kelli fontenot: women

Showing posts with label women. Show all posts

Showing posts with label women. Show all posts

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Vice Mayor Adele Zucker retires

by KELLI FONTENOT

Published Dec. 1 in The Heights Observer

After nine years as Vice Mayor for University Heights, Adele Zucker will leave office this month. Her contributions include keeping a close eye on neighborhood services and never having to cut staff, something she attributes to frugal management by the mayor and previous councils.

Looking back, Zucker says she is proud of her accomplishments.

“To be reelected six times, I think that says I served the residents well. Because of them, I’m here, and I just love the city. It’s a great city to live in and bring up your children,” she says.

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Monday, March 2, 2009

Ladies prepare for Bracelet battle

by KELLI FONTENOT
Published Feb. 4, 2009 by The Current Sauce

Five of the 10 Lady of the Bracelet pageant contestants met on a Thursday night to make plans for the hectic rehearsal schedule, discuss pageant rules and regulations, and of course, practice answering interview questions.

"What is your favorite book and why?" was one classic.

"I actually really did like Dante's 'Inferno,' but I don't think that will go over really well," junior liberal arts major Shanice Major said.

Sitting around a table in the Student Activities Board office, the contestants laughed and chimed in with some of their beloved titles.

"Somebody's going to say 'Twilight,' I just know it," freshman hospitality, management and tourism major Melanie Kay said.

"I'm in love with Edward Cullen," freshman Brittany Pippin joked. "I would marry him."

"OK, ladies," said Julia Anderson, the pageant coordinator, a patient reminder that they should be concentrating on the work at hand. She announced the dates and times of upcoming rehearsals and committee meetings as the girls pulled out their cell phones.

In jeans and sweatshirts, the girls didn't appear to be organizing a pageant. They were just hanging out, giggling, joking around.

But the contestants have a hand in preparing for - and even publicizing - the event. At the committee meeting, they made lists of locations for posters and attached stickers to gold wrapped mints to promote the event. The girls also composed their talent introductions and folded up T-shirts to sell as promotion for the pageant and Children's Miracle Network.

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Go Green - Not Broke

In some cases, going green is synonymous with going broke. Hybrid cars and organic produce are expensive, but there are ways to conserve precious energy that will also keep you from emptying your wallet. A recently completed housing development in Lake Charles is providing a new way to find out just how much energy – and money – people can save by going green. The developer will have the opportunity to study and compare electric bills of a house with average fixtures to figures from an identical house with energy-efficient upgrades, according to CJ Tech’s Charles Abshire, the electrical contractor.

Violin professor takes center stage

Light filters in through the windows of Andrej Kurti's studio in the afternoon, splaying across the blue plush lining of his open violin case. A small icon decorated with an Orthodox Christian image rests against the neck of the exquisitely carved wooden instrument. The low, clear sound of a nearby euphonium rehearsal seeps through the walls. Kurti leans back in his chair at his computer, catching a breath after his hectic day of back-to-back violin and viola lessons and long rehearsals with the orchestra. . .

Chaplain's Lake construction captures community focus

Energy audit grants boost small businesses

Big Fun Toy Store in Coventry Village is among the businesses that are participating in the Council of Small Enterprises' grant program for energy efficiency education. Energy efficiency might not be one of the first things to spring to shoppers’ minds amid the extraordinary array of memorabilia, hard-to-find candy, retro magnets and quirky gifts sold in the city’s iconic toy store. But establishing a positive atmosphere for customers and reducing environmental impact are top priorities for Steve Presser, the store’s owner.

Adrift on the Nansene

It’s about 11:45 a.m. on Saturday and I am standing on a bridge in Dufur, aiming a zoom lens at the innertubes in the creek below. I snap a few shots and run back to the truck to get rid of the camera. When I return to the creek entrance, I expect to see someone waiting for me (I’ve got the keys to the truck, after all) but once I reach the water, I am met only with a black rubber tube and a six-foot walking stick to paddle with. Hesitantly, I wade into the water and peer down the creek. The family has floated out of sight, but voices carry across the wind and I realize if I don’t go now, I may never catch up. I am about to become a participant in The Great Nansene Creek Flotilla.

Pi Kappa Phi dinner

At one of a dozen tables in the Friedman Student Union Ballroom Tuesday night, junior journalism major Cody Bourque leaned over his plate of lasagna to turn on his iPhone without using his hands. The rest of the people at his table chuckled as they watched him repeatedly hit the touch screen with the tip of his nose. "I'm updating Twitter," he said. Across the table, another diner - who was blindfolded - said, "I feel so left out of this joke." A few people chuckled, but a long pause followed as everyone realized the depth of his comment. While the statement was offered in jest, it illustrated the alienation that people with disabilities encounter on a daily basis.