Write an article based on this summary:

– In a major upset, the Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives has won the top honor at Cannes, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "I'd like to send a message home," director Apichatpong Weerasethakul said in accepting the Palme d'Or. "This prize is for you." Mike Leigh's Another Year had been considered a favorite for the top award, but English-language films failed to capture any major prizes, Entertainment Weekly notes.

Get Box Office Alerts via Mobile FREE Newsletters 'Uncle Boonmee' wins Cannes' Palme d'Or Films by Beauvois, Haroun, Amalric also honored By Rebecca Leffler Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Getty) Related Q&A: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

 Charlotte Gainsbourg joined jury president Tim Burton to present Weerasethakul with the prize at the traditional closing-night ceremony held in the Palais des Festivals, as the world's most famous film festival wrapped its 12-day run.

 "I'd like to thank the jury, particularly Tim Burton, whose haircut I really like," Weerasethakul told the crowd while accepting his Palme d'Or. He added: "I'd like to send a message home: This prize is for you."

 Match Factory is handling international sales for the film about a man suffering from acute kidney failure who spends his last days in the country surrounded by his family.

 French director Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men" was awarded the fest's Grand Prize. Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale lead an all-star Gallic cast of Christian monks living in a monastery in Algeria as terror mounts around them. Toward the end of the festival, Sony Pictures Classics picked up U.S., Australian and New Zealand rights to the film.

 Burton was joined on stage by his Jury: Kate Beckinsale, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Alberto Barbera, Emmanuel Carrere, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Erice, Alexandre Desplat and Shekhar Kapur. Imprisoned Iranian filmmaker and Juror Jafar Panahi's seat remained empty.

 The jury prize went to Mahamet-Saleh Haroun's "A Screaming Man" from Chad. "I come from the country where nothing much exists," Haroun said, adding: "You need to make films like meals you'd make for people you love."

 Kirsten Dunst, who presented her short film in the Critics Week sidebar earlier in the week, presented the prize for Best Director to Mathieu Amalric for his film about American showgirls in France, "On Tour." "It's very moving for me. I have the impression I'm back at home," the Cannes veteran said before asking the star actresses of the film to join him on stage.

 South Korean director Lee Chang-dong won the best screenplay award for "Poetry."

 The Best Actress prize went to this year's Festival de Cannes poster girl Juliette Binoche for her role in Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy."

 "I still believe in love. I still think I'll get married one day. And I thank all of the men who have put up with me along the way," Binoche told the crowd.

 "Certified Copy" has been in French theaters since last Wednesday and MK2 is handling international sales.

 "Biutiful" star Javier Bardem shared the Best Actor prize with Italian actor Elio Germano, star of Daniele Luchetti's "Our Life."

 French actress Emmanuelle Beart joined Camera d'Or Jury President Gael Garcia Bernal to present the prize for best first film to Mexican director Michael Rowe's Director's Fortnight title "Leap Year."

 The traditionally calm closing night ceremony kicked off with a star-powered red carpet as international actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek and Diane Kruger joined Javier Bardem, Lambert Wilson and Guillaume Canet for the walk up the Palais steps.

 The awards were handed out at a gala ceremony presided by Kristin Scott Thomas ahead of a screening of Julie Bertuccelli's "The Tree" starring last year's Best Actress winner Charlotte Gainsbourg.

 VIP guests then headed to a closing-night dinner and cocktail party in the Palais Salon des Ambassadeurs, followed by a night of dancing at the Majestic Hotel. CANNES -- Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" won the Festival de Cannes' top honor, the coveted Palme d'Or, as the 63rd annual Festival de Cannes wrapped Sunday night.Charlotte Gainsbourg joined jury president Tim Burton to present Weerasethakul with the prize at the traditional closing-night ceremony held in the Palais des Festivals, as the world's most famous film festival wrapped its 12-day run."I'd like to thank the jury, particularly Tim Burton, whose haircut I really like," Weerasethakul told the crowd while accepting his Palme d'Or. He added: "I'd like to send a message home: This prize is for you."Match Factory is handling international sales for the film about a man suffering from acute kidney failure who spends his last days in the country surrounded by his family.French director Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men" was awarded the fest's Grand Prize. Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale lead an all-star Gallic cast of Christian monks living in a monastery in Algeria as terror mounts around them. Toward the end of the festival, Sony Pictures Classics picked up U.S., Australian and New Zealand rights to the film.Burton was joined on stage by his Jury: Kate Beckinsale, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Alberto Barbera, Emmanuel Carrere, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Erice, Alexandre Desplat and Shekhar Kapur. Imprisoned Iranian filmmaker and Juror Jafar Panahi's seat remained empty.The jury prize went to Mahamet-Saleh Haroun's "A Screaming Man" from Chad. "I come from the country where nothing much exists," Haroun said, adding: "You need to make films like meals you'd make for people you love."Kirsten Dunst, who presented her short film in the Critics Week sidebar earlier in the week, presented the prize for Best Director to Mathieu Amalric for his film about American showgirls in France, "On Tour." "It's very moving for me. I have the impression I'm back at home," the Cannes veteran said before asking the star actresses of the film to join him on stage.South Korean director Lee Chang-dong won the best screenplay award for "Poetry."The Best Actress prize went to this year's Festival de Cannes poster girl Juliette Binoche for her role in Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy.""I still believe in love. I still think I'll get married one day. And I thank all of the men who have put up with me along the way," Binoche told the crowd."Certified Copy" has been in French theaters since last Wednesday and MK2 is handling international sales."Biutiful" star Javier Bardem shared the Best Actor prize with Italian actor Elio Germano, star of Daniele Luchetti's "Our Life."French actress Emmanuelle Beart joined Camera d'Or Jury President Gael Garcia Bernal to present the prize for best first film to Mexican director Michael Rowe's Director's Fortnight title "Leap Year."The traditionally calm closing night ceremony kicked off with a star-powered red carpet as international actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek and Diane Kruger joined Javier Bardem, Lambert Wilson and Guillaume Canet for the walk up the Palais steps.The awards were handed out at a gala ceremony presided by Kristin Scott Thomas ahead of a screening of Julie Bertuccelli's "The Tree" starring last year's Best Actress winner Charlotte Gainsbourg.VIP guests then headed to a closing-night dinner and cocktail party in the Palais Salon des Ambassadeurs, followed by a night of dancing at the Majestic Hotel. 'Uncle Boonmee' wins Cannes' Palme d'Or Films by Beauvois, Haroun, Amalric also honored By Rebecca Leffler Related Q&A: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

 Charlotte Gainsbourg joined jury president Tim Burton to present Weerasethakul with the prize at the traditional closing-night ceremony held in the Palais des Festivals, as the world's most famous film festival wrapped its 12-day run.

 "I'd like to thank the jury, particularly Tim Burton, whose haircut I really like," Weerasethakul told the crowd while accepting his Palme d'Or. He added: "I'd like to send a message home: This prize is for you."

 Match Factory is handling international sales for the film about a man suffering from acute kidney failure who spends his last days in the country surrounded by his family.

 French director Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men" was awarded the fest's Grand Prize. Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale lead an all-star Gallic cast of Christian monks living in a monastery in Algeria as terror mounts around them. Toward the end of the festival, Sony Pictures Classics picked up U.S., Australian and New Zealand rights to the film.

 Burton was joined on stage by his Jury: Kate Beckinsale, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Alberto Barbera, Emmanuel Carrere, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Erice, Alexandre Desplat and Shekhar Kapur. Imprisoned Iranian filmmaker and Juror Jafar Panahi's seat remained empty.

 The jury prize went to Mahamet-Saleh Haroun's "A Screaming Man" from Chad. "I come from the country where nothing much exists," Haroun said, adding: "You need to make films like meals you'd make for people you love."

 Kirsten Dunst, who presented her short film in the Critics Week sidebar earlier in the week, presented the prize for Best Director to Mathieu Amalric for his film about American showgirls in France, "On Tour." "It's very moving for me. I have the impression I'm back at home," the Cannes veteran said before asking the star actresses of the film to join him on stage.

 South Korean director Lee Chang-dong won the best screenplay award for "Poetry."

 The Best Actress prize went to this year's Festival de Cannes poster girl Juliette Binoche for her role in Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy."

 "I still believe in love. I still think I'll get married one day. And I thank all of the men who have put up with me along the way," Binoche told the crowd.

 "Certified Copy" has been in French theaters since last Wednesday and MK2 is handling international sales.

 "Biutiful" star Javier Bardem shared the Best Actor prize with Italian actor Elio Germano, star of Daniele Luchetti's "Our Life."

 French actress Emmanuelle Beart joined Camera d'Or Jury President Gael Garcia Bernal to present the prize for best first film to Mexican director Michael Rowe's Director's Fortnight title "Leap Year."

 The traditionally calm closing night ceremony kicked off with a star-powered red carpet as international actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek and Diane Kruger joined Javier Bardem, Lambert Wilson and Guillaume Canet for the walk up the Palais steps.

 The awards were handed out at a gala ceremony presided by Kristin Scott Thomas ahead of a screening of Julie Bertuccelli's "The Tree" starring last year's Best Actress winner Charlotte Gainsbourg.

 VIP guests then headed to a closing-night dinner and cocktail party in the Palais Salon des Ambassadeurs, followed by a night of dancing at the Majestic Hotel. CANNES -- Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" won the Festival de Cannes' top honor, the coveted Palme d'Or, as the 63rd annual Festival de Cannes wrapped Sunday night.Charlotte Gainsbourg joined jury president Tim Burton to present Weerasethakul with the prize at the traditional closing-night ceremony held in the Palais des Festivals, as the world's most famous film festival wrapped its 12-day run."I'd like to thank the jury, particularly Tim Burton, whose haircut I really like," Weerasethakul told the crowd while accepting his Palme d'Or. He added: "I'd like to send a message home: This prize is for you."Match Factory is handling international sales for the film about a man suffering from acute kidney failure who spends his last days in the country surrounded by his family.French director Xavier Beauvois' "Of Gods and Men" was awarded the fest's Grand Prize. Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale lead an all-star Gallic cast of Christian monks living in a monastery in Algeria as terror mounts around them. Toward the end of the festival, Sony Pictures Classics picked up U.S., Australian and New Zealand rights to the film.Burton was joined on stage by his Jury: Kate Beckinsale, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Alberto Barbera, Emmanuel Carrere, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Erice, Alexandre Desplat and Shekhar Kapur. Imprisoned Iranian filmmaker and Juror Jafar Panahi's seat remained empty.The jury prize went to Mahamet-Saleh Haroun's "A Screaming Man" from Chad. "I come from the country where nothing much exists," Haroun said, adding: "You need to make films like meals you'd make for people you love."Kirsten Dunst, who presented her short film in the Critics Week sidebar earlier in the week, presented the prize for Best Director to Mathieu Amalric for his film about American showgirls in France, "On Tour." "It's very moving for me. I have the impression I'm back at home," the Cannes veteran said before asking the star actresses of the film to join him on stage.South Korean director Lee Chang-dong won the best screenplay award for "Poetry."The Best Actress prize went to this year's Festival de Cannes poster girl Juliette Binoche for her role in Abbas Kiarostami's "Certified Copy.""I still believe in love. I still think I'll get married one day. And I thank all of the men who have put up with me along the way," Binoche told the crowd."Certified Copy" has been in French theaters since last Wednesday and MK2 is handling international sales."Biutiful" star Javier Bardem shared the Best Actor prize with Italian actor Elio Germano, star of Daniele Luchetti's "Our Life."French actress Emmanuelle Beart joined Camera d'Or Jury President Gael Garcia Bernal to present the prize for best first film to Mexican director Michael Rowe's Director's Fortnight title "Leap Year."The traditionally calm closing night ceremony kicked off with a star-powered red carpet as international actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek and Diane Kruger joined Javier Bardem, Lambert Wilson and Guillaume Canet for the walk up the Palais steps.The awards were handed out at a gala ceremony presided by Kristin Scott Thomas ahead of a screening of Julie Bertuccelli's "The Tree" starring last year's Best Actress winner Charlotte Gainsbourg.VIP guests then headed to a closing-night dinner and cocktail party in the Palais Salon des Ambassadeurs, followed by a night of dancing at the Majestic Hotel.

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 Emailed ||||| The Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the Palme d’Or this evening at the Cannes film festival, while the Best Actress prize went to Copie Conforme (Certified Copy) star Juliette Binoche. The Cannes jury, which included Tim Burton, Kate Beckinsale, and Benicio del Toro, split its Best Actor award between two performers: Biutiful‘s Javier Bardem and La Nostra Vita‘s Elio Germano. No English language films received any major awards, including Mike Leigh’s Another Year, which was widely acclaimed by critics, and Doug Liman’s Fair Game, starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. The rest of the winners are listed below:

 Grand Prix (runner-up): Des Hommes et Des Dieux (Of God and Men), Xavier Beauvois

 Best Director: Mathieu Amalric, Tournée (On Tour)

 Best Screenplay: Lee Chang-dong, Poetry

 Camera d’Or (first feature): Año Bisiesto (Leap Year), Michael Rowe

 Jury Prize: A Screaming Man (Un Homme Qui Crie), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun |||||


Senior U.S. commanders argued that increasing electricity through the “Kandahar Bridging Solution” would be an important part of the overall American military effort to beat back the Taliban in Kandahar province. Those commanders asserted that more power to operate lights, television sets and fans would please residents and lead many of them to throw their support behind the Afghan government.

 But other civilian and military officials have questioned that logic. When U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl was the deputy commander of U.S. forces in Kandahar last year, he said he could not find any evidence that the additional electricity was yielding greater employment, stability or support for the government. “This is a bridge to nowhere,” he declared to his staff in 2011.

 Back then, Dahl also noticed a disturbing disparity: The installation of the turbine at the dam, which will not occur for at least two more years, will produce significantly less power than the city receives from the generators. Since the Afghan government will not have the financial ability to buy diesel for the generators, that means the city’s power supply will inevitably ebb once the turbine is operational and U.S. funding for diesel ends.

 That gap was seized upon by the inspector general. “While the Kandahar Bridging Solution may achieve some immediate [counterinsurgency] benefits because — as stated by USAID officials — ‘people like having their lights on,’ the U.S. government may be building an expectations gap that cannot be met in a timely manner,” the report states.

 The inspector general’s report also questions whether a new $23 million road in Helmand province will have adverse effects because the Afghan government has not compensated landowners for the destruction of their property. In addition, the report reveals that four electricity projects — costing a total of more than $300 million from the infrastructure fund — have not yet been awarded to contractors, despite claims from the military and USAID that they will have important counterinsurgency benefits.

 Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a frequent critic of Afghan reconstruction efforts, said the report raises fundamental questions about the strategic rationale of U.S. development programs in the war-torn nation. “There’s no data that shows these major projects have changed the security environment in the country,” she said. “We cannot just throw money at a country like this and expect it to have a good ending.”

 In its response to the report, the U.S. Embassy defended the importance of large-scale development initiatives. “These critical infrastructure projects have signaled to Afghan populations the U.S. government’s long term commitment to Afghanistan.”

 Although the United States has spent almost $90 billion on Afghan reconstruction and development over the past decade, such examinations traditionally had not been conducted by the special inspector general’s office, which was more interested in contracting waste and fraud. This report was approved by a new inspector, former federal prosecutor John F. Sopko, who took charge of the office this month. He has vowed to scrutinize how projects are conceptualized and designed, not just how they are implemented. ||||| Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com ||||| A U.S. initiative to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on construction projects in Afghanistan, originally pitched as a vital tool in the military campaign against the Taliban, is running so far behind schedule that it will not yield benefits until most U.S. combat forces have departed the country, according to a government inspection report to be released Monday.

 The report, by the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, also concludes that the Afghan government will not have the money or skill to maintain many of the projects, creating an “expectations gap�? among the population that could harm overall stabilization efforts.

 “Implementing projects that the Afghan government is unable to sustain may be counterproductive�? to the U.S. counterinsurgency mission, the inspector general wrote. “If goals are set and not achieved, both the U.S. and Afghan governments can lose the populace’s support.�?

 The study calls into question a fundamental premise of the U.S. strategy to counter the Taliban insurgency — that expensive new roads and power plants can be funded and constructed quickly enough to help turn the tide of war — and it poses a sobering, counterintuitive question for policymakers in Washington: whether the massive influx of American spending in Afghanistan is actually making problems worse.

 Many U.S. military commanders, diplomats and reconstruction experts have long believed that large infrastructure projects were essential to fixing Iraq and Afghanistan. Now-retired Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former top commander in both wars who is now director of the CIA, used to say that cash was one of his most important weapons.

 But the latest report adds new weight to the argument — voiced by independent development specialists and even a few government officials — that the United States attempted to build too much in a country with limited means to assume responsibility for those projects. All U.S. combat forces are expected to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

 Until now, most critiques have asserted only that the massive U.S. foreign assistance program has led to waste and fueled corruption. The new report goes further by suggesting that some projects may ultimately prove detrimental.

 In a written response to the report, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said it was “speculative�? for the inspector general to conclude that some of the projects would have adverse effects. The top Pentagon official responsible for Afghanistan called the report premature and insisted that the announcement of the projects, even though they have not been completed, has generated goodwill and excitement among the Afghan people.

 The inspector general’s examination focuses on the Afghan Infrastructure Fund, which was authorized by Congress in 2010 in part to prevent the Defense Department from dipping into a discretionary account for military commanders to bankroll large projects. The infrastructure fund was supposed to allow the Defense and State departments to collaboratively plan and pool money for large infrastructure improvements aimed at supporting the U.S. counterinsurgency campaign.

 Since then, Congress has poured $800 million into the fund and the State Department has committed about $1 billion of its funds to related infrastructure programs.

 Among the projects criticized by the inspector general is a plan to use costly diesel generators to provide electricity to residents of Kandahar, the country’s second-largest city, until the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers install a new hydropower turbine at a dam in the violence-plagued hills of neighboring Helmand province. Purchasing diesel to run the generators, which produce about 25 megawatts of electricity each — enough to power about 2,500 Afghan homes or small businesses — is projected to cost U.S. taxpayers about $220 million through 2013.

 Senior U.S. commanders argued that increasing electricity through the “Kandahar Bridging Solution�? would be an important part of the overall American military effort to beat back the Taliban in Kandahar province. Those commanders asserted that more power to operate lights, television sets and fans would please residents and lead many of them to throw their support behind the Afghan government.

 But other civilian and military officials have questioned that logic. When U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl was the deputy commander of U.S. forces in Kandahar last year, he said he could not find any evidence that the additional electricity was yielding greater employment, stability or support for the government. “This is a bridge to nowhere,�? he declared to his staff in 2011.

 Back then, Dahl also noticed a disturbing disparity: The installation of the turbine at the dam, which will not occur for at least two more years, will produce significantly less power than the city receives from the generators. Since the Afghan government will not have the financial ability to buy diesel for the generators, that means the city’s power supply will inevitably ebb once the turbine is operational and U.S. funding for diesel ends.

 That gap was seized upon by the inspector general. “While the Kandahar Bridging Solution may achieve some immediate [counterinsurgency] benefits because — as stated by USAID officials — ‘people like having their lights on,’ the U.S. government may be building an expectations gap that cannot be met in a timely manner,�? the report states.

 The inspector general’s report also questions whether a new $23 million road in Helmand province will have adverse effects because the Afghan government has not compensated landowners for the destruction of their property. In addition, the report reveals that four electricity projects — costing a total of more than $300 million from the infrastructure fund — have not yet been awarded to contractors, despite claims from the military and USAID that they will have important counterinsurgency benefits.

 Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a frequent critic of Afghan reconstruction efforts, said the report raises fundamental questions about the strategic rationale of U.S. development programs in the war-torn nation. “There’s no data that shows these major projects have changed the security environment in the country,�? she said. “We cannot just throw money at a country like this and expect it to have a good ending.�?

 In its response to the report, the U.S. Embassy defended the importance of large-scale development initiatives. “These critical infrastructure projects have signaled to Afghan populations the U.S. government’s long term commitment to Afghanistan.�?

 Although the United States has spent almost $90 billion on Afghan reconstruction and development over the past decade, such examinations traditionally had not been conducted by the special inspector general’s office, which was more interested in contracting waste and fraud. This report was approved by a new inspector, former federal prosecutor John F. Sopko, who took charge of the office this month. He has vowed to scrutinize how projects are conceptualized and designed, not just how they are implemented. |||||

Write a summary.

– When US inspectors looked at four border police bases in Afghanistan—funded by the US at a cost of almost $19 million—they found most of the facilities on three of those bases had either been abandoned or weren't being used as intended, the Wall Street Journal reports. The report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a US government watchdog agency, uncovered numerous examples of poor construction work: One base has no water supply, a second is experiencing sewage overflow, some are missing drainpipes, others have leaking fuel lines or broken doors. One even includes a well house being used as … a chicken coop. The US Army Corps of Engineers says it is working on fixing the issues. The report also finds that the US plan to fund hundreds of millions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects in the country is extremely behind schedule—and that some of the ambitious plans may actually hurt the country, the Washington Post adds. The report raises concerns about the 2014 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and questions whether local forces are prepared to take over security duties—and whether this new infrastructure can be successfully maintained by a country with limited resources. The Post digs into a $220 million electricity project in Kandahar that it cites as a prime example.


Article:

Work on your voice to get your dream job.

 New research from the University of Chicago suggests that, in some cases, a person's voice could actually be more important than his or her resume and experience.

 Researchers explained that when job candidates were judged more competent, thoughtful and intelligent in sound than on paper.

 "In addition to communicating the contents of one's mind, like specific thoughts and beliefs, a person's speech conveys their fundamental capacity to think -- the capacity for reasoning, thoughtfulness and intellect," lead researcher Professor Nicholas Epley said in a news release.

 Furthermore, findings were replicated in an experiment involving professional recruiters, academics who recruited candidates from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

 "When conveying intelligence, it's important for one's voice to be heard - literally," Epley concluded.

 The findings are published in The Journal of Psychological Science. ||||| Credit: Ethan, SportSuburban, Flickr via Creative Commons. A résumé highlighting stellar professional credentials and experience could pique the interest of a prospective employer, but it's your voice that may actually help you land the job.

 A new study by University of Chicago Booth School of Business Professor Nicholas Epley and Ph.D. candidate Juliana Schroeder found that when hypothetical employers and professional recruiters listened to or read job candidates' job qualifications, they rated the candidates as more competent, thoughtful and intelligent when they heard the pitch than when they read it—even when the words used were exactly the same. As a result, they liked the candidate more and were more interested in hiring them.

 However, the addition of video did not influence evaluations beyond hearing the candidate's voice, the researchers note.

 "In addition to communicating the contents of one's mind, like specific thoughts and beliefs, a person's speech conveys their fundamental capacity to think—the capacity for reasoning, thoughtfulness and intellect," says Epley.

 Titled "The Sound of Intellect: Speech Reveals a Thoughtful Mind, Increasing a Job Candidate's Appeal," the study will be published in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Psychological Science, the highest ranked empirical journal in the field of psychology.

 In a series of experiments, the researchers asked a group of Chicago Booth MBA student job candidates to develop a short pitch to the company for which they would most like to work. They created written pitches and spoken pitches (videotaped).

 In an initial experiment, a separate group of evaluators judged the spoken pitches by either watching and listening to the video recording, listening to the audio only, or reading a transcript of the pitch.

 The evaluators who heard the pitch subsequently rated the candidate as more intelligent, thoughtful and competent than the evaluators who only read a transcript of the pitch; the evaluators who watched the video pitch did not rate any differently than those who heard the pitch. In fact, evaluators who heard the pitch reported liking the candidate more and reported being significantly more likely to hire that person.

 In another experiment, the evaluators who listened to trained actors reading job candidates' written pitches out loud believed those candidates were more intelligent and wanted to hire them more than the evaluators who read candidates' own written pitches.

 Even professional recruiters (who recruit candidates from Chicago Booth) were more likely to hire the candidates whose pitches they could hear than those whose pitches they read.

 Epley concludes: "When conveying intelligence, it's important for one's voice to be heard—literally."

 Explore further: Employers often more interested in hiring potential playmates than the very best candidates |||||
What is a summary?

– If you're trying to land a job, it's much better to explain why you're the perfect candidate in person than in an email, a new study suggests. And it's got nothing to do with power suits—it's all about your voice. Employers are more likely to rate people as intelligent if they hear their pitch than if they read it, say researchers at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In their experiments, the researchers had students prepare videotaped pitches for their dream companies. Evaluators rated the applicants more highly if they listened to the audio rather than reading the same words in a transcript, the researchers write at phys.org. Watching the video didn't seem to affect the scores at all. "In addition to communicating the contents of one's mind, like specific thoughts and beliefs, a person's speech conveys their fundamental capacity to think—the capacity for reasoning, thoughtfulness and intellect," says lead researcher Nicholas Epley. In the tests, "intellect was conveyed primarily through voice," perhaps through subtle variances in pitch and cadence, writes Wray Herbert at the Huffington Post. He thinks it backs up that age-old advice about the importance of wrangling face time with a potential boss. Or as a post at Counsel & Heal puts it, "work on your voice to get your dream job." (In other voice research, a study finds that lousy singers can improve—by singing more.)


Article:

Chicken Offsets

 Buy chicken offsets! Hi! I'm Ted Frank and I love the chicken sandwiches at Chick-fil-A. But I also like my gay-married friends and don't like the guilt of indirectly supporting Chick-fil-A's stance on gay rights. And I know there are lots of other people in the same boat. So I've started ChickenOffset.com . Every time you buy a chicken-sandwich meal at Chick-fil-A, you can buy an "offset" here. You can print out the receipt and demonstrate to your friends that the money you gave for LGBT youth more than compensates for the profits you put in Chick-fil-A's coffers. $1 gets you 1 chicken-meal offset; $6 for ten offsets. We promise to send at least 90% of the proceeds (and will almost certainly send more than that) after our minimal expenses to It Gets Better and the Williams Institute. We promise your offsets will provide far more money to non-profits that support gays than buying a sandwich at Chick-fil-A ends up putting in the pockets of anti-gay-rights organizations. We promise to update this site with data about how much money has been donated. If you'd rather give money directly to gay-rights organizations without an offset or middleman or chicken sandwich, might I suggest Freedom to Marry ? Campaign-finance law means that we will be giving our money to a 501(c)(3) organization to avoid losing money from taxes, but you're not so limited. Chicken Offset is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially or unofficially connected with Chick-fil-A, any Chick-fil-A owner-operators, the Cathy family, It Gets Better, the Williams Institute, or Freedom to Marry. Thanks to Daniel Frank for the quick-and-dirty programming help, and to gay-marriage opponent J.B. for the inspiration. (By the way, you might be interested in my other major project, the non-profit Center for Class Action Fairness LLC . It supports class members who are getting ripped off by bad class action settlements, like the ones that give injured consumers worthless coupons while paying the attorneys millions. Attorneys working with CCAF have won millions of dollars for consumers and shareholders over the last three years, while creating landmark precedent that will protect consumers in future class actions. Read about CCAF and join CCAF's Facebook page . CCAF is not affiliated with Chicken Offset or vice versa.) ||||| Chicken Offsets

 Love Chick-fil-A's sandwiches but hate the company president's stance against same-sex marriage?

 D.C. lawyer and activist Ted Frank is now offering a way for chicken-lovers to have their sandwich and support gay rights, too, with chicken offsets. (Tag line: Eating Chicken Guilt-Free Since 2012.)

 Here's how Frank describes the concept on the chicken offsets website:

 Hi! I'm Ted Frank and I love the chicken sandwiches at Chick-fil-A. But I also like my gay-married friends and don't like the guilt of indirectly supporting Chick-fil-A's stance on gay rights. And I know there are lots of other people in the same boat. So I've started ChickenOffset.com. Every time you buy a chicken-sandwich meal at Chick-fil-A, you can buy an "offset" here. You can print out the receipt and demonstrate to your friends that the money you gave for LGBT youth more than compensates for the profits you put in Chick-fil-A's coffers. $1 gets you 1 chicken-meal offset; $6 for ten offsets. We promise to send a minimum of 80% of the proceeds after expenses to It Gets Better and the Williams Institute. Your offsets will provide far more money to non-profits that support gays than buying a sandwich at Chick-fil-A ends up putting in the pockets of anti-gay-rights organizations. We promise to update this site with data about how much money has been donated.

 "I posted on Facebook that donating money to gay rights causes did a heck of a lot more good than depriving Christian groups of $0.0001 by boycotting Chick-fil-A," Frank tells The Huffington Post. "A friend joked 'Chicken offsets' in response, the domain name was open, and someone else would've come up with the idea if I didn't execute."

 The chicken offsets site went up late Saturday night -- it's so new there aren't any questions yet in the FAQ section.

 Frank says that no one has yet purchased an offset, "but Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays."

 UPDATE, 4:15 p.m.: Frank tells us that as of Monday late afternoon, he's sold "about $100" in chicken offsets.

 The website now has lots of questions and answers on the FAQ page, too, including a response to one concern that's come up a lot since the chicken offset site went live: "Shouldn't I just give money directly to charity instead of paying a middleman for an offset?"

 Here's Frank's response:

 Yes. The charity would get more money that way, though most would find that it costs more than $1 to process a $1 donation, so you should make sure you're giving them real money. But if you're lazy or don't want to give a material amount to charity, buy an offset from me or someone else selling offsets.

 See photos from the Chick-Fil-A Kiss Day

 Chick-fil-A Kiss Day

 Chick-fil-A Kiss Day

 1 of 16 Protesters take part in a "Kiss In" outside a Chick-fil-A restaurant on Friday, Aug. 3, 2012 in Atlanta. Gay rights activists are planning demonstrations at Chick-fil-A restaurants to protest the fast-food chain owners' opposition to same-sex unions. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bob Andres) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TV OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT Share this slide:

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What is a summary?

– If you love the taste of Chick-fil-A but loathe the company president's recent statements against gay marriage, you may want to head over to ChickenOffset.com, a website that allows you to donate money to gay rights campaigns after you've wolfed down that spicy chicken sandwich. The website was started by Washington, DC, lawyer and activist Ted Frank, who says he loves the restaurant's fare but not "the guilt of indirectly supporting Chick-fil-A's stance on gay rights." Frank tells the Huffington Post that giving money—$1 per offset—to groups like It Gets Better and the Williams Institute is a lot more effective than "depriving Christian groups of $0.0001 by boycotting Chick-fil-A." Frank isn't the only gay rights supporter coming up with creative ways to strike back at the eatery...


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 Nations have so dragged their feet in battling climate change that the situation has grown critical and the risk of severe economic disruption is rising, according to a draft United Nations report. Another 15 years of failure to limit carbon emissions could make the problem virtually impossible to solve with current technologies, experts found.

 A delay would most likely force future generations to develop the ability to suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and store them underground to preserve the livability of the planet, the report found. But it is not clear whether such technologies will ever exist at the necessary scale, and even if they do, the approach would probably be wildly expensive compared with taking steps now to slow emissions.

 The report said that governments of the world were still spending far more money to subsidize fossil fuels than to accelerate the shift to cleaner energy, thus encouraging continued investment in projects like coal-burning power plants that pose a long-term climate risk.

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 While the spread of technologies like solar power and wind farms might give the impression of progress, the report said, such developments are being overtaken by rising emissions from fossil fuels over the past decade, especially in fast-growing countries like China. And one of the most important sources of low-carbon energy, nuclear power, is actually declining over time as a percentage of the global energy mix, the report said.

 Unless far greater efforts are made to reduce emissions, “the fundamental drivers of emissions growth are expected to persist despite major improvements in energy supply” and in the efficiency with which energy is used, the report said.

 The new warnings come in a draft report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations panel of climate experts that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for its efforts to analyze and communicate the risks of climate change. The report is not final, but a draft dated Dec. 17 was leaked this week and was first reported by Reuters. The New York Times obtained a copy independently.

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 Business leaders will tackle many of the problems raised in the draft next week, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where a day will be devoted to addressing the rising economic costs of climate change — and the costs to businesses and governments of solving the problem.

 Within the business community, “there is an awakening of increasing economic risk — a recognition that operating conditions are changing and we need to respond,” said Dominic Waughray, head of environmental initiatives for the forum. “There has been a failure of government to address these solutions. If there is an alliance of companies that can bite off pieces of the puzzle, it might help.”

 In the dry language of a technical committee, the draft outlines an increasingly dire situation.

 Even as the early effects of climate change are starting to be felt around the world, the panel concluded that efforts are lagging not only in reducing emissions, but also in adapting to the climatic changes that have become inevitable.

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 It is true, the report found, that the political willingness to tackle climate change is growing in many countries and new policies are spreading, but the report said these were essentially being outrun by the rapid growth of fossil fuels.

 While emissions appear to have fallen in recent years in some of the wealthiest countries, that is somewhat of an illusion, the report found. The growth of international trade means many of the goods consumed in wealthy countries are now made abroad — so that those countries have, in effect, outsourced their greenhouse gas emissions to countries like China.

 Emissions in the United States rose slightly in 2013, but are still about 10 percent below their 2005 levels, largely because of the newfound abundance of natural gas, which produces less greenhouse gases than burning coal.

 The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty meant to limit emissions, has “not been as successful as intended,” the report found. That is partly because some important countries like the United States refused to ratify it or later withdrew, but also because of flaws within the treaty itself, the report found. The treaty exempted developing countries from taking strong action, for instance, a decision that many experts now say was a mistake.

 Efforts are underway to negotiate a new international treaty to replace Kyoto, but it is not even supposed to take effect until 2020, and it is unclear whether countries will agree on ambitious goals to limit emissions. It is equally unclear how much political support a new treaty will gain in China and the United States, the world’s largest emitters.

 The Obama administration is pushing for a deal, but any treaty would have to be ratified by the Senate; many Republicans and some coal-state Democrats are wary, fearing economic damage to the country.

 The new report suggests, however, that the real question is whether to take some economic pain now, or more later.

 Nations have agreed to try to limit the warming of the planet to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels. Even though it will be exceedingly difficult to meet, this target would still mean vast ecological and economic damage, experts have found. But the hope is that these would come on slowly enough to be somewhat manageable; having no target would be to risk catastrophic disruption, the thinking goes.

 As scientists can best figure, the target requires that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, stay below 500 parts per million. The level recently surpassed 400, and at present growth rates will surpass 500 within a few decades.

 If countries permit continued high emissions growth until 2030, the draft report found, the target will most likely be impossible to meet, at least without a hugely expensive crash program to rebuild the energy system, and even that might not work.

 If emissions do overshoot the target, the report found, future generations would probably have to develop ways to pull greenhouse gases out of the air. It is fairly clear this will be technically possible. It could be achieved, for instance, by growing bioenergy crops that take up carbon dioxide, burning the resulting fuel and then injecting the emissions into underground formations. But such efforts would compete with food production, already under strain.

 The leaked draft is the third and final segment of a major report that the climate change panel is completing in stages. The first segment, published in September, found a 95 percent or greater likelihood that humans are the main cause of climate change. The second, due out in March, is expected to warn about the likely consequences of climate change, including risks to the food supply.

 The third, focusing on policies to limit the damage, is due for publication in Berlin in April. ||||| A coalition of environmental groups is calling on President Barack Obama to put greater emphasis on combating climate change in his energy policy, pressing the administration as it weighs approving the Keystone XL pipeline.

 The administration’s pursuit of increased domestic oil and gas production jeopardizes progress made toward lowering carbon pollution linked to climate change, according to a letter signed by leaders of 18 U.S. environmental organizations including the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

 “An ‘all of the above’ strategy is a compromise that future generations can’t afford,” the groups wrote in the letter released last night. “It fails to prioritize clean energy and solutions that have already begun to replace fossil fuels, revitalize American industry, and save Americans money.”

 The letter emerged as the U.S. State Department completes work on a final environmental assessment of TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s proposed $5.4 billion pipeline that would carry oil sands crude from Canada to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico coast. The project has galvanized environmental groups, which are pushing Obama to reject the project because they say it will increase greenhouse-gas emissions tied to climate change.

 A draft environmental impact review by the State Department concluded the pipeline wouldn’t worsen climate change because the carbon-heavy oil would find its way to market by other means. The agency held a hearing and accepted comments for the environmental impact study, a final version of which hasn’t yet been released. Once it is complete, federal agencies will have 90 days to submit comments on the project’s national interest.

 ‘Climate-Impact Lens’

 Obama has said he won’t approve Calgary-based TransCanada’s application to build Keystone if it were found to substantially boost carbon-dioxide emissions, which scientists say are raising the Earth’s temperature.

 In their letter, the environmental organizations cited the Keystone project and said that “a climate-impact lens should be applied to all decisions regarding new fossil fuel development.”

 The president rejected the company’s initial application to build Keystone after officials in Nebraska said the pipeline would imperil ecologically sensitive lands. TransCanada then split the project in two and applied for the rerouted northern leg in May 2012.

 The letter was reported earlier by The Washington Post.

 To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Snyder in Washington at jsnyder24@bloomberg.net

 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net ||||| The new pressure from both sides could have an impact on critical permitting decisions on issues ranging from the Keystone XL pipeline to natural gas exports and federal coal leases. (Nati Harnik/AP)

 A group of the nation’s leading environmental organizations is breaking with the administration over its energy policy, arguing that the White House needs to apply a strict climate test to all of its energy decisions or risk undermining one of the president’s top second-term priorities.

 The rift — reflected in a letter sent to President Obama by 18 groups, including the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund and Earthjustice — signals that the administration is under pressure to confront the fossil-fuel industry or risk losing support from a critical part of its political base during an already difficult election year.

 For years, the administration has pushed aggressively to limit pollution from coal-fired power plants and improve fuel efficiency in transportation while also embracing domestic production of natural gas, oil and coal under an “all of the above” energy strategy. This has angered environmental groups, which reluctantly went along until Thursday’s break.

 “You can’t have it both ways,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in an interview.

 The criticism came on the same day that the fossil-fuel industry and its congressional allies began separate efforts to challenge the administration’s environmental policies. That suggests that the White House will have to marshal additional resources to defend the work it is already doing to address climate change.

 In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama promised to tackle climate change. How is he doing? Nia-Malika Henderson talks to Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone about Obama's environmental policy. (The Washington Post)

 The American Petroleum Institute announced a new advertising and electoral campaign that will promote domestic oil and gas production.At the same time, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) asked the Government Accountability Office to determine whether the Senate can use the Congressional Review Act to reverse a proposed rule to limit carbon emissions from new power plants.

 The new pressure from both sides — one demanding that President Obama reconcile his commitment to fight climate change with his other energy policies, the other pushing him to scale back environmental regulation — could have an impact on critical permitting decisions on issues ranging from the Keystone XL pipeline to natural gas exports and federal coal leases.

 The environmental groups’ initiative was perhaps more surprising, given their long support of Obama’s efforts to combat climate change.

 “We believe that continued reliance on an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy would be fundamentally at odds with your goal of cutting carbon pollution and would undermine our nation’s capacity to respond to the threat of climate disruption,” the environmentalists wrote in a letter obtained by The Washington Post. “With record-high atmospheric carbon concentrations and the rising threat of extreme heat, drought, wildfires and super storms, America’s energy policies must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, not simply reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

 The groups suggested that Obama should apply a strict climate test “to all decisions regarding new fossil fuel development,” including hydraulic fracturing and coal mining on public lands, as well as drilling in the Arctic Ocean.

 Dan Utech, special assistant to the president for energy and climate change, said in an interview that the administration is “taking a number of steps under the climate action plan to drive down emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases.”

 “At the same time, obviously we’re going to keep using oil and gas for some period of time,” Utech said. “It’s better to produce these things here than import them. They go together, and they’re not really at odds.”

 David Victor, a professor of international relations at the University of California at San Diego and an energy expert, wrote in an e-mail that several factors explain why the administration’s energy policy is plagued by internal conflicts. Since most of it is done through executive authority rather than “with clean new legislation . . . policy gets advanced on a thousand fronts, each with their own constraints.”

 “Some are easy, such as some administrative standards on energy efficiency. Others are much harder, like federal lands policy,” he wrote.

 Decisions about whether the administration should allow the Keystone XL pipeline to cross the Canadian border or permit new liquefied natural gas terminals to be built “are emerging as hot-button issues,” Victor added, because there is more oil and gas to be extracted “than people thought even a few years ago.”

 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), co-chairman of the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change, said in an interview that while environmentalists are right to push for a rapid transition to clean energy, senior administration officials have made it clear in recent weeks that they’re committed to pursuing that goal.

 “There’s a real warming trend at the White House toward listening to ideas on how to build a bridge to a fully sustainable energy strategy,” he said.

 Jack Gerard, the API president and chief executive who introduced his group’s “America’s Energy, America’s Choice” campaign at the National Press Club on Thursday, said in an interview that the president faces “a test of leadership” on whether he will seize “the chance of a generation to make the United States the energy superpower it can become.”

 Lawmakers are trying to block some of the president’s climate initiatives through the omnibus spending bill that passed the Senate on Thursday night. That measure would require the administration to submit a report on its spending on global warming initiatives within 120 days of submitting its next budget request and prohibit it from trying to limit funding for overseas coal plants.

 Heather Zichal, who served as Obama’s top energy and climate adviser until leaving the White House late last year, said the administration has pursued policies that target major sources of greenhouse gas emissions at a time when it faces considerable congressional opposition.

 “As a whole, what this administration has done is gone after the biggest and most meaningful emissions, and they have an agenda that fits the political environment in which they operate,” she said. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– President Obama may be stuck between a melting icecap and a hard place. Environmental groups have grown weary of the administration's "all of the above" energy strategy—which has seen it hold tight to domestic natural gas, oil, and coal production even as it works to limit coal-fired power plant pollution—and the fossil-fuel industry is just as peeved. "You can't have it both ways," an environmentalist tells the Washington Post. In a letter sent to Obama yesterday, some 18 groups have announced their displeasure, showing the administration could "risk losing support from a critical part of its political base during an already difficult election year," the Post notes. "An 'all of the above' strategy is a compromise that future generations can't afford," the letter reads, per Bloomberg. It suggests what the Post calls a "strict climate test" be applied "to all decisions regarding new fossil fuel development," from ocean drilling to the Keystone XL pipeline. Yesterday was a sort of double whammy for Obama, with the American Petroleum Institute announcing a new ad push that will champion domestic oil and gas production, and with Mitch McConnell tasking the Government Accountability Office with figuring out whether the Senate can reverse these emissions limits. This, as a UN report finds our carbon emissions rose slightly last year (though they still fall below 2005 levels) and notes that governments worldwide are spending more money subsidizing fossil fuels than moving toward cleaner energy, the New York Times reports.


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PEDAL – serious research about play

 What is PEDAL?

 PEDAL is located in the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education, and was launched in October 2015 with funding from the LEGO Foundation. Our mission is to conduct academic research into the role of play in young children’s education, development and learning to inform wider practice and policy. PEDAL is part of the Psychology, Education and Learning Studies Research Group at the Faculty.

 Why research play?

 Play is an integral part of a happy childhood. All children and most adults engage in playful activities, including physical play, play with objects, symbolic play, pretence play and games with rules. At the minimum, it is clear that play is enjoyed by its participants, and this alone indicates it has motivational value in relation to learning.

 However, beyond this, little has been scientifically established about the possible benefits of human playfulness, and it is currently under-researched. Play advocates claim that it enhances learning, has a clear role in education, and supports emotional well-being, good mental health, creativity and social competence. As such, it follows that play may have the potential to contribute to economic, social and cultural development.

 Through PEDAL's research, the role of play in children’s education, development and learning will be more widely understood by those involved in their care and education. New insights will inform effective evidence-based policy and practice – and will unlock a source of knowledge and inspiration that will improve children’s lives around the world. ||||| The Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge is consistently ranked in the top five in the world and now seeks to appoint a new Professor in the Faculty arising from an endowment to the University from the LEGO Foundation.

 The generous grant from the LEGO foundation has funded the LEGO® Professorship of Play in Education, Development, and Learning and the Board of Electors now invites applications for this Professorship from outstanding scholars in the field of educational or developmental psychology in early years development and would particularly welcome applications from those working in the field of play and playfulness.

 In association with the Professorship, the LEGO Foundation has further funded the establishment of a research Centre in Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL). The Centre will examine the importance of play and playfulness in education globally with an aim to produce research which supports excellence in education so that children are equipped with 21st Century skills like problem solving, team work and self-control.

 Candidates for the LEGO® Professorship in the Faculty of Education will have an outstanding research record of international stature and the vision, leadership, experience and enthusiasm to act as Director of the newly established Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL).

 Standard professorial duties include teaching and research, examining, supervision and administration. The Professor will be based in Cambridge. A competitive salary will be offered.

 The University has engaged Perrett Laver to support the Board of Electors in this appointment process and further information is available at from Perrett Laver by emailing LEGO@perrettlaver.com.

 Applications, consisting of a letter of application, a statement of current and future research plans, a curriculum vitae and a publications list, along with details of three referees should be made by emailing LEGO@perrettlaver.com no later than 20 January 2017.

 Please quote reference JR10956 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

 The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity.

 The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK. ||||| The world’s first professor of play – funded by Lego – is being sought by Cambridge University. What is the job description?

 There are only three days left to apply for what could be the most coveted job in education: the Lego professor of play, development and learning at the University of Cambridge.

 The closing date for applications for the brand new, permanent post is this Friday, 20 January. The successful candidate will not only enjoy all the perks of a typical Cambridge professor – including a job that commands an average salary of £83,981 – he or she will also lead Cambridge’s newly established Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (Pedal).

 “The value of play is relatively under-researched,” says Prof Anna Vignoles, interim director of Pedal and a member of Cambridge University’s faculty of education. “You have people who are claiming that it enhances learning, that it’s important, that it’s good for children’s wellbeing. All of that might be true, but actually there’s remarkably little evidence for that. The aim of the Pedal centre is to conduct rigorous research into the importance of play and how playful learning can be used to improve students’ outcomes.”

 Although the Lego Foundation, which owns 25% of the Lego business, will have no say over who is appointed, it is committed to funding the role in perpetuity and has already made a £4m endowment to the university. Of this, £2.5m has been put aside for the professorship. The remaining £1.5m is going to the Pedal centre, whose agenda will, in the future, be determined by the interests of the new professor.

 The university is planning to offer the role to an academic who specialises in educational psychology, to enable the centre to step up its research capabilities in this field. “Children are now increasingly accessing early-years provision at very young ages,” says Vignoles. “There are a number of scholars who are working on interesting aspects of that in developmental psychology. We’re confident that we’ll attract an outstanding scholar.”

 The Lego Foundation is hoping for a candidate with a “childlike mindset”: “an academic who is playful, extremely curious, open-minded, imaginative and creative – someone who can think of new ways of doing research and work across different disciplines,” says Bo Stjerne Thomsen, global head of research for the Lego Foundation.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lego’s global head of research, Bo Stjerne Thomsen, says the foundation wants to ‘encourage more playful learning in schools, rather than testing’. Photograph: Jonas Fotografi

 The foundation believes play has a critical role for children, particularly in high-quality learning. “Play should be part of education,” says Stjerne Thomsen. “What we want is to get the UK government to encourage more playful learning in schools, rather than testing. If children are being taught with standardised assessments and results, those children will expect to receive assignments and be led towards pre-defined goals for the rest of their lives.

 “But the skills you need now as an adult are collaboration, problem solving and coming up with ideas. In that sense, play is critical. You use your imagination to plan things, to predict outcomes, to understand how to solve a problem by looking at it from different perspectives.

 “For us, this is a unique opportunity to build research and interventions that can inform government policy, and also teachers – who are very good at teaching, but need other perspectives on the curriculum.”

 Vignoles, though, emphasises that the professor will not be expected to become an advocate for play to policymakers. “This is a research and teaching role, not an advocacy role. We don’t know what the impact of play is on particular outcomes. We’re going into this to investigate it.”

 And Stjerne Thomsen says: “We hope the Lego professor will speak to the needs that exist in education right now – and we can point to what the attitudes to play are, how teachers teach and what parents expect from education. New research studies may fulfill gaps in academia, but we help our academic partners to address the question of how it would make sense for a government or teacher to use that research.”

 The Lego Foundation chose Cambridge because of its interdisciplinary approach to play research and its expertise and credibility when communicating research to policymakers and practitioners, he says. “There is no department of play at any university and no institution takes responsibility for following the play literature and looking at interventions and outcomes in education. There is a lot of work even at the baseline for an academic institution to say what studies already exist and it’s very difficult to set up good studies.”

 Academics have under-researched the potential value of play because the line between play, teaching and learning is hard to pin down, Vignoles says. “Using the latest technology to carry out research and collect data will be important. One of the most exciting projects the centre is working on at the moment is looking at outdoor play using GPS technology. The aim is to understand how children interact with their peers when they’re left in a playground situation, and how they congregate in groups and play. It’s an innovative way of studying what children are doing.”

 It is the first professor of play in the world. “It needed to be a professorship because we have high expectations with regard to the standard of the research agenda,” says Stjerne Thomsen. “We wanted to attract someone who will build a whole team around him or her that can define studies in this area, someone who will be world-renowned for play.”

 Applicants do not need to already hold a professorship. “There may be people applying for this post for whom this will be their first chair – it’s more about what they can bring in terms of their research,” says Vignoles. Applications close on 20 January. ||||| This could be you. (Picture: Getty Images/metro.co.uk)

 Look, we all like to tell ourselves that we thrive on a little work-related stress. That we’re go-getters, and secretly enjoy spreadsheets and meetings and giving presentations.

 Because we’re adults. And that’s what we do.

 In a post #MeToo world, there's no room for sexual NDA's

 But really, we’d quite like it if we could get paid to do the stuff we did when we were toddlers: napping, eating, and playing.

 Finally, the good people of the University of Cambridge have created the job we’ve been waiting for our entire adult lives. Kind of.

 While they’re not offering anyone money to take naps or collect Beanie Babies, the university is looking to hire someone who’ll be paid to play.

 Yes, really.

 (Picture: Rick Madonik/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

 The University of Cambridge has invited people to apply for a new, permanent role as the Lego professor of play.

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 The role offers a ‘competitive salary’ plus all the perks you’d expect as a professor at Cambridge, and will focus on leading the university’s newly established Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development, and Learning.

 The centre will ‘examine the importance of play and playfulness in education’, with an aim of getting kids equipped with skills in problem solving, team work, and self-control.

 (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

 The successful applicant will also be required to do some teaching, research, examination, supervision, and administration.

 So it won’t all be building rockets out of Lego – but that’ll likely be part of it.

 The university states they’d particularly welcome applications ‘from those working in the field of play and playfulness’, but also any outstanding scholars in the fields of educational or developmental psychology.

 The Guardian reports that The Lego Foundation is hoping for a candidate with a ‘childlike mindset’ – someone who’s ‘playful, extremely curious, open-minded, imaginative and creative.’

 (Picture: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GettyImages)

 If that sounds like you, you’ll just need to apply with a letter of application, a statement of current and future research plans, a CV, a publications list, and the details of three referees.

 Oh, and the deadline’s in just three days, so you’d better put down your blocks and move sharpish. Applications close at the end of the day on 20 January.

 MORE: Vince the tortoise can walk again thanks to a snazzy Lego wheel

 MORE: Let’s make this the year we stop feeling guilty for taking sick days

 MORE: Dream job hunt over – the Queen needs a pot washer

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– If you've been endorsed on LinkedIn for your three-dimensional thinking skills, spatial reasoning, or ability to stay calm under the pressure of missing plastic bricks, you might want to take a shot at the latest opening at Cambridge University, which Metro has labeled "dream job alert." The Guardian reports on the institution's latest employment opportunity for a Lego "Professorship of Play," which will involve advising students on the value of "play and playfulness" if you get the gig, as well as leading the new Center for Research on Play in Education, Development, and Learning, or PEDAL. The interim director of PEDAL says the importance of play often gets short shrift and that the new center and director will lead research into how students can benefit from "playful learning." The Lego Foundation has contributed a nearly $5 million grant toward the university's push toward play, which will require a scholarly type (namely, aces in educational and developmental psychology) with a "childlike mindset," an active imagination, and a high level of curiosity, among other desirable traits, says Bo Stjerne Thomsen, the foundation's head of research. Because of the job's uniqueness, the person hired will be expected to become "world-renowned" in that genre, he adds. If that alone isn't enough to coax you, perhaps the six-figure salary will: The job pays nearly $104,000 per year. Time's running out, though, with an application deadline of Friday. (Experts in Lego fighting need not apply.)


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The actress “didn’t believe this day would come,” she said on “Megyn Kelly Today” Friday, reacting to the early morning arrest of Harvey Weinstein, whom she says raped her 20 years ago at the Sundance Film Festival. Her reaction was right in line with how much of Hollywood cheered the mogul’s downfall. ||||| On Thursday, Morgan Freeman issued a statement of apology following accusations of harassment by multiple women who have worked on movie sets with him, worked for his production company, or interviewed him in a professional setting.

 In a CNN report published on Thursday, eight women alleged that the 80-year-old actor subjected them to inappropriate behavior, including unwanted touching and comments about their figure. Several of the accusers said they didn't report Freeman's alleged behavior because they feared for their jobs.

 Freeman responded to the accusations in a statement to ET. "Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy," the statement reads. "I apologize to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected -- that was never my intent."

 However, interview footage from past ET sit-downs with the Oscar-nominated actor shows more examples of questionable behavior, as described in the CNN report.

 In 2015, author and activist Janet Mock served as an ET special correspondent covering Freeman’s film, Five Flights Up. During their junket interview, Freeman addressed Mock’s appearance, saying, “I don’t know how you all manage to do that all the time.”

 “You got a dress halfway between your knee and your hips, and you sit down right across from me and you cross your legs,” he continued.

 Mock, who is currently writing and producing for Ryan Murphy’s new FX series, Pose, addressed the encounter in a statement to ET on Thursday, saying, “This interaction is an exhibition of the casual nature at which men in positions of power believe that everything belongs to them, including women’s bodies as they’re merely just trying to do their job.”

 “For me, as a young woman of color, who is a reporter and a fan of popular culture, I was deeply disappointed that someone who was seen as America’s grandfather was susceptible to such disturbing behavior and felt comfortable enough to do that as cameras were rolling, and that he could take claim of my body and look at it before even looking into my eyes.”

 Entertainment reporter Chloe Melas, who co-authored the CNN piece on the accusations against Freeman, said she began reaching out to women after experiencing what she described as her own inappropriate encounter with the actor, at a press junket for his 2017 film, Going in Style.

 Melas, who was six months pregnant at the time, claims Freeman looked her up and down while shaking her hand, and repeatedly said some variation of “I wish I was there,” as cameras rolled in front of his co-stars and other junket personnel. The reporter said she was later told that Warner Bros. HR could not corroborate the account because only one of Freeman's remarks was on video and the Warner Bros. employees present did not notice anything.

 See more on the accusations against the actor in the video below.

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– Morgan Freeman says this could "undermine" everything he's done. On Friday, the 80-year-old actor issued a personal defense of his behavior with women, saying he's kidded around with female colleagues but never jeopardized work environments or offered jobs for sex, the LA Times reports. "I am devastated that 80 years of my life is at risk of being undermined, in the blink of an eye, by Thursday’s media reports," Freeman says in a statement. "All victims of assault and harassment deserve to be heard. And we need to listen to them. But it is not right to equate horrific incidents of sexual assault with misplaced compliments or humor." Freeman is likely referring to recent Entertainment Tonight footage of him sitting down with female interviewers. In one instance, he asks a correspondent if she was married and "fooled around with other guys." In another, with author/activist Janet Mock, he marvels at how she "got a dress halfway between your knee and your hips, and ... cross[ed] your legs." For Mock, this was "an exhibition of the casual nature at which men in positions of power believe that everything belongs to them, including women's bodies." But Freeman says he only wanted women to "feel appreciated and at ease around me. As a part of that, I would often try to joke with and compliment women, in what I thought was a lighthearted and humorous way." See his initial apology here.


News article:

The parents of a New Jersey couple are now planning funerals instead of a wedding. Last week the couple was on their way to Pittsburgh the day before their dream wedding, when they got caught up in a tractor trailer crash in Berks County. Roseanne Colletti from our sister station in New York talked with a family friend.

 NJ Couple on Their Way to Their Wedding Killed in I-78 Crash

 What to Know Loved ones are mourning a New Jersey couple who died in a chain reaction crash on I-78 in Berks County while driving to their wedding.

 Kathryn Schurtz, 35, and her fiancé, Joseph Kearney, both died in the accident which involved their vehicle and five tractor trailers.

 The couple was on the way to their wedding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the time of the crash.

 Loved ones are mourning a New Jersey couple who died in a chain reaction crash on I-78 while on the way to their wedding.

 Kathryn Schurtz, 35, and her fiancé, Joseph Kearney, were driving on I-78 westbound in Windsor Township, Berks County, on Wednesday around 2:30 p.m. when the accident occurred.

 Traffic was heavy at the time in both westbound lanes due to an earlier crash at mile marker 32.5. A tractor-trailer traveling westbound was unable to stop for the traffic ahead. It struck the couple’s vehicle, which was then pushed into the back of another tractor-trailer and set off a chain reaction crash that included three more tractor-trailers.

 The couple’s vehicle and two of the tractor-trailers caught fire. Schurtz and Kearney were both killed in the crash while three other people were hurt.

 Schurtz and Kearney were on their way to their wedding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the time of the accident.

 Schurtz was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and grew up in Fanwood, New Jersey. She graduated from Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. She then attended George Washington University, where she received her liberal arts degree before earning her MBA from Notre Dame University.

 Schurtz worked as the Head of Platform Partnerships for Oracle Data Cloud in New York City and was residing in Jersey City, New Jersey, at the time of her death. Her mother also served as a councilwoman in Fanwood.

 Loved ones say they’ll remember Schurtz for her “voracious appetite of reading, love of cooking, and trailblazing new adventures” with her fiancé Joseph Kearney.

 A visitation will be held at Immaculate Heart of Mary R.C. Church, 1571 Martine Avenue in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, on Monday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. followed by a mass at 11 a.m.

 In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Kathryn M. Schurtz Scholarship Fund at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. ||||| MORE: Engaged couple killed on way to their wedding remembered by friends and family

 A New Jersey couple on their way to get married in Pittsburgh were killed in a fiery chain-reaction crash last week on Interstate 78 in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

 Kathryn M. Schurtz, 35, and Joseph D. Kearney, both of Jersey City, died in the collision Wednesday afternoon in Windsor Township.

 Their car was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer and pushed into another tractor-trailer, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Three other tractor-trailers were also involved.

 Kearney is originally from Pittsburgh, according to his Facebook profile.

 Schurtz is a 2001 graduate of Union Catholic High School who grew up in Fanwood. She earned her bachelor's degree at George Washington University according to an obituary published Sunday.

 Schurtz went onto receive a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame. She worked as the head of platform partnerships for Oracle Data Cloud in New York.

 Schurtz is survived by her parents Joseph and Karen as well as two sisters, brother-in-law and nephew. Visitation will be held Monday at Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church in Scotch Plains from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday and 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday.

 In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kathryn M. Schurtz Scholarship Fund at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains.

 Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct Schurtz's survivors.

 Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. ||||| Friday November 16, 2018 08:20 AM

 Traffic was tied up for hours, with vehicles being diverted off the interstate.

 Windsor Township, PA —

 Two people were killed and three were injured in a fiery chain-reaction crash on Interstate 78 in Windsor Township on Wednesday.

 The fatal accident was the second crash within minutes on the busy highway.

 The first occurred about 2:30 p.m. in a single westbound lane in Tilden Township. Two tractor-trailers and one passenger vehicle were involved, said Trooper David C. Beohm, public information officer for Reading-based Troop L.

 No injuries were reported in that crash.

 The crash slowed and stopped traffic in both westbound lanes around mile marker 29.

 Minutes later, a westbound tractor-trailer, unable to stop for traffic ahead, struck a passenger vehicle at mile marker 32.5. The impact pushed that vehicle into the rear of another tractor-trailer, according to Beohm.

 The chain reaction involved five tractor-trailers and one passenger vehicle, Beohm said. Two of the tractor-trailers and the passenger vehicle were involved in the fire.

 The highway was shut down for several hours between Hamburg and Lenhartsville in Windsor Township.

 One lane of eastbound traffic began moving about 7 p.m. The westbound lanes opened at 3 a.m. Thursday.

 Troopers said that both westbound lanes would be closed indefinitely for the investigation and cleanup. Further information on the crash victims was unavailable.

 The crash created traffic headaches for motorists.

 Late Wednesday, a steady stream of tractor-trailers that had been diverted off I-78 rumbled through downtown Hamburg on Old Route 22.

 Lt. Howard Olsen of the Hamburg Fire Police was sandwiched between tractor-trailers crossing the intersection of Fourth and State streets in both directions.

 The line of trucks stretched from Hamburg east to Lenhartsville, turning the normally dark roadway into a giant illuminated snake.

 "I've been here since around 3:30 p.m.," Olsen said matter-of-factly. "This isn't the worst I've ever seen."

 When they left Douglassville about 7 p.m., Mike and Stephanie Rehrer had no idea that they'd end up driving down dark country roads and limping into Rutter's in Hamburg with not much more than fumes in the gas tank,

 "We literally coasted in here," said Stephanie, filling the tank of the family's Honda Odyssey minivan.

 Mike chimed in, "The fuel indicator was on zero for the last 10 miles."

 The Rehrers were among hundreds of motorists diverted from their destinations by the two accidents.

 On their way to Lenhartsville to buy Harley-Davidson T-shirts, the Rehrers were in sight of their destination when they were diverted in a two-hour odyssey that landed them at the Rutter's.

 A steady stream of weary motorists, some tied up for hours, sought refuge in the gas station, convenience store and restaurant off Route 61, a mile or so south of I-78.

 Gassing up their 2017 Corvette at 9:30 p.m., Daniel and Barbara Hotko said that they had left Durham, N.C., 12 hours earlier.

 "It's an eight-hour drive to our home in New Jersey," said Daniel, a retired General Motors worker.

 Diverted off I-78 at Shartlesville, the Hotkos said that they were not allowed on Old Route 22. Meandering over dark country roads, they finally found a different, permitted way onto Old Route 22 and drove into Hamburg.

 A patron at Rutter's directed them to Route 662 at Shoemakersville, a path to Route 222 and east to Allentown.

 Jared Ney of Hamburg said that his daughter, a fourth-grader at Tilden Elementary School, didn't get home from school until after 5 p.m.

 "That's a five- or 10-minute ride, and it took two hours," said Ney, 32, district manager for Red Wing Shoes.

 It was also a long day for volunteer firefighters and fire police.

 Hamburg Fire Company personnel worked through most of the night, assisting in diverting traffic, cleaning up spilled vehicle fluids and providing manpower to state police investigators as they pulled apart the wreckage.

 The last crew returned to the station at 4:45 a.m. Thursday, Deputy Chief Jarrod K. Emes said.

 Hamburg's roughly 25 volunteers were stretched to the limit.

 ï¿½We had crews going to three different accidents within a 12-mile stretch of I-78,ï¿½ Emes said.

 Contact the City Desk: 610-371-5012 or news@readingeagle.com. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Kathryn Schurtz and Joseph Kearney were on their way to their wedding when the unthinkable happened Wednesday. The New Jersey couple was driving to Pittsburgh for the nuptials when a crash occurred ahead of them on I-78 in Windsor Township, Pa. Traffic slowed, but a tractor-trailer behind the couple wasn't able to stop in time and hit their car, pushing it into the back of another tractor-trailer. That crash caused a fiery chain reaction ultimately involving the couple's car, which caught on fire, and five tractor-trailers, the Reading Eagle reports. Three other people were injured, NBC Philadelphia reports. Now, instead of a wedding, family will be attending funeral services. Schurtz, 35, "will be remembered for her voracious appetite for reading, love of cooking, and trailblazing new adventures with Joseph," says her obituary. Born and raised in New Jersey, she graduated from George Washington University before getting her MBA at Notre Dame. She was working for Oracle Data Cloud in New York City, and living back in New Jersey, when she was killed. Little information was available on her fiance, but NJ.com reports that per his Facebook profile, Kearney was originally from Pittsburgh. (This couple was married just one and a half hours before tragedy struck.)


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 "Andrea Mitchell is a great reporter and commentator who regularly breaks important Washington and national stories," say the judges. She's asked that the University of Pennsylvania receive the $5,000 honorarium associated with the Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism.

 Posted at 11:43 AM on Nov. 24, 2010 ||||| LOWELL THOMAS TRAVEL JOURNALISM COMPETITION

 28 Years of Rewarding Journalists for Outstanding Work in the Field

 2010 Lowell Thomas Winners

 Afar Magazine, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle

 Earn 2010 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Honors

 SATW Foundation president David Molyneaux, right, and Foundation administrator Mary Lu Abbott, left, congratulate Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award winners Spud Hilton, Kit Bernardi representing Midwest Living magazine and Laura Del Rosso.

 Afar, a new magazine, and the venerable Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle win top honors as the best travel publications in North America in the 2010 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition.

 Among other winners, Outside magazine wins seven individual awards, Islands magazine, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times four and the New York Times, Afar and National Geographic Traveler three.

 BudgetTravel.com wins gold for the best online travel journalism site.

 Travel Journalist of the Year is Andrew McCarthy, who won the gold for his freelance writing in some of North America’s best travel magazines.

 This is the 26th year of the annual Lowell Thomas competition, overseen by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. The awards, recognized as the most prestigious in the field, were announced in Leipzig, Germany, at the annual convention of the Society of American Travel Writers, the professional organization of travel journalists and communicators.

 The competition, for work from spring 2009 to spring 2010, drew 1,161 entries. Judging was done by faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The Foundation awards more than $20,000 in prize money to winners.

 See the full story about this year’s results.

 Individual Award Winners:

 With articles in National Geographic Traveler, Bon Appétit, Islands, Afar and other magazines, actor-writer Andrew McCarthy took the top individual honors as 2010 Travel Journalist of the Year in the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition.

 The Washington Post asked 2010 Travel Journalist of the Year:

 "If you could win only one award in your lifetime, which one would it be: an Emmy, Oscar, Razzie or Lowell Thomas?"

 Andrew McCarthy:

 'I'll take them all.' (Read the entire story...CLICK HERE)

 “Word by word, paragraph by paragraph, entry by entry, McCarthy earns the gold the old-fashioned way — by treating readers to excellent writing and poignant stories,” said the judge. McCarthy’s subjects were wide ranging, from a wilderness trip that turned deadly to a search for the best soda bread recipe in Ireland.

 Silver winner in the Grand Award category is Catharine Hamm, travel editor of the Los Angeles Times, who also takes bronze in investigative reporting. The bronze in Grand Award goes to Gary Stoller, a reporter at USA Today who also wins gold for investigative reporting on airline maintenance failures.

 In Special Packages/Projects, which recognizes in-depth coverage of a topic and emphasizes use of multiple, interactive media, the gold goes to Jill Schensul for “Namibia” in The Record and northjersey.com of Hackensack, N.J.

 Rick Steves earns top honors for the best travel book with “Travel as a Political Act,” in which he shares experiences of more than 30 years exploring the world. Ben Mutzabaugh wins gold for the best travel blog, Today in the Sky, at USAToday.com.

 Check out the complete list of winners:

 What the Judges Said:

 The competition, for work from spring 2009 to spring 2010, drew 1,161 entries. Faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication did judging.

 “The entries were a breath of fresh air,” said Winston Cavin, coordinating judge at the university. “Unfazed by the economy, writers focused on budget-conscious family ideas along with the traditional fare of glitz and faraway places. Travel journalists became twice as productive, twice as clever, and their work as enjoyable as ever."

 Afar, winner of the gold award as best travel magazine, is based in San Francisco and debuted in the summer of 2009. The magazine “presents a stunning mix of standing features (travel with a purpose, unusual places to stay) and stories on truly different topics (bog snorkeling in Wales?) from all over the world,” said the judge.

 And for BudgetTravel.com, the top winner in online travel journalism sites, the judge said: “Amid a wide variety of travel sites, Budget Travel stands out for its quality of information, layout, design and navigation and its community.”

 See the judges’ comments about all winners.

 The Prizes for Winners:

 The total prize money for individual winners this year was $20,600. The Grand Award earns the gold winner $1,500, the silver winner $750 and the bronze place $500. In individual categories, first-place gold winners each receive $500. Silver and bronze winners receive $250 and $150. The categories for Best Newspaper Travel Sections, Best Magazines, Best Online Travel Journalism Sites and Best Travel Packages/Projects are not given monetary awards.

 The 2010 Travel Journalist of the Year receives an engraved crystal award. The other two Grand Award honors and all other gold winners are given engraved plaques, while silver and bronze honorees receive certificates mounted on plaques.

 The awards are named for Lowell Thomas, acclaimed broadcast journalist, prolific author and world explorer during five decades in travel journalism. ||||| Image credit: Seamus Murphy/VII Network

 “It’s the worst we’ve seen in our lifetime. And there’s absolutely no hope for the future,” my mother-in-law told me recently. “Everyone is frightened, we just don’t know where to turn.” She was, of course, referring to the great Irish economic meltdown, now firmly entrenched in its third year. Her tremulous voice was thick with the famous Irish doom and gloom, but there was truth in her words.

 In the ’90s and early ’00s, double-digit economic growth made Ireland the European Union’s poster child for success. Dublin exploded from a sleepy backwater to a city boasting some of the most expensive real estate in Europe. And then it all ended. To quote a friend, “The party’s over and the hangover is feckin’ brutal.” My own home in the city lost half its value, seemingly overnight. But Ireland is more than just Dublin, and out in the picture-postcard west, where the rising tide never raised all boats, rural life was, and remains, dependent on the harvest and livestock. And so I decided to head out and see just how the recession was weighing on the Irish spirit far from the city lights.

 Slideshow: Andrew McCarthy describes Doolin’s otherworldly landscape and music scene (Photos by Seamus Murphy)

 I first arrived in Doolin, in County Clare, 25 years ago. A village of several hundred, strewn over a few miles on one main road, Doolin unfolds along a winding track that rises over a stone bridge, runs past two of the three pubs that anchor the town, dips into a swale, climbs over another bridge, works itself up a hill past a few shops and Gus O’Connor’s Pub, and then rolls down to the sea, where ferries ply the route to the Aran Islands. To the south, the coastline rises up into the Cliffs of Moher, 700 sheer feet of splendor above the Atlantic. Whitewashed houses with thatched roofs oversee sheep grazing across deep-green fields enclosed by crumbling stone walls that have stood for centuries. You can practically hear them singing “How are things in Glocca Morra?”—except that in Doolin, you’re more likely to catch the sounds of searing fiddles, rising flutes, and thumping bodhrán drums. The village has long been the epicenter of the traditional Irish music scene, and thanks largely to the success of Riverdance more than a decade ago, “trad” music is in the midst of a renaissance. On most every night, in any of Doolin’s three pubs, young musicians sit in, side by side with old, tearing into reels, jigs, and laments. The music may not have exempted Doolin from the recession, but it’s kept the place buzzing. “The people are still out and about, they’re just spending a lot less,” Orla McGovern tells me from behind the counter of her aptly named Traditional Music Shop on Fisher Street.

 Late in the evening, I squeeze onto a stool at a packed McDermott’s Pub and recognize Geraldine MacGowan—one of Doolin’s local heroes and an international trad star—sitting in with the boys. She’s hard to miss, with her head of thick red hair and her wicked smile. She keeps time on the bodhrán and nods greetings to patrons as she plays. Eventually, she takes the microphone and sings a mournful ballad of loss and regret and fear. The locals nod with understanding.

 At a break, Dolores Rice, a Dubliner down for the music and banter—the craic—explains, “Instilling fear is a Catholic tradition in Ireland. It’s something we’re very comfortable with. You can almost hear the priest say, ‘You thought you’d get away with your money grab, but the devil gets you in the end. You can’t sin without being punished.’” She looks around the crowded pub. “But we’re happy now, our most fatal certainty has been realized.” The Irish may have stopped going to church in large numbers, but it’s impossible to get the church out of the people.

 Outside, a light rain’s begun. I make my way over the stone bridge and past McGann’s Pub. The band inside is slashing into a reel, and I stand under the glow of the lone streetlamp, listening. The music burns to a crescendo and then breaks hard. There’s a moment of absolute silence in the countryside, and then it’s shattered as the crowd inside erupts. In Ireland, the day may have written checks the night can’t cash, but out here in Doolin, on this night at least, the credit’s still good.

 Andrew McCarthy is a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler and an actor. He lives in New York and Dublin. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– The year's top travel writer is a familiar face, but more so for acting than writing. Andrew McCarthy of Brat Pack fame (yes, Molly Ringwald's true love in Pretty in Pink) has won the 2010 Lowell Thomas award for Travel Journalist of the Year, notes Jim Romenesko's blog at PoynterOnline. McCarthy's freelance articles have appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Bon Appetit, Afar, and the Atlantic, among others. (His piece on Ireland in the latter is here.) "Word by word, paragraph-by-paragraph, entry-by-entry, McCarthy earns the gold the old-fashioned way—by treating readers to excellent writing and poignant stories," declared the judges.