Latest news with #Whitman
Scroll.in
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
Poet Walt Whitman used photography to curate his image – but ended up more lost than found
When I read and study Walt Whitman's poetry, I often imagine what he would've done if he had a smartphone and an Instagram account. Unlike many of his contemporaries, the poet collected an ' abundance of photographs ' of himself, as Whitman scholar Ed Folsom points out. And like many people today who snap and post thousands of selfies, Whitman, who lived during the birth of commercial photography, used portraits to craft a version of the self that wasn't necessarily grounded in reality. One of those portraits, taken by photographer Curtis Taylor, was commissioned by Whitman in the 1870s. In it, the poet is seated nonchalantly, with a moth or butterfly appearing to have landed on his outstretched finger. According to at least two of his friends, Philadelphia attorney Thomas Donaldson and nurse Elizabeth Keller, this was Whitman's favorite photograph. Though he told his friends that the winged insect happened to land on his finger during the shoot, it turned out to be a cardboard prop. Feigned spontaneity The scene with the butterfly reflects one of the main themes of Whitman's Leaves of Grass his best-known collection of poems: The universe is naturally drawn to the poet. 'To me the converging objects of the world perpetually flow,' he insists in ' Song of Myself.' 'I have instant conductors all over me whether I pass or stop,' Whitman adds. 'They seize every object and lead it harmlessly through me.' Whitman told Horace Traubel, the poet's close friend and earliest biographer, that '[y]es – that was an actual moth, the picture is substantially literal.' Likewise, he told historian William Roscoe Thayer: 'I've always had the knack of attracting birds and butterflies and other wild critters.' Of course, historians now know that the butterfly was, in fact, a cutout, which currently resides at the Library of Congress. So what was Whitman doing? Why would he lie? I can't get inside his head, but I suspect he wanted to impress his audience, to verify that the protagonist of Leaves of Grass, the one with 'instant conductors,' was not a fictional creation. Today's selfies often give the impression of having been taken on the spot. In reality, many of them are a carefully calculated creative act. Media scholars James E Katz and Elizabeth Thomas Crocker have argued that most selfie-takers strive for informality even as they carefully stage the images. In other words, the selfie weds the spontaneous to the intentional. Whitman does exactly this, presenting a designed photo as if it were a happy accident. Too much me As Whitman biographer Justin Kaplan notes, no other writer at the time 'was so systematically recorded or so concerned with the strategic uses of his pictures and their projective meanings for himself and the public.' The poet jumped at the opportunity to have his photo taken. There is, for instance, the famous portrait of the young, carefree poet that was used as the frontispiece for the first edition of Leaves of Grass. Or the 1854 photograph of a bearded and unkempt Whitman, likely captured by Gabriel Harrison. Or the 1869 image of Whitman smiling lovingly at Peter Doyle, the poet's intimate friend and probable lover. Some social scientists have argued that today's selfies can aid in the search for one's ' authentic self ' – figuring out who you are and understanding what makes you tick. Other researchers have taken a less rosy view of the selfie, warning that snapping too many can be a sign of low self-esteem and can, paradoxically, lead to identity confusion, particularly if they're taken to seek external validation. Whitman spent his life searching for what he termed the 'Me myself' or the 'real Me.' Photography provided him another medium, besides poetry, to carry on this search. But it seems to have ultimately failed him. Having collected these images, he would then obsessively chew over what they all added up to, ultimately finding that he was far more lost than found in this sea of portraits. I wonder if – to use today's parlance – Whitman 'scrolled' his way into a crisis of self-identity, overwhelmed by the sheer number of photos he possessed and the various, contradictory selves they represented. 'I meet new Walt Whitmans every day,' he once said. 'There are a dozen of me afloat. I don't know which Walt Whitman I am.'
IOL News
26-05-2025
- General
- IOL News
Students at Whitman Middle School learn life skills through chicken care
Whitman Middle School students care for the flock of Novogen browns, cleaning the coop, helping feed them and gathering eggs. Image: Moriah Ratner/For The Washington Post On a sunny morning in a small courtyard at Walt Whitman Middle School in Virginia, a 14-year-old with a purple buzz cut cradled a plump chicken in her arms. 'Her name is Betsy,' Maicy Nealy, an eighth-grader at the Alexandria school, said as the animal's eyes softly fluttered shut in her lap. As a young child, Nealy was afraid of chickens. Now she spends hours after school collecting their eggs and cleaning the coop for the school's five hens. And though she says she was never an outdoorsy type, she feeds them their worm meals as well. The chicken program at Whitman started about a year ago when after-school program specialist Lee Maguire - a.k.a. 'Chicken Daddy' - planned a month-long embryo development program for kids to learn about biology and anatomy. Video Player is loading. 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Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Walt Whitman Middle School eighth-graders Jonas Figueroa, left, and Maicy Nealy hold chickens in the courtyard at the Alexandria school. Image: Moriah Ratner/For The Washington Post Maguire runs a variety of programs but has an affinity for agriculture. He studied resilient and sustainable communities in graduate school, he said. The egg incubator soon became a mainstay at the campus in spring 2024. As the eggs hatched, so did interest among Whitman students, who filed in and out of Maguire's office to see the fetuses developing and then started visiting him to pet the babies. 'They've known them since they were the little yellow, fuzzy, down, cute little morsels,' Maguire said. Whitman staff saw how much the kids enjoyed spending time with the chickens and decided to keep them around indefinitely, Maguire said. And as the seventh-graders who interacted with the babies one year ago transitioned into eighth-graders, the chicks transitioned into red-feathered, yellow-eyed adult hens. A chicken tries to escape from the arms of Whitman eighth-grader Savannah Lee Image: Moriah Ratner/For The Washington Post The kids soon got attached to the chickens and the chickens to the kids. The chickens even recognize the kids' faces and voices, Maguire added, and waddle toward the door when they spot the students arriving. Throughout the school year, staff said, they've observed students gaining not only companionship from the animals but some life skills as well. The students replenish the feed supply - which costs about $25 for 50 pounds - with proceeds from selling some of the eggs the chickens produce at $5 to $10 a dozen. Maguire noted that the programme's inception coincided with a rising market demand for cheaper eggs. 'We got super lucky that egg prices skyrocketed so it seemed like, 'Whoa, what a deal,'' Maguire said. 'It also builds their ability to understand how to make a program sustainable and lasting.' As the chickens ambled over to the coop and pecked at the air for a snack, Nealy approached the food supply and asked Maguire about the feed bucket. For the teen, the chickens provided structure after school and piqued her interest in agriculture. She's even forgiven the one that snatched her bracelet, Nealy said, stroking its back as the bird opened its tiny, narrow mouth and yawned. Now she can't imagine an adulthood without chickens involved. 'I want to at least own five. Max … maybe max … 15 max,' she said, adding that when she grows up, she plans to be 'a lawyer that owns chickens.' Savannah Lee, 14, said the chicken caretaking became a nice way to unwind and de-stress after school. She also takes pride in knowing her work is contributing to their quality of life. 'Animals can live better if other animals help take care of them,' Lee said, patting a pressure point on a chicken's neck to relax her. And the benefit goes both ways. Spending time with the chickens helps Lee manage feelings of frustration and anger that may flare up during the day, she said. The chickens' calming presence on campus is an advantage of the program that the school's social workers and counselors quickly picked up on as well, Maguire said. They sometimes escort struggling students outside to the coop to help them calm down or sort through their feelings. 'It's a moment that they don't have to think about housing insecurity, food insecurity, if their parents are going to get deployed, how they're going to have to improve their grades because they're struggling,' he said. 'The chickens don't judge, they just love them. It's a peaceful escape.' Said Jonas Figueroa, 14: 'They comfort you, instead of you comforting them.' Figueroa isn't particularly interested or strong in academics, he said. He participates in sports but isn't terribly coordinated, either. The chicken work is where he excels, he said. 'I'm doing school subjects and I'm thinking, 'I'm not really good at this.' But then it leads you to think, 'What are my talents really?' And then you come out to the chickens and you realize you can put a chicken to sleep and you're like, 'Oh, I guess I'm good at handling chickens,'' Figueroa said. As the school year comes to an end, the chickens and the students prepare to part ways. The students will go home and brace for starting high school, while the chickens will spend the summer shacked up with Maguire. But first, he has a surprise he's going to let the kids in on soon. 'I bought more baby chicks,' he said. 'I got them eight more.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Irondequoit man accused of imitating doctor to distribute prescription drugs
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — An Irondequoit man has been accused of pretending to be a physician to distribute drugs. According to investigators, between August 2023 and April 2025, 27-year-old Kevin Whitman claimed to be a doctor and fraudulently used a DEA number belonging to Strong Memorial Hospital. With that number, Whitman allegedly issued 177 prescriptions to nine people, with 173 of those prescriptions involving oxycodone. In total, investigators said Whitman issued 38,067 dosage units. Police searched Whitman's home and found a framed fake diploma, purporting to be from the University of Rochester Medical School. Investigators revealed Whitman was not a licensed physician anywhere in the United States, did not possess a DEA Registration Number, never worked at Strong Memorial Hospital or graduated from UR, and confirmed he had no professional licenses to practice medicine or issue prescription drugs. Whitman was arrested on Thursday and charged with distributing and dispensing a controlled substance, using a registration number issued to another person to obtain controlled substances, and obtaining controlled substances by fraud. He was released on conditions. If convicted, Whitman could face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Express Tribune
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Alabama Barker's Coachella photo with father Travis Barker sparks online debate
Alabama Barker, daughter of Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, drew attention at Coachella 2025 with a bold fashion statement — and a controversial photo with her father that left fans divided. The 18-year-old stunned in a yellow backless dress paired with thigh-high brown boots, which she showcased in a photo set posted to Instagram. One image, featuring Alabama and Travis both flashing peace signs while he leaned in with a 'duck lips' expression, sparked a wave of online chatter after fans noticed Travis liked the post. 'The fact that her father likes these posts gives me the ick …' one user commented, racking up over 140 likes and igniting debate across social media. While some defended Travis as a supportive parent simply appreciating his daughter's post, others found the interaction unsettling. Comments ranged from critical to kind, with one user writing, 'You are very pretty but you're not a very nice person,' while others offered compliments such as 'pretty pretty girl' and 'Beautiful young lady.' Alabama did not directly respond to the backlash, but she's familiar with online criticism. Travis, meanwhile, continued to make Coachella headlines by performing with Three 6 Mafia and Machine Gun Kelly, marking MGK's return to the stage since becoming a father. Travis is also entangled in an ongoing feud with rapper Bhad Bhabie, who has accused him of personal misconduct during a difficult period. The dispute escalated with diss tracks exchanged between the two artists, including 'Cry Bhabie' and 'Ms. Whitman.'
Wakala News
09-04-2025
- Health
- Wakala News
Boutique vet clinics spruce up pet care with Prosecco, snazzy waiting rooms and bespoke pricing
When Kathleen Whitman's daughter's Bernadoodle, Cody, swallowed a Kong toy, the family faced a veterinary emergency requiring immediate surgery. X-rays at their local suburban clinic suggested what looked like a hair tie tangled in Cody's intestines. When referred to a corporate emergency hospital, the family was quoted $10,000 for the procedure. 'They literally told me in the waiting room with a clipboard, thinking I was just coming in and we were doing $10,000,' Whitman said. 'I said, 'No, I'm just coming in to hear the price.' Desperate for an alternative, Whitman reached out to Vetique, a boutique veterinary clinic in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. There, Dr. Jessica Trice and Dr. Jennifer Remnes performed the surgery for what Whitman called 'an appropriate fee' that was significantly less than $10,000. During the surgery, she and her daughter waited in the clinic's lobby with glasses of Prosecco while receiving regular updates. 'The humans were taken care of just as much as the puppy in distress was,' Whitman said. This experience mirrors what many pet owners report when comparing corporate-owned emergency animal hospitals to independent practices. Kara Adams, whose 16-year-old rescue dog Shadow needed emergency eye surgery, also chose Vetique over corporate alternatives. When Adams called Vetique explaining she had only $1,000 available, staff accommodated her financial constraints. 'The planning manager came out with a payment plan for me,' Adams said. 'I was crying because otherwise, what would I do? I didn't have any other options.' 'You literally burn people out' Drs. Trice and Remnes founded Vetique after witnessing firsthand how corporate consolidation was transforming veterinary medicine — often for the worse. 'Just coming from a corporation for many years, the whole thing is about quantity, getting all those pets,' Trice explained after spending 10 years at Banfield Pet Hospital, followed by five years as a medical director at VCA Animal Hospitals. 'We feel the best way is not pushing about the number of quantity, because it gets very sloppy and you lose that interaction and relationship with the clients.' Remnes' experience echoed her partner's concerns. At Banfield as a new graduate, she found herself overwhelmed by volume demands. 'As a new grad, you're still learning and trying to break into this brand-new world. I was seeing like 30 pets a day,' Remnes said. She later moved to VCA before its Mars acquisition, initially enjoying the autonomy because 'each hospital was able to operate as they liked to.' After the corporate takeover, however, the pressure intensified. 'It was like, 'Oh, you need to see this number of pets, or we're decreasing your salary.' That's what's burning out the industry,' Remnes said. 'You literally burn people out doing that. You can't possibly offer your best when you're crammed with all of these patients.' These pressures contribute to a profession in crisis. A 2024 study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association found that U.S. veterinarians are more likely to experience serious mental health struggles than most people. 'We have forums on Facebook where our industry has one of the highest suicide rates,' Remnes noted. 'It's because of things like this, when you're given spreadsheets and quotas rather than focusing on patient care.' Their solution was to create a different business model. Instead of maximizing patient volume, Vetique prioritizes extended appointment times and a calming environment with luxury touches like sparkling epoxy floors, examination tables with faux fur coverings and exam rooms named after the founders' pets. 'I'd rather see four pets a day. That meant that family was getting my full attention, that pet was getting everything that I do,' Remnes explained. Alongside traditional veterinary medicine, Trice offers acupuncture, herbal remedies and chiropractic treatments — holistic approaches she had wanted to pursue at corporate practices but was discouraged from using. Surging pet care prices Setting prices at Vetique involves balancing fair market rates with the clinic's added value. What Remnes found surprising was how significantly corporate prices have increased in recent years. 'Prices are so drastically different from when I was at VCA seven years ago. They're charging actually close to what we're charging as a general practice for an exam,' she noted. This observation led her to reconsider Vetique's own pricing strategy. 'It's like, 'Well, we can actually probably charge more, because we offer all these experiences along with it.' It's trying to find a happy medium, trying to be fair, but also knowing our value.' Despite the appeal of the boutique model, both Remnes and Trice acknowledge significant business challenges. The clinic is in its third year of operation, still within the typical three-to-five-year window before seeing substantial returns. Unlike corporate-backed veterinary chains, Vetique is entirely funded through a bank loan. Vetique's founders see their clinic not as a competitor to corporate chains but as an alternative model for the industry. 'We're not competing,' Trice said. 'We're creating a new veterinary culture.' Corporate giants reshape vet landscape John Volk, senior consultant with Brakke Consulting, said veterinary practices historically grow 4-5% annually and carry minimal accounts receivable, making them attractive to investors. 'Pet care in general is very attractive to the financial community,' Volk said. 'It's a very steady growth industry, and it's a cash business, so they carry very little accounts receivable because pet owners pay for their services at time of service.' Mars Inc., best known for candy brands like M&M's and Snickers, has quietly become the largest owner of veterinary hospitals in the U.S. through a series of major acquisitions. The privately held company owns three of the nation's largest veterinary chains: Banfield Pet Hospital, VCA Animal Hospitals, and BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital — giving it control of more than 2,000 clinics across North America. Mars entered the pet care industry in 2007 by acquiring Banfield, which primarily operates inside PetSmart locations. In 2017, it significantly expanded its footprint by purchasing VCA for $9.1 billion — one of the largest acquisitions in veterinary history, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. VCA operates more than 900 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada, while Banfield has over 1,000 clinics nationwide. Unlike VCA, which grew by acquiring independent practices, Banfield has mostly launched new locations within retail stores. Mars's scale allows for standardized protocols, shared technology platforms and subscription-based wellness plans across its network. According to the company website, Mars Veterinary Health serves more than 25 million pets annually. While private equity firms have been acquiring veterinary practices since the late 1980s, the trend has accelerated significantly over the past 15 years. Volk estimates approximately 30% of veterinary practices are now corporate-owned. Despite the growth in corporate ownership, Volk sees no evidence that care quality differs significantly between corporate and independent practices. 'I've not seen any data to suggest that the services provided by corporately owned practices are materially different than services provided by independently owned practices,' he said. However, some policymakers have raised concerns about the impact of consolidation on pricing. In January 2023, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, specifically called out Mars Veterinary Health and other large veterinary corporations in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission. Warren cited 'troubling reports of anti-competitive consolidation' and suggested these corporate entities were using market power to 'raise prices for consumers and lower wages for veterinarians.' Even as consolidation continues, Volk finds that independent practices remain viable. 'If you have a DVM degree and don't have a bad personal history, you can get money to buy or start a practice,' he said. 'Veterinarians are one of the lowest-risk borrowers of any category.' For new veterinarians, the industry offers growing opportunities. The American Veterinary Medical Association reports the average starting salary in companion animal medicine reached approximately $137,000 in 2024. Design, investment, and a human touch When clients walk into a Bond Vet clinic, they won't find the sterile environment or cluttered waiting rooms traditionally associated with veterinary offices. Instead, they'll encounter soft pastel colors, comfortable seating and an atmosphere deliberately designed to feel more like a high-end hospitality experience than a medical facility. 'The industry has two categories of clinics historically — many designed very clinical, cold and sterile, and then others called mom and pop, which could be cluttered or dirty,' said Garrett Lewis, CEO of Bond Vet. 'The question is how to solve both problems.' That solution – creating premium veterinary experiences with transparent pricing and greater accessibility – has attracted significant private equity investment. While these premium services might suggest significantly higher costs, Lewis emphasizes transparency in Bond Vet's pricing model. 'When someone comes in, you can look at the laptop and see exactly what the pricing is,' he said. 'Our prices are just a little bit above average, but the experience is what differentiates us.' This transparency extends to digital platforms, where clients can check prices online or via text before visiting. During appointments, veterinarians show pricing information directly to clients on laptops, allowing for discussion about options. Bond Vet, backed by a $170 million investment from Warburg Pincus, has expanded to 57 locations across the Northeast and Midwest since its founding in 2019. The company was inspired by human-focused healthcare models like One Medical, focusing on convenience, design, and a better experience for both pets and owners. 'They saw the same issue, which was that the industry wasn't serving clients and pets at a much higher level,' Lewis said of Bond Vet's founders, who included a veterinarian and her husband. 'They quickly found it was very different to change culture and design in existing practices, so they rebooted from the ground up.' Bond Vet's approach represents a broader trend in veterinary medicine, where traditional practices are being reinvented with a focus on client experience alongside medical care. Bond Vet's model bridges the gap between traditional veterinary practices and emergency hospitals, offering urgent care alongside preventative services – all with a hospitality-focused approach. 'In the 90s, if you needed sick care, your veterinarian would say, 'Come on in.' If you needed preventive care, they'd say, 'Come on in,'' Lewis explained. 'What happened in the 2000s is a lot of specialization occurred where practices became just preventative and started referring out anything that looked urgent or sick.' Bond Vet handles non-emergency urgent cases that might otherwise end up in expensive emergency rooms. 'ER practices see about 40% of their volume as urgent rather than emergent cases. Clients go to ER and spend twice as much, often having to wait longer,' Lewis noted. These clinics feature design elements specifically created to reduce stress for pets — an approach that appears to be working. 'I always see dogs dragging their owners into the clinic, which is not a common thing,' Lewis said. The 'no walls' philosophy breaking ground Imagine walking into a veterinary emergency room and instead of being separated from your pet during a crisis, you're welcomed directly onto the treatment floor. At Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG), this isn't just possible — it's mandatory. 'We built an entire business around it,' said Dr. David Bessler, founder and CEO of VEG. 'It's much easier doing something 100% of the time than trying to do it 90% of the time.' With 102 locations across 28 states, VEG represents an approach to emergency veterinary medicine that stands apart from both traditional practices and newer primary care models. Unlike other veterinary innovators that blend primary and urgent care, VEG focuses exclusively on emergency medicine – a deliberate strategy that Bessler calls 'a bit of a crazy bet.' 'We took the hardest part of an industry, emergency, and created an entire business around that,' said David Gladstein, co-founder and president of VEG. 'It's hard to make money, it's hard to get the team, it's hard to recruit, it's hard to train.' VEG's most distinctive feature is its commitment to keeping pets with their owners throughout the entire treatment process, even during emergencies — an approach not found in traditional emergency hospitals where pets are typically treated in back rooms away from owners. This transparency extends to the physical design of newer VEG hospitals, which have eliminated traditional waiting rooms entirely. 'Our newer hospitals don't even have a lobby,' Gladstein explained. 'You literally walk in and you're in the middle of the treatment floor.' In a notable departure from many veterinary innovators, VEG has achieved financial independence from its initial investors and now funds its expansion through its own operations. 'VEG is now independently able to do that,' Gladstein stated. 'We don't need anyone else to advocate for us or to pay for us. We're not beholden to anybody. We're beholden to our customers, and we're beholden to our veggies.' This independence allows the company to maintain its distinctive approach while continuing to open 25-30 new locations annually. The company's exclusive focus on emergency care, while limiting in some ways, has allowed it to 'crack the code' on veterinary emergencies according to Gladstein. 'We've kind of cracked the code on one way of doing things in emergency that results in a better experience for all of the souls that are there experiencing that at the same time.'
