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- How do I obtain software that is offered by ITS?
- How do I obtain software that is NOT offered by ITS?
- When does ITS decide to license any particular software product?
- Can I request that ITS purchase a software program that they do not currently offer?
- Will my department be charged for any of the software programs offered by ITS?
- Can software be installed on home machines and laptops?
- Are there different types of software licenses?
- Where can I see a list of all software programs offered in public labs on campus?
- What kind of software training does ITS offer?
- What is a POETS Code?
- Do you offer free software or services?
How do I obtain software that is offered by ITS?
You may order software that is offered by ITS using our online order form and selecting the program(s) you would like. A ticket will be created so that a technician will stop by to install the software. In a few cases (i.e.: Endnote, Symantec Anti-Virus), you can download the software to your computer through a browser. For more information on the software programs, view our software list and click on those programs.
How do I obtain software that is NOT offered by ITS?
Software not officially supported by ITS can be obtained through individual department funds for office or student lab usage. Software that is used for an individual computer or classroom use must be purchased by that department.
Software requests should be forwarded to the Dean by the chair of the department, or to the budget manager of a non-academic department. Pass along any quotes you have obtained and include a memo entitled "Software Request" which states the following:
- Number of software copies needed
- Where the software will be installed (include specific office locations and labs)
- Course names which will utilize the software (if applicable)
- Number of students in each class, if software is for student use
Based on this, the Dean or head of the department will see if there are enough funds to cover the purchase. Then the Dean or department head will supply you with a POETS code to expedite processing by ITS.
When does ITS decide to license any particular software product?
ITS will negotiate campus licenses when there is a high and broad level of interest in a particular software product. In addition, ITS must be able to secure pricing that is significantly lower than individual end-users could get on their own.
Can I request that ITS purchase a software program that they do not currently offer?
ITS purchases general use software programs that are used by departments across campus, including public labs. Budget restrictions limit what software can be purchased. However, if you are aware that other departments are interested in a specific type of software not currently offered by ITS, or if you believe the campus as a whole could benefit from a new software license, you may submit a request for review by the Software Committee. Any research you do in advance is helpful, including finding out if others on campus share your interest in the product.
Follow this link for more information about making a software request.
Will my department be charged for any of the software programs offered by ITS?
At this time, ITS only charges for Adobe products and for SPSS for Home Use. Price information is listed on the Choose Software Page and you will need to provide your department's POETS code on the order form. You can obtain your POETS code from your department head and/or budget officer.
ITS periodically reviews the costs of software licenses and reserves the right to impose small cost-recovery fees to any software program at any given time. Order forms will be updated with this information on a regular basis.
Can software be installed on home machines and laptops?
It depends on the terms of the license agreement. Each license agreement is unique. At this time, ONLY our Microsoft Campus Agreement, Symantec, and Adobe agreements all allow for licenses to be installed on a home computer or a second computer with the same end-user, such as a laptop. This does not mean that one license can be installed on two different end-users computers; rather, the one license can be installed on two computers assigned to one end-user.
Are there different types of software licenses?
Yes, ITS had negotiated rates with a variety of vendors to provide software applications to faculty and staff at no cost or at significantly discounted rates. Currently, software licenses are available in these three categories:
- Concurrent use licenses require the purchase of a sufficient number of licenses based on estimates of how many computers are actually using the software at any one time and generally are accompanied by or require "license manager" software. For example, if ITS only has 20 concurrent use licenses for a particular software program, no more than 20 users can access that software at the same time.
- Enterprise Campus (site) licenses require a set fee to be paid, either a flat rate unrelated to the number of computers or, more commonly, on a scale based on the number of computers or other devices attached to the network, or on the number of students, faculty and staff at the University of San Diego. These software packages have been purchased for the University of San Diego "site" and can be installed on any USD workstation.
- Workstation (limited quantity) licenses require the purchase of an individual license for every computer on which the software is made available. These are in limited quantity as they are "per user" or "per workstation."
Where can I see a list of all software programs offered in public labs on campus?
You can view a list of all software programs offered in campus labs at our Computing Labs Microsite.
What kind of software training does ITS offer?
You may view the ITS training calendar here. You may also view any training guides and/or tutorials by visiting the individual software program page. If you do not find sufficient training listed for a specific software program ITS offers, you may contact the iTeam to request special training or help, firstname.lastname@example.com or x7400.
What is a POETS Code?
|P = Projects
O = Organization
E = Expense Type
T = Task
S = Source Listing
|The POETS code is the Purchase Order Number you need to provide in order to submit payment for your software order. You may obtain a POETS code from the budget manager in your department, or contact your Dean.
Do you offer free software or free software services?
Yes! All services of the Help Desk, Software Team, and iTeam are offered free of charge to university faculty and staff. Students should purchase software at the bookstore.
We offer the following types of software free of charge:
- Microsoft Office 2010 and 2011 ($9.95 for Home Use copies)
- Norton Antivirus
- EndNote
- ArcGIS
- Respondus
- Word Perfect
Free Software Related Services:


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"This is the second year we've bought these socks for our U11 team. Great value and long lasting!" (E3172)
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"Great product. The team love these shorts. A matter of fact i will be ordering some more." (E3018)
Epic Sports
NIKE Womens Therma-Fit Elite Run Gloves 2.0 [E114321]

subset: commoncrawl


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I recently got medic up to level 5, which entitles me to spawn with body armour, making it my number one choice at the beginning of the game.
However, the medi-gun isn't exactly the strongest weapon, so to get around this I save up for a crossbow or eventually even a grenade launcher in the later levels.
Will kills with the crossbow and grenade launcher level up my Sharpshooter and Demolitions perks, respectively? How about if I use my pistol for head-shots (Sharpshooter), or buy a flame-thrower (Firebug), or a AK-47 (Commando), etc?
I'm wondering if I could still level up my other perks if my team needs a medic role.


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Madonna begins its quest for the West Virginia Class A championship Saturday when Tug Valley makes the four-and-a-half hour trip from Mingo County.
Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. at the new Jimmy Carey Stadium.
The 9-1 Blue Dons, winners of eight straight, finished fourth in the Class A standings. That means Doug Taylor's club is assured of two home playoff games should it be successful against the 8-2 Panthers.
Article Photos
CARRYING THE BALL — Steubenville's Dashon Redman breaks free for a big run Saturday against Maysville during Big Red's 28-0 first-round playoff win at Harding Stadium.
-- Ron Gardner
Saturday's winner will face the survivor of Friday's battle between No. 5 St. Mary's and 12th seeded Wirt County.
Tug Valley, under coach Tony Clusky, closed its season with a 16-8 victory over Clay County. The Panthers have had a balanced offense all season long led by senior quarterback Mikey Newsome. Going into the Clay County game, he had thrown for 1,2100 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The rushing attack is led by junior David Runyon along with seniors Aaron Muncy and Jesse Mays. Through nine games, Runyon had run for 475 stripes on 95 trips. Tight end Corey Dillon leads the team in receptions.
Fact Box
Big Red playoff tickets on sale
STEUBENVILLE - Steubenville Big?Red's second round playoff game against West Holmes is set for 7 p.m. Saturday in New Philadelphia.
Ticket sales begin Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the high school. They are also on sale Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Pre-sale tickets cost $7, with tickets at the gate costing $9.
The Dons closed their regular season with an easy 40-2 victory over previously unbeaten Clay-Battelle. Madonna finished with three backs rushing for more than 100 yards.
Ross Comis led the way with 150 rushing stripes and two touchdowns. He also pitched a perfect game from his quarterback spot, hitting five of five passes for 38 stripes and two more scores. For the season, the junior has run for 1,277 yards and thrown for 982.
Elliott Nero toted the ball 12 times for 106 and Nick Ossman added 105 on 15 tries.
Meanwhile, the Madonna defense held the Cee Bees to just 90 total yards of offense. Through 10 games, the Dons are allowing 10.2 points an outing.
Wheeling Central finished 10th in the Class A standings and will open defense of its state championship Saturday at East Hardy. This game also is slated for a 1:30 p.m. start
Wheeling Park qualified for the Class AAA playoffs and will visit Spring Valley Friday.
In search of 48
Big Red will be seeking its 48th all-time playoff victory Saturday when it tangles with 10-1 Millersburg West Holmes at Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium in New Philadelphia.
Kickoff for the Division III Region 11 semifinal battle is set for 7 p.m.
Big Red improved its postseason record to 47-21 by blanking Maysville 28-0. Meanwhile West Holmes registered its fifth tournament victory via 35-7 triumph over Indian Creek.
The Steubenville defense was outstanding, holding the Panthers to just 70 yards of offense. Meanwhile, Big Red rolled to 284 on the ground and 137 through the air.
Dashon Redman accounted for 129 stripes on 14 carries while Donte Brown added 115 on 13 attempts. Corey Stinson completed 10 of 17 passes, hitting Matt Petrella and Eric Robinson for touchdowns.
As advertised, West Holmes did most of its offensive damage on the ground. The Knights ran 49 times for 299 yards and four scores. Layne Perrone racked up 194 stripes on 24 carries. Perrone established school records this season for yardage and touchdowns.
They are family
The loss to West Holmes ended an outstanding season for Indian Creek. The Redskins finished 9-2 and earned back-to-back playoff berths.
Alex Young wrapped up his career by throwing for 134 yards and a score. He added 27 stripes on the ground. He is part of a senior class that won 17 games in its final two seasons.
"A lot of teams talk about family, but these 18 seniors are a family," coach Andrew Connor said following the quarterfinal loss. "It just pulls at my gut that they won't be around anymore. What they've done for this program just goes without saying. They taught us how to do well. They led us to back-to-back playoff berths."
Record setters
Catholic Central's first winning season since 2007 came to a close Friday via a 49-24 loss to top-seeded Mogadore in the Region 21 quarterfinals.
Steve Daley's club finished at 6-5, three of the losses coming by a total of six points.
Brenton Colabella ended his junior season with another great showing, passing for 302 yards and three touchdowns. For the season, he threw for 2,484 stripes and 28 touchdowns.
He now holds five school passing records. Colabella's marks include:
Most passing yards in a single game, 369.
Most passing yards in a single season, 2,484.
Most career passing yards, 5,513 (he still has a full season to go).
Most touchdown passes in a single season, 28.
Most career touchdown passes, 53.
Colabella's favorite target, senior Zack Herrington, will leave the Central program with four receiving records. They are:
Receptions in a season, 52 (previous record was 42).
Receiving yardage in a season, 832 (old mark was 787).
Receptions in a game, 13 (former high was 11).
Career receptions, 103 (surpassing the past record of 80).
In the loss to Mogadore, Herrington grabbed 13 Colabella aerials for 134 and a touchdown. Kyle Laukert grabbed nine for 89 and a score. Ryan Fletcher hauled in seven for 67 and a six-pointer while Michael Carapellotti caught four for 33.
Laukert had 39 receptions on the season, Fletcher 31 and Carapellotti 23.
Herrington, Laukert and Carapellotti were three of the nine seniors on the 2012 Crusader squad.
"They (the seniors) worked hard and put everything on the line," Daley said. "They are going to be missed."
End of the line
Friday's loss to St. Clairsville in the Division IV playoffs ended the marvelous season and career of Harrison Central's Maurtice Hython. He did manage to rush for 112 yards on 22 carries before leaving the game with a leg injury.
For the season, Hython compiled 1,890 yards and scored 19 touchdowns.
Hython and the other Huskie seniors wrapped up their playing days with a strong 7-4 record.
"Each year you coach, it gets a little tougher because you're that much closer with the kids," Justin Kropka said of his senior class. "It's always heart-breaking but, at the end of the day, they'll be the first class to leave Harrison Central with two playoff appearances to their credit."
Cradle of coaches
Five Catholic Central graduates turned head football coaches took their teams to the first round of the Ohio playoffs over the weekend.
Unfortunately, just one (Reno Saccoccia) survived the opening weekend as Big Red blanked Maysville 28-0.
Daley and his Crusaders fell to Mogadore in Division VI play while Connor and his Indian Creek Redskins were eliminated by Millersburg West Holmes in Division III action.
Dan Bjelac guided his Columbus Bishop Watterson squad to a 7-3 regular season finish. The Eagles dropped a 41-24 verdict Bryan Saturday in the Division III tournament.
In his second season at Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas, former Crusader Mike Orlando led the Rockets to a 7-3 record and a berth in the D III playoffs. The Rockets lost by two (37-35) to Gallipolis Gallia.
McNicholas captured the championship in the Greater Catholic League Central Division.
Meanwhile, Jason Windon, another Central graduate and the former Crusader wrestling coach, is on the staff at Mogadore, which will meet Berlin Western Reserve in the semifinals.
Wheels on the bus
The wheels on the bus, at least the chartered one, didn't go round and round for the Catholic Central football team Friday. Daley made arrangements for his Crusaders to travel in style to Mogadore.
Unfortunately, there was a little confusion on the part of the bus company. Turns out, the firm had reserved a bus for Saturday, not Friday.
So, Daley contacted Fred Heatherington, Big Red's athletic director, and city school buses were quickly dispatched to transport the Crusaders to Summit County.
Top stats
Running wild: 150, Comis, Madonna, 2 touchdowns; 129, Redman, Big Red, touchdown; 115, D. Brown, Big Red, touchdown; 112, Hython, Harrison Central, touchdown; 106, Nero, Madonna, touchdown; 105, Ossman, Madonna, touchdown.
Gunslingers: 302, Colabella, Central, 33 of 52, 3 scores; 137, Stinson, Big Red, 10 of 17, 2 scores; 134, Young, Indian Creek, 9 of 25, score.
Hands team: 13, Herrington, Central, 134, touchdown; 9, Laukert, Central, 89, touchdown; 7, Fletcher, Central, 67, touchdown; 5, Petrella, Big Red, 79, touchdown; 4, Carapellotti, Central, 33; 3, Pelegreen, Harrison Central, 13; 3, Weltner, Oak Glen, 48.


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A Devil Named Desire (Mass Market Paperbound)
Special Order
And no one knows that better than Sammy Divine. Once an angel, now cast down, Sammy's out to prove he's not the only angel who can be led into temptation . . .
Hope Henderson's sister has disappeared without a trace, and Hope will do anything to find her--even make a deal with the Devil. An ancient text holds the key to unspeakable power, and it's the Archangel Gabriel's job to make sure it stays hidden, even if he has to become mortal to do it. Lives, love, and the fate of the world hang in the balance, as Hope and Gabriel learn that when passion's involved, desire can be a devil that's impossible to control.
About the Author
A Southern girl with an overactive imagination, RITA(r) and PRISM Award winner Terri Garey lives in Florida, where anything weird is considered normal. A former computer analyst, she left the dry world of logic behind in order to write novels filled with fantasy, romance, and happily-ever-afters.


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Sorry for kind of forgetting about this group for a while! I promise your submissions won't be ignored anymore, for anyone that sent in submissions that never got in before they expired, please feel free to resubmit them if you like!
I'm gonna be writing up a contest journal after this, I just wanted to let you guys know that this group isn't dead and I hope to bring it back soon! Thank you so much to all the members that have stuck around despite this group not showing any signs of life, haha.
You're all great. <3


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Perspective and Spirituality
It took me about three weeks to get from my strangely embarrassed general practitioner's admission that I have gotten some bad numbers on my prostate cancer blood test to the Big Day when I got the definitive biopsy results.
"Don't worry too much" the urologist had told me during the biopsy as he punched another needle into my prostate. (It made a sound like someone pulling the trigger on an unloaded gun). "With your blood test numbers you have about a thirty percent chance of actually having it." I found these words reassuring and tried very hard to only be thirty percent terrified for the next ten days.
On the Big Day the urologist came into the little room where my wife and I were waiting and he was brimming with optimism. (But why not? He is a surgeon, so even if the news was bad I'd still have an opportunity to get surgery).
"Now let's see. We did 12 biopsy cores and 11 came back entirely benign. But the 12th one had cancer."
Seeing the shocked look on my face he hastened to reassure me.
"It's just one small section, which is very good. Unless you have a lot of cancerous sections all over the place and we happened to miss them with the needle biopsy. Then it's not so good. With cancer, we recommend surgery or radiation treatments (I'd go with the surgery, but then, I'm a surgeon) or we can do what's called "watchful waiting" where we don't do anything and then retest every year until we find something worse that requires surgery or radiation. Your cancer is probably low risk and I don't think that you would be risking too much to just wait and see. Unless it turns out that it is actually very aggressive, in which case you shouldn't wait at all. All in all, the cancer will probably kill you eventually if you don't do anything about it, but the good news is that you are just as likely to die of something else first. It's up to you. It probably depends on how lucky you feel."
Having just been told that I have cancer, I must admit that I wasn't feeling very lucky at that particular moment. At that moment, my prostate, a walnut sized gland in my pelvis that I had never paid attention to before felt like it was the size and shape of a manhole cover. I wasn't in any pain and I had no evident symptoms of any sort. It's just that the little gland suddenly loomed large in my consciousness. I must have looked distracted at that point and the doctor hastened to reassure me.
"If you decide on surgery (and I'm not trying to steer you in any direction although if I were you I'd have the surgery), we use a big robot nowadays named Da Vinci to assist. There are almost no complications except for occasional heavy bleeding and once in a blue moon a stroke or heart attack. After all, it's major surgery. But you are relatively young so I would not expect you to experience any of these or have any serious side effects, which are mostly permanent impotence and permanent incontinence. But even if that happens, we have surgical and other remedies for it so that we can pretty much more or less take care of it. (Here he launched into a disturbing list of available prosthetics.) Take a few weeks and talk to your wife. Get a second opinion, maybe even from a radiologist. And then come back with your decision. In the meantime, relax and don't worry."
It's a strange thing to be told that one has cancer. I mean, cancer! And in getting cancer, if I ending up beating it, I would become a cancer survivor. The fact that I had just a bit of cancer didn't mean anything. It still counted as cancer. When the initial fog of panic cleared, I saw that I had the usual two issues. The first was the technical issue of what to do about it. And the second was the spiritual issue of being reminded in a vivid way of my mortality.
The technical issue turned out to be relatively easy to deal with. After all, it's all about techniques and the odds. In the end it comes down to a sort of mathematical equation, albeit one that includes one's own personality tendencies and outlooks on life. There are plenty of books out there and experts to help one get through this. In general, it appeared that the educated person at least would simply consult the books and the experts until a solution revealed itself.
The spiritual side was trickier. As a Christian, I was already supposed to be keeping death in plain view at all times. Being told that I had cancer should not have changed this very much, which means that having a nasty disease shouldn't have much of a spiritual effect on me, if, of course, I have really been keeping up with the spirit of Christianity. But naturally, I found out that I really hadn't been. When push came to shove, I had believed that I would live forever, just like everyone else. So now what?
And so it was for spiritual advice rather than technical advice that I found myself going to the book The Decision: Your prostate biopsy shows cancer… Now What? By Dr. John McHugh.
McHugh is a urologist who got prostate cancer himself and in the book he (first of all) documents the steps that he took to decide what to do about it. The book is not so much a handbook on options (although it is that) as much as a handbook on decision making. But in the book he also talks about what it's like to have prostate cancer and to go through the aftermath of treatment, from the point of view of a doctor who had been reassuring his patients for years about how everything would probably be fine unless it wasn't. The book is surprisingly humorous (note that he is wearing a catheter outside of his scrubs on the cover of the book) as the doctor talks about the challenges of wearing a catheter and adult diapers for several weeks with dignity (for example) or dealing with the inevitable sexual side effects even from an overall successful operation.
It's not specifically a book on the Christian spirituality of taking bad news. But I nonetheless found it helpful in that regard, because for me, the spiritual problem of having cancer was in putting it in perspective. Perspective is what creates a space where I can then deal with this spiritually. Cancer is not, in fact, killing me at the moment (as far as I know) and my personal situation had not in fact changed very much in the period where I was diagnosed. Or to put it another way, one of the facts of our life is our basic frailty as humans (both physically and spiritually) and getting bad news like this doesn't change that fact one iota. It merely confirms it as we could confirm it dozens of times a day if we wanted (or dared) to. We can look at our frailties in a grim manner if we want (since all roads lead to decay and death), but if we have a spirituality that affirms life our frailties become funny in a way. McHugh telling the story of having a major dinner party at his house is actually funny. He refuses to tell anyone that he recently had major surgery and that he will need to leave the yard and freshen up (his Depends) frequently, opting instead to pretend that all is normal and to tough it out. This causes him to not very subtly attempt to freshen up using removable pads, where he constantly steps away to the bushes or behind the garage for a few moments to do a quick change. This leads to pads being hidden all over the place until his dog finds one and the jig is up. Very human this, very frail yet very funny. Spirituality in the context of the realities of human physical existence is very much a function; it seems to me, of perspective. If we love, we have to laugh. And if we laugh, we have to love. And the book is a very loving and laughing account of what to do what one gets the bad news.
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Unaguidon deserves not only our prayers but also our thanks for his very thoughtful comments. Thinking well about the fact that each of us has, sooner or later, a death to die, is integral to Christian living and, as Louis Bouyer showed many years ago, to accepting Jesus' call to share in His passion, death and resurrection.
As a shamelessly proud father-in-law, let me mention that my daughteer-in-law, Ansley Dauenhauer, is a survivor of breast cancer who has written a novel called "Cancer Slam" that is meant to help cancer victims who are mothers of young children talk with their families about what the treatment and its side effects are like. Her book carries the recommentation of one of the oncologists at Sloan-Kettering. She doesn't deal with death, but does shed light on living well with a serious illness.
I will say this about doctors: they depend on what you tell them. Yesterday I went to the doctor, suggested two choices of what's ailing me, he picked one, and gave me pills. If that's doesn't work, he will go for a scan and maybe choose the other suggestion. They do have the Shaman about them, don't they.
Unagidon, thanks for this post. You are in my prayers.
Now the story you just posted makes more sense: it's about the unreasonable invulnerability of youth, isn't it? Or about your general good luck in life?
As a Christian, I was already supposed to be keeping death in plain view at all times. Being told that I had cancer should not have changed this very much, which means that having a nasty disease shouldn't have much of a spiritual effect on me, if, of course, I have really been keeping up with the spirit of Christianity. But naturally, I found out that I really hadn't been. When push came to shove, I had believed that I would live forever, just like everyone else.
I always wonder about that. When I try to weigh the advantages of being undead vs. being dead, in the end it all boils down to the company I will keep: do I have more friends on this or on the other side of death? Do I prefer separation from the people I love down here by preceding them, and then having to wait for them to join me, or by their preceding me and then I will have to wait until my turn comes? Not that I can choose, of course. Will Christ be closer to us after we die? Are we finally, at the long last, be able to be in him and he in us with nothing at all coming between us? Will I really have enough faith and hope to go forth without being scared?
Here's a picture of life before death - see how the martyr is eargerly moving to his death:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Ravenna-gallaplacidia03.jpg
and of life after death: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Meister_des_Mausoleums_der_Galla_Placidia_in_Ravenna_002.jpg
It does look like something to look forward to, doesn't it?
Sorry I'm all speaking in the abstract. I have not yet encountered death by disease in my generation, among either family or close friends - I am still in the "feeling invulnerable" stage, so musing abstractly comes more naturally than Bernard's immediate sympathy...
doctors diagnosed his stomach cancer in October 1962 but do not seem to have told him
Wouldn't that be infuriating? Aren't you glad that you are at least informed, even if the information is muddled?
The good news is that survival rates are very high. especially if your old like me.
"Wouldn't that be infuriating? Aren't you glad that you are at least informed, even if the information is muddled?"
It was still common at that time (1962) for patients to be kept in the dark about cancer and tuberculosis. See, e.g., Susan Sontag's Illness as Metaphor, pages 1 - 7, for some shocking examples.
In France and Italy, as in other countries, doctors routinely concealed diagnoses from patients. Cancer and tuberculosis were too shameful to discuss openly. See, e.g., the behavior of the doctor who treated Therese of Lisieux. Guy Gaucher describes it in The Passion of Therese of Lisieux.
". . . the doctor may not have used the word 'tuberculosis' earlier, for at that time the word was taboo, just as 'cancer' is today." (1973)
I'll pray for your speedy and complete recovery.
My Dad went for the radiation, he was too old for surgery. It seemed to work out just fine.
I had a biopsy several years ago. Anesthetic applied up the ying-yang: not the most pain-free experience. Still painful each time the urologist snipped a sample. A friend a few years earlier also had a biopsy with NO anesthetic! He elected the radiation seed treatment after getting positive results. Been doing fine ever since. Unigidon, what are your thoughts on CyberKnife treatment?
Unagidon, been there, done that. You'll survive. I am told that if it recurs, at my age, we'll just live with it because I'll die of something else before it gets to me.
You will find waiting roomsful of gabby old men eager to tell you about their experience with it, so I will spare you. Except to say that I went with radiation and had a (generally) good time with no down time except the hour or so spent going, being treated and coming home for 45 dlays.
Ok, it occured to me that the non-survivors were unlikely to post comments, so I asked my internet brower for statistics, and found that the 5-year survival rate is 100%. Huh? For cancer? Now I feel cheated.
I've had a biopsy also, unagidon, and you aptly described the sound as "like someone pulling the trigger on an unloaded gun." No cancer, luckily, but I'm now on a regimen of annual PSA blood testing and twice yearly rectal exams, (Just can't wait for February and July to roll around each year! :) ) You noted the DaVinci Robot as a possible surgical option. While I've read that it has had a good record overall, a recent expose reported that it has also resulted in some major post-surgical complications for some patients:
I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
The survival rate is high. It's the complications at this point that are the bigger concern.. I am young enough (and still have young children) where I have to look beyond a five year horizon. So I am likely going to have the surgery rather than the radiation treatment.
The surgical complication rate is only as good as the surgeon and whether he/she is having a good day or not. The recovery period will be a drag, but like a good cupcake I shall just have to suck it up.
My doctor's monologue was pretty much as I reported it, where he hedged everything and covered all bases simultaneously. Mostly this is one of the least complicated cancers to have. But then there are the Frank Zappas of the world that it kills in a few years flat. I suppose it depends on whether I'm feeling lucky.
unagidon - you may be tuned into this already, but there are cancer patient support groups that may be able to help you with the spiritual dimensions of being a cancer patient. Even though the survival rates being reported here are great news, I would guess it's casting a gigantic shadow over your life. Email me privately if you'd like some help tracking down groups in our area, and I'll see what I can do.
I have to look beyond a five year horizon.
I understand. For doctors studying serious dieases it often seems that 5 years is their definition of eternity, "forever".
dear u --
You are in my prayers, I can empathize, though I'm sure that such news is much, much worse for a young person. A while back I had a similar scare. In my case the only question was how long I had to live -- the odds were almost completely against me. But mine was an "extremely rare" case, said the doctors, and I beat the odds. Lesson: even bad odds can be wrong.
Well, that eliminates my desire to come back in my next life as an eel.
U...Excuse my flip remarks above; I thought this was another of your excellent short stories. It's not. Right?
Okay, be well, and don't forget that doctoring did start out as Shamanism.
Whenever I hear someone discuss a prostate cancer diagnosis, I feel compelled to mention this book. I remember hearing interviews with the authors when it came out a few years ago and being impressed. It is certainly a disease with a strong prognosis. Good luck.
I Went through this in 2005. Had the radical prostectomy, and my psa levels have been vanishingly low ever since. So I know what you're going through, and I'll say some prayers for you. Your chances are very good, depending on how long the cancer has been present, and whether it happens to be an exceptionally aggressive form, which I understand is rather uncommon. It is a stressfull and scary ordeal, but I think you'll be OK; I will certainly pray that you will be.
Unagidon - thank you for your post and the "yes" that led to your decision to offer it to a complete stranger like me. Earlier today, as you were posting the story, I was on my way to my own prostate biopsy. Like you, I have been thinking a lot about my own mortality since the doctor told me I needed this biopsy, along with some soul searching about whether I am as much a believer as I like to think I am. Filled with those fears and doubts, the Spirit led me to your post as I searched for a little spiritual inspiration on Commonweal. From a very human perspective, your story helped me face honestly and with humor the events of my big day, a day I am doing my best to downplay with my family. So thanks for that; I can now go to bed knowing that I have some new friends who understand what I just went through. That helps. But more significantly, your post, coming as a complete surprise and at the precise time when I needed it most, was nothing less than an affirming and deafening message, "be still and know that I am God." In other words, your post was God's presence in my life today; my "close moment to Christ," an affirmation that I am not alone as I face my struggles and doubts. So thanks very much for that too. I will pray for you in the days ahead and regardless of the news I receive 7 days from now, know that I will receive it with my faith reaffirmed by your humble, faithful and loving "yes" to share your humanity with the hope that it would help others -- which it has.
God blessings to you and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ,
I can FULLY identify with your plight. I had surgery in 2006 (at age 56). I am cancer free today. I opted for surgery and never considered any other options. Thank you for this excellent article!
I was struck by the statement that the blood test result meant there was only a 30% chance of having the cancer. That means the test has an error rate (aka false positive) of 70%....
Obviously, I will not have to deal with the threat of prostate cancer personally. (Hopefully, my levity is not inappropriate.)
But, I have relatives and friends who have dealt with breast cancer, throat cancer, colon cancer, and leukemia. A cousin died last week after a valient battle with ovarian cancer. So, fears about cancer weigh heavily on my mind at times.
Let me tell you that if ever I have have a diagnosis of cancer, Unagidon, I will go to this post and read it again for support, perspective and strength.
Thank you (and also Francis).
One's mortality has a nasty habit of asserting itself at the most inopportune moments. I had a pacemaker installed about 2 years ago and just a few days ago discovered that it needed some serious adjusting RIGHT NOW.
That will scare the bejeepers out of one ... as it did to me.
For those of you with good health, treasure it as your health is truly one of the most precious gifts that you have been given .... and never, never, never take it for granted, particularly once you pass 50.
A moving story. As many have mentioned, the prognosis is good. Thank you for sharing. I will pray the rosary today for you when I walk later this afternoon.
There was excellent news yesterday on the cancer front. There is a particularly ugly little animal called "the naked mole rat" which has been the object of scientific research for some time. Scientists have discovered the chemical substance which is abundant in their bodies which prevents their getting cancer -- ever. They just don't get it. The scientists are very hopeful that research into this substance will probably help with finding a human cure. Take heart, everyone. Added moral: never think that what is extraordinarily ugly is useless.
Here's an even better picture of the critter. Could be straight out of Disneyland.
Could be straight out of Disneyland.
Ann - as a matter of fact, one of Disney's cable TV channels, the Disney Channel, had an animated series during the last decade called Kim Possible, one of whose characters was ... a pet naked mole rat named Rufus.
Spirituality has been defined in various ways. For instance ,: a belief in a strength operating in the world which is greater than oneself, a sense of interconnectedness with all living things, and an awareness of the purpose and meaning of life and the progression of personal, absolute values. It is the way you find meaning, hope, comfort, along with inner serenity in your life. Even though spirituality is frequently associated with religious life, believe that spirituality may be developed away from religion. Operates of compassion and selflessness, altruism, along with the experience of inner peace are characteristics associated with spirituality.
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I went for a second opinion to Dr. Peter Carroll of the University of California Medical Center (and a leading urologist), whom I strongly suggest you Google. He has me on an "active surveillance" program (quarterly PSAs, semiannual ultrasounds, yearly biopsies), as I almost fit into the PSA/Gleason profile that can afford to wait in anticipation of the quite possible outcome that the cancer will never develop into a severe problem. The following is a quote from a San Francisco Chronicle article about one of Dr. Caroll's patients, with a link.
When I went in to see Peter I said, "I'm young and I'm healthy, so I should probably have surgery." He said, "Do you want another opinion? I agree you're healthy, you're young, (you don't) have aggressive, early-stage disease, and I have a different opinion. Do nothing." http://tinyurl.com/ln67yj3
Thoughts and prayers.
P.S. "Active surveillance" not the same thing as "watchful waiting," though can't remember now what "watchful waiting" is, exactly, except that it is less rigorous. I asked Dr. Carroll if any cancers in the active surveillance program had "gotten away," so to speak, that is metastasized or penetrated the prostate capsule before treatment was started. He said no. I forget how many patients were in the program when I asked him that. Maybe 1600. In the following link, Dr. Carroll discusses active surveillance. http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/interview_carroll_active_surveillance_for_prostate_cancer/
Dear unagidon:
Please forgive me for commenting late (1/17/2014) on your diagnosis of prostate cancer but I've only just now read your excellent blog.
I'm close to 80 and have never had such a diagnosis but my younger brother had one 15 years ago, at age 60. After experiencing all the nasty side effects of an enlarged prostate, he was told he had cancer of that organ. Even though he was in severe discomfort, he took the time to search the internet for an alternative to surgery and radiation (which were applied to two of our uncles one of whom died in agony from its effects) and found one. It involved placing a pellet of dry ice in the prostate which would kill it and then allow the body to gradually clear out the dead tissue. It took 6 months of negotiating with his insurance company to get them to approve and pay for it because it was not an accepted surgical procedure (they went for it based, almost solely, on the much lower cost relative to that of the standard medical practice of slice, bake and poison - i.e. surgery, radiation and chemo). The results were as expected and his recovery was very mild. The negative effect of loss of sexual prowess was cured later on by having a balloon surgically inserted into his primary male sexual instrument, which, he tells me, has radically improved his relationship with the opposite sex.
We did not know it at the time but his body was dealing with a much more serious issue of clogged arteries which didn't manifest itself until a couple of years later resulting in a quadruple bypass and partial replacement of one of his arteries. His surgeon told him that if they had known about his condition back when the prostate surgery took place he would never have qualified for it based on the high probability of him dying on the table. It was the mildness of the surgery and his recovery from it that probably saved his life, thank God.
And, spiritually speaking, I do try to thank God every day for all that he has injected into my life, both the good and the "bad", for the purpose of trying to bring me closer to Him. I wish I were closer to Him than I am, but that is my fault and not his.
I've had the rare privilege, over many years now, of being in a prayer group of truly Christ centered catholic men who pray for the recovery of those who are sick or have the potential of becoming seriously ill. If you don't mind, I will enter your name of those we pray for. Please pray for me, especially my spiritual side or lack therof.


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My Case 85xt Skid Steer has a hydraulic leak somewhere but the engine area is covered in oil sludge so I can't tell where it is coming from. Is it safe to use de-greaser and or water around the engine compartment?
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I'm not familiar with your piece of equipment, but in general, yes it's okay to clean an engine compartment. Just don't use an inflammable degreaser. I like Krud Kutter or Simple Green at full concentration. Let it sit a few minutes then spray it down with a hose. Keep in mind afterwards you might want to spray some clean oil wherever there are moving parts or things that might rust, since you'll be cleaning all of the 'natural' lubricant/protection away.


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I'm trying to understand how this solution works. The question was to deduce momentum maps for right and left actions of $SO(3)$ on $GL(3,R)$, and got them as $J_R = \frac{1}{2}(Q^TP-P^TQ)$ and $J_L=\frac{1}{2}(PQ^T-QP^T)$ respectively, for $Q\in GL(3)$, $P\in GL(3)^*$. However, then I need to find if they Poisson commute. The solution is:
$$ \{ J_L,J_R \} = \frac{1}{4}\{(PQ^T-QP^T),(Q^TP-P^TQ)\} = \frac{1}{4}((P-P^T)(Q-Q^T)-(Q^T-Q)(P-P^T)) $$
But I don't understand how this works (specifically, how to compute a poisson bracket with matrices). There is no explicit definition of the poisson bracket in the solution. Elsewhere in the text there was a Poisson bracket defined as
$$\{F,H\}=\operatorname{ tr}\left(\frac{\partial F}{\partial Q}\frac{\partial H}{\partial P}-\frac{\partial H}{\partial Q}\frac{\partial F}{\partial P}\right)$$
but that is for scalar functions $F,H$. I guess you could apply that formula to every entry of the $P,Q$'s but there must be a shortcut. Sorry if i've not given enough context, please ask. Thanks for any help.


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Video Testimonials
Heres the video documenting the story Shri Rajkumar Tulshyan, who came all the way from Rourkela Orissa, just to visit the team at Gemstoneuniverse and share his experience after planetary gem therapy touched his life profoundly. His experience moved him in ways more than one. The endeavor - his traveling down to Bangalore in itself is remarkable. Also you can see the beautiful Shri Krishna vigraha that he presented to Gemstoneuniverse as offering for Guruji. More...
Mr. Harpreet Bhatia is the CEO of BrandappZ an award winning social app development company in India that developed over 500+ Facebook Applications for top brands in India and worldwide. In this Video he shares his experience of impact of Blue Sapphire and Gem Therapy. He Shares his Gem Therapy Experience and the power of Jyotish Gemstones with Gemstoneuniverse. He is also the co founder of Planmyoccasion. With more than 19 yrs of experience in the digital industry and an exceptionally rare blend of techno-commercial know-how, he has been strategizing and executing Social Media, Digital & Mobile strategies for prestigious brands. He specifically speaks about his using the Blue Sapphire and the power he experienced.
Mr. Rishikesh Bhat is Senior Cabin Crew at Lufthansa. How Real Jyotish Gemstones impacted his health and career? He shares his experience with Gemstoneuniverse Bangalore, quality of consultation and the impact of Gemstones. In addition to his career at Lufthansa, Rishikesh is also a gifted tarot reader, psychic medium and a Feng Shui Master Practitioner. He has benefited from Yellow Sapphire, Red Coral and Cat's Eye.
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Gemstoneuniverse Reviews Tarunjeet Rattan Communications professional speaks on Impact of Gemstones, Astrology. She says India, Vedas,Gemstones and Astrology have much to offer to the world and when the whole world is benefiting from these sacred sciences why should we hold back.
Mr. Dv Shankar-VP Sales has used real Jyotish Gemstones and shares his experiences using Gemstones and sheds lights on the question," Do Gemstones Work". Jyotish Gemstones are a special class of Gemstones that help us achieve goals of health, wealth, happiness and More. Gemstoneuniverse is the worlds leading retailer for unheated,untreated Jyotish Gemstone
More information at: http://www.gemstoneuniverse.com/gemsdontwork.php
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" I don't usually write testimonials but for GemstoneUniverse I have to and I also would like to tell one incident that I recently had. GemstoneUniverse is very customer centric, trustworthy, providing exceptional quality gemstone. Website is good too, full of information with articles and blogs. Their comprehensive gem report is very detailed, clearly explained on which gemstone you should wear and why. All aspects are clearly explained and carat weight of Uparatna is also mentioned. I was recommended to wear Emerald and Yellow Sapphire. It's been a month that I am wearing Peridot and recently have ordered Heliodor. The gem quality is exceptional in 4C's. I have never ever seen such a beautiful stones in my life. Seriously, the images, HD videos will not do justice to such gemstones, you have to actually see it naked eye to appreciate the quality, clarity and play of light of such stones. I regularly visit GemstoneUniverse website and love watching videos of Emerald and Yellow Sapphire. Thank you GemstoneUniverse for providing such a world class service to mankind. Incident: I live in Pune, on Friday, 6th May 2016, when I was going to office on my bike, accidently a car hit me from behind such was the impact that I could have lost balance of my bike and could have suffered severe injuries. Think of how severe this accident could have been in city like Pune in Hinjawadi road which is full of traffic. But fortunately I didn't lost balance of my bike, I didn't even fell and came out of this accident unhurt that's because I was wearing 8mukhi Rudraksha and Perdiot gemstone. Though my gem therapy is half implemented(waiting for Heliodor), but I can say that Rudraksha and Peridot are working for me. They form such a protective layer to my aura that I believe no harm will ever touch me. At first I was sceptical about my gem therapy will work or not because of Rahu in 1st house, but after this incident I believe that it is working in some way. Special thanks to Mr. Johnson for providing very good customer support and answering all my queries. One day I will definitely visit your showroom for thanks giving. Also special thanks to Abhijita madam, we never have conversations but have read blogs of yours and found very informative, thank you for providing exceptional service. I hope GemstoneUniverse achieve great heights under your directorship. "
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So there's these villagers (called
TESTIFICATE?!) inhabiting my villages. Can I interact with them? What happens if I kill them?
So there's these villagers (called
Villagers were introduced in the beta 1.9 pre-release, and, for the most part, act like passive mobs: they'll get up in your grill and walk around without a care in the world. When you kill them, they don't drop anything.
In addition, 1.2 brought a number of changes to mob AI such as villagers:
The first new behavior—entering houses at night and leaving them in the morning—allows you to use villagers as a poor man's daylight detector.
Finally, as of snapshot 12w21a, villagers power Minecraft's economy by trading items with players.
They also pick up food, but different ones like or dislike different kinds of food.
I have Played Minecraft for a few now, but ever since i started, i spawned a Villager Egg. To me it seems they:
At night, they go in any possible Home Nearby, They are capable of climbing ladders, and walking up stairs They run away from zombies,enderman, and spiders Soon, when a new version comes out, they will be able to breed and have kids, that YOU can name. They mainly eat Cake,but some are different.
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Laconia business leaders think city spending $400k to spruce up Main Street misguided
Earlier this week the executive committee of the organization voted unanimously to oppose the project, which is slated to be presented to the City Council for its approval next week.
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"Ovulation Day" Sn. 4 Ep. 10
Aired on 01 / 07 / 1996
Paul & Jamie are waiting for her ovulation date to have sex, to better the chances for creating a baby. Things keep happening that keep them from being together. Debra, Paul's sister, reveals that she is gay and dating Joan. Presented by FXX.
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Paul & Jamie are upset that they are still not pregnant... More
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Garden planting tips to keep vibrant color in your flowerbeds and containers after a hard frost.
By Sarah F. Ehrhardt
Pewaukee, Wisconsin
A hard frost brings an end to summer's annuals. But you don't have to concede all of autumn's glory to the trees!
Extravagant color and greenery can still fill your garden containers and flower beds. Just rip out droopy summer plants, turn the soil and plan to replant for fall.
Asters come into their full glory now. Their vivid pink, purple and white star-shaped blossoms are so numerous, it's hard to see the greenery beneath. Tuck them in the ground or in a pot, and they will perform well into early November.
Mums, a fall favorite at garden centers and grocery stores, come in an amazing variety of sizes and blossom shapes. Spider mums have long, leggy blossom heads, while cushion mums look just like an old-fashioned pincushion.
And there's not just a rainbow of mum colors, but also lots of shades within each—yellow to gold, lavender to deep purple, pale pink to burgundy and pure white to soft cream.
Cold-hardy violas, an early spring standby, make an excellent addition to fall garden beds and pots. Their dainty appearance offsets the heavier, bushy asters and mums, and their light-hearted colors soften any display.
Don't forget flowering kale, also known as flowering cabbage. After waiting patiently all summer for its big fall show, kale makes a spectacular statement in gardens and containers, with large, leathery leaves of ruby red, purple, green or blue.
Ornamental grasses, like purple fountain grass, add height and movement to autumn displays, with fluffy plumed seed heads that sway in the wind. Some varieties even have foliage that turns from green to red or bronze with the frost.
Cornstalk clusters are great for adding vertical interest to your garden as Halloween nears. Tie one around a lamppost, nestling pots of mums, pansies, kale and asters around the base for a great seasonal look. Or lean three cornstalk clusters into each other to form a tripod near an overflowing container of blossoms and a hay bale with colorful Indian corn.
It wouldn't be fall without bright orange jack-o'-lanterns and colorful gourds in all shapes and sizes. Giant pumpkins or tiny "jack-be-littles"—carved or whole—add a shot of lively color in your garden display. Gourds piled on hay in an old bushel basket look great by the front door.
Too many gardeners reserve flower beds and pots for summer. Don't miss the opportunity to celebrate fall with a fresh round of color.
Photos by Sarah F. Ehrhardt


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5 Acts of Nature That Rearranged the Face of the Planet
It's only natural that we tend to focus on the human side of earthquakes, tsunamis and other disasters when they happen. But sometimes you have to step back and really appreciate the sheer, unfathomable scale of how these events can change the surface of the Earth itself. The world is a volatile place, and we'd do well to not let ourselves forget it.
With that in mind, consider the earth-shattering power of ...
#5. Krakatoa
In 1883, the island of Krakatoa in the Indian Ocean exploded like a potato in a microwave, except with less delicious Idaho goodness and with more tsunamis. The blast was so powerful that the noise could be heard from more than 2,000 miles away.
Obviously, this did not happen spontaneously -- islands don't randomly explode, or else no one would live on islands. This was the result of a volcanic eruption. Though scientists aren't sure what made the eruption trigger a full island explosion. One theory is that the lighter magma that usually spews out of a volcano mixed with heavier basaltic lava from below, and the island became the sealed bottle containing volcanic Diet Coke and Mentos.
Via Gweaver.net
Except spicier.
However it happened, the impact was huge. Unfortunately, there weren't many Johnny-on-the-spot photographers capturing the damage, since it was 1883 and an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean and all. But we do have this illustration of Krakatoa before the eruption:
Aaaaand this one after:
Notice how the 90 percent of the mountain was no longer there. Where there was once an island halfway between Sumatra and Java, there was now three smaller islands and about 40,000 fewer people.
Via Wikipedia
Krakatoa's eruption was the loudest noise in recorded history, heard as far away as Perth, Australia. That's about 2,000 miles -- basically, imagine being in New York City, and hearing something that happened in Utah. You'd probably see it on the news long before you actually heard it since it takes sound nearly three hours to travel that distance.
The blast was the equivalent of 200 megatons of TNT. For perspective, the largest explosion ever made by humans was the detonation of a Russian hydrogen bomb, which was 50 megatons. That blast broke windows in buildings 560 miles away. Krakatoa was four times that; the cloud it generated wiped entire villages off the map 25 miles away and created a tsunami that traveled all the way to South Africa. That wasn't all Krakatoa's neighbors got for their birthday that year; giant pieces of rock and coral reef fell from the sky as well.
Via Wikimedia Commons
No really, "giant piece of coral reef" was literal.
Krakatoa ejected so much debris into the upper atmosphere that it changed the weather for five years. Much of what came out of the explosion was sulfur, which reached the stratosphere and reflected out more sunlight than regular water vapor, dropping the global temperature by just over 2 degrees. And since blowing up and drowning vast swaths of the planet wasn't a big enough screw you, it fell back to earth as rain -- acid rain.
#4. The Missoula Floods
Via Lynn Suckow
Imagine a huge lake, one that's about half the size of Lake Michigan, but held back on one end with ice. Now imagine that the ice dam holding back all 500 cubic miles of water burst, and the water had to find somewhere to go.
One more thing -- imagine that the water was angry.
Now imagine it happening on 40 separate occasions. Beginning around 15,000 years ago, angry, rushing, ice-filled water stormed across Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon at 80 miles per hour, mutilating the land like God's rototiller as it went. The rage started at glacial Lake Missoula in Montana, which no longer exists today, then went crashing across the northwestern United States, rushing all the way to the Columbia River before its thirst for destruction was quenched.
Along the way, the water got up to 400 feet deep and released more energy than 4,500 megatons of TNT. In case you were counting, that is 22.5 Krakatoas. Here's what 4,500 roving megatons of TNT does to the land, by the way:
Via north4d.net
Via scienceblogs.com
It scarred up the earth so badly that there is a part of Washington now cruelly referred to as the "Scablands."
Via HugeFloods.com
Let's put it another way. Look at these boulders:
Via tes.asu.edu
Via ecy.wa.gov
Those rocks were tossed across the landscape by the floods, either rolled along by giant walls of water or carried on giant aircraft carrier sized ice rafts and deposited on the ground when the waters finally subsided, no doubt covering the remains of woolly mammoths that were flattened like bugs.
The most insane part is that scientists estimate that this happened every 40 to 55 years, for 2,000 years.
#3. The New Madrid Earthquakes
Contrary to its exotic, festive-sounding name, New Madrid is a town in Missouri, of all places. It also happens to be located in the heart of the New Madrid seismic zone -- a hotbed of plate movement earthquakes that can be felt in seven surrounding states. Because Tornado Alley wasn't terrifying enough without having one of America's most powerful earthquake fault-lines running down the middle of it.
Via Wikimedia Commons
In red: all the places the New Madrid has caused people to publicly soil themselves since 1974.
Starting on December 16, 1811, a series of three Haiti-sized earthquakes shook the New Madrid region like a maraca in the hands of a palsied old-timer. One quake caused a freaking standing wave in the Mississippi River, apparently reversing its entire course for a few minutes. It cracked sidewalks in Washington, D.C., and sloshed well water in South Carolina. Soil liquefaction, where solid ground turns into soup during a tremor, caused the earth to up and swallow the village of Little Prairie, presumably displacing Michael Landon and his family.
One long preamble to a Roland Emmerich film.
The two worst quakes hit on December 17, 1811 and then nearly two months later on February 7, 1812, both registering 7.7 on the Richter scale. The shock was felt in New York, and rang church bells in Boston. Sections of the Mississippi River uplifted, causing waterfalls in a giant river in the middle of flatlands, and created the Kentucky Bend:
Via ShowMe.net
And sent a wave upstream that created a goddamn lake.
Imagine a cannonball dive so devastating the splash created a second pool.


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Suspicious odor prompts search of W.H.Morrison Building
Firefighters find furnace malfunction
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A week and a day: one more full week of classes plus one last class day on Mon 5/2 and the SP'11 term officially ends — with finals beginning on Fri 5/6 and running through Thu 5/12. Thanks to all of you who stopped by ODS to talk with Susan L about your TAFs by the deadline of Fri 4/22 — and please note that as per the email reminders sent to all students — as of now you will need to make any and all finals arrangements with your professors. Best of luck from all of us on your course-studying, paper-writing and test-taking — and don't forget to take some deep yoga cleansing breaths on a regular basis throughout the coming weeks!
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BC: The green wooden ramp that traverses the Sulzberger Hall steps has been removed temporarily as we evaluate whether an ADA-code-compliant ramp can be built in a similar location. Please stay tuned to this weblink for further updates as we work on the problem with our friends in Facilities Services.
TC: No info.
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Happy almost-Spring as we are about to enter the annual Room Selection process — as well as midterms season as you also prepare for Spring Break, which is March 14-18. ODS will be open throughout spring break if you need us for any reason — and we wish all of you the best as you prepare for midterms. Here's hoping that you will have a restful and restorative spring break!


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A Tavern Debate: Resolved: Privatize the Post Office
U. S. Constitution empowers the Congress to establish "Post Offices and post Roads" but the U. S. Postal Service is a creature out of time. Legally obligated to serve all Americans regardless of geography at uniform price and quality and to pre-fund retiree health benefits in excess of $5 billion annually for the ten years ending in 2016, the USPS must still compete against private package delivery services while having lost much of its former first class business to electronic communications. As a result, the Postal Service has defaulted on its last two payments to the pension fund and is currently running a $41 billion deficit. Congress, which governs the Postal Service, has refused to let the Postal Service end Saturday mail delivery in an effort to cut costs. Has the time come to abolish the Postal Service, to subsidize it directly with tax dollars, or to privatize its functions? What say you? Come join the debate!
In the tradition of America's founders, the Tavern Debate is a parliamentary-style debate, accompanied by food and beverage, in which audience participation is not only encouraged but vital and long-winded questions make good short speeches.
Please come prepared to expound upon and defend your views!
Cost: $20 (early bird EventBrite purchase only),
$30 at the door;
$15 for students (early bird EventBrite purchase only; Student ID Required)
(Membership has its privileges: $25 at the door with current Federalist Society membership card or Student ID in hand)
To register and pre-pay, RSVP by noon on September 25, 2013 at: http://fedsoc-postoffice-tavdebate.eventbrite.com


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NY woman pleads guilty in fire that killed 4 kids
Posted at: 12/07/2012 9:35 AM
(AP) ROCHESTER, N.Y. - A New York woman has pleaded guilty in the deaths of four of her children, who died in a blaze started when she set fire to pictures of her boyfriend.
Thirty-one-year-old Bobbie Kugler pleaded guilty Friday morning in Monroe County Court to felony counts of manslaughter, assault and arson.
In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped four murder counts. Officials say she'll be sentenced Jan. 22 to seven to 15 years in prison.
Police said Kugler told investigators the Feb. 18 blaze at the family's Rochester home started when she torched her boyfriend's pictures and tossed them onto a dresser filled with combustible materials.
The fire killed 14-year-old Gage Reavey; 13-year-old Greg Kugler; 12-year-old Kandee Kugler; and 6-year-old Kaiden Kugler.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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The HHS mandate is now a 'non-negotiable'
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs spoke with Daniel Cole of his local paper and added to the list of positions that will get your barred from communion, at least in his diocese. He started out by reiterating that support for abortion rights and same-sex marriage are automatic disqualifiers for Catholic pols, maybe even voters:
Bishop Sheridan: Its clear to me that the Code of Canon Law, Canon 915, says that a Catholic politician who publicly espouses positions that are contrary, not just to any teachings of the Church, but to serious moral teachings, should not receive Holy Communion until they recant those positions publicly. Voters needs a little bit more nuance, because there the question is, are we voting for those politicians precisely because of their positions on those non-negotiable issues? Here is what I would say: It would be very difficult for me to understand how, if there are two candidates quite far apart in their positions on these matters, I could vote for the one who consistently opposes these Church teachings, simply because he might be in favor of a few good things.DC: Would support for the contraceptives mandate also disqualify Catholic politicians from receiving Communion? Is that a new non-negotiable?Sheridan: I think we do need to add to that list (of non-negotiables) religious liberty. Absolutely, yes. I think a Catholic politician who publicly and consistently defends the mandate, which causes people to violate their conscience yes, I think thats right up there with the rest of them.DC: If Vice President Joe Biden, who is Catholic, were to swing through Colorado Springs on a campaign tour and attend your Mass, would you deny him Communion?Sheridan: He should know, and I would do everything I could do to make sure that he knows, he ought not to be receiving Communion.
Everything else -- care of the poor, immigration, the death penalty, etc -- is a matter of prudential judgment, he says.
About the Author
David Gibson is a national reporter for Religion News Service and author of The Coming Catholic Church (HarperOne) and The Rule of Benedict (HarperOne). He blogs at dotCommonweal.
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I have heard from the pulpit how our consciences are being violated and our religious liberty taken away by the current administration regarding contraception, yet I have never heard preaching about contraception itself and the sinfulness of its actual *use*. Maybe I was just out of town on those days (honest, it's possible, no snark intended). But to only have a nutty about potential insurance coverage of contraception by a Democratic administration, but never to have made a peep about contraceptive *use*, seems so strangely disproportionate to the degree of culpability for such allegedly grave matters, that it seems partisan. (Or is this Dem being just too sensitive?)
The good bishop should ponder the Cathleen Kaveny article "The Single-Issue Trap:"http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/single-issue-trap
God save us from this imbecilic generation!
Here is Canon 915 (fwiw, when I typed "code of canon law" into Google to fish out this canon from the Vatican web site, "Code of Canon Law 915" appeared in the search bar's drop-down, which I take to indicate that it is frequently searched)."Can. 915 Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion."Both the bishop and the canon cite the gravity of the sin involved, but note that the canon also insists on the element of obstinate persistence - something that the bishop's gloss omits. The obstinate persistence (and both words, we should assume, are active here) is a pretty important part of the formula, istm. This is worth noting, not only to supplement what the bishop stated in the interview, but because Vice President Biden would be excluded from communion by this bishop under the provisions of Canon 915. Perhaps a case can be made for doing so on religious-liberty grounds. I'd suggest that the case would be difficult to make on pro-abortion grounds, as Biden's legislative record seems to be mixed in that respect. (A brief recap here: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/joe-bidens-record-senate-abortion_65...)If the right to life is a "non-negotiable" principle (I don't care for the term "non-negotiable" in this context; even the right to life is not absolute), then I do think it's a defensible position that the principle of religious liberty would be in the same category. So what this bishop could teach could be something along these lines: a politician who, with obstinate persistence, supports a policy (like the HHS mandate) that is contrary to the church's principles of religious liberty, may be barred from communion under Canon 915; and furthermore, it would be sinful for a voter to vote for that candidate specifically because of the latter's support for the HHS mandate.
I would like to know what happens to men on their way to the episcopacy. I was in the seminary with Mike Sheridan in the three years immediately after Vatican Two and this sort of closed-mindedness is nothing like the intelligent young man I knew then. A man who knew logic and how to see other sides of an argument. He now sounds simplistic and closed minded, as if he gets all his opinions pre-packaged from a single source interested in promoting a single political position in the church. Mike, what takes your pet topics out of the area of prudential judgement and leaves others in? Is it just because some bishops have invested so much emotional energy in these topics?Why is it not a matter of prudential judgement to vote for someone in favor of a morally questionable issue on which there is little political movement visible yet also in favor of a positive morally significant political position on which important votes are expected?
I guess they no longer show these obstinate persisters the instruments of torture or put them under house arrest for the remainder of their lives. I don't know if that's Christian forbearance or culpable leniency.But the bishop needs to beef up security. Great sinners like Joe Biden might sneak into a church in Colorado Springs wearing a red wig, sunglasses, and a bulbous rubber nose. Clearly, what's needed is communion photo ID.
Basing this attempt at coercing consciences on the principle of "religious liberty" is beyond ironic, esp. considering how loooong it took the Church to even acknowledge that religious liberty is a good thing, not a bad thing. Threatening to withhold the sacraments from people who don't agree with you on the one hand while demanding they respect your religious liberty on the other just doesn't cut it in the US. And that's where we are...last I looked.
Beverly wrote in part: Threatening to withhold the sacraments from people who dont agree with you on the one hand while demanding they respect your religious liberty on the other just doesnt cut it in the US.Seems to me like being in the US is really beside the point. The Bishop is talking about participation in the sacramental RCC which has zero to do with the US. Give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's and God what it God's. Both these issues - the sacraments and religious liberty - originate with God, not Ceasar.
should not receive Holy Communion until they recant those positions publicly.And that the words 'should' and 'he ought not' certainly seems to me like the Bishop is exercising his teaching authority, not the police authority implied by the use of 'barred' in the first sentence of this posting.
We need more (or at least some) women leadership in our Church. If women's voices were included, we would not be taking such ridiculous, extremist positions on artificial contraception.
Bruce makes an interesting point (10/10, 11:50 pm). On the one hand, Bishop Sheridan's language ("should", "he ought not") seems to be an exercise of his teaching authority.However, on the other hand, Bishop Sheridan speaks of "non-negotiables". And he's by no means the only U.S. bishop to adopt this approach on these issues in recent years.So there's a (creative? uneasy?) tension within the bishop's position. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.
An elementary distinction, one that, if I remember correctly, Claire recently spelled out on another thread: There are constitutional rights and there re moral rights. They do not necessarily coincide.The issue of the HHS mandate is a constitutional issue, to be settled in the political arena. Let's all grant that there is some moral right to religious freedom. How that right is reflected in a nation's legal system is always complex, always open to revision, open to reasonable contestation.Bishop Sheridan is confusing moral rights and legal rights. His "non-negotiable" talk concerning the mandate and the reception of the Eucharist just makes no sense, unless you think that it's part of the bishop's teaching role to set definitive parameters for what can count as a defensible legal system. If you think that, then you're on the road to advocating the kind of stable Catholic voting bloc that Carl Anderson recently advocated. A terrible, terrible idea.
The good Bishop should spend certainly extend the same proscription to his flock: If you use contraception you should refrain from receiving the sacraments. Say it loud and clear. You are not a Catholic in good standing if you use contraception or if you condone its use. Receiving Holy Communion only compounds your state with yet another grave sin. One more time: use contraceptives and you are not worthy.
P.S. The above is sarcasm.
Bernard, I agree with your (and Claire's) distinction. But the two spheres are not mutually exclusive. Legal rights should flow from moral rights. If a legal right is founded on moral error, then all citizens have a duty to use peaceful and just means to realign the law with moral rightness. I don't think Bishop Sheridan is confusing moral and legal rights; he's pointing out the misalignment between the two on the matter of the HHS mandate. Morally, he's being a good shepherd; legally he's being a good citizen.Also: within the church's proper sphere, Bishop Sheridan has both moral and legal authority - the legal authority being that which belongs to a bishop with regard to church law. Bishop Sheridan has both the moral and the church-legal right to enforce the church's standards for who is to be admitted to holy Communion.As I said in a previous comment, it could be open to question whether Biden's promotion of the HHS mandate meets Canon 915's "obstinate persistence" requirement. I don't believe it's open to question that Sheridan has a right and an obligation to enforce Canon 915 in his diocese.
"The good Bishop should spend certainly extend the same proscription to his flock: If you use contraception you should refrain from receiving the sacraments. Say it loud and clear. You are not a Catholic in good standing if you use contraception or if you condone its use."Personally, I hope he doesn't. But the bishop's statement in the interview isn't about contraception per se; it's about upholding the fundamental human right to have one's religious liberty respected and protected. And note that he's not a disinterested party; he's the leader of a minority religion that is being persecuted under the law.
Funny thing jbruns; I agree with your first post and do not see it as sarcastic at all.
Jim P. says: "Legal rights should flow from moral rights." I ask: Does it follow that all moral obligations ought to be inscribed into public law? That a bishop has the moral right to impose sanctions on those who resist his conception of what public law ought to be?As a citizen he is legally entitled to argue for his conception of public law. That he, as bishop, has a moral right to impose ecclesiastical penalties on those who do not agree with his conception of public law I deny. That his views about public law are entitled to a presumption of soundness may well be the case, but it is a rebuttable presumption, rebuttable by good prudential reasons thought through by anyone, including members of the diocese of which he is the Ordinary.Take the obvious case, namely abortion. I agree that no one has a moral right to obtain or perform an abortion. Before I sign on to inscribing that prohibition into civil law, I would want to know the full legal changes that would take place, e.g. what would be the penalties for violating this law and who would be subject to these penalties, what sort of policing would be rrequired to enforce these laws, would the burden of obeying these laws fall equally on all citizens, rich and poor, young and mature, etc. So far as I know, there has been no well worked out proposed body of law abolishing the constitutional right to abortion that would give one the assurance that this body of law would be what replaced the present constitutional right. Can such a body of law be developed? Probably. But until it has, I can't see that a bishop could rightly simply demand of his people that the support the abolition of the present constitutional rights as a condition for their worthiness to receive the sacraments.
Jim P. I simply disagree that Catholicism is being 'persecuted under the law.'
The bishop is right to say what he has said if that is truly his view, and I see no reason to think it isn't his view. Those whose consciences compel them to disagree must also act as they think is right. Thank God for freedom of religion which allows the faithful to disagree with their bishops and allows us to continue the dialogue about the teaching at issue. I still agree with the bishops who say *their* freedom has been violated by HHS forcing compliance re providing employees' contraceptives. But that's a different issue.Complexity in the extreme.
The Catholic Church still adheres to the theory of just war, but Dorothy Day was a pacifist who believed there is never a justification for war. Would she have been refused communion by today's bishops?
I cant see that a bishop could rightly simply demand of his people that the support the abolition of the present constitutional rights as a condition for their worthiness to receive the sacraments.Bernard,Your question poses a logical fallacy: that requiring that immoral acts not be legal is equivalent to moral obligations being inscribed into law.I do not believe the Bishops are advocating for any particular civil penalties for those who obtain abortions. What they (and I) want is that our legal system at least eliminate the current positive legal right to abortion because on its face it is immoral as you note. No one has the right to kill another innocent human being, yet that is what our current jurisprudence provides.
"Personally, I hope he doesnt. But the bishops statement in the interview isnt about contraception per se; its about upholding the fundamental human right to have ones religious liberty respected and protected. And note that hes not a disinterested party; hes the leader of a minority religion that is being persecuted under the law."Jim P,I'm glad you did not say "universal" as well as "fundamental," for of course this country is one of the few in the history of the world that proclaims and strongly defends religious freedom. It is in the First Amendment partly as a reaction against the religious barbarity that prevailed in Europe for many centuries. And I think you know that the Church came rather late to its belief in freedom of conscience, only after its own ability to coerce obedience was curtailed."Minority religion" is a peculiar way to speak of the largest denomination in the country and the largest in most of the individual states. That phrase conveys a sense of marginalization that is simply untrue of the modern Catholic Church in America, which exercises, if anything, an outsized influence on public discourse and decisions.And "persecuted under the law"? Millions, nay, billions of men and women would be delighted, if they were still alive, to suffer such persecution rather than what they actually incurred. And what have our modern martyrs incurred? A mandate to provide insurance coverage to their employees, which they find objectionable. But also the right to sue for relief in a court system established under the same Constitution that conferred what they wish to defend. And a presupposition in this case that puts a burden on government to show that its policy goals cannot be advanced in other ways.Like it or not, that is the civilized and pacific way that we settle differences. No one gets a special set of rules. (Well, that last is not strictly true, but that's another matter.)
Bruce --Please give the pro-choice people the courtesy of recognizing that many if not most of them think that the fetus *is not a human person*, and therefore killing a fetus is not murder. The thing to do if you want the laws to change is to change their thinking by offering sound arguments appealing to common human knowledge, not revelation. Until your (and my) arguments are persuasive the laws will not change.


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Top 10 Credit Card Tips for Teens
6 of 11
Find a Card with the Best Terms
Research your options to find the best credit card with low interest rates, annual fees, late fees, and no hidden charges. Cards with a lower spending limit, around $1,000, attract many parents as a starter card for their child.
Next: Set Guidelines for Use
More on: Teens and Money


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The 5 Most Hilarious Ways Anyone Ever Failed at Their Job
There are screw-ups, and then there are screw-ups that make headlines, like those guys who made a fire extinguisher that was highly flammable. These are the kinds of things professionals have nightmares about: the hilariously ironic failures that everyone will find out about. Like ...
#5. Agency for Limiting Government Waste Spends $800,000 on a Vegas Trip
The GSA, short for General Services Administration, is the agency that is supposed to be the Prius to other U.S. agencies' gas-guzzling SUVs. They're all about limiting waste, tirelessly working to make government processes sustainable, smart and transparent. They're the kind of people who dispatch goats to eat overgrown grass instead of firing up a lawnmower. Apparently, they are also firm believers in that old saying about happenings and Vegas.
Any cash spared thanks to goats and whatnot was happily blown away the second a 300-strong entourage of GSA savings experts hit the 2010 Western Regions Conference in Las Vegas. To their credit, they didn't just squander our valuable tax dollars on hookers and blow ... though they might've run up a smaller tab by doing that.
"She OD'd on the cocaine, so now I don't have to pay. You're welcome, America."
They kicked their spending splurge off with a $75,000 team building exercise, where attendees built bicycles (seriously) and received lame T-shirts. Then there were various $5,600 in-room parties, $31,000 "networking receptions" and assorted mysterious catering bills, such as a $7,000 sushi bill.
When you start looking at the smaller stuff, the madness truly unfolds: They bought water bottles ($2,782), commemorative coins ($6,325) and actual goddamn yearbooks ($8,130), because apparently the GSA is staffed entirely by high schoolers. Perhaps the most mind-blowing expenditure was $44 per head for breakfast. That is, for each breakfast, every single day. Hell, don't most hotels throw that in for free?
Each and every aspect of the trip was filled with ridiculously inflated bills like that, to the point that the whole trip ended up costing $822,000. That's $2,740 per attendee. For a five-day convention.
And that doesn't even count the "diamond fight" portion of the team building exercise.
Unsurprisingly, the expenses led to an investigation where a bunch of other anomalies were uncovered, including this gem:
To select a venue and plan the conference, GSA employees conducted two "scouting trips," five off-site planning meetings, and a "dry run." Six of these planning events took place at the M Resort (the conference venue) itself.
Man, when an official government document starts using sarcasm quotes, you know someone's in trouble.
If you put it in air quotes, it isn't a crime. That's, like, the 30th Amendment or something.
Their reputation as a saving agency now in ruins, the only thing the GSA had left was their other key pillar, transparency of operation. Too bad they decided to piss all over that, too, as the responsible executive pleaded the Fifth Amendment when he was questioned by congressional committees ... then resigned before he could be heard.
#4. Anti-Piracy Group Steals Music for Their Ad
Some of you have seen this anti-piracy PSA so many times, you can quote it by heart (hint: it's the infamous "YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR" ad):
The "Piracy -- It's a Crime" campaign was created by a Dutch anti-piracy group called BREIN to be inserted on DVDs, and as such has briefly delayed millions of people from enjoying movies over the last few years. But as annoying as the constant repetitions of the video may be, it's plain to see that BREIN is just trying to support the rights of the artists.
That is, unless said artists work for BREIN, in which case they can suck it.
"Then we steal their handbag."
In 2006, BREIN asked one Melchior Rietveldt, who we assume is a real person and not a Skyrim character, to compose music for an anti-piracy ad for a local film festival. Melchior agreed, threw together a few quick notes and received his payment.
A few years later, Rietveldt -- who apparently doesn't watch a lot of movies -- made himself some popcorn, popped a Harry Potter film into his DVD player ... and was shocked to see BRIEN's ad, still accompanied by his music. The music he had composed for a one-off event, and was paid next to nothing for.
"Cover your ears so I can call them cocksuckers without your mom getting mad."
It turned out that BREIN had decided not to pay Rietveldt for using his music in the ad that was playing on, well, more or less every DVD made since he had composed it. Thus, they had happily robbed him of compensation of well over $1.2 freaking million. The justifiedly pissed-off Rietveldt sent a collecting agency to claim his dues and was promptly contacted by Jochem Gerrits, a record company executive and one of BREIN's board members. Gerrits agreed to help Melchior get the money they owed him ... but only if he gave Gerrits a 33 percent cut.
After a long, awkward silence, Rietveldt decided he'd had enough of this bullshit and took his case to court. Gerrits wound up resigning from the BREIN board of directors, and although the group denies that they did anything wrong, it looks like the composer is finally getting some compensation from his contribution to the famous video that aggressively defends the rights of artists to get compensation.
"Well, let's not get all hasty here. Let's talk about what 'crime' actually means in the big picture ..."
#3. The Guy Who Invented Basketball Had a Losing Record Coaching It
If you know your sports history, you might recognize James Naismith as the name of the inventor of basketball. He developed the game in 1891, and by 1898 it had gained enough popularity to sustain a league. Naismith was teaching at the University of Kansas at the time, so he obviously wound up coaching their basketball team, the Jayhawks. It was a natural fit, really -- who better to know the ins and outs of a game than the guy who invented it?
As it turned out, pretty much anyone else.
For instance, these 12-year-old girls, who took the time to knit their own championship sweaters midgame.
James Naismith boasts a record that differs radically from any KU basketball coach since. This is because his record sucks. While you'd think that opposing coaches would constantly have been calling timeouts just to come over and ask Naismith questions, the reality is that Naismith ended his career as a basketball coach with a losing record of 55-60.
What's worse is that he's the only Jayhawks coach with such lousy numbers -- each and every other coach KU men's basketball has ever seen has a substantial winning record.
Including this toddler, who they once let coach for three seasons because "he looked kind of sad."
This makes Naismith either the least motivated coach in history or the biggest believer in fair play we've ever encountered. Come on, dude -- the game was your creation! If your team was down, what stopped you from introducing new rules midgame? If the refs tried to call you on it, you'd be all, "Uh, I like to think I know how my game is played, sonny."
You have to wonder if he didn't watch other coaches coming up with innovations that left his team in the dust and think they were just totally ruining his sport.
Via Wikimedia Commons
"Fuck you guys, I'm taking my ball and going home. Know what? I'm taking my basket, too."


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$\exp_nX$ is the space whose underlying set is the set of nonempty subsets $S\subseteq X$ with $|S|\le n$. Its topology is the quotient one inherited from the map $X^{\oplus n}\rightarrow\exp_nX$ given by $(x_1,\ldots,x_n)\mapsto\lbrace x_1\rbrace\cup\cdots\lbrace x_n\rbrace$. And $\exp_{m\le n}X$ is canonically embedded in it.
Interestingly, for the case $X=S^1$, we have $\exp_2S^1\approx M\ddot{o}$ (homeomorphic mobius band). Etienne Ghys saw this by considering the mobius band as $\mathbb{R}P^2$ minus the open disk (with $S^1$ as the disk's boundary) and mapping $p\in M\ddot{o}$ to the set of tangency points of the lines tangent to $S^1$ and intersecting $p$. And from this we see that $\exp_1S^1$ is the boundary of the band and not the meridian circle. Now Raul Bott showed that $\exp_3S^1\approx S^3$ (On the Third Symmetric Potency of $S^1$), and someone else showed that $\exp_1S^1\subset S^3$ is the trefoil knot. Furthermore, $\exp_2S^1$ is a Seifert surface of $\exp_1S^1\subset S^3$.
My two curious questions: What happens for $n\ge 3$ and the corresponding embeddings? Are there interesting results for other $X$?