Talk of the Towns 1/9/15

Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Community concerns and opportunities

Program Topic: The Abbe Museum—Bridging Wabanaki and White People and Cultures

Key Discussion Points:
• What were the origins of the Abbe and what is it’s current mission?
• Big step to create its downtown location… what is the relationship between the museum in Acadia and the downtown museum?
• What were the potentials you saw when you came… what continues to excite you?
• How has the role of the Abbe to bridge “white” and Wabanaki people and cultures evolved, perhaps using Twisted Path as an example?
• What is the role of “museum educator”? What do you enjoy about your work in schools, or when school and other groups visit the Abbe?
• George brings so much to his role… what are some of the obvious and not-so-obvious contributions from your Passamaquoddy/Wabanaki culture, your education?
• How do you see the Abbe helping to bridge Wabanaki and “white” people and cultures?
• One of the planks in that bridge might be basket-making… talk about the art and artistry of basketmaking in Wabanaki culture… historical and current context
• Describe the role of the museum to help “build community” in Bar Harbor, and Mount Desert Island… what do you do to foster those connections, to build community capacity?
• Talk about the new exhibit inspired by the women of Indian Township and the effects of
substance abuse on the community… what questions would you like visitors to ponder?
• What else should we look for at the Abbe in coming months? What are some of the other staff working on?
• How has your affiliation with the Smithsonian affected your programming and recognition?

Guests:
Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, President, Abbe Museum
George Neptune, Museum Educator, Abbe Museum

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RadioActive 1/8/15

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Issue: Environmental and Social Justice
Program Topic: Governor LePage’s “Welfare Reform” plans for his second term

Key Discussion Points:
a) Today we look at some of Governor LePage’s “welfare reforms”, those he has recently instituted and measures slated for his second term.
b) We also look at how “welfare reform” is defined, and how the governor’s strategy and measures hurt, instead of helps those in poverty.
c) We speak with the public policy director of the low income policy and education advocacy organization Maine Equal Justice Partners about the negative impacts and missed opportunities in the LePage administration strategies, and the positive steps that could be taken to improve the lives of low income Mainers.

Guest: Chris Hasted, public policy director at Maine Equal Justice Partners www.mejp.org

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 1/8/15

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Interested in learning how to code, whether to get ahead at work or just to know how things we use every day work? The web offers lots of resources. Today, let’s look at some free sites that help us learn to how to code web pages and web sites.

wix.com – no coding here, just an online site for producing web pages without coding
monfruit.com – ditto
w3schools.com – one of the oldest free sites, and one of the best for beginners
codeacademy.com – good resources for lots of different languages
udacity.com – includes courses designed by many in industry, a good site for focusing on getting a job

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