Dear Provost Dai: I am a graduating senior majoring in African American Studies, and I support the right of my professors—including adjunct faculty—to vote to form a union. I urge you to allow the approximately 1,300 adjunct faculty at Temple University to proceed with a fair and timely election by dropping the legal challenges Temple has brought before the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. Temple’s adjunct faculty should be able to exercise their right to make a choice about unionization. I urge you to let them vote. Every student who has attended Temple has been taught by at least one adjunct faculty member. After all, adjuncts make up half of the faculty at Temple. They are a valuable part of our university community. Their commitment to our education is compensated with low pay, few benefits and no assurances that they will be able to teach future classes beyond the current semester. This is unfair not only to faculty but to students as well. For example, a professor I make a connection with one semester may not be around the next semester, in spite of excellent teaching and student support. I believe that adjunct faculty, like all workers, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect by the Temple administration, and I strongly support their organizing to form a collective bargaining unit with the union they have chosen, the Temple Association of University Professionals. I call on you to allow Temple’s adjunct faculty to hold a fair and transparent election, and I demand that you not use any tuition funds or other resources to hinder their efforts. Sincerely, Sarah Giskin, African American Studies Temple University

Story (no longer available) from http://www.newschannel9.com Korean War Veteran Found Frozen To Death Inside Home This bitter cold weather has killed 11 people in Tennessee, most of them from hypothermia. On Wednesday, Sequatchie County deputies found a senior citizen frozen to death inside his mobile home atop Lewis Chapel Mountain. Bradley Sutter was an 85-year-old Korean War veteran. He lived somewhat in seclusion. From Shell Road, his house isn't visible. A snow covered path lined by frozen tree branches leads to his home. It's easy to never see it. Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock said, "At the time we were on the mountain, it was 16 degrees outside and it felt as cold inside as it did outside." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updated version from wrcbtv on February 20, 2015 includes: Fatalities Tennessee has eleven (11), confirmed, weather-related fatalities: Hamilton County - One (1) fatality: 63-year-old male, hypothermia related Henry County - Two (2) fatalities: 64-year-old female, hypothermia related; 69-year-old male, hypothermia related Hickman County (1) fatality: male, dialysis patient, unable to get to treatment Knox County - One (1) fatality: 30-year-old male, motor vehicle accident Overton County - One (1) fatality: 38-year-old female, motor vehicle accident Roane County – One (1) fatality, 44-year-old male, hypothermia related Sequatchie – One (1) fatality, 85-year-old male, hypothermia related Shelby County - One (1) fatality: 48-year-old male, hypothermia related Williamson County - Two (2) fatalities: 34-year-old female; 10-year-old male, motor vehicle accident Power Outages There are just over 6,300 customers without power this afternoon, down from more than 11,000 this morning, over six counties with the highest outage in Monroe at 5,693 customers. Shelters Open Red Cross (7): Warren, Sevier, Roane, Maryville, Loudon, Knox, Dyer Independent (6): Madisonville, Loudon, Lewisburg, Coffee, McMinn, Rhea http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/28140165/tema-confirms-6-cold-related-deaths-in-tennessee -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/feb/21/war-vet-freezes-death-inside-home/289469/ War Vet Freezes to Death Inside Home DUNLAP, Tenn. -- After surviving two wars, frigid weather took the life of Bradley Sutter this week. Police found the 85-year-old dead in his rural mobile home with nothing but electric blankets for heat. With temperatures in the single digits this week, concerned neighbors asked the Sequatchie County Sheriff's Office to check on Sutter, whom neighbors hadn't seen in several days. Deputies found him dead of hypothermia Wednesday afternoon inside his squalid mobile home, which is tucked away in some woods off of state Route 111 near Dunlap. Deputies found an electric furnace in the home, but it was either broken or not turned on. Sutter's only source of heat came from two electric blankets -- one on top of him, the other underneath. A piece was missing from the bottom of the front door, plugged up with grocery bags. ...After days of searching for family members, investigators tracked down Sutter's son through an ancestry registry, though the sheriff said the two hadn't been in touch for some time. Sutter's son, who traveled from Englewood, Tenn., on Friday to sort through his father's things, declined to comment. The winter storm that swept through the country this week has so far claimed the lives of 18 Tennesseans. Nine of those deaths were hypothermia-related, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. One of those hypothermia-related fatalities was local 64 year-old Douglas King, who was found Tuesday morning near the railroad trestles at 600 E. 11th St., just a block from the Chattanooga Community Kitchen. ---------------------------------------------- Vance Perry, age 57, Madison, Wisconsin Army veteran freezes to death after being released from VA hospital He was found in a parking garage in below freezing temperatures, wearing only a light jacket. The medical examiner says he likely died of hypothermia. He was 57. Author: Staff, NBC January 5, 2018 Atlanta Erika Perry Vance Perry Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital Paul Rickert MADISON, Wis. -- An Atlanta family says it was negligence that led to the death of their father, an Army veteran. Vance Perry was found dead on New Year's Eve in a freezing-cold parking garage in Madison, Wis. http://www.ksdk.com/article/news/army-veteran-freezes-to-death-after-being-released-from-va-hospital/504994426 ---------------------------------------------- http://www.kcci.com/news/person-found-dead-at-water-works-park/31387656 Richard Miles, age 40 Des Moines "Police identified the man Saturday as 40-year-old Richard Miles. Des Moines Police Sgt. Jason Halifax said Miles was considered a missing person since Feb. 2 and that he likely died from natural causes.... Police said the man's body was 'frozen solid' and he was not wearing a coat or shoes. There was no trauma to his body." ---------------------------------------------- John Skelley, 69 Cancer-Stricken Vietnam Veteran John Skelley, 69, Freezes to Death after Michigan Utility Shuts off Gas http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2015/02/12/vietnam-veteran-hypothermia-shutoff/23327507/ Detroit Free Press State asks: Why did Hazel Park veteran freeze to death? By Katrease Stafford, Detroit Free Press 10:47 p.m. EST February 12, 2015 John Skelley, 69, was found dead Feb. 1 in a home on West Pearl Street. Hazel Park police say Skelley died of hypothermia and other health issues. According to Consumers Energy, service was disconnected at the home on the afternoon of Jan. 19 and a tag with assistance and reconnection information was placed on the door. -----------------------------------------------...

Yes, I have a loved one who is incarcerated and am directly impacted by the unfairness of this practice. The cost are exhorbitant and find it extremely difficult to be able to afford to pay for extra food to keep him from feeling like we live in a 3rd world country. He goes hungry many nights and loses weight very easy. At times others will share some leftovers from their trays. On top of the high food gouging and daily fees we also pay over $3.00 per phone call. They are there to be punished but it is extreme to add this to important basic needs and must be changed!

My petition is about getting my uncle, Clifton McKinney and everyone else that has or is being wrongfully imprisoned, the chance at a fair and honest trial or new appeal!! This issue has affected me not only because he's my uncle, but also because I feel that justice is not served when innocent people are punished for something they didn't do.

OC Parks and the Irvine Ranch Conservancy use hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars to purchase toxic herbicides, which are regularly applied to wild and manicured landscapes. Roundup, Aquamaster and Transline are made by Monsanto and Dow Chemical for "weed control." Their active ingredients are glyphosate and clopyralid, which are known to disrupt the biology of our environment by causing health problems in humans and wildlife. There is a wide variety of environmentally-friendly alternatives for landscape management. Please urge OC Parks Director Stacy Blackwood and Irvine Ranch Conservancy Executive Director Mike O'Connell to stop using these harmful petrochemicals and utilize environmentally friendly alternatives. The health of future generations is at stake. Thank you!

My petition is about getting my uncle, Clifton McKinney an everyone else that has or is being wrongly imprisoned, the chance at a fair an honest trial or new appeal!! This issue has affected me not only because it's my uncle, but also because I feel that justice is not having innocent people punished for something they didn't do.

Currently there is very little protection for animals in New York State. Dogs and Cats are not safe from their owner leaving them outside in extreme weather. It has been as low as -25 with the wind chill here in the past month and it is not illegal to leave pets outside overnight?! If someone calls the police and reports animal cruelty, there is no law making it illegal. Please don't stand by and let this continue to happen to voiceless animals; please sign in support of bringing pets inside!

Penn State Dance Marathon (THON) has raised over $114 million dollars for children with pediatric cancer since 1977. Mr. Olbermann's remarks are not only an insult to this tremendous effort but to every family that has been affected with pediatric cancer.

Our members include some of 100's of people stuck in payday loans as high as 459%!!! Faith and Community groups want protections from this kind of interest rate but we are nervous that the bill might not get heard. Interest rates like this trap hardworking people into a terrible debt cycle, and keep local families down.

Benjamin Netanyahu has been one of the chief architects of ethnic cleansing in the occupied Palestinian territories. He has conspired with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives to violate U.S. law, specifically the Logan Act and he has attempted to sabotage negotiations with Iran.

The American people need to realize that we have been bamboozled out of our rights and we need to stand up and take them back. It's been proven in several Supreme Court cases to be unconstitutional to say that a driver's license inspection, sticker registration, and insurance are required for your personal private property. Reference ex-parte Dickey supra Where the West Virginia Supreme Court defines the difference between the right of the people to use their property on the highway and the privilege of using it for private gain.

AAO Leadership and HOD members, For some time now a growing number of AAO members have worried about the direction of our member organization. The areas of particular concern are: 1) The primary and overwhelming focus of the AAO should be on aggressively differentiating Orthodontic Specialists from Primary Care Dentists a. We feel the CAP, while well intentioned, is not getting the job done i. Telling patients that orthodontists go to more school is not useful when most patients do not know what an orthodontist is ii. We believe that we must educate patients on how to tell the difference between PCDs and Orthodontic Specialists iii. Stating facts about credentials is not negative advertising b. We believe patient education can easily be accomplished by encouraging patients to ask some simple questions of the person claiming to be an expert in orthodontics i. How many cases like mine have you done? ii. Did you go to a full time, accredited orthodontic residency program or to a part time/weekend CE course? iii. Have you or your family ever been treated by an Orthodontic Specialist? iv. Have you ever had to ask an Orthodontic Specialist for help with orthodontic treatment in braces or aligners? c. We are proud of orthodontists who have chosen to become ABO certified but feel it is silly to aggressively promote one orthodontists above another while we are unwilling to promote orthodontists above Primary Care Dentists. i. The majority of dues paying AAO members are not ABO certified ii. Once we win the orthodontists-PCD battle we can worry about promoting ABO certification iii. This is not anti-ABO this is pro-orthodontist in an attempt to present a united front to the public 2) We believe that those of us who still need to practice orthodontics and make a living for the next 20-40 years must act now to protect and preserve the orthodontic profession and we know we need the help of the older generations to insure the orthodontic profession survives. a. We feel the AAO leadership, by and large, do not have this same sense of urgency given the age difference and that this difference can cause disharmony among the age groups in the association if not addressed b. We believe that the AAO leadership wants to do what is right for the profession and the membership but may not realize the jeopardy that younger members are in or the speed at which change is taking place. c. We feel the AAO is THE membership organization that will save the profession or let it die depending on how the leadership and the HOD chooses to act now and in the long term. There are no viable alternative membership organizations and we do not see that changing 3) We believe this is a critical time for the orthodontic profession and that drastic measures are needed. a. We feel it appropriate to suspend/cease all non-essential expenditures and reallocate all possible funds towards educating the public. Here are suggestions – certainly not all inclusive. i. Dispense with in person meetings and utilize technology to hold virtual meetings ii. Dispense with non-essential staff iii. Minimize travel, food and lodging costs iv. Stop holding regional meetings that lose money or break even v. Have the House of Delegates meet, debate and vote via the technology that is available vi. Dispense with receptions, parties and volunteer “thank-you” gatherings like the ones at the annual session vii. Spin off nonessential holdings/organizations/businesses that could be run more efficiently by contracting with others b. It may be time to reassess the mission of the AAOF and its funding in the current reality c. We must reallocate any and all funds available to aggressively promote orthodontists as THE dental specialist to see for all orthodontic needs d. We feel that well over half of the AAO’s 20-25 million dollar annual budget should go to effective patient education and would like to see north of two-thirds spent on educating the public 4) Because most orthodontists still rely on PCDs for patients, it is essential that our member organization shoulder the load when promoting orthodontists over PCDs. Members cannot speak up in their local areas by and large for fear of recrimination from PCDs but our national organization can. It is time to start looking at ways the AAO can do this instead of counting the reasons the AAO should not do so 5) The ADA and Primary Care Dentists are looking out for their best interests – and that is smart for them to do so. It is time for the AAO to aggressively look out for the needs of member orthodontists. a. We understand that the AAO wants dentistry to present a “united front” and that we need the ADA and this is why the AAO Leadership fears upsetting the ADA b. However, if this is the case then the ADA needs the AAO as much as the AAO needs the ADA c. The ADA looks out for Primary Care Dentists with no regard for specialists – one need only look at what is allowed when it comes to specialty designation to see this. d. The AAO must take the same stance and look out for orthodontist members. 6) The AAO must become more active on the state level. The vast majority of legislation that controls dentistry happens at the state level and the AAO must become influential in state politics – even if that means re-organization of the AAO to do so. We, the undersigned, respectfully present this list of concerns for consideration by the AAO leadership and HOD. We are appreciative of what has been done by the AAO volunteers in the past and understand that major change is a major obstacle. However, we need our member organization now more than ever and hope that the AAO will step up and be the defender of the specialty that we so desperately need in the face of the new reality.