Friday Bulletin: Issues

Time is almost up to evaluate the Infobase resources on SLED.  With a large range of databases covering study skills, articles, videos (that include tools for reusing clips!) and more. We ask you  take a look before the end of August.  Don't forget to fill out the evaluation survey for each resource you use! The resources and surveys are linked from SLED.
 

On a Wednesday evening in July, students with the new online Tlingit language course log on to Zoom. Elders are often given the floor, sharing stories, memories and songs – adult children seated beside them listen and offer tech support.

Tonight, the class begins with a student sharing a short story about her day, observing a humming bird and enjoying the sunshine in Juneau, and looking forward to the Tlingit class. 

Today the weather was nice in Juneau, there was sun shining, it’s finally summer…

The online class has been offered every weekday evening in July, with days for beginner lessons, intermediate, and advanced conversation. Between 50 to 120 students log on, depending on the night, to speak, study and listen.

Families with children sit together on a sofa, around a laptop. Others appear on Zoom from kitchen tables, bedroom desks, living rooms. Students participate from across Alaska and North America. 

With Covid-19 spiking, the Museum’s summer food truck luncheons-on-the-lawn, a favorite for members and their out-of-town guests, had been virus-cancelled, making the park seem extra quiet and slightly lonely. Parents and kids desperate for activities gathered around Pottebaum’s art-horse and big bag of materials, as did some adults all tired of hunkering at home alone. While I’ve had years of drawing, it’s easy to get out of shape; I was happy for this refresher course, which at five bucks for two hours was an uber-bargain.

Pottebaum began passing around white paper on sanitized clipboards and two pencils: hard and soft lead, which participants could take home. Brightly colored stools were easily moved, so social-distancing could be practiced.

In 2019, the Alaska office of the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center partnered with Qanirtuuq Inc. of Quinhagak, Alaska, to research and document the Yup’ik tradition of weaving an issran (grass carrying-bag) in their community. Local artist Grace Anaver joined the team as lead artist, under the guidance of her older sister Pauline Beebe and assisted by her younger sister Sarah Brown. Locally harvested taperrnaq (coarse seashore grass) was gathered and processed for drying and curing in July, and grass from the previous fall was dyed. In August, Grace taught Yup’ik grass weavers and learners how to twine an issran in the Nunalleq Culture & Archaeology Center. The set of eleven videos – Material Traditions: Weaving a Yup’ik Issran (Grass Carrying-Bag) – includes detailed information, instructions and demonstrations. A limited number of free DVDs are available upon request to Biddisond@si.edu or Crowella@si.edu.

SOUND COLLECTIONS is a mini-series that explores the wonders of the found items of Kachemak Bay. From bits of shells collected on the beach to seed pods found in the forest, Sound Collections believes that the things we collect can teach us a lot about the place we live. You can tune in live to new episodes on KBBI every Sunday at 8:35 a.m.

… naming 10 women from every state, plus the District of Columbia, as “Women of the Century.” These women have made significant contributions to their communities, states and country with documented achievements in areas like arts and literature, business, civil rights, education, entertainment, law, media, nonprofits and philanthropy, politics, science and medicine, and sports. To be eligible for these lists, the women had to have been alive between 1920 and 2020.

Hello, Volunteers!

Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission

This month is National Women’s Suffrage Month, and the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) is partnering with over 60 cultural institutions and sponsors to celebrate. In the days leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment as part of the US Constitution on August 26, 1920, the WSCC is spotlighting ways to engage with the history of the women’s suffrage movement, including current By the People Campaigns!

A New Campaign and Transcribe-a-thon!

The By the People team is excited to reveal a brand new Campaign consisting of papers from the National American Woman Suffrage Association - Organizing for Women's Suffrage: The NAWSA Records. In conjunction with its release, the WSCC will be hosting an online transcribe-a-thon beginning, Tuesday, August 11th! Help us increase the accessibility and discoverability of papers related to the suffrage movement by taking part!

National American Woman Suffrage Association

The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate for women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations: the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. Its membership eventually increased to two million, making it the largest voluntary organization in the nation.

In the 1890s, the National American Woman Suffrage Association’s influence reached across the country, contributing to suffrage victories in the western states. By the early twentieth century, suffragists devised innovative tactics in the struggle for the right to vote, including suffrage parades and open-air meetings. NAWSA has a multifaceted history, including deep connections to the abolition and women's rights movements.

Q: What is the FCC mobile app called?
A: The FCC Speed Test.

Q: Aren't there other speed tests already available?
A: The FCC Speed Test mobile application is part of a campaign to provide consumers with free, open and transparent information on the status of mobile broadband performance across the United States. Other speed tests may not disclose their collection methods publicly or may impose fees for broad access to their collected data. In addition, the FCC Speed Test app collects data automatically to ensure data is statistically valid, providing perspective on typical wireless service performance.

Q: Why scheduled tests?
A: A common problem speed tests face is that measurements are often done when consumers are under ideal conditions or when the service seems to be slow. Randomized background scheduling is a more statistically valid approach to data collection, providing a more-accurate view of typical network performance. (You can disable scheduled background tests if they interfere with device performance.)

Q: Why should I download the app?
A: This is a crowdsourcing effort. We need volunteers to participate so that measurements across the entire country can gather enough data to provide valid and accurate results. The data will inform consumers and industry and may lead to better mobile broadband performance for the nation. You also get information about the broadband performance you are getting on your own mobile device. Through your efforts and those of other volunteers, the American public gets an accurate, open view of mobile broadband performance.