The following was submitted by Gloria Levgold:

On Sunday, March 10, the Unitarian Church's Pastoral Care Associates, Social Action and Outreach Committee and Racial Justice Team will present “From Insight to Impact: Understanding Ourselves and Others,” a 90-minute Introductory Workshop with Nancy Rubbico, from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Winchester Unitarian Society, 478 Main St., Winchester.

Dive into the fundamentals of human interaction in an introductory workshop led by Nancy Rubbico. In just a short session you will be introduced to the role of the nervous system in shaping emotional, behavioral, and social interactions.

Gain valuable insights into personal growth, well-being enhancement, and building stronger

relationships:

• The Basics of Relating: Grasp the foundational elements that make or break our ability to relate to others genuinely.

• First Steps to Fulfillment: Identify starting points for cultivating personal satisfaction in your daily life.

• Being Human: Explore our innate desire to connect more profoundly, to cultivate richer relationships, to feel seen and heard, and to listen to others with curiosity and openness.

• Insights into Well-being: Rubbico shares foundational insights into emotional and psychological health.

• Community Building: Learn the initial steps to cultivate supportive networks.

• Actionable Takeaways: Leave with practical steps that can be applied immediately to your life.

This workshop is designed as an initial step and a foundational introduction to a deeper exploration of self-awareness and relationship dynamics. It marks the start of a transformative journey, aimed at enriching both your personal and professional life.

By assimilating the insights and strategies presented in this session, you are setting forth on a path towards a more balanced, confident, and influential existence. We invite you to join us in taking these pivotal first steps towards cultivating a life that is richer, more interconnected, and fulfilling on every level.

Rubbico, LMHC, is the founder of the BOCAS Method.

Working in the mental health field in multiple settings with a variety of clients has endowed Rubbico with a distinctive outlook on human psychology. Her approach integrates mind and body, providing a robust framework for overall well-being.

Techniques such as EMDR, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, AEDP, yoga principles, and Polyvagal Theory form a comprehensive toolkit for managing stress, building resilience, and promoting emotional and physical health. Her pioneering work with Polyvagal Theory offers key insights into how the nervous system impacts interactions, emotions, and well-being.

Understanding this theory can be transformative for anyone, providing a basis for improved interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and self-regulation.

As you delve into her teachings, you gain not just a therapist's perspective but a comprehensive understanding of human behavior and well-being. She advocates for making mental health knowledge accessible to everyone, aligning with the increasing need for mental wellness in society. Training with her provides insights typically limited to therapeutic settings, offering a unique perspective for applying these principles in various life situations.

Published in Psychology Today, April 2022 “What Putin’s Physiological State Tells Us.”

Jenks speakers address antimicrobial face masks and the future direction of microeletronics

By Ron Latanision, John Brown, and Walter Hubbard  

The Wilson Science & Technology Forum in February included interesting, but perhaps unexpectedly, related presentations.  On February 9, Professor Angel Serrano of Universidad Catolica de Valencia in Spain, spoke about the development of Antimicrobial Face Masks that protect against viral and bacterial infections and on February 23, Professor Jesus A. Del Alamo, of MIT’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department, addressed the nature of future microchip development and deployment globally. The unexpected connection is the COVID pandemic!

On February 9, Professor Angel Serrano Aroca of the Catholic University of Valencia (UCV) spoke about his work on Antimicrobial Face Masks, Face Shields and...Lipsticks. Face masks and face shields are accepted to be effective protective tools to avoid bacterial and viral transmission, especially against indoor aerosol transmission. However, the commercial materials used to produce these tools are not capable of inactivating pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 or multidrug-resistant bacteria. Lipsticks are usually associated with higher physical, sexual and social attractiveness and are not generally made of antimicrobial materials either. In this context, Professor Serrano and his colleagues have developed new antimicrobial face masks and face shields with a biofunctional coating of benzalkonium chloride (BAK). These coatings were capable of inactivating the COVID virus in less than 1 minute of viral contact. Moreover, the BAK coating was also effective against the life-threatening methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE). Other antimicrobial face masks can be developed using a low-cost technology consisting of a solidified hand soap coating. Bio-based technologies for the production of antimicrobial face masks can also be applied using cranberry extracts by dip-coating. A novel bio-based lipstick containing cranberry extract was also developed to prevent infections caused by a broad range of microorganisms, including: enveloped and non-enveloped viruses; multidrug-resistant bacteria like MRSA, Escherichia coli, and Mycobacterium smegmatis, a surrogate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; and the Candida albicans fungus. Therefore, all these antimicrobial tools are very promising in the current antimicrobial-resistance era.

 And, on February 23, MIT Professor Jesus del Alamo spoke on the future direction of microelectronics, Microelectronics: Quo Vadis? The COVID pandemic, in dramatic form, made evident the critical role that microelectronics plays in modern human society. Microelectronics is ubiquitous. But supply disruptions brought us the realization that semiconductor chips are like oxygen, only when we don’t have them, we come to appreciate how much we depend on them for nearly every aspect of our lives. Indeed, countries around the world have all of a sudden recognized the strategic nature of semiconductor microelectronics, and policies to foster on-shore production of the most advanced chips and to strengthen the robustness of supply chains are being enacted around the globe.  Beyond its strategic importance, semiconductor microelectronics is a domain that wonderfully illustrates what human ingenuity can accomplish.

For over 50 years now, the power of microelectronics has been increasing exponentially. While the popular press has been warning us of the impending “End of Moore’s Law”, technologists continue to push the technology forward. At any one time, they see 10 more years of continuous progress ahead. The miracle of microchips is that it is a technology which is oriented toward devices that include the smallest physical features and the largest attendant costs of the machinery to produce them. There is something truly miraculous about all of this. This talk reviewed the long march of microelectronics to this date and the opportunities and challenges going forward. In its late middle age, the field remains youthful and pregnant with possibilities.

UPCOMING LECTURES:

March 8, Rich Adler, Founder, Decision Path (USA), will follow up on his presentation from February 2023 by Revisiting Bending the Law of Unintended Consequences: More Decision Support Models. Rich will talk about some case history examples of decision making.

 March 22, Boston Globe business writer Jon Chesto, will join us. Jon has written on the problems of the grid and will speak on Massachusetts Role in the Future of the Regional Electric Grid.

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All Wilson Forum presentations are recorded and can be streamed free on demand at the Wilson Forum’s website, https://jenksst.blogspot.com/ 

WinCAM broadcasts recordings of Forum presentations at 3 pm on Mondays and Fridays. For the schedule, go to https://wincam.org/schedule/education/ and search for “Wilson.”

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The Wilson Forum’s meetings are via Zoom, usually at 10:30 am on the second and fourth Fridays of each month.

To learn of upcoming Forum speakers, you can check the Jenks Center’s website https://www.jenkscenter.org/  (events > daytime > Wilson Forum).

Alternatively, you can receive notifications of upcoming talks by emailing a request to be added to the Forum’s roster to rlatanision@alum.mit.edu.  

Two babies were born at Winchester Hospital on Leap Day, Baby Crew and Baby Robin. The nurses supplied the onesies.

Winchester News is supported by our community. Please donate to support our work.”

A historic building owned by the town of Winchester needs a lot of maintenance and repair, and two Winchester Historical Society board members get the work done. 

Susan Turpin and Bill Swanton are in the Sanborn House three or four times a week, making sure plumbing problems get fixed, or the interior gets repainted, and right now getting the chimneys repaired.

A Prospect Street resident, Turpin has been doing this for years, and everybody who’s ever renovated a house knows how hard it is to find contractors. But for the Sanborn House, it’s a lot more complicated. 

Because the building is on the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s list of “important and endangered properties,” the rules about how to hire contractors are quite specific, according to Turpin.

“The commission requires us to use the lowest bidder,” she says. 

And Swanton points out that it’s not easy finding bidders who are willing to work on an old house and for a non-profit. Plus, “it might take six months between putting out a request for proposal and getting enough money to pay for the project,” he says.

And who puts up the money? Folks who donate to the Historical Society, and grant-giving organizations. For the chimney work, for instance, the Massachusetts Cultural Council awarded a grant of $33,000 which had to be matched by donors. 

According to Turpin, Winchester Historical Society has been responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the Sanborn house since 2006, making over $677k worth of improvements to the house and surrounding property.

Swanton has been on the facilities committee for a while and is now on the board after retiring from a software company in March. He and his wife renovated a 14-room Victorian on Church Street, which they sold and moved to Cambridge Street. He knows how to do a lot of repair work himself and has fixed some of the ten sets of double screen doors, saving the fairly high cost of getting them fixed professionally. 

And while Turpin isn’t doing repairs herself, she learned how to deal with contractors when she was on a Belmont Day School Committee to build a $13 million addition back in 2000. She knows a lot of contractors likely to do the chimney work, and she sent them information about how they’d have to match the exterior colors of the chimneys, including the chimney caps.

The money was available in November and the Select Board voted to accept the grant money. 

“We are so blessed to have Susan and Bill as co-chairs of our facilities committee,” says Historical Society President Electra Govoni. “It is through their dedication, ingenuity and blood, sweat and tears that the Sanborn House remains a beautiful historic and cultural asset for the town.”

The two say they’re looking forward to getting the columns on the exterior repaired — right now six of the capitals are boxed up, the balustrades on the roof.

“We have the pieces,” says Swanton, “and we’d like to put them together), and maybe even getting air-conditioning so the house could be rented in the summer for parties and other events.”

The following was submitted by the Winchester Democratic Town Committee:

On Saturday, March 2, at 11 a.m., the Winchester Democratic Town Committee will be holding a caucus in the large meeting room of the Winchester Public Library, 80 Washington St., to elect delegates to the June 1 Democratic State Convention in Worcester.

Also, some of state representatives and senators or their representatives are expected be there to speak or answer questions. Any Winchester resident is welcome to attend and meet them.

The following was submitted by the League of Women Voters of Winchester:

The League of Women Voters of Winchester is sponsoring two candidate forums on March 7 and March 14, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Jenks Center, Cummings Room, 109 Skillings Road, before the March 26 town election.

These will include candidate debates for contested town-wide races, in which all candidates plan to participate. The debates will be preceded by informal Meet the Town Meeting Candidates opportunities:

The following are the schedules for the events:

March 7

6:30-7:30 p.m. :  Meet Town Meeting candidates for all precincts

7:30-8:30 p.m.: Select Board debate (2 seats): Michael Bettencourt (incumbent), William McGonigle, Vincent Dixon and Dorothy Simboli

March 14

6:30-7 p.m. : Meet Town Meeting candidates for all precincts

7-7:30 p.m.:  Housing Authority debate (1 seat): James Harris and Thomas Mourier

7:30-8:30 p.m.: School Committee debate (2 seats): Thomas Hopcroft (incumbent), Jeffrey Duncan, My Linh Truong, Carey Sue Barney, and Timothy Matthews

The debates will be moderated by an LWV moderator from a League chapter outside of Winchester. This event will be livestreamed by WinCam and available afterwards on www.wincam.org.

The League will again provide online Voter Guides with profiles of candidates for all offices, including Town Meeting. The guides will be available in early March on the League’s website www.lwvwinchester.org.

The short stretch of Church Street posted with temporary no parking signs will now be posted with permanent no parking signs and no one seems to mind.

“It’s not often we get no parking proposals that don’t have pushback … because we hear a lot about the lack in town center,” said Select Board member Michelle Prior.

The board voted Feb. 26 to install permanent “no parking from here to corner” from 69 Church St. to the Wildwood, Central Street intersection.

Town Engineer Matt Shuman told the board the temporary no parking signs were initially installed in June 2023 when the Lake Street Bridge closed.

“The idea was to assist with sight distance,” he said.

Shuman added drivers traveling down Wildwood Street in particular have a difficult time seeing both sides of the street when trying to turn onto Church.

Select Board member Michael Bettencourt said he takes that route pretty regularly and agreed the view without the parking ban was tough.

“And there are quite a few kids that use those crosswalks,” he added. “It’s very busy, there are a lot of kids on bikes, too, that are kind of flying through the area so the low visibility doesn’t help.”

Bettencourt said typically, he is not a fan of no parking signs, but in this case it makes sense.

Board Chair Richard Mucci agreed.

“I come down this way a lot and since those signs have been installed it’s much easier to see in the intersection,” he said.

Prior also acknowledged the difficulty of taking a left off Wildwood and noted that even the homeowner on that corner seemed to appreciate the idea.

Bill Rae, who lives at 69 Church St., said he selfishly supported the change.

Rae called it “very difficult” to get in and out of his driveway when vehicles are lined up on the street. Cars parking so near his driveway on both sides of the street makes for a very limited line of sight when trying to exit, he explained. He also said vehicles often block his driveway as well.

“Like tonight, there’s someone in half my driveway,” he said. “He’s pulled up there and I can’t get out.”

“You’re allowed to be selfish,” Prior said.

Another resident said he would like to be so bold as to suggest Wildwood Street be made one way, but only up to Fletcher Street. He said it’s a request he’s wanted to make and thought he’d simply throw it out there, “but I know a lot of good people on Pine would probably object.”

This article has been updated to identify the town engineer, who attended the Feb. 26 Select Board meeting.

Town Meeting members voted last year to increase water and sewer rates by 6.5% annually through Fiscal Year 2028, but it appears that is not enough.

Matt Abrahams, of the Abrahams Group, said that during a Select Board meeting in December 2023, a review of the rate set almost a year ago revealed that “just a slight uptick” in the rate was needed. The recommended change was to go from 6.5% to 6.75% and largely because revenue was down.

“The main reason is because outdoor water usage was way down this past year,” he said. “Because we had a really wet summer.”

Abrahams said with usage down and the loss of user charge revenues, the town is looking at a projected deficit of $1.1 million for the current fiscal year. He called that a large number, but said the water and sewer account had also retained earnings certified at over $1.9 million.

Abrahams called the $1.9 million a nice number, but cautioned it doesn’t take fiscal year 2025 into account. If certified earnings are used to balance the account for two years, that $1.9 million balance could dip as low as $300,000 by fiscal year 2026, he said.

Another reason driving the increase is a jump in the sewer assessment. While water usage is fairly easy to predict, Abrahams said sewer is not, it involves a three-year look and contains many factors that are tough to quantify and predict.

“We thought it would be somewhere in the small increase area – it ended up being much larger than that,” Abrahams explained. “The sewer total assessment went up 11.2% last year.”

The increase combined with the dip in revenue created the negative perfect storm.

Select Board member John Fallon asked how much meters had to do with the issue and Department of Public Works Director Robert LaBossiere said it was an issue.

Surprise meters

In the past, the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) estimated the town’s sewer flow using six meters that metered roughly 50% of the flow.

LaBossiere said the MWRA came in about three years ago to upgrade the meters, but didn’t notify the town it had also installed an additional three meters. That means, LaBossiere explained, the MWRA has been assessing the town on 75% of actual flow for the last two years, which for the town was an unknown increase. It should plateau in by FY26, he added. 

Town Manager Beth Rudolph said the town only learned of the meter change recently and planned to have a meeting with the MWRA and the town’s engineering firm to discuss the accuracy of the readings.

Despite the MWRA meters, LaBossiere said the summer rains that resulted in less water usage also contributed to the sewer increase.

“We got a lot more inflow into the sewer system during heavy rains,” he said. “A lot of people are putting their sump pumps into the sewer and we’re paying for all that flow.”

Choices

But Abrahams wasn’t at the meeting to just talk increase – he also came with solutions in the form of three options for the Select Board to consider.

Option 1: Implement the 6.75% rate increase for FY25, but it would jump to 17.5% in FY26 before leveling out at 7% for the next three years.

Abrahams said, based on conservative estimates, the 6.75% increase would bump up the average water bill by about $13, but by 2029, that increase would be roughly $105. On the flip side, it would also net the town nearly $1 million in retained earnings.

Option 2:  Start with an 11% increase in FY25 that drops to a 10% increase in FY26 and fiscal year 2027 then down to 7% for fiscal year 2028 and 6.5% for fiscal year 2029. The increase in the average water and sewer bill would start at $22 and top out at about $83 by 2029. But again, that would net the town almost $1 million in retained earnings.

Option 3: This includes a fairly level increase of 9.5% per year, but also comes with a $5 per bill service charge increase. The increase per average user would be about $24, but comes with the largest payout, with about $1.2 million in retained earnings by 2029.

The board did not decide on an option, but Select Board member Michael Bettencout did say that relying on a service charge increase, which came with Option 3, worried him. He also noted the increases weren’t just about water and sewer but capital investments as well.

Select Board Vice-Chair Anthea Brady suggested putting off the service fee increase for a year.

Select Board Chair Richard Mucci asked where Winchester ranked compared to other communities. Abrahams said he didn’t have that information readily available, but would get it.

Rudolph reminded the board that it would vote motions for Town Meeting on March 25 and so they needed to decide before then if a public hearing would be needed.

“We presented three options,” she added. “There’s an infinite number of options. Is there something we didn’t present that board would like to see? Let us know.” 

Latest in the series, this time further afield, not downtown, but a property many residents should know.  Retired photographer Frank Siteman has taken photos of places downtown, and your job is to guess where they were taken.  If you know the answer, send an email to editor@winchesternews.org and put How well in the subject line.  

Last time was a gimme and we had several winners. Michael Arwe, Kevin Drum, Peter Engeldrum, Carl Hagge, Michelle Prior and Elisabeth Westner guessed it’s the Center Falls Dam. See last week’s to refresh your memory.  

A graduate of Tufts, Frank has taught photography at many institutions and traveled the world to take photos for various publications.  His yard on Pond Street backs up to Horn Pond and he frequently displays nature photos on the Facebook Friends of Horn Pond group.  Check him out at https://franksiteman.com/work.   

Winchester News is supported by our community. Please donate to support our work.

The following was submitted by the First Congregational Church in Winchester:

Do you have a special pair of jeans or sweater that needs mending, a lamp in need of repair, a bicycle that needs attention or kitchen knives that could use sharpening? Come and be a part of the sustainability movement and community by repairing and restoring rather than adding to landfills……..while making new friends along the way!

On Saturday, March 9, First Congregational Church in Winchester, 21 Church St., will hold a Repair Shop, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Chidley Hall.

So tell your friends and colleagues about the Repair Cafe!

Also if you have any unused TV remotes, please drop them off at the Repair Cafe and they will be put to good use again. One of the volunteers pairs them with rescued and reconditioned TV’s he donates.

Visit https://www.repaircafewin.com to sign up and to see next dates.

The following was submitted by The Jenks Center:

On Wednesday, March 6, Minuteman Senior Services will present “Living Independently at Home,” the first in a series of topics for Solo Agers, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at The Jenks Center, 109 Skillings Road, Winchester.

Minuteman Senior Services will present resources that enable older adults to continue living at home.  Learn what’s available; whether you need services today or want to know what’s available for future needs. 

While open to all, the presentation will focus on the unique needs of Solo Agers – those without the support of adult children or family.  An audience discussion will follow the presentation. 

To register, call 781-721-7136 or visit www.jenkscenter.org

The following was submitted by the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association:

The town of Winchester was presented with a FY2023 Excellence in Employee Engagement Award from the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA), the town’s insurance provider.

The award was given in recognition of the town’s overall excellence in wellness best practices, leadership support, creativity, innovation, and having an active wellness committee. The award was presented during MIIA’s Annual Business Meeting held in Boston on January 20, 2024.

Since Winchester rejoined MIIA’s Health Benefits Trust in fiscal 2023, employees have enthusiastically participated in a range of MIIA’s Well Aware programs, including yoga, strength, stretch and balance, power conditioning, Zumba, Pilates, nutrition, and mindfulness classes. Additionally, the town offered an adult CPR class, sponsored a 10K-A-Day step challenge, and provided stress-relieving seated massages.

MIIA’s wellness team commended Winchester’s active wellness committee and employee Wellness Champion ) for creating robust and diverse wellness offerings that support employees in reaching their health and wellness goals.

“The town of Winchester continues to be engaged and committed to the health and well-being of their employees,” said Stanley Corcoran, executive vice president of MIIA. “Winchester provides an example for other towns and cities in the Commonwealth to follow as they look for practical ways to create a culture of health and wellness for employees.”

The Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA) is the non-profit insurance arm of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

As a member-based organization, MIIA’s sole focus is to provide excellent service and quality risk management and health insurance solutions to Massachusetts municipalities and related public entities.

MIIA insures nearly 400 cities, towns, and other public entities in Massachusetts.

For more information, visit www.emiia.org and www.mma.org.

After retiring as a civil rights lawyer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Grove Street resident Connie McGrane wanted to “do something larger in the justice world.” 

McGrane’s career included submitting a legal brief to the U.S. Supreme Court and working for the state’s Commission against Discrimination, and she was looking for a way to be more effective in social change.

What she found was a faith-based movement, the Poor People’s Campaign, a national organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shortly before he was assassinated. 

“Martin Luther King’s faith propelled him — he was a liberation theologian,” says McGrane, adding that the theology questions the values of institutions. 

“We don’t support candidates, we support democracy,” McGrane explains, saying, “We’re great policy wonks.

“This year our goal is to mobilize poor and low-income workers to register to vote,” she continues. “If more people voted, they could influence elections. And we publicize the fact that poverty is the fourth leading cause of death in this country. In the richest country in the world, this shouldn’t be happening.”

McGrane is working on the Massachusetts Episcopal Diocese and Winchester’s Church of the Epiphany to join the PPC and mobilize their congregations. Already, some Epiphany members will be marching with McGrane on March 2 at the State House, which will coincide with marches at 31 state capitals. 

One of the marchers will be Margaret Young, who says she’s “deeply troubled about the economic inequalities in our world.”

“I spoke with Connie at Parish of the Epiphany where we both worship,” Young says. “At her suggestion, I’m planning to attend the Poor People’s Campaign rally at the Massachusetts State House.” 

Despite the connection with her church, McGrane emphasizes that all are welcome and she hopes other Winchester residents will consider joining the group. 

“It’s a joyful movement,” she says. “There’s a component to moving together that’s very different from any secular movement I’ve been involved with. This is all about love.”

Winchester News is supported by our community. Please donate to support our work.

The following was submitted by the office of Sen. Jason Lewis:

State Sen. Jason Lewis and Pat Jehlen and state Rep. Michael Day and Michelle Ciccolo are pleased to announce the Winchester Fire Department will be receiving $11,051 to purchase new safety equipment to protect its firefighters through the Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program.

Fire departments across Massachusetts are able to utilize this program to purchase 135 different types of eligible equipment, including ballistic protective clothing, thermal protective clothing, gear washers and dryers, thermal imaging cameras, assorted hand tools and extrication equipment, communications resources, hazardous gas meters, and much more.

“The Winchester Fire Department is very pleased to receive $11,051.00 through the firefighter safety and equipment grant,” said Winchester Fire Chief Steven B. Osborne Jr. “The funds will be used to purchase much needed pneumatic extrication equipment for the department. The current pneumatic lifting devices can no longer be safely used due to their age. Pneumatic lifting devices (air-bags) are used to lift heavy equipment and vehicles during emergency situations. On behalf of the Winchester Fire Department, I would like to thank the Massachusetts Legislature for this generous grant.”

This is the fourth year that funding has been available to support firefighter safety through this state program.

“Our brave firefighters risk the health hazards posed by smoke and other fire byproducts to keep us safe. We owe it to our first responders to provide them the equipment they need to stay safe and healthy,” said Lewis. “I'm pleased that this state grant will support the Winchester Fire Department and help keep our community and firefighters protected.”

"I am so happy to see this funding going to the Winchester firefighters," said Jehlen. "They are continuously exposed to health hazards while they help those in need. It is crucial they have the resources needed to protect themselves as they serve our community."

"I applaud the Winchester Fire Department for taking the initiative to apply for this grant funding and will always support efforts to make our firefighters safer," said Day. "These grants are an important source of state funding that we will continue to pursue in collaboration with our town partners and departments."

"Every day, firefighters are prepared to risk everything for their communities. We must honor that commitment by ensuring that they have all the safety equipment and resources necessary to do their jobs effectively,” said Ciccolo. “I am thrilled that this grant will improve the Winchester Fire Department's ability to do so and I thank the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security for making this funding award."