Julie Mackin becomes a hero - trades nuclear medicine for career with kids

As a young woman in the 1970s, Julie Mackin wanted to make it in a man’s world and make lots of money doing it.

“I wanted to do it all; I wasn’t going to let anything stop me,” she said. “I was running marathons back when women weren’t.”

A radical change to her career path, though, and the lives she’s changed since earned Mackin the title of 2008 Green Bay Press-Gazette Everyday Hero in the category of education. Everyday Heroes are people whose deeds make Northeastern Wisconsin a better place to live.

Mackin was a nuclear medicine technologist at St. Vincent Hospital and said she was succeeding in a male-dominated career.

She was never one to ooh and ahh about babies, but when a little girl with Down syndrome came in for tests, Mackin felt at home working with her when another tech hesitated.

Mackin believes that event foreshadowed the midlife change in her career path. Today, she teaches special needs students at Franklin Middle School in Green Bay, and her focus shifted from making cash to making a difference.

The transformation began when Mackin married her husband, Mike, and had children. After her first child was born, she went back to work, and intended to do so after the second.

“Our second (Marnie) was special needs, and I thought I’d be able to go back to work, but after three months I realized that wouldn’t work,” Mackin said. Marnie, now 21, had health problems and needed to be in a full body cast for about eight months. Mackin left the hospital to care for her daughters, and then had a son and another daughter. Ten years later she went back to the hospital, but found her heart wasn’t in it.

“I wanted to do something with kids,” she said. “I found myself wanting to do something to make a difference.”

So she became a part-time paraprofessional working with special education students for the Green Bay School District. Two years later, she signed up for education courses at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

“It’s hard to make a change,” she said. “I was terribly afraid.”

Completing undergrad courses and achieving a master’s degree took about 10 years, she said. She’s now certified to teach special education.

Now she wouldn’t have it any other way. She considers her students her family, and admits she spends a lot of home time thinking about her second set of “kids.”

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A rubbish life

Dave Chameides has spent almost an entire year living a life full of utter garbage and hoping he can inspire other Americans to do the same.

The Los Angeles-based cameraman has lived in his comfortable Hollywood home without throwing away a single piece of trash, from wine bottles to chewing gum and pizza boxes.

Instead the 39-year-old Chameides - nicknamed ‘Sustainable Dave’ - recycles his garbage or else stores it in his basement. He says he wants to show that it is possible to dramatically reduce his family’s consumption habits.

And he can show astounding results. Rather than the 1,600 pounds of trash the average American family produces each year, Chameides, his wife and two daughters have amassed only 32 pounds over the last 12 months.

‘If I were the average American, this entire basement would be filled with plastic water bottles,’ said Chameides, who chronicles his campaign with an Internet blog (http: 365daysoftrash.blogspot.com).

Chameides has shunned bottled water in favor of filtered tap water - except when on holiday in Mexico, but even those water bottles were brought back to his home, compacted and stored with other trash.

His war on packaging also extends to the family groceries. Rice and pulses are bought by the kilo and placed in containers, while fresh fruit and vegetables are purchased at a weekly neighborhood farmers’ market.

In fact, groceries was one of the easiest areas to eliminate packaging, Chameides said.

‘The food is not so bad, but with DVDs, kids’ toys and so on, it’s packaging you don’t want, and it’s frustrating,’ he told AFP. ‘What you don’t realize is that you’re paying for it, and pay for it again to dispose of it.’ ‘So I buy rice and beans in bulk, there’s no packaging. I pay less, it just makes sense. People need to wake up and say, this is not OK.’ Ironically, even Chameides’s rubbish will not go to waste. In January, his refuse will be sent to the Trash Museum of Connecticut to be exhibited.

Meanwhile, organic waste such as banana skins and egg shells is minced up by worms and used as compost.

‘Any kind of organic food and paper, except meat and fish. It’s a really amazingly efficient system,’ Chameides enthuses.

His southern California home is fitted with solar panels while his car runs on used cooking oil. However, he insists that even if you don’t follow his example to the letter, ’sustainable living’ can be achieved without huge sacrifices to your quality of life.

‘I’m eating fresher food, I’m saving money, helping the local economy, supporting farmers instead of corporations. For me that’s worth it. It’s just thinking about doing the right thing,’ he says.

‘It’s just little steps. I’m not living in a cave. People think that the US quality of life should be living in a house with lights on all the time. We live a pretty decent life, by many people’s standards we live a phenomenal life.’ Even wrapping paper for Christmas gifts presents an opportunity to recycle.

‘If we wrap something, it would be either in comics or something useful, reusable,’ he says.

AFP, Straights Times

Zinhle Thabethe - raising AIDS awareness

Why is Zinhle Thabethe an Everyday Hero?

Zinhle Thabethe is a positive person. She is HIV-positive yes, but she is also positive that HIV is yet another challenge that South Africa can beat.

She likens the challenge to that of apartheid and how South Africans came together and rallied around the cause to bring down a regime that was determined to destroy us. But it didn’t. It made us stronger. And that’s what Zinhle believes can and should happen around HIV.

Zinhle is not a doctor or scientist; in fact she has very little formal education. But she knows HIV and is determined to empower other people with this knowledge.

Why? Because she believes that all she needs is a moment to clarify and simplify and unpack the issues that are scary to people. Because fear and ignorance are still two of the most dangerous attributes of the disease.
In her own words …

“We should all be aids activists, because there is a thin line between being positive and being negative. You never know what may happen in the future.”

Fast Facts:

• Zinhle grew up in Umlazi township.
• She is one of the lead vocalists in the Sinikithemba Choir, an internationally acclaimed HIV-positive vocal ensemble. Its name translates to “we give hope.” The choir originated with patients from a support group at the Sinikithemba Center, a clinic that provided care even before Aids treatment was available.
• Zinhle works as a deputy director for iTeach, an HIV/Aids-focused educational and solution-seeking program.
• Zinhle is the only South African to be named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. She is one of 10 other visionaries from all over the world who have been recognised for their contributions to world knowledge through exploration.

Source: Mathaba.net

Highschool principal is a hometown hero

The Rev. F. William Etheredge, principal of Aurora Central Catholic High School, will be presented with the Hometown Hero Award by Mayor Tom Weisner during halftime of the school’s varsity basketball game on Friday.

The Chargers will face St. Edward Central Catholic High School of Elgin at 7:30 p.m. at home.

“Father Etheredge works diligently for the spiritual and academic development of children and young adults,” Weisner said.

“He consistently demonstrates his faith with kindness and humility, and generally embodies the traits we all strive to inspire in our young people.”

The city presents Hometown Hero Awards to recognize an individual’s contributions to Aurora.

Etheredge also serves as superintendent of the Catholic schools in the Aurora deanery.

Before his Aurora assignment, he was an associate pastor in both DeKalb and Rockford and an assistant principal of Boylan Central Catholic High School in Rockford. He graduated from West Aurora High School and then entered Waubonsee Community College, where his father, the late Sen. Forest D. Etheredge, was the college’s president. His mother is Joan Etheredge.

Rev. Etheredge went on to Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., before attending Gregorian University at the North American College in Rome.

Both Etheredge and Aurora Central Catholic are celebrating milestones in 2008. Etheredge was ordained to the Catholic priesthood 25 years ago, and Aurora Central Catholic is celebrating its 40th anniversary following the consolidation of Aurora’s Madonna and Roncalli high schools in 1968.

The Beacon News

Elementary students stock food bank shelves

Spencer Elementary students are giving back to the community in a big way this Thanksgiving weekend. We caught up with them doing their good deed and found out how they used their creativity to help the needy.

For weeks, Spencer Elementary students collected all cans.

With the help of some local architects, they used the cans to create a tugboat and their masterpiece was on display at the Jepson Center for about a month.

But this week the students dismantled the boat and donated all the canned goods to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Students like Janiah Sam took it one step further helping to stock the shelves.

“They need help and we are helping them with whatever they need,” said Sam.

The director of Second Harvest Food Bank Mary J. Crouch, says without the help like this they would never be able to keep up with the demand.

“The demand is up with all the layoffs and everything going on, in our community there are more people needing food there’s more of a need,”said Crouch.

And when the students came up with the idea to help stock the shelves, she was thrilled.

“They came up with the whole idea and designing something that would help the food bank,” said Crouch. “Doing something for their community that is a hometown hero.”

One last Christmas

It was the weekend before Thanksgiving, but all through the house, Mike and Kara Landeweer’s friends gathered to celebrate Christmas.

A Christmas tree stood in the living room and decorations covered the front of their Arlington Heights home.

Even Santa Claus made an early visit Sunday.

For the Landeweers, Christmas couldn’t arrive soon enough. In a bedroom, 37-year-old Kara lay in her bed, her eyes closed, oblivious to the celebration in the next room.

This is likely the last Christmas she will spend with her husband Mike, a Mount Prospect police officer, her daughter Alexis, 2, her son Ryan, 6, and her stepdaughter Katie, 17. A brain tumor will soon claim her life.

Thanks to Elke Kadzielawski, the wife of one of Mike’s friends on the Mount Prospect police force, and the Landeweers’ many friends, the family had one last Christmas together Sunday.

Carolers from Christian Life Church sang on the lawn, and when a siren sounded, the group began singing “Here Comes Santa Claus.”

Santa Claus, Mount Prospect Police Officer Joe Morel, arrived, not by sleigh, but escorted by a Mount Prospect fire engine and patrol wagon.

He came bearing gifts from him and helpers, including a brand new bicycle and autographed pictures of Chicago Cubs players for Ryan and a Barbie doll for Alexis.

When Morel arrived, he handed Ryan a $20 bill - the money came from the tooth fairy, since Ryan had pulled out a tooth that day.

“Out of all the kids in the world this year, I decided I’m going to come to (your) house first,” Morel told the children, adding “My elves have been hard at work.”

It was a memorable afternoon for Katie, a senior at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights, who plans on being a nurse.

“I’ll definitely be here for the kids. I love them very much,” she said.

Mike Landeweer is humbled by what his friends and colleagues have done for his family.

“As horrible as this situation is, I’m blessed to have these wonderful people helping me,” he said. “It’s truly amazing.”

In March 2007, Mike, Kara and Ryan were sitting around the family dinner table, when Kara suffered a seizure and doctors later found a brain tumor.

“Basically, it was the worst case scenario,” Mike said.

The average life expectancy, Mike said, was around 11 months.

Kara went on to survive surgeries to remove additional tumors, radiation treatment and chemotherapy, and even the removal of a bone flap in her skull when she came down with an infection.

For most of this year, Mike said, life seemed relatively normal. But in August, she lost mobility on her right side and her health began to slide once more.

Eventually, it was found that the cancer had spread to the frontal lobe of the brain.

“At that point, there was just nothing left to do. That’s when we decided to bring her home,” he said.

She is receiving hospice care now.

“We are here not only to celebrate Christmas but to celebrate Kara’s life. She is a very strong, loving wife, mother and friend. She has never given up on her faith.

Kara always put everyone before herself. So to be a part of today is just a true honor,” Elke Kadzielawski said.

The police department and the entire village donated money, time and gifts to Sunday’s Christmas celebration.

“Kara’s a great girl. and it means the world to us that we were able to give them the opportunity to celebrate Christmas,” said Elke’s husband, Mount Prospect police officer Ron Kadzielawski. “To see the smile on the kids’ faces makes it all worthwhile.”

By Steve Zalusky Daily Herald Staff
One last Christmas for Arlington Heights family (original story plus reader comments)

Magic Johnson - Entrepeneurial Success

As a young man, Earvin “Magic” Johnson admired his father and other small-town entrepreneurs who created jobs and served as leaders in his Midwestern community. He worked for them, watched them, and his interest in building communities through economic development grew even while his basketball career flourished. His fame as an NBA star gave him access to some of the most successful business leaders in the country. It was Earvin’s own entrepreneurial spirit that inspired them to serve as his mentors.

Earvin made the transition from great athlete to greater entrepreneur through hard work and by avidly pursuing opportunities. He recognized that densely populated urban communities were ripe for commercial and residential development. He partnered with major brands like Starbucks, 24 Hour Fitness, and T.G.I. Friday’s to lead a major economic push in these communities. The success of his businesses proved that ethnically diverse urban residents would welcome and support major brands if given the opportunity. Earvin continues to be a leader of urban economic development that provides jobs, goods, and a new spirit of community.

32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business will inspire and enlighten readers who wish to make a similar impact with their careers and business endeavors.

Long lost primate rediscovered in Indonesia

A team led by a Texas A&M University anthropologist has discovered a group of primates not seen alive in 85 years. These furry gremlin-looking creatures are about the size of a small mouse and weighing less than 2 ounces, have not been observed since they were last collected for a museum in 1921.

The pygmy tarsier, one of the planet’s smallest and rarest primates was assumed to be extinct until 2000 when two scientists studying rats accidently trapped and killed an individual. Gursky-Doyen’s team spent two months using 276 mist nets to capture the small creatures so they could be fitted with radio collars and tracked. One other individual was spotted but eluded capture.

The collars were being attached so the tarsiers’ movements could be tracked.

Tarsiers are unusual primates — the mammalian group that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes and people. The handful of tarsier species live on various Asian islands.

The Pygmy Tarsier, also known as the Mountain Tarsier or the Lesser Spectral Tarsier, is a nocturnal primate found on central Sulawesi, Indonesia, in an area with lower vegetative species diversity than the lowland tropical forests.  They are unusual among primates in that they have claws rather than finger nails.

Reuters, Mongabay, Wikipedia

Pray the Devil Back to Hell - the quest for Liberia

Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country.

Thousands of women - ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim - came together to pray for peace and then staged a silent protest outside of the Presidential Palace. Armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they demanded a resolution to the country’s civil war. Their actions were a critical element in bringing about a agreement during the stalled peace talks.

A story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverence of the women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations.

Related Links

• ‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell’ documents Liberian women’s effort to end war (Los Angeles Times)
• Theater schedule and listings
• Liberia Information (wikipedia)

The Senior: 59 yearl old linebacker writes book

Mike Flynt was swapping stories with some old football buddies in the summer of 2007 when he brought up the biggest regret of his life: getting kicked off the college team before his senior year.

So, one of his pals said, why not do something about it?

Most 59-year-olds would have laughed. Flynt’s only concern was if he was eligible.

Finding out he was, Flynt returned to Sul Ross State 37 years after he left and six years before he goes on Medicare as a player on the Division III team.

Flynt gave new meaning to being a college senior. After all, he’s a grandfather and a card-carrying member of AARP. He was eight years older than his coach and has two kids older than any of his teammates.

“I think it was Satchel Page who used to say, ‘How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?’ I’d be in my late 20s or early 30s, because that’s how I feel,” said Flynt, who has made a living out of physical fitness. “That’s been my approach to this whole thing. I feel that good. I just wanted to be able to perform and make a contribution to the team.”

A longtime strength and conditioning coach at Nebraska, Oregon and Texas A&M, he’s spent the last several years selling the Powerbase training system he invented. Clients include school systems and the military. His colorful life story includes being the son of a Battle of the Bulge survivor and having dabbled in gold mines and oil wells—successfully.

Flynt’s life was supposed to have been slowing down. With his youngest child starting at the University of Tennessee, he and Eileen, his wife of 35 years, were planning to take advantage of being empty-nesters for the first time.

Instead, they moved to a remote patch of West Texas so Flynt could mend an old wound and inspire others.

He became emotional discussing his goal of “helping a bunch of young men to make up for those guys that I let down.” Then he laughed about the reality that fellow Baby Boomers are getting the most out of his comeback.

“People were kind of in awe. They kept comparing me to themselves and where they are physically,” he said. “If I helped anyone out by what I did, then it was all worth it.”

Mike not only made the team, but he played the last half of the season on a regular basis at linebacker and on special teams.  He is the oldest contributing member of a college football team in NCAA history.

“I told him he was an idiot,” said Jerry Larned, who coached Flynt at Sul Ross in 1969 and counseled him at the start of his comeback. “I said, ‘Gosh, dang, Mike, you’re not 20 years old any more. You’re liable to cripple yourself.’ He understood all of that. But he had a burning desire to play. … He is in great physical condition. He still runs a 5-flat 40 and bench presses I-don’t-know-what. He’s a specimen for 59 years old.”

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There’s not much video on Mike but here is an interview he did for the 700 Club

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Back in the day, Flynt was quite a player.

In 1965, he was on the first state championship team at Odessa Permian, the high school featured in Friday Night Lights. He was offered a partial scholarship at Arkansas when the Razorbacks were among the top teams in the land, but instead went to Ranger Junior College.

He wound up at Sul Ross in 1969. An NAIA school then, the Lobos were in the Lone Star Conference with East Texas State, which at the time had future NFL stars Harvey Martin and Dwight White, and Texas A&I, which was starting a two-year run as national champs. The highlight of Flynt’s two years at Sul Ross was sticking A&I with its only loss in ‘69.

Flynt was going into his senior year in 1971 when he got into a fight that was far from his first. School officials decided they’d had enough and threw him out of school. He earned his degree from Sul Ross by taking his remaining classes elsewhere.

“I actually grieved for more years than I can remember the loss of that senior year,” said Flynt, who’d been a team captain and the leading tackler as a junior. “What really got me was I felt that was my football team and I had let them down. … I don’t know if I ever got over it, but I finally learned to live with it.”

Then came word of a reunion of former Sul Ross students from the 1960s and ’70s. Randy Wilson, who has been best friends with Flynt since they met as college roommates in 1969, talked a bunch of his former teammates into using that event as an excuse to get back together.

During several days of reminiscing, Flynt’s pain became fresh as ever, especially when one of the guys said their ‘71 season went down the drain without Flynt.

That’s when he told them of his remorse. And, he added, “What really gets me is that I feel like I can still play.”

“You might as well give it a shot,” Wilson told him. “The worst thing that can happen is you get your head knocked off and come home.”

When Flynt returned home to Franklin, Tenn., his wife wasn’t as fired up by the idea.

“I feel like I’m married to Peter Pan,” she said.

It took time to accept that instead of joining their daughter at Tennessee’s home opener she would be watching her husband hit kids one-third his age.

Eventually she came around. They sold their suburban Nashville home and moved to Alpine, a town of about 6,000 residents near the Big Bend National Park, a three-hour drive from the nearest major airport.

“I told her, for me to know that I can do it and not do it would be worse than losing out the first time,” he said.

A devout Christian, Flynt sees many religious undertones to his story. He also believes it touts the benefits of strength training.

“People have asked me, ‘Mike, what is the fountain of youth?’ Well, it’s strength training that builds muscle, increases bone density and burns calories,” he said. “It’s the one thing you can do in your 90s and benefit from.”

Just to be clear, Flynt won’t be playing football in his 90s.

He’ll be out of eligibility then.

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