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A mere generation ago, asthma was one of those rare chronic illnesses that most parents just whispered about, solid foods were given in the first weeks of life, and eczema was a sign of aging skin. Now it seems every home with a baby has a nebulizer in the bathroom cabinet, solids are often delayed until 6 months of age, and infant eczema is as common as cradle cap.
Allergies are one of the fastest growing chronic diseases in childhood. Consider this: In recent decades, rates of eczema in the United States have tripled and those of asthma have nearly doubled. One in 20 children under age 3 now has a food allergy.
What's behind these sky-rocketing statistics? Strangely enough, we may be too darn clean: Some experts link the increase to improved hygiene, immunizations, and antibiotics that have dramatically reduced the number of diseases that threaten our bodies. As a result, the immune system—which normally protects the body—overreacts to harmless substances, such as pollen, mold, pet dander, or food. When exposed to these "allergens," the body responds with symptoms like swelling, hives, and itching.
The uptick in allergy rates may also be due to lifestyle changes: As Americans spend more time indoors, their exposure to allergens such as pets and dust mites increases. A greater awareness and improved diagnosis may play a role as well.
Having allergies early in life increases a child's risk for developing other related conditions, like hay fever, later on. What's more, tending to an allergic infant can give you a case of the crankies, too—nursing moms may be forced to forego favorite foods, for instance, and slathering skin softeners on squirmy babies just adds another level of complication to an already exhausting childcare routine.
While babies with a family history are at greatest risk, (a child has a 25 percent chance of having allergies if one parent is affected, and a 60 to 70 percent chance if both parents are), increasing numbers of babies without a family history are developing allergies. The good news is that there are ways to minimize your child's risk, spot the earliest signs, and keep symptoms under control, if your baby turns out to be one of the countless affected.
Food Allergies
A true allergic reaction—when the body forms antibodies against allergens—is different and more severe than an adverse reaction to food, such as lactose intolerance, when the body has trouble digesting dairy products. While approximately 6 to 8 percent of babies will have a food allergy by a year of age, many will have outgrown them by the time they're 4 to 5 years old.
Six foods cause 90 percent of food allergies in children: dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (such as pecans and walnuts), soy, and wheat. A breastfed baby can develop a food allergy if she's exposed to an allergen (such as cow's milk or peanuts) via breast milk. Her mom can continue nursing as long as she eliminates the allergy-causing food from her own diet.
Signs of a food allergy include a rash around the face, hives, vomiting, diarrhea, trouble breathing, or swelling of the mouth and throat. The reaction usually occurs within a few minutes of eating the suspect food and can range from a mild rash to life-threatening anaphylaxis, which can cause breathing complications and loss of consciousness. Severe reactions are usually due to nut or fish allergies, and these are seldom outgrown.
An allergy to cow's milk proteins—from formula or breast milk—is common in the first year of life. Babies with a milk allergy are more likely to later develop hay fever or asthma. Many infants who are allergic to cow's milk-based formula are also allergic to soy-based formula and will need a hypoallergenic one.
Skin or blood tests can help pinpoint a child's food allergy. The results are not always easy to interpret, however, as positive results can occur without a true allergy. You may be asked to keep a chronological food diary for a few weeks, in which you write down everything your baby eats (and that you eat, if you're nursing) and any symptoms that you notice. Another method involves avoiding a suspect food for about two weeks, and then reintroducing it at the doctor's office where emergency care is available.
The first step is to eliminate the offending food from your child's diet—not so easy when you consider how many foods contain milk, eggs, or wheat, for instance. Favorites like pasta, pizza, and mac 'n cheese can become immediate no-no's. Shopping and meal preparation take longer as well if you have to wade through labels and recipes to spot hidden ingredients. By January 2006, however, manufacturers will be required to clearly label the presence of allergens in food products.
You'll also need to inform friends, relatives, and caregivers about your child's food allergy, and be prepared for an accidental exposure. Antihistamines can be given to treat symptoms, and if a severe reaction has occurred in the past, your pediatrician may prescribe epinephrine that you can administer if there's an emergency.
If you or your partner have allergies, you can lower your baby's risk by breastfeeding (if it's possible) and using a hypoallergenic formula if you're supplementing. Your pediatrician may recommend that you avoid eating common food allergens, such as milk or nuts, during breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends delaying the age at which certain foods are introduced into your child's diet: Cow's milk, wheat, and soy should be delayed for at least one year; egg white for two years; and fish, shellfish, and peanut butter for three years. (Nuts should be avoided until age 4 because they're a choking hazard.) Your doctor may even suggest that you avoid eating peanuts during pregnancy.
Even if your baby doesn't have a family history, breastfeeding can reduce the risk of allergies, as can delaying the introduction of egg white, wheat, and cow's milk until your baby turns 1, and peanut butter and shellfish until age 2. To learn more, contact The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network at 800-929-4040 or www.foodallergy.org.
Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a common, chronic skin problem that causes intense itching and inflammation, and is characterized by flare-ups. Eczema affects about 17 percent of children, with 60 percent of cases beginning in the first year of life and 85 percent beginning by age 5.
In infants and young children, eczema is often an early sign of allergy problems, and 75 percent of affected children will go on to develop another form of allergy, such as asthma or hay fever. Often, eczema outbreaks are waning or have completely disappeared by the time respiratory allergy symptoms surface. In 25 percent of cases in young children, eczema is triggered by food allergies, such as milk or egg white. It has also been linked with the early introduction of solids to a baby's diet (before the standard 4 to 6 months of age).
Certain airborne allergens, such as dust mites and animal dander, can make eczema worse. Other triggers include: excessively dry skin (from low humidity, frequent washing, or harsh soaps); restrictive or wool clothing; fabric softeners; overheating and sweating; or saliva from drooling. While eczema occurs more often in babies with a family history, about 20 percent of children with eczema don't have a related food allergy or a family history.
Eczema has been called "an itch thatrashes" because itching is such a prominent symptom and the inevitable scratching further damages and inflames the skin. In babies, eczema typically begins as a dry, crusty rash on the cheeks and spreads behind the ears and to the scalp and body, usually sparing the diaper area. Infants may try to relieve the itching by rubbing their face against the crib sheet, irritating the skin. When a baby's skin is broken by scratching, bacteria and other germs on the skin surface can cause an infection. Fortunately, symptoms tend to improve as a child gets older, and in many infants, eczema has cleared completely by the time they're 3 to 5 years old.
Children with eczema often have high blood levels of the antibody involved in allergic reactions. Sometimes skin or blood tests are performed to identify food allergens that can aggravate the condition.
The toughest part of treating eczema is to break the destructive "itch-scratch" cycle that just makes it worse. Applying moisturizing creams frequently is your best bet here. When giving your baby a bath, use only mild soaps or non-soap cleansers. To prevent the skin from drying out, apply a thick moisturizer to the whole body immediately after patting your child dry.
Loose-fitting, 100 percent cotton clothing is recommended, including long-sleeved pajamas to prevent nighttime scratching. Use laundry products free of dyes and perfumes, and wash new clothes before your child wears them. Double-rinse clothing, towels, and bedding. While daily maintenance takes extra time, it's easier than treating a flare-up.
Your baby's doctor may also suggest that you eliminate a suspected food, such as milk or eggs, or try a low-allergenic diet for seven to ten days to see if symptoms improve.
If itching is severe enough to disturb sleep, applying cool, wet washcloths at bedtime can help. If necessary, a sedating antihistamine can be prescribed to help your baby sleep. When skin is inflamed, topical steroids may be given to reduce swelling. (These medications are given only for flare-ups because they can cause side effects when used too frequently.) Two new non-steroid, topical anti-inflammatory medications, Elidel and Protopic, have recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use on children aged 2 and up, and studies suggest that these are safe for babies as young as 3 months.
If your child's skin becomes infected, oral or topical antibiotics can clear the infection and improve the skin condition. Keep your child's fingernails clean and short to prevent scratching and introducing bacteria.
Mothers of eczema-prone infants can reduce their baby's risk by breastfeeding and avoiding allergenic foods in their own diet. If you supplement breastfeeding, use a hypoallergenic formula. The risk of eczema is also reduced by delaying the introduction of allergenic foods in a baby's diet. To learn more, contact the National Eczema Association for Science and Education (800-818-7546).
Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition in which the tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs (the bronchi) become inflamed and narrowed. Among children who develop asthma, nearly half show their first symptoms before age 1. About 70 to 80 percent of children with asthma also have allergies—especially to airborne allergens such as animal danders, pollens, and dust mites. For these babies, allergens can trigger asthma flare-ups. Keep in mind that asthma doesn't come and go—the bronchial tubes are not only abnormal during an acute asthma attack, but remain inflamed and oversensitive during symptom-free periods as well.
Certain triggers, such as pollen, respiratory viruses, or tobacco smoke, can cause the bronchial tubes to narrow. This tightening is made worse by inflammation, a thickening of the muscles lining the tubes, and an increased production of mucus.
Rates of asthma have dramatically increased in infants and toddlers, and while the reason is not known for certain, factors that are suspected to play a role include: exposure to cigarette smoke, air pollution, and pet dander; early entry into childcare (which brings an increased exposure to viral illnesses); an early end to breastfeeding; and infection with respiratory syncytial virus. Other culprits include cockroaches and dust mites. A history of asthma and/or allergy in a parent, especially the mother, is the greatest predictor of asthma in a baby.
An acute asthma attack creates cough and congestion, rapid or difficult breathing, and a whistling noise when exhaling. A baby may be anxious and restless and struggling to breathe. Between acute bouts, she may cough frequently, especially at night.
Wheezing in an infant may simply be due to "reactive airways," rather than true asthma. Because infant and toddler airways are extra sensitive, they become narrowed easily, for example, during a respiratory illness or when exposed to cigarette smoke. In fact, only one third of infants who have bouts of wheezing in their first year will go on to have asthma in later childhood.
If your baby is coughing or wheezing, her doctor will likely first try to rule out medical conditions besides asthma. Skin and blood tests may be helpful in identifying any related allergies. You may be asked to keep a diary of your baby's symptoms for several weeks to try to identify asthma triggers in your child. About 70 percent of children with asthma are sensitive to cat or dog allergens. Sadly, parents may need to find a new home for the family pet.
Children with asthma usually require both daily "controller" medications, to reduce bronchial inflammation, and "rescue" treatment medications (known as bronchodilators), to quickly relax and widen the bronchial tubes during asthma attacks. In babies, medication can be given by a nebulizer that converts liquid medicine into a fine mist, an inhaler with a face mask, or oral syrup.
Children at greatest risk for severe asthma attacks are those whose disease is not well-controlled on a daily basis. Ask your child's doctor to provide you with a written instruction plan. Since asthma flare-ups are often triggered by related allergies, reducing your baby's exposure to irritants such as tobacco smoke, air pollution, or cold winter air can be a big help.
In addition to breastfeeding and avoiding tobacco smoke, it may be possible to delay or prevent asthma in high-risk infants by using air conditioning to keep airborne allergens to a minimum, not having a furry pet; and eliminating dust catchers like stuffed animals and drapes in your child's room. Since the influenza virus is a strong asthma trigger, an annual flu vaccine, beginning at 6 months of age, can help prevent acute attacks. To learn more, contact The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology (800-822-2762) or the The Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics (800/878-4403).
Pediatrician Marianne Neifert, M.D., is the author of Dr. Mom's Guide to Breastfeeding.


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The best way to keep up to date with Basford United Football Club
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What precision farming has done for other aspects of agriculture, it might also do for insect control.
Precision farming, a marriage literally made in heaven between space age technology and personal and pocket computers, enables farmers to download a wide array of information from orbiting satellites to guide fertilizer and chemical applications — a technique that has resulted in tremendous cost savings.
Insect experts such as Kathy Flanders believe the technology also could be adapted to insect scouting, a tedious process that, in some cases, may involve turning over virtually every leaf in a field or pasture to detect the presence of pests — an equally daunting task when soilborne pests are involved.
That's why Flanders, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System entomologist and Auburn University associate professor of entomology and plant pathology, finds precision farming technology so promising.
She and other entomologists already are using the GPS mapping techniques to log exactly where an insect sample comes from and to develop highly accurate maps of an area's topography. They're also using soil conductivity measurements provided by the technology to identify the areas with the highest levels of moisture-holding capacity — part of an overall strategy to construct a clearer picture.
"If the insects turn up in the same place year after year, it leads you to ask what it is about that spot that makes it so ideally suited to the pests," Flanders says. "So, if you can figure out what the insects like, you know where to start looking."
"The ultimate goal is to become better able to predict where insects — in this case, ground-based insects — are most likely to be found," Flanders says. "We will never be rid of scouting altogether, but we may be able to use the techniques as predictive tools to determine where our scouting should be directed.
"Once we can begin predicting with a reasonable degree of accuracy where the insects will show up year after year, half the battle is won leading to insect control strategies that are far more effective but far less expensive."
Flanders is especially interested in using the technology to predict where white grubs — larvae associated with several species of beetles — are most likely to cluster in pasturelands.
Scientists already know, for instance, that some beetles prefer laying eggs in areas of heavy organic matter, a fact confirmed in a study Flanders and one of her graduate students conducted at Auburn University's Upper Coastal Plain Agricultural Research Center near Winfield. Maps of one research paddock, for example, confirmed that the beetle populations were heavily concentrated in the areas where the boiler litter was applied.
"It was a difference of night and day," she recalls.
Flanders is especially enthusiastic over the role this technology ultimately will play in helping her and other scientists control populations of soil borne pests for which effective chemical control measures currently aren't available.
"We currently don't have products labeled that are effective in soil against these types of pests," she says. "So, learning as much as we can about these pests may help us identify biological control methods or to alter the physical environment in ways to reduce their numbers."
Fire ant control is one area where precision farming techniques may prove especially effective, she says. Fire ant mounds often can be mapped so that baits can be applied more selectively.
High-accuracy mapping provided through precision farming ultimately may enable farmers and others to keep better track of how well control measures worked or didn't work, Flanders says.


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What's in a price tag?
Lots. Consider your red headed blogger here; while I dream of the days when I can buy @ Chambers without looking at price tags, (even though every bottle of wine I buy is tax deductible), most of what I spend is in the price category Robin Goldstein addresses in his The Wine Trials, 175 wines under $15 with an occasional stretch to under $20, and a few times a year splurge to under $45.
If I stopped buying wine I could almost afford health insurance (not quite), but still, the point is that I do choose wines that could have made Robin's book.
Here's what I like about his wildly popular paperback.
The man who won a Wine Spectator award for a phony Italian wine list wrote it.
The front chapters are very well done. He discusses the fact that price does not necessarily have a correlation to taste. He takes on LVMH for the amount of money spent on advertising and that cost is sent over to the customer. Bravo. Well done. Of course what about Mionetto? They also advertise, but never mind. Also there is no Duboeuf included. And, he lambasts one particular palate for driving the prices on bordeaux. (Who might that be, we wonder). Robin's beef with Eric Asimov was amusing (the merits of blind tasting), which is a problematic way of writing a wine recommendation book, as sometimes knowledge of the producer is necessary. Most importantly: he clearly shows how cheap industrial/conventional wines are preferable to expensive ones. In other words, when shopping 'brands' go cheap.
Another plus is that he sums up taste trends he has seen.
This is excellent because it give me a good sense of the market changes, where the bean counters see their consumer and how they've adjusted wines to suit their tastes. In other words, he tells me about a whole section of wines I categorically ignore. Brands.
He missed a great opportunity by avoiding real wines in the book. There are practically none. Nor does he address the issue in hia narrative. (In a recent Twitter @ Robin did point this out: 10000 cases is discussed in Wine Trials text; it's to maximize the book's national relevance & usefulness. I counter that one, with most states allowing wine shipping, this is less of an issue, what this does however, is help perpetuate the myth that all wine is the same.)
Now, look at this line. "Our blind tastings have consistently shown, again and again, that people consistently prefer a $9 Spanish Cava to that $40 Veuve--and even to a $150 Dom Perignon."
Well, what about putting up as comparison a $40 Lassaigne or a $24 Montbourgeau cremant or a $150 Selosse Initiale? Yes, those are way under 10,000 cases. Okay, what about Pol Roger, Parigord Cremant de B, Cave Saumur or Vertice, a sparkler from Portugal?)
Give the drinker something to work with, other wise we're comparing Target to H & M, or cardboard tomatoes from Mexico against ones from Canada.
For a real approach to consumer journalism, the book should be rightfully titled, "The Best of Supermarket Wine," because, those are the wines between the sheets. (caveat: Gobelsburger Gruner? Large production but still, how did that get in there? Nice to see, and the only wine included in those 175 I would buy.)
I'm not saying that the person looking in this book would appreciate the wines of Guion, or even the blind tasters, but more people are and charmed at something pure and simple, then the author could have ever expected. I'm not sure a consumer guide to shopping soda in the supermarket is really that much of a service, but on the other hand, bringing back the pluses, this book is much better written than it needs to be.


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Recent images :
- M35 'Gun truck'
- Fleet support vessels, RFA Sir Galahad, Sir Bedivere and Sir Tristram
- Chesters Roman Fort - East gate
- Type 21 Frigate - HMS Alacrity
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- English Electric Lightning F53
- American War of Independance - Loyalist fighter
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- American War of Independance - Loyalists
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Scenes from a battle re-enactment. - MUR3_battle2
Images copyright © Graham K Cook. Click on the entry for a larger version
Scenes from a re-enactment of a WW1 engagement from the finale of the Murton History festival 2009
History at Murton 3 - Murton Park, York, England. April 2009


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A sexual act involving two partners wherein one partner does a prolonged handstand and allows the second person to insert approximately 40-50 ice cubes down their anus. Once all the ice cubes have been tucked into place, allow 5 minutes for the ice to melt. Now, person 2 will reach around the abdomin of person 1 and squeeze tightly as if performing the Heimlich Maneuver. If all goes according to plan, a blast of cold water will shoot from partner 1's anus. Partner 2 should try to catch as much of the water in his/her mouth as possible. Swallowing is optional.
Chuck promised to give me a Cosby Sweater if I allowed him to drink from the Cold Water Fountain.
by Circadian Hour March 22, 2008


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Holiday Book Sale
Members Private Sale
Date and Time:
December 13, 2001 - 4:00PM to 8:00PM
Event Location:
Poets House, Spring Street
Give the gift of poetry—to yourself, your family and your friends. Our Holiday Book Sale offers thousands of books at bargain prices. All books are duplicate copies from our 40,000 volume (and growing) collection and all proceeds benefit the permanent collection.
Event Sponsored By:
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Event Type:
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Watch: Amour
Directed by Michael Haneke (2012, Austria)
A pigeon flies through an open window of an elderly couple's apartment. An aging piano teacher, partially paralyzed from a stroke, struggles to accept the spoonful of food offered to her by her husband's trembling hand. An elderly man stares intently at a piano, imagining his dying wife seated before him and playing the music that filled their lives. Such are the deceptively commonplace and yet all together riveting scenes that make up acclaimed director Michael Haneke's new film Amour.
Receiving the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival as well as numerous Academy Award nominations including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress, Amour tells the story of Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva). They are an ageing French couple, who after years of marriage are facing their final days together.
Filmed almost entirely within the confines of their softly lit apartment and surrounded by a lifetime's worth of accumulated paintings, books, and memories, Georges and Anne renegotiate their relationship after Anne's sudden stroke. Haneke's often-stationary camera patiently observes the couple's daily interactions that Trintignant and Riva suffuse with tremendous depth. Although Anne's body becomes sadly contorted and unresponsive, she conveys with her eyes a soul with deep knowledge and awareness. Although Georges lacks strength and sure balance, he conveys conviction and self-assurance as he stands up to the criticisms of a questioning daughter and abrasive caretaker.
Lighter moments are also struck that give us a glimpse of the wider range of experiences of these two lovers, such as Anne's playful explorations in an electric wheelchair. In doing this, Amour conveys the fragility, confusion, frustrations, and joys of a married couple in their twilight years with a dignity and self-knowledge rarely seen in cinema.
Yet, for all of its moments of love and tenderness the film also contains challenging moments of cruelty and violence. These have their weight and seriousness, and the church's positions on some of the moral and ethical situations presented in the film are well known. However, it can be hoped that these do not overshadow the film's tremendous strengths.
As Hollywood films increasingly portray love as the overly romanticized and inherently fleeting sole-possession of the young, Amour countermines expectations by unsentimentally envisioning an enduring marriage through the struggles of old age. Haneke's film shines a light upon a love as heart-wrenchingly intense and real as any other. Their end may come with the moral strain of the films of Krzysztof Kieslowski or the tragedy of Shakespeare, but as Anne pages through an old photo-album of their lives together and offers her assessment, "It's beautiful…" how can we disagree?


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Towson University
Best Practices for Course Material Selection and Usage
academic freedom to select textbooks and course materials that the
faculty enjoys is accompanied by the responsibility to choose materials
that support a student's learning process by being both course
appropriate and affordable. The following are best practices designed to
maximize the usage of adopted textbooks and course materials and to
support the intent of Maryland College Textbook and Affordability Act of
2009 as well as USM Policy.
Course Material Selection Process:
it clear to publisher sales representatives that price is an important
factor in the decision-making process. Course materials that deliver
high quality at a reasonable cost to students should be selected
whenever possible. Price and cost information may be requested from the
publisher or University Store though both are subject to change.
This information includes title, author, edition, publisher and most importantly the ISBN (International Standard Book Number), which is the unique identifier of each publication.
"Bundle" is defined as one or more college textbooks or other
supplemental material packaged together to be sold as course materials
for one price. Bundle only essential material that will actually be used
in the course. If one-time-use materials are included in the bundle,
consider the impact this may have on the students' ability to resell the
other materials back to the University Store or to other students.
Publishers will assign a unique ISBN to a bundle to identify it as a
publication different from the single textbook for inventory purposes.
frequent change of textbook editions increases the costs of course
materials for students, both in terms of the purchase of new textbooks
and the decreased value of used books that are sold back to the
University Store.
the University Store so that used books are available and those
editions can be bought back at the Used Book Buyback for a higher price.
If a
portion of a larger work is essential to the course, consider placing
that portion on reserve in the library or making it available online or
as a custom course packet . All such material must be offered in
compliance with copyright regulations. The University Store provides a
custom course packet service as a means of making essential information
available in a more affordable format.
the same book for all sections of the same course maximizes the
students' opportunity to receive higher prices for their used books thus
defraying the high cost of textbooks.
Chairpersons are encouraged to remind instructors of the Best Practices
for selecting course materials especially the importance of the timely
submission of book orders to the University Store.
Course Material Ordering:
law, a complete and accurate list of all required and recommended
course materials must be made available online on the University Store's
website http://store.towson.edu
as a result of the textbook order process. Therefore, faculty who use
course materials must submit an order to the University Store so that
the title information is included in the online listing.
also expect the University Store to have all course materials available
for purchase. This is especially important for those students who are
purchasing their course materials with financial aid and the campus
debit OneCard, which are not accepted forms of payment for other stores
and online sites.
deadlines are established to give adequate time to assess the
availability of course materials, especially used books, and to compile
the title list for the Used Book Buyback. When the University Store has
book orders for specific titles, students are paid a higher price for
used copies of those titles to meet the store's inventory needs. Course
material information is also needed by specific deadlines to comply with
the USM Policy that requires the University Store to publish Fall
Semester course material information online by the preceding May 1 and
Spring Semester course material information by the preceding December 1.
Indicate to the University Store and to students that a text is required only
if it will actually be used in the course. Otherwise indicate that the
text is recommended. The University Store usually orders fewer copies of
recommended course materials because fewer students purchase books that
are not required.
will make these acknowledgements as a step in the process of submitting
an online order for textbooks and course materials to the University
Store, which has been determined to be
the most convenient method of recording this information. However, any
questions or concerns regarding faculty compliance with the
acknowledgement process will not be administered by the University
Store, but will be referred to the Provost's Office for review.
Changes to Course Material Selections:
accurate course material information for a semester is listed online by
the University Store, the course material selections may only be
changed if a sufficient supply of a title is unavailable, the instructor
is reassigned by the academic department, or the course is cancelled.
Requests for changes under any other circumstances must be authorized by
the Department Chairperson. This practice protects customers and the
University Store from loss should they have already purchased and
received the book based upon the instructor's original book order.
University Store informs customers about the required or recommended
status of each title both in its online title listing and on shelf tags
in the store. This designation is based upon the instructor's book
order. Situations in which faculty list a title as required on the book
order, but do not use it as a required course material increase the
overall cost of textbooks for students and cause misunderstandings among
customers, faculty and the University Store with regard to refunds for
course materials.
Course Material Usage:
relate the value of a textbook to the retail price of the required book
and the extent to which the instructor uses a book for assignments and
exams that are based on the book. Explain to students why specific
course materials are chosen and how the text fits within the course.
the effectiveness of course materials with an end-of-semester course
evaluation and use this information in future course material selection
Date: November 3, 2009
Revised: November 6, 2009


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Candid, Critical, and Compassionate
For years I have been deeply critical of Israel as I have slowly awoken to the plight of the Palestinian people. Knowing that my understanding of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was superficial, I welcomed Shavit's first hand account as an Israeli journalist affiliated with the Israeli peace movement.
Although Shavit's book is way too long and at times repetitive, I found his accounting to be remarkably candid and critical - while it was also engaging, insightful, and compassionate. He presents the historical context for Zionism (the persecution and annihilation of European Jews), but makes it clear that the Jews saved themselves at the expense of the Palestinians. His description of the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people is deeply touching and profoundly sad.
Shavit does an excellent job of illuminating the evolving nature of Zionism and the State of Israel over the decades and helps to explain why Israeli politics is so dysfunctional and Israeli society so polarized. Consider, for example, that the founders of Israel were Eastern European, largely secular, Jews, while successive waves of immigrants, who did not fight in the war that established Israel, came from countries with a very different historical and religious context ( e.g., in the 1950's Jews from Muslim majority countries or in the 1990's Jews from the former Soviet Union).
Shavit makes it clear that the settlements in the West Bank are another catastrophe and that the future of Israel, the Palestinians, and all who are allied with these two people (most of the world, that is) depends on a just resolution. He has no prescription for resolving this intractable mess, but he helps his readers to understand the mutually incompatible truths that these two ancient people hold that maintain the conflict.
For the life of me I can't understand why other reviews were critical of the narration. Boehmer did an excellent job.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 01-26-14
Appealing characters in an improbable story.
This was my first Sparks story. Beautifully written, the story is very well developed with characters who have remarkable depth of character. Although most of the story follows the day to day life of a sorority girl and a bull riding guy (highly unlikely but warmly developed), the story alternates with sections devoted to Ira, a very old man in a fight for his life whose life becomes forever intertwined with the improbable lovers. Overall a very good story.
McLarty did an excellent job as Ira. LaVoy is outstanding as well but she struggles to effectively speak for male voices.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 01-26-14
Quite a disappointment.......
I am a big fan of Dawkins. His book the God Delusion has been one of the most influential in my life and the Selfish Gene was ground breaking in the 70's and is still relevant today. So it was with great enthusiasm that I dove into his autobiography.
Although most authors shouldn't read their own works, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Dawkins. He is charming and funny. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed hearing about his ancestors, his childhood in Africa, and the sad life he endured as a little boy sent away to boarding school. I was also able to get a sense of his budding intelligence and his "appetite for wonder."
But that is the only good news in this book. For reasons only he knows, as he moves into his early adult years and begins to teach at university, he becomes bogged down in very detailed and pedantic discussions about some of his research. My god, it was tedious and uninteresting. Then the book is over and he has yet to get to the 70's when he wrote the Selfish Gene - the part of his life that I was most interested in and for which he is best known. I was fed up and disappointed by the end of the book. Unless you have an unquenchable interest in all things Dawkins, use your time more wisely and listen to one of his other books and hope that his next installment is more interesting.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 01-26-14
Is this the work of a young, evolving writer?
I love stories of immigrants and people moving between cultures and I was attracted to find out more about Africans in America and their efforts to adapt to America while retaining their ties back home. Although some of these stories were able to accomplish just that, many of these short stories were not well developed and all ended abruptly. Many of the stories were also very pretentious and the author seemed preoccupied with characters attending prestigious colleges. Ultimately, I wondered if these were early works by an evolving writer that were published after some of her more mature works found success.
Maddingly,there was absolutely no break between stories and it could take several minutes to realize a new story had started!
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 01-26-14
Inventive, Engaging, & Surprising
Lee has created a new world where charter villages, facilities, and counties people try to cope with a post apocalyptic world that has forced them to adapt and to find meaning. Each of these different groups must also struggle to survive (easily if you are a charter person, with a lot of hard work if you live in a facility, and with great difficulty if you live in the counties).
Lee's story follows the life of Fan, a young woman who lives in a facility, BMore (formerly Baltimore). Due to events that are never totally clear, she leaves home and travels through the counties and eventually a charter village. Very engaging and repeatedly surprising - right up to the end- Fan - and the reader - are confronted by the struggle to survive, life and death decisions of who to trust, and the existential need to define a sense of purpose and meaning in life.
I highly recommend this very original work. I was never bored and I always looked forward to listening. Although it is never clear who the narrator is and there is very little first person dialog, I hope Lee will follow up with more work that explores what it means to be fully human while facing an uncertain future.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 01-26-14
What a Hoot!
I had never heard of Harrison or Brown Dog before this collection came out. I am so glad I took a chance on something new! Brown Dog is a rascal who drinks too much, womanizes too much, and works too little. Although not politically correct, I identified with him and laughed out loud as he found a way to make ends meet in the UP (Upper Peninsula of Michigan).
Although many will be turned off by this simple and self centered man, he is also thoughtful, soulful, and loyal. He takes care of and helps out those he comes in contact with and doesn't exploit those who are down on their luck. Happy and content to fish, and able to survive on very little, I delighted in his full on hedonism and acceptance of life as he found it.
What a hoot!
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 10-06-13
Outstanding - Insightful - Transformative.
I will never think of blacks, the South, or race relations between whites and blacks in the same way. Wilkerson has done an outstanding job of bringing to life what it was like for blacks living in the South and what motivated millions of blacks to leave the South for the North, Northeast, and West over a period of decades starting around the time of WWI.
Her story closely follows three individuals, along with short stories of other people and her family, mixed in with a lot of sociological research. Although not a page turner, I was never bored and I learned so much about American History that I never knew well or understood at all. At its heart, this is a story about the impact of 400 years of slavery, abuse, oppression, and discrimination on a group of people. Wilkerson goes way beyond the sorrow, however, to focus on the strength, determination, and grit it took for blacks to survive and to make it out of the South. She is an excellent writer and she never sensationalizes the story nor does she lecture or sermonize.
This is the first time I have listened to Robin Miles narrate a story. She did a top notch job. Her Southern accents for men and women seemed spot on.
12 of 13 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 09-10-13
Love in the Time of Cancer
Young, in love, and sick with cancer. This is the story of Hazel and Gus - two adolescents with different types of cancer who meet in a support group. I was so ready to not like this book and I did not think I would have any trouble fending off the strong emotion and sentimentality that can accompany stories about young people dying. I was wrong on both accounts - I really liked this story and there were times when the story earned the strong emotions I felt.
But this isn't a story about dying - it is a story about being young and in love - and sick with cancer. The story doesn't focus on the cancer or dying, but doesn't hide these issues either. Equal parts thoughtful, touching, and funny, Green has created very credible characters going through extraordinary life circumstances.
Rudd does an excellent job. Her voice for Hazel is spot on - edgy, defensive, self-conscious, scared, sarcastic, and funny.
This book is very much worth the listen.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 08-25-13
Great Start - Weak Finish
Benacquista can write! This is a well written story that introduces us to the "Blake" family living in Normandy, France. The Blakes are ordinary in every sense but one - they are in the witness protection program because Fred Blake was a Mafioso king pin who ratted out his peers and now must hide because the entire Cosa Nostra is looking for him.
The book seems like it is in three parts. Part one introduces us to each of the four Blakes and the FBI agents who must watch them. This section is interesting and funny as we get to know the characters and learn what life is like in France for a bunch of Newark, NJ, transplants. The Blake children, in particular, are well developed, quirky, and interesting. Part two is a closer look at life in the Cosa Nostra and the life that Fred lived before he testified. This part might be interesting to you if you like stories about the Mafia. The third part looks at the disintegration of the Blake family and how the past catches up with them. Considering how well developed and plausible everything had been before this section, it is very disappointing to have an ending that is not as carefully developed and that never has a credible ring.
Ballerini is an outstanding narrator. This is the second book I have listened to that he narrated (cf: The Beautiful Ruins). He is one of the best and reason alone to listen to this book.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Reviewed: 08-22-13
A Who Dunnit Set in Pre-WWII Moscow
Not a great story, but a good story set in pre-WWII Moscow. Although not a page turner, I never lost interest and I enjoyed the novel setting and cast - a police detective investigating a murder caught between warring factions of the secret police. Ryan does a good job of portraying life in pre-WWII Moscow and he creates a sense of tension while helping to illuminate what it was like to fear the state and its informers.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful


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Despite the stated goals, experienced Arena players have frequently disagreed with the effects of certain card rarity choices on game balance. Common cards make up the bulk of Arena decks, so the choice of assign strong cards such as
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. [citation needed]
Rarity in
cards serves as a rough indication of quality, but an inconsistent indication of value in play. Likewise, for
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cards and those from expansion card sets , rarity is a consistent indicator of card scarcity and crafting cost. However, for cards in other sets, rarity may bear no relation to the difficulty of acquiring cards.
Legendary cards boast some of the most powerful effects in the game, and adding a single well-chosen legendary to a deck otherwise lacking in high rarity cards can measurably improve the deck and directly win games. Some high rarity cards may also represent improved versions of lower rarity cards, providing fairly straightforward upgrades for decks using these cards. In most beginner decks, adding almost any legendary is likely to improve the deck, and in many lower-rank games, drawing and playing a lone legendary minion can single-handedly turn the tide of battle and win the game. Low-level battles are sometimes decided by who is able to draw their
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However, despite the undeniable power of many legendaries, rarity is not the prime determinant of victory in matches. Overall deck composition (as well as skill, luck and match-ups) is a far larger factor, and despite the power of many legendaries, most top-level players choose to include only a handful legendaries in their decks. Streamers such as
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have demonstrated the unimportance of rarity by reaching Legend rank using no legendaries, while some such as TotalBiscuit have even constructed decks composed entirely of legendary cards, in order to demonstrate how ineffective and cumbersome such decks would be.
Ultimately, while higher rarity cards offering straight upgrades to lower rarity cards can generally be relied upon to present a superior option, the optimal deck for many deck types is often composed primarily of low and medium rarity cards, including many basic class cards. Many lower rarity cards provide essential functions and utility not found in higher rarity options, as well as low mana cost cards invaluable for early and mid game presence. As a result, a free
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may turn the legendary Lord Jaraxxus into a swift defeat.
Many skilled jobs require a considerable amount of learning while doing, but learning requirements have reached unrealistic levels in many roles and work situations today. This phenomenon of "too much to learn" is not only feeding the perception of critical skills shortages in many sectors, but it can also accelerate burnout.
Consider this: chief nursing officers (CNOs), who oversee large nursing workforces in midsize and major health systems, have knowledge-intensive jobs to begin with. These leaders barely have time to brush their teeth. But with the rapid implementation of electronic health records (EHRs), CNOs are now expected to master new trends in health care information technologies to engage hospital leaders in strategic discussions about major technology investments.
This technology knowledge is piled on top of existing expertise nurse executives are expected to have about clinical practice, patient experience, finance, safety, employee relations, process improvement, leadership development, and managing interdisciplinary teams. The list goes on and on.
"Without sufficient time to process and make sense of all that must be learned, burnout manifests in several ways," says Michael Bleich, president of Goldfarb School of Nursing. Executives can stop taking in information that seems too complex or problematic to interpret, and instead grab superficial summaries that preclude a deeper understanding of the subject. Thus, leaders faced with learning overload are more likely to default to intuition, rather than more evidence-based decision making.
This problem is not limited to top management, however. Even in an office setting, demands to learn more can become unrealistic. Young management accountants today are supposed to acquire competencies in a dizzying array of topics, such as advanced presentation skills, Six Sigma, quantitative methods, and even leadership. Is it surprising that management thinks there is a skills gap in management accounting ?
Two Hours of Thelonious (or Monk in France and Monk in Italy ). Rouse and Ore were perfect. The group just needed a drummer, and they found him in Frankie Dunlop. Before Monk, Dunlop played with Maynard Ferguson, afterwards with Lionel Hampton. For Modern Drummer , Dunlop talked about Monk and big band music (especially Jimmie Lunceford) in one of the most interesting interviews ever done by a Monk sideman. (The best parts of this interview can be found at Todd Bishop's site .)
There was something else that Dunlop had besides swing. Something a little surreal in the language. It's not totally slick and level-headed. There's a hint of clunky and disorganized, like a little kid beating on pots and pans.
Rouse isn't so clunky but he's not afraid of clunk, either. Ore clunks away beautifully. These are Monk musicians!
Orrin Keepnews is rather dismissive of these two European gigs in the big booklet that accompanies the Riverside box simply because he had nothing to do with producing them. (Indeed, his partner Bill Grauer might have been a bit sly and tricky about getting the tapes.) However, in high school, I vividly remember repeatedly going through the complete Riverside set, and in the end I definitely listened most to the concluding live quartets. It's perfect jazz: modernist, bluesy, soulful, weird, and so damn swinging. The quartet is a "thing," an organism that radiates correctly and naturally. The group is also audibly excited to be in Europe playing in superb concert halls to packed audiences that love and respect their music.
Columbia: Conventional wisdom says Monk's big breakthrough to a major label also was time of retrenchment and ennui. Even though Monk's quartet with Rouse was one of the great groups of all time, I concur, at least in terms of the studio records. There's nothing really wrong about any of them, except perhaps occasionally the tracks run long with too many solos. Any one of them is still a good introduction into Monk, and they served that function beautifully. After reading the Culture Desk essay yesterday, Chuck Mitchell (who oversaw several TBP records) sent me the following note:Columbia:
At age 12, Christmas 1963 or thereabouts, my parents gifted me with my first "record player"—mono—and a selection of albums they thought represented "good music" at the time. I can't recall what was in that first batch, but a couple of months later, I came home from school and my mother gave me a package, saying, "I saw this guy on the cover of Time Magazine, and they said he was good, so here you go."
The album was "Monk's Dream," and as they say, my life was changed forever. To this day, I choose not to explain the magical hold this recording has for me. Fifty-four years later, I know every note and I can sing every solo and even bash out the Dunlop drum parts on whatever table is around, should I be so moved.
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Choose Your Language for an automated translation of content.


text:
N.H. brothers race to help teammate who collapsed during pickup hockey game
Two New Hampshire brothers jumped into action Thursday night after a man on their pickup men's hockey league team collapsed on the ice.
With five minutes left in the game, Jake MacGlashing, 32, of Rye and his brother Jesse, 37, of Pittsfield saw a teammate fall to the ice of a rink in Rochester, N.H., having what first appeared to be a seizure.
"But after two minutes, we lost his pulse,'' MacGlashing said, who then called the arena manager to bring a defibrillator.
He and his brother, who had experience as a paramedic and a former operating room nurse, respectively, used the device to shock the man, who, they said, appeared to be having a heart attack. After he and his brother delivered two shocks, paramedics arrived and delivered another shock, he said.
MacGlashing said though he recognized the man's face, he only knew his first name, Chris.
By the time the man was transported to Frisbie Hospital in Rochester, his pulse and blood pressure had returned, MacGlashing said.
MacGlashing said he spoke with hospital representatives and as of last night, Chris is now in a medically induced coma. MacGlashing said he and his brother were lucky to be on the ice and both have medical experience.
"I wish we could say we got him back 100 percent, but that's not clear yet,'' MacGlashing said.


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On November 21, Nintendo is hosting a combined celebration for Super Mario 3D World for Wii U, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Mario Party: Island Tour for the Nintendo 3DS. The event will take place at Nintendo World in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City from 8 p.m until midnight.
Fans will be able to purchase all three of these Wii U and Nintendo 3DS releases, a day before they launch in stores and in the Nintendo eShop. In addition to early access to the games, chalk artist Chris Carlson will be on site to reveal an art piece featuring iconic imagery from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Costumed characters from both the Mario and Zelda series will also be there and taking pictures with fans.


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[Photos by Hanneli Mustaparta].
I came across this beautiful picture on Hanneli's site and had to share it. What a dashing gentleman!
I found your blog just now,
and I think that this is fascinating idea photograph cool adults.
I keep track 🙂
Beautiful pic…
lovely blog! Borrow some pics and write about u!
Uau, he is very elegant!
This guy looks amazing, love the outfit. Fantastic blog!
Very dashing man.
my heart skipped a beat
Oh my, now that's what I call dashing, handsome, elegant, smart, dapper, un homme très distingué!
Why he's just dreamy
good shot
He is so handsome. I have fallen in love!!!!!!
How dashing, I'm charmed by that minxish dazzle in his eye!
Eliza x


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NBC Would Be Crazy to Give Jay Leno's Tonight Job to Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon is great, but as broadcast ratings decline, the network would be stupid to mess with one of the few shows that's not plummeting.
It is written in the late-night history books that Jay Leno made the Tonight Show his own on July 10, 1995, when he asked recent prostitute shopper Hugh Grant, "What the hell were you thinking?" It became an iconic line that pops up in every Leno analysis, and today it applies yet again – this time as a question posed to the NBCUniversal executives who apparently are intent on showing Leno the door (again), this time to make room for Jimmy Fallon, who will bring the show back to New York City. Industry sources quoted by The Hollywood Reporter and the New York Times surmised that the network was making the move because, after Jimmy Kimmel's recent move to 11:35 p.m., if NBC didn't get their Jimmy on earlier, ABC would control late-night for the next hundred years. Sounds reasonable, and if you're one of the many Leno haters out there, you've probably spent the afternoon doing a happy dance: Ding-dong, the Chin is dead! But let's leave aside emotion and Conan vengeance for a moment. As much as NBC execs might think they're being forward-thinkers by putting in place the next-gen Tonight Show host, there's lots of evidence to suggest this is the second time the network will live to regret a decision to oust Jay Leno.
First, let's get this out of the way: The argument in favor of keeping Jay at 11:35 has nothing to do with whether or not Fallon would make a good successor. Anyone who saw his five shows with Justin Timberlake last week knows that the man has grown into a confident, appealing, and very, very funny host. Being able to Slow Jam the News before midnight would be a very good thing indeed. The argument against Fallon-for-Leno has nothing to do with quality – and everything to do with stability. If you hadn't noticed, it's been an awful season for new shows in prime time, with only three or four new shows drawing respectable numbers. But amidst all the new-show rubble, what's been fascinating to watch is how some of the oldest shows on TV have become more powerful as of late: CBS's The Big Bang Theory and ABC's The Bachelor are actually adding audience (even as most shows are bleeding viewers); NBC's Biggest Loser and The Office have been the network's top-rated shows in recent weeks; Fox's ancient animated comedies on Sunday are off a bit but still pull more young adults that much newer shows.
What's more, TV industry insiders say they're seeing some anecdotal evidence suggesting that viewers are more likely to watch familiar shows live or on the same night they air than they are newer shows, since people have established viewing patterns around legacy series. Leno may not be sexy and he might not be critically beloved, but he has an incredibly loyal audience. NBC has been in free fall in prime time since January, but Leno has not only held steady, but actually increased his lead over long-time rival David Letterman. During the February sweeps, for example, Leno's margin of victory over Dave among adults under 50 was 8 percent; in February 2012, it was only 2 percent. Leno's ratings are down, but so are Dave's, and so is virtually everything in prime time. What's key is that Leno's lead over his rivals, including the buzzier Kimmel, is as solid as his chin.
There's a temptation to think that Fallon, who's younger and hipper, would automatically boost NBC's numbers. But that's what NBC thought would happen when Conan replaced Jay. It didn't. Back in 2004, when Conan's move to 11:35 was announced, I was very much in favor of a changing of the guard. I actually think former NBC chief Jeff Zucker was smart to lock Conan in years ahead of time and to attempt a transition well before David Letterman considered retiring. The way Zucker then panicked and pulled the rug out from under Conan when Zucker's let's-put-Jay-in-prime-time plan flopped was despicable, but the fact is, ratings did drop soon after Conan took over. I'd like to think that, had Zucker been patient, O'Brien would have stabilized and all would have been well. (Fun fact: NBC was drawing bigger ratings with Conan in early 2010 than they are now with Leno.) Unfortunately, we'll never know, but here's what does seem likely: The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon will very likely pull in lower ratings than the current version.
For one thing, so far Kimmel hasn't actually improved ABC's late-night standing all that much, despite tons of hype and some great episodes (such as Matt Damon's brilliantly executed takeover of the show). Yes, Jimmy Kimmel Live is drawing more viewers than it did at midnight because of its earlier slot. But when Nightline aired in the same time period last year, ABC was able to accurately claim it had the top-rated show in late-night, even with younger viewers (in part because the show ended earlier than its rivals). But in the recent February sweeps, Jimmy Kimmel Live actually ranked third in the 11:35–12:35 a.m. time slot. This isn't an indictment of Kimmel, but a reflection of both the loyalty of Leno and Letterman fans, and the fact that younger viewers have already abandoned networks for other late-night options. While we in the media love to play up the whole Jay-Dave-Jimmy "late-night war," the fact is that the broadcast networks are already losing the war for younger viewers. Adult Swim, with its low-budget schedule of animation and quirkiness, regularly draws more viewers under 50 than the networks do. Comedy Central's The Daily Show often gets the same or bigger numbers than Jay, Dave, and Kimmel, albeit a half-hour earlier. Instead of automatically bringing in a ton of new, younger viewers with Fallon, what NBC might actually end up doing is inviting the very, very loyal core of Leno viewers to try something new — like maybe that shiny young Kimmel fellow. Or that cranky Dave guy they've never been fond of, but, hey, he's old and familiar and why don't we give him another chance, Doris. Or, maybe that backlog of prime-time shows eating up space on the DVR.
The motto for broadcast television executives in today's world of overall declining ratings should be that old saw "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." One of the reasons why CBS is the No. 1 network with viewers of all ages and young viewers is because they don't mess with success unless they have to. Rules of Engagement has zero buzz and only does well when it's behind a hit show, but it has a faithful audience and people like it. Likewise, Two and a Half Men costs lots and lots of money and nobody really likes Ashton Kutcher … except for the 14 million people who watch the show each week. So even though producer Warner Bros. will make CBS pay through the nose, guess what's going to be back on CBS next fall? And Letterman, while often trailing Leno, is still relatively stable, as network TV goes. So while it's possible David Letterman could announce his retirement tomorrow, if he does so, it'll be because he wants out: Anytime I've tried to get Eye execs to reveal their game plan for a post-Dave world, all they've said is, in essence, "Letterman has the job as long as he wants it."
The point is, broadcast TV as we've known it is dying fast, but until it completely croaks, it makes sense to hold on to what works as long as you can. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno may not be beloved, and Leno himself may be considered a black-hat for plotting against Dave and then Conan, but getting rid of one of the only shows on NBC that actually wins its time slot is pretty much the definition of … well, maybe not insanity, but certainly of arrogance. Plus, switching Tonight hosts will necessitate a huge marketing and publicity push, which will take away resources (and executive attention) from where it's sorely needed: its flat-lining prime-time schedule. (Were you aware that Monday's season finale of the NBC drama Deception ranked seventh in its time slot, losing not only to broadcast networks but also cable fare on MTV, ESPN, A&E, and USA? The more you know!)
Of course, the decision to upturn the one time slot that is holding steady comes from the same network that chose to save a few dollars by limiting the episode order for Parenthood and has yet to renew it for next season even though the show has higher demo ratings than most things on the network and is actually still adding audience. It's quite possible that NBC's motivating factor for ditching Leno next year isn't a desire to win the future, but rather to save some dough. Late-night insiders I've spoken with over the last few weeks say that, even after the massive budget cuts NBC imposed on Leno last summer, his show is still incredibly expensive and brings in far less ad revenue than it used to. Conan's Tonight Show cost far less to produce than Jay's does, and it's very likely Fallon's will cost even less. NBC may be betting that it can draw the same audience for much less money, thus bumping up profits. If Fallon ends up bleeding viewers versus Jay, however, that theory may not work out.
Assuming nothing changes, the Leno-Fallon transition could happen as early as next year. NBC's mind may be made up. But if the ink is not yet dry, perhaps Peacock executives might consider another, possibly less risky option. Instead of shaking up late night, why not experiment in prime time with an idea that might have been just a few years ahead of its time. Zucker got destroyed for putting a talk show in prime time, but the fact is, The Jay Leno Show was drawing better numbers than Smash, and it cost a whole lot less. Leno wasn't ready for prime time, in part because he still wanted to be on Tonight and in part because he had zero desire to depart from his time-tested formula. The show looked cheap and small. But instead of stripping Leno five nights a week, what if NBC decided to put Fallon on at 10 p.m.? His week of shows with Timberlake was more entertaining than anything else NBC aired last week (except Parks and Recreation, of course). And Fallon and his team are constantly coming up with viral videos, sketches, and other new ways of putting on a fun show. There's no reason NBC would have to commit to a massive time-slot switch upfront: Why not just give Fallon an eight-week test at ten o'clock this summer, with repeats airing in his normal late-night slot? There will be plenty of superstars looking to hype their summer blockbusters or concert tours; maybe they could stick around for a week of shows like Timberlake. If it flops, Fallon's audience will still love him in late-night. And if it works, NBC's avoided a massive headache while possibly going a long way toward solving its prime-time woes. It's inevitable that Jay Leno will leave The Tonight Show, and it's logical that Jimmy Fallon replaces him. But NBC needs to delay that eventuality for as long as it can while it first works to fix its much, much bigger problems.