Feature Writing
Cow Care in Changing India
Christian Science Monitor
Varanasi, India At an open-air barn outside this holy Hindu city, a gaushala, a "cow residence" or asylum, is doing its part to fulfill the ancient tradition of caring for India's famously sacred cows.
The Hell’s Angels They’re Not
New York Times
Mott Haven, The Bronx When temperatures are mild and it is not raining, a collection of rugged Puerto Rican men fills the benches near the East 149th Street entrance to St. Mary’s Park in Mott Haven.
On the Banks of the Chixoy
Mother Jones
Copal AA, Guatemala A crooked candle cast splotches across the cement floor of Diego Perez Andres' two-room house. Newspaper pages with soccer players and swimsuit models dotted the cinderblock walls.
The Religious Left Grapples with the War
The American Prospect
Shortly after her son returned from his first tour in Iraq in the autumn of 2005, the Rev. Nancy McHugh got a phone call while she was reading in bed at her suburban New Jersey home. On the other end of the line was her son, Erik Hamilton.
Open Source: Using Collective Knowledge for the Common Good
UMass Amherst Research Next
You’ve heard about wicked problems. That is, problems like climate change and new drug discovery that are too big for any one person, organization, or country to solve alone. Problems that only have a chance of being chipped away at when creative thinkers team up with tech-savvy doers.
Serving Up a Slice of Home to South Asian Muslims
Queens Chronicle
Woodside, Queens The concrete floor in the anteroom of this small Woodside slaughterhouse was wet, dampened by the constant hosing down of feathers and dung. A soft bit of down stuck to one wall, cemented to a smudge of dried blood. And sharp bursts of Bengali filled the dank, dimly lit warehouse.
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Exploring Nature with a City Kid
Storey.com
My 4-year-old nephew, Louie, loves to observe and explore his surroundings. He’s a city kid through and through, so many of the observations he’s stockpiled reflect his Brooklyn upbringing: he can rattle off which subway lines run express, corrects his parents about bus routes, and knows that he’s not allowed to ride his scooter past the No Parking sign halfway up his block.
News Writing
It Pays to Work at Port Authority
City Limits
In an era when many employers are slashing employees’ health benefits, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is bucking the trend: The interstate transportation agency is actually requiring employers who hold service contracts with the Authority to provide health insurance to their employees and families—at no cost to the employees.
English—It’s the Law
Daily Hampshire Gazette
Amherst, Massachusetts Five fourth-grade students looked at their teacher after hearing her question, their faces as blank as the dry erase board in front of them.
Idea Ripe for the Picking
Daily News
The Bronx The onions, celery and jalapeño peppers stacked high at the farmers market in Washington Heights and at Poe Park in the Bronx are so fresh they still have dirt on them.
Sylvester Working to Pass State Law Protecting Pregnant Workers
UMass School of Public Policy
Laura Sylvester (MPPA/MPH ’16) is tapping into her personal interests to weave a real-life public health policy campaign into her academic coursework. But her perspective goes far beyond her own education. She’s hoping her efforts will help improve working conditions for pregnant women in Massachusetts.
Book
Thank You, Farm
What began as a homemade Christmas present for my nephew eventually became this published book.