Kristof's Kentucky controversy

New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof has taken some heat for this article, about whether parents in Kentucky are deliberately keeping their kids out of literacy classes in order to collect disability checks. A good summary of the feedback (blowback?) comes from the Daily Yonder.

Goodbye, copper wires?

I'm really hoping someone takes this on in my upcoming Rural Issues class, because I think it's an interesting topic. Major telecommunications companies are phasing out copper-wire, landline telephone lines, in favor of Internet and fiber optics, despite the fact those landlines were lifelines during Hurrican Sandy.

The 50 most Democratic and Republican exurban/rural counties

Via the Daily Yonder, here's a list of the most Democratic non-urban counties in the U.S., at least in terms of the recent presidential election. And here are the Republicans.

Finding info on your topics

Here's a go-to website from the National Agricultural Library that may just send you where you need to go in your research.

The Dust Bowl on PBS

Quite a cautionary tale. Required viewing, I think. One of the more interesting tidbits is the role a journalist played in the naming of the entire calamity: From the American Experience website:

The Dust Bowl got its name on April 15, 1935, the day after Black Sunday. Robert Geiger, a reporter for the Associated Press, traveled through the region and wrote the following: “Three little words achingly familiar on a Western farmer’s tongue, rule life in the dust bowl of the continent – if it rains.” The term stuck, spreading to radio broadcasts and publications, in private letters and public speeches.

Where is Rowan University, anyway?

When I decided to propose the class, Rural Issues in the News, I did an online search to see whether it was being done by someone else, and this is the type of hit I got in my searching:

Rowan University is located in the rural town of Glassboro, New Jersey.

Rural areas slower to rebound

From January 2012, but still worth pondering, a New York Times report that says rural areas are slower to rebound in the sluggish economy:

New Jersey rural links

Here are some links that might prove helpful: New Jersey Department of Health, Rural Issues, New Jersey federally defined rural areas, New Jersey rural health focus group report, 2011 -- And here is some contact information: Mailing Address: New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services State Office of Primary Care/Rural Health 50 East State Street, 6th Floor P.O. Box 364 Trenton, NJ 08625-0364 Telephone: (609) 292-1495 Fax: (609) 292-9599 E-mail: linda.anderson@doh.state.nj.us

Report details rural funding

The Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has a new report on the impact of public and private funding of agricultural research. The full report is here, but the more interesting observation comes from the Daily Yonder, which notes how little money is spent on researching people and communities, commenting, "No wonder we have bountiful harvests and troubled towns."

"Why did you come here?"

A new feature in the Hickman County (Tenn.) Times asks newcomers to the region why they moved there. The first response is here. And note...the paper is not online, so the .pdf is the only way you can read the story...that or buy a subscription.

4 NJ post offices targeted for reduction

The Daily Yonder has done a great job of reporting on the potential reduction of hours at rural post offices in the United States. A report this week notes that each of the facilities will have public hearings on the matter. Daily Yonder also sends a link to the list of offices potentially affected. For the purposes of this class, it's worth noting that four post offices are targeted in New Jersey: OFFICE: LAYTON PO CITY: LAYTON STATE: NJ MTG DATE: 10/12/12 MTG TIME: 5:00 PM MTG LOCATION NAME: Layton Post Office MTG LOCATION ADDRESS: 122 County Road 560 MTG CITY: Layton MTG STATE: NJ MTG ZIP: 07851 -- OFFICE: OGDENSBURG PO CITY: OGDENSBURG STATE: NJ MTG DATE: 10/9/12 MTG TIME: 5:00 PM MTG LOCATION NAME: Ogdensburg Post Office MTG LOCATION ADDRESS: 328 Main Street MTG CITY: Ogdensburg MTG STATE: NJ MTG ZIP: 07439 -- OFFICE: SCHOOLEYS MOUNTAIN PO CITY: SCHOOLEYS MOUNTAIN STATE: NJ MTG DATE: 10/10/12 MTG TIME: 5:00 PM MTG LOCATION NAME: Long Valley Post Office MTG LOCATION ADDRESS: 3 Old Farmers Road MTG CITY: Long Valley MTG STATE: NJ MTG ZIP: 07853 -- OFFICE: STOCKHOLM PO CITY: STOCKHOLM STATE: NJ MTG DATE: 10/11/12 MTG TIME: 5:00 PM MTG LOCATION NAME: Stockholm Post Office MTG LOCATION ADDRESS: 2741 Rt 23 South MTG CITY: Stockholm MTG STATE: NJ MTG ZIP: 07460

State of NOW - Small town 2012

Just came across this event...a high-tech program dedicated to small-town issues

The Atlantic Monthly's report on ag - and the rebuttal

Interesting debate going on in the journalism world, involving a report by the Atlantic Monthly on how Big Agriculture allegedly was ruining rural New York state. It seems that some residents who are a little closer to the action - including journalists - say that the Atlantic got it wrong. The Daily Yonder also weighs in.

Where are the creatives in America's heartland?

This map shows where the so-called creative class lives amid the nation's metro areas....it's pretty sparse in the nation's midsection:

Cheers to the papers that published during weather crisis

One of my favorite blogs, The Rural Blog, reports that a lot of small, local papers continued to report the news amid the devastation of the major storms that hit parts of the U.S. last week.

Burbs spurned in favor of cities

For the first time in 100 years, more people in the United States are leaving the suburbs in favor of the nation's big cities.

Attracting rural students to college

A report in The Rural Educator, as discussed here at Education Week, notes that certain factors are beneficial in helping rural students pursue a college education: college visits and college-test preparation workshops.

Welcome to this blog

I have been granted the honor of teaching an Honors-level course in "Rural Issues in the News" at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, possibly in Spring 2013. This blog will be used to provide articles and links of interest to students who take the course, as well as anyone who wishes to follow the issues that the class will study.