Two Independent Film Festivals to Attend in Florida

With experience ranging from psychiatry to charitable medical service in foreign countries, Patricia Lynn Hough now serves St. Francis Animal Rescue as its staff supervisor. In her leisure time, Patricia Lynn Hough enjoys attending independent film festivals.

Independent film festivals have sprung up all over the country and continue to offer a unique opportunity for visitors to experience a diverse range of creative films. The state of Florida is home to at least two of these, the Miami Independent Film Festival and the Melbourne Independent Film Festival.

The Miami Independent Film Festival just completed its second year. Founded in 2015, the first annual festival took place in 2016. The following year, the event received more than 900 film submissions from 64 nations. For more information about this festival and how to attend next year's event or to make a film submission, visit www.miamindiefest.com.

The Melbourne Independent Film Festival will take place from October 20th through 21st at Premiere Theaters Oaks Stadium 10. This year's event includes the Tie Up Loose Ends script competition in which competitors take an existing script and finish it themselves. Filmmakers then film the winning script ending and present it at the festival. For more information, visit www.melbournefilmfest.com.

How the ASA Used Social Science to Influence Policy

 



A staff supervisor at the St. Francis Animal Rescue of Venice, Florida, Patricia Lynn Hough received her PhD in sociology from Freie Universitaet Berlin, where she graduated magna cum laude. Patricia Lynn Hough is also a member of the American Sociological Association (ASA), where she serves on the committee on women's issues.

Established in 1905, the ASA is the premier organization for sociologists in the United States. With more than 13,000 members, the association is committed to advancing sociology not only as a profession in the service of public welfare but also as a scientific discipline.

The ASA is an active entity that uses social science to effect change. One recent example is the organization's key role in influencing the US Supreme Court’s June 2016 ruling in the affirmative action case of Fisher v. the University of Texas at Austin. The case challenged the school's admission process, which used race as a factor in deciding acceptance.

For its part, the ASA supported the university in this admission model, citing scientific research that listed the educational benefits of a diverse student body, including better classroom environments and a decline in prejudice. The Supreme Court eventually sided with the university, allowing it to continue its current admission system.

Popular Diving Spots in Florida

Dr. Patricia Lynn Hough serves as the staff supervisor at St. Francis Animal Rescue, a role she has held since retiring from the field of social work and psychiatry. In this position, she oversees all adoptions, volunteers, and medical care of the cats and kittens at the shelter. In her free time, Dr. Patricia Lynn Hough enjoys scuba diving.

As a peninsula, Florida boasts a large share of great scuba spots. These areas expend along the state’s coasts and down into the Florida Keys. Below are some of Florida’s top scuba diving spots:

1. Kings Bay: a tranquil bay full of freshwater springs and plenty of fish, Kings Bay features warm water that makes for a comfortable diving experience. Divers regularly enjoy the area’s various rock formations and caverns, but the primary attraction of the spot are the manatees who often enjoy relaxing in the warmth.

2. Devil’s Den: located near Gainesville, Devil’s Den is viewed by many as one of the best cave diving experiences in the state. It was the source of many early settlers’ beliefs that the area was a gateway to hell and is now home to fossils that date back over two million years. The warm-water diving spot is also home to the bones of a 7,500-year-old man.

3. Copenhagen Wreck: a 325-foot steamship, the Copenhagen ran aground in 1900 in Pompano Beach after hitting a rock ledge roughly half a mile offshore. The wreckage sank in the shallow water and eventually became a popular diving spot. Now a Florida Archaeological Preserve, divers can still enjoy exploring the ship’s remains.

The El Paso Center for Children’s Runaway Emergency Shelter Program

 

The staff supervisor at St. Francis Animal Rescue, a no-kill kitten and cat shelter in Florida, Dr. Patricia Lynn Hough is a former psychiatrist and social worker who is semi-retired. Throughout her career, Dr. Patricia Lynn Hough has been involved with a variety of charities and community efforts, including the El Paso Runaway Shelter, where she served on the board of directors.

The Runaway Emergency Shelter in El Paso is a program maintained by the El Paso Center for Children, an organization that provides homes and specialized care to families and children in need. Although the shelter is a residential facility, the program strives to prevent family separations and keep youth safe when they are away from home. In the long run, it aims to reunite runaways with their families and ensure long-term stability. To this end, the El Paso Runaway Emergency Shelter combines community education, crisis intervention, skills training, and counseling to help youth.

The shelter serves youth between the ages of 10 and 17 who have run away from home. Staying on a short-term basis, residents go through intensive counseling in family, group, and individual sessions. Residents are given family-style meals in the morning before they prepare for their assigned chores, school, counseling sessions, and workshops. These chores and requirements are meant to show youth that they can succeed in life while also building discipline and reducing such risk factors as substance abuse.