Mary Cicalese's Publications

• Environment California: Committed to Preserving the Environmental Health of California October, 2011 As a member of the advocacy group for Environment California, Mary Cicalese supports the organization’s role in cleaning and preserving the natural resources in California. Mary Cicalese also established a market research firm known as Green Research One World (GROW), a company that conducts research in fields like eco-living, reusable packing and the FDA, and operational cost reduction using sustainable technologies, to aid the environment. Environment California possesses several different branches, including energy, global warming, clean water, and environment health sections. This article will shed light on the environmental health campaigns sponsored by Environment California. 1. Stop Toxic Toys. For the last six years, Environment California has been fully dedicated to making sure all products developed for babies and children are free of phthalates and other toxins. The organization supported statewide legislation that banned the use of phthalates in all products designed for children less than three years of age, though there is still work to be done in this sector before all toys in California are free of toxic materials. 2. Green Chemistry. An initiative known as Green Chemistry was launched in the California government, and this project was developed to change the way the state approaches chemical exposure and education. Environment California’s role is to ensure that the government makes all decisions that affect the health of citizens and the environment with a new manner of toxicity testing in mind, and also that chemical distributors prove their products safe for human use. 3. Healthy Nail Salons. While more than 10,000 chemical products are used in salons, most of these are not tested for safety. Environment California works to contribute to the adoption of a policy that will protect nail salon workers from exposing themselves to toxic materials on a day-to-day basis.

• Tips for Solving Crossword Puzzles, by Mary Cicalese , Mary Cicalese's Blog on Bigsight January, 2012 Crossword puzzles can be intellectually challenging and mentally draining, but they are not as impossible as many people think. In fact, most expert crossword puzzles do not automatically know all the answers; rather, they use a variety of tricks to complete each puzzle. Listed below are some common strategies. posted at clipartsy.com -Complete the fill-in-the-blanks, clues that are given with one word missing in the middle, first. These are generally more obvious than other clues and even a few letters on the board can make finding additional answers easier. -Also fill in shorter words. Since so few English words contain four or three letters, many puzzles recycle these words. With practice and experience, you can learn the majority of these words. -Use clues to figure out what suffix the word uses. Clues that end in “-ed”, “-ing”, or “-s” usually indicate that the answer ends with the same suffix. These suffixes can typically be penciled in, filling out more of the puzzle. -Pencil in any guesses you have, then use the guessed letters to help with intersecting words. -Be wary of guessing the most obvious word or using the most common definition. Many English words have multiple meanings; do not rule out any. -Completely empty crossword puzzles may look overwhelming. Try working on sections or clusters at a time, thus simplifying the process. -When you get really frustrated with a puzzle, set it aside for a time. You’ll often come back to the puzzle and suddenly figure out several more answers. -Finally, use your resources! It is okay to look up answers in books or on the Internet. The goal is to finish the crossword puzzle, not to be a walking encyclopedia. About the Author: An avid fan of crossword puzzles, Mary Cicalese has consumed every New York Times crossword puzzle produced by Will Shortz, the publication’s crossword puzzle editor.

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