Archive for April 2nd, 2012

April 2nd, 2012

South Common Earth Day Event, April 22, Rogers School

by PaulM

On Sunday, April 22, some interesting people will gather at the Rogers School on Highland Street, on the edge of the South Common, for Earth Day activities. We will have a guided tour of the South Common Historic District by Dick Howe Jr, unplugged music by Joe Darensbourg, a display of design plans showing what the Common will look like in a few years, and a book-making workshop (don’t think gambling) where everyone will go home with a collection of my South Common haiku in a book that he or she made on the spot. Artist Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord will lead the book workshop. Allegra Williams of the City’s planning office will be on hand to talk about plans for upgrading the Common.

The guided tour begins at 2 pm in front of the school and ends where it started at 3 pm; the indoor activities also start at 2 pm and run through 4.30 pm. Everything is free and open to the public. Take a close look at the Common, talk to some people who care about the future of the big green space along Thorndike Street, and learn how to make a book that will fit in your pocket.

April 2nd, 2012

Why we like Lowell

by DickH

Inspired by a similar effort in Cambridge, a largely anonymous group of Lowell residents transformed the vacant storefront on Market Street between Brew’d Awakening and TD Bank into a colorful proclamation of why so many like the city of Lowell so much. If you’re downtown today, stop by, check it out, and add your thoughts to the collection.

April 2nd, 2012

John Prendergast, Greeley Peace Scholar @ UMass Lowell

by PaulM

John Prendergast of the Enough Project starts his Greeley Peace Scholar residency at UMass Lowell today. He will visit the campus three times between April and November. Several of the events will be open to the public. The first public events are tomorrow:

“The Day Without Violence Lecture,” sponsored by the UMass Lowell Peace & Conflict Studies Institute. John’s topic is “Good News Peace Stories from Africa.” Introducing John will be Executive Vice Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney. Tuesday, April 3, 12:30-1:45 p.m., O’Leary Library Auditorium (Room 222). UMass Lowell South Campus, 61 Wilder St. (parking available for visitors in the Wilder St. Visitors Lot). This venue is accessible.

Greeley Peace Scholar Open Conversation with Students, Tuesday, April 3, 2-3:30 p.m., O’Leary Library Auditorium (Room 222), UMass Lowell South Campus, 61 Wilder St. Students are invited to meet and speak with international human rights activist John Prendergast in an open forum. He has most recently been seen in an interview on the “Kony 2012” video by Invisible Children. Talk to John about his work in Africa, about his organization the Enough Project (enough.org) or his work with organizations like Invisible Children.

For details about events next week and to learn more about the Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies Program and related activities, visit the PACSI website.

John Prendergast

 

 

April 2nd, 2012

30 Stories, Built in 15 Days

by Tony

This is a really cool video…

Here is the video Description:

What can you accomplish in 360 hours?
The Chinese sustainable building company, Broad Group, has yet attempted another impossible feat, building a 30-story tall hotel prototype in 360 hours, after building a 15-story building in a week earlier in 2011.
You may ask why in a hurry, and is it safe? The statistics in the video can put you in good faith. Prefabricated modular buildings has many advantages over conventional buildings.
Higher precision in fabrication (+/- 0.2mm).
More coordinated on-site construction management.
Shorter construction time span.
Lower construction waste.
Also many other health and energy features are included in Broad Sustainable Buildings (BSB)
The building was built over last Christmas time and finished before New Years Eve of 2012.

This video was originally posted by differentenergy