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Targeted anti-cancer drug delivery system
A Slovenian research institution has developed a specific bio-molecular drug delivery system using a selective cathepsin inhibitor as a guiding molecu... See more
Novel method for making Teflon® and other fluoropolymers hydrophilic
A Slovenian research institute has developed a novel method for surface treatment of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Teflon®) and other fluorinated po... See more
Innovative antimicrobial and antioxidant food packaging films and foils
A Slovenian research institute and a university have developed an innovative antioxidant and antimicrobial flexible plastic material for making films ... See more
Slovenian technology for medical muscle strengthening device
Slovenian researchers developed a device for ischemic and efficient muscle building and/or strengthening. The client is looking for an industrial par... See more
Development know-how, simulation and testing capabilities for research in the field of transmission gears in metal and plastic
A Swiss R&D group is conducting research in transmission systems and gears made from steel and plastic. Test benches, measuring machines & cal... See more
Passive hexapod positioner with innovative preloaded joints for accurate reconfigurable positioning of fixtures or jigs
A Slovenian company with a 40-year tradition in automatic systems for product assembly is offering a patent pending hexapod technology as a reconfigur... See more
A Finnish company is looking for partners, who aim to replace oil and food based raw materials used in their current products by new, and 100% bio-based materials (dissolving pulp, polymeric hemicellulose, sulphur-free lignin)
A Finnish company, who has developed a new technology to fractionate biomass into its main constituents in high quality, and in a cost-effective way, ... See more
Low cost synthesis of O-17 and O-18 isotope labeled compounds for tracing in pharmacy, chemistry, agrochemistry or biology.
A Swiss university offers an efficient synthesis route to oxygen-isotope compounds. Oxygen isotopes are a helpful but expensive tool to trace chemical... See more
Conflation of datasets into higher quality Digital Elevation Models, at low cost
Slovenian researchers have developed an intelligently conflated Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Instead of a single data source, the algorithm uses a m... See more
Co-designing, testing and piloting of innovative assistance technologies with senior citizens in private homes and care institutions.
A private foundation based in Switzerland is specialised in demographic change and the emerging market of assistance technologies for elderly people. ... See more
Smartwatch application for telecare and fall detection of the elderly
A Slovenian research institute is offering a software for telecare and fall detection application for care of the elderly. The software is running on ... See more
Stress-detection algorithm for wearable devices is offered for licensing
A Slovenian research institute is offering a computer implemented algorithm for stress detection. The algorithm was evaluated in a real-life setting a... See more
Scientific instrument for studying transient currents in semiconductors
A spin-out company of a leading Slovenian scientific research institute has developed a highly specialized instrument for applying transient current t... See more
Packaging of food – reducing empty space in food containers
A Slovenian inventor has invented a new packaging solution for reducing an empty space of packaging containers, which are typically sold with food and... See more
Smartphone IoT platform for quick prototyping and testing
A Slovenian internet-of-things (IoT) software development company is offering an innovative smartphone IoT platform for quick and agile prototyping an... See more
Operations management Enterprise Resource Planning, optimisation software and mobile application
A Finnish IT company offers advanced technology specially designed for operations real time management. The solution consists three main modules: oper... See more
High-temperature protection coating with built-in thermal sensor
A Swiss school of technology offers a high-temperature protection coating with a built-in thermal sensor. The new functional coating warns against the... See more
Swiss SME offering soft artificial muscle transducer for robotics, automation, wellbeing and prothesis seeks commercial agreement
A Swiss SME specialized in elastomeric components for the global automotive industry has developed and produced a proprietary dielectric elastomer act... See more
Personal decision support system for heart failure management
A Slovenian research institute has developed and clinically tested a personal health application that provides accurate personalized advice for patien... See more
A novel biomaterial for the treatment of periodontal disease defects – Peridocure
Slovenian researchers developed a simple procedure for modification of bacterial cellulose with micro structured gelatine coating. The invention can b... See more


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By Kiara Catanzaro, '15
Helping impoverished Kenyans is a family affair for St. Bonaventure graduates Adam and Andrea Jablonski of Fairport, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester.
Adam Jablonski first visited Kenya on a service trip in 2005. Two years later he would help found Building Futures, Inc., an organization dedicated to improving educational opportunities in the African nation.
"Our group accomplishes this through building or rebuilding schools," said Adam, one of four directors of Building Futures, Inc. "We also provide scholarships for secondary students and have begun teaching baseball to the young men and women attending school."
Adam, who received his bachelor's degree in psychology from St. Bonaventure in 1987, is president and CEO of Rochester Beer & Beverage Corp. Andrea (Hatch) Jablonski, who received her master's in counseling from the university in 1990, is a religion teacher at Church of the Assumption.
They have three children, and all are involved with Building Futures. Karen, the youngest, inspired by her experiences in Kenya, wants to be a teacher and is a freshman education major this year at St. Bonaventure.
"I have a broad perspective on education because kids in Africa do not have cupboards filled with crayons and glue, whiteboards or projectors," Karen said. "Students in Africa have a piece of paper and a pencil. Despite the differences, each student is excited to go to school and is eager to learn. It's those students who make me excited about teaching."
Adam Jablonski, who travels to Kenya twice a year, said the organization's efforts are focused on Kenya's western province of Nyanza, where volunteers have built a primary school, are working toward building a secondary school, and are awaiting the opening of a recently constructed health clinic compound.
The idea for the clinic came from watching sick children walking with their parents to the nearest health facility, a five-mile hike over rough terrain.
A number of other projects are in the works, including one known as the Sanity Pad Project.
"My wife and children are actively involved with the 'Pad Project,' which provides impoverished, young teens with disposable sanitary napkins," Adam said. "This allows girls to stay in school rather than sit until their menstrual cycle passes. This project has been well received on both continents, and there are many families in the community that help us with this endeavor."
The family wants to help eliminate negative stereotypes associated with Africa. Adam hopes more people become interested in volunteering, so they learn about countries in Africa.
"Many individuals are interested in helping others but they hesitate because they don't know where to begin," he said.
The work is "physically and emotionally draining," he said, but there are many rewarding experiences, such as the opportunity to help a young Kenyan girl named Leah, who needed to surgery to remove a cyst from her head. The Jablonskis helped raise the money needed for the surgery.
"We are rewarded with every trip when we see the smiles on the faces of the people we serve. From the very young to the very old, they continue to be grateful for the help we provide and friendship we share," Adam said. "It's nice to work with an entire community, but it's just as rewarding to help individuals who need it most. I love to see people smile, and knowing that I could help a young girl was a rewarding experience."
Others can find the same satisfaction, he said.
"Traveling to the other side of the world can be quite costly, but we encourage anyone that wants to explore service work to reach out to organizations and look to volunteer," said Adam. "Whether here in the U.S. or outside the country, you won't be disappointed."
About the University: The nation's first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. We are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.
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Do we fancy this again this year? Usually 12.50ew (pays top 6 places) on top scorer in EPL with Paddypower and £2 free bets for each goal scored??
lists not up yet but 12 of us in Syndicate. £2 of our entry fee will go towards this bet but will give us lots of free bets during season plus hopefully a nice winner at the end.
Post your preferred option in here & we will go with the majority decision on who to bet as usual. Only one selection please.


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Bad Tölz is a mud spa resort in the heart of the Tölzer Land region. Having officially become a spa resort right back in 1899, it has developed and expanded its range of health services ever since.
Visitors to Bad Tölz, which is situated 670 metres above sea level, can enjoy pristine, oxygen-rich air, moderate temperatures and gentle breezes. But that's not all that's on offer in this small baroque town on the river Isar. The historical Kurhaus, extensive parks and glorious scenery all combine to make a holiday here an unforgettable experience.
Local mud, therapeutic climate and nature
Spa visitors and health tourists alike will benefit from the therapeutic effects of the Tölz medicinal mud, which can alleviate chronic and acute musculo-skeletal complaints and also some gynaecological problems. Natural resources are treated with care and respect in Bad Tölz and the precious mud is sustainably sourced. Bad Tölz has also been a climatic health resort since 1969. Thanks to its mild but stimulating climate and its Alpine foothill location, it offers the perfect backdrop for a range of outdoor activities all year round, including walking, mountain biking and alpine skiing.
Enchanting town, beautiful surroundings
In addition to its diverse range of niche sports, wellness treatments and health packages, Bad Tölz also has plenty to offer those of a more cultural bent: theatre, concerts and dance in the spa gardens are among the many highlights in the events calendar. This enchanting town is a rewarding holiday destination for anyone wishing to do something positive for their health while enjoying all the delights of a renowned spa resort.
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Friday, December 30, 2011
Best Books of 2011, Which Were Read By Me
But, as the saying goes, anyway. Enough of that. On to the list! Which, once again, is in no particular order until you get maybe into the top three or so. Everything prior to that is viewed by me on a more or less equal plane of quality. Roughly. Mainly, I don't want to do the work of ranking too much of this, because I think that's boring, to do, if not to read. But I'd rather not be bored than be bored, so there it is. Regardless, you can safely regard the book in my #1 spot as my favorite book of the year.
The Sour Lemon Score by Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) - It was between this and The Black Ice Score, a slightly curious entry into Westlake's (writing as Stark) series of Parker novels. Black Ice has one of the iciest bits of violence Westlake ever wrote, and the time spent on it, and what it reveals about those who perpetrate the violence, is somehow all the more effective as Parker is nowhere to be seen at the time, and the killers are one-offs, present in that book, and that book only. But The Sour Lemon Score almost has that tone throughout. Sour Lemon is almost absurdist, as it finds Parker driving up and down the Eastern seaboard again and again, tracking one-time accomplice, turned violent betrayer, George Uhl, as well as the money Uhl stole from Parker (who stole it himself, of course, but whatever). Parker has been nastier in other novels, and there are mildly worrying signs of a softening to the character (I'm told the next four books in the series, starting with Deadly Edge, return to some awfully dark territory), but The Sour Lemon Score remains entirely satisfying, with some beautiful sketchwork of the secondary characters, not just Uhl -- who's an awful, awful man -- but Matt Rosenstein, who, at least as far as I've read, must be the most evil man in the series. The chapter devoted to him and his psychology is a masterpiece, and the novel ends with a great stinger of a last line.
The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells - – I wrote about this book in October for my "The Kind of Face You Slash" series, and I think I'll let that stand as is. But I have to admit, and with some amount of chagrin, how surprised I was by the richness of this slender little novel. What I wanted was animal men wrecking shit, and I got that, but I was concerned about Wells's tendency towards loony-bird social philosophy. That's there, too, except not so loony-bird. The whole thing is pretty brilliant.
Gilligan's Wake by Tom Carson - This is a book you have to read to understand. This probably goes without saying, because so is Hop on Pop, but to describe Gilligan's Wake in flat terms is to do it an injustice. The idea is, basically, the history of the second half of the 20th century, starting at about World War II, as told through the eyes of characters from Gilligan's Island. I know, but wait. The amazing thing about the book is that Carson can place the Skipper, John F. Kennedy, and McHale from McHale's Navy in the same scene -- all of them being PT boat captains during the war -- and make you say "Sure, why not?" This integration of the historical and the very lowest of our modern culture is done with very few winks. It's a very funny book (and occasionally very disturbing: the chapter about the Professor is a grotesque, pansexual -- which doesn't even cover it -- paranoid nightmare), but it's not mocking. Or maybe it's more accurate to say there's no snark. Carson can throw in anything, from Sinatra to Bettie Page to Roy Cohn to Daisy Buchanan to Un Chien Andalou to pornography to Mary-Ann having an affair with Jean-Luc Godard, and somehow make it all play. This is the sort of novel that gets called "rollicking," and for good reason, but the tenderness is almost alarming. Your heart goes out to Lovie. How is that even possible? Ask Tom Carson, because I don't know.
Now's where I have to offer up the whole "in the interest of full disclosure" deal. I know, and am friends with, Tom Carson. I did consider leaving Gilligan's Wake off this list because of that. But I'm not getting paid for this, and so I believe that all I'm required to do in cases like this is acknowledge the fact. Otherwise, I can praise whatever I want to praise, as long as I do so sincerely. I am being very sincere.
The Cook by Harry Kressing - This is another one I wrote about this past October, and I think there's very little I can add to that. Suffice it to say, The Cook, possibly the only novel ever written by "Harry Kressing", depending on who that name is a pseudonym for, was the great find of this year's "The Kind of Face You Slash" posts. Weird, precise, disturbing, funny, and totally original, it's a novel you have to hunt for, as prices for used copies can run pretty steep. Some publisher who specializes in these kinds of forgotten classics, like Europa or NYRB, should jump all over this. It's a great book.
The Black Mass of Brother Springer by Charles Willeford - This early Willeford novel is, like so many of his books, not a crime novel, until it is. Sam Springer is, when we meet him, a writer, a published novelist, who fails to capitalize on that minor success. Since writing, in and of itself, means nothing to him, he takes whatever money-making scheme sounds good to him, such as that of a preacher of a black Southern church. And then things sort of spiral out of control, because when it comes to morality, Springer just doesn't seem to get it. The novel could be considered comic in a general sense, but you get to a point where Springer's disinterest in the wellfare of others becomes horrifying. The fact that the full consequences of some of his actions are never known cements the feeling that you are completely in Springer's head.
The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki - Yet a third novel that I did, in fact, write about earlier in the year, in this case in conjunction with the Criterion DVD release of Kon Ichikawa's film adaptation. A quietly devastating portrait of a family being dragged slowly away from their roots in Japanese tradition.
Sam the Cat and Other Stories by Matthew Klam - Klam's collection of short fiction made a bit of a splash back in 2000; curiously, and unfortunately, he's published no books since. A short story here and there, but no collections, and this is a real shame. Sam the Cat is everything that contemporary American fiction is often claimed to be, but rarely is, which is funny, honest, painful, and, within the realm of actual, day-to-day life, imaginative. The title story is a hilarious first-person account of a guy who is stopped dead by the fact that he mistakes an effeminate man for an attractive woman. His fumbling, bizarre attempts to make contact with this man are so awkward that you sort of curl up into yourself -- the suspense of the impending humor is an interesting effect, I think, and hard to pull off on the page, but Klam does it over and over.
Port Mungo by Patrick McGrath - Looked at broadly, Patrick McGrath's novels could be seen as a bit repetitive -- they pretty much all focus on a man or woman, a first person narrator, who tells a story about other people, family or friends or associates, often soaked in some sort of Gothic, but somehow still reined in, sleaze. Sex, murder, and the like. And the narrator, you come to learn, is not to be trusted. But McGrath does this so well so often that to complain about this will only get you a hearty "Oh why don't you just shut up" from yours truly. I haven't read Martha Peake, generally considered his weakest novel, and for my money Trauma, his most recent effort, is his one major stumble. But at his best, Asylum, Dr. Haggard's Disease, Spider and Port Mungo are all brilliant and chilling. Port Mungo takes place, in part, in a sweaty, swampy Central American port village, a change-up from McGrath's favored towering New York City and green English countrysides, but the reader, the appalled observer, still bears witness to the horror selfishness can inflict. Here, incest, booze, and criminal neglect reduces a putatively fine artist to something less than a bug, one under glass as befits McGrath's clinical, even Cronenbergian (those two were, and are, a good match) style.
Swag by Elmore Leonard - Looking back on my past "Books of the Year" posts, a practice meant to remind myself what I'm supposed to do, I noticed that Elmore Leonard has yet to make any of my lists. This despite the fact that I consider myself a fan, and I read at least a couple of his books every year. Well, bad Elmore Leonard books exist (Touch and Maximum Bob) and there's a whole lot that's middlin'. Now is probably not the time to break down Leonard's strengths and weaknesses, so I'll let it stand that I think he's a very fine writer who nevertheless frustrates me with some regularity. Even so, every fifth book or so that I read tends to strike me as some kind of masterpiece, and this year Swag knocked me out. Most Leonard novels are relatively simple in their core idea – in this case, the story focuses on two no-goodniks who find, within each other, the inspiration to commit various robberies. One of the men turns out to be a bit reckless, while the other, Stick, sort of just wants enough money to take it easy. He's like a laid-back, non-violent, humane Parker, in fact. But violence arrives whether he likes it or not, and the tension of Swag comes from watching Stick, the smart one, try and remove himself from this horrid tangle of deadly stupidity he's gotten himself into. It's a great story, filled with choice writing and Leonard's wonderful dialogue. It's also interesting, and hugely refreshing, in the way it upends the standard cops and robbers narrative. Since Stick's a good guy, basically, it should follow that the cop hunting him should be a prick (this is the case only in stories where the criminal is the focus, and a nice person). That's how these things are done! Not so here, where the cop is simply a good cop with a job to do, one that we, as the law-abiding public would wish him to do regardless of how likable Stick is. All of which leads up to probably the best ending of Leonard's long career.
A Meaningful Life by L. J. Davis- It just occurred to me that L. J. Davis's A Meaningful Life bears some similarity to the novels of Charles Willeford, in that it's a very funny novel, of a fairly despairing sort, until the point where it isn't anymore. Well, depending who you ask. There's a certain point late in the novel where the laughter catches pretty securely in one's throat, although I'm aware of one or two people who managed to force it out anyway. Regardless, this story of a man, no prize himself, caught in a hopeless marriage and stuck in a hopeless job, seeks salvation through the purchase and renovation of a Brooklyn brownstone. The place is a money pit, though, and shit hits the fan with some force. Then the fan explodes, and the blades go whizzing towards you. Brilliant, and brilliantly dark. Davis passed away earlier this year, with very little in the way of respectful notification the author of a book this good deserves.
Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov - This early Nabokov novel is the first book I read in 2011. It was a good start. Nabokov's writing is beyond reproach -- he is, as far as I can tell, the greatest writer of prose in the 20th Century. In English, I mean, even though it was his second language, and he translated, or co-translated, all of his early Russian-language works, of which this is one. So I kind of think, fuck that guy. Reading Nabokov can frustrate me to the point of hopelessness, but he's too magnificent to stay angry at for long. Laughter in the Dark finds Nabokov in his gleefully black, almost genre-tinted mode. It begins:
Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; he was not loved; and his life ended in disaster.
A fair summation. Nabokov's writing is such that even a novel so packed with disaster can be read joyously.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace - I read fewer books in 2011 than any year in recent memory. David Foster Wallace's massive, rat-crusher of a novel is the reason why. I read it for a long time, and struggled more than once with its amazingly dense digressions on science, pharmacology, tennis, Quebec, assassins, death, mental illness, and pleasure at any cost. But Wallace's fierce intelligence, wicked humor, and intense, all-encompassing humanity (considered phony by some bullshit idiot losers) make Infinite Jest a reading experience like no other. It's a testament to something-or-other, or an indicator of same, that the moment where Infinite Jest lifted up to the level of genius was the ending. The peculiar focus, by which I mean the, for lack of another word, anecdote Wallace chose to close this 1,100 page behemoth, is so bizarre and grotesque and obliquely enlightening, that I was just floored. Among many other things, ending this book this way took enormous guts and self-confidence. Plus, early on, there's this:
My silent response to the expectant silence begins to affect the air of the room, the bits of dust and sportcoat-lint stirred around by the AC's vents dancing jaggedly in the slanted plane of windowlight, the air over the table like the sparkling space just above a fresh-poured seltzer.
I live for that kind of writing.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell - This, my favorite novel of the year, comes from an unexpected source. A couple of years ago, I read Mitchell's novel Ghostwritten, and I sort of kind of hated it. It struck me as the work of a smug, self-satisfied kid, the kind who would think that simply telling many stories in one novel, alternating characters and globe-trotting with the settings and whatnot, is in and of itself a pretty big deal, never mind the contents of those stories, or the actual writing. I was about set to turn my back on David Mitchell, but rave reviews and curiosity led me to The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, and it's a goddamn barn-burner. What I love about it, or the first thing I love about it, is that it's a good old-fashioned novel, in the classical sense (well, modern classical sense). It's a historical novel that explores the weird, even counter-intuitive, relationship, mainly through trade, between Denmark and Japan in the late 18th century. Jacob de Zoet is the reader's surrogate for this almost surreal clash, and Mitchell fills him out, as well as the various other Danish and, especially, Japanese characters with such fluidity that it's quite easy to love the heroes, and absolutely fucking despise the villains. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a grand old story, one that gripped me early -- it's exciting, funny, moving, disturbing, sweet, sad, and everything else you could want. Mitchell's greatest achievement here is how his plot goes bonkers so quietly -- it reaches levels of almost pulp, even grindhouse, hysteria, without ever being hysterical. It's monumental and wonderful and everyone should read it.
Anyway, happy New Year, all you sons'a bitches!
9 comments:
- Patricia Perry said...
Bill -
Some pretty interesting stuff, here. I am always interested to hear what other people read and always way behind on the list of books I want to get to. I got the DVD of THE MAKIOKA SISTERS at one of the B&N Criterion sales this year, but have yet to watch it, so God knows when I'd get to the book.
Hope you have a very happy New Year!
- December 31, 2011 at 10:12 AM
- bill r. said...
Pat, I read THE MAKIOKA SISTERS so that I would have some base to write about the film, which was completely unknown to me, as was, broadly, Kon Ichikawa (I saw FIRES ON THE PLAIN years and years ago, but that's it). If not for that excuse, I don't know when I'd have gotten around to it myself. But I'm glad I did.
- December 31, 2011 at 2:32 PM
- Will Errickson said...
Finally got around to reading a Stark/Parker this year, THE OUTFIT, and was pretty happy with it, fulfilling my expectations and then some.
- January 1, 2012 at 6:07 PM
- nd said...
OK I'll bite--half dozen of Elmore Leonard's best books? I ask because I was trying to sell my girlfriend on him (I wouldn't have thought he was a hard sell but you don't know her :) ....)
- January 3, 2012 at 2:13 PM
- bill r. said...
Will - You ain't seen nothin' yet.
ND - Hm. Well, SWAG, UNKNOWN MAN #89, KILLSHOT, CITY PRIMEVAL, maybe GLITZ and maybe FREAKY DEAKY. That last one is pretty interesting, actually, so go ahead and toss it in. For some reason, I don't remember CITY PRIMEVAL that well, beyond the fact that I liked it. MR. MAJESTYK, too.
- January 3, 2012 at 3:14 PM
- bill r. said...
And HOMBRE, though in that case I do prefer the movie.
- January 3, 2012 at 3:15 PM
- nd said...
Thanks--oddly enough, I've read NONE of those though I've read about 6-8 of Leonard's books. (I've grabbed the easily available ones like Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, Rum Punch, Cuba Libre, etc.) Will have to take a look....
- January 4, 2012 at 10:50 AM
- Roderick Heath said...
And so yes, I've read one of these, but that is The Island of Dr Moreau, which likewise surprised and riveted me with its infernal intensity and its fascinating prefigurations of aspects of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It stands as a testimony to what a good writer Wells really was.
- January 4, 2012 at 10:42 PM
- bill r. said...
Indeed. Prior to this, I'd only read THE TIME MACHINE, and that was many years ago. I can't wait to check out THE INVISIBLE MAN.
- January 6, 2012 at 9:08 PM


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text: Marsha was knowledgeable, helpful, and responsive. We are on the east coast, bit the 3-hour time difference was not an issue. We did a lot of talking on the phone and email and text. She's very personable and a pleasure to work with. Ruthanne Fisher http://www.zillow.com/profile/Gregg-Neuman/Reviews/?review=3987501 March 1, 2018 Ruthanne Fisher View this review on Zillow


text:
Advocacy groups are stepping up their efforts to prevent Attorneys General from reviving parts of the Stop Online Piracy Act on a state level. The groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press, and Engine Advocacy, have written a letter to Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, who is working with the Motion Picture Association of America to implement parts of SOPA in his state.
"SOPA was a bad idea at the federal level," the letter says. "And any SOPA revival on a state level is an equally bad idea that, we are confident, will be equally unacceptable to the public."
Nathaniel Mott
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Pando Daily


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A Guide to the Reynolds Andricks Fiesta Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1935-1977
Biographical Note
Born in Temple, Texas, in 1905, Louis Reynolds Andricks moved to San Antonio as a boy and made the city his home for the remainder of his life. He attended the University of Texas, where he obtained a degree in civil engineering. In addition to his private sector work as an engineer, he served at various times in city government in the public works department, on the planning commission, and as acting city manager.
Andricks began one of his most significant associations in 1947 when he was named to the board of directors of the Fiesta San Jacinto Association, the organization that then organized the annual spring event. Soon after his election, he came up with the idea for an illuminated night parade to be called "Fiesta Flambeau." The event was first staged in 1948 and was an immediate success; Andricks continued as its director into the 1980s. During that period he instituted a number of other popular innovations, including the selection of a "Miss Fiesta" and increased military involvement in Fiesta. He expanded Fiesta's reach by initiating exchanges with like civic celebrations in other cities, sending San Antonio representatives to the Tournament of Roses in California, the Minneapolis Aquatennial, and other events around the country.
In addition to his unbroken stint as Flambeau director, Andricks also served at various times as Fiesta San Jacinto Association president and executive director. Following the creation of the Fiesta San Antonio Commission in 1959 as the new policy body for Fiesta, Andricks continued to represent the renamed Festival San Jacinto, the sponsors of the Flambeau, until his death.
Andricks and his first wife, Thelma Cordelia Trafton Andricks, were the parents of a daughter. After his wife's death in 1977, Andricks married Ann Edge. He died at his home in San Antonio in 1982.
Reynolds Andricks biographical file. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.
Return to the Table of Contents
Scope and Content Note
Representing thirty years of his close involvement in Fiesta San Antonio, the Reynolds Andricks collection consists of scrapbooks and photographs detailing the annual event.
Scrapbooks make up the bulk of the collection, beginning with a few volumes dating from years prior to Andricks' official involvement with the organization of Fiesta. With his election to the board of the Fiesta San Jacinto Association in 1947, the scrapbooks become more systematic, gathering clippings of local and out-of-town newspaper coverage of Fiesta planning and events, Fiesta-related advertisements, and other printed items. There are also items related to other events sponsored by the organization and to the appearance of San Antonio representatives at other festivals. While there are no chronological gaps in the annual series of scrapbooks from 1947-1976, there appear to be some missing items for years in which more than one volume was compiled. Several of the later volumes included envelopes containing loose clippings; these have been place in folders and housed with the scrapbook from that year. A smaller sequence of scrapbooks gathers letters and some printed items received by Andricks in the course of organizing and promoting Fiesta events.
Several albums of photographs, dating from 1953-1968, consist primarily of professionally produced publicity photos of Fiesta participants and events and photos of San Antonio participants in parades in other cities. The numerical sequence used on a number of these volumes indicates that several albums are missing and that there are gaps in the chronological sequence. Photographs have been removed from the albums and rehoused in folders in their original order.
Return to the Table of Contents
Access Restrictions
No restrictions. The collection is open for research.
Usage Restrictions
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[Identification of item], Reynolds Andricks Fiesta Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1935-1977, Col 7674, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.
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Gift of Dee Ann Reynolds Andricks Brock, 1994 August.
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Processed by Warren Stricker, 2004 October.
Finding aid edited and encoded by Caitlin Donnelly, 2010 October.
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Bamako (Mali)/Nairobi (Kenya): On the occasion of launching of the 2010 SEED Awards, these initiatives were presented at a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) event during the 13th session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Bamako, Mali.
The event, which focused on "fostering a Green Economy Transformation in Africa", provided a platform for Ministers and delegates at AMCEN to share experiences on Green Economy initiatives being undertaken in several African countries as well as opportunities and challenges for Africa to achieve a green economic transformation, building on national sustainable development and poverty reduction initiatives that are underway on the continent.
Governments in Africa are starting to engage decisively in mobilizing investments to restore and better reward Africa's valuable socio-economic and environmental assets. Many governments are allocating, to various degrees, portions of their fiscal stimulus to green economic sectors such as renewable energies and energy efficiency improvements, sustainable agriculture, and better management of water and waste.
Following a Green Economy Summit held in May this year in Johannesburg, South Africa has embarked into the development of a Green Economy Plan. The country earlier launched a $ 7.5 billion fiscal stimulus for period 2009-2011 with a primary focus on investments that create more decent jobs, and related to this, investments in infrastructure. Nearly $ 1 billion is being spent in railways, energy efficient buildings, and water and waste management. South Africa has also articulated concepts and principles of a Green Economy into its budgeting process.
Today, Kenya is seeking to implement a $99 million restoration of the entire Mau Forest Complex, the largest closed-canopy forest ecosystem in Kenya covering over 400, 000 hectares. The country has committed to go totally green by 2017 and to restore the forest cover to 10% by 2020. Currently, the government has launched a green energy campaign and mobilized $1 billion to construct a 280MW geothermal power plant.
Rwanda's initiative on forest ecosystem restoration is another landmark in the shift to a low carbon development path. President Paul Kagame received the Energy Globe Award on World Environment Day this year and has through action, featured environment prominently in the country's vision 2020 Plan. Through this Vision 2020 and related poverty reduction strategy, Rwanda has undertaken many initiatives to protect ecosystems for income generation and good governance.
Uganda has taken important steps in transforming its agricultural production into a system of organic farming, with significant implications for its economy, society and the environment. Uganda is among the world's least users of artificial fertilizers with less than 2 per cent or 1kg/ha of the already very low average of 9kg/ha in Sub Saharan Africa. While increasing the level of non-organic fertilizer use is one way of increasing productivity, turning this apparent weakness into an opportunity to pursue an organic form of agricultural production is a policy direction that Uganda is embracing.
On this occasion, UNEP announced a new initiative on Green Economy and Social and Environmental Entrepreneurship Development in Africa, with funding from the European Union, to be launched soon. In working with African countries and regional institutions in Africa, UNEP seeks to support a transition to a green economy and to promote social and environmental entrepreneurship in Africa.
Action under this initiative aims to encourage governments and stakeholders to refocus policies and investment in green economic sectors, such as renewable energies and energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, low-carbon transport, water, forest and fishery resources, and to enhance social and environmental entrepreneurship with a view to strengthening local capacities, delivering green jobs, and contributing to sustainable development and poverty reduction in Africa.
The Green Economy Initiative for Africa will support the development of national green economy strategies by providing platforms for national consultations on Green Economy, building partnerships, enhancing synergy with existing strategies, policies and programmes and supporting Africa's readiness for the Rio+20 Conference.
At the same event, the 2010 SEED Awards for entrepreneurship in sustainable development were launched.
In 2010, as part of the project financed by the European Union, SEED will particularly focus on Africa, making up to 20 awards available for promising social and environmental entrepreneurs in Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal. In addition, there will be up to 10 awards in South Africa, and up to 5 elsewhere in the developing world
By integrating social and environmental benefits into their business models, social and environmental entrepreneurs help to generate livelihoods and alleviate poverty. But they face considerable challenges along the path to scale up, from developing their business plans and finding funding, to managing their partnerships. The SEED award consists of assistance in these areas, tailored to the particular needs of the winners, profiling winning initiatives nationally and internationally, and networking to other organisations that could help.
About SEED Initiative
The SEED Initiative is a partnership founded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). SEED Awards are given to outstanding start-up social and environmental entrepreneurs who have innovative solutions to local problems.
Opportunities offered by social and environmental entrepreneurs include long-term sustainability – a business approach with stakeholders; generating new livelihoods; delivering environmental benefits; training people in the community; supporting communities and good governance; preserving local culture and diversity; developing innovative solutions to local problems and helping to drive the green economy.


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Butler [pictured] joins from Double Negative where he was head of animation
Cinesite, one of the world's leading digital visual effects facilities, have announced that Eamonn Butler will head up their expanding animation division as animation director.
Having spent ten years at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Butler joins from Double Negative where, as head of animation, he supervised high-profile films including Iron Man 2, John Carter, Hellboy 2, Paul and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He will be based at Cinesite's head office in Soho, London, and will be responsible for leading its high-end character animation team as well as joining Cinesite's board.
Antony Hunt, managing director of Cinesite, commented: "I'd like to welcome Eamonn to Cinesite. His wealth of experience means he's well placed to lead our team of talented animators as we branch out in to more character driven animation films."
Cinesite is currently working on two Paramount titles - World War Z and Jack Ryan - and recently completed work on Sony's Skyfall.


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Heidi Fleiss ARRESTED -- Driving While Stoned ... Takes Terrible Mug Shot
Heidi Fleiss Arrested Driving While Stoned Takes Terrible Mug Shot
Heidi Fleiss had a bad morning, REALLY BAD -- 'cause after she was busted for driving while high on weed ... she took one of the worst mug shots we've ever seen.
Cops say the 47-year-old former Hollywood she-pimp was tooling around Pahrump, Nevada around 3:30 AM in a 2010 Toyota Cruiser while baked on the green stuff.
During the stop, cops say they found 4 ounces of pot and $10k in cash.
Fleiss was eventually hauled to a nearby cop shop, where she was booked for DUI (marijuana), possession of weed with intent to sell, and driving without a license and insurance.
Heidi's penchant for pot is nothing new ... back in August, officials say they found nearly 400 POT PLANTS at her home. Fleiss said she was growing the weed for a cooperative in Vegas.
In fact, Heidi is scheduled to appear in court for the weed jungle case tomorrow.
She's gonna have some serious 'splainin' to do.
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Calumet Museum Inkjet Paper - Satin Matte Natural 610mm x 12m (1 roll) - 300gsm
Product Code: CALUMETBP1360
Availability:Out of stock
Calumet Museum Inkjet Paper - Satin Matte Natural 610mm x 12m (1 roll) - 300gsm
Product Code: CALUMETBP1360
Availability:Out of stock
Introducing a new line of Super-Premium rag and alpha-cellulose fine-art photo papers.
Brilliant Museum digital media are manufactured in Germany to exacting standards using the most technologically advanced methods. these cotton and alpha-cellulose fine-art papers are optimally coated for the latest pigment inks but will also secure superb results with dye-based inks. They are capable for yielding extremely high resolution and amazing colour depth. Each surface and base was carefully selected to meet the high standards and preferences of the most discriminating fine-art printer.
The Satin Matte papers are a 100% cotton rag substrate media and features a rich, satin matte surface that unlike some matte surface papers, is not a "dead" or "flat" matte.
The Satin Matte is avaliable in two different base tones, a non-brightened, neutral base that is not the usual dull yellow found on many of the non-brightened , fine-art papers on the market. The second base-tone is a slightly optically-brightened, yet archivally proper white base that is elegantly subtle while still adding the "punch" from which some images really benefit.
- Surface Type - smooth Matte Satin
- Base - 100% rag, natural white
- Weight - 300gsm
- Caliper thickness - 19 mils
- Opacity - 99%
- ISO brightness - 88.5


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Here Come New Sons and Daughters of Liberty
In 2009, Sandra Day O'Connor received from Barack Obama the Presidential Medal of Freedom, traditionally the highest civilian award in this nation. The first woman on the United States Supreme Court, "her historic 25‐term tenure on the court," the certificate said, "was defined by her integrity and independence."
But especially in recent years, O'Connor has solidified her place in history as a primary force in enabling more and more of our students to make the Constitution the very essence of America's public education system.
Her Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, which I wrote about last week, delivered a strong, liberty‐saving message to students, parents, teachers, principals, school boards and the various media, including social media, in its 2011 "Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools" report, which Frank LoMonte covered for the Student Press Law Center:
"Schools should incorporate discussion of current local, national and international events into the classroom, particularly those that young people find important to their lives.
"Schools should offer opportunities for young people to get involved in their schools or communities outside of the classroom.
"Schools should encourage student participation in school governance" ("O'Connor civics commission draws a road map toward freedom of expression. Will schools follow it?" www.splc.org, Oct. 14, 2011).
The last one about school governance reminded me of a speaking engagement I had years ago at a high school in Dayton, Ohio, where there was much strife among parents arguing with teachers' unions about the most effective ways to evaluate teachers.
I asked the students: "What if you were among those judging your teachers, including those who maybe shouldn't be teachers?"
The classroom came alive. Among the test questions they'd give teachers — as well as questions from students in other classes, where I went on to bring them in to evaluate their teacher — were:
"How much do the teachers know about each of us, how each of us learns or has trouble learning — maybe because of what's going on at home or in our neighborhoods? And what do we want to learn about?"
Those students' questioning of authority exemplifies some of the important findings from the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools' study, as covered by the Student Press Law Center:
"The ('Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools') report even identifies 'news comprehension' as part of the package of 'twenty‐first‐century skills' that prepare young learners for participation in the workplace as well as the political marketplace.
"The rest of that package includes: 'speaking, listening, collaboration, community organizing, public advocacy, and the ability to gather and process information.' "
"These, concludes the (O'Connor civics) commission, are the foundational 'civic skills' that no student should graduate without."
In the spring 2011 edition of the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Carnegie Review: A New Civic Mission of Schools, Karen Theroux focuses on the galvanizing importance of vigorous, often controversial, student debate and deliberation right in the classroom.
In my Boston high school, as well as many others I've visited, the students' responsibility was to listen and pay attention to the teacher. There was very little interplay among students themselves.
But Theroux highlights a teacher I very much wish I had as a student, the University of Wisconsin's Diana Hess, a professor of education I've interviewed for her expertise at involving students deeply into class discussions.
"In classrooms where there is ideological diversity," Hess emphasizes, "the teacher's job is to awaken kids' awareness and normalize it, to exploit the multiple and competing points of view."
Furthermore, Theroux makes the vital point that "other research has shown that involving students in democratic deliberation has school‐wide impact on civic knowledge and participation, including community service.
"Importantly, such positive changes can be greater for disenfranchised youth and for students who initially demonstrate less interest in civic activities, indicating that good programs are indeed capable of reaching the students they were designed to reach.
"All students — not just a select few — will engage in civic activity in their schools when given appropriate opportunity."
All of this is beginning to happen in our republic, with more reverberating experiences to come, which, as Theroux writes, "would allow students to move from high school into college better prepared to engage in and learn about all aspects of citizenship, from volunteering to voting."
The kind of reality‐based learning that Theroux and O'Connor's commission endorse will create citizens who find excitement, even fun, in thinking for themselves. It will also teach those politicians who represent them that their degree of independence and actual knowledge of issues will be regularly tested by the civic‐minded students they serve who keep experiencing the Constitution from the inside.
The original Sons of Liberty included Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry and Paul Revere. Now we can add Daughter of Liberty Sandra Day O'Connor. She'll help make going to school the daily adventure of being an active American.


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Filter Categories
- Professional Tutoring at our Centre
- Free Assessment For Every Child
- Learn from the comfort of your home
- CEM Style Mock Exam
- Key Stage 1, 2 and 3
- Pass with Confidence
We cover Erdington and the surrounding areas from our centre. We are approximately 10 mins drive from Erdington situated off Walsall Road (A38) on 166 Perry Wood Road, Great Barr Birmingham B42 2BH.
Many children from the Erdington area have benefited from our teachings and have gained places in local Grammar School by passing their 11 Plus Exam.
We have been providing tutoring for over 25 years and are not just another tutorial centre. When we started off in 1992 we were one of the first centres serving Erdington. Tutoring requires one to know the curriculum in detail and to be in tune with the ever-changing contents. A good tutor needs the ability to convey information fluently to children and have the passion, patience and tolerance required to be an excellent tutor.
We have produced successful results year after year consistently, and have an established and a robust teaching process which your child can benefit from. Choosing a new tutor can be a daunting task, but the best way to find the right tutor for your child is to get recommendations. Majority of our new students come from recommendation through parents of children who have either passed their 11 Plus test or gained their desire educational objectives, be that getting above average in the Key Stage Tests or gaining A*, A or B in their GCSE's.
We have specialised in preparing children in this 11+ for over 25 years. Our extensive experience ensures that individuals are taught the right skills to help them pass the 11+ grammar school test. All our students come from Erdington and surrounding areas.
Thousands of children from Erdington have benefited from our services and majority have exceeded their expectations.
We have had children who have secured places in:
Majority of these schools have a local travelling distance from Erdington.
We also prepare children in English and Maths at Key Stage 1, 2, 3 and up to GCSE level.
Every competent tutor should ensure that they are up to date with all the latest curriculum changes, we are up to date with every change in our areas of expertise and can provide you with the right in knowledge to achieve your desired results for your child.


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To access this area we need you to login using the username and password provided to you by the school. Please enter this information below and click login to proceed.
If you have forgotten your username and/or password please contact the school.
Darell Primary and Nursery School, Niton Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4LH
T: 020 8876 6721 E: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Polling crowds to gain insight about the future has become commonplace. The collective guess beats the informed individual almost every time—witness the Hollywood futures market and others like it. The true power of the crowd, however, isn't in individuals' consciously espoused knowledge and opinions. The essence is actually buried somewhere deep inside your company's database.
Tools for slicing and dicing customer stats are better these days because of innovative applications of research methods such as regression analysis and randomization. In addition, the technologies for storing, accessing, and distributing customer data are becoming cheaper and easier to use. This convergence of improvements has allowed some forward-thinking companies to finally take full advantage of the huge stores of information at their disposal. They're no longer letting their tapes collect dust; instead they are digging for dollars and "sense" in their databases. And they are finding compelling stories about customer segmentation and service—"unconscious wisdom" that the crowd itself may never have thought to share.
The dating service eHarmony, for instance, doesn't solicit your or others' opinions about your ideal mate; it tells you whom you will like based on your responses to a 436-question survey. The questions are geared toward figuring out your personality—are you an unconventional thinker, for instance, or a people pleaser? Using research data on successful marriages, eHarmony then suggests potential matches—sometimes pairing personality types that might, at first blush, seem incompatible.
Similarly, sites like Pandora and Rhapsody can make fairly accurate inferences about the music a customer will buy based on her historical purchase data and on a computerized parsing of song attributes: You're a fan of Arcade Fire? Here are some artists whose songs have the same characteristics as those in Arcade Fire's catalog—the use of orchestral arrangements in rock music, for instance.
The travel site Farecast mines terabytes of data not only to tell end users whether the time is right to buy a ticket for that flight to San Francisco—based on historical data about how fares behave—but also to gauge the precision of that advice. The site assesses the data and then offers its recommendations with, say, 85% confidence if the historical record is strong and, say, 60% confidence if the record is weaker. A 2007 external audit concluded that Farecast's overall rate of accuracy in predicting price trends was 75%. Asking the crowd whether it thinks the price will go up or down wouldn't be nearly as efficient or effective.
There's no doubting the critical role that crowd power has played in the evolution of markets. Still, we're just skimming the surface. By trolling for the unconscious wisdom in consumer data, companies are able not only to uncover useful patterns, segments, and influences, but also to peek into consumers' psyches.


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Main Page
Welcome to Bloominglabs, Bloomington's very own hackerspace!
A space for sharing tools and knowledge to make stuff
Bloominglabs is Indiana's first hackerspace (also known as a makerspace). We are a group of group of people who have rented a shared workshop where we can build projects both collectively and individually. Our space is located at 1840 S. Walnut Street. We are open to the public on Wednesday evenings from 7pm until 10pm and are family friendly.
Stay informed
- Sign up to the announcement mailing list to keep up with our group.
- New! We have a discuss mailing list now.
- Our Calendar of events
- Follow us on Twitter @Bloominglabs, Facebook, and Google+.
- Checkout photos from past events on Flickr
- Our IRC server is at bloominglabs.org:6667, #hackerspace.
- We can also be reached via old fashioned email at contact (]at[) bloominglabs dot o r g.
- Send us email to get an invite to our Slack site.
- Send mail to P.O. Box 2443, Bloomington, IN 47402
Bloominglabs Incorporated is a non-profit registered within in the state of Indiana and has 501(c)3 charitable status. Want to make a donation with PayPal? Please use this link:
- (Note to members - this link should not be used for paying membership dues)
Also, we have an Amazon Smile Account For Bloominglabs. If you use that link to place an order on Amazon, we get a little cut. Thanks!
Information for our members: this is how we process cash and hardware Donations.
Current Events (PastEvents)
- Public Hack Meetings!
- Every Wednesday from 7pm until 10pm
- Come build projects, ask questions, teach things, and learn stuff
- All ages and everyone is welcome
Spring and Summer Workshops!
All workshops are for age 12 and older unless otherwise specified. Some workshops have limited seats available, see descriptions for details.
- Arduinos and Sensors! This pairs with the MicroPython class
- June 16th, 1-4pm
- This workshop focuses on sensors and making things using Arduino microcontrollers. Cost is $25, pre-reg required. For members, cost is $15.
- You need to bring your own laptop, preferably with Arduino software installed: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
- No programming experience needed (but it's always nice) - this is introductory level.
- Welding Day
- June 23rd
- This is a beginners workshop, come learn MIG, TIG, Arc, and torch welding, and use a plasma cutter in this half-day workshop.
- Price is $120 for the public, pre-reg required.
- Seats for this workshop are locked until we get further along with logistics. We will make an announcement soon! In the mean time, you can let us know about your interest by sending mail to contact at bloominglabs dot org. Thanks!
- MicroPython, IoT, & Microcontrollers
- July 10th and 17th
- Come learn how to run Python on a microcontroller! Cost $50, $30 for members, pre-reg required (send email to firstname.lastname@example.com).
- Learn to Solder
- Two opportunities: July 30th
- Come learn to solder! No prior experience necessary. You will assemble a fun working electronic circuit.
- Cost is $20 per person, class runs from 7-9pm.
Current Initiatives
- Space Improvements
- Tool and workspace arrangement
We are accepting memberships! Please see the Membership Manual for details. If you are a new member please check out the New Members page as well.
Currently we meet every Wednesday at 7:00pm at 1840 S. Walnut Street, Bloomington, Indiana. These meetings are open to the public; anyone is welcome to attend. We usually meet for 2-3 hours and have a lot of fun. Having access to tools is only part of the equation, socializing with people and learning from each other is another large benefit from our group. Pretty much whatever people want to work on or learn is fair game. If it's cool and interesting then we are all interested.
- Meeting_Minutes
- Bloominglabs Log - highlights of Bloominglabs events and news
Who are we?
We are a bunch of people that want to do interesting things and explore the world and technology around us. Expression of this interest takes at least as many forms as we have members, and often employs an amalgam of found and newly-constructed hardware and/or open-source and self-authored software components, but may be as simple as screwing some pieces of wood together to make a useful tool we don't have yet.
Bloominglabs was forged from the Bloomington Hackerspace Initiative and the former IU Robotics Club.
- Read our Bylaws for a more formalized overview
What is a hackerspace?
A hackerspace is a physical location where people can share resources for their own creative pursuits. It's also a resource where people can come in off the street and advance their own knowledge. In urban locations it can often be hard to find places to weld/build/make noise and keep projects on-going without having to tear down and put-up your work each evening. With a hacker space people can work on their projects and not worry about annoying their neighbors or spouses. The social aspect is also an incredibly important component. Having people to bounce ideas off of and discuss your projects with when you get stuck is a great thing.
Nearby Hackerspaces/Makerspace or initiatives:
- Cyberia (Indianapolis, Indiana!)
- Castlemakers (Greencastle, Indiana)
- The SHAK (Kokomo, Indiana)
- Hive13 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
- LVL1 (Louisville, Kentucky)
Vault404 (Louisville, Kentucky)
Collexion (Lexington, Kentucky)All that remains is a discussion list.
- Pumping Station: One (Chicago, Illinois)
- Dayton Diode (Dayton, Ohio)
Detroit FacilityMerged with i3 Detroit
- i3 Detroit (Detroit, Michigan)
Makerspace Goshen (Goshen, Indiana)
- Kre8now (Lexington, Kentucky)
- The MakerHive (Elkhart, Indiana)
Other Cool Groups in Bloomington
- Indiana Filmmakers Network -- provides support, camaraderie and resources to filmmakers.
- Bloomington Amateur Radio Club
- Indiana University Amateur Radio Club
- IU Makes
Bloomington personal Fabrication Group (IU 3D Printing Club)(no longer meeting) - also a trac hosted here
- The annual Hoosier to Hoosier event (resale trail)
- Discardia
- Press (jigsaw) Puzzles


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03 November, 2010 | (01 hr)
Sign In to access this Webcast
The desirability and necessity of sustainability reporting is on the rise in Asia-Pacific. Global companies are placing increasing emphasis on integrated reporting in their communications to regulators, investors, employees and the public. Asian companies are beginning to review and assess the various initiatives and increase the level of their sustainability reporting.
Since its launch in 1999, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has grown to become the global standard for sustainability reporting that covers the environmental, social, governance and economic performance of companies. In 2009 over 1360 companies issued a report based upon the third version - G3 – of GRI's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, which have been translated into 23 languages. Services that provide information to investors, including Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, are gathering sustainability information gleaned from public company reports, the majority of which are based upon GRI framework and making it available to investors worldwide.
Similarly, we see a growing movement toward integrated reporting that covers both financial and non-financial (sustainability) performance. The economic value of a company's sustainability strategy will increasingly be disclosed in corporate reports and companies will be held accountable for performance on all sustainability dimensions (environment, social, governance and economic).
This webcast will discuss:
- Why GRI is gaining ground, especially among mainstream financial institutions
- How GRI helps companies manage and measure their sustainability strategies
- The opportunities and risks of greater transparency and growing stakeholder demands
- The future of integrated reporting and how this will impact corporate management and investor behavior.
Audience: Corporate marketing and communication directors and managers, environmental and health & safety managers, heads of sustainability, corporate social responsibility and citizenship, legal departments, investor relations, marketing and communications, and financial analysts interested in how evolving reporting initiatives are being addressed in Asia.
Sean Gilbert
At GRI, Mr. Gilbert leads the organization's initiatives in China, where he is responsible for GRI's working relations with government, business, civil society organizations, labor organizations, accountancy groups, the media, and other stakeholder groups at all levels. Previously, he...Full Bio
Christine Hess
Christine is a marketing and business strategy researcher and conference producer. She is currently the program director for a number of Conference Board conferences and councils. While on staff at The conference Board, Christine was a director of international programs, responsible for the Asia ...Full Bio


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Rick Bass's For a Little While: New and Collected Stories has just won the 2016 Story Prize, for which Bass will receive $20,000. It contains eighteen stories previously published in book form and seven stories new to book form. The paperback version, which I just ordered, will be available o March 21. I will comment on the new stories in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, here is a brief discussion of one of my favorite Bass stories in For a Little While, "The Hermit's Story.
"The Hermit's Story," a magical tale about the entry into an alternate reality, begins with a sort of poetic overture about the blue color of an ice storm. The narrator and his wife have gone to the home of Ann and Roger for Thanksgiving dinner. The power is out, and after the two couples eat pie and drink wine before a roaring fire, Ann tells a story about an experience she had twenty years before up in Saskatchewan with a man named Gray Owl who hired Ann to train six German shorthair pointers.
After Ann has trained the dogs all summer and into the fall, she takes them back to Gray Owl to show him how to continue to work them. She and Gray Owl take the dogs out into the snow, and Ann uses live quail to show Gray Owl how the dogs will follow the birds and point them. They work the dogs for a week until they get lost in a heavy snowstorm, drifting away from their home area by as much as ten miles. When they come to a frozen lake and Gray Owl walks out on its surface and kicks at it to find some water for the dogs, he abruptly disappears below the ice.
Ann decides to go into the water after Gray Owl, for even if he is already drowned, he has their tent and emergency rations. However, when she crawls out on the ice and peers down into the hole where Gray Owl disappeared, she sees standing him below waving at her. When he helps her down, he says that what has happened is that a cold snap in October has frozen a skin of ice over the shallow lake and then a snowfall insulated it. When the lake drained in the winter, the ice on top remained. Ann goes back to the shore and hands the dogs down into the warmth created by the enclosed space beneath the ice.
The world under the ice is a magical one, the air unlike anything they have ever breathed before. The cold air from the hole they made meets with the warm air from the earth beneath the lake to create breezes. Although the ice above them contracts and groans, they feel they are safe beneath a sea watching waves of starlight sweep across their hiding place. When they build a fire from cattails, small pockets of swamp gas ignite with explosions of brilliance.
The two head for what they hope is the southern shore, the dogs chasing and pointing snipe and other birds. They finally reach the other shore and walk south for a half a day until they reach their truck. That night they are back at Gray Owl's cabin, and by the next night Ann is home again. The story ends with the narrator considering that Ann is the only one who carries the memory of that underworld passage. He thinks that it perhaps gave her a model for what things are like for her dogs when they are hunting and enter a zone where the essences of things.
When "The Hermit's Story," appeared in the 1999 Best American Short Stories collection, Rick Bass said in his contributor's note that as soon as he heard about a frozen lake with no water in it, he knew he wanted to write a story about that. Because he was trying to train two bird dogs at the time, he made up a bird-dog trainer as a sort of wish fulfillment and had her go up to Canada and fall into such a lake.
Such an event alone, as dramatically potential as it might be, does not, of course, make a story. What makes the event a story is Bass's exploration of the symbolic significance of the magical world into which the characters enter. That magical world is presaged even before they break through the ice with the blue world of the ice storm described by the narrator in the opening paragraphs in which the blue is like a scent trapped in the ice. It is further emphasized by the fact that the storm has knocked out the electricity, creating a world of darkness. In the midst of this cold, blue, dark world, the two couples sit before a fire, creating the classic setting for a story to be told.
When Ann and Gray Wolf work the dogs in the snow of Saskatchewan, they travel across snowy hills, the sky the color of snow so that it seems they are moving in a dream. Except for the rasp of the snowshoes and the pull of gravity, they might believe they had ascended into a sky-place where the entire world was snow. All this is preparation for their descent into the improbable, magical world underneath the frozen lake. When they look up, the ice is clear, and they can see stars as if they were up there among them or else as if the stars were embedded in the ice.
The closest the narrator can come to articulating the meaning of the experience is to suggest that it perhaps was a zone where the appearances of things disappeared, where surfaces faded away and instead their very essence was "revealed, illuminated, circumscribed, possessed." Much like a magical journey in a fairy tale, the experience under the ice is a journey into a realm of dream and desire, which suggests that the world is a much more magical and mysterious place than we usually think.
Style is especially important to this story, for without Bass's poetic descriptions, his rhythmic prose, and his suggestions about the mythic significance of the experience it would be merely an interesting anecdote, depending solely on the unusual nature of the frozen empty lake. The opening paragraph, by repeating the reference to the color blue and the fictional metaphoric phrase "as if," sets up the entry into the fairy tale world. This "as if" metaphoric quality also is used to refer to Ann's transformation of the dogs from wild and unruly pups into well-trained hunting dogs, "as if" they are rough blocks of stone with their internal form existing already, waiting to be chiseled free. If the training is neglected, they have a tendency to revert to their old selves, "as if" the dogs' greatness can disappear back into the stone.
Although often metaphoric, Bass's style is not flowery, but rather simple and straightforward. He does not tell the story in Ann's words, but rather has the narrator retell it, thus filtering the story through two points of view. Neither Ann nor Gray Owl talk much during their experience, and when they do it is in the simple straightforward language of people reduced to basic states. In telling Ann about the lake, he says "It's not really a phenomenon; it's just what happens." And when she asks if he knew it would be like this, he says, "No. I was looking for water. I just got lucky." Although there is no indication, other than his name, that Gray Owl is Native American, his dialogue reflects the common literary convention of having Native Americans speak in short declarative sentences.
Bass, a naturalist who has written nonfiction books about the Yaak Valley in Montana, also devotes much of the story to his fascination with the natural world of, as well as the dogs and the birds they hunt. For example, when the birds flush out snipe from the cattails underneath the ice, Bass spends at least two pages pondering the presence of the birds, wondering if they had been unable to migrate because of injuries or a genetic absence. With the curiosity of the naturalist, he wonders if the snipe had tried to carve out new ways of being in the stark and severe landscape, holding on until the spring would come like green fire. If the snipe survived, the narrator reckons, they would be among the first to see the spring; they would think that the torches of Ann and Gray Owl were merely one of winter's dreams.
The fairy-tale, folklore nature of the story persists throughout, with the narrator considering at the end that Ann holds on to her experience as one might hold on to a valuable gem found while out for a walk and thus containing some great magic or strength.


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Securing Retirement
We can always take a cue from the past and move in with our kids, but I hope we won't have to.
Devon, the daughter of one of my colleagues at Kiplinger, recently landed her first teaching job. She called her mom for advice on choosing benefits, which included a traditional defined-benefit retirement plan that she found incomprehensible. "Where's the 401(k)?" she wondered.
There's no guarantee that Devon, who is 22, will be around long enough to be vested in her pension plan -- or that the school district will be able to afford it (see Public Pensions Get an Overhaul). But it's encouraging that young people like her are already thinking in terms of saving for their own retirement. They won't come up short, as many baby-boomers have in the wake of the housing bust and an up-and-down stock market. For people in that position, the options are limited. "Spend less, save more, keep working longer," as former White House budget chief Alice Rivlin summed it up in an interview with Kiplinger's last month.
We can always take a cue from the past and move in with our kids, but I hope we won't have to. As Rivlin pointed out, various reform proposals would shore up Medicare and Social Security without affecting retirees and those within a decade of retirement. She noted that these proposals have been mistakenly attacked for "throwing Granny off the cliff in a wheelchair, and people are worried 'That could be me.' Well, it couldn't." At age 80, Rivlin herself has authored a fiscal-reform plan.
In addition to the safety net, other innovative programs and products are in the works to provide a secure retirement and to make the "spend less, save more, work longer" mantra less grating. In our cover story, Mary Beth Franklin describes one worker who's easing into retirement and another who started a second career as a successful blogger. Mary Beth says she has "great faith that the financial-services industry will create appropriate products to help Americans turn their savings into a stream of income."
And don't discount the ability of people to adapt. A journalist friend of mine wrote a touching tribute to her financially savvy mother, who lived to the age of 90 on a modest income. What my friend learned from her mother was that "retirement spending is flexible, and downsizing doesn't ruin your life. People will curtail their expenses to make their money last."
Moving in with your kids may not be an optimum solution, but as guest columnist Chris Farrell writes, sticking close to home has its advantages. You can keep your personal and professional networks intact -- which may come in handy when you're charting that second career.
The best cars. When my husband and I were recently in the market for a new car, the first person I consulted was associate editor Jessica Anderson, who writes about cars. I confessed that we were interested in a Honda Odyssey minivan -- even though we no longer qualify as soccer parents and our 23-year-old son is mortified. I learned that many boomers are going the minivan route for the same reasons we did -- a comfortable ride on long trips, space for hauling the occasional piece of furniture, and plenty of room for seven adults when the family comes home.
Jessica confirmed that the Odyssey retains its Best in Class award in our annual car rankings, and she pointed me to a buying service, which made our transaction the easiest car purchase we've ever made. You can benefit from Jessica's expertise in this year's rankings. Meanwhile, I'm all set if I ever become a soccer grandmom. And my son will just have to deal with it.


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Adam 'Pacman' Jones, Bengals apologize after arrest video released
Curses, spits and kicks inside police cruiser after arrest
Curses, spits and kicks inside police cruiser after arrest
Curses, spits and kicks inside police cruiser after arrest
Adam "Pacman" Jones is apologizing for his actions following his Jan. 3 arrest.
His attorneys, Timothy E. Schneider and Alex Triantafilou, released a statement hours after Cincinnati police released cruiser camera video of Jones yelling and shouting at his arresting officer.
The statement reads:
"Adam Jones is deeply embarrassed and remorseful for his conduct and language after being arrested in early January. Mr. Jones has the utmost respect for law-enforcement and the difficulties police encounter on a daily basis.
As it relates to the allegations, and upon advice of counsel, Mr. Jones will not be commenting upon legal proceedings at this time. Mr. Jones is committed to the process of counseling and anger management, in order to ensure that such situations never occur in the future.
Adam loves Cincinnati and considers it home. He sincerely apologizes to the officers, the Cincinnati Bengals organization and all the fans in Cincinnati."
In the video, you can hear Jones threatening to get Sgt. Cotton fired and saying he hopes Cotton dies the next day.
The video is over 20 minutes long. The attached clip has been edited extensively due to explicit language.
"(Deleted), you're going to be out of a job tomorrow! (Deleted) (deleted) (deleted). You dead (deleted) wrong."
The Cincinnati Bengals also released a statement regarding the starting cornerback's behavior:
"We are extremely disappointed with Adam's behavior. The behavior in the video is not what we expect from our players. The Club is aware that Adam has put forth his own apology, however, we also offer an apology to the public and to our loyal fans."
Police said Jones, 33, yelled and banged on a glass door at a downtown hotel and cursed at and pushed a security guard and poked him in the eye. Jones also kicked the arresting officer, police said.
Watch the video by clicking here
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office officials said Jones was combative throughout the booking process, and eventually had to be secured in a restraint chair.
He was later charged with a felony when, deputies at the Hamilton County Justice Center said, he spit on a nurse.
He spent one night in jail, and has since been released.
The court case for Jones is on hold until next month.
A Hamilton County judge on Friday continued the case to Feb. 10. Prosecutor Joe Deters has said he wants to know first what punishment Jones faces from the NFL. Jones' attorneys agreed to waive his right to a speedy trial.


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The designated operator of Ukraine, Ukrposhta, wishes to inform other Union member countries and their designated operators that Boryspil International Airport is imposing a temporary embargo on imports of cargo and mail by all types of aircraft (passenger and cargo), for the period from 23.00 UTC on 23 December 2018 to 23.00 UTC on 3 January 2019, to enable a backlog of cargo and international mail to be cleared.
Technical resources at Boryspil Airport are insufficient to deal with increased volumes of international cargo, express items and mail, and this has led to extreme difficulties in the processing of international mail, both outbound and inbound.
For its part, Ukrposhta is able to ensure timely processing and customs clearance of all international mail in the country's offices of exchange, despite large volumes. However, because of the situation at the airport, standard delivery of international mail before the holiday period will take longer than normal.
Ukrposhta is working hard to return things to normal. In particular, on Ukrposhta's initiative, Boryspil Airport has begun working with certified private handling companies, and several combined routes have been launched to dispatch mail from European Union airports.
Ukrposhta thanks all Union member countries and their designated operators for their understanding.


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Whatcha think of this super fabby one Cindy came up with using Luvin the USA Bongo. Too cute for words Cindy!!
Sarah made this one and I am so luving the design, she used our Stars and Stripes Lara
Fabulous Sarah!!
Now I do have a bit of bragging coming.............. not about me but about one of our newest members, Nathalie our Saturday Tutorial Artist.
Nathalie emailed me a few days ago to say she had made this card and it had been featured at SNR Card Universe!!!!!!!!!!
Well I am sure you will agree that it should be featured. It is absolutely stunning!! Congratulations Nathalie!!
Digital Stamp used was our Sitting Penny!!
Hope you all have a super duper day!!


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All new, it's bigger, better looking and highly refined.
Compact Cars
Editor: Phil Berg
$11,649 Base Price MSRP
$17,116 As Tested MSRP
Model Lineup: XE ($11,649); GXE ($13,499); SE ($14,899)
Standard Engine: 2.0-liter inline-4
Engine Options: 1.8-liter 16v dohc inline-4; 2.0-liter 16v dohc inline-4
Standard Transmission: 5-speed manual
Transmission Options: 5-speed manual, 4-speed automatic
Basic Warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles
Assembled In: Aguascalientes, Mexico
Model Tested MSRP: SE ($14,899)
Standard Equipment: (SE) cruise control, power windows, viscous limited-slip differential, 8-way adjustable driver seat, air conditioning, power locks, mirrors, fog lights, AM/FM/CD/cassette stereo with steering wheel controls
Options As Tested: SE Performance Package ($899); sunroof ($599); 180-watt CD stereo ($199)
Standard Safety Equipment: driver and passenger front air bags standard; side-impact airbags, ABS optionalDestination Charge: $520
There's more power under the hood, particularly for the XE and GXE models, which come with a new 1.8-liter engine. A performance package turns the 2.0-liter SE model into a small sports sedan in looks and in performance.
Indeed, the all-new Nissan Sentra is now a less-expensive competitor for Volkswagen's hot-selling Jetta. And that's quite a compliment.
Sentra is available as four models nationwide: base XE, well-equipped GXE, sporty SE and environmentally conscious CA (Clean Air). Two engines are available.
The lineup starts with the $11,649 XE, a stripper model that only a small percentage of Sentra customers will buy. The XE comes with Nissan's new 126-horsepower 1.8-liter engine that replaces the previous 1.6-liter engine. An $1199 XE Option Package makes it more comfortable. But at that point it may make sense to move up to the GXE.
GXE is expected to be the most popular model. It starts at $13,499. GXE includes the new 1.8-liter engine, and adds a host of features that turn it into a comfortable sedan: cruise control, intermittent wipers, tachometer, a compact disc stereo and power windows, mirrors and door locks. With an automatic transmission and a GXE Convenience Package it retails for $14,449. Sentra GXE can also be equipped with optional 15-inch wheels and tires as well as anti-lock brakes, which we recommend highly. It is also available with optional side-impact airbags for the front seats, making the Sentra a safety conscious alternative to a bigger but older car. Both the XE and GXE come with rear drum brakes.
Sentra SE ($14,899) comes equipped with the larger 145-horsepower twin-cam 2.0-liter engine. Included in the optional SE Performance Package ($899) are 16-inch wheels with P195/55R16 tires, a big rear spoiler and flashy side sills, and a security system. The suspension is firmer to match the capability of the bigger tires. Unfortunately, you can't get the 16-inch tires and firmest suspension without getting the exhibitionist spoiler and side sills. The Performance Package also includes the top-line 180-watt, seven-speaker sound system. A six-disc in-dash head unit ($399) and a motorized moonroof are optional. The total, $16,896, is about $1500 more than a Ford Focus ZTS, but $1000 less than a four-cylinder VW Jetta GLS. (Small-car performance cult members may notice that the famed SE-R designation isn't applied to the 145-horsepower SE with performance package. Nissan hints the name is reserved for an even sportier version, yet to come.)
Anti-lock brakes and side-impact air bags are a smart buy at $699 for GXE and SE.
In addition, a low-emissions model will be available in small numbers in California to test how eager people are to buy cleaner-running cars. Nissan will initially build 500 Sentra CA (Clean Air) models, powered by a 122-horsepower version of the new 1.8-liter engine. This low-friction engine uses three catalytic converters and a special sealed fuel system; it is optimized to run on the latest low-sulfur fuel available in California. Sentra CA meets the government's requirement for EZEV, which translates to equivalent zero emissions vehicle: Each one Nissan sells will count as one-fifth of a credit for selling an electric car. The engine equipment is expensive, but Nissan is offering it for $14,799. Fuel economy suffers 1 to 2 miles per gallon over the standard engine. You can run the car on non-California fuel containing more sulfur, but emissions increase; do this long enough and it'll degrade the catalysts.
Walk Around
Nissan has learned that refined and nimble little economy cars don't sell too well if they're homely. It learned this from its 1995-1999 Sentra. There's a lot of competition for economy cars coming from bigger used cars, which are now off-lease and selling at attractive discounts. But some folks, particularly smart female shoppers, prefer new, reasonably priced sedans to used cars.
So this new Sentra is an attractive car. Its styling is now as slick as the Civic. Compact" is a relative term, as all these cars seem to grow over time. The new Sentra pushes the boundaries of its sub-compact industry classification. It is longer than other four-door compact sedans: It's longer than the Mitsubishi Mirage by four inches, the Mazda Protege and Toyota Corolla by three inches, and the Honda Civic by two inches. And it looks it: The stretched body isn't tucked underneath the bumpers at the ends of the car, making it look even longer."
At first glance the front seats look like normal economy car perches, but once you're in them they feel much roomier. One reason is that the seats are adjustable eight ways, instead of the normal four. The roomy new interior holds more people and cargo. The rear seats are able to accommodate grownups now, and all seating positions provide more breathing room. An available 60/40 split folding rear seatback can be unlatched from the trunk. All three seating positions in the rear have three-point belts, though three back there is a crowd. The four outboard belts are equipped with automatic tensioners, an important safety feature for an economy car. This is equipment that many bigger sedans didn't have just five years ago.
Stereo controls are positioned high on the center console, making them easy to adjust, and the silver trim of the faceplate matches the latest in European Continental design found on the trendy Ford Focus. Other controls are straightforward and easy to use.
Driving Impressions
This new Sentra hums right along. We drove a GXE with a five-speed manual to 100 mph quite easily in the desert, and it was revving at a relatively calm 4500 rpm. The car rode as stable as the larger Altima at this speed, and wind and tire noise was very low. This is the kind of car that can get even choir teachers and librarians lots of speeding tickets. At the legal speed limit of 70 mph, the engine turns just 3100 rpm in fifth and the automatic-equipped model revs even lower.
We were enthused by the more powerful SE models. The SE has terrific, sensitive brakes and stops as confidently as the big Maxima or even a BMW or Audi. That performance is due to the rear disc brakes, and a well-damped suspension. The difference in brake pedal feel is broad: The drum-equipped GXE had a soft-feeling, almost spongy brake pedal compared to the SE versions. The sportier models' pedals feel firm, and while pedal travel is short, there's no loss of sensitivity. It feels like you end up using less leg muscle to stop the SE models.
Holding the Sentra up are the familiar struts in front and a coil-spring beam axle in the rear. The softest-sprung version of the suspension comes on the XE and GXE, while the SE models get two progressively stiffer setups for folks who like to feel the road. SE models also get larger wheels and tires and rear disc brakes, as well as a substantial-looking tubular strut tower brace.
SE's high-performance 2.0-liter engine is shared with the pricey Infiniti G20. Nissan increased power slightly buy using a larger intake, lighter crankshaft, coated pistons and a variable restriction muffler. At its 6750 redline, the exhaust note is notably quiet, and there's no buzzing or rattling as you would expect of an economy car. This familiar engine endeared us to the pre-'95 Sentra SE-R, only this time around it's in a more substantial body. We're impressed with the refinement of this car, even at its acceleration and handling limits.
Shifting the five-speed manual is more of a fluid motion than you'll make in a VW, but it's still a long-travel sedan shifter, and you can feel the rod linkage move as the engine rocks on its mounts. It's not a Miata-like sports shifter. SE manual transmissions get a nifty viscous limited-slip front differential. Nissan also tuned the SE's optional automatic transmission for smoother shifting.
You'll like whipping along a challenging two-lane road in the SE. The Sentra feels bigger and more grownup than a Honda Civic, and it feels more hunkered down and less top-heavy than a Ford Focus ZTS. The SE has notably heavier steering at low speeds than the GXE, so a day of parking in New York City means you can skip the health club. On bumps in the GXE there's a bit of steering column shake that isn't present in the SE (or in the Altima or Maxima). The suspension travel feels adequately long on rough roads, and on really big bumps the jounce bumpers actuate gradually, like a Honda's.
GXE and XE models run smooth and quiet. The new 1.8-liter engine revs easily to its 6500 redline. The EPA rates it at 26/33 mpg city/highway with an automatic transmission, and 27/35 with a five-speed manual. This engine using a timing chain instead of the cheaper and quieter timing belt. You don't notice the extra noise generated by the timing chain on the GXE, however. Four big engine mounts isolate the motor, and a welcome list of sound-deadening treatments keep noise and vibration very low. The new 1.8-liter engine is designed to deliver its power lower in the rev range, where most Americans shift. Most Americans opt for automatic transmissions in their Sentras, making the new five-speed gearbox a rarer item. Low-rpm torque and carefully mapped gearing allow GXE and XE models with automatics to accelerate quickly from intersections yet cruise at highway speeds in a relaxed manner.
Nissan's new Sentra is a willing sedan with a smoothness that leaves you feeling it's worth more than its price. Cruising along an interstate is a peaceful experience in both the GXE and the SE models. On winding roads, it offers sporty handling that makes it fun to drive. Stiff suspension tuning and big 16-inch wheels with Firestone Firehawk GTA tires give the SE with the Performance Package the abilities of a European sedan.
All-new styling is neat and proportioned. We sense that Nissan is in the position that Volkswagen was a decade ago when its cars were very good, but nobody noticed, and few purchased. If you're in the market for an affordable sedan that's easy to look at and tons of fun to drive, then you shouldn't wait for Nissan's fortunes in the mass market to improve as a result of this new Sentra.
Top Cars


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Cagnazzi, Gray To Merge Pro Stock Teams
NHRA teams Gray Motorsports and Cagnazzi Racing will combine forces in 2014 to create a multi-car team Pro Stock team.
The merged team will race under the Gray Motorsports banner.
Engine development for both the Pro Stock and Cagnazzi's successful COPO Camaro Stock Eliminator programs will take place at the Gray Motorsports facility in Denver, N.C., and chassis development for both will take place in Victor Cagnazzi's facility in nearby Mooresville. The new Gray Motorsports team is currently seeking support for a three-car team to include drivers Shane Gray, Dave Connolly, and Erica Enders-Stevens.
The merger will allow Cagnazzi and Gray Motorsports owner Johnny Gray to follow an already proven method of success.
"This is a model that NASCAR embraced years ago because of all the performance and economic efficiencies," said Cagnazzi. "We believe that for NHRA and the sport of drag racing, this is a natural progression, and it's a progression that we intend to lead."
Gray agreed and said, "With the cost of running these cars and the difficulty of finding sponsorship, it just makes sense to follow NASCAR's successful model. We believe that this merger is in the best interest for all of us, and we expect to see results."
Also included in the merger will be the establishment of an engine and technology leasing program that will allow Pro Stock drivers and teams requiring varying levels of support to participate in the ultra-competitive class.
"We want to provide good, competitive engines to customers who do not have the funding required to spend on the research and development it takes to be successful in this class," said Gray. "There will be something for everyone; we'll offer programs to lease engines for the guy who can only run two or three races a year all the way up to a full season. Heck, if you want to bring your helmet, we'll provide you with a complete car, crew, and the expertise with which you can run at the championship."
Gray Motorsports currently has a program in place that crafts engines for circle track racing such as 360 and 410 sprint cars, as well as IMCA competition that includes modifieds, late models, sprint cars, stock cars, and hobby stocks. With the expansion of the in-house engine program and the inclusion of Cagnazzi's existing personnel, development and leasing will soon extend to engines used in NHRA's sportsman series categories Competition Eliminator and Top Sportsman.
"Victor and I are very excited about joining forces to build a more competitive program and go after the 2014 Mello Yello Pro Stock championship," said Gray. "We expect that a Gray Motorsports Pro Stock car will win the championship, and we will be thrilled when that happens – regardless of which of our drivers is behind the wheel."
Cagnazzi concurred.
"I'm very excited. The combined organization presents a talent pool that is pretty stout and includes personnel who collectively have achieved several Pro Stock championships," said Cagnazzi. "I think that the most exciting thing is that we'll be operating as a team and as a unit. One team, one goal. See you in the winner's circle."No Comment


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How should you deal with media at the site of a university emergency?
It goes without saying - the safety of students, faculty, staff and all beings in the area of danger comes first. Regardless of what the media may be asking of you at that moment, if you can aid in the safety of the area, that is your first and only responsibility.
Once key safety issues have been dealt with, your next step is to contact Public Safety (227-2151) or 911.
Remember, you are not the official spokesperson for the university. That detail can sometimes get lost in the confusion of the situation in the case of an emergency where media are on the scene before the Public Safety director, the NMU president or the president's designated spokesperson. If you have media requests prior to the official university spokesperson being on the scene, tell the media person that Public Safety and the President's Office have been informed of the situation and that a spokesperson is en route.
To protect privacy and liability issues, do not provide the media with names, numbers or types of injuries/fatalities/demands or any other specific details of the situation. The official spokesperson will make those announcements once specific details have been verified. You can also let media members know that all emergency messages are available online at www.nmu.edu/emergency.
The best message that you can help to distribute in the time of a university emergency is that of order and control. The university has a well-organized, detailed crisis management plan. Individual departments have emergency plans.
It is dangerous for any university community to think that there will never be a crisis - accidental or intentional - on its campus. Be prepared to deal with a state of emergency. Know the key elements of your departmental emergency plan, in particular how to evacuate your area and how to be execute a "shelter in place" situation.
If you have any questions about dealing with the media during a university emergency, contact Mike Bath, director of public safety at 227-2151 or email@example.com, or the University Marketing and Communications Office at 227-2720 or firstname.lastname@example.com.