text:
630 F.2d 1046
William BAKER et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants,
Dean BELL et al., Defendants-Appellees.
No. 79-2173.
United States Court of Appeals,
Fifth Circuit.
Nov. 17, 1980.
Donald Juneau, Susan H. Campos, New Orleans, La., for plaintiffs-appellants.
Kent Hull, Ronald M. Soskin, National Center for Law and the Handicapped, Inc., Notre Dame, Ind., for amicus curiae.
Debra J. Fischman, New Orleans, La., for Dean Mell, the Office of Transit Admin., Ernest Morial, City of New Orleans.
Marc J. Yellin, Asst. U. S. Atty., New Orleans, La., Trudy B. Levy, Atty.-Advisor, Urban Mass Transportation Adm., Washington, D. C., for Brock Adams and Richard Page.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Before RUBIN, HENDERSON and REAVLEY, Circuit Judges.
ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge:
Both the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Urban Mass Transportation Act declare that federally financed programs shall be available to handicapped persons. Persons handicapped to such a degree that they are confined to wheelchairs challenge the use of federal grants to the City of New Orleans for the purchase of 175 buses that they will be unable to board and use on two basically different grounds: the action of the federal agencies violates the duties imposed on them as governmental units under applicable departmental regulations, and the action of all of the parties involved violates the personal rights of the physically-disabled persons who join as a class in this suit. We conclude that the district court correctly determined that the agencies had complied with the regulations applicable to them, but that the disabled persons are entitled to court consideration of their personal claims and we, therefore, remand for further consideration of that issue.
This class action on behalf of mobility-disabled individuals1 seeks to bar the purchase of transit buses by the City of New Orleans2 and the public utility that operates the City's urban transportation services, New Orleans Public Service, Inc. (NOPSI), with funds provided in major part by a federal grant.3
The grant was made to finance 80% of the purchase price of 185 new standard size buses to replace older buses now in service on fixed transit routes. NOPSI is to provide the other 20% of the purchase price. Ten of these buses are to be equipped with wheelchair lift devices; the other 175 buses could not be boarded by wheelchair users or others who cannot negotiate steps. The grant is also to fund 80% of the acquisition cost of ten smaller coaches, all lift-equipped, which will be leased by the City to a non-profit corporation to provide transportation for the elderly and handicapped. The local contribution for these ten vehicles will be made by the City of New Orleans.
The plaintiffs charge that, by participating in this acquisition, the local government defendants discriminate against them, violating the duty imposed upon recipients of federal assistance4 because mobility-disabled persons will not be provided with service comparable to that afforded by the 175 buses that they will be unable to use, violating Section 5045 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) implementary guidelines promulgated on January 13, 1978, which prohibit discrimination against handicapped individuals under any program receiving federal financial assistance, as well as Section 16(a)6 of the Urban Mass Transportation Act (UMT Act) of 1964, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 1612(a), which embodies the policy of nondiscrimination in transportation, and the 1976 Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA) regulations promulgated under that provision. Finally, the plaintiffs contend that the purchase would deprive the mobility-disabled class of effective use of public transportation and thus deny them equal protection of the laws, violating the fourteenth amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983.7
The plaintiffs contend that, by approving the grant to finance the discriminatory acquisition, the federal government officials, who are joined as defendants, violated Section 504 and the 1978 HEW guidelines as well as Section 16(a) of the UMT Act and the 1976 UMTA regulations.
Upon motions by all of the defendants for dismissal or alternatively for summary judgment, the district court concluded that the HEW guidelines promulgated under Section 504 were not yet effective when the grant was approved and, furthermore, were not applicable to the local government defendants. The court also determined that the UMT Act, as interpreted by the controlling UMTA regulations, was satisfied, relying upon the findings of the UMTA Administrator as set forth in the administrative record. The court noted "that all of the claims asserted in this action, with the exceptions of the constitutional and § 1983 claims (which we find to be without merit), may be decided within the framework of judicial review of the final action of the UMTA in approving Capital Grant Project No. LA-03-0015." Thus, the district court, relying solely upon the administrative record and applying the standard of review stated in Section 10(e)8 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706, concluded that UMTA's decision to approve the grant was not made "arbitrarily, capriciously, or in an abuse of discretion."
Having validated the grant approval by UMTA, the district court concluded that the local government defendants' actions and those of the federal defendants did not violate the controlling UMTA regulations. The agency action in approving the grant authorized NOPSI's anticipatory actions in leasing and operating the transit vehicles. However, the trial court did not consider separately the plaintiffs' claims for relief arising by implication from Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as distinguished from their claims that the actions of the federal agencies violated the regulations applicable to agency action promulgated under that statute.9
In reviewing the claims under the applicable Section 504 regulations, the district court did not conduct a de novo hearing but merely reviewed the administrative record. Because it considered the action solely upon the administrative record, the district court refused to permit discovery by the plaintiff class.
The constitutional claim was dismissed by the district court, citing with approval the rationale in Vanko v. Finley, 440 F.Supp. 656 (N.D.Ohio 1977), i. e., the constitutional provision adds nothing to the plaintiffs' cause of action under the federal statutes, which impose a higher standard than the constitutional provision might require. Finally, having found no violation of any statutory or constitutional provision by the local government defendants, the court determined that the Section 1983 claim lacked merit. Accordingly, the trial court granted the defendants' motions for summary judgment.
Section 16(a)10 of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 1612(a), and the regulations promulgated under that section, require governmental agencies to make special efforts to benefit handicapped persons and to include provisions implementing that policy in all programs receiving federal financial assistance. The claimed violation of Section 16(a) by the federal government defendants consists of UMTA's approval of the grant of financial aid to a noncomplying transit authority.
The district court correctly determined that the plaintiffs had standing to contest the validity of UMTA's action in approving the grant. The "three-part test (for standing to contest validity of agency actions) established in Barlow v. Collins, 397 U.S. 159, 90 S.Ct. 832, 25 L.Ed.2d 192 (1970) and Association of Data Processing Serv. Organ., Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 90 S.Ct. 827, 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970) ... is: (1) the challenged action must result in injury-in-fact to the plaintiffs; (2) the interest invaded must be arguably within the zone of interest to be protected by the statute; and (3) there must be no statutory prohibition of judicial review." Suntex Dairy v. Bergland, 591 F.2d 1063, 1066 (5th Cir. 1979).
The constitutionally-compelled injury-in-fact element of the standing test requires the plaintiffs to demonstrate a sufficiently direct and concrete injury, Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. 59, 73, 98 S.Ct. 2620, 2631, 57 L.Ed.2d 595, 611 (1978), which is likely to be redressed if the plaintiffs prevail on the merits. Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 262, 97 S.Ct. 555, 561, 50 L.Ed.2d 450, 462 (1977); Simon v. Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization, 426 U.S. 26, 38, 96 S.Ct. 1917, 1924, 48 L.Ed.2d 450, 460 (1976). The mobility-disabled plaintiffs in the present case have met the constitutional requisite for standing; their injury-in-fact consists of the direct and personal loss they suffer if they are unable to use public transportation.
The second element of the standing test is mandated by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 551 et seq. and § 701 et seq. A person who is "adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action within the meaning of a relevant statute, is entitled to judicial review thereof" under Section 10(a) of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 702. A plaintiff satisfies the APA standing requirement if his interests are arguably within the zone of interests that the statute in question was intended to protect or regulate. Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 153, 90 S.Ct. 827, 830, 25 L.Ed.2d 184, 188 (1970). "The 'relevant statute' is the agency's enabling act or other legislation under which the zone of interests is purported to exist." 5 B. Mezines, J. Stein & J. Gruff, Administrative Law § 50.03, at 50-25 (1980).
"Section 16(a) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended (49 U.S.C. 1612), declares the national policy that elderly and handicapped persons have the same right as other persons to utilize mass transportation facilities and services...." 23 C.F.R. Part 450, Subpart A, Appendix B, as added by 41 Fed.Reg. 18,235 (1976). Because the interests that plaintiffs seek to advance are within the zone of interests intended to be protected by Section 16(a) of the UMT Act, the plaintiffs have satisfied the APA standing requirement.11
Moreover, there is no indication that judicial review of agency action under the UMT Act is prohibited. Therefore, the plaintiffs have standing to contest the validity of UMTA's approval of the grant application in the present case.
Judicial review of agency action is generally limited to an examination of the agency record. 5 B. Mezines, J. Stein & J. Gruff, Administrative Law § 51.04 (1980). Review de novo, with independent findings of fact, is appropriate only when the agency action "is adjudicatory in nature and the agency factfinding procedures are inadequate" and "when issues that were not before the agency are raised in a proceeding to enforce nonadjudicatory agency action." Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402, 415, 91 S.Ct. 814, 823, 28 L.Ed.2d 136, 152 (1971). Accord Camp v. Pitts, 411 U.S. 138, 142, 93 S.Ct. 1241, 1244, 36 L.Ed.2d 106, 111 (1973). Neither situation exists here; thus, the district court properly limited its review of the plaintiffs' claims under the UMT Act to the administrative record.
In reviewing UMTA's approval of the grant, the task of the district court, as specified in the APA, was to determine whether the agency's findings and conclusions were "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law...." 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A). "Under the 'arbitrary and capricious' standard the scope of review is a narrow one. A reviewing court must 'consider whether the decision was based on a consideration of the relevant factors and whether there has been a clear error of judgment.... Although this inquiry into the facts is to be searching and careful, the ultimate standard of review is a narrow one. The court is not empowered to substitute its judgment for that of the agency.' Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe, supra, 401 U.S. at 416, 91 S.Ct. at 824." Bowman Transportation, Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight System Inc., 419 U.S. 281, 285, 95 S.Ct. 438, 442, 42 L.Ed.2d 447, 455 (1974). See Refrigerated Transport Co. v. ICC, 616 F.2d 748, 751 (5th Cir. 1980).
In order to determine whether UMTA's decision was based on a consideration of the relevant factors, the district court was required to decide which of several regulations promulgated under Section 16(a) of the UMT Act of 1964, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 1612(a), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, was applicable to this grant. The regulations promulgated under Section 16(a) of the UMT Act12 mandated "special efforts" to plan public mass transportation services that can effectively be utilized by the handicapped.13
In 1976, a presidential executive order,14 issued to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, directed HEW to coordinate the implementation of Section 504 among all federal agencies. Each federal department and agency empowered to provide federal assistance was ordered to issue regulations to implement Section 504 consistent with standards to be established by HEW. On January 13, 1978, HEW published guidelines to be followed by each federal agency in issuing its regulations necessary to implement Section 504. 43 Fed.Reg. 2,132-39 (1978) (to be codified in 45 C.F.R. Part 85).
It was evident that existing structures could not instantly be modified to accommodate disabled persons and that mass-produced vehicles must be designed a considerable time before they are actually put into use. Therefore, the HEW guidelines distinguish between existing and new facilities. As to new facilities to be acquired, Section 85.58 of the HEW guidelines provides:
New Construction.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, new facilities shall be designed and constructed to be readily accessible to and useable by handicapped persons.
However, because redesigned buses could not be purchased immediately, the guideline continues:
(b) The Department of Transportation may defer the effective date for requiring all new buses to be accessible if it concludes on the basis of its section 504 rulemaking process that it is not feasible to require compliance on the effective date of its regulation: Provided, That comparable, accessible services are available to handicapped persons in the interim and that the date is not deferred later than October 1, 1979.
43 Fed.Reg. 2,139 (1978) (emphasis added).
The plaintiffs contend that the requirement of comparable services in the interim entitles them to such service immediately. They contend that this HEW standard requiring that "comparable, accessible services" for handicapped persons be provided by federal aid recipients supersedes the "special efforts" standard of the 1976 UMTA regulations. Moreover, they assert that the "interim" period during which such comparable services must be available began on the day the HEW guidelines became effective, January 13, 1978, and hence comparable services were required when the grant to New Orleans was approved.
Although the HEW guidelines are not completely clear on this point, we concur in the trial court's determination that the "interim" (during which Section 85.58(b) requires that comparable, accessible service be provided) refers to that period beginning with the effective date of the Section 504 regulations to be issued by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and ending on October 1, 1979, the date when the full-accessibility standard is mandated for all agencies.15
We also agree with the trial court's assessment that these HEW regulations are directed towards guiding the various federal agencies, including DOT and UMTA, in the promulgation of their regulations as required by the presidential executive order, and are not applicable to the recipients of the federal aid. As the supplementary information published with the HEW guidelines explains, "the (HEW) regulation applies to Federal agencies, not to recipients...." 43 Fed.Reg. 2,133 (1978). Thus, if the still unissued DOT and UMTA regulations implementing Section 504 in compliance with the presidential directive satisfied the HEW full-accessibility standard and became effective before the October 1, 1979, HEW deadline, the HEW regulations would not override those issued by DOT.
DOT's regulation promulgated to comply with the presidential directive became effective on July 2, 1979, and superseded most of the existing UMTA regulations.16 44 Fed.Reg. 31,442 et seq. (1979) (to be codified in 49 C.F.R. Part 27). The new rule implements both Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and Section 16(a) of the UMT Act of 1964, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 1612(a). It mandates a full accessibility standard17 instead of the "special efforts" standard provided by the 1976 UMTA regulations. 44 Fed.Reg. 31,477-481 (1979) (to be codified in 49 C.F.R. Part 27, Subpart E).
The full accessibility standard was not applicable until the effective date of the DOT's regulation, July 2, 1979. This complied with HEW's requirement that all new buses, acquired after September 30, 1979, be accessible to handicapped persons. Therefore, for purposes of judicial review of UMTA's grant approval on September 12, 1978, the district court appropriately looked to the 1976 UMTA regulation "special efforts" standard.
Applying the scope of review mandated by the APA, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), the district court properly reviewed the administrative record and concluded that, in light of the 1976 UMTA regulations "special efforts" standard,18 UMTA's decision to approve the grant to the City of New Orleans was not "arbitrary and capricious." Thus, the district court's award of summary judgment to the defendants as to plaintiffs' claims under Section 16(a) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act was not error.III. Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, provides:19
No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States, as defined in Section 7(6) (29 U.S.C. § 706(6)), shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
The legislative history indicates that this policy is intended to prevent discrimination against handicapped individuals in federally supported transportation services.20
We recognized in Camenisch v. University of Texas, 616 F.2d 127 (5th Cir. 1980), that Section 504 implies a private cause of action and, therefore, entitles handicapped persons to obtain injunctive relief to enforce its antidiscrimination policy.21 See Tatro v. State of Texas, No. 80-1069 (5th Cir. Sept. 2, 1980).22
Although the complaint, construed liberally in accordance with the lenient pleading standards of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, gave sufficient notice that a claim under Section 504 was being asserted, the implication of a private cause of action and the judicial standard applicable thereto were neither brought to the attention of the trial court nor addressed by its decision.23 Generally this court will not reach the merits of an issue not considered by the district court. Pierre v. United States, 525 F.2d 933 (5th Cir. 1976); Stanley Educational Methods, Inc. v. Becker C.P.A. Review Course, Inc., 539 F.2d 393 (5th Cir. 1976); EEOC v. Standard Forge and Axle Co., 496 F.2d 1392 (5th Cir. 1974). However, "when a pure question of law is involved and a refusal to consider it would result in a miscarriage of justice," Martinez v. Mathews, 544 F.2d 1233, 1237 (5th Cir. 1976), we condone counsel's failure to bring issues raised on appeal to the attention of the trial court. As the Supreme Court has said, the determination "of what questions may be taken up and resolved for the first time on appeal is one left primarily to the discretion of the courts of appeals.... (T)here are circumstances in which a federal appellate court is justified in resolving an issue not passed on below, as where the proper resolution is beyond any doubt ... or where 'injustice might otherwise result.' Hormel v. Helvering, (312 U.S. 552, 557, 61 S.Ct. 719, 721, 85 L.Ed. 1037, 1041 (1941)). ..." Singleton v. Wulff, 428 U.S. 106, 121, 96 S.Ct. 2868, 2877, 49 L.Ed.2d 826, 837 (1976).
Considering the gravity of the legal issue and the profound effect failure to resolve it would have on all the litigants, the fact that it appears to be largely a legal question and the injustice that might result if the question were pretermitted, we have decided that the case should be remanded to the trial court for initial determination of the Section 504 claims. However, because the issue has been briefed, we provide guidance to the district court on a few questions that are likely to arise on remand.
Inherent in the concept of a private cause of action is the right to seek judicial relief. The plaintiffs are entitled to adduce evidence in support of their claims just as the defendants are entitled to offer evidence that would defeat them. All or part of the administrative record might be introduced after appropriate consideration of the Federal Rules of Evidence, Fed.R.Evid. 803(8). Then the parties are entitled to the court's assessment of the facts, its evaluation of the credibility of witnesses and its application of a judicial standard of nondiscrimination, to be determined by it.24 The judicial appraisal of the plaintiffs' claim cannot properly be limited to review of the administrative record and the application of a restricted standard of review, relying on regulations which, though they were effective as of the date of the agency action, no longer reflect the agency's own view of the standard of nondiscrimination required under the statute.25 Because review is not limited to the administrative record, such discovery as would normally be allowed should be permitted.
We note in regard to the standard of nondiscrimination under Section 504 that on appeal "a court is to apply the law in effect at the time it renders its decision, unless doing so would result in manifest injustice or there is statutory direction or legislative history to the contrary." Bradley v. School Board of Richmond, 416 U.S. 696, 711, 94 S.Ct. 2006, 2016, 40 L.Ed.2d 476, 488 (1974), quoted in Cort v. Ash, 422 U.S. 66, 77, 95 S.Ct. 2080, 2087, 45 L.Ed.2d 26, 35 (1975). Logically, if an appellate court must apply the administrative regulations in effect at the time it renders its decision, Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham, 393 U.S. 268, 282, 89 S.Ct. 518, 526, 21 L.Ed.2d 474, 484 (1969), the district court on remand after appeal should consider the new DOT regulations absent statutory direction or legislative history to the contrary. Supplemental information accompanying the DOT's new Section 504 regulation indicates that the 1979 regulation might properly be considered by the district court in its review of the Section 504 claims in this case.26 Therefore, the regulatory provisions promulgated by the DOT in compliance with the presidential directive to implement section 504, 44 Fed.Reg. 31,442 et seq. (1979) (to be codified in 49 C.F.R. Part 27), may be considered by the district court in its determination of the appropriate standard of nondiscrimination mandated by Section 504. Upon remand, the district court should not limit its analysis to the 1976 UMTA regulations, but should also consider the 1979 DOT regulations promulgated under Section 504.
If the court limits its consideration of the implied cause of action in Section 504 to a review of the administrative record under the strictures of the "arbitrary and capricious" standard of review of agency action specified by the APA, the effectuation of the policies behind the implication of the private cause of action will be diminished, if not defeated completely. The less rigorous standard of judicial review under the APA adds little to the enforcement potential of the administrative agency itself. It does not afford the plaintiff the same degree of direct relief as would a de novo review upon a record compiled by the district court. Moreover, the plaintiff has less control over the court's review under the APA if he is not allowed to present his own evidence to the court.
Such limited review of the evidence in an action under Section 504 was rejected as unduly restrictive in Leary v. Crapsey, 566 F.2d 863 (2d Cir. 1977). Similarly, in United Handicapped Federation v. Andre, 558 F.2d 413 (8th Cir. 1977), the Eighth Circuit remanded for a consideration of the affirmative duties created by Section 504 and enforceable by a private cause of action in light of newly promulgated regulations with no indication that the district court's reappraisal of the Section 504 claim was to be confined by the strictures of the APA standard of review. See also Snowden v. Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, 407 F.Supp. 394 (N.D.Ala.1975), aff'd summarily, 551 F.2d 862 (5th Cir. 1977), which was resolved by summary judgment but only after a full review of evidence submitted and testimony taken from the parties.27
We, therefore, affirm the summary judgment as to the UMT Act claims and remand for further proceedings the plaintiffs' implied cause of action under Section 504. We express no opinion concerning whether, upon the completion of discovery, there will be genuine issues of material fact requiring a trial on the merits of the cause of action implied in Section 504 or whether the material facts will be so pellucid as to permit summary judgment.
Our disposition of the claims under the Rehabilitation Act makes it unnecessary for us to examine fully the plaintiffs' claims against the local government defendants under the fourteenth amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. These are of course to be evaluated on the basis that they are independent judicial claims. Our decision also does not address the plaintiffs' claim for attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. That claim should properly await the district court's determination of the merits upon remand. See Falcon v. General Telephone Co. of the Southwest, 626 F.2d 369 (5th Cir. 1980); Iron Workers Local No. 272 v. Bowen, 624 F.2d 1255 (5th Cir. 1980).
For these reasons, the judgment is AFFIRMED as to the UMT Act claims and, as to the Section 504 claims, the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The class is described as "mobility-disabled persons." The five included plaintiffs can move only in wheelchairs. The international office and the New Orleans chapter of an association known as Physically Limited Association for a Constructive Environment also joined as Plaintiffs
The local defendants, government officials and a private utility company, are the Office of Transit Administration for the City of New Orleans and its administrator, Dean Bell, and the City of New Orleans and its mayor, Ernest Morial, and New Orleans Public Service, Inc. (NOPSI), an investor-owned utility company which leases and operates the City's standard transit vehicles
A grant of $19,485,016 was approved by the Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA) under Section 3 of the Urban Mass Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. § 1602, on September 12, 1978. Due to this grant approval, two federal government officials, Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams and Administrator of the Urban Mass Transit Administration Richard Page, are also defendants in this action
The complaint stated a cause of action against all of the defendants for violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §§ 701, et seq., § 794 and the implementary guidelines promulgated by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW); a claim against the local and federal government defendants for violation of plaintiffs' rights under Section 16(a) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act (UMT Act) of 1964, as amended, 49 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq., § 1612(a) and the regulations promulgated thereunder; and a claim against the local government defendants for violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment as well as for violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794 provides:
No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States, as defined in Section 7(6) (29 U.S.C. § 706(6)), shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
This provision was amended in 1978 to extend its application to any program or activity conducted by any federal executive agency or by the United States Postal Service and to reflect the fact that the Act's definition of the term "handicapped individual" is now codified in Section 7(7) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 706(7).
Section 16(a) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 1612(a), provides as follows:
It is hereby declared to be the national policy that elderly and handicapped persons have the same right as other persons to utilize mass transportation facilities and services; that special efforts shall be made in the planning and design of mass transportation facilities and services so that the availability to elderly and handicapped persons of mass transportation which they can effectively utilize will be assured; and that all Federal programs offering assistance in the field of mass transportation (including the programs under this chapter) should contain provisions implementing this policy.
The plaintiff class contends that NOPSI, by leasing and operating the buses to be acquired under the grant, would violate Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the applicable regulations. The complaint did not allege that NOPSI's participation would violate the UMT Act
Section 10(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706, provides in pertinent part:
To the extent necessary to decision and when presented, the reviewing court shall decide all relevant questions of law, interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, and determine the meaning or applicability of the terms of an agency action. The reviewing court shall-
(2) hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings, and conclusions found to be-
(A) arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law
In making the foregoing determinations, the court shall review the whole record or those parts of it cited by a party, and due account shall be taken of the rule of prejudicial error.
The court noted that the complaint did not "contain an allegation that either § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or § 16(a) of the UMT Act imposes duties on the local governmental defendants broader than those mandated by the controlling regulations, whether the HEW guidelines or the UMTA regulations. ... Accordingly, (it did) not address that issue...." For reasons set forth below, we think the complaint did state a claim that Section 504 accords them a different, and potentially broader, basis for relief
For the text of Section 16(a) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, as amended, 49 U.S.C. § 1612(a), see note 6, supra
The district court cited Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, as the "relevant statute" within the meaning of which the plaintiffs were aggrieved by UMTA's actions. We shall hereafter consider the plaintiffs' rights under that statutory provision. The agency action in this case was equally adverse to the plaintiffs' interests as protected by Section 16(a) of the UMT Act; we consider that provision to be the "relevant statute" for purposes of the APA standing requisite and review of the plaintiffs' claims under the UMT Act
49 C.F.R. Part 609, specifically § 609.15 (1976), amended by 42 Fed.Reg. 48,340 (1977); 49 C.F.R. § 613.204 (1975) and the Appendix to 49 C.F.R. Part 613, Subpart B, on 49 C.F.R. § 613.204, added by 41 Fed.Reg. 18,234 (1976); 23 C.F.R. Part 450, Subparts A and C (1975) and Appendix B to Subpart A, as added by 41 Fed.Reg. 18,235 (1976)
49 C.F.R. § 613.204 (1975) states:
Additional criteria for Urban Mass Transportation Administrator's approvals under 23 CFR 450.320.
The Urban Mass Transportation Administrator will grant project approvals pursuant to 23 CFR 450.320(a)(3) only if:
(a) The urban transportation planning process exhibits satisfactory special efforts in planning public mass transportation facilities and services that can be utilized by elderly and handicapped persons; and
(b) The annual element of the transportation improvement program developed pursuant to 23 CFR 450.118 and submitted after September 30, 1976, contains projects or project elements designed to benefit elderly and handicapped persons, specifically including wheelchair users and those with semi-ambulatory capabilities; and
(c) After September 30, 1977, reasonable progress has been demonstrated in implementing previously programmed projects.
C.F.R. § 613.204 (emphasis added)
The appendix to 49 C.F.R. Part 613, Subpart B, on 49 C.F.R. § 613.204, added by 41 Fed.Reg. 18,234 (1976), provides illustrative examples of a level of effort that will satisfy the "special efforts" requirement:
A program for wheelchair users and semiambulatory handicapped persons that will involve the expenditure of an average annual dollar amount equivalent to a minimum of five percent of the section 5 (49 U.S.C. § 1604) apportionment to the urbanized area. These "five percent funds" may be derived from sources other than section 5. The term "average" permits lower expenditure years to be balanced by higher expenditure years but does not permit an initial delay in implementing projects. The term "section 5 apportionment" refers to UMTA's formula apportionment for areas with a population of 200,000 or more and the Governor's apportionment for areas with a population under 200,000. Projects that qualify as local "special efforts" for wheelchair users and other semiambulatory persons under the initial paragraphs of this advisory information would be counted in computing the five percent
Purchase of only wheelchair-accessible new fixed route equipment until one-half of the fleet is accessible, or, in the alternative, provision of a substitute service that would provide comparable coverage and service levels
A system, of any design, that would assure that every wheelchair user or semiambulatory person in the urbanized area would have public transportation available if requested for 10 round-trips per week at fares comparable to those which are charged on standard transit buses for trips of similar length, within the service area of the public transportation authority. The system could, for example, provide trip coupons to individuals who would then purchase the needed service
Appendix B to 23 C.F.R. Part 450, Subpart A, providing advisory information on planning for elderly and handicapped persons under the UMT Act states in part:
The urban transportation planning process must include special efforts to plan public mass transportation facilities and service that can effectively be utilized by elderly and handicapped persons. As used in this guidance, the term "special efforts" refers both to service for elderly and handicapped persons in general and specifically to service for wheelchair users and semiambulatory persons. With regard to transportation for wheelchair users and others who cannot negotiate steps, "special efforts" in planning means genuine, good-faith progress in planning service for wheelchair users and semiambulatory handicapped persons that is reasonable by comparison with the service provided to the general public and that meets a significant fraction of the actual transportation needs of such persons within a reasonable time period.
C.F.R. Part 450, Subpart A, Appendix B (emphasis added)
Exec. Order No. 11,914, 41 Fed.Reg. 17,871 (1976) (to be codified in 45 C.F.R. Part 85, Appendix A (1978))
The supplementary information published with the HEW guidelines sheds some light on what interim period is referred to by Section 85.58(b)
A difficult problem that has arisen during the comment period with respect to § 85.58 is its effect upon buses ordered in the interval between the final issuance of individual agency 504 regulations and the effective date of the Department of Transportation's ruling concerning Transbus. (That ruling requires that all buses acquired with the assistance of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA), ordered after September 30, 1979, meet the specifications for Transbus-a low-floor, ramped bus.) Because of the complexity of the bus accessibility issue, the final regulation has been amended to allow the Department of Transportation (DOT) to defer the effective date for requiring all new buses to be accessible if DOT concludes during its section 504 rulemaking process that it is not possible to do so by the effective date of its own section 504 regulation and if comparable, accessible services are available to handicapped persons in the meantime. The date may not, however, be deferred beyond the present effective date of the Transbus decision-October 1, 1979.
Fed.Reg. 2,136 (1978)
"This rule supersedes the existing UMTA regulations (49 CFR Part 609, 49 CFR 613,204, and the appendix to 49 CFR part 613, Subpart B, on 49 CFR 613.204), except that the requirements for Transbus remain separate from the rule (49 C.F.R. § 609.15)." 44 Fed.Reg. 31,454 (1979). 49 C.F.R. § 609.15, as amended by 42 Fed.Reg. 48,340 (1977), requires transit authorities seeking federal assistance after September 30, 1979, to purchase the "transbus," a low-floor ramped bus suitable for elderly and handicapped passengers
For example, "some matters, such as wheelchair accessibility to fixed route bus systems, are no longer matters of local option." 44 Fed.Reg. 31,455 (1979)
The district court determined that each of the three requirements for grant approval specified by 49 C.F.R. § 613.204, set out in note 13, supra, was either satisfied or was inapplicable. According to UMTA's grant approval memo and a connected report, special efforts in planning mass transportation for the mobility-disabled were achieved by the participation of handicapped consumers in the planning process and the identification of the location and transportation needs of the handicapped as well as the identification of the governmental and private nonprofit agencies providing for those transportation needs. The district court found that the expenditure on transportation programs for the mobility-disabled of five percent of funds apportioned to the urbanized area, an illustrative method of compliance stated in the appendix to 49 C.F.R. Part 613, Subpart B, on 49 C.F.R. § 613.204, see note 13, supra, satisfied the requirement of special efforts in program development. Finally, the progress-in-implementation requirement was inapplicable because the New Orleans area had no previously programmed projects
The amendment to Section 504 by the Rehabilitation, Comprehensive Services, and Developmental Disabilities Act of 1978, Pub.L. No. 95-602, Title I §§ 119, 122(d)(2), 92 Stat. 2982, 2987, which extended its application to programs conducted by any federal executive Agency or by the United States Postal Service and renumbered the section of the Act defining "handicapped individual," is not relevant to the issue presented here
"Section 504 was enacted to prevent discrimination against all handicapped individuals, regardless of their need for, or ability to benefit from, vocational rehabilitation services, in relation to Federal assistance in ... transportation ... programs." S.Rep. No. 93-1297, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 38 (1974), reprinted in, (1974) 4 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News, pp. 6373, 6388. The relevant legislative history of the 1973 Act and the Rehabilitation Act amendments of 1974 is discussed in Lloyd v. Regional Transp. Auth., 548 F.2d 1277 (7th Cir. 1977)
The implication of a private cause of action is supported by the legislative approach to implementation of Section 504 which was intended to "permit a judicial remedy through a private action." S.Rep. No. 93-1297, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 39-40 (1974), reprinted in (1974) 4 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News, pp. 6373, 6391. This implied cause of action may be utilized by mobility-handicapped persons to enforce the antidiscrimination policy of Section 504 in a mass transit context. United Handicapped Fed'n v. Andre, 558 F.2d 413 (8th Cir. 1977); Leary v. Crapsey, 566 F.2d 863 (2d Cir. 1977); Lloyd v. Regional Transp. Auth., 548 F.2d 1277 (7th Cir. 1977); Vanko v. Finley, 440 F.Supp. 656 (N.D.Ohio 1977); Bartels v. Biernat, 427 F.Supp. 226 (E.D.Wis.1977); Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America v. Coleman, 451 F.Supp. 7 (E.D.Mich.1977)
The Supreme Court pretermitted the question whether an implied private cause of action exists to enforce Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794, in Southeastern Community College v. Davis, 442 U.S. 397, 404 n.5, 99 S.Ct. 2361, 2366 n.5, 60 L.Ed.2d 980, 987 n.5 (1979). However, the opinion of Justice Stevens in Regents of California v. Bakke appears to recognize a private cause of action to enforce this section of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794. 438 U.S. 265, 420 & n.27, 98 S.Ct. 2733, 2815 & n.27, 57 L.Ed.2d 750, 852 & n.27 (1978)
While the issue was sufficiently presented to be preserved, it lurked partially submerged and was expressed clearly before us in a brief amicus curiae by the National Center For Law and the Handicapped, Inc. Plaintiffs subsequently addressed the issue in a letter filed a year after the case was briefed and one week before oral argument
A "court cannot be expected to utilize its discretion in the same manner as an agency charged with the broad administration of the statute." Note, Implying Civil Remedies from Federal Regulatory Statutes, 77 Harv.L.Rev. 285, 292 (1963). While the DOT and HEW might be content to defer the effective date of their regulations mandating full accessibility of transit buses acquired with federal financial assistance, the court is free to determine for itself within the context of the implied cause of action, whether the acquisition of buses inaccessible to the plaintiffs violated the nondiscrimination standard imposed by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The type of judicial review of agency action under the APA conducted by the district court is more properly seen as the last step in administrative enforcement of Section 504 which is "contradistinct from an independent cause of action in federal court...." Lloyd v. Regional Transportation Authority, 548 F.2d 1277, 1286. See Wolff, Protecting the Disabled Minority: Rights and Remedies under Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 22 St. Louis U.L.J. 25 (1978). See generally, note, Private Rights of Action for Handicapped Persons Under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, 13 Val.U.L.Rev. 453 (1979). Indeed, in Camenisch v. University of Texas, 616 F.2d 127 (5th Cir. 1980), we determined "that the administrative procedures under the Rehabilitation Act are not appropriate to private individual suits to enforce Section 504 in the courts. Therefore, Camenisch's court claim (stood) by itself," 616 F.2d at 131 n.5, because the administrative procedures "do not provide the most appropriate or exclusive remedy to vindicate personal Section 504 rights." 616 F.2d at 134
"While DOT does not intend for this rule to apply retroactively, requirements which become effective on the effective date of this regulation, e. g., certain new construction or the issuance of solicitations for certain new vehicles, will be subject to this rule even if the construction or vehicles were part of a project or contract approved before the effective date of this part." 44 Fed.Reg. 31,444 (1979)
See N.A.A.C.P. v. Wilmington Medical Center, Inc., 453 F.Supp. 280 (D.Del.1978), rev'd, N.A.A.C.P. v. Medical Center, Inc., 599 F.2d 1247 (3d Cir. 1979); Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America v. Coleman, 451 F.Supp. 7 (E.D.Mich.1977); Bartels v. Biernat, 427 F.Supp. 226 (E.D.Wis. 1977). But see Vanko v. Finley, 440 F.Supp. 656 (N.D. Ohio 1977) (expressly adopting the APA standard of review, yet not limiting review to the administrative record and passing on motions for summary judgment only after compiling a record)


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UFC Stockholm: Smith Stuns Sweden Silent with Submission Win
Anthony Smith faced some trouble during his UFC Stockholm main event fight with Alexander Gustafsson, but he was able to get the win with a submission in the fourth round.
Smith showed signs of his power punching right from the start, but Gustafsson used his boxing experience well throughout the fight. Gustafsson worked the jab and, while normally a dangerous position when facing Smith, was able to easily get away from Smith's power. Smith landed better in the second, but he looked tired while Gustafsson was still bouncing.
How are you scoring it through two? #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/7iiV2m7LyK
— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019
Gustafsson suffered a cut on his leg as a result of several leg kicks between him and Smith during the fight, as the cut bled down to his foot in the first and third rounds. The third round also saw Gustafsson seize major control when he landed a late liver shot and takedown.
MASSIVE body shot into a takedown!@AlexTheMauler looks to take control as we head to the fourth. #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/kWD4aywuYW
— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019
But in the fourth, as Gustafsson went for another takedown, Smith reversed it and landed one of his own, getting Gustafsson's back. Despite staying on Gustafsson's back for over a minute, Smith did not slip off and managed to flatten Gustafsson out, landed a couple of big punches before locking in the choke and getting the tap out.
ALL HEART. ALWAYS.@LionheartASmith #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/EfCqR319Va
— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019
Following his loss, Gustafsson removed his gloves and announced his retirement.
"The show is over, guys."
Thank you, @AlexTheMauler. #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/aKcr73fAFn
— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019
🙏🇸🇪 @AlexTheMauler #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/9yntodNum0
— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019
The biggest highlight of the night outside the main event came in the co-main event. After small exchanging between the two, Aleksandar Rakic landed a combination and followed with a major left kick to the head of Jimi Manuwa, knocking out the ranked light heavyweight contender in less than a minute.
➡ https://t.co/9sFxPgQC5a #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/bpU0Q7lnbA
— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2019
This continued Rakic's unbeaten run since losing his professional MMA debut, while handing Manuwa his fourth consecutive loss.
UFC Stockholm Main Card Results:
Light Heavyweight: Anthony Smith def. Alexander Gustafsson via submission (rear-naked choke) (Rd. 4, 2:38)
Light Heavyweight: Aleksandar Rakic def. Jimi Manuwa via KO (Rd. 1, 0:42)
Featherweight: Makwan Amirkhani def. Chris Fishgold via submission (anaconda choke) (Rd. 2, 4:25)
Lightweight: Christos Giagos def. Damir Hadzovic via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
Featherweight: Daniel Teymur def. Sung Bin Jo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
UFC Stockholm Preliminary Card Results:
Welterweight: Sergey Khandozhko def. Rostem Akman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Women's Bantamweight: Lina Lansberg def. Tonya Evinger via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-26)
Lightweight: Leonardo Santos def. Stevie Ray via KO (Rd. 1, 2:17)
Lightweight: Frank Camacho def. Nick Hein via TKO (Rd. 2, 4:56)
Women's Bantamweight: Bea Malecki def. Eduarda Santana via submission (rear-naked choke) (Rd. 2, 1:59)
Light Heavyweight: Devin Clark def. Darko Stosic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lightweight: Joel Alvarez def. Danilo Belluardo via TKO (Rd. 2, 2:22)

subset: commoncrawl


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Role of diet in causing problems with ovulation
It is estimated that about one in six couples will be faced with the problem of infertility at some point during their reproductive lifetime. Of those couples, problems with ovulation (making and releasing an egg in a regular fashion) can be identified in 18-30% of cases. Several factors have been found in medical studies to affect the likelihood of ovulation. Most commonly, extremes of body weight (both obese and underweight) have been associated with ovulation problems. Recently, evidence has begun to emerge that the type of diet a woman consumes may influence her risk for ovulation problems.
In a recent study, researchers used data from a large group of nurses known as the Nurses Health Study II. The Nurses' Health Study II was started in 1989 when more than 116,000 female registered nurses aged 25–42 years completed a mailed baseline questionnaire. Participants have been followed every two years since then with mailed questionnaires. Finding women who were trying to get pregnant With each questionnaire, participants were asked if they had tried to become pregnant for more than 1 year without success since the previous questionnaire. They were also asked to identify whether they believed their inability to conceive was caused by blockage of their fallopian tubes, a problem with ovulation, endometriosis, cervical mucus factor, male factor, or was not found, was not investigated, or was due to another reason.
In order to determine how accurately, these nurses reported their actual diagnosis, the researchers conducted a "validation study" in which they reviewed the medical records of a small portion of the larger group. The researchers found that a diagnosis of an ovulation problem was correctly reported by the nurses 95% of the time.
Women were also asked if they became pregnant during the preceding 2-year period, including pregnancies resulting in miscarriages or induced abortions. Only married women without a history of infertility and with available information on diet, physical activity, height, and weight were eligible to enter the analysis.
In total, the researchers identified 17,544 women without a history of infertility who tried to become pregnant or became pregnant during the study period – which lasted eight years. 25,217 pregnancies and pregnancy attempts were estimated among this group. 3,209 nurses reported difficulty in becoming pregnant. Of these, 2,032 actually sought medical care for the diagnosis of infertility. Only 416 of the infertile women reported an ovulation problem as one of the reasons for their infertility.
Assessing the diet of these women In the mailed questionnaires, the nurses were also asked to report how often, on average, they consumed each of the foods, beverages, and supplements included in a "food frequency" diary during the previous year. The researchers were interested in several components of diet. Specifically, the categories were:
- The amount of trans fats compared to "monounsaturated" fats
- The amount of protein from animal sources (meat) compared to vegetable sources (beans)
- The amount of carbohydrates from refined sources (white bread)
- The use of multivitamins and specifically the amount of iron intake
- The amount of "high fat" dairy products versus "low fat dairy products"
Within each category, a "fertility score" was given based on perceived benefit or harm. For example, a large amount of trans fats in the diet was thought to be bad and so this would be given a low score. Conversely, a high percentage of protein that came from vegetable sources was thought to be good and so was given a high score.
The results of this study showed that diet plays a role in causing ovulation problems. The higher a woman's fertility score, the less likely she was to have an ovulation problem. Looked at in another way, if each category was considered a dietary habit, the more "good" dietary habits a woman had, the less likely she was to have problems with ovulation. It should be noted that these relationships still held up when the researchers compared women under age 35 to women over age 35 or for those who had pregnancies previously compared to those who didn't and for women who were normal weight or overweight.
|Lowest to Highest
|Likelihood of having ovulation problems
|32% less likely compared to group 1
|35% less likely compared to group 1
|47% less likely compared to group 1
|66% less likely compared to group 1
The study also confirmed what many other studies found: that extremes of weight are also associated with ovulation problems. The impact of weight was identified by using a calculated number (body mass index) which takes into account a woman's height and weight. A normal body mass index is between 20 and 24.99. A number below 20 is considered underweight. A number of 25 or over is considered overweight. A number of 30 or over is considered obese.
|Likelihood of having ovulation problems
|Less than 20
|38% more likely compared to normal weight
|32% more likely compared to normal weight
|30 or more
|35% more likely compared to normal weight
The results of this study should be interpreted with caution. First of all, the numbers are very small. From a group of over 100,000 nurses in the original group, only 416 were found to have ovulatory infertility. If is from these few hundred women that all the conclusions are based.
Furthermore, these recommendations only apply for women who have a problem with ovulation. The current study does not indicate associations with these diet parameters and other types of infertility. For example, this study did not address women with unexplained infertility. There is no evidence from this study to indicate that other causes of infertility are related to diet.
This study also did not attempt an experiment where the type of diet was changed to see if ovulation improved in women who previously had a problem. Although it might seem logical to assume that the changes in dietary habits from "bad" to "good" should result in lowering the rate of ovulation problems, this study did not attempt to prove that. There may be other factors related to diet that could be of importance. For example, the authors noted differences in the rates of alcohol use, caffeine use and smoking when comparing women with high fertility diet scores to women with low scores. These other factors may be important confounding factors.
On the other hand, with one exception, the type of diet that the authors claim is related to a lower risk of ovulation problems is generally considered to be a healthier diet overall. For example, much data points to the adverse effects of trans fats in the diet. The one exception is that increasing amounts of "high-fat" dairy items seems to be associated with less ovulation problems than "low-fat" dairy items for unknown reasons.
So keeping all this in mind, here are some general recommendations for women with ovulatory infertility:
1. Maintain a healthy weight (a body mass index of between 20 and 24.99).
Lose weight, if you're overweight or obese and try to gain weight if you are underweight. Exercise may help with losing weight but, by itself, may not help improve the chances for ovulation.
2. Avoid trans fats completely.
Trans fat is typically found in stick margarine, fried foods, and yes, Girl Scout cookies. Foods in the United States are required to list their trans fat content on the package. If trans fat is not listed, look at the ingredients and avoid foods that contained "partially hydrogenated" oils.
Computer models of the nurses' diet patterns indicated that eating a modest amount of trans fat (2 percent of calories) in place of other, more healthful nutrients like polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat or carbohydrate would dramatically increase the risk of infertility. To put this into perspective, for someone who eats 2,000 calories a day, 2 percent of calories translates into about four grams of trans fat. That's the amount in two tablespoons of stick margarine, one medium order of fast-food french fries or one doughnut.
The total amount of fat in the diet wasn't connected with ovulatory infertility once weight, exercise, smoking and other factors that can influence reproduction had been accounted for. The same was true for cholesterol, saturated fat and monounsaturated fat—none were linked with fertility or infertility.
3. Stop eating excessive sugar and refined carbohydrates like white bread.
Not that long ago, carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes made up more than half of our calories. Then came the no-carb diet craze. Like all diet fad, the no-carb craze lost its luster and faded from prominence. However, it did result in studies being performed which allowed us a greater understanding of the role of carbohydrates in our diets.
Women should try to avoid easily digested carbohydrates such as sugary breakfast cereals, white bread, white rice, potatoes and sugar containing sodas. A better choice are the slowly digested carbohydrates that are rich in fiber such as brown rice, pasta, whole grains, beans, vegetables, whole fruits and dark bread.
A very important point to remember is that this study found that the total amount of carbohydrate in the diet wasn't connected with ovulation problems. Women in the low-carb and high-carb groups were equally likely to have had ovulation problems.
4. Consume more protein from vegetables rather than from animals.
This means decreasing the amount of meat in your diet. Good sources of vegetable protein include beans (all types) and lentils.
Using computer models of the data from the study, the researchers found that when total calories were kept constant, adding one serving a day of red meat, chicken or turkey predicted nearly a one-third increase in the risk of ovulatory infertility. And while adding one serving a day of fish or eggs didn't influence ovulatory infertility, adding one serving a day of beans, peas, tofu or soybeans, peanuts or other nuts predicted modest protection against ovulatory infertility.
Swapping 25 grams of plant protein for 25 grams of carbohydrates shrank the risk of ovulation problems by 43 percent. Replacing 25 grams of animal protein with 25 grams of plant protein was related to a 50 percent lower risk of ovulatory infertility.
5. Consume more than 54 mg of iron daily.
Of course, animal protein is typically high in iron but the previous recommendation is to limit meat. Therefore, you need to try to get your iron from other sources. Prenatal vitamins contain iron but different brands contain different amounts ranging from 27 to 90 milligrams per tablet. Higher iron content may cause you to have stomach upset or constipation. Other non-animal sources of iron are listed here:
|List of Grains Rich in Iron
|Iron (mg.)
|Brown rice, 1 cup cooked
|Whole wheat bread, 1 slice
|Wheat germ, 2 tablespoons
|English Muffin, 1 plain
|Oatmeal, 1 cup cooked
|Total cereal, 1 ounce
|Cream of Wheat, 1 cup
|Pita, whole wheat, 1 slice/piece, 6 ½ inch
|Spaghetti, enriched, 1 cup, cooked
|Raisin bran cereal, 1 cup
|List of Iron Rich Legumes, Seeds, and Soy:
|Sunflower seeds, 1 ounce
|Soy milk, 1 cup
|Kidney beans, ½ cup canned
|Chickpeas, ½ cup, canned
|Tofu, firm, ½ cup
|Soy burger, 1 average
|1.8 to 3.9*
|List of Vegetables Rich in Iron:
|Broccoli, ½ cup, boiled
|Green beans, ½ cup, boiled
|Lima beans, baby, frozen, ½ cup, boiled
|Beets, 1 cup
|Peas, ½ cup frozen, boiled
|Potato, fresh baked, cooked w/skin on
|Vegetables, green leafy, ½ cup
|Watermelon, 6 inch x ½ inch slice
6. Consider starting a prenatal multivitamin.
Ask your doctor for a prescription prenatal versus one that you get over the counter. This does not have to do with ovulation problems; instead, the prescription prenatal vitamins have higher amounts of folic acid which have been found to reduce the risk of certain types of birth defects. Also, many prescription prenatal vitamins now contain an "unsaturated" fatty acid called DHA. DHA has been found to improve fetal brain development and has numerous health benefits for the women taking them regularly.
7. Consume one daily serving of full-fat dairy.
For example, 1 cup whole milk, full-fat yogurt, or 1-2 ounces cheese. In a previous study, the researchers found that women eating a half cup of ice cream two or more times a week had a 38% lower risk of ovulation problems than women consuming ice cream less than once a week. But, of course, ice cream contains refined sugar and calories!
In addition, whole milk has nearly double the calories of skim milk. If you are drinking three glasses of milk a day, trading skim milk for whole means an extra 189 calories a day. That could translate into a weight gain of 15 to 20 pounds over a year if you don't cut back somewhere else. Remember that being overweight can reduce fertility and might therefore negate the potential benefits of the whole fat dairy in the first place.
Once you are pregnant, you can cut back to the low fat dairy again.


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The Gosho states: "the more one praises the blessings of the Lotus Sutra, the more one's own blessings will increase."* When we all praise and appreciate each other's efforts, the abundant blossoming of flowers of good fortune and benefit naturally appear in our lives! Let's really put our heart into taking care of each person and build a beautiful garden of fragrant harmony!
*The Blessings of the Lotus Sutra - WND 1, page 673
Translation of "To My Friends" published in the Seikyo Shimbun, based on President Ikeda's recent guidance, with universal value and application
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016
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July 2018


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Since Tyne started talking properly, I regularly find myself in stitches at some of the things he comes out with.
I thought I'd start sharing some of my favourites as I always find these posts funny when other people share them!
Me: It's time for bed now Tyne
Tyne: No! I don't like go to bed!
Me: You have to go to bed
Tyne: I don't like have to!
Me: It's half past 7 Tyne...
Tyne: I don't like half past 7!
Me: What do you want for dinner Tyne?
Tyne: Fishin Nuggets
Me: Chicken nuggets?
Tyne: No
Me: Fish fingers?
Tyne: No
Me: What then?
Tyne: Fishin nuggets!
A Jehovah's Witness has knocked at the door, Tyne has answered it with Jon...Jon is in mid-conversation with the man who has introduced himself as Kevin...
Tyne: (Points at Jehovah's Witness) Who's that?!
Jon: That's Kevin...
Tyne: I wanna cuddle Kevin!
Changing Noah's nappy, Tyne is watching...
Tyne - pointing to Noah's "Bits": Whats that?
Me - caught off guard: Erm...that's Noah's widgy
Tyne: Noah got a widgy
Me: Yep!
Tyne: I got a widgy too
Me: Yep...
Tyne: I got a biiiiig widgy!
In the car, about to drive away, Tyne's Grandad standing by car waving us off...
Tyne: Bye Gagand!
Gagand: Bye bye Tyne!
Tyne: Gagand?
Gagand: What?
Tyne: I got a big widgy!!
Me: Where shall we go to today Tyne?
Tyne: Go shop!
Me: What shop shall we go to?
Tyne: erm...Mothercurtains!
Tyne comes into the computer room and sits on my lap
Tyne: I wanna be like Mummy...
Starts "typing" on keyboard...
Tyne (while typing): Blah blah blah blah blah!
What are some of your favourite things your children have said?! As always, I'd love to hear from you!
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We present a high-resolution record from a late glacial-Holocene land-snail succession from southeast England. Temperature estimates, derived from the best analogue technique, indicate a cooling trend, between 14 500 and 12 600 calendar years before present (cal yr B.P.) of 4 degrees C in summer and 8 degrees C in winter preceding the Younger Dryas event. The intense warming following the Younger Dryas stadial corresponds to increasing values of the same magnitude in 600 yr. A cooling event, weaker than the Younger Dryas, of 1 degrees C in both seasons is recorded between 8000 and 8500 cal yr B.P. These reconstructions from a European Holocene continental sequence are in agreement,vith fluctuations already described in North Atlantic and Mediterranean cores, ice cores, and African and Tibetan lake records.
100BXTimes Cited:19Cited References Count:32


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* Podiatry Management Annual Surveys


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Elizabeth Peyton
The artist Elizabeth Peyton has contributed more than 170 images of her work, mostly paintings with some works on paper, to the Artstor Digital Library.
Best known for her stylized portraits of friends, pop celebrities, and historical figures, Peyton (b. 1965) creates small-scale, intimate portrayals. Her work is characterized by slender figures with idealized, androgynous features, similar to fashion illustration. While her most typical medium is oil paint, Peyton has also created drawings and prints. Examples of her paintings and drawings are available in Artstor, including portraits of notable sitters such as: artist David Hockney; musicians Kurt Cobain and Liam and Noel Gallagher; actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Chloe Sevigny; historical figures Marie Antoinette and Napoleon Bonaparte; and members of the British Royal family.
A solo exhibition of Peyton's work began at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in 2008, and included venues at the Walker Art Center, and the Whitechapel Gallery. She has also had exhibitions at the Royal Academy, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and the Villa Medici, among others. Peyton has also participated in group exhibitions including Campo at the 1995 Venice Biennale, Greater New York at MoMA PS1 in 2000, and the 2004 Whitney Biennial.
Her work is included in international collections. Among them: the Centre Pompidou; the Kunstmuseum Basel; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Museum of Modern Art.
Want to add your own collection to the Artstor Digital Library? Learn how to contribute


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07 Sep How great leaders inspire action?
Golden circle is a pattern discovered by Simon Sinek why some leaders and organizations they lead consistently outperform others. It consists of three circles where the first is, Why, the second is How and the third What. If you know Why you are doing what you are doing and know How to do it, Sinek claims you'll be successful no matter what you do.
Leadership is very important. At all levels. More than we wished for and more than we want to admit it. Before almost 50 years ago Martin Luther King delivered the extremely inspirational speech "I have a Dream". At the time he was 34 years old. For only if we delve deeper into his speech, we would find that it is no coincidence that Martin Luther King was and still is a remarkable inspiration for many of us.
How could we inspiration that some individuals apparently are able to pass on, transform to the organizational level? Whether we have purely economic organization, public or civil in nature in our minds. Simon Sinek, a visionary, trained as a ethnographer and best known for the discovery of the Golden circle has convincingly shown why some leaders or some organizations are better, more innovative and more successful than others. The pattern is called the Golden Circle.
In a Golden circle pattern there are actually three circles. The first says Why. The one in the middle says How. And the outer third circle says What. And while all the organizations, including all employees of these organizations in the world, are able to explain what they are doing, we would find fewer of those organizations or individuals who can explain how they do what they do. Whether they can explain their value proposition differentiation or what their unique selling proposition is. In short, there are some organizations or individuals that are able to explain their key marketing concepts by answering the question How.
But there are very rare organizations and individuals in the organizations who can tell you Why they do what they do. And with Why it's not about making a profit. Why does Mura (some decades ago textil giant from Slovenia) sews clothes? Why does Elan (that makes one of the most innovative skis in the world) make skis? Why do your neighbor entrepreneur repairs computers? It's not a very easy answer. What is your belief? What is the reason you're doing what you're doing? What is your purpose? Why does your organization exist? What gets you out of bed every morning? And why would anyone care about what you do?
All great leaders communicate the Golden circle from the inside out. Why in the first place. And then what to do.
My mission is to help the economy and public organizations with new business models design. It is my firm belief that design thinking and constructive strategies will lead to happier communities. We'll perform this
- by raising awareness of business (model) design of individuals at the workshops;
- by modeling, prototyping and user orientation as key design thinking benefits; and
- by designing leadership programs that will encourage and allow opportunities to learn and experiment.
Join the ride and we'll change the world together.


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W.i.P. (Work in Progress) is the new Soho offspring of Greenhouse, New York's first eco-friendly nightclub. Located below Greenhouse in the basement of a converted warehouse at 150 Varick Street, W.i.P. is a community center for arts education by day and a sleek, art-inspired nightlife destination after dark.
Copyright © 2011 Misra Group of Companies. All Rights Reserved.


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With the November election getting closer, the sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority's Miami chapter have been working to register voters in the community. But they kept running into a problem: some people were ex-convicts with no idea what their voting rights were.
"We really didn't have an answer for them," Vanessa Byers, chairperson for the chapter's Social Justice and Human Rights Committee, told HuffPost Miami. "The only thing we could do was refer them to the ACLU."


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One of the best gossip stories EVER:
Remember when Hugh Grant attacked a pap in London with a container full of baked beans?
I die.
Last night Hugh was at it again. In New York, walking with a friend, unfortunately he had no beans with him so all of a sudden Hugh decides to kick a photographer in the balls. Captured on video, of course.
Click here to see.
Miserable crusty f-ck.
File photo from Wenn.com
Where are your beans???
One of the best gossip stories EVER:


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Acquisition Corps FA 51 officers are centrally managed by the Acquisition Management Branch within the Force Sustainment Division, Officer Personnel Management Directorate, Human Resources Command (HRC). The Acquisition Management Branch provides U.S. Army Reserve career and assignments management. Army Reserve FA 51 officers are centrally managed by the Acquisition Management Branch at HRC, regardless of basic branch affiliation.
Army National Guard Career and Assignments Management. Army National Guard Title 10 FA 51 officers are managed by the Army National Guard Human Capital Management Office and the Army National Guard Acquisition Career Management Office. Title 32 officers are managed by state adjutants general.
Officer development model. The foundation of FA 51 officer professional development is the experience, education and training required to obtain Defense Acquisition Workforce Initiative Act (DAWIA) certification for the assigned certified acquisition position. All acquisition officers can expect to have ample opportunities to serve in diverse assignments and receive the training required to attain DAWIA certification. Professional military schooling, acquisition-unique training and experience as well as a strong performance over time help officers to be competitive for subsequent positions with increasing responsibilities and challenges.
Policy And law on Acquisition Career Field Certification. Officers are required to obtain a professional certification in accordance with the DAWIA, Public Law 101–510, 10 USC Chapter 87 and other DOD directives and instructions. Certification levels are assigned to each acquisition position: Level I, captain; Level II, major; Level III, lieutenant colonel or colonel. The different levels of certification build upon acquisition skills and competencies gained at each level, including education, training and experience against established criteria. Certification levels are reflected on the officer's official DA Form 4037. Information on current certification requirements can be found in the DAU catalog at http:// icatalog.dau.edu.
Steps to Certification
Step One – Prepare an Officer Records Brief:
The Officer Records Brief (ORB) is an automated, authenticated record of your education, training, and acquisition assignment history. Many of the fields in the ORB are populated automatically when you are assigned to your acquisition position. It is your official acquisition record and it is your responsibility to update and maintain it accurately. The ORB can be accessed from CAPPMIS. Select CAPPMIS on the navigation bar, and then select the ORB tab. CAPPMIS is an integrated set of tools to help serve and manage your acquisition career. It provides access to theERB or ORB, Individual Development Plan (IDP) and the ATRRS Internet Training Application System (AITAS). All three are important to you as an acquisition workforce member.
Step Two – Review Certification Requirements:
The DefenseAcquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) requires that employees meet the acquisition certification requirements (education, training and experience) associated with the acquisition position they encumber within 24 months after assignment. Certification levels are generally based on the grade (or pay band equivalent) of the position as follows: Level I – GS-05 through GS-08; Level II – GS-09 through GS-12; Level III – GS-13 and above. Certification requirements can be found in the DAU icatalog (click on the "Certification & Core + Development Guides" button). Your first priority is to become certified in the ACF and level required by your current acquisition position. The ACF and level required for your acquisition position are shown on your ACRB under Section I (Current Position Data).
Step Three – Prepare an Individual Development Plan (IDP):
Army acquisition workforce members are required to maintain a five-year IDP. Based on the assignment to your initial acquisition position, your IDP is automatically populated with the courses required for your DAWIA certification. Beyond the certification requirements, preparation of the IDP is a joint venture between you and your supervisor. The IDP permits you and your supervisor to identify and track acquisition career objectives in the areas of education, training and experiential opportunities. Objectives should reflect overall broad career goals and specific developmental activities intended to accomplish them. The developmental objectives should be attainable in a reasonable time frame and do not have to be purely acquisition related. They can include items such as functional training, leadership, education, professional activities, and assignment experience that can lead toward the overall achievement of broad career goals. The IDP should be reviewed in conjunction with the normal appraisal cycles (initial review, mid-point review, and final rating period). The IDP can be accessed from CAPPMIS. Select CAPPMIS on the navigation bar, and then select the IDP tab. Note for Total Employee Development (TED) users: Employee course requests, IDP goals and IDP objectives are entered first into TED. TED IDP entries will then flow immediately into CAPPMIS.
Step Four – Submit your IDP for Approval:
Once you have annotated all of your acquisition career goals and have entered any education, training or experience that is required to achieve certification, you may submit your IDP to your supervisor for approval. This approval process is done electronically; therefore, you must ensure your current supervisor's name and correct email address are listed in your IDP. If your current supervisor is not listed in your IDP, please advise your supervisor to log on to the IDP site and add you to his/her employee listing (Supervisor: log in at CAPPMIS, select CAPPMIS on the navigation bar, then select the IDP tab, click on "Supervisor" and then on the "Add Employee(s)" button). Your supervisor will receive a system-generated email notification when you submit your IDP for review and approval. Once your supervisor has approved or denied your request, you will receive email notification. Note for TED users: TED class request, supervisor approvals and other IDP changes will post to the CAPPMIS IDP
Step Five – Apply for Defense Acquisition University (DAU) Training:
After your IDP is approved by your supervisor, you may apply for DAU courses at ATRRS. The ATRRS Internet Training Application System (AITAS) is the web based application system that provides dates, locations, and availability for all DAU training. AITAS works in conjunction with the IDP and allows Army acquisition workforce members to submit their training applications electronically for both distance learning and resident courses. It is important to remember that the IDP is for planning purposes only; it is not the vehicle to register for DAU training. However, you cannot register for any DAU training unless the course is identified on your IDP and the supervisor has approved it. Note to TED users: Notify your TED administrator when you have completed a DAU class, so that TED records can be updated.
Step Six – Apply for Certification:
DAWIA certification is not automatically granted. After completion of the appropriate training, education and experience required by your acquisition position, you must apply for certification through the automated Certification Management System (CMS). The CMS can be accessed from CAPPMIS. Select CAPPMIS on the navigation bar, and then select the CMS tab. After the certifying official reviews your application, you will be notified by email of the approval or denial decision. If approved, the certification will be added to Section X of your ACRB. If your application is denied, a justification will be provided with further instructions, if applicable. Becoming certified in your position is mandatory. Once you are placed into your acquisition position, you have a 24-month grace period to earn your certification. Failure to meet the statutory acquisition career field certification within the grace period may result in various personnel actions such as reassignment, reduction in grade or pay band, loss of consideration for promotion, or separation from Federal service (see Director, Army Acquisition Career Management Memorandum #8). Your command can request a waiver, using DD Form 2905, to give you extra time if mandatory classes are filled or you cannot make certain training schedules required for certification. Please see the Acquisition Workforce Strategy Map for a detailed DAWIA certification roadmap.
Once you are certified…
Apply for Acquisition Corps Membership
At the time of accession, commissioned officers are designated as FA 51 officers and become acquisition workforce candidates. Only officers at the grade of major or above who meet all of the following requirements may be considered for Acquisition Corps membership: 24 semesters of business credit; at least 4 years of experience in an acquisition position in DOD; and DAWIA Level II certification in at least one area of concentration.
Critical Acquisition Positions (CAPs)
The Army Acquisition Executive designates critical acquisition positions based on the criticality of the position to the acquisition program, effort or function supported. All military acquisition positions in the grade of lieutenant colonel and higher are designated as critical acquisition positions, and officers assigned to such positions must be Army Acquisition Corps members upon entering the position. With the exception of key leadership positions, officers must be Level III certified in the acquisition career field designated for the position within 24 months of assignment or possess an approved waiver. In addition, CAPs are assigned the position code of "Z," which indicates that the position can be filled by acquisition officers with either a predominantly program management (Area of Concentration A) or contracting (Area of Concentration C) background at the grade of lieutenant colonel and above. The statutory tenure for all critical acquisition positions is three years; however, project managers of Acquisition Category I programs will have a four-year tenure.
Centralized Selection List (CSL)
A Headquarters, Department of the Army board centrally selects a limited number of high-performing officers and civilians for CSL key billets. The CSL process identifies the most critical organizations that require centrally selected leaders to meet their leadership and management needs. This process selects the best-qualified officers, with the right skills and experiences, to lead Army professionals, prepare for the full spectrum of military operations and manage the Army's resources. The Army's Centralized Command/Key Billet Selection System designates all the Army's CSL positions into one of two categories: CSL Command or CSL Key Billet. All Army Acquisition Corps CSL positions are designated as Key Billets and include project manager, product manager, contracting brigade commander, contracting battalion commander and acquisition director (both at the colonel and lieutenant colonel level).
Operational Assignments
Operational assignments provide an officer the opportunity to use, hone and build on what they learned through the formal education process as well as experience gained through on-the-job training. Operational assignments develop the officer's core competencies and are directly related to the officer's acquisition career field. Operational assignments normally exist at the tactical and operational levels. There are two types of operational assignments:
A Key Developmental (KD) Position
A Key Developmental (KD) Position is one that is deemed fundamental to the development of an officer's primary AOC competencies or deemed critical by the senior Army acquisition leadership to provide experience across the Army's core acquisition mission. Officers should expect to serve in only one KD assignment for 18-24 months. A small percentage of officers will either serve longer than 24 months within their KD assignment or serve in two KD assignments The KD assignments are:
(a) Assistant Program Manager
(b) Contracting Team Leader (Faces of the Force: Maj. Tom Cayia)
(c) Contract Management Officer
Centralized Selection List – Key Billet (CSL-KB)
Centralized Selection List – Key Billet (CSL-KB) is a duty assignment at the lieutenant colonel or colonel rank (or civilian equivalent) requiring specific, highly developed skills and experience, and is deemed so critical to a unit's mission that an individual is selected for assignment by Headquarters, Department of the Army. Officers selected for CSL-KB must complete all prescribed pre-command courses and complete CSL position statutory requirements. Examples of CSL-KB assignments are:
(a) Product or Project Manager
(b) Contracting Battalion or Brigade Commander
(c) Acquisition Director
Broadening Assignments
Broadening Assignments develop an officer's capability to see, work, learn and contribute outside one's own perspective or individual level of understanding for the betterment of both the individual officer and the institution. Broadening opportunities may vary in scope, responsibility and developmental outcomes, and typically fall in one of four major categories: Functional/Institutional; Academia and Civilian Enterprise; Joint or Multinational; and Interagency or Intergovernmental. There are also nominative positions within the broadening domain that will be filled through the applicable nomination process. Broadening opportunities provide exposure to experiences inside and outside of Army organizations, characterized by different organizational cultures and practices. Broadening opportunities can be found within many organizations to include but not limited to: Headquarters, Department of the Army; Office of the Secretary of Defense; Joint Staff; program executive offices; Army Test and Evaluation Command; Army Materiel Command; Army Training and Doctrine Command; defense agencies, Army Corps of Engineers; special mission units; and service in a cross-component billet. Acquisition broadening assignments can be categorized as:
High-Value Position (HVP)
High-Value Position (HVP) deemed as highly mission critical and require an officer who has successfully completed their O6 CSL. Examples of HVP positions include but are not limited to:
(a) Military Assistant to the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
(b) Military Assistant to the Undersecretary of the Army
(c) Chief of Staff for the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT))
(d) Chief of Staff for a Program Executive Officer
(e) Chief of Staff for the Army Contracting Command
(f) Executive Officer to ASA(ALT) Principal Official
Functional Broadening
Functional Broadening is an assignment that provides a developmental opportunity directly related to an officer's primary area of concentration. Examples include but are not limited to:
(a) Test and Evaluation Officer
(b) Science and Technology Advisor
(c) Assistant TRADOC Capabilities Manager
(d) Acquisition Officer
(e) Brigade Contract Management Officer
(f) Expeditionary Contracting Command or Army Contracting Command Staff Officer
(g) Research and Development Contracting Officer
(h) Experimental Test Pilot
(i) Worldwide Individual Augmentation Tasking
(j) Assistant or Service Portfolio Manager
Institutional Broadening
Institutional Broadening: an assignment that provides a developmental opportunity that may or may not directly relate to an officer's area of concentration but increases the officer's understanding of how the Army operates as an institution. Examples include but are not limited to:
(a) Department of the Army Systems Coordinator
(b) ASA(ALT) Action Officer
(c) Action Officer for HQDA G-Staff
(d) Liaison Officer for the Office of the Chief of Legislative Affairs
(e) Investigation Officer for the Office of the Inspector General
Academia and Civilian Enterprise
Academia And Civilian Enterprise: An assignment with industry or within a community of students, scholars and instructors at institutes of higher learning where an officer can gain new perspectives as well as knowledge, skills and abilities not generally obtained from organic experiences, training or education. Examples include Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS) and Training with Industry (TWI). All FA 51 officers may apply for the opportunity to participate in the ACS or TWI programs. Selection is contingent upon the needs of the Army, the officers' promotion potential, their potential for academic success, and their career timeline.
Joint or Multinational Broadening
Joint or multinational Broadening: An assignment with a significant interaction with other services, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), defense agencies or partner nation military organizations at the operational and strategic level. Examples include but are not limited to assignments at:
(a) OSD or Joint Staff
(b) Defense Contract Management Agency
c) Missile Defense Agency
(d) Defense Logistics Agency
(e) Defense Information Systems Agency
(f) National Reconnaissance Office
(g) Unified combatant commands
Interagency or Intergovernmental Broadening
An assignment or experience at U.S government agencies outside DOD, or with partner nation governmental agencies. Examples are assignments at the Office of Defense Cooperation, NATO and the Office of the Program Manager, Saudi Arabian National Guard.
Professional and Self Development
Joint Qualification
The Joint Qualification System acknowledges designated joint billets as well as experience-based joint duty assignments in contributing to the development of joint qualified officers. These assignments, along with the necessary Joint Professional Military Education, culminate with an officer being identified as a fully Joint Qualified Officer and the receipt of the 3L Skill Identifier. Additional information can be found in DODI 1300.19 or by asking your assignments officer.
Mentorship is a powerful tool that can help build competence, leadership skills, self-awareness and morale. FA 51 officers are strongly encouraged to pursue mentorship opportunities at all levels. Senior acquisition officers should actively serve as mentors to junior acquisition officers, to offer their perspective on what it takes to succeed in the Army Acquisition Corps and pass on their knowledge and experience. It is be critical for key leaders to support mentoring efforts publicly. Military leaders must take care to avoid micromanaging mentors and requiring participation in formal mentoring programs. When developing formal mentoring programs, planners should consider vetting mentors and deliberately select those with demonstrated efficacy in other interpersonal relationships. Some of these key interpersonal skills are communication ability, empathy, listening and emotional intelligence. These skills will help to ensure greater success in the mentor role. Supervising and mentoring junior leaders is an integral component of an effective professional development program, while on-the-job experience will fulfill some of the requisites for acquiring tactical and technical proficiency. Leaders must establish a sound process for subordinate development that furnishes the guidelines and establishes the parameters for arming and infusing our subordinates with honed leadership capabilities. Using this knowledge, junior officers as mentees can advance their confidence, skills and capabilities, and grow as leaders.
Captain and Major Development
All officers are encouraged to complete the following education during their time as captains or majors:
(1) The goal is that all officers will have an acquisition relevant master's degree before entering the Acquisition Corps or will participate in the Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS) program to attain an advanced degree.
(2) All acquisition officers en route to their first acquisition assignment will meet the training requirements needed for their next assignment. This curriculum is offered at two institutions: The Army Acquisition Professional Course, a 9-week course at the Army Acquisition Center of Excellence in Huntsville, Alabama; and at the Naval Postgraduate School's 522 Program in Monterey, California. Officers must apply for these programs and should read the current military personnel message for guidance.
(3) Upon completion of training, newly trained captains and majors will be assigned to a position designed to develop their functional understanding in either program management or contracting. FA 51 officers with a primary AOC of program management can expect their first assignment to be an assistant program manager (APM) within an Army program executive office. Experimental test pilots will complete their APM assignment after their first assignment. Army National Guard officers with a primary AOC of program management can expect their first assignment to be an assistant portfolio manager or an assistant program manager. Here, officers must be groomed to receive a range experience to cover vital aspects of program management. FA 51 officers with a primary AOC of contracting can expect their first assignment to be as a contract management officer or team leader within a contracting team for at least 24 months. This will serve as their key developmental assignment. Upon completion of the team assignment, FA 51 officers with a primary AOC of contracting will either be assigned to a broadening assignment or a second contracting team position based on the needs of the Army.
(4) To be competitive for promotion to lieutenant colonel, officers should achieve Military Education Level 4, which for most officers includes satellite Intermediate Level Education and the acquisition Intermediate Qualification Course at the Army Acquisition Center of Excellence. More information can be found at: https://asc.army.mil.
(5) Careful planning and attention to an individual's qualifications and expertise are essential in facilitating an officer's growth to a high level of technical proficiency. Officers in the program management AOC should pay close attention to gaining the necessary experience in not only program management skills, but also science and technology, test and evaluation and contracting. A key developmental assignment with multiple broadening opportunities in a single area of concentration best achieves this goal and facilitates Level III certification before promotion to lieutenant colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel Development
The career development goal for a lieutenant colonel is to leverage acquired acquisition skills in CSL and other critical acquisition positions. Selection to a CSL position represents the pinnacle of service at the lieutenant colonel level, and successful performance in a CSL position serves as an indicator of potential for promotion to colonel and selection to attend SSC. Officers who do not serve in a CSL position will continue to serve an essential role in the success of the Acquisition Corps by providing leadership in critical acquisition position billets. All lieutenant colonels should progressively seek challenging CSL and non-CSL positions, including product manager, contracting battalion commander, acquisition director, product director, Joint and HQDA staff positions, and other key positions. FA 51 officers compete for Senior Service College (SSC) (Military Education Level 1) along with other branches and functional areas. SSC is the highest military educational program available to prepare officers for the positions of greatest responsibility in the DOD.
Colonel Development
The career development goal for a colonel is to serve in a FA 51 CSL Key Billet as project manager, contracting support brigade commander or acquisition director with the objective of developing the knowledge, skills and abilities to influence acquisition outcomes at the strategic level. Colonels successfully completing a CSL assignment are assigned to senior leadership positions with significant and strategic importance to the future of the Army and DOD.
Defense Acquisition University Credentialing Program
The Defense Acquisition University created a Credentialing Program that provides Defense Acquisition Workforce professionals with an opportunity to develop their skills through professional learning experiences, course work, and the direct application of knowledge to a specific skillset.
Career Resources
Select the appropriate icon below to access links to acquisition career resources


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Details and contacts for our academic staff, post-docs and PhD researchers.
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By now you've read about the rampaging Jewish mobs threatening to kill European newspaper editors for a cartoon ridiculing the religious rite of circumcision.
What, you missed it?
That's because no such thing has happened. Yes, there have been angry condemnations of the cartoon run by Dagbladet, Norway's second-largest tabloid, as anti-Semitic. But there's been no violence, no mobs, no blood.
Even so, Dagbladet editors are likening the Jews protesting their cartoon on circumcision to the Muslims offended in 2005 by a now-infamous cartoon lampooning the prophet Mohammed that appeared in a newspaper in neighboring Denmark. The two groups, says Dagbladet, are guilty of a "similar reaction."
In fact, the reactions couldn't be more dissimilar.
Dagbladet's cartoon shows two Jews mutilating a blood-spattered infant with a fork and bolt cutter while professing their faith. Pretty disgusting stuff. Yet despite the sharp complaints, there's been no violence, and no editor at the Oslo daily has been forced to go into hiding from the Jews.
That's a pretty sharp contrast to what ensued after the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Postand published several cartoons of the Muslim prophet, including a provocative one of him with a bomb tucked in his turban. Then we saw violent riots across three continents, attacks on Danish diplomatic buildings, attacks on Christian churches, the death of scores of people, a plot to launch a terror attack on the newspaper offices and bounties put on the heads of the editor and the cartoonist.
We'd say the marked difference between the reactions to the two cartoon incidents represents the difference between expressing legitimate grievances and outright intimidation. If there's an obscenity here, it's the cheap attempt to lump them together.