Mission and Strategic Directions — Chalmer Davee Library
● Please see  ALA | Access to Digital Information, Services, and Networks for these important points:
* Libraries and librarians protect and promote these rights regardless of the format or technology employed to create and disseminate information.
* Libraries empower users by offering opportunities both for accessing the broadest range of information created by others and for creating and sharing information.  Digital resources enhance the ability of libraries to fulfill this responsibility.
* many people lack access or capability to use or create digital information effectively.
* In making decisions about how to offer access to digital information, services, and networks, each library should consider intellectual freedom principles in the context of its mission, goals, objectives, cooperative agreements, and the needs of the entire community it serves.
* Users’ access should not be restricted or denied for expressing, receiving, creating, or participating in constitutionally protected speech.
* Libraries should use technology to enhance, not deny, digital access.  Users have the right to be free of unreasonable limitations or conditions set by libraries, librarians, system administrators, vendors, network service providers, or others.
* Digital information, services, and networks provided directly or indirectly by the library should be equally, readily, and equitably accessible to all library users.
• Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries: Support Your Local Library
* Tell the library director or head librarian what you like about the library – and even what you’d like to see improved. Getting feedback from library users is important for continuous improvement of library service, and it helps the librarian gauge users’ needs.

● UWRF Vision and Values ● UW-River Falls Journalism

Please Comment:

With suggestions on how this, or any library can correct and prevent the type of problems mentioned here. Numerous customers have mentioned similar concerns, and library staff are aware of it, but; 3 months on and no corrections yet, hopefully soon, and, perhaps this posting will help. Suggestions are appreciated, of other, including Gov Doc libraries, that have better research attributes. Workarounds [ie. send email to self absent using Wordpad — but; cumbersome] too [but that’s iffy — no time to get into detail on parameters now]. Possibly a car pool [still less environmentally-friendly than staying at UWRF, and, in this economy; additional travel expenditures are painful] to more functional libraries/Federal Depository libraries. Let’s help each other to overcome the impediments UWRF has erroneously-enacted. Using a pseudonym for yourself is legally OK, but be careful in naming any particular staffers [hopefully the diffusion of responsibility in committee enacted practices will alleviate such concern]. Trepidatious in saying this, but; though the ALA is against repisals, any commenter, including the managers of this blog, best be careful in how/what is commented on [this is a whole ‘nother subject that could be greatly delved into, but; no time now].

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• Go ahead; save a copy of this webpage to your USB storage-device. But, oh; if you’re only a community patron at UWRF library [a not-insignificant reason why this article was written]; you can’t [under the present schema].

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PS. This post is not a slam against UWRF/library. There are many fine and dedicated employees and students. The purpose if this posting, and the website overall is to help good people optimize their productivity.

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PS. If the disablement of basic functionality is for security-measures, that, likely is significantly erroneous also. No time to detail that now, perhaps a future posting [or add to this post].