text:
- Home
- About the Office
- Documents
- Stronger Communities
- Education
- Economic Growth
- Transparency
This webpage is an archived image of the Office of the Public Advocate's website as of December 31, 2013. These materials are made available as historical archival information only. The Office of the Public Advocate cautions that the information has not been reviewed subsequently for current accuracy and completeness, nor has the information been updated. The information contained on this page may have been superseded by subsequent events and the passage of time.
The following is the text of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's speech on economic growth in New York City as prepared for delivery at NYU Wagner's School of Public Service on July 31, 2012. Citations have been removed for ease of reading. A full version with citations included can be downloaded here (.pdf).
Thank you, John. And thank you to my alma mater, New York University, for hosting us here today. I'd also like to thank Bill Rudin, whose family is responsible for this wonderful space, which is one of many contributions they have made to the city.
I invited everyone here today to talk about economic issues facing our city, but since we are here at NYU's Wagner School of Public Service, I hope you'll forgive me if I start off by talking a bit about my notion of public service. It is, after all, the reason I'm here in front of you today. And how I feel about public service defines my perspective on responding to crises like the one we find ourselves in today.
So let me pose a question or two. Why do we do this work? What animates us and sustains us? How do we find a sense of mission? I started in public service almost thirty years ago, before politicians were quite so hated, before the internet and the constant scrutiny that came with it, before Lehman Brothers, before the Tea Party, before a sense of futility dominated the Nightly News.
The 1980s were by no means a Golden Age, but perhaps public service was a little less difficult and a little more hopeful. Maybe you didn't need so gripping a motivation to stay in this work. But today, Lord knows you do.
I've found mine. And I've felt it more strongly since our world started to change profoundly in 2008. And just last week, I got another jolt to the system that clarified that purpose. You can see it right here: 10%.
Our city, which we love, which we believe in, which gives us all a swagger and a sense of pride, the closest thing there is to the Capital of the World, the undisputed center of commerce and private enterprise, has a 10% unemployment rate according to the New York State Department of Labor. That's 400,000 people seeking work and unable to find it—more than the total population of New Orleans or Minneapolis.
It is a stain on a place so great in so many other ways. And it is unacceptable. It's not sustainable for our people. It's not sustainable for our budgets. It's not sustainable for our economy.
If I or anyone else in public service needed to remember why we came here, this galling number reminds us. All the other things I believe deep down—advancing social justice, fighting economic inequality, building the Middle Class, giving kids better opportunities than their parents had—it all hinges on this number. If people can't find good jobs—or, in fact, any jobs—all other bets are off.
That truth leaves us with one mission that stands above all others: we have to get our people back to work. And it almost goes without saying that the way to accomplish that end is by supporting the private sector as the primary engine of job creation.
I want to speak today about actions we need to take, but first I want to acknowledge a bias in who I am and where I come from. I grew up believing that government, at every level and in every way, had to answer the call of crisis. My parents had me at a very late age, and so even as I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, the stories I heard at the kitchen table were literally about the Great Depression. And the heroes weren't just FDR and the architects of the New Deal. Fiorello LaGuardia was honored in the same breath, because he took the concept of government helping people back on their feet and applied it locally with such great effect.
And I find these times especially frustrating, as a child of that family, as someone who grew up at a time when government—especially the federal government--was the cavalry coming to the rescue, the dynamic leader that had driven big infrastructure projects and housing development, innovated the GI Bill and Pell grants, built the Middle Class. To go from that to the non-response to Hurricane Katrina, the lack of concern for America's cities and the congressional paralysis we see in Washington today is jarring, to say the least.
There is no question we are in a crisis today. There is no question that we are failing to sufficiently address it. And the disturbing reality is that the federal government isn't owning up to its responsibilities. So we have to focus more on what we can do for ourselves as a city.
As a leader in this city today, I look at this 10% figure and I ask, how can we—as a City that is often on its own—make this the LAST time we ever see that awful number? How do we make sure we are doing everything in our power to fix our economy? What will it take to put people back to work? And to keep them at work for the long haul. Every kind of New Yorker, in every neighborhood, in every borough. This is how I define my mission and my public service.
Today, I wish I could say we had the necessary urgency as a city. But when unemployment ticked up to 10% earlier this month, City Hall responded with a self-satisfied laundry list of what it's already doing. Mayor Bloomberg actually said that our unemployment rate indicated "optimism and confidence in the long-term future of New York City." Now, I think many of us in this room will give the Mayor high marks for initiatives like the Applied Sciences Center, helping bring hi-tech firms like Google to New York City, or providing incentives to speed the growth of our film industry . But the fact is, these efforts pale by comparison with the magnitude of the crisis in which we find ourselves.
When I speak to people in Melrose in the Bronx or Canarsie in Brooklyn, the City's marquee initiatives seem distant and illusory. As bad as unemployment is citywide, it's actually 11% in Brooklyn and 14% in the Bronx —and young people have the worst of it.
When I talk to developers who are actually trying to build affordable housing and create good jobs, they feel there's more red tape in the way than ever.
When I talk to small business owners, they feel under siege by fines and fees like never before.
These are NOT the hallmarks of a City responding to crisis. They are the signs of a City unconsciously accepting the status quo and quietly adjusting to the "new normal."
We need to all wake up to the world we're living and competing in globally, and stop hoping that "business as usual" is going to take us where we need to go.
And this is more than a challenge between ourselves and our own potential. We are facing a dramatically different landscape than the one we faced even a decade ago. The competition for jobs is coming from all corners. Our city is now losing jobs in business support services to places like Salt Lake City, Utah and—can you believe it—places as obscure as Lake Mary, Florida.—population 15,000. Forgive me, but Lake Mary is poaching jobs from the Big Apple?
And our major global competitors have been aggressively improving their competitiveness through increasingly innovative efforts led by their own governments. Last year, a survey of investment bankers found that only one percent of industry respondents believed that New York City would create the most financial jobs in the coming year – rather they believed that Singapore, London, Shanghai and Hong Kong would lead the world in financial sector growth. While our government at all levels has been grappling with an ongoing discussion about budget cuts and securing our medium-term public finances, China has been increasing its investment in infrastructure by 20% each year for the past decade, and Singapore has been aggressively promoting its proactive environmental and quality of life initiatives to attract new global talent. Shanghai has launched a major initiative to attract 90,000 new finance professionals by 2015 as part of a larger vision of becoming a new global finance capital. In contrast, our city and state have been voted one of the most business unfriendly places in the United States, compounding the challenge we have to keep and attract new businesses in our city.
We risk losing ground to a significant extent because our competitors are articulating clear ways in which government can work with stakeholders to achieve growth. If WE are going to overcome these tremendous challenges, we need to organize our government, businesses and residents around a coherent, public strategy to create jobs and strengthen the fundamentals of our local economy.
I want to discuss the first piece of that today—the role government can and should play. There are places where government needs to get out of the way, and also places where government needs to do more. In everything we do as a City, our objective MUST BE to pursue an aggressive five-borough growth strategy that directly faces the challenges of global competition and insufficient opportunities for our own people. Let me repeat that: In everything we do as a City, our objective MUST BE to pursue an aggressive five-borough growth strategy that directly faces the challenges of global competition and insufficient opportunities for our own people.
There are conventional tools in government's hands—common sense proposals like raising the minimum wage to address income inequality and boost family spending power. And we need to get this done at the state level next year. But so many other levers are going unused right here in New York City. I'd like to focus on four critical areas today: 1.) Maximizing opportunities for development, 2.) Lessening the burden on small businesses, 3.) Investing more smartly with our procurement tools and pension assets, and 4.) Building the workforce of tomorrow. These are areas where our approach has failed to match the times we are in.
Our city can again be a place where we all rise together. It is going to take leadership from all of us, and an unwavering political will, but we don't have to look far back in our history for guidance on how we confront serious challenges to our position as a center of opportunity for residents and entrepreneurs from all walks of life. When I first entered the City Council in the wake of 9/11, nothing was certain about the city's future. It was an open question how fully New York would bounce back, of whether businesses would want to locate here or tourists would bring their families. But our city--residents, businesses and government--came together with a unity of purpose to address our unprecedented economic development challenges. We did not let the challenges we faced deter us from action – rather we used these challenges as an opportunity to implement bold steps to strengthen our city. Our response to the crisis that began in 2008 needs to exceed our response to 9/11 in its inclusiveness and in its breadth, because this crisis runs so much deeper.
We have to be uncompromising in the pursuit of a five-borough economic growth strategy that empowers all of our neighborhoods. We cannot choose to ignore the burdens that are facing many of our city's residents and businesses like unresponsive government bureaucracy, aging infrastructure, and an education system that isn't adequately preparing our young people for tomorrow. City government needs to play the critical role of organizing our citizens, businesses, and all of the considerable resources at our disposal toward a meaningful and sustainable growth plan that supports all of our neighborhoods, all of our people.
First, let us discuss MAXIMIZING DEVELOPMENT.
If you had to identify one area where City policy seems stuck in a different era, look no further than our land use process. This is a world of man-made impediments. The Mayor touts the clock in City Hall's bullpen ticking down the minutes of his Administration—but when it comes to development, entire months and years slip away, stalling and scuttling projects.
Now, I don't discount the benefits of many—though certainly not all—of the rezonings of the last ten years. But I think the City had an approach that assumed the good times would never end. If we missed an opportunity here or there, we'd make it whole in the next go-around. The upzoning on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn comes to mind, where the City left hundreds of potential affordable housing units on the table. Maybe we could accept that in 2005 when the economy was booming there weren't enough construction workers to keep up with demand. But we can't accept it today.
Post-2008, the world has changed and it's time for our development process to catch up. History will judge us, not just on whether we saw the iceberg ahead, but whether we mustered the will and had the focus to change course.
We can't afford a process rife with delays, subject to knee-jerk NIMBYism and tangled in bureaucracy. The process we have now distracts from and impedes the things that should matter in this economy: creating good jobs and affordable housing for our workforce of today and of tomorrow.
Before I was elected Public Advocate, I served eight years in the City Council representing a part of Brooklyn where development became a lightning rod—Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Kensington and Borough Park. So I have some experience in watching this drama unfold.
Perhaps some of you here are familiar with a small, humble, uncontentious project called Atlantic Yards? It abutted my Brownstone Brooklyn district. To say it faced opposition in the neighborhoods I represented would be an understatement.
When I looked at Atlantic Yards, I saw all the things my neighbors did: the traffic, the big shadows cast by buildings, the crowds, the disruption during and after construction. I didn't dismiss those concerns at the time and I don't dismiss them now. But I also saw the chance to build a staggering amount of affordable housing and put thousands of people to work. As an elected official representing neighborhoods where the cost of housing was driving families out, where the loss of jobs in warehousing and the trades had cost people their livelihoods, I saw a choice—to build, or not to build; to grow or not to grow. And as an act of economic equity and opportunity, there was no question in my mind about the right thing to do. When it came time to make an up or down decision, I supported the project—including its use of eminent domain. It did not make it easy to walk down Seventh Avenue in Park Slope; the critics were many and they were vocal. I also emphasize they were usually very well-intentioned. But when it came to the criteria that mattered above all others—good jobs and affordable housing—it was clear that Atlantic Yards would help stanch the bleeding in an area facing huge problems of affordability.
We had a very different set of issues out at Brooklyn Bridge Park—which is now being built apace and has become an incredible public space. Here we had a swath of public land sitting idle literally for decades. On a purely human level, I could never take the wastefulness of this situation. It honestly sickened me. Everyone said they believed in the vision of transforming it into a waterfront park, but there arose this lightning rod in the shape of a high-rise condo tower. Never mind that the private development was the only real money on the table to finance the park's operations and make it sustainable—there was an intense community opposition to giving over that slice of public land to private developers. It was rigid orthodoxy, and it was standing in the way of building the park. The idea that a developer might profit from the exchange, even if their involvement was essential to getting the park built and keeping it running in tough budgetary times, was just anathema to some people.
All I could see was this huge swath of land laying fallow while families in Farragut Houses as well as the booming neighborhoods along the waterfront waited. Every type of person would see the benefits of this project. The ideological hang-ups with the private developer paled by comparison—we had a chance to build, and we needed to take it. Imagine what we'd have in place of that new park today if we'd let those hang-ups dictate our actions.
We've seen what we can accomplish when we sidestep the development dog and pony show, and the City brings developers and community together EARLY as partners. Look at Extell's development on the Upper West Side. Both sides saw the impending, and all too common, conflict over height and bulk a mile away. Area residents, facing overcrowded schools, wanted the developer to build a new one on site to accommodate so many more families. I hasten to add that while I am uncomfortable with traditional NIMBYism as a general rule, I obviously value the voice of communities in the development process. As officials, we have to distinguish between the voices of "not here, not ever" and the constructive input of a community that knows its own needs. The decision to add a new school at the Riverside development came out of and was pushed forward by the surrounding community. It's a perfect example of how a constructive process between a neighborhood, a developer and the City yields a better project. My office worked with the Council Member Brewer, the City, Extell and community leaders to reach a compromise about building heights and the school, avoiding an endless standoff that could have undermined the project. It's going to be a showpiece development.
Unfortunately, I've also seen inaction win out. Toll Brothers presented us with an incredible opportunity to build along the Gowanus Canal several years ago. Here was a private developer willing to come in and build a mixed-use development, close to 30% affordable units, commercial space, union labor, a waterfront promenade, and THEY were going to help pay for the environmental clean-up of the site. $400 million in private investment on a stagnant piece of polluted waterfront. We got everything we could possibly want from them as a community—and then, just as things are poised to move forward, in stumbled the EPA.
The EPA waded into the waters and declared it wanted to do the clean-up itself and declare the canal a Superfund site. Their timeline for the clean-up? 15-20 years. So, here we were. We had a bird in the hand—development, jobs, affordable housing and remediation here and now. And over in the bush, is one of the slowest and most bureaucratic corners of the federal government promising us nothing, other than a loose timeline articulated in decades. I give Mayor Bloomberg tremendous credit for fighting them tooth and nail, and I was proud to stand with him. We tried every play in the book to save the development deal.
In the end, the EPA won out, the development stalled and every time I drive past that site I see derelict lots where we should now have hundreds of new homes and jobs. It's one of the worst examples of heavy-handed, rapacious bureaucrats standing in the way of a local government that was doing everything right. It's another reminder that we as a City are often on our own.
What have all these experiences taught me? First and foremost—when given the choice to grow or to sit idle, we need to grow and we have to be aggressive about it. There are factors beyond our control—economic conditions, bureaucratic interference from afar—that can kill good projects. The things I value as a progressive—good jobs and affordable housing—cannot happen if projects stall or never materialize. If we aren't doing everything possible as a City government to spur on development, even if valid compromises are included, we risk nothing getting built at all—and that is the worst possible outcome.
We need to break down those bureaucratic barriers to development that exist for our developers and businesses and that aren't a meaningful way to uphold community voices. The best example of this is the pre-certification process run by the Department of City Planning. This process – which developers must complete in order to move into the subsequent seven-month official review process – can take half a decade to complete, increasing costs and leaving developers and businesses, as well as communities, uncertain about project outcomes.
The Bloomberg Administration recently announced an initiative – BluePRint – to tackle this problem for smaller development projects, but I believe the Administration has to do more to accelerate land use proposals and avoid projects getting lost in our bureaucracy. We should move beyond the Planning Department's efforts to add more oversight to the pre-certification process by REQUIRING a specific time period for those smaller project applicants to get an up or down decision about each aspect of their completed applications. I believe our goal should be providing developers certainty that they will receive responses within 30 – 60 days of each program aspect submitted for City Planning and other City agency review. Promising and delivering on a specific window for approvals, like we have with our official land use review process , can unlock new growth potential, lower costs and prevent good projects from getting derailed. And if there are some new personnel costs involved in managing these approvals in a more predictable way, we will more than recoup those costs in new and earlier tax revenue and economic activity. And developers will help pay for it GLADLY. Let's make speed and predictability our stimulus, especially in the window that precedes our public review process. We need to do this to address our present reality, and to build our future.
The next place we need to focus is something I hear about in every corner of this city—changing the way we assess fines on small businesses. Is there anyone in this room that questions whether the amount of fines and tickets the City heaps on small businesses is driven by revenue?
The endless fees and fines drive people to shut their doors for good. One of our Park Slope institutions—a great restaurant named Aunt Suzie's—closed on New Year's Day this year because the red tape became so unworkable. This was a 25 year-old business. When it opened in 1987, it was one of the only places you could bring a family in a commercial corridor filled with check-cashing operations and the occasional bodega. Does anyone remember Fifth Avenue in Park Slope in the 80s? It was a struggling place. Aunt Suzie's helped stabilize the neighborhood.
But the endless fines drove her crazy and threatened the business's bottom line. At one point toward the end, Irene was told she needed a $250 permit to have candles in the restaurant. Can you imagine having built a business over 25 years, and on top of a series of other heavy-handed, arbitrary fines, the inspector who has been in your business dozens of times suddenly rediscovers an arcane regulation like that? And you have no choice but to cough up the money. Well, for Aunt Suzie's restaurant, it just became too much.
Think about that. City Hall contributed to closing a business—an employer that was a vital stakeholder in a neighborhood--at a time when we have 10% unemployment. Since this is Brooklyn, the rate is actually 11%. This isn't about health and safety—if it was, fines would have been forgiven after you fix your problems. This is about revenue.
The City is hauling in twice as much from fines as it did ten years ago; it's now close to $820 million each year. And it's across the board. Department of Finance's fines went up 50% since 2002. Consumer Affairs' doubled. The Buildings Department tripled. And the Health Department? Their fines went up more than four-fold. What's driving these numbers? Are New Yorkers really twice as law-breaking as ten years ago? Are inspectors that much more observant?
I was at a Community Board meeting out in Throggs Neck in the Bronx a few years ago and a business owner who was also a retired police officer approached me. He said when he was on the force and saw a double-parked car, his orders were to get the car to move. Ticketing was a last resort. But when he talks to his colleagues on the force today, they're told to write tickets first, ask questions later.
I've held round tables with small businesses all over the city , and I hear the same thing: City cares less about enforcing the laws than it does about raising revenue any way it can. Nothing is too small to overlook. Return policy printed on your receipts instead of posted behind the counter? That's a $250 fine…per register. If the knife sticks out past the napkin on a dining room table? That could run anywhere from $200 to $2,000. It doesn't matter if it's a first-time offense. It doesn't matter if you fix it right away.
Ask City Hall to explain the record haul from fines, and you will be met with stony silence. My office has released two reports based on small business complaints about how the City should improve its enforcement of regulations. City Hall refused to take up our recommendations, again focusing on initiatives it had launched in years past. Two months ago, I tried prying information from City agencies about which violations are generating all the new revenue, which neighborhoods and businesses are being hit hardest, and whether quotas were responsible for driving the record level of fines. Not a single agency turned over the data.
This past week, I filed a lawsuit to open the books on small business fines. Suing the Mayor isn't something I take lightly—this is the first lawsuit the Public Advocate's office has filed in fifteen years. But if it takes a judge to compel the Mayor and his commissioners to admit that budget quotas and a drive for revenue are responsible for all these fines, so be it. We need this information to fully assess and correct the counterproductive, job-killing effects of this hyper-enforcement. This should not be a question of revenue production. It should be a question of protecting health and safety while simultaneously fostering job retention and creation. This is a public policy question and it should be treated as such and debated openly.
The question remains, why on earth are we sabotaging small businesses like this? We know our small businesses create jobs at twice the rate of big ones, according to the New York State Department of Labor. We know they are facing stiffer headwinds than ever before. One in six New York small businesses doesn't have the cash to pay bills on time. Nationally, only 3% of small businesses expect to add jobs in the coming year according to the respected risk assessment firm, Dun & Bradstreet. Again, the city is failing to react to the crisis we face, failing to understand how fundamentally the world has changed. Our economic future depends on working WITH business owners to address actual consumer and public safety concerns without driving them into the ground. Instead of "fine-first," let's make our policy "fix-first."
To that end, I'm calling on the City to immediately launch a fine-reduction pilot program in one community board district per borough. Let's prove inspectors can utilize education as effectively as fines to enforce many laws. And I've introduced new legislation to create a new category of low risk violations where no fines can be assessed for the first offense, and to streamline the appeals process so owners can contest all violations by phone or online, instead of having to close shop and appear in Lower Manhattan.
We also need to help new businesses get off the ground and grow. I give the Mayor credit for streamlining the permitting process and creating new incubators for entrepreneurs. But it's just not enough to match the times we are in.
Earlier this year, the Fund for Public Advocacy, which is the non-profit affiliated with my office, working with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and ACCION USA released a landmark report based on interviews with 625 immigrant-owned small businesses across all five boroughs. This is a huge and growing piece of our economy, about which very little information has been publicly collected. What we found was how little of the City's business assistance and outreach programs were reaching the immigrant community. Of the hundreds of immigrant business owners we spoke with, 92% started and operate their businesses without any outside help, including government assistance. And just over half of those businesses were unaware that any City programs even existed to support their efforts. And we also found a huge demand. Four out of five business owners wanted support services including access to capital, legal guidance, and marketing help.
The implications of this report were clear to me: we have to do more and do better. These businesses want support, they want to create jobs and our government should be doing a much better job of supporting them. We should first address the major concern of small business owners today – access to credit. Since the financial crisis of 2008, bank lending to small businesses has significantly decreased. And even as bank profits have recently increased, credit opportunities for small businesses have perversely lagged. The lack of accessible, flexible credit has led to too many short and long-term crises for too many of our small business owners . Again and again in our interviews with immigrant business owners, we heard stories of owners using credit cards with outrageous interest rates to meet expenses or to grow because they couldn't secure a loan.
In this time of unprecedented need, the government must take a more active role to prevent more small businesses from closing and thereby undermining our long-term growth potential as well. We should start by immediately increasing the New York City Capital Access Revolving Loan Guarantee Program. This program, run by the Economic Development Corporation in partnership with local lenders, provides loan guarantees for small business loans. However, it is only capitalized with $5 million in City money, which means it can only fulfill a small fraction of the need our small businesses have. We should not only immediately increase the amount of City capital in this program but we should also allow loans to be used for a greater number of purposes, including allowing companies to scale up their operations.
We must also address the other key concerns of our small business owners. The Fund for Public Advocacy's immigrant small business report recommended improvements in debt management counseling, access to marketing firms, and legal advice resources for small businesses. We are developing new pilot programs to assist small businesses to obtain these resources. We will also be creating and distributing a toolkit of available City services to 5,000 immigrant small business owners in every borough. I encourage the City to work with us on this effort, so that we can share best practices and implement proven strategies for supporting small businesses. This is the work of our time and of our future. Like the Catholic Liturgy, I'll keep repeating that phrase.
Third, let's discuss how we can start INVESTING IN OUR OWN PEOPLE
If the theme of all these efforts is the imperative that we react more decisively and fully to the times we are in, then we also need to turn our focus to some of the most underused tools we have in City government. It amazes me how little we know and focus as a City on how our tax dollars are used to support local hiring. I asked the Independent Budget Office last year to report back on what I thought was a simple question: how many local jobs have been created through the City's Economic Development Corporation grants and incentives? Jobs are, after all, what these projects are intended to create. IBO reported back that EDC does not track results in a way that allows us to tell if the millions of dollars they invest are actually creating jobs. Let me repeat that: we cannot say with any certainty whether our economic development dollars are creating jobs here in New York City. I have put forward new legislation to strengthen reporting, and we are going to push for its passage this fall. We simply MUST know if the dollars we spend are advancing something, or if jobs weren't created. Or, just as bad, WOULD have been created without investing any taxpayer money at all.
We also need to be much smarter and more ambitious about the less conventional tools we have as a City with which to invest locally, specifically our contracting and procurement opportunities, as well as our pension assets. It was a little over a year ago when these missed opportunities really came into focus for me. Who here has heard of the Taxi of Tomorrow? This is a showcase franchise for the City. The exclusive right to manufacture our city's taxis. The Mayor and TLC challenged bidding companies on practically everything: headroom, legroom, climate controls, mileage, finishes, outlets for electronics. But one requirement the City didn't put any of the competing bidders? Jobs. Here we were. This competition has been happening since 2010, unemployment still unacceptably high, we are giving a company a billion-dollar opportunity —effectively a monopoly—and not only is local hiring not part of the final decision, but the City wouldn't even ASK the question in the Request for Proposals. One of the three finalist bidders actually offered to build and maintain its vehicles in Brooklyn and employ 600 people—and it didn't matter. In the end, the contract went to Nissan, a foreign company with zero commitment to build or service its vehicles here. It was one of those moments when you realize where our priorities lay, and why they must change. We can never allow another wasted opportunity like this again.
The City is one of the country's largest purchasers of goods and services. We spend $17 billion each year. How much of it goes to local employers? We don't know because the City doesn't track it. There is no reason why we should not be doing more to connect our local businesses with these important contract opportunities and strengthening our local economy. We should start by immediately tracking bids from local businesses and develop guidelines to provide targeted outreach and goals for purchases from small businesses. Today, we have a limited City effort to prioritize and track purchases from local Minority and Women-Based Enterprises (MWBEs), but we give no such distinction to a business located in the five boroughs or committing to employ New Yorkers as part of their bid. We do not monitor how our existing procurement dollars support job creation, and without additional information, we cannot conduct a more comprehensive set of reforms to enhance the multiplier effect of spending locally.
But the $1 billion franchise for the Taxi of Tomorrow or the $17 billion in procurement are not the biggest or more under-examined figures I will mention today. The biggest piece on the table is that of our public pension assets. Together, our City pension funds top $120 billion. NYCERS, on which I sit as a trustee, holds over $41 billion in assets. Of that, only about $800 million was authorized in recent years for Economically Targeted Investments right here in New York City. But until this year, 2012—four years after the recession began—only $450 million of that had actually been invested. What we did invest earned us a higher than expected rate of return, and helped finance construction and rehabilitation of over 14,000 affordable housing units across the city. The other half of what was allocated sat waiting. Here it was again, that business as usual inertia, blind to the intense needs we face. I put forward and the board passed a resolution to invest the remaining $350 million immediately. We also secured a resolution to expand our investments in infrastructure substantially, following the lead of major pension funds in Canada and in states including California , Connecticut, Florida and North Carolina. Again, a little New York pride, please. We are not going to let North Carolina be more creative and strategic in its pension investment than New York City.
I firmly believe that this is yet another area where we have underutilized too many common-sense opportunities in the face of tremendous challenges. Our region faces major, long-term infrastructure problems that cannot continue to be ignored. And the success of our future economy depends on our infrastructure – if we fail to act, we may ultimately undermine all of our growth and quality of life goals; if we invest, we can and will move forward. It is unacceptable that we have continued to approach our long-term infrastructure challenges in traditional silos, instead of trying to utilize every resource at our disposal. As we've learned from the experiences of other major pension funds, investments in infrastructure are win-win solutions for our local communities and workers as well as our efforts to seek strong pension investment returns. This is going to be a critical area for us in the coming months. And now, I'll invoke the refrain a third time: we need to do this for our present as well as our future.
Finally, let's focus on training THE WORKFORCE OF TOMORROW
All of the initiatives I've touched on today focus on putting New Yorkers to work using the tools at hand to create new economic opportunities. But we cannot overlook another piece of the puzzle: educating and training New Yorkers to take those opportunities. This is critical to bridging economic inequality in a city where the record number of private jobs coincides with such high unemployment. Education is the equalizer in that equation, and it is as important for the companies looking to hire as it is for those in the work force.
The goal should be nothing less than preparing every student who goes through our public school system for readily-available career options or for college upon graduation. This requires new investment in early childhood education--not the cuts this crucial area has suffered in recent years. This requires a curriculum that teaches skills for the modern economy rather than teaching to the test. And this requires more than lip service for Career and Technical Education--it requires an updating of our whole approach to CTE.
I'll raise one example here that really points to so much of what is going right and going wrong in our schools today: William H. Maxwell High School in East New York. This is a success story—although an equivocal one. This is a school that for years ranked on the persistently low-achieving list. Five years ago, it earned an F rating on its progress report and had a huge truancy problem. And then the school community came together. Principal Jocelyn Badette started personally calling and meeting with parents to get truancy under control. Teachers started working until 5pm helping tutor their students after hours and catching them up. Today, math scores are up 70%, reading is up 49%, and science is up 33%. The graduation rate has doubled since 2005. Maxwell went from an F to an A in its most recent report card.
Then what happened? Did the City applaud the parents and faculty for their efforts? Did its lessons get applied elsewhere in the school system? No. The Department of Education decided to close Maxwell High School and fire half of its faculty as part of its "turnaround" program. Let's get this straight: the actual turnaround had already happened, and yet the Department of Education tried to fire the very people responsible. It was one of the most frustrating moments I have had as a public servant. Fortunately, we stood with the school community and fought back the closure with intense public pressure. It was a happy ending, but it points to exactly what has gone wrong under the current approach.
One of the reasons Maxwell High School had such deep problems to begin with is because it is part of one of the most neglected—and largest—areas of our school system: Career and Technical Education. Thirty-thousand students are enrolled in CTE-designated high schools, and approximately 150,000 students have exposure to some CTE programming. Yet one in three CTE schools is low-achieving. They are under-resourced and have gotten little attention in this Administration. The City shows up only to shut schools like Maxwell down. My office released a comprehensive report on our City's CTE system earlier this year that found vast disorganization coupled with a lack of results-focused goals is disserving too many of our young people. Our most numerous programs are targeted to some of the lowest-growth career fields, while high growth, high paying fields like Information Technology are chronically shortchanged.
Today, I am calling for the development of three-year strategic plans with city businesses, economic development agencies, and CUNY to ensure student curriculum is actually tied to skill development for high-growth industries. This new strategic orientation for our CTE system should focus on outcomes including improving actual employment and higher education opportunities.
Second, we must also create new career pathways with local employers for graduates of our CTE programs. We must proactively partner with our local higher educational facilities to address critical gaps in workforce skills today, and I believe there is no better way to start than by addressing the oft-discussed talent shortage in our growing technology sector. New York City is by no means unique in this problem – cities across the country, including in other technology hotspots like Silicon Valley; Austin, Texas; and Boston, are facing similar problems. New York City has just such partnership with IBM, but it's a lonely example in a system with hundreds of thousands of students and a sector of our economy with such an acute shortage of qualified job applicants. I applaud the IBM model, but we need bigger and we need faster.
And yes, you guessed it, we have need to do all this for our present and for our competition-defined future.
These are substantive changes that government needs to make, and together they can make a major impact on our local economy. This is not the kind of conventional stimulus to which we have all become accustomed. These are examples of a new urgency we need to see from every level of government. These are investments we can make within our present means. These are tools in our hands as City leaders, waiting to be used.
My eyes are open when it comes to the varied challenges our city faces – to what we're doing right, but more importantly, to the flaws and the insufficiencies of the current policies to meet the rising competition, growing inequality and lack of opportunity we confront today. It is easier to ignore these problems, and just focus on some of the good things the City is doing and get stuck by the many impediments to doing more. But I firmly believe that we can fix these problems, we can start today, and that we can engage all of our businesses, neighborhoods and residents in meeting this challenge. They are ready for it.
We need to be a City that works with the Bill Rudins of the world to do big things. We need to be a City that sees a small business owner like Irene LoRe and sees not a revenue stream, but a partner who, given the right support, can continue to grow and prosper to the benefit of her whole community. We need to be a City that looks at a success story like Maxwell High School, understands what is working, and builds on that foundation instead of tearing it down. That's what it will take to keep this city great in an increasingly competitive world.
But that can only happen if we recognize that we are all in this fight together, and that no matter our differences, we must be united in the pursuit of broad-based economic growth.
And it's all with a single purpose: to make this the last time we ever see 10% unemployment in the world's greatest city.


text:
Tech & Geek
News on anything related to "Geek" culture. i.e. gadgets, video games, comics etc.
First Trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaugby Parker
Looks like their logic for this one was "People love elves! Lets jam in a bunch of elves!"Read More »
It's the 27th anniversary of……by Jack Spade
It's the 27th anniversary of…….Ferris Bueller's Day Off!!!!Read More »
More From Batman: Arkham Originsby Joe
THIS is why I get excited for E3 every single year. You get better looks at the games coming out in the fall. The trailer for the ne...Read More »
PS4 Trumps Xbox One at E3by Parker
Today Sony announced that you WILL be able to lend, sell, and buy used games with the PS4. It will NOT need to connect to the ...Read More »
Custom Iron Man Nike'sby Nick Steele
These Nike Mags were customized by none other than Mache Customs. [Source GeeksAreSexy.com ]Read More »
Superman Celebration 2013by Nick Steele
Over the weekend I got to fulfill one of my dreams and cross it off my bucket list. I visited Metropolis, Illinois during the Annual...Read More »
Hello Vinnie. Its your Uncle Bingo.by Greg Belfrage
Fans of the Joker are laughing themselves silly over an upcoming figure from Hot Toys. The Joker 1989 Mime Version DX 1/6 scale fi...Read More »
Remembering The Pastby Chris Hallack
The picture you are looking at is from my own personal collection of many different systems and games that I own. (that system is...Read More »

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Posted by
From the perspective of usability, I don't like uservoice.com and have contempt for any site which forces me to use uservoice.com as the only means of communication with them. I like to use an email address or a contact form whenever. If I have to use a forum I will, even though it means I have to go through the registration process. One of the sites I frequent used to use UserVoice.com for support and feedback. Within a month I ran out of the 10 votes which every new user receives upon registration. For any kind of post, a question, feedback, opinion, idea, suggestion,.. etc it costs you at least one vote. My first irritation with the site is why do I have to go through a voting system, subtracting a vote if all I want is an answer to a quick question. I knew right then that was an awkward system for providing support.
Back then uservoice.com was new and it seemed it had some kind of 'cool' factor because I felt every site was using it, along with getsatisfaction.com. Uservoice is good for voting a suggestion or idea up or down. It's not for providing support.
So what happens when you run out of 10 votes? This is what their site tells us (the text in italic is theirs):
When I ran out of 10 votes I did some research on their site with no results. I don't like sites which limit my movement. Imagine if you go to a forum and you're allowed 10 posts only unless someone deletes one of your posts.
Anyways, my past frustrating experience with them made me wish that I won't come across their site again. Recently a site 'forced' me to go there but I swore I wouldn't use them again. It's one of those sites I avoid with a big effort. If you have a site and want to support your customers, do it through a ticket system, forum, contact form or direct email. Don't use uservoice.com. My opinion they are only good for soliciting customer feedback for new ideas or enhancements and where people can vote for these ideas.
I am glad the past overuse of uservoice has waned. I am guessing more and more people are realizing it's not a good communication venue for everything.
I am not saying UserVoice is bad or useless. It's how some site owners use it for.
I watched the movie "The Social Network" the other day and it was interesting to learn how Facebook got started. While I knew about Facebook since its early days when it was exclusive to university students, watching the facts in a movie is a different experience. It gives you a closer look and a human face. The movie resonates with me because launching successful websites and web applications is what I do for a living. I am a late comer to Facebook because I am not really into social networks. Never bothered to join any of these sites until I started getting a few friend requests for Facebook from my some of my old friend and so I decided to check it out. Also because of constant barrage of news coming towards me about it and i wanted what's all hype about.
The movie is about 2 hours long but I felt the movie went by pretty quick. I heard it uses a technique where the frames play at a faster speed but the viewer's watching it as a normal movie. This way they can cram more movie material. I am not sure how this is done but I am guessing this method will be used in more movies. It must be flattering for Mark zukerberg to have a movie about him. They used real names for the people involved with Facebook. If you knew about Facebook and its history in advance, the movies might feel like a bio or documentary. The movie provided me with more detail starting from the Harvard days. The actor who played Mark, Jesse Eisenberg, was pretty good. Coincidently, the next day I was listening to a podcast with the real Mark, where he discusses Facebook's current and future plans. The two voices & characters are pretty different.
I joined Facebook with a main expectation of getting connected again with some old friends & acquaintances from school and college days and relatives. As of now, almost all of my FB friends I have are people I personally know. part of my effort of limiting my online noise, is not accepting invites from people I don't know.
Different people have different experiences with Facebook. Some love it and spend hours every day playing online games, chatting and posting messages. (advertisers target these types). On the other side of the spectrum, there are ones who checked in once and never bothered to come back. In between, you get the pretty active users and the 'lurkers'.
Personally, FB with 500 million users, I had higher expectations of finding old acquaintances. There are of people I know who are not on it. A few more billions to go and it should get easier! While I see the 80/20 rule being popular, on my Facebook I would say 90% of the activity comes from 10% of the friends. The remaining "friends" and pretty inactive. Too busy, too lazy or simple don't care?
Facebook is about connecting with people. By communicating with people. You can communicate with others by talking about yourself, your day, your thoughts, your hopes, your feelings, your kids (be proud of your kids).. etc. Post photos of your happy moments, your past and present.. and your kids. (Did I mention kids twice already?) It's not just about posting links or quotes or news. It should be also about yourself. I believe if you're being too private or too silent, you don't exist. Out of sight, out of mind.
Today I read that Facebook's pre IPO valuation is $41 billion! In the movie credits it mentioned it was $25B. The real value will be known hen Facebook goes public. Facebook is a trend setter. It's enabling sites like cnn.com and nytimes.com to be more social. You can see Facebook widgets and connect on millions of sites. Google sleeps with an eye open on Facebook. Rumors have it that MySpace is closing down. Well this rumor has been going on for a long time but I won't be surprised if MySpace and other social network sites disappear. Facebook is just crushing it. It's an amazing success story where a 20 year old creates a multibillion company in a few years and is still growing at a neck breaking speed.
There are many privacy concerns with Facebook. As a rule of thumb, consider anything you post as being public. Privacy rules change all the time. Read the fine print. One of the reasons I don't use any FB apps is because I get the prompt where I give the vendor access to my information. I don't know what kind of information they will get and FB doesn't make that clear. I play it safe. There's no app or game I need to be using on Facebook. And My profile is empty.
Be smart. Don't post something if you think it would offend someone or can be used against you in any way. By your current employer, by a future employer, by a competitor or even your spouse. You can delete a post of yours if you think it was inappropriate.
Have fun.
Powered by BlogEngine v2.7 | Theme by Elegant Themes | Adapted to BlogEngine by Abdu


text:
Reduce the disease and economic burden of diabetes mellitus (DM) and improve the quality of life for all persons who have, or are at risk for, DM.
DM occurs when the body cannot produce or respond appropriately to insulin. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to absorb and use glucose (sugar) as fuel for the body's cells. Without a properly functioning insulin signaling system, blood glucose levels become elevated and other metabolic abnormalities occur, leading to the development of serious, disabling complications.
Many forms of diabetes exist. The 3 common types of DM are:
Effective therapy can prevent or delay diabetic complications.1, 2 However, almost 25 percent of Americans with DM are undiagnosed, and another 57 million Americans have blood glucose levels that greatly increase their risk of developing DM in the next several years.3 Few people receive effective preventative care, which makes DM an immense and complex public health challenge.
DM affects an estimated 23.6 million people in the United States and is the 7th leading cause of death.3 DM
In addition to these human costs, the estimated total financial cost of DM in the United States in 2007 was $174 billion, which includes the costs of medical care, disability, and premature death.3
The rate of DM continues to increase both in the United States5, 6 and throughout the world.7 Due to the steady rise in the number of persons with DM, and possibly earlier onset of type 2 DM, there is growing concern about:
Back to Top
Four "transition points" in the natural history of diabetes health care provide opportunities to reduce the health and economic burden of DM:
Disparities in diabetes risk:
Barriers to progress in diabetes care include:
Evidence is emerging that diabetes is associated with additional comorbidities including:
The importance of both diabetes and these comorbidities will continue to increase as the population ages. Therapies that have proven to reduce microvascular and macrovascular complications will need to be assessed in light of the newly identified comorbidities.
Lifestyle change has been proven effective in preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes in high-risk individuals. Based on this, new public health approaches are emerging that may deserve monitoring at the national level. For example, the Diabetes Prevention Program demonstrated that lifestyle intervention had its greatest impact in older adults and was effective in all racial and ethnic groups.
Another emerging issue is the effect on public health of new diagnostic criteria, such as introducing the use of HbA1c for diagnosis of diabetes and high risk for diabetes, and lower thresholds for gestational diabetes. These changes may impact the number of individuals with undiagnosed diabetes and facilitate the introduction of diabetes prevention at a public health level.
Several studies have suggested that process indicators such as foot exams, eye exams, and measurement of HbA1c may not be sensitive enough to capture all aspects of quality of care that ultimately result in reduced morbidity. New diabetes quality-of-care indicators are currently under development and may help determine whether appropriate, timely, evidence-based care is linked to risk factor reduction. In addition, the scientific evidence that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed has stimulated new research into the best markers and approaches for identifying high-risk individuals and the most effective ways to implement prevention programs in community settings.
Finally, it may be possible to achieve additional reduction in the risk of diabetes or its complications by influencing various behavioral risk factors, such as specific dietary choices, which have not been tested in large randomized controlled trials.
1Knowler WC, Barrett-Connor E, Fowler SE, et al; Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. N Engl J Med. 2002 Feb 7;346(6):393-403.
2Knowler WC, Fowler SE, Hamman RF, et al; Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Ten-year followup of diabetes incidence and weight loss in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. Lancet. 2009 Nov 14;374(9702):1677-86.
3Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National diabetes fact sheet: General information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States, 2007. Atlanta: CDC; 2008.
4Portuese E, Orchard T. Mortality in insulin-dependent diabetes. In Diabetes in America, pp. 221-32. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, National Diabetes Data Group; 1995.
5Geiss LS, Pan L, Cadwell B, et al. Changes in incidence of diabetes in US adults, 1997–2003. Am J Prev Med. 2006;30:371-7.
6Cowie CC, Rust KF, Ford ES, et al. Full accounting of diabetes and pre-diabetes in the US population in 1988–1994 and 2005–2006. Diabetes Care. 2009;32:287-94.
7International Diabetes Federation. The Diabetes Atlas, 3rd edition. Brussels: International Diabetes Federation; 2006.
This hyperlink will direct you to a non-governmental Website or application.
The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United
States Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) of the hyperlinked Website
or application, or the information, products or services contained therein. Such
hyperlinks are provided consistent with the intended purpose of this HHS Website.
Visitors to the hyperlinked Website or application will be subject to the Website
or application's privacy policies. These practices may be different than those of
this HHS Website.
You will be redirected to: link


text:
Browse All Accessories
Browse Accessories For Your Phone
Latest Headlines
Latest poll
Latest Forum Posts
- Honda CRV automatically starts playing music on Samsung Galaxy s5 about 3 min ago by lehouck2 2
- Android Authority Unboxing about 5 min ago by ohbreeeezy 18
- Spent about an hour playing with a white N4 today about 6 min ago by Adam Sawyer 5
- How many Note 8 users are there? about 8 min ago by dadathepanda 10
- Moto X 2013 vs 2014 touchless control responsiveness and accuracy? about 13 min ago by StutterStep 3


text:
11,886pages on
this wiki
this wiki
Community Portal • Wiki tutorial • Help pages
We are currently editing 11,886 articles since 5 July, 2005. Looking for another language?</center>
- 30 July - 2 August, 2015: GeekyCon (formerly known as LeakyCon) will be held in Orlando, Florida.
- 28 October, 2014: Harry Potter: The Creature Vault, a behind-the-scenes look at the magical animal and plant designs from the films, will be published.
- 14 October, 2014: The Making of Harry Potter will be adding a new Dark Arts feature to the tour.
- 26 September, 2014: The sixth Pottermore House Cup will be awarded.
Recently featured: File:Normal face2face-pg-horizontal.jpg - File:Dheldervold.jpg - File:Hhmeeting.jpg - More
LeakyCon 2014 is coming up! Are you going?
- ...that Rubeus Hagrid was 62 in Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts?
- ...that Albus Dumbledore's favourite kind of jam is raspberry?
- ...Peeves's hat with bells was custom-made in 1876 by Madame Bonhabille of Paris by request of Headmistress Eupraxia Mole, who was trying to compensate the Poltergeist after the caretaker of the day tried to get rid of him?
- ...that when Severus Snape substituted for Remus Lupin in Harry's third year Defence Against the Dark Arts class, he said that Kappas are from Mongolia when they are actually from Japan?
- ...that there are one hundred forty-two staircases in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?
Get the My Wikia App!
With Wikia's official flagship app, My Wikia, you can search for communities and add them to your home screen and read constantly evolving, deep content in a customizable format.
- JKRowling.com
- Pottermore
- Warner Bros.
- Bloomsbury.com (International publisher)
- Scholastic.com (US publisher)
- Raincoast.com (Canadian publisher)
Other Wikia
- Pottermore Wiki
- Harry Potter Answers Wiki
- Harry Potter Fanfiction Wiki
- Harry Potter Fanon Wiki
- The Potter Dictionary Wiki
- Dumbledore's Army Role-Play Wiki
- LEGO Harry Potter Wiki
- AVPM Wiki
- The J K Rowling Adult Fiction Wiki
22 September is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years). There are 100 days remaining.
Behind the scenes
- 1987: Tom Felton, the actor who plays Slytherin student Draco Malfoy, is born.
External links
No quote of the week! Submit one below.
HeyRead more >
Hi there. i'm new in town. I found this site when I was doing research for my fanfiction, which is about resurrecting Snape (hey, if star trek can resurrect Spock, then why the heck not?) . It's a…Read more >
Hey, here's an idea:
Since both Sirius Black and Hedwig are both dead, maybe Harry should take Sirius's owl as his new messenger bird.Read more >


text:
EVERY SATURDAY: Free, Guided Walking Tour with a High Line Docent
Saturday, November 6, 2010 - 4:00am to 5:00am
EVERY SATURDAY: Free, Guided Walking Tour with a High Line Docent
Walking tours are a great way to learn more about the High Line's history, design, and distinct horticultural elements in an intimate setting.
High Line Docents are volunteers trained by Friends of the High Line staff on all aspects of the High Line. Every Saturday at 11:00 AM, a High Line Docent leads a free, guided walk through Section 1 for up to 20 people. Meet at the bottom of the Gansevoort Street stair. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not accepted.
For more information, visit the Tours page.


text:
A city's buildings and structures can be serve a greater purpose than visual effects – they can enhance togetherness in a community and urge empower residents. That was the picture painted by Candy Chang, senior TED fellow and urban artist and designer at the Conference.
Wayne State President M. Roy Wilson Touts Economic and Social Benefits of Higher Education
The social mobility made possible by a college education is the key to a strong middle class, and the gateway to the American dream. That point was emphasized by Dr. M. Roy Wilson during his keynote address at the Conference.
Power Perspective: John Gallagher
John Gallagher offers the reinvention of government, the economy and vacant land as reasons to be realistically optimistic about Detroit's transformation.
The City Speaks: Panel Highlights Community and Re-Invention as Keys to Revitalization of Detroit's Neighborhoods
The surrounding neighborhoods of the city became front and center during the morning breakout session "The City Speaks: Revitalizing Detroit's Neighborhoods." Panelists included (in order of appearance) James Craig, Detroit Chief of Police, Benjamin Kennedy, the deputy director of community development and Detroit program of the Kresge Foundation, Bill Pulte, the founder and chairman of the Detroit Blight Authority and Maggie DeSantis, president of the Warren/Conner Development Coalition. The panel was moderated by Stephen Henderson from the Detroit Free Press.
Urban Analyst Thomas Sugrue Challenges Traditional Rhetoric on Detroit Revitalization
To come up with proper solutions for the Detroit's course of action into the future, it is imperative that the origins of the city's current status are properly understood. Thomas Sugrue, David Boies professor of history and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, made that point to the audience as he delved into the historical circumstances that eventually led to Detroit's bankruptcy.
Power Perspective: Adam Hollier
Attendees are encouraged to take advantage of daily opportunities to make a difference by focusing their passion and legacy on Detroit.
View all session recaps from the 2014 Detroit Policy Conference.


text:
Student Activity
Kids Compose
KIDS COMPOSE: performances of IU composition majors' arrangements for orchestra and band of local kids' melodies during the annual grade school concerts for capacity audiences in the Musical Arts Center.
Started in Bloomington in 2006 by Debbi Ponella and Ruth Boshkoff with assistance from the Jacobs School of Music Composition Department, Kids Compose aims to foster children's natural talent for composing melodies.Kids Compose is sponsored by the Jacobs School of Music, and has received funding from the Bloomington Community Arts Commision and the Community Chamber Music Association.
- Elementary School children from grades two through six are invited to submit original melodies that fit on one page and are less than one minute in length. Students invent a melody and learn the simple tools needed to get it written in musical form.
- IU Jacobs School of Music composition students turn the melodies selected by a panel into orchestra or band compositions.
- The selections will be performed to over 1,600 local 2nd and 5th grade elementary students who visit the Musical Arts Center each school year for youth concerts given by IU Jacobs School of Music ensembles.
- During the concerts each student melody contributor and the IU composition student will be honored. Recordings will be produced to document the project.
- 2009-10 Review
Our unique Bloomington community offers everything needed to work this magic: a world-class music school that has pledged its support for the Children's Composition Project, a collaborative school system with highly-qualified MCCSC music teachers, and a sponsoring community groups in the form of the Community Chamber Music Association and Bloomington Community Arts Commission.
For more info contact Ruth Boshkoff at ruth.boshkoff [@] gmail.com or Debbi Ponella at dponella [@] gmail.com . Applications and melodies must be received by October 17, 2013.
Download the Kids Compose Registration Form (right click on the link and "save linked file as...")
Previous Years
Recordings, Finalists, Winners and more information for all previous Kids Compose Seasons
2013-2014 Kids Compose Event Information
Grade School Finalists
Olivia Clements & David Baumann (University), Miles York (Binford), Jacqueline Henderson (University), Luke Marion (Binford), Corey Prouse (Templeton), Phillip Hammond (St. Charles), Eric Kim (University), Skylar MacLean (St. Charles), John Beggs (Childs), Rhianna Gides (University), Mr. Stedman's 5th Grade Class (Templeton), Mariele Berin (St. Charles), Francisco Flores (Grandview), Elisabeth R.O. Siena (Harmony), Hannah Ringquist (Arlington), Mary Jachim (Marlin), Regan Theile & Peyton Scott (Binford), Jolie Mae Voss (Grandview), Christine Gerber (Clear Creek), Kira Kunzman (University)
Grade School Winners
CONCERT BAND - Daniel Larsen, Casey Thomas, Leah Duke, Richard Pope
ORCHESTRA - Stav Katz, Lily Zeichner, Abbey Armstrong, Katrine Bruner
IU Composer Winners
CONCERT BAND - Ari Fisher, Erik Ransom
ORCHESTRA - Kevin Hartnett, Melody Eötvös
Performance Dates
Spring 2013, tba, Musical Arts Center (MAC) 10:00AM
Concert Band
Spring 2013, tba, Musical Arts Center (MAC), 10:00AM
Program Notes:
coming soon...
IU Composition Majors
The Composition Department is proud to support Kids Compose, a community outreach program started in 2006. Kids Compose aims to foster children's natural talent for composing melodies. Children (grades 2 - 6) may submit melodies of which four will be selected by IU Jacobs School of Music Composition Faculty as winners. These melodies will then be arranged and orchestrated by IU Jacobs School of Music composition students and performed by the band and orchestra at MCCSC MAC series performances. Composition students and winners will be present at the performances, and may take part in a question and answer session at the completion of the performance, as time allows. IU Jacobs School of Music recording students will record, edit and press CDs, which will be presented to the winners, IU composition students and kept for archival purposes.
The four composition majors selected to participate in this venture will each receive an honorarium of $500 which will cover their honorarium and the expenses of providing performance materials. Two works will be for orchestra and two will be for wind ensemble.
The resulting arrangements will be less than two minutes in duration, and should be relatively straightforward, preserving the identity of the Kid's melodies, and making no elaborate or unusual demands of the ensemble, as there will be very little rehearsal time. Faculty will discuss this more with the selected composers. The arrangements should be effective and interesting, but also clear and concise. The IU composers should communicate and interact with the kids while completing the arrangement, and also plan to write a short program note for the website and speak briefly at the concert.
If you are interested in being considered for this project, please send Prof. Dzubay (email@example.com) an email indicating your preference of band or orchestra and including a PDF example (complete work or excerpt) of your orchestrating for either band or orchestra by noon on October 1.
Use the following format for filenames:
Example of an entry filename: Travers_Symphony_KC_2013.pdf


text:
| Subject to Credit Approval
"Customer service is priority #1 at Rocky Mountain ATV/MC. We value our customers and strive to be the best shopping experience- when you buy from us, you are buying lifetime service."
-Dan Thomas, CEO and Founder
We take pride in offering no hassle returns. In the event of a return, please call, email or chat with us to receive a solution to the problem. For apparel that doesn't fit quite right, Click here to see our Fit Guaranteed Program.
We will stand behind all products we sell with regards to manufacturing defects in workmanship and material. Most products are limited to the manufacturer's warranty. However, we will do everything in our power to take care of the problem.
Live chat: Click here
(Leave email if after hours)
Call us: 1 800 336-5437
7am-7pm Mon-Fri 8am-4pm Sat (Mountain Standard Time)
Each review submitted enters you into a $100 gift card monthly drawing, and a $500 gift card quarterly drawing!
Comments On Jul 18, 2014:Comes with a very nice mounting hardware/kit. Velcro base plate and then the straps to hold the bag. Absolutely perfect mounting solution. There is a video of this bag on YOUTUBE also if you want to see how it works.
I have it loaded with my tool roll bag, extra plug, and some other smaller items./ Not quite big enough for tire irons etc.
No worries at all that it will come off. I would have to loose my rear fender to lose the bag!
I am very likely going to purchase another to mount on my front fender just for a tube. It is that good!
Good job guys!!
Was this review helpful?
Comments On May 30, 2014:In the description it said mounting hardware was not included but mine came with all the hardware. Very easy to mount. All my tools fit with some room to spare for other things. Excellent bag. would definitely recommend it to others looking for a good tool bag that can be mounted, and also removed via the velcro bottom and straps.
Was this review helpful?
Comments On Oct 04, 2013:The instructions said it didn't include hardware, but it did!. Installs easy, just drill some holes in the plastics. Holds very secure and fits all my tools!
Was this review helpful?
Other items of interest


text:
Does anyone else think that Asa Butterfield would make a good Artemis Fowl?
No I'll really try to get this done
- Best book you read last year
- Best book you've read more than three times
- Favorite series
- Book you wish you could live in
- A book that makes you happy
- A book that made you sad
- Most Underrated book
- Most Overrated book
- Book you thought you'd hate, but ended up liking
- Favorite Classic
Gif Challenge…
Use every 5th Gif in you're folder. No cheating.
How you're feeling today:
Your love life:
(Does this mean that Colin hides under my bed or…)
What you have been doing today:
Your relationship with friends:
What you do just before you go to sleep:
What you do when you hear your favorite song:
How you'll react the next time someone asks you out:
(Don't worry, no one ever asks me out)
How you act/what you say around your parents:
hp meme - one quote
"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it is our choices."


text:
Arnold Transportation
Arnold Transportation Jobs & Careers in Manassas, VA
No jobs found – change your filters above for more results
Arnold Transportation Reviews
"Not the company for the professional driver or operational worker looking to stay. "
- Comp & Benefits
- Work/Life Balance
- Senior Management
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
I worked at Arnold Transportation full-time for less than a yearPros
Had a great schedule. Pay was decent.Cons
Where to start... the drivers are not considered as they should be. They are treated poorly over all. Home time policy is very tight. Planners have no idea what they are doing. The planners focus on their areas with no concern for the drivers. I saw many changes in positions in 8 months there. Supervisors were moved, planners were constantly swapped out, management was constantly shifting. You can't expect people to master their positions if they move constantly. Trucks are baby Pete's with no room for the drivers. Breakdowns are everyday in multitude. They will hire any driver, they do not care if he is a professional or not. The Pres, Vice Pres and Director all came from the bankrupt Link America. I was laid off with 23 others due to the company losing 150 drivers. That's about $75k per day. That alone proves poor management.Advice to ManagementAdvice
Take a look at other large trucking companies that are thriving. No need to reinvent the wheel. Do what is making other people money. Don't over complicate it. Keep it simple. A truck needs to go A to B, safely, with realistic transit times, and decent miles for the driver. Have CSR's focus on 300-700 mile runs. Only book what is good for the drivers and that will turn into profit. Increase the pay for the drivers and increase the requirements to be a driver. Think before you jump. Don't just make a crazy decisions and then run with it. Study it out and go into big changes with a plan. I have seen this company try things that other companies thrive at, and you fail. Why?
...and most importantly... ask your fleet managers why you are losing drivers. To sit at the top and assume you understand the day to day and what actually effects the driver is impossible to know unless you ask. Stop working against your Operations Dept and work with them.Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEO


text:
Take Five
Program Schedule
2pm - 3pm
The world of public radio is developing some wonderful new shows we want you to hear, but they only exist in limited quantities (for now). This show gives us an opportunity to share with you, our listeners, some of the nifty new things in radio that aren't yet in full bloom.
Current Program
Dinner Party Download
The Dinner Party Download is an hour-long celebration of culture, food, and conversation with hosts Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam designed to help you dazzle your friends at this weekend's get-together. In every episode you'll learn a joke… bone up on an odd bit of history and then wash it down with a themed cocktail recipe… meet artists of note (for instance Willie Nelson, Venus Williams and Steve Martin)… have your burning etiquette questions answered by the likes of Dick Cavett or Henry Rollins… savor an emerging food trend… and hear your new favorite song. Plus, hear unconventional wisdom from our hosts.
Programs in the Take 5 rotation include:
Action Speaks!
Action Speaks! is a series of contemporary topic-driven panel discussions framed by the theme "Underappreciated Dates that Changed America." Each panel draws three or four scholars, authors, practitioners, and other relevant guests into an open-ended discussion with the larger community in the casual atmosphere of the downtown Providence arts organization, AS220. Action Speaks' presenting station is 89.7 WGBH Boston. Now you can tune in nationwide to Action Speaks! to hear host Marc Levitt and an endless parade of perceptive intellects and insightful audience members!
BackStory is a public radio program & podcast that brings historical perspective to the events happening around us today.
Here's the Thing
When you put two creative, well-known personalities together in conversation, it's hard to stop listening. On Here's the Thing, award-winning actor Alec Baldwin gives the listener unique entrée into the lives of some of today's most exciting performers. Baldwin sidesteps the predictable by taking listeners inside the dressing rooms, apartments, and offices of some of the leading creative personalities of our time, including David Letterman, Billy Joel, Chris Rock, Kristin Wiig, and Erica Jong. Employing an engaging mixture of curiosity, intelligence and warmth, Baldwin explores what motivates his guests, how they feel about what they do, and what keeps them up at night.
Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we'll feed it with possibility.
State of the Re:Union
State of the Re:Union has set out to explore how a particular American city or town creates community, the ways people transcend challenging circumstances and the vital cultural narratives that give an area its uniqueness.
Studio 360: American Icons
Studio 360: American Icons Series highlights milestones in American culture -- works that define and redefine what it means to be American. This Peabody Award-winning series is hosted by Kurt Andersen, and produced by PRI and WNYC with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Moth
The Moth Radio Hour features our most beloved tales and the stories behind the stories. The series debuted in 2009 and is now airing on more than 200 stations nationwide.
The Really Big Questions
The Really Big Questions explores questions that intrigue both scientists and philosophers — questions about what makes us human. The project is a collaboration between Peabody Award-winning SoundVision Productions, The Exploratorium in San Francisco and Public Radio International. TRBQ specials air on public radio stations around the country. Veteran public radio journalist and curious guy Dean Olsher asks the questions.
The Tobolowsky Files
The Tobolowsky Files is a storytelling series about life, love and Hollywood, written and performed by actor and writer Stephen Tobolowsky. As one of America's most prolific character actors, Tobolowsky has amassed a lifetime of funny, profound and moving stories about his experiences in and out of the movies.
Word of Mouth
Word of Mouth is a one hour magazine program that highlights new and emerging trends in pop culture, science, technology, and the arts. Hosted by Virginia Prescott, Word of Mouth covers under-reported stories, discovers hidden twists in familiar stories and the news of the day, and gives a voice to people on the leading edge of new ideas.


text:
Our Kitchen Kids brochure is a boon to the whole family. The Kitchen Kids brochure is a colorful, easy-to-use recipe and
tip-sharing booklet geared for young cooks. It features 12 innovative recipes and photos, everything from:
More than a cooking brochure, Kitchen Kids also highlights tips on age-appropriate cooking activities, kitchen safety and preparation methods perfect for interesting even the youngest chef.
Due to the overwhelming response we received for the brochure, our printed supply is depleted. However, you can still Download the Kitchen Kids PDF. Enjoy!
Subscribe: Newsletter | RSS Feeds Browse: Recipes | Cheeses | Events | Artisans Contact: Contact Us Jump: Corporate | Foodservice | Media | Retail | On The Farm Legal: Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy
Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.
8418 Excelsior Dr.
Madison, WI 53717
(608) 836-8820 email@example.com
The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board is a nonprofit organization funded by dairy farmers that promotes the more than 600 varieties, types and styles of Wisconsin Cheese and other dairy products from America's Dairyland.
Copyright © 2014. Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. All rights reserved.
Visit our other sites:


text:
Several Bank of America employees were told while on the job, that they were no longer employed by the company. The announcement came on Thursday, August 29.
An employee who received notification and does not want to be identified says, "Bank of America is closing our site. It closes as of October 31. I will receive two weeks for every year of service. We are a call center. 550 are being laid off."
19 Action News Reporter Scott Taylor discovered that 1000 workers at the Bank of America Call Center in Beachwood are gone and the center is closing. Reports say that 11 months ago the call center's daycare found out that their facility would be closing but call center employees were told their fate today. A total of 1,200 Bank of America workers across Ohio were let go.
Workers say they didn't expect layoffs and were told in a meeting today. Several workers broke down in tears.
When 19 Action News reached out to Bank of America, they responded with this statement:
"We continue to reduce the size of our mortgage servicing operations in line with the successful reduction of our portfolio of delinquent mortgage customers. Compared to peak levels in 2011, today we have fewer than one-third the numbers of customers who need the specialized programs and support of this team... Bank of America has a strong track record for helping our employees identify opportunities both inside and outside of the bank and we are working closely with leaders in the community to support a smooth transition. We remain committed to Ohio and continue to refine our business model to account for changes in the marketplace to both preserve our presence and plan for the future."
Beachwood Mayor Merle Gordon had this to say about the lay offs:
"While we are always very disappointed to hear of any job cuts, we view this as a temporary setback. The Cleveland Clinic owns the two buildings housing the affected Bank of America facilities. The Cleveland Clinic has thriving operations in Beachwood and we are optimistic that they might be able to expand into this space. As such, we will engage very soon in conversations with the Cleveland Clinic to review the feasibility of that, and also to determine whether there could be a plan to transfer some of the affected employees into any new jobs that are created. In addition, we also told Bank of America that we will assist them in retaining and relocating any remaining employees by finding them more appropriate space that will be competitive and keep them here."
State Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) also issued the following statement after hearing of the plans to eliminate more than 1,000 jobs in Beachwood and Independence.
"I am extremely disappointed by Bank of America's announcement to eliminate more than 1,000 jobs in Cuyahoga County. This decision is incredibly unfortunate, and will have a ripple effect in these workers' families, their neighborhoods, and the community at large. I am committed to working with Bank of America and leaders across the region to keep good jobs in Ohio. It is critical that we come together and ensure that these families, our communities, and our state remain strong."
Senator Turner has sent a letter to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan requesting the opportunity to meet with Bank of America executives to find ways to keep these jobs in Northeast Ohio.
The Bank of America Call Center was sold to Cleveland Clinic in 2007.
Copyright 2013 WOIO. All rights reserved.
730 North Summit Street
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2014 Worldnow and WTOL. All Rights Reserved.
For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.


text:
Whew! Looks like we will be slipping on our flip flops, bikini's and suntan lotion after all this week! We are happy that this storm is not coming our way and look forward to seeing you at any of our hotels soon.
Tropical Storm Irene Is Not Coming To Key West
This entry was posted in Blog, Key West News, Latest News, Weather and tagged Bikini, Flip Flops Key West, Historic Key West Inns, Hotel Deals Key West, Labor Day Weekend Key West, Southernmost City In USA, Suntan Lotion Key West, Tropical Storm Irene Update Key West. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
10 all-you-can-eat buffets in Ocean City [Pictures]
Nothing works up an appetite quite like a day at the beach. If you're not sure what you're in the mood for, hit up one of Ocean City's all-you-can-eat restaurants and try a little taste of everything. Here are some of our favorite buffets at the beach. -- Laren Hughes, For The Baltimore Sun
Also see:
100 Best Beach Eats
Also see:
100 Best Beach Eats
Image 1 of 10
Location: 70th Street bayside
Cost: $32.99 for adults, $13.95 for children 7-12, $6.95 for children 3-6 and free for children under 3; adults seated between 3 and 4 p.m. receive $5 off.
Hours: 3 p.m. until close
Details: With 150 feet of buffet, the Bonfire offers everything you could ever want, including ahi tuna, raw clams and oysters, a variety of fish and even ceviche. Finish your meal with a serving - or two - of homemade bread pudding and ice cream. Call 410-524-7171


text:
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Blog | About | Contact | Submit Mod | Join Mod DB | Site Map | Media Kit | RSS
© 2002 - 2014 DBolical Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. 2532 modders.
Organic Panic has been 5 years in the making, and we're happy to announce that it's nearly done. Meat & Cheese battle Fruit & Veg in a quirky physics puzzler featuring real fluids, totally destructible levels, real fire, and an in-game editor to build and share your own levels!
We're sorry, but no addons were found matching the criteria specified. We suggest you try the addon list with no filter applied, to browse all available addons.
If you would like to share addons with the community, sign up and you can.


text:
This item is temporarily out of stock. However, we can notify you as soon as this product becomes available.
Thank you
We have received your request and you will be notified as soon as this product becomes available.
Description: Fiskars Kids Ink Pads have a raised pad surface that is easy to use with all stamp and brayer sizes. Fast drying. Non-toxic and safe for kids. Washable for easy clean-up. Ink stays fresh for lasting value. Container is approximately 3 3/4 x 2 1/4 inch, pads are approximately 1 3/4 x 1 3/8 inch. Ages 4 and up. Purple/Pink.
Review this product and Enter
to Win a $100 shopping spree!


text:
A simply stunning icon for a transportation application that takes your breath away. I love the attention to detail and the use of shadows and light to give a sheen of realism to the design.Posted in Interface → Mac App
A solid site for a company that provides cloud data services. I like the clean design and use of a bold slider that describes the company. The consistent colour theme is effective at getting the company branding to stick.Posted in Web Design → Corporate
A strong logo that makes good use of a non-negotiable colour palette. I like the subtle sense of perspective and the curvature and shaping of the logo.Posted in Branding → Logo
An excellent example of an iPhone icon that strongly emphasises the functionality of the app it belongs to. I particularly like the mixture of perspectives, it's a nice twist. The location marker really jumps out at you!Posted in Interface → iPhone App
A brilliant piece of interface design that has been created to run on the main screen at Acciona Central in Spain. It's designed to monitor all the energy consumed by the country. I love the circular energy monitor that allows you to easily see the levels of total energy, and filter by energy type.Posted in Interface → Other
A gorgeous site for a company that makes custom bags. The design examples make a great impact and perfectly showcase the quality of the bags. I particularly like the simple layout and intuitive structure of the site, it guides you through all the information you need.Posted in Web Design → Misc
A brilliant and stunning site for a fascinating bet. This design company have bet their boss that if they get 5000 likes on Facebook then he will bike to North Cape (Norway). I love the illustrations and graphic theme of the site!Posted in Web Design → Misc
An awesome portfolio site for a freelance designer. The unique approach to layout here is fascinating and works well to get visitors engaged. The entertaining, and slightly tongue in cheek, tagline makes an immediate impact.Posted in Web Design → Portfolio
This site can't fail to make an immediate impact! I love the vibrant colours and how the subtle transitory movement of the grey circles in the background make a user feel connected. The restrained use of text and striking central image help to make this an instantly interesting site.Posted in Web Design → Misc
A stylish yet vibrant site for a residential development. I love the use of colour and painted approach to the header. This site is immediately striking and gives a great impression to potential residents.Posted in Web Design → Misc