Musings
WE NEED A FARMERS MARKET
By Sue Pascoe · April 3, 2020
Palisades High School is closed, and thus the Sunday farmers market. So, what about having a market in Simon Meadow every Sunday? The Mar Vista farmers market shows how it can be done: masks are required, there’s a separate entrance for seniors, the number of people entering are monitored and limited, and social distancing is required. The Pacific Palisades farmers market should reopen with the same safety measures.
BETSY ANCKER-JOHNSON
When Betsy Anker-Johnson announced in junior high that she would rather take shop than home economics, the school’s principal wouldn’t allow it. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in physics at Wellesley in 1953 – the only female in that department. She worked in physics labs at UC Berkeley and General Telephone, married and had two children (plus adopting two). An RCA lab laid her off when they discovered she was pregnant.
President Nixon made her the assistant secretary of commerce, responsible for science and technology – she studied alternative energy sources and pushed for more efficient household appliances. In 1979, Betsy became Vice President of Environmental Activities at General Motors in Detroit. This position made her the first female vice president in the automotive industry. She said, “I’d much rather be remembered for being competent and making a contribution.”
There’s a long interview about her on the American Institute of Physics: https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/33363. She died on July 2.
EASY AIR CONDITIONING
Do you want to help the environment? Shade trees can lower the summer temperature of a house by 20 degrees. By planting trees, you lower your dependence on electricity – most of which is produced using fossil fuels.
Sue Pascoe
Editor, Circling The News ·
circlingthenews.com