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Liberty News
Victory FM changes studio location after 30 years
|Victory FM's new location in the Candlers Station Shopping Center.
After operating out of the same facility for more than 30 years, Victory FM, a broadcast service of Liberty University, settled into its new home in the nearby Candlers Station Shopping Center on Saturday. The university owns the shopping center.
The radio station provides Christian music and Bible teaching programs on a network of more than 30 full-power stations and translators throughout Virginia and North Carolina. It has been housed in a renovated outbuilding behind the Carter-Glass Mansion on Liberty's campus since it launched in 1981.
The station was off the air for about nine hours for the move, from 10 p.m. Friday through 7 a.m. Saturday.
Jerry Edwards, general manager, said moving a radio station typically takes a few days. This quick, smooth transition is a testament to the dedication of his staff, Edwards said, including Chris Wygal, programming engineer.
|Chris Wygal monitors systems at Victory FM's new location.
Wygal spent about a month working on the new location, installing wiring and helping develop the layout. When it came time to move, it was a matter of transferring, setting up, and plugging in the equipment. The greatest challenge on moving day was the weather, with rain making it more difficult to move and align the satellite dishes.
Because the former facility was a renovated house and was never intended to be a radio station, there were difficulties in updating the technology. Edwards and Wygal both say they knew at some point a move would be necessary. When the university offered the new site they were delighted, and were able to take part in the design.
"The layout of the new building just makes more sense as a radio station; the workflow and everything is laid out the way it should be," Wygal said.
The new broadcasting booths were built with offset, soundproof walls, to provide optimal sound quality. With a storefront location, the station also enjoys greater exposure.
|A 1983 photograph of Victory FM's former location, which served the station from its opening in 1981 until last week.
The site has an engineering room that implements new technology so staff can monitor and troubleshoot all critical machines in one location, a function they didn't have at the old location.
Edwards, who has been with the station since it opened, said the new facility is a great improvement, even though the old location had a rich history.
"That building was just replete with memories, everything we have done … every recording, every student that was hired and trained, the laughter, the tears, all are in that old building," he said. "We have moved into the new facilities and we will make new memories."
- Victory FM can be heard on its network of more than 30 full-power stations and translators throughout Virginia and North Carolina. It has been reaching people through Christian music and Bible teaching programs since 1981. As the flagship for the Flames Sports Network, it has provided coverage for Liberty University football and basketball. It also airs the Liberty Journal radio program Monday through Friday, reporting on news and events from the university.


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Head Shops > Florida Head Shops > Bonita Springs Head Shops
Here's our list of head shops in Bonita Springs, Florida. It was made with our own research and calling around to friends and smoke shops in Bonita Springs. Most of the people living in Florida have told us their smoke shops are good but sometimes lacking great American made glass. My favorite head shop right now is Pipe Dreams right at 3465 Bonita Beach Rd # 6.
Area Map: Type zipcode below and hit 'Submit' to go directly to that area in the USA.
Tobacco.org | A comprehensive resource about tobacco. It includes stories, research, FAQs, and chemical information.

subset: commoncrawl


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September 22, 2005
Foulke Shut Down For Season
It's probably for the best -- he certainly wasn't helping and now Tito won't be tempted to lean on him again in the final 10 games.
I do wish he had gotten his knees taken care of over the winter or at the start of spring training -- as the Red Sox suggested -- rather than waiting until July.
Alright, Jonathan Papelbon and Craig Hansen -- let see what you got.
8 comments:
For a guy who was such an integral part of last season's Championship, it would be a shame if we've seen the last of Keith Foulke in Boston.
His often cantankerous and increasingly surly nature notwithstanding, there is still a large contingent among the horsehide cognescenti that believe unequivocally that Foulke was the real MVP of the Sox post-season run. Without minimizing Manny's accomplishments in the World Series, it will forever remain a spirited argument.
As many AL hitters commented this season across the sporting press, they felt that this year's Foulke was hurting, and that he had lost so much velocity off the heater that the once deadly change-up became indiscernable from its swifter sidekick. The end result was that whether the hitters decided to sit on on the gas or look for the change, either way they guessed right as the velocity and movement of both pitches - to and from the plate - grew increasingly identical.
With the benefits that only 20:20 hindsight can provide, had the Sox and/or Foulke been more strident in their beliefs that he should have shut it down last February, perhaps the Sox could have been coasting home on a nice 6-8 game cushion right now instead of fighting for their playoff lives, and we would be watching Hanley Ramirez demonstrate every night why the Sox have been right thus far in never capitulating to any team that has demanded him in trade.
In the parlance of the auto industry, this year's Foulkeswagon seemed to have been made on a Monday. His season has been plagued with an incessant series of knocks and pings that one would typically associated with a lemon, the type of performance that is invariably maddening to both owner and mechanic alike when both know that they are capable of so much more.
Some day soon, perhaps the extent of his physical ailments will be revealed and we'll get a better sense of just exactly what parts of Keith Foulke's body betrayed him this year. Until that time, I hope we haven't seen the last of Foulkie, and that Hansen is given the opportunity to show his considerable stuff.
- September 22, 2005 at 2:51 PM
- Rebecca said...
- September 22, 2005 at 3:37 PM
Ditto on KF.
But while I'm here, let me express my disgust at the way the Orioles continue to lie down for their masters, the Yankees. They've turned to jelly at the sight of the pinstripes for about 4 years running, but this is really disgraceful. That hack flack Buck Martinez just had the gall to talk about how well the Orioles have "battled." Give me a break.
- September 22, 2005 at 6:38 PM
But while I'm here, let me express my disgust at the way the Orioles continue to lie down for their masters, the Yankees
Amen. It would appear that there isn't an ounce of balls anywhere near that clubhouse.
I can at least take comfort in watching those loudmouth O's fans that I know (the ones who strutted around talking shit when that house of cards was atop the AL East) realize that they actually were full of shit, like I said they were...
- September 22, 2005 at 9:02 PM
- DanM said...
and so it goes ....
is time yet? Can start saying it yet? Is it time to say "Wait until next year?"
- September 23, 2005 at 9:00 AM
Not even close yet. As long as we're within 2 games of the Yankees in time for the last 3 games, we have a great chance at taking this thing. Personally, I'm guessing that it'll end with a tie on the last game of the season, so we'll have a playoff at Mordor, just to make sure everyone on the eastern seaboard is suicidal.
keep the faith.
- September 23, 2005 at 10:06 AM
This news is almost definitely for the best. Here's to hoping that Foulke does come back next year and bears more resemblance to the guy we saw in 2004.
My fear is that given some of his comments to the media this season, some fans will forget that he was one of the biggest contributors to last year's incredible run. The Sox would not have won it all without Keith Foulke--no way, no how. The thought of him being run out of town on a rail by other fans makes me quite ill.
- September 23, 2005 at 10:44 AM
Mouse makes a valid point about the more rabid cousins in the Nation family tree perhaps being the reason why Keith may ultimately decide to get the Foulke out of town...
I for one thought his steely closer's psyche would have been just a tad stronger this year to deflect some fairly typical "hey, what's going on with your stuff?" type of questions. As his answers began to take on a lucidity that would have made Hunter Thompson proud, we were left to wonder was the problem a function of mind, matter, or both.
Who's to say what it was like to walk in his shoes, though he is not the first nor the last to ever feel the wrath of every Johnny from Burger King who views any member of the Olde Town Team as not performing up to his expectations.
Does anyone know how many years Foulke has on his deal? Me thinks he will be back in Fort Myers next February looking to redeem himself, if only in hiw own eyes.
- September 23, 2005 at 11:37 AM


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Health and Physical Education is an integral part of the overall education of all students in the Northside Independent School District. The primary goal of physical education is to motivate students to pursue and continue active lifestyles by developing motor skills necessary to perform a variety of physical activities. It is also essential that students develop knowledge, understanding and positive attitudes about human movement. Northside offers quality health and physical education programs that provide learning opportunities that are meaningful, motivational, and challenging to the students.
Elementary school students are provided with a program called, Healthy Start, which was developed with funds from the Carol M. White Physical Education for Progress (PEP) Award. The standardized scope and sequence was implemented based on the SPARK program, a research-based, comprehensive physical education curriculum. Within the physical education program, a Health Education program is delivered with a nutritional emphasis. The curriculum also includes modules that align with physical activities taught at the secondary level including Traverse Wall climbing, Lacrosse, Fencing, BOSU, and Speed & Agility.
The secondary physical education program for middle and high school students is called, Move to Live; Live to Move, which was also developed with funds from a PEP Award. The scope of the program provided includes newly structured curriculum, equipment, and professional development. Examples of the modules available to the schools include: Rock Climbing, Lacrosse, Fencing, BOSU, Radical Fitness, etc.
Northside is currently implementing a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) with physical education serving as the foundation. The CSPAP is a multi-component approach which includes physical activity before, during, and after school, and involvement with communities and families. The new approach provides students the opportunity to be physically active for the recommended 60 minutes per day.


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Water Heater Description
The Polaris by American 50 Gallon Residential Gas 150,000 BTU water heater has a high grade 444 stainless steel tank with brass connections for years of dependable, trouble-free service. No anode required. Three external LED lights indicate operational status of water heater. Microprocessor monitors nine critical functions. Standby heat loss of approximately 1%.
Manufacturer SKU: PG10-50-150-3NV
Manufacturer PDF: lpg100.pdf


text:
Posts Tagged 'D.S. Carlson'
Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions – Comparing by Cultural Parameters
Gerard (Geert) Hendrik Hofstede (born 3.10.1928) defined a model of 6 cultural dimensions/indices to compare different cultures
Power Distance Index (PDI) that is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. (…)
Individualism (IDV) on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals are integrated into groups. (…)
Masculinity (MAS) versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. (…)
Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's search for Truth. (…)
Later added: Long-Term Orientation (LTO) versus short-term orientation.(…)
and the Indulgence or Restraint Index (IRI).
(retrieved 18.03.2018 at https://geerthofstede.com/culture-geert-hofstede-gert-jan-hofstede/6d-model-of-national-culture/)
Video retrieved 13.08.2018 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBv1wLuY3Ko
See his website at: https://geerthofstede.com or read his essay online here or here.
For a short & handy ppt click here.
Download an introduction to Hofstede`s theories as pdf here.
For practical applications of Hofstede`s model see this page.
For Hofstede`s theories and their application on genetics click here.
Hofstede's Country Classification 25 Years later
Abstract: Nearly 3 decades have been passed since Hofstede (1980) collected the data used to classify countries by their underlying work-related structures. The present study, in which recent data from 9 countries and 4 continents was collected, is a re-examination of his country classifications. The results suggest that many shifts have occurred since Hofstede's study in 1980. These shifts are related to some of the major environmental changes that have occurred.
Discussion: Overall, the findings of the present study suggests that there have been significant shifts in value classifications in some countries since Hofstede conducted his original study. Many of the countries examined in the present study showed a shift in ranking when compared with Hofstede's original data. This finding underscores the fact that, although a nation's work-related values are deep-seated preferences for certain end states. they are subject to change over the years as external environmental changes shape a society. Managers and scientists should use caution before attempting to use work-related values to understand human behaviour in organisations. At the least, managers should make an effort to determine the values currently prevailing and not rely on classifications or labels placed on cultures by researchers.
D. R. Fernandez, D.S. Carlson, L.P. Stepina, J.D. Nicholson at The Journal of Social Psychology, 1997, 43-54
Download the full article as pdf here.
Geert Hofstede interview January 2013 (introducing the IRI – Indulgence or Restraint Index)
(Retrieved at 06.06.2011 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBv1wLuY3Ko)
About the practical application of Hofstede's theories read this post: https://laofutze.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/applications-of-hofstedes-theories/
(revised 13.03.2018)
Written by NoToes
09/01/2010 at 12:21
Posted in All Articles, China, Collectivism and Individualism, Communication, Communication in Different Cultures, Comparing Cultures, Cultural Dimensions, Emotions in Different Cultures, Hofstede, Intercultural Economy, Intercultural Management, Surveys, Time in Different Cultures, Tools / Software, Uncertainty Avoidance
Tagged with 6 cultural dimensions, 6 cultural dimensions hofstede, collectivistic cultures, Communication, communication theory, cultural dimension "usa vs china", culture, D. R. Fernandez, D.S. Carlson, Download an introduction to Hofstede`s theories, download hofstede pdf, Download pdf Hofstede`s theories, geert hofstede, Geert Hofstede interview, high power distance, hoefstede, hoffstede, Hofstede, hofstede 5 dimensjoner, hofstede 5 dimensjoner kina, hofstede cultural dimensions, hofstede intercultural communication, hofstede model, hofstede model ppt, hofstede on youtube, hofstede power distance index, hofstede's cultural dimensions index, Hofstede's Country Classification 25 Years later, hofstedes model, hofstede`s model ppt, hoftedes model ppt, hostede, idv, Individualism, Intercultural, interview hofstede, IRI, IRI - Indulgence or Restraint, IRI - Indulgence or Restraint Index, IRI - Indulgence or Restraint Index hofstede, J.D. Nicholson at The journal of Social Psychology, L.P. Stepina, Long-Term Orientation, low power distance, lto, mas, Masculinity, onion, pdi, power distance index, sociology, uai, Uncertainty Avoidance Index, usa vs. china, western culture vs chinese culture
Practical Applications of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions
Organizational Culture as a Root of Performance Improvement
(Organizational Culture as a Root of Performance Improvement:Research and Recommendations; R.C. Rose, Naresh Kumar, Haslinda Abdullah; Universiti Putra Malaysia – download pdf here).
Map of Corporate Cultures
Nation Branding in Pop-Culture
Sources: http://westwood.wikispaces.com/file/view/Hofstede.pdf (retrieved 22.11.2012)
Somewhere in western Europe a middle-sized textile printing company struggled for survival…
Cloth, usually imported from Asian countries, was printed in multicolored patterns according to the desires of customers, firms producing fashion clothing for the local market. The company was run by a general manager to whom three functional managers reported: one for design and sales, one for manufacturing, and one for finance and personnel. The total work force numbered about 250.
The working climate in the firm was often disturbed by conflicts between the sales and manufacturing managers.
The manufacturing manager had an interest, as manufacturing managers have the world over, in smooth production and in minimizing product changes. He preferred grouping customer orders into large batches. Changing color and/or design implied cleaning the machines which took productive time away and also wasted costly dyestuffs. The worst was changing from a dark color set to a light one, because every bit of dark-colored dye left would show on the cloth and spoil the product quality. Therefore the manufacturing planners tried to start on a clean machine with the lightest shades and gradually move towards darker ones, postponing the need for an overall cleaning round as long as possible.
The design and sales manager tried to satisfy his customers in a highly competitive market. These customers, fashion clothing firms, were notorious for short-term planning changes. As their supplier, the printing company often received requests for rush orders. Even when these orders were small and unlikely to be profitable the sales manager hated to say 'no'. The customer might go to a competitor and then the printing firm would miss that big order which the sales manager was sure would come afterwards. The rush orders, however, usually upset the manufacturing manager's schedules and forced him to print short runs of dark color sets on a beautifully clean machine, thus forcing the production operators to start cleaning allover again.
There were frequent hassles between the two managers over whether a certain rush order should or should not be taken into production. The conflict was not limited to the department heads; production personnel publicly expressed doubts about the competence of the sales people and vice versa. In the cafeteria, production and sales people would not sit together , although they had known each other for years.
Different cultures choose different approaches for the dilemma about
(1) the diagnosis of the problem and
(2) the suggested solution
These two dimensions, Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance, affect our thinking about organisations. In addition to the affected business areas listed in the tables below, taking these two dimensions together reveals differences in the implicit model people from different cultures may have about organisational structure and functioning. Organising demands answers to two important questions:
(1) Who has the power to decide what?
(2) What rules or procedures will be followed to attain the desired ends?
The answer to the first question is influence d by indigenous cultural norms of power distance; the answer to the second question by the cultural norms about uncertainty avoidance. Taken together these two dimensions reveal a remarkable contrast in a society's acceptance and conception of an organisation and the mechanisms that are employed in controlling and co-ordinating activities within it (Hofstede, 1991).
Same researchers have tried to measure the link between the 'implicit' models of organisation and objectively assessable characteristics of organisational structure. Inthe 1970s, Owen James Stevens, an American professor at INSEAD business school in France, presented his students with a case study exam which dealt with a conflict between two department heads within a company (Hofstede, 1991). His students consisted primarily of French, German and British students. Inthe graph below their countries are located in the lower right, lower left and upper left quadrants respectively. Stevens bad noticed a difference in the way 200 students of different nationalities bad handled the case in previous exams. The students bad been required individually to come up with both their diagnosis of the problem and their suggested solution. Stevens sorted these exams by the nationality of the author and then compared the answers. The results were striking.
The majority of French diagnosed the case as negligence by the general manager to whom the two department heads reported. The solution they preferred was for the opponents in the conflict to take the issue to their common boss, who would issue orders for settling such dilemmas in the future. Stevens interpreted the implicit organisation model of the French as a 'pyramid of people': the general manager at the top of the pyramid, and each successive level at its proper place below.
The majority of the Germans diagnosed the case as a lack of structure. They tended to think that the competence of the two conflicting department heads bad not been clearly specified. The solution they preferred was to establish specific procedures, which could include calling in a consultant, nominating a task force, or asking the common boss. According to Stevens, the Germans saw the organisation as a 'well-oiled machine' in which intervention by management should be limited because the rules should settle day-to-day problems.
The majority of the British diagnosed the case as a human relationship problem. They saw the two department heads as poor negotiators who would benefit from attending, preferably together, a management course to improve their skills. Stevens thought their implicit model of a 'village market' led them to look at the problem in terms of the demands of the situation determining what will happen, rather than hierarchy or rules.
A society''s position on these two dimensions does seem to influence the implicit model of the organisation in that society, and the kinds of co-ordination mechanisms that people in that culture would tend to rely upon.
Employees in high power distance and low uncertainty avoidance countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia tend to think of their organisations as traditional families. The patriarch, or head of the family, is expected to protect family members physically and economically in exchange for unwavering loyalty from its members. The most likely co-ordination and control mechanism for the family is a standardisation of work processes by specifying the contents of work – who does the chores.
Employees in countries such as France, Brazil, Portugal and Mexico that are high on both dimensions tend to view organisations as pyramids of people rather than as families. Everyone knows who reports to whom, and formal and activating lines of communication run vertically through the organisation. Management reduces uncertainty and provides co-ordination and control by emphasising who has authority over whom and in what war this authority can be exercised.
Where high uncertainty avoidance and low power distance are combined, in such countries as Israel, Austria, Germany and Switzerland, organisations are perceived as well-oiled machines; they are highly predictable without the imposition of a strong hierarchy. Uncertainty is reduced by clearly defining Tales and procedures. Co-ordination and control are achieved primarily through standardisation and certification of skills, specifying the training required to perform the work.
In cultures where there is low uncertainty avoidance and low power distance, the relevant organisational model is a 'village market'. Countries such as Denmark, Ireland, Norway, the UK and the USA are representative of this model. People will feel less comfortable with strict and formal rules or with what would be perceived as unnecessary layers of hierarchy. Control and co-ordination tends to take place through mutual adjustment of people through informal communication, and by specifying the desired results.
Download an introduction to Hofstede's theories here or online at https://westwood.wikispaces.com/file/view/Hofstede.pdf – retrieved 24.11.2012
More Applications of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions
Intercultural Management
Having or Making – The Transformation of Danish Culture and Chinese Culture in Sino-Danish Business Settings in China by Xiaomin Li Click here to download the PPT or get it in the internet: http://www.orientus.org/downloads/Transformation_Danish_Chinese_Culture.ppt
AM+A used Hofstede's system for an analysis of website design in different cultures/countries. Get the .pdf here or visit the website http://www.amanda.com
Xiang-Hua Lu of the School of Management, Fudan University (China) and Michael S. H. Heng of the National University of Singapore did a great work on applying Hofstede`s theory on the Chinese/Asian approach to IS (Information Systems: all systems related to the information exchange by computers). Get the .pdf here.
C. Becker and S. Palmer compared Mexican and German approaches to decision making and found out, that often "the type of business indicates more how decisions are made rather than the impact of national culture." Download the essay as pfd here or online from essays.se
www.essays.se provides more quality stuff about Hofstede: http://www.essays.se/about/hofstede/?startrecord=16
International business negotiation in the South and North China online or download as pdf here.
(retrieved 27.01.2013 at http://mdh.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?searchId=1&pid=diva2:127352
Sexual Harassment
Using Hofstede's cultural dimensions to explain sexually harassing behaviours in an international context
Vipan K. Luthar and Harsh K. Luthar, Using Hofstede's cultural dimensions to explain sexually harassing behaviours in an international context, Int. J. of Human Resource Management 13:2 March 2002 268–284 or download pdf here or online at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10672-008-9072-4 – retrieved 24.11.2012
Nation Branding in Pop-Culture
Pavinee Potipan and Nantaphorn Worrawutteerakul from the Malerdalen University in Sweden wrote their master thesis about the financial and cultural background of modern Thai, Korean and Japanese culture. Using Hofstede's Cultural Onion they examined Asian pop cultures. It describes how Korean pop culture "Hallyu" has an immense success by serving all layers of the onion. Download the full pdf here or download here http://www.essays.se/essay/63a1debf3b/ (retrieved 24.12.2012)
See more about the importance of Nation Branding at Simon Anholt`s website or the GFK Custom Research North America
reviewed 27.01.2013
Written by NoToes
08/01/2010 at 21:49
Posted in All Articles, China, Collectivism and Individualism, Communication, Comparing Cultures, Cultural Dimensions, Germany, Hofstede, Intercultural Economy, Intercultural Management, Sexuality, Surveys, Uncertainty Avoidance
Tagged with 1997, 43-54, am+a, am+a used hofstede to study web design, application of hofstede, asian approach to IS, Asian pop culture, Asian pop cultures, C. Becker, chinese approach to information science, chinese approach to IS, christian becker, Communication, D. R. Fernandez, D.S. Carlson, Danish Culture and Chinese Culture, Download an introduction to Hofstede`s theories, Download an introduction to Hofstede`s theories pdf, download as pdf, geert hofstede, gfk, GFK Custom Research North America, Goh Yeng Ling, Harsh K. Luthar, Haslinda Abdullah, Hofstede, hofstede intercultural communication, hofstede power distance index, hofstede quadrants, hofstede sexual harassment, hofstede sexuality, idv, Int. J. of Human Resource Management 13:2 March 2002 268–284, Intercultural, intercultural website design, International business negotiation in the South and North China, J.D. Nicholson, J.D. Nicholson at The journal of Social Psychology, Korean pop culture, L.P. Stepina, Long-Term Orientation, Malaysia / Singapore, mas, Masculinity, Mexican and German approaches to decision making, Michael S. H. Heng, Naresh Kumar, nation branding, Nation Branding in Pop-Culture, Organizational Culture as a Root of Performance Improvement: Research and Recommendations, pdi, power distance index, practical appliocation of hofstede, Raduan Che Rose, S. Palmer, sandra palmer, sexually harassing behaviours, Simon Anholt, Sino-Danish Business Settings, sociology, The journal of Social Psychology, uai, Uncertainty Avoidance Index, Using Hofstede's cultural dimensions to explain sexually harassing behaviours in an international context, Vipan K. Lutha, Vipan K. Luthar and Harsh K. Luthar, website design, website design in different cultures, website design intercultural, Xiang-Hua Lu, Xiaomin Li


text: If not more flexd skrev: > I was just making a suggestion, and as for joining the norwegian 10 > pack buy, i could, but they both live far far North in Norway, while i > live far far south, the cost of sending it would most likely be about > the same or more as the 10 pack buying discount :( > > > > Heikki Sørum skrev: >> First off all, I highly doubt if any serious corporation _or_ FOSS >> community would engage in such matters. There are much more at stake >> than just a wish to avoid a additional 25% VAT surcharge. ( That's the >> tax he's complaining about.) Regardless, discussing illegal VAT or tax >> evasion on a public mailinglist isn't the world's brightest idea. On >> the other hand, If he'd prefer to pay less VAT there is a way for >> Norwegians to do so. Norwegians are allowed to bring into Norway wares >> worth up to 6000NOK (about 1200USD) _IF_ they spend a minimum of 24 >> hours abroad. If Flexd really want to avoid paying VAT I'd recommend >> him to order a freerunner from a EU dealer and ship it _post restante_ >> to a swedish post office. Then he'l have to pick it up after >> spending a day&night in sweden. >> Post restante= Old postal tradition where mail and packages are >> adressed to a post office rather than a person. Such packages are then >> retained for two weeks _without_ notice. The recipient has to pick >> it up and prove their identity before the post office releases such >> mail/packages. >> When that have been said, why cant flexd join the norwegian 10pack >> order? >> http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/GroupSales >> >> Sincerly, Heikki Soerum. >> >> >> Den Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:00:06 +0200 >> flexd <flexd at doombox.org> skrev: >> >> >>> If ordering from the US (or anywhere really), would it be possible >>> to have the package marked as a gift to evade taxes and such? >>> Norwegian taxes are high, so we'll probably pay like half a phone >>> extra >_< >>> >>> Pietro "m0nt0" Montorfano skrev: >>> >>>> Erland Lewin ha scritto: >>>> >>>>> 2008/4/13, "Marco Trevisan (Treviño)" <mail at 3v1n0.net>: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> Well, if you consider that you've to pay the shipping costs from >>>>>> Usa or >>>>>> Asia in 10 or more people, instead that as an alone buyer I think >>>>>> that you >>>>>> gain really more than 30$-8€ ;) >>>>>> >>>>> Well, that is the key question now for us in the EU - I believe >>>>> that FIC has said that they will have a distribution center in the >>>>> EU, which should make the shipping much less expensive. The very >>>>> high shipping cost in relation to the price of the phone I think >>>>> was a problem with the GTA01... >>>>> >>>>> I'm very much looking forward to hearing about how FIC will solve >>>>> the EU distribution, and how much the shipping will be in Europe >>>>> on top of the $399 + VAT price, which I think is a very good >>>>> price. I think that info would be in the next update from FIC. >>>>> >>>>> /Erland in Stockholm, Sweden >>>>> >>>> Yes, you are right, i was thinking that buying a 10pack phone is >>>> always cheaper than buying a single phone due to the shipping >>>> costs. I'd like to know the eu price and if it's convenient to buy >>>> the phone in eu, else there are some services that you can >>>> subscribe for 10$ which give you an us address so you buy the phone >>>> and send them there, after that you pay the shiping cost from there >>>> to your nation, this can let you to not pay VAT, don't know how >>>> much it's legal but i'd like to get more info on this services >>>> because they can be very useful. Everything obviously is to see how >>>> much the eu phone costs due to the VAT and other taxes. >>>> So i have to get more info about this service but they exist so i >>>> think it should be a good deal to use them if in eu the phone will >>>> cost too much. >>>> >>>> Cya! >>>> >>>> Pietro >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Openmoko community mailing list >>>> community at lists.openmoko.org >>>> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Openmoko community mailing list >> community at lists.openmoko.org >> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community >> >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Openmoko community mailing list > community at lists.openmoko.org > http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community


text:
On the same day that the passing of Andy Griffith, the beloved TV sheriff of fictional Mayberry -- that perfect epitome of small-town values -- made front page news, the above-the-fold, page A1 headline in the Los Angeles Times read: "Office Seekers Recall Cudahy Intimidation."
As part of an ongoing probe of alleged civic corruption in Cudahy, Calif. --a small, working-class community -- the FBI uncovered evidence of election fraud. Three local officials had already been arrested on bribery charges.
Clearly, we don't live in Mayberry.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Cudahy is only one example of a pattern of civic dysfunction that includes fiscal mismanagement and just plain corruption, which has long bedeviled smaller California cities, particularly in eastern LA County.
For example, roughly 10 years ago, the city of South Gate ousted its city treasurer and three council members who, as the Los Angeles Times described it, presided over "a city government teetering toward bankruptcy, awash in political corruption investigations, and riven by deep political divisions."
In 2004, the former mayor of City of Carson went to jail "for serving as ringleader in a bribery scandal involving millions of dollars in municipal contracts."
The tiny city of Vernon, reports California Watch, "has been buffeted by controversy in recent years. A longtime mayor was convicted of voter fraud. The Los Angeles Times found payments of more than $1 million to a former city administrator. Another high-paid administrator pleaded guilty to misusing public funds, and yet another pleaded guilty to corruption charges involving hiring his wife."
Vallejo, outside of San Francisco, recently emerged from a 2008 bankruptcy filing. And in just the past few weeks, Stockton, San Bernardino and Mammoth Lakes, have faced municipal bankruptcy -- all for different reasons, including bad judgment, irresponsible fiscal and policy decisions, the body blow of the current recession and ballooning public pension costs.
Mayberry never saw anything like that.
In today's California, public employee unions play a prominent role in cities' fiscal problems; labor's pension demands have hamstrung rational budget reform. Unions also play the major role in local campaigns, and must share the blame -- with voters and non-voters -- for politicians who feel little need for accountability to the town's citizens.
Come to think of it, Sherriff Andy never really had to worry about Mayberry's fiscal health. There were maybe four public employees and Mayberry never had to face the real-life challenges of California's quiet, agricultural "cow towns," which were thrust into the whirlwind of a growing and diversifying state.
The media, too, plays a role in enabling inept or corrupt small-town government. Major metropolitan media outlets usually show up in local communities only when scandals hit the fan. And governmental coverage by small-town media tends to be thin or non-existent.
Will the Internet, investigative websites, YouTube, Patch and other social media change that? Not yet and not necessarily for the better; the Internet has fewer tests for truth and trust than good reporting and good reporters should have.
TV critics praised "The Andy Griffith Show" for its portrayal of the "culture of responsibility" that connoted the ideal America of the 1950s.
Today's political culture is far different. The culture of responsibility, at least for the public good, has withered.
Immigrants settling in many small towns have fled countries where political participation and criticism are dangerous. That allows politicians virtually free reign.
Raleigh, N.C., erected a statue of Sheriff Andy and his son Opie. The inscription read, in part "…A simpler time, a sweeter place, a lesson, a laugh..."
Clearly, we don't live in Mayberry.
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe is a Senior Fellow at the USC Price School of Public Policy and the political analyst for NBC4.
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Around Town
Get started with College Greenlight to compare the Edgewood College weather with your hometown!Create an account now!
joining clubs are really easy and they do so much to keep you occupied.Read More
Located right on Lake Wingra, during the warmer months you can always has down the block to Wingra Boats and enjoy an afternoon on the water! Or stroll down Monroe Street with its variety of shops and restaurants.Read More
Edgewood is on Monroe street which has a bunch of restaurants and little shops. Also, Edgewood is down the street from Camp Randal, where the UW Madison Badger football team plays. Being downtown Madison, there is a lot to do. Lots of restaurants, shops, concerts, sporting events and bars! Edgewood is also located near on the edge of Lake Wingra!Read More
Join a sports team. Parties on State Street Join a school club Volunteer at different places around MadisonRead More
There are always things to do at Edgewood! There are events put on by RLAB and other student organizations that allow the academic week to be a little less stressful. The very first couple of weeks, you have to be VERY antisocial to not have fun at Edgewood College!Read More
Edgewood never runs out of activities for its students to do. You receive weekly emails of what the week will hold. There is never nothing to do.Read More
Always something to do in Madison from events weekly on campus by different clubs, renting a boat to take out on the lake, jogging/biking trails right on campus and sport events!Read More
visit the zoo, join clubs,hangout with friends and go shopping!!Read More
Edgewood College is in the heart of Madison WI. It is just blocks from Camp Randall Stadium where all the home Badger games occur. It is also a short bus ride or 20 minute walk from Capital Square and State St.Read More
Madison is a great city to live in and there is never a dull moment. There is music, sports, and recreation to engage in anywhere within the city limits. There are plenty of parks and bike trails for the outdoorsy person.Read More


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Wendy Drezek, Ph.D., NEISD, San Antonio, Texas
Overview and background
Braille literacy is the tool that allows the braille reader to seek and share information and affect the world through Symbols. Readiness for braille literacy develops in the whole child as that child ventures into life; it is concerned with using the body, particularly the hands effectively, with meaning that comes from risking, exploring and experiencing the world, and investing in interaction, communication and problem solving.
Emergent braille literacy includes establishing the experiential base for meaning, discovering the communication potential of Symbol and book, and acquiring the perceptual-motor Skills for reading and writing. The braille reader needs motor Skills to find and replace books, maintain posture that permits accurate tracking movements, and search for reading materials. The reader requires hands that can locate and synthesize tactile information and coordinate to use a braille writer, stylus or keyboard. The motivation for literacy resides in interest, confidence and curiosity about the world, and the ability to gain information through Symbols. All these prerequisites grow from the totality of the child's actions and encounters with the world to optimize both the production and consumption of text. Parents and teachers can assist the young emergent braille reader by creating a braille literate environment, including braille labels, specialized braille books, braille materials in the community, prebraille preprimers, and adapted print books, that affirms braille communication.
These sample units and references demonstrate some of the many ways that print books can be adapted to support braille readiness. Books can be enhanced by emphasizing sounds, singing refrains or adding actions. Meaning can be supported with story boxes, sensory boxes, real activities and play. Tactual Skills can be reinforced by adding textures and outlines. Move, Touch, Read is an informal collection of sample units and unit outlines that provide simple techniques for adapting print books, to accompany the weekly units in the APH curriculum Move Touch Do! (Drezek, 1995). The 44 units in Move Touch Do! establish the experience base for 44 basic content areas encompassing the Concepts and Vocabulary included in most preschool and kindergarten classrooms.
Each unit moves from tolerating, experiencing and participating in activity with real objects, through perceptual exploration, learning related Skills, matching and identifying, to Symbolic play and recognizing varied two and three dimensional representations including toys, models, pictures, photos and Symbols; the activities in each literacy unit parallel this sequence of experiencing the content through whole body actions, tactual exploration and a variety of progressively more Symbolic, less concrete adaptations.
Examples of explorations, adaptations and activities are:
- Drummer Hoff--sounds and rhyme,
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar--actions,
- My Five Senses--sensory box,
- The Wheels on the Bus--songs and fingerplays,
- Just Me in the Tub--story box,
- All Through the Year--object calendar,
- Pumpkin, Pumpkin--real activity,
- The First Thanksgiving--cooking and art,
- Santa's Beard Is Soft and Warm--texture book,
- Valentine's Cats--puppets,
- Caps for Sale--play,
- My First Counting Book--one-to-one correspondence,
- The Carrot Seed--story pillows.
The units encourage children to experience a wide range of adaptations and to develop the skill to learn from the unadapted materials they are sure to encounter in life.
Sample Literacy Unit Outline-Story Box
Mayer, M. & Mayer, G. Just Me in the Tub. (1994). Racine Wisconsin: Western Publishing Company, Inc.
This is a simple story about an every day activity--bathing. Since this is a familiar activity for all children, the content and meaning are, to some extent, known. When we move from tactile books and books with funny sounds, we want to make sure that the child's first exposure to books that do not have an inherent sensory component, is with content that has been consistently and repeatedly experienced.
This book uses familiar words--bath, water, tub, towel, washcloth, pajamas, clothes, wash.
The Concepts of body parts, on and off, warm and cold, and clean and dirty can be reinforced.
The book includes the Skills of dressing and undressing, cleaning up, putting things away, and bathing.
A washcloth makes an easily identifiable tangible Symbol for this book.
Introduce the book by taking the child through a bathing routine and using the language in the book in conjunction with each step. For instance, you might say , "It's time to take your bath--there are lots of things to do," paralleling the language of the book. Work through the steps-- run water, get a towel and washcloth, get clean pajamas. Try to use a linking phrase to the book, "I start with my face...then I wash my hair." Spend time on the "fun" activities--splashing, making a storm.
Make your story box, basket or bag. Gather together objects to go with each set of pages--one per set. These objects could include a towel, pajama bottoms, brush, toy and sponge. A laundry basket makes an appropriate container for the objects. Take time to explore each object, talking about how it feels, smells and looks and what it can do.
The braille text can be prepared using a braille writer, slate and stylus or computer. The easiest permanent method of inserting braille text is to braille directly onto paper and attach the braille to each page.
When you begin to read the book, hand the child the Symbol first, so that the young reader will later be able to choose stories using Symbols even before words are available. As you read each page hand the child the pertinent object and demonstrate the use. As the story becomes familiar you can read the story without the objects. Later the story box can be used for acting out the story and dramatic play.
As you read the book, lightly guide the child's hand over the braille text. With very young children, you will want to let them explore each page first, to get comfortable with feel on their own. Later you can help them follow with hands, as you read. As soon as they are enjoying reading, you want to begin modeling good book handling and scan and detect behaviors. Positive feedback, such as "gentle fingers" can be used to reinforce constructive book behavior.
This book has a frog in each picture. You can buy a set of tiny plastic frogs in a craft store and glue one on each page or use glue or textured paint to outline the frog for the older child to find on each page. Challenge the child to think of other games besides pirate ships to play in the water!
Literacy Units
Mayer, G. & Mayer, M. ( 1992). A Very Special Critter. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Co, Inc. This book is best used in conjunction with everyday schoolroom activities. Vocabulary includes bump, ramp, pouch, book, high, ball, hide-and-seek, car. An enrichment activity includes making a car costume.
Wheels on the Bus. (1988). New York : Crown Publishers. This is an excellent book to use with the familiar song. It lends itself to doing the actions which accompany the text.
Aliki. (1962). My Five Senses. New York : Harper & Row Publishers. This book lends itself to a sensory box including things to smell, hear, taste, feel and look at. Make sure the visual stimuli are optimally interesting to the very low vision child, and include a drum, soap, cookies, milk carton, balloon, and ball mentioned in the text.
Kates, B. J. ( 1992). We're Different, We're the Same. New York : Random House. This book is good for exploring and finding body parts.
Franco, G. (1992). Baby's Book of Dressing. New York: Zokeisha Publications Ltd. make a story basket from a laundry basket and find examples of the different clothes to put in the basket. Take out each item to explore, as you read the book.
Franco, B. (1994). Fresh Fall Leaves. New York: Scholastic, Inc. This book is adapted best with an activity--go outside and do all the actions--watch, collect, crunch, run,rake, jump,make a fort, have battle, cover, leap and throw. Then repeat the activities inside. Finally, read the book acting out each action on the page.
Muldrow, D. (1997). We Love Fall. New York : Scholastic Inc. Act out the actions depicted in the book and put a sweater, rake, kite, nuts, apples, pumpkins, and pie pan in the story box.
Appleby, E. (1990). A Merry Scarey Halloween. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc. This book is ideal for a story bag in a large trick-or-treat bag. Include a plastic spider and bat, and monster, cat and vampire masks for the children to wear, candy, a small bag, and a witch hat. For the low vision child, point out the visual images of each character and the child dressed as the character.
Dudko, M. A. & Larsen, M. (1993). Barney's Hats. Allen, TX: Barney Publishing. Use this book with dress up play. You can have a hat and object for each page and act out the different roles.
Speirs, J. (1995). Hats, Hats, Hats. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Company, Inc. This book has an action component of finding the face and changing the hat. It can be reinforced with a dress-up box of hats, acting out each role--clown, king, firefighter, farmer, cowboy, sailor, pirate--and then encouraging dramatic play with the hats.
Pumpkin, Pumpkin. (See sample units.)
Hall, Z. (1994). It's Pumpkin Time! New York: Scholastic, Inc. This book can be used with a story bushel basket. Place seeds, a shovel, a pumpkin, a watering can and candles in the basket. Cut a pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern and make a costume from a large paper grocery bag.
Child, L. M. (1974). Over the River and Through the Woods. New York: Scholastic. This book is based on the well known song. The content is taught in the Thanksgiving units. Sing the song as you read the book. The low vision child can find the color pictures of the outdoor verses and the black and white pictures of the indoor verses.
Prelutsky, J. (19982). It's Thanksgiving. New York: Scholastic. This book has short poems about the familiar activities and history of Thanksgiving. Use speed, intonation and rhythm to reinforce the content. Choose an object for each poem, e.g. a spoon for the first, dried corn for the second and let the child choose which poem to hear by choosing an object. Place all the objects in a cornucopia.
My First Thanksgiving. (See sample units.)
Cookie/Present/Winter Holiday
Santa's Beard Is Soft and Warm. (See sample units).
Ricklen, N. (1991). Baby's Christmas. New York : Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division. In a large gift wrapped box place a tiny tree, ornament, card, popcorn, light, stocking, candy cane, wreath, bell, cookie, present, train, and toy snowman, Santa Claus and reindeer. Use the story box objects to explore along with the text.
Bridwell N. (1994). Clifford's First Christmas. New York : Scholastic, Inc. This book is a good activity book--decorate a tree, wrap a present and stuff a stocking.
Marzullo, J. (1997). Christmas Cats. New York: Scholastic. Make cat puppets (See Valentine Cats model unit.). Use the cats with the objects in the story--e.g. broom, rolling pin, popcorn chain--to act out the story. The puppets provide the scaffold to transition to imaginary characters.
Miller, J. P. Little Rabbit's Merry Christmas. This is a "sniff" book. Collect a real object for each odor--piece of pine tree, gingerbread cookie, hot cocoa, apple, candy cane and cinnamon cookie--in a gift wrapped box. Explore each object by smelling, feeling, looking and tasting as you read the story the first few times. When the objects are consumed, replace them with models such as play dough cookies, a plastic apple. This creates the connection among the sniff samples, real object and models.
Baby's Special Food. (1968). Pawtucket, RI: Playskool. Make sure you taste and feel all the foods and compare them to the tactile foods in the book. Let the child do all the actions with the foods in the book.
Franco, G. (1992). Baby's Book of Eating. New York : Zokeisha Publications, Ltd. Take a large paper grocery bag and put a banana, sandwich, spaghetti, watermelon slice wrapped in foil, apple, plum, orange, corn muffin, ice cream cone, carrot, wrapped cupcake, can of peas, wrapped cookie, cup and bottle in it. Use the bag with the book, eating one food each day, the most perishable first. The foods can be paired with plastic foods from a toy kitchen or craft store, and the plastic foods substituted after 3 weeks. Use this storybag with the book.
Wilkes, A. (1989). My First Cook Book. New York : Alfred Knopf. You can use the cookie, potato, cake, bread and fruit recipes with the cooking units. The photos are colorful, realistic and life size. Find each of the implements in your kitchen and prepare the recipe. Then read the section on that recipe. Let the child choose favorites to repeat. Encourage the child to retell the sequence of steps in the recipe.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar. (See sample units.)
Ziefort, H. & Baum, S. (1996). Play Shapes. New York : DK Publishing, Inc. Let the child assist in punching out the shapes and matching them to the book. You can outline the shapes in the book with puff pen.
Disney's Pop-Up Book of Shapes. (1991). Los Angeles, CA: Walt Disney Company. The shapes in this book pop up. Get containers of each shape, e.g. a plate for the circle, a box for the square and find household items of that shape to put in the box.
Valentine Cats. (See sample units.)
The Carrot Seed. (See sample units.)
Scarry, R. (1967) Egg in the Hole Book. Racine, Wisconsin: Golden Books. This is an action book; let the child find the hole on each page. Make the path raised with puff pen markings. Find a plastic Easter egg that fits in the hole and let the child put it in each hole.
Hillert, M. (1981). The Baby Bunny. Chicago: Follett. Act out run, jump, play, eat go up and down. When you read the book make the actions with the story.
Just Me In the Tub. (See sample elaborated unit.)
Cushman, J. (1959). We Help Mommy. New York: Golden Press. Put pajamas, sock, shoe, toaster, sheet, mop, dust cloth, doll clothes, soap, clothespins, cereal box, raisin box, knife, place mat, fork, bowl, rolling pin and block in a storybox decorated like a house with window and door. Use the storybox to accompany the text. Take out each item, use it and discuss what we do with it.
Honey Bear. (1997). Twist It. New York: Modern Publications. This book is shaped like a pliers and can be used with screws and pliers to put together and take apart pieces of Styrofoam.
Sukus, J. (1977). My Tool Box. Racine, WI: Golden Press. Put a hammer, screwdriver, saw, pliers, measuring tape, wrench, flashlight, oilcan, drill bit, paintbrush and paint in a toolbox. Take out each relevant item as the story unfolds and explore it.
Baer, G. (1989). Thump, Thump, Rat-a-Tat-Tat. New York: The Trumpet Club. Make a box or pan drum. Drum loudly as the story gets louder and softly as it gets softer. Point out to the low vision child how the band gets larger and smaller as it approaches and departs. Make homemade band instruments to create a homemade band.
Rockwell , A. (1986). In the Morning. New York: T. Y. Crowell. This book has familiar activities. Let the child do an action with each page--get out, eat, push, hug, roll, walk. When you do the routines, e.g. eating, relate each to the book and the picture in the book.
Mayer, M. (1988). Just My Friend and Me. Racine, WI: Golden Books. Use this book to begin to transfer to models from real objects. Glue a small car, ball, plastic apple, piece of rope, small book and band aid on the appropriate pages.
Rogers, M. (1988). Playtime. England: Brimax Books Ltd. This book adaptation is to transfer from real objects to toys. Tape a ball, toy elephant, doll, truck, bucket and spade on the pages.
We Go To School. (See sample units.)
Williams, G. (1959). Baby's First Book. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Company. Take the child through the routines in the book, finding each object and using the phrases in the text, for example, "I hang up my pajamas." Note: The resource section includes references for making a variety of adapted books for this unit.
Pat the Bunny. (See sample units.)
Witte, P. & Witte, E. The Touch Me Book. Western Publishing Company. Feel a real table, doll, sponge, sand, glass, rubber band and sticky tape. Compare the real object to the touch objects in the book. Touch books are not necessarily meaningful without adaptation. Teach the child the relationship between the model, piece of object or texture in a touch book and the real object, before the book is read.
Pienkowski, J. (1990). Sizes. New York: Little Simon. Put all the big objects in a big box. Put all the little objects in a little box. Use the story boxes to accompany the big and little object on each page.
Demi. (1984). Watch Harry Grow. New York: Random House. Let the child feel the yarn that let Harry get bigger on each page. Find big and little shoes, hats, socks, pans and plates in the house. To make the transition to a character (Harry) that may not be able to be experienced "hands-on", make a sock puppet that can "grow" (See The Very Hungry Caterpillar).
Hoban, T. (1979). One Little Kitten. New York: Scholastic Book Services. After experiencing a real kitten, make a kitten puppet from a paper bag (See Valentine Cats.) and let the child place the puppet in each relationship, e.g. behind the broom.
What's In the Box?(1995). New York: Convent Garden Books. Open and close the flaps. Glue something interesting to feel under each flap. Save a duplicate to put in a box. Open and close the box and find what's in it.
Albee, S. (1996). Allegra's Colors! New York: Simon & Schuster. Visit a grocery store and find each item and note the color. Make matching color cards for each color.
Vasilak, S. (1991). Numbers. New York: Modern Publishing. This book is good for relating the numerals and sets which are clearly represented. You can also use it to relate models to objects by gluing model or toy nuts, pine cones, mushrooms etc to correspond with each picture.
Moore, L. (1957). My First Counting Book. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Company. These books are good for one-to-one correspondence. put an adhesive velcro tab on each object. Make a set of counters with complementary tabs. On each page the child can put a counter on each tab.
Abc. (1994). New York: Random House. This book has one clear color photo per page. Find and explore as many of these objects as possible in the house. Glue the braille letter and word on each page. Make a set of matching braille letter cards for matching.
Community Helpers/Vehicles
Younger, J. (1982). The Fire Engine Book. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Co. This book experience should be built around a trip to the fire station. Find each object on the equipment page when you visit the fire station. If possible, let the child explore the station, trucks and clothing hands-on. Bring the book to the station to link each real object to the picture and language in the text. If the child has a toy fire station or fire engine, encourage representational play with these toys.
Miryam. (1950). The Happy Man and His Dump Truck. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Company. This is another action book that can be adapted using toys and model animals. Let the child dump the animals in the truck at each dumping episode in the story. Notice if the child anticipates the dumping after repeated exposure.
Community Activities
Reiser, L. (1995). Good Morning, Farm. Grand Haven, MI: School Zone Publishing. This book has clear colorful pictures and simple text. It can be used with the Fisher-Price farm set. This book can be used first with a field trip to a petting zoo farm and then with the toy to develop Symbolic play.
May be less meaningful to children with visual impairment, since many toys feel alike. Representational and dramatic play are crucial social, cognitive and linguistic prerequisites to understanding meaning and storylines. This book links the world to the toy and text.
Krasilovsky, P. (1962). The Very Little Boy. New York: Doubleday. This story brings together Concepts and Vocabulary from previous units. Try reading it with only the braille. Ask the child to tell you ways the child is big and little.
Anglund, J. W. (1992). A Child's Year. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Company Take a one page calendar and glue each item on the month--knit cap, valentine, kite, umbrella, flower, veil, flag, shovel, slate, pumpkin, plate and candy cane--forming an object calendar. Use this calendar through the year to develop the concept of the annual cycle of time and activity. Make sure each item is explored through activity and then connected to the page in the book and the calendar.
Hill, E. (1989). Spot Looks at the Weather. London: Ventura Publishing Ltd. Make a story box with the different objects--kite, umbrella, cup, knit cap. Feel each object as the page is read.
Literacy Units
1) Literacy Unit - Relating a book to a familiar activity with a story bag
We Go to School by E. Hathon, (1992), Random House.
The purpose of this book activity is to help the child make the connection between familiar activities in life and stories in books using a story bag with real objects as a link between the activity and the book.
play, sing paint, clean up, roll sleeves, snack, story coats
predicting order in the environment
tolerate "reading" braille text
school bag
Make sure you always do the real activity and explore the real objects before you explore your storybag object. Build with blocks, strum guitar, paint, wash hands, eat cupcake, dig sand, read book, shake sheet and put on jacket.
Then explore each of the items for your bag, remembering to relate them to the real objects--lego, airplane, juice box, lunch box, bucket and mattress.
After you have done all the activities and felt all the objects, place a block, paint brush, soap, cupcake, cup shovel, book pillowcase, jacket, juice box and plane in a school bag. As you read each page take out the related object to feel. Braille a key word on each page and glue it on the pages. Let the child "read" the words as you read the story.
Make an object clock by taping small objects for your daily routine on a cardboard circle.
2) Literacy Unit --Using a touch book with a story box
Pat the Bunny by D. Kunhardt, (no date), New York, Golden Press
The purpose of this unit is to introduce books. Even a touch book needs to be reinforced with the real object. This kind of unit teaches the child to understand the relationship between real objects and activities and the tactual representation in books.
pat, bunny, peekaboo, smell, flower, mirror, feel scratchy, face, look, read, book finger, ring, bye bye
smell, feel, look, read
pat, play peek-a-boo, finger extension, wave
toy bunny
First do the activities related to each page. Then assemble a story box with bunny, scarf, plastic flower, perfume sample, mirror, sand paper, book and ring--practice playing peek-a-boo, smelling real flowers, looking in mirror, feeling cheek, reading book, putting on ring and waving.
Explore each object in the storybox and book and talk about how it feels (soft, furry, thin, bumpy, smooth, scratchy, round, hole). Compare each to the real object.
As you read each page take out the related objects and do the related action; place all the items in the box and wave bye bye. Let the child "read" the braille on each page of text.
Visit a pet store and feel a real bunny. Compare this bunny to the toy bunny.
3) Literacy Unit--Relating a book to the activity by adapting the pages with objects from a story bag
Pumpkin, Pumpkin by J. Titherington, (1986), New York, Mulberry Press
The purpose of this unit is to read about an activity we do in class or at home and transition from a story bag to representational objects on a page. Children with visual impairment cannot be assumed to understand spontaneously the relationship between an object acted upon and each level of representation--another object attached to a page, a model or toy object, a portion of an object, a texture or outline representing an object. Each relationship should be taught explicitly. The adult provides a carefully and systematically constructed scaffold of meaning and relationship that teaches the child simultaneously how to analyze and construct and interpret representation.
pumpkin seed, plant, scoop, pulp, face, window
plant, grow
touch something messy
pumpkin trick-or-treat carrier
Shop for a pumpkin, carve the pumpkin and plant the seeds. As you do each activity, use the language of the text and show the related pictures.
In the store feel different sized pumpkins (big, bigger, biggest), feel parts of pumpkins. If you have access to a garden feel the parts of plants and how they grow from the soil. Explore all the parts of the shovel, watering can, pumpkin and knife, pointing out key features like the spout, handle, blade, stem, pulp.
Place a packet of pumpkin seeds, plastic plant, mini pumpkin and plastic knife in the carrier. Let the child feel each object as you read the story. Then tape each object into the book.
Relate the face parts on the jack-o-lantern to the child's face. Make a jack-o-lantern mask.
4) Literacy Unit--Relating activities to an adapted book
My First Thanksgiving by T. dePaola, (1972), New York, G. P. Putnam Sons
The purpose of this unit is to relate activities to a historical event and move from story boxes to pages adapted with objects that are not necessarily identical to the complete real object. This unit adaptation includes objects, model or toy objects and portions of objects.
food, hands, turkey, kitchen, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, mince pie, thank you
thanking, feast
trace hands, assist cooking, self feeding
As always, first do the real activities, pairing them with the text and pictures--carry food on the tray, make hand print turkeys, cook.
Go shopping for the Thanksgiving meal. Find some of the foods and feel them. How do they look, feel and smell in the store? Compare how Thanksgiving foods are the same and different in the store, packaged, uncooked and cooked.
Tape on the appropriate pages a stuffing wrapper, mini Indian corn, crayon, spoon, mini pie pan, napkin. Put a duplicate set of objects on the tray. As you read, find the object on each page and match it to the objects on the tray.
Visit a petting zoo or feed store and feel a real turkey. Let your child help shop for, prepare, serve and eat the Thanksgiving meal.
5) Literacy Unit - Enhancing a touch book with real objects
Santa's Beard Is Soft and Warm by B. Ottum and J. Wood, (1974), Racine, Wisconsin, Western Publishing Company
The purpose of this unit is to move from a story box to an adapted touch book and adaptation with textures and parts of objects. Touch books can be very abstract with models, parts of objects, textures or sniff dots. The child must be taught systematically to understand each of these stimuli in relationship to the complete real object and activity.
pine tree, round, smooth, bright, package, paper, ribbon, blanket, basket, bear, fuzzy, snap, stocking, candy, card
puffy, fluffy, pointy, bright, smooth, fuzzy
lift blanket, snap elastic, open card
cotton ball
Visit a mall and feel trees and ornaments and presents under a tree. Find a toy store and feel stuffed animals; experience puppies in a pet store. Visit Santa and feel his beard and suspenders. Buy a small gift and wrap and tie it, then put it in a stocking and hang the stocking up. Play peekaboo with a blanket.
Feel a wad of cotton, an artificial tree, ornaments, wrapping paper, garland, yarn, ribbon, sock, elastic band, candy, fur and card. Let the child match each touch object to the tactual representation in the book - place the touch objects in a box decorated with Christmas wrap and ribbon or in a large stocking. Let the child help you tape the objects in the book next to their representations. For instance, tape a twig of artificial twig next to the tree and a tiny bow next to the present.
After you have taped the piece of tree, ornament ball, ribbon, candy and card on the appropriate pages, glue a braille word under each object. Feel the objects and textures on the pages and "read" the braille.
Take out the touch stocking and see if your child can match the textures to the objects
6) Literacy Unit --Relating activities to puppet play and text
Valentine Cats by J. Marzello, (1996), New York, Scholastic
The purpose of this unit is to relate activities and puppets to a story and objects. Not all characters and experiences are subject to "hands-on" exploration, yet the world of literacy contains wonderful materials with imaginary content. Puppets provide one bridge between accessible real actions and the fictional content.
card, word, write, catch, fall, paper, glue, glitter, paint, heart, cup scrap, mailbox, sign, bag, march, door
valentine, giving
scribble, catch, glue, paint, cut, write, fill, march
valentine box
Do the activities--look up a word in a dictionary, write a sign, toss and catch scraps, make valentines with glitter and glue, cut paper, fill bag with valentines and mail to classmates, march to the door. Emphasize the actions that are fun--stomp to the door, scatter the scraps and valentines, snap the scissors open and closed.
Explore the paper, foil, envelope, marker, glue, glitter, paint, scissors, mailbox and door. Remember to point out the key feature--foil is shiny, a doily has holes, an envelope has a flap.
Act out the entire story taking time to feel the real objects; then place the objects in the valentine box. Repeat the story without the objects stressing the rhythm and rhyme.
Make three cat puppets from paper lunch bags drawing eyes, nose and whiskers on the flap and adding two pointed ears at the top and paper strip arms at the sides--writer cat has a marker, painter cat has a paint brush and mailing cat has an envelope. Act out the story with the puppets.
7) Literacy Unit --Making a story pillow
The Carrot Seed by R. Krauss, (1945), New York, Harper & Row
The purpose of this unit is to encourage narration by making a story pillow. A story pillow allows the child to transition between actually doing activities and representing doing activities--a prerequisite for understanding narrative content.
mother, father, brother, water, seed, carrot, wheelbarrow, weed
planting and growing, believing in oneself
dig, water, pull up
packet of seeds
Plant, water, and weed carrots at home or in class. Push a wheelbarrow.
Buy a bunch of carrots. Explore the tops and carrots. Out of felt, cut out figures for the family, a watering can, a seed, a tiny and huge carrot. Put a piece of furry velcro on the boy figure's hand. Relate each felt figure to the real object--it has a spout and a handle like the real watering can, it is long and thin and pointy at the bottom like the carrot. Attach velcro hook tabs to the back of each piece. Sew two felt squares stuffed with old socks together. Attach a piece of furry velcro two-thirds of the way down one side. Let the child find the velcro and practice putting each figure on and making it stick using the hooked velcro on the back. It will be easier if the child first practices finding and pulling off each piece. It is important for the child to begin to realize that there are two dimensional representations of graphics--these occur frequently in school--this kind of activity is the scaffold for working with graphic representation.
When you read the story use a deep voice for the father, a high voice for the mother and a taunting intonation for the brother. At first act out the actions such as planting, watering and pulling weeds. Make the story sound dramatic. Then demonstrate how to act it out using the story pillow. Each time let the child retell the story with the pillow and figures, while you extend the child's actions and utterances to enrich meaning. Let the child make up new stories, too.
Once you have made and learned to use your story pillow you can make figures from other stories that have a narrative line, such as Caps for Sale, The Three Little Kittens or The Three Bears.
8) Literacy Unit --Enjoying sounds and rhymes
Drummer Hoff by B. Emberly, (1967), Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, Inc.
The purpose of this unit is to give the child experience with a book in which the content is, to some extent, not subject to direct experience and to engage the child in the enjoyment of the sound and rhythm of text. In life and school, there will be many books used for which the child cannot have hands-on experience. It is important that each child be able to listen and enjoy and even learn from such books. Learning to appreciate the rhythm and sound of language is a normal developmental step towards complex language and later narratives, literature and poetry.
carriage, barrel, powder, rammer, shot, order, fired it off
sequence, assembling a whole
listening to the sound of text, recalling sequence
toy cannon
Many towns have a cannon or statue depicting a cannon, either on a military installation or museum or at a memorial, that can be explored. If either is available, explore it thoroughly finding the various parts and their relations in space.
If a life size cannon is not available, find a toy cannon for the child to explore.
When you read, emphasize the rhythm and rhyme, and order. Once you have read it several times to establish expectation, introduce slight variations in pacing to develop suspense about what is coming next. Ask the child what comes next. Read the second half progressively faster to complete each page in one breath--make a game of it!
Make story pillow figures for each soldier and each part so the child can have each character bring the correct part and add it on.
9) Literacy Unit--Acting out a story and encouraging Symbolic play
Corduroy by D. Freeman, (1968), New York, Viking Press
The purpose of this kind of unit is to expose the child to classic books which may not be wholly available for life experience, and to facilitate understanding, and generalization to acting out a story and Symbolic play. Children with visual impairments need to be prepared to engage and be successful with a range of material and content. Not every book can be based completely on hands-on or familiar experience. Symbolic and peer play are often difficult and may require scaffolding by adults to develop.
Corduroy, bear, toy department, store, shoppers, overalls, girl/Lisa, Mommy, button, shoulder strap, lost/find, shelf, climb down, floor, escalator/mountain, furniture/palace, mattress/bed, small, round, pull up, pop. bang, lamp, fell down, watchman. hiding, ear, cover, home, broken/fixed, friend, hug
sequence, causation, home, friend, comparing Concepts, real/make believe
understanding cause/effect and sequence
Visit a department store. Ride the escalator up and down comparing it to a mountain or hill; make sure the child gets to walk up and down hill in the familiar neighborhood. Find the toy department and explore the shelves, dolls and stuffed animals, especially any teddy bears; make sure you point out the clothes and buttons. Find the furniture department and explore the mattresses, beds, lamps, sofas, tables and chairs; explain what a palace is and find the buttons on the mattress.
When you explore each object, make sure you start at the floor to establish a reference in space and systematically work up feeling every part and noting the spatial relationship to the other parts--for example, the legs are under the table top, the shade is at the top of the lamp. Spatial language is more difficult for children with visual impairments, since the tactual sense is sequential and partial compared to normal vision.
Use different voices for each character. Corduroy's voice should sound full of wonder and the watchman should sound angry. Lisa and Corduroy sound sad at the beginning of the story and happy at the end. Assemble a toy bear, doll clothes overalls, flashlight, lamp, mattress and sheet. As you read the story, act it out with the real objects. Leave the real objects in the play area, after you have read the story several times, and encourage the child to
act out the story.
You can make a storypillow set for Corduroy to encourage more story telling and more Symbolic play. Discuss the order of events in the story. Ask the child why Corduroy searches for the button, why everything falls over. Practice divergent thinking; where else can Corduroy search. Discuss the feelings and emotions of the characters. Compare the escalator to a mountain, the store to a palace. Discuss what it means to be fixed and broken, and the Concepts of having a friend and home.
10) Literacy Unit - Making the transition to a book without adaptation
Whistle for Willieby E. J. Keats, (1964), New York, Viking Press
The purpose of this unit is to make the transition to the book without adaptation--the most frequent real life situation the child will encounter. The child's literate and social world would be impoverished indeed if limited to content that can be touched and experienced directly and formats that are specially adapted for visual impairment. An emergent literacy program must facilitate Skills to deal with the everyday world of unadapted books dealing with the full range of content. This transition, like the preceding ones, must be addressed with explicit training.
whistle, whirl, faster, down, up, turn, around, carton, Peter, Willie, chalk, pocket, draw, line, door, blew, hat, mirror, mother, father, walk, crack, sidewalk, run, shadow, jump, corner, shout, stand
faster, up/down, together, in, under
whistle, draw, jump
toy whistle
Take the child through the actions--spin faster, draw a line, get in and under the carton, walk, run, jump, shout, stand, try to whistle or blow; use the toy whistle to whistle.
Feel the sidewalk and cracks, a pocket with chalk inside and a hat and mirror.
Read the story doing an action for each set of pages; some actions will be pretend such as drawing a line. After reading the story several times with the actions, try reading it without the actions. The goal is for the child, eventually, to be able to hear a new story, without advance preparation, and listen, engage, and learn.
Try reading a book which blends familiar and unfamiliar content, such as Bedtime for Frances, without preparation. Be sure to enrich reading with divergent and convergent thinking activities--what happened first, what happened at the end, why do you think Frances didn't fall asleep, what did she learn, what other things can you imagine scaring Frances?
11) Literacy Unit - Using an action book and puppet to enhance the story
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by E. Carle, (1969), New York, Philomel
The purpose of this unit is to relate a puppet to an action book. This book has real content, but it is content that is unlikely to be subject to hands-on exploration. It is important for the child to begin to relate what is knowable through hands-on experience (eating) to what is unavailable (caterpillar transformation) since much of later social studies and science will fall into this category.
caterpillar, leaf, apple, pear, plum, strawberry, orange, cake, ice cream, pickle, cheese, salami, lollipop, pie, sausage, cupcake, watermelon, butterfly
find hole in page
fabric butterfly
Find the 15 foods listed above in the store and feel, smell and examine them. Act out being a caterpillar crawling on the floor, spinning a cocoon, and flying away as a butterfly.
Feel those matching foods you have on hand finding the key parts, such as cylinder shaped sausage, pits on the orange, cone on the ice cream cone, holes in the cheese or stick on the lollipop, and relating the food to the picture in the book.
Make a caterpillar puppet by coloring a white sock with marker to look like the caterpillar in the book; make sure it has big eyes and a long green body. Cut out huge colorful wings out of cloth or paper. Attach strips of furry velcro to the puppet and hooked velcro to the wings. Make a cocoon from a piece of old hose or brown sock. Act out the story with the puppet and find each hole on the pages with holes. When the puppet eats, stuff as many as possible foods in the sock puppet to make the caterpillar get fat! Put the puppet in the cocoon and attach the wings so that the butterfly can fly away! Ask questions about how and why the caterpillar changes.
You can enrich this experience by making colored poster board cutouts of the foods so the child can practice making one-to-one correspondences between the cutouts and pages;use puff pens to emphasize the key differences. Use furry velcro tabs on the pages and hooked velcro tabs on the matching pieces as markers. Point out the relationship of the pieces to the real objects.
References and Resources
Anderson, E. S., Dunlea, A. & Kekelis, L. S. (1993). The Impact of input: Language acquisition in the visually impaired. First Language, 13, 23-49.
Drezek, W. (1995). Move Touch Do! Louisville, KY: American Printing House for the Blind.
Evans, J. & Moore, J. E. (1991). How to Make Books with Children. Monterey, CA: Evan-Moor Corporation.
King-DeBaum, P. (1990). Storytime: Stories, Symbols and Emergent Literacy Activities for Young, Special Needs Children. Solana Beach, CA: Mayer and Johnson.
Koenig, A. J. & Farrenkopf, C. (1996). Essential experiences to undergird the early development of literacy. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. 91, 14-23.
Miller, D. (1985). Reading comes naturally: A mother and her blind child's experiences. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 79, 1-4.
Moore, J. E., Evans, J. & Morgan, K. (1990). Making Seasonal Big Books with Children. Monterey, CA: Evan-Moor Corporation
Recchia, S. L. (1997). Play and concept development in infants and young children with severe visual impairments: A constructivist view. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 91, 401-406.
Rettig, M. ( 1994). The play of young children with visual impairments: characteristics and interventions. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 88, 410-120.
Sacks, S. Z., Kekelis, L.S. & Gaylord-Ross, R. J. (1992). The Development of Social Skills by Blind and Visually Impaired Students: Exploratory Studies and Strategies. New York, NY: American Foundation for the Blind.
Sewell, D. & Durkel, J. (1997). Emerging Literacy for Braille Readers. Paper presented at the Texas AER conference, El Paso, Texas.
Stratton, J. M. (1996). Emergent literacy: A new perspective. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 90, 177-183.
Strickling, C. (1997, January). INSITE Training: Motor. Paper presented at the INSITE training workshop, San Antonio, Texas.


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The Navy may be shedding all its frigates by the end of next year, but the ships are still busy and in high demand — creating a dilemma for the Navy over which ships will pick up their missions.
Defense experts say that it's an open question of when the littoral combat ships joining the fleet will be ready to take on challenging missions like counterdrug operations and sub-hunting — frigate mainstays that have pushed their deployment pace. Some anticipate that Military Sealift Command ships and other auxiliaries may pick up some of the slack.
"There is a big unknown in regard to LCS when the three types of [mission] modules will come online and will test sat[isfactory]," said retired Capt. Jan van Tol, who's now a defense expert with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Even toward the end of their service lives, Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates play an oversize part in Navy operations. Between 2011 and 2013, for instance, frigates spent roughly a third of their time underway on average, higher than many ship classes.
The LCS is a revolutionary warship designed to load out separate mission modules, like those being developed for mine hunting, anti-submarine warfare and combating small boats.
When the frigates vanish by the end of 2015 — an accelerated retirement schedule due in part to budget pressure, experts say — there will be roughly eight LCS hulls in the fleet, fewer than the 11 frigates currently in service.
And it remains unclear when they can be deployed for missions such as narcotics interdiction or ASW.
The LCS is also slated to take over mine-hunting missions from the Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships, now nearing the end of their service lives.
In a statement, Navy spokeswoman Lt. Jackie Pau said that the service would employ whatever ships it could to fill the mission requirements.
"Our missions are platform-agnostic," Pau said. "There is no singular ship replacement for the decommissioning frigates as outlined in the Navy's Future Years Defense Plan or the 30-year shipbuilding plan. The missions previously conducted by FFGs will be performed by other elements of the fleet, including LCS, [destroyers] and JHSVs."
'Ad hoc response'
Navy observers agree that the service will have to string together a strategy to make up for the absent frigates.
To fill the gap, the Navy is going to have to get creative, and some missions, such as the counterdrug patrols and presence missions in South and Central America, could suffer, said retired Cmdr. Bryan Clark, a former aide to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert and an analyst at CSBA.
"I imagine they'll go into the kit bag to cover some of these missions," Clark said, adding that the move would be "not such a bad thing, because it will force them to look at different ways of using the mobile landing platform, perhaps the [dry cargo ships] or the joint high speed vessel. But this is all based on sort of an ad hoc response to something they should have anticipated."
Navy leaders view these vessels as alternatives for low-end missions like training foreign navies and disaster relief. At April's Sea-Air-Space exposition, Greenert extolled the JHSV as a cheaper option to cover missions like counterpiracy, freeing up blue-water combatants for other missions.
"We need lower-cost approaches," Greenert said. "We need to tailor the ship more to the mission."
This is something that's already happening in the fleet. In May, the Spearhead, the lead ship in the JHSV class, returned from Africa Partnership Station, one of the many train-and-assist missions that frigates have done in the past.
The Spearhead is now in the Caribbean on patrol, having made stops in the Dominican Republic and Belize. The Navy is ordering 10 of the JHSVs, which will be forward-deployed around the world.
But the Navy isn't the only service eager to use the JHSV — the Marine Corps is also excited by the platform.
Capt. Marc Lederer, a former mission commander for the JHSV Spearheard, told Navy Times in May that the ship can carry as many as 312 Marines and 600 tons of equipment. And the Office of Naval Research is testing a lightweight ramp that can support an M1-A1 tank.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Jim Amos recently joked that the ramp was the "John the Baptist of ship-to-shore connectivity."
Ultimately, though, the Navy will need another frigate, van Tol said, and the service is looking at options including adding vertical launch tubes to a future frigate class for missiles, better preparing the vessel for more high-end missions like defending an aircraft carrier from incoming missiles.
"There are frigate missions that LCS is just simply not designed to do," van Tol said. "Carrier operations is one of them, and there are questions about its survivability. I suspect that's one of the principal reasons that the Pentagon put out a proposal for a new ship that will serve as an actual replacement for the frigate."
In February, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cut the number of LCSs the Navy plans to buy from 52 to 32 and directed that the service put forward "alternative proposals to procure a capable and lethal small surface combatant, generally consistent with the capabilities of a frigate."
In testimony before Congress, both Greenert and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus have said that the new frigate-like ship will likely be a variant of the LCS, because it is difficult, time-consuming and expensive to design a whole new ship from scratch. ■


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Five Nittany Lions named Preseason All-CAA
Five Nittany Lions named Preseason All-CAA
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's lacrosse team, already predicted to win the Colonial Athletic Association for a second straight year, had five Nittany Lions named to the Preseason All-CAA Team Friday (Jan. 24) morning by conference coaches.
Reigning CAA Player and Defensive Player of the Year Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) has been tabbed by the league's coaches to repeat that honor in 2014. Kaut swept the CAA yearly accolades last year before being named the nation's top goalie and Penn State's first USILA All-American first-teamer in over 80 years.
Joining Kaut on the Preseason All-CAA Team are 2013 All-CAA First Team honorees Tom LaCrosse (Canandaigua, N.Y.), Steven Bogert (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Tyler Travis (Geneva, N.Y.) as well as 2013 All-CAA Second Team pick TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ont.).
Senior attackman Shane Sturgis (Downingtown, Pa.) and junior close defenseman JP Burnside (Garden City, N.Y.) were two of five honorable mention candidates for the preseason All-CAA team.
The Nittany Lions led all CAA members with five preseason picks followed by Towson (4) and Drexel (2). UMass, Hofstra and Delaware each had one representative on the 14-player list. Including the honorable mentions, PSU led the way with seven laurels with UMass adding two honorable mentions and Drexel having one.
Last night the Nittany Lions scrimmaged against two-time defending Patriot League champion Lehigh at Holuba Hall. Next Saturday's exhibition against future Big Ten rival Johns Hopkins is set for 1 p.m. at Homewood Field before the Nittany Lions kick off the 2014 season against Michigan at Holuba Hall, Feb. 8 at 1 p.m.


text:
The Day Rob Halford Returned to Judas Priest
After more than a decade apart, on July 11, 2003, Judas Priest announced that they had reunited with the Metal God himself, singer Rob Halford.
Halford joined Judas Priest in 1973 and helped them become one of the most important names in heavy-metal history over the next two decades with his writing and singing on classic albums such as British Steel and Screaming for Vengeance.
He left in 1992 amid rumors of internal tensions within the group, launching a new career by forming the thrash band Fight and then the more experimental 2wo. The '00s found Halford returning to his roots with two more traditionally Priest-sounding albums (including the 2000 LP Resurrection) that he released under the Halford moniker.
At about that same time, Halford and his former bandmates in Judas Priest started repairing their personal relationships and eventually decided to reunite in time for a 30th-anniversary tour. It was such a logical and welcome move that even Halford's replacement, Tim 'Ripper' Owens, had little objection. As guitarist Glenn Tipton told CNN at the time, "He sent us an e-mail yesterday, saying he agrees with the decision, you know, because he is a big Priest fan as well."
The reunited Judas Priest's first order of business was a 2004 European tour, followed by a co-headlining spot on the Ozzfest tour. In 2005 they released the well-regarded Angel of Retribution album, followed by the double-disc concept album Nostradamus in 2008.


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Employer Branding
The RWTH Aachen Career Center offers companies numerous options to improve their visibility among students.
Head of Division
- work
- +49 241 80 99122
- Send Email
For example you can have your advertisement published in the student handbook. We only permit image advertising in which the company presents itself as an employer. Advertisements for products or services are not permitted in this format.
The student handbook is printed in a run of 5,000 copies in DIN A5 format and is distributed at the beginning of the lecture period. This offer begins at 300 euros plus tax.
There are also numerous opportunities to increase the company's overall visibility among students. Please look at Fundraising & Sponsoring to see how you can implement targeted sponsoring or branding.


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Plenty of historical bloggers have weighed in on VA Gov. Bob McDonnell's proclamation of Confederate History Month and his subsequent apology for omitting slavery from it: Kevin Levin, Brooks Simpson, Robert Moore, and Richard Williams, for instance.
These historical dust-ups normally don't spill over into more general-purpose news sites, but this one has done just that. The Washington Post's Virginia Politics blog has devoted several posts to the subject.
Even more interesting is this post from the same paper's political analysis blog, on whether McDonnell's gaffe will cost him a position on a national ticket. The blogger plays it down, but the fact that people are raising the question at all tells us something about the way we're remembering the Civil War nowadays. Confederate history, it seems, is quite the political liability.
This item on the Post blog states that the Sons of Confederate Veterans requested that McDonnell issue the proclamation, and notes that an SCV spokesman "said the governor's stamp of approval would help the group publicize the month and aide [sic] tourism efforts in the state." I didn't know the SCV was in the tourism promotion business, and I don't see why a proclamation of "Virginia Civil War History Month" wouldn't have accomplished the same thing. In any case I don't see how a gubernatorial proclamation of any sort would increase visitation to museums and historic sites. This sort of thing strikes me as a case of giving lip service to promoting historical awareness and heritage tourism with nothing to back it up.
Having perused a list of the governor's official proclamations on his website, I'm not convinced that being the subject of one is anything to write home about. For instance, in addition to naming April Confederate History Month, McDonnell has also proclaimed the same month to be Financial Literacy Month.
March is pretty busy, with Mediation Month, Kidney Day (note the stirring section following the first "WHEREAS" on that one), Governmental Purchasing Month, and Tornado Preparedness Day. Rest assured that if by some remarkable coincidence a tornado had struck Virginia on March 16, 2010, her citizens would have been thoroughly ready for it.
And Virginians of all ages were no doubt wetting their pants in anticipation of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week back in February.
If the SCV is so concerned about promoting Virginia history, then let them lobby their state officials to beef up funding for historic sites, the state historical society, and so on. That would take good deal more effort than convincing the governor to issue a simple proclamation, but it would do far more good.
Similarly, if the governor wants people to visit his state's many wonderful historic destinations, he's in an excellent position to do something about it—but I think a proclamation will do very little toward that end. Let him take active steps to strengthen historical interpretation and preservation in the state which he runs. Let him present a budget to the legislature with robust allowances for the state agencies which serve as caretakers of Virginia's history. Let him pledge not to lay off the people who work for these agencies, as so many state executives have done. Let him implement sincere measures to make Virginia's historic destinations the centerpiece of the state's tourism initiatives.
I don't think the proclamation of Confederate History Month did either harm or good to the cause of promoting Virginia's Civil War past. In fact, I don't think it has done much of anything, except make a lot of people very upset.