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Report to Congressional Requesters: United States Government Accountability Office: GAO: October 2005: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Actions Taken, but Agency Restructuring Efforts Could Benefit from a More Systematic Consideration of Advisory Panel's Recommendations: GAO-06-10: Contents: Letter: Summary of Findings: Conclusions: Recommendation for Executive Action: Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: Appendix I: Briefing Slides: Appendix II: Sixty-four Recommendations from the National Academy of Public Administration to EEOC: Appendix III: Comments from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: GAO Comments: Appendix IVGAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: Related GAO Products: Abbreviations: EEOC: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: NAPA: National Academy of Public Administration: OMB: Office of Management and Budget: United States Government Accountability Office: Washington, DC 20548: October 28, 2005: The Honorable Frank R. Wolf: Chairman: The Honorable Alan B. Mollohan: Ranking Member: Subcommittee on Science, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, and Related Agencies: Committee on Appropriations: House of Representatives: The Honorable Jose E. Serrano: House of Representatives: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) promotes equal opportunity in the workplace and enforces federal laws that prohibit employment discrimination. EEOC investigates charges of discrimination from the public, litigates major discrimination cases, and reaches out to federal agencies and the public to educate and prevent discrimination. EEOC serves every industry, every segment of the population, and every part of the country. Since EEOC was established over 40 years ago, its core mission has not changed, but new issues continue to emerge. For example, the agency is experiencing an increase in charges of sexual harassment of teenagers in the workplace and discrimination against individuals who speak with accents. EEOC has also seen an increase in employer reprisals against employees who complain about discriminatory treatment, cooperate with EEOC investigations, or file formal charges. In May 2001, EEOC and other federal agencies were directed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prepare restructuring plans to make government more responsive to citizens' needs.[Footnote 1] By June 2001, agencies were to submit a workforce analysis to OMB that would include, for example, demographic information on the agency's employees and would serve as the baseline for agency-specific restructuring plans. Agencies were to submit restructuring plans to OMB with fiscal year 2003 budget submissions and annual performance plans. These submissions were due to OMB September 2001. OMB's directive required agencies with more than 100 full-time employees to develop restructuring plans with the goal of flattening the federal hierarchy. The OMB directive stated that plans should describe the specific activities and actions each agency planned to take, associated resources, expected outcomes, and tools to measure performance. In order to ascertain what progress EEOC has made in reorganizing its operations, we determined (1) whether EEOC implemented OMB's directive to develop a restructuring plan and (2) what actions EEOC is taking to restructure and make its operations more efficient and effective. To determine whether EEOC implemented OMB's directive to develop a restructuring plan, we obtained and reviewed OMB's directive, the President's Management Agenda, and other guidance. We interviewed key EEOC officials in headquarters to identify the steps that the agency took in order to implement OMB's directive. We interviewed key OMB officials to determine the extent to which EEOC's actions had met the OMB requirements. To determine what actions EEOC is taking to restructure and make its operations more efficient and effective, we interviewed key EEOC officials and reviewed documents pertaining to the agency's restructuring efforts. To learn how these restructuring efforts would affect EEOC's operations, we visited EEOC headquarters, the national contact center, and EEOC district offices in Chicago and San Antonio. In these district offices, we interviewed staff from all major functions and at different levels. To gain additional perspectives, we interviewed district directors from another five EEOC field locations (Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and San Francisco). We also interviewed representatives from an advisory panel of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA)[Footnote 2] and the American Federation of Government Employees, EEOC Locals 216. We conducted our work between October 2004 and September 2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. On September 19, 2005, we briefed your staff and other staff of the Subcommittee on the results of our work based on the briefing slides we include in appendix I. The purpose of this letter is to formally publish the briefing slides and to officially transmit our recommendation to the Chair of EEOC. Summary of Findings: Although EEOC did not develop or submit to OMB a restructuring plan as required, it has developed and submitted a workforce analysis to OMB, contracted with the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) for a study of its operations, and taken action to implement some of the study's recommendations. OMB officials stated that they have found EEOC's restructuring approach to be acceptable. EEOC chose to implement three major initiatives from the study of its operations but did not have an organized strategy to consider all of the study's recommendations. These wide-ranging recommendations address multiple topics, including EEOC's mission, needed technological improvements, and human capital management. In this report, we are making a recommendation to the Chair of EEOC to develop and implement an organized strategy to consider all of the NAPA recommendations. EEOC disagreed with this recommendation, indicating that they had already implemented such a strategy. We continue to believe that EEOC needs to more systematically evaluate each of the NAPA recommendations, which would include an examination of the implementation costs, contributions to Commission goals, as well as establishing a means for measuring the impact of those recommendations that are implemented. Status of EEOC's Implementation of OMB's Directive: EEOC did not develop or submit a restructuring plan as the OMB directive required but took actions OMB officials have found to be acceptable. According to EEOC officials, EEOC did not meet the directive's requirement because the agency was unsure of how to conduct a restructuring effort given the financial difficulties the agency was facing. Further, EEOC was experiencing management challenges at the time. According to EEOC officials, the agency was undergoing a major management transition to a new chair. EEOC's Actions to Restructure: To prepare for restructuring, EEOC commissioned a study of its operations by a NAPA advisory panel in June 2002. NAPA's February 2003 report emphasized three major initiatives and identified 64 wide- ranging recommendations that EEOC should implement.[Footnote 3] The 64 recommendations address multiple topics such as creating a balance among enforcement, outreach and prevention, and mediation activities; needed technological improvements; and human capital management. Appendix II contains a list of these recommendations. EEOC addressed some of these recommendations, however, it did not have an organized strategy for considering all of them.[Footnote 4] Instead, EEOC considers addressing the three major initiatives as the completion of its primary restructuring efforts. To address the three initiatives, EEOC (1) established a pilot test of a national contact center to take calls from the public, (2) recently approved a plan to streamline its field structure, and (3) intends to reorganize its headquarters operations at an undetermined date once the structure of its field operation has been determined. National Contact Center: EEOC's national contact center, which is operated by a contractor, became operational in March 2005 and will continue as a pilot test for 18 months. Contact center representatives provide callers with basic information but do not take charges of discrimination, contrary to NAPA's recommendation. Instead, contact center representatives refer potential charges of discrimination to EEOC field locations for investigation. The contact center also processes postal mail and e-mail inquiries from the public. As a part of the pilot test, the EEOC Inspector General is conducting a review of the contact center. Field Streamlining: EEOC approved its field streamlining plan in July 2005 and plans to begin implementing it in October 2005. The plan would increase the total number of field locations nationwide, but it would change the size level of some offices. In an effort to better match workload with the size of its field locations, EEOC's plan would reduce the number of district and area offices and increase the number of field and local offices. Further, it would change the menu of services available at select locations to correspond with their new size levels. According to EEOC officials, workload and geography were the primary criteria used to determine each field location's level. EEOC will not lay off any employees or force them to relocate as a result of implementing the streamlining plan. Employees will leave these positions through attrition or through voluntary reassignment. EEOC officials estimate that implementing the field streamlining plan will free up $8.26 million through fiscal year 2013. However, EEOC will not begin to realize these financial benefits until fiscal year 2010 because of the immediate costs of opening two new local offices and the time needed for employees to leave their eliminated positions. Headquarters Reorganization: EEOC intends to reorganize its headquarters operations, but it does not yet have a plan or specific time frame for doing so. According to EEOC officials, the agency will begin reorganizing its headquarters operations after its field streamlining is under way--at some time during fiscal year 2006. As a part of the headquarters reorganization, the agency intends to shift 20 percent of resources--a combination of human resources and funding--from its headquarters to the field in order to better serve the public. Conclusion: In the last year, EEOC took major restructuring actions that could fundamentally change the way the agency serves the public. Given its role as the preeminent antidiscrimination enforcement agency, making such important changes in how the agency is structured and operates calls for carefully considering all available options. NAPA completed a major study of EEOC's operations and created an extensive list of recommendations. However, EEOC has no organized approach to consider each of these recommendations. Without such an approach, EEOC lacks assurance that each recommendation has been fully considered. As a result, EEOC may miss an opportunity to fully benefit from NAPA's work, become more efficient and effective, and further improve its ability to enforce the nation's civil rights laws. Recommendation for Executive Action: In order to improve the Commission's restructuring efforts, we recommend that the Chair of EEOC develop and implement an organized strategy to consider all of the NAPA recommendations. This strategy should include, among other things: (1) an examination of each recommendation from the perspective of its potential to aid in achieving the strategic goals and objectives of the agency, (2) an evaluation of the costs associated with their implementation, and (3) a means of measuring the impact of any recommendations that are implemented. Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: We provided officials at EEOC an opportunity to comment on a draft of this report. In general, EEOC disagreed with our findings, conclusion, and recommendation regarding the agency's lack of an organized approach to consider all of NAPA's recommendations. EEOC's assertion, that it has developed an organized and comprehensive framework for considering and implementing NAPA's recommendations, does not correspond with the results of our review. More specifically, over the course of our review, we sought documentation supporting the agency's strategy for reviewing and implementing the NAPA recommendations; however, EEOC officials told us on several occasions that such documentation did not exist. Only after we completed our review and discussed our preliminary findings did EEOC provide us with an internal tracking document that discussed its implementation of many of NAPA's recommendations. Only in response to a draft of this report did the Commission provide us with an additional document that listed the implementation status of each of the recommendations. Neither of these documents contained, nor could we obtain from the agency, evidence of the strategy EEOC said it developed to evaluate the NAPA recommendations, or evidence of the kind of strategic approach that we continue to recommend: (1) an examination of each recommendation from the perspective of its potential to aid in achieving the strategic goals and objectives of the agency, (2) an evaluation of the costs associated with their implementation, and (3) a means of measuring the impact of any recommendations that are implemented. EEOC's comments and our response are reproduced in appendix III. We are sending copies of this report to the Chairman and Ranking Member, House Subcommittee on Science, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations; other interested parties; and will make copies available to others upon request. We are also sending copies to the Chair of the EEOC. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site at http://www.gao.gov. If you have any questions about this report, please contact me at (202) 512-7215. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major contributions to this report are listed in appendix IV. Signed by: Robert E. Robertson: Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues: [End of section] Appendix I: Briefing Slides: [See PDF for images] [End of slide presentation] [End of section] Appendix II: Sixty-four Recommendations from the National Academy of Public Administration to EEOC: [End of section] Aligning Mission and Functions. Initiative 1: Establish a nationwide call center. 1; Establish a toll-free national call center staffed by individuals who have been thoroughly trained in both responding to questions about EEOC's mission and services, and in taking charges over the phone. Initiative 2: Realign field offices and administrative work. 2; Establish a network of lead offices in areas with high workload levels. EEOC should define workload to include private sector charge filings and other factors, such as local industry data, population demographics, and EEOC's mediation and outreach efforts. Lead offices might have satellite offices under them, and perhaps a mobile unit that could travel to areas not close to EEOC offices. 3; Create pilot projects for a combination of place-based, mobile, and remote services so that EEOC can develop and test service to customers, infrastructure support, management checks and balances, revised work processes, and supporting human resources systems for recruitment, training and performance assessment, and other components. 4; Consolidate most administrative support functions; leaving in each major office one highly skilled, fully trained administrative staff member to provide those services that must be performed on site and coordinate those that are performed at another location. 5; Locate at least some of its consolidated support functions (should EEOC choose to provide them directly) outside of Washington, D.C., in locations where real estate costs are lower and where it may be easier to recruit and retain staff. 6; Develop the costs and benefits of two options: (1) establishing a full service agreement with the Department of Interior, instituting additional cross-servicing agreements with other federal organizations, or (2) contracting out administrative functions to the private sector. Initiative 3: Realign headquarters. 7; Establish more distinct focuses of accountability at the headquarters level for prevention and technical assistance, enforcement, and mediation. These three areas should have appropriate priority in field offices, even though resource allocation cannot be equally divided. 8; Put all operational legal work in the Office of General Counsel and ensure that the Office of Legal Counsel maintains a policy guidance and internal advice role. 9; Ensure that staff who review federal agency affirmative action programs report directly to the Office of Federal Operations. Harnessing Technology to Achieve the Mission. Design secure technology tools for electronic charge filing. 10; Ensure that the secure technology tools for electronic filing be designed so that customer service is user- friendly, staff can routinely follow up on Internet-filed charges with phone or in-person interviews, and information can be promptly provided to those whose queries or submissions do not involve employment discrimination. Acquire software and use new technology to improve management information, better support program delivery, and save money over the long term. 11; Enhance its analytical capabilities by acquiring software that will allow it to access and analyze data from its multiple systems to improve its strategic decision making. 12; Invest in litigation management software and new primary office software platforms to better support program delivery. If funds are not available to purchase the entire primary office software, the agency should begin its investment with the presentation software to allow preparation of outreach and other presentations. 13; Conduct business case analyses on some long- term possibilities for savings and more effective operations. These include reducing the square footage for district libraries by creating a good virtual library and using videoconferencing or Web cameras for mission activities such as mediation, conciliations, and internal organization meetings. Institute pilot telework programs and develop the secure technology to support them. 14; Develop the secure technology tools to support teleworkers and other staff who travel to the customers. This would include secure remote access to major EEOC systems, appropriate equipment, and methods to keep the workforce current on EEOC software and data systems. 15; Protect data at the sensitive-but-unclassified level by such things as Protective Key Infrastructure for mobile staff. These protections include adequate firewalls, antivirus protection for clients and servers, intrusion detection systems, onetime password authentication identification systems, and encryption software for laptops. 16; Implement the EEOC Office of Inspector General recommendation that EEOC institute pilot telework programs. Ensure that senior management candidates understand the value of technology. 17; Make it a condition of advancing to a senior management position that an individual understand the value of technology in accomplishing EEOC's mission and demonstrate an ability to lead others in applying this value. Making the Best Use of EEOC's Workforce. Realign staff through work with OPM and union. 18; Assess agency position descriptions to determine such things as which are current, which need to be redesigned to reflect new work methods, whether existing career ladders are appropriate, and whether positions accurately distinguish supervision from production. 19; Seek approval from the Office of Personnel Management for a targeted early-out retirement option for staff in those headquarters and field offices that will be downsized. 20; Design and implement a cost-effective career transition center. 21; Work in partnership with EEOC's unions as the agency makes decisions to realign staff work locations. Enhance agency leadership through leadership programs and improved accountability. 22; Build a model of leadership that integrates achieving results, leveraging resources, maintaining accountability, and improving the organizational culture. 23; Create executive development activities for all senior executives and managers by partnering with other federal agencies for mobility assignments, developmental activities, and enhancement of leadership skills. 24; Partner with whichever federal, academic, nonprofit, or for-profit entities can most effectively tailor leadership development training programs for EEOC staff at all levels. 25; Hold all managers accountable for performance, reward those whose performance meets or exceeds expectations, and provide assistance or sanctions for those who fail to meet expectations. 26; Design performance measures and metrics that support accountability and the full scope of management. 27; Focus on inspiring, leading, motivating, and sustaining high- performing organizations and offices within EEOC as well as managing staff resources and workload. Create strategic human capital plan expeditiously and link it to the planning and budget processes. 28; Expedite a workforce planning effort and link it to the planning and budget processes. 29; Develop an inventory of the competencies required to perform mission-critical work such as investigation, litigation, mediation, analysis, outreach, and prevention. 30; Determine which of those staff who are eligible to retire plan to do so, the gaps these retirements will create in individual offices, the size of the pool needed to replace those retiring from specific positions, and the level of training or outside hiring required to put people with the right skills in the areas most critical to mission fulfillment when they are needed. 31; Prepare a comprehensive cost-estimate for skill development needs so that EEOC can present an integrated strategy with cost implications to the Office of Management and Budget. 32; Prepare individual development plans for staff so that EEOC has better information on the skills that staff have and whether anticipated development efforts match staff aspirations and agency needs. 33; Revise individual performance appraisal elements to reflect changes in roles and the linkage to achieving organizational performance goals. 34; Develop the metrics for the revised performance elements. Develop a multi-year training plan for supervisors, managers, SES candidates, and other mission-critical staff. 35; Develop a multiyear training plan, anchored in the competencies required for mission-critical staff, that reflects an adequate and stable level of spending through a mix of on-site, e- training, and other methods; and use this plan as the basis for funding requests. 36; Develop a strong first-line supervisor and midlevel manager training program so that individuals moving into these and more senior leadership positions have the competencies they need to succeed. 37; Develop an expanded Senior Executive Service candidate development program that leverages EEOC resources with those of other federal organizations for such things as mobility assignments or developmental activities. Align support staff responsibilities with fully-trained support staff. 38; Determine, by office and function, the extent to which higher-grade employees are spending time on support-like functions; and consider, within the availability resources and work priorities, whether investment in additional support staff would be justified by a measurable increase in productivity. 39; Provide adequate training and career development for administrative and support staff. Revamp the agency awards and evaluation systems. 40; Revamp the agency awards systems to ensure they meet the four key elements of effective reward design: (1) performance requirements (financial, operational, and customer satisfaction); (2) talent needs (skills, experience, behaviors, and employee preferences); (3) cost and funding (affordability); and (4) culture and branding (alignment with mission, vision, and values). 41; Revise the process for evaluating, counseling, and (if necessary) terminating poor performers to ensure that EEOC's cadre of staff includes those who not only are dedicated to its mission but demonstrate their dedication through effective performance. Performance-Based Management. Delegate authorities to senior executives with accompanying budgets, management tools, and accountability. 42; Delegate authorities to senior executives with accompanying budgets, management tools, and accountability. 43; Include with the delegation for compensation funds such features as a requirement that the Office of Chief Financial Officer provide each year's funding level and an estimate for the following year and a requirement that the funding for hiring, promotions, within-grade step increases, and the like must be within budget allocation for the current year and the estimate for the following year. 44; Train senior executives and delegated staff to manage that portion of the EEOC budget for which they are accountable, and phase in additional delegations as appropriate. 45; Review, periodically, program accomplishment against expenditures for which each senior executive is responsible. 46; Assess, annually, the quality of budget and other resource deployment by each senior executive. Ensure that this assessment is a significant factor in performance appraisals, and withdraw or modify the delegation where circumstances indicate the need. 47; Conduct a periodic review of spending by all offices to inform the reallocation of resources during the year, to adjust for unanticipated imbalances in workload, and to adjust for new needs. Ensure cases are closed with the most appropriate resolution at the most appropriate time. 48; Require that the Office of Field Programs routinely examine a random sample of closed cases from each office, on a rotating basis, to ensure that the cases were adequately investigated, given the information the charging party and respondent provided. 49; Require that the Office of Field Programs circulate and discuss aggregate case-processing timeliness data from each field office and use it to determine whether variations are the result of especially good or poor work methods or management styles, share the best practices with other field offices, and work closely with offices that have problems to correct them. 50; Stress that cases are to be closed with the most appropriate resolution at the most appropriate time. Expand capacity to analyze, validate, and disseminate best practices. 51; Expand EEOC's capacity to analyze, validate, and disseminate information on best practices and take this expansion one step further to correlate work methods or processes with results. If some methods are clearly better, then the results achieved through them should be used in designing new standards of performance. 52; Reinforce that the Director of the Office of Field Programs is the individual who can determine which methods or operations appear most effective and require that all offices either use these methods or achieve similar results with the methods they use. 53; Reward those offices or key staff within them when their work methods are selected as best practices that other offices can emulate, and ensure that those with poor practices are directed to improve and receive the support necessary to do so. Develop methods to demonstrate the impact EEOC work has on reducing employment discrimination in the workplace. 54; Develop methods to demonstrate the impact EEOC's work has on reducing employment discrimination in the workplace. 55; Develop baseline discrimination metrics for certain industries, nationwide firms, or geographic areas. 56; Plan specific EEOC activities to direct toward the industries, firms, or areas that are implementing the activities and recording the level of effort. 57; Track discrimination levels in the selected industries, firms, or geographic areas. Implementation Strategy and Plan. Develop an implementation strategy and detailed implementation plan. 58; Develop an implementation strategy and detailed implementation plan for the changes the commission decides to make, and use the plan to manage the implementation process. 59; Decide which of the panel's recommended changes do not require extensive consultation and can be implemented immediately. 60; Identify a small staff responsible for planning, execution, tracking, and implementation assessment efforts. 61; Present funding estimates and justifications for the multiyear restructuring plan to OMB, seeking the first-year resources at minimum as a change to the pending fiscal year 2004 request now at OMB. Explore with OMB whether any additional resources for fiscal year 2003 might be provided as a small amendment to the fiscal year 2003 appropriation. Develop a communication strategy and plan. 62; Develop a communication strategy and plan that identifies all the internal and external stakeholders, the issues and communications methodologies to be used with each, the frequency of communications, and the mechanisms for stakeholder feedback. Develop resource estimates for implementation. 63; Develop resource estimates: The Academy Panel stresses that substantive improvements require real increases in resources each year for several years. This would be over and above the flexibility that can be realized against internal realignment and reallocations. Develop appropriate training for staff on the new methods and policies. 64; Develop appropriate training to ensure that staff members who use or are responsible for the new methods and policies have the knowledge to fulfill their new roles and responsibilities successfully. Source: National Academy of Public Administration. [End of table] [End of section] Appendix III: Comments from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: U.S. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION: Office of the Chair: Washington, D.C. 20507: October 13, 2005: Mr. Robert E. Robertson: Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues: U.S. Government Accountability Office: Washington, D.C. 20548: Dear Mr. Robertson: Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the draft report, "Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Actions Taken, but Agency Restructuring Efforts Could Benefit from a More Systematic Consideration of Advisory Panel's Recommendations, " (GAO 06-10), which we received on September 29, 2005. We would like to provide the following comments and ask that you include them in any final report that you issue. The draft report identifies some of the many actions the EEOC has taken to implement the recommendations of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) in its 2003 study of the EEOC, and we appreciate your recognition of the positive benefits that will result from our plan to reposition the EEOC to better serve our stakeholders. We are pleased that the draft report focuses on ways to improve our future restructuring efforts and does not suggest any reason our efforts should be delayed. The draft report questions the EEOC's approach to considering the NAPA recommendations and suggests a strategy for EEOC to utilize in moving forward with restructuring. We agree with the principle that a systematic approach is needed in evaluating the recommendations of NAPA. We disagree, however, with the suggestion that the Commission has not been adhering to a systematic approach in our repositioning efforts. To the contrary, the EEOC is proceeding with repositioning in three well-defined phases. The EEOC in fact has had an organized and comprehensive framework for considering and implementing, as appropriate, the NAPA recommendations. Upon receipt of the NAPA report in February 2003, EEOC reviewed all of the recommendations in the first instance, sought staff and stakeholder input, and convened a day-long Commission meeting to discuss and evaluate the recommendations. Our framework for implementation was to divide the NAPA recommendations into two groups, the major mission- central initiatives that would require extensive study and Commission approval, and the subsidiary, specific recommendations that could be evaluated and implemented as soon as feasible through administrative action as we moved forward with study of the major recommendations. The choice of this implementation framework was based, in part, on one very significant organizational fact about the EEOC that the draft report misses: the EEOC is a multi-member Commission, created by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII invests the Chair of the EEOC with responsibility for the agency's administrative operations. However, it is the Commission that approves Commission policy and that decides by vote of all of its members whether to approve agency reorganizations. The three major NAPA recommendations were: (1) establishment of a National Contact Center; (2) streamlining and repositioning of the field structure; and (3) reorganization of the headquarters structure. The EEOC determined that addressing these recommendations sequentially was the most appropriate approach. Under our plan, these recommendations were designated as Phases I, II, and III. In accordance with the NAPA report's emphasis that the need for a National Contact Center was the most urgent of its recommendations, the EEOC convened a staff Work Group to examine whether a contact center would advance the work of the agency, to investigate the center's estimated costs, and to provide for methods of measuring the impact of the contact center. The Work Group's report, completed in August 2003, was discussed at two public Commission meetings, culminating in the Commission's approval of the contact center in September 2004. The executive summary of the Work Group's report is available at http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/meetings/9-8-03/center.html. The Contact Center became fully operational nationwide in March 2005. The two-year pilot will include an independent evaluation of the Contact Center's performance in terms of quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and achievement of agency goals and objectives. Implementation of the Contact Center was Phase I of repositioning. The EEOC developed its field plan, Phase II of repositioning, in a similar framework. As NAPA recommended, we conducted extensive fact- finding and gathered input on field repositioning from our employees and stakeholders, engaging in a thorough discussion and systematic evaluation of the NAPA recommendations. We analyzed population demographics, charge filing patterns over time, and other factors as recommended by NAPA, and staff presented that analysis to the Commission at its September 2003 meeting. This analysis is available at http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/meetings/9-8-03/. We also convened a staff Work Group, under the leadership of the EEOC Vice Chair and a Commissioner, to examine NAPA's recommendations in view of their impact on the agency's strategic goals and mission. Specifically, NAPA recommended that the EEOC establish a network of lead offices in the field and identify factors to consider in locating field offices and realigning the field. Accordingly, the Work Group enumerated specific factors including workload levels, geographic considerations, and population demographics. Those factors were used in the EEOC's repositioning plan, which was approved by the Commission in July 2005. Methods to measure the plan's impact on our efficiency and effectiveness will be an integral part of its implementation. Phase III is our plan to reorganize our headquarters structure. We are following a similar framework for evaluation and implementation of the NAPA recommendations. To determine the most appropriate and effective headquarters structure to provide support to the field, it was necessary to determine the field structure first. As we worked on the field plan, we began evaluating the current headquarters structure in depth. In early 2005, Chair Dominguez conducted functional reviews of thirteen headquarters offices/activities, with all office directors and the senior management team devoting many days to this evaluation and planning process, using a defined methodology for organizational improvement. We examined all functional capacities at headquarters, including, as NAPA recommended, the balance of capacities between enforcement activities and our prevention and mediation activities. We also went well beyond the NAPA recommendations, looking to identify other potential areas for streamlining and providing more effective levels of service. The functional reviews laid the groundwork for development of the headquarters repositioning plan, which will occur during FY 2006. We would also like to emphasize that NAPA has expressed confidence in the EEOC's implementation actions in response to its 2003 report. Before the field plan was approved by the Commission, we briefed NAPA representatives and NAPA concluded that "it appears that [the EEOC's] proposed actions to change EEOC's field staff are consistent with recommendations made by an Academy Panel in its February 2003 report. . . ." The full text of the letter from NAPA President C. Morgan Kinghorn to EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez is attached. In sum, the draft GAO report reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of our strategy. It fails to recognize the strategic process that we used in addressing the NAPA recommendations and the sound policy, organizational and operational reasons for our actions. The record shows that the EEOC has, in fact, carefully evaluated all the NAPA recommendations and implemented, or is in the process of evaluating and implementing, the large majority of them. Where we have chosen not to implement a particular recommendation, or devised a modified approach to accomplish the objective identified by NAPA, we have documentation to support our decisions. We provided GAO with our internal tracking document listing the implementation status of each recommendation. We are disappointed that GAO did not use this information in the draft report. Our internal assessment shows that the EEOC has implemented or is in the process of implementing the large majority of NAPA's recommendations. As we explained, we have decided not to implement some recommendations at this time, or to take an alternative approach, based on our assessment of what will best advance the agency's mission. We note that Appendix II of the draft report enumerates 64 NAPA recommendations. We had not previously been provided with this list, but the EEOC's internal assessment does address the same points. To correlate our assessment with the Appendix, we have prepared a chart keyed to the 64 items, giving the status of implementation of each item. The bottom line remains the same: the EEOC has implemented most of the NAPA recommendations, either in whole or in modified form. We are in the process of evaluating those recommendations relating to Phase III of our plan. Please add this information to your Appendix II. Finally, the draft report concludes by recommending that the EEOC improve its restructuring efforts by implementing a strategy to include: (1) evaluation of the NAPA recommendations in terms of their potential to aid in achieving the strategic goals and objectives of the EEOC; (2) evaluation of the costs associated with implementation; and (3) a means of measuring the impact of any recommendations that are implemented. We appreciate your highlighting these points. We certainly agree that any recommendations for organizational change must be evaluated in terms of the agency's mission and the costs and impact of implementation. Please be assured that these important steps have been integral to our strategy thus far and we will emphasize them as we move forward. Over the last four years, Chair Dominguez has sheparded this agency's progress in spite of tight resources and an archaic organizational structure that has been unchanged for more than 25 years. Our structure was created in 1979 for an agency of 3,800 employees. It predates the era of information technology. Today we have 2,400 employees and vastly different needs and resources. We are faced with a pressing need to redirect our resources to where the jobs are, where the charges of discrimination arise, and where the public most requires our services. But we cannot continue to operate without some relief from this outdated structure. It is essential for the EEOC's future viability to move to an organizational structure that is more flexible and responsive to our environment while protecting our limited resources and our employees' jobs. From the outset the Chair has clearly articulated our strategy in developing a new organizational structure: we must take our resources away from where they are no longer needed and reinvest those resources where they need to be in today's environment. There is complete consensus on our need to invest in more line jobs providing direct service to the public --more trial attorneys, investigators, mediators, and outreach specialists --and to devote less of our budget to upper level management jobs. Our repositioning strategy has been driven, at every stage, by our objective of enhancing front-line service to the public. Thank you again for the opportunity to comment on the draft report. Sincerely, Signed by: Leonora L. Guarraia: Chief Operating Officer: Attachments: (1) EEOC Chart: Actions Taken by EEOC on Sixty-four NAPA Recommendations: (2) July 5, 2005 letter from NAPA President C. Morgan Kinghom to EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez: Sixty-four Recommendations from the National Academy of Public Administration to EEOC, with Action Taken by EEOC: [See PDF for image] [End of table] GAO Comments: 1. EEOC's assertion, that it has developed an organized and comprehensive framework for considering and implementing NAPA's recommendations, does not correspond with the results of our review. More specifically, over the course of our review, we sought documentation supporting the agency's strategy for reviewing and implementing the NAPA recommendations; however, EEOC officials told us on several occasions that such documentation did not exist. Only after we completed our review and discussed our preliminary findings did EEOC provide us with an internal tracking document that discussed its implementation of many of NAPA's recommendations. Only in response to a draft of this report did the agency provide us with an additional document that listed the implementation status of each of the recommendations. Neither of these documents contained, nor could we obtain from the agency, evidence of the strategy EEOC said it developed to evaluate the NAPA recommendations, or evidence of the kind of strategic approach that we continue to recommend. 2. EEOC asserted that our report overlooks that EEOC is a multi-member Commission that decides whether to approve agency reorganizations by vote of all of its members. Our finding that EEOC did not have an organized strategy to consider all of NAPA's recommendations is not based on EEOC's organizational structure. We believe EEOC's current organizational structure allows the agency to develop and implement such a strategy. 3. EEOC asserted that NAPA, in a letter to the Commission, expressed confidence in EEOC's implementation actions in response to its 2003 report. We reviewed this letter and acknowledge that NAPA expresses confidence in EEOC's field streamlining plan. However, NAPA's letter does not address all of EEOC's restructuring actions or the many other NAPA recommendations, and NAPA's comments are qualified by the statement "Given that we have not had the opportunity to restudy the issues addressed in this report, our comments in this letter are based solely on current information supplied by EEOC." 4. EEOC claimed that our report reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of its strategy for addressing NAPA recommendations, and it has carefully evaluated all the NAPA recommendations and has documentation to support its decisions. See comment 1. 5. EEOC stated that it provided us with an internal tracking document listing the implementation status of each recommendation and is disappointed that we did not use this information in our draft report. See comment 1. 6. EEOC stated that we had not previously provided it with appendix II of our draft report. However, this appendix is merely a listing of the recommendations contained in the February 2003 NAPA report that should have been the Commission's starting point for systematically evaluating each of the recommendations and their potential to improve EEOC's operations. We have included EEOC's chart as an attachment to its letter. However, we cannot verify many of the actions that EEOC claims it has taken because the agency did not provide the supporting documentation. [End of section] Appendix IV: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: GAO Contact: Robert E. Robertson (202) 512-7215 or firstname.lastname@example.com: Acknowledgments: David Lehrer, Assistant Director; Margaret Armen; Neal Gottlieb; Paul Schearf; and Rosemary Torres Lerma made significant contributions to this report. [End of section] Related GAO Products: Equal Employment Opportunity: The Policy Framework in the Federal Workplace and the Roles of EEOC and OPM. GAO-05-195. Washington, D.C.: April 29, 2005. Diversity Management: Expert-Identified Leading Practices and Agency Examples. GAO-05-90. Washington, D.C.: Jan. 14, 2005. Equal Employment Opportunity: Discrimination Complaint Caseloads and Underlying Causes Require EEOC's Sustained Attention. GAO/T-GGD-00- 104. Washington, D.C.: Mar. 29, 2000. Equal Employment Opportunity: Complaint Caseloads Rising, with Effects of New Regulations on Future Trends Unclear. GAO/GGD-99-128. Washington, D.C.: Aug. 16, 1999. Equal Employment Opportunity: Data Shortcomings Hinder Assessment of Conflicts in the Federal Workplace. GAO/GGD-99-75. Washington, D.C.: May 4, 1999. Equal Employment Opportunity: Rising Trends in EEO Complaint Caseloads in the Federal Sector. GAO/GGD-98-157BR. Washington, D.C.: July 24, 1998. Equal Employment Opportunity: Administrative Judges' Recommended Decisions and Agencies' Actions. GAO/GGD-98-122R. Washington, D.C.: June 10, 1998. Alternative Dispute Resolution: Employers' Experiences with ADR in the Workplace. GAO/GGD-97-157. Washington, D.C.: Aug. 12, 1997. EEOC: Burgeoning Workload Calls for New Approaches. GAO/T-HEHS-95-170. Washington, D.C.: May 23, 1995. EEOC: An Overview. GAO/T-HRD-93-30. Washington, D.C.: July 27, 1993. FOOTNOTES [1] OMB Bulletin No. 01-07, "Workforce Planning and Restructuring," May 8, 2001. [2] NAPA is an independent organization chartered by Congress to improve governance. [3] "A Report by the Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Organizing for the Future," February 2003. [4] Although EEOC contracted with NAPA to conduct the study, the agency is under no obligation to implement the recommendations. GAO's Mission: The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability. Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony: The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no cost is through the Internet. GAO's Web site ( www.gao.gov ) contains abstracts and full-text files of current reports and testimony and an expanding archive of older products. The Web site features a search engine to help you locate documents using key words and phrases. You can print these documents in their entirety, including charts and other graphics. Each day, GAO issues a list of newly released reports, testimony, and correspondence. GAO posts this list, known as "Today's Reports," on its Web site daily. The list contains links to the full-text document files. To have GAO e-mail this list to you every afternoon, go to www.gao.gov and select "Subscribe to e-mail alerts" under the "Order GAO Products" heading. Order by Mail or Phone: The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2 each. A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent of Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or more copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent. 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Hello, Bjoern, The Voice Browser Working Group is reviewing your comments from June of 2005. I apologize that it has taken so long for us to respond. Regarding the issue you raised below, we were hoping you could clarify the following: 1) Please elaborate on what one would hope to accomplish by modifying the DTD. By doing so one would have far less chance of authoring a document that is interoperable across all implementations of VoiceXML 2.1. 2) We find the following statement particularly confusing as C.1 of 2.1 clearly states "A conforming VoiceXML 2.1 document is a well-formed [XML] document ..." "it is not required that VoiceXML 2.1 are valid XML documents" Thank you. Kindly, Matt Oshry -----Original Message----- From: email@example.com [mailto:email@example.com] On Behalf Of Bjoern Hoehrmann Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2005 2:16 PM To: firstname.lastname@example.com Subject: VoiceXML 2.1: overriding parameter entities Dear Voice Browser Working Group, http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/CR-voicexml21-20050613/ appendix C.1 states "The DTD subset must not be used to override any parameter entities in the DTD." It's not clear why this is required, it's seems acceptable to modify e.g. ATTLIST declarations and other parts of the DTD and it is not required that VoiceXML 2.1 are valid XML documents; it's difficult to verify whether this requirement is satisfied, I would suggest to drop it. regards, -- Björn Höhrmann · mailto:email@example.com · http://bjoern.hoehrmann.de Weinh. Str. 22 · Telefon: +49(0)621/4309674 · http://www.bjoernsworld.de 68309 Mannheim · PGP Pub. KeyID: 0xA4357E78 · http://www.websitedev.de/Received on Friday, 21 October 2005 19:22:17 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 6 January 2015 21:07:38 UTC

subset: commoncrawl


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This week in D.C., HBO premiered a new documentary examining the obesity crisis. "The Weight of The Nation" delves into why our country has become so staggeringly overweight.
One of the take-aways is that the epidemic is caused by issues larger than our occasional parenting fails. The reasons are complex and involve government regulation breakdowns and well-funded industry interests, according to the series, which airs beginning May 14th.
What's not so clear, is exactly what.
I asked one of the series' primary contributors, Marlene Schwartz, Deputy Director at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, to discuss what parents are up against when it comes to their child's nutrition and physical activity level.
This will be the first of two posts on our conversation.
Below, Schwartz talks about the need for parents to be aware of the environmental influences that are creating an unhealthy culture. The second post will focus on how a parent's savvy choices can make a big difference to a child's health.
The segment on childhood obesity was bracing, but does the focus on government regulation and food industry practices let viewers off the hook? What about a parent's responsibility to choose food wisely and promote activity for their kids?
As a psychology researcher, I have seen evidence that people are very influenced by the environment. This isn't to say that the environment completely dictates their behavior (just as our genes don't completely dictate who we are) but Americans systematically err on the side of overestimating how much our actions are due to individual, deliberate decision making.
To push back against this inherent bias to focus on individual behaviors, this documentary is designed to point out the environmental influences. We can't learn to overcome them unless we recognize they are there and acknowledge that they are influential. Only then can we work together to change them.
My position is that parents absolutely have the responsibility to choose food wisely and promote activity for their children, but the question we have to ask ourselves as a society is whether we have created an environment that supports parents in this task, or undermines them. I would argue that our current environment completely undermines parents' efforts. We need the food industry to behave in a way that makes it easier, not harder, for parents to feed their children well. Right now, they are making it harder.
Are the filmmakers saying that these forces are too powerful to battle individually? Or, is the hope that a viewer might better understand them and work harder to provide their child with good nutrition and outlets for physical activity?
I don't think the filmmakers are saying that it's impossible to battle the forces, but the odds are similar to growing up without any parental support, in a poor neighborhood, surrounded by drugs and guns, and still graduating from Harvard. It isn't impossible, but it is extremely hard and the odds are completely stacked against you.
If you listen carefully to the individuals who lost weight and have kept it off, you realize that it requires a huge amount of time and effort . They think through every food choice, weigh and measure their food, plan ahead, and spend a lot of time exercising. Keeping weight off means that you will no longer be able to be casual about what you eat, and you need to set aside dedicated time to exercise every single day.
So, the question this documentary raises for the viewer is: Do we accept that the environment is the way it is, and expect everyone to make heroic efforts to be in that 5 percent of people who succeed in losing weight and keeping it off? Or, do we decide that we need to change the environment so that it doesn't take the time and energy comparable to training for the Olympics just to stay healthy in our country?
The families featured found help through formal programs. Is it possible to combat this trend on an individual level? How?
I think that the food industry is only going to change when they hear what the public is saying with their wallets. I can (and do) talk to my children about food marketing, misleading claims on food packages and how the food industry manipulates people into thinking that unhealthy foods are really good for them. But what my children are probably going to remember is not what I said, but what I did.
My kids know there are foods that I don't think are good for them, and they know that I don't buy them. This doesn't mean that they can't eat those foods on occasion at someone else's house or at a party, but they are not part of our regular diet.
If I could say one thing to parents today it would be: Don't be afraid to say "no" at the grocery store. It is hard the first few times, but eventually if you are consistent, you child will stop asking. It's like the rat in the cage pushing the bar for food — the worst thing you can do is be inconsistent and say "no" only sometimes. The rat pushed the bar the most under the variable reinforcement condition. If you do not think a food is a good choice for your family, don't buy it at the grocery store — ever. It doesn't belong in your house.
Trust me. Your child will have the opportunity to eat cheese balls that leave orange residue all over your fingers at somebody's house someday. You don't have to get into a big discussion about what you think of those foods — you can just say "we don't eat those foods." Just like people from different religious backgrounds don't eat pork or shellfish or cow. You can decide what your family eats and doesn't eat.
What step do you take to make healthy choices in your home? Are they paying off?
Related Content
Young Lives at Risk: Our Overweight Children
Strong4Life campaign: Shocking us into caring about childhood obesity
Ohio mom loses custody of obese son: Using government intervention for a childhood epidemic


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The new issue of the Weekly Standard calls on the brothers Kagan to address the return of history (Robert Kagan) and explore what is to be done (Frederick Kagan). But Professor Harvey Mansfield's tribute to Alexander Solzhenitsyn in "Man of courage" — part memoir, part reflection — may be the most timely piece in the issue.
To comment on this post, go here.


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Dimon vows to clean up
Jul 13 - JPMorgan posts 4.4 billion dollars of losses from the trading scandal as the bank and CEO Jamie Dimon, a former Wall Street wonderkid, try to put the focus on profit. Jill Bennett reports.
JPMorgan Chase tries to clean up the mess after losing $5.8 billion in 2012 from disastrous trading bets that gave the bank and CEO Jamie Dimon a big black eye. The largest U.S. bank still managed to earn nearly $5 billion in overall profit in the latest quarter but revealed traders might have tried to conceal losses earlier in the year. The bank says the unit responsible for the trading losses will be making conservative investments going forward. But that may come at a cost. Associate Finance Professor James Angel, Georgetown University: SOUNDBITE: JAMES ANGEL, ASSOCIATE FINANCE PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY (ENGLISH) SAYING: "We may see more volatility in their earnings going forward if their future hedging or rather if they abstain from hedging in reasonable ways that would reduce their volatility." There are also concerns over supervision in other units of the bank. SOUNDBITE: JAMES ANGEL, ASSOCIATE FINANCE PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY (ENGLISH) SAYING: "There's always the cockroach theory that when you see a problem in one area you have to ask yourself where are the other cockroaches. So the bank is saying all of the right things in terms of they have admitted the problem, they are making changes, they've made personnel changes they are making systems changes. So they say they are doing all of the right things time will tell if they really are." CEO Dimon, once the Golden Boy of Wall Street, respected for maintaining profits during the financial crisis, addressed the issues head-on in a meeting with analysts and shareholders Friday. AUDIO: JAMIE DIMON, CEO, JPMORGAN CHASE (ENGLISH) SAYING: "If we do find out more we will do the right thing as we always try to do." Part of the bank's crisis management includes pledging to take back two years worth of stock and option bonuses from the executives linked to bad trades. Some analysts expect the shakedown to hit the corner office. Nancy Bush, NAB Research: SOUNDBITE: NANCY BUSH, BANK ANALYST, NAB RESEARCH (ENGLISH) SAYING: "I think it will be very interesting to see what happens to Jamie's compensation. They did address that. They said the board will look at Jamie's compensation. I'd be very very surprised if he does not take a sizable hit to his compensation this year." SOUNDBITE: JAMES ANGEL, ASSOCIATE FINANCE PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY (ENGLISH) SAYING: "I think his halo has been tarnished. Time will tell what it does to his reputation." It may take several earnings reports before investors can see through the headlines to know whether JPMorgan's trading scandal truly is behind it. Jill Bennett, Reuters


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HitFix, a Los Angeles-based producer of entertainment news and reviews, editorially positioned somewhere between Variety and TMZ, has found an enormous audience for its videos with 90 million monthly video views via Web syndication and outdoor media, says Jennifer Sargent, CEO and co-founder in this video interview with Beet.TV
The company has just launched a video-specific destination site.
The company has under 25 employees and has raised about $9 million in angel investment. Before founding the company, Sargent oversaw online strategy for Reed, then owner of Variety and many other titles. She had previously worked in venture capital and at Google's DoubleClick unit.


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I'm so glad you guys had a fun and enjoyable anniversary and New Year's celebration. I really enjoy reading your articles.
nathanielkidd on 1230895408|%B %d
Our anniversary trip to Chail was fantastic; truly amazing. I don't think we've had that much fun since we've been in India: indeed, perhaps since our wedding!
Chail emerged in the mid-eighteenth century as an alternative Shimla—a Himalayan resort town for wealthy lowlanders tired of the heat and noise of the city. Of course, the Maharaja who erected the town did not have the foresight or the resources necessary to connect his resort to the rail system, so Chail has always been the vacation underdog.
These days, the grounds of Chail Palace look a little under-used. Random stairways connect terraced gardens that no longer exist, a little playground looks too old and too rusted to use. Beneath the grounds is a mostly-finished and completely abandoned building project that looks like it might have been another hotel.
The Palace itself is well-maintained, although the voluminous hallways are in bad need of a tasteful art collection. The profile of the building, furthermore, is extraordinarily underwhelming: a two story stone façade that looks little bigger than a large house. I'm sure it was intended to be enhanced by the spacious gardens that no longer exist.
But the emptiness and underdevelopment of the area was a tremendous boon to us. As the New Year approached, we had plenty of interesting places to explore and, for the first time in India, privacy and profound quiet as we explored them.
We stayed in Log Hut #2, a good half kilometer romp through the woods away from the Palace, around the back of Lover's Hill. It was cute, though a bit cold, and reminded us of our Honeymoon getaway in Michigan (which was the point). No snow in Shimla or Chail this year, unfortunately (unlike most of the US). But we're confident we'll find the white stuff one of our anniversaries.
The pricy function we attended on New Year's Eve was a blast: worth every rupee. We were a little apprehensive going into it, knowing that it would be us and a room full of Indians (who would most likely stare at us, as most Indians are wont to do. As Shantaram observes, the Indian culture dispensed with the casual glance hundreds of years ago.)
Even our placard seemed to indicate our distance from the event. All of the other attendees were staying in the Palace. Their seating-cards read things like "Room 221" and "The Maharani Suite." We, on the other hand, were seated at a table reserved for "Log Hut #2." (There weren't even any other Log Hutters at the function!)
But as the evening wore on, we were invited to take full part in the festivities. At first, their invitations were shy encouragements to join in the dancing games, but later, the other women were so bold as to grab Sarah and pull her out onto the dance floor. I have never felt so free to be awkward.
We didn't win any of the couple's dancing games, but we did get second or third place every time. (And I got a nasty wound from the highly competitive balloon dance.) Everyone appreciated our involvement. "You enjoyed all the activities!" one of the other guests observed. Another one told us she was truly touched by our participation, even though it was all Hindi music, and we were clearly out of our cultural element.
Ringing in the New Year was a little scary, as there was no clock in the room, and we didn't bring a watch. We were completely at the mercy of whoever decided to start the countdown. We decided that the worst that could happen was that we would get back to our room and discover it was 11.45, or 2.30—but either way, there wasn't much we could do about it. We just went with the flow.
The first mention of the time was an announcement (in Hindi) at two minutes till midnight. Then, abruptly, the music shut off and a girl in the back of the room yelled out "Ten!… nine!…" We joined the rest of the room in counting down to the New Year. (Sarah: "Fortunately for me, the countdown was in English… I can barely count forwards in Hindi!") At midnight, we took a quick glance around the room, saw a few other couples smooching, and snuck a discreet kiss.
After our excited countdown, the staff arrived, bearing canisters of silly-string-esque fake snow. Sarah said that the snow on hair and clothes made a nice effect. I didn't see it, because one of the staff decided to take out all of his latent aggression against white folks by blasting me point-blank in the face. Sarah got creamed too—with the stuff that bounced off of me.
At the end of the evening, "attractive prizes" were awarded for the outcome of the dance competition. Awards were given to the children, and to the couples who had won the dancing games. Everyone had to do a little dance solo to receive their prize. But, as Sarah pointed out, it wasn't intended to be a humiliating solo—however awkward the dancing was, everyone clapped and cheered supportively.
Then came the award for "Best Dancing Couple." I didn't really hear what the emcee said, but when everyone turned around and looked at us, I realized it was something to the tune of "Mr. Niteniel, from US!" A woman with whom we had made brief conversation earlier darted to the stage to and informed him that, in fact, it was also our anniversary. He accordingly amended his statement with the fact.
We made our way tentatively to the front of the crowd amidst the loudest cheers yet. We busted out with the ungodly fusion of grooving, salsa, and swing that we'd been doing all night. We were feeling quite finished, but the crowd insisted that we do a second round of dancing after we accepted our prizes.
Our ascension from couple "Log Hut #2" to "Best Dancing Couple" was both joyous and hopeful: proof of what we have felt all along. There are plenty of decent, loving people in India in whose society we would be welcome and honored guests rather than opportunities to turn a quick buck. The challenge is finding ways to gently and authentically enter this society. And, after several failures and a few successes, I think it's a challenge we are ready to tackle.
Namaste gee! Ke hala? Ok, so my 2 Hindi phrases are from the landlords of our old coffee shop.
Sounds like a fun experience! Happy New Year from Larry, Tennille & Jordan


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Bus Éireann launches it's Summer Service for Pilgrims to Lough Derg
Bus Éireann is pleased to announce Route 486 service to the island of Lough Derg, one of the oldest places of pilgrimage in the Christian world.
The service will operate four days a week from Friday, 1 June until Monday, 13 August 2018.
Based on demand, the service will be available from Friday to Monday each week, including the upcoming June Bank Holiday, and August Bank Holiday.
One daily services will depart Ballyshannon at 10.15, arriving in Lough Derg, via Pettigo at 11.00.Another daily service will depart from Enniskillen at 13.00, arriving at Lough Derg, via Pettigo at 14.05.
Services returning to Enniskillen from Lough Derg will leave at 11.00 and arrive at Enniskillen at 12.20.
Services to Ballyshannon will depart Lough Derg at 14.05 and arrive at Ballyshannon at 14.50.
Day Return fares to Lough Derg from Enniskillen cost €18 with standard monthly return costing €21, and from Ballyshannon will cost €19.50 with standard monthly return costing €21.
Free Travel passes will also be accepted on these services.
Passengers travelling from the Dublin area will be able to use this service by taking Bus Éireann's Expressway Route 30 Dublin to Donegal bus services and connecting at Enniskillen.
Monday, 28th May, 2018


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This Friday, February 1st is the 10th annual Wear Red Day, a national campaign raising awareness on the leading killer of women: heart disease. Thankfully women have started to realize that heart disease is a serious health issue not just affecting men. The cool thing is, each of us can make lifestyle choices that can positively impact our destiny. By taking care of our bodies, not smoking, exercising regularly, drinking alcohol in modest amounts and eating well, we can seriously reduce our risk.
Most everything served up here at the Lou is heart healthy, including this Cranberry and Toasted Pecan Bread with Citrus Glaze. Half of the flour has been swapped out for whole-wheat flour and the pecans contain heart healthy nutrients such as folic acid, calcium, magnesium, fiber and vitamin E.
This quick bread also features cranberries and citrus, which are both antioxidant rich and in season during the winter months. When bags of cranberries are on sale during the holidays, I like to stock my freezer (hoard?) for later use. Eating seasonally offers the best that nature provides at that time of year. Often produce that's in season is more affordable and flavorful. For other fruits and vegetables now in season, check out Cooking Light's Produce Guide, an excellent resource highlighting what's in season during each of the four seasons.
So this Friday, show support for National Wear Red Day by wearing red and trying this Cranberry and Toasted Pecan Bread crumbled over a container of vanilla yogurt. Your heart will thank you.
Cranberry and Toasted Pecan Bread with a Citrus Glaze
- 3/4 cup cranberries, chopped
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped (Missouri Northern Pecan Growers, Nevada, MO)
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (Shirk's Country Market, Centertown, MO)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup raw sugar (granulated works too)
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 eggs (Spark's, Warrenton, MO)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract (see this link for making your own)
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 cup fat-free milk
- 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (or orange juice would be great too)
- Heat oven to 350 F. Spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray, dust with flour.
- In a small skillet, toast pecans over medium heat for about 1-2 min being careful to not burn.
- Toss cranberries and pecans in 1/8 cup of flour in a bowl to coat.
- Combine remaining flour, baking powder and salt in medium mixing bowl.
- Beat sugar and oil in large bowl on medium speed for 1 minute. Add eggs and beat until just blended. Add in vanilla and almond extract.
- On low speed, slowly add some of the flour mixture, then milk, alternating until all incorporated. Stir in cranberry and pecans; divide batter between pans.
- Bake about 55 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool.
- Whisk powdered sugar and lemon (or orange) juice to make glaze. Drizzle over cooled slices of bread.


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A Set Up Inspired by a Classical Painting
Further to my last post on Still Life (see here) I wanted to write one last post on this subject before I moving on just to remind me how far I have come on this project, what I have learned and how I can use this experience in future shoots of a similar nature.
The Research:
It took me pretty much the entire term to explore this theme and find a Classical Painting of Still Life that inspired me. At first I considered Van Gogh's Sunflowers, then thought of Cezanne's Apples but nothing was grabbing me.
Having seen Georgia O'Keefee's work at the Tate Modern I kept thinking about doing my own shoot based on her incredible work and decided to attempt a photographic interpretation of it at home to see whether or not it would work.
With that in mind, and having done a fair amount of research online, I visited New Covent Garden Flower Marked looking for fresh flowers that resembled the female reproductive organ. Although there was plenty of choice I decided to buy Giant Italian Poppies, Orchids, Parrot Tulips and Single Tulips to carry out my test shoot at home.
Armed with a Small Portable Home Studio and 2 lights I set up the scene of my first attempt. It certainly took a fair few shots for me to figure out the best way to illuminate my subject and dramatise certain elements of the shoot i.e. the fine hairs on the petals, the way the light cast on the petals creating curves and shadows in between the petals.
At first the light was too harsh so I adjusted the strength of my flash and eventually got rid of it altogether, choosing instead a longer exposure. To avoid any possible camera shake I used a tripod and timer.
I was very pleased indeed with the result BUT realised that whilst the shoot had been a success it didn't adhere to the assignment and it was not a true Still Life Shoot. It was time to reconsider my thinking and refocus on the assignment brief.
Time was certainly flying by and Easter was fast approaching. That's when I decided to look into still life that included images of eggs and found there was plenty to use as inspiration.
The Technical and Practical Aspects of the Assignment:
I set the scene at college with a range of eggs in different colours and sizes. I also got fresh pasta, a pasta-making machine and a few props. My set up was meant to be soft, simple, classical and without too many distractions. I wanted to work with materials that would not cause reflection. I also wanted to include texture and muted tones in my photos.
For studio light I used a large soft box, turned the light down and asked help in partially blocking it to make it look like my set up was by a window.
Health and Safety was also paramount in this exercise as there was hazard everywhere i.e. wires, hot bulbs, trip hazards, etc. All was tucked away and kept safe during all shoots. In class Health & Safety is always a concerned with so many of us working in what can be almost pitch black. Before turning the main lights of the studio off we always make sure any potential hazard is dealt with swiftly and accordingly.
As far as self-evaluation is concerned, I had to print my photos a couple of times but eventually I was very pleased with the result and my college mates decided which photo I should submit as my final image.
I certainly came to understand studio lighting a little more and actually took to helping my fellow students with their own lighting and set up. Standing back from shooting to help others with their work was actually great experience for me as I could focus on the set up and not in taking photos.
It is pretty clear that no matter how much research I do or how many photography books I read, nothing beats getting 'my hands dirty' regardless of whether or not I am taking my own photos or helping others take theirs. All experience is great experience not matter now mundane it seems.
There is something new to learn every day, with every shoot and I still have plenty to learn.
Thank for reading,
Paula, x
- http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/last-supper-leonardo-davinci.htm
- http://arthistory.about.com/cs/leonardo/a/last_supper.htm
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo/gallery/monalisa.shtml
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/da_vinci_leonardo.shtml


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You'll get overwhelmed with doing well on your exams during 1L. But once that's over, you can actually do something that matters in more of a big picture sense. If your law school is worth anything, it'll provide you with plenty of opportunities to serve. With Trump trying to ban immigrants from the country, let's look at some of the ways law students are doing real work and doing a lot of good for immigrants.
NYU School of Law
NYU Law's Immigrant Rights Clinic, partnering with WilmerHale, created a program aimed at helping NYU students and staff who are at a risk for deportation, as a result of Trump's executive order, or otherwise. The NYU Immigration Rights Clinic itself has a broader mission, which includes litigation as well as immigrant's rights advocacy on behalf of their clients.


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What's it like, getting my feet into the most technologically advanced shoe available on the market today? What is this thing? Why does it look like something out of the year 2200 A.D? These are the questions I shall try and answer in this week's edition of Sneaker Sundays, featuring the latest in Nike's Lebron line of shoes, The Twelve. Seen here in it's lead 'NSRL' colorway, it sparks the usual 'What colorful shoes!' reaction from most folks who show up to the blacktop, people completely oblivious to the amount of science that goes into these sneakers. Technologically, this shoe is the equivalent of a microwave oven in the '40s. Yes. That makes sense because all the shoes you've worn thus far were just born from ideas in a designers mind. This shoe however, came from a lab, The Nike Sports Research Lab. Created using data gathered from in-depth analysis of Lebron's playing style. This is very important because James did not wear the Lebron XI much during the 2013-14 season, and claimed that he wasn't happy with them. So Nike set out to design a shoe that could support Lebron's raw power and big jumps, while keeping him safe. Looking at the Cav's performance in the playoffs so far, and after wearing this shoe, I think they did a pretty good job.
The Nike Lebron XII
Published at In Category Sneakers Tags: bangalore, basketball, fashion, fashion blog, fashion blogger, India, lebron, lebron james, lebron xii, menswear, Myntra, nba, nike, sneakerhead, sneakers, street style, streetstyle, streetwear, style Leave a comment


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Surrounded by a halo, a dove represents the Holy Spirit to signify purity, innocence and calmness. Local Aeravida artisan Khun O from Thailand handcrafted this .925 sterling silver necklace. Created from .925 sterling silver with polished and oxidized contrasts, the pendant rests upon an 18 inches cable chain with round spring ring clasp. Please note that pictures are not true to size, see dimensions for actual size.
Khun O' has a passion for jewelry and has devoted her life to her craft. Khun O' and her husband own and operate a silver factory in Bangkok. Khun O' recruits and trains people from the far provinces to work at her factory. Her kindness and warm personality motivates her team and provides many job opportunities for people from the province.


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Sasha P – Why I Left The Music Scene
Sasha P was undoubtedly Nigeria/Africa's no 1 female rapper till she suddenly let her music take a back seat.For those wondering why…here is what she told Punch
"'It was a deliberate decision because I needed to take some time out to focus on my retail clothing line, 'Eclectic by Sasha'. My dream is very big; I want to be in every state in Nigeria. The fashion in Nigeria was getting bigger and what I wanted to do had not been done. I had to just focus on my fashion business. Even during that time, I made sure I released one or two singles and collaborated with other artistes. We are still recording but I am not going to announce any dates. All I would say is that we are very excited about the new sound we are working on."'


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AEEQuickies Pt 2
By Rob Perez
Gianna Michaels
So what are you currently working on?
Right now I'm only working on my site, GiannaXXX.com, and I'm here promotingPornstardater.com. They've got a few things they're going to be working on and I may be joining that endeavor.
Puma Suede
What do you have coming up in 2013?
My book is coming out in English, My Life As A Pornstar, hopefully next month. Touring in Finland, touring the world, and hopefully launching a lingerie line in my name.
How does it feel to be here at the AEE?
I couldn't fucking have better company. Look at these busty bitches. I love it. I'm in the middle of it, so don't hate.
Tasha Reign
How would you describe the past year you had professionally?
I think I had a good year. I started my own production company and distributing my own movies, and I'm having a lot of fun.
What was your most proudest moment of 2012?
I think just being able to make my own DVDs and coming out with my own line. I think that's really cool.
Lea Lexis
What do you have in store for 2013?
2013 I believe is going to be my biggest year yet. I'm going to shoot Voracious 2, which I'm going to be the star of. We're going to develop the story even more and be even kinkier with it and naughtier with it, and introducing more than just sex scenes in my movies. We're going to put a lot of acrobatics and aerial skills.
You are actually an acrobat.
I was a gymnast for many years. I'm the five time national champion of Romania, so I'm bringing that into porn.
What was your hottest sex scene from 2012?
It was in Voracious with Manuel and I. We shot two scenes identically, and it was just blended in with the editing. You have two identical scenes with different lighting. That was like the hottest thing ever.
Lily Carter
What was the hottest sex scene you shot in 2012?
I would say my DP in Irresistable or the DP in Wasteland. I think the DP in Wasteland because it was not planned. There wasn't even suppose to be anal in that scene and I just took it all the way.
I just want to experience more of my sexuality and experience more of my fantasies and more down to the specific details instead of just act.
Tara Lynn Foxx
What do you have coming up?
I just did two features for Penthouse as well as Homeland XXX from Hustler. I'm also shooting a feature later this month for Digital Playground. So I have a lot of stuff coming out. I'm just going to take advantage of 2013. It's a golden year.
What was your most memorable moment of 2012?
I took half a year off and it was really hard to get back into the business. So this whole last year was me coming back and really just establishing myself, and showing everyone that I'm back better than ever. I'm one of the top girls right I feel now because I'm shooting so much. I have a really big feature coming out for ATK. I have a lot of stuff going on.
What was the hottest scene you shot last year?
I would have to say it was in the Homeland parody. I also just did a shoot for Kink.com with Mischa Barton just before the end of the year. So there will be a lot of good stuff coming out in 2013 that I shot in 2012.
Bethany Benz
I'm working on my hardcore solo site, bethanybenz.com. I've already started shooting for that, so that's my biggest project right now.
What would you like to say to your fans?
Watch out for my site, it's going to be amazing. That's what's going to be happening in 2013.
Nikki Delano
What do you have in the works for 2013?
I have a lot of stuff planned, more mainstream stuff this year. I was just in a mainstream movie, I was in music video featuring Tigah. It's just going to be a bigger and better year for me. I want to be nominated for a lot more stuff. I've been doing my thing.
It was in Fleshhunter 11 with Chris Strokes and Jordan Ashe.
Jada Stevens
Becoming Buttwoman of course.
What was the hottest scene you shot in 2012?
I actually think the gang bang I shot in Elegant Angel's Gangbanged 5. That was my hottest scene of the year.
Besides you who do you think has the best ass in the business?
Anika Albright. She's a newbie but she has an amazing ass.
Brooklyn Lee
Congratulations being named XBiz' Performer Of the Year. How does it feel?
It feels freaking great. I was really excited. I told Lexi Belle, "You're going to win. I think you're do." But they called my name and I was excited.
What big plans do you have for 2013?
I'm not sure. I'm throwing around some ideas. I'm thinking of throwing around some sort of directorial debut. I have an idea of something I really want to shoot. Maybe I'll do a website finally.
What was the hottest sex scene you shot last year?
It was an anal oil scene with Manuel, an anal scene from Performers Of the Year with Manuel, and I worked with Stoya, Jessie and Kayden in a scene. That was awesome, obviously. That was a lot of fun.
Code of Honor?
No. It's a yet untitled but it's coming sometime soon.
What was your character in Code Of Honor?
I played a slut concubine to Manuel's drug dealers. [Laughs]
Who do you have sex in that?
Tasha Reign and Manuel.
How are you enjoying your AVN experience?
I'm having a blast. I'm really happy to be here.
What's it like having a job where you get to be naked?
It's the best thing ever. When I'm at home I'm naked.
I love that girls like you and Alex Chance are helping to put curvy girls in fashion in porn.
I know. There needs to be more of us and we need to be treated exactly the same as every other girl.
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Safa Rashtchy SRNext- Now Think +
Industry Thoughts
Note: Please visit our new site, Think +, for more recent Industry thoughts and research.
While I have curtailed my new angel investments to focus on my fund idea, there are still some very exciting areas that I continue to focus on and explore. In fact, I consider the recent trends in the Valley with the VCs moving away form the consumer-facing companies and focusing more on enterprise and cloud platforms to be very fortunate for my investment thesis. Unlike many VCs and investors here, I happen to believe that this is the golden age of consumer-based platform, as there is so much that can be done for the average user (more on this in a future article).
Travel, healthcare, O2O, new models of e-commerce, and next generation of social media are among areas that I am researching at this point. Healthcare, with the advances in Genomics as well as initiatives on electronic medical records and communications is a truly exciting area. All of these areas have the potential for huge value creation for consumers, as well as, in many cases, for the whole society.
Bina Technologies, founded by Stanford scientists, has revolutionized genomic analysis by making full sequencing orders of magnitude faster and more accurate. The company is the leading player in this fast growing sector.
A revolutionary way to buy and sell photos - In semi-stealth mode for now.....
Backplane unites people around interests, affinities and movements in unprecedented ways. The first Backplane community is Lady Gaga's #LittleMonsters (http://www.littlemonsters.com). Additional Backplane communities will launch throughout 2012.
Key Trends/Focus Areas
As many of you know, I am working on launching a new a early-stage consumer/media/technology fund. I have had some very positive feedback from early investors and am ready to start full fund raising soon. The fund will be focused on early stage (series A) investing in companies with consumer-focused models in consumer focused platforms and...
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- 2 of 2
Events and Travel
Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland,Jun 15, 2013
New York, Washington D.C - March 2013Mar 13, 2013
Ski in Deer Valley- February 2013Feb 7, 2013
India - 2012Dec 1, 2012 to Dec 8, 2012
Toronto, Canada – Family visitAug 15, 2011 to Aug 28, 2011


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Meetings begin in the church hall with praying the Rosary after the 9:00 AM Mass.
Gathering begins at 9:30 AM. Business meetings generally are over by 11:15 AM.
President - Chris Killough Altar and Linens - Marcie Sears, Evie Nemec Band Chairs and Co-Chairs:
Vice President - Colleen Chan** Cheer and Sympathy - Pamela Last 1--Jeanne Kelley, Jenifer Parsons
Secretary - Lisa Chicchelly Funerals and Receptions - Evie Nemec 2--Sue Jansen, Marcie Sears
Treasurer - Jeanne Kelly Kitchen Chair - Sue Jansen 3--Chris Killough, Jean Deery
**Coordinates Christmas Bazaar Membership Chair - Chris Killough 4--Pamela Last
and May Salad Supper Publicity Chair - Jenifer Parsons 5--Linda Murphy, Mary Ann Leporte
1915 University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50314
(515) 244-3101


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Saturday, January 15, 2011
I'm Goin to Vegas!
So it's official, due to low turnout for Gamecon Spokane, at the end of the first three round of play the winners of the golden tickets are assured. So even though I get to go and play all day tomorrow my golden ticket is locked in, I'm going to Vegas baby! There is still a lot of work to be done and some major reworking to my list before I get there, but I'm goin for sure. Anyway I just figured I would make a quick post about that because Im excited, now to get some sleep before day 2.
Posted by Mister Disco at 10:35 PM
2 comments:
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As we rapidly approach "that time of year", despite the forecast of an impending heatwave ... you can't help but start to think of Halloween. I have a much underused set of the now defunct Smeared Ink's fabulous Halloween GRUMPIES and thought it was time to give them some love/ink/colouring - check them out. If I'm honest, I DO prefer the pumpkin ATC but fear that may be down to colour choices rather than any failing on behalf of the vampire!
|I LOVE this image - so cool!
- ATC blank
- Snippets of black, orange and white
- Smeared ink "Grumpy" and sentiment stamped on to the white base panel and another snippet of white card using Memento tuxedo black ink
- Kaisercraft mini triangles and mini grid images stamped partially on to the coloured base panel
- Alcohol markers used to colour the white base panel, the grumpy image and sentiment
- Sentiment cut out in to strip and matted on to black card
- Grumpy image fussy cut out and adhered to the now coloured base panel using dimensional foam tape
- Stardust stickles to highlight
- Plaid dimensional gloss applied to the pumpkin
- White gel pen used to doodle a border on the black background
I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:-
- Crafting from the heart - challenge No. 127 - ANYTHING GOES
- Melonheadz - September 12th challenge - HAND COLOURED IMAGE
- Addicted to Stamps - challenge No. 211 - ANYTHING GOES
- Simon Says Stamp - Work it Wednesday challenge - STAMPING
- Wicked Wednesday ATC challenge - challenge No. 227 - GETTING READY FOR HALLOWEEN
And on to another Halloween make ... I really like the grumpies although I'm not quite so sure about the teeth (or rather, my treatment of them) on this one!!! I really didn't like it when I just had the pink background with the crackle and mini dots .... I personally think the coffee rings and numbers make a huge difference and now I love it!.
|Don't Grumpies make great vampires?
- ATC blank
- Snippet of red card, white card and a second snippet of white card - for my image
- Smeared ink "grumpy" image stamped using Memento tuxedo black before fussy cutting out
- Alcohol markers used to colour image and white base card
- Kaisercraft crackle image stamped using Memento grape jelly ink
- Kaisercraft mini dots stamped using Memento rosebud ink
- Kaisercraft mini grid and mini numbers image along with Stamplorations coffee stain all partially stamped using Ranger Archival watering can ink
- Faber Castell black pitt pen used to draw back in some of the images "whiskers" .. which, frankly, I was NEVER going to be able to fussy cut out to my own satisfaction!
- Stardust stickles used to highlight the "crackle" image and Plaid dimensional gloss applied to the grumpies eyebrows and cape!
- Black pitt pen and white gel pen used to doodle a border on the red matting layer
- Simon Says Stamp - Monday September 12th challenge - AT THE MOVIES .... I went with DRACULA!!!
- Craft Your Passion - challenge No. 329 - ANYTHING GOES
- Through The Craft Room Door - September 13th challenge - ANYTHING GOES
- The Mausoleum of the damned - challenge No. 3 - ANYTHING GOES
And now for today's Friday Funny which I found on Facebook so there's no entry in the draw this week ... hope you like it!


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Published Oct 6, 2014
Foreign films, indie movies, or maybe its just the popcorn. What's your favorite cinema?
Whether it is a comedy or tragedy, everyone loves a great performance. Who... see the Top 5 →
These guys sweat the small things and it pays. Who makes your car look... see the Top 5 →
When it comes to car repair, it's all about trust. Where do you go for a... see the Top 5 →
Looking to fix a few dings or to restore an old classic? Who's the best... see the Top 5 →
Sometimes it's worth having someone else do the dirty work. Who gets your... see the Top 5 →
We know bikers are passionate about their rides. Tell us who you trust... see the Top 5 →
The 2014 LA HOT LIST awards are based on more than 19,000 votes from local Los Angeles-area experts.


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Tiffany Johnson, Digital Editor
Tiffany is a lover of life, animals, and yoga. Full time accountant for Rovin, Inc, mini zookeeper, mystic, and Co-Founder of Karma Yoga Denton.
While her job as an accountant puts money in her bank account to pay off pesky Sallie Mae aka Navient debt, her involvement in Karma Yoga fills her heart. KYD is a philanthropic yoga organizations that offers affordable yoga in the community in some pretty unique spaces.
When she isn't running a tie-dye booth at the community market, fueling her taco addiction, or trying to pet someone's puppy, she brushes up on her tarot card skills, binge watches Netflix with her boyfriend, or rides bikes around town. Her short term goal is to continue to bring ideas to the table to further enrich the Denton community, and give back to others what this town has given her. Tiffany's long term goal is to open an yoga studio with her other half, one that encompasses the same values as KYD - affordable, attainable, and yoga classes available to all skills levels in a welcoming and nurturing environment.
Currently she is working on building up her writing chops, expanding her knowledge of social media marketing, and diving into photography by volunteering with different organizations throughout Denton.


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Fritz / Changing Mat Y/D stripe - Y/D stripe: Mustard/Creme de la creme
€44,00LW12682\0911\One Size
Super cute and practical changing mat for the nursery or bathroom. It has waterproof acrylic coating on the fabric surface. It has a removable cover, which can be washed according to care instructions.
Please note that this product isn't available for UK customers.
Color: Y/D stripe: Mustard/Creme de la creme
Quality: 100% cotton organic
Dimensions: 62cm x 50 cm
Washing instructions: Note: ONLY wash the cover, not the filling. Machine wash by 30 degrees • Do not tumble dry • Do not bleach • Do not iron • Do not dry clean • Wash inside out • Wash with similar colours • Max shrinkage up to 5%


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Hundreds of talented runners took to the roads around Melton on Sunday to take part in the Stilton 7 road race.
Hundreds of talented runners took to the roads around Melton on Sunday to take part in the Stilton 7 road race.
The popular annual event, which is part of the LRRL Winter League, took place on a cool morning which brightened up.
More than 450 runners set off from the Stute at Holwell Sports & Social Club, Asfordby Hill, for two laps of the 3.5-mile loop.
Tony Woodward, from Hermitage, and Leicester Coritanian Mark Powell battled it out for the overall win, with the Hermitage runner crossing the line first in 37.08mins, 12 seconds ahead of his rival.
Third place also went to the Leicester club, in the shape of Chris Jordan (39.12).
The women's race was won by nearly two clear minutes by Anne Holland, of Wreake Runners, in 42.28, with Marie Atterbury, of Anstey, and Louise Insley, of South Derbyshire, coming home in second and third spots, respectively, in 44.26 and 44.43.
For host club, Stilton Striders, there were some great performances, despite illness, injury and volunteer duties depriving the club of a number of runners.
Their times were: 45.05 – Luke Eggleston; 46.27 – Darren Glover; 51.26 – Michael Cooke; 51.25 – Andy Nicholls; 51.48 – Clive Kent; 54.16 – Vicki Lowe; 55.35 – Abi Arnott; 56.39 – Michelle Farlow; 56.55 – Sarah Procter; 57.58 – Tam Nicol; 58.24 – Harriette Wright; 67.29 – Harvey Hopwood; 74.24 – Jenny Kent.
The club has thanked all the volunteers, supporters and runners who contributed to a successful event.