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Ting in Huntington refreshes and expands the Asian-fusion theme.
Ting Modern Asian Cuisine in Huntington. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Ting's polished dining room is a handsome, high-ceiling affair, equal parts serene and showy. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Chef Alex Neoh in Ting's busy kitchen on a Saturday night. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Ting features an ornately decorated sushi bar, where the sushi chefs get playful with items including tuna pizza and tuna tartare. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Ting's head sushi chef Jacky Zheng. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Ting's sandwich roll finds spicy tuna, salmon and avocado wrapped in sesame paper. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Ting serves a salad of diced chicken, napa cabbage, fried wontons and raisins. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Glistening miso black cod is among Ting's appetizers. (Feb. 2, 2013)
A tempura appetizer at Ting. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Ting's rock shrimp tempura appetizer is served with a spicy aioli. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Oysters on the half shell are garnished with bayberry, cilantro, chili sauce and chopped onion at Ting. (Feb. 2, 2013)
Ting succeeds with the cucumber-wrapped naruto roll, of tuna, yellowtail, salmon and avocado, finished with ponzu sauce. (Feb. 2, 2013)
We're revamping our Comments section. Learn more and share your input.


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3D printing pens like the 3Doodler and the Lix Pen are entertaining toys – but you could never make anything practical with them, right?
Wrong. While most of us are content to sketch squiggles in the air, YouTuber "Questpact" has used a 3DAirPen printing pen to create a doodled drone – bringing together all of the big future technologies in one handy package.
The drone took around two and a half hours to build, using a template to create the basic layout and sketching in freehand with the 3D printer pen freehand to build up layers of material.
The mechanical parts, including the rotors, weren't created using the 3D printing pen; instead, they're off-the-shelf drone parts from an Eye One micro quadcopter. While the end result is – unsurprisingly – a little scrappier-looking than a professional kit, it seems to fly perfectly well, and is stable in the air.
We look forward to amassing our own army of 3D printed drones, just as soon as we've worked out how to produce more than an abstract swirl.

subset: commoncrawl


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As a Transformation Specialist he offers two options:
– ABOVE or BEYOND. Above where you presently are or Beyond your wildest dreams.
He is a frequent facilitator for Strategic Planning Retreats, Organizational Restructuring, Cultural and Work/Values Alignment, Leadership Training and Corporate Coaching.
Dr. Semaj has worked with many sectors including - Energy, Hospitality, Finance, Gaming, Telecommunications, Security, Agriculture, Pharmaceutical, Shipping, Distribution, Manufacturing, Education and Government.
He has worked in North America, South America, Europe and across the Caribbean.
Testimonial – Facilitation Services Dr Semaj, The Job Bank
Dr. Leahcim Semaj, Psychologist, Ideator& Resultant at The JobBank, served as the chief facilitator at the Development Bank of Jamaica's Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Consultation, held in 2013 and 2015.
These Consultations were held to engage stakeholders in meaningful discussions and to gain crucial insights into the needs of the SME sector.
In a survey at the end of the 2013 SME Consultation, 90% of the attendees described Dr.Semajas being'very good'in his role and it is based on this information that he was again selected as the facilitator for the 2015 Consultation.
Throughout the duration of both SME Consultations, Dr.Semaj helped to create a participatory atmosphere and had the audience fully engaged.
He communicated effectively with participants who were able to follow the proceedings with ease under his guidance. We particularly admired his professionalism and willingness to share his wide knowledge of business and other matters with the audience.
The DBJ staff not only found Dr.Semaj easy to work with but also appreciated his willingness to adapt to changes in accordance with the DBJ's requests and needs during the planning and execution of the events.
Dr Semaj and his team from The Job Bank have consistently displayed excellence in their service to the Development Bank of Jamaica and we have no hesitation in recommending their services to other clients.
Dear Dr. Semaj,
Thank you so much for thinking of me and Round Hill to endorse your programme. Not only do we believe that your ability to motivate and empower us to be more and do more, I also know that your type of presentation transcends ALL levels of expertise. It is truly an art to be able to speak to everyone across all barriers and to be able to connect at the same time.
Thank you for helping us continue to "polish our jewel" which is Round Hill. After all, it is our staff which will always be singled out by most of our guests as the single MOST important contributor to their extraordinary vacation experience.
One Love,
I am delighted to see your program of Transformational Interventions for individuals, companies and nations.
As you may be aware, I have followed some of your lectures and strategic planning retreat over the years. The profound impact that it has had on many people, cannot be overstated. I myself am proud of Transformational changes and know its value especially in today's world. It is without hesitation that I applaud your effort and further endorsed your contribution in the various field.
I look forward to hearing more about your program and should you require any information and assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours truly,
Dr. Lee Bailey, OD, JP, PHD, CIMCA
I felt that some feedback was in order after going through the Job Bank to find a suitable employee. It was a significant investment for me as I opted to go this route shortly after recovering from surgery. The process, although long, addressed my concerns, identified my preferences and at the end of the day the last two candidates were two very good contenders. I am quite convinced that this process has allowed me to find the right fit for my office. It is early days yet, but I feel comfortable that it was well worth the process and I am well pleased. I have another position to fill, however, I have to get a bit more firm in my footing before I pursue filling the other position.
Thank you for your commitment to distinctiveness.
HD Lawson-Myers, DDS
CEO, Liguanea Family Dental
We continue to offer the full slate of services:
Here are some of the companies we have worked with over the years.
Jamaican Mailing Address
The Towers
25 Dominica Drive, 9th Floor
Kingston 5
US Address
6703 North West 7th Street,
Miami, Florida 33126-6007
For general comments or questions about this site send e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com
Do I Love/Should I Leave My Job Checklist
Resume Preparation Guide
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Your Income - Making Statutory Payments
Labour Laws Quiz Updated


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A workplace that feels like home
Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel, style, and food. Hope you have a nice stay!
All in Gathering places,Planning
A workplace that feels like home
Sensitive reframing of a cultural treasure
A vitalizing addition to a beloved Oregon getaway
Cultivating health and collaboration among young artists
Honoring the past, welcoming the future
A place for young entrepreneurs to connect and grow
Guided by the landscape, inspired by Unitarian principles
Manifesting the mission of STEM
A community living room in the heart of campus
Inspired by glacial forces that formed the neighborhood
Magnifying the connection to an extraordinary landscape
Honoring the humanity and sacrifice of the Guard
A mindful, collaborative space for developing young minds
A replacement library at the heart of the community
Designed for the future, in harmony with the past
From neglected landmark to model of sustainability
Humanities students thriving among the redwoods
Growth minded, community oriented
Elegant apartment homes that break the mold
Connected to nature, formed by sound


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Central Self Storage
31 San Clemente Drive | Corte Madera, CA 94925
Welcome to Central Self Storage!
We realize that you have many options when looking for a storage provider and we will work to make certain you are 100% satisfied with your decision. Whether you need storage for your personal or business needs, Central Self Storage offers clean, secure units at an affordable price. Our friendly and professional staff is ready to assist you in any way that we can.
Facility features include:
•Climate Controlled Units
•Video Surveillance
•Truck Rentals
•24 Hour Rental Kiosk Available
•Packing & Moving Supplies
•Access Hours: 7:00am-9:00pm -- 7 Days a Week
Call us today to learn more about our special offers, and our current unit availability!


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Biden Complains After Reporter 'Ambush'
**Written by Doug Powers
Instead of thanking Jason Mattera of Human Events for giving him an opportunity to reiterate his assertion that robberies, rapes and murders will go up if Congress fails to pass the "jobs bill," Sheriff Joe Biden's office is instead complaining that Mattera broke the rules:
Joe Biden's office has complained to the Senate press gallery about a confrontation the vice president had with a conservative journalist last week on Capitol Hill.
Biden aides asked whether Senate rules were broken in the wake of the contentious exchange between the vice president and the reporter.
Jason Mattera, who works for Human Events, a conservative magazine, used a pretext to catch Biden off guard in a Senate hallway and grill him on claims the vice president has made about jobs legislation.
Biden's office has also contacted the standing committee of correspondents, which oversees the gallery, regarding whether Mattera broke the rules by ambushing him.
Heather Rothman, the chairwoman of the gallery's standing committee, said the matter is under review.
"We're aware of the concerns," said Rothman, a reporter for BNA. "It's being discussed.
"We're aware this occurred and the vice president's office [has made] contact," she added, noting the standing committee itself hasn't met to deliberate the issue.
If they start banning any reporter with the potential to make Joe Biden look silly, the press gallery is going to be as sparsely populated as Capitol Hill's next "I quit earmarks, ask me how" seminar.
Here's the "confrontation" in question, in case you missed it:
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
Obama's SOTU: Nothing I'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime
February 13, 2013 02:12 PM by Doug Powers
Transparency update: Administration legally required to release quarterly stimulus report hasn't done so since June of 2011
January 27, 2013 11:28 AM by Doug Powers
House Republicans make counter offer to Obama's fiscal cliff non-starter
December 3, 2012 07:36 PM by Doug Powers
Obama's Layoff Bomb
October 31, 2012 09:56 AM by Michelle Malkin
Update: Bankrupt green crony A123 gets a last-minute lifeline
October 17, 2012 10:01 AM by Michelle Malkin
Categories: Enviro-nitwits, fiscal stimulus, Politics


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"I don't feel pain, fear, desire. It's like all things that make us human are fading away."
Lucy is shimmering with a beautiful concept. Scarlett has literally touched the other side. All the projects she has taken over the years have inadvertently pushed her above the average 10% human capability, so she proves with her intense fervour as human before the interval and then later as the insentient being wrapped in a superhuman commotion!
Lucy is everything you want to see Scarlett do. Primarily act and then may be shoot some hooligans. The sci-fi flick is an avant garde endeavour to explore our origins in a clever fashion: Through the head of a Brainiac!
Morgan Freeman is brilliant as the professor who expounds the rudimentary in his soothing voice. His theory in resonance with Lucy's story, whilst Min-sik Choi does what he does best – devilry!
Luc carves Scarlett brilliantly, develops her character gradually bringing out her supernatural capabilities one by one with flash cards showing %ages to keep the clueless engaged. What makes Besson an absolute delight is his subtle inclusion of animal imagery to contrast similarities. The wonderful work on pictorial similes is indicative of his brilliant avant garde style of direction!
The movie has a message that stares hard at our soul and laments cruelly on how less we feel, how caught up we are in little things and how easily we overlook vast! It also throws light on the time theory and the meaningless scaling of the incomprehensible!
The finest bit in the movie is when Scarlett flips time to understand stages of Evolution. Time reverses in quick succession and we get a glimpse of our origins. The rad one is when she helms toward invincibility!
What brings the emotional quotient to the movie was the part where Scarlett calls her mother to express how she feels: "I want to thank you for a thousand kisses that I can feel on my face."
The score is brilliant. Beats are apt. Screenplay is catchy and memorable. Apart from few passable flaws, the movie kicks ass and makes you brood. Good enough reasons for me to like a movie!


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What is Environmental Education?
What is Environmental Education?
Environmental education (EE) [1] is a life-long learning process that increases awareness about the environment and its systems while developing critical-thinking skills that enable responsible decision-making. EE builds knowledge and skills in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, and allows opportunities to apply those skills. In addition, national guidelines state that quality EE programs are fair, accurate, of appropriate depth, and meet educational standards.
eeLEARN: What Is EE? - Environmental Education: The Definition from Tamarack Media on Vimeo.
Good Education
Environmental education is good education; EE uses learner-centered instruction, emphasizes critical thinking skills, is interdisciplinary, and addresses multiple intelligences and learning styles. A study completed by the State Education and Environment Roundtable indicated the observed benefits of using the Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC) for learning include: better performance on standardized tests, reduced discipline problems, increased enthusiasm for learning, and greater pride and ownership in accomplishments. [2]
Civic Responsibility
EE is more than just good education; it also fosters a connection to the community and civic responsibility by developing environmental literacy [3]. Environmental literacy is the capacity to understand the implications of our actions, to critically think about daily choices, and to make informed and responsible decisions. Reaching this level of understanding and developing these skills on a large scale is only possible through quality education. We need environmental education if we continue to expect the people of Colorado to make tough choices about environmental issues (i.e., water use, air pollution, development, transportation, etc.).
Environmental Education in Colorado
Colorado schools, non-profits, public agencies, universities, businesses, citizen groups, and volunteer organizations provide Colorado's environmental education programming. These programs take place in urban, suburban, rural and wilderness settings and incorporate a wide range of educational approaches from non-formal experiential learning to formal classroom lessons. They reach thousands of youth and adult learners each year.
Characteristics of Environmental Education:
- concerns environment as a whole
- interdisciplinary
- life-long
- learner centered
- thought provoking
- seeks long-term solutions
- concerns growth in awareness, knowledge, attitude, skills, and participation
- fair and accurate
- integrated environmental ethic
Environmental Education is not:
- scare tactics
- environmental activism
- environmental-ism
- just outdoor education
- propaganda
EE and You
We are all environmental educators in some way, shape, or form. The wide variety of EE providers and many different ways EE is provided creates opportunities for the citizens of Colorado to explore their connection to the natural world in many settings and ways. Yet it is not necessary to be part of an organization or formal program to participate in or support EE or to help advance environmental literacy in Colorado. Individuals who share information and ideas about what they have learned can make a real difference. Those who help fund projects and programs make critical contributions. Those who model environmentally responsible choices and actions are especially influential in moving our community toward environmental literacy.
A salient measure of EE's success is the extent to which people of all walks and persuasions incorporate environmentally-based considerations into their daily decisions. Attaining this level of combined awareness and action is achievable only by the combined efforts of all, from global organizations to unaffiliated individuals.
[2] Lieberman, G. and Hoody L. (1998) Closing the achievement gap: Using the environment as an integrating context for learning. Poway, CA: Science Wizards. For more information, see http://www.seer.org.
[3] For more information about environmental literacy, see http://www.fundee.org


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Date: Saturday, April 4, 2009
Time: 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium
630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071. See parking information below.
Admission: Free; no reservations required for the activities or film screenings. RSVP for the panel discussion at www.aloudla.org
Tell Us What's Special to YOU about LA!
Come join us at the historic Los Angeles Central Library for a special citywide kickoff celebration of SurveyLA, Los Angeles's first-ever comprehensive survey of its historic resources.
While Los Angeles has a rich and diverse cultural heritage and a remarkable architectural legacy, 85% of the city has never been surveyed to identify these significant historic places. Historic preservation professionals conducting the survey cannot know all of the potential historic resources throughout the city—and that's why we need your help. We want to know your special story about a local building or the neighborhood you live in.
Join like-minded amateur historians and Los Angeles aficionados for the public launch of SurveyLA and share your knowledge of LA's hidden gems.
YOUR HistoricLA Activities
Los Angeles Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium Lobby
11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Meet staff and volunteers from the Office of Historic Resources and learn what you can do to help with this historic survey.
Film Screening—SurveyLA: Preserving Los Angeles
Los Angeles Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium
11:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.
Enjoy screenings of the award-winning video SurveyLA: Preserving Los Angeles.
Panel Discussion
Los Angeles Central Library, Mark Taper Auditorium
1:00–2:30 p.m.
Join Larry Mantle, host of KPCC-FM's Air Talk, for a lively panel discussion with city officials, preservationists, community organizers, and developers discussing the key issues surrounding Los Angeles's citywide survey. Seating is limited. Reservations are recommended. Reserve online at www.aloudla.org or by phone at (213) 2287025.
This event is sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources; the Getty Conservation Institute; and the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.
Parking at the Los Angeles Central Library
Parking is available at the 524 S. Flower St. Garage. Parking is $1 all day Saturday and Sunday during library hours with Library Card validation.
Event Information by E-MailBe the first to know about upcoming lectures, concerts, and exhibitions by signing up for our free e-newsletters. Learn more and sign up now.


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To view or print the Legislative Guide, please follow the link below.
- Legislative Guide78.26 K | 1/22/2018
Privacy Policy: We do not use cookies, nor do we collect information about users. Any form data is used only to satisfy the purpose of that form (for example, send an email in response to a question).
Disclaimer: All links to other websites are provided for your convenience only. The League of Women Voters of Lancaster County exercises no control of the information or opinions contained on them. Provision of these links on our site does not indicate an endorsement of their contents by the LWV of Lancaster County
© Copyright League of Women Voters of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. All rights reserved. | Site Map


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BFC Bulk Bag Dischargers At the Heart of Automated Bag Weigh Batching System
The BFC Series of bulk bag dischargers is at the heart of an automated bulk bag weigh batching system that feeds ingredients to a central weigh hopper at mezzanine level using four flexible screw conveyors, and transports pre-weighed batches to a downstream blender using a pneumatic conveying system. The BFC features a cantilevered I-beam with electric hoist and trolley to raise and position bulk bags without the use of a forklift.
The units are equipped with Flow-Flexer bag activators that raise and lower opposite bottom edges of the bag at timed intervals, loosening compacted materials and promoting material flow into the discharge spout. As the bag lightens, the stroke of the bag activators increases, raising the bottom of the bag into a steep V-shape, promoting total evacuation of material from the bag with no manual intervention. Each discharger is equipped with a surge hopper discharging into an enclosed flexible screw conveyor.


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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A man was found dead in an elevator shaft at the Montgomery Bay Area Rapid Transit and San Francisco Municipal Railway station Sunday night, a BART police lieutenant said.
BART and San Francisco police, as well as San Francisco fire personnel, responded to a report of a person stuck in an elevator at the Montgomery station about 9:35 p.m., BART police Lt. John Conneely said.
Employees at Montgomery station managed to get a man out of the elevator, but had requested for an ambulance, Conneely said.
The man who was stuck in the elevator told police he was going from the Muni level up to the concourse level when he heard a crunching sound and a man yelp before the elevator stopped, Conneely said.
Conneely said that fire personnel found a man in the shaft. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Some personal effects were found on the top of the elevator car, but Conneely said it is unknown if they belong to the deceased man.
It is unknown how the man got there, and how long he had been in the shaft, Conneely said.
"It appears he may have been sleeping atop the elevator and was crushed," he said.
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Cadillac system on a Model T budget
Bill Hammond, the president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business, issued a prediction this week. By 2040, if current trends continue in Texas, one-third of Texas adults would not have a high school diploma, Hammonds said. His concern strikes me as being very similar to the little boy who killed his parents and then pleaded for mercy before the judge on the grounds he was now an orphan.
Hammond, and most other members of the Texas Association of Business, have been complicit in the Texas political strategy led by Rick Perry to denigrate education at almost every level. Unfortunately, what Texas politicians such as Perry tout as a great business climate is no more than a dumbing down of our potential workforce.
With little outcry from the Texas Association of Business, Texas Republican leadership has cut funding for public education by more than $5 billion, requiring larger classrooms and lower paid teachers, as well as higher local property taxes. The Republican dominated State Board of Education appears to give more attention to religious belief and fundamentalist concepts than to the teaching of science-based curriculums.
Presently Texas has the most minimum-wage workers in the United States. There has been an unrelenting effort in Texas to deny injured workers access to the courthouse, and for most of our Republican leaders, the right of workers to organize into unions is un-American. At a time when most developing nations of the world have doubled down on high-tech jobs, fostered by education and forward looking programs in education, Texas has continued in the mistaken belief that we can have decent education in our state on the cheap.
While our state political leaders at election time claim great concern for education, they continue to support such things as voucher programs that siphon funds from our public education system. They have supported the abolition of preschool programs and fail to adequately provide for growth in our public system. College tuition has continued to rise while student aid is lessened each legislative session.
While I agree with Hammond's assessment that if present trends continue, Texas will look more like a Third World country than a progressive, forward-looking modern state with high-paying, high-skilled jobs, I call on Hammond and his fellow members of the Texas Association of Business to quit giving lip service to those who seek public office in Texas in the belief we can have a Cadillac system on a Model T budget.
Carl Parker has practiced law in Port Arthur since 1958. He is a 1958 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. Elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and the Senate in 1976, Parker continued to practice law while writing and sponsoring hundreds of bills that became laws relating to every aspect of life in Texas, including many regarding consumer safety. His e-mail is cap1934 [at] aol [dot] com.


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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Seven states trying to block part of the federal health care law that requires contraception coverage will continue with their lawsuit despite last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld most of the law, according to Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, who is leading the case.
The federal lawsuit is challenging a rule that requires contraception coverage in health care plans -- including for employees of church-affiliated hospitals, schools and outreach programs. The suit argues that the rule violates the rights of employers that object to the use of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.
The U.S. Department of Justice wants the suit dismissed, in part because the president is trying to work out a compromise, but Bruning and his fellow Republican attorneys general in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas aren't backing down.
"This rule is a brazen violation of the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans," Bruning spokeswoman Shannon Kingery said. "We will continue to fight this attack on religious liberty."
Some legal experts said that even though the nation's highest court largely upheld the law, the lawsuit is narrowing in on a separate issue and has a decent chance.
Adam Samaha, a constitutional law professor at New York University's School of Law, said other recent Supreme Court rulings suggest the court has "some sympathies with religious organizations being burdened by government." He cited a unanimous decision earlier this year in which justices sided with a religious school in an employment discrimination lawsuit.
But he also noted that President Barack Obama's administration, in response to the criticism from religious groups, delayed enforcement of the provision until next summer and has said it would shift the requirement from employers to health insurers. Samaha said that shift bolsters the administration's position in the legal challenge.
"Everybody agrees that this is far from a frivolous suit," added Samaha's colleague, NYU law professor Richard Epstein. "Intellectually, it's a very powerful suit."
The lawsuit was filed by Bruning, who was running for U.S. Senate at the time, in U.S. District Court in Nebraska. Plaintiffs also include three Nebraska-based groups -- Catholic Social Services, Pius X Catholic High School and the Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America -- along with a nun and a female missionary.
Justice Department lawyers say the plaintiffs have failed to show they face the immediate threat of having to offer the coverage, because the federal government delayed enforcement until August 2013 so that the groups' concerns could be addressed. The agency said the attorneys general lack the legal grounds to sue over the provision because state governments don't enjoy the same First Amendment protections as individuals.
But the lawsuit argues that the rule will effectively force religious employers and organizations to drop health insurance coverage, which will raise enrollment in state Medicaid programs and increase patient numbers at state-subsidized hospitals and medical centers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is named as a defendant.
Donald Blankenau, an attorney for an Omaha Catholic missionary who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the Nebraska case focuses on different issues than those addressed in the Supreme Court's ruling last month.
"Had the court knocked out the mandate in the case, it probably would have resolved the issues in ours. But since it didn't, our set of issues will proceed," Blankenau said.
Obama administration officials have said they don't want to abridge anyone's religious freedom, but want to give women access to important preventive care. Supporters of the rule, including the American Civil Liberties Union and women's advocacy groups, say the measure is about female health.
Officials have said the Obama administration's ruling was carefully considered, after reviewing more than 200,000 comments from interested parties and the public. The one-year extension, they said, responds to concerns raised by religious employers about making adjustments.
Administration officials stress that individual decisions about whether to use birth control, and what kind, remain in the hands of women and their doctors.
Still, Samaha noted, challenging the requirements is a win-win for Republican attorneys general, particularly those from conservative states who would benefit from being seen as standing up for religious freedom.
"If they prevail in the constitutional challenge, then they get a judicial order that might help change the state of affairs," the law professor said. "If they lose, they've indicated whose side they're on, and not just with cheap talk."
Sean Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.


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Graduate Studies
Admission | Courses | Program | Requirements | Integrated Degree | Profile
Chairperson: Tej Kaul
Graduate Committee Chairperson: Steven Rock
Office: Stipes Hall 430
Telephone: (309) 298-1153 Fax: (309) 298-1020
E-mail: email@example.com
Website: wiu.edu/econ/
Location of Program Offering: Macomb
Graduate Faculty
- Farideh Dehkordi-Vakil, Ph.D., University of Iowa
- Tej K. Kaul, Ph.D., Birla Institute of Technology and Science
- Kasing Man, Ph.D., University of Chicago
- Alla Melkumian, Ph.D., West Virginia University
- Steven Rock, Ph.D., Northwestern University
Associate Professors
- William J. Polley, Ph.D., University of Iowa
- Thomas R. Sadler, Ph.D., University of Tennessee-Knoxville
- Shane Sanders, Ph.D., Kansas State University
- Bhavneet Walia, Ph.D., Kansas State University
Associate Graduate Faculty
Associate Professors
- Anna Valeva, Ph.D., University of California-Santa Barbara
- Tara Westerhold, Ph.D., University of South Carolina
Assistant Professors
- Shankar Ghimire, Ph.D., Western Michigan University
- Jessica Lin, Ph.D., Binghamton University
- Keva Steadman, Ph.D., Binghamton University
Program Description
The Department of Economics and Decision Sciences offers courses leading to the Master of Arts degree in Economics. Elective concentrations are available for students interested in the areas of teaching, business, commercial banking/financial institutions, government, community/economic development, international economics, agricultural economics, quantitative economics, or energy and natural resources. Further information concerning the program and areas of specialization may be obtained from the department's chairperson. The purpose of the M.A. program in economics is to provide students with a firm foundation for achievement of their goals; furthering their education at the doctoral level; teaching at the secondary or junior college level; or working as professional economists in business, government, or other institutions. The Master of Arts degree is not reviewed for accreditation by AACSB International.
Note: Students have the option to earn a Master's Degree in Economics simultaneously with a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Business Analytics. Interested students should talk with their graduate adviser to explore this option.
Integrated Baccalaureate and Master's Degree Program
Go to integrated programs for details and program offerings.
Admission Requirements
For admission to the Master of Arts in Economics program, students should have undergraduate preparation in economics to include intermediate micro- and macroeconomic theory as well as a semester each of calculus and statistics. Students without the recommended background will be required to complete one or more of the following courses depending on the area(s) in which additional preparation is necessary: ECON 509 (with grade of S), ECON 381 (with grade of C or better), and STAT 171 (with grade of C or better). These courses or their equivalents must be completed before the student may enroll in the core graduate economics courses.
Degree Requirements
I. Core Courses: 12 s.h.
Macroeconomic Theory
ECON 500 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy (3)
ECON 502 Macroeconomic and Growth Theory (3)
Microeconomic Theory
ECON 503 Applied Price Theory (3)
ECON 504 Price Theory (3)
Applied Economic Techniques
ECON 481G Mathematical Economic Techniques (3)
ECON 506 Econometrics I (3)
II. Select one of the following exit options: 18 s.h.
A. Thesis
Electives (12)
ECON 600 Thesis Research (3)
ECON 601 Thesis (3)
B. Internship Electives (15)
Electives (15)
ECON 599 Internship (3)
C. Non-Thesis/Non-Internship Electives (15)
Electives (15)
*ECON 507 Econometrics II (3)
III. Required Assessment Exam (0)
ECON 603 Comprehensive Examination (0)
IV. Department Research Seminar
ECON 602 Department Research Seminar, 2 semesters (0)
*To satisfy non-thesis research requirement, must be taken after at least one microeconomic and one macroeconomic core course has been completed.
TOTAL PROGRAM: 30 s.h.
The capstone courses (ECON 507, 599, or 601) are fundamental in providing the knowledge and tools necessary in formulating economic hypotheses and analyzing final results. Students must complete 30 semester hours and may follow either a Thesis or a Non‑Thesis Option. Consultation with the department's graduate advisor concerning course selection is required to insure completion of all requirements. Students wishing to take a readings and/or internship course must receive approval from the economics and decision sciences department prior to registration.
Students may select courses outside of the economics courses which will assist them in achieving their career goals. A maximum of six hours of related courses from other disciplines is allowed with permission of the graduate committee chairperson. The student may petition for an additional three hours of related course work outside of the economics courses. All special permissions or petitions must be approved prior to registration. Transfer and extension credit will be accepted in accordance with current School of Graduate Studies policy.
While all economics graduate students must complete the required core courses (ECON 481G, ECON 500 or 502, 503 or 504, and ECON 506), it is possible to elect courses that will enhance specific career objectives. Examples of elective concentrations are decision sciences, quantitative economics, general business economics, commercial banking/financial institutions, pre–Ph.D., public service, international trade, agricultural economics, or energy and natural resources.
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
The department offers post-baccalaureate certificates in Business Analytics and Community Development (community development is jointly offered with the Department of Geography). . For program details, go to the post-baccalaureate certificates page.
Course Descriptions
Economics (ECON)
408G Economics for Decision-Makers. (3) This course develops the macro- and micro-economic concepts most useful for decision-makers. Topics covered include measures of aggregate economic activity, unemployment, inflation, business cycles, monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, market demand and supply, and alternate market structures. (Not open to students who have taken ECON 231 or 232, cannot be used to meet any requirements of the BA, BB, or MA economics degrees or to meet the economics requirements in any BB degree. It is designed only for the Pre-MBA minor and graduate students in areas other than economics.) Prerequisites: STAT 171 with a C or better.
410G Economics of Crime & Punishment. (3) Uses economic principles and statistical methods to analyze trends in crime, the economic approach to modeling crime, as well as the economic impacts from criminal behavior, as well as to evaluate various policies in criminal justice using economic principles. Prerequisites: 3 s.h. of ECON credit; DS 303 or LEJA 303, or permission of the instructor.
420G Economic Development. (3) A study of less developed countries; problems such as population growth, urbanization, agricultural transformation, unemployment, education and training, and capital formation are addressed. Solutions to these problems are examined and evaluated based on feasibility and practicality. A multi-disciplinary approach is used. Prerequisite: ECON 232.
425G Money Markets, Capital Markets, and Monetary Theory. (3) An institutional and theoretical study of money and capital markets in conjunction with monetary policy. Prerequisite: ECON 231.
432G Public Finance. (3) Studies the role of government in promoting a system of effective markets. Includes analyses of the causes and implications of market inefficiencies, the economic rationale for government intervention in markets, and the criteria used for public investment decisions. Prerequisite: ECON 330 or 331.
435G Comparative Capitalist Systems. (3) A study of the process of transition from socialism to capitalism to include a study of the various forms of capitalism practiced by the major industrialized capitalist nations. The emphasis of the course is on actual transition processes and case studies. Prerequisite: ECON 232.
440G Labor Theory. (3) Understanding labor market dynamics using theory and empirical methods. Topics of focus include labor supply and demand, labor force composition and trends, human capital, wage differentials, migration, minimum wage, trade unions, and occupational licensure. Prerequisite: ECON 232 or permission of the instructor.
445G Game Theory and Economic Behavior. (3) Analysis and solution of non-cooperative games toward a deeper understanding of economic behavior. Applications include auction design, bargaining, firm market entry games, information economics, and prisoner's dilemma type games in general. Prerequisites: ECON 232, and MATH 137 or ECON 381, or permission of the instructor.
451G History of Economic Thought. (3) A study of the origins and development of economic thought to mid-twentieth century. Includes the mercantilist, physiocratic, classical, historical, and marginalist schools. Prerequisite: ECON 232.
460G Urban and Regional Economic Analysis. (3) A study of the economics literature on urban and regional economic development theories and techniques. Particular attention is paid to economic policies to stimulate employment and foster income growth. Various measurement techniques for monitoring economic development are examined. Prerequisite: ECON 232.
465G Economics of Energy. (3) A study of primary and secondary sources of energy as they affect the levels of production and consumption in the economy. A general survey of the economic and regulatory problems of coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear industries (including those of utilities) and a brief discussion of the problems and prospects of alternative sources of energy in the context of national energy policies and individual decision making. Prerequisite: ECON 231 or 232, or permission of the instructor.
470G International Trade. (3) A study of the theoretical and institutional aspects of international trade; effect of trade and factor movements on economic welfare; problems of international disequilibrium; and the search for economic stability and growth through international cooperation. Prerequisite: ECON 232.
471G International Monetary Economics. (3) A study of exchange rate determination, monetary and fiscal policy in an open economy, balance of payments crises, the choice of exchange rate systems, international debt and global financial imbalances. Prerequisites: ECON 231 or permission of the instructor.
481G Mathematical Economics. (3) Introduction to the mathematics most frequently used by economists-basic set theory; linear algebra; differentiation; comparative statistics; optimization; constrained optimization; linear programming. Prerequisites: ECON 381 (Grade of C or better) or passing department placement exam.
487G Econometrics. (3) Extensions of the single equation regression model, estimation, and testing; multicollinearity, heteroskedasticity, and errors in variables; maximum likelihood estimation and binary response models; simultaneous equation models and estimation. Interpretation and application of econometric models and methods is emphasized. Prerequisites: MATH 137 or ECON 381, ECON 232, DS 303; or permission of instructor.
500 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy. (3) An examination of current macroeconomic theory. The emphasis is on understanding a generalized model of the economy with multiple causal variables. Differences in interpretations of economic data and theoretical approaches are analyzed. Theory is applied to the current economic conditions. Present and proposed policies are discussed to illustrate the use of theory in solving economic problems. Prerequisite: ECON 509 or equivalent.
501 Readings in Economics. (1–3, repeatable to 3) Graded S/U. Prerequisites: Permission of Department Graduate Committee Chairperson.
502 Macroeconomics and Growth Theory. (3) A study of the aggregate theory of income, employment, and price levels using both comparative statics and dynamics, along with a discussion of business cycles and growth theories. Prerequisite: ECON 481G or permission of the graduate advisor and ECON 509 or equivalent.
503 Applied Price Theory. (3) Application of economic theory and methods to managerial decision making. Topics include demand, cost and production analysis and estimation; forecasting; pricing policy; risk and uncertainty problems; and capital budgeting. Prerequisite: ECON 509 or equivalent.
504 Price Theory. (3) An analysis of consumer and firm behavior, market and multimarket equilibrium, and welfare economics. Prerequisite: ECON 481G or permission of the graduate advisor and ECON 509 or equivalent.
506 Econometrics I. (3) Elements of the theory and practice of econometrics: including univariate and multivariate single equation models, statistical problems such as multicollinearity, special techniques and applications, and an introduction to simultaneous equations models. Students will complete a project involving hypothesis formulation, data collection, analysis using statistical software, and written presentation of results. Prerequisite: ECON 509 or equivalent.
507 Econometrics II. (3) Advanced econometric estimation to include estimating micro and macroeconomic functions through simultaneous equation systems, dummy dependent variable models; and multivariate analysis. Class culminates in an independent research project. Prerequisites: ECON 481G or permission of the graduate advisor, and ECON 506.
509 Fundamentals of Economic Theory. (3) An accelerated study of the foundations of economic analysis. Focus is on developing the concepts and modeling techniques commonly utilized in the advanced study of macro- and microeconomics. Master of Arts students in economics must receive approval from the graduate advisor before registering. Graded S/U. Prerequisites: ECON 408G or ECON 231 and ECON 232 or equivalent; STAT 171 or equivalent with grade of "C" or better.
515 Economic Development. (3) The theory of economic development stressing the role of entrepreneurship, innovation, capital formation, saving, investment, labor, and foreign assistance. The effect of the changing social and value structures of developing countries on the economic system is also examined.
525 Monetary Theory and Policy. (3) A study of the theoretical and empirical work in money demand, money supply multiplier, output effect of monetary policies, alternative techniques of monetary policy formulation and implementation, multi-asset financial markets, and inflation. Prerequisite: ECON 500 or ECON 502.
528 American Economic History. (3) A study of the development of the American economy from the colonial period to the present. The course explores both the successes and the failures of the United States economy. The emphasis is on how economic, political, and legal frameworks have interacted to create the American experience. Prerequisite: Any combination of six hours from ECON 231, 232, 328, HIST 105, 106, 300; or graduate standing in a business discipline, economics, history, education (history or related specialty); or permission of the instructor.
535 Small Community Development. (3) This course emphasizes the practical knowledge required to deal with non-metropolitan development issues. The emphasis will vary with changes in the development environment. Topics will include economic trends, federal and state resources available to support economic development, and special problems and opportunities in small community development. Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.
538 Economics for Managers. (3) The application of relevant theories and methods from microeconomics, macroeconomics, labor, international economics, and regulatory economics to managerial decision making in profit and nonprofit organizations. Topics include market structure, production and cost, foreign exchange and international trade, and public policy toward business. Master's in economics students must receive approval from the graduate advisor before registering. Prerequisites: ECON 408G, or ECON 231 and ECON 232, or equivalent.
548 International Economic Relations. (3) An analysis of the fundamental economic principles, forces and governmental policies which determine the economic relations between countries under changing world conditions. Master of Arts in Economics students must receive approval from the graduate advisor before registering. Prerequisites: ECON 408G, or ECON 231 and ECON 232, or equivalent.
550 Economic Topics and Curriculum Development. (1–3, repeatable to 3) A course designed to assist classroom teachers in the development of elementary and secondary curriculum incorporating economic concepts. This course will also provide an opportunity for teachers with a basic understanding of economics to adapt the latest computer–based television and print matter curriculum materials to the needs of their classes and students. Check with the advisor to determine applicability of this course in your degree program. Graded S/U.
599 Internship. (1–12, repeatable to 12 hours) Only three hours per semester can be included in the degree plan. With prior approval of the graduate advisor, up to six hours can be included in the degree plan for internships covering the entire academic year. Graded S/U. Prerequisites: Graduate standing and permission of departmental graduate advisor.
600 Thesis Research. (3) The grade in ECON 600 will remain an incomplete until ECON 601, Thesis, is completed. Graded S/U.
601 Thesis. (3) Graded S/U.
602 Department Research Seminar. (0) A survey of contemporary theoretical and applied economic research. Graded S/U. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
603 Comprehensive Examination. (0) All majors are required to satisfactorily complete the knowledge assessment examination prior to graduation. Graded S/U. Prerequisite: Economics major.
Agricultural Economics (AGEC) cognate courses which may be taken as part of the Economics Master of Arts Program
442G Marketing Grain and Livestock Products. (3) Basis hedging for grains, feeds, livestock, and meat. Three hours lecture. Prerequisite: AGEC 333.
443G Agricultural Finance. (3) Financing problems and opportunities in agriculture. Sources of finance, financing costs, analysis of investment opportunities, financial management, and estate planning. Three hours lecture. Prerequisite: AGRI 220 or permission of the instructor.
447G Commodity Markets and Futures Trading. (3) Futures trading institutions, technical analysis, multiple hedging, and speculation. Three hours lecture.
449G Advanced Farm Management. (3) Effective combination of resources in agribusiness planning and management. Emphasis placed on use of available agribusiness management software. Two hours lecture; two hours lab. Prerequisite: AGEC 349 or equivalent.
455G Advanced Agricultural Marketing. (3) Options on futures, applied research methods, current events. Prerequisites: AGEC 442 and 447, or permission of the instructor.
457G Market Profile®. (3) Use of the Chicago Board of Trade Market Profile® and Liquidity Data Bank® for hedging and speculation. Three hours lecture. Prerequisite: AGEC 445.
Quantitative Economics cognate courses which may be taken as part of the Economics Master of Arts Program
Decision Sciences (DS)
435G Applied Data Mining for Business Decision-Making. (3) This course provides an introduction to data mining methods for business applications. Students will learn the basics of data selection, preparation, statistical modeling and analysis aimed at the identification of knowledge fulfilling organizational objectives. Prerequisite: STAT 171 or equivalent or permission of instructor.
490G Statistical Software for Data Management and Decision–Making. (3, repeatable to 6 for different titles) This course provides students with the basic concepts of statistical computing. Students will gain experience with statistical software packages, such as SAS or SPSS, and their applications. Methods of data preparation and validation, analysis, and reporting will be covered. Prerequisite: STAT 171 or equivalent, or PSY 223, or SOC 324, or POLS 284, or permission of department chairperson.
500 Introduction to Business Analytics. (1) Business analytics generally refer to the use of statistical and quantitative analysis for data-driven decision-making. This course introduces students to the foundations of business analytics problems and applications. Lectures will be supplemented with current business world examples. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
503 Business Statistics for Managerial Decision–Making. (3) A survey of statistical methods useful for managerial decision–making. Topics discussed include descriptive statistics, probability and probability distributions, statistical inference, analysis of variance, regression, contingency tables, and nonparametric statistics.
523 Management Science Techniques and Business Analytics. (3) Applications of management science tools and techniques for effective decision–making with emphasis on model building. Topics include PERT/CPM, transportation models, linear, goal, integer and dynamic programming, and queuing theory. Prerequisite: DS 503.
533 Applied Business Forecasting and Planning. (3) A survey of the basic forecasting methods and techniques essential for modern managers. Topics include moving average and decomposition techniques, ARIMA processes, regression techniques, and technological methods such as Delphi and S-curves. Prerequisite: DS 503 or STAT 171 or equivalent.
535 Applied Data Mining for Business. (3) This course provides an introduction to data mining methods and techniques for business applications. Students will learn the basics of data preparation, information retrieval, statistical modeling and analysis aimed at the production of decision rules for specific business goals. Prerequisites: DS 503 or permission of the instructor.
540 Applied Stochastic Models in Business Analytics. (2) This course introduces stochastic models for studying phenomena in management science, operations research, finance, actuarial science, and engineering. Heuristic minded approach aimed at developing "probabilistic thinking" is taken in the treatment of probability concepts, stochastic processes, model simulation, and applications. Prerequisite: DS 303 or equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
580 Business Analytics and Forecasting. (3) This course introduces analytical models and tools used for continuous iterative exploration and investigation of past business performance to gain insight and drive decision. Predictive modeling, forecasting, and design of experiments will be covered. Prerequisites: DS 303 or equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
600 Independent Research. (1–3) Independent research and study of selected topics in decision sciences. Prerequisites: Completion of six graduate hours in decision sciences and permission of the Department Chairperson.
620 Decision Sciences Internship. (1–6, not repeatable) Integrates decision sciences theories with application to actual business practices. Students are exposed to a variety of positions within the business firm during the semester. All internships are supervised by a faculty coordinator and an executive in the business firm. Analytic reports of work accomplished by each student are presented to the coordinator. Graded S/U only. Prerequisites: Completion of six hours of decision sciences courses and written permission of the Department Chairperson.
Table of Contents
- General Information
- Campus and Facilities
- University Services
- Special Programs
- Admission
- Academic Guidelines
- Graduate School Policies
- Costs and Financial Assistance
- Programs of Study
- Integrated Baccalaureate/Master's Degrees
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificates
- Other Departments Offering Courses for Graduate Credit
- Index
- Table of Contents


text:
Simply handing over an answer would be a form of cheating.
Student or Learner
I am appliying for the Celta course and I need some help with this task
HELPING LEARNERS WITH MEANING. Helping students with meaning requires
careful thinking and planning, especially for inexperienced teachers. For each pair of sentences below, firstly state what the difference in meaning is, secondly state what method you would use in class to help students understand this difference. Think about different options like: using visuals, giving examples, creating a context or scenario, mime, real objects, definitions etc
2. a) to intervene
b) to interfere
The difference in meaning is.........
To help students understand this difference I would.
Simply handing over an answer would be a form of cheating.
The idea behind the pre-CELTA task is not to test your knowledge of English language teaching. If you knew everything then there would be no point in taking the CELTA!
I think the idea is more to see whether you can work your way around the question, do some research on your own and put together some kind of decent answer off your own bat.


text:
Had my 3 month Dr. appointment today at the VA ID Clinic in Salisbury at the VA Hospital. I got to discuss some great topics with my doctor and got some really good news.
First we went over my lab results from March. Still have an undetectable viral load and my CD4 count is still up around 1000 but my % went from 35% to 40%, which is great. That is the highest percent it has been in years. Usually it stays around 33-35%. Also my liver enzymes, which have been elevated for years, are back to normal levels. The doc said they were the best he has ever seen them. And on top of that I am still losing weight. I am down another 5 lbs. since January, which may not seem like a lot, but for me it is awesome.
Second I asked my doctor about PrEP. My main question was if the VA would cover it for vets who are at higher risk of contracting HIV. He told me that he has only seen one patient who wanted to start it and that the VA asked no questions when he wrote the prescription. This is great news in my opinion. My doc fully supports PrEP which is important to me. He did say that it could only be a vet who they can prescribe it to, which I understand.
***Disclaimer*** This is where the awkwardness comes in and I apologize if it may be a little graphic, but I am giving you fair warning.***
So some of the back story ... In January I had my doc do a full work up on me. He tested for all STD/STIs because I wanted to start the new year out with a clean bill of health. Well for the past year or so he has been encouraging me to get an anal pap-smear to test for abnormal cells in the rectum. I finally agreed to it in January because I figured why the hell not, he was already testing for everything else. All it included was taking a swab sample from inside the rectum, which was no big deal. He did it and if a few days I forgot all about it.
That was until I got a call from him saying that the test showed that I did indeed have a presence of abnormal cells which would be linked to HPV. Now I was a little worried but he said they would schedule an appointment with my next regular appointment to have a procedure to go and look. OK really worried but once again I forgot about it in a few days.
Get there today and he starts to tell me what all this procedure would include and I was like "excuse me, you want to do what with my ass?"
Here is the most awkward part ... To make a long story short, this procedure meant that he would go in with a scope and "look" around with a big magnifying glass. He used vinegar and iodine to be able to pick the "trouble" looking spots out. On top of this the nurse who I have always loved, she was also in the room helping with this all. So I laid on my side on a table for close to 30 min while my doc had a scope up my ass looking around. The "best" part was that everything he was seeing was displayed on the big TV screen right in front of me. Not only was I embarrassed to be laying there with two people I hardly know looking in a very private place but damn did they have to put it on the TV so I could watch, too? So the doc saw a few areas that made him worry so he decided he needed to take a biopsy of 3 different places inside my rectum. So now I have a scope shoved in there and he is ripping pieces out so that they can send them to the lab and determine if they are cancer or what.
As you can imagine it has been a very long and awkward day. After all that I still had to drive 1.5 hours back to Charlotte and had a meeting this afternoon that I had to go to, all with a very sore ass. I am not allowed to lift anything over 20 lbs. for a week and not allowed to have any "fun" if you get my drift.
Today was a mix of emotions, I was so happy to find out all my labs look so great but I am still on wit's end worried about what these biopsies are going to determine. Tonight I am going to try and not worry about it; I am going to listen to some Garth Brooks and drink some damn good bourbon.
Visit Brian's live blog at www.AMarineAndHIV.com.
Read Brian's blog AMarineAndHIV.


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text:
|NAD T 571 DVD/CD/MP3 Changer
|Wednesday, 01 May 2002
Page 2 of 2
I had to run the component video out of the T 571 into a Silicon Image iScan Pro to my Sony VPH 1252 seven-inch CRT projector, as the older Sony was not equipped with a progressive scan input card. You can't run a progressive signal to the iScan pro, as it converts a component video input to a progressive or line-doubled output. Progressive into a progressive converter does not quadruple the amount of lines you get. Just for grins, I tried doing this. The results aren't even worth going into. I use an 84-inch 4:3 diagonal screen approximately nine feet away from my viewing position.
Using "Toy Story II" (Disney) for color saturation and definition, the T 571 immediately impressed me with the purity of colors and the contrast and definition between lighter and darker hues in the opening scene, when Buzz Lightyear zooms out of space to land on an alien planet. The robots that surround him when he lands have a pebbled texture that was much more detailed than they appeared on my reference Toshiba DS-9100. I would go so far as to say that the T 571 had nearly the same impact as getting contact lenses to correct my vision. In darker scenes where Buzz drops through to the underground lair of the dreaded Zurg, I didn't notice any smearing or jagged-edged artifacts from light to dark transitions that sometimes make themselves present under these conditions. Additionally, the picture exhibited very good black levels.
For intense dark and light scenarios I turned to the Rouge City scene in "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" (DreamWorks). The neon and bright lights in this scene are a retinal assault on the senses. At times, the T 571 had trouble defining some of the contrast information, leaving the color a bit washed out, but I have yet to see a DVD player in this price range do a better job than the T 571. The jacket on the streetwise character Gigolo Joe (played by Jude Law) has a metallic quality to it, capturing the play of lights in Rouge City on the surface of the material. With the Toshiba SD-9100, the reflections looked like moving blobs of color, but with the T 571, the reflections were much more realistic, as I could see what was in the images.
For texture rendition, I loaded "Shrek" (DreamWorks). Shrek's eyebrows and the donkey's fur took on new life when experienced through the T 571. Colors were vivid and gave greater clarity to the scenes themselves.
To see how well the NAD player could handle variety of tasks, I loaded the T 571 with several DVDs. First I started watching one film, then changed to a different disc, to see how the T 571 handled this aspect of movie watching. From the time I hit disc change on the menu, it took an average of 15 seconds to proceed to the next movie.
That is good performance. I don't see multi-movie watching at one setting being a feature that a lot of people would take advantage of, but if you're given the ability to do this, perhaps it will become a desirable option.
The T 571 did a nice job with the tasks of pausing, freeze-framing, or providing slow motion viewing, never flickering or jumping, and the scene information stayed cohesive throughout all of the view manipulation.
The Downside
Besides the plastic on plastic sound of the disc tray, the only other complaint I have with the T 571 is the remote. There is no provision for lighting the keys. This is something the industry has clearly failed to recognize. For me, it required the use of a flashlight or turning up the lights to see the functions I needed to control the T 571. With a projection system, there is nothing that kills the movie-watching vibe more than turning on a light to control the video play of your system. Although the remote is logically laid out, the buttons are small and too numerous to feel like you could find the right one in the dark.
Given the flexibility and performance that the T 571 affords, it seems that NAD has found a balance between performance, cost and convenience. Although not cheap at $799.00, you really get you money's worth with the T 571. For playing DVDs, CDs, or a mix of the two, as well as CD-R and CD-RW and MP3 encoded discs, you'll find that NAD hasn't left anything to chance. Sonically, the T 571's performance is very good, both in stereo and multi-channel music, on both HDCD and DTS-encoded material. The video section is excellent, especially the progressive scan video output, which would have cost several thousand dollars for a player with this feature a few years ago. This is a must-use feature to get the fullest benefit the T 571 has to offer. If you have a newer TV or projection system that will accept a progressive scan signal, you'll be amazed by the picture quality the NAD T 571 provides. I'm not sure how useful the carousel feature is for DVD movie watching, but cueing up five CDs' worth of music for a party is a sweet option. So, if you are using a high-resolution TV and you don't have a progressive source, do yourself a favor and audition the T 571. You may end up putting your old DVD non-progressive player on eBay and finding a way to own this NAD product.


text:
Researchers wanted to prove that those who believe in paranormal experience are completely nuts, so they scientifically haunted a room using infrasound waves and stuck people in there. Results? A lot of dizzy, tingly, aroused, and gullible individuals.
To conduct the experiment, infrasound and electromagnetic wave producing speakers were hidden inside the "haunted" room, to simulate the frequencies associated with paranormal experiences. Volunteers were then sent inside and asked to report any "strange feelings" as soon as they felt them. If there was something to the business of paranormal experiences being genuine, then there would be a correlation between the speaker zones and the sensations reported.
As you can guess by now, all the sensations of dizziness, tingling, disembodiment, dream-remembrance, and arousal had no correlation to the volunteers locations within the room. Researchers concluded that the responses were due to suggestibility and the fact that the volunteers were expecting to feel something.
They did leave some room for skepticism and said that it is possible that some individuals may sense things that others can't see, but frankly I don't care either way. I'm still going to keep on believing in fairies. [Wired]


text:
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text:
N.J. posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago
I'm so stuck
in the mud on the banks of yellow rivers
and lush green rice paddies
that I can't even breath enough air in–
so stuck I feel the need to peel
the skin beneath my eyes with blunt nails
and tweezers just to see,
see what I'm missing, what I'm missing
because even without the noise
my concentration is shot.
In the forehead.
Hemorrhaging through the flood gates
so quick, so much, too paltry
that all I really want in life is to eat chicken,
go to bed, pray and write.


text:
Kegel exercises
strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor, the "hammock" of muscles that control the flow of urine and hold the pelvic organs in place.
See a picture of
the pelvic floor muscles.
Weakness in the pelvic floor muscles can cause bladder control problems (urinary incontinence) or the sagging of some pelvic organs. Doctors often
Kegel exercises for:
Kegel exercises are easy to do and can be
done anywhere without anyone knowing.
Kegel exercises are most
effective when done regularly.
Your doctor may want you to try doing
your exercises with
biofeedback to make sure you are doing them right.
Biofeedback allows you to see, feel, or hear when an exercise is being
done correctly.
Last Revised:
January 9, 2012
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine & Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
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text:
The wasp in the window. (mother's nature).
I am reminded, uncomfortably, of a mime's feigned, flat-handed struggle within an imaginary box.
"I know how you feel," I think, and stare out the window: past the wasp, past the withered grass and leafless trees, at all the barren landscape beyond. Not even the chickadees chattering and hopscotching in the shrubs at our yard's edge can break my mood.
The wasp loses its grip on the transparent barrier, falls to the sill and then resumes its futile upward climb. On a warmer day I'd rescue it. I'd lift the sash, put a wide-mouth mason jar over the insect, slip a piece of thin cardboard between the jar and the window and carry the trapped wasp outdoors to freedom. All summer I keep cardboard and a jar at hand for that purpose. When it comes to wasps, which tend to be hard-bodied and irritable, catch and release is safer than swatting.
But no, releasing this wasp out into the cold would doom it for sure, and I'm feeling too much cabin-fever kinship with her. I say "her" because, of course, this is a female. She's a paper wasp, specifically a member of the genus Polistes, the sort that builds small, open-celled, umbrellalike nests beneath eaves and picnic-shelter roofs. Hornets and yellow jackets are paper wasps, too, but they build enclosed nests. They also are nastier-tempered than Polistes and create much larger colonies, sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands by early fall. Polistes colonies seldom exceed a couple hundred residents and more often consist of only a few dozen.
All wasps (and many other members of hymenoptera, which includes ants and bees) go through a similar annual life cycle. In summer the colony is made up entirely of females: nonreproductive workers and a single egg-laying queen. At summer's end, after the colony population reaches its peak, a change takes place: Some of the nest's larval cells produce males, and some produce fertile females. Those chosen few leave the nest and mate. The males, along with the wasps left behind, ultimately die. The females, now carrying sperm within their bodies but delaying ovulation, each find a sheltered place in which to sleep away the winter. They slumber beneath leaves or a log or loose bark, between boards in an attic or within a gap in a leaky old double-hung window.
I regard the stumbling wasp again: potential royalty. If she survives this joke played on her by fleeting unseasonable warmth and a homeowner too lazy to seal a window, if she returns to her berth and emerges later into nature's true spring, she will make her own nest of chewed-wood pulp, lay an egg in each cell, add the sperm she holds and ascend to queenship. No wonder she tries so determinedly to cross the invisible glass barrier. There's work to be done--babies to be made. This is an expectant mother.
Expectant. Thinking this while peering out the window, I'm chagrined to realize I, too, have been fooled to frustration by the unseen, invisible, seemingly Not There. I look again at the landscape through eyes opened with the help of my wasp companion, and suddenly it is not so barren.
All around is spring itself, fresh and green and abuzz with life merely out of sight. Those "leafless" trees are not leafless at all. On every living branch and twig of every shrub and tree, tucked within myriad buds blanketed by bud scales from frigid weather, are countless tiny, fully formed baby leaves. They've been there since late last summer--all of them, spring's entire green gush of foliage, waiting in miniature: the dogwoods' saw-toothed ovals, the spiky red oaks and the many-thumbed whites, the arrow-shaped birches and elms, the feathery walnuts and ashes, every leaf of every deciduous species.
Spring's signature flowers, too, ornament the unseen landscape, disguised from above by the withered remains of last year's stems and leaves. Over at the moist edge of our woods, there's snowy-bloomed bloodroot; on the opposite side, white-winged Dutchman's breeches. Farther back, there's furtive jack-in-the-pulpit and mayapple, and along our driveway, wild columbine's whiskered pendants. They're all there, complete with stems, leaves and flowering parts: spring's generation snug underground in buds nourished by the food-storage bins we call bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers.
The wasp clambers to eye level and reminds me again of its hymenopteran kin--and the host of other warm-weather insects covertly populating the winter world. In addition to countless queens-to-be and other insects wintering under shelter as adults, there are the eggs, larvae and pupae of hundreds of species, all with spring due dates. Moths such as the luna and polyphemus spend the winter months as pupae in leaf-wrapped cocoons; others forego the cocoon and burrow their mummylike pupal selves underground. Not-quite-adult butterflies--future flying flowers--form a hard-shelled chrysalis around their nondescript bodies and hang out under, or on, frost-killed vegetation. Tiny beetle eggs spend the season buried in loose leaves and soil; in warmer weather, they'll emerge as glowworm larvae and then fireflies.
Then, too, are the hidden warm-blooded creatures: the mice and voles beneath the tall matted grass along the road; the hibernators, such as woodchucks and turtles, slumbering in burrows near the pond down the hill, their metabolisms on slow, pilot-light burn.
I'm standing at the window considering all this and noting how the chickadees outside seem more cheering than a while ago, when I remember I need to put more wood on the fire. I glance briefly at the wasp in the window, then leave to take care of that chore and others, too. That night, hours later, I notice the wasp is gone. Good. At least there's a chance she found a way back to her bunk.
I crawl into my own bed and pull up the covers. The weatherman is calling for a return to frigid temperatures, maybe freezing rain or snow. No problem, I think, just before dropping off to sleep. No problem at all.
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|Krautwurst, Terry
|Mother Earth News
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|Feb 1, 2002
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Research Compliance
The Office of Research Compliance, a unit of the Office of Research, Innovation and Sponsored Programs at Prairie View A&M University, is involved in the oversight of research involving human subjects, bio-hazardous material, and animals. The university is committed to assuring that all research activities are conducted in a manner that promotes the rights and welfare of the participants and maintains the integrity of the research. Through three key committees and related programs and activities, the Office of Research Compliance develops, implements and oversees university policies related to the following areas:
- Institutional Review Board (IRB) – Research involving humans
- Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) – Research involving animals
- Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)– Research involving recombinant DNA or bio hazardous agents
- Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR)
- Research Misconduct
- Financial Conflict of Interest
- Export Controls
PVAMU's Federal wide Assurance: #00000561
PVAMU's USDA Registration: #74-R-0215
Office of Research Compliance
Wilhelmina Delco Building, Room 120
Email: email@example.com
Contact Telephone Numbers: (936) 261-1553,
(936) 261-1588


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Dallas coach Jason Garrett implores Dez Bryant to run "north and south" with the ball. The Cowboys receiver is listening, and his career sure seems headed a lot more north than south.
Bryant's first catch Sunday at Cincinnati (7-5) could get the Dallas receiver to 1,000 yards for the first time as a pro. The past four games, he scored in each one and had the same career high in yards twice.
Garrett forced the third-year player to go "north and south" on a screen pass that ended up being the go-ahead touchdown in last weekend's 38-33 victory against Philadelphia.
Bryant also used the theory to his advantage on an earlier scoring play for the Cowboys (6-6).


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BACKGROUND IMAGE: iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
- FeatureEdiscovery gets XML lift
- FeatureHigh-performance systems boost backup
- FeatureSnapshot: Some users skeptical about data dedupe
- Feature8Gb/sec Fibre Channel widens lane for SAN traffic
- FeatureUnlimited storage
- FeatureTaming storage virtualization
- FeatureDell VP on virtualization, EMC and support
- FeatureStorage standards: A progress report
- FeatureVendors set sights on SMBs
- FeatureLog data deluge
- FeatureVideo focuses on storage
- FeatureSurvey says: Bonuses vary widely
- FeatureEditorial: Welcome to archiving hell
- FeatureHot Spots: New Year's resolution: Get my storage organized
- FeatureBest Practices: Unraveling tape encryption
- FeatureStorage Bin 2.0: Ringing in a new storage market
iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
Storage Bin 2.0: Ringing in a new storage market
The world of storage is complicated and diverse. But sophisticated users, armed with better research and networking tools than ever before, are finding they don't need one-stop shopping for storage technology.
- Tony Asaro, The INI Group
| Don't be alarmed by all the recent industry news; it's a good time for storage consumers.
Another storage highlight in 2007 was Dell buying EqualLogic. This was more than just a big player acquiring an emerging storage vendor. Dell threw down a gauntlet when it bought EqualLogic, essentially saying "We'll own IP; we'll change our strategy; we'll be bold."
This acquisition eliminates risk for some, but creates it for others. There may be a number of EqualLogic customers that don't want to buy from Dell because they standardized on Hewlett-Packard (HP) or IBM. There are some EqualLogic channel partners that may be groaning because they've spent years competing against Dell. Other customers may simply be concerned that EqualLogic will become lost within the giant Dell. On the other hand, Dell has the brand, resources and reach to take EqualLogic faster and further than if the smaller company was left alone. Dell shouldn't only respond to markets but create them--and with EqualLogic, Dell is paving the way for the evolving small- to medium-sized storage market.
Dell's purchase of EqualLogic has other ramifications for the industry. First, it further elevates iSCSI as a viable alternative to Fibre Channel (FC). Is FC dead? Not at all, but don't be surprised to see iSCSI surpass FC as the dominant SAN interconnect over the next few years. Second, the Dell supply chain can probably increase EqualLogic's 65% gross margins by another five to 10 points. This gives Dell powerful economic leverage and puts more stress on the competition, which could affect the entire storage landscape.
| There are a handful of other storage system vendors, including BlueArc, Copan Systems, DataDirect Technologies, Diligent Technologies, LeftHand Networks, Pillar Data Systems, OnStor and Sepaton, that will probably be acquired or go public in 2008. As these vendors and others try to elevate themselves to the next level, we'll begin to see overlap and turf wars for category dominance.
Dell, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM, Network Appliance and Sun Microsystems--the seven billionaires of storage--are all impacted by the changing storage landscape. While a few of the big seven may scoop up some of the smaller, emerging vendors, massive consolidation in the storage system market won't happen any time soon. In fact, it may never happen. That's because storage is complicated and diverse, and sophisticated customers, using better research and networking tools than ever before, understand they don't need one-stop shopping for storage technology. Those vendors who understand this new world order will benefit.
How do you as a customer make the right decision? My answer is to remember that you're in the driver's seat, and this is a great time to be in the market for a storage system product. So negotiate intelligently and apply your leverage as a coveted storage customer. One of your biggest problems may be having too many viable choices. In the grand scheme of things, that's a pretty good problem to have.
Related Resources
- Demystifying storage performance metrics –ComputerWeekly.com
- Containers and storage 101: The fundamentals of container storage –ComputerWeekly.com
- All-Flash: The Essential Guide –ComputerWeekly.com
- Hybrid Flash: The Essential guide –ComputerWeekly.com


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San Francisco's Civic Center is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas (Civic Center Plaza and United Nations Plaza) and a number of buildings in classical architectural style. Its beauty is marred, however, by a reputation for being one of the more popular parts of the city for the homeless and the drug addicted. In recent years the homeless have been pushed out of the central part and now congregate mainly at its Market Street edge.[citation needed] It is the locale of many rallies, demonstrations, and festivals.
United Nations Plaza was created in 1975, when the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway was constructed under Market Street. The 2.6 acre pedestrian mall was designed by Lawrence Halprin. It commemorates the signing of the United Nations Charter at the Herbst Theater in 1945.


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A strong rebuttal to Dr. Davis Young's anti-young-earth book "Christianity and the Age of the Earth."
The geologic column is central to the concept of evolution and millions of years, so what is a Bible-believing Christian to make of it?
Do evolutionists really ignore significant scientific evidence that supports biblical history?
The Bible plainly teaches that the Flood of Noah's day covered the entire globe. But this raises serious questions.
Dr Spetner's book aims a death-blow at the heart of the whole neo-Darwinian story.
According to naturalism, God has no place in law, science or the schools. Not true, says Phillip Johnson in his book


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"Pink Sneakers and Sycamores": Second Place, Family Circle Fiction Contest 2012
"Pink Sneakers and Sycamores," by Sammie Callahan-Hutchens, won second place in Family Circle's 2012 Fiction Contest.
She knew two certainties. Shivering came in winter and sweating came in summer, but here she lay under the canopy of forest, doing both at once. If she had her say of a warm blanket or a tumbler of ice water, it would be a hard choice.
The clouds answered for her. Tired of their heavy load, they dropped a soft but steady patter of rain on the surface of the inlet below her.
Unable to see from the upper bank, she pictured the droplets hitting the inky black water. It was always that color at dawn, her secret time with the lake.
She welcomed the rain and begged it to come closer. If she opened her mouth wide, the raindrops might soothe her burning throat. But she knew in the asking, it was only a hope. The shifting lake wind bullied a soft rain where it would, and it was unlikely to find her under the giant sycamore leaves.
She tried to chase her next thought away. No sense getting all worked up like grandma used to say. But the more she tried not to think about it, the stronger it got. Panic rose in her chest until she admitted the unthinkable: No one would find her because no one was looking.
She learned weeks ago, as soon as she could reach the top lock, how to nudge her paint-chipped window open without a sound. Scurrying over the warped sill, she found a world too exciting to share. Not even with a best friend, if she had one.
Away from the musty cabin, the air was airier, the sounds soundier. Except for the crickets, which hushed if you just thought about moving, and each hollowed log held some kind of critter to coax into friendship.
She played Indian princess and hunted fairies, but it was the lake that drew her. Called to her.
Its chatter and tricks of color and movement dazzled her senses.
She saved it for last each morning, until the rising sun threatened to wake the hounds on the porch.
Her brothers' snoring topped most noises, but foraging squirrels set off a round of barking that scared her anyway.
She ran with the rays at her back, beating the sun through her window. They never suspected, all those mornings, that she wasn't in bed.
Secrets burned to be told, and she tried once to tell her brothers of the lake's changing moods, without giving herself away.
They laughed and knuckled her head until she howled. For them, who never got up much before noon, sunlight played off ordinary lake water. Any fool knew that, and little girls were chock-full of fancy notions.
She wasn't sure what chock-full meant, but it must be bad because they never heeded what she had to say. Not about the lake, not about her thinking Mama wasn't coming back. Not even about Ben.
But they should have listened about Ben.
The plaintive warble of a limpkin heralded a roll of thunder in the distance. A scurry in the underbrush triggered no fear. She guessed the rustling to be a family of brown rabbits. She shifted her eyes to the side, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bunnies, but thunder and bunnies never mixed well on the best of days. She was alone again.
That was okay. She was in no shape to enjoy the best thing about bunnies. They didn't know how to run away like the crafty moms who bobbed and weaved and then disappeared. Mothers were like that. There one minute and gone the next.
She didn't want to think about mothers and chased the thought away by concentrating on the bunnies. So cuddly this time of year, she'd corner a little one and hold its fur to her cheek for a moment. Its heart would flutter and she'd release the squirming softness. You were always supposed to let go. Any fool knew that.
But Ben was worse than fool. He didn't let go out of sheer meanness.
She sensed something odd in him a long time ago. Maybe Mama knew it, too. Why she took up with Ben just to leave so soon, she couldn't figure.
He said she'd been making eyes at that truck driver who came through town, and maybe she got a hankering to go with him. She'd come crawling back. Bet your bottom dollar, yes, sirree.
Her brothers didn't say too much. They liked Ben. He brought fancy rifles and lots of things big boys used. No sense telling them he was creepy, and she didn't want to sit in his lap ever again.
She sighed, but the sound came out differently than she expected and the effort made her throat hurt more.
It was her own fault, she supposed. Ben hissed her to be quiet, but how could she? He smelled worse than the pack of hounds after a three-day hunt. She caught the whiff before he was on top of her. Before his whiskers scraped her face, and he touched where it wasn't right.
She gagged at the memory of his breath that pulled the scream from her throat. His hands went around her neck so hard she heard the hard pop more than she felt it. His eyes told her he wasn't aiming to let go, and one more thing — he'd done this before, and Mama was never coming home.
Fear gripped her insides but she was smart. She played possum and he jumped off her. She held her breath, willing her body to be still. He stood over her, panting, and toed her hip back and forth. Stars danced in her head and she fought a queer floating sensation she feared he could see.
Right when she thought she'd explode and exhale, debris from his turning boots hit her face and twigs snapped as he ran. He slipped once, let out a curse, and crashed through the woods.
The trapped air burst from her lungs. She pulled breath in over and over. Oh man, air is a good thing, a really good thing. She almost laughed. He was gone. She made it. She was alive.
But she couldn't move her legs.
She tried again. Tears ran from the corners of her eyes into her ears. "Mama," she whispered, but that didn't matter anymore.
Don't cry. You'll get all worked up. Think of anything else. Something good could happen yet. Maybe some lost birdwatcher will come through the trees.
If a body can sweat and shiver at the same time, anything's possible.
The sky cracked, closer now, almost on top of her. As if on cue, the rhythm of rain increased and found her under the sycamore. The percussion swelled, drowning every sound of the forest.
She squeezed her eyes against the onslaught of rain and lightning strikes too close for comfort, because her head didn't want to move any more than her legs.
Water pooled in the blanket of leaves beneath her. She moved the fingers of her right hand atop the water. Good, something worked. She played the piano drill she had been practicing on Teacher's upright. She played over and over, mastering that one tricky chord and hearing the melody change in her mind. Perfect. If only Teacher could hear... but that didn't matter anymore and her fingers were getting heavy.
The rain eased and her eyes opened to ominous after-storm mists tumbling over the lake.
On the tree nearest the side of her pink sneaker, rainwater coursed down the intricate maze of bark until it found the sodden ground.
Water always seeks its own level.
Teacher said that once to stop her from fretting about Ben. What water had to do with him, she wasn't sure. It was hard to be sure of anything when you were chock-full of fancy notions.
The woods returned to the soft morning whisper she loved most of all things. Tentative birdsong joined a narrow shaft of sunlight on the branch above her and a crystalline blue peeked through the canopy.
Small raindrops fell from the sycamore leaves and plopped without malice on her cheeks. A singular calmness permeated her being. The leaves beneath her turned to warm velvet, stopping the last shiver. Nothing hurt anymore, not even her throat.
Her heart swelled, taking over the smile her lips couldn't manage. The violent squall was over, and the sun would soon embrace her.
Only the trees were raining now.


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Cook the Book: 'Home Made'
Yvette van Boven, the Dutch jane-of-all-trades behind Home Made is a recipe writer, illustrator, and restaurateur who wants to push our limits in the kitchen. She's a DIY-er in the kitchen who's culinary sensibilities are purely homemade at heart.
The American version of her new cookbook is hot off the presses and full of exciting DIY projects ranging from cheese-making to preserving, bread baking, infusing your own liqueurs, and even baking up biscuits for your favorite four legged friends.
Each chapter of Home Made opens with with a step-by-step photo how-to that walks you through the steps of each DIY project, whether it's making a terrine or tackling ice cream making without an ice cream maker. The recipes in Home Made are lovingly hand lettered and illustrated by van Boven with pen and ink drawings and intricate paper cuttings including some pretty adorable talking lemons and anthropomorphized Swiss chard.
This week we're going to be doin' it ourselves in the kitchen with recipes from Home Made. We'll be wondering into the world of preserving with Duck Ham, weighting down a summery Vegetable Terrine, and straining yogurt for Seasoned Labne Balls in Olive Oil.
Win 'Home Made'
Thanks to the generous folks over at Stewart, Tabori & Chang, we are giving away five (5) copies of Home Made this week.
All you have to do is tell us about your favorite kitchen DIY project in the comments section below.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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From Continental Cup to World Championships
Lausanne, Switzerland, July 31, 2013 - The Continental Cup was introduced in 2012 with the idea of spreading beach volleyball to non-traditional territories and to allow their teams to compete at the highest level of competition.
The tournament was the brainchild of current FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° during his time as President of the Beach Volleyball Council and the evidence from the recently-concluded FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships is that it is already starting to bear fruit.
Two of the biggest beneficiaries have been Venezuela's Igor Hernandez and Jesus Villafane and Vanuatu's Elwin Miller and Henriette Iatika.
Hernandez and Villafane won the 2012 South American tournament to reach the London 2012 Olympic Games and they were back competing at beach volleyball's top table at FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Mazury 2013. There they made it through the pool stage to finish in a creditable 17th place. They then followed up that performance by reaching the quarterfinals at the Anapa Open in Russia.
At the World Championships, they became celebrities back home after they defeated 2008 Olympic champion and 2007 world champion, Todd Rogers and his new partner Ryan Doherty in pool play.
"Since we beat the USA in our first game, everyone is very excited about it," Hernandez said. "The national TV called our hotel room for an interview, they asked about our game and we also did an interview online."
More importantly their success has earned them greater funding from their national sports ministry, which will help them develop further as a team.
"Since the Olympic Games more and more young people in Venezuela are interested in beach volley," Hernandez said.
"We got support from the government after the Olympics. Thanks to that we were able to start different projects and encourage young people to play beach volleyball. We organise events for the junior and youth groups now in Venezuela."
For Elwin and Iatika, the journey from their homes in the south Pacific may have been long, but was well worth it to become the first pair from Vanuatu to compete at a World Championships.
They had narrowly missed out on a place at London 2012 when they finished second in the Asian Continental Cup, but made up for that by impressing at the World Championships in Poland.
They finished second in their pool behind eventual bronze medallists Liliane Maestrini and Barbara Seixas, then gave the first seeds and soon-to-be world champions Chen Xue and Zhang Xi a fright in the first set of their second knockout round match.
"I have sacrificed my life at home to become the best I can be," Iatika said. "I have two kids who stay on the island while I am away training and competing because I want to take part. I want to make my family and country proud of me and I want to show all the young people in Vanuatu what is possible if you try hard."
In total there were four men's team and three women's teams who competed at the World Championships, having gone through the Continental Cup.
Mexico's Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros made it to the knockout stages, while Chilean cousins Esteban and Marco Grimalt and Venezuela's Leon Colina Chourio and Jackson Henriquez picked up valuable experience of top-level competition that they can take with them when they compete on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and Continental tournaments.
In the women's competition Paraguay's Michelle Valiente Amarilla was the youngest competitor at the World Championships aged 15 years and two months, when she played alongside Patricia Caballero Pena. Thailand's Varapatsorn Radaron and Tanarattha Udomchavee meanwhile became the first team from their country to feature at a World Championships.With two more years until the next World Championships in the Netherlands and three until the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, there is plenty of time for even more new teams to emerge and make their mark on the top echelons of beach volleyball.