The pace of scientific research into music making has never been greater. New data about music’s relationship to brainpower, wellness and other phenomena is changing the way we perceive mankind’s oldest art form, and it’s having a real-world effect on decisions about educational priorities. The briefs below provide a glimpse into these exciting developments.

...

Middle school and high school students who participated in instrumental music scored significantly higher than their non-band peers in standardized tests. University studies conducted in Georgia and Texas found significant correlations between the number of years of instrumental music instruction and academic achievement in math, science and language arts.
Source: University of Sarasota Study, Jeffrey Lynn Kluball; East Texas State University Study, Daryl Erick Trent

...

Students who were exposed to the music-based lessons scored a full 100 percent higher on fractions tests than those who learned in the conventional manner. Second-grade and third-grade students were taught fractions in an untraditional manner ‹ by teaching them basic music rhythm notation. The group was taught about the relationships between eighth, quarter, half and whole notes. Their peers received traditional fraction instruction.
Source: Neurological Research, March 15, 1999

...

Research shows that piano students are better equipped to comprehend mathematical and scientific concepts. A group of preschoolers received private piano keyboard lessons and singing lessons. A second group received private computer lessons. Those children who received piano/keyboard training performed 34 percent higher on tests measuring spatial-temporal ability than the others ‹ even those who received computer training. "Spatial-temporal" is basically proportional reasoning - ratios, fractions, proportions and thinking in space and time. This concept has long been considered a major obstacle in the teaching of elementary math and science.
Source: Neurological Research February 28, 1997

ArmedWithReason Gun Study Database

This database includes more than 100 academic studies that support our position and have at least an abstract available to the public. It is a work in progress. If you have any suggestions for further additions to the database or questions, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

For 40 years Republicans have tried to convince working-class whites that their hard-earned tax dollars were paying for "welfare queens" (as Ronald Reagan decorously put it) and other nefarious loafers -- a cunning strategy using racial prejudice and economic anxiety to distract attention from corporations that were busily busting unions, outsourcing abroad, and using technologies to replace jobs.

But as the economy has shifted, poverty is now a condition almost anyone can fall into. Nearly 55% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 60 have experienced at least a year in poverty or near poverty; half of all American children have at some point during their childhoods relied on food stamps. A growing portion of the middle class are in part-time or temporary positions, or contract workers. And two-thirds of those below the poverty line at any given point identify themselves as white.

All this renders the old Republican divide-and-conquer strategy obsolete. Which means Republican opposition to extended unemployment insurance, food stamps, jobs programs, and a higher minimum wage pose a real danger of backfiring on the GOP, making way for a new political coalition of America's poor and working middle class bent on getting a fair share of the economies' gains and repairing frayed safety nets.

Dear Scuba,


Stand up for our local communities and their fight against polluting frac sand mines by attending Conservation Lobby Day 2014.
Preventing local communities from having a say on the polluting frac sand mines popping up in their own backyards?

It's a terrible idea - and you and I aren't alone in thinking so. Newspapers have editorialized against it. Thousands of citizens have submitted written protest. And key legislators from both sides of the aisle have voiced opposition.

Yet, the idea persists in Madison in the form of SB 349: The Kneecapping Local Communities Bill. Now that legislators are back from break, we expect renewed efforts to push this bill - in one form or another - through the legislature.

The good news is that we have the momentum. We can kill this bill.

But we have to get organized, get loud, and get noticed – which means it's time to get Conservation Lobby Day 2014 on your calendar!

February 11, 2014
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Monona Terrace, Madison

Stand up for our local communities and their fight against polluting frac sand mines by attending Conservation Lobby Day 2014.

On Conservation Lobby Day, we will tackle this issue head on - asking all 132 legislative offices to oppose the measure.

There is absolutely no more effective way to stand up for Wisconsin's public health and natural resources. Conservation Lobby Day is the day legislators see that Wisconsin's conservation community is:
United: Hundreds of conservation voters of all political stripes will stand together in support of sensible natural resource protections.
Diverse: From hunters and fishermen to bird watchers and campers, from moms and students to retirees and teachers, from canoe paddlers and bike riders to pick-up truck drivers and snow shoers – we’ll all be there to show that conservation has many different faces.
Effective: As a citizen lobbyist, you hold more credibility about the need for clean air and water than any special interest lobbyist. We’ll make sure you’re prepared – and legislators will notice!
Stand up for our local communities and their fight against polluting frac sand mines by attending Conservation Lobby Day 2014.

We are really looking forward to Conservation Lobby Day this year. We are going to rock the Capitol! And we know conservation victories will follow. But we need you there to make it happen. Learn more and register here.

Thank you for being a conservation voter,

Anne Sayers
Program Director
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters

P.S. We are proud to be able to offer Conservation Lobby Day for the tenth year free of charge to participants. However, the event is a serious financial undertaking for our organization. We would appreciate your support in making it happen. Whether you can make it to Conservation Lobby Day or not, please consider making a donation to support this critical event. Thank you!



Stand up for our local communities and their fight against
polluting frac sand mines by attending Conservation Lobby Day 2014.