Photo taken By: April Olibrice

ST. PETERSBURG — What lies to rest six feet below the rich soil ground are the pioneers of South Pinellas. The moss-draped cedars and live oak trees that symbolize strength and long life give off shade accompanied by a cool breeze, inviting visitors on a journey that displays a wealth of history at Greenwood Cemetery often called “Veteran’s Cemetery” due to the number of Civil War veterans buried there.
“I want people to go away with an understanding that this is a great community. It’s a beautiful hidden little area that they do not know about. It’s a lot more attractive then they imagine,” said Kai Warren, a resident of Roser Park for 27 years.
Kai Warren and his friend, Peter Delmont, do three historic tours a month at St. Petersburg preservation downtown during the cooler times of the year and ask for donations.
Warren provides “nickel tours”, a term he overheard growing up, meaning a free tour of Rosner Park and Greenwood Cemetery.
The local guide is a semi retired historian and literature enthusiast who shows patrons around his neighborhood. For more information about Greenwood Nickel Tour contact Warren by e-mail: kaistpete@gmail.com.
The goal of his tours and why he shows both midtown historic locations he said, is
“Marketing, marketing, marketing. Let people know all the good things so they can share those stories and attract more people to the area.”
What does he get out of presenting the history of the Greenwood burial grounds?
“It’s part of the character and charm that you get when you walk around St. Petersburg and if people don’t learn about it, they will give it up easier. Its not only fun to do but important educate,” said Warren.
Who will you find buried in Greenwood?
Located at Dr.M.L. King Jr. Street and 11th Avenue S, the Greenwood Cemetery is the final resting place of Ethel Madeline, daughter of William H. and Carrie Ogden, who died May 16 1892, before there was a formal cemetery, which at that time was a five acre tract that Henry Bussey purchased.
Descendants of some the area’s most distinguished families are here. For example, St. Petersburg first mayor David Moffett, who was elected on an anti-saloon ticket in 1892, is buried there. The David Moffett house located at 105 Fifth Ave. NE, St. Petersburg still stands to today, but it is now a hotel called The Mansion House.
In the old graveyard, Almon Kincaid Virgil 1842-1921, a renowned musical instructor and known for inventing the first toneless keyboard can also be found among the scattered plots.
The inscription on his tombstone reads, “And Ye Shall Know The Truth, And The Truth Shall Make You Free. This stone was placed there by students In Loving Memory.”
Prominent throughout the cemetery are characteristic stone wood markers with a branch on each side symbolizing the shortness of life. These markers contain an emblem that reads Woodman of the World Memorial, (W.O.W) a fraternal organization.
The list goes on with people such as Frank H. Starkey, with an upright square bottom and on top a short stone log tombstone, a young developer in the St. Petersburg area who died in 1906 at a very early age. There is now a road that is named after Starkey in Pinellas County that runs through St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and Largo.
Also there is Almon Brown Strowger 1839-1902, Civil War veteran, pioneer, and inventor of the telephone switching system that gave us the operator-less telephone. His invention motivated the telephone industry to place a brass center-stone plaque on his grave in 1949.
The plaque reads, Rest the remains of whose dream of better telephone service inspired him to invent in 1889 the first practical automatic telephone system. This placed in his honor, on the 110th Anniversary of his birth by grateful members of telephone industry.
Ira Gore was the owner-editor of the St. Petersburg Times from 1894 to 1900. His tombstone a grayish mid-size cone shaped piece of granite located under a shaded tree in the northeast section of the cemetery has inscriptions on two sides. Just below where his names is etched the inscription reads “Rest dearest father in quiet sleep while loved ones sorrow o’er thee weep” on another side of the tombstone “Just as the morning of his life was opening unto day his young and lovely spirit passed from earth to heaven.”
The Greenwood Cemetery had a number of different caretakers. The original owner Henry P. Bussey died 1914 was the first caretaker. Frank Ryll longtime St. Petersburg resident, and most recent caretaker of Greenwood until 2002 when he died. Both prior operating officers were buried in the cemetery.
Chris Kelly, the former president of Roser Historic Neighborhood association was involved in helping organize a clean up of the historic notable graveyard location. Along with Pinellas Genealogical Society, St. Petersburg Preservation Inc., and the Central Gulf Coast Archeology Society participated in the good nature event.
“Then we also sent out an advertisement in the newspaper about the cleanup, you would be surprised people of good nature decided to volunteer, so we had great turn out,” said Kelly.
Before Ryll died, he asked Mirian H. McGrath to assist him in running the cemetery. McGrath is the volunteering director and officer of the Greenwood Cemetery Association, and an attorney.
“ I welcomed the opportunity to help preserve St. Petersburg’s oldest cemetery which is so much a part of the history of our town,” said McGrath.
She has been involved with Greenwood for about 10 years.
“ There are just the normal frustrations that any not-for-profit effort has of limited funds and not being able to do everything we would like,” said McGrath. But, she does not consider it a disadvantage, but rather, a challenge.
Currently, several projects are in the works. One will identify vacant spaces and to see if families are interested in selling them. The other is a mapping project to make it easier for people to find gravesites.
The 4.1 acre memorial ground is here to stay protected on a government level, said McGrath, so the bodies or tombstones will not be able to remove or alter any parts of the cemetery. Graciously Greenwood has never gone to life changing altering of the cemetery.
The Greenwood Cemetery Association also wants to improve the roadways in the cemetery and have new signage.
Anyone who would like to volunteer their assistance with anything dealing with the Greenwood Cemetery are welcome to contact McGrath by e-mailing her at: marian@marianmcgrath.com.
“Make a visit! It is open every day and the public is welcome. Wander among the grave-markers and note the dates of death. You will be surprised how old some of the graves are. Pay particular attention to the Civil War veterans–both North and South,” said McGrath.

Today’s best games, already immersive experiences thanks to large-screen TVs and sophisticated graphics, could become even more intense in three dimensions — imagine “God of War III” in full, bloody 3-D glory. So far, however, the video gaming industry has proceeded cautiously.

The big three console makers are taking different routes to 3-D. Sony has already pushed out software changes to allow games in 3-D on its PlayStation 3 system. Microsoft said it also can do 3-D on the Xbox 360 but prefers to wait, while Nintendo, maker of the Wii, is going small with its 3-D gaming plans.

Panasonic and Samsung recently introduced home 3-D television systems, and Sony is prepared to issue its own 3-D TV models next month. Other TV manufacturers are close behind.

Video: 3-D TV in your living room Video

Computer manufacturers also are making the technical adjustments to show games in three dimensions, but those changes will come with a significant price — and with many questions.

Digital graphics maker NVIDIA has developed technology that renders an image twice on computer monitors and requires shuttered eyeglasses to produce it in 3-D inside the user’s brain. Phil Eisler, an NVIDIA general manager, said the company is taking advantage of work already done by gaming developers.

“They do all the work to make games in 3-D, but then render them flat,” he said. “We can portray the games the way they should be.”

Gaming software for 3-D play shows the action from two slightly different angles. The active-shutter glasses alternately open and close to give the eyes different views and allow the brain to put the images together in what appears to be three dimensions. Eisler said the glasses refresh at a rate of 60 hertz for each eye, with a scroll wheel that allows the user to adjust the depth of vision for the game.

“It is like hyper-stereo,” he said. “For first-person shooter games, this kind of depth could be invaluable.”

Games coming in 3-D

Patrick Bach, senior producer at game developer DICE, said whether it is this technology or another, gaming is headed for 3-D soon. DICE and its owner, Electronic Arts, will be upgrading their new game, “Battlefield: Bad Company 2,” into a 3-D game with a patch.

“Special hardware will be a hurdle. But we want people to experience the game in 3-D,” Bach said. “We wouldn’t add this if it didn’t add to the game.”

Eisler said developers don’t have to do anything extra to make their games work in three dimensions. The “NVIDIA 3D Vision” process automatically transforms nearly 400 PC games into full stereoscopic 3-D right out of the box, without the need for special game patches, he said.

But he said many companies are going the extra step to make their titles look better in 3-D by adding such enhancements as out-of-screen effects and showing in-game movies and backgrounds in 3-D.

“In ‘Bad Company 2′, for example, they have rendered all their cut scenes in 3-D as well,” Eisler said. “They have done a stellar job with their game.”

Get ready to pay

While games might be ready for 3-D, gaming hardware likely is not. And upgrades aren’t cheap.

To display 3-D images, computer monitors will need to refresh at a rate of 120 hertz, slightly higher than current models. Several manufacturers are producing 3-D-ready monitors in high definition and non-high def, but those can cost $500 to $600.

Eisler said a mid- to high-end video card (from $150 to $300) also will be needed to handle the extra rendering load. And don’t forget the shutter glasses that connect to the computer via an infrared beam (an extra $200).

Of course, gaming in three dimensions won’t be limited to the computer.

Sony announced that a software upgrade will be pushed out to its PlayStation 3 consoles to allow for 3-D action using 3-D-ready televisions. The console already has the necessary processor and connection capabilities to show games in 3-D, and all PS3s sold since 2006 will support the upgrade.

But no 3-D games were available for the PS3 system at the time of the software release.

What that means is even if you have all the hardware (3-D TV, shutter glasses) and software to play games in 3-D, the game must also be designed to be played in 3-D for the effects to show up. These 3-D ready games are expected before the end of 2010.

Nintendo is expected to unveil its newest handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS, at the E3 gaming convention in mid-June. The company said the portable device will produce 3-D effects without the need for any special glasses.

Microsoft has not announced any plans for 3-D gaming, choosing to focus instead on its upcoming system, code-named Project Natal, which will allow players to control their in-game avatars by moving their arms and legs. The Project Natal system is expected to hit the market by the end of the year.

3-D and health concerns

Microsoft said its Xbox 360 is 3-D-ready but has questioned gamers’ level of interest in 3-D and would prefer to wait and see how the new technology will be received.

For example, it’s not clear whether gamers or TV watchers will want to spend long hours staring at screens through shutter glasses.

Some moviegoers who wore the glasses during 3-D screenings of “Avatar” reported suffering dizziness, headaches and nausea. The shutter glasses’ technology is so new that researchers have not done studies on the effects of watching screens for long periods.

Can 3-D movies, TV make you sick?

Samsung recently issued a statement warning kids under 6, pregnant women, the elderly and anyone who is sleep deprived or under the influence of alcohol from watching 3-D, which the company said could cause headaches and eye fatigue. The statement also recommended that viewers take frequent breaks — a drawback for hard-core gamers.

iReport: Do health warnings about watching 3-D concern you? Tell us.

Does 3-D gaming have a future?

Gamers so far are taking a wait-and-see approach to 3-D technology for gaming. The expected high costs are keeping some away, while limitations on gameplay have others concerned, according to the chatter on gaming-site message boards.

“The idea sounds cool, but I’m not sure it’s enough to spend another thousand dollars on a nice ’3D compatible’ TV,” wrote a user named joeborg14 on Gamespot. “Not to mention wearing those gorgeous glasses. And what about split screen? That’s gonna throw a wrench in the whole deal.”

As more games and movies are shown in 3-D, as 3-D TVs begin to appear in homes and as costs come down, 3-D gaming may eventually go mainstream. And as technology continues to improve, people may even be able to experience 3-D entertainment in their homes without special glasses.

But the real measuring stick for the video game industry will be the quality of the 3-D gaming experience itself, and whether consumers feel like games in three dimensions are worth the time and expense.

Otherwise, 3-D equipment may fade into obscurity as quickly as the Atari Jaguar console did in the 1990s.

Almost 2,000 schools and faith and civic institutions, and about 75 national and state political leaders were part of the event. Organizers say about 1 million people participated.

“This is not a protest movement. It’s an engagement movement,” says Eban Goodstein, the economics professor at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., who founded the non-profit organization, also called Focus the Nation, in 2006 to spearhead climate activism.

GOING GREEN: Sometimes old habits die hard

At the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, “everyone’s looking at what’s our next step,” says junior Katelyn McCormick. “People are planning campaigns. Freshmen are really excited.”

McCormick was among the students who gathered in Washington, D.C., in November for Powershift 2007, the first national youth summit on the climate crisis. At a special congressional hearing chaired by U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., McCormick spoke about how schoolchildren in West Virginia are affected by proximity to a coal-mining operation.

Scientists have tied climate change to the release of heat-trapping “greenhouse” gases into the atmosphere, fueled by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal.

“Global warming, environmental injustices and social injustices are so closely tied together that you can’t separate one from another,” McCormick says. “I definitely have found my passion and plan to make this part of my life.”

Lindsay Clark, a 2007 graduate, works at the Office of Sustainability at the University of Utah, which fosters eco-friendly programs. She says she is helping the school become a “net zero water campus” by recycling water and increasing its use of renewable energy. The school has an extensive energy-retrofitting program, which includes energy-efficient light bulbs and low-flow water fixtures.

As a follow-up to the national event, Clark and other students met with Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and pressed him to support the Higher Education Sustainability Act, which is now being considered by Congress. That legislation would require campuses to go green in their use of energy, materials and facilities.

At the University of Vermont, more than 85 faculty members took part in Focus the Nation, says Samir Doshi, a doctoral student. A new Office of Sustainability has opened at the school — similar offices are up and running or coming online at many others — and the school’s new student center is the first to receive the LEED Gold designation from the U.S. Green Building Council for exemplary environmental design and construction.

“A lot of people, when they talk about global warming, there’s a lot of gloom and doom. We wanted to make it something positive,” Doshi says.

Many professors and faculty members embraced the teach-in, weaving discussions into their class schedules and taking part in panels.

Goodstein and other activists see faculty involvement as a partnership between old-guard activists from the 1960s and the new “self-broadcasting” generation.

“You’ve got the old-school people in the movement who fought in the civil rights movement. And you’ve got these instinctually brilliant young people who know how to organize, who know how to broadcast, because they already organize every day when they look for friends (on Facebook or MySpace),” says Garett Brennan, spokesman for Focus the Nation.

Students also have used some more offbeat approaches.

At the University of Missouri, northward relocation of hop crops because of warmer climates inspired a “Save the Ales” night at a local brew pub.

“If you tell them that over the next 30 years the price of beer will really go up because of climate change, they stop and listen,” says Lindsey Berger, a Missouri junior. “That’s one thing that will grab their attention.”

Posted by: Nikeya (nikki) Williams

By Candice Royer

By April Olibrice

Information listed all courtesy of Wikipedia

Environmentally friendly (eco-friendly and nature friendly) are synonyms used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment.[1] To make consumers aware, environmentally friendly goods and services often are marked with eco-labels. But because there is no single international standard for this concept, the International Organization for Standardization considers such labels too vague to be meaningful.[2]

Europe

Products located in members of the European Union can use the EU’s Eco-label pending the EU’s approval.[3] EMAS is another EU label[4] that signifies whether an organization management is green as opposed to the product.[5] Germany also uses the Blue Angel, based on Germany’s standards.[6]

North America

In the United States, environmental marketing claims require caution. Ambiguous titles such as environmentally friendly can be confusing without a specific definition; some regulators are providing guidance.[7]

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has deemed this language useless in determining whether a product is truly “green”.[2]

In Canada, one label is that of the Environmental Choice Program.[6] Created in 1988,[8] only products approved by the program are allowed to display the label.[9]

Oceania

The Energy Rating Label is a Type III label[10][11] that provides information on “energy service per unit of energy consumption”.[12] It was first created in 1986, but negotiations led to a redesign in 2000.[13]

International

Energy Star is a program with a primary goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.[14] Energy Star has different sections for different nations or areas, including the United States,[15] the European Union [16] and Australia.[17] The program, which was founded in the Untied States, also exists in Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Taiwan.[18]

April says click and find about whats noise about.

titled by April