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Ryan, Jeremy, Frank, and Me (not pictured are Scott and Jeff- two Liberty students who chose to spend their Spring Break on the AT instead of Florida like most college students- great guys.)
We started at 6 a.m. by the light of our headlamps for a planned mileage of 46.2 miles. This was going to be a much tougher section and with far less crew access. Our first section was around 14 miles and it was great again to watch to sun come up on the AT. I was amazed by how few hikers were stirring early in the morning. Some were still sacked out at 10 am! We all cruised into the first crew spot and Horton let us know that the gate was closed at the spot where we planned to end the day; we would have to run 3 additional miles to get to the gate where we would set up camp for the night. It was an absolutely blue-bird day, but soon the nearly 70 deg temperatures made things feel a little hot to our winterized bodies. After a shorter 4/5 mile section, we had a longer unaided section of around 13 tough miles during the heat of the day to ponder the last planned miles. Jeremy and I ran this section together. We had a great time talking and just enjoying the Trail. We both decided pretty quickly that we would be satisfied with a "sissy day" of only 30 miles. The prospect of 19 miles unaided at the end of the day simply didn't sound like fun. After all I thought, "I'm on vacation", no need to push the envelope.
Our day ended after 8 hrs 8 min. Ryan was the only tough guy to continue on and the rest of us hung out at Dicks Creek at the trail head eating and talking to hikers. Frank even gave a thru-hiker his trail name, Chewy. Kadra and I drove into Franklin to pick up pizza and then met everyone else at Deep Gap to set up camp for the night above 4,000 feet.
3/20: (Day 3) Deep Gap to Rock Gap- 23.7 miles
Day 3 was another early start and we started our 3 mile climb behind the gated FS road to the AT at 5:45 am. We were so incredibly fortunate with the weather and got to enjoy yet another beautiful sunrise. Today's scheduled mileage was 43.8 to Tellico Gap, but actual total mileage of around 46.8 counting the road up to the AT. I knew very early on that my body was not going to cooperate with that plan. About 5/6 miles into the initial 23.7 mile section with no crew access (FS roads were still gated b/c of snow and ice) my right shin started hurting. I knew immediately that it was my old enemy instep tendinitis and that the tibialis anterior muscle and my lack of prophylactic icing was to blame. I would have stopped earlier, but I had to trudge on to Rock Gap; finally getting there 6 hrs 15 min later. I'm glad that I had to go on though. I would not have wanted to miss Albert Mountain. The view was awesome from the tower.
Albert Mountain
The miles of trail off of Albert Mountain were tough. It was awesome trail that was downhill for 6 miles, but it was killing my shin to run it. I ultimately resorted to using some sticks as poles to help take some of the pressure off of the shin. I was bummed to cut my last day on the AT short, but I wasn't willing to risk any further injury. The rest of the guys went on to do one more day and ended up at Fontana. Would have been great to end up at the southern end of the Smokies.
Snow above 5,000 ft
I had a great time on the AT those few days. After some ice and ibuprofen my shin was almost 100% the next day. The AT is a special place to be anytime, but extra special this time of year with all the thru-hikers starting and signs of Spring. I can't wait to get back. . .


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I'm telling you, when I get all grown up, things are gonna change for the better around here.
The very first thing on my short list is making sure the powers that be don't start school until summer is over. The school board folks just start and stop school when they get good and ready.
Shucks, things are just getting all organized. The grass isn't growing so fast any longer that I have to mow every week.
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This course provides detail around how to persuade the client to mediate, managing questions.
The Acting as Advocate in Mediation e-learning course will provide you with an overview regarding when and when not to engage in civil and commercial mediation as a model for resolving property based disputes.
This course is suitable for professionals looking to act as an advocate or mediator in the property or construction industry.
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Welcome to the Natural Sciences & Mathematics (NSM) Scholarship page. Below you will find a comprehensive list of available scholarships organized by department and by classification. At the bottom of the page please find the comprehensive list of scholarships available in alphabetical order.
Below you will find the comprehensive list of scholarships for the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics. Apply through the Financial Aid Scholarship page. Most applications are accepted January through late March. See each individual application for details. If you have questions about these scholarships please contact:
[email protected].
Please submit completed applications to:
The University of Texas at Dallas
Georgetta Oliver
School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics, FN32
800 W. Campbell Rd.
Richardson, TX 75080-3021
or in person to Founders North FN 3.120C
Please do not e-mail your completed applications.
Ray Allum Math and Physics Undergraduate Scholarship Fund
Applicants must be pursuing an undergraduate degree in either Mathematical Sciences or Physics. Candidates must have earned between 30 credit hours and 45 credit hours and maintained at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average to be considered for this award $1,000 minimum award.
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Graduate Study Scholarship
The Bioinformatics and Computational Biology program, offered by the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, seeks to answer the demand for a new breed of scientist who has fundamental understanding in the fields of biology, mathematics, statistics and computer science. All applicants for this scholarship must be graduate students or Fast Track undergraduate students at UT Dallas entering this MS program for full time graduate study.
Dallas Gem & Mineral Society Endowed Scholarship Fund
Applicants must be Geosciences majors and be enrolled in 12 hours undergraduate or 9 graduate hours. Students must be in good standing with the Department of Geosciences. The scholarship will be awarded on a semester-to-semester basis with a $250 minimum. Preference given to those indicating financial need.
Anton Hales Endowed Fellowship in GeophysicsThis fellowship is awarded annually to a graduate or doctoral student in geophysics. Applicants must be enrolled in at least nine graduate hours as a Master's or higher student in Geophysics and be in good standing with the Department of Geosciences.
William B. Hanson Graduate Student Support Fund
This support fund benefits graduate students specifically enrolled in space and atmospheric sciences and related fields affiliated with the William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences. Award may include, but is not limited to: student travel to professional meetings, funds for internal laboratory experiments and scholarship grants to PhD students.
Daniel L. Harris Biology Scholarship
Applicants must be full-time students majoring in biology, who demonstrate strong academic abilities. Preference will be given to undergraduates and those indicating financial need.
George McMechan Graduate CLS Student Support FundThis support fund benefits geosciences graduate students affiliated with the Center for Lithospheric Studies within the Department of Geosciences. Awards include, but are not limited to, student travel to professional meetings, field trip expenses, and fellowship grants to PhD students who do not qualify for teaching assistant or research assistant support because of the 99 credit hour rule.
Mei Lein FellowshipApplicants applying for this fellowship must be enrolled full-time as a graduate student in the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics. Applicants must be pursuing a degree in one of the following basic sciences: physics, chemistry, biology, or mathematics.
Greater Texas Foundation - Alan G. MacDiarmid Removing Educational Barriers Scholarship
Applicants applying for this scholarship must be full time UT Dallas undergraduate students majoring in science, math or engineering and be either a graduate of the Nano Explorers Program or actively involved in research or programming with the MacDiarmid Nano Tech Institute. Each applicant must submit a letter of recommendation from the Director of the Institute or a faculty member from math, science or engineering. Preference may be given to those indicating financial need. The committee will weigh such factors as: educational achievement, work experience, community service, extracurricular activities and surmounting obstacles in the pursuit of higher education. The recipient must be a US citizen or permanent resident, or a student who has lived in Texas for at least part of their high school experience.
Eric Moore Graduate Chemistry Student Scholarship
Applicants must be graduate students in the field of chemistry and be either a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. The scholarship will be awarded on a competitive basis.
Victor Oppenheim Scholarship Fund
Applicants must be full or part-time undergraduate or graduate students and be in good standing with the Department of Geosciences. The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded on a competitive basis. Preference will be given to those indicating financial need.
Margie Renfrow Graduate Student Support Fund
Applicants must be graduate students majoring in physics. Awards include, but are not limited to, scholarships, awards for achievement in their program, or other expenses that are related to their studies. Since participating in conferences is essential to the career development of graduate students, a travel award may be made to the student. Only current UT Dallas students or transfers may apply for this award.
Dr. and Mrs. John G. Scales Endowed Scholarship Fund in Geosciences
Applicants must be majoring in Geosciences and enrolled in either 12 hours undergraduate or 9 graduate hours and be in good standing with the Department of Geosciences.
The scholarship will be awarded on a competitive basis.
Kristian Soegaard Memorial FundApplicants must be undergraduate or graduate students and be in good standing with the Department of Geosciences. The scholarship will be awarded on a competitive basis. Funds from this award shall be used for undergraduate or graduate students for tuition, fees, books, and/or expenses related to student field trips which further the student's learning and research.
Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Scholarship Opportunity
This $1,000 award is open to undergraduate students majoring in any degree program being offered in the School of Natural Science and Mathematics. Among equally qualified applicants, a preference may be given to students with a higher GPA on UT Dallas transcripts. This criterion will not be applied to new students in their first semesters. Among equally qualified applicants, a preference may be given to students who have received all or part of their preparatory education in the country of Korea or have some other connection to or interest in Korea or who are fluent in the Korean language. Candidates who received the award in prior years are eligible to reapply and must submit their latest credentials and fully completed application for consideration.
James B. Urban Undergraduate Scholarship
Applicants must be majoring in Geosciences and enrolled in 12 undergraduate hours or 9 graduate hours and be in good standing with the Department of Geosciences.
Dr. Oscar Wilhelm Memorial Graduate Student Research Fund
Applicants must be graduate students within the Geosciences program. The fund will be given through loans or grants in connection with travel expenses, drafting, preparation, reporting, and delivering of theses and dissertations and other research papers not covered by tuition which further such students' learning and research.
Julia Williams Van Ness Merit Scholarship
Applicants must be enrolled full-time at UT Dallas and majoring in the natural or mathematical sciences and have a minimum of 60 credit hours (from either UT Dallas or be transfers from another accredited institution) The selection of the awardee(s) will be made on the basis of scholastic merit.
UTEACH Dallas website
UTeach Dallas Robert F. Noyce Scholarships
Noyce recipients commit to teaching in a high need public school district. For every semester awarded, recipients must teach one year. If the teaching obligation is not met, the scholarship must be repaid. Noyce Fellows have 6 years to meet the teaching obligation after completing the Student Teaching semester. Please see further details and apply at UTeach Dallas Noyce Scholarship page.
- Updated: September 25, 2018


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Leander ISD Superintendent Dan Troxell, Ph.D., announced his appointment of Susan Cole as the new Executive Director of Instruction and Professional Learning.
"I am pleased to announce Susan Cole as the new leader of our Instruction and Professional Learning department," Troxell said. "Ms. Cole has demonstrated a commitment to continuous improvement, a characteristic critical to her new role of guiding LISD's professional development efforts."
Cole has served as principal of Stiles Middle School since its opening in 2012. Before that, she was the principal at Giddens Elementary School, the lead assistant principal at Leander High School, an assistant principal at Running Brushy Middle School and a language arts teacher at Cedar Park Middle School. Prior to coming to Leander ISD in 1996, Cole taught in Bryan ISD for four years after starting her teaching career in Rockdale ISD in 1990.
Cole has a bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State University and a master's degree from Texas A&M University.
Engage, inspire, achieve for lifelong success.


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Moose Lake-Willow River claims 7AA title
The Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels routed the Marshall School of Duluth Hilltoppers by a score of 40-7 to make it seven in a row for Section 7AA titles. In the game played at Duluth's Public School Stadium on November 1, the Rebels' main two rushers, Jake Disterhaupt and Michael Pender, ran for a combined 375 yards and the passing of Tony Adamczak added a long touchdown and a couple of other catches for 75 yards for a total offensive effort of 450 yards. Michael Gassert scored the Rebels' second TD of the game to make it 14-7 as Ben Moonen (4-for-6) on PATs nailed the kick.
For the Rebels, Pender rushed for 198 yards on 19 carries (10.42 yards per carry) and two touchdowns and Disterhaupt ran for 177 yards on 15 carries (11.8 per carry) and two touchdowns plus he ended up with three scores on Adamczak's perfectly thrown 67-yard bomb for 68 yards. Pender's touchdowns were on runs of six and nine yards. Disterhaupt's rushing touchdowns were big numbers as they covered 24 and 69 yards for a combined total yardage effort of 160 yards, plus he went over the 200 yards mark with his 67-yard catch for 229 all-purpose yards. Pender was also over the 200-yard all-purpose milestone as a catch for three yards put him at 201 on the total. Isaac Coil had one Adamczak reception for five yards as the senior signal caller went three-for-six with two interceptions and 75 yards.
Dylan Lovegreen played arguably the best game of his career as the 235-pound junior linebacker came through for eight tackles. B.J. Young, Coil and Cameron Schmidt each had seven tackles. Disterhaupt got a fumble recovery.
Moose Lake-Willow River, at 11-0 and second-ranked, will play Hawley, also at 11-0, at St. Cloud State University on Friday, November 9. Advancing to the Dome is the prize at stake. It could be quite a battle of the undefeated teams.
Jake Serre, who would be the lone Marshall player to score, kicked off. It was covered by Kyle Newman. Pender ran for an immediate first. Gassert, who is typically extremely good at holding onto the ball with both hands and with the points secured, with no forward progress whistled, had the ball ripped free by Serre who rumbled 31 yards. The kick was good for 7-0 at 11:22.
It would not take long for the Rebels to answer. Moonen got a good return to the 49. Disterhaupt got large yards all the way to Marshall's 28. Pender ran to the 23 on the middle right. Disterhaupt started, cut and was gone for a TD run of 23 yards. Moonen hit his kick straight through for 7-7 at 10:33.
Marshall's Connor Flaherty returned Young's boot with Matt Bednar making the stop on the 34. A pitch was nowhere with Ezra Szczyrbak leading the gang tacklers. Flaherty lost two on a pitch and Marshall called time at 8:37.
The punt drew a flag before Young returned. Pender ran for an immediate first again to the 42 from the 26 at 8:05. Gassert hit the middle for two yards. Disterhaupt went left for a first at the 40. Disterhaupt sprinted right for a first to the 11. Young hit for five against Serre. It was Pender on a six-yard TD and Moonen for the PAT for 14-7 with 6:36 still left to play in the first quarter.
A squib kick was covered quickly with Newman and Jake Christopherson tearing after it. Flaherty ran for two. The Hilltoppers suffered an illegal procedure and soon punted a very low one that got a decent roll to the 36.
The Rebels switched it up and passed on first down. A perfectly thrown ball by Adamczak went right into Disterhaupt's arms as he had about a step and a half on the defender down the right side. Moonen missed the kick, but it was a 20-7 lead at 4:21.
Marshall tried a screen pass and Pender took care of business and soon Marshall was punting again.
A screen to Pender worked to the 49 as Hilltopper Than Serre had to chase it down and Pender followed with first to the 34 with Jake Serre tackling. A swing pass went incomplete. A long post route down the middle drew a flag as Disterhaupt was interfered with, however on the following play, with the Rebels in the redzone, a fumble caused the loss of a likely score at 2:10.
Marshall was forced to punt to close the quarter with ML-WR up 13 points at 20-7.
Pender hit the middle left for seven yards and Gassert got a good carry to the 50. Disterhaupt was not contained on a counter. Marshall gave ML-WR a freebie as they jumped offside. Disterhaupt ran left to the four. Gassert busted the middle for the TD, but Moonen missed his second kick for 26-7 at 9:52.
Young had to save a likely touchdown on the ensuing kickoff with a great open field tackle at midfield. Marshall was able to work down the field, but would eventually give the ball up on downs with one big hit by Coil, one by Schmidt and one by Disterhaupt and finally a pass well defended by Pender.
Disterhaupt got a first on a pitch. A swing pass to Coil was complete for five. Disterhaupt was spied upon and lost six. An illegal procedure was followed with a personal foul on Lovegreen after the whistle had sounded. It looked like the Hilltoppers might march down and score as Flaherty got a big run to the 20 and then to the eight. Young made a stop on the four. The Rebels were able to stand strong for a goal line stand to make a statement at 5.1 seconds and went in up 26-7.
The third quarter started with exchanged turnovers for Marshall on a fumble and recovery by Disterhaupt on the 44 by 10:32. A right pitch to Pender was a quick first to the 23. Disterhaupt was thrown for a seven yard loss. Disterhaupt ran a counter, but illegal procedure was followed by an interception by Charlie Kratz of an Adamczak pass at 8:42.
Marshall was helped on a drive as ML-WR was offsides. A pitch to Hilltopper Eric DeWitte was thrown for a big loss by Schmidt. Flaherty was thrown for a yard loss. On fourth-and-seven Szczyrbak made a solid play and the Rebels took over on downs on the 33 at 4:43.
Pender had a long run, but a hold brought it back. Pender got some of it back for third-and-10, but Adamczak threw his second interception on a pass over the middle as it went right into the arms of Marshall's Alex Davis.
Kratz was pushed back by Schmidt and the ball hogs. Disterhaupt chose to toss away an interception, thinking it was fourth down. Kratz was stopped by a herd with Moonen leading the way.
Disterhaupt hit the middle for four. Pender went left for a first. Disterhaupt broke free on the left side and took the sideline home for a 68-yard sprint. Moonen got the kick for 33-7. With 12.5 seconds on the clock, Marshall got one play after a very good squib kick or an on-side attempt by the Rebels.
Marshall got one first before turning it over on downs. Pender ran for a first to the 45 at 10:30 and Gassert hit the gut for four. Disterhaupt ran for a first and Pender followed with five. Disterhaupt ran for a first around the left side. Gassert got six. It was Pender with his second TD of the game as he went in from the 10. Moonen's PAT was good for 40-7 to close out the scoring.
At 8:04 some of the defensive reserves got time in as Marshall was able to keep the ball until 3:53 but did not score. Jon Evenson and Moonen got some reps in the backfield and Alex Kenemore got a yard. An illegal procedure contributed to a Rebels punt. The punt was a good one and rolled to about the ten before Brett Hawkins made a gigantic hammer of a hit along the sideline. Marshall got one last play as Tyler Cummings carried and Jeremiah Chavez stopped.


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Bob Khan and Nick Brunacini were high-school pals who became closer than brothers.
They played freshman football at Cortez High School, served as groomsmen at each other's weddings, and even lived together for a while. As young men, both joined the Phoenix Fire Department, where Nick's dad was chief. Both built successful careers and eventually rose to deputy chief.
In their high-school days, Khan was such a frequent guest that the Brunacinis regularly set an extra place at dinner. Later, when Khan and Nick became firefighters, they posed in uniform with Nick's younger brother, John, for a professionally shot "family picture" that for years hung proudly on a wall in the Brunacini home.
Phoenix Fire Department
So when Nick's dad, Alan Brunacini, retired last summer after 28 years as fire chief, many firefighters were happy that Khan was chosen to replace him. Chief Brunacini was greatly loved; by giving the job to his hand-picked successor, the city was keeping the job in the family.
But in the seven months since Khan took over, everything about his relationship with the Brunacinis has changed.
Nick Brunacini doesn't speak to his old friend anymore.
And 69-year-old Alan Brunacini "Dad" not just to Nick and John, but to many firefighters is in virtual exile from the department he built.
On Khan's first day on the job, he unveiled a department restructuring. He'd been working on it quietly for months, consulting union officials and private contractors, but never once discussed it with the old man.
No one could blame the new chief for setting up his own administration. But to the Brunacinis, the changes weren't a housecleaning.
They were a demolition.
Alan Brunacini was stunned to see his sons transferred, his best friend demoted, his training program scrapped. Even worse, the new chief told Brunacini that he'd have to stay away from the department he ran. Khan wanted the former chief to move on.
The fallout from that request has caused a deep rift in the once close-knit fire community a rift that's ostensibly over how to run the department, but one that could never be only about the department.
Sure, Alan Brunacini frets that Khan's changes are wrecking the department that he built. But more than anything, the heart of the problem is that this is family.
Somehow, it's not surprising that Nick Brunacini has compared his former best friend to Fredo Corleone. To the Brunacinis, the new chief didn't just make personnel moves. He betrayed them. For his part, Khan won't even talk about his former best friend. He's clearly uncomfortable talking about his fallout with Alan, too.
Now even Phoenix firefighters who aren't close to Khan or Brunacini are paying attention to the feud. The forum page on a Web site started by Nick Brunacini, www.bshifter.com, has exploded with recriminations and has become a must-read in fire stations across the city.
Everybody's got a theory for what's transpired.
Some suggest that Khan had to remove all traces of his predecessor to make the job his own. Brunacini was one of the nation's most respected fire chiefs; filling his shoes would intimidate anyone. Khan may have been too insecure to deal with his lingering presence.
Others blame union officials, particularly the president of the United Phoenix Fire Association, Billy Shields. They say that by the time Brunacini retired, Shields could barely tolerate his presence and that Khan's personnel moves have Shields' fingerprints all over them.
But others argue that the plan was the work of Pat Cantelme, Shields' predecessor in the union and now owner of a private ambulance company. In the past, Cantelme had his eye on the lucrative Phoenix ambulance market. Some believe that interest played into the department's restructuring, though Cantelme vehemently denies it.
Even Khan's most vocal accusers don't believe he's in it to make money. But they do suspect him of being used by people who are. Indeed, one fire department retiree who helped plan Khan's restructuring has been awarded a fat consulting contract.
Ultimately, though, this story isn't about money. It's about a band of brothers that's become bitterly divided.
Friends says that Alan Brunacini and his wife, Rita, are shocked by Khan's actions.
"Bobby was just like one of his kids. And that was the most tragic thing to both of them, Alan and Rita both," explains Robert "Hoot" Gibson, one of Alan's best friends, who himself was affected by Khan's personnel changes.
"What Bobby has done to them it shouldn't be that way. It didn't have to be that way. And it just tore those two up."
At 5'7", Alan Brunacini is a short man. But in national fire service circles and yes, these circles really do exist Alan Brunacini is a giant.
He wrote the Bible of fire command training, the aptly named Fire Command, along with four other books. He was Governing magazine's "public official of the year," and was inducted in the hall of fame for Arizona State University's school of public programs. Chairman of the National Fire Protection Association for five years, he still chairs its committee that sets national standards for deployment.
As a speaker, Brunacini has long been much in demand. His "conversation" at the annual Fire Department Instructors Conference, hosted by Fire Engineering Magazine, consistently sells out. Even after the air conditioning died one year, the magazine's editor, Bobby Halton, reports that people lined the aisles.
In Phoenix, though, Alan Brunacini was just Bruno. He didn't need to see his name in the papers. Didn't care about going to City Council meetings, or, really, about schmoozing at all neither giving schmooze nor receiving it.
He's so uninterested in celebrity that he once sat next to Jay Leno on a plane and had to ask why other passengers were requesting Leno's autograph. Curious in turn about the fire manual Brunacini was reading, Leno asked whether Bruno worked for the fire department.
Brunacini's reply was characteristically low-key. He never mentioned he was the chief. He simply said, "I do."
"He's a brilliant man," says Kathi Hilms, Brunacini's longtime secretary. (She retired from the city in January.) "But he's just not knowledgeable about some things. Stars, sports figures he had no interest."
Born in Jamestown, New York, and raised in New Mexico, Bruno joined the Phoenix department in 1958 and advanced through its ranks, becoming chief in 1978. He stayed another 28 years.
He's uninterested in luxury. He wears Hawaiian shirts just about everywhere, and he and his wife have lived in the same modest ranch house in northwest Phoenix since 1958. (Both sons and their wives settled within blocks of the family homestead.) He's spent the last 25 years puttering around his garage with his dearest friend, Hoot Gibson, restoring an old fire engine.
Brunacini had the same secretary all 28 years. His executive assistant chief, Bob Cantwell, recalls that during one ten-year run, his top staff suffered not a single personnel change.
Throughout his career, Brunacini hammered the same points, focusing on the paramount importance of customer service. Every firefighter, from Cantwell to the lowliest trainee, can talk about "Mrs. Smith," the prototypical Phoenix resident that Brunacini called on them to serve.
But Bruno also loved the technical stuff. After Phoenix firefighter Bret Tarver died in a huge blaze in 2001, Brunacini assembled a training base, the Command Training Center, in an abandoned station on 27th Avenue. The goal was to train mid-level managers to manage the big crises that come so infrequently in cities like Phoenix, but can be catastrophic when they do. The CTC used multiple video screens to simulate fires, and commanders got experience making important judgment calls.
The place drew visitors from as far as Taiwan. Departments from Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, to Henderson, Nevada, built centers of their own based on Brunacini's model.
He had his critics. He clashed with former assistant city manager Sheryl Sculley. She wanted control; he chafed under her attempts to get it.
And while Brunacini worked well with Pat Cantelme, who presided over the firefighters union for 20 years, he didn't dance quite so well with Cantelme's hand-picked successor, Billy Shields. Cantelme is all about the endgame; Shields is more mercurial. His feelings get hurt. And Bruno could be sarcastic.
For years, too, there were rumors of nepotism. Fire departments like Phoenix are full of familiar names and old high-school cliques; it seems that everyone who joins has an uncle or dad already in the business. All three Brunacini kids joined the Phoenix Fire Department, even daughter Candi and Candi's gender, if nothing else, gave the old-school guys something to gripe about. It didn't help that Nick Brunacini rose to deputy chief.
But people who took the time to investigate the situation concluded that it was nothing nefarious: Nick Brunacini is good at his work. Candi Brunacini, too, is a capable firefighter (See "Like Father, Like Daughter," by Jeremy Voas, August 25, 1993).
Under Brunacini, Phoenix earned a national reputation. It's so frequently praised, it's difficult to remember how lowly the city's fire department was, pre-Brunacini.
The old-timers haven't forgotten.
Tom Healy, chief of the Daisy Mountain Fire District that borders Phoenix's west side, came to work for Phoenix in 1970 after a run in California.
"We had shoddy equipment and not much training," Healy recalls. "I'd go visit my friends in California and they had nice shiny stuff. I'd think, 'Doggone it, it's embarrassing to say what department I'm from.' But it wasn't too long after Alan Brunacini became fire chief that you were proud to say you were from Phoenix."
In 2001, Alan Brunacini announced that he would retire in the summer of 2006.
Under the state's optional plan for safety workers, longtime firefighters who name their retirement date years in advance can add richly to their pension. The idea, says Phoenix City Manager Frank Fairbanks, is to give experienced workers a reason to stay on the job. Setting the date in advance also helps the city plan for openings.
But when his personal D-Day grew closer, Brunacini began to have second thoughts. In the fall of 2005, he wrote Fairbanks to say he'd changed his mind. He wanted to stay.
By opting out of the program, Brunacini says, he'd lose $185,000 in retirement benefits.
But Bruno didn't care about the money. He just wanted to stay on as chief.
Fairbanks said no. In a November 2005 letter to Brunacini, Fairbanks wrote that the law department had concluded that Brunacini's chosen retirement date was "irrevocable."
As it turns out, the city could have gotten around the rules. Police Chief Jack Harris retired just after Brunacini, under the same system. But before Harris was out the door, the city announced that he'd be returning as an assistant city manager. Since it's a new job, Harris won't lose a cent of his pension.
Fairbanks says that the city's willingness to rehire the 57-year-old Harris was no slam on Brunacini. "Frankly, we didn't think of this in Bruno's case," he says.
So on July 31, 2006, Brunacini retired.
There was all the expected hoopla. Pat Cantelme, the former union president, gave Bruno an antique fire hydrant from Scotland. Chiefs from around the country praised him. Mayor Phil Gordon named Brunacini "fire chief emeritus," making it clear that he'd be there to lend a hand to his old department.
The city manager, after all, had chosen Bob Khan the man Brunacini had supported as his successor. This was the boy, now 48, who'd been best pals with Bruno's son Nick. This was the sixth plate at the Brunacini table for so many dinners.
As Bruno himself joked at his retirement party, when Khan first showed up at dinner, the chief asked his wife if he'd forgotten that he had an extra kid. Khan, he said, "looked like one of ours."
Over the years, Bruno told the hundreds in attendance, Khan had become like one of theirs, like family.
That was July 31. Then came August.
For more than a decade before he became fire chief, Bob Khan was the public face of the Phoenix Fire Department. That's because Alan Brunacini wasn't interested in working the media and because Khan was genuinely good at it.
A solid fireplug of a man, Khan has stunning blue eyes and two adorable young daughters he and his wife adopted from China. He comes across as the kind of guy that people wish their sisters would marry: dependable, nice, sincere.
Thanks to his work on TV, Khan has higher name recognition than his former boss higher, too, than elected officials in town. That would have given Sheriff Joe Arpaio heart palpitations; Brunacini didn't care.
So when a nationwide search for Bruno's replacement ended with Khan winning the job, few people in the fire department imagined that much difficulty lay ahead.
"I was Bob Khan's biggest fan," Brunacini says. "There were only three people closer to me than he was, and that's my three kids. Really, he was one of my kids . . . I was extremely optimistic about Khan becoming fire chief, because I thought we'd have continuity with the way we'd done things for 25 years."
In the three months after Khan was chosen as chief and before Bruno was set to retire, Brunacini says that the two men continued to work nearly side by side. And Brunacini thought they were on the same page.
But on his first day as chief, Khan unveiled a major reorganization.
As Nick Brunacini would later write in a column for Fire Rescue Magazine, when he first heard Khan describe a series of organizational changes, effective immediately, "I thought he was pulling my chain."
Khan wasn't.
On Nick Brunacini's Web site, they call it "Black Tuesday." (Nick, who still works for the fire department, has declined comment for this story.)
A shift commander without much experience in operations was suddenly running that department. The operations guy, meanwhile, was transferred to personnel. The man who shift commanders used to report to became deputy fire marshal. Chains of command across the board were shuffled.
The moves immediately affected the Brunacini family. John Brunacini, who'd been injured on the job years ago, had been assigned to teach classes at the department's Command Training Center (CTC).
Those classes were canceled indefinitely a blow not just to John but to his father. Though the union griped about the CTC, complaining it was a waste of time, it was Alan Brunacini's baby.
And the CTC didn't just serve Phoenix. All departments in the Valley participated. Several chiefs say they were surprised to hear that training had been canceled.
"The CTC was a very valuable tool for us," says Glendale Fire Chief Mark Burdick, who stresses that he's friends with both Khan and Brunacini. "Did it come to a surprise to us when it was shut down? Yes. I don't think people anticipated that."
Nick Brunacini, who had also been assigned to the CTC, was transferred downtown a lateral move, but one with far less interesting work.
Brunacini's best friend, Hoot Gibson, the department's fleet manager, was moved, too.
Complaints from an underling had resulted in Gibson resigning under fire in 1996. (See "Fire Truculence," by Patti Epler, November 13, 1997.) But he'd returned to the department in 2002 and been rated "excellent" by his supervisors, records show.
On Khan's first day, Gibson found himself unceremoniously transferred to a station in Laveen. He was installed in an office without a computer or a fully functional phone.
He was given one task in six months: to write a report that took all of four hours.
"That was a long six months," Gibson says now. "That is just not in my makeup. I wanted to be productive."
In January, Gibson retired.
"If they had come to me and said, 'Hoot, you don't fit the plan,' I would have said, 'Bobby, I'll do what you want me to,'" Gibson says. "You would have thought they would have told me, 'We need a guy to take your place. We need you to tutor him.' You'd think they'd pick a guy's brain I'd only done the job since 1975!"
It wasn't only Gibson's brain that went unpicked. Brunacini's did, too.
During the first week of his retirement, the former chief had breakfast with Chief Khan. There he learned that it wasn't just about Hoot, or his sons.
"You have to go away, and stay away for a while," Khan said.
Mayor Phil Gordon had told Phoenix magazine that Brunacini would get an office in the fire department. But that, clearly, wasn't happening. (Gordon now says he was speaking jocularly, although he calls Brunacini a "dear friend." He notes that, as mayor, he isn't technically allowed to interfere with personnel.)
Nor would Brunacini be teaching at the CTC, as he'd planned. And when the former chief asked the city to provide callers with his new contact information, Khan said it was just too complicated.
Some people whispered that Brunacini refused to let Khan take over, that he couldn't let go. That he was in the way, suffocating Khan.
Brunacini insists that wasn't true.
"Anything I would have done, or not done, I would have done at the pleasure of the fire chief," he says. "I would have done any project he wanted to, helped with anything he wanted.
"But since we had that conversation, I haven't set foot on fire department property once."
It soon became clear to the Brunacinis that they were no longer wanted. After the CTC was closed, John Brunacini asked various battalion chiefs if they were willing to take him on as their aide. Most made excuses. He says that only one told him the truth: He'd been blackballed.
"Everyone was scared shitless," John Brunacini recalls. "The last thing they wanted was to be associated with a Brunacini." An old on-the-job neck injury had forced John into surgery the year before; doctors told him he needed light duty. When he couldn't secure a placement as an aide, John had to choose between a data entry job or retiring, he says.
In October, he retired.
When Khan had told Alan Brunacini he had to stay away for a while, Brunacini says they'd talked about six months. Six months later, when Brunacini asked Khan to meet him at Starbucks, Khan told his old boss he couldn't come back.
"Nothing's changed," Khan told the former chief.
Training at the CTC will resume this week. Khan said the CTC was closed for the last seven months because he has "different priorities" from Brunacini: "I saw there were other needs in the system."
Plans to expand the center, which had already been allocated $5.4 million in bond money, have been canceled. Instead, the bond money will build a wing on the fire academy for simulations something like the CTC, but not a stand-alone project as Brunacini had insisted on.
In February, city workers impounded Nick Brunacini's computer and the computers at the old Command Training Center. Khan referred questions to City Auditor Randy Spenla, who will say only that he's examining "practices" at the CTC.
Brunacini's longtime secretary, Kathi Hilms, couldn't understand why her boss was being driven out, much less why Khan was making so many other changes.
With 28 years in the department, she wasn't about to take it quietly. "Whoever you're listening to, they're selling you a bill of goods," she recalls arguing to Khan.
But her new boss shut her down with one comment. "Pat Cantelme wrote the reorganization plan," says Hilms, quoting Khan. (To New Times, Khan denied this.)
"I respected Pat," Hilms says. "I said, 'Why would Pat wreck the department he built with Bruno?' I didn't understand why he would do that."
Later, Hilms asked Cantelme about it. He confirmed his involvement, although his account differs from Hilms'. She says he took responsibility for the big-picture organizational scheme; he tells New Times that, while he met with Khan and offered him advice, it was strictly about the importance of operations and EMS.
"The architect of that plan was Bob Khan," Cantelme says. "His vision included some changes, and he asked for my input." Cantelme says that he certainly never suggested who should be transferred. "I've been out of the department so long, I don't know the players," he says.
So why was Khan asking Cantelme for advice, even while cutting Brunacini out of the discussions? "Bob Khan met with Alan Brunacini every day for two and a half years," Cantelme says. "There was no Alan Brunacini input he didn't have. It seemed like a fairly standard approach to get input from a variety of people."
Khan says he talked to a number of outsiders, including his father-in-law, who owns a contracting business, and a founding member of the Goldwater Institute, the locally based conservative think tank.
Khan says he had three chief advisers: two officials in the United Phoenix Firefighters Union (Billy Shields and Brian Tobin) and Dennis Compton, a former Phoenix firefighter and the retired Mesa fire chief. (Compton now runs a one-man consulting business.)
The men kept the meetings close to the vest so close that Brunacini, who worked in the same office group, was unaware of them. Khan says he was being protective. "If you do things like this in advance, people shop around agendas," he says.
But since Khan established his reign, some members of the core group have benefited.
Compton has gotten a fat consulting contract.
He'll make $138,000 this year, in a series of $23,000 payments. A public records request for any memos or reports that Compton has written on the job yielded no documents. (The city renewed Compton's initial six-month contract in January without a written evaluation or assessment.)
Oddly, Compton was hired without a request for proposals or any attempt to see whether anyone else was interested in the job. That's unusual. But it is legal, says City Finance Director Bob Wingenroth, if there's a "compelling business reason" to hire a particular person, and if the city manager gives his approval.
City Manager Fairbanks says he doesn't know about the contract, referring questions to the assistant city manager who directly supervises the fire department, Alton Washington. Washington refused to talk to New Times, citing the fact that the newspaper had already talked to his boss and the mayor. (Fairbanks promised to intervene, but Washington never did call back.)
Soon after Compton was hired, the city did advertise a consulting job, one for a new finance advisor. Compton's former top aide in Mesa, Dorinda Cline, was the only applicant.
She's since been hired on a 12-month contract worth $80,000.
As for union officials, John Brunacini says that Billy Shields' antipathy toward his father was an open secret.
"Maybe every time somebody pissed Billy off, he put a rock in his bag," John Brunacini says. "And when he got the chance, he unloaded it at us."
Shields did not return calls for comment. (His predecessor, Cantelme, says that while he and Brunacini had a great relationship, "you can't always pass that along to the next generation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.")
The Command Training Center was a symbol of all that the union hated, John Brunacini says.
It wasn't particularly expensive. The cost, mostly overtime for instructors, averaged about $100,000 annually, according to department records. Although rumors have been rife that the Brunacinis got rich teaching classes there, records show that the work was spread among more than two dozen department staffers. As a deputy chief, Nick Brunacini wasn't even eligible for overtime; meanwhile, John Brunacini says he made only about $10,000 in overtime in his last year on the job.
But the union didn't like it. Brunacini had established the CTC without going through the union process, which angered union officials. Also, the department developed new command techniques through the CTC's simulations. Since that happened outside the union structure, union officials didn't like that, either.
Shutting down the CTC didn't only get back at Brunacini, says John Brunacini. It also halted a development process that was increasingly out of the union's control.
So Compton got a consulting job. Shields got payback, and big changes.
What Pat Cantelme got out of the process isn't yet clear. But that hasn't stopped firefighters from talking about it.
When Pat Cantelme retired from the fire department 10 years ago, he got involved in a host of business ventures: political consulting, marketing, and even a fire service Web site.
Cantelme also became a partner in a private ambulance business, PMT, which vies for suburban 911 contracts in the Valley.
That was controversial, since the company that currently had the 911 contracts, Southwest Ambulance, is organized under Cantelme's old union, the International Association of Firefighters. (Cantelme, in fact, did the organizing.) If Cantelme's company is successful, his old union brothers could lose their jobs.
But, as it turns out, Cantelme wasn't interested solely in suburban contracts. Records show that, in 2003, he seriously discussed making a play for private ambulance service in the city of Phoenix, something he recently confirmed to New Times. (See "Backdraft.")
Ambulance work is currently handled by Phoenix firefighters. But Cantelme argued that the firefighters, while fiercely protective of 911 work, would be more than happy to give up handling "behavioral health" calls the sort of nausea/heartburn trivialities that bore firefighters to tears and let a private company do the work.
Cantelme's plans to win that work fell through almost four years ago. But since taking over as chief, Khan has made one thing a priority: exploring alternate ways of handling those calls.
In newspaper columns he's written, and in an interview with New Times, he notes that the number of calls puts a huge stress on the systems. Sending a fire engine to treat someone with nausea may not be the smartest way to do business.
A committee inside the department is considering options; Khan says he expects a report by July. Preliminary committee documents, obtained by New Times through a public records request, briefly mention the possibility of "utilizing other agencies" to take behavioral health calls.
Khan's interest in finding new ways to service the same calls that Cantelme once proposed handling has caused concern to some firefighters.
At committee meetings, according to minutes, members have been vocal about not wanting to see the service handled by a private company.
Khan insists that he does not support using a private ambulance company. "In no way, shape, or form am I talking about outsourcing our services," he says. "I really don't care for that arena."
Instead, he praises a plan in Tucson, which puts firefighters in pickup trucks to handle low-level calls.
But if nothing else, the old union president has his foot in the door.
This summer, the fire department decided to set up an in-house billing department rather than use an outside contractor. They then purchased a $210,000 billing system from Cantelme's business partner, Bob Ramsey, without soliciting other bids or openly advertising. (Again, assistant city manager Alton Washington, who signed off on the deal, refused to talk to New Times.)
Around the same time, Phoenix Fire announced a plan to provide fire service to Paradise Valley, bumping privately owned Rural Metro. Khan engineered the deal mostly, he says, to provide better coverage for northeast Phoenix.
Sure, Phoenix is basically donating an engine to the wealthy suburb. But the city has long needed better coverage near the Paradise Valley border. Taking over a preexisting suburban station will eliminate a need for new construction, Khan says.
But firefighters can't help noticing that, even as Phoenix volunteered its fire services, Khan initially chose to leave Paradise Valley to a private ambulance provider.
"There's a lot of guys on the job who feel that Phoenix is being set up to let PMT come in," says one 10-year fire veteran, who asked not to be identified because he works for the Phoenix department. "For the first time ever, you're going to have private ambulances sitting next to a Phoenix fire truck."
After firefighters began griping online about the private ambulance situation, Paradise Valley asked Phoenix whether it wanted to make a bid to handle the work municipally. Khan, who says the initial private ambulance plan was based on a misunderstanding, says he's interested.
But the rumors about Cantelme's interest in Phoenix ambulance work have gotten so pervasive that Cantelme has taken to defending himself in forums at www.bshifter.com, Nick Brunacini's Web site.
"The craziness about PMT ambulance trying to take over Phoenix Fire's emergency ambulance business comes from someone's wet dream, nightmare, or personal vendetta," Cantelme wrote last month.
"PMT would have as much chance of taking over Phoenix Fire's ambulance business as Alan Brunacini or Pat Cantelme would have dunking a basketball."
It's fair to say that Phoenix will never again have a chief like Alan Brunacini. Not one who serves so long, and not one who has such autonomy.
And that's no insult to Bob Khan.
Twenty-nine years ago, when Brunacini took the job, most fire chiefs were protected by civil service rules. They didn't serve at the mercy of elected officials. They couldn't be fired unless a city proved they had screwed up.
But that protection is gone, now, in most cities around the country. And it was phased out in Phoenix with Bruno's retirement. Khan is serving, literally, at the will of City Manager Frank Fairbanks. If Fairbanks decides that it's time for new blood, Khan will be out of a job.
That makes for a stickier situation in Phoenix than in other places, simply because the firefighters union here is so powerful. They have been closely allied with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon for years; they've also been able to make or break the candidacies of more than one council wanna-be.
So Khan has to listen to City Hall. And because of that, he'll also be listening to the union.
"I know Bobby was under some pressure that he establish a new administration, from a variety of sources," says Glendale Fire Chief Burdick. "He's the new fire chief, and he had to deal with expectations from elected officials, from labor, and from the community. He needed to roll out something new and different."
Fire chiefs in the Valley, from Burdick to Scottsdale's Willie McDonald, say they believe Khan is doing a great job of balancing the job's demands and making his own mark. "Chief Brunacini said at his retirement dinner that he was handing the department to his successor to bring it to the next level," McDonald says. "I think that's happened."
And while officials at City Hall are well aware of the fallout at the fire department, none of them seems too concerned about it.
"I think it's not surprising, and almost normal, that there would be some change, and that change would come hard," says City Manager Fairbanks. "Bruno was clearly one of the best fire chiefs in America but it's normal that a new chief would make changes to reflect his view of how the department should run."
Alan Brunacini went quietly. Until New Times called him for this story, he'd never discussed the transition with anyone other than family and people he knew from the fire service. And although he admits to being hurt, he obviously tries to choose his words carefully.
But Nick Brunacini hasn't been quite so careful. For two years, he was a columnist for Fire Rescue Magazine, a national trade publication. His column, "Staring Into the Sun," was an uninhibited take on fire department life and sometimes proved a little too uninhibited. He came under fire last year for referring to a fire department client as "mongoloid" in appearance.
After Khan put his changes into place, Brunacini filed a column about what had happened to his family. He later wrote a second piece about Khan.
The magazine never published either column. But at some point, they landed in the hands of some fire department employees. From there, they quickly circulated. (Both were given to New Times by someone outside the Brunacini family.)
In one column, Nick Brunacini details his hurt and his anger at Khan.
"The people currently responsible for running the PFD have spent the last period of time making sure that Alan Brunacini stays a former member of the city of Phoenix Fire Department," he wrote. "I couldn't give you all the reasons why, but I feel like it probably has as much to do with same motivations that cause tigers to eat their cubs."
The second column closes with a speech from a "mutual friend" of Khan and Nick Brunacini.
The friend says, according to Nick's column, "Anyone who had lunch with your dad in the last 30 days got sent to the four winds . . . [T]he thing that has troubled me is that you were Bob's best friend. Even more frightening is what Bob has done to your old man . . .
"If he treats the people he claims to love that way, what will he do to the rest of us? This is some real fucked up Fredo Corleone shit."
Before her retirement, Brunacini's old secretary, Kathi Hilms, talked to Chief Khan. She says he confessed that if he had known that taking the chief's job would have so altered his relationship with the Brunacinis, he would never have accepted the position.
Alan Brunacini has heard that story. But to him, it only makes things worse.
"If he feels that way," he says, "why didn't he do something when he could? It's too late now. Why didn't you save my life when it was savable? Why wait until after I drowned?"
In an interview with New Times at his office in February, Khan was happy to discuss what he's done so far, as chief. He dismissed talk that he'd been forced to do anything: "Nobody held a gun to my head to do any of this."
But he's noticeably less voluble when the subject of Brunacini comes up. He says, finally, that he's not happy that Brunacini is upset.
"He's a father figure to me," Khan says. "To have a disagreement with someone like that is hard, sure."
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But when it comes to his old best friend, Nick, Khan doesn't want to say anything.
"I'm a fire chief," he says. "I have no response."
There's an uncomfortable pause. Khan shifts in his chair.
"I'm the fire chief," he says. "I'm going to run the fire department."


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Dan Walters
Dan Walters: Should governor be empowered to fill legislative vacancies?
The past couple of years have seen a steady stream of resignations from the state Legislature, for one reason or another.
There's already been one resignation this year and two state senators are in trouble with the law and could depart. When a vacancy occurs, the governor calls two special elections to fill it.
When a Senate seat is vacated, it's often filled by a member of the Assembly, and the new senator must resign from that house, triggering another special election cycle. Special elections are expensive, and during the months-long interim, seats remain vacant, sometimes affecting legislative businesses.
That's particularly true now. On paper, Democrats hold more than two-thirds of the seats in both legislative houses and can move certain kinds of legislation, such as constitutional amendments, that require supermajority votes without having to garner Republican support, but vacancies can interfere.
With two Democratic senators on leave because of criminal changes and his supermajority now in suspense, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg wants to amend the state constitution to allow the governor to fill legislative vacancies, as long as appointees are from the same party as the departed legislator and are not rejected by the house to which they are appointed.
Superficially, that sounds reasonable. After all, the governor can fill U.S. Senate vacancies and those in other state offices, so why shouldn't that power extend to the Legislature or even the congressional delegation?
However, as in sports, changes in a game's rules also can affect the outcome – which explains why politicians inside and outside the Capitol are always tinkering with election laws.
California recently changed its primary election system, modified legislative term limits, and shifted the decennial redrawing of legislative and congressional districts from legislators to an independent commission.
All of those "reforms" aimed to affect election and policy outcomes, but their net impact remains unclear. Filling legislative vacancies by appointment would also affect the political game – as Steinberg hopes.
He clearly wants to protect Democratic supermajorities by making it impossible for Republicans to win more seats in low-turnout special elections, as they did in a special Senate election last year. But rule changes always have unintended consequences.
Steinberg assumes that there always would be a Democratic governor making the appointments and that the Legislature's partisan interests would be protected by requiring appointees to come from the same party and by the power to reject appointees.
Overall, however, the rule change would strengthen a governor's hand in inevitable squabbles with the Legislature – and Steinberg, by the way, would need a supermajority vote to put it on the ballot this year.


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Padres get it done. Now they can focus on tomorrow's game. Philadelphia routed Atlanta, so the Padres gain ground in both races.
Nice to see Ryan Ludwick packed his big bat for this series, even if he struck out 3 times following his second inning HR. Nice to see the Padres jump all over Matt Cain early to take the crowd out of the game for most of it; they re-appeared in the sixth when San Fran scored 3 to get back in the game, but we were into the strength of our bullpen by that point.
Adrian Gonzalez had a rare bad game with the glove, but I can live with that, especially considering he tattooed a ball for the 3-run HR in the fourth. Didn't hurt. Meant Bell had to face the heart of the Giant order in the ninth, but Sanchez sucked the wind out of that inning.
Some noise was made pre-game about Giant manager Bruce Bochy moving Cain up to Friday so they could clinch and get it over with. Perhaps there was another reason:
- Matt Cain 2010 splits:
- Day Games - 73.1 IP, 7 HR, 3-4, 3.31 ERA
- Night Games - 146 IP, 12 HR, 10-6, 2.77 ERA
- Barry Zito 2010 splits:
- Day Games - 43 IP, 6 HR, 2-2, 3.77 ERA
- Night Games - 153.1 IP, 14 HR, 7-11, 4.17 ERA
Padre prospects for making the playoffs are noticeably brighter now than they were 24 hours ago. This team can beat Zito. Then it's a one-game playoff against 'Big Mouth' Sanchez for all the marbles. Should Philly sweep Atlanta, and the Padres pull off the improbable, there is no playoff, San Diego wins the division, and San Francisco draws Philly in the NLDS.
Wouldn't that be sweet.


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My mother died of Huntington's disease. I'm considering getting the test to see if I am at risk for it too. But I'm afraid that the results will get into the wrong hands. Would my health plan drop me? Or charge me a lot more?
Weighing the Options
Dear Weighing the Options,
No, insurers are not allowed to discriminate against people who have had genetic testing. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 specifically prohibits health insurers from using genetic test results to charge people different rates or to refuse to cover them. The law protects people from discrimination by health insurers and employers on the basis of DNA information. Check out the GINA Fact Sheet for details.
This worry, you can take off of your list. You may have other concerns about finding out whether you have the gene for Huntington's – such as how you yourself will feel about knowing, and who you would want to tell.


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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, believing that the team is misrepresenting his quadriceps injury simply to collect insurance money, had a second opinion on his injury that confirmed he is healthy.
Michael L. Gross, chief of the division of sports Medicine and the orthopedic director of The Sports Medicine Institute at Hackensack University, told WFAN on Wednesday that Rodriguez has no injury.
"To be perfectly honest,'' Gross told host Mike Francesa, "I don't see any sort of injury there.''
Rodriguez, who's earning $28 million this season, was scheduled to be activated Monday for the first time this season after undergoing January hip surgery. Yet, the Yankees ordered him to undergo an MRI exam in New York where he was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strained quadriceps, keeping him sidelined at least another week to 10 days.
General manager Brian Cashman released a statement Wednesday night firing back at Rodriguez.
"I heard via a text message this afternoon from Alex Rodriguez that he had retained a doctor to review his medical situation. In media reports, we have since learned that the doctor in question has acknowledged that he did not examine Mr. Rodriguez and that he was not retained to do a comprehensive medical examination of Mr. Rodriguez. Contrary to the Basic Agreement, Mr. Rodriguez did not notify us at any time that he was seeking a second opinion from any doctor with regard to his quad strain."
Cashman said Rodriguez told him July 12 that he had "tightness" in his quadriceps and reported "stiffness" on Sunday, saying he should not play Sunday or Monday. It was at that point Rodriguez was sent to have an MRI exam.
"As always, we will follow the rules and regulations set forth in the Basic Agreement, and will again re-evaluate Alex in Tampa tomorrow, as our goal is to return him to the lineup as soon as he is medically capable of doing so," Cashman said.
NO DEAL: A-Rod planning to fight an MLB suspension
Rodriguez reported Wednesday to the Yankees' spring-training facility in Tampa.
The Yankees have not determined whether they will attempt to send Rodriguez on another rehab assignment, but he is adamantly opposed to go on another 20-day assignment, according to a person close to Rodriguez but unauthorized to speak publicly.
Rodriguez's medical status has been an ongoing point of contention. When Rodriguez tweeted news he was cleared to begin a July rehab assignment, it elicited a profane response from general manager Brian Cashman. Yankees president Randy Levine has vehemently denied insinuations the club would prefer Rodriguez to be declared physically unfit to play.
"We do want him back," Levine told USA TODAY Sports two days before Rodriguez's quad injury emerged. "We just want to make sure he's ready to come back. If he's healthy, he's coming back."


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It's Monday! To celebrate the beginning of the week, we're giving away a prize! For your chance to win, tell us: What's your favorite pattern company? (Respond in the Comments section in this blog.)
One person will be selected at random to win the book Making Baby's Clothes: 25 Fun and Practical Designs for 0-3 Year Olds by Rob Merrett (Cico Books; MSRP: $19.95). This book includes full-size patterns and templates so you can get started making baby clothing right away!
Whether you're buried in snow or basking in the warm sunshine, have a great week! And good luck! (Winner will be announced tomorrow.)


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Computing the Horribleness of Soft Condensed Matter
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Eric Jakobsson is in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and also has major commitments to the Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology on campus. He served from 2003 to 2005 as Director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the Chair of the Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative Consortium at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland. Jakobsson's research and academic interests are centered on computational studies of membrane structure and transport, and on the use of computation in education. He is the Director and Principal Investigator of the NIH National Center for the Design of Biomimetic Nanoconductors. Jakobsson is a Fellow of the American Physical Society in recognition of his work on ion and water permeation in channels.
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Contacted Chopra, brought the subject to several photographers. Stephen Gan wanted to go with Terry despite my protestations. Interviewed Chopra and wrote text myself.
Contemplating the nature of existence is as old as consciousness itself. Evidence of religion dates back to the earliest records of written language and the development of computable knowledge, but likely originated with oral language, if not mere sentience. Some ideas have lasted millennia: The I Ching originated in 2200 bce. Ontological notions that date back to 500 bce are similar to those being explored today on a particle level. A 2010 Gallup poll stated that 40 percent of Americans are still strict creationists who believe god invented humans 10,000 years ago—that's four out of every ten people. Some beliefs have been entirely disregarded—few still pray to Zeus—while others are recent inventions, like humanism and Scientology. The array of nuanced metaphysical, epistemological, and supernatural ideologies devised by humans are more than any one person can fully comprehend in a lifetime. But Deepak Chopra has nevertheless attempted to do so.
After moving to the States from New Delhi, in 1970, to study internal medicine and endocrinology, Chopra ultimately became the Chief of Staff at New England Memorial Hospital. In 1985, after meeting the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the mind behind Transcendental Meditation, Chopra left the hospital to pursue a less mechanistic, more alternative, holistic approach to medicine. After beginning with a focus on Ayurvedic treatments—a Hindu system of medicine based on a mind-body homeostasis achieved through diet, herbs, and yoga, among other things—Chopra would a decade later part ways with the Maharishi and become something of a spiritual polymath. In 1996, he founded the Chopra Center for Well Being, which offers a "holistic view of life that sees human beings as networks of energy and information, integrating body, mind, and spirit." Chopra built up a legion of powerful and famous followers, and in the process authored over 70 books in more than 85 languages, 20 of which are New York Times best sellers, ultimately becoming an international celebrity. Through various means of commercialism, Chopra has become a millionaire many times over. He has been the recipient of both support and criticism across many fields in the sciences and the humanities—skeptics and zealots, quantum physicists and religious fundamentalists alike—each side voiced by some of our greatest living minds. He is one of the most prominent and polarizing figures of the past century.
Chopra, who often works in conjunction with other specialists, plays the role that any so-called guru should (or could) in the year 2014. He's an international brand whose goal is to promote health and wellness, his ideas consisting of a combination of ancient philosophies—he does not believe in the supernatural and has said that at least 80 percent of old healing traditions are superstition that need to be discarded—and modern understanding of cosmology, biology, physics, evolution, and "the role consciousness plays in evoking biological responses." Chopra has defined "God" as "the evolutionary impulse of the universe," spirituality as "self-awareness and awareness of other people's needs," and "spirit," he says, is synonymous with consciousness, "a domain of awareness where we can experience our universality." He has also stated he believes that consciousness is the product of a universe evolving to a point where it can acknowledge itself.
Chopra's recent writings focus on the emerging forms of study that can provide empirical data on the benefits of some holistic practices. Epigenetics, or the study of how external factors activate or inhibit gene expression, suggests that our DNA doesn't just happen to us, and things as simple as diet and exercise can actuate advantageous genes and keep any predispositions for disease dormant. Neuroplasticity is a theory that the brain is not static and can be rewired or even healed, which the pracice of meditation has been shown to demonstrate with increasing clinical certitude. A team of Harvard-affiliated researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found that people who took a mere eight-week course in mindful meditation displayed increased gray-matter density in structures of the brain associated with learning, memory, self-awareness, compassion, and introspection. The resultant reductions in stress—a benefit of meditation long evident anecdotally—were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play a crucial role in anxiety and stress. These emergent fields can potentially serve to validate what has long been criticized or dismissed as overly spiritual or New Agey.
Some in the scientific community, certainly the positivists, resent having their fields interpreted (and sold) to the public in application to a philosophical agenda or anything a priori, no matter how well-intentioned. But often what can begin as high-minded dialogues, ranging from cosmology to diet, the health-care system to metaphysics, often become reduced to debates about Chopra himself, his terminology, semantics, capitalism, and ethics—with the occasional legal battle.
But despite all the discourse, at some point you have to quantify one's spiritual or religious agenda by the tangible effects it has had on the world, a sort of extrinsic finality that has nothing to do with divinity, but rather concrete actions that have enacted positive change. And Chopra, at the very least, deserves respect for some of his results, such as the Urban Yogis program, a means by which Chopra and his yoga teacher, Eddie Stern, have helped a group of kids with troubled upbringings overcome their hardships, become leaders in their community, and lower acts of violence by teaching forms of meditation and yoga. To discuss this program and a world of other topics, Chopra sat down to casually chat about the universe over coffee.
ELLIOTT DAVID So let's talk about those kids we were just with. When did the idea of developing this Urban Yogis program begin?
DEEPAK CHOPRA About three years ago I met Ericka Ford, an African-American woman in her 40s who works with families of children who've been killed in violence. She asked me if I could come speak to the kids and teach them mindfulness or meditation or anything. So I started going there once a week, and, slowly, I began to teach them meditation and contemplative technologies—you might say contemplative discipline. We are almost in year three now, and these boys and girls are now certified yoga teachers, and they're employed by many schools to come and teach yoga and breathing techniques. They're helping people sit quietly and contemplate their lives—who they want to be, what they want to do. The program is called Urban Yogis. It just happened by itself.
ED I know that other groups have had a lot of success by bringing some forms of meditation to troubled schools, like the David Lynch Foundation. Have you seen a lot of results?
DC What happened is the crime rate has gone down in that particular neighborhood by over 90 percent. The deaths were totally senseless. One kid shot a few people on a bus, and when they asked him why he said, "I didn't like the way they were looking at me." There are rival gangs who will just come and shoot people senselessly. When these kids started doing yoga, they said that a lot of other gangs and kids would come by and say they were sissies, that they were gay, and so on. But these kids continued, and now they have become literally the leaders in their community. They are also developing their own music label, a kind of hip-hop, yoga type of thing. We're trying to get them their own merchandising on their label, on their clothes. They're also teaching at the Harlem Village Academy. We want to take it nationwide.
ED How do you feel the addition of yoga differs from or enhances meditation on its own—what is gained or lost in combining the practices?
DC I think you need a balance of activity and stillness. If you have all stillness, people start to get flakey, tune-out, space-out even. I think yoga and meditation go together, and these kids are naturally athletic and like to move, so it's a great outlet for them, especially because we combine it with music that they create on their own. They write their lyrics. You have to hear it.
ED I feel like it's so necessary to teach kids how to be still and unplugged, particularly a generation growing up in a world where so much of identity is projected digitally. I've been practicing some form of meditation on and off since I was in my teens—biofeedback, mindfulness, etcetera—but this year I began transcendental meditation. Six months into it, I'd never felt more fully myself, highly resistant to stress and anxiety. I love it because it's more of a biohack than anything spiritual. My point is that the tangible results are undeniable and invaluable, I cherish that time very much, and yet it's still a challenge to get myself to fucking do it, to turn away from technology and just shut my eyes.
DC The contemplative traditions—it's not just meditation, it's self-reflection, it's self-awareness, self-observation, it's transcendence, it's being an observer of your choices, it's also questioning your perceptual reality as fundamental. Now, just realize the human species has been around for 100,000 years, oral language 15,000 years, written language has been around for 5,000 years, so as a species we're probably not even adolescent yet. If you look back historically you find these amazing people, Plato, Parmenides, Socrates, some of the mythical prophets of the Old Testament, not all of them, anyone who could write the Psalms of Solomon, the Buddha, Confucius, it's actually only a handful of people. We have a tendency to romanticize an ancient, glorified state of civilization. It was even more barbaric than today, even though our capacity to be barbaric has increased, thanks to technology and science, but human beings have been barbaric. Other animals, they kill to eat. We kill because of ideas. All the wars in the world are ideological wars. So there is something very strange about our species. It's barbaric, it loves to kill. The history of the United States has never been peaceful, from the War of Independence to right now, there's been a war going on. Now it's taken for granted that war is a normal state. "These drones are okay." With all this digital stuff I tell myself, and other people also, you have to parcel out your time: so there's sleep time, there's meditation time, there's playtime, there is mindful eating time, there's relationship time, there is work time, and there is digital time.
ED Right, digital time isn't all of those times.
DC It shouldn't be. This we know now for sure, that multitasking is one of the things that gets worse with practice and it ruins the neural networks in your brain. You're sending confused messages to your brain. You ask an athlete to multitask, they can't do it, because they are so focused, disciplined.
ED Have you read the theory that each person is only capable of so much discipline in a day, that willpower or self-control is a limited resource and it's replenished through sleep? This is a psychology of habits kind of thing—you expend so much self-control on meditation time or mindful eating time or not having a cigarette time, then at night, you're like, Oh, yeah, I should absolutely have four glasses of scotch. It's like this daily zero-sum game.
DC There may be something to that. I think it's okay for people to once and a while let loose and indulge. But there are certain personalities who can't do that. They are either all or nothing, you know? I think that's why it has to be on an individual basis. I think there is something to be said for those people who say, "It's Friday, let's go celebrate."
ED Okay, so regarding the nature of addiction, how some people become dependent—or are using with that sort of frequency—but can be exposed to loss or trauma or have some epiphany and decide, This is terrible, time to stop now, and they stick to it, either on their own or through some program. But then there are people who just physiologically do not have that option, or it is such an insurmountable task that a massive chunk of their life and energy becomes devoted to not doing something. Maybe it's genetic, maybe its situational, but obviously self-control is an issue there, so how do you scale the practice of yoga or mindfulness or meditation for them?
DC First of all, addiction is the number one issue of our civilization. Here's the thing: I believe that, particularly for addiction to drugs and alcohol, it's a memory of pleasure. The first time or first few times that you take it, it leaves an impression. You are hooked to the memory of pleasure. Even after the pleasure has exhausted itself, you're still hooked to the memory. You can't get enough of what you don't want anymore. It's a huge problem. I've worked with addicts all my life. I used to work at the VA Hospital in Boston when I was a resident [Chopra supervised the addiction unit], and I myself loved to drink, I used to smoke—so I have a lot of empathy for people who are struggling with this. I also know that a memory of intense pleasure or any intense emotion can never be erased. You cannot erase memory.
ED Right, nor can you trust it. There have been so many studies on how most memories are unreliable and outright self-deceiving. They say that because memories are processed so deeply and effortlessly, and recalled with such ease, that we trust them implicitly. But we don't experience the distortion of memories after they're stored. Assuming you even believe memories exist in the first place, which many people would argue they do not.
DC Well, they are stored in a nonlocal domain, yes. They are not erasable. So, what can you do? Well, the only thing you can hope for is to create a new memory, which is equally pleasurable and overshadows the old one. That's a tough thing, because the addictive substance is so easy and so immediate. You get your kick, or your high right away. That thing for a lot of people is intense exercise. For a lot of people it's yoga and all of that. For some, it's meditation. Good enough! It's keeping you healthy.
ED That was my logic. After I quit some more, shall we say, deleterious behaviors, I supplanted one addiction with that of health and exercise. But it was no less of an addiction. I was cutting off all the other aspects of my life, other people, other friends. It took me a while to be able to quit that as well and find a life of moderation. But at the time, people close to me would always say, "This is no different." And I'd be like, "Well, it's better."
DC It's better, but it is no different. I became an addict of writing and reading, exploring consciousness.
ED So do you think that sort of grasping and filling the void just is the nature of people?
DC In Eastern wisdom traditions, to go back to my tradition, everybody's an addict—we wouldn't incarnate into this life if we weren't addicted to it. So the fact that we're here is because we have an addiction. Enlightenment is that process where you slowly move from addictions to what you call attachments, and then from attachments to preferences, and then from preferences to intentions, then from intentions to subtle intentional choice. Finally to choiceless awareness, which means you're free.


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Bring AAT to Your Organization
If you're interested in receiving AAT or Puppy Dog Tales visits, your facility or program must:
- Be located in the City of San Francisco. If you're outside the city, please call 415.554.3060 or email firstname.lastname@example.com for a referral to an AAT program in your community.
- Have a reliable contact with phone and email address for communication and scheduling. To guarantee a smooth transition and maintain services, update us as soon as possible should the contact change.
- Undergo an assessment to discuss pet-related goals and demonstrate an adequate level of safety for visiting teams.
- Provide a chaperone for visiting teams to promote the safety and enjoyment of clients and teams.
- Complete and submit our facility questionnaire. We will notify you of receipt and next steps.
Note: at this time we are prioritizing applications for facilities that can accommodate weekend and/or evening visits. If your facility can only do weekday visits or host teams during regular business hours, we are accepting those questionnaires but it may take longer to set up visits for you at this time.
Please direct further inquiries to firstname.lastname@example.com or call 415.554.3060.


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Fulham North Primary School - Skoolbag for iPhone
Free Skoolbag iOS Version 3.0 Full Specs
Publisher's Description
From Skoolbag:
Fulham North Primary School Skoolbag App for parent and student community. Download this App to be kept up to date with everything that is happening at FNPS. It features Events, News, School Enews Newsletters and push notification alerts direct from the school.


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Justice is Blind, Not Very SmartErik Deckers
Laughing Stalk syndicate
Copyright 2009
I'm a big supporter of civil rights and personal liberties. In this country, we're all guaranteed certain inalienable rights, and are allowed certain dignities, even when facing criminal charges.
For example, if you're accused of a crime, you have a right to not have your name dragged through the mud during the investigation. Of course, if you're found guilty, all bets are off. Let the name dragging begin. But until then, people deserve the whole "innocent until proven guilty" benefit of the doubt.
Look what happened to Richard Jewell, the security guard who saved several people from being blown up during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Rather than being hailed as a hero, he was accused by the FBI of planting the bomb, and all but found guilty by the news media. Despite some nasty accusations and rumors in the news, he was exonerated. So he sued several media outlets for a kajillion dollars, and won or settled every one of them.
Still, there are times when the criminals in question don't deserve sympathy or special treatment. I found two cases where I thought the criminals were getting special treatment, while the victims were being unnecessarily prosecuted or persecuted. And surprisingly, neither of them are in the United States.
In Toronto, Canada, David Chen, owner of the Lucky Moose store, was relieved to learn that some of the most serious charges against him were dropped related to a shoplifting incident this past spring.
Only Chen wasn't the shoplifter.
No, that was Anthony Bennett, an apparently habitual shoplifter Chen caught trying to steal from his store for a second time in the same day.
Chen and two other employees caught Bennett and held him until police arrived. The police freed Bennett, and then arrested the three Lucky Moose workers. Bennett later pled guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail for his crime.
Meanwhile, Chen was charged with kidnapping, possession of a dangerous weapon (a box cutter he wore on his belt), assault, and forcible confinement. The first two charges were dropped, which means Chen goes on trial next June before a judge for the last two charges that stemmed from stopping a shoplifter from ruining his livelihood.
Many Canadian activists are wondering why Chen is facing the more serious charges, even though Bennett has a 33-year police record, and only spent a month in jail. Chen was trying to protect his store from further theft, and faces several years in prison for it.
One of Chen's customers, Marianne Chong, told the Toronto Sun, that the Canadian courts are being rather unreasonable. She pointed out that Chen has to work 16 hour days just to cover his court and legal costs, while Bennett was able to get a free legal aid lawyer.
This week, another tale of misplaced priorities comes from Cornwall, England, shop owners Dennis and Christine Lusby had all the windows in their village store smashed out by one Ben Hill. The 20-year-old troublemaker, who had been in trouble with the law before, admitted to breaking the windows, and spent 74 days in jail for it. In fact, he did over £3,000 ($5,000) in damage to the windows, as well as a farmhouse window, a car, and another house.
The Lusbys, tired of answering the same old "what happened to your windows?" question from customers, wrote "damage done by Ben Hill" on all the plywood.
Not a problem, right? Hill committed the crime, pled guilty to it, and spent over two months in jail for it. They're just reporting the facts of the case.
But the police told the Lusbys to remove Hill's name from the boards, because the mere stating of the truth was taking away his civil liberties.
In other words, the police didn't want the Lusbys to tell everyone that BEN HILL BROKE THEIR WINDOWS. Apparently, telling people that BEN HILL BROKE THEIR WINDOWS was somehow going to create problems for the poor lad, who already had a well-earned reputation for terrorizing the village of St. Breward.
Ironically, I saw the story about how BEN HILL BROKE THEIR WINDOWS in the (London) Daily Mail. It's ironic, because once the story hit the British newspapers, any civil liberties the destructive little punk might have had immediately flew out the window.
He probably got blamed for breaking that one too.
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Voters can meet candidates one on one
Get to know the people who represent you
Elections for board of education and city council are rapidly approaching – polls will be open from BLUK Tuesday, October 4 – and will be here sooner rather than later.
To help voters get to know the people who will be representing the people of Valdez in city government, KCHU Public Radio and the Valdez Star have teamed up to present a "Meet the Candidates" forum this Thursday night, September 22.
The event will run from 6:30 until 9 p.m. at the Valdez City Council Chambers. It is a free event that is not only open to the public, but where you as a voter will be encouraged to ask questions of the candidates on issues that matter to you.
This year, there are four candidates for each of the three open positions on both the city council and school board.
There are three incumbents running for city council – Karen Ables, Mike Wells and Dorothy Moore. A fourth candidate - Rich Long - is a former council member looking to return to elected politics.
The ballot for the school board looks very similar. There are also three incumbents running for reelection – Dawn Farmer, Anita Fannin and Dan Walker. And like the city council race, the fourth challenger on the October ballot – Dolores Gard - is also a former school board member hoping to regain a school board seat.
You may be asking yourself "Why show up to meet candidates I already know?"
There are many reasons why you should, but the one that comes to my mind first is the fact that this will be an excellent forum to ask candidates - whether they are incumbents or former members wanting back in – questions about their vision of the future of the city and our schools with all or most candidates present.
The forum planned for the event is simple and public but will not be broadcast on the radio. Moderators will have prepared questions for candidates, but there will be an open microphone for anyone who'd like to ask a question. If public speaking is not your thing, you can submit written questions for moderators to ask for you.
So be informed before you vote October 4 and plan to attend the forum this Thursday evening at council chambers.


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Changes to the Freedom of Information Act are likely on their way. HR 1309, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Todd Russell Platts (R-PA), and Henry Waxman (D-CA), was introduced to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Monday, passed yesterday, and could be up for a vote by the full House of Representatives next week.
Designed to make the FOIA a bit more user friendly, the FOIA Amendments of 2007 would make some significant changes to the request-processing system. Some of the changes are aimed at government bureaucracy: HR 1309 would establish a tracking system for FOIA requests so submitters could more easily see the status of their requests. Reporting requirements would be strengthened, giving Congress and the public more transparency as to how requests are handled. In addition, requests not processed within 20 working days will not be charged for.
In the case of denied FOIA requests, the bill would create an ombudsman's office in an attempt to avoid litigation. When a denied request results in a lawsuit, HR 1309 would streamline the attorney's fee recovery process when a court overrules a federal agency's denial. Also, the Office of Special Counsel would gain the authority to take disciplinary action against officials who groundlessly deny requests.
Lastly, two measures that would improve access to government information are included in the bill. Government records held by private contractors would become subject to FOIA requests, a notable change to current law. Also, a broader selection of journalists would be eligible for reduced fees. In addition to considering the requester's affiliation with print, broadcast, or Internet media, the agency would also consider the requester's "stated intent... to distribute information to a reasonably broad audience."
Given the predilection of the current administration for secrecy, the bill comes at an opportune time. When it was originally passed, the FOIA was ground-breaking in its attempts to open up the inner workings of the federal government to US citizens. Since that time, it has become clear that the Act has limitations that allow government agencies to stonewall requests, making the FOIA's goal of a more transparent government more elusive. This new bill is structured in a way that will address some of the FOIA's weaknesses, hopefully enabling greater access to government records for journalists, watchdogs, and all other interested parties.