Latest news with #Wald
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
'Sort of saddening': Santa Fe student's video on deforestation wins international award
Fourteen-year-old Alisha Wald may live in a desert state. But the recent graduate from the Mandela International Magnet School in Santa Fe has seen the creep of deforestation in the rainforest firsthand. Every few years, Wald visits her grandparents in Malaysia. Across the road from their home is a rainforest. Each year, Wald sees it shrink bit by bit. "It was sort of saddening to see that land that was right in front of my grandparents' home was slowly disappearing," said Wald, who will enter ninth grade in the fall. "It made me think of all the animals, since we used to go on trips to the rainforest and we saw all the animals there, like monkeys, and I just thought about all the biodiversity and all the creatures that are affected from just the deforestation." Wald recently won first place in the World of 8 Billion International Student Contest for her video on the rainforest, competing against thousands of students in 67 countries. The contest, which for middle schoolers comes with a $600 prize, asked students to make videos about the impact of a growing global population on three topics: child well-being, rainforest ecosystems and sanitation. The organization behind the contest, Population Connection, is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that says it "educates young people and advocates progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources." There's a high global demand for food from the tropics, Wald explained in her video. But deforestation in the rainforest can lead to a loss in biodiversity and an increase in carbon emissions; a 2021 study published in Nature found that, in areas of the Amazon rainforest impacted by deforestation, forest areas that had once acted as carbon sinks — absorbing carbon — were now releasing it. Rainforest Deforestation Deforestation isn't a problem limited to the world's rainforests, Wald said. The loss of trees and biodiversity in the rainforest is a global issue. "That really stuck out to me about how, as it's burned or chopped down and degraded, it really impacts it ... as the carbon increases and goes up to the environment," Wald said. "I tried to use data to really dig deeper into my topic. But through that, I built on the idea of how it impacts everyone, not just those 1 billion people directly." But Wald wasn't just trying to identify an issue — she also was looking for solutions. Initially, Wald, who plans to study engineering, was thinking high-tech solutions. But her world geography teacher, Amanda Burkybile, encouraged her to look at existing practices to address deforestation. Enter agroforestry. Agroforestry mixes native trees with crops and livestock, rather than cutting down trees to establish a monoculture. "I learned about agroforestry, and through research it said that it's existed for thousands of years," Wald said. "It was essentially just introducing the land and like planting and agriculture with other animals and other native plants to make it replicate the land in a way, make it just better for the overall environment." The practice can help sequester carbon, Wald said. Her mother, Azuhana Azid, said she watched her daughter painstakingly edit her video into just 60 seconds. "She likes to try everything, and when she tries something, she wants to do the best that she can," Azid said. Wald, a clarinet player and striker for the soccer team, is heading to Santa Fe High School next year. Wald also took first place in the Santa Fe Public Schools District Science Fair earlier this year and received an honorable mention in the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest for her essay on her connection to nature. Wald will be recognized for her video Tuesday in an online ceremony.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Businessman calls for expanding CCM Health child care project in Montevideo, Minnesota
May 13---- A $2.4 million project to develop a child care facility for the employees of CCM Health in Montevideo is a great idea, but it falls short of what the community needs to accomplish, according to a Montevideo business owner and critic of the health care system. Kevin Wald told the on May 6 that he thinks it may be illegal for the publicly owned health care system to restrict use of the child care facility to its employees. He raised his concerns to the Montevideo City Council members one night earlier as well. Brian Lovdahl, CEO of CCM Health, refutes that. Wald is urging the city and county to expand the scope of the child care project to address a community-wide need for the services. As the CEO of Ritalka Inc., Wald is one of the community's leading private sector employers. The need for child care is one of the four top concerns facing the community and could be addressed with a larger-scale project, Wald told the commissioners. The city of Montevideo has identified a shortage of 75 child care spots in the community, and the shortage is much larger when considering as a whole, he said. The CCM Health project should be expanded to accommodate 110 children, as compared to 70 as is now planned, he told the commissioners. He said he believes that the project could be expanded for up to 110 children if the city and county each invested $800,000 toward it. Wald said one half of the total openings could be made available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, and the public facility would be in compliance with the laws. The Chippewa County Board of Commissioners and Montevideo City Council members approved bids for the child care project in early March. CCM Health is jointly owned by the two local governmental units. The project is aiming for an October completion. CCM Health's Lovdahl told the West Central Tribune, in response to Wald's statements, that construction is already underway on the facility. To expand its size now would require a major redesign and relicensing. It would also adversely affect the operational finances. A revised proposal would eliminate the ability to treat the center as an allowable department for required Medicare cost reporting and create a financial burden on CCM Health, Lovdahl told the Tribune in an email on Monday. Wald said one of his main concerns is the use of Medicaid or Medicare funds towards offsetting costs associated with the child care operations. He does not believe those funds can be used in any way toward child care services, even if indirectly. Lovdahl responded that is a designated Critical Access Hospital and reimbursed under Medicare cost reporting rules that state: "Costs of services such as employee cafeterias and day-care centers for the children of employees, which are maintained for the convenience of the provider, are includable as allowable costs to the extent they are reasonable." Lovdahl continued, in response to Wald's concerns: "This federal guidance has long supported the inclusion of child care centers as allowable operational costs. We work closely with our auditing firm, which regularly evaluates compliance in this area." Lovdahl also pointed out that the project was developed over the course of a year and vetted through appropriate public channels in the community beginning in January. When bids for the project were awarded in March, Lovdahl told the commissioners that the center will replace an existing child care center that the hospital operates for employees in the ambulance building. He emphasized that the child care service is very important to the health care system's ability to recruit and retain employees. And as a point of fact, the commissioners learned just prior to Wald's arrival at their meeting that the availability of child care was an important factor in the recent recruitment of a new health care provider by CCM Health. Wald told the commissioners that restricting the child care center for employee use is discrimination. "Discrimination in the use of a public-owned facility for any reason is not legal," he said. He cited a number of specific federal laws dating from the 1964 Civil Rights Act to more recent acts specific to child care. "Is it fair and right to exclude people who are paying for the facility?" asked Wald. "We are creating a tiered economy where public-owned jobs have first-rate facilities, but private sector jobs (who pay all the bills) are second-class citizens." No discrimination laws are being violated, Lovdahl reported to the West Central Tribune. Anti-discrimination laws apply to protected classes, such as race, religion, sex, disability, age and other categories, he said. "Restricting access to an internal benefit — like child care — based on employment status does not violate these laws," he stated. The child care facility is licensed by the state Department of Human Services and operates as a staff-only benefit, similar to an employee gym or cafeteria. Families pay for the service directly. The facility is not publicly funded nor open to the general public. There is no prohibition under Minnesota law — including of Minnesota Statutes, which governs municipal hospitals — against offering staff-only benefits, Lovdahl added. Wald also charged that CCM Health cannot allow doctors to use the child care facility if its use is restricted to employees, since they work under contract. CCM Health is served by physicians who are employees and others who are independent contractors, according to Lovdahl. The state Department of Human Services allows contracted staff to be included in employer-sponsored child care programs if they work under the direction of the license holder, he explained.
CNBC
12-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
These Big Tech stocks could be poised for long-term gains, Oppenheimer's Ari Wald says
Shares of Apple and Meta Platforms may be due for even more moves to the upside despite their pullback in recent months, according to Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer. Wald joined CNBC's " Power Lunch " on Monday to discuss the two "Magnificent Seven" names, as well as one other stock that was surging in the day's session along with the rest of the market. Apple Apple shares popped about 6% during Monday's session after the U.S. and China announced that they've agreed to temporarily suspend their steep tariff rates , with the U.S. bringing its duties down to 30% on Chinese imports and China cutting its levies on U.S. goods to 10%. AAPL 1D mountain AAPL, 1-day However, the iPhone maker is weighing raising iPhone prices in the upcoming fall season, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Most of the company's iPhones are made in China . "We still think we are in a large-cap Growth-led secular bull market, and I think Apple benefits over the long term," Wald said during the segment. "For that reason, looking at the stock, I think the positive is that it has paid to buy this stock when it's ugly." Despite the stock's latest gains, it's still down about 16% in 2025, and Wald cautioned that he still sees some technical weakness ahead in the near term when compared to the broader market. "Still, there's some resistance to get through pushing right into a 50-day average," the technical analyst said. "So, not necessarily our top-ranked stock right here, right now." Meta Platforms Fellow megacap technology stock Meta Platforms has also risen with Monday's rally, gaining 8%. The company also has exposure to China, particularly through advertising . META 1D mountain META, 1-day While Wald thinks that Meta, like Apple, will benefit in the long run given his bull market stance, he believes it "looks better from a near-term trading basis." "I think Meta in particular, benefiting from [the] strength that we're seeing in communication services, it's moving up in our momentum ranks," he also said. "Now that it's turning higher again, our assumption is that long-term strength is resuming." Stanley Black & Decker Shares of manufacturing company Stanley Black & Decker climbed even higher Monday than both Apple and Meta, seeing almost a 16% gain. SWK 1D mountain SWK, 1-day But Wald believes investors should view this as a chance to sell shares, as he points out that the stock is "still in a downtrend." "We would not be chasing this," he said. "Here's a stock still below its key long-term moving averages, its 200-day average. And so for that reason, I prefer to sell strength." "I want stuff that I can hold for the long run, and I don't think this is it," Wald continued.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Emily Dickinson Museum to unveil ‘passive' carriage house
AMHERST — The Emily Dickinson Museum will celebrate on Tuesday the $1 million reconstruction of a 170-year-old carriage house that once stood on its Amherst property and is slated to become the first 'passive' museum structure in the country, according to officials. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, hosted in partnership with the downtown Business Improvement District and the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, will take place at 5 p.m. at 280 Main St. 'We wanted to present and interpret the structure just as Emily Dickinson herself would have seen it in the mid-19th century,' the museum's executive director, Jane Wald, told The Republican in an interview last week. 'We know that this matters very much to visitors who come to see where she produced her poetry.' The carriage house, demolished in the early 1950s, stood to the east of The Evergreens, the home of Dickinson's brother, Austin, and his wife, Susan, part of the museum complex that recently reopened for tours. The construction of the carriage house was based on insurance maps, deeds, early town maps and a single existing photograph of the original building, which stored the family carriage and housed stalls for horses. Its reconstruction, designed by Connecticut-based edmStudio architects, uses 'passive' strategies such as continuous insulation, airtight construction and high-performance windows. Museum officials said they expect to win certification from the Passive House Institute US Inc., making it the first such commercial building in Amherst, as well as the 'first passive museum building and passive historic house reconstruction in the country.' Archeologists previously obtained artifacts from the carriage house site, including medicine bottles, knobs and a lock set from a door in The Evergreens. 'It was used as a storage area or an outdoor closet where the family would just put things they're no longer using,' Wald said. Its reconstruction, by Teagno Construction Inc., of Amherst, 'reflects Dickinson's regard for the natural world and the inspiration she drew from it,' Wald said. The house will first function as a visitors center and museum store, while the main homestead will be restored to its original functions. These included a scullery kitchen, laundry room, woodshed, pantry and living corridors for domestic staff, Wald said. After the final restoration, the carriage house will become an educational program space. Wald said that recent cuts in federal arts funding have reached the museum, including a $115,000 grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services for digitized documentation. 'There's an understanding in the museum world that more funds are now not going to be available,' she said. 'Without those funds, we need to assess what the impact will be.' Wald said that recent scholarly work on the poet has included a focus on 'class and privilege' and 'ecologies,' or her relationship with the natural world. 'Without question, Emily Dickinson is a global icon,' Wald said. 'Her influence is continually being felt among new generations of poetry readers.' Sources include the recent Apple TV+ comedy-drama series 'Dickinson' and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Wald said that musicians across genres continue to set Dickinson's poems to music, including classical, country, pop, rock and rap. 'Interest in her poetry continues to grow exponentially, at least my observation of the last, last number of years,' Wald said. 'Her poetry really speaks, or can speak, to everyone.' In addition to the ribbon-cutting, the Emily Dickinson Museum will host its annual Poetry Walk through downtown Amherst on Saturday, in honor of the 139th anniversary of the poet's death. This is a free public program. To learn more about Poetry Walk, visit Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive.
Middle East Eye
02-05-2025
- Business
- Middle East Eye
Why Saudi Arabia can spend more money than it makes, even as oil prices drop
Oil prices have sunk and foreign investors are not buying into Saudi Arabia's grandiose megaprojects, but the kingdom doesn't appear to be sweating it. In fact, Saudi Arabia is telling oil industry insiders that it can live with low energy prices, according to Reuters. One reason that's true is because Saudi Arabia is, for now, in a position many would envy, experts say. The fact is, the Gulf kingdom can spend a lot more money than it makes. Saudi Arabia is trying to wean its economy off relying on energy revenue, after all, that is the idea behind mega-projects like Neom. But for now, oil still accounts for roughly 61 percent of Saudi Arabia's revenue, according to its 2025 budget. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are some of the few in the world whose governments' revenues are so tied to energy prices. That is why when analysts and experts write about the kingdom's finances, they often use a term called the 'break-even oil point' - the level Saudi Arabia would need oil to be at to neither run a budget deficit nor a surplus. According to Oxford Analytica, Saudi Arabia needs an oil price of over $100 per barrel to balance its budget in 2025 when factoring in spending by the kingdom's Public Investment Fund (PIF) on megaprojects. But that line, often repeated in analysis and news articles, needs unpacking, some experts say. 'Saudi Arabia doesn't need to balance its budget,' Ellen Wald, the founder of the energy consulting firm Transversal Consulting, and the author of Saudi Inc., told Middle East Eye. 'The idea that Saudi Arabia needs a certain dollar per barrel to balance its budget doesn't really explain the new Saudi mindset when it comes to oil pricing,' Wald said. Budget deficits Saudi Arabia is fine running budget deficits. The kingdom's 2025 budget expects a fiscal deficit of $27bn or 2.3 percent of GDP. According to a report published in April by the Arab Gulf States Institute, if oil prices were to average $65 per barrel in 2025, the deficit would likely be around $56bn or 5.2 percent of GDP. Analysts say that is probably ok with Riyadh, too, for now. 'The new Saudi Arabia can take on debt' - Ellen Wald, Saudi Inc. author Oil prices have been knocked down by concerns that US President Donald Trump's tariffs could upend the global economy. The chances of an Iranian nuclear deal freeing Iran's oil from US sanctions could also hit prices. Brent, the international benchmark, was trading down 1.2 percent on Friday at $61.40 per barrel. Running a big budget deficit can be a drag on a country's finances. For example, Trump campaigned on promising to reduce the US's current 6.5 percent deficit to three percent. In the past months, some experts have issued near-apocalyptic warnings about the US budget deficit. But the US is unique in the world because the dollar is the world's reserve currency, which analysts say has given presidents on both sides of the American political aisle a safety valve for profligate ways. Saudi Arabia is not the US, but experts say it has space to run deficits, too. S&P Global Ratings this month raised Saudi Arabia's credit rating to A+, which puts it on par with China and Japan. Saudi Arabia also has an attractive war chest. It boasts foreign reserves of more than $430bn. It has a debt-to-GDP ratio of just 30 percent, well below that of other emerging markets. Saudi debt deluge To plug its short-term financing needs, Saudi Arabia is unleashing a deluge of debt. In 2024, Saudi Arabia advanced above China as the most active issuer of international debt in emerging markets. Analysts say this trend is going to continue into 2025. The kingdom has already issued more than $14bn of debt in dollars and Euros this year, and it could be on track to double that number before the end of the year, according to the Arab Gulf States Institute's visiting scholar, Tim Callen. 'Given Saudi Arabia still has a strong fiscal position, financing a larger deficit will not be a problem,' Callen wrote last month. 'Although in a lower oil price environment, it is likely that lenders will require a higher interest rate to buy the debt than they did earlier this year.' Wald put it another way to MEE: 'The Saudis would prefer not to be in debt, but many people are. The new Saudi Arabia can take on debt.' Will Asian investors bail out Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia's spending needs are vast, and PIF is at the centre of them, driving the kingdom's economic transformation. It has already raised about $5bn in debt this year. Despite this, the kingdom has already had to scale back Neom, originally billed as a $1.5 trillion megacity project, which organisers claim will eventually be 33 times the size of New York City and include a 170km straight-line city known as "The Line'. Instead of 1.5 million people living in the city by 2030, Saudi officials now anticipate fewer than 300,000 residents. Meanwhile, only 2.4km of the city will be completed by 2030. Saudi Arabia told US to keep Israel normalisation off agenda for Trump's visit, sources say Read More » On Monday, The Financial Times reported that Neom's CEO has launched a 'comprehensive review' of the project, citing 'limited resources'. Andrew Farrand, Middle East director at Horizon Engage, a political risk consultancy focusing on energy, said the cutbacks to projects like Neom are recognition inside the kingdom that while demand for its debt is strong, it is not limitless. 'Saudi Arabia is in a significantly better position than other emerging markets. They have a long runway before the debt taps dry up, but there is a runway,' he told MEE. The kingdom's finances have been hit by Trump's tariff threat, with the economic uncertainty they unleashed weighing on energy prices. However, as Saudi Arabia looks to tap global debt markets, it may benefit from a new Trump trade. Asian buyers have long looked to US debt in the form of treasuries as the gold standard of safe investments, but they have been unnerved by Trump's trade war and the status of the US dollar as a safe haven, Timothy Ash, a senior emerging market sovereign strategist at RBC Bluebay, told MEE. 'We are seeing strong appetite in Asia to invest in the Gulf states. Saudi Arabia will benefit from Asian investors selling US debt,' Ash told MEE.
