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I spent 2 and half years (I graduated early) studying Computer science in University. What surprised me when I got out was that the things I stressed over every day in school were only the thinnest onion skin of what was required of me in the industry. If I were to retake an exam after a couple years in the industry, I wouldn't have any problem with it.
The difference is that industry requires so much more focus and professionalism than schooling does. So it's no surprise that students would fuck up in a laboratory much more than a junior clinician with a month of on the job training.
It isn't about lack of OSHA oversight, it's about how academia considers safety as an afterthought.
And what kind of workplace hazards did you experience as a computer scientist? Aside from the obvious risks associated with sitting in a non-ergonomic chair for too long.
And what kind of workplace hazards did you experience as a computer scientist
The Skynet kind.
I spent 2 and half years (I graduated early) studying Computer science in University. What surprised me when I got out was that the things I stressed over every day in school were only the thinnest onion skin of what was required of me in the industry. If I were to retake an exam after a couple years in the industry, I wouldn't have any problem with it.
The difference is that industry requires so much more focus and professionalism than schooling does. So it's no surprise that students would fuck up in a laboratory much more than a junior clinician with a month of on the job training.
It isn't about lack of OSHA oversight, it's about how academia considers safety as an afterthought.
Don't compare Computer Science to Chemistry. Having Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science on my c.v., M.E. stomped all over CS for professional standards, strict materials and manufacturing lab rules and much more. Why? Because you don't work with Milling Machines in CS or Oxy-Acetylene/Arc Welders while machining and assembling a CAR versus writing test cases in software. The fact this University doesn't have strict standards falls square on the shoulders of their full time professional staff who manage the labs and should be drilling into these kids Factors of Safety. If we ever mishandled metal lathes we got our asses chewed by the machinists. The manufacturing lab, strengths and materials labs and metallurgy labs were brutal on idiots who were not cautious about what they did in a building with plenty of options available to cause an explosion.
OSHA doesn't protect students worse then employees. They are a set of standards with some strict rules and as long as an employee is supervising, no matter how many students are in the lab or whatever, the OSHA rules apply.
Now the Student isn't on their own if an instructor isn't present either. They are protected by consumer protection laws which means that the lab should have at minimum, guidelines that match OSHA requirements for everyone if not more stringent guidelines because of previous lawsuits.
I wonder if some of the lab students fall into the trap of thinking that they knew enough, and not realizing that their earlier practices were put in place not to protect them as novices, but to protect them at all times.
It seems similar to something that I've read happens to some pilots. In those cases, a pilot with, say, 200 hours still considers himself a novice, and will carefully follow the checklist and be extremely careful to not get overwhelmed. That pilot may reach 800 hours, and think that he's got it down. This is, according to one investigator (Australian, I think) the most dangerous time to be a pilot. Once this stage is passed, usually around 1500 hours, the pilot has had enough close calls to realize that what they learned early on should be applied all throughout their career.
IIRC, this was the conclusion of an inquiry into a crash of an Australian military helicopter that killed most or all aboard when it came down too hard and too fast to the back of a ship, bounced off, and landed in the ocean. The base reason was "pilot error," but there was much more to the psychology of the situation.
Actually, there are many "plateaus" that pilots need to go through as the learn their craft. When I was getting my private pilots license, I very clearly remember flight instructor Dave telling me that the only thing that flight instructors did was to basically teach us just enough to kill ourselves. The flight instructors hope was that when we inevitably got ourselves into a fix, he/she had taught us enough so that we could get ourselves out of it in one piece. Dave also said that I would, before a 100 hours of "pilot in command" time frame had elapsed, get myself into trouble and he really hoped that I would survive. And he was serious...and he was right. At the 60 hour time frame of piloting, I did the "low altitude, low airspeed, NO place to go" mistake on landing. Nearly killed myself. It made a lasting impression.
I have been a private pilot for 10 years now.
I feel ya pal. Keep using that license to learn every time you push the balls to the wall.
I wonder if some of the lab students fall into the trap of thinking that they knew enough, and not realizing that their earlier practices were put in place not to protect them as novices, but to protect them at all times.
I don't know if it's overconfidence so much as getting lazy. I worked in a lab that was classified biohazard level 2 (I think) when I was a lab noob. Always wore gloves for one thing. I'm somewhat less of a noob now in a different lab. When I first started in my current lab, I would wear gloves for everything, even, say, when cutting chicken embryos out of their eggs. Clearly nothing in that which is going to hurt me.
Now I've probably swung too far the other direction. I've caught myself doing stupid things like not putting gloves on when carrying a test tube full of toxins because I would have had to walk 10 feet to the gloves and was in a hurry. I guess there was a little "I probably didn't get any outside the test tube" but it was mostly just laziness and bad habits. And I think that's probably where most of the dangers in academic labs come from.
Experienced researchers are often just as cavalier about dangers as anyone else in my experience, I think because a close call with lab safety, in some labs anyway, is much less dramatic than with a pilot. If you almost spill something bad on yourself, you might know it's something you want to avoid, but that's kind of academic. "Oh, a carcinogen almost landed on me, that would have been bad." You might laugh about it with your labmates next week, hopefully tell yourself you won't do that particular mistake again.
If you almost crash a helicopter on the other hand, you probably nearly wet your pants, and the reaction isn't "Oh, that would have been bad," it's more "OHMIGOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M STILL ALIVE!" A much more viceral experience that probably causes you to be more careful with -everything- rather than just that one mistake. At least, I would guess that's the case.
I don't know if it's overconfidence so much as getting lazy.
Agreed - there's also the possibility of the classic grad student folly: understanding everything in the mind without having the mastered the nuances of technique...
But, if they make the labs safe, where will the great stories (like pouring liquid nitrogen down a drain, or projectile canisters [umdnj.edu]) come from? C'mon, someone has to serve as an example to everyone else...
Myth: Grad student's don't need to wear gloves when handling aflatoxin [wikipedia.org] because the gloves are worth more than grad students.
Test: We dropped pure aflatoxin on Tory's hands, and figure out how much a grad student is worth compared to a box of gloves.
Outcome: Tory has horrible tumors growing on his hands, but the box of gloves is calculated to be worth more than the grad student.
Myth: confirmed!
My friend is a university chemistry professor. Last night she said a student asked her "where is the absolute value key on my calculator?"
Students lack a lot more than common sense.
I am a grad student, and every lab I have seen puts an emphases on putting your safety first. I have a difficult time believing that commercial labs are any safer.
I work in an academic lab. We have potential biological, radioactive, chemical, cryo, electrical and magnetic field hazards. Without a serious safety regime it could be a dangerous place. Like most university labs we have very few undergrad students, who are continuously supervised while they are with us for short projects. Everybody has to take regular safety courses. We also have to report safety incidents. We have regular safety audits. This is normal for a university. That you rarely reach more than a couple of months between reportable incidents speaks as much for your own record as for the quality of the system, we typically go for much longer without incident.
I think part of the problem here is that most university grads have not been grad students. As an undergrad you are well protected (mainly from yourself). The experiments you undertake have been pre-designed to allow for your limited experience. But it's cool to talk about how dangerous your lab work is. If you start working as a grad student, the safety training really starts. It's not about going on courses where you learn about what to do in a fire (we have to do those to), it's about learning to always look for safety risks in what you do. As a scientist, you are best qualified to recognise risks in your own experiment. A good scientist quickly forms the habit of always checking.
In my experience, safety for our industrial partners means someone in their safety office has signed off on an experiment. For me, it means I sit down with a colleague or two and work out if we need anything above the normal safety procedure. Different approaches for different environments. Both can work, if done properly.
No industrial lab would allow a flammable solvent near an electrically charged heating mantle.
Gotta tell you, it would be great if that were the case but it just isn't. I work in a QC lab at a drug company, and people are always doing things like distilling isopropyl alcohol in a regular fume hood. There are hot plates used in the same hood as all sorts of solvents. Many people don't wear gloves, ever, even when working with stuff like mixtures containing DMSO. Safety will never trump people's intrisic laziness.
...you let undergrads lose in a lab. A friend of mine was nearly electrocuted because one of her undergrads took it upon himself to do some wiring, and "grounded" the black wire to the body of a vacuum chamber. Little did he know that the "red is power, black is ground" convention that he learned in his intro to EE course doesn't apply to AC circuits.
And that's just one of countless examples I've seen. Undergrads, and even many grad students, don't really know what they're doing half the time. That'd be fine, but the dangerous thing is that they think they do. If the guy in my previous example had taken a moment to ask, "Hey, which of these is ground?" then there would never have been a problem.
Short of keeping an eye on all of them at all times, there's not much you can do. And since the people who would do the watching are probably first or second year grad students themselves, it might not even do you much good.
Almost all of which could be solved by simply asking someone with experience. The unfortunate reality is that many engineering students are taught that 'labourers' opinions aren't valuable. The simple truth is that they provide the 'applied' to the science that was studied. It's a shame, but man
Engineering students think that they have it all figured out, and go on to design some wonderfully impractical items.
That's an understatement. Some genius engineer with a company that I may have something to do with thought that it would be a good idea to route a compressor's power wires around a fine-threaded screw instead of a hose.
The compressor's vibration would then cause the wires' insulation to rub against the screw threads and eventually short the wires to the compressor's metal case. An ECO was sent out telling the service personnel to reroute the wires, but if the engineers would've figured that out when the
This is what happens whenever you let undergrads lose in a lab.
How ironic that this is the one time that "loose" is actually the correct spelling, yet "let[ting] undergrads lose" is still somehow appropriate to the topic.
...you let undergrads lose in a lab. A friend of mine was nearly electrocuted because one of her undergrads took it upon himself to do some wiring, and "grounded" the black wire to the body of a vacuum chamber. Little did he know that the "red is power, black is ground" convention that he learned in his intro to EE course doesn't apply to AC circuits.
Honestly, this sounds 100% like the professor or lab instructor's fault. You can't blame the undergrad for not knowing something that intuitively makes no sense.
When teaching safety standards (such as the color-coding of the wires), proper context should have been provided, ie. that the black/red convention only applies to DC circuits. However, I could see how this could easily be overlooked or misinterpreted.
What I can't see being overlooked is that the students were given a piece of equipment that presu
I think that there are several reasons you don't see this kind of stuff in industry:
1. Liability. As a result of liability everybody has their job and that is all that you do. If an electrical device fails in the lab, the chemist asks for it to be fixed and somebody qualified to perform the repair does so. Nobody just opens up an instrument and starts soldering wires. Liability also means that if an employer fails to provide proper equipment they face serious consequences.
2. Funding. Since there is a profit motive for using the instrument there is money available to get it fixed properly, and right away. Employees don't have to do without, and so they are not tempted to do their own repairs.
3. Enforcement. OSHA requires that employers strictly enforce safety rules. If an inspector comes in and finds 10 employees doing something unsafe, the employer can't just point to the rulebook and training and say that they are "rogue employees." Employers are actually expected to discipline and even terminate employees who do not follow safety rules. The reason is simple - otherwise rules just become legal cover and employers will say that rules should be followed, but fire the slowest people in the operation until everybody figures out that they are expected to cut corners.
4. Inspections. Most industrial labs have routine safety inspections and clear chains of responsibility. Sure, academic labs have occasional inspections, but very little accountability. Where I work every lab has a designated safety officer, who is accountable for any safety violations in their lab. The formalized inspections are essentially designed to make sure they are doing their job. Lab safety officers are expected to police their labs and keep them in order. Safety violations are reported to senior management and there are serious consequences for a lax attitude towards safety. Failure to comply with instructions of a Lab Safety Officer would result in fairly swift discipline, and failure of a safety officer to catch safety problems would subject them to discipline (or at least replacement in the role).
Academic labs should be inspected, and when violations are found the university should be fined - plain and simple. If the university claims that students aren't obeying the rules, then the university should still be fined and advised to start enforcing the rules if they don't want to be fined again. Safety is serious business.
Where I work, everyone in the entire BUILDING is required to take safety training. Everyone that actually works regularly in the lab space are required to take more training. If you don't, the school shuts off your access card.
The school makes your supervisor fill out a form each year that specifically inquires as to what you will be working with (gross simplification: animals, radioactive materials, hazardous chemicals.) Training is based off that.
Just because safety protocols at one school sucks (example: Texas A&M [corante.com]) doesn't mean it does everywhere.
As an individual who works at a pharma company, I can tell you that the joke isn't "I'm off like a Prom dress" - it's "I'm off like a flaming lab coat". You would be surprised how quickly they will throw down those, if the time is right. A $10 item could have saved this individual. This is a tragedy.
I am sorry that this woman died, but I 100% disagree with this fine. The woman was a research assistant who was working off-hours, alone in the room, and did not have the necessary protection on. She screwed up bigtime.
I find it hard to believe that she made it through all those years of schooling without knowing that (1) a lithium compound is pyrophoric and (2) she probably should have had protective equipment on. No amount of training that the UC system could provide can fix a lazy student with a key to the lab.
For someone with a PhD to make these mistakes is akin to a regular Joe forgetting to look both ways before crossing the street and then getting hit by a car. It sucks, but it is only the victim's fault.
Of course, it is never fashionable for politicians to blame the victim.
The 15-page report cites a deficiency in the department's records of safety and health training on exposure to hazardous chemicals. It notes that a safety inspection of the Harran lab by UCLA on 30 October had "identified [the failure of employees to wear required protective clothing] and recommended that laboratory coats must be worn while conducting research and handling hazardous materials in the laboratory."
The engineers said they are not qualified for it and somebody else should check it.
TFA indicates that she didn't have Ph.D., just a bachelor's degree. It's not clear from the article that anyone ever told her she ought to be wearing protective gear; in fact, a previous inspection (before she worked there) noted the failure of employees to wear lab coats.
I point this failing right at the Secondary Level in High schools with Chemistry labs being removed after those idiots in Colorado. In Washington State they removed most school districts chem labs, bio labs and more. You get shown basic lab safety at that level, long before you enter a University. There is a serious disconnect that they removed the trades from High School, handcuffed the Hard Science labs and created integrated mathematics to shuffle through the herds of lowest common denominator. Challenge the kids and show them the beauty and dangers of Hard Science so they have a respect for it.
we needs to get back to the whole
play science for the munchkins (where vinegar and baking soda are the worst chemicals they use)
get more real as they get bigger (when they can add a chemical to a half full beaker of water correctly they can go beyond play stuff)
by the time they are old enough for a "wand" they should be using fire and the more nasty stuff
and by the time they are in high school they should be working with 3 liter kegs of Hydroflouric acid and other "fun stuff"
by the time they are of legal age they should be able to work out how to brew a keg and make their own fireworks
(and know that combining these is a bad thing)
UC's own inspection found deficiencies last October, but they didn't act on them:
"a safety inspection of the Harran lab by UCLA on 30 October had âoeidentified [the failure of employees to wear required protective clothing] and recommended that laboratory coats must be worn while conducting research and handling hazardous materials in the laboratory.â But it says that the lab âoedid not implement procedures for correcting unsafe and unhealthy conditions, work practices and work procedures in a timely manner based on the severity of the hazard.â"
The article also implies they're not keeping records they are required to. A $30k fine seems entirely justified to me (and apparently to the university, who didn't contest it) - that doesn't mean the woman wasn't being foolishly reckless.
She was an undergraduate, not a graduate student, let alone a PhD. She wasn't even a science major.
Why did she have a key? Why was she allowed in the lab alone? Why was she told to work with lithium?
If this was a mistake made by an experienced researcher, I would agree with you wholeheartedly, but letting her in the lab was a serious mistake in judgment on the part of the PI.
including its inability to show that Sangji had been trained to handle the dangerous substance and the lack of proper protective attire. UCLA's own safety officials had already faulted the lab on the latter issue back in October, but the problem went uncorrected.
It wasn't a question of someone ignoring the protocols she'd been taught--it was a case of someone never being trained in those protocols in the first place and nothing being done to correct this known problem.
I am posting anonymously, since I don't know how much of this information has been previously published, but here you go:
1) Working in a chemistry lab is all about working odd hours. In many labs, your PI forces you to. It's not really a choice.
2) She was not alone in the lab. There were other people there, but they did not speak English.
3) She was a research assistant, so she had a BA and thus the knowledge of the average first-year graduate student. No more and no less.
4) While t-BuLi is spontaneously pyrophoric in lab, n-BuLi is not. Even if you somehow manage to learn this in class (unlikely, since you're probably not going to use it in an undergraduate lab), it's easy to mix up.
5) As is mentioned below, no one in the lab wore appropriate protective clothing. It's hard to blame Sheri for following the example set by the rest of the lab.
These are teenagers learning to work with dangerous chemicals and devices. Of course, accidents will occur, and that's tragic. But are there any statistics that a university research lab is a more dangerous place to work than an OSHA-compliant workplace filled with workers of the same age? For that matter, is the university research lab any more dangerous, hour for hour, than, say, teenage driving or basic training?
In different words, is there any indication that there is a problem that needs fixing? If
The way graduate students are used in academic labs is unethical.
These are people who are told that their part-time pay for full-time (or more) work is offset by the opportunities that working in an academic lab and receiving an advanced academic degree will bring them. This is flat out not true. Prospective graduate students are misled into thinking that they have a place waiting for them at the top of academia or in charge of an industry lab.
Congress and the media are told that we have a shortage scientific labor. Meanwhile, there is so much labor available to academic research labs that they are often getting people to work for them for free. It is absurd that postdocs working in commercially relevant fields of physics make less money than a construction worker or fast food manager. Why is that? It's not because there's a shortage of labor. At least the postdocs are employees.
Why are we basing our research infrastructure on a rotation of untrained students? Why do we force those who are best at labwork to immediately move on to desk jobs? It certainly does nothing to promote safety, as people who know what they're doing are very quickly replaced (that's kind of the idea) and labs are structured and encouraged to keep the average level of competance low (it's education, right?). The whole thing makes no sense to me.
I agree with you. Unfortunately the solution to the problem would more then likely quadruple the cost of a collage education. GSI's teach, they grade, they do all the stuff the professor should be doing instead of having to publish, write grants and beg for money to fund relevant research so the department will stay afloat.
Why do you think lecture halls have 200 students in them? I know four tenured professors at UC Berkeley, two in the chemistry department, two in the Anthropology Department, those 4 people would LOVE to teach more, but they have to be rainmakers instead of teachers.
And when I say rain makers I don't mean just money, that also means luring people into their programs so the departments stay afloat.
Congress and the media are told that we have a shortage scientific labor. Meanwhile, there is so much labor available to academic research labs that they are often getting people to work for them for free. It is absurd that postdocs working in commercially relevant fields of physics make less money than a construction worker or fast food manager. Why is that? It's not because there's a shortage of labor.
Basic economics. Quite simply, it is because nearly every postdoc would much, much rather be doing science than working in the construction or fast food industries. And in general, people are willing to accept a lower salary for doing something that they like doing than they will accept for doing something that they don't like doing.
Or alternatively, because you HAVE TO follow a certain career path if you're in certain fields. First basic degree, then PhD, then postdoc. You don't get to choose this, if you want to be accepted as a competent researcher, and what's important, you have no leverage to complain about the wages, management, terms of contract or even safety. This is all pretty much at the discretion of the lab and professor. That argument of "they like the job so much" is applicable only up to a point.
Thank God this is finally coming up to the surface. The manner in which scientific research is conducted today is outright embarrassing.
I just graduated with an undergraduate physics degree last week, and after working two summers in separate research labs, I have virtually no desire to seek a higher degree in my subject. The manner in which some graduate students are treated is terrible.* There's no way that I can justify subjecting myself to poverty-level wages during the prime years of my life.
As much
I can't speak for other places, but in the Cal State University system, us graduate students who are paid as an RA or TA do have a union. I'm not sure how much the union actually does, but it's there and considering how little I'm paid I can't imagine what it'd be like if there wasn't a union.
Besides that I do agree with your sentiments, but without being a grad student yourself I'm not sure you'll fully understand - though I'm sure you've experienced a little bit working in a couple labs (and yes - PHD com
I am an experimetal physcist and luckily i am spared from handling biologically active or organic compounds. However, i observe the following
* electrical/fire safety (my father was an electrical engineer, and we installed the electrical outlets in a holiday home together): The most important princiciple i see violated is that the electrical conductor should not carry force. In the lab people regularly attach no additional mounting. An all scales of electrical wire, from nA to 200V*30A
* procedural safety. Are there rules like: just do certain things with two persons? No, after all you have a PHD, masters, or bachelor, so you are more intelligent than the stupid morons and can handle that alone
* instruction: have you ever had to sign of a "sheet which says: yes, i was instrcten on this machine, which potentially releases dangerous gases". Fuck. In industry, to operate a dangerous machine there needs to be some kind of proof you can do it. In research claiming to have seen somebody operating a similar machine is enough.
* Exits. Hey, its resarch. We need this rack here, now. We dont care what you say, what we do is important and no, we dont have time to mount this cable over the door instead of creating a tripwire.
* Gross miseducation in the lab courses (noe spefic instruction, operating devices by general rules of thumb). Instead of: "this is a pump. Dont the fuck operate it outside its operation range. may burn or explode" we hear: "yes, the inlet pressure meter is a little broken. The manual is actuall for another pump type, because we gave the students lab course the smallest pump. No problem it ran the last 5 years in that way". The other part is that if you mention in a lab course something is broken you usually get punished by spending more time there, and no reward at all.
* After all: organizational issues: If student burns his hand, who is responsible? The Professor? he wasn there. The direct Supervisor (maybe also a student)? No, he usually doen not oficially supervise, its the professor. The security responsible of the institute: he has done his job with checking one time per year everything is roughly in order.
Yes. labs are a fucking mess. I was my hands all the time when going out the lab. You never know what the asshole before you left on the desk. I always look for the exits and usually check the safety valves (i work with cryogenics), at least verifyin that no fuck-up blocked them by a clamp (i have seen that, that dewar could have levelled the lab quite efficiently). I check if the ground wire is attached. I make tricky questions to estimate the credibility of the co-workers. I am a pain in the butt if believe sth is dangerous. And i get really annoyed if people exhibit a "i kept the checklist by the letters" approach. Such assholes just make the checklist longer and longer and less comprehensible because they force the one keeping it to add every single part to be checked (i knew people whos task it was to check the marks of the fire exit which lead trouch a small storage room, they walked around up to the door of that room, i said "there is a huge pile blocking the door in this exit and the bulb in the small room is burned out. They just said: "yes but the markers leading there are ok", and put a check mark). I am very willing to bend rules, but everbody should be kept responsible for his safety and the safety of co-workers in the lab.
This article details what happened. What burned and how the handling mistake was made.
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2009/January/23010903.asp [rsc.org]
At my university, students are required to complete the same safety training as employees before they are let loose near a laboratory bench. Labs are regularly inspected for to verify that they are following safety standards. Nevertheless, I see no way that university laboratories, which have many graduate students with just a few years of experience, will ever be as safe as industrial labs in which the average employee has much more practical experience.
Years ago, I went back to academia after a few years in industry. At the time, we had a post-doc working on vaccines; a salesperson from one of the big vendors had walked in, and I was shooting the breeze with them when the post-doc left the room. I noticed she had left a brand-new container of an exotic toxin that she just received from Sigma on her desk- right next to her coffee.
"Do they do this in industry?" I asked the vendor. Seriously- if it had been a "working" environment instead of academic, that
Most of them seem to come from the lab.
We all know something is wrong. Normally wearing the right clothes is not enforced in a lab if it slows people down. It is normal that 23year old undergrads work alone with dangerous substances. It is normal that dangerous substances are not broken up into appropriate quantities by lab personal but that students use syringes to take these from a big bottle. We all know that bad planning leads to the phd student asking the masters student to wire the pump/heater/rack in
This is really the problem, isn't it? One day, we'll be responsible for these jerks who insist on learning safety the "hard way."
I think we have to stop the total lab turnover. There have to be permanent academic research positions created in the physical sciences similar to what you have in medicine. We need people who are not postdocs, but not faculty. Most PhDs don't want to end up in a technician position, but if we were able to offer long term contracts at salaries competitive with faculty salaries
Disraeli was pretty close: actually, there are Lies, Damn lies, Statistics, Benchmarks, and Delivery dates.


text:
WHEATON – The Geneva boys basketball team posted winning records in three of coach Phil Ralston's first four years with the program but a shortage of postseason success – a bugaboo for the program long preceding Ralston's arrival – has remained a sore spot.
In year five of Ralston's tenure, the Vikings appear to be finding their postseason sea legs.
A hard-nosed, inspired effort from start to finish Thursday earned 12th seeded Geneva a 55-49 upset victory against No. 5 seed Hinsdale Central in an IHSA Class 4A Wheaton Warrenville South Regional semifinal. The win vaults the Vikings into tonight's regional championship against DuPage Valley Conference powerhouse West Aurora.
Ralston said today will mark Geneva's first appearance in a regional final under Illinois' four-class system. The Vikings' last regional final appearance was in 2006, and Ralston said the program has not won a regional crown since 1986.
"To these kids, they don't know any better, but to everyone else that's been around high school basketball, a regional semifinal now in 4A is really like winning a regional," Ralston said. "That's a tremendous accomplishment for the program. These boys have helped step us in the right direction, but we definitely have to come ready to play for tomorrow.
"We celebrate this one for about 20, 30 minutes on the bus ride home, and then it's back to work."
Playing in front of a modest-sized but feisty crowd, Geneva took the lead for good on a pair of Mike Trimble free throws with 3:27 to play in the fourth quarter for a 45-44 edge. Sophomore forward Nate Navigato followed with a layup to make it 47-44 about 30 seconds later.
An inside basket by highly touted Red Devils sophomore big man Matt Rafferty (15 points, 10 rebounds) drew the West Suburban Silver champions within 47-46 with 2:26 to play, but the Vikings (21-8) padded their lead when junior Cam Cook split a pair of free throws and Navigato added another layup thanks to sharp ball movement, making it 50-46 Vikings with 1:05 to go.
Trimble, a senior, scored all nine of his points in the second half to help subdue the defensive-minded Red Devils' second half charge. His 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter gave Geneva a 41-37 lead.
"I was scared. I did not want it to end that way," Trimble said of his scoreless first half. "I had to do something. I wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight if I knew it was going to end like that."
Navigato also saved his best work for crunch time, posting 11 of his team-high 17 points in the second half to help Geneva build off its 24-21 halftime edge.
The Vikings made 10 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter, five of them in the final minute to fend off a Hinsdale Central team that had won 12 straight games late in the regular season and finished with an 18-7 mark.
K.J. Santos, a sophomore forward called up to the varsity in the late stages of the regular season, sparked the Vikings with consecutive 3-pointers in the second quarter to give Geneva an 18-11 lead, prompting a Red Devils timeout.
The Vikings needed offense from nontraditional sources with senior big man Connor Chapman plagued by foul trouble. He supplied only a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter.
"That kind of shows you a little bit of the depth of the team," Ralston said. "That's not the first time that things haven't gone our way with Connor. … I thought Santos did a great job coming off the bench and giving us some solid minutes defensively, I thought [Kyle] Brown did a tremendous job as well coming out and helping clog up the middle for us. So we had other kids that were able to step up and give us minutes.
"But Navigato, Trimble, [Chris] Parrilli and Pace Temple, they were out of this world tonight. They played some of their best basketball tonight."
Geneva opened the regional Monday with a win against host Wheaton Warrenville South, then saw its scheduled semifinal date with the Red Devils pushed from Wednesday to Thursday because of snow postponements Tuesday.
That leaves the Vikings without a traditional preparation day to gear up for the vaunted Blackhawks. Ralston, an English teacher at Geneva, noted that he has responsibilities at the school's in-service day today, so he said game preparation would take place "late tonight, very early tomorrow morning."
Trimble didn't seem to mind the prospect of hunting another upset 24 hours after Thursday's conquest.
"I kind of like it for momentum," Trimble said. "We have a lot of energy right now. That was a huge win. It feels really good actually, so I don't mind it at all."
The 21 wins ties the high-water mark during Ralston's tenure. Geneva went 21-7 in 2008-09, his first year on the job.

subset: commoncrawl


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Student Diversity Programming Quetzal Guerrero Aka QViolin Reminder
Quetzal Guerrero Aka QViolin Reminder
Thu. Sep 26, 2013 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Delaplaine Fine Arts Center's Horning Theater
Join the CSD as we celebrate cultural diversity through musical expression!
Combining American Soul, Folk, Reggae and rhythms from Brazil (with a blue violin on top), QViolin creates melodies that are guaranteed to make you move!
Please arrive at least 15 minutes early to guarantee your seat!!!


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Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes is regarded by many as one of the most gifted players ever to grace the Premier League, with an eye for a pass that remained razor sharp right up to his retirement on Sunday.
As another of Sir Alex Ferguson's 'Class of 1992' humbly hangs up his boots (this time, though, along with the manager himself), we pick out five youngsters who have the potential to one day emulate Scholes' ability and achievements.
Ilkay Gundogan, 22, Borussia Dortmund
Having been instrumental in Borussia Dortmund's progress to the Champions League final, it is no surprise that the German international has attracted interest from many of the major European clubs, notably Manchester United.
The 22-year-old, who has contributed with five goals and five assists this season, is set to be one of David Moyes' first signings; his high work-rate and dribbling ability will go some way to replacing Paul Scholes at Old Trafford.
Jack Wilshere, 21, Arsenal
Wilshere has been compared to the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Paul Scholes since joining Arsenal as an exciting 16 year old - and the England international recently spoke of his desire to captain both club and country.
Despite numerous injuries, the precocious and explosive talent has made over 70 appearances for the Gunners, with his ability to take control of a game making him touted as the future star of English football.
Nuri Sahin, 24, Borussia Dortmund (on loan from Real Madrid)
An incisive passer, Sahin's ability to play a killer ball marks him out from his peers. He was tipped for greatness at an early age, drawing comparisons to Andrea Pirlo and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The former Liverpool loanee has already experienced football in Germany, England and Spain, with his most successful spell coming at Borussia Dortmund where he lifted the Bundesliga title in 2011.
Axel Witsel, 24, Zenit St Petersburg
The Zenit St Petersburg midfielder, recently linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain, is part of Belgium's so-called 'Golden Generation' of creative players, including Eden Hazard and Marouane Fellaini.
However, the 24-year-old's passing and dribbling ability has made him a permanent feature of the national squad, as he looks set to continue his rise to stardom in the French league at the World Cup.
Aaron Ramsey, 22, Arsenal
Ramsey became one of the most sought-after players in Europe after impressing with Cardiff in his teens and has since gone on to represent Arsenal and Great Britain at last summer's Olympic Games.
He has made over 100 appearances for club and country in the past three years, with maturity and class beyond his years. In spite of a major leg injury in 2010, the Welshman could well live up to Scholes' talent.
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text:
its been almost 2 weeks i am struggling to install os 6 on my blackberry curve 3g.
ill let u know what steps i hav performed incase if u can correct me.
Device Details :
1)Curve 3g9300
2)os version : 220.127.116.117
3)Carrier : Vodafone.
Steps followed to install os 6
1)i have downloaded and install bb DM version 6.
2)i have downloaded the os 6 software from Telus,Mobilicity,Aircel.
3)But i hav only installed 1 os at a time and tried installing on my bb.
4)After installing the required os i went and deleted the vendor.xml file
5)next i runned the loader.exe i clicked next and then its say THAT THE BLACKBERRY DESKPTOP SOFTWARE DOES NOT HAVE THE BLACKBERRY DEVICE SOFTWARE FOR THE DEVICE THAT YOU HAV CONNECTED TO THE COMPUTER
6)I even tried installing a leaked os 6 but still no luck it just gives me this message and does not proceds further....
guys plz help.....need os 6 desp


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Students Share Research on South Asia
- 02-20-2013
- By Amanda Kenyon Waite
An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 "street children" live within Delhi and as many as 18 million within the nation of India, reported junior Daniel Rosenblum during a presentation of student research he organized this month. Rosenblum spent the past summer in India, gathering first-hand accounts of the reasons children migrate from rural villages to urban areas in the country, either by running away alone or with other children, moving with family or via trafficking.
It was a topic that piqued his interest as a first-year student in anthropologist Jonah Steinberg's "Street Children" course. Rosenblum was so drawn to the topic, he spent the following year pursuing independent study with advising from Steinberg, whose research focus is on the Indian subcontinent and its diasporas, particularly society's most marginal members, including street children. Steinberg's four-year research project on child runaways in India, one element of which Rosenblum chose to take up and take in his own direction, is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
The independent study would prepare Rosenblum to make a compelling -- and successful -- case for securing undergraduate research funding at UVM from URECA (Undergraduate Research Endeavors Competitive Awards), APLE (Academic Programs for Learning and Engagement) and the Anthropology Department. With university funding in hand, he made the journey to India, ready to learn the finer points of ethnographic research in the most effective -- and nerve-wracking -- way possible: by diving in.
That was a point Steinberg highlighted during his opening remarks at the February presentation of research -- which included a summary of Rosenblum's work as well as work by three other UVM undergraduates who have traveled to South Asia to pursue research. "All four have done something extraordinary for students -- or even for human beings," he said, praising their willingness to travel abroad and put themselves in sometimes uncomfortable and difficult positions for the sake of a unique educational experience. "You were there, and you dove in," Steinberg said.
Diving in
For senior Peter Grunawalt, who conducted field research in India's Himalayan region through the Brattleboro, Vt.-based School for International Training (SIT), one uncomfortable moment came when setting out on a research excursion to a village with no pre-arranged shelter. Eventually, housing was secured with the help of his translator, and Grunawalt was able to spend time in the area, speaking with residents about the factors affecting youth migration. His presentation, "Why are Cities the Only Place for Dreams? Rural to Urban Migration in India," delved into the farming practices and educational structures, among other considerations, contributing to the growing influx of youth to urban areas in the northern Indian region.
Senior Sarah Gallalee, who also studied abroad through SIT, spoke on "Analyzing the Barriers that Prevent Access to Diagnosis and Treatment for Tuberculosis in Dehradun, India." Tuberculosis, a treatable and curable disease, is still among the deadliest agents in the country. Gallalee conducted interviews with patients, officials and health workers and pursued spatial analysis research using geographic information systems to look at reasons why tuberculosis persists as a public health problem even when India has taken measures to improve its policies regarding treatment and reporting. One barrier became apparent to Gallalee when speaking with young women who reported the stigma surrounding the illness -- one that "could destroy chances of a proper marriage." This factor and others, such as religious misconceptions and loss of working time, she said, are among the barriers that still exist to both diagnosis and treatment.
Sophomore Benjamin Ryan discussed two independent trips he's taken to Bangladesh, one during high school and one during a gap year prior to enrolling at UVM. Ryan discussed the fledgling research he conducted in slums that sparked his decision to found a non-governmental organization, the Foundation for Climate Change Refugees. Conducting surveys among residents of slums, Ryan learned that many of its inhabitants had been displaced due to the effects of global climate change. Bangladesh, with its sea-level elevation and geography that makes it prone to typhoons, is considered "ground zero" of global warming, and its people, Ryan said, all already feeling the effects. "Climate change is not something we have to be concerned about in the future," Ryan said. "It's something that impacts people every day. It's a contemporary issue."
The four students had met last fall about their mutual interest in contemporary issues in South Asia. Rosenblum organized the research forum, with support from the Anthropology Department, as a way to share their work with a broader audience as well as with each other. After their presentations, they answered questions from Steinberg as well as attendees, and spoke with each other on issues ranging from their personal health and safety while traveling to areas of common findings among their work.
Rosenblum's research on street children focused on agricultural antecedents to childhood migration, so his work, although dealing with a different region of India, had strong overlap with Grunawalt's. He was also particularly interested in Ryan's findings regarding climate change as a cause for migration since their areas of focus share a river system, similar weather patterns, and increased occurrence of natural disasters, Rosenblum explained.
Rosenblum has plans to pull his notes and interviews together into a research paper and hopes to one day return to India. "I definitely think I'll go back," he says. "I have a lot of connections and ties there now."
In the meantime, he'll continue his global research on this side of the hemisphere: he departs this week with SIT for a semester abroad in Buenos Ares, Argentina.


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Teacher Education
Meet Brandis Piper
January 08, 2013
With just over seven minutes on the clock, Lewis & Clark's football team trailed conference rival Pacific Lutheran by five points. This wasn't the team's first time in the underdog position—the Pioneers had recorded just one victory in their previous 27 meetings with the Lutes.
But in the in the game's final minutes, the Pioneers took home a 34-32 win—cementing its first seven-game winning streak since 1966.
Brandis Piper, BA '12, played in all 36 games of his four-year undergraduate career as a wide receiver, including the game with Pacific Lutheran. Hot on the heels of a triumphant football season and of earning his degree in history, Piper signed on for a victory lap: He entered a master's program at Lewis & Clark's graduate school.
He wanted to become a teacher and a coach.
I'm much more engaged than I've ever been. Graduate school brings out all your passion and drive. Everyone in the room, including the professor, loves what they are doing.Brandis Piper
"I've wanted to be a teacher since my sophomore year of high school," he says. "I'm going to get my graduate degree so I can work in a classroom. That was always my plan." Piper brings the same dedication to his graduate studies as he brought to undergraduate activities—the football team, student government, and community outreach as a tutor at local Wilson high school.
Piper's vision of a career in teaching was cemented when he was in high school. At the age of 10, Piper's mother left without a word to the family. It was shattering, and he began disconnecting from school. But a high school English teacher took note and, through the simple act of noticing his struggles and providing encouragement, she inspired him to consider a career in education.
"I want to be able to do the same thing for someone else—get students engaged in school and remind them it's a positive place," says Piper.
He is one of a growing number of students who begin their student careers at Lewis & Clark as undergraduates, but decide to continue on to earn master's degrees preparing them for careers in education and counseling. Lewis & Clark has a strong tradition of preparing students to enter careers that serve others and engage with the world, and the education field is high on that list. In 2012, over a dozen graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences stayed to pursue graduate master's degrees in teaching at Lewis & Clark.
Every student has a story, and all of these stories need to be respected and valued for students to succeed in the classroom.Brandis Piper
Being a young graduate student can be intimidating, says Piper. "You come in knowing all these people have gone out into the world and come back wanting to work in a school. I had some trepidation, being 22 and not having that life experience." But he has quickly discovered a key feature of graduate school—you learn as much from your peers as from the instructor standing at the front of the room. "They have so much they can teach me," he reflects.
When his 14-month master's program is complete, Piper is excited to begin a career as a high school social studies teacher, and hopes to bring his passion for football to coaching. The same spirit that guided Piper and his teammates to victory on the football field animates his approach to his chosen career. "By the end of the season, everybody on the team knew we could win and trusted the guy next to him," said Piper. Now, he believes his future students have the same prospects for success: "Everyone can win."
Brandis Piper's impressions of life as a graduate student:
On relationships
It's amazing how much support and interdependence you build in the relationships you form in graduate school.
On being a younger graduate student
The first thing I noticed was that it's not like being in a room full of people who are my age, who have had experiences largely similar to my own. Everyone is four or five years older. It's a different vibe, but it allows me to take their perspectives on life and incorporate them into my own.
On class discussions
Compared to undergraduate classes, courses are much more based on discussion between peers instead of lectures.
On focusing on the future
As a history major, I learned about the past. But now it's about how the education system works, how the infrastructure can make teaching harder or easier. It's directly applicable to what I'm going to be doing in the classroom.
On early classes
You don't choose when you take classes. I saw I had an 8 am class and I was thinking "how in the world am I going to do that?" And then I thought, "That's what you do when you teach in a school, you've got to be there at 7:45." It's not bad.
On being in the classroom
I didn't know what to expect when I started teaching, but so far my experience has been awesome. I notice myself subconsciously implementing practices I learn in class into my classroom. Sometimes it's as simple as working not to tower over my students. Sometimes it's knowing what teaching strategy might work best for different students.


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Why the hate for REM?
Yes, their sound changed--but to call their last decade's output "unlistenable"? I, for one, found "Around the Sun" to be quite an enjoyable experience. "Up", too, wasn't at all bad.
We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
They spent their first decade with Michael standing looking at the ground or with his back to the crowd and mumbling 80% of the lyrics in a rapid fire manner. Now you can hear every lyric and they all are about emotions and relationships.
Not that I find anything wrong with that.
I never quite "got" Patti Smith.
"Horses" was interesting, but other than that, I never quite understood what the big deal was.
For a time, I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!
But Rock and Roll HoF credentials are much more arbitrary than those of, for example, the baseball HoF. You could look solely at album sales and tour grosses, but that would ignore so many valuable qualities that a band may have. There are a number of bands that I would classify as HoF-worthy, but who lack the requisite chart hits or album sales to gain admittance.
We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
But do their songs rock? Yes. Are their songs entertaining? Yes. Do their songs cause a reaction or emotional responce? Yes. Did they bring something new and different to the music sceen? Yes. (I'm talking about the 70's/early 80's Kiss).
You may not care for their music but I don't think that takes away from being tallented. If it was so easy, why weren't there more bands following the exact same formula and making the same wild amounts of money? Seems to me if it was so easy, the lure of easy money would have had a strong allure to others to follow the same path.
a super volcano of ridonkulous suckitude.
I simply don't have access to a "cares about RBI" place in my psyche. There is a "mildly curious about OBI%" alcove just before the acid filled lake guarded by robot snipers with lasers which leads to the "cares about RBI" antechamber though. - Nate
Bob Seger tends to inspire this from people, too. I'd put "Night Moves" up there amongst my favorites.I've never understood why people say this. Are their songs complex? No. Are their lyrics deep and metaphysical? No Are they out trying to change the world for the cause dejour? No.
I just want a song I can hum along to.
I don't think a requirement of employment should be that you can never offend people. It's high time folks deal with being offended. It's another example of how we're becoming a bunch of wimps. - Person offended by NFL players not standing for national anthem.
a super volcano of ridonkulous suckitude.
I simply don't have access to a "cares about RBI" place in my psyche. There is a "mildly curious about OBI%" alcove just before the acid filled lake guarded by robot snipers with lasers which leads to the "cares about RBI" antechamber though. - Nate
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text: I could have buried this in one of the many existing threads on Fracking, but it deserves it's own look. The article touches on the effects of increased U.S. natural gas production in far-flung parts of the world including the Middle East, China, Russia, Venezuela, etc. U.S. Shale Boom Reduces Russian Influence Over European Gas Market The U.S. shale gas boom has not only virtually eliminated the need for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports for at least two decades, but significantly reduced Russias influence over the European natural gas market and "diminished the petro-power" of major gas producers in the Middle East and Venezuela. And here's the kicker- Obama's proposed tax policies are directed at bringing the American oil and natural gas industries to it's knees: Changes to U.S. tax policy for upstream oil and gas, including proposed changes to expensing rules, investment credits, and/or royalty rates, could also make shale exploration and production unprofitable at current prices.


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The Upshur County Appraisal District's proposal to raise all employees' salaries by five percent is drawing fire from Pct. 3 Comm. Frank Berka, who is urging citizens to attend a public hearing on the district's proposed budget Monday.
The hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. at the district office off FM 49, just inside Gilmer city limits.
"I object to the pay raises when we've (the county government) had a million-dollar shortfall, and our (county) employees haven't had a raise in almost seven years," Berka told The Mirror Thursday.
"Upshur County taxes pay 27 percent of that (the Appraisal District's) budget," Berka added. Noting that the Upshur County Conservative Coalition was notifying people about Monday's hearing, he said, "We're trying to get people there to talk about it."
UCAD Chief Appraiser Sarah Curtis told The Mirror Thursday she would save her comments on the matter for Monday's hearing.


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Cuban v. EFF lawyer on YouTube, DMCA 107
hamtaro writes "Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and outspoken activist on copyright issues, exchanged some words with an EFF lawyer at this year's EFF 'Pioneer Awards'. The awards, held earlier this week, saw a heated discussion ensue about YouTube. Apparently Cuban feels that 'everyone knows' that YouTube is host to tons of infringing content and therefore it should be exempt from DMCA protections. You read that right: the EFF, defending the DMCA against Mark Cuban. 'Cuban is an interesting spokesman for copyright concerns since he has a broad perspective; as the owner of HDNet, he worries about having his content given away for free without his consent, but he's also someone who has funded EFF campaigns in the past, especially when the group defended Grokster's claim to legality. One of the strangest aspects of the debate was seeing an EFF lawyer defend the DMCA, which usually comes in for a drubbing due to its anti-circumvention provision. But von Lohmann told Ars Technica after the debate that the safe harbor section has actually allowed plenty of businesses to flourish that might otherwise have been mired in legal problems, and that it has generally worked well.'"


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new mom, again!
so, my now one week old had been nursing for 10-20 minutes per breast per feeding. my breasts are now very full almost all the time...to the point of almost painful. now...he only nurses 8-10 minutes per breast and sometimes only stays awake long enough for one breast per feeding! is this ok? he is still getting over his jaundice and sometimes doesn't wake up (even if i try to help him) for 2 1/2 hours or more. i want to embrace feeding only on cue, but am nervous he will not get enough. i have fears due to my older son's experience...he was diagnosed "failure to thrive" at 9 months until he was 2. i just want my boy to be getting enough!
thanks for your help!


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Activision has teamed up with the fine folks at Mountain Dew and Doritos to provide double XP in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. But, how does the promotion work exactly?
Specially marked packages will contain codes you can use to unlock double XP time in Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer, when it comes out. For example, a 20 ounce Mountain Dew bottle will give you 15 minutes of time, while a family size 17 ounce Doritos bag will give you 90 minutes of bonus XP time.
Entering both a Mountain Dew and Doritos code together will earn an additional "Power Bonus," or 15 minutes of extra XP time. Here's a sample listing of the products you can get, and the time you'll receive:
- Mtn Dew® 20 oz. bottle = 15 minutes
- Mtn Dew® 12-pack = 45 minutes
- Mtn Dew® 20-pack from Walmart = 90 minutes
- 32 oz. or 44 oz. Mtn Dew® fountain cups = 15 minutes
- 2.125 oz. or 2.875 oz. Doritos® bags = 15 minutes
- 11.5 oz. Doritos® bag = 45 minutes
- Family Size 17 oz. Doritos® bag from Walmart = 90 minutes
- Power Bonus (any Mtn Dew® and Doritos® combination) = 15 minutes
A full product listing can be found here.
The promo will let you accumulate up to 24 hours of double XP time, which will give you a valuable leg up on your journey towards Prestige ranking. In addition, every time you enter a code, you'll receive a "Combat Card," which features additional special content, such as new weapons, characters, maps, perks, and strike packages.
Sure, you'll risk diabetes and obesity if you manage to max out on double XP time. But, isn't that what compels us to answer the call of duty?


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Click Here to receive a downloadable Air Force JROTC
Grant Application
Aerospace Science Instructors:
The AFJROTC Grant was established to promote aerospace education throughout classrooms
and units.
We hope you take this opportunity to enhance your students' ideas on how aerospace
plays a prominent role in today's and tomorrow's society. Applications will be judged
by the importance and the impact your selected aerospace activity will have on your
students. This is an opportunity to heighten your students' interest in aerospace
education activities.
Looking for STEM-related programs that will help advance your future?
Become a CyberPatriot today!
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Huessy Breakfast Series
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text:
Liverpool's Daniel Agger could team up with former boss Rafael Benitez in January after Napoli submitted a loan deal for the defender, according to The Times journalist Tony Barrett.
Barrett tweeted the news late last night: "Napoli have approached Liverpool about Daniel Agger and are hoping to take the defender on loan in January."
However the Danish international has reiterated his desire to stay at Anfield, despite interest from Benitez who signed the centre-half for £5.5 million from Brondby in January 2007.
Barrett added: "Important to stress Agger isn't looking to leave LFC - in a recent interview he said if the club are happy with him he's happy to stay."
Agger was subject to interest from Barcelona in the summer after Liverpool rejected a £15 million bid from the Catalan club, whilst Manchester City also tried to sign the defender in 2012.
The 29-year-old has fallen out of favour with manager Brendan Rodgers after Mamadou Sakho was brought to Liverpool for £17 million and has impressed early on.
Agger has only made nine appearances for the Reds so far this season after being first-choice for the past three seasons.
Benitez may struggle to convince the Dane to take the switch to Naples after the Italians were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage.
The Spanish manager has already raided his former club for 'keeper Pepe Reina as he looks to strengthen Napoli who sit third in Serie A, eight points off leaders Juventus.
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What did Yves Saint Laurent, Jackie Kennedy and the architect Le Corbusier have in common? Their eyewear, for one, as all three were clients of the luxury French tortoiseshell artisan, Bonnet.
Four decades after trade in tortoiseshell was banned under the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the fourth-generation family firm sees itself as custodian of a rare craft, fashioning made-to-measure spectacles from stocks amassed before the ban.
Bonnet describes its customers — among them Audrey Hepburn, Maria Callas or former French presidents Francois Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac — as aesthetes who are more concerned about timeless style than fashion.
Christian Bonnet, who learned the trade from his father and grandfather, holds the rank of maitre d'art, an honorific title granted by the French Ministry of Culture and currently held by just over 100 craftsmen nationwide.
Today, Bonnet is jointly headed by Christian and his sons Franck and Steven, and turns out about 100 pairs of handmade tortoiseshell glasses per year for prices ranging from 3,500 euros to 30,000 euros (US$4,500 to US$38,600)
"My father didn't want me to go into the trade, because of the problem with tortoiseshell supply," Franck Bonnet told reporters, referring to the glasses' main material: the shell of the endangered hawksbill turtle.
With 12g of tortoiseshell needed for one pair of glasses, the firm says it uses between 2kg to 3kg per year.
Declared part of French national heritage in 2007, Bonnet will not say how much stock it holds, but the supply is finite.
"It is inconceivable that we would ever fish another turtle out of the ocean," said the 41-year-old, himself a staunch environmentalist.
So he decided a few years ago it was time to look to the future — and to a wider market.
"For my father, my grandfather and great-grandfather before them, it was tortoiseshell, tortoiseshell, tortoiseshell only," Franck Bonnet said. "I said to my father: 'You are the last tortoiseshell craftsman, but you are also the last handmade eyewear maker. If we could only use more readily available materials, maybe I can keep our craft alive.'"
That is how in 2008, he introduced buffalo horn into the firm's product line, which lowered the average frame price to between 1,200 euros and 1,500 euros; and acetate, for budgets between 850 euros and 1,150 euros.
Tortoiseshell aside, the dozen workers at its Paris boutique and workshop in Sens, a few hours southeast of the capital, now produce about 700 pairs using new materials.
The next step toward broadening what they offer is to come from customization — allowing people to change the size and color on standard models.
Franck Bonnet says he loves watching Japanese tourists inspect his wares and is mulling opening a boutique in Tokyo.
"They go over every last detail. You know you haven't put the effort in for nothing," he said.
Bonnet was snared in controversy recently when a star journalist, Audrey Pulvar — then in a relationship with a Socialist French minister — was outed for wearing a pair of their steeply priced glasses.
"It wasn't 12,000 euros, it wasn't 15,000 euros or 18,000" — as reported in the media — Franck Bonnet said. "Five thousand is more like it."
In other words, almost an entry-level model.
"It's true it is costly," Bonnet said. "But we artisans are not millionaires, this kind of high craft is extremely time-consuming."
Making glasses to measure means studying the face in minute detail.
"How high your ears are, the shape of your nose — all have an incidence on the tilt of the lenses, and therefore on how well you see," he said.
This is just the first stage of the process, preceding the multiple steps of shaping and polishing the frame.
"You can spend a crazy length of time on a pair of spectacles, redoing them two, three, five times to get them exactly right. What costs money is not marketing, it's what goes on the client's nose," he said.


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A recent toast to James Watson highlights a tolerance for bigotry many want excised from the scientific community.
Lichen Legion
July 2, 2014|
Genetic analysis splits one species into 126.
July 2, 2014|
Genetic analysis splits one species into 126.
July 1, 2014|
An analysis of modern birds reveals that carotenoid-based plumage coloring arose several times throughout their evolutionary history, dating as far back as 66 million years ago.
July 1, 2014|
Sex is an inherently fascinating aspect of life. As researchers learn more and more about it, surprises regularly emerge.
July 1, 2014|
Penises and vaginas are not just simple sperm delivery and reception organs. They have been perfected by eons of sexual conflict.
July 1, 2014|
The disproportionately endowed carabid beetle reveals that the size of female—and not just male—genitalia influences insemination success.
July 1, 2014|
Birds do it. Bees do it. We do it. But not without a physical, biochemical, and genetic price. How did the costly practice of sex become so commonplace?
July 1, 2014|
Across the animal kingdom, dominance isn't the only way for a male to score. Colluding, sneaking around, or cross-dressing can work, too.
June 26, 2014|
Fifty-thousand-year-old feces suggest Neanderthals ate both meat and vegetables.
June 25, 2014|
E. coli repeatedly exposed to ampicillin adapt to stay dormant for longer periods of time—just long enough to outlast the antibiotic treatment.
June 20, 2014|
Early Neanderthal evolution; developing antivirals to combat polio; the mouth and skin microbiomes; insect-inspired, flight-stabilizing sensors


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Canopy Bed (Navy Blue Plaid #27101)Be the First to Review
Beautiful canopy dog bed! Easy to assemble and includes handle to pick them up effortlessly to move. Each piece of bedding is fully zippered to allow the covers to be removed and machine washed. Soft bumper beds protect your pet. Canopy beds are 27″ long, 18″ wide, and 31″ tall. The inner part is 24″ long and 14″ wide.
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Be the First to Review Canopy Bed (Navy Blue Plaid #27101)
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