Big birds
San Francisco resident Rae Goodman has learned that birds are getting bigger. Her findings counter most scientific assumptions that say the opposite — that with global warming, animals get smaller.Goodman, now a biology teacher at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay, discovered the phenomena when she did research for her M.A. in biology at San Francisco State University. In a study she co-authored, she analyzed 40 years of data on birds that were caught and released at Point Reyes Bird Observatory and the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. She found a steady increase in the length of the birds’ wings and also an increase in their body mass (in other words, they were fatter).
Goodman suggested that the change might be nature’s way of enabling birds to ride out severe weather or perhaps the result of climate change, which alters plant growth and subsequently bird diets. Goodman’s study was published in the Oct. 12 issue of the journal “Global Change Biology.” To learn more about the study, do an Internet search for “Rae Goodman and birds.”
Art and rituals
Many years ago, Stanley Saitowitz, an architect in San Francisco, participated in a Chanukah invitational at the Contemporary Jewish Museum (then called the Jewish Museum San Francisco). His contribution was a menorah made out of rebar, a thick steel rod used to reinforce concrete.
His work inspired me to head to my local hardware store and search out objects for creating my own menorah — which I still use today.
Saitowitz has designed a series of unique versions of Jewish ritual objects, and they’re on display now through Oct. 16, 2012 at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Among them: an egg-shaped etrog box, a four-legged Kiddush cup and a menorah made from stainless steel that (if memory serves) resembles the one that motivated me. There are photos online at www.thecjm.org, and copies of several pieces are for sale at the museum store.
Short shorts …
Randi Dodick Fields has been named director of the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, a program of the Jewish Community Relations Council. She recently served as project coordinator for JCRC’s Year of Civil Discourse and before that was co-chair of the Maccabi Games held at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco … The JCRC also welcomes Stanford graduate Laura Rumpf, a former summer intern at j., as program associate for Legislative Affairs and Intergroup Relations … Three new staff members have joined the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation. Adin Miller has been named senior director of Community Impact and Innovations; Adina Danzig Epelman is the new program officer, focusing on regional grants; and Sigalit Artzi Rubinson is a program officer working on Israeli and global issues. In addition, Julie Golde has been promoted to the position of director of grants … Jane Walker is the new director of sales and marketing at the Moldaw Family Residences in Palo Alto, reports Marilyn Israel, executive director … The Pritzker family and the Lauder family, both with members living in the Bay Area, were among winners of the 2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, which recognizes philanthropists who believe in dedicating their private wealth to the public good … Swimmer Rachael Acker of Palo Alto, who will turn 18 next month, has been invited to compete in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials next summer in Omaha, Neb. The best swimmers will then head for the Summer Games in London, starting July 27, 2012 … Jesse Barush, a member of the Napa High water polo team and Napa’s Congregation Beth Sholom, is representing the U.S. in the Pan American Maccabi Games, held this month in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
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