Appalachia--Science in the Public Interest

Summer 2003 Number 76

Upcoming ASPI Events

By End of July – 2004 Simple Lifestyle Calendars Ready to Ship
October 4th – National Tour of Solar Buildings

SOLAR HOT WATER HEATER WORKSHOP ROCKS

ASPI’s May 31st and June 1st workshop exceeded expectations by a wide margin. Folks came from all over central and eastern Kentucky to learn to use the power of the sun to help heat their water. We hoped for 10 to 15 participants and allowed ourselves to imagine up to 20, but we didn’t expect 24 participants in our wildest dreams. The larger-than-expected group created some logistical problems, but instructor Josh Bills and the participants pulled together and made it work. Everyone in the workshop had an opportunity to solder copper pipes, which is one of the key skills involved in such an installation.

The first day focused on assessing needs, determining available solar resources, and sizing and designing a system. The second day was devoted to the installation of the system. Although the installation wasn’t fully finished on the second day, Josh made sure to cover the remaining steps before the day was through. He has since completed the installation, and it is working beautifully. The biggest surprise so far has been how much heat the system retains overnight. The solar collector regularly reaches temperatures of 240 degrees Fahrenheit on sunny summer days, and Josh burned his hand on one of the collector pipes during the final installation. We are looking forward to see how it performs in the winter.

The main components of the system are a 4’ x 8’ roof-mounted solar collector and a modified 60-gallon electric hot water heater. The solar collector has copper pipes running through it, which are full of propylene glycol, a liquid that remains fluid during cold weather and won’t boil in the summer. When the system detects that the propylene glycol in the collector is hotter than the water in the 60-gallon tank, it kicks on two pumps. The first pump circulates the propylene glycol through the pipes and through a heat exchanger. The second pump circulates the tank water through the heat exchanger where it passes through a pipe surrounding the one containing the heated propylene glycol, thus absorbing its heat. The system is about 60 to 70 percent efficient. It cost around $2,000 and should save ASPI about $20 to $30 per month.

We are excited that the ASPI office building is one step closer to freedom from dependence on fossil fuels and we look forward to the day when our office reaches zero net energy usage from external sources and officially becomes a “zero energy building”. Look for Josh’s new Technical Paper on antifreeze-based solar hot water heaters in the next newsletter.

2003 ASPI RIVER DAY WET BUT WONDERFUL
by Ben Perry

Heavy rains the night before our June 7th River Day left the ground muddy and the Rockcastle River brown, swift and rising ominously all during the day. The gray skies threatened rain but not a single drop fell during the event. Despite the conditions, about 40 ASPI supporters showed up and were rewarded with a cool, rain-free day, a fast river to paddle, plenty of good food, good music, tours, a silent auction, and loads of fun activities for young and old. The sun finally broke through about 6:00 PM to help light the clean-up.

The day started with a canoe float in the morning followed by lunch from 12:00 to 2:00. Tours of ASPI’s Mary E. Fritsch Nature center and our technology demonstrations continued from 2:00 to 3:30 and the silent auction was concluded at 4:00. The Inaugural Rockcastle River Day Rocktathalon took place from about 4:00 to 5:00. Children’s activities and music provided by Dan Bond and Mark Spencer continued throughout the afternoon.

New for Rockcastle River Day 2003 were:

The Zero-Waste Goal: Our goal was to have no waste left at the end of the day, and while we didn’t require perfection the first time around, we got much closer than we expected. When the clean-up was over and all the trash had been collected, we had a ball of trash in the bottom of a bread bag no bigger than a fist. Needless to say, we were elated and we are hoping to start a zero-waste trend. We have collected a pretty good supply of plates, and silverware, and we would be happy to loan them to any local group interested in putting on a zero-waste event.

The Silent Auction: Our Silent Auction featured over forty items and gift certificates from twenty-eight businesses in Rockcastle, Madison, and Fayette Counties. Bidding started slowly early in the afternoon, and picked up the pace as the afternoon progressed, reaching a fun-but-furious bidding war on certain items during the final 10 minutes. The auction raised almost $500 for the Mary E. Fritsch Nature Center and ASPI’s environmental education programs. We are most grateful to the generous donors of the auction items.

The 1st Annual Rocktathalon: Due to the Rockcastle River’s swollen condition, we left out three events and added 2 others. The canoeing, rock skipping, and river swim were canceled and we added a horseshoe toss and volleyball serve to the river cane toss and watermelon seed-spitting contest for a total of four events. The goal for each event was to hit a target in the least amount of time, the maximum being 30 seconds per event or 120 seconds overall.

Damien Mallen of Berea won the Rocktathalon in dominating fashion by tying for the lowest time on the horseshoe (20 seconds), watermelon seed spitting (2 seconds), and river cane toss (6 seconds) events and winning the volleyball event outright in 10 seconds, for a total of 38 seconds. John Rogers of Dayton, Ohio, was runner-up at 53 seconds and Jaimie Armentrout received a special prize for a “perfect score” of 120 seconds and an overall good attitude. The awards for 1st and 2nd place were Olympic-style medals made from hand-lettered sandstone disks, hanging from red-white-and-blue ribbon and the “special prize” was a red smiley-face, also hanging from a ribbon.

NATURE CENTER NEWS
By Andri Kukas

The last twelve months have seen a burst of vitality for environmental education programming at ASPI since the hiring of part-time Nature Center Director Andri Kukas. Work on the infrastructure and exhibits of the Nature Center started last July and lasted through the winter with an overhaul of the exhibits to make them more interactive, interesting, focused, and kid-friendly. Some of the new hands-on exhibits follow next years’ Simple Lifestyle Calendar theme of water. They include a real Aquatic Ecosystem, a Water House where folks can determine how much water they consume in a day by “playing house”, and a station called Wetland Metaphors.

Other exhibits focus on teaching observation and differentiation skills, important skills to learn for using field guides. Andri says that, “The goal of a visit to the Nature Center is to get to know the diversity of living things in our surroundings, and understand how we are all interdependent parts of a functioning whole. The vehicle for this is ‘Celebrating Biodiversity,’ the Nature Center’s overall theme. These skills are critical in order for citizens to be able to monitor our ecosystems’ health.”

Numerous other activities dealing with birds, insects, and wildlife tracking are too involved for a description here, so you’ll have to do what a variety of other groups have already done. Come and experience a Nature Center tour, a guided trail hike or a canoe ride. Groups from as close as Berea College and as far as Emory University in Atlanta have visited, in addition to elementary students from eastern Kentucky.

A new program called Appalachian Ecology involves bringing students to the Nature Center for field trips after several sessions of in-school lessons. This program targets Appalachian 3rd grade classrooms that need a boost in their state-mandated science testing scores. It went over with flying colors, according to teachers and students, and we are pleased to announce that we recently received funding from the Franciscan Friars to keep Andri on board through the next school year to continue the program.

This summer, in between teaching weekly programs for the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP), Andri is completing a couple of projects left over from the previous schoolyear. They include a self-guided interpretive trail guide for the Zalla trail, and a promotional video for the Nature Center. Additionally, she’s working with high school students from the Pine Knot Job Corps to construct interpretive signage for the appropriate technology demonstrations on the Rockcastle River.

FLOOD GRANT KICKS INTO HIGH GEAR
By Ben Perry

When “100 year floods” struck portions of eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia in 2001 and 2002, ASPI decided to revisit the flooding issue. We had done a study in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1978, which documented the connection between surface mining and the severe flooding that occurred there in 1977 and 1978. It was ASPI’s first major research study.

We decided that the issue needed a “public interest” perspective that would make it more accessible to the individuals and communities that were most affected by flooding. After several months of preliminary work in the affected areas, ASPI received funding from the Educational Foundation of America to analyze a number of flooded areas via GIS, GPS, satellite data, aerial photography, and field verification. Our study areas are located in Harlan and Letcher Counties in Kentucky, and McDowell and Wyoming counties in West Virginia.

`The idea is not to produce yet another scientific study, but to make existing studies, data, and imaging technologies accessible and useful to people in flood-prone communities. A GIS-based program will be made available to communities in our study areas, which will allow them to plug in land use and precipitation data and determine potential flood damage to at-risk areas. A handbook will also be produced for flood–prone communities, which will explain flood-related factors and how local citizens can recognize, monitor, and report them to those who have the power to regulate them. It will attempt to explain the maze of local, state and federal agencies that oversee and respond to flooding events and how to deal with them effectively. The booklet will also address how to assess if legal action is warranted after a flooding event, and if so, how to proceed with it.

We hired John Rogers in March. He is an environmental geologist who has worked with NASA using GIS and satellite imagery to document “heat island” effects downwind of major cities, by correlating changes in land use and weather patterns over time. John coordinated the project through June, collaborating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the US Forest Service (USFS), Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), Alabama Rivers Alliance (ARA), and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC), also receiving assistance and data from many other entities. When John left in June to take a permanent position, he turned the GIS work over to Brian Houk, a geography student from Eastern Kentucky University. We also recently took Melisa O’Brien on as an intern. She is an International Environmental Law major at the University of Kentucky and is researching the legal aspects of the flooding issue. The GIS-based program should be complete sometime in the fall and the booklet should be available by early 2004.

GINSENG UPDATE
by Jack Kieffer

Notes from the ASPI Loidl Laboratory,
One of the questions we are looking at this growing season is whether the high ginsenoside levels found in the yellowed North Carolina leaves from 2002 were normal or abnormally high. Last season’s leaves were yellowed and fell prematurely due to drought conditions, and this year we hope to harvest leaves that last through the full season in order to compare the ginsenoside levels with those of last year. If spring precipitation is any indication, drought will not be a big concern this year. It will, of course, take many seasons and samples to determine meaningful averages, but we hope that significant differences in the data will give us an early indication of what to expect.

Recent thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plates run on one set of green and two sets of yellow leaf samples proved inconclusive. The green and one of the yellow samples indicated similar ginsenosidal characteristics, and the other yellow sample showed a slightly lower intensity. One problem with the technology we are currently using is that ginsenoside spots tend to blend together close to the source spot on the TLC plate, so they can’t be distinguished from one another. We have recently entered into a joint research project with Berea College. This collaboration will allow us access to more powerful testing equipment, which will help us identify more distinct ginsenosides within a sample. Jack Kieffer delivered the first ginseng extracts to Berea on June 26th, and the college began analysis of the samples on June 30th.

AL FRITSCH UPDATE

ASPI supporter Rosemary Thielke recently responded to our request for reader feedback by requesting an update on Father Al Fritsch, former director and current board member of ASPI. Al has been “on sabbatical” for the past year. He spent June through December of 2002 at Long Branch Environmental Center in North Carolina, where he put the finishing touches on his newest book, “Ecotourism in Appalachia: Marketing the Mountains”. It will be released late this year by the University Press of Kentucky. He also recently completed “A History of the Jesuits of Kentucky” which is available through the Chicago Jesuit Office.

Al moved back to Kentucky in early 2003, and has been serving as the interim sacramental minister at Somerset and Whitley City, while continuing his writing. He stops by the office about once a week to pick up his mail, say hello and occasionally work on one project or another. He hopes to complete two more books in 2004. Al’s daily reflections are available at www.earthhealing.info. We plan to include an update on Al a couple of times a year.

2004 ASPI SIMPLE LIFESTYLE CALENDAR – Waters of Appalachia

I didn’t think I could honestly say it this year, but now I can’t hold it in any longer. The 2004 calendar is truly and without a doubt the best calendar ever produced by ASPI! I don’t know how he does it, but Mark Spencer seems to be able to dig a little deeper every year and produce a calendar even better than the year before. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he has the photography of Warren Brunner to draw on for inspiration, not to mention the work of new photo contributor Gerald Brinson.

We are also excited to see how our new Community Rep project goes. We have 10 ASPI supporters in communities around the US promoting ASPI and the 2004 Simple Lifestyle Calendar. We hope to generate somewhere between a 30% and 100% increase in calendar sales this year. Our goal is to use calendar sales to fund all ASPI publications and related payroll within 3 years. If you are interested in being an ASPI Community Rep, please contact us.

MORE BEQUEST INFORMATION

ASPI supporter Mary Morgan had a valuable suggestion regarding the “Bequests” information in the last newsletter. She suggested that bequests be made on a percentage basis, rather than a dollar amount, as it is hard to predict financial markets, tax laws and other factors that can have a dramatic effect on a person’s residuary (net) estate. Consult with your attorney regarding the proper language for such a bequest.

THANK YOUS

APRIL 7, 2003 to JULY 11, 2003. Nancy Jackson, Ian Rudick, Margaret Smith, Janice DiMario, Richard Jentgen, John & Nancy Gallini, Pam English, Elizabeth Long, Lori Nadene White, Phyllis Jenness, David & Babette Kern, Joy Mayfield, Peter & Donna Ford, Thomas & Kathryn Anderson, Pat Watlington, J.T. Perry, Jr., John Noel III, Rodrigo & Louise Botero, Timothy & Susan Garry, Richard Mercy, SJ., Donna Graham, OSF/Franciscan Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation Office/friars of St.John the Baptist Province, Ford Brothers, Tom & Carol French-Corbett, Mr. & Mrs John Tohill, Christian Appalachian Project, Ruth Kalin, Mt.Vernon Automotive, Inc., Community Trust Bank – Mt Vernon.

WISH LIST

Library materials (books, reports, periodicals, reference books), fire-box or fire-proof safe, sign making system and/or materials, multi-line phone system, 2 - 32” screen doors, office chairs with good lumbar support, canoes or kayaks plus paddles and vests, 2000+ model computers.

THE ASPI FLEA MARKET

Notecards – We still have ASPI Appalachian Wildflower & Appalachian Winter notecards.

There are 6 different wildflower cards, but the winter cards are down to 5 varieties, so you will get 2 of the same scene in your set of 6 winter cards. The Wildflower notecards are all full-color pictures of daisies, roses, dogwood blossoms, rhododendron, phlox, and black-eyed susans growing near rustic structures such as split-rail fences and log cabins or in other Appalachian settings. If you have not seen Warren Brunner’s color photography, you are in for a treat. The Appalachian Winter notecards are all black-and-white snow scenes of Appalachian mountains, forests, fencerows, barns and outbuildings, and are equally stunning.

Light Bulbs – Our compact fluorescent bulbs (CFs) have been such big hit that we are now carrying them permanently. We stock 20 and 23-watt CFs (75 and 100-watt equivalents), and 11 and 15-watt mini-CFs (40 and 60-watt equivalents). The 11 and 15-watt mini-CFs fit anywhere a standard light bulb fits. Unlike older and cheaper CFs, these give off a warm soft light with an instant-on feature and no flicker. We have replaced all of our 40-watt tube fluorescents with 23-watt CFs here at the office. Operating six hours a day, a 23-watt CF will last almost five years, saving an average of $54 on electricity and 770 lbs of coal versus standard 100-watt bulbs.
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ASPI FLEA MARKET ORDER FORM

Name ___________________________ Mail To
Address __________________________ ASPI
__________________________ 50 Lair Street __________________________ Mt Vernon, KY 40456

NOTECARDS $3.00 or $4.00 each
$4.00 per set for 1 to 4 sets = ___ sets x $4.00 = _______
or $3.00 per set for 5 or more sets = ___ sets x $3.00 = _______
LIGHT BULBS $9.50 each
___ 11w +___ 15w + ___ 20w + ___ 23w bulbs x $9.50 = _______
Subtotal = _______
KY residents add 6% sales tax = _______

SHIPPING
Notecards - Shipping is $3.50 for 1 to Shipping = _______
9 sets and Free for 10 or more sets

Light Bulbs - Shipping is $5 for 1 to 4 bulbs Shipping = _______
and 5 or more are shipped free

My tax-deductible donation to help support ASPI
education, research, & advocacy programs = _______
Grand Total = _______

NEW! Save money on your internet access and help out ASPI. Receive up to 150 hours of usage per month for $14.95 and designate (at no cost to you) $2.25 per month to ASPI. Visit our website for a link to sign up for this service or if you do not currently have internet access call toll free 800-803-5726. Be sure to mention ASPI when you call so we get credit for your order.
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Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest
50 Lair Street, Mount Vernon, KY 40456-9806
Phone: (606) 256-0077 Fax: (606) 256-2779
ASPI Web Site: http://www.a-spi.org
E- mail: aspi@a-spi.org

Updated August 15, 2003