text:
Are star charts and pulling strips passé? Could a teacher manage classroom behavior better with an app?
A fourth-grade teacher wrote a review of a new behavior app called ClassDojo. Teachers can run if off their class computer, Smarboards or their smartphones. It helps track positive and negative points, can easily be sent to parents for behavior reports and can trend spot for problem days and times in the classrooms. Here's more on the app.
"ClassDojo is simple to use. You set up a class, or classes. Each class has avatars assigned for each of your students. Once your class is set up, you have the ability to award points, affectionately known as "dojos" in my classroom, for positive or negative behavior. You can award individual or multiple students.
"The app comes with a list of behaviors, but you can create your own list. That's what I did as the school year wore on (i.e. homework, contest winner, etc.). ClassDojo can be used with your interactive whiteboard, laptops, desktops or smart phones. Students get immediate feedback to their behavior by the distinctive sound made when their avatar is clicked. …."
"ClassDojo automatically keeps track of the behavior in your classroom by tracking the behaviors that were clicked. You can set it up to create reports that are emailed to the parents. Parents can connect through printed or emailed invites. Once they connect, they receive an email every Friday reminding them to view their child's reports. The parents of my students enjoy receiving the reports because it keeps them in the loop."
The teacher can not only share data but look for trends in behavior – such as every Friday we have problems.
So I'm very interested in what our teachers on the blog think? Have you tried any type of app to track classroom behavior? Have you used this app? Would you try the ClassDojo? Do you think it would be easier to use than the star chart or to move a stick? Do you think the kids would be more responsive to the technology and having their own avatar? Would you like the ability to send reports and trend spot?
July 1st, 2013
3:48 am
[...] Article from http://blogs.ajc.com/momania/2013/06/30/can-an-app-help-teachers-better-manage-class-behavior/?cxntf... Share this:FacebookLinkedInGoogle [...]
July 1st, 2013
6:05 am
If the behavior is REALLY bad, the DOJO spanks the student. Oh, wait…
July 1st, 2013
6:58 am
I used it for a while in my classroom. It was hard for me to use at first, because I don't get a cell signal in my room, so the points didn't always register. I'm not sure if I'm going to use it this year. Not all of my parents have a computer in their home, so they wouldn't be able to check on it daily.
I did like that you could both take away points and add them if the student is making good choices. It really encouraged me to look for the students who were making the right choices.
July 1st, 2013
7:25 am
What would best help teachers with behavior in classrooms is smaller class sizes! Plus smaller class size has shown that more can be learned by the student and thus CRCT and other scores can get better.
I do not think teachers should be using this app..their phone in the hands of their child means the behavior can be reported out to everyone….NO NO NO.
July 1st, 2013
7:48 am
More parental interest /investment/intollerance for being embarrassed by the child and "tough love" will solve most behavior problems, but now the kid has the idea it is the teacher's fault he is in trouble.
July 1st, 2013
7:52 am
I have not tried this app, but it sounds interesting. Recording, tracking, and reporting behavior is time consuming. One thing that sounds great about this app is that the parents of every child are contacted – not just those with behavior issues. The kids who are doing well get a good report. This is something that is not reported as often as is should be usually due to time constraints.
As for behavior begin reported to everyone, parents only get a report on their own child, and believe me the kids in the class already know who is behaving appropriately and who is not – they do not need a ding or a bell to let them know.
July 1st, 2013
7:54 am
I think incorporating technology into the classroom is important, especially since most of these children haven't known life without it. It's the same as in my day when PCs were introduced as not only a learning tool, but as part of the educational experience. A majority of educators and/or parents were "what's the point of all these computers" then, just like there's so much push-back for modern tech in classrooms now.
As an example, my nephew (7 years old) actually improved his grades and performance this year with the BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) to school. He loves his iPad and the fact that he can use it to do school work, while at school, got him excited about it. It's that whole "they don't know they're learning instead of playing" idea. (For those who will ask – the school provides "shared" devices for students who don't have tablets and such)
Resisting change is natural but technology the likes of ClassDojo is in my opinion, a plus and should be welcomed. Nothing replaces a face-to-face between parents and a teacher but scheduling that is hard – technology makes that a little easier.
July 1st, 2013
8:35 am
@ catlady…yes parental invovement too but certainly behavior changes in smaller environment.
My children are much better behaved when I have them with me 1:1 then 1:2.
July 1st, 2013
8:39 am
@(the other) Rodney I am for technology in the classroom. I think all assignments should be on a class blog, that students should use their Personal Computer Device when allowed (my middle schooler does this with her iPod). Emails and website vs paper from the school (would save TONS in copier dollars). In fact I have told my children's teachers I will not respond to any correspondence that is not in "soft copy" and they are all good with it. Soft copy is less expensive, less likely to get lost, and easier to track.
It is that the whole class behavior could get posted online or teachers start uplaoding video of the kids or something that bothers me.
July 1st, 2013
8:57 am
FCM, have you used it? Is is easy for everyone's reports to be accidentally posted online in a place where they're accessible by all parents? Based on the info provided here, I don't see anything that makes me think that's any more likely than accidentally sending a report to the wrong parent or a full class parent list via email.
I think I'd like this as a teacher, especially because it syncs across devices. I find Evernote really helpful when traveling for work for that reason. Notes, receipts, etc can be put into my phone or iPad, and when I get back to the office, it's all on my desktop.
July 1st, 2013
9:17 am
FCM you are entirely correct! However, we have too many kids whose parents are "too busy" or they think misbehavior is cute/funny. At least where I teach. I have found my best help comes from Latino daddies. I just tell them what I have seen, and comment that I know they are leaders in their community and do not want their son's (usually) behavior to shame the family. I have only once had a Latino parent say they think I am picking on their kid, in all these years. (I think he now understands what I was saying, as his son has been kicked out to the alternative school!)
July 1st, 2013
9:20 am
Oh, and as far as uploading video–we cannot do that! Or even take a if with cell phone to show parent child's sleeping in class!
July 1st, 2013
9:21 am
Take a pic with cell phone
July 1st, 2013
9:22 am
I can see tha this ap might be helpful with a behavior RTI, however, and will suggest it.
July 1st, 2013
9:43 am
@ catlady, I cannot always get to the school for face to face. I have offered to let them drive downtown and meet me nearer to my work…that usually gets the point accross (and gets a laugh). I am always available to read an email and respond within 24 hours (same rule the school has) and willing to schedule a teleconference at a mutually convient time.
I point out that they are often working mothers too so I appreciate empathy to the plight I am in when conferences are needed. It is not always well received at the time.
However the school principal (when she retired) said she had several teachers say "Mrs FCM is actually pretty cool lady, she always is on top of what Susie is doing in class/school." A few of the next grade teachers actuall asked could they have Susie b/c they knew I would be involved even if they seldom saw ME at school.
The other child's teachers and I were emailing like crazy last year. However she managed to hit Honor Roll so it worked. Each of those teachers thanked me for staying involved.
I do get that parents have to be invloved but these days teachers need to understand that employeers have us by the short hairs too. I cannot risk my livelihood on being gone for conferences. I need my vacation time for the stupid fulough days when I don't have someone to watch my kids
July 1st, 2013
10:41 am
Sure. I mean parental involvement; that's in the same category as an app or behavior chart.
I'll buy my wife that. The apps $1.99. How much is the involvment?
July 1st, 2013
10:43 am
"Which works better for making children feel better? Tylenol or Mortrin?"
FCM and Catlady's response: Curing cancer would make children feel better.
July 1st, 2013
10:54 am
FCM, by my definition, you ARE involved. I am talking about parents who won't answer the phone if it is the school calling. Or if they do answer it they tell you they can't do anything with him, either.
I have had conferences in the parking lot at the chicken plant, in the break room at the carpet mill, at the Dairy Queen, and in a home ( by invitation only). I have also come back to school in the evening, and arrived at 6:45 am. I've had some by phone, but I much prefer in person.
But what I mean by involved with behavior issues is giving me idea of what works for your particular child, and then helping by following through!
July 1st, 2013
1:02 pm
jarvisI see the app as a band-aid at best. Why not "cure" the real issue since it does have a solution…smaller class sizes are something the "goverment institutions" can control, but they keep voting to increase them. Parental involvent is a different issue…by Catlady's standard I am involved. By the defination of Susie's last teacher (also a working a Mom) I was not. She felt that if I did not come in person to the school I was not involved…I am at every concert, every play, every church event, etc. I did tell her fine, you want in person I can meet you (Midtown Starbucks) at the 10AM time you suggested…she said oh no I cannot leave MY job, my kids need this money for their support. REALLY???????????
As far as I know we do not have real soutions to stamp out cancer…although I would love for science to do that!
July 1st, 2013
1:10 pm
I am no longer teaching but asked friends that still are teaching if they would use this app. All of them teach at the high school level and each one asked me if this was a joke. All said that they need to more authority to enforce the rules and that an app will not help that at all.
I taught in several very different schools before my spouse's job transfers to different states put an end to my teaching career. I taught in a private school, a school in a very low-income area and a public high school for academically gifted students (over 15 years). Discipline problems varied from school to school but I cannot think of a single instance where an app would have helped with discipline. I noted major problems in my lesson plans. and made calls where necessary. I used a computer quite a bit for grading, research etc. But some things require a personal touch and writing down specific problems made things real for me. Writing makes me think where as filling in details on an app seems rather remote. We tend to think that technology makes our work and personal lives easier and better. It does somewhat, but taking time to write and think makes things more personal. Teaching and discipline in schools require the personal and not always the technological touch. Using an app will just distance us more from the problems.
July 1st, 2013
1:30 pm
Our elementary school honors program teachers used it for at least part of this recently ended year, and while it was good to see some areas that my two were both doing well (or not) in, the app seemed very limited in that there were no details. I would have loved some gory details, particularly on the problem areas, but I imagine it would have taken too much time to have written up anything detailed enough to be useful.
After about six weeks, I stopped getting notices that there were updates.
But at least we had fun making our avatars ;-)
July 1st, 2013
1:32 pm
I wouldn't think this would work for high school. I thought it was meant for younger aged classrooms (ES and maybe MS) that often have more defined systems for monitoring behavior. The same ages that used have their names written on the board with check marks for bad behavior and received little star stickers for good behavior.
July 1st, 2013
2:33 pm
I am surprised that schools haven't done the obvious – set up video cameras in the classrooms to document discipline issues. It would be the perfect evidence to show student misbehavior (or alternately, teacher misbehavior). Of course, I never understood why police departments didn't videotape all aspects of suspect questioning. Guess in both cases, they are afraid of what they might see.
July 1st, 2013
3:09 pm
Back in the day, the teacher had an "app" for that…they sent you to the principal's office for an APPlication of a block of hardwood to your butt. There wasn't much misbehavior then…wonder why?
July 1st, 2013
6:17 pm
Parent, the problem is you would see more than one student in the movie. There would be outrage, lawsuits, etc. I guess they get by with it on the bus because students are not required to ride the bus.,
July 1st, 2013
7:29 pm
I found out about this at a conference last (school) year – really too late in the year to try to implement then. However, I am planning on trying it out this year with my middle schoolers for "independent work" – we'll see how it goes. With all the documentation and parent communication with which we are currently tasked, anything that makes the job more manageable with huge classes is welcome.
Welcome to the new age where we are automating class management and communication.
July 2nd, 2013
12:27 am
The problem is: A kid knows if he is misbehaving. A kid knows if he is behaving appropriately. I don't see how an app that gives them an electronic pat on the head or pat on the rear is going to make any difference. It seems more powerful and more direct if it's coming directly from the teacher. If a parent wasn't involved with the child before, this isn't going to get them more involved. To me, it just seems like another layer of nannying that a teacher would need to do.


text:
The rookie boy group from South Korea captured the hearts of the local fans with cool dance moves and plenty of fan service.
Text & Photos: Dang Hui Ling
Videos: Ling Pak Wei, Teng Siew Eng & Tay Yixuan
At the exclusive showcase organized by KpopGaga, NU'EST fans were treated to the group's "live" stages of their hit songs such as Action and Not Over You, and hot dance moves, complete with their popular 'chair dance' during Face.
And what's a South Korean idol performance without fan service? The boys had fun playing interactive games with their fans, from a dance competition of their debut song Face to a lucky draw where the winner brought home a personal item from NU'EST's lead vocalist Minhyun.
Apparently, Gangnam Style is still the hottest topic as the boys presented their own version of the phenomenal hit. Vocalist Ren seemed to enjoy it most, wearing the brightest smile when doing the 'horse dance'.
With the maknae's (youngest member) birthday coming up in November, local fans prepared a cake and presents for the soon-to-be 17-year-old as celebration in advance. Ren was touched by the sweet effort and wished for the fans to promise to support NU'EST forever.
Click on to check out more photos from the NU'EST ShowKase!
latest korean buzz
- Shared
- Viewed
- Entertainment
- Asia Celeb News
- Hollywood Buzz
- Korean Buzz
- Celeb Interviews
- Celeb Bios
- Celeb Blogs
- Photo Galleries
- Music Reviews
- Movies
- xinFirst Webisodes
- TV Channels
- Channel 5
- Channel 8
- Channel U
- okto
- Suria
- Vasantham
- Radio
- Class 95FM
- Gold 90.5FM
- Lush 99.5FM
- Symphony 92.4FM
- Capital 95.8FM
- Love 97.2FM
- Ria 89.7FM
- Warna 94.2FM
- Oli 96.8FM
- Lifestyle
- Beauty & Fashion
- Food
- Going Out
- Health
- Relationships
- Travel
- Work Life
- Style
- Style:Men
- Style:Weddings
- Style:Living
- i-Weekly i周刊
- Timepieces
- Mother & Baby
- Elle
- Postbox
- News
- Singapore
- World
- Regional
- Sci-Tech
- Weird
- Business
- News Videos
- Sports
- Local Sports
- World Football
- Formula One
- Video
- Catch-Up TV
- Entertainment
- xinmsn Celebs
- Korean Celebs
- Hollywood Celebs
- Weird & Wonderful
- News
- Lifestyle
- Sports
- xinFirst

subset: commoncrawl


text:
February 28, 2009 — Gil Asakawa from MediaNews Group Interactive talks about the role of blogging and community leaders in the future of mass media and publishing.
Blog at WordPress.com •
Contact Us •
Powered by VideoPress
An Creation
Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.
Join 11,887 other followers


text:
Big William & The 360 Degree Band headline Saturday, March 23rd, and every month in The Chromatics Lounge at Motor City Casino & Hotel from 10pm-2am. They also perform at The Blue Goose Inn (St Clair Shores March 29 &30).
Their new CD is called "Under The Influence" and is set to be released later this year.
Check the band out by clicking here
25 FOX DriveDedham, MA 02026
Phone (781) 467-2525


text:
- Howie's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- Read more
Just in case you prefer Twitter to RSS, you can follow the Weathermap project there now, too.
Just in case you prefer Twitter to RSS, you can follow the Weathermap project there now, too.
Getting closer to a finished 0.96, this test release is pretty stable. I'm using it, and I know of a few other people using it (by tracking svn).
Changes since 0.96test1 include:
Today saw the 10000th download of Weathermap 0.95b, of around 30000 downloads over all versions in the last almost 3 years. Thanks for taking an interest in it!
There's still plenty I'd like to add/finish in here, but I've been using this for a new project for a few days now, and it hasn't hurt me yet.
It's just a quick note to prove I'm still alive. I've been using the dev Weathermap for a project at work for the last few days, and making use of a few of the new features.
I'm a fair way into Weathermap 0.96 now, and there should be some nice stuff:
* Z-ordering (make some nodes appear above or below others, or links)
Also via Xavier, Here's the live map for The Gathering '08 in Norway, where more than 5000 geeks
Over there, Xavier has a nice introduction to using


text:
Breast enhancement pills are actually the answer to women's dream of having bigger and fuller breast. However, you need to keep in mind that not all of them really work. As a matter of fact, there are pills that cause side effects. If you really want to get the most out of breast enhancement pills there are certain guidelines you need to follow. Most of the time, you will be asked to modify your lifestyle as well as your diet to help improve the size of the breast in just a short period of time.
When taking a breast enhancement pill, you should avoid taking caffeinated foods and beverages as caffeine can significantly affect the growing process of the breast. Aside from using breast enhancement pill, it would help a lot if you are going to incorporate the use of a breast enhancement serum or cream as such helps penetrate the down the skin and provides a powerful breast enhancement solution. The pill will work from the inside while the cream focuses more on external breast growth stimulation.
You should pay particular attention to your diet as research showed that those women who curb their carbohydrate intake has greater chance of achieving bigger breast in just a short period of time. On the other hand, you should increase your intake of protein rich foods as they facilitate the utilization and absorption of breast enhancement properties.
The manufacturer of the breast enhancement pill will actually advise you to undergo a breast enhancement program. The primary reason why most women fail to achieve the best possible result is that they don't adhere with whatever program the manufacturer advised them to do. For an instance, if the manufacturer asks you to take the pill in the morning and before going to bed, then you should take the pill that way. Cheating isn't your option when it comes to taking breast enhancement pill. If you will not adhere with the instruction, then most likely you will not be able to get the best result.
The market today offers all sorts of breast enhancement pills, which make choosing quite difficult. If you really want to get the best product in the market, then the best product would be the one made from all natural ingredients or in other words the ones made from herb and plant extracts. Don't forget to adhere to manufacturer's guidelines to get the most out of the product.


text:
Centennial High vs. Spring Valley
This game will be played on February 15, 2012; check back when the game is over for the scores.
Most Popular
- Wynn says gambling not key to casinos' success — it's everything else
- Poker player accused of violating commodities trading ban
- HOA foreclosure ruling 'a win for Nevada,' Las Vegas investor says
- Tony Hsieh issues statement on layoffs, outlines five-year plan for Downtown Project
- Monica Fung is crowned 2014 Miss Asian Las Vegas
- Community ponders potential ripple effect of Downtown Project shake-up
- 'Wonder Woman' star Lynda Carter takes on L.V. slot machines at G2E
- Strip Scribbles: Randy Couture exits 'DWTS'; farewell, Circo, hello, Lago at Bellagio
- The favorite hotel of multimillionaires? Hint: It's in Las Vegas
- History, legend of 'Lion's Share' slot machine come to a close at MGM Grand
Rock Shot Bingo
Green Valley Ranch | 8:30 p.m.
Nickel Beer Night
The Beauty Bar
Ink Master Viewing Party
Silverton Casino Hotel


text:
Backstreet's already back. NKOTB is still 'Hanging Tough.' So why not another boy band reunion.An online article in New York Post says Justin Timberlake and his former *NSYNC bandmates will reunite during Sunday night's MTV VMAs.Sources tell Page Six that J.C. Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick will join Timberlake for an onstage performance. According to MTV, Timberlake is scheduled to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award during the annual show.
25 FOX DriveDedham, MA 02026
Phone (781) 467-2525


text:
Kids' Book Club: Freedom to Read Celebration!
Primary tabs
Monday, October 7, 2013 - 6 p.m.
Join us for a very special kids' choice edition of the Juanita E. Thornton/Shepherd Park Kids' Book Club. Choose your book from a large number of challenged children's titles, currently displayed in the library lobby in observance of Banned Books Week.
Titles that have come under fire in schools and libraries include:
- the Captain Underpants series
- the Goosebumps series
- the Junie B. Jones series
- The Popularity Papers series
- the Harry Potter series
And award-winning titles, such as
- Hatchet
- the Higher Power of Lucky
- Harriet the Spy
- many many more.
Come to the library to learn what other surprising books have made this list. Select one of these titles to take home, then celebrate your freedom to read by dressing as a favorite "challenged book" character.
Meeting will include pizza, games and discussion.


text:
Neighbors: Dave Volk
Date: February 13, 2013
by: Katie Hendrick | Community Editor
"It was quite a culture shock," he said of the draft. "I'd had this Beaver Cleaver childhood in Mitchell, S.D. Then I was told I was going off to war."
Volk's military service, which lasted through 1971, sent him in a different direction — for a while, at least. Upon returning to civilian life in South Dakota, he ran for state treasurer, a post he won at age 25 and held for 18 years.
While working for the government, he wrote a memoir titled, "Draftee: A High School Teacher Goes to War," to communicate with his friends from the 101st Airborne Division. It caught the attention of former South Dakota Attorney General Mark Meierhenry, who recognized Volk's gift for educating in a candid and interesting way. Meierhenry suggested that the two pair up and write children's books to teach about South Dakota. Together, they created a four-part series about twins Max and Hannah, who go on adventures with their grandfather to learn about their state's traditions, such as pheasant hunting, and natural treasures, including a 762-year-old Ponderosa pine tree.
In 2011, Volk, who winters at Casa del Mar, wrote another book about Vietnam, "My Grandpa's War," told from a 9-year-old girl's point of view. It received lengthy reviews on Amazon.com from veterans and historians who praised a children's book that could capture a tumultuous era with such poignancy. It's feedback like that — not the money — that convinces Volk he's landed the perfect second career.
"People can't understand why I walked away from politics, but this is much more fulfilling," he said. "It took a while, but I finally got to do what I was meant to do: teach."
Currently 0 Responses
- Oct
2 Power Networking Seminar
4:00 pm - 6:30 pm
- Oct
2 Florida's Children First 2014 Sarasota Reception
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
- Oct
16 Pillar of Hope Open House
5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
- Oct
16 Business After Hours Networking Event
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Golfer sees swinging success
Longboat Key resident Arlene McKitrick celebrated her 200th golf championship win this week at Sara Bay Country Club in an FSGA event.
Mote receives NOAA grant
Mote Marine Laboratory recently received a $99,615 grand for its dolphin and whale rehabilitation efforts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Correction: Heitlers to net 75 years in April
In its Sept. 18 issue, the Longboat Observer featured Plymouth Harbor resident George Heitler, a lifelong tennis player who has played tennis for most of his 99 years and is a regular at the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center.


text:
This Marine Flag is perfect for all you Devil Dogs looking to fly your Marine pride high in the sky. Made or strong nylon material that prevents wear and tear, this Marine Flag will last for seasons of use. On one side of the red flag is United States Marine Corps, Devil Dogs, and the Marine Bull Dog. The flag measures 3 ft by 5 ft and is made of a durable nylon to help prevent wear and tear, making it great for indoor or outdoor use. Makes a great gift for active and retired marines. Show your support to the world, order this flag online today!
Harry's Army Surplus: Serving Dearborn and Metropolitan Detroit with army navy surplus, uniform gear, boots, army surplus and work clothing since 1950.


text:
(WHAS11) -- One in five Kentuckiana children are at risk of going to bed hungry and you can help to stop the problem while having a little fun. It's the 2012 Paddle for Hunger.
WHAS11's Renee Murphy talked with the chief operations operator at Yum! Brands Roger Eaton about this event.
The Paddle for Hunger is at Towhead Terrace and boat dock at the waterfront Friday and Saturday July 13-14. Click here for more information.


text:
If you're a senior living on the Westside and have ever asked for a ride to the doctor's office or the grocery store, there's a fairly good chance Donald Keller was your driver.
He's one of nine drivers providing what the Independent Transportion Network of Greater Los Angeles (ITNGreaterLA) calls "dignified transportation for seniors," and they need more volunteers.
"I've done an awful lot of driving in this country," said Keller, 82, of Brentwood.
The U.S. Air Force veteran has more than 50 years experience working real estate and general contracting. When he retired in 2007, Keller said he still liked being out and about on the city streets.
"After all this time working, I just wanted to give back to my community," Keller said.
When he started volunteering with ITN, Keller drove his Lexus ES 350. When gasoline prices began soaring, he got a Chevy Volt after he was spending $260 a month on fuel. Now, Keller said he's driving Tuesdays and Thursdays for roughly 12 hours a week, in addition to whatever their dispatcher may need help with on a weekly basis.
The Center for Healthy Aging began developing ITNSantaMonica (now ITNGreaterLA) in early 2005 as the first replication of the national ITN, based in Portland, Maine. Teresa Bond, president of ITNGreaterLA, said CHA was particularly interested in the program because one of its offices is located a few blocks from the site of the 2003 farmers' market tragedy in Santa Monica involving an older driver.
"He's wonderful," said Bond of Keller. "We're trying to have a proactive way to help seniors give up driving when it's time to give up driving."
Bond said they are looking for at least 20 volunteer drivers for ITNGreaterLA in the Westside to help relieve their dispatcher of the constraint of doing double duty, essentially providing the service and being unable to dual manage calls while mobile. She noted they've plateaued at approximately 300 rides a month given the need for more volunteers to drive in the Westside.
"It's a really wonderful relationship that develops between the driver and the seniors," Bond said, noting their drivers, like Keller, visit seniors in the hospital, have clients who bring their pets along for the ride.
ITNGreaterLA is privately funded and receives no federal dollars.
"We raise money," Bond said. "We depend on donations and we do charge for our services, which is half of what it takes to provide a ride."
Calling it a "silver tsunami" of 77 million baby boomers reaching the age bracket, Bond said they are trying to build their network of volunteer drivers to meet those needs.
For seniors living in Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Brentwood and parts of West L.A., Bond said many local seniors may have bought their homes in the 1940s and are now living on a fixed income. She also said some Westside seniors live far away from bus stops and taxi companies may be a little remiss to take someone to and from the market.
"They might not be lucky enough to hire private drivers," Bond added. "So theres a lot of people who fall into that mid range, and we need to address that."
Seniors will most likely give up their keys when they have a service that is nearly as good as driving their own private car, Bond noted.
"[For] a senior who's never ridden public transportation, when they give up the keys, [they] will most likely not use public transportation," she said.
For Keller, he wants to help more seniors get around, like the woman from Brentwood he brings to her therapy sessions in Westwood, or the woman from Malibu who goes to therapy sessions in Pacific Palisades, or the woman from West L.A. who he brings to Marina del Rey to play cards with her friends.
"They think I'm the greatest," Keller said with a smile.
For more information on ITNGreaterLA and how to get involved, visit their website.


text:
SiteVisibility Search Innovation Newsletter
January 2012
December was another great month in the Think Tank. We were working hard designing 2012 campaign strategies and wrapping up our 2011, all the while eating far too many mince pies.
We had our Christmas party, which you can read more about on the blog, and many of our team attended the 'BrightonSEO Goes to the Dogs' party at the Brighton and Hove Greyhound Stadium, which got us all thinking about the next BrightonSEO.
We also designed and managed a seasonal Facebook campaign for one of our newest clients, TopCashBack, a premium cashback site, who saw fans of their page grow by a staggering 6,878 in the 12 days running up to Christmas. Contact us if you're looking to kick off an innovative Social Media campaign in 2012.
Follow us on Twitter
Think Beyond The Click
MyTuxedo is a retailer of men's formalwear, including tuxedos, suits, and accessories. Having expanding into Europe three years ago, they now sell to Germany and the Netherlands and are building a reputation for being the premier online retailer of formal menswear. Their continued growth in the entry into European export markets required an integrated, multi-lingual campaign using SiteVisibility's own international search marketing team.
SiteVisibility were tasked with improving the rankings of key traffic and revenue generating keywords.
In the first six months of the campaign the results included:
"SiteVisibility has delivered great results as well as adding considerable value. With an 81% increase in traffic and 36% increase in revenue within 6 months, we wouldn't hesitate to recommend SiteVisibility to anyone looking for a results-driven agency"
Tim Grimaldi, Director, MyTuxedo
Read the full case study
There was no shortage of blog posts or podcasts this month. Our ABC's of SEO series continued with 'N is for No-Follow' while Jamila published a roundup of interesting articles about Siri. Since Apple unveiled Siri in October, there have been lots of questions about how voice technology will change the nature of search.
We also had three fantastic Question and Answer podcasts this month. If you have a question for the podcast you can submit it to Kelvin, and with one Question and Answer episode each month, there's a pretty good chance it will get answered.
There is an increasing amount of discussion and debate on the SiteVisibility LinkedIn group about various topics. You can submit your own questions and we will do our best to provide useful answers.
There were two screencasts made available in December, about Finding a Great Company Logo and Pinging. If you are interested in accessing the archive of screencasts, you can do so by joining the SiteVisibility LinkedIn group.
Katie Swan from Speed PR spent a week here and wrote a blog post for us about the relationship between Online PR and SEO.
Jason wrote a blog post about our recent ISO9001:2008 certification and how it impacts us as a company, especially as it relates to quality of work and productivity.
Kelvin's blog posts about the Facebook algorithm and 51 essential linkbuilding tips were the most popular posts on the econsultancy blog in 2011.
Subscribe to the Internet Marketing Podcast or visit our blog
Next month our Digital Insights Manager Graeme is speaking at Travel Technology 2012 at Earls Court in London. He's hoping to provide powerful insights into how investing in a top-flight search strategy can help travel businesses open up new markets in what has become an extremely competitive industry.
Follow us on Twitter
from all of us here in the Think Tank. We hope you have a successful and prosperous 2012.
The SiteVisibility team


text:
Everybody is frustrated and kind of taking it out on each other.Kathryn Wylde, deputy chair of the New York Federal Reserve's board of directors, on the Wall St protests. Speaking on The Takeaway this morning she said bankers and protesters have "far more in common than what divides them."
Economist George Soros thinks we're heading toward a Great Depression. And Ben Bernanke is skeptical about the recovery. Haven't we heard this before? Are we becoming desensitized to all of the noise about the economy? Do you pay attention to economic news more or less than you did two years ago? Why? Why not? Call 1-877-8-MY-TAKE


text:
Armed intruder incidents are escalating at an alarming rate. Innocent victims are falling prey to armed intruders with one mission in mind – committing mass murder. Historically, these events create victims in the first few seconds before the police have time to respond. The two-day course is a "train the trainer" model designed to create instructors who can then go back to their agencies, schools or companies and deliver this program. The objective of this one- or two-day course is to train YOUR PERSONNEL with initial actions they can take to make a difference and potentially save lives in the crucial 3 to 4 minutes before police can arrive.
Course Tuition: Call for pricing at 800.347.1200, Option Training
Course Duration: One-day Basic/Two-day Train the Trainer/Private Training
The course is designed to maximize the initial efforts of staff to afford the best chance of survival and to minimize casualties specific to their facilities. The course can include law enforcement, school administrators, teachers and private company personnel.
This curriculum focuses on armed intruder profiles, equipment/techniques, and the police response. Students will review:
The one-day course teaches the above and each student receives a certificate of attendance
On this two-day Train the Trainer course, students focus on learning on the first day, and on the second day they implement the techniques as an INSTRUCTOR applying the lessons learned in an actual environment setting, to be able to go back to their facility to teach others.
This course is conducted by real world professionals with strong operational experience in their respective fields. Our instructors are either active or former SWAT, CERT, Military and/or Supervisory professionals with years of knowledge and experience as an Instructor.
All Safariland Training Group courses are available for hosting by your agency. Contact us for information on the requirements and benefits of hosting a course.
Contact Us


text:
Car Insurance Quotes
Ask the Car Insurance Expert
My daughter is fully insured, she borrowed my car, and had a crash in it. Should her insurance pay out?
Nope, this one's going to be on your insurance tab, unfortunately.
[Let Insure.com help you find affordable car insurance now.]
Remember, insurance follows the car, not the driver. So when someone drives your car, they are covered under your insurance.
I hope this doesn't make for an unpleasant holiday.
Last updated: Dec. 20, 2012


text:
When the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts take the field for the 100th Grey Cup it will be the third time the two clubs have faced off for Canadian Football's ultimate prize.
The Stampeders and Argonauts have each come out on top once in their head to head Grey Cup history with Calgary triumphing in 1971 and Toronto winning it all 20 years later.
With the countdown to the 100th Grey Cup in full swing, let's take a look back at the 59th and 79th editions of the big game.
1971 - Third time the charm for Stamps as McQuay slips, Argos fall
It was a cold, rainy November day at Vancouver's Empire field when the 1971 Stampeders and Argonauts stepped onto the soggy pitch, each looking to end a lengthy Grey Cup drought.
The Stampeders were returning to the big game for the third time in four years and, after falling short in both 1970 and 1968, were determined to end a Grey Cup drought dating back to 1948.
The Argonauts meanwhile hadn't even reached the Grey Cup since winning it in 1952.
Each team had finished first in their respective division but it was the Argos, led by rookie star quarterback Joe Theissman, who came in as heavy favourites.
From the word go, the game was a defensive struggle with both teams struggling to gain ground offensively.
The Stampeders were the first to break through as Herm Harrison made a fantastic catch for a 14-yard touchdown from Jerry Keeling.
Not to be outdone, the Argos countered with a 55-yard reception by Mel Profit to set themselves up deep in Calgary territory. The Stampeders defence held firm though and the Argonauts were forced to settle for an Ivan McMillan field goal.
The Stampeders pushed their lead to 14-3 at halftime thanks to a six-yard touchdown run by Jerry Mims. It was the last points they would score in the game.
The Toronto offence continued to struggle in the third quarter, but the Argos got the breakthrough they were looking on special teams. Toronto's Joe Vijuk recovered a punt return fumble by Calgary's Jim Silye and then lateraled the ball to Roger Scales who took it back 33 yards for a touchdown.
McMillan added a single-point for the Argonauts on a missed field goal later in the quarter to cut the Stampeders lead to just three points heading into the fourth quarter.
The Argonauts looked poised to take the lead, or at the very least tie the game, when Dick Thornton intercepted a Keeling pass and returned it 54 yards to the Stampeders 11-yard line.
Looking for the go-ahead score, Theissman handed the ball off to the Argonauts star running back Leon McQuay. But as he tried to cut towards the end zone, McQuay slipped on the soggy field and fumbled the ball along with the Argos' best chance at winning the Grey Cup away.
Argonauts head coach Leo Cahill would later say of the play, "when Leon slipped, I fell."
The Stampeders went two and out following the fumble recovery, giving the Argonauts one last chance with 1:53 to play.
It was not to be though as Toronto's Harry Abofs accidentally kicked the ball out of bounds on the ensuing punt, returning possession to Calgary. The Stampeders would run out the clock from there, holding on for the 14-11 win and their first Grey Cup triumph in 23 years.
For a further look at the 1971 Toronto Argonauts tune into the Engraved on a Nation documentary: The Greatest Team That Never Won Thursday at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN.
1991 - Rocket Ismail delivers Hollywood ending for Argos
On November 24, 1991, for the first time in CFL history, the Grey Cup was held in Winnipeg. And it was cold. At kickoff, the temperature in Winnipeg was minus-16 Celsius.
Despite the game taking place on the frozen Canadian prairie, the action had a definite Hollywood vibe thanks to the Argonauts' ownership group made up of John Candy, Wayne Gretzky and then LA Kings owner Bruce McNall.
The Argos got the show started when defensive back Ed Berry picked off Calgary quarterback Danny Barrett's first pass attempt and returning it 50 yards for a touchdown.
Barrett made up for the interception later in the first quarter though by running in a touchdown from the one-yard line.
The two sides traded field goals in the second quarter as the Argos took an 11-10 lead into the half.
After a rouge each to start the second half, the Stampeders took the lead in the third quarter on a Mark McLoughlin field goal.
It would prove to be the Stampeders only lead of the game.
With three minutes to play in the third quarter, Argonauts quarterback Matt Dunigan threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Darrell K. Smith to jumpstart the offence.
Dunigan started for the Argos despite suffering a separated shoulder in the Eastern Final and arriving in Winnipeg for Grey Cup week with his arm in a sling.
After a Lance Chomyc field goal pushed the Argos lead to eight points in the fourth quarter, the Stampeders pulled the score back to 22-21 on a 12-yard touchdown reception by Allen Pitts.
The Calgary momentum was short-lived though. Toronto's much publicized, multi-million dollar off-season acquisition Raghib "Rocket" Ismail returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown and the Argonauts never looked back.
Ismail's 87-yard touchdown remains the longest kickoff return in Grey Cup history.
The Argos recovered a Stampeders fumble on the following kickoff and Dunigan quickly put the final nail in Calgary's coffin as he hit Paul Masotti for a 36-yard touchdown.
It was a Hollywood ending to a much-hyped Argonauts' season.
Additional Notes on the 100th Grey Cup
- This will be the fourth Grey Cup played at the Rogers Centre with the West team having won the previous three
- This will be the 14th Grey Cup played indoors. Western teams have won the last five indoor Grey Cups and are 9-4 overall.
- The last time both road teams won the divisional finals was in 2007
- Toronto was 2-0 against Calgary this season and has won the last five meetings overall dating back to 2010
- The Argonauts last Grey Cup appearance was in 2004 when they beat the B.C. Lions 27-19
- The Stampeders' last Grey Cup appearance was in 2008 when they beat the Montreal Alouettes 22-14
- Toronto is 1-1 in Grey Cups played under a dome while Calgary is 3-1
CFL on TSN analyst Paul LaPolice opens his playbook and breaks down key plays from each week's games. More...
The CFL on TSN panel is all set to answer your football questions!
Send your question on Twitter to @CFLonTSN using the hashtag #AskThePanel.


text:
It's her birthday and she can cry if she wants to.
Miley Cyrus turned 21 on Saturday and it should've been a monumental event. Instead, the singer had to deal with the aftermath of being robbed.
According to the LAPD, her home in Studio City, Los Angeles was broken into and several of her personal items were stolen. Miley is reportedly extremely upset over this. While I don't blame her at all, I hope she can look on the bright side here. There is a silver lining to this awful situation.
Thankfully, nobody was home when the burglary took place. THIS IS A BLESSING. I hope she can just consider this a warning, up her security a bit, and move on. I'm not trying to belittle the situation. I just hope Miley can stay positive and take this as a very valuable lesson.
After all, you only turn 21 once. Chin up, Miley -- and happy birthday!
Is this the worst news you can receive on your birthday or what?
Image via MileyCyrus/Instagram
Sad it happened,but people go on social media and just blast their information and whereabouts. Everyone knew she would be having a party, going out of town, touring, going to Starbucks ... folks are watching and listening to your every move. They waited, probably someone she knows, and when the time was right they robbed her. I read this story in another place and this happened in broad daylight, not when her party was going on. Their were no forced entry at all, they knew her and she is probably looking in their faces every day.
Who cares what happens to her,she's nothing but a skanky, slutty, nasty hoe.she should be banned from tv, radio, public, she needs to diappear.If she was my daughter, I wouldn't even claim her.
wow, Lisa Curry-mcguire, shes still a human no matter what and from ur pic it looks like ur a grown woman and should have more common sense then that.. i feel so sorry for any child that calls u mom if u would not claim them just cause they act like that..


text:
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Trailer: Excelsior!"But if he turns bad, he's not really a superhero, is he?" muses sage and kindly uncle of comic books Stan 'The Man' Lee in a new trailer for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.
Stan will also cameo in the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PS2, DS and PSP action RPG, developed by Vicarious Visions, n-Space and Savage and due for release in September.
A second trailer introduces superhero in a swimsuit Ms. Marvel.
You must be logged in to post.


text:
|Register to reply
6 months after dropping out of college - my tips
|Share this thread:
Jan8-13, 07:31 PM
It's been six months since I dropped out of college to bootstrap my financial research startup. I had an old thread about this and received a lot of advice against it, then the thread got deleted. Some had come forward to PM me asking how I've been doing since, and I figured it would be useful to start a thread with advice on dropping out of college. This sounds bad - and I don't ever encourage someone to drop out of college - but realistically, I think it's better to share my experience rather than sweep it under the rug.
Some context for those who never saw the old thread: I took a leave of absence at the end of my sophomore year to start a trading firm. Before that, I was doing decently at my academics. I had several research accolades at the national level, represented my college at the Putnam and MCM competitions, and did well in a host of graduate classes. And I didn't leave because I was particularly disillusioned with physics. Quite the contrary, I love physics. I regularly visited conferences and still do.
However, I felt strongly against paying for my college education any further. I felt that I was quite foolishly paying for single courses that cost more than my entire high school education even after scholarship money. At some classes, I felt I was truly just paying for the certification rather than paying for the instruction. The learning opportunities out of college were just as abundant, and much more affordable. I felt in today's age where you can access quality course material either on professors' personal websites or online learning aggregators (like Coursera and edX), and when a private college education can set you several years in debt, I'll be part of the first wave of dropouts who form the norm rather than the exception. You can disagree with me. I weighed the opportunity cost of rushing to finish my degree one year early against taking the leave of absence, and decided for the latter.
I've become increasingly tight-lipped about what I do on a daily basis ("financial research"), to the point that I deleted my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. But I will talk a bit. During this time, I had the good fortune to tackle problems at the frontiers of several disciplines. I sold most of my physics textbooks, but still refer to my mathematics textbooks frequently.
The NASDAQ ITCH feed alone takes up 7~8 GB of space per day. That's a lot of experimental data to play with. When the data set grows to such a magnitude, you have to deal with several nontrivial problems on the infrastructural side. You'd find ways to push the limitations of the software/hardware that you are working in. Examples: The automatic GC locking up your program for 5~10 ms every few minutes without your control. Handling events every 1, 10, 100 us. Reducing thread synchronization overhead. Bypassing the linux kernel. Estimating timespans and sychronizing clocks down to microsecond precision. Some of the problems persist in 10^3~10^5 dimensions, which requires a lot of computational firepower, if not programming ingenuity, to work around. I lead a brilliant team (we have more top-tier degrees split among us than number of people) and sometimes wonder what they're doing around with me.
I usually get roundabout questions regarding my financial stability. The furthest I'll go is that I pay about $3,500 of rent every month, excluding utilities and monthly expenses. And I'm fully independent from my parents now. I think this is acceptable for the first year out of college.
One of the first things I did was to set up a background app that monitored what I did every day. I generally work 90 hours per week, at least 60% of that time on an IDE/vim and churning out work. The remaining time reading references, doing research, and organizing the business end.
I absent myself from talking about my work inasmuch as possible, but the people on my team often receive snide remarks about how they left a scientific field for a profit-motivated field. The remarks fall under two categories: the regulatory kind, and the activist kind. Regarding regulation, I don't think that it should involve judging the ethical value of traders' orders, but rather ensure transparent markets. Regarding activists, I feel that there are many institutions we should dismantle before we can even get to the financial industry on a moral scale. Besides that, I genuinely believe that the work we do cannot generate any profit if not that we provide some kind of service, because it is extremely cost-prohibitive to set up the infrastructure.
1. If you feel like taking a leave of absence, try take a semester or two to cool off your head and do things differently to "prepare" yourself for the leave of absence. You might change your mind or strengthen your resolve at the end of it. I already had the notion but decided to give college a try for another semester. During that time, I took some classes just because I felt they would prepare me for the work after I dropped out - and it was a great decision. I even feel now that I should have waited one more semester before I left, because a lot of the time was spent learning things that I didn't know so I could bootstrap things myself - accounting, more esoteric fields of mathematics, programming in other languages etc.
2. STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE PROFESSORS WHO HAVE TAUGHT YOU! As many of them! I've come across several problems, in the least expected areas, where I wish I could just email one of them without feeling awkward.
3. Having a supportive family, significant other and group of friends makes the largest difference. It's a *huge* mental challenge to have a very successful partner and having him/her explain to his/her parents that you are planning to finish your degree at some indefinite time. If you think this is a problem and you have a choice to continue college, ask yourself if you can really bear to lose your girlfriend/boyfriend because of your career choice alone. If the answer is yes, then you can still do it. These people are the ones who will keep a check on you, instill a sense of discipline in you to do meaningful things despite the seemingly infinite time on your hands.
4. For most of the things you can drop out to do, nowadays, having programming skills is almost a must. I've come across several other dropouts and read many articles on this since then, and come to believe that this is true not just for myself. Knowing how to program today, I feel, is like knowing how to use a word processor 10~20 years ago - meaning, you have no excuse not to. I'm not speaking about what is necessary for doing a financial startup, but speaking in general - whether you want to do a mobile app startup (I'm against these), become a web designer, become an IT consultant, become a photographer, most of the careers that you *could* manage to do with only high school credentials seem to benefit from some kind of programming skill.
5. The most important personal skill that you need is self-discipline. This sounds like a trivial statement, but there was one occasion when I wasted a whole week playing a MMORPG (yes) and felt terrible for it afterwards - I got out of it because of point (3), I had a reason to work hard and my significant other helped to threaten me whenever I strayed off course.
6. Having been there, I always thought that majors like accounting, economics, management science, psychology, philosophy, history were for softies. I felt economists were silly guys whose only unit root of interest was 1. I even felt that chemistry and biology were even less deserving of being natural sciences. This sounds rude but I'm being absolutely honest with what I used to think - I was definitely not alone in this mindset and I still come across people with this mindset these days - through conferences or other networking events. I always thought that so long as you were good at physics and mathematics, you had this magical toolbox and could easily learn what others were doing in lesser time, so I would defer things involving them or even try to avoid them altogether. But if you are dropping out of physics/mathematics in your second or third year of college, trust me, the chances are that your immediate ability to earn money is just as good as the U.S. is at reducing its public deficit. I can't think of anything which you could do that entails even 49% of your time purely doing physics/mathematics. Not even if you are doing a startup that involves a technical invention. Maybe tutoring high school kids. If you want to avoid non-science activities: go to college and maybe grad school. So if you really think these non-science activities are less worthy of your time, you will be very unhappy with the unsheltered life outside of college.
7. Estimate how much money you have, or your parents are willing to support you with, and honestly ask how long it can last you while you don't have money coming in. Multiply the duration by 3~4, and ask yourself if you can last that long without turning in a profit.
8. Set high ambitions for yourself, if not higher than the ones you had while enrolled in college.
Jan23-13, 06:04 AM
Thanks for making that thread. It's good to hear from you again. I always thought that you requested to delete the older thread, but I digress.
1) Are you against mobile apps, or startups dedicated to them?
2) What kind of academic background (i.e, math/physics/cs/other subjects) did you have when you started the start up, and what about now? I'd understand if you can't be specific about what you know now. With the nature of your work being what it is, that's understandable.
Essentially, what, in your opinion, are the prerequisites for one to get his hands dirty with the finance stuff?
3) If you can afford a house/an apartment at that price, then I'd say you're doing pretty well. Probably better than many college grads. Good work!
Jan23-13, 09:39 AM
1) I am against startups dedicated to mobile and web apps. Firstly, because it encourages mediocrity and a different kind of gambling. It used to be that your first grand milestone as a startup is when you have to file your first tax return. Most mobile and web apps view their first milestone as when they hit the submit button on the Apple app store or when you get seed funding. It's easy to pick up LAMP, Android SDK, Xcode development stacks nowadays, so the mobile app startup culture has really encouraged people with limited skills and work experience to dig for gold, when what they're really doing is analogous to launching a pizzeria and hope to become the next Pizza Hut or Domino's. The largest percentage of failed startups are in this area, for good reason.
Secondly, because I think that there are so many areas in this world and even our own societies that are worthy of our attention besides your internet experience. So long as there is a city without affordable housing, public transportation that doesn't arrive on schedule, power grids that are inefficient, a person picking up the aluminium can in the trash after you, a decline in population and growing mean age in a suburban region, there is so much more to be done for the world than to develop a mobile app.
2) Most of my classes were standard college mathematics:
- Multivariable calculus
- Real analysis (Loomis and Sternberg) up to bits of measure theory (Kolmogorov, Taylor)
- Complex variables (Brown and Churchill)
- Calculus of variations (Gelfand and Fomin)
- Abstract algebra up to rings and fields (Artin, Gallian, Dummit-Foote)
- Numerical analysis (Burden)
- PDEs (Strauss, Evans)
- Differential forms (Flanders)
- Statistics (Casella)
- Topology (god that was horrible)
- Nonlinear optimization (forgot the name)
- Differential geometry (one of the Spivak volumes and Kreyszig)
- Statistical physics
- Fluid mechanics (my research area)
- Classical mechanics (Morin, Taylor and G-P-S)
I'll be honest, I think it's a lot of work and I didn't have the talent to become an expert at all of them: if you gave me a problem set in any of the above now, I'd still struggle with it. One of the things I did early on was to acknowledge the things I was bad at, and then choose to steer the business in the direction of what I was comfortable with. I'm very good with what I'd call a "mathematical dependency" thing, where I read something and it's in a subject I know absolutely nothing about - I'll work backwards all the way to the fundamentals. Because of this, whenever I get thrown with a problem where I *must* solve it using a tool I'm unfamiliar with (e.g. some esoteric area of signal processing, some programming language you've never used), I just get my hands dirty and pick it up.
I still refer to my textbooks, so I've kept some of them:
As for the things I had to learn from scratch after leaving university, econometrics, convex optimization, further time series analysis and state space models are among them. But the alpha in them has been mined out, so these are just prerequisites. I learned a *lot* of programming. Algorithms and compiler theory are especially important, but that's the bare minimum. The bottleneck nowadays are in memory access and optimizations based on hardware architecture, OR parallel computing. Chances are though, depending on the type of work you do, you only need to be an expert in one of the two.
I should explain what I mean by the alpha being mined out: One of the things I've figured out is that there's a difference between risk and uncertainty. (Just as there's a difference between a quant and an actuary.) The former entails randomness whose model parameters you are uncertain; the latter entails randomness whose models you are uncertain. People don't pay a lot to hedge their risk, but few know how to pay the correct amounts to deal with uncertainty. The difference between the valuations by these two groups of people is the amount of inefficiency (alpha) you can capture and pocket. That's why I'm not afraid of people who have 20-30 years of experience wiring low-latency server infrastructure and IT backend, because I've found that these people do such work because they are only interested in solving problems of the known kind.
So the topics that are really useful are the ones taught in "fringe classes", you know, the ones you see on a graduate catalog with names that you just know will attract a small class enrollment.
3) Thank you. I still have a long way to go, and I don't know if I'll blow up today, or tomorrow.
Of course, take my words with a pinch of salt, I'm certainly not the most-qualified person to refer to on these matters.
Jan23-13, 11:01 AM
6 months after dropping out of college - my tips
1) Cool. I also don't like the way in which the social lives of people have spread onto the internet. More places than I'd like feel like the Misc section of the Bodybuilding forums, or 4chan. Some might say that if I don't like it, I might as well go elsewhere, and that's what I do. I just don't like it, that's all. Maybe it's because of my perpetual romanticism of a decade I missed (the 90s).
2) Good god! I could be wrong, but do these courses not amount to a BS degree in math? Or did you just "look like a math major" when you were really a physics major who was curious about math? :-)
Econometrics. Did you have to learn micro/macro as well? While at college, did you not take any liberal arts courses then? I read the OP, but I figured I'd know for sure if I asked.
"I'm very good with what I'd call a "mathematical dependency" thing, where I read something and it's in a subject I know absolutely nothing about - I'll work backwards all the way to the fundamentals. Because of this, whenever I get thrown with a problem where I *must* solve it using a tool I'm unfamiliar with (e.g. some esoteric area of signal processing, some programming language you've never used), I just get my hands dirty and pick it up."
This sounds like fun. Do you have any issues with concentration, by any chance?
Jan23-13, 12:21 PM
1) Lol, I'm young enough to know what the misc section of the Bodybuilding forum and 4chan are.
2) Yes, I was a physics major through-and-through. IIRC, my TA for multivariable calculus in freshman year was also my classmate in differential geometry, and later, the graduate statistics course. That was awkward. My high school had a pretty large library budget, so there were graduate-level textbooks in a cozy corner of the physics section that no one used. I assumed the workload must have been much tougher 20~30 years back, because that was the last cluster of loan dates that I saw on them. I spent my time browsing through them and knew early on that I was not going to be a good physicist unless I worked on my math, so I bought the Courant/Spivak/Artin books in high school and started to work on it.
The diff geometry class was actually extremely challenging for my first semester, but the best lesson I learned from it was an exam trick (that I don't encourage): Professors are very aware of the type of problems you can solve in 1-3 hours. Since some of the proofs at the grad level are near-impossible to conjure out of your own ability in 3 hours, the types of questions that they can grill you on are pretty limited. I assume this trick doesn't extend to defending your PhD thesis, though.
I took classes in micro and macro, and admittedly wasn't very good at it. I did linguistic philosophy and a course in writing - and was good with those, somehow. But I didn't have the strength of heart to finish all of the arts prerequisites, and that formed part of the reason that I dropped out. I argue that these classes are very important though. The interesting things to do are cross-disciplinary, e.g. I believe tax planning is an optimization problem, and I wish I knew enough accounting so I can apply what I know onto it.
3) Indeed! I have a poor attention span. But I've acquired various productivity tricks to make up for it.
Jan23-13, 05:39 PM
You know, throughout college I always believed I would have learned more both efficiently and faster on my own, however points 3 (mostly) and 7 made this an unrealistic goal. One think I noticed you didn't add to your list which I think also encompasses point 3 is positive mental well being. Looking back, this would have changed my life dramatically.
I suppose I am in a similar position to what you were in your sophomore year - I left my first semester of graduate school when my quality of life when down hill drastically. As it stands I am in limbo, deciding what to do. A job would be great so I could have my own money, then work on what I want. The though of spending 8 hours a day 5 days a week barely challenged makes me sick to my stomach. Grad school would be nice because I really love aerodynamics and fluid mechanics and, of course, learning. I am worried though that I will not be able to sustain myself on a crappy stipend - to me it is not worth it unless I get my dream project...
Ehh. its quite stressful.
Overall I think you really know what you are talking about, nice post. It's good to see people sharing their experiences. If it was done more often I believe people in general would be in a better place.
Jan25-13, 02:59 PM
I don't know what to suggest, but hope you've found something to do. I think fluid dynamics is amazing. I worked on microfluidics and two-phase flows before leaving college, and the applications are tremendous (e.g. the new smartphone technology that pops actual keys out of your screen when activated, treating stroke less invasively). I love F1 because it shows how with enough budget, the sky is the limit with research in things as seemingly simple as diffuser design and every year they have to revise the rules drastically or the cars are only going to get that much faster. I found it a little misfortunate that the field doesn't have a fixed place in any department; sometimes it's in an aerospace engineering program, other times it's in a mechanical engineering program, an engineering physics program, or an engineering science program. It's more unfortunate that people who brand things "rocket science" don't actually know what it is. This seems somehow to diminish its value on the surface.
Jan26-13, 01:42 PM
I think I remember your thread a while back. Why did it get removed?
I'd like to ask some questions:
1. How did you get into the trading game? Did you just happen to pick up a book and start teaching yourself programming or something?
2. I come from a poor family, so I feel really selfish if I go into academia when I could be helping my mother out. As such I've also decided to go into finance. I have a week work experience lined up at an investment bank, but I'm not really sure what to make of it. I'd rather be doing what you do, and start up something, rather than work for someone else. Do you have any experience with internships?
3. As you said you didn't get any help from your parents, how did you manage to work it out? Did you save during your undergrad years by living at home or something?
Jan26-13, 08:12 PM
1. Mods figured it was turning into a blog.
I attended a mathematics conference in early freshman year and one of the lectures was about "statistical arbitrage". After that first exposure, I did some reading and started to do the typical "simulated portfolio" thing - and I outperformed everyone on a consistent basis - I thought I was going to be rich! Turns out the real thing was going to be much, much harder than I expected, and much, much different from playing with simulated portfolios.
I was a little fortunate, as I soon made a friend who was on a sabbatical from his hedge fund (he had a successful streak, returning about 53% per year and returned all of his clients' money to go on his sabbatical). I was good (enough) at math and he was good at discretionary trading, so we complemented each other. I learned a lot from him. He was not afraid to actually open large positions right in front of me just to show the mechanics and gave me a few tries occasionally, funded a small account for me at first, and let me take the profits while he sustained the losses. It was just to get me acquainted with the "psychology" of trading. He stayed over at my place and we'd be up till 8 AM every morning actually trading the European session and FX (which is 24/7) - and I'd get too tired to attend most of my classes. The feeling that you actually skipped class and could make enough in the matter of seconds to let you live comfortably for the rest of the day was indeed extremely alluring. I wouldn't deny that. I forgot all about statistical arbitrage and just did this brainless discretionary trading thing.
But we later had to part ways and I learned that it really takes more than experience, psychological strength and discipline to do it on your own capital. And without adequate funding, making enough to feed yourself each day is a daytrader's (gambler's) delusion. I went around a full circle and went back to simulated portfolios, except this time with a very different approach, bent on learning how to do it properly.
Still, that I actually had a mentor who was willing to help was a huge influence. I'm estimating 90% of the people fail simply because they've never found a mentor who genuinely had their interests in mind.
2. I don't, but I'm a little informed about internships because of the team I'm working with. A week (an externship?) is a good step in the door as far as I know. Since it's already lined up for you, I'd just say make the best of it. As for your future internships, it seems that the general consensus is to find one that really focuses on their training program for your first real internship (full summer). I can't possibly know them all - guess WSO/Wilmott are better places for some color on the quality of specific internship programs. There are many internships at bulge bracket banks that just make their interns do coffee runs.
I wouldn't do it for the pay, as most of them involve long hours and are located in cities where you'd be poor while residing there anyway. SV pays well and has a culture of making its interns actually do things. Companies like Dropbox have a LOT of extra capital at the moment. Being able to work with big data is also an advantage if you want to go into finance later. Worth thinking about if money is a primary objective.
If I had the choice to work at an investment bank or prop firm with minimal effort selling myself, I would. However, because of the experience and knowledge that I accrued in a very short amount of time (again, I was lucky), the opportunity cost of spending time to compete for a competitive internship weighed in favor of starting out on my own.
If you've never actually felt like puking for something non-medical - but simply because you lost ridiculous amounts of money in a volatile environment; or if you don't know every order type at the back of your hand, then it's a bad idea to consider trading your own money as an option for the next 1~2 years. Because then you're just speculating.
3. I had financial aid but had a small amount of money set aside for my personal expenditure during college. I worked up from that.
Mar2-13, 02:47 PM
do you have a blog by any chance?
Mar3-13, 08:50 AM
Mar5-13, 06:46 PM
Anyone who has tried trading for more than a few months of time will soon realize that this is a very competitive field and that you cannot carve a profit unless (1) you provide liquidity or (2) you produce more informative prices. To get to either (1) or (2), you have to produce some kind of service for other market participants, either through economies of scale (making a market), being faster (developing better technology), having better models (employing more brilliant people) or so on.
There is plenty of utility that I'm providing my employees, clients and other market participants - these include retirees, farmers, real estate developers, policy makers, universities, whom I hope can go on to generate other kinds of public consumption that raises the GDP. However, I'm not about to become a retiree myself. There are many activities and institutions that we need to get rid off from this society before we even get to hedge funds; I'd start with alcohol, tobacco and marijuana producers, lotteries, weapons manufacturers.
If money was everything that I'm concerned with, I'd join a mobile/web app startup:
(1) It's much easier to convince and get a VC to fund you with $2 million for some web app than to go through the legal hoops and loops to get a measly $2 million in AUM (which by the way, is only about 1/5 of the amount of AUM you need to pay off 1 experienced employee).
(2) I can hack the Linux kernel, develop scalable apps that write/query 16 million data entries in a second, program in a variety of languages (object-oriented, concurrent/functional etc.), answer quite a few probability/statistics brainteasers, all of which are more appropriate skills for passing an interview with a SV startup and developing the next Instagram than working on econometric models at 3 AM in the morning.
Mar5-13, 09:49 PM
Had to interject here:
Mar6-13, 01:15 AM
I think what xk was really hinting at is that your story seems a bit to good to be true. I personally have no vested interest in finding out if it is or not. Nevertheless, I do feel the need to say, that I do find it hard to believe that someone within a years time frame could learn enough to do well in financial research. Who knows, maybe you did learn Girsanov theorem or the Levy Process within that year, despite the fact none of the books on your shelves would indicate that you have books that would prepare you for the prereqs for such topics.
I did financial research before my current job, and what I read from you is a lot of surface information easily gathered from reading secondhand accounts. I guess my real purpose for writing here is just to ask, Why would you bother to come back here just to tell is how well you're doing?
Mar6-13, 03:39 AM
@Aero51: Lol.
@MarneMath: Fair enough. I think one reason for your disconnect in understanding the motivations for my thread is that I actually had an older thread on this whereby I made it clear that my hopes were much bleaker, and I received mixed advice and varying levels of good wishes and skepticism. The thread got deleted - I just wanted to come back to follow-up and share my advice.
The goal of my thread is not to suggest finance as a viable career path, nor to exhibit what I know or do not know, nor to list all of the books/journal articles that I've read or are in my possession, so I don't see why you were expecting me to post these in detail. There's reason for me to be obscure about what I've read or studied, or crop off the bottom half of my bookshelf for that matter, and this is the nature of the business. If I said that I spent 6 months intensively studying Geller-Kapernikov embedding AND run an investment management firm, then Google is going to get 1000 hits on Geller-Kapernikov even though I made that name up.
However, since you've brought up the topic of what realms of knowledge are useful: I want to make it clear that sell-side valuation is very different, and most of the traditional MFE material is not directly useful in what I'm doing. I'm familiar with the Girsanov theorem and Lévy processes, but I've had to apply neither in my day-to-day activities. On the same thread, I am very unfamiliar with replicating exotic options or swaps, and I've had to use neither; I might know a thing or two about replicating a deferred annuity bond from TIPS, but that's about it.
Jun6-13, 04:45 PM
Interested to see how it's all going, any updates?
Jun7-13, 05:40 PM
0. I think the most impressive thing has to do with the people I've hired, met, became friends with - and the accolades they've received in academia... However, I have to keep the description ambiguous because it's a small field and there's already enough information to identify me from, and I prefer to keep things private. Anyway, I've certainly received many more opportunities since dropping out; it was a good choice.
1. I'm mired in a lot of legal and administrative work now. The legal obstacles to forming a financial firm and meeting the regulatory standards/due diligence criteria of your customers are probably several orders of magnitude larger than those of any other kind of endeavor.
2. I realize that managing a talented team is more difficult than being a solo researcher and you had better be (1) the best at *something* on the team, (2) good at teaching. Teaching in an educational institution really is similar to managing, because you have to set very clear goals in achievable step-sizes for people picked from a distribution of different skill levels. I guess my point here is that abandoning the pursuit of an academic position in physics will not pay off if one's goal is to avoid trivial business work or teaching.
3. I recommend you understand the revenue models in the area you're going into really well, before doing some drastic like dropping out of college. This sounds like the obvious but requires re-emphasis. I've encountered several other startup founders in the area who still naively think they're going to create a fantastic app and make money out of ads. Also, I've found that college internships don't confer much industry experience (maybe this is limited to finance) at all, but is a good way to be making money at a market rate but risk-free (which is magic).
4. Another thing that I learned from hiring people: learning the problem details matters less than learning the process. An example of what I mean is, if you have the chance to intern at JPM as an equity analyst or something, you probably won't be using DCF ever again, but you probably will want to remember what time you started work at, how you were paid for overtime, how daily meetings were organized, the process of meeting a large client, and these bits of the process are more valuable.
5. I recently had to go through the unfortunate difficulties of setting up a proper RIA/hedge fund structure. You have to afford the expenses and initial risk capital to reach a certain critical mass; build an audited track record (which entails several legal and accounting structures), and keep the business sustainable. These barriers-to-entry make it particularly difficult to succeed in this business. There are 10,000 hedge funds or so but the distribution is positively skewed: with a few doing extremely well, and most waiting to blow up. I think many people in the public don't realize this, judge the hedge fund industry by those on the right tail, and feel that our industry enjoys some ill-gotten gains. The very act of investing a million dollars in the stock market requires hundreds of components coming together, and is very similar to a fine piece of (legal/administrative) engineering - the flow chart looks like a circuit diagram - and it doesn't get paid the same margins as those on an iPad or those on a bunch of freshly-minted graduates in the tech startup arena. The difficulty increases asymptotically as your operation increases in size; if I have to estimate my chances of a successful exit now, I think they are <20%.
Jun8-13, 12:39 PM
Out of curiosity, how did you start programming? I'm looking to further develop my programming skills but I'm not sure how to go about it. You seem to do a lot of modelling, which is also what I want to go into. If you could reply in my thread (located at the careers guidance sub-forum) or here it'd be appreciated.
Btw, I think you should start a blog, I'm sure many people would follow it. I certainly would, as would many of my friends.
|Register to reply
|Related Discussions
|Tips and advice for a young college student majoring in (astro)physics?
|Academic Guidance
|Tips before college
|Academic Guidance
|Dropping out of college to pursue career
|Career Guidance
|The teacher is picking favorites.. I'm seriously thinking of dropping out of college
|General Discussion
|Dropping voltage without dropping current
|Electrical Engineering


text:
Model Number:
Phoebe takes classic and makes it fancy. With its recent updates, the Moving Comfort Phoebe Bra is a high impact, tight-fitting true compression bra with an improved fit and wrap around mesh in all the right places. An interior M-frame gives added shape/support.
Need help with sizing? Watch our How to Find Your Fit Video or How to Measure Bra Size Video
Comments: This bra will really strap you down. I've had trouble finding myself a high-impact bra in stores, because the few I could find were all for C+ cups. I'm much smaller than that, so it's nice to find a bra that's high-impact and still suitable for A or B cups. Just be sure to order a size up! I'm normally a Medium, but this bra fits me in Large. I might even try out an XL next time. From: Meredith, Charlotte, NC
Please include any relevant information such as weekly mileage, training or race pace, or foot type.
Copyright © 2014 Running Warehouse. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us
Site Map | US: 1.800.606.9598 | email@example.com | Careers


text:
Some of you may have been told or have heard that shaking expressed BM damages it. Well someone decided to actually figure out if that's true, the results are interesting!
"There is no published evidence to support that shaking actually damages breast milk when compared to swirling. Many of the issues identified with shaking are better described as myths, and simply do not hold up when the actual shear forces are calculated. Certainly, it would be awesome if we could do an in depth study of this have women swirl and shake milk with sensors on the hand and in the milk cup and actually measure the acceleration of the hand and then analyze the milk. I suspect however, that we wouldnt find much damage.
...a really excellent point about this myth Really I think it's just one more way to make breastfeeding seem super hard and easy to mess up. And it seems to be one piece of advice that while well meaning, may contribute to the persistent idea that human milk is fragile, easily damaged, and requires a high degree of care. It serves as one more perceived threat mothers (and fathers and caregivers) pose to human milk the if you arent careful, youll damage it and you cant damage formula* underlying subtext that serves to undermine breastfeeding mothers."


text:
What Are the Stages of the Probate Process?
First Stage: Personal Representative Appointment and Will Admission
The first stage is commenced by a party desiring to be appointed as the estate's personal representative. The process begins by that party filing an application. If no decedent family member files an application within 45 days of the decedent's death, estate creditors can file an application.
If all estate records are orderly, the probate registrar appoints the applicant as the representative. The registrar admits the original will and issues letters enabling the representative to begin estate administration. The process is an informal process, meaning it is handled without court intervention or hearing.
If problems arise about the party desiring to be appointed or the priority of selection between candidates, if there is a problem obtaining a will original, or if the will's validity is questioned, then estate administration begins formally. A formal case requires a court hearing to address problems. At the close of hearing, the party appointed as the representative is permitted to proceed with informal estate administration without hearings.
Second Stage: Estate Administration
This stage commences when the personal representative is appointed. The representative assumes the same duties, responsibilities, and powers regardless of whether the appointment occurred in an informal or formal manner. The duties of a representative usually include:
- settlement and distribution of the estate and its assets as soon as possible for the best interests of the estate's heirs
- administration of estate property without court order or instruction
- requesting judicial resolution of estate administration matters, as required
- keeping interested parties informed of estate administration progress
- taking possession or control of estate property
- payment of all debts and taxes under the applicable state's priority of claims
- distributing remaining estate property to parties designated for receipt pursuant to the will or state law
Third Stage: Estate Closure
If the representative has no problems sorting out entitlement to estate property, he or she may close the estate informally at the close of performing estate administration duties. The representative makes a written closing statement to heirs, claimants, and interested parties impacted by estate distribution. The statement must contain a listing of estate debts and claims not paid.
If there are no pending court proceedings brought against the representative one year after the representative files the closing statement, the representative's appointment ends. Once the appointment ends, a representative who posted bond may request the court to release the bond. A representative may seek the court's formal closure of an estate any time after the time for making claims ends. Other interested parties may request a formal closure of the estate administration process one year after the representative's appointment. If a formal closure occurs, the court may approve the estate's final distribution with an order, conclude the representative's appointment, and discharge the representative from later claims of interested parties.


text:
Chiang Mai, Thailand Vacations - Travel guide to Chiang Mai, Thailand accommodations and vacation packages. Visit Chiang Mai, Thailand for getaways and adventure travel. Plan your Chiang Mai, Thailand vacation today.
|Page:1 of 1
|Sort By:
Chiang Mai, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - Discover the Rose of the North, Chiang Mai, and its beautiful surrounding countryside. Explore the city, forests, hills and rivers by bicycle, raft and elephant.
Chiang Mai, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Maehongson trekking and sight seeing trip, We can help you design your trip in Thailand.
Chiang Mai, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - We offer tours specifically designed for adults, families, cooking and golfing enthusiasts. Our tours include exciting nightlife tours. See more, do more and spend less with our tour packages.
Chiang Mai, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - Flight Of The Gibbon is a canopy adventure tour where guests will experience the rush of soaring on zip lines high above the rain-forests ground. We have 18 different platforms that connect to about 2km of zip lines.
Bangkok, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - Discover the wonders of Thailand's culture and cuisine as you travel from the buzzing capital Bangkok to beautiful Chiang Mai and beyond, partaking in a range of experiences on the way.
Bangkok, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - If Bangkok is the head of Thailand, then the countryside is where its heart resides. Travel into the heartland of Thailand and stay in Thai houses and villages.
Thalang, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - Discover the island paradise of Phuket, the Pearl of the Orient. Relax and let the sublime scenery and idyllic beaches melt away your stresses and strains.
Bang-jak, Prakanong Bangkok, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - Absolute Explorer is a bicycle tour operator in Bangkok offers you to view Bangkok and countryside in one day, visit farmers, local temple, market, and school. It's an easy pace everyone can do.
Thailand, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - There are few activiteis which offer so much adrenalin pumpping action along with off road scenic sightseeing as Chiang Mai's IMAC ATV Tours. Mae Sa Valley in Chiang Mai, is where tourists flock to visit orchid farms,elephant camps and waterfall..
Bangkok, Thailand Sight-Seeing Tours - UK-based adventure tour operator offering Thailand tours, trekking expeditions, cultural holidays and adventures. Group, individual and tailor-made itineraries are available from basic to luxury level.


text:
Brookings, S.D. (KELO AM) - Retired CIA agent Tony Mendez, who masterminded one of the most daring hostage rescue missions in history, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Performing Arts Center on the South Dakota State University campus.
Mendez was the inspiration for the 2012 film "Argo," which starred Ben Affleck which won three Academy Awards.
His talk is sponsored by the student-run University Program Council.
The story of "Argo" begins well before this generation of SDSU students were born.
On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured 52 American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal and a quake in global politics still reverberating today. But there is a little-known drama connected to the crisis.
Mendez disguised himself as a Hollywood producer and traveled to Tehran under the guise of scouting locations for a fake science fiction film called "Argo."
To make the ruse seem legitimate, he was accompanied supported by a cast of expert forgers, deep-cover CIA operatives, foreign agents and Hollywood special effects artists. Mendez worked closely with Canadian government staff in Ottawa, who forwarded the passports and other supporting material to the Canadian embassy through a Canadian diplomatic courier.
While pretending to find the perfect film backdrops, Mendez and a colleague succeeded in contacting the escapees.
The rescue was carried off Jan. 28, 1980, when the six hostages, Mendez and an associate successfully boarded a Swissair flight from Tehran to Zurich.
His book "Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off One Of The Most Audacious Rescues In History" was published in September 2012, just a month before the release of the film.
Mendez is the recipient of the CIA Intelligence Medal of Merit and was chosen among tens of thousands of agents to be one of 50 agents to receive the prestigious Trailblazer Medallion.
His first book, "The Master of Disguise; My Secret Life in the CIA," was published in 1999 on the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down.Mendez, who lives on 40-acre farm in Maryland, continues to consult the intelligence community and is also an award-winning artist with an international reputation.
Tickets are available in advance at the Student Union Information Exchange, 605-688-6127. The cost is $10. Children under age 10 and SDSU students with ID are admitted free.
For more information, call Tyler Hajek, SDSU Program Council Lectures and Forums coordinator, at 605-688-6173.


text:
Signpost (Weber, Utah), 1999-04-161
|1 of 12
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
This page
Loading content ...
Xeber BeVO KIO TT UrrU EE April 16-22, 1999 Volume II Number 25 .t Cri'lllllH' Mnlit.liyJi.il! Hil'liliy Sll'irliirlil W ( Iiitius ! I SUJl)r)DDuQ j: J u n J o n su?ncJ O it I 11 1 n o O L0 By Joey Haws sports editor-thf slgnpost G: ather up your human growth hormone and your andros-tenedione and fire up the blender. Then measure your self a little creatine and chase it down with some fish oil and amino acids. It's time to get huge. In an age where athletics ranging from little league to the big leagues have taken a win-at-all-costs mentality, nutritional supplements that help athletes become bigger, faster and stronger in a relatively short amount of time is increasing in popularity. But aitempts to enhance athletic performance are not new. The Olympic Games date back 2,700 years, so trickery in sports most likely dates back at least that long. The Olympic motto is Ciiius, Aldus, Fortius swifter, higher, stronger. In order to uphold that motto, ancient Greek Olympians ate mushrooms to win. Several centuries later, Aztec athletes ate the human heart to get that extra competitive edge. And the list goes on. The desire to improve physically through the use of these natural supplements has trickled down recently from such highly publicized athletes such as Mark McGwire, eight-time Mr. Olympian Lee Haney and heavyweight champion of the world Evander Holyfield. With creatine sales alone grossing over $200 million in 1998, the nutritional supplement craze has now spread to the college ranks, and is making its niche among high school and junior high athletes. What makes it most acceptable among younger users is that their sport idols are using it. Creatine isn't banned by the NCAA , NFL, NBA, NHL or the International Olympic Committee. "There are a lot of guys. across America that are taking creatine right now, including a lot of people on our campus.'A lot of people," said Weber State head football coach Jerry Graybeal. "A lot of the things you hear right now is that it is safe at this point, but what are the long-term effects of what it can do to you?" Graybeal isn't the only one who has doubts about using creatine. Some doctors are unsure iboul the products' safety. "Creatine is the safest of all the today, but I still don't trust it," said David J Tennsmeycr, orthopedic surgeon and team physician for WSU. Tennsmeycr addressed a group of more than 150 WSU athletes on April 6 concerning the use of dietary supplements. He said it was something he "The whole myth of it is that it's going to make you huge and swollen. I stopped taking it because of everything I read about how doctors weren't sure about its long-term Dan Del Vecchio, a freshman on WSU's men's basketball team "had to talk about because the affects of taking these can be bad." Derived from red meats and fish, creatine in an amino acid compound that prevents muscle fatigue, buffers lactic acid that causes muscles to burn and increases recovery time between sets in a given workout and between separate workouts. In simple terms, it allows you to work out harder and longer, Tennsmeyer said. But don't be fooled. Creatine is not a magical steroid-substitute. You can't just pop a couple of pills, wait a few days and then start picking up barbells like they're toothpicks. v?IFv U - 7 x i -7 f 1 t Creatine doesn't build muscle; it just lets you build muscle longer. Dan Del Vecchio, a freshman on WSU's men's basketball learn, used creatine often in high school. The 6'8", 240-pound Chicago native said he got interested in creatine after reading several articles and from talking with his friends. "I took creatine my whole senior year in high school," Del Vecchio said. " The whole myth of it is that it's going to make you huge and swollen. I stopped taking it because of everything I read about how doctors weren't sure about its long-term effects." One possible problem with using creatine is that nobody really knows the long-term effects it could have, since it only hit the market in 1992. Several studies were discussed earlier last summer at the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting in Orlando, but no conclusive answers have been found concerning the future. "The verdict is still out on the saf ety of creatine supplementation, especially over long periods of time," the ACSM said in a statement. "More research is needed in both animal and See Creaiine page 2
Object Description
|Signpost (Weber, Utah), 1999-04-16, Vol. 2, No. 25
|Weber State University
|Associated Students of Weber State University; A generous grant from the Utah State Library and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
|Weber's current student newspaper, the Signpost, first appeared on September 29, 1937. For two years prior to that time, campus news was disseminated via announcements posted on a bulletin board known as the "Signpost". As a result, the masthead of the first issue of the paper itself featured a rudimentary wooden sign with the title spelled out in rustic-looking letters. Over the years the paper has been published continuously, though the look, size and style has changed several times.
|Date Original
|College student newspapers and periodicals; Weber State University
|Digital Format
|Publisher Digital
|Stewart Library, Weber State University
|Date Digital
|University Archives LD5893.W55 S5, Stewart Library, Weber State University
|Digital Identifier
|Rights Management
|Public Domain. Courtesy of University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University.
Add tags for Signpost (Weber, Utah), 1999-04-161
Post a Comment for Signpost (Weber, Utah), 1999-04-161